FREE TIBET!

Can’t wait to see Ronald McDonald race the guy in the Bigfoot Costume on the alternative Channel.

Love that episode where they plastered the tracks…

I am once again annoyed how are politicians, politic and just simply wait for this killing event to be over … Mindnumbing

Who’s idea was it to have the Olympics in china this year anyhow? They are soo mean to the farmers (paying them very little) they have EXTREMELY dirty rivers and they have a reputation for not paying workers who build the new buildings in the major cities for them…

7 second delay sucks because all the athletes and anybody else who gets up the nerve to talk ‘live’ this summer will (i fear) be censored, if they criticize China’s policies including this latest tragedy

The sad thing is that even as far back as the early 1950s, China had become one of the three nations in the world who can apparently act with impunity (the other two being the US and Russia). I’ll try to be brief on the following, as these pages are not necessarily the place to discuss geopolitics, but the situation concerning sovereignty with regards to Tibet is complex. Tibet had, prior to the Chinese invasion, been a self governing nation with her own head of state since (with a few short periods of total Chinese control) the middle ages. However, an independent Tibet had always existed essentially as a vassal state to the Chinese empire. Tibet would always pay homage to the Emperor of China, and to a great extent accepted (or was “encouraged” to accept) the various levels of dominance exerted over her by various Chinese dynasties. The sad thing (at least as I see it) is that, by a strange twist of fate combined with an intertwining history, the end of Imperial, fuedal China was, with hindsight, the first nail in the coffin for a free Tibet. A non Imperial China would (and did) do away with the old order, and thus the subservient sovreignity of Tibet was no longer recognised. The Maoists continued the tradition of Chinese dominance over Tibet, but, in typically Maoist fashion, paid no regard to a sovereignty which they would have looked upon as a relic of Imperialistic bullying.

Yes, Tibet should be free to govern herself. Yes, the Chinese occupation is very much illegal. However, it is partly because China has been making claims that Tibet is part of China (or, in the past, the Chinese Empire) for several hundred years while no other nation (apart from Tibet) has been making a similar claim over the whole region that the occupation has been allowed to continue, even though it breaks numerous international laws. Such is the might of a powerful nation. Did anyone speak out when the USSR invaded Afghanistan? Yes. Did anyone do anything? Not really. Apart from the CIA arming and funding the Taliban.

Anyway, I digress. History is there to be learned from. FREE TIBET!

Those footprints look interesting, by the way. A free Tibet would be, on a slightly selfish note, far more open to non-Tibetan or authorised Chinese Yeti hunters! I really do ramble on sometimes. Sorry.

I VERY much doubt that the Chinese will let go of Tibet without a HARD fight, despite my echoing of your sentiments.

Once they are freed though, they cannot go back to the feudalistic society they had before the Communists arrived. In some ways it was just as bad as the Chinese. Even the Dalai Lama has said in print something to the effect that spiritual enlightenment is great but it will not feed children’s bellies.

That’s MY opinion, of course.

With that out the way—
I DO agree with you, Loren, that the Yeti resurgence might be sign of things to come. Symbolically speaking, of course.

Next…a few words on Destination Truth. Having seen the lot of them so far, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand in the Yeti episode it was very interesting to witness the apparent discovery and casting of a couple of footprints. Since that much has been shown in still photos, I don’t feel I’m spoiling anything to mention it. However, in the Mokele Mbembe episode…well, I won’t spoil things too much in case you haven’t seen it. I’ll just say I was disappointed in their conclusion and their basis for it. More disappointing still is the host’s jocular and often disrespectful (to my perceptions) treatment of locals. It’s as if he’s being told to play the role of the ultimate annoying American tourist. Oh well.