thoughts and bits.
http:blogs.reuters.com/china
deeply saddened in troubled times
For years now I have tried real hard to stay out of the news, out of politics, because my own happiness and livelihood has been nearly dependent upon it. How is it we can manage to carry on when others suffer so much. The shared histories and blood lines make it hard for me to identify as anything separate. What is finally calling me to words, which simply haven't come in the last few years other than one on one conversations with those whom I sincerely trust in the spoken tradition, the oral tradition, the uncondemned and free tradition, is this subjective media coverage taking place over the situation regarding the protest of the Chinese Olympic ceremony. No mention of the torch being ripped through the cultural and spiritual heart of a great nation. No mention of the civil rights that have been denied from this country for over 50 years. Instead, it is a pitch at "tibetan groups" or "chinese" figures.
Our fearful man behind the curtain himself calls for discursive behavior with a religious figure! After being in exile for many years, I hardly call on this conversation to take place. His Holiness is no longer a political leader, in fact, Tibet has attempted to have their own form of democracy electing yet another candidate to try to resolve and restore any bit of Tibet left in the actual region of Tibet. He is though a really valuable authority on all this nonsense. How many families must suffer? How many individuals have been harmed with no trace? How much longer must this continue? Why is America not defending the Tibetan stretch to become more democratic? This is indeed what the call for a "free Tibet" has been all these years and continues to be. In a blessed region near India, who just recently had it's own election, one wonders will the course of history ever change? Or must thousands of innocent and patient and lovely people continue to be tortured and prosecuted for religious fundamental and independent viewpoints? Must a smaller nation always be destroyed and taken over by a larger and more nationalistic monster?
I must also declare that I myself, being out of the news, being in my own little working class American bubble am also misinformed. However, I am deeply troubled by the misconceptions and misnomers portrayed in the media. ON the news. On the radio. And my heart beats a little faster, thinking, gee we are that much closer to resolving this, now that it's in the forefront, but what is really getting resolved? America is one heart, one nation, one blood line, where Tibetans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Italian, Mexican, African, Caucasian, (and forgive me, because I do not list everyone) brother and sisterhoods have been formed. Not only this, but America has been a place of refuge for all these remarkable individual groups adding to our collectivity.
The Cold war is a long gone thing. But the age old declaration of "careful not to wake the sleeping giant" is still very fresh in my memory for some reason. Yes it is most certain that our message would get lost in translation before ever reaching China's military officials. So what is the message in the meantime? Every cell in me is hoping that instead of pitching us at one another we really use this opportunity to come together for a common cause and humanitarian birth right. How will our voices ever be enough?
The call to have a boycott of the opening olympics ceremony is indeed an action that will mean many things. But what will it mean really? As the main producer of goods we consume here in the US unconsciously, are we really going to bite the hand that feeds? Shouldn't a democratic nation be able to pick which nation or who it wants as a source provider of goods? How is it that all this has leaked into the American economy without being tracked. We are in a deficit in time of recession in time of war in time of deficit. Did I say deficit? It is obvious America must hire someone to help with accounting. I see Chinese men and women collecting cardboard here in the states, while we simply unpack it, and "recycle" it. I realize, what a valuable resource this is in California being surrounded by an environment on the edge of being exploited always, but in my middle class, working class ways, I must work, to live, to eat, and don't have much other time to find ways for creative reuse. I realize however that these people collecting cardboard and pennies are indeed smart. I had the opportunity to visit China and live off $1-2 American dollars a day. It does add up. It does matter. It does still feed and house us. Where some of us make homes and sleep on the streets with cardboard, those lucky enough to have a dependable and efficient, did I mention, fantastic, piece of machinery like a Toyota fill to the rim the back of the truck and instantly, $$$. Especially since it costs more to create cardboard, and ship it, than it does to recycle it. The cost effectiveness of this equation is mind boggling. The plastic bottles we find ourselves dependant upon in our busy lifestyles no doubt cost more to make than they do to reuse. I'm losing my train of thought here. What i'm saying is that it is a negative surplus of waste, a negative surplus of energy and time consumed, and we are so far behind where a developed nation should be in terms of justifying this economic equation. And it's consciousness, not apathy that can shift this.
What is needed at this time is an intellectual discourse, not mixed messages, like the "butchers and monsters" Nepalese official depicted chasing after the Buddhist monk with a baton portrayed as "chinese." The protests happening in America are not being shared with the rest of the world as American protests but "Tibetan groups" protesting. A call for for knowledgeable journalists is key. A call for a clear perspective and authority on the subject. But how is it there is an authority on injustice? The call for absolute unbiased truth speakers is ultimately what might make sense of this nonsense. Perhaps Amnesty international could step in, or the United Nations. Perhaps some of our trillions of dollars allocated to prisons and war might be set up instead to help out an organization based on promoting peace and cooperation among nations.
The nonsense must stop. Our invasion of an already war torn vicinity to promote democracy is a far reach for the lives of humanity we care to protect and honor. We have indeed increased the polarity and the disapproval of many. It is vigilance and authority that will stop the communist takeover of the economic well being of our nation.
It's a complex and frightful situation with China. All this time we've paid into their pocket, theirs into ours. A tricky place to be in for an advanced and developed nation. There are in deed a significant amount of consumers who like "architects of their environments" demand goods made else ware, and ethically, or as local as possible.
The preparation for the Olympic games has been a difficult one for Beijing.
When will the embarassment on both sides of the equation stop?
My heart goes out to all.
4/9/08
deeply saddened in troubled times
For years now I have tried real hard to stay out of the news, out of politics, because my own happiness and livelihood has been nearly dependent upon it. How is it we can manage to carry on when others suffer so much. The shared histories and blood lines make it hard for me to identify as anything separate. What is finally calling me to words, which simply haven't come in the last few years other than one on one conversations with those whom I sincerely trust in the spoken tradition, the oral tradition, the uncondemned and free tradition, is this subjective media coverage taking place over the situation regarding the protest of the Chinese Olympic ceremony. No mention of the torch being ripped through the cultural and spiritual heart of a great nation. No mention of the civil rights that have been denied from this country for over 50 years. Instead, it is a pitch at "tibetan groups" or "chinese" figures.
Our fearful man behind the curtain himself calls for discursive behavior with a religious figure! After being in exile for many years, I hardly call on this conversation to take place. His Holiness is no longer a political leader, in fact, Tibet has attempted to have their own form of democracy electing yet another candidate to try to resolve and restore any bit of Tibet left in the actual region of Tibet. He is though a really valuable authority on all this nonsense. How many families must suffer? How many individuals have been harmed with no trace? How much longer must this continue? Why is America not defending the Tibetan stretch to become more democratic? This is indeed what the call for a "free Tibet" has been all these years and continues to be. In a blessed region near India, who just recently had it's own election, one wonders will the course of history ever change? Or must thousands of innocent and patient and lovely people continue to be tortured and prosecuted for religious fundamental and independent viewpoints? Must a smaller nation always be destroyed and taken over by a larger and more nationalistic monster?
I must also declare that I myself, being out of the news, being in my own little working class American bubble am also misinformed. However, I am deeply troubled by the misconceptions and misnomers portrayed in the media. ON the news. On the radio. And my heart beats a little faster, thinking, gee we are that much closer to resolving this, now that it's in the forefront, but what is really getting resolved? America is one heart, one nation, one blood line, where Tibetans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Italian, Mexican, African, Caucasian, (and forgive me, because I do not list everyone) brother and sisterhoods have been formed. Not only this, but America has been a place of refuge for all these remarkable individual groups adding to our collectivity.
The Cold war is a long gone thing. But the age old declaration of "careful not to wake the sleeping giant" is still very fresh in my memory for some reason. Yes it is most certain that our message would get lost in translation before ever reaching China's military officials. So what is the message in the meantime? Every cell in me is hoping that instead of pitching us at one another we really use this opportunity to come together for a common cause and humanitarian birth right. How will our voices ever be enough?
The call to have a boycott of the opening olympics ceremony is indeed an action that will mean many things. But what will it mean really? As the main producer of goods we consume here in the US unconsciously, are we really going to bite the hand that feeds? Shouldn't a democratic nation be able to pick which nation or who it wants as a source provider of goods? How is it that all this has leaked into the American economy without being tracked. We are in a deficit in time of recession in time of war in time of deficit. Did I say deficit? It is obvious America must hire someone to help with accounting. I see Chinese men and women collecting cardboard here in the states, while we simply unpack it, and "recycle" it. I realize, what a valuable resource this is in California being surrounded by an environment on the edge of being exploited always, but in my middle class, working class ways, I must work, to live, to eat, and don't have much other time to find ways for creative reuse. I realize however that these people collecting cardboard and pennies are indeed smart. I had the opportunity to visit China and live off $1-2 American dollars a day. It does add up. It does matter. It does still feed and house us. Where some of us make homes and sleep on the streets with cardboard, those lucky enough to have a dependable and efficient, did I mention, fantastic, piece of machinery like a Toyota fill to the rim the back of the truck and instantly, $$$. Especially since it costs more to create cardboard, and ship it, than it does to recycle it. The cost effectiveness of this equation is mind boggling. The plastic bottles we find ourselves dependant upon in our busy lifestyles no doubt cost more to make than they do to reuse. I'm losing my train of thought here. What i'm saying is that it is a negative surplus of waste, a negative surplus of energy and time consumed, and we are so far behind where a developed nation should be in terms of justifying this economic equation. And it's consciousness, not apathy that can shift this.
What is needed at this time is an intellectual discourse, not mixed messages, like the "butchers and monsters" Nepalese official depicted chasing after the Buddhist monk with a baton portrayed as "chinese." The protests happening in America are not being shared with the rest of the world as American protests but "Tibetan groups" protesting. A call for for knowledgeable journalists is key. A call for a clear perspective and authority on the subject. But how is it there is an authority on injustice? The call for absolute unbiased truth speakers is ultimately what might make sense of this nonsense. Perhaps Amnesty international could step in, or the United Nations. Perhaps some of our trillions of dollars allocated to prisons and war might be set up instead to help out an organization based on promoting peace and cooperation among nations.
The nonsense must stop. Our invasion of an already war torn vicinity to promote democracy is a far reach for the lives of humanity we care to protect and honor. We have indeed increased the polarity and the disapproval of many. It is vigilance and authority that will stop the communist takeover of the economic well being of our nation.
It's a complex and frightful situation with China. All this time we've paid into their pocket, theirs into ours. A tricky place to be in for an advanced and developed nation. There are in deed a significant amount of consumers who like "architects of their environments" demand goods made else ware, and ethically, or as local as possible.
The preparation for the Olympic games has been a difficult one for Beijing.
When will the embarassment on both sides of the equation stop?
My heart goes out to all.
4/9/08