9.4.08

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

....but the Olympic torch certainly isn't it...
Image from The Guardian. Sorry, I just thought of the pun and couldn't resist..

8 comments:

Yohan said...

Wow that's a bit rough (as puns go).

Have you read any of the Hindu editorials on the Tibet issue? I think maybe last year N. Ram went there, and was quite impressed with the way Tibet was going, at least economically. And recently one of their editorials mentioned that is it pretty hard to condone the kind of rioting the monks have been up to. Even the Dalai Lama has distanced himself from all that.

Not sure what I'm on about. I used to think of myself as political, but I'm no longer sure of anything.

Blue Floppy Hat said...

Ok I make crappy puns, that's a given..
And as for the editorials, I've not seen anything recent, but to be honest, a lot of the complaints from Tibetans seem to be to the effect that the development isn't benefiting them so much as the immigrants to the province, and that their culture is being lost into the bargain. And I don't know how liberal the Chinese government has been with the monks, I've never been there so I wouldn't know for sure. But if I'm right, it isn't so difficult to understand why they're disgruntled..
As for rioting, it's obvious that violence isn't good. But the response from the government, as far as I can see, seems to be focussed more on shutting up everyone who can be told to shut up than actually asking why they're protesting in the first place. As you said, the Dalai Lama doesn't condone violence, but that's hardly stopped him from being blamed as a saboteur in the first place. (this kind of response is hardly unique governments everywhere, ostensibly democratic and otherwise, are less than perfect when it comes to respecting human rights).

Yohan said...

I didn't mean it was a crappy pun...it's like a cynical sentiment, that's all.

You know what annoys me about the Tibet thing? It's very hep with Europeans and Hollywood types, but no one says anything about Palestine, for fear of being labelled anti-semitic. Meanwhile the IDF has been inflicting collective punishment on the whole of Gaza. I think that issue more than any other has turned me off politics.

In the US media there hasn't been a peep about Tibet this time. A recession is on its way, and they need to be in China's good books!

Anonymous said...

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yumiko said...

when i saw the news about hte olympic torch thing on tv it actually made me laugh-- i thought it was funny at first but it sounds pretty serious!

Elizabeth said...

Lots of controversy on this one. I hope things calm down.

Elisabeth said...

Haha.

Sorry, I know it's controversial... but... haha! Great pun!

Anonymous said...

One more link. And this is my last. Just goes to show how complex these issues are.

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