Myanmar Omen; Day’s of the Junta regime are numbered

Sad this Pagoda collapsed, but perhaps that is a message for the Junta, that their day’s are numbered! 

You can’t indiscriminately kill people, or spiritual leaders, for speaking out, and then remodel a Pagoda expecting to cleans your Karma, that’s not the way it works.  Doing good just to try and cleans your dirtiness doesn’t clean your karma, in fact it would probably make it worse because it’s not happening for the right reasons.  Murdering all those people just so you can be the ruller of Burma, that’s blood on your’s and your family’s hands.  That’s a millinium of dirty karma on your hands.

An Ancient Pagoda’s Collapse Turns Myanmar’s Gaze to the Stars

It cannot have pleased Myanmar’s ruling family: the collapse of a 2,300-year-old gold-domed pagoda into a pile of timbers just three weeks after the wife of the junta’s top general helped rededicate it.

There is no country in Asia more superstitious than Myanmar, and the crumbling of the temple was seen widely as something more portentous than shoddy construction work.

The debacle coincides with the junta’s trial of the country’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after an American intruder swam across a lake and spent a night at the villa where Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past 19 years.

After two weeks of testimony that began May 18, the trial has been suspended as the court considers procedural motions — and as the junta apparently tries to decide how to manage what seems to have been a major blunder, drawing condemnation from around the world.

The superstitious generals may be consulting astrologers as well as political tacticians for guidance. That would not be unusual for many people in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

Previously, currency denominations and traffic rules have been changed, the nation’s capital has been moved and the timing of events has been selected — even the dates of popular uprisings — with astrological dictates in mind.

“Astrology has as significant a role in policies, leadership and decision making in the feudal Naypyidaw as rational calculations, geopolitics and resource economics,” said Zarni, a Burmese exile analyst and researcher who goes by one name. He was referring to the country’s fortified capital, which opened in 2005. [see full article on the collapse of Burma's ancient pagoda]

Bill Passes House for Establisment of a US Consulate in TIbet

Wonderful new!

I know some will say that this is not enough, but to me it’s a start!  It’s about time we have people in congress with some backbone, not to mention the White House’s capability of dialog with other nations and being able to speak to people directly and form the heart.

“the US foreign relations bill authorizes scholarship and fellowship programs for Tibetans, and allocates money to protect Tibetan Culture and history, to support economic development, environmental protection, education and heaths care services in Tibet.

The Bill also asks China to cease “all interferences” in the religious affairs of the Tibetan people, including the reincarnation system of Tibetan Buddhism.”

I’m not sure why China would be so irate about all this?  This should help eliminate some of the tension that China has been causing in these areas.  The communist government doesn’t seem to like dialog of any kind.  Also, a lot of that said above appears to be the similar to the basic human rights that the communists agreed to with the Olympic Committee when they were given the opportunity to host an international of peace and harmony event, called the “Summer Olympics”  To this day, it doesn’t appear that the communists have implemented any of the human rights issues promised.

Of course it should be the communist party who does all the protection, education and health care of the Tibetan people and their culture, but they’ve been only supporting the ethnic Han Chinese who the party keeps sending into Tibet while giving them Tibetan jobs and  business with only further destroys Tibetan identity and culture and pushes the Tibetan’s out of Lhasa.  I’m glad to see that congress if finally helping our friends in Tibet.

US House approves Bill to establish US Consulate in Tibet

Dharamsala, June 12: US House of representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that further advances US policy on Tibet and authorizes its funding for wide-ranging programs that support Tibetans in Tibet.

The bill makes several improvements to an already existing Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 and directs the US government to encourage the Tibetan-Chinese dialogue by coordinating with other governments in multilateral efforts in order to reach a negotiated agreement on Tibet.

The bill further directs the US government to require the National Security Council (NSC) to ensure that U.S. policy on Tibet is coordinated with all executive agencies in contact with the Chinese government.

It also authorizes the establishment of a Tibet Section within the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, until such time as a U.S. consulate in Tibet is established. It further directs the government to seek to establish a U.S. consulate in Tibet’s Capital Lhasa.

The Bill requires the US Consulate in Lhasa to “provide services to United States citizens traveling to Tibet and to monitor political, economic, and cultural developments in Tibet, including Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces.”

The new provisions were included in “H.R. 2410: the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011”, which passed the full House by a vote of 235 to187 on June 10, 2009, a move that could further irate China. [read more on US Consulate in Tibet story]

Chamdo Tibet’s Sacred Mountain is Safe for Now!

Seems that these issue should have already been learned from past experience in other country’s.  The poison left behind don’t affect those companies or the people the mining material goes to, it’s always left for the original inhabitants to suffer the consequence, and we know this from past experience.  A country that likes to point out other people mishaps, should also learn from those mishaps, even when it happened hundreds of years ago or more.

So glad this ordeal is over with, and these Tibetan people can go about their daily business.

Mine Dispute Largely Settled

Talks have resolved a standoff over a planned gold mine in Tibet, but questions remain regarding the disposal of poisonous waste at the site, according to sources in the region.

The dispute over operations at the mine, built by a Chinese firm at a site considered sacred by Tibetans, had continued for weeks, with hundreds of Tibetans protesting the mine’s planned expansion and blocking access to the area.

Both sides agreed June 8 that the mine—which had operated in Markham [in Chinese, Mangkang] county, in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s (TAR) Chamdo prefecture—would cease operations, sources said.

“It was agreed in writing that there will be no mining in the area,” said a local Tibetan man, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“All the Chinese security forces deployed in the area will be withdrawn. The Tibetans who are blocking the road will also return to their respective areas.”

“Chinese authorities will build concrete barriers to block the poisonous residue of earlier mining in the area so that this will not filter down into the drinking water,” he added. [read more on Chamdo Tibet's Sacred Mountain]

Chinese Lawyers and Legal Scholars Speak Out!

This is good news!  I’m glad that more media outlest are reporting this because their have been many other scholars and lawyers that did speak out, but the communist party keeps arresting them under some law that makes it easy to arrest anyone for anything they please.  Almost like the police using “disturbing the peace” in the US when the person didn’t do anything wrong, and the cop screwed up, so to protect himself they come up with “disturbing the peace.”  It’s easy to place the blame when you have that to use, but those can be argued as well.

We need more scholars and legal experts to come out!

Report Says Valid Grievances at Root of Tibet Unrest

A group of prominent Chinese lawyers and legal scholars have released a research report arguing that the Tibetan riots and protests of March 2008 were rooted in legitimate grievances brought about by failed government policies — and not through a plot of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

The lengthy paper is the result of interviews conducted over a month in two Tibetan regions. It represents the first independent investigation into the causes of the widespread protests, which the Chinese government harshly suppressed. It blamed the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala for the unrest.

The government has quashed the expression of any dissenting opinions on the causes of the protests, which spread quickly across western China. The research paper was quietly posted last month on Chinese Web sites, and an English translation was released this week by the International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group based in Washington.

The authors of the report are members of a Chinese group called Gongmeng, or Open Constitution Initiative, which seeks to promote legal reform in China. Lawyers in the group also tried to file lawsuits on behalf of families whose babies suffered in the tainted milk scandal last year, and two members have defended Tibetans in court this year. [read more of the valid grievances of Tibet]

Bogus Monks Swindling People!

Be weary of who you give money to on the streets.  It can be anyone, people collecting signatures, who only care about the pay they get for each signature and don’t care anything about the cause, or people asking for money for a specific cause.

If you want to buy something then that’s find, buy it, but don’t buy it because they are saying it’s for “charity” or to help out some activity or group.  There are to many people out there who are only interested in their bottom line, and use peoples passions to swindle them.

If you want to donate do ti directly to the organization.  Do your research, and educated yourself.  Ask what the money is being used for, sure you’ll probably get some kind of answer, but it’s better to ask than to just give.  Many time the money doesn’t even go to the people it’s allegedly for, with the administration getting more than half of it.

Typically, Monks shouldn’t even be handling money, the lay people do all that, but I’m not sure how money is viewed in these other countries.  Some Monks are allowed to have personal property and handle money, but other’s do not.

Swindlers in saffron robes cashing in on people’s generosity

BOGUS monks are roaming the streets of the Klang Valley, cashing in on the generosity of the people to make money.

These imposters can be seen going from table to table in restaurants in the commercial areas, and even approaching people at the public car parks.

According to Buddhist Chief High Priest of Malaysia, Venerable K. Sri Shammaratana, monks who begged for money are violating the Buddhist code of ethics. The alms bowl is strictly meant for food.

According to the owner of a coffee shop in Damansara Utama, who asked not to be identified, the imposters would make their rounds at the various eating places in the commercial area at various time.

“You won’t see them at a specific time. Sometimes they come at about 10am, sometimes they target the lunch crowd,” she said.

There were also reports of such monks stationing themselves at the morning and night markets. 

[read more about the fake people impersonating monks]

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