May '08

______

And a woman spoke, saying, 'Tell us of Pain.' And he said: 'Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.'
Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet

______

Recently there's been a lot of talk about the situation in Tibet. There's a lot of confusion, and I'm going to clear up that confusion for you right now.

Tibet is not a sovereign country. Tibet is a province in China. Tibet has been a part of China for at least 700 years. It's been a part of China at least since the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. It was also part of China during the Ming Dynasty. the Qing Dynasty, and if there was ever a MuShu Pork Dynasty, it was part of China then too.
There are 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China, and Tibetan-Chinese is just one.
No country in the world recognizes Tibet as a sovereign country.

There's been a lot of talk about a so-called 'invasion' of Tibet by the Chinese gov't back in 1951. That is true, the Chinese gov't sent in the troops. However, that was China invading itself.

Prior to 1951, Tibet was a feudal province with upper-class monks as dictators. They represented 5% of the population and controlled 95% of its wealth. Tibet had used a serfdom system, which is a modified version of slavery. The locals were the slaves for the upper-class Tibetan monks. That was prior to 1951, where no other religions were allowed to be practiced in Tibet except Buddhism. The Chinese gov't sent in their troops to kick some monk-ey asses, and have now made it a safe place for all Chinese people to live, not just the Buddhist monks.

One of Tibet's major concerns is the protection of their traditional religion. Since 1951 many Chinese have moved into Tibet and have changed its composition and the children growing up now are exposed to other religions and the influence of western culture, all of which traditional Tibetans find objectionable. Tibet should consider itself fortunate that it can practice its religion without government interference, like what happens in other countries, where the gov't can raid your places of worship, and take the women & children and subject them to intrusive examinations.

Angry Tibetans are threatening to move to places like Myanmar. China says, "Farewell and have a safe trip." Even the Dalai Lama doesn't want to live in Tibet. He hasn't lived in Tibet since 1959, fleeing after a failed uprising. 1959 was a long time ago.



1959 was the year Jacques Plante invented the goalie mask.

Right now, the Dalai Lama is probably getting a lap dance in a Parisian strip club from someone with the stage name Penelope PassionFruit.

How many Buddhist monks does it take to change a light bulb?
None. They are the light bulbs.

______

It was recently reported in the paper that there are fewer Mexicans are being caught crossing the border. I have an idea - maybe that's because most of the Mexicans are already in California. Today I passed a car dealership in my neighbourhood and in the front window was a sign saying "Credito - No Problemo".
I like Mexicans, don't get me wrong. But I have a question: if all the maids in California are from Mexico, then why is Mexico such a filthy country? Doesn't make sense.

______

True story: I was watching the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers the other night, and then they went to a commercial about identity theft.

______

Dream Team - pick your favourite players for your all-time dream teams for baseball and/or hockey.

Dream Teams over here.

______

Identify the asian quiz. Take the test, "Who Am I?"

"ummm to me that's not dancing.. That's like stretching and being weird. I mean she's good at doing whatever she's doing, but how is that dancing?"

o0SpiderKat0o comment (58 minutes ago) on YouTube


dinga dong dance festival korean dancer - 3 minutes