Riots Blaze in Lhasa
Smoke Rises as Riots Continue in Lhasa TibetDue to the Chinese crackdown in Lhasa Tibet the above photo from TimesOnline.UK above was the only image I could find of Lhasa. According to the BBC Three monasteries have been shut down, communications have been cut off, roadways blocked and monks are being beaten and arrested. Tibetans have taken down the Chinese flag and set fire to Chinese businesses and cars.
The sound of gunfire has been reported.
I cannot hear about the arrests of Tibetan Monks by Chinese authorities without remembering Palden Gyatso's visit to Friday Harbor. Palden Gyatso spoke at Skagit Valley Collage. This wily monk, small, with big ears, almost yoda-like, spoke of his experiences as a Chinese prisoner for 31 years. Gyatso made it his mission to smuggle instruments of torture out of Tibet to show the world what the Chinese were doing. The reason he has no teeth is because the Chinese stuck an electric cattle prod in his mouth. That has not stopped him from speaking out. I had his book, The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk for a while before I read it. Knowing about the torture I was afraid it would be a dreary read and yet once I started reading it I was riveted. Gyatso's story is an action packed adventure as well as an inspiration.
Meanwhile, here in the land of the free and the home of the brave George Bush just vetoed a bill banning torture. Republican presidential candidate John McCain supported George Bush's position defending the use of torture including water-boarding. The vetoed bill would have restricted the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.
The sound of gunfire has been reported.
I cannot hear about the arrests of Tibetan Monks by Chinese authorities without remembering Palden Gyatso's visit to Friday Harbor. Palden Gyatso spoke at Skagit Valley Collage. This wily monk, small, with big ears, almost yoda-like, spoke of his experiences as a Chinese prisoner for 31 years. Gyatso made it his mission to smuggle instruments of torture out of Tibet to show the world what the Chinese were doing. The reason he has no teeth is because the Chinese stuck an electric cattle prod in his mouth. That has not stopped him from speaking out. I had his book, The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk for a while before I read it. Knowing about the torture I was afraid it would be a dreary read and yet once I started reading it I was riveted. Gyatso's story is an action packed adventure as well as an inspiration.
Meanwhile, here in the land of the free and the home of the brave George Bush just vetoed a bill banning torture. Republican presidential candidate John McCain supported George Bush's position defending the use of torture including water-boarding. The vetoed bill would have restricted the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.
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