Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Panchen Lama.

This isn't going to be a real post.  Not that I post that often so I'm sure that will come as no surprise to anyone.  I bet people even wonder why the hell I HAVE a blog (two, actually) if I'm never going to update them. 

I was reading my newsletters tonight about the current situations in Tibet, and I found out that April 25, 2011, was the 22 birthday of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, better known as the Panchen Lama.  For those who don't know (though I'm imagining most do, especially if you are friends with me.  I bitch about this a lot, and shove his picture in everyone's face), Nyima was "disappeared" when he was six years old.  That means that the Chinese government essentially kidnapped him.  He was taken away and hasn't been seen since.  And why, exactly?

The Panchen Lama is the second highest religious figure in Tibet (after, of course, the Dalai Lama).  After taking away Nyima, the Chinese government chose their own Panchen Lama, one of Chinese descent, and put him in the role of Panchen Lama.  I obviously do not blame this person.  He had nothing to do with what happened.  But the fact remains that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has not been seen in sixteen years.  SIXTEEN.

I would REALLY like to believe that he was still alive to celebrate his birthday this year, but I don't.  I really don't.  In the eleven years that I have been studying Chinese occupied Tibet, I have been reading articles about the fights and petitions to at least see one bit of evidence that Nyima is alive, even if it is just letting one person visit him.  No progress has been made in all of those sixteen years.  No one has seen him in all that time.  And if he IS alive, it's more than likely he is suffering severely, given the accounts given by Tibetans formerly kept prisoner.

No matter what, I will continue to keep Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in my prayers.  Hopefully someday we will see his face again.  Hopefully he is still alive.  Hopefully, he at least is not suffering.

Please, everyone, pray for Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.

Dalai Lama "resigns"

As I'm sure people have heard, the Dalai Lama is giving up his position as leader of the Tibetan government.  He has spoken of this for years, but previously his intention was to retire from this position once the Tibetan and Chinese governments reached some sort of peace.

I am personally very concerned about him stepping down at this time.  It doesn't seem like a good time.  It comes at the date of the 52nd Tibetan National Uprising, which, in case people have forgotten, DID NOT END WELL.  According to the Chinese count, 21 Tibetans died.  According to the Tibetan count, it was around 100.  Either way, NOT GOOD.

The Dalai Lama fled the country, three of Lhasa's major monastery's were seriously damaged by shelling.  Thousands of monks were executed.

This is definitely a day not to be forgotten, one that SHOULD be commemorated.....but not this way.  The day that the Dalai Lama fled the country should not be commemorated by him resigning.  Does this seem like a weird pun or something to anyone but me?  "Hahaha, here I go again!"

Do NOT get me wrong, I do not in ANY WAY blame him for fleeing Tibet that year.  It was the only way he could survive.  But resigning the day of the anniversary of the uprising  seems a little bit like a joke.  I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that lol.

I guess maybe he supposes that China may not enter peace talks with Tibet during his life time.  But I doubt that is it.  He doesn't seem the type to give up.

And I don't want anyone to misunderstand.  I am very much in support of Tibet having their own democratic system of voting.  I just wish it hadn't come so suddenly.  The fact that China cracked down and is accusing the Dalai Lama of lying, of using his religion as a "disguise" to split the state, just seems to go further to show that this isn't going to work.

And either way, as Dr Trine Brox of the University of Copenhagen pointed out, many Tibetans will find it hard to transfer their political support after so many years supporting the Dalai Lama.  He is such a huge figure in the lives of all Tibetans, that it is understandable.

I really hope I am wrong. I hope things transfer well, and easy, but it seems like nothing is easy in Tibet.  I will be praying for them, for all the people of Tibet, and those Tibetans in exile, and the people of China, that their eyes and hearts be opened.  I hope all of you will be praying with me.

Groupon and the Tibet Group.

I am sure many of you saw the Groupon commercial at the Superbowl.  I did not see it at the time, since I am not a fan of football (men in spandex wrestling over a ball and leaping on top of each other isn't really my thing), but was told about it yesterday.  This morning, I saw the commercial, and read the letter of "apology" written by Groupon CEO Andrew Mason.

First, the commercial.

The commercial begins with beautiful footage of Tibet..the landscape, the people....speaking of their culture, and how it is in danger.  But then, the actor (Timothy Hutton, who is now on my shit list) goes on to say that despite this, the Tibetans still make an amazing fish curry...and that since the people in this commercial used the Groupon website, they are now getting this amazing fish curry for cheap.

....apparently, we are meant to find this amusing.

Many people commented on the video on youtube.  Many of those comments were angry, complaints about how offensive the commercial was, but a lot of people were saying that those who were offended were too uptight, some going far into the boundaries of offensive.  One commenter sais "best commercial ever" and another, who needs a good beatdown, said "I don't care about Tibetans. wtf have they done for me?" (name of quesoesbueno59)
I don't know if he/she was joking or not, but either way, it is a cruel and horrible thing to say.  America really is full of assholes.

Now, on to the letter.

Groupon's CEO, Andrew Mason, wrote a letter of "apology" for the commercial, a day after receiving innumberable complaints.  However, if there is a true apology in there, one would have to search with a fine-tooth comb to find it.
Instead, Mason points out how most Superbowl commercials objectify women, and that the Groupon company supports many charitable causes....as though either of these points makes it okay for the Groupon company to crack jokes about situations as serious as that of Chinese-occupied Tibet.

Groupon has made a statement that if you donate money towards the Tibetan Youth Fund, they will match your donation.  But after the airing of the commercials, the Tibetan Youth Fund pulled out.  Unsurprisingly.  However, when I went on Groupon's website today, they still had the Tibetan Youth Fund donation page up.  I called them and spoke to them for several minutes about it.  First they couldn't find the page, then said that yes, they were still working with the Tibetan Group Fund, only quietly, due to the commercials.  Wanting to double check (I wouldn't put it past those bastards to just be taking money for themselves) I called the Tibet Fund.  They told me yes, they had pulled out after the commercials but had noticed the page was still up, and would have to be speaking to Groupon.  So I don't know if the money has been getting through to them or not, or if they are going to be speaking to Groupon just to finalize the breaking of their business.  Either way, as long as it is ended, it is good.  The Tibet Fund deserves much better.

I encourage everyone to go and donate to them.    http://www.tibetfund.org/   The gentleman I spoke to assured me that their own site was still up and working, and as everyone knows, they need the donations.

1,148,000

I have, as I'm sure many others have, been watching the news of the current conflict in Egypt.  I have extremely mixed feelings about the subject.  And I'm certain many people will criticize these feelings and find me to be messed up, which is the usual reaction I get when this sort of situation comes up, but it is what always comes to mind whenever something like this does come up.

Since the riots in Egypt began, the death toll has climbed as high as 300 people.  This is terrible.  It is a horrible, unfortunate, ridiculously unnecessary loss.  Here comes the part where people think I'm sick.

Why is this reported on the news but we never hear about all of the deaths in Tibet?  There are enough of them.  The closest we have come in a long time to hearing anything on tv about Tibet was news of the most recent earthquake, and even then, they only mentioned "Chinese" casualties, nothing about Tibet.

Why?  Because unlike China, Egypt is not a superpower.  We do not buy the majority of our supplies from Egypt, or ship our businesses overseas to them.  And it is because of this dependance on China and fear of them and their immense power that the Tibetan people must continue to suffer.

But isn't it enough that they must suffer without the world hiding it?  While it is understandable that a country's government is unwilling to take a stand against another country that holds so much power, other people can still make a statement.  News is supposed to be unbiased.  Television news could still say what their governments cannot.  Or is that being controlled as well?  Or maybe they are just afraid, too.

What news there is can only be found on the internet, and it is thankfully incredibly informative.  For eleven years, I have been relying on the internet for information about Tibet, and the things I have seen and read are sickening.  Since the Chinese invasion in 1950, there have been 1,148,000 Tibetan deaths. 

People are thrown in jail for minor offenses such as peaceful protest.  A man was jailed once simply for posession of the Tibetan flag.  The undergo severe torture, such as beating with an electric baton, being burned with cigarettes, hung from the ceiling by their wrists and then beaten, raped (sometimes with the electric batons), set on by dogs, and more.  Yet none of this is mentioned on the news.

You can help.  Go to http://www.tibetnetwork.org/ or http://www.freetibet.org/, or http://www.savetibet.org/

Instruments of torture.

WARNING: BELOW CONTENT IS DISTURBING!

The result of an electric baton.

An 11 year study.

The first memory I have of any mention of Chinese occupied Tibet is from my freshman year of high school.  I was at rehearsal for a play I was in, and the theatre had a pile of pamphlets out.  They were about a concert given by a woman named Dadon Dawadolma, a Tibetan woman who had once had a prominant career in Asia, both China and Tibet.  Then her career became in danger due to the Chinese occupation and she fled to India, then to the United States.  At the time I discovered this pamphlet, she was giving a concert to promote the freedom movement for Tibet.  I was interested, and began searching for more information.

What I found shocked me.  The abuses that have been happening in Tibet since 1949 are vicious, and many go undocumented.

I have started this blog in the hopes that more people can learn of what is going on in Tibet.