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There is a good blog that gives an insider view of what’s going on in China around the Beijing Olympics over at Time. They posted the above picture of some Free Tibet protesters yesterday. Getty also has a large crew of editors and other folks out there getting everything ready for the ensuing chaos and posting some pre-event images that are worth a look here.

I also read that they have placed a ban on any ‘professional cameras’ for any audience members. This seems like a largely undefined category or do they mean SLR? Having noticed at the mermaid parade this summer that most people are now sporting a DSLR rather than a point and shoot, it seems that China will have to get more specific at the games. Here is their official statement… (thank god they clarified the grenade policy!)

And finally Bush says something intelligent in Thailand today, “America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents, human rights advocates and religious activists. We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly and labor rights — not to antagonize China’s leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential.”

And here is the trailer for a movie about Ed Burtynsky’s “Manufactured Landscapes” where they follow him through mainland China.

A nice surprise this morning to turn on the TV and have His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s chuckle radiate out before the screen had even fired up. I was on PBS, the default channel my Tivo seems to like and which normally provides local government policy reports rather than a Buddhist initiation in central park from 1999. He claims that ”I have nothing to offer, no special thing,” he said with a chuckle. ”Just some blah, blah, blah.”

My good friend Scott has a plan for some fund raising and positive action for Tibetan awareness during the Olympics in China. It’s exactly a month until the games begin. Please see after the break for his full email and details to get hold of him out in Dharamsala.

It will be interesting for me to see what comes of this posting for my spam comments. I recently got inundated by spam but it was all focused on my last Free Tibet posting. I set up a block via my wordpress account which slowed it down. I have read many stories about China deliberately spamming many Tibet sites to either slow them down or block them. I assume that I got caught under that umbrella and some interweb robot of doom has been pestering me ever since.

See next page for his email. Please help as little as it seems

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BBCnews posted this article today on the release of some Tibetans. Hopefully they are actual Tibetan prisoners who wer wrongly incarcerated, and this isn’t just a pre-olympic move to rally some support. China has certainly been known to pull sly tricks for some international recognition. the Olympic torch relay happens tomorrow in Lhasa (the capitol of Tibet). Lhasa was an amazing city when I visited in July 2000, it probably doesn’t resemble the new city at all. I hear that there is a greater influx of Han Chinese and the addition of many tall office type buildings has over run the city. It was certainly heading that way before and I am sure that Heinrich Harrer is rolling in his grave. I am sure that the torch relay will be tightly monitered and guarded.

While I think about it, here are some good links to news and such on Tibet.

Phayul.com - A news network specific to the Tibetan community in exile

DalaiLama.com - All the Dalai Lama content you could wish for

tibet.com - Official government in exile homepage

Yesterday we discussed whether just thinking about the issue of Tibet was enough. The people at the Centre for Non-Violence (Scott - do you know the website address?) were convinced that thought is a positive step towards the freedom of Tibet. I argued that much thinking had already been done, and that after nearly 60 years since the Chinese invasion, and nearly 50 years since H.H the Dalai Lama fled, thought is just not enough anymore. I would have to argue though, that the international coverage, and the international attention and ‘thought’ about the issue has been a big step since March 10 this year. Now we all have to turn thought into action. Here is the recent BBC News article on Tibet.

Of course, everyone reads the news paper differently. My friend Hunty would always read the Times of India backwards, starting at sports. I tend to skip through most of the national politics to the international section. Now that I am in a hotel with air conditioning and a TV, I have been jumping between CNN and BBC. Three stories caught my attention today and are influenced by the jobs I have had and where I am from.

My Wireimage and Tibetan interest led me to Sharon Stone’s comments this week at Amfar in Cannes. It seems that she thinks that due to the Chinese human rights violation in Tibet, she thinks that the eathquake in Chengdu is due to bad karma. I especially liked how she called H.H. the Dalai Lama a “very good friend.” The full story can be read here. To simplify how people feel about the situation in Tibet she is quoted as saying “I’m not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else.” If only a little kindness could solve all the worlds problems!

To show some interests a little closer to home and also with a more serious Getty slant, I have been following the Gujjar protests that now have seeped into New Delhi. I have missed any travel through the affected region, and hopefully will continue to do so. Interestingly, the Gujjars actually want to have their caste lowered so that they can have access to more government jobs. It seems that the Indian government offers certain amounts of these jobs to lower castes, and the Gujjars current status excludes them from those possibilities. The Times of India article adds some more details here.

Finally, as I have met a few Koreans this trip, and also know a few back in New York, I followed the US beef story in Korea. South Korea had banned US beef 5 years ago due to the export of some beef infected with ‘mad cow.’ The South Korean government has lifted the ban even though continued protests have been held. The BBC tells more here. What I enjoyed the most about this story, is that although the government has confirmed a lift of the ban sue to the safety of the meat, the Koreans continue protesting due to the safety of street food. The report on CCN said that in fact the peoples main concern was with the parts of the animal that Americans don’t eat that carry more of the disease. If Koreans would just stop eating the intestines, then a large part of the risk would disappear. As a solution to this, many road side vendors have turned to pig intestines instead. Having seen how many pigs in Asia sit at the base of toilets to eat human excrement, I can’t imagine that their intestines are much cleaner than a cows (especially as they never proven there to be any link between BSE and CJD).

… on a bus for 13 hours and then sit in a train station in 108 degrees heat to buy a ‘tourist quota’ ticket to sit on a train to Varanasi the following evening, I thought you should see where the Holiest Tibetan of them all sits. (Photograph taken at the Norbulingka temple inside His living quarters)

The final day of the Olympics was today and it was held at the stadium in upper TCV. The weather held out all day, and even caused a little sunburn, but all said and done, we had some winners today. First place received 1 Lakh rupees, second place won 50,000 rupees and third place won 25,000 rupees, in both mens and womens. It was a pretty close fight for ranking in the top 3, although there were certain athletes who seemed to be competing just for the fun of it. I was surprised with such a large cash prize, that there were not more participants. Here are the Gold, Silver and Bronze medalists.

My old friend Lobsang Wangyal has funded the entire event himself. He has received some donations, but is in desperate need for more. Please visit here for any small or large contribution you can make.

Men’s Champions: Dorji Tsering, First place, Dawa Dakpa, Second place, Tenzin Choephel, Third place

Women’s Champions: Tsering Lhamo, First place, Dhartso Kyi, Second place, and Dolkar Tso, Third place

More pictures of athletes competing in each event on page 2

And some atmosphere stuff from Olympics on Page 3 (Miss Tibet too!)

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Not a sport that Tibetan people are naturally good at, and in fact some of them had only learned to swim a few days before the event began. A few competitors in both mens and women sat the event out. It was a fun place and has actually allowed me to claim to have gone to “Funky Town,” Sidhpur. Here I am being a ‘funky’ white boy outside its main sign.

This is the opening group shot of all of the competitors lined up at the judging end of the pool. I especially like the balloons tied to ropes to create the lanes!

More Pictures posted after break

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Try doing this in your studio, or even on the side of a building!

Or build one of these things

Home of the Tibetan Oracle, located at the CTA

It was 10 years ago from May 17, 2008 that the Panchen Lama first went missing. He is thought to have been the worlds youngest political prisoner. As that wiki article explains, it is a disputed position between the Tibetans and the Chinese. To resolve the matter of dispute, the Tibetan elected reincarnation has disappeared. Another worrying side note of this story is the growing age of the 14th Dalai Lama (72), and the ongoing refusal of communication from the Chinese. H. H. the Dalai Lama has made many statements that could place his future reincarnation in any ‘free’ country around the world. Depending on his definition of ‘free’ I would bet that he doesn’t reincarnate as an Iraqi, Iranian, Chinese (at least not recognised by Tibetans) or Afghani. The odds are pretty good that he won’t reincarnate in Lichtenstein or Luxembourg based on pupulation, and I would even bet that he doesn’t come back as an Inuit, a Bedouin or a redneck! Although I am sure if he was asked he would say that all of this is possible.

There was a candle light vigil and march last night that ran around McLeod Ganj and ended in the Dalai Lama’s temple. There was the usual chanting and megaphone yelling in Tibetan, so I took some photos with my Mamiya 7 and then went for dinner at Pintu’s restaurant “Malabar.” I had the best Karahi Chicken I have had in a long time. Pintu took it upon himself to run up to the kitchen and knock it out himself. This is a dish I plan to master, and may even come home with a couple of Karahi’s myself. I have moved hotels, to a nice and quiet spot that overlooks the Kangra valley and the Dhauladhar mountains but is still in the center of McLeod Ganj. Ashoka is a traditional Tibetan guest house that burns the greatest natural incense every morning and has the best views. I am paying 350 Rupees a night. Which is a little more than planned, but only by a couple of dollars. Last night ended (as have all nights) with a quiet evening reading.

My book of the moment is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It is one of those great travel books, that covers some history of the country, and some cultural and social habits, but also tells a story that the fellow traveller/tourist can relate to and have an element of the Indiana Jones to it. I’m not sure I would recommend it to my New York friends (the movie is due to release with Johnny Depp in April 2009), but if you are heading out to India, pick up a copy. It is about the same size as a Lonely Planet though (about 940 pages long and 600 rupees)! I have also read on this trip Augusten Burroughs new book, “A Wolf at the Table.” Although not as entertaining or even as well written as his other books, I still enjoyed reading it and having all the stories of his father tie into his past memoirs. “Shantaram,” put an immediate halt to “The Denial of Death” by Ernest Becker, which was becoming a great read, although a little dense with thinking material for a vacation read. I will return to it, and plan on discussing some of its points on this blog. It has discussed some interesting ideas about our ways of dealing with life and death, that have related to my experiences traveling in India and even my reasons for coming East so much. Anyway, to discussed further….