Dalai Lama - Chinese Take(opinion)

Dalai Lama should focus on Buddhism
By Shen Dingli (China Daily)

With his New Year message on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama once again proved his hostility toward his fellow Tibetans and his motherland.

As a long self-claimed Buddhist, the Dalai Lama should have focused on spreading Buddhist tenets and culture instead of showing an extreme interest in politics in an attempt to intervene in the country's political process under religious guise.

A few years ago, the Dalai Lama stopped playing any official role in the so-called Tibetan government in exile. That should have offered him a chance to be committed to Buddhism and make contributions for its development. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama has chosen otherwise.

In his message to his compatriots on the eve of the Tibetan New Year, the Dalai Lama once again demonstrated his lack of basic knowledge about the country's legal system as well as a lack of common sense that religion is separated from politics worldwide.

Given his religious background and identity, the Dalai Lama should be disqualified from talking about politics at any time.

In his message, the Dalai Lama claimed that the large-scale "peaceful protests" launched in Tibetan-inhabited regions last year caused hundreds of deaths. His remarks are a serious denial of facts.

It is true that organized unrests and violence did occur in Tibet and beyond, but they were only confined to a small part of Tibetan-populated areas, not the whole area as the Dalai Lama claimed.

Enough material and facts indicate that an overwhelming part of the Tibetan region enjoyed a peaceful, stable and tranquil environment last year. Even last March, when Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet autonomous region, experienced a bloody riot, the rest of the region still remained stable.

The Dalai Lama was also wrong when he used the phrase "peaceful protest". Available facts have indicated that participants in the violence chose to use sticks, clods, stones and swords not only against security forces, who always maintained self-restraint in trying to restore stability in the region, but also against civilians, including shop owners, tourists and passersby.

His remarks that "hundreds of Tibetans lost lives" also proved to be a sheer lie. To restore peace and stability, the local government maintained self-restraint from the beginning of the outbreak of the riot. Persuasive talks and warnings were used to deal with violence. In that round of violent clashes, a total of 18 civilians died, not hundreds as the Dalai Lama put it. And they were beaten or burned to death by the rioters. Obviously, there exists an ulterior intention behind his lie.

On Feb 11, the Dalai Lama claimed that "the situation in Tibet is very strained, and incidents might burst out". In his New Year message two weeks later, he demanded that Tibetans should not take any action in a hasty manner.

The change of tones are obviously aimed at creating and disseminating a tense atmosphere in Tibet in an attempt to tell more people it is time to rise up and riot. Such practices will unavoidably cause people to heavily doubt whether the so-called Tibetan spiritual leader wants a peaceful and stable or a turbulent Tibet.

The answer is absolutely clear to all.

In his New Year speech, the Dalai Lama also hoped Tibetans care and value life and avoid violence. However, there are also exposed motives behind his words. On one hand, he aims to encourage extremist Tibetans to use violence, and on the other hand prepare a pretext in advance to evade his own responsibility in case unexpected things happen.

Since Chinese people have dealt with the Dalai Lama for ages, we are quite capable of grasping his overtones. Despite staying overseas for a long period as a religious figure, the Dalai Lama has never stopped his intervention in the country's politics.

Thus, he is completely incapable, morally or physically, to confront with the irreversible current of the national unity. Being such a busy person flying around the world, the Dalai Lama should have contributed to disseminating the essence of Buddhism.

However, he has chosen to sacrifice self-dignity and succumb to other countries' attitudes by distorting facts and fermenting riots. All his motives are doomed to failure.

As a religious figure, the Dalai Lama should conform to the historical trend of the national unification and focus on Buddhist teachings. His choice of a religious career should not be distracted by other affairs.

If he really cares about the Tibetans just as he said, the Dalai Lama should abide by the country's laws and sincerely put himself under the leadership of the central government, and take real actions to be a good Chinese citizen.

The author is director of the Center for American Studies at the Shanghai-based Fudan University.

I am NOT going to get caught up in this long standing conflict. I will say though, "I like the Dalai Lama". However, this is where YOU need to use your "opyn mindz" and form your own conclusions.

Peace, Love, & Opyn Mindz,

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": Paul Harvey, Radio Legend Crosses Over Bobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": "Dead" Volcano Erupts Again

Anchorage & Tokyo Volcanoes

Asama volcano eruption 2004

Some Alaskans Nervous About Volcano

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Feb. 3) — Maree Shogren knows firsthand the toxic power of a volcano, so don't blame her for being a little freaked out about the expected eruption of Alaska's Mount Redoubt.

The Anchorage woman vividly recalls the 1992 eruption of Mount Spurr, how its ash got into her car's electrical system, destroying the vehicle. The volcano 80 miles to the west spewed a huge black cloud over Alaska's largest city. It turned the bright day into night, raining abrasive gray ash that blanketed everything in eerie silence. The fine, gritty layer covered the soles of Shogren's shoes.

"I thought it was kind of apocalyptic, like it was the end of the world," said Shogren, who nervously anticipates a similar experience from Redoubt, 100 miles southwest.

Geologists at the Alaska Volcano Center said Monday they would expect a smaller mess in Anchorage from Redoubt — and no worse an ashfall in smaller, closer communities — unless an eruption is larger than expected.

The volcano has shown no escalation of tremors for two days, exhibiting a "waxing and waning of activity," but scientists still believe an explosion is more a matter of when than if, according to geologist Tina Neal.

Seismicity remains far above normal and steam continues to rise from the mountain. There are other telltale signs noted in a weekend flyover, including the discharge of volcanic gas and a hole in a glacier that doubled in size since Friday, spanning the length of two football fields on the north side of the volcano.

Geologists are monitoring Redoubt round the clock.

"The volcano is still displaying quite a bit of restlessness," Neal said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction for a 10-mile radius around Redoubt, from ground level to 60,000 feet, said Mike Fergus, an agency spokesman.

The volcano last blew in 1990, piling ash as deep as one-fifth of an inch in closer communities, but only slightly darkening the snow in Anchorage.

Geologist Chris Waythomas said Anchorage was untouched by a 1989 explosion. But that eruption sent ash 150 miles away into the path of a KLM flight carrying 231 passengers, flaming out its four engines. Pilots ultimately restarted the engines and landed safely.

But even a small amount of ash goes a long way. The Spurr ashfall in Anchorage did a lot of damage to cars. Shogren sold her ruined car for spare parts and this time she has stocked up on air filters and a tarp for her current vehicle, as have many other residents of Alaska's southcentral region. She's also stocked up on face masks, bottled water and canned goods so she can hole up inside if necessary.

"I'm thinking that if Redoubt did blow, I would just take a cab everywhere I needed to go," she said. "I wouldn't want to risk my car again."

Cars are extremely vulnerable to ash, said Mike Feeney, a longtime Anchorage mechanic. The ash is like sandpaper and can scratch up car paint and windshields. It also works swiftly through air filters, so Feeney recommends placing pantyhose in front of the vehicle's air intake system.

In the Spurr eruption, Feeney's repair shop worked on a lot of cars damaged by ash.

"Cars were coming in running just bad, plugged up air filters," he said. "Some people even pulled the air filter out trying to get from point A to point B. Ash can be a slow death to some older cars, destroying the engine so it's not worth fixing."

Breathing in volcanic ash feels heavy on the lungs and throat, and it lingers for months in backyards and roads. It finds its way into homes and offices, so many people also plan to cover computers with plastic and block off doors and windows with wet, rolled up towels.

One pleasant surprise for many after Spurr was the fertilizing effect ash had on lawns and gardens all over town. Feeney liked it so much he bagged the stuff and used it each summer for almost a decade.

"The soil loves it," he said.

Tokyo Volcano Eruption

Instead of posting the story for this eruption, I will just post the link to the story so YOU can watch the fly over video. Japan has 108 volcanoes. Two have recently erupted.Volcano Spews Smoke, Rock Near Tokyo

I post these stories on "Global Peoplz Newz" because volcanic eruptions, major ones especially, have an effect on the global community. Not just the origin of eruption.

"Global Neighbors Tokyo & Anchorage",

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Witch" Dragon, Book of Shang