Tibetian Revolt & Olympic torch relay discussion thread

[Niphz]

I hope not.
Gordon Brown is doing quite well, now. I mean, he's been tragically unlucky, but I think he's held his own, and I trust him. I'm not sure about the leader of the opposition right now, he's almost exactly like Blair was when he was younger.. -__-"

 

[cold_blooded_chick]

But he might not turn out like Blair did. Blair held a lot of promise, and I think all the stuff that's happened has forced him to do some stuff he probably wouldn't have done had times been more...peaceful.  

[Niphz]

Blair has a sort of sly thirst for power and a penchant for hushing things up that Gordon doesn't. That's why he leaned towards the Americans so much, I think. Gordon.. is a proper grassroots-up Labour bloke, and (hopefully) will be more concerned with protecting Labour values, which aren't bad, really. xD

 

[cold_blooded_chick]

Alright, well I can't say much for Blair's personality or ambition, since I know next to nothing. At the risk of sound corny, only time will tell how Gordon Brown will handle Britain in the future.  

[Niphz]

Indeed, indeed. -sage nod-

 

[Minielf]

Niphz

Yeah, the "West" should bloody well enjoy it while they can, instead of bitching about it day and night. >__>;;

Also the guys in power in Australia seem to be more sensible than the outgoing Howard faction, right? They probably don't want to ruin that image, especially with so many Chinese people in Australia.. the US gov't just doesn't give a damn about its Asian citizens, is all.

Well, Rudd 07 (As I like to call him) has been called a 'Mandarin Prime Minister', given that he knows how to speak perfect Mandarin and was once an ambassdor to China. So it's a given that he and the public are going to have a very close relationship with China. But in general we Australians aren't as stupid or blindly ignorant as Americans are. We can smell government propoganda and media lies a mile away. One of the reasons Howard was voted out was because the public became sick and tired of the outright lies the previous government told the media, like Tampa, children overboard, Iraq wheat scandal etc. We have also become very politically correct and activitist in the months since Rudd became PM, but not in the 'Hate certain country for the sake of it' fashion that Americans do. We ratified Kyoto, said sorry to our poor Aborigines, participated in Earth Hour, and are saving water like mad.  

[cold_blooded_chick]

xd

The svaing water just reminds me of something Rove said on Sunday. He made a pie chart of what people did during earth hour, and one of them was "washed the car".  

[Niphz]

Niph = epic fail 'cause she totally forgot about Earth Hour xDD

@'elfy - Well, I certainly hope that is the case. (:

 

[Niphz]

Kitty & the FB group in the news <3

 

[cold_blooded_chick]

I can only imagine the sort of antagonism they'll receive form would-be "freedom-fighter" teens on FB. neutral  

[Niphz]

CBC should joiiiin us... actually, can I add you on Facebook? If so PM me your real name? O:

ALSO - WHO VOTED "YES" ON THE POLL?! stare ;;

 

[Darkaznstargoddess]

I thought you guys/girls might want to see this...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24965770316


And by the way good job Cat. rofl

Hm.. Slow news day eh?  

[Niphz]

@DASG - What utter.. ugh. For goodness' sake, there are practically no Chinese people at all in that group, or Tibetans. xP

 

[Legendary_ONE]

What those "Free Tibet" people have chose to ignore was the fact that Tibet is a huge Province, not just some temples with a bunch of round jerking monks inside.

The majority of the Tibet population consists of the average working class people (NOT monks), and those people rely on the Central Government for infrastructure, health care, and eduction. Apparently, Tibet is the only province in China that doesn't have to pay annual tax to the Central Government; instead, the Chinese government spends 400 million yuan (50 million USD) per year on Tibet, to help maintain and build more infrastructure, better the education, improve health care, pay the living expense of the monks (who contributes nothing back to the society by the way), and maintain those monks' temples.

If Tibet goes independent, who's gonna take care of the infrastructure, the health care, the education system and the working class people? Is it gonna be the round jerking monks? Or the Dalai Lama, who doesn't even have any real control over his own "government in exile"?

Get real. stare

Interesting enough, the Western Media's false (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSQnK5FcKas) and biased (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHPZPDeDuXg) reports, combined with the act of making Olympics an political event (instead of a purely sports one), has officially marked the complete collapse of the "Free World" image of Western countries.

I found an interesting Chinese article regarding this fascinating change of attitude among Chinese people (note, people, not government): from the pro-West demonstrations back in 1988~89, to the anti-West rallies at the very present. For those of you who are interested how the change has occurred over time, here it is:

Quote:

回顾西方形象30年来的逐渐垮掉

读了那么多西方著作，常常感叹：西方世界集中了全世界最优秀的人才，最完善的体制，最充沛的资金，产生了那么多一流的自然科学家和社会学家，但是就是没产生过伟大的政治家。这么多年看了那么多书，但是即使在最深刻的西方社会学著作中，也总能看到某些论点令人难以置信的幼稚——就像吃饭吃到了死苍蝇一样，替他们感到难过。

　　似乎整个西方世界自从希腊之后政治学就陷入了停滞，就没出过伟大的政治思想家。可能是被基督教搞坏了脑子，动不动“逻辑”、“哲学”忽悠人，他们似乎就没有想过：世界的运转自有其“道”，也许不一定要符合形式逻辑。结果就是，西方人看东西一是近视，考虑问题最多考虑十年，总缺乏战略眼光；二是狭隘，总是就事论事，只见树木不见森林，没有一点全局观念。可见宗教这个东西就是害人。

　　看看今天西方世界的口碑沦落成这个样子，我都替他们感到惋惜 ——曾经，我们是多么崇拜他们的啊。二、三十年前，也就是八十年代初，“美国”是个什么概念？那就是真理，就是人间天堂，就是另一种形式的共产主义。当时的西方形象好到什么地步呢，记性好点的同志可能都记得年轻时彻夜偷听美国之音的感觉吧，可还记得心中那时对美国的向往？这种崇拜在整个八十年代，弥漫了中国社会的每个角落，从中央政治局到街头老太婆，“美国”就是每个人心目中的国家范本。“全盘西化”，你还记得这个词吗？最初，这个词可是中央提出来的！虽然后来又羞答答地收回这个口号，并且很快变成了批判口号，但理由不是不要全盘，而是“经济基础决定上层建筑”，暂时还不能“全盘”，只能“两手都要硬”，一步一步学，慢慢靠拢。这种民间崇拜和官方的遮遮掩掩在88+1那年发展到了高潮，俄国人在红场上打出了沙皇俄国的国旗，而我们的大学生在广场上竖立的是一个泡沫做成的“自由女神”。

　　很快，一切成了过往，从海外传出的消息令人震惊，原来那些“88+1精英”在国外，拿着津贴就干那些事情。我清楚地记得在“保密”同志（就是这次写几点声明的王力雄）所著的《黄祸》首页，某学运大佬以无限悲天悯人和无比心理优越的口吻写道“科学研究表明……中国人的脑容量比白人少xx毫升，所以是无法实现民主的……”，我不知道你会怎么想，但是在我的心里，后悔和后怕的情绪开始蔓延，第一次，我开始想：“还好，当初没让你们上台”。

　　接着，中美纺织品贸易战打响了，不到三年时间，我所在城市20万纺织工人（城市人口的一半）下岗了，我邻居的一对小夫妻，每天下班后去菜场捡别人丢弃的菜叶过活，辛辛苦苦抚养一个女儿。你以为这样会增加中国普通民众对美国的感情吗？也许吧，但我想不会是爱。再接着，96年到了。台海，一直是海峡两岸大多数中国人心中的痛，但在那一年，这个伤口被外人又狠狠捅了一刀。还记得九十年代初政治化的歌吗《中国中国一定强》，在那时的台湾，这可是台湾民众的主流声音啊！一夜之间，一切都变了。两岸，原本是个地理概念，顶多存在两党利益的分歧，可是从这一刻起，海峡变成了国家认同和民族认同的鸿沟，也许永远无法弥合。

　　然后，大使馆事件终于让更多的人开始清醒。10年前，无数大学生涌向广场，勇敢的人用身体站在坦克车的面前（值得一提的是，我看了那段视频的后半段——和学运分子的描述不一样，坦克停了）。但在10年后的1999年，愤怒的学生涌向最近的西方驻华机构。在武汉，大学集中在武昌区，唯一的西方机构是汉口的法国领事馆。大多数学生从下午7点出发，步行至次日上午7点才能到达。一路上，我看到无数女生因出发匆忙，没来得及换下高跟鞋，就将鞋子拎在手里，赤脚踩着滚烫的沥青路面，横穿大半个武汉。而在四川，学生干脆烧掉了美国驻成都领事馆，当期《电脑报》的“小生手记”幸灾乐祸地写道，“哦，见鬼，那里原本是个垃圾填埋场，我们看来是用了过期的地图”（老实说，我一直疑心这厮当时就在现场煽风点火）。顺便说一句，当时网络还是个新鲜玩意儿，管制也不是很严，连《人民日报》都搞了一个“抗议论坛”（不删贴的，真的不删贴，因为那时压根就没网管，连 “网管”这个词都没创造出来）。几天后，据说是某某大佬指示：光抗议是不够的，不如多想想怎么使国家富强，于是，论坛改名“强国论坛”。

　　转眼，又是十年，西藏，又是西藏。对很多人来说，这次，是新帐旧账一起算，而且是连本带利的一起算。第一次，我们知道CNN居然也搞“周老虎”；第一次，我们知道国外也有网管，也删贴，也封ID；第一次，我们认识到某些东西与“自由”、“民主”无关；第一次，我们知道：在讲究人人平等的西方人眼里，他们是 “更平等”的动物，可以居高临下看我们。

　　但是，对很多人来说，这恐怕也是最后一次：最后一次，我们，中国人，作为一个国家，一个整体，一个民族，真正在意西方的声音，为西方的观点感到愤怒、感到激动——就如同很多年前，我们很多人最后一次看CCTV，为某些声音感到愤怒、感到激动一样。

　　再见，西方世界，感谢你们的弱智，你们本来可以有一个最忠诚的盟友。但是，你们用30年来持之以恒的行动表明：你们更愿意帮助一个敌人成长！

 

[cold_blooded_chick]

Niphz

CBC should joiiiin us... actually, can I add you on Facebook? If so PM me your real name? O:

ALSO - WHO VOTED "YES" ON THE POLL?! stare ;;

I don't have a FB, or any blog-like thing on the internet. neutral