He fought in World War II, I think. After that, he was a chemist. Made stuff for Giant Chemical Co., Inc. Helped create the formula for Tylenol or something like that. They made tons of money off of my grandfather.

He flew planes in the war, I think.

]]> http://www.am-and-a.com/?feed=rss2&p=312 0 http://www.am-and-a.com/?p=36 http://www.am-and-a.com/?p=36#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:18:28 +0000 admin http://www.am-and-a.com/?p=36

Episode for Wallstrip
Aired 10/29/2007

The Dalai Lama and his “Dalai clique” will stop at nothing to hurt China’s image before the Olympics. China must fight them over there in Tibet so they don’t have to fight them on their own soil. The Dalai Lama is an evil separatist, a “wolf in monks’ robes,” and it’s time we all saw his true face. No one is safe from the Buddho-Fascist terrorists.

That’s China’s party line, anyway. As far as we can tell, the Tibetans were unhappy with the increasing majority of Chinese in their country. After China built a rail link into Tibet, the place was overrun with new settlers. Demand for commodities went up, followed by prices, and Tibetans were left without jobs or daily necessities. Only 1/3 of Tibet’s 400,000 residents are Tibetan.

On March 14th, after a series of peaceful protests in Tibet, a riot broke out. There are conflicting reports on how it started. Some say unarmed monks were intimidated and arrested, others say Tibetans were throwing stones at the Chinese. Either way, the protest turned into a violent riot, ending in 19 (China’s estimate) to 140 (Tibetan government-in-exile’s estimate) deaths.

The Dalai Lama quickly called for an end to the violence and urged the Chinese government not to use force. China responded by accusing the 14th Dalai Lama of master-minding the entire thing, and quickly gathered their forces.

The tanks and police arrived in Tibet in droves, going door-to-door to find the protesters. There are reports that paint these house visits as peaceful and others that describe severe violence. Either way, the Chinese government said yesterday that 660 protesters had surrendered to the authorities. Whether they were forced to surrender, no one knows. There still seems to be a heavy police presence in Tibet, despite the fact that there are no longer any protests…as far as we know.

It’s hard to know anything, really. The Chinese government had, until yesterday, completely shut out the press. On Wednesday, the Chinese government hand-picked around 26 journalists for a three-day government-supervised trip into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and site of the riots.

So the foreign press has responded the only way they know how: gather the facts they can, look at the history of an area, and make an educated guess. The Chinese government isn’t happy with that. They quickly blocked YouTube and the New York Times on the internet, and frequently cut CNN and BBC broadcasts when they mentioned the situation.

But the biggest thing at stake isn’t China’s reputation or the country’s constant block of information. Sure, China’s upset that the Olympics might become a reminder of the country’s human rights violations rather than a coming out party for the newest superpower on the block, but that probably would have happened anyway. No, the big issue here is Tibet.

It seems like they’re experiencing a generation gap. The Tibetan Youth Congress is unhappy. They’re pissed at China and not too wild about their god-king either. Unlike the Dalai Lama, who advocates an autonomous culture for Tibet, they want to live in a free country. And they’re willing to do anything it takes. The Dalai Lama seems to feel helpless. He even offered to resign if the violence continues. If that were to happen, who knows what would come next. A female Dalai Lama? A Chinese-selected reincarnation? A free Tibet? Or would we lose the country altogether?

This is the big threat here. There is discord in Tibet, and some of it is among Tibetans. The youth movement seems to have proved that it can make some noise. Is this a good thing? Or is this the biggest gift Tibetans could have given China?

Episode for MobLogic
Aired 12/12/2008.

Episode for Wallstrip
Aired 3/26/2008