Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion

Excellent Documentary

I just justified my cable bill again by watching the excellent documentary Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion on the Documentary Channel.

 

You Are Supporting Evil

This blog was written, and is probably being read, on a computer that helps finance the Chinese army that pays for the occupation of Tibet. Unless, that is, you own a partially American made computer in which case the tax revenue from any profit is financing Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Goodness you are evil.

 

"Free" Tibet

After watching Tibet: Cry of the the Snow Lion, it is very hard not to feel enormous empathy for the Tibetans who, at the very least, as a people, have lost control over their own destiny. As individual, most of the 6 million residents of that region didn't have that much power before the Chinese invasion, as Tibet was not a democracy, by any stretch of the imagination. And nothing would lead us to believe that it would become one, if it were somehow "liberated' from Chinese control.

 

Do As We Say, Not As We Do

More pointedly, as you look down on the Chinese and their obvious mistreatment of the Tibetans power class (and perhaps all Tibetans), you have to wonder about the North American treatment of Aboriginals. In all three countries that form the great continent of North America (Mexico, the USA and Canada), Aboriginals are at a significant disadvantage economically, politically, religiously and culturally.

 

Aboriginals are North America's Tibetans

As a percentage, there are way more Aboriginals in Canada than Tibetans (4% vs 0.5%). And yet the land "reserved" for aboriginals in North America is significantly smaller than the gigantic chunk of China that is Tibet. Of course, the comparison fails mainly because North American Aboriginals (aka Indians) are not a homogeneous group. They have many different languages, customs and religious beliefs.

 

Cultural Genocide

And yet Canada has two "official" languages, both European. Native Inuktitut speaking residents of Canada's northern territory Nunavut have to vote, and go to school, in their second language, be it French or English.

 

In recent years, two foreign born Canadians were named Governor General. Never has an Aboriginal held that honor. Canadians are fearful of even giving symbolic power to an Aboriginal.

 

I('m) Like Lisa Simpson

Some of us would like to listen to our inner Lisa Simpson and support the Free Tibet Movement , unfortunately, noticing the sacrifices we'd have to make to correct our collective mistreatment of Aboriginals (ie, make reservations larger), we tend to listen to the overbearing presence of our inner Homer Simpson.

 

Me, Me, Me

Screw Tibet and screw the Palestinians, I just bough an Ipod Touch (Apple's Ipod Touch is made in China and the company is quite profitable and therefor pays a lot of US taxes (The American government gives billions in military aid to Israel , yearly)).

 

Not Being Evil is Hard Work and I'm Generally Quite Lazy

Let me know if you know of any Aboriginal made computers/hand held media devices.

 

-Communist Assimilation and Sex ;

-China: Ethnic games tainted by cross-dressing cheats

 

Canada's dubious treatment of Aboriginals:

 

Within the justice system, there are untold numbers of stories of unlawful arrest, police violence, abuse, shootings and false convictions of Aboriginal people. In Saskatchewan, allegations that the Saskatoon police forcibly abandoned Aboriginal men on the outskirts of town in freezing weather, in what is referred to as "starlight tours," led to the establishment in 2002 of a provincial commission of inquiry on Aboriginal people and the justice system. Similar commissions have been held in Manitoba and New Brunswick. Canada's mistreatment of Aboriginal people in the justice system and by police authorities is routinely cited in the annual reports of groups like Amnesty International, and has prompted investigative visits by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights.

 

-THE REMOVAL OF ABORIGINALCHILDREN: CANADA ANDAUSTRALIA COMPARED

this assimilation process revolved around a policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families to be raised in institutions in order to facilitate their assimilation into white ways.

 

BBC (1998):

 In Canada, the federal government has offered a formal expression of regret together with an assistance package worth US$245 million for native aboriginals who suffered physical and sexual abuse widespread in residential schools that operated across the country until the 1970s .

 

Tonawanda:

The Big Tree Treaty of 1797 opened the lands west of the Genesee River and allotted
200,000 acres of land for reservations, Tonawanda being 45,509 of those acres. By 1856
the Tonawanda lands had been reduced to 7,547 acres.

Listen to your iner Lisa:

 

-Put Tibet On The World Agenda

- 6 Tibetans Detained in China For Appealling Against Relocation of Trading Stalls

-A Taste of Things to Come

-Lhadon and Tendor Visit Madison

 

Or not:

- Free Tibet (So That Someone Else Can Exploit It)

-Free Tibet….. From whom?

 

Posts about the documentary Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion:

-Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion

20 août 2007 par Pema   Cry of the Snow Lion is a dramatic documentary that takes viewers through the astonishing recent political history of the country. Filmed during nine remarkable journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal. Spending over ten years making ...

 

-Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion

11 juil 2007 par China Documentaries   Ten years in the making, this award-winning feature-length documentary was filmed during nine journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal. Cry of the Snow Lion brings audiences to the long-forbidden "rooftop of the world" with an ...

 

-CENSORED!

 

-The Beginning

20 juin 2007 par Joseph's Blog   The history of Tibet has been documented in many places. If you'd like to see a film that captures the situation I recommend to you Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion. It isn't an easy documentary to watch, but it is a very powerful one. ...

 

-Torture in Tibet

6 juin 2007 par The maiden   And what this means is that the American consumer is helping to fund torture in Tibet. Think of this the next time you go shopping. ______. -A couple of good video resources:. Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion. Voices in Exile ...