gettin paid

i should be putting this down for an article for Antiwar.com or somebody else, but events move to fast and I enjoy the freedom of this blog. But hell, ninja needs to get paid.

Last night I was interviewd by KBOO in P-Town about the Tibet protests. I was caught a little off guard by the questions and so I was not able to say all of the wonderful insights I have gathered over the years and days. When the interviewer asked if I had anything to say, I was like ... naw .. a little shook and I didn't want to mess anything up further with more random statements.

I was asked about Western nations advocating boycotts, which I haven't read anywhere. Mentioning them yes, advocating them no. I read a blog entry that suggested using yellow armbands and scarfs in the Opening ceremony to send a message of solidarity with struggles worldwide. What has a greater impact? A black fist in the sky atop the golden podium, or the grumbling of the nation that didn't come to play?

I was asked about the Dalai Lama declaring to step down. This is also news to me and actually, I don't have to look to hard to know its utter nonsense that he is considering stepping down. The interviewer was probably referring to the DL's declaration that he can reincarnate anywhere he wants. This is a very important political and spiritual statement. Normally, the monasteries get together and through arcane methods divine the whereabouts of the next DL. Usually in Tibet proper. Given the Chinese stranglehold on the Himalayas and willingness to brazenly corrupt the selection process, the DL's statement secures his successor a place to grow.

I was also asked about the possibility for sustained protests in Tibet and China. I said impossible, given the wrath of the army, police and populace. Imagine a popular uprising by the KKK in the south. How long would they be able to sustain it these days? Such is the image of the DL and his followers in the minds of Chinese.

Nancy Pelosi gave the Tibetan movement a boost and probably scared the shit out of Beijing with her visit to Dharamsala. That visit was planned before, but lord did it come at the right time. Makes one wonder what was planned and what wasn't ...

Here in China, the media have been taking advantage of years and years of brainwashing in the school system to ratchet up the anger against Tibet and also Taiwan. There were threats of war if Taiwan did anything, declarations of international support for the suppression of criminal Tibetan rioters and various stories detailing the burning and pillaging of innocents by the rampaging rioters. What is truth?

A billion plus people believe what Xinhua and the China Daily tells them ... I suppose in a metaphysical sense there is no real argument for the truth of either side -- ours or theirs.

Ours or theirs ...

Bill Richardson will endorse Obama in the next few days and it seems as if the collective breath we all held in while the storm of race broke over the campaign is being slowly let out. It was the Battle of the Bulge for Clinton ... and the cavalry held the flanks.

The jazz band just packed up and I am gonna end this and head to a safe house to get some R&R.

Peace.