If there is one thing that always impresses me deeply when I read the international news it is that free speech is a gift that Americans, really most of the west, take for granted. Today bbc.com ran a story, “China admits Tibet monk protests.” In the article there is talk about the Chinese “crack(ing) down on dissent” by means of tear gas. Now, I don’t know many Buddhist monks, but from what I hear they are not the most raucous guys out there. That they were forcibly deterred for the sake of unanimity amongst the Chinese in the province is embarrassing, especially since for all intents and purposes they were nonviolent. It makes me thank God that I live in a place where I can yell and scream all I want as long as I do not harm anyone and not expect retribution to be at my front door when I go home.
it’s good to be able to scream about whatever you want… wanna come down here and scream at some people for me? i could use the back-up at the moment… hope things are going well….