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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Manipulating Tibet
By Antonio C. Abaya Written on April 21, 2008 For the Standard Today, April 22, issue In my article, Free Tibet�later of April 07, 2008, I had expressed my reservations that the Tibet brouhaha was being deliberately manipulated by a public relations outfit in New York or London or Paris, with the sole purpose of embarrassing the Chinese on their coming-out party that is this summer�s Beijing Olympic Games And the reason for my misgivings is the curious fact that right next to Tibet is the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, which is populated by Muslim Uyghurs, who have been struggling for independence from the Han Chinese as long as the Tibetans have, who have even exploded several bombs to express their anger and frustration�.but no one pays any attention to them. Why not? Obviously because they have no high-powered PR firm coordinating their moves, no Richard Gere or Mia Farrow to give their struggle a Hollywood cachet that would appeal to Western liberals. But most of all, because the Tibetans are Buddhists who are seen as docile and pacifist and are therefore easier to generate sympathy for among Western liberals who are looking for an excuse to bash the Chinese. The Uyghurs, on the other hand, are Muslims, whom Western liberals are not only not sympathetic to, but are downright hostile to, because of Muslims� medieval attitudes towards women and their theocratic notions of the state. That article drew some interesting reactions. A reader in California forwarded to me an article written by a Canadian journalist reporting from Lhasa and Berlin. The Canadian journalist says that preparations for the Tibet brouhaha were first made in March 2005. This resulted in the International Tibet Support Group Conference on May 11-14 2007 in Brussels, Belgium, organized by a German foundation, the Frederick Naumann Stiftung, with the participation of Paula Dobriansky, undersecretary in the US Department of State, and a ranking member of the neo-conservative inner circle in the Bush administration. That conference was attended by more than 300 participants from 56 countries, 36 Tibetan associations and 145 Tibet support groups. There was no comparable conference on Xinjiang. No wonder there have been no crocodile tears for the Muslim Uyghurs, and no one tried to grab the Olympic torch in London or Paris to embarrass the Chinese on their behalf. Also forwarded to me was a lengthy article Tibet: Myth and Reality, by Foster Stockwell, which summarizes Tibetan history, including the incorporation of Tibet into China as early as 1239 when the Mongols of Genghis and Kublai Khan started to create the Yuan Dynasty, and the growth of a feudal theocracy in Tibet over the centuries. When the People�s Liberation Army entered Lhasa in October 1951, one of their goals was to dismantle this feudal theocracy in which monks had become the biggest landlords and owned the most serfs. Much of this information can be found in Wikipedia. This article was reprinted in full under Reactions to �Free Tibet�later� (which can be accessed in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com.) A reader in Hong Kong forwarded it to a �China and Tibet expert�, also resident in Hong Kong, who pronounced the article �accurate as far as it goes� but �is generally worthless� because of its �having a pro-China� patina.� But since he/she declined to give his/her name, we are not running it. So, according to the standards of this academic, an article on Tibet must have an anti-China patina to have any worth, even if it is factually accurate. My, my, how academe has been prostituted to geopolitics. Writing in Truthout/Perspective, J. Sri Raman narrates how the US Department of State, under Dean Acheson, as well as the CIA, had involved themselves in Tibetan affairs as early as 1951, as a lever against the newly triumphant Mao regime in Beijing. Raman also quotes Michael Parenti, whom he describes as a leftist, who wrote in Friendly Feudalism: A Tibetan Myth, that �until 1969, when the Dalai Lama last presided over Tibet, most of the arable land was still organized into manorial estates worked by serfs. These estates were owned by two social groups, the rich secular landlords and the rich theocratic lamas (or monks). �The Drepung monastery was one of the biggest landowners in the world, with its 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures and 18,000 herdsmen. The wealth of the monasteries rested in the hands of small numbers of high-ranking lamas or monks. Most ordinary monks lived modestly and had no direct access to great wealth. The Dalai Lama himself lived in the 1,000-room, 14-story Potala Palace��. Perhaps Richard Gere and Mia Farrow should be reincarnated as Tibetan serfs working in one the monks� manorial estates and subsisting on rancid yak butter. ***** NOTE: My website at www.tapatt.org was restored yesterday morning, April 20, after a 48-hour embargo by person or persons unknown and for unknown reasons. But my email address [email protected] has remained disabled from sending or receiving emails for the past four days. Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com.. To subscribe, send a blank email with the subject heading Subscribe. To unsubscribe, send a blank email with the subject heading Unsubscribe. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to "Manipulating Tibet" Reactions to "Free Tibet�later" Reactions to "Too Many People" Reactions to "Let Them Eat Bio-fuels" Reactions to "I'm Being Gagged" More Reactions to "Jesus' Lost Tomb" Dear Antonio Abaya, I hope this email finds you happy and well. I read your article entitled "Manipulating Tibet" on the website of Manila Standard Today and it is very encouraging to see that people are finally speaking out about the issue. We've been kind of disheartened by the ignorance that exists when it comes to Tibetan Buddhism and the abusive history of its theocracy, so much so that we've put a copy of Michael Parenti's article on our own website and we're a non-sectarian Buddhist organization. BTW, don't be bothered by the statement of having a "pro-China patina" --- several years ago, in regard to Tibetan Buddhism, I stated that there can be no practice of the Dharma without the practice of virtue --- after that they tried to claim that I was "pro-Theravada/anti-Tibetan", not the silliest thing I've ever heard in my life, but it just goes to show that the mentality of a lot of peace is "you're either with me or against me". It's just said when that kind of behavior comes out of Buddhism. Anyway, if you write future article from publication, please feel free to also submit your material to us as well --- we are always looking for quality articles, especially ones that are grounded in critical thought. You can visit our website here: http://www.mahabodhi.net Also, if I have an editorial that I wrote on the main page, feel free to republish it if you wish to --- it's in regard to the pro-Tibetan camp fabricating stories. With metta and warm regards, Ven. J.M. Dharmakara Boda, (by email), April 22, 2008 Mahabodhi Maitri Mandala in America Los Angeles, California wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, FYI: the CIA has historically been the baton-master of the Free Tibet Movement. Too bad old hippies like Richard Gere and Mia Farrow fail to appreciate the larger geopolitical and strategic issues involved in the Tibet question. Too bad as well that Buddhism has been the preferred New Age alternative religion of the well-fed white Westerners. They thus tend to idealize, nay, romanticize, the Tibet issue from the safe distance of their bourgeois existence. Anyway, I think it is important to know certain facts to be able to have a broader view of the problem. In the late 1950s to early 1960s, under Operation "CIRCUS" the CIA organized a Tibetan army. They shipped hundreds of Tibetans in Colorado USA to be trained as a guerilla army, later called the 'Chusi Gangdruk'. The handlers of the young Dalai Lama were really neck-deep in the operation, naturally since they found themselves flushed out by the Chinese. The overall case officer for the Tibetan activity was Roger McCarthy. Another central figure in the Tibetan story was the late Tony Poe, real name Anthony Poshepny, who would later head the US secret war in Laos. Poshepny was a revered figure in the CIA as an over-the-top paramilitary Rambo of sort. He organized the escape of the young Dalai Lama in Tibet in 1959. Remember Colonel Kurtz in the movie Apocalypse Now played by Brando? He is the basis of that character. The Tibetan guerilla numbering a couple of thousands was clandestinely stationed in Nepal until the Chinese pressured the Nepalese to drop being a host. Infuriated by the transgression of the Nepalese monarchy, China then organized a Maoist party and army as a payback. We all know how it turned out in the case of Nepal. To make the long story short, the CIA has been part either directly and indirectly in the eruption of revolt in Tibet for the last 40 years, especially in the 1960s and 1980s. We can speculate as to the objective. Perhaps, this US-backed protest can be used to pressure Beijing. to drop its support of Pyongyang or Tehran, or maybe both. The protest could also spark other protest actions in other regions like Xinjiang and other communities in Northwestern part of China. Since it is the political stability of Beijing that is the source of its economic progress, destabilizing China can be a strategy to weaken a potential rival of the US in the long term. Having said that, China can never be a hyper-hegemon in the same sense as the US because of the fragmentary-ness of its society held together by the communist party. For how long? That is the billion dollar question. An avid reader, Ibn Khaldun, (by email), April 22, 2008 Former NICA officer wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reactions to "Free Tibet�later" (April 08, 2008) This is the letter from my friend, Li-nien Li which I wrote you about in my previous email. Cayo Marschner, (by email), Moraga, CA, April 08, 2008 http://www.anti-cnn.com/ My Thoughts on Tibet Several of my American friends had asked me about Tibet, and I thought perhaps more people might have the same questions, so, I decided to write down my answer and share with anyone who cares to read it. Yes, Tibet is a part of China, historically and presently. Yes, there were some problems of unrest in the region in the early days of the Communist Chinese rule (in the 1950's) and during the time of the Cultural Revolution (in the 1960's), but Tibet has since enjoyed many decades of peace and continuing progress. The Chinese government has consistently lent enormous assistance to building the economy of this remote region, dramatically raising the level of education and living standards of its people. It has never oppressed the practice of religion. To the contrary, it has poured millions of dollars into preserving the temples in Lhasa, which are regarded as national treasures. China has historically embraced differences among its minority ethnic groups and valued the richness that each group brings to the collective culture. It is true that many minority groups live in remote areas at a lower level of living standard than those who live in the central and coastal regions of China, but that is gradually changing towards the better. The areas are being developed systematically. Roads and railroads are being built to integrate the region with the rest of the country. The autonomous regions in China are not reservations where the minority groups are kept, even though many elect to stay where they are as their ancestors have done for hundreds and thousands of years. Many young people today choose to leave home to seek opportunities elsewhere, and they are encouraged to do so. Affirmative action policies are in place to help the Tibetan youngsters to get into good schools outside of Tibet. I have friends who recently traveled to Tibet from the States, and they had ample opportunities there not only to observe but also to converse with the ordinary Tibetans. People were pleased with their improved situations, grateful really, for the excellent progress evident in all areas of life in Tibet, which the government had made possible. No, China will never give up a part of its territory, just as the United States or any other nation in the world will not. Whatever problem there may be in Tibet, it is a domestic matter to be resolved from within. The closest parallel in American history (Of course not quite, but it will have to do by way of demonstration) that comes to mind is the Civil War (1861-1865). As we are all aware, the Northern States and the Southern States had their fundamental differences over economics, the slavery question, the tariff, party politics, regionalism/expansionism, social system, state rights, minority rights and even religion (due to different interpretations of the Bible about slavery). In short, the differences between the two sides were so great that a "Southern" culture existed clearly distinguishable from the "Northern" one. The conflict finally came to a head at the end of 1860 and the Southern States declared independence from the Union during the first months of 1861. When the South seceded, did the government of the Union say: OK, you want independence, let us grant you independence and wish you all the best and we would be friendly neighbors from this time forward? CERTAINLY NOT. Some four years of gruesome combating and 600,000 dead men later, the Southern States were crushed and the Union was preserved. Was "human rights" ever an issue then? NO. Was the U.S. government forced to deal with interferences from without, besides having to deal with the "domestic" problem at hand? NO. If there had been foreign powers at the time taking the side of the Confederates and had succeeded in pressuring the U.S. Government to allow the Southern States, which COLLECTIVELY (i.e. not just involving a small special interest group as in the case of Tibet in China) wished to break away from the Union, to get what they thought they had the right to do (self-rule), what would have become of the United States as a nation? It is easy to point moral fingers when a problem occurs in someone else's backyard. But, let's say, some special interest group in California decides one day to promote the cause of independence for the Golden State and gain political power and control for themselves. After all, California does have a different culture...well, sort of; it always has a mind, a pace and timing of its own, and it surely can do quite well economically all by itself, thank you very much. One huge benefit immediately comes to mind: we would be free of the astronomical national debt. Wow, what a load off our shoulders that would be! Let's instigate some riots, claim our rights to self-rule for the entire world to see. Maybe some countries will support our cause by asserting that morality is on our side -- yes, we are certainly due human rights. Some government may wish to sell us weapons in case we are dumb enough to want to fight the Union to the bitter end; it can't hurt the economy if someone would just buy the darn goods. Some will give us donations so that we have the funds to buy them weapons. Some may even decide to give us the weapons for free because we may be dumb enough to want to use them, since they don't cost us anything, to stir up enough trouble at home that some good may come for the weapons-supplier in some way. The possibilities and potentials are simply endless. I wonder what the U.S. Government's response and that of the Americans would be then. I am sorry for being sarcastic, and emotional as well, but I am really sick and tired of the tone of moral superiority from members of a government who has done more than its share of meddling in the affairs of other countries, condemning this and that when all the while it has done the same things at one time or another, and then some. Now, let's go back to the Tibet situation. It is a government's responsibility to keep order and protect its citizens from harm. When there was civil disobedience caused by a small segment of the Tibetans against the Hans and the Muslims, the Chinese government must respond. And, as it is in any situation that has gone out of hand, it is oftentimes necessary to use force in order to restore order. Just look at the footage of the U.S. police force attempting to control racial riots in Detroit or Los Angeles, or even some demonstrations that went awry. Yes, it could get ugly, but yes, it had to be done, and someone had to do it. We all need to learn not to judge too quickly, especially of something that we have neither sufficient knowledge nor understanding. You have probably guessed by now: I am in support of China. I hope it will effectively contain the civil disobedience caused by a very small special-interest group of Tibetans, whose political ambitions have been for decades encouraged and supported by certain elements in the West in the hope of causing trouble for China. I want the "blackmail" situation taken care of so that we can all go back to the excited anticipation of the painstakingly planned, supposedly non-political and goodwill-to-all Olympic games of 2008. I hope this will help shed some light on the Tibet situation. Li-nien wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reactions to "Too Many People" (April 17, 2008) Thank you for expounding on a crisis that many of us are not paying attention to. There is a worldwide shortage of basic staples such as rice, corn and wheat, and every single person in this planet is affected. We must curb our appetite for land upon which to build more shopping malls and golf courses. The acreage available for planting is shrinking fast. Thomas Robert Malthus' theory has come to roost. Cheers! Noel Verzosa, (by email), Las Vegas, Nevada, April 23, 2008 P.S. "Stop the World - I Want to Get Off" was a musical. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Good morning Tony, hope you're quite well and fine with your family, in spite of the so called food crisis that we have now. As I travel to Manila, and go to malls, groceries, and tiangges,Ii seem not to notice any food crisis in our country. The only things I notice are increased in prices of groceries, and food. For the elite groups, the middleclass, and some of the working class in the blue collar category, the higher food prices are nothing to them as they are used to such high prices. The same with our lawmakers, cabinet members, the media people, and many businessmen, such high prices are nothing to them. The price crounch indeed only affects the low income group and retirees like me who have to utilize every centavo to keep our body and soul together. I am not an expert on doing good to my fellowmen, our media and lawmakers are. Perhaps if you have seen the HBO movie of Al Gore entitled The INCONVENIENT TRUTH, last night, you will realize the importance of good legislation, and good media dissemination. This movie is about GLOBAL WARNING, and its consequences which the World is now experiencing.. droughts, heat waves, tsunamis, strong typhoons and earthquakes, and climate change, which eventually reduce food production. Hope you can watch this movie and write something about it for our legislators and fellowmen. Anyway, as i have said, sometime ago, i perceived that rice prices have gone up because of hoarders, and dishonest NFA people who make php80.00/sack add-ons to traders or retailers. Investigations and audit should be made on the NFA to weed out these economic saboteurs. Good luck and more power to you. Avelino Lagman, Jr., (by email), April 23, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, It looks like the Planet Earth is too small for the growing population to be fed. Sorry, but many of these bright people do not really know and understand what creation and procreation is all about. Let those countries adopt population control on their own people, but they should not persuade other countries to follow them. Today, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Canada are having senior citizens and very few youth to replace them. So Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Indonesians will soon populate their country, and that is what they are scared about. The Philippines have been colonized by the Spaniards, Japanese and Americans with their sword, cross, guns, battleships, dollars, yen and the Chinese silently are taking over our trade and industry including our women. What do Filipinos have except themselves. Today our OFW diaspora will be occupying every corner of the planet earth and soon we will see leaders of states, industry, commerce and conglomerates occupied and run by Filipinos. We will soon conquer the whole world with ourselves, our population. Think about it this way. The green pasture is the world itself. If every Filipino is productive, in farming, fisheries, industry, commerce and services, we will have more than what we need. God has provided man more than what he needs but God cannot provide all that man wants. Those who want population control are adding problem to population. So if they want to solve the problem, they take their whole family to the middle of the sea and jump to feed the hungry sharks. They will no longer add to the population they consider as crisis, evil and bad. Just think, they have a chance to enjoy life, but they do not want others to have a chance to live like what they are privilege to have. Farmers feed the world. Our duty is to put enough and more food on the table of life. It is not our role to refuse any guest to come to life's table. I am a farmer and I am proud that we feed our families, countrymen, humanity even the corrupt officials in government who create all these problems we have. Happy living, share and welcome all human beeings into our world. God bless us. Rex Rivera, (by email), Gen. Santos City, April 24, 2008 (Your admonition that those who want population control should "take their family in the middle of the sea and jump to feed the hungry sharks" is a non-sequitur and has as much logic as the mirror argument that those who "do not want to refuse any guest to come to life's table" should take their family to Darkest Africa and enjoy the chaos and food riots that come from having the highest population growth rates in the world. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Forwarded to Tapatt by Misael Balayan of Mililani, Hawaii) Source: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20080422com1.html 04/22/2008 We may be a nation populated with some 80 percent Catholics, nominal and practicing. But that fact should not have any bearing on a government's population policy precisely because under our system of government, there exists the separation of Church and State. No one takes it against the Catholic Church, or any church for that matter, to impose its beliefs and doctrines on its flock, but that is as far as the church should go. It can persuade its faithful to abide by its rules and even moral precepts, but it cannot and should not impose its beliefs on a government and the body politic. Similarly, the Philippine government has no business following that which the Catholic Church leaders preach when it comes to state policies � especially in areas of population control, divorce or even abortion, if it comes to that, along with the Arroyo government's acceptance of bishops' meddling in strictly government affairs, including land disputes and agrarian reforms, or wage increases. What the Catholic Church believes in will generally be in contradiction to what the state ought to do, in say, the area of the Philippines' runaway population growth, especially at this time when the reality of food scarcity exists along with the ever-rising increases in food [related articles below] and oil that are driving more and more of the population into poverty. But in this particular era of the Arroyo regime, where Gloria has been relying heavily on the Catholic bishops' support for her political survival, she has done nothing, but nothing, to curb the runaway population growth and has even created the situation where she allows the bishops to dictate policy to her, whether in the arena of population growth, to rice distribution system, to pro-poor project distributions by the church, to its leaders' insistence on the awarding of land legally already in private hands, and to even some Supreme Court decisions that embrace partisan political lines. While the Catholic Church bishops in the Philippines are unlikely to admit it, what is evident is that the Philippines continues to be mired in poverty precisely because of the influence of the Catholic Church in these matters. The Philippines is the only country in Asia that has consistently been a laggard economically and unable to curb population growth precisely due to the church's constant meddling in state policies, despite the separation principle, which the church constantly breaches. It has even come to a point where the Arroyo government handed funds in the millions meant for a population curbing program to a Catholic group that believes in church-approved birth control natural methods, which would just be the rhythm method and the abstinence, both of which are in truth, unnatural. The church is against contraceptives, calling them abortifacients. Even condoms are a no-no. But ask the bishops what their solution to the runaway population growth in the country, and they have none, merely saying the population growth has nothing to do with food scarcity or even poverty. [The bishops' solution will likely be, "let's have a prayer rally". //MCB//] Now the food scarcity is real, as the rice crisis is, but there again the bishops were, offering to become the state's rice traders for the parishes to sell the rice to the poor, which is probably their way of keeping up with their myth that the problem of rice scarcity is not rooted in the problem of poverty and growing population the country is experiencing today, which problem is expected to worsen in the coming years if the church is allowed to continue interfering in the affairs of the state. The Catholic Church policies and doctrines can and should be ignored by government. It has been proven, too many times, and in too many countries � including Italy, where the Pope resides, that the state won't collapse if it does go against the doctrines of the church. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reactions to "Let Them Eat Bio-fuels" (April 10, 2008) Dear Tony, Because of the man's dependence on fossil fuel and rising crude oil prices for its source of energy ( and more recent obsession in reducing greenhouse gas emissions), there has been a rush among nations to allocate certain amounts of their available acreage for biofuels (aka agrifuel, agrofuel) to produce ethanol and methanol. The downside of that decision is deforestation and food shortage (now unraveling). It raises the fundamental question whether man would be better of having less peanut oil for cooking or more peanut oil for fuel. A choice of food or fuel is something lawmakers in the Philippines has to think about with prudence (but separating what is good for them and for the country, in the reverse order of importance). Is it transportation or starvation that matters most? Or simply green? Consider these facts: � The human population has quadrupled in the last century, from 1.5 billion to 6.3 billion, while the amount of energy used in food production systems has increased 80-fold. It now takes 80 times more energy to feed four times more people. � Ten percent of the energy used in the US is consumed by the food industry. � We use up to 10 times as much fossil fuel energy to produce it as food returns -- it takes seven to 10 calories of input energy to produce one calorie of food. (Source: Journeytoforever.org) In spite of available acreages, crop yields (and, of course, man's fascination with high- yield oil crops), and production rates, their combined influence would still fall short in meeting man's transport needs. In the Philippines, it is even worse for many still use leaded petrol and dirty diesel. The air will never be clean! Not in my lifetime. Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, (by email), New York City, April 21, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwe Hi Tony, May PINOYS, start to be self sufficient in planting camote and bananas in their backyard.Thanks of your emails. Blessings, Gerry Garay, (by email), Clermont, Florida, April 22, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Response to Avelino Lagman Mr Lagman is so naive to say publicly that (1) rice is in abundance in the Philippines; (2) that rice but it is being hoarded and allowed to rot in warehouses or bodegas. (3) that high yield crop varieties are being used by rice growers to attain bountiful harvest and feed the country's population. On three counts Mr Lagman is dead wrong. Among its neighbors, the Philippines lags behind in rice production. The country's population annual growth of 2% is the highest among its neighbors. The country has been importing rice to feed its people for years. While it is true that IRRI has developed some high -yielding variety of rice, ordinary rice growers are not so attracted to them simply because of cost. Government subsidy is not sufficiently large enough to offset the cost of irrigation, cost of the seeds and much higher cost of other farm inputs.Rice is not being hoarded at all to rot . Those who hoard understand the economics of hoarding. Hoarders are smart businessmen. They buy when prices are low and when supply is high; they sell when supply is scarce and sell at a very high price when the demand is high. Allowing rice to be kept in inventory foolishly for many months until it rots is bad business practice. I will be embarrassed to be that kind of a businessman and be a Chinese myself! I will be the butt of the joke in my community. I can't face my peers with honor and pride. Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, (by email), New York City, April 21, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reactions to "I'm Being Gagged" (April 18, 2008) Dear Tony, I have been getting your emails. However, whoever they are, they are attempting to silence you. This is tragic considering the Philippines form of government is democratic. To be gagged is tantamount to losing your freedom of speech. Some evil forces are working to dismiss your ability to write and criticize the government. The scenario reminds me of the times Rizal and our Revolutionary Filipinos could not openly criticize the evil the Spanish government was doing to the country and population. Rizal had to go to some other countries to feel what freedom.is like and all about. Stay cool and trust everything turns into a good result, if not the best. All the best, Oscar Apostol, (by email), Roseville, CA,. April 19, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr Abaya -- That is so outrageous, I hope the influential folks among your fans set up a hue and cry so the ones responsible for this deed realize they can't stifle press freedom. Isabel Escoda, (by e-mail), Hong Kong, April 19, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I'm glad you noticed this trend....we appreciate what you're doing..... Keep going....someone has to keep all of us posted. Winnie Llamera, (by email), April 19, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww My recent emails to you have bounced back to me. I thought you were reaching your limit. Cesar Sarino, (by email), April 20, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony I think you are doing the right thing. Can I suggest you pass this on to the media. Warmest regards Jayjay Calero, (by email), April 20, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: If you receive this, I guess they don't mind us being in touch. Let me know how I can help by return email. Tito Osias, (by email), April 21, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Tony: This piece of your I just got today, this morning. Obviously you did not send it out yourself today because it did not have all the addressees you would normally have on the space indicated above. Which means your service provider is sending it for you (and censoring you also?) Only your service provider can do that, unless the main carrier here, whoever is servicing you, does. In any case, I can't see all these happening to your articles unless you have been singled out as a target for official censorship--a direct violation of press freedom under the constitution. Cheers Gil Santos, (by email), April 23, 2008\ wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: I have been having issues with my Yahoo account. Sometimes a message appears Unusual Activity Detected. Consequently my account is suspended. I cannot receive, save or send messages for 48 hours. This, daw, is for my own protection . But this has been happening with much frequency. People have complained to me that their emails to me bounce back to them. Probably your articles too . I have, therefore, opened a gmail account. Can you please send me your articles now to this new address? Do I have to send email to a particular address to change my subscription to this address? Thanks and more power!! Subas Herrero, (by email), April 23, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir, It's been more than a week since I got my subscription from you. Since then, I haven't gotten anything from you. I made my reaction but it bounced back. Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon. I really long for your articles. Jun Valenzuela, (by email), April 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww UPDATE: As of today, April 26, my zpdee.net account has been totally disabled, for 12 days, by person or persons unknown. I cannot send or receive emails through zpdee.net. My website, www.tapatt.org, was also shut down, for 48 hours, again by person or persons unknown. It has been restored by Yahoo Geocities, with their apologies but without any explanation for the shutdown. Does anyone have any idea on who is doing this, and why? ACA wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to "Jesus' Lost Tomb" (March 25, 2008) Sir, The discovery of the Lost Tomb of Jesus can have a serious implicationsoin Christianity: 1.0 Supposed to the body of Jesus ascend to heaven but it appears to be kept and studied in Israel Laboratory 2.0 The DNA test on the body of Jesus can show the DNA make-up of a god (or can test whether Jesus is only an ordinary man and not god) 3.0 If he was born of a virgin birth, then all his DNA must came from his mother (Mary) only and none from Joseph. But this means that there must be a Y-Chromosomes donor otherwise Jesus would have been born as baby girl for male has 'XY' chromosomes while female has 'XX' chromosomes. If the DNA test on Jesus and Joseph failed to establish 'father and son' linkage, then the donor of the Y-chromosomes could be the Holy Spirit? but the concept of the Holy Spirit was introduced only by ex-pagan Roman Emperor Constantine in the 3rd century AD. Best regards, Edwin Vivar, (by email), April 22, 2008 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO To subscribe, send a blank email with the subject heading Subscribe. To unsubscribe, send a blank email with the subject heading Unsubscribe. |