Murder in the Snow

[jonesy]

I just saw the film Murder in the Snow, it was a very powerful movie which really fueled me to act. It is about the murders of innocent Tibetans on the slopes of Cho Oyu and was witnessed by climbers at base camp. Some spoke out while many others chose to keep their mouths closed. I think that this is the worst action that we as climbers could have taken and if it wasn't for the select few who did speak out the world would not have had a first hand account of these horrible actions carried out by Chinese soldiers. Please if you want to know more or help the cause please click the link to my blog where I have places you can go to help this urgent matter!

 

The Vertical Ascent

 

[fenderfour]

I'm going to propel this into spray very quickly.

 

slacktivism

 

[Jim]

I'm going to propel this into spray very quickly.

 

slacktivism

 

It's Friday. Thanks for this great word of the day!!

[gary_hehn]

I read an account of this as well. Yes, very disturbing and sad to say the least. What does one do? I hate that there is the element of evil in this world. Fortunately, we are generally insulated from the most of it. And yes fenderbender, slacktivism runs rampant ... what a great word! But, what else is there for most of us? Getting the word out has to be worth something. Maybe it will eventually get to someone who can actually DO something … I don't know – I'm frustrated.

Edited February 26, 2010 by gary_hehn

[billcoe]

I was a few miles away right when that happened: in the next valley over, and didn't hear a damn thing about it until I got home. What do you do?

 

The Nepalese who live in the upper Khumbu near the Tibetian border have told me that any Tibetian who comes across illegally and are returned to "China" (Tibet) are routinely executed as soon as they cross the border back into Tibet. So Nepal, one of the poorest countries on the planet, do not force them back and are now faced with dealing with an increase of poor folks who flee into their already poor country.

 

What do you do?

[wfinley]

Here a good related article:

 

China Intensifies Tug of War With India on Nepal

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/world/asia/18nepal.html

 

[Hugh Conway]

Fortunately, we are generally insulated from the most of it.

 

Hardly. You buy Chinese products daily. But because there's so much money to be made in China, or at least thats what Western whores corporate interests think, all of this is pissing in the wind. Nothing will change and the ethnic minorities of Greater China like the Tibetans and Uighurs will be extirpated. Look at what the Chinese did to Kashgar this summer, bulldozed it flat, except for a small historic city where they've hired actors to pretend to be Uighurs

[gary_hehn]

I guess what I meant by, “Fortunately, we are generally insulated from the most of it.”, is that we in the western world, don't generally fall victim to these sorts of atrocities. Of course, there is no saying it couldn't happen. Anything can happen once you get in the way of those in power. I agree with your assessment Hugh - it's all pissing in the wind, and it sucks! Only it doesn't suck for us nearly as it sucks for those ethnic minorities that get in the way of the “machine”. I just finally purged myself from Yahoo as a piss ant statement against them helping the Chinese gov't put journalists and activists in prison. Like they give a shit! At least it makes me feel better about myself. But, what do I do when I discover that the next service I use is run by ass holes?

 

[Hugh Conway]

I guess what I meant by, “Fortunately, we are generally insulated from the most of it.”, is that we in the western world, don't generally fall victim to these sorts of atrocities. Of course, there is no saying it couldn't happen. Anything can happen once you get in the way of those in power. I agree with your assessment Hugh - it's all pissing in the wind, and it sucks! Only it doesn't suck for us nearly as it sucks for those ethnic minorities that get in the way of the “machine”. I just finally purged myself from Yahoo as a piss ant statement against them helping the Chinese gov't put journalists and activists in prison. Like they give a shit! At least it makes me feel better about myself. But, what do I do when I discover that the next service I use is run by ass holes?

 

Smile and realize they are fucked? The world is not as it once was; whore's rule. Cherish the past.

[Joe_Poulton]

Too bad Ironman's not real.

[sobo]

WHAT!!!??? You mean he's not???

I 'spose the next thing you're gonna tell me is there's no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy either, huh?

[summitchaserCJB]

"Too bad Ironman's not real."

But the half ironman is real. 70.3.

[RDunn]

What do you do?

 

What you do is talk about it. When you climb carry a tibetan flag with you or patch it to your pack. When people ask about it you tell them the story of tibetan oppression. Hopefully they will relay the story to a bunch of people they know.

 

the most important thing is to get people passionate about helping the tibetans!

[stevetimetravlr]

It is a very sad situation in Tibet and China in general. But Tibet is China's territory and they ain't giving it up. Historically it has been part of China on and off for over a thousand years. Why don't you focus instead on freeing the Hawaiians? or the Native Americans? How about our own border with Mexico and the people that die every year crossing it? Far more then die crossing the Chinese border I would wager. For clarification, it is a BORDER. and if people choose to cross it illegally, there is a good chance of them being arrested, imprisoned, shot, or killed. I don't support it, I don't agree with it, but its pretty clear why people are killed, same as they are killed here crossing the border and in MANY MANY OTHER COUNTRIES.

What urgent cause do you support, armed resistance? do you think resistance is going to help the Tibetans? or climbers in general? Why is it that we as Americans can overthrow countries and governments and kill their leaders and occupy countries and install puppet politicians, but you are worried about the Chinese?

Who was it that said "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye"?

I have traveled extensively in China and Tibet, and I am saddened by the plight of all indigenous people there but working to help them thru assistance and education makes allot more sense then encouraging rebellion or resistance as from what I can see all that has done so far is bring a shitload of problems down on the Tibetans.

[Hugh Conway]

It is a very sad situation in Tibet and China in general. But Tibet is China's territory and they ain't giving it up. Historically it has been part of China on and off for over a thousand years. Why don't you focus instead on freeing the Hawaiians? or the Native Americans? How about our own border with Mexico and the people that die every year crossing it? Far more then die crossing the Chinese border I would wager. For clarification, it is a BORDER. and if people choose to cross it illegally, there is a good chance of them being arrested, imprisoned, shot, or killed. I don't support it, I don't agree with it, but its pretty clear why people are killed, same as they are killed here crossing the border and in MANY MANY OTHER COUNTRIES.

What urgent cause do you support, armed resistance? do you think resistance is going to help the Tibetans? or climbers in general? Why is it that we as Americans can overthrow countries and governments and kill their leaders and occupy countries and install puppet politicians, but you are worried about the Chinese?

Who was it that said "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye"?

I have traveled extensively in China and Tibet, and I am saddened by the plight of all indigenous people there but working to help them thru assistance and education makes allot more sense then encouraging rebellion or resistance as from what I can see all that has done so far is bring a shitload of problems down on the Tibetans.

 

Right on cue, it's an American business whore! The education and assistance the Chinese have provided in Tibet is to wipe out the culture they had. It's even worse in Xinjiang.

 

Despite injustices Hawaiians and Native Americans get a vote.

[stevetimetravlr]

Right on cue, its another ignorant ahole. What have you done to help the Tibetans? Put a "Free Tibet" sticker on your bumper? Might want to slap it on your mouth dude. I am involved in directly helping the Tibetans. I go there, I buy their handicrafts, jewelry, furniture, and handmade articles and pay them cash. I do this in bulk and ship it back and sell it. I get grief from the Chinese, yes, but they can't stop me from spending my money. Many people, yourself obviously included, don't realize that half of Tibet is not in the Tibet province. Qinghai province is the "other" half of Tibet. Many huge monasteries, the birthplace of the Dali Lama, the high Tibetan desert, and half the Tibetans live there as it is formerly part of Tibet province. There is not many problems from the Tibetans who live there, so as a result there are not many restrictions or problems for the Tibet people. The Chinese have come in and done minor developement and buildings and businesses but not much. I'm curious, how many native cultures and the like have we preseved here in the US? When one of the huge Yellow hat Monasteries was severely devastated by a earthquake a few years back, the Chinese came in and put millions into saving and restoring it. I am not pro Chinese but neither do I have my head stuck somewhere. Realistically the Chinese "giving back" Tibet has about the same odds of the US giving back Hawaii and Alaska to the indigenous people, so why don't we engage in some meaningful dialogue with the Chinese regarding cultural preservation instead of lambasting them for enforcing illegal border crossing and pissing them off. Do something positive to help the Tibetans? Im sorry, but the Dali Lama is not helping his people much by living the life of a fat cat and traveling the lecture circuit, but instead has had quite the opposite effect. here is just one example of this..

http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/2008/09/very-hard-for-us.html