Interesting article on how hard Cubans must work in order to blog. They have to pretend to be foreign and sneak into the big hotels that have unfiltered — or at least more open than elsewhere on the island — internet pipelines to the rest of the world. (The blog mentioned, in Spanish of course, is here.) This is a small part of what our fellow humans living under totalitarianism must do to have their voices heard. Be thankful for your political freedom and don’t take it for granted!

freeburma.jpgTibetans broke into the Chinese embassy compound in New Delhi. More here. They’re protesting — well, they’re protesting pretty much everything China does in Tibet. And they’re doing it in New Delhi. Well, India is a democracy, and as Donald Rumsfeld said, democracies are messy, things happen. China and India are also sparring over Tawang Monastery in India. (Remember ‘control Buddhism, control Asia?’ More here and here.) China wants it all. (The graphic at right above came from the US Campaign for Burma and I love the Olympic rings as handcuffs.)

We all know Germans love Buddhism. Here’s more evidence.

George Dvorsky of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies writes on how Christopher Hitchens hates Buddhism (along with everything else except Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the Kurds.) It’s an excellent and very entertaining piece. Atheism and scientism are enemies of religion. No religious person should try to embrace them. Links at the bottom of Dvorsky’s piece to several more articles on Hitchens v. Buddha.

96-year-old Luang Phor Panya Nantha Bhikkhu has died in Thailand. “An era has ended,” says The Nation, Bangkok’s Independent Newspaper.

UPDATE: The Buddha as a Che-esque universal symbol of protest?: ‘Protesters Building Large “Buddha” Outside Pelosi’s House’

– Philip Ryan, Web Editor

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