3/24/09

South Africa Bends Over

"We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure; I feel deeply distressed and ashamed."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

UPDATE via NYT 12h later: Peace Conference Canceled
Organizers of a peace conference that was to have been attended by five Nobel Peace Prize winners in Johannesburg said Tuesday that they had canceled the conference after the South African government denied entry to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader and one of the Nobel laureates.

From WSJ (via IOL) :
Outrage has greeted the government's ban on a visit to South Africa by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, who was due to take part in a 2010 World Cup-organised peace conference in Johannesburg on Friday. The Dalai Lama was invited to speak at the conference, whose line-up includes the Nobel Peace Prize committee from Norway and Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman, who plays Mandela in a movie about the Rugby World Cup in 1995.
...

Over the past two years, South Africa has been China's key trade partner in Africa, accounting for 20.8 percent of China's trade with Africa, while Chinese foreign direct investment in South Africa was about $6 billion (R60bn), and South Africa's foreign direct investment in China came to $2bn (R20bn).
Compare these two statements and we may be looking at the beginning of a New World Order.
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Why Lotus? Why Pine?

The lotus signifies the progress of the soul from the primeval mud of materialism, through the waters of experience, and into the bright sunshine of enlightenment.

The pine signifies longevity and endurance because of its green foliage year round. In both good and bad weather, the pine thrives year after year thus it also represents pure life and constancy in the face of adversity.

Yunnan Province is a mountain landscape created when the Indian Sub-continent crashed into the tropical lowlands of Burma. It is a place with hundreds of unique species and dozens of amazing topographies. When I walk the mountains of Yunnan, I breathe fresh pine air and marvel at the indigenous wildflowers. Yunnan is also the conduit through which Buddhism came to China, along the caravan trails from India. The lotus is a Buddhist symbol of purity and perfection. When I photograph these flowers, I am always captivated by their geometry and peace-inspiring colors.

my motto

Look well to this day For it is life The very best of life.
In its brief course lie all The realities and truths of existence,
The joy of growth, the splendor of action, The glory of power.
For yesterday is but a memory. And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived Makes every yesterday a memory of happiness And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day.

--from the Sanskrit