A 40 Year "Retrospective Journey"


“Be good, keep your feet dry,
your eyes open, your heart at peace
and your soul in the joy of Christ.”
Thomas Merton

November 28, 2008

A Day in the Life of Asia

November 28, 2008
Merton's Asian pilgrimage touched primarily on Thailand (Bangkok), India (Calcutta, Delhi, Madras), Tibet (exiles in Dharamsala and Darjeeling) and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). I found it interesting that there was a convergence of significant BBC reports from all of these places over the past few days.

Thai Police Confront Protesters
Protesters force Thai police to abandon a checkpoint as security forces seek to end a blockade paralysing Bangkok's airports. The confrontation at Suvarnabhumi international airport, which came as police tried to prevent more protesters arriving, ended without violence. The police have said they will continue trying to regain control of the sites. But the protesters say they will not leave until PM Somchai Wongsawat resigns, which he has refused to do. BBC 11/28/2008

Police Declare Mumbai Siege Over

Indian officials have said the siege at Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel is over, after the last few militants were killed. Police commissioner Hassan Gafoor said the hotel was now under their control. "All combat operations are over. All the terrorists have been killed."
Commandos began a new assault early on Saturday as fighting that has claimed at least 195 lives entered a third day
. BBC 11/28/2008

Tiger Leader Makes Defiant Speech
The leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka has said that the government is living in "dreamland" if it expects outright military victory. In his annual speech, Velupillai Prabhakaran said that it was "a dream from which they would soon awake. BBC 11/27/2008

China Condemns France Over Tibet
China says it had "no choice but to postpone" a summit with the EU because of the French stance on the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. China's foreign ministry said French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to meet the Dalai Lama had "deprived the summit of a good atmosphere". Mr Sarkozy has said he will meet the Dalai Lama in Poland on 6 December. BBC 11/27/2008

TTFN... Rob

"Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances."
Gandhi

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