Cafe Momo and the Competition Results

Here are results of the photographic competition

First Prize of the Cafe Momo hamper goes to Terry
Photo taken at Tharpaling Monastery Bhutan not far from the Tibetan border.
Caption:  "They see themselves as Brothers with the future in their hands."



The following runners up get Tibetan wind horse flags
Grace



Ben



Lyra and Furface



Di + Robert


Lammins

The Last Cafe Momo

Church House was packed with people spending an afternoon eating soup and cake while drinking tea and coffee.  The results of the photographic competition were also announced where first prize went home with a Cafe Momo Hamper which is presented below

 You can view the full results here

Tsering Passang who is the sponsorship Programme co-ordinator for Tibet Relief Fund showed a short film and gave a talk on the Fund's work in Nepal and India.  lots of questions were asked and Tsering had a lot to say.  We gave him a traditional send off

  

Double self immolation protest marks crackdown anniversary

Phayul[Monday, March 17, 2014 22:59]

DHARAMSHALA, MARCH 17: Another Tibetan monk has immolated himself outside his monastery in Tsekhog County, Malho Prefecture, on Sunday, that saw double self immolation protests in Tibet. A monk whose name is not yet known carried out the protest around 7.30 AM (local time) on Sunday. He was a monk of Sonag monastery in Jhador township in Tsekhog. As of now, it is not known if he is alive or dead. Sources say that the authorities immediately cut down all communication lines including all micro-messaging apps to ensure that the news and pictures if any were not sent out. Lobsang Palden, another Tibetan monk immolated himself at the 'Pawoe Sanglam' (Martyr's Street) in Ngaba town on Sunday, which marked six years since a brutal crackdown by armed Chinese forces on Tibetan protesters leading to the death of at least ten Tibetans including a monk in Ngaba. March 16, 2014 marks the sixth year since protests by Tibetans in Ngaba in 2008 when several Tibetans died, were tortured or imprisoned in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. Three monks of Kirti monastery had died since 2011 by setting their bodies on fire on the same date (March 16) at the same spot which began to be known as 'Pawoe Sanglam' (Martyr's Street). They were Lobsang Phuntsok (2011), Lobsang Tsuiltrim (2012), and Lobsang Thokmay (2013).

A Tibetan monk self immolates in Ngaba

Phayul[Sunday, March 16, 2014 20:37]

By Phuntsok Yangchen DHARAMSHALA, March 16: A Tibetan monk today set himself on fire in protest against China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies in the restive Ngaba region, said Kanyag Tsering, a Tibetan monk of Kirti monastery here. Lobsang Palden, a monk of Kirti monastery in his early twenties, set himself ablaze in protest against China’s hard-line policies at the ‘Pawoe Sanglam’ (Martyr’s Street) in Ngaba town around 11.30AM (local time). Chinese police immediately arrived at the protest site, doused the flame and took him away in a vehicle. It is not known if he is still alive or has succumbed to his burns. March 16, 2014 marks the sixth year since protests by Tibetans in Ngaba in 2008 when several Tibetans died, were tortured or imprisoned in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. Three monks of Kirti monastery had died since 2011 by setting their bodies on fire on the same date (March 16) at the same spot. They were Lobsang Phuntsok (2011), Lobsang Tsuiltrim (2012), and Lobsang Thokmay (2013). photo/provided by source Before setting himself on fire, Palden had reportedly left a text message in his phone in which he prayed for his parents, family members, teachers and relatives. He also called for unity among Tibetans. “We should maintain cordial relations with others, particularly with Chinese because if we are united and have love for each other, no matter what our thoughts are, it will enable us to communicate with each other better,” the message says (translated from Tibetan by phayul) Following his self-immolation protest, situation in the region remains tense with the local Chinese authorities deploying large number of armed security forces in Ngaba town. This is the third Tibetan self immolation protest of 2014. Lobsang's younger brother is also a monk in the same monastery. His family 'Ashertsang' consisting of mother Namkho and step father Sherab lives in Meruma village in Ngaba. Lobsang had been in the monastery since his childhood. Lobsang Palden became the 128th Tibetan to self immolate in Tibet protesting against China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies since 2009. Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports about another self immolation by a Tibetan monk in Tibet's Tsekhog County earlier today. However, its authenticity could not be verified at this time.

China bans TXTing and Tweeting in Parliament

The Register
Delegates at China’s largely ceremonial parliament, the National People’s Congress, have been warned to keep their smartmobes firmly in their pockets during the annual ten-day snoozefest meeting.
Such is the temptation to relieve the boredom at the Congress, which does little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by the executive, that attendees are increasingly fiddling with their handsets.

However, according to a report in state-run Beijing Youth Daily, the organisers have given this year’s bunch the following strict instructions (tr Quartz):

Do not use your phones to send text messages or make phone calls during meeting; do not use your computer or phone to play games. Representatives are not allowed to use means such as Weibo and WeChat to live broadcast the conference.

The warning should come as no great surprise, given the Party's paranoid compulsion to strictly stage manage every element of China's appearance to the outside world.
As such, it wants to dominate the media narrative by allowing only its own official tweets of the event and not giving outsiders the chance to poke fun at pics of snoozing – or even worse, Candy Crush-playing - delegates.
As Quartz says, pics taken by delegates have also given bloggers the opportunity in the past to identify lawmakers wearing expensive jewellery or clothes which they shouldn’t be able to afford.
In a bid to prevent too much snoozing at the event, officials are also limiting speeches to ten minutes this year and have urged delegates to speak without a script in a “refreshing” tone. Good luck with that.
China is, of course, not the only place where public figures have been caught doing something they shouldn’t have with their smartphones.
In 2012, three ministers in Indian state of Karnataka were forced to resign after apparently watching porn on a mobile phone during a debate in the House.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong this week pan-democrat lawmaker Albert Ho was fined by his party after being caught browsing pics of underwear models while finance minister John Tsang delivered his 90 minute budget speech.

SMOG

This sums up the smog situation in China

Chairman Mao - It's the capitalist roaders that create the SMOG

Some pictures from the last Cafe Momo 23rd Feb 2014

Everyone enjoying their soup and tea.

A selection of cakes

The Tibet Stall

Ben Powell on Guitar

Wanted - China's Collapse

Last Tuesday evening Spanish MPs supported a Bill intended to appease China and shut down the Tibet lawsuit. This is disappointing, though not unexpected. It's been said that "Perhaps we should all pause to appreciate how truly momentous these Tibet lawsuits are: Arrest warrants have been issued for Jiang Zemin, Li Peng and others; Hu Jintao stands indicted as a genocidaire and an impartial court has found that acts of genocide have been committed in Tibet. Whatever happens now, these Tibet cases have already made history. No political act can erase these impartial judicial decisions. So truth has already had its victory."
The victory may be closer than you think after reading Robert Peston's article on the BBC today see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26225205 for details. He says that China has gone on a spending boom and borrowed lots of money to do it but there are still millions of poor people in China yet the Chinese rich are getting richer. It's a familiar story and we all know how it ends... BADLY. There will be a crash and a reckoning that will split China. I'll give it 5 years.
When this happens these the Chinese people will want to get rid of their old guard leaders who have squirrelled money away in the west to they will be at large. The following posters may therefore become useful as a way of tracking them down. Print off and distribute.

   

 

see you at Cafe Momo on Sunday 23 February @ Church House Corsham.
Did you see the delivery bike in Corsham High Street?

2014's first Tibetan self immolator dead, cremated without family's consent

Phayul[Saturday, February 15, 2014 23:50]

DHARAMSHALA, February 15: The Tibetan youth who set himself ablaze in Tibet's Tsekhok County on Feb. 5 has succumbed to his burns at a hospital in Xiling a day later, exile sources said.  Phagmo Samdup, 27, who became the first Tibetan to resort to self immolation protest in 2014, was cremated by Chinese authorities at an undisclosed cremation site without informing his family, according to sources.  Doused in gasoline, Samdup set himself on fire near Bhenchen School in Dokarmo town around 9.30 PM (local time) on February 5. Chinese police took him away immediately.  Chinese authorities also forced his family to throw his remains in Machu River, a Tibetan source said, adding that they even confiscated a golden ring belonging to the deceased.  Since 2009, 127 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet to protest against China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies.

Tibetan exiles remember Tibet - China Treaty

Phayul[Thursday, February 13, 2014 21:43]

DHARAMSHALA, February 13: Tibetan exiles here gathered today at the TCV Day school to commemorate what the organizers, Students for a Free Tibet, called ‘Tibet-China Peace Treaty of 821-822 AD - secure the past, shape the future'. The organizers have chosen today's date to mark 101 years since the proclamation of Tibetan independence by the thirteenth Dalai Lama.

A 7-feet tall replica of the stone pillar with the engraving of the Treaty which till stands in front of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, was put on display for public viewing. Copies of the treaties were also distributed.

A discussion on the “Great Legacies of the Tibetan Empire’ and ‘Tibet-China Peace Treaty’ was participated by Geshe Monlam Tharchin, Member of Tibetan Parliament; Sonam Gyaltsen, Member of Tibetan Parliament and Dorjee Tseten, Asia Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

The Tibet-China Peace Treaty was signed between the Tibetan emperor, Tri Ralpachen and Chinese Emperor, Mu Tsung of the Tang Dynasty to establish peace and constitute the boundaries of Tibet and China.

The treaty that referred to Tibet and China as 'Nephew and Uncle' reads, “And in order that this agreement establishing a great era when Tibetans shall be happy in Tibet and Chinese shall be happy in China shall never be changed, the three jewels, the body of saints, the sun and moon, planets and stars have been invoked as witnesses; its purport has been expounded in solemn words, the oath has been sworn with the sacrifice of animals, and the agreement has been solemnized.”

SFT's Asia Director Dorjee Tseten said his organization is celebrating the legacy of the Tibetan Empire to challenge China’s false propaganda about Tibetan history as well as to strengthen the case for Tibet on the global stage. “In commemorating the historical legacy of the Tibetan Empire, we are not only securing our past but also shaping our future as we work towards fulfilling our vision of all Tibetans uniting in a free and democratic Tibet.”

Similar campaigns were also held in 20 cities around the world, said Dorjee.