The sudden interest in Tibet by the global main stream media (MSM), with the Olympic protests as a backdrop, has brought on a full-blown debate that has swept from Parliaments to the Blogosphere with this long-ignored issue. The geopolitical focus of the debate, however, leads nowhere if it doesn’t factor in what is arguably the most important variable of them all: the spiritual relevance of Tibet for millions of non-Tibetan Buddhists worldwide. The global reach of the Olympic Torch protests cannot be explained geopolitically, which is why pundits, bloggers and Chinese bureaucrats just don’t get it –it’s the Buddha, stupid!

By Jordi Barrett

May 2008

Special to The East Coast Ledger

As the Torch sputters doggedly through its international “Olympic Spirit” shit parade (as invented by J. Goebbels) shielded by armies of police and sequestered for its own safety— Japan’s foremost Buddhist temple has politely refused to allow the Torch to visit its premises in solidarity with their brothers and sisters of Tibet.

“We are Buddhists, just like them,” explained a temple insider.

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On it’s 20th birthday as a key EU member state, Spain celebrates the European identity and looks ahead with confidence in the Peninsula’s potential to be “Everything Under The Sun”

By John Dough

In 1986, the Kingdom of Spain lived a historic moment, becoming a full member of what was then known as the European Community. The formal incorporation of the Iberian Peninsula into the larger European context was seen as the beginning an era, and now, twenty years down the line, the transformation of the country’s economy into one of the EU’s strongest is an undeniable reality.

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