My suitcase arrives…..
Regular blog readers may remember that ever since I was a little girl I have lived with the idea that a large suitcase of cash would one day magically appear on my doorstep. Well, it has.
The night before last we had a friend over for dinner. He is a charming man, a proper bloke, as Rupert would say. He showed up with presents for the children and wine for us. He played chess with all three children (and let them win), entertained us with stories and told us that is we ever needed anything to come to him. “After all,” he reasoned, “you are bringing on the next generation.”
Then we started talking about what we were up to. I told him about Renew and how we had lots of press coming but were still short on punters. He asked me how much it will cost to run the first retreat. I told him. “Oh I’ll lend you that,” he said. Needless to say, my immediate reaction was to jump up from the dinner table and kiss him. Amazingly this didn’t put him off. Today we are having lunch to iron out the details but thanks to this particular suitcase, Renew Retreats is now very much a goer.
If there happen to be any world leaders reading can I just say one thing? Boycott the Olympics in China. That’s all you need to do. France (bless her) has made some noises in that direction but the rest is a deafening silence. As for Gordon Brown meeting the Dalai Lama, good, but why not do it in Downing Street and make it a state visit? No need to answer that, we all know why; cowardice and greed. Not two adjectives one would use to describe the people of Tibet.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008
20 Mar 2008 helena
Hi Helena. I agree wholeheartedly with your remarks about boycotting the Olympics in China, and I’m so pleased to hear that France looks like they may lead the way.
You may remember that Tony Blair made excuses, and wouldn’t even meet the Dalai Lama, so maybe there’s a bit of a change for the better with Gordon Brown.
A total EU boycott of the Olympics would be the best thing we could hope for, and I wonder whether constitutionally the UK could be forced into having to boycott the games by a vote in the EU? Maybe that’s what we should be lobbying for.
Twice this morning I have been urged to make my voice heard and encourage the boycotting of the Chinese Olympics.
The vast majority of Europeans and Americans know absolutely nothing about China apart from crispy duck, fried rice and cheap toys decorated with lead based paint. We know even less about Tibet. But we are all up in arms and ready to spit on China and snub their showcase games.
Should China refuse the participation of the USA and Britain for the wanton destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq? Should dozens of other countries where human rights is a sick joke be allowed to enter the 4×100 men’s relay? Will Mr. Mugabe be allowed to send a team?
Gordon Brown has been in office 9 months, Sarkozy 6. So what do they know?
Wonderful young men and women all over the world have spent 5 or 6 years, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, running, swimming, jumping, sweating and hurting. Their bodies and minds wracked with pain to find the inner strength that builds their endurance and stronger than strong wills. Should they be punished because our governments want a deal on steel and coal?
Sign your petitions, write your articles, get China boycotted and stop the horror of Tibet. Very commendable I agree. After all, we need the trade don’t we?
But these are games - not political arm wrestling where the only prize is a financial one. Think about the 13 year old British diver who gets up every morning at 05:00, trains for three hours, goes to school, then back to the pool until 20.00. Of course, this cannot be compared with the awfulness of the Tibet situation - And it shouldn’t.
But the world’s elected leaders should be brave enough to take a stand and boycott China, the country, not the games, through sanctions.
Do they have the guts of a 13 year old athlete? I doubt it.
It is absurd to suggest boycotting the Olympics. What is needed is to send a crack team to take the ping pong gold medal. That will bring them to heel & probably lead to the downfall of the oppressive regime! Hu? Wen? With such ridiculously named leaders, it is only a matter of time…
Don’t commend something just because the topic is “in”. Do you really know how much about the affair of China and Tibet? Do you know how much efforts Chinese people have put in to make Olympics successful?
Roger, please don’t redicule people because they don’t have a name like yours. It shows your own narrow-mindedness.
Dalai Lama says that he has no desire to seek Tibet’s separation, and he also said:” I have, from the start, supported Beijing’s being awarded the opportunity to host the Games. My position remains unchanged.”
If you don’t want to or do care doing a detail research on Tibetan history, here is an article with actual witnesses from the Washingonpost talks about what had real happened in Tibet half month ago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/26/AR2008032603275.html
This is the correction of the last paragraph in my last comment. Should be:
If you do not want to or do not care doing a detail research on Tibetan history, here is an article with actual witnesses from the Washingonpost talks about what had really happened in Tibet half month ago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/26/AR2008032