The moment when the Tibertan monks resist the Chinese soldiers is when they simply appear. By their presence we have seen the strong worthy men of China leap into action and began the baton play with them. What we do not see must surely be worse. The Olympics, the games. Do they play tennis in Tibet. surely not other than some lone place. For one, remember the air is thin as you are on that vast high Tibertan plateau. Sorry, China pleauea. Where the lamb and the Buddha doth not carelessly play.

Here seldom a word any encouraing word. And we know the tibetan civilization is being drainout out their lives while train loads of displaced Chinese from the coast arrive. New lives, new languages, same skin. These are no our people, say an elder near the train station. This train will ruin us. We lose part of ourselves each day while they open their shops, their strange smells and foods which make us ill. Wrong people, wrong place, but still they come. And we fade away, slowly gradually back up into the mountains of Tibet.

Tibet. Shanrgi La. What where and why is one these incrediale ironies of our century. While the not particularly Mongol personality mix with Korean and Siberian and Chinese Kins from the north Joe Stalin laced Communist attacked south Korea there had been already for centuries a softer and gentler more civilized culture of their kin in the south. More civlized. And we all of he United Nations poured in and saved these fine people. In contrast yo may or should contrast and recall China attacked directly Tibet that same year, and the west did nothing.

And yet Tibet was our fondest Shangri La. Burma hump, saving civilization through steep canyon passes, we understood these fine wise myserious people, who were not as those of our Charlie Chan Shanghi, alll devious, untrusworthy, anxious for us to turn our back for one s;plit moment for the quick slice of the knife past the throat. Ah, well, you see, that was different. How in the name of consternation or the United states Missouri would you ever ever the navy and army boys up over Mount Everest down into vast canyons, just did not have an armada of flags flying up that flagpost.

You surely can se. And now, we have with all that effort and continued billions at the border, the nutball of the universe pissing on our flapole every which way but goose. Cook his? No, we lament, and twitch that we greet the Dhalim Llhama. Oh please. Oh please yourselves. After the Olympics all will be made much more clear. Then what you thought now was bad will seem like precious flower in lilly pad of eternity. It is not written, but you can see if may come to be so. And so we maintain our watch on humanity.

Which will arrive first? If Beijing is blossoming suburbs of fine west coast homes in sweeps and arcs of Vancouver and Santa Barbara and Silicon City and are filling these with the rising new middle class and our own civil service oversea. So, this not in our grand chldren's life times but it could happen. Imagine this if sanity in what we delight in calling new metro Pyongangyangboyamyankingyourchain

Or the likely vast potential suburban oasis of deep rich mutual civilized barbity, the lovely new Yankeehomehomeskinowboom, soon to opended next the massive gravsites Sweet Dreams Hungry, soon to be the everglades of the north. Or, we can rehike the drawers of the grand old warrior USS John Fitzgerad Kennedy the men reverently refer to Big John. And we start that hike. In the more likely scenario China will slowly, painfully relent and grunt into a more civilized beast.

But not before some trouser moisting dragon tail swishes to scare the living daylights out of us every time its frowns. More likely.