I was taking a look around the Blogsphere last night and here is what I found. Go, peruse my lovely readers.

This week at Crushed by Ingsoc there is the giving out of awards, which presents his readers with five links to explore. Apparently one of his mates is getting married and Crushed is (forgive me) crushed. He is also cruising about for late night clandestine smoking and free beer. An interesting post that spawned a girl’s version over at Sicily Scene is all about “the Artifacts that are Part of Us”, what you don’t leave, or stay at home without? To round things out there is some politics.

From the Sudan, Kizzie tells us about Arab coverage of Dafur, a Sudanese refugee in Cairo, being blocked in China, and some great photographs of a country most of us have never seen.


The Russian Wolfhound is having cream tea in Devon and I am pea green with envy. My kingdom for real tea NOT from a teabag and proper scones! He is slowing down for the month, as are many, but has posted a hilarious taste of England.

Ordovicius is giving us the political heads up in Wales, and the employment woes of a teenager, as well as the unfairness and inconsistency of mobile phone operators.

And over at Westminster Wisdom there is a summary of the possibility of a deal between Benazir Bhutto and General Musharaf.

“To make a deal with the PPP would enable Musharraf to gain broader political support for his government. However, it is a risky business. Bhutto may herself want to take over the reigns of power and may thus want him to stand aside in order to make any deal work. Or, alternatively, the risk could be one for her. She could lose the support and she and her father built up for the PPP by siding with a military regime. It could go either way and I do not know how people would react to news of such a deal.”
Followed by a guest post “From Russia with Love” from the one, the only Lord Higham aka, I am many names.

Finally, Go over to Stay at Home Dad for a touching story about his Polish aunt that will leave you smiling while the tear slides down your cheek.

To see why I am incensed today go to the London Times to read about China’s latest attempt to destroy the Tibetan culture.

“China tells living Buddhas to obtain permission before they reincarnate”
Tibet’s living Buddhas have been banned from reincarnation without permission from China’s atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijing’s authority over Tibet’s restive and deeply Buddhist people.

“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.

t is the latest in a series of measures by the Communist authorities to tighten their grip over Tibet. Reincarnate lamas, known as tulkus, often lead religious communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence over religious life in the Himalayan region. Anyone outside China is banned from taking part in the process of seeking and recognising a living Buddha, effectively excluding the Dalai Lama, who traditionally can play an important role in giving recognition to candidate reincarnates.
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For the first time China has given the Government the power to ensure that no new living Buddha can be identified, sounding a possible death knell to a mystical system that dates back at least as far as the 12th century.


Ciao

correction: 30 July was not the King's birthday, but rather Throne Day. A celebration of Mohammad VI taking the throne. Thank you to houda, and Fasil; albeit it was another Moroccan who told us it was his birthday, so we were not alone. The good wishes stand.