Rev. Danny Fisher

Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings
November 17, 2008

The Federal Government Finally Admits It: "Gulf War Syndrome Is Real"

After years of denying the reality of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government today finally admitted that it is a very real condition. CNN reports:

    An extensive federal report released Monday concludes that roughly one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness.

    That illness is a condition now identified as the likely consequence of exposure to toxic chemicals, including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas.

    The 452-page report states that “scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans.”

    The report, compiled by a panel of scientific experts and veterans serving on the congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, fails to identify any cure for the malady.

    It also notes that few veterans afflicted with Gulf War illness have recovered over time.

Provocateur Michael Moore reflects on this today by posting a years-old report on the issue from one of his past television shows:

November 17, 2008

Candace Chellew-Hodge Drops Knowledge on St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, SC

Over at Religion Dispatches, Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge drops knowledge on St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville, SC, where parishoners are told to skip communion if they voted for President-Elect Barack Obama.

November 17, 2008

Tibet News (11.16.08)

Here are some of today’s Tibet-relevant articles:

  • The BBC, the Agence France-Presse, and Reuters all report on the major meeting of Tibetan leaders in exile at Dharamsala this week.
  • In addition, the International Campaign for Tibet has posted the full text of a memorandum on Tibetan autonomy presented to Chinese officials during the latest and eighth round of dialogues between China and representatives of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile held in Beijing.
  • Lastly, Thupten Jinpa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s longtime English translator, has an editorial in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal about the “narrow window for Tibet.” He writes:
      The meeting this week called by the Dalai Lama to review the future course of the Tibetan struggle is an admission of painful truths for Tibetans in exile. The Dalai Lama has urged Tibetans to give up their aspirations for restored independence and to seek instead meaningful autonomy within the People’s Republic of China. But Beijing has consistently misinterpreted or denounced his message and continues to accuse him of covertly seeking Tibet’s separation from PRC. Nor has the Tibetan people’s adherence to nonviolence led to any positive gesture from Beijing. A lack of trust is inherent in the Chinese leadership’s approach. There is a Tibetan saying that Tibetans are ruined by too much hope, while the Chinese are destroyed by too much suspicion.

      [...]

      No one wants to think about the passing of His Holiness, who is revered by many Chinese as well as Tibetans. But he is 73 and the reality is that we have only about a decade at best to resolve the crisis. As time passes with no progress, the Tibetans are likely to become more radical in their struggle. Tibetans, Chinese and the global community cannot allow the end of Tibet to happen, or we will have to explain to our children and our grandchildren how an ancient nation with nearly 1,500 years of recorded history and a rich civilization came to perish during our lifetime. As the meeting on Tibet’s future opens in India, a historic responsibility rests upon the shoulders of our Tibetan community and China’s leaders.

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