Here's some ancient Buddhist wisdom that still makes sense.
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When a person lives heedlessly,
his craving grows like a creeping vine.
He runs now here
& now there,
as if looking for fruit:
a monkey in the forest.

If this sticky, uncouth craving
overcomes you in the world,
your sorrows grow like wild grass
after rain.

If, in the world, you overcome
this uncouth craving, hard to escape,
sorrows roll off you,
like water beads off
a lotus.

-Dhammapada, 24, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Today is the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. I was there two years before the tragedy.
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It was on this day in 1989 that the Chinese government cracked down on students conducting pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The demonstrations by the pro-democracy student groups had begun months earlier, after the government accused them of planning a coup d'etat. They drew thousands of supporters from three dozen universities and staged hunger strikes and sit-ins. The Chinese government declared martial law, and troops approached the square with tanks in the late evening of June 3.

Ordinary workers had gathered along the nearby roads. They had been demonstrating in support of the students for weeks, and they crowded into the streets to block the advance of the tanks toward the square. Though the event would come to be called the Tianamen Square massacre, almost all the people killed were the ordinary people in the streets outside the square. Violence broke out around midnight on this day in 1989, with some people throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the troops, and the troops responding with gunfire.

Soldiers surrounded the perimeter of the square, and the students expected that they would kill everyone at the center. Around 4:00 AM, all the lights went out, and it got quiet. The students debated whether or not they should surrender. They heard the engines of the tanks start up, and finally they made the decision to evacuate. At that time, there were only a few journalists left in the square, and erroneous stories later reported that the students had all been killed. In fact, almost all the students survived.

One of the few journalists who witnessed the evacuation said, "Many [of the students] had tears rolling down their cheeks. All looked shaken; many were trembling or unsteady on their feet. But all looked proud and unbeaten. One group shouted, 'Down with the Communist Party!' [It was] the first time I had ever heard this openly said in China." The students left a message written on the wall behind them that said, "On June 4, 1989, the Chinese people shed their blood and died for democracy."

The violence continued in and around the square for the rest of the day. The famous photograph of a student staring down a tank was taken by an American Associated Press photographer named Jeff Widener. He went to the top of a hotel near the square and began to take pictures of the tanks clearing the last remnants of people from the streets. Then he saw one man walk up to a tank and stand in its path, refusing to move. He took several photographs and then the man was grabbed by bystanders and pulled out of the tank's path. Widener asked another journalist to hide the film in his underwear to smuggle out of the country. The identity of the protester in the photograph is not known with any certainty. We don't know if he's alive or dead, in prison or free, but he's been called one of the most influential revolutionaries of the twentieth century.

The following news story reminds me of how society seems to value sports victories more than human rights.
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Miami Dolphin Apologizes For Faggot Remark
by Fidel Ortega
365Gay.com Newscenter
Miami Bureau


Posted: June 3, 2004 8:03 pm. ET

(Miami, Florida) The Miami Dolphins were doing damage control Thursday after linebacker Junior Seau used the word "faggot" in a speech Wednesday night as he accepted an award for leadership.

Teammates had overwhelmingly voted to give Seau the award. The homophobic comments came as he described the camaraderie between him and his fellow players before a crowd of Dolphins boosters and sports reporters at the Signature Grand.

"This is a great group of guys we have on this team," Seau said. "You have to understand. In that locker room, there is no color barrier. We do not have a color barrier. We are a unit that cares. The reason I say cares is because it's so hard to let things go when you care.

"I would say love and everybody would say you're a faggot, but I'm not. We care in that locker room. My feminine side might come out once in a while, but I'm telling you, there is a lot of love in that locker room."

Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Dean Trantalis who is gay called the remark deeply offensive.

"Unfortunately, there are a few left in our society who do not understand the differences in people," Trantalis said. "That comment is not only offensive, but it's a putdown for anyone who is deemed different from the rest of society.

Thursday, Seau issued an apology.

"A joke that came out last night, due to my stupidity, is something we have to deal with today," Seau said.

"With that, I am very sad and I apologize. I really do. I learned a lesson, I know that. The things we say, the words are very powerful and they can be very hurtful."

The Dolphins also issued an apology. But, it is not Seau's first brush with offensive language.

Last year when asked about African American San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson, Seau said, "You just befriend him. You give him couple of pieces of watermelon, load him up with some fried chicken and say, `Keep eating.'"

©365Gay.com® 2004

"Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private." - Allen Ginsberg

We've actually been having rain lately--just like the "good old days" in Saskatchewan. I even saw a double rainbow on Thursday, which was wonderful.

Yesterday I finished revisions to the latest draft of "C.J.O.H.Q.", a short story that I got feedback about (at different stages of its development) from Myrna Kostash and then Yann Martel through the Saskatoon Public Library's Writer in Residence program. They were very positive about the story and gave me some useful suggestions. I think that it's the best story I've ever written. Now I'm going to submit it to "Grain", a literary magazine that's published in Saskatchewan and features writers from across Canada and the United States. Wish me luck!