Nepal's king orders soldiers to shoot protesters

Last Updated Sat, 08 Apr 2006 09:54:06 EDT
CBC News

Opposition parties called off an anti-monarchy rally planned in Nepal's capital on Saturday after the royal government imposed an all-day curfew and threatened to shoot on sight any violators.

IN DEPTH: Nepal

(Binod Joshi/Associated Press)

Thousands of people were expected to gather in Kathmandu to demand a return to democracy.

Instead, those planning the protest against King Gyanendra's rule were holding an emergency meeting to determine how to counter the king's latest step to end the protests against his seizure of power last year.

The rally was to be part of a four-day nationwide strike that began on Thursday.

Security forces fired on demonstrators Saturday in Pokhara, a resort town 200 kilometres west of the capital, killing one person and injuring at least two others. Protesters were throwing stones when the soldiers shot at them, witnesses said.

Pokhara was hit by widespread protests throughout Friday, with activists fighting troops who fired back with dozens of tear gas shells, according to witness reports.

The king fired the government a year ago and suspended many civil liberties after he accused politicians of failing to stop the violence between the government and Maoist rebels.

Gyanendra said he would form a new cabinet and restore peace and democracy within three years. But in recent months there have been growing calls across the country for the restoration of democracy.

Novelist Donald Barthelme said, "Write about what you're afraid of."

"Every minute you perform hundreds of karmic actions, yet you are hardly conscious of any of them. In the stillness of meditation, however, you can listen to your mind, the source of all this activity. You learn to be aware of your actions to a far greater extent than ever before. This self-awareness leads to self-control, enabling you to master your karma rather than be mastered by it."

- Lama Thubten Yeshe, "In Wisdom Energy"
Copyright Wisdom Publications 2001.
Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations,"
edited by Josh Bartok, with permission of Wisdom Publications,
199 Elm St., Somerville MA 02144 U.S.A
www.wisdompubs.org

It's the birthday of poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, born in London (1837). Swinburne was always extremely proud of his work. Before going to a friend's house, he would place his manuscript in his breast pocket and then button up his coat to make the bulge of the book more obvious. He would then go to the house and greet everyone. He would sit in a chair completely rigid, and then would say in an absent-minded way, "I have brought with me such and such book." He would wait in silence until someone said, "Oh, please do read it." He would then reply, "I had no intention in the world of boring you with it, but since you ask me. ..." And then he would read it.

- from Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" on NPR (National Public Radio) in the U.S.

American playwright Robert Sherwood said, "To be able to write a play ... a man must be sensitive, imaginative, naive, gullible, passionate; he must be something of an imbecile, something of a poet, something of a liar, something of a damn fool."

U.S. Episcopal bishops to back away from gay-inclusiveness

In the face of international pressure that has only grown since the consecration of gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003, the Episcopal Church is expected to step back from its support of gays and lesbians. According to leaks from a private meeting of bishops in North Carolina last week as well as an e-mail circulated by the bishop of Arizona, the U.S. bishops are apparently planning to present resolutions at the Anglican Communion's General Convention in June banning the blessing of same-sex unions and repenting for the consecration of Robinson, reports London's Daily Telegraph.

The Episcopal bishops are also planning to block the consecration of a second gay bishop in California if the diocese there elects a lesbian or gay man in May. Of the seven candidates for the position, three are openly gay.

The efforts are aimed at preventing a schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch and which has been roiled by differences over the inclusion of gay and lesbian clergy and laypeople, with conservative branches in Africa and Asia—and some American parishes—threatening to bolt because of the issue.

Archbishop Rowan Williams, the head of the Anglican Communion, has appealed to the U.S. branch to not move forward with full inclusion of gays, saying most recently that he didn't think the Communion could survive a split.

According to the e-mail from the Right Reverend Kirk Smith of Arizona, the bishops do "not want to do anything that would further jeopardize our standing with the rest of the Communion," adding, "One might say this represents a 'go slow' approach for our church. Without backing away from decisions we have made, it is nonetheless a clear message that we will work to conform to the requests of the majority of the Anglican Communion.'

'However, the general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement said he doubts the bishops' plans will meet with success at the General Convention. The Reverend Richard Kirker told the Daily Telegraph, "Not even the General Convention can stop the inevitable flow of history."

(The Advocate)

"All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If you speak or act with a harmful thought, trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If you speak or act with a harmonious thought, happiness will follow you as your own shadow, never leaving you."

-Dhammapada

From The Pocket Buddha Reader, edited by Anne Bancroft, 2000. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com .