Tickets will go on sale through www.admission.com on Friday, August 5 with prices ranging from $30 to $85.

The guest speaker for this evening will be Jamyang Norbu, a leading Tibetan activist and writer.

Friday night also features the film “A Song for Tibet” (which I’ve yet to see) and “Unmistaken Child” which I absolutely loved.

Saturday features the 2 part series “Women of Tibet: A Quiet Revolution/ The Great Mother” which looks like remarkable films. Here’s the trailer for you to check out:

Also presented on Saturday night is “Fire Under the Snow” documenting the story of Palden Gyatso who was imprisoned for 33 years for the crimes of peaceful demonstration.

The last film of the festival is “The Sun Behind the Clouds” which touches upon the most recent uprisings in Tibet back in March 2008 and examines personal stories related to views towards the strategy of non-violence that the Dalai Lama has traditionally held in working with the Chinese government.

There will also be a free public talk by Jamyang Norbul titled “Independent Tibet! The Facts” on Saturday, April 1oth. For more details on this event, please visit the Students for a Free Tibet- Canada website.

Looks like a phenomenal event and I only wish I could jet off to Toronto for the weekend. Here’s hoping I can attend next year.

There’s a video currently on the worst horse website which shows a peaceful march for Tibet which turns ugly. No, this footage isn’t from China or India, it’s from New York City. Why police officers would threaten to kill Buddhist protesters walking peacefully down the street, carrying flags is beyond me but hey, maybe things have changed a bit in the US of A and pro-Tibet supporters are a bigger threat than previously imagined.

Watch this NOW! Free Tibet protesters being beaten in NEW YORK CITY. « theworsthorse.net

Monday, March 31st is the Global Day of Action for Tibet. Click here for details on events happening here in Canada

The afternoon began with a briefing about the situation in Tibet and led into a minute of silence to honor and remember those who had been killed in the violence. We then participated in a prayer vigil and chanted the mantra ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ and closed with a singing of the Tibetan National Anthem.

As we sat in the freezing cold, many people surrounded us taking photos (although I’m not seeing any of the photos on flickr, facebook, websites, blogs or myspace- so I”m not sure where they ended up!) People in cars drove by and honked to show their support and it was a positive sign that public sympathy is with those who are participating in the uprising.

I was struck by a family in the crowd- a man with his wife and young children who sat holding a sign with the brutal image of one of the Tibetans murdered from Kirti Monastery. I saw the children look at me and Mr TMcG as we held a sign showing one of their own who was brutalized and I felt the agonizing pain of a people who had tried employing peaceful means but the time had come where push came to shove.

1. Events planned in your local community

Please join the numerous vigils and rallies being planned across Canada. These events are posted at www.tibet.ca as soon as we learn of them from organizers.

2. Call your MP and the Prime Minister

Please ask your MP and the government to support the following two actions:

a. The Canada Tibet Committee is asking that the Canadian government to support the Dalai Lama’s call for a United Nation’s team of investigators to visit Tibet as soon as possible.

b. All political leaders and other prominent persons who have accepted an invitation to attend the Olympic Games should withdraw their acceptance.

You can write, fax or email the Prime Minister at:

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
pm@pm.gc.ca

For the coordinates of your local MP, consult this list:

3. Call, fax or email the Chinese embassy in Ottawa

Please express your concerns directly to the Chinese embassy and please raise the following two issues:

a. With a media black-out in Lhasa, verifiable information will become even harder to come by. Two Canadian journalists have been detained in Xiahe, and others turned away from areas outside the ‘Tibet Autonomous Region’, despite China having issued new regulations that were intended to allow free movement by foreign journalists in this Olympics year.

Demand that China must allow foreign journalists back into all Tibetan areas (TAR and Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan).

b. Express your support of the Dalai Lama’s request for an independent U.N. team to investigate the situation in Tibet.

Chinese embassy coordinates

Tel: +1-613-7893434, 7910511
Fax: +1-613-7891911, 7891414
Office Hours: 09:00-12:00, 14:00-17:30, Monday-Friday (except Chinese holidays)
Email: chinaemb_ca@mfa.gov.cn

4. Fax Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee

The International Tibet Support Network is speaking with a united voice, calling on the IOC to block China’s plans to carry the Olympic Torch through Tibet prior to the Games. Please add your voice to the thousands who already have by faxing or phoning Mr. Rogge at:

International Olympic Committee
Château de Vidy
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: (41.21) 621 61 11
Fax: (41.21) 621 62 16

5. Visit the CTC website regularly for updates and please consider joining, donating or volunteering to help Tibet

Finally, we cannot respond and support the Tibetan people without your help. Please take a moment to visit www.tibet.ca and either join or donate to the CTC. And if you have time, please consider volunteering as well by sending an email to ctcoffice@tibet.ca

The Chinese armed forces opened fire on a group of about 70 Tibetans escaping to Nepal, killing a 17 year-old nun. A young boy of 12 or 13 was also shot, possibly to death. After firing for several minutes, the Chinese patrollers took into custody a group of 8 to 10 young children. However, some of the refugees managed to reach the Nepalese border, including a 7 or 8 year-old girl. It is feared that Chinese diplomats in Kathmandu are tracking down witnesses to silence them. The British newspaper, The Independent also documented testimonies of many Western climbers who helplessly witnessed the incident.

Each year, thousands of Tibetans flee across the mountains towards Nepal, in pursuit of a religious and cultural education that is denied to them in Tibet. Notwithstanding the risks and hardships endured by all those refugees, this event is particularly shocking and horrific.

The Canada Tibet Committee therefore urges the Canadian government to express its outrage to the Chinese government over the shootings and detention of survivors, and demands for a full accounting of the incident as well as the fate of the children and others in their custody.

You can take action :

1.Write to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Peter MacKay, to ask him that your government lodge an official diplomatic objection to China for its systematic violation of human rights that this incident highlights.

Address : House of Commons
Ottawa (Ontario)
K1A 0A6
Telephone : (613) 992-6022
Fax : (613) 992-2337
Email : Mackay.P@parl.gc.ca

2.Write to the Chinese ambassador in Canada, Mr. Lu Shumin, to express your concern at the continuing violations of human rights by the People’s Republic of China’s armed forces.

Address : 515 St.Patrick Street
Ottawa (Ontario)
KIN 5H3
Telephone : 1-613-7893434/7910511
Fax : 1-613-7891911/7891414