The Tibetans just said yes. Reluctantly. Why? Non-violence—the lineage of civil disobedience passed down from Thoreau to Gandhi to MLK Jr. to the Dalai Lama—won’t turn the tide in China.

At least, not without international support, and since Tibet don’t got none of that there black gold, no one cares enough to do more than blog about it (me) or put a FREE TIBET bumper sticker on the back of their SUV (half of my hometown).

Meanwhile, China continues to raise its middle finger at the Dalai Lama, despite the fact that he does not advocate for a Free Tibet himself, instead hoping for limited autonomy for Tibet within China:

On Friday, an editorial in the official Chinese Tibet Daily newspaper again accused the Dalai Lama of advocating for independence. According to a translation by The Associated Press, the editorial said, “The Dalai Lama’s so-called ‘middle way’ is a naked expression of ‘Tibet independence’ aimed at nakedly spreading the despicable plot of opposing the tide of history.”