China doesn’t care what you think:

China has stepped up persecution of Buddhist monks with mass detentions, Tibet activists said Wednesday, as China prepares to take the Olympic torch to the top of Mount Everest.

The actions came a day after six monks were given lengthy prison sentences in the first trial of rioters since deadly violence in Tibet’s capital last month.

After a troubled world tour, the torch arrived on Chinese soil, in Hong Kong. Several potential protesters were turned away at the airport.

Jail sentences for those accused of participating in last month’s protests / riots.

Made in China. But so is everything else. China is a factory. Its decisions are business decisions.

At heart China is a business, and this turmoil was hurting the bottom line:

China appeared to bend to international pressure on Friday as the government announced it would meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama, an unexpected shift that comes as violent Tibetan demonstrations in western China have threatened to cast a pall over the Beijing Olympics in August.

When it rains literary nonfiction, it pours: books by not one but two Tricycle contributing editors hit the stacks this July. Memoirist Mark Matousek’s When You’re Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living tracks the sorrows and triumphs of hundreds of survivors, seeking to answer the question: How does a person survive his own life? Mixed with universal stories of illness and loss are profiles of people who have suffered under extraordinary circumstances—a Tibetan nun who was tortured by Chinese soldiers at the age of thirteen; a Sudanese man who was kidnapped as a child and forced into slavery for ten years. Matousek draws from parables, scientific studies, philosophy, and literature in order to create a nuanced portrait of endurance and meaning wrought from adversity.

The Wishing Year, by Noelle Oxenhandler, tells the story of the author’s experiment with the art of wishing. One New Year’s Day, Oxenhandler decides to change her life. Her first step is to admit aloud the three things she wants most: “to heal my soul, buy a house, and find a man.” With her desires finally verbalized (and a personal wishing shrine in her bedroom), Oxenhandler’s adventure begins. The Wishing Year offers insights into the unique role desire plays in Western culture—the contradictions between the American right to the pursuit of happiness and the sense that asking for more marks us as ungrateful; whether it’s better to look for love or wait for it to come. As Oxenhandler’s wishes become surprising realities, she finds that oportunities for happiness have been present all along—all she had to do was learn to spot them.

The Canberra run went smoothly enough. And more horrifying violence in Sri Lanka - perhaps 90 dead in one day.

“Whatever the reason, the gap between American justice and that of the rest of the world is enormous and growing.”

Meditation and art.