It's so nice to have you back where you belong

An article by Newsweek correspondent Matthew Philips says that the Chinese government has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission.

Borrowing from the Karl Rove/Alberto Gonzales playbook where they had hoped to replace key federal prosecutors with loyal "Bushies," China has moved to "institutionalize management of reincarnation." Although this sounds patently silly, it's really a ploy to allow Chinese authorities to choose the next Dalai Lama.

The current Dalai Lama, who now lives in India, says that he refuses to be reborn in Tibet as long as it's under Chinese control. And the Chinese, for their part, no doubt have placed the Dalai Lama's soul on their No Transmigration List.