Hong Kong: 'Cut Out the Bird Rituals'
It's rare that Buddhists need to be reprimanded by an Asian government.  But Hong Kong officials have told Buddhists in the area to stop releasing birds as part of religious ceremonies.  In fact, one Hong Kong official told a Flumesday reporter, "I wish they'd just cut that shit out."  Last week in the center of Hong Kong, a cute little scaly-breasted munia, like the guy pictured right, was found dead from the H5N1 strain of bird flu.  As the 6.9 million Hong Kong residents began to do their "we're all going to die" freakout routine, scientists questioned how the bird, which only inhabits the rural outskirts of the Hong Kong territory, found its way to the city center.  According to a Sunday AP story, Buddhists transport these birds into the city so that they can release them as part of a ceremony to improve their karma.  A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Buddhist Cultural Association told the AP that they used to release a thousand birds at a time because they "believe releasing life can build up one's benevolence, and life belongs to the nature."  With the presence of bird flu around Hong Kong for nearly 10 years now, the Buddhists have taken to releasing fish into the sea instead.  This way, they are still releasing life but are no longer releasing diseased flu birds into the air that will expose Hong Kong to the virus and cause the whole island to drop dead.  Because I don't think Buddha wouldn't be too happy with that.  Even the fat one who's always laughing.

•AP: Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia

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