Fruit themed toymaker Apple has decided that it is best to join in with China in giving the Dalai Lama a good kicking. Apple appears to have blocked iPhone applications related to the Dalai Lama in its China App Store.

Those apps, which appear in most countries' versions of the App Store, do not currently appear in the Chinese version. It seems that Jobs Mob has ruthlessly hunted down applications which are connected to Chinese dissidents and purged them from its data base.

An application related to Rebiya Kadeer, who like the Dalai Lama is an exiled minority leader reviled by China's authorities, is unavailable in the China App Store as well. While Apple gear is the tool of choice for peace loving liberal hippies who seem to have more money than sense, it seems its glorious rulers made the rule in the interests of making large amounts of dosh from the Chinese.

The apparent censorship came after carrier China Unicom launched iPhone sales two months ago, making regulatory approval of the phone's contents in the country necessary for the first time. At least five iPhone apps related to the Dalai Lama are unavailable in the China store. Some of those apps -- named Dalai Quotes, Dalai Lama Quotes and Dalai Lama Prayerwheel -- display inspirational quotes from the Tibetan spiritual leader. Another, Paging Dalai Lama, tells users where he is currently teaching. A fifth app, Nobel Laureates, contains information about Nobel Prize winners including the Dalai Lama.

Still the Dalai Lama will be laughing at Apple's efforts. In a move which really shows the forces of karma and the wheel of birth and death in action, the iPhone tanked in China anyway. Apparently the Chinese felt that it was too expensive and lacked functionality. Lama 1 Jobs 0.