Busy Busy Busy

The days have been frantically, insanely busy, starting early and covering enormous distance. Insane. The boys are back in Bangkok. Insane.

The story continues:

"Bewildered, drunk, taking too many drugs and swilling too much bourbon through the small hours, he started to fall apart. Twice.

"When he got out the world was a different place. For the first time in his life he was lonely. He was older. No longer could he just sit on a bar stool and wait for someone to buy him a drink. His idea of picking someone up, getting completely wasted and seeing whom he woke up with in the morning, didn't work any more. He didn't have to barely look sideways to pick someone up. He hung around with recovering alcoholics and addicts in coffee shops, briefly intrigued by the new scene. Most of the men were younger than him, boasting energetically of their adventures with women.

"He started looking at them too."

THE BIGGER STORY:

The Dalai Lama is in Australia. It is still up in the air whether Howard will meet with him or not. Wouldn't be kow towing to the Chinese would we? Amazing how billions of dollars in trade can buy silence, while we continue to create and perpetuate havoc in Iraq.

From The Age:

Claims of the Dalai Lama's nepotistic behaviour wrong
June 7, 2007
COMMENT

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AdvertisementIn his recent column ("Behind Dalai Lama's holy cloak", 23/5), Michael Backman chastised journalists for not challenging the Dalai Lama. In doing so, he resorted to questionable journalistic standards by accusing the Dalai Lama of nepotistic and non-democratic behaviour based on "hard facts" that are either manipulated to sensationalise his case or are downright wrong.

Backman alleges that the Dalai Lama advocates greater autonomy for millions of people who are now "Chinese citizens, presumably with him as head of their government". The fact is just the opposite.

In July 1981, then Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang announced "China's Five-point Policy towards the Dalai Lama", urging the Dalai Lama to return so he "will enjoy the same political status and living conditions as he had before 1959". The Dalai Lama rejected the offer and stated that the issue was not his own position in Tibet, but the welfare of 6 million Tibetans.

In 1992, the Dalai Lama categorically declared that he would not hold any official position in the government of future Tibet. Rather, he would hand over his traditional authority to an elected leader of Tibet and "serve the people as an individual outside the government".

It is a fact that the traditional government of Tibet was unegalitarian and inefficient. However, when the Dalai Lama was enthroned to be the leader in 1950, he was merely 15 years old, and faced the daunting task of handling the invasion and occupation of Tibet by Communist China. In exile, as part of an anti-Communist campaign, it is true that the American Government supported the Khampa guerilla resistance force till early 1970s.

However, it is not true that the Dalai Lama was "personally" paid $US15,000 a month by the CIA. As it is the case today, he was kindly hosted by the Indian Government as an "honoured guest". The fund was not even part of the budget of the Tibetan government in exile. In actuality, the main source was not the CIA, but fulfilment of a pledge made by US ambassador to India Loy Henderson in 1951.