Category: Politics & World Affairs
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Paths to Peace: A Libya-Tibet Nexus in Switzerland
By chance, I’m in Geneva at the same time as a stream of black cars full of world leaders, and we’re on peace missions of different sorts. Events of the past two weeks spur reflection on the ways in which their big mission and my little one intersect. I arrived in Switzerland feeling brow-furrowed about…
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Ground Game: Purple People Power
I just came home from a fascinating, exhilarating, and exhausting election day volunteering for the Obama campaign in Colorado. And before I get on with the the story, in the current climate I guess I’d better say why. First, full disclosure: I’m not registered with any political party. I do believe it’s my responsibility as…
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Kimchi & the Change Gang
An nyong ha sae yo! (That’s “wassup” in Korean…) Thanks to the gracious hospitality of my Uncle Pat and Aunt Yong, recent transplants to Seoul, i had a precious opportunity to stop over in Korea for nearly a week on my way back to India (after a whirlwind maintenance visit to the US with some…
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The Rising Canal and Other Changes
Buongiorno from Venice, which i thought i’d better see before it sinks much further. Lately, it’s flooding more frequently and more severely, and it’s chilling to drift around this jewel of history and imagine that, within as few as 20 years (if some scientists’ predictions come true) the first floor or two of every building…
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Dubya & the Sublime Lotus
After the intensity of our inner and outer experiences of recent weeks, my friend Artyom and i were ready for a holiday. We hired a jeep to Sikkim, had good talks and good momos, and then he caught a jeep eastward to Rumtek Monastery (the exile HQ of the previous Karmapa, though the Indian government still…