Remembering John Lennon at Dharamshala . I remember the exact night, thirty years ago, when I heard John Lennon had been murdered. I was in the hall of the kashag (the Tibetan cabinet) building in Dharamshala, at a benefit dance for the literary magazine Lotus Fields (Pemathang). Raju, the lead guitarist of The Subterranean Vajra …
Attention All Katri Election Junkies!
Our very own Tenpa Gapshi la has written a very discerning and balanced article on the Katri elections, with emphasis on the results of the preliminary elections. I highly recommend it to everyone. Read it at http://bit.ly/9L1xNT I haven’t seen as much genuine and animated discussion about our elections and our democracy anywhere as on …
Through a Blurry Cellphone Video, Darkly
LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & REVOLUTION IN TIBET . The task of getting news out of Tibet these day has taken on the frustrating ambience of cold-war research methodology. We haven’t exactly gone back to the days of Sovietologists and China watchers poring over precious photographs of Mayday line-ups for scraps of usable information, but we’re heading …
Lhasa Public Security Summon Woeser
Urgent Blogpost by Woeser; Lhasa Public Security Bureau Summon Her High Peaks Pure Earth has translated an urgent blogpost by Woeser describing how she was summoned on the phone by the Lhasa Public Security Bureau. The blogpost was written approximately one hour ago. “Urgent: Someone on the Phone Claiming to be from Lhasa City Public …
Investigating Lobsang Sangay’s “Obama of China” Statement
Thanks to Lobsang Sangay la and Jamyang Norbu la, the Kalon Tripa race has its first Sarah Palin incident. Palin, of course, is the defeated 2008 U.S. vice presidential candidate who supposedly said she had foreign policy experience because she could “see Russia” from her house in Alaska. That gaffe was taken somewhat out of context to criticize the half-term governor for her perceived weakness; in her case inexperience.
Further Musings on the Upcoming Elections
Readers must forgive me for nit picking, but the term “kalon-tripa”, literally “the enthroned minister” bothers me. It doesn’t exactly sit well (no pun intended) in a democratic system. Thrones might be okay, these day, for titular sovereigns as the Queen of England or the King of Thailand, and certainly for His Holiness who Tibetans …
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Lobsang Sangay La’s Response
A week ago Lobsang Sangay la called me on the telephone and expressed his objection to my piece which in large part dealt with his candidacy. Lobsang la told me that he did not remember making any statement (at the Woodrow Wilson conference) about wanting to be the Obama of China. He told me that …
Some Thoughts on the Upcoming Kalon Tripa Elections
I have received some mild censure of late from friends and readers for my lack of enthusiasm for the upcoming kalon-tripa election. I did explain my position earlier in a number of my blogs that our present “partyless” political system was not a true democracy, and that only a party-based system (even with all its …
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High Mountain Elegy
I was waiting at Denver airport for my ride when I got a call from a Tibetan acquaintance who asked (somewhat expectantly I thought … but I could be wrong) if the Americans had revived the program to train and support Tibetan jamak (guerrilla operations) inside Tibet. I explained that nothing of the kind was …
Dangerous Liaison (I)
EXAMINING PROF. SAMDHONG RINPOCHE’S RECENT REMARKS. Samdhong Rinpoche’s tenure as kalon tripa or prime minister will be up in a few months, but it seems he is determined not to leave without delivering some more of his trademark profundities that earlier caused so much dismay to intelligent and dedicated Tibetans. We all remember his statement …
