The rain was light. The winds were moderate, And the waves were only one meter high. Russia’s shipping tragedy last week was a perfect storm — of human error. The Volga riverboat ‘Bulgaria’ was designed to carry 140 people, but it was loaded with 208. Most of the 59 children seem to have been waved […]
Why Can’t the Dalai Lama visit Russia?
Posted July 12th, 2011 at 8:32 pm (UTC+0)
In temple after temple in Buryatia, the capital of Buddhism in Russia, one color photo invariably holds a position of honor, often surrounded by garlands of flowers. The photo is of the Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism since 1950. The vast majority of Russia’s estimated 1.3 million Buddhists follow Tibetan Buddhism. Despite the […]
Belarus: Did Kolya Bite the Stewardess?
Posted July 6th, 2011 at 5:43 pm (UTC+0)
On a Sunday afternoon, Natalia and I were resting on a tree-shaded path in Minsk’s Victory Park, when she started to ask a delicate question. But she did not want to discuss it while we were sitting on a park bench. “There could be microphones in the bench,” the 20-year-old said. “Our professors at the […]
