“my spirit will not rest easy. I will seek revenge on the wives, children, and the descendants of all of those in the justice system”
— Indonesian death row convict Zainal Abidin, threatening revenge from beyond the grave
China | Dalia Lama's last legs
THE GIST. Chinese government officials are concerned that the Dalai Lama might decide not to re-incarnate, saying that decision-making over the survival of the Dalai Lama lineage "resides in the central government of China."
THE LAMAS. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. The OG Dalai Lama was Gendun Drup, whose reign started in 1391 (not a typo), and there have been 13 more since. When a Dalai Lama dies, a group of High Lamas conduct a search for his (it's always been a dude) reincarnation, which historically has taken up to a couple of years.
THE END? The current Dalai Lama was born in 1935, and 'recognised' as the previous one's reincarnation at the age of two, in 1937. He was enthroned in 1950, which was the last year of Tibetan independence, as it was invaded and claimed by China. He has been saying for years that he won't be reborn in a country that is ruled by China, and that he could be the last one.
THE POLITICS. The 14th Dalai Lama has been in exile since 1959, and has campaigned for Tibetan independence ever since. China wants to control the re-incarnation process, because they've been trying to install their own pro-Beijing Lamas, and don't want the next one to be an agitator for independence. The 14th DL thinks it would just be better that the tradition "end at the time of a quite popular Dalai Lama."
USA | Conveniently Clinton
THE GIST. Hillary Clinton has defended her use of a secret email account while she was Secretary of State, saying she used the personal account to conduct official business because it was more convenient.
THE STORY. While she was SoS, Clinton exclusively used a personal email account to conduct government business, keeping about 50,000 pages of government-related emails private. This kinda violates the law requiring government officials to keep public records of their emails.
THE DEFENCE. Clinton admitted that it would have been "better for me to use two separate phones and two email accounts," but that "I thought using one device would be simpler." This, despite once saying that she has two iPads, and iPhone and a Blackberry, because "I'm like two steps short of a hoarder."
THE DISCLOSURE. The Clinton camp turned over about 30 thousand emails from her account, after deleting another 30k because they were strictly personal. For the record, she claims to have never emailed anybody classified info. (FYI, HC has a bit of a weird history of being loose with the truth). One other factoid to emerge from this e-drama: Bill Clinton, who oversaw the 1990s tech boom, has apparently sent only two emails in his entire life.
Small-talk
Retail therapy. Google has opened its first 'Google Shop' in London. The store will stock Google phones, tablets and other android-based devices. A visit to the Google Shop is a lot like going to the Apple Store, except you don't pay with money. Instead, you tell them contents of your personal correspondence, your whereabouts over the last month, and what you're thinking about buying for Christmas.
Street legal. A couple of days ago a bunch of 'Class A' drugs, including ecstasy and ketamine were unexpectedly legalised in Ireland after the laws banning them were found to be unconstitutional. The Prime Minister conceded that the incident was especially unfortunate given the pervasive stereotypes about Irish people and substance-abuse, but argued that "Ireland is certainly not a nation of drunks - that's a vicious assumption which we've worked very hard to overcome. Now, pass me the pingers."
Pre-historic. Celebrity chef Pete Evans has had the release his new cookbook, on a 'Paleo' diet for babies, postponed by publishers because of concerns that it could potentially endanger children's health. Evans and other proponents of the Paleo diet apparently believe that our caveman and cavewoman ancestors represented the high-water mark of human health. No word yet on whether Evans is a fan of the burgeoning new fields of Paleo dentistry or Paleo brain surgery.
The word
Mendacious Noun. Telling lies, especially habitually; dishonest: Red Rooster has been accused of misleading its customers with the mendacious claim that they would "find nothing artificial" in its food, after additives and preservatives were discovered in several of its menu items. Outraged customers have taken to social media to voice their discontent, with one parent concerned that, "Now I don't know what to believe in that Pete Evans 'Drive-Thru 4 Kids' cookbook."
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