NYC Conference this Tuesday: Ethical Revolution and the World Crisis

[gristy]

Check out the speaker list (no slight intended on the folks I didn't highlight - am just less familiar with them).

Ethical Revolution and the World Crisis
New York City, September 23 (All-Day)

Join Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel, Presidential candidates Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich, Democracy Now host Amy Goodman, author Helen Caldicott, Tibet House founder Robert Thurman, actress Susan Sarandon, drug reform activist Russell Simmons and others in conversation with the Dalai Lama about the codes of conduct that govern individual and national actions.

Tuesday, September 23, 9:30am--12:00pm; 2:00pm--4:30pm
Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street
New York City

Conference Admission: $70

For tickets and info: www.tibethouse.org/programs/special.html or call 212-840-2824. (Sponsored by Tibet House.)

And check out Editor's Cut, vanden Heuvel's regularly-updated Nation
weblog: www.thenation.com/edcut

Finally, please visit www.thenation.com for new weblogs, online
articles, reviews, activist campaigns, reader letters and info about
Nation events.

Best Regards,
Peter Rothberg, The Nation

[LWolf]

1. Here are a couple of reports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/nyregion/24DALA.html

<snip>

In his remarks, he told the audience he thinks that Americans sometimes behave childishly, "especially politicians making empty slogans."

Then, with a shrug and a golly-gee smile, he said, "Sorry."

But that was before Mr. Sharpton spoke. By the time he was done (and had told the crowd that he had made mistakes and had changed, that he was carrying on the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that he was offering a moral vision for the future), the Dalai Lama smiled broadly, put his hands together in a prayer position at his forehead and gave Mr. Sharpton a deep bow. The crowd nearly rose from their chairs.

Mr. Sharpton was beaming. But did he succeed in entertaining the crowd with one-liners? ("We have a Christian right here that is not right Christians.") When it was time for the Dalai Lama to respond, he spoke to Mr. Kucinich, addressing the congressman's proposed legislation for creating a government department of peace. He thought that was a fine idea. He never got back to what Mr. Sharpton said.


And another:

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/23/nyregion/23NYC.html

President Bush comes to town today for the fall jamboree of the United Nations General Assembly. If his speech lives up to its billing, he will tell the gathered panjandrums and plenipotentiaries that invading Iraq was the right thing to do, never mind the skeptics who feel the chief beneficiary thus far has been Jon Stewart, the host of the Emmy-winning "Daily Show" on Comedy Central.

Presumably, the president did not consult the Dalai Lama before deciding what to say. At least, he was not seen among the tens of thousands of people who went to the East Meadow of Central Park on Sunday to hear the exiled Tibetan leader's message of peace and compassion.

The Dalai Lama's visit has been the New York event of the season: part spiritual encounter, part love-in, part show business. As revered as he is, he also has rock-star aura. That was evident at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side, where he lectured on Buddhist philosophy for four days last week. The marquee flashed his name as if he were just another headliner. On stage: the Dalai Lama. Coming soon: Twisted Sister and Hot Tuna.

Perhaps it was just as well that Mr. Bush stayed away from the East Meadow, where the dominant mood on Sunday could be summarized as Om on the Range. The president might have drawn little inspiration from the Dalai Lama's warning that war — in general, not specifically the combat in Iraq — amounted to "legalized violence."

"The very concept of war is out of date," the world's most famous Buddhist monk said to applause. "Destruction of your neighbor as an enemy is essentially destruction of yourself."