After more 60 years of peaceful resistance and negotiations with the Chinese government over their occupation of Tibet, the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, appears to be throwing in the towel. On Oct. 27th, the Dalai Lama announced to his followers that he no longer believed successful progress in discussions with China on autonomy for his homeland were possible. “I have been sincerely pursuing the middle way approach in dealing with China for a long time now but there hasn’t been any positive response from the Chinese side,” he was quoted as saying from his home in exile in Dharamsala, northern India. “As far as I’m concerned, I have given up.”? [read the rest, here]

Environment: Reincarnation of the machines

Aniza Damis

When a human dies, the only thing that lives on is his deeds. And his organs, if he had donated them. But can there be life after death for household appliances? ANIZA DAMIS visits the Panasonic Eco Technology Centre in Kato City, Japan, and finds there is meaning in death, even for machines

WHERE do old television sets go to die?

Now that you’ve bought that longed-for plasma TV, what do you do with the old set that’s served you so well all through university and your first home?

In Japan, thanks to a sensible government environmental law, they don’t just die; they are reincarnated.

Old cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs are taken into a recycling centre and taken apart. Their CRT glass is recovered and sold to countries that still make such TVs.

Other parts are salvaged and reused in the manufacturing of other electrical and non-electrical products.

The end result: More than 80 per cent of the TV comes back to life in one form or another. .

But it’s not just televisions that get a second-chance at life… [the rest, here]

From AM Ocala Live:

This is our interview with author M. J. Rose and her latest book, “The Memorist.” M. J. Rose is the bestselling author of ten novels including THE REINCARNATIONIST (September ’07 in hardcover and October ’08 in paperback) – which was chosen by Booksense as one of 2007’s Best Suspense Novels. THE MEMORIST (November 08) is M.J.’s most recent book and continues the acclaimed suspense series that looks at how our past lives impact our present lives.

Click here for the interview!