The outcome of any serious research can only be to make two questions grow where only one grew before.
- Thorstein Veblen

The following represents a list of topics of special interest to me. Sometimes a special topic ends up as a book; in some cases, especially those that require research over several years, it makes more sense to use this blog and record my findings over time. The result is more immediate, and I can add additional information as soon as I find it.

Writing a novel involves extensive research, and, as I mentioned previously, the result of the research does not necessarily end up as a novel. For me it is important that a topic fascinates me regardless of the result. Nevertheless, it would be a pity not to share my findings. So, here they are… Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments!

The Panchen Lama Controversy

The Panchen Lama, meaning “Great Scholar,” is the highest-ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The sect controlled western Tibet from the 16th century until the establishment of Chinese sovereignty in 1951. The successive Panchen lamas form a reincarnation lineage, and they are believed to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha. The Panchen Lama bears part of the responsibility of identifying the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama and vice versa, a fact that appears crucially important to the Chinese government when it comes to establishing their territorial claim on Tibet. On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama identified a six-year-old boy by the name of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama, but only three days later the boy and his parents were taken into Chinese custody. In November of the same year the Chinese had officially enthroned six-year-old Gyaltsen Norbu, the son of two communist party members, as the 11th Panchen Lama. Read more…

My Fellow Utopians – The Privilege Of American Citizenship

Yes, I am on the path to American Citizenship, and I share the progress of the application process here on my blog. Writing these posts is a work in progress, and I will add more pieces of information on a regular basis. I still firmly believe that American citizenship is a privilege, but I also believe that too many people, born with that privilege, are willing to give up the ideas of the founding fathers. The dark eight years of the George W. Bush era are proof for that statement. As a result, I will not only report about my progress, but also explain my view of American citizenship. Read more…

The China Crisis

As Will Rogers put it so eloquently, Communism is like prohibition, it’s a good idea but it won’t work. These days there are only a few countries maintaining a political system they call communism, even though they are several dimensions away from Karl Marx’s ideal. The idea of communism is based on the assumption that everybody is equal, and in that respect it bares striking resemblance with the American constitution. The end result, though, is that communism, as it is practiced these days, is equivalent to oppression of the people, and China is a prime example. The human mind works primarily on principles of competition. Simply put, the harder you work the more money you make. More money means better lifestyle. It doesn’t work that way in China, unless you are one of the few privileged, those who are more equal than the rest, or you are in a position to use the millennium old bribery system. The people of China, however, are becoming increasingly educated, mostly due to China’s rising economical power in the world. The China Crisis is about the power of the people versus the communist system. – Read more…

The Last Dalai Lama

In November 2007, the 14th Dalai Lama suggested he might not be reborn, or else he might choose the next Dalai Lama while he is still alive. That really would not be completely unheard of, since in Buddhism linear time is considered a delusion, and since rebirth is not really of one individual. His Holiness is concerned that the Chinese will choose and install the 15th Dalai Lama, as they have done with the Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is the second-highest spiritual leader of Tibet. On May 14, 1995, the Dalai Lama identified a six-year-old boy named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. By May 17 the boy and his parents had been taken into Chinese custody. They have not been seen or heard from since. The Chinese government named another boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, as the official 11th Panchen Lama and had him enthroned in November 1995. (Source: Babara O’Brien, About.com Guide) – Read more…

Sigerson Clifford (1913 – 1985)

Sigerson Clifford was an Irish poet and playwright. He is best remembered for his poem, The Boys of Barr na Sráide, which was named after a street in Cahersiveen. The poem recalls the life of his boyhood friends starting from when they were young children through to the Black and Tan period, and up to the civil war. The poem speaks of the Irish tradition of “hunting for the wran” (wren), a small bird, on St. Stephen’s Day, 26 December. Later set to music, the song has been recorded by numerous traditional and folk singers including Christy Moore and Tim Dennehy.

I took lines from each verse of his poem and used them as a frame for my novel The Bleeding Hills. Just like Clifford’s poem, my novel is about the Ireland and the Irish Troubles, but this is also where the similarities end. Nevertheless, I was interested in the poem’s background, and, listening to Colm O’Donnel’s version of the song many, many times, I felt inspired to write my novel. However, I also found that there is a substantial lack of information on the person of Sigerson Clifford, and I am trying to rectify this by collecting data through my website. Read more...

The CAVE People Of Greenfield, Massachusetts

Back in 2002 my wife and I, unprepared for the cultural clash, moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts, where we learned about a peculiar species, the Greenfielder. It is impossible to describe the Greenfielder in only few words. The Greenfielder, at his heart, is a communist in so far that everybody is equal – with equal voting rights – but with a few ones more equal than the rest. Political decisions, including votes and elections, are made by a very active, aggressive minority in the form of “If you are not with us, you are against the system, and that is now allowed.” – Politburo comes to mind. So, the Greenfielder is kind of a Soviet communist. In addition, there is the fight against every intrusion of modern life improvements, almost to the degree of the Amish people. In all consequence, the Greenfielder is a Soviet-Communist-Amish people. As a result I created the term CAVE = Citizens Against Virtually Everything.

I never imagined I would live in an American equivalent of Leonard Wibberly’s Duchy of Grand Fenwick, or even that a Chevy Chase movie like Funny Farm was not based on mere fantasy, but careful observation. Read more…