Protests Shut Down Tibetan Tourism
Crucifixions: Bad For Your Health?
Past Drug Use Can Mean No Entry to US
Decades of Scandal at the Mayflower Hotel
Play Performed In Public Potty
PROTESTS SHUT DOWN TIBETAN TOURISM – The Wall Street Journal
Violent protests in Lhasa, Tibet caused hotels, such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts to evacuate all guests Saturday, and the hotel staff was urged to stay in their dormitories until it was safe to come out. It is unknown as to when travelers will be allowed back into the country, and agents report that travel permits required for non-Chinese visitors have been discontinued. Tibetan tourism will suffer, as its high season begins around May. The number of people who visited Tibet was four million in 2007, compared with about 2.5 million the previous year. “My business brings groups to Tibet ; I’ve had to suspend it indefinitely,” said Wong Yuen Lik, manager of X-Trekkers Adventure Consultant Pte. Ltd. “I think it’s going to be detrimental to Tibetans in Tibet . So right now, those drivers and guides will be out of jobs. They have no income; no chance to share their culture and stories with foreign tourists and bring more people back to Tibet.”
Link: The Wall Street Journal
CRUCIFIXIONS: BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH? - News.com (Australia)
Health officials in the Philippines warned those who participate in Easter crucifixions and self-flagellation to get a tetanus shot and make sure the nails are sterilized to prevent infections—but they didn’t advise against participating in this dangerous and disturbing event. Each year on Good Friday, men in the Roman Catholic Southeast Asian nation reenact Jesus Christ’s crucifixion by having themselves nailed to wooden crosses. They also are advised to examine the condition of the whip they will use before lashing their backs. Health Secretary Francisco Duque said that since it is difficult to discourage “flagellants from whipping their own flesh, the best penitents can do is ensure that their whips are well-maintained.” According to the Manila Times, in San Fernando City , Pampanga, around 23 people, including two women, plan to reenact the crucifixion.
Link: News.com (Australia)
PAST DRUG USE CAN MEAN NO ENTRY INTO U.S. – International Herald Tribune
A British author known for his shocking memoir about his life littered with drug use and a multitude of encounters with prostitutes, was turned away from Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday when he attempted to visit the United States for his book party and New York news media tour. Sebastian Horsley’s book, Dandy in the Underworld was published last week. U.S. customs authorities detained and questioned him for eight hours regarding his past drug addictions, use of prostitutes and involvement as a male escort. “I’m absolutely shattered and upset and gutted about not being able to come to America ,” Horsley said in a telephone interview from London . “I was very much looking forward to meeting everybody.” His book details him being raised by alcoholic, sexually promiscuous parents and bouncing from school to school.
Link: International Herald Tribune
DECADES OF SCANDAL AT THE MAYFLOWER HOTEL - The New York Times
Subtle signs, such as women carrying no luggage, strutting in stilettos and sporting lacy camisoles, tip off doormen and bellhops; these women earn $500 to $5,000 an hour attending to guests’ desires. Last week’s scandal involving Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s at the Mayflower was one of many rendezvous, which have occurred at the hotel for decades. Some staff members even play the game: Guess the Call Girl. Members of the House who hoped to impeach President Bill Clinton interviewed Monica Lewinsky in the hotel’s 10th-floor Presidential Suite. The more sophisticated guests book an extra room down the hall as a “playpen.” Diana L. Bailey, who wrote a history of the hotel, finds the reasons for this hotel’s popularity tragic. “It would break my heart,” she said, “to see that hotel tarnished by this.”
Link: The New York Times
PLAY PERFORMS IN PUBLIC POTTY – CBS-3
Fancy going to see a Broadway play? Why not just go to the bathroom? Visitors oftentimes find Central Park bathrooms dark, dingy, and odorous, but prize-winning “Ladies & Gents” will be performing in the men’s and women’s bathrooms in Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace. The play is a noir thriller and will take place near sinks and urinals as audience members cluster in front of stalls. “When you take the audience out of their comfort zone, there’s a different energy to the production,” said playwright Paul Walker. To make the bathrooms theater-friendly, the production team rented heaters, a large 9,700-watt generator to power the lights, and two sets of portable bathrooms—so that the audience doesn’t use the set for its real purpose.
Link: CBS-3
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