| Tibet supporters pan Coke's Olympic torch sponsorship By JOE GUY COLLIER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/02/08 Coca-Cola Co.'s sponsorship of the Beijing summer games could draw criticism in the company's home market as the Olympic torch makes its way next week to the United States. The International Campaign for Tibet, a Washington, D.C.,-based group chaired by activist and actor Richard Gere, said it plans to hold a rally along with a dozen other organizations Tuesday in San Francisco on the eve of the torch run through that city. Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, one of three corporate sponsors of the torch run, likely will be cited at the rally during official speeches, John Ackerly, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, said Wednesday. Officials of the group, which has about 100,000 members worldwide, hope to have a conversation soon with Coca-Cola about its ties to the torch run and the Olympic Games, Ackerly said. The group's initial concern is that the torch run's route through Tibet when it returns to China will lead to further unrest, he said. "We want to see them (Coca-Cola) be a force for good and to work, whether it's behind the scenes or overtly, to try to ensure people's lives aren't adversely affected by the torch going through their towns," Ackerly said. Coca-Cola, an Olympic supporter since 1928, declined to comment on specific protests or requests by pro-Tibet groups concerning the Olympic Games. "The Coca-Cola Co. joins others in expressing deep concern for the situation on the ground in Tibet," the company said through a statement. "We know that all parties involved hope for a peaceful resolution. While it would be an inappropriate role for sponsors to comment on the political situation of individual nations, as the longest-standing sponsor of the Olympic movement, we firmly believe that the Olympics are a force for good." The buildup to the Beijing Olympics follows confrontations between Chinese authorities and protesters in Tibet, an area in central Asia controlled by China. A protester disrupted the ceremony starting the torch run last week in Greece. Coca-Cola, Samsung Electronics and computer-maker Lenovo are the three corporate sponsors for the Olympic torch run. A consortium of pro-Tibet groups led by London-based Free Tibet Campaign sent a letter last month to Coca-Cola's chairman and chief executive, Neville Isdell, that called for the company to renounce its sponsorship of the torch relay and publicly ask for China to release all Tibetan political prisoners. The International Campaign for Tibet signed the letter, but Ackerly said he does not necessarily expect Coca-Cola to pull its sponsorship. His group would like Olympic officials and the sponsors to reconsider the route through Tibet. Ackerly said his members have been in touch with Tibet residents who report Chinese officials are moving through Tibet to weed out possible protesters. "Unless there's some significant changes to the route, we think it may be more appropriate for Coke to remove themselves from that portion of the torch relay," Ackerly said. |
| LATEST: Actor-turned-Tibet activist RICHARD GERE has slammed China for its recent bloody Himalayan protest - and has again urged the world to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The outspoken Pretty Woman star was horrified at the treatment of demonstrators protesting against Chinese rule in Tibet on Friday (14Mar08) - where at least 10 people were reported to have been killed. Gere, chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet and a devout Buddhist, insists there "absolutely" should be a worldwide boycott of the sporting event in August (08) to force China to allow the Himalayan region to decide its own future. The 58-year-old star has been barred from visiting China for his support of Tibet, and in 1993 spoke out about the plight of the Himalayan region at the Academy Awards. He says, "In this situation if the Chinese do not act in the proper way, change their ways, acknowledge what is going on, allow free access to communication, then I think that absolutely we have to boycott. "It would be unconscionable if we continued as if things are hunky dory and everyone's happy. It's impossible. "Tibetans have been much marginalised in recent years, much more than before. And that's why you see this pressure cooker effect in Tibet where religion has essentially been outlawed, where pictures of the Dalai Lama, who is essentially their Jesus Christ, are not allowed." 15/03/2008 14:38 |
| Richard Gere is no longer a wanted man in India. March 14, 2008 The country's highest court has indefinitely suspended a warrant that was issued for the actor's arrest in last year after he enraged Hindu activist groups by embracing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and kissing her on the cheek at an AIDS awareness event. The spontaneous public display of affection was meant to be a reenactment of a scene from Gere's film Shall We Dance, Shetty later explained. However, the act apparently violated India's stringent obscenity laws and conservative groups subsequently filed three complaints against Gere and Shetty. Gere, who visits India frequently promoting health causes and the plight of Tibetan exiles, previously apologized for any offense he may have caused but attributed the controversy to the convictions of a small group of right-wing rabble-rousers. He had no comment on the latest development. On Friday, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran dismissed the warrant against Gere and granted him permission to travel to and from India. The court also criticized the individual that brought the case, stating, "such complaints are publicity hunting. You are bringing a bad name to this country." Similar legal proceedings against Shetty were also dismissed last year. |
| Kiss row: Gere seeks stay on warrant 12 Feb 2008 NEW DELHI: Hollywood star Richard Gere wants to visit India in March but is wary of being nabbed either by the Rajasthan or UP police, who are still armed with arrest warrants issued by courts for his controversial kiss with actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS awareness function last year. On Monday, he requested the Supreme Court to stay the execution of arrest warrants and a guarantee from the state governments that his exit from India, after the completion of his engagements, would be hassle free. Shetty supported Gere's plea through her counsel Anand Grover, but a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran and L S Panta only issued notices to respondents on his plea. The Bench pointed out that the proceedings before the trial courts had already been stayed by the apex court. Gere's counsel Indira Jaising said that though the proceedings were stayed, the actor apprehends that the police could still attempt to execute the arrest warrants that could cause immense harassment to him. Shetty was the first to approach the apex court, immediately after the courts in Rajasthan and UP took cognisance of complaints accusing her and Gere of indulging in obscene acts in public that hurt the sentiments of people apart from violating several provisions of Indian Penal Code. After the SC stayed the proceedings before the trial courts, Gere followed suit and got similar protection. |
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008 Sean Connery, Richard Gere join opposition to Kosovo’s independence After Hollywood stars George Clooney and Sharon Stone, Serbia’s position on Kosovo has also been backed by colleagues Richard Gere and Sir Sean Connery, the Frankfurt daily News reported. Clooney and Stone have announced they will organize a protest against the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence, and Gere and Connery could do the same after them. Gere will be involved in this action because he is very suspicious about why the major forces are so bent on granting independence to Kosovo. "There must be something about that Kosovo, since they are so bent on seizing it," Gere said. \The most famous James Bond, Sir Sean Connery, reacted in a similar manner. He immediately connected the situation around Kosovo to his native Scotland. "During its history, Scotland has had far more grounds to be granted independence, but it was not allowed to secede. What could possibly be the difference between my homeland and Kosovo, to create such a precedent now," the celebrated actor wondered. |
| Richard Gere approaches SC for relief in kissing row 24 Jan 2008 Hollywood actor Richard Gere approached the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on an arrest warrant issued against him by a Jaipur court over his and actress Shilpa Shetty's cheek-kiss during a charity show (Reuters Photo) NEW DELHI: Hollywood actor and anti-AIDS campaigner Richard Gere on Thursday approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on an arrest warrant issued against him by a Jaipur court in a complaint over his and actress Shilpa Shetty's cheek-kiss during a charity show. Gere also sought a stay on the order of a Mundawar court in Rajasthan which directed him not to leave the country in a similar case. The matter was mentioned by Gere's counsel before a bench headed by the Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan for an early hearing but the court directed the registry to list the matter for hearing after two weeks. Hollywood actor, in his application, said that he was being harassed and victimised by way of a private criminal complaints filed against him in Jaipur and Mundawar in Rajasthan, which were nothing but bids to attract media attention. Jaipur local court, on April 26 last, had issued arrest warrants to Gere and Shetty after a citizen filed a complaint accusing the couple of committing an "obscene act". Gere had taken the film actress in his arms and kissed her on the cheek at the AIDS awareness programme |
| Hollywood actor Richard Gere approached the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on an arrest warrant issued against him by a Jaipur court over his and actress Shilpa Shetty's cheek-kiss during a charity show (Reuters Photo) |
| New Delhi, Jan. 24: Richard Gere has urged the Supreme Court to stay non-bailable arrest warrants against him in the obscenity cases over the Shilpa Shetty kiss so that he can visit India unhindered for charity work. In a petition filed through lawyer Naveen R. Nath, the Hollywood star argued that the warrants issued by the Jodhpur and Alwar courts in Rajasthan would not allow him to carry on with the work of the Gere Foundation. The first court had issued the warrant while the second had restrained him from leaving India. The apex court had stayed the proceedings in these cases on Shilpa’s pleas, but the warrants against Gere are still out. “The applicant (Gere), unfortunately, finds himself being victimised and harassed through motivated complaints filed by the respondents, all of whom are lawyers by profession,” the petition said. Three complaints, two in Rajasthan and one in Ghaziabad, were filed against him, charging him with obscenity in public. The actor, who is likely to visit India in March in connection with the activities of the foundation, has argued in the petition that while complaints were filed and summons issued, no case of obscenity had been made out. Gere has claimed, like Shilpa had done earlier, that the media played up the incident and that he had no hand in its telecast. The Rajasthan courts did not follow due procedure established by law in issuing these warrants against him, the 59-year-old said. “These non-bailable warrants, the applicant (Gere) apprehends, may be executed when he arrives in India,” the petition said. Gere said the complaints against him were a “complete abuse of the process of law”. He said he was being “harassed and victimised” by those seeking to “use such form of litigation as a means of fulfilling their own agendas of gaining public and media attention”. “Such complaints were detrimental to the financial and emotional interests of the applicant (Gere) and were causing great damage to him,” the petition said. Gere has also sought exemption from court appearances in these cases. |
Hearing next month on Richard Gere application to stay arrest warrant Legal Correspondent Gere New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear in February an application filed by Richard Gere, anti-HIV/AIDS campaigner and head of the Gere Foundation, seeking a stay of the arrest warrant issued by two Rajasthan courts in connection with the April 15, 2007 kissing incident involving him and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty. A Bench comprising Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran and J.M. Panchal posted the application for hearing on a mention made by counsel for Mr. Gere. On May 15, 2007 the apex court, on a petition by Ms. Shetty seeking transfer of all cases to Mumbai, stayed further proceedings against her. In the present application, Mr. Gere said an arrest warrant had been issued against him though he was not served summons in the two cases. This is a fit case in which the arrest warrant should be cancelled, he should be allowed to enter and leave the country without impediment and he should be exempted from personal appearance, he said. Mr. Gere also sought a stay on the execution of the warrants until the matter was disposed of. |
| Thursday, January 24, 2008 Star sighting: Richard Gere on Senate side Actor Richard Gere was spotted on the Senate side of the Capitol last week. An aide spotted him in a men’s bathroom, and later began making the obligatory jokes. The ITK spy’s main reaction to seeing the star: “He had lots of gray hair.” The informant added: “He didn’t tap his foot in the bathroom — all I cared about was that he was in my way at the sink.” |
| Hey, Isn't That . . . ? Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Richard Gere lunching at I Ricchi yesterday. The actor, looking typically silver-foxish in a navy blazer, dined with five corporate types. No word why he was in D.C. |
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| Gere movie seeks extras Jessica Medeiros Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: News PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 01/30/08 - Students at the University of Rhode Island spend a good part of their lives sitting in class, so why would they volunteer to do it in their free time? Maybe it would help if actor Richard Gere were the professor. While this class is clearly not available in the University Course Catalog, Gere will "teach" a class next month while filming a scene for "Hachiko: A Dog's Story" and LDI Casting in Providence is looking for students to volunteer as extras. "Hachiko: A Dog's Story" is based on a true story of a University of Tokyo professor whose dog Hachiko saw him off each day at the front door. In the evening, the dog would find his way to the local train station to greet the professor. When the professor, played by Gere, dies, the dog returns to the station every evening in search for his master to come off the train. Hachiko's unfailing loyalty to the professor, named Parker in the movies adaptation of the story, has made him a veritable legend and spurred a 1987 Japanese film. In the American version, the pivotal scene where Parker dies will be filmed at URI in a yet-to-be-determined lecture hall. LDI Casting needs about 80 to 120 people to portray Parker's students and is looking for students from a variety of backgrounds. "We're looking for diversity, because it is supposed to be a school in New York," LDI Casting Director Anne Mulhall said. "We're looking for all types. However, because it is a music class, we're not necessarily looking for 'jock' types, but we're not excluding anyone." Acting experience is not necessary as there are no speaking roles for extras in this scene but Mulhall encouraged students interested in theater or cinematography to volunteer. "Especially for students who are interested in film, this could be a really good learning experience," she said. "Students will get to see how a whole scene gets put together." The scene will be filmed on Feb. 26 or 27 and will last for about half a day. Other scenes have been shot in Providence and elsewhere around the state. A law recently passed by the state gives film producers tax breaks on certain expenses associated with producing movies and has made the state appealing to producers who collect the tax breaks and sell them to wealthy taxpayers. Students interested in playing extras should send headshots and resumes to ldicasting@cox.net with a subject related to URI or the film. LDI Casting will reply to those chosen to appear in the scene, providing information about the exact time, location and wardrobe. |
| Scroll down for added information. Updated April 11, 2008 |
| Bedford Post Inn 954 Old Post Road (Route 121), Bedford Village Westchester County 914-234-7800 |
| February 1, 2008 the kitchen at Richard Gere’s Bedford Post Inn (Rte the kitchen at Richard Gere’s Bedford Post Inn (Rte 121, Bedford Village). Lewis worked previously at Lutèce and Oceana restaurants and Bix in San Francisco. Gere’ s 110-seat, dinner-only restaurant will feature American farmhouse cuisine (Gere is a proponent of the slow- food cooking movement), using seasonal ingredients from small family farms. The venture will also include an eight-suite inn and a 50-seat bakery and café. Opening day is expected sometime this or next month…sometime this or next month… |
The Scoop on the Richard Gere Restaurant February 1, 2008
| The actual restaurant will not open until summer at least. But the bakery cafe — in another building than the proper dining room — is open. Food writer Judy Hausman checked it out and filed this report. You’ll see it Wednesday in the Journal News, but Small Bites readers get a sneak peak: The Bedford Post Inn, also known as the Richard Gere restaurant, has opened its cafe and bakery. |
| The cafe is the former barn on the property, and looks appropriate for that. There are exposed beams and a stone fireplace, bare-wood tables and a simple color scheme with lots of whites. Glass French doors open onto a lawn, which is circled by a stone fence. Baked goods are displayed on tiered plates around the semi-open kitchen. |
| Developer and partner Russell Hernandez, who lives in Pound Ridge, is restoring the property — once it was called Nino’s and then Hoppfields — with an eye toward the environmment. He’s fitted with geothermal HVAC systems and detailed with recycled beams and boards. There are plans for an on-site garden as well. Posted Feb. 1, 2008 6:15 PM |
| Upstairs, there are multipurpose rooms that will be ready for private parties, community events and yoga classes in March. The more formal restaurant and eight suites will open over the course of the summer. This schedule allows chef Brian Lewis, who is returning to his Northern Westchester roots from Arizona, to work on his menu and train his staff. In the meantime, settle in with pastry chef Jessica Haight’s ruby grapefruit sorbet and toasted almond gelato or her apple walnut crostada and Meyer lemon squares — while you sip a cup of tea or Fair Trade coffee |
| February 4 th, 2008 Richard Gere was not there but Jean-Georges showed up... Went to visit The Bedford Post Inn for brunch, the week-old restaurant that actor Richard Gere has put his name to, on Rt. 121 just outside of Bedford Village, and was thrilled to see super-chef and restaurateur Jean-Georges show up with a group...Gere was nowhere to be seen, but the meal itself was a delight! Just the Cafe is open right now, while the larger structure of the vintage mansion is being renovated...my partner and I shared the Warm Endive, Fennel & Blue Cheese Tart with arugula salad, and a decadent Natural Herondale Hamburger with cheddar, onion mostarda & bacon...on the side we had an order of the house made French fries with truffled aioli. For desset we shared the Apple Walnut Crostada...Fresh tasting and lovely! Everything on the table was delicious, really! The burger itself I would rank among the best I've had lately. There are pastries, cookies and cakes for sale as well...The Cafe itself is just open for breakfast, lunch and brunch right now. A lovely drive from southern Westchester too... |
| His highly anticipated upscale restaurant hasn’t opened for business yet—that won’t happen until this summer, at the earliest—but the adjoining cafe/bakery began serving breakfast and lunch last week. Among the things that chef Brian Lewis (above right) is serving: seven-grain waffles with New York state maple syrup, creamy grits topped with a local, farm-fresh egg and a cheeseburger made with beef from Herondale Organic Farm in Ancramdale. My favorite part of the whole operation, though, has to be the on-site stables, affording patrons a place to tie up their horses while they pop in for ruby grapefruit sorbet and apple walnut crostadas. Keep checking back here for updated news and photos! The Bedford Post Inn, 954 Old Post Road (Route 121), Bedford Village. 914-234-7800. |
| Richard Gere's Secret Restaurant By Liz Johnson • InTown Westchester • February 5, 2008 After talking with the tight-lipped chef, you'd think getting the 411 on the new Richard Gere restaurant in Bedford Village was a national security issue. We couldn't even get anybody to confirm the name-much less the opening date. At press time in January, the chef, Brian Lewis, refused to give out any details on the décor or menu. But intrepid food reporters that we are, we went ahead and dug up info elsewhere. » Gere, on Live with Regis & Kelly, said there would be two restaurants-"a brasserie-cafe and a real restaurant"-plus an eight-room inn. He explained that the reason he "ended up wanting to do this" was because guests can ride their horses to dinner, keep them in the spot's stables, then ride home. » Lewis, in an ad seeking kitchen staff, on craigslist.com, said the cuisine will be "American Farmhouse" and will use seasonal products from small family farms. He referred to both a 110-seat fine-dining restaurant that will serve dinner only and a 50-seat bakery-café that will serve breakfast, lunch, and a prix-fixe dinner three nights a week. He called it "The Bedford Post Inn." » Formerly known as Hoppfields Inn (954 Old Post Rd.), it's the only Bedford building that wasn't burned by the British during the Revolutionary War. Turns out we were right-it does have to do with national security, after all! |
| February 5, 2008 The word is that the "Bedford Post Inn" has yet to retain a liquor license... |
| Richard Tiptoes into the Restaurant Biz Posted Wed. Feb. 6, 2008 1:12pm by Philip Recchia Filed Under Martha Stewart, Richard Gere Richard Gere has quietly added another title to his resume — celebrity restaurateur! The actor just entered this competitive field with the soft opening of The Café at Bedford Post in tony Bedford Village, NY. Sources tell PageSix.com that the silver fox, who lives nearby, has been a frequent sight at the eatery. “He’s in and out all the time, overseeing the project — though almost never sits and eats,” says one witness. This marks the 58-year-old's first outing as a restaurateur. He did play one, however, in the 2001 flick Autumn In New York. Meanwhile, the restaurant has already been given a seal of approval by America’s best-known domestic doyenne: Martha Stewart — which can only be a good thing. “Martha came in opening weekend and absolutely fell in love with the place,” says another insider. “Every day since then, she’s been hand-delivering fresh eggs and berries from Cantitoe Farm,” her 153-acre estate in Katonah, just three miles away. The buzz is building that The Café could become upstate New York’s answer to the Waverly Inn (Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter’s cozy Greenwich Village haunt, which is one of the Big Apple’s top celeb hotspots). So we wouldn’t be surprised if other famous Bedford-area residents like Glenn Close, Ralph Lauren and Chevy Chase are stopping in or a bite — if they haven't already! |
| PageSix.com was first to preview The Café, helmed by chef Brian Lewis, most recently of Vu in Scottsdale, Ariz. THE FOOD: The eggs benedict with Canadian bacon ($13) was as tasty as could be, save the hollandaise sauce, which was too watery, and so a tad bland. Wisely, Lewis goes easy on the carbs, adding just a handful of diced potatoes and laying the eggs atop thin slices of toasted bagel. Lewis fares better with the butternut squash soup with star anise crema and gala apples ($8), which turned out to be a perfectly seasoned winner, with just the right consistency. As for the Meyer lemon meringue tart with a blackberry garnish ($7), though delectable, this pastry was regrettably meager, more of an amuse-bouche than full-fledged dessert. Among other scrumptious-looking creations on the Brunch at the Barn menu are brioche French toast stuffed with anjou pears ($10), natural Herondale hamburger with cheddar, onion mostarda and bacon ($14) and grilled chicken paillard with shaved fennel, arugula and aged gouda ($17). THE ATMOSPHERE: Sporting a roaring fireplace, exposed beams, bakery bar and fresh flowers, the cozy room provides an ideal setting for casual country dining. THE SERVICE: Friendly and laid-back. Though there was a line at the door, we were never prodded into leaving. |
| Thursday, February 7, 2008 Gere goes shopping in Bristol Jim Dumas had closed his Jesse James Antiques on State Street early last Monday (2/4/08) to run an errand. When he came back, he noticed two men peering through the windows of his antique shop — "that's not uncommon," he said. Pulling into the driveway, he decided to let them in. "When I came around I saw the gray hair and I thought, 'I bet that's who it is.' Richard Gere, it turned out, was eager to come in and look around, and the Hollywood actor and an associate spent the better part of 45 minutes going through the shop. It turns out Mr. Gere and his wife plan to open a restaurant in Westchester County, N.Y., and he was looking for rustic items for the place. "He totally went through everything. He was really interested and we had a good time. He put a few things on hold and said he might be in for more," said Mr. Dumas |
| Gere serves up treats in new bakery The Dish Published February 10 2008 Out there . . . New restaurateurs and Pound Ridge, N.Y., residents Richard Gere and developer Russell Hernandez have opened the cafe/bakery at their recently renovated acquisition, the Bedford Post Inn on Route 121 in Bedford, N.Y. The cafe, located in the former barn on the property, is serving breakfast and lunch with all sorts of goodies, including burgers, waffles, scones and sorbet cooked up by chef Brian Lewis and pastry chef Jessica Haight. They use naturally grown products and beef from the area. The restaurant in the original building, which once housed Nino's and later Hoppfield's, is expected to open this summer. For more information, call (914) 234-7800. |
| Apex court notice on Richard Gere's plea against arrest New Delhi, Feb 11 : The Supreme Court Monday issued notices to a woman complainant on whose petition Hollywood star Richard Gere faces an arrest in India for kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at a public function here last year. On Gere's plea against his possible arrest in India, a bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice J.M. Panchal issued notice to Poonam Chand Bhandari, who had moved a Jaipur court against the allegedly obscene episode. Jaipur's Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Dinesh Gupta April 27 last year issued the arrest warrant against Gere and Shetty on charges of "indecent representation of sexual activities" in public. Appearing for Gere, senior counsel Indira Jaisingh told the court that her client "has no qualms in submitting to the authority of the Indian laws", but seeks protection against his unnecessary arrest. She said Gere was contemplating visiting India in March but owing to the arrest warrant pending against him, he might not be able to do so. On Gere's plea, the bench issued notices to Bhandari, seeking her response as to why the arrest warrant against the Hollywood star not be cancelled. On a separate plea by Gere, seeking the transfer of the case from Jaipur to Mumbai, the court also issued notices to the Maharashtra government. For their onstage kissing act, both Gere and Shetty were made accused under Sections 294 (doing obscene act at public place) and 34 (act done in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code by the court. The offence is punishable with three months in jail, a fine or both and is bailable. Jaipur Magistrate Gupta issued the arrest warrant, saying that the demeanour of the two actors was "highly erotic" and "transgressed all limits of decency with the potential to corrupt society |
| Like its New England neighbors, RI has recently played host to a growing number of major feature films. Director Lasse Hallstrom (Cider House Rules, Chocolat) started shooting Hachiko: A Dog Story last month in Rhode Island. Bristol and Woonsocket residents have been looking out for stars Richard Gere and Joan Allen. (But the real star of this story is a famously loyal dog.) The Providence Journal reports that the production will close down a portion of Hope Street in Bristol for a full day of filming on February 25th. |
| Gere submits NEW DELHI, Feb. 11: Hollywood actor Richard Gere, seeking stay of his arrest warrant in connection with the kissing row with actress Shipa Shetty, today told the SC that he was willing to submit to the jurisdiction of Indian courts. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Mr KG alakrishnan issued notice to the complainant on whose plea a Jaipur court had issued warrant to arrest Gere. The SC also sought a response from Rajasthan after Gere’s counsel said the actor, scheduled to come to India in March, was ready to submit to the courts’ jurisdiction. n PTI |
| February 14, 2008 Actor Richard Gere is apparently uncertain whether to return to India next month because he's worried about being nabbed by the Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh police who still have arrest warrants because of his controversial kiss of actress Shilpa Shetty at an Aids awareness function last year. Gere's work as the head of the Gere Foundation brings him to India at least once a year but he's wary of being harassed by the moral police on his next visit. It was during a similar visit last year when Gere hugged and kissed Shilpa Shetty in a spoof on a scene from his movie Shall we Dance? The exaggerated kissing was broadcast throughout India and prompted angry protests where effigies of the two actors were burned. More seriously for them, arrest warrants were granted in three separate courts. Gere quickly left the country. The two apologised and argued they had no control over the televising of the kiss. Mr Gere went further saying it was a "complete abuse of the process of law". |
| JUST WHEN EVERYONE has been chomping at the bit for a really good place for quick eats, leave it to Richard Gere to open the Boston Post Cafe. Located on a bucolic stretch of road any set designer would swoon over, BPC, as it surely will be known, is a gorgeous new breakfast/lunch/coffee/tea bar that promises to be a star. The former historic Hoppfield’s property—spacious and sun-lit, with myriad French doors, mosaic tiled floors, and a ceiling of old timbers—is a veritable sanctuary in the woods. (More good buzz: an inn and restaurant will open this summer). Local boy Brian Lewis performs as executive chef and Jessica Haight does the honors in the pastry department. Their audience of busy Bedfordites and take-a-meeting moms can try out cappuccinos, comfort snacks, and lunches—to stay or go—from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| “The food is rooted in our relationship with small and local family farms like Cabbage Hill and Rainbeau Ridge,” Lewis says. “The menu is seasonally inspired.” But you’ll also find standbys like Haight’s scrumptious pecan sticky buns, juicy apple turnovers, and Meyer lemon meringue tart. For real breakfast-eaters, Lewis promises homemade brioche, citrus salad with spearmint sauce, eggs every way, and “the best bacon-and-egg sandwich you ever ate.” Don’t miss the homemade gelato (like fave Sicilian pistachio) and many gluten-free foods. Adds Lewis: “We want this to be a community place, a place for family and friends. We want to serve the best quality we can offer with all the love and passion we have for our craft.” —Eve Marx Boston Post Cafe 954 Old Post Road (Route 121), Bedford Village. 914-234-7800. |
| Richard Gere Requests Stay On Arrest Warrants During India Visit In March February 25, 2008 - Abid Wishing to visit India in March, Hollywood actor Richard Gere filed a request in the Supreme Court in India, earlier this month, for a stay on the arrest warrants issued by various courts for his controversial kiss with Shilpa Shetty, last year. Gere sought a guarantee from the state governments for a hassle-free exit from India on completion of his engagements. At present, the Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh police are armed with arrest warrants against Gere. Shilpa Shetty supported the actor's request through her counsel. In responce, a bench comprising Chief Justice, K.G Balakrishan and justices R.V Raveendran and L.S Panta, issued notices to the respondents on his request. According to the bench, the proceedings before the trail courts have already been stayed by the Supreme Court. |
| March 2 2008 Pound Ridge, N.Y., resident Richard Gere and his wife, actress Carey Lowell, and son Homer were seen having brunch at Gere's new cafe, The Bedford Post Inn, on Route 121 last Saturday (Feb. 23th) afternoon. Gere was pleasant and friendly and took time to recognize patrons and their children. |
| SC to hear Gere petition on Friday Monday, March 10, 2008 The Supreme Court will hear on Friday a petition filed by Hollywood star Richard Gere who is facing trial for kissing and hugging Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty publicly during a function in Delhi. The date of hearing was fixed by a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Altamas Kabir and J M Panchal when the matter was mentioned for urgent hearing. Gere is seeking permission from the Supreme Court to enter India this month and again to leave the country. Non-balaible warrant has been issued against Gere by a Jaipur court. Shilpa Shetty and Gere are seeking transfer of all the cases filed against them to Mumbai. Gere is also seeking the stay of arrest warrant. The actor is involved in an anti-AIDS campaign and wants to come to India this month to attend a function on AIDS and go back to England and then again wants to come back to India in May this year. UNI |
| March 10, 2008 Kissing row: SC agrees for early hearing on Gere's plea New Delhi (PTI): Hollywood actor Richard Gere's plea seeking stay of his arrest warrant in connection with the kissing row involving actor Shilpa Shetty would be taken up by the Supreme Court on Friday. The apex court on Monday accepted Gere's plea for an urgent hearing on the matter in view of his scheduled meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in India on March 21. A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan accepted the plea of senior advocate Indira Jaisinh, appearing for actor-cum-anti-AIDS campaigner Gere, to grant urgent hearing as the existence of the arrest warrant may come in the way of the actor's scheduled meeting with the Dalai Lama. The court on February 11 had a issued notice to the complainant on whose plea a Jaipur court had issued the arrest warrant to Gere. The court had also sought a response from the Rajasthan Government after Jaisinh had said that the actor was ready to submit to the courts' jurisdiction in India. She had said the warrant was issued after the actor had left the country. The Jaipur court had restrained him from leaving the country. The complaint was filed by Jaipur resident Poonam Chandra Bhandari. Her advocate during the last hearing had questioned the relief sought by Gere contending that he had filed his application on the pending petition of Shetty in which he was a respondent. The apex court had already stayed the arrest warrant issued against Shetty and had also issued notice on her plea to transfer the case to a Mumbai Court. Hollywood actor in his application said that he was being harassed and victimised by way of private criminal complaints filed against him in Jaipur and Mundawar in Rajasthan, which were nothing but bids to attract media attention. |
| Gere seeks stay of arrest warrant in kissing controversy NEW DELHI, March 11 : The Supreme Court will take up Hollywood actor Richard Gere's petition seeking a stay on his arrest warrant in connection with the kissing controversy involving Indian actor Shilpa Shetty on Friday. On Monday, the Supreme Court accepted Gere's plea for an urgent hearing on the matter in view of his scheduled meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in India on March 21. A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan accepted the plea of senior advocate Indira Jaisinh, appearing for actor-cum-anti-AIDS campaigner Gere, for an urgent hearing as the existence of the arrest warrant may come in the way of the actor's scheduled meeting with the Dalai Lama. It may be noted here that on February 11 the apex court had issued a notice to the complainant on whose plea a Jaipur court had issued the arrest warrant against Gere. The Jaipur court had also sought a response from the Rajasthan government after Jaisinh had said that the actor was ready to submit to the courts' jurisdiction in India. Jaisinh had pointed the warrant, restraining the Hollywood actor from leaving the country, was issued after the actor had left the country. The complaint was filed by Jaipur resident Poonam Chandra Bhandari and during the last hearing of the case; her advocate had questioned the relief sought by Gere contending that he had filed his application on the pending petition of Shetty in which he was a respondent. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had already stayed the arrest warrant issued against Shetty and had also issued notice on her plea to transfer the case to a Mumbai Court. |
| NEW DELHI (AP) March 14, 2008 - It appears Richard Gere is no longer a wanted man in India. An attorney says the country's high court has suspended an arrest warrant issued against Gere last year for allegedly breaking public obscenity laws. Gere upset Hindu activists by publicly embracing and kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty (SHIL'-puh SHET'-ee) at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi. The activists filed three cases against the pair, charging they had offended India traditional conservative cultural sensibilities. A lawyer for Shetty attended today's Supreme Court proceedings and called the cases a frivolous misuse of the legal process. He says after today's action, Gere is free to come and go from India without fear of arrest. Shetty is a well-known actress in India. She became an international star after appearing on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother." |
| RICHARD GERE has been cleared of charges of obscene behaviour after a lawsuit relating to a 2007 incident in India was thrown out of the country's Supreme Court. A court in the western state of Rajasthan, India, issued a warrant for Gere's arrest last year (07) after he passionately embraced Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and kissed her several times at an April (07) AIDS awareness event in New Delhi. Displays of public affection are outlawed in the conservative country. Prosecutors also wanted Shetty to appear in court over charges that she did not resist the actor's advances, but they were later suspended by the Supreme Court. Gere initially dismissed the row as "nothing", but later apologised for causing any offence. And now a two-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan has quashed the case following an appeal by Gere's lawyers, branding the charges "frivolous" and "cheap publicity". Balakrishnan says, "Richard Gere is free to enter the country. This is the end of the matter." He also blamed the complainants for bringing "a bad name to the country". 3/14/2008 12:55 |
| SC suspends arrest warrant against Gere 15 Mar 2008, 0021 hrs IST,TNN Print Save EMail Write to Editor NEW DELHI: Richard Gere, dragged into controversy over his public kissing scene with actress Shilpa Shetty, could not have expected more from the Supreme Court, which on Friday termed the complaint against him as frivolous, stayed the arrest warrant and scrapped all restrictions on his entry into and exit from India. In a rare display of belligerence, the top court came out all guns blazing against the increasing tendency among chronic litigants to file frivolous complaints against celebrities to garner cheap publicity. It did not spare the lower judiciary either for entertaining such complaints and issuing arrest warrants at the first instance, as was the case against Shetty and Gere. "Filing of such frivolous complaints and issuance of arrest warrants on such complaints bring a bad name to the Indian judiciary," said a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran while granting all relief sought by Gere, who wanted to visit India for a scheduled meeting with the Dalai Lama on March 21. When the complainant, on whose plea a Jaipur court had issued arrest warrants against Shetty and Gere, tried to discuss the merits of the case, the Bench cut short his arguments and said: "We are of the view that no offence is made out and hence, we will stay the arrest warrant." The top court got more angry when Gere's counsel Indira Jaising, supported solidly by Shetty's counsel Anand Grover, pointed out that the arrest warrants were issued even though the complainant had mentioned Gere's address merely as 'c/o American Embassy'. After castigating the complainant, Rikhab Raj Bhandari, the Bench turned its attention to the trial court after learning that it had issued the arrest warrants at the first instance without first issuing summons and bailable warrants. "No judge could have issued arrest warrants on such a complaint, which does not even provide the proper address of the persons to be proceeded against," it said. |
| March 14, 2008 NEW DELHI - Richard Gere is free to go back to India — and he may have a new reason to book a trip. India's top court suspended an arrest warrant Friday against Gere, wanted for allegedly breaking public obscenity laws by kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at a public AIDS awareness event last year. "Gere is allowed to come and leave. He can't be arrested," said Anil Grover, an attorney for Shetty, after attending the Supreme Court proceedings. Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice R. V. Raveendran indefinitely stayed the arrest warrant issued against the actor last year by a court in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, Grover told The Associated Press. Gere embraced and kissed Shetty on her cheek at the public AIDS awareness event in New Delhi on April 15 last year, prompting Hindu hard- liners to allege the pair had offended the sensibilities of India's traditionally conservative culture. Hindu activists filed three cases against Gere and Shetty last year, including one in Jaipur. Shortly after the cases were filed by Hindu activists, Gere apologized for any offense he may have caused, but he also said the whole controversy was manufactured by a small hard-line political party. The 58-year-old Buddhist actor and longtime Tibetan supporter is a frequent visitor to India, promoting health issues and the cause of Tibetan exiles, tens of thousands of whom live in India. His publicist, Alan Nierob, said in an e-mail Friday to The Associated Press that Gere would have no comment on the matter. However, Gere did tell CNN he wasn't surprised protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in Tibet turned violent Friday. "When you repress the people, they will explode," Gere told CNN. "All people will explode." Eyewitness accounts and photos posted on the Internet portrayed a chaotic scene in Lhasa, the provincial capital, with crowds hurling rocks at security forces, hotels and restaurants. The U.S. Embassy said Americans had reported gunfire. U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia reported two people killed. Gere told the cable news network that "this is a time to be very clear with the Chinese." "If you want to be a world power, you must behave in a certain way. This is not appropriate," said Gere, who co-founded the Tibet House and is board chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet. |
| By M&C People Mar 15, 2008, 3:50 GMT Richard Gere appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer today, and though he good-naturedly brushed off the Indian kiss scandal story, Gere was adamant he wanted to speak about China leaving the Tibetans alone. Gere felt strongly that China should suffer a boycott of its upcoming Beijing Olympics if it mishandles protests in neighboring Tibet. The Chinese are still smarting over Steven Spielberg's backing out as artistic director over the controversial Chinese-Sudan connection that funds the genocide in Darfur. Gere, a close follower and friend of the Dalai Lama and chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, stressed to Reuters news service that the peaceful Tibetan spiritual leader nor the ICT advocates a boycott of the Summer Olympics. But if push comes to shove, Gere wants the US to step up and do the right thing by Tibet. "I've not been pro-boycott, but I think if this is not handled correctly, yes we should boycott. Everyone should boycott," Gere told Reuters reporters. Gere told Blitzer that great societies are built on inclusiveness and acceptance, and not by closing their people off to freedoms and using violence against them. "It's just so foolish and short-sighted. Everything that they want is destroyed in moments like this," said Gere, referring to the Chinese quest for international respect and recognition they seek in hosting the Olympics. "It's just a pressure cooker and, eventually, the law of emotional physics is it will explode at some point," he told Reuters. |
| Monday, March 17, 2008 12:02 AM CDT India's top court suspends arrest warrant against Richard Gere NEW DELHI (AP) — Richard Gere is free to go back to India — and he may have a new reason to book a trip. India's top court suspended an arrest warrant Friday against Gere, wanted for allegedly breaking public obscenity laws by kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at a public AIDS awareness event last year. ``Gere is allowed to come and leave. He can't be arrested,'' said Anil Grover, an attorney for Shetty, after attending the Supreme Court proceedings. Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice R. V. Raveendran indefinitely stayed the arrest warrant issued against the actor last year by a court in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, Grover told The Associated Press. Gere embraced and kissed Shetty on her cheek at the public AIDS awareness event in New Delhi on April 15 last year, prompting Hindu hard- liners to allege the pair had offended the sensibilities of India's traditionally conservative culture. Hindu activists filed three cases against Gere and Shetty last year, including one in Jaipur. Shortly after the cases were filed by Hindu activists, Gere apologized for any offense he may have caused, but he also said the whole controversy was manufactured by a small hard-line political party. The 58-year-old Buddhist actor and longtime Tibetan supporter is a frequent visitor to India, promoting health issues and the cause of Tibetan exiles, tens of thousands of whom live in India. As rioting erupted Friday in Tibet's capital of Lhasa, Gere said the protests led by Buddhist monks weren't unexpected. ``I'm saddened but I can't say I'm surprised,'' the actor told The Associated Press in an interview. ``You can't repress the people to the extent that Tibetans have been repressed for the last six decades now and not expect that at some point that it will explode.'' The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that seven people have been confirmed dead in rioting. Eyewitness accounts and photos posted on the Internet portrayed a chaotic scene in Lhasa, with crowds hurling rocks at security forces, hotels and restaurants. The U.S. Embassy said Americans had reported gunfire. ``One would think that as China becomes the country that they supposedly want to be — a world power, respected — that in fact everything has tightened inside of Tibet,'' he said. ``The lack of opportunities for Tibetans in general — the lack of education, the destruction of culture and language, the inability to practice their religion — these are the things that make people crazy. And Tibetans are the most nonviolent people on the planet. For them to get to this point you know how bad it has been for them.'' |
| March 23, 2008 - The Yankees had their share of celebrities in the stands for yesterday's rain-shortened game against the Blue Jays. Actor Richard Gere and his wife, Carey Lowell (formerly on Law & Order), as well as actor/director Ron Howard, were in attendance and visited the clubhouse. When the star power was alluded to, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "Big ones, too." Gere, Lowell and their son, Homer, 8, who have a home on Long Island, visited with various players, including Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. Gere said he is a lifelong Yankees fan. |
| GANNETT NEWSPAPERS Sunday, March 23, 2008 Clubhouse chatter: Film director Ron Howard was around the team for two days and threw out the first pitch before the game. Richard Gere was at the game as well and chatted with Joe Girardi, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi afterward. |
| Blair: Rained Out Jeff Blair, 22/03/08 at 2:33 PM EDT They've just banged this puppy because of rain, so - giddy up!!!! There was a Ron Howard sighting during the game, and also Richard Gere. Other than that ... I got nothing. |
| Dalai Lama’s American friends keep tryin March 25, 2008 at 3:06pm | By Carol Eisenberg For two decades, a group of influential American Buddhists, including scholar Robert Thurman, actor Richard Gere and composer Philip Glass, have been speaking out against China’s suppression of Tibet and calling on the Communist government to open talks with its exiled leader, the 14th Dalai Lama. All three are longstanding advocates of the Tibetan cause through several Western groups at the forefront of efforts on behalf of the historic Himalayan country invaded by China in 1950 - so far, to no avail. One effort is Tibet House, founded in 1987 at the request of the Dalai Lama, by a group including Gere, Glass and Thurman, who is best known as the father of actress Uma Thurman. The Manhattan center is a sort of cultural embassy intent on preserving Tibetan Buddhist religion, art and philosophy in the face of what the Dalai Lama has called “cultural genocide.” The International Campaign for Tibet, chaired by Gere since 1995, promotes awareness of Chinese repression of Tibet around the world. As its best-known advocate, Gere has spoken about the suppression of Tibetan culture before the U.S. Congress, the European Parliament, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission. But while those projects have helped to popularize the Dalai Lama and Tibetan culture, they have had no influence on China, which is engaged in another massive crackdown only months before the Summer Olympics. As the situation in Tibet has grown more dire, celebrities from actors Keanu Reeves and Goldie Hawn, to rock star Adam Yauch continue to flock to Dharamsala, India, home of the Tibetan government-in-exile, on the salvation circuit. Thurman has the longest-standing friendship with the man originally known as Tenzin Gyatso, who describes himself as a simple monk, but who is revered by Tibetans as a god king and the living incarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. “He was found at the age of two by a search party of monks, led to him after rainbows arced across the northeastern skies of Lhasa, a star- shaped fungus appeared on the pillar of the Potala Palace, and the head of the corpse of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama repeatedly moved in a northeasterly direction,” according to a biographical essay by Pico Iyer. Thurman’s connection to the Dalai Lama seems almost providential. As a young man, Thurman was living the high life married to Houston oil heiress Christophe de Menil, when he was blinded in his left eye while changing a tire and underwent a profound identity crisis. He left his wife and young child, and wandered through Turkey and Iran, eventually finding his way to Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama had set up a government in exile after fleeing Tibet in 1959. The two men, who are close in age, became good friends, and Thurman was personally ordained by the Dalai Lama in 1965. After his return to the U.S., he would abandon his saffron robe, deciding he could be more effective in what he has called “the American equivalent of the monastery - the university.” One factor in his decision may have been Nena von Schlebrugge, a former Vogue model who had been married to LSD guru Timothy Leary. After meeting at a party in New York, Thurman and von Schlebrugge fell in love, married, and had four children — the first of whom was Uma, who like several siblings, has grown up to be an advocate of Tibet. Thurman now teaches Indo-Tibetan Buddhism at Columbia University. Gere, who is the monk’s most famous acolyte, met the Dalai Lama in the early 1980s and began making annual sojourns to Dharamsala. The Hollywood star who has poured millions of his own money into human rights causes, also created the Gere Foundation, a nonprofit group which aids Tibetan refugees and promotes an autonomous Tibet. “He’s the most simple man and the most complex man I’ve ever met,” Gere told Indian national television channel Doordarshan. “He’s an artist and he’s a farmer. He - like any great mind and heart - is able to engage each of us on a level where we exist.” Whether he can engage a totalitarian government remains to be seen. |
| E-MAIL FROM TAMPA KAT O'BRIEN March 23, 2008 Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post comment Text size: The Yankees had their share of celebrities in the stands for yesterday's rain-shortened game against the Blue Jays. Actor Richard Gere and his wife, Carey Lowell (formerly on Law & Order), as well as actor/director Ron Howard, were in attendance and visited the clubhouse. When the star power was alluded to, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "Big ones, too." Gere, Lowell and their son, Homer, 8, who have a home on Long Island, visited with various players, including Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. Gere said he is a lifelong Yankees fan. |
| McLeod Ganj, India 23 March 2008 09:42 When the Dalai Lama sat down on Saturday with Richard Gere and Robert Thurman, father of actor Uma and a United States professor of Buddhism, it was supposed to be for a few hours contemplating sacred art and silent meditation. But with Chinese troops smothering the protests in Tibet with brutal ease, the 14th Dalai Lama, an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion, found himself pondering not celestial peace but bloody violence. Like almost everything the 72-year-old does, who he meets and what he says in his lopsided English are picked over and pulled apart. Gere and Thurman founded Tibet House, in New York's hip Upper West Side, which serves as a cultural mission for the "occupied" nation of Tibet. Their headline-grabbing appearance will no doubt deepen suspicions in Beijing that Saturday's event at the Delhi Foundation for Universal Responsibility was politics masquerading as religion. On Friday, one of China's bitterest critics, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, descended the steps of the main temple at the home of the Dalai Lama in McLeod Ganj, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, hand-in-hand with the Tibetan spiritual leader and blasted Beijing. Pelosi, who unfurled a pro-democracy banner in Tiananmen Square in 1991 on an official visit, infuriated the Chinese government with a call on all "freedom-loving people" to denounce the communist regime, which has grown edgier about international pressure on Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Although he describes himself as a "simple Buddhist monk", last week's events in the Tibetan plateau have underlined the Dalai Lama's importance as a symbol of peaceful protests and a struggle for cultural freedom. For Tibetans, he is the Ocean of Wisdom, a god-king who engenders intense devotion -- his name was chanted repeatedly by protesters across the roof of the world. Chinese officials have a different view, one rooted in the feeling that the Dalai Lama has used his moral and religious authority to destabilise Tibet. In an extraordinarily vituperative attack, state-run media said that the Chinese leadership is engaged in a "life-and-death struggle" with the Dalai Lama, who is "a wolf in a monk's robe, a monster with a human face but the heart of a beast". Dragon scared by a mouse To anyone standing in McLeod Ganj, a British Raj hill station above Dharamsala last week, where he has lived in exile since 1959, the rhetoric seems faintly absurd -- a Chinese dragon scared by a mouse that prayed. The Dalai Lama's base of power is a former British cantonment compound that now consists of a concrete monastery, a temple and a long yellow bungalow called the Heavenly Abode. It is a far cry from his former home, Lhasa's Potala Palace, which sprawls across more than 1 000 rooms and 13 storeys. Supporters say that his private office has just "half-a-dozen" full-time officials. Every year hundreds of Tibetans risk bullets, imprisonment, frostbite and hypothermia to escape through Nepal to the Dalai Lama's home in exile. Last week, one monk from Tibet said he had made the perilous journey because he wanted to see "the god before he left the Earth". "Chinese should get out of Tibet; we don't like them. They are murdering our culture. The Dalai Lama is proof we are not Chinese," said Ruchun (31), a Tibetan monk from China's Gansu province, on one of the daily protest marches in McLeod Ganj last week. Another reason the Chinese government so loathes the Dalai Lama is his considerable political influence. He is regularly named alongside Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi in the pantheon of great modern-day apostles of non-violence. But his fame as a Nobel laureate and backing from Hollywood has produced little concrete benefit -- the most visible sign in McLeod Ganj is the town's only public lavatory, paid for by Richard Gere. No country recognises his "government in exile", which runs from a series of ageing wooden chalets and yellow concrete offices. The Central Tibetan Administration runs schools, health services, cultural activities and economic development projects for India's 130 000-strong exiled Tibetan community. Sitting under snowcapped mountains, the government in exile remains a potent image for Tibetans. But turning up at the Department of Information is an underwhelming experience. The government's revenues, generated from donations and a small levy on Tibetans in India, is thought to be about $20-million. The New York Tibet Fund disburses another $3-million a year, which the Chinese media consider a front for the US government because part of the funding comes from the State Department. David versus Goliath In this Buddhist version of David versus Goliath, the Dalai Lama's strategy has been to hug his giant adversary into agreement. The spiritual leader has kept his requests modest and is ready to accept Chinese sovereignty in exchange for genuine autonomy. He refuses to back the call for international sanctions such as those imposed when Burma suppressed pro-democracy protests last year, or a boycott of this summer's Olympics. Perhaps this softly-softly approach can be explained by the growing middle-class Chinese interest in spirituality. Like other religions, Tibetan Buddhism is gaining new adherents in China and the Dalai Lama sees a potential huge congregation in the Chinese mainland, even from within the Communist Party. "Every Chinese from mainland China we meet always says, 'Please don't forget us, come to China, help us.'" This may explain why, even as Chinese troops flooded into the Tibetan plateau, the Dalai Lama said he was prepared to meet with Beijing's top leadership, including Hu Jintao, China's President, who as regional Communist Party boss oversaw a bloody repression of Tibetan protests in 1989. But such apparent timidity has drawn fire from Tibetan groups who say it is time to seize the moment and press ahead with an aggressive stance on complete independence. These groups say the talks are just a ploy to subdue resistance to their rule and wait for his holiness's death. "The Dalai Lama dropped his calls for independence in 1979 after Deng Xiaoping offered talks in return. But we have had six rounds and got nothing in return. That is why we agree to disagree with his holiness and call for complete independence," said Dhondup Ladhar (31), the general secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress who left Tibet after five members of his family were killed during the 1989 uprising. "I knew nothing of our history, our culture. The communists just brainwash us at school. That is why we cannot live with them," he added. Others say that, for all his supposed spiritual wisdom, the Dalai Lama is a "poor and poorly advised political strategist". "The Dalai Lama should have closed down the Hollywood strategy a decade ago and focused on back-channel diplomacy with Beijing ... Sending his envoys to talk about talks with the Chinese while simultaneously encouraging the global pro-Tibet lobby has achieved nothing," wrote Patrick French, author of Tibet, Tibet, in the New York Times. Demonstrating a deft political touch with journalists last week, the Dalai Lama defended his strategy to talk -- characteristically praising the gods of Chinese communism, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, while decrying the moral deficit of emerging Chinese power. The Tibetan leader described chairman Mao, whom he met several times in the 1950s, as a "very gentle, calm person" who was a "great revolutionary. I was so convinced by him. I wanted to join the Communist Party ... but power spoilt him. China today needs moral authority to be a genuine superpower. It should be an open society. If six million Tibetans remain separate, [China] will always remain weak." -- guardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008 |
| Article Launched: 03/23/2008 Scene . . . Richard Gere was seen at Joan Silbersher's funky, landmark store Antiques & Tools of Business and Kitchen in Scotts Corners, Pound Ridge, N.Y. Gere, who lives in the town, purchased two benches for his new restaurant, The Bedford Post, on Route 123. |
| RIchard Gere's Palazzo Chupi Richard Gere Puts His Palazzo Chupi Apartment on the Market For months the possibility of living with Richard Gere has been one of the quiet selling points for Palazzo Chupi, director Julian Schnabel's monument to his own Schnabeliciousness in New York's West Village. Now that dream is over, Gere's full-floor, four-bedroom apartment is listed with Sotheby's. Gere's apartment has some benefits over the other two apartments which are listed at $27 million and $32 million, mainly that it's a little less over-the-top and doesn't have that odd avocado-colored kitchen. Curbed states that Gere bought the apartment in September for $12 million and has listed at $17,995,000. Is New York ready for "Venice in Manhattan?" We'll have to wait and see how long these places stay on the market. |
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