I admire many things about the Dalai Lama and am a big fan of some forms of Buddhism, but the guy has at least one serious flaw that isn't widely known:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07110208.html

"In an interview with the Vancouver Sun in 2004, the Buddhist leader was questioned about homosexuality to which he replied, 'For a Buddhist, the same sex, that is sexual misconduct."

The Dalai Lama elaborated, "they use the mouth and the anus, this is sexual misconduct in Buddhism." '

Google yields other examples of his hangups about the correct use of sex organs.

He is much better than the Pope say on gay rights but to me homophobia is a sign of deep spiritual flaws.

Flame away.

It's fun to piss off fashion freaks, and that's what the ranter is. Grow your hair and wear your clothes within a small range of acceptable styles or you are a horrible person deserving of contempt. Arbitrary follicle lengths and patterns that we see a lot don't disturb him but something different sets off his warning buzzer.

It's amazing how humans get so worked up about non-conformity and differences. We've got genes that make us uncomfortable around alienness. I suppose the ranters underlying instincts are telling him - this guy looks different therefor he is not from my tribe.

I'd love to hear the ranter's reviews of the fashions worn by different cultures in The Secret Museum of Mankind featured here yesterday: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/23/the-secret-museum-of.html
I'm sure the hairstyles would give him a coronary.

When I hear people make lists of unacceptable styles, such as socks with sandals, I make sure to break the "rules" to make the conformity-bound fashion freaks squirm.

If they made tune-playing roads in the US there would be accidents caused by fundamentalists driving over them backwards looking for satanic melodies.

We could eliminate road noise altogether by making all our roads play John Cage's "4'33".