https://thebuddhaslaugh.comLetters to the Abbot from the Laughing Buddhahttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-seoulhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-seoulTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000KOREA EXPORTS RECORD 26.1 BILLION DOLLARS IN FIRST TEN DAYS OF OCTOBER STOP CHIP EXPORTS UP 170.9 PERCENT STOP SHIPS DOWN 13.4 PERCENT STOP COUNTRY NOW EXPORTS THINKING NOT SAILING STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-santiagohttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-santiagoTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000CHILE ANNOUNCES TOLL CUT OF UP TO 25 PERCENT FOR PROMPT PAYERS STOP IN RETURN TOLL ROAD REPORTEDLY GETS 20 MORE MONTHS OF CONCESSION STOP DISCOUNT PAID FOR BY THE FUTURE STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-romehttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-romeTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000BEDBUGS GROUND DREAMLINER AT FIUMICINO AFTER 17 HOUR FLIGHT FROM PERTH STOP AIRLINE SAYS FOUND ON A SMALL NUMBER OF ECONOMY SEATS STOP BUGS KNEW THEIR FARE CLASS STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-riyadhhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-riyadhTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000RIYADH BUYS 94 METRO TRAINS FOR NEARLY 5.5 BILLION RIYALS STOP RED LINE CAPACITY UP 142 PERCENT STOP PURPLE LINE UP 16 STOP PURPLE LINE ASKED TO BE PATIENT STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-rabathttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-rabatTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000OUTGOING MOROCCAN PARLIAMENT LEFT 12,222 WRITTEN QUESTIONS UNANSWERED STOP ATTENDANCE ONCE FELL TO 46 OF 395 MPS STOP WHO WAS ASKING STOP UNANSWERED STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-nairobihttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-nairobiTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000KENYA TRANSPORT AUTHORITY ASKS DRIVERS TO SEARCH ONLINE FOR UNCOLLECTED LICENCES STOP FOUR DAYS AFTER PROMISING LICENCES IN UNDER TWO MINUTES STOP LICENCES FAST STOP DRIVERS SLOW STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-lauwersooghttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-lauwersoogTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000DUTCH WORLD HERITAGE SEAL CENTRE SAYS BANKRUPT WITHIN TWO WEEKS WITHOUT HELP STOP 70 SEALS AT RISK HALF OF THEM PUPS STOP PROVINCE WITHDREW FUNDING STOP SEALS UNAWARE STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-lagoshttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-lagosTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000DANGOTE REFINERY EXTENDS SHARE OFFER TO OCTOBER TWENTY SEVEN STOP OFFER ALREADY OVERSUBSCRIBED STOP DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY STOP REFINERY NOTES THIS IS USUALLY ITS LINE STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-jakartahttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-jakartaTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000INDONESIAN OFFICIAL SAYS FORESTS SEND NEIGHBOURS OXYGEN WHEN NOT SENDING HAZE STOP SINGAPORE RANKED WORLDS MOST POLLUTED CITY ON OCTOBER 9 AND 12 STOP SUBSCRIPTION MODEL NOTED STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-islamabadhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-islamabadTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000CAPITAL BEGINS REMOVING SHIPPING CONTAINERS USED TO BLOCK A PROTEST MARCH STOP CONTAINER OWNERS ASK THE STATE FOR RENT STOP 40,000 RUPEES A DAY PER 40 FOOT BOX STOP BARRICADE NOW ON THE METER STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-hongkonghttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-hongkongTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000NEW HUANGGANG PORT OPENS STOP ONE CLEARANCE FOR HONG KONG AND MAINLAND CHECKS STOP 134 E CHANNELS STOP ONE COUNTRY TWO SYSTEMS ONE QUEUE STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-hcmchttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-hcmcTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000FLOOD PROJECT RAISES SAIGON STREET UP TO 1.5 METRES STOP NEIGHBOURING HOMES NOW BELOW THE ROAD STOP STREET WILL NOT FLOOD STOP HOUSES UNDER REVIEW STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-guangzhouhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-guangzhouTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000140TH CANTON FAIR OPENS STOP OVER 12,000 EXHIBITORS 25,000 BOOTHS STOP DEBUTS INCLUDE AI FRUIT PEELING MACHINE STOP MONK HAS HANDS STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-edmontonhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-edmontonTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000ALBERTA VOTES ON TEN BALLOT QUESTIONS STOP ONE ASKS TO WORK TOWARD ABOLISHING THE SENATE STOP WHICH WOULD NEED THE SENATES APPROVAL STOP SENATE CONSIDERING STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-dubaihttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-dubaiTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000ONE MILLION DOLLAR AI FILM AWARD OPENS ENTRIES STOP AT LEAST 70 PERCENT OF EACH FILM MUST BE AI GENERATED STOP ONE THEME IS FAKE NEWS AND MISINFORMATION STOP STRONG FIELD EXPECTED STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-dhakahttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-dhakaTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000SECRETARIAT CAPS VISITOR PASSES BY RANK STOP MINISTERS TEN SECRETARIES FIVE JOINT SECRETARIES TWO STOP NO VISITORS BEFORE NOON STOP SENIORITY NOW MEASURED IN GUESTS STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-delhihttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-delhiTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000IMF FORECASTS INDIA SEVEN PERCENT THIS YEAR STOP FASTEST MAJOR ECONOMY STOP DOWN FROM SEVEN POINT SEVEN STOP REST OF WORLD WOULD LIKE TO BE SO DISAPPOINTED STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-colombohttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-colomboTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000SRI LANKA SPENDS UNDER 30 PERCENT OF CAPITAL BUDGET IN NINE MONTHS STOP NEXT YEARS BUDGET LARGER STOP MOST SPENDING SAID TO COME IN FINAL QUARTER STOP NOVICES RECOGNISE THE METHOD STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-chibahttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-chibaTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000CEATEC OPENS WITH 821 EXHIBITORS STOP NEC SHOWS A DEPARTMENT RUN ENTIRELY BY FORTY AI AGENTS STOP FUJITSU SIMULATES EVACUATING TOKYO FROM GODZILLA STOP JAPAN READY FOR BOTH STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-canberrahttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-canberraTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000TAX OFFICE STOPS TAKING CREDIT CARDS STOP SMALL BUSINESS MINISTER SAYS SHE FOUND OUT WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED STOP SURCHARGE BAN WORKING STOP PAYMENT NOT STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-cairohttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-cairoTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000EGYPT FORUM WEBSITE PASSES 12 MILLION VIEWS STOP CITIZENS MAY ATTEND UP TO TWO OF 13 SESSIONS STOP GOVERNMENT PROMISES AN EXCHANGE OF VIEWS STOP RATE SET AT TWO SESSIONS STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-buenosaireshttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-buenosairesTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000ARGENTINE PRESIDENT LEAVES FOR FIFTH UNITED STATES VISIT OF THE YEAR STOP TO COLLECT A FREE ENTERPRISE AWARD STOP BACK FRIDAY MORNING STOP PAPER CALLS IT A BRIEF STAY STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-brasiliahttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-brasiliaTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000BRAZIL DEFINES THE ABUSIVE CALLER STOP OVER 1,000 CALLS A DAY PER NUMBER MOSTLY UNDER SIX SECONDS STOP PENALTY FIFTEEN DAY BLOCK STOP AUTHENTICATED CALLERS MUST SHOW THEIR LOGO STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-bogotahttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-bogotaTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000COLOMBIA SCORES 0.71 ON OECD DIGITAL GOVERNMENT INDEX STOP OECD AVERAGE 0.70 STOP VICTORY BY ONE HUNDREDTH STOP DIGITAL ID COVERS UNDER HALF OF PROCEDURES STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-bernhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-bernTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000FIVE SWISS CHURCH BODIES ADOPT TEN ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR AI STOP ONE READS TRUTH REQUIRES SCRUTINY AND TRANSPARENCY STOP MACHINES NOT YET CONSULTED STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-bangkokhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-bangkokTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000THAILAND DRAFTS DEPARTURE TAX FROM 1,000 BAHT STOP TOURISM MINISTER REPORTEDLY UNAWARE IT COVERS FOREIGN VISITORS STOP STATED AIM INCLUDES KEEPING THAIS HOME FOR HOLIDAYS STOP GUESTS WELCOME STOP LEAVING EXTRA STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-algiershttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-algiersTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000ALGERIAN STATE UTILITY TO EXPORT 250 EV CHARGERS TO ITALY STOP 200 ALREADY SENT TO PORTUGAL STOP ITALY ALSO BUYS ALGERIAN GAS STOP SUPPLIER COVERS BOTH POSSIBILITIES STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-acapulcohttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-13-cable-acapulcoTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000CRUISE SHIP RETURNS TO ACAPULCO AFTER 17 YEARS STOP 2,913 TOURISTS ABOARD STOP ACAPULCO TEAMS UP WITH CANCUN RIVALS STOP OLD RIVIERA ASKS NEW RIVIERA FOR DIRECTIONS STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-13-relic-008.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-13-relic-008.htmlTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Competition won in 1957. Estimated at £3.5 million, to open on 26 January 1963. Opened 20 October 1973, ten years late, at $102 million, by one reckoning 1,357 percent over budget in real terms. Its architect resigned in 1966 and never returned to see it finished. Perspex clouds were hung in the concert hall just before opening to correct the sound. The opera theatre is considered too small for large-scale opera. The most famous opera house in the world. The large operas go elsewhere. Monk finds this very peaceful. Noted.https://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-13-relic-007.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-13-relic-007.htmlTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Opened 10 June 2000, a month late. Some 90,000 people crossed on the first day. The bridge swayed. The walkers, feeling it sway, fell into step with it, and it swayed more. Closed two days later. Reopened in February 2002, after £5 million of dampers on an £18.2 million bridge. Engineers call it synchronous lateral excitation. Monk calls it a crowd. The Way, it is written, moves in step with all things. The bridge did exactly that, and was closed for it. Noted.https://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cartoons.html#2026-10-13-cartoonhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cartoons.html#2026-10-13-cartoonTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-13-letter.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-13-letter.htmlTue, 13 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Dear Abbot, Monk here. Bangkok, then New York. The tea in both places was disappointing. The International Monetary Fund has gathered in Bangkok to consult its instruments. The world, it reports, will grow 3.1 percent this year. Slightly better than it said in July. Rather worse than last year. The interesting part is the footnote. Thirty-two countries now produce 95 percent of the world's growth. In April it was fifty-four. So the world is growing. In the manner of a man growing in one ear. Noted. Two of those countries, America and China, account for more than three quarters of the world's demand for AI chips. Everyone else has been invited to watch. In Seoul, the market watched for itself and fell 5.5 percent in a day. Tokyo followed, more politely, at about two percent. The explanations offered: Chinese competition in chips, doubts about how long the AI rally can last, and the price of borrowing. In other words, investors briefly wondered whether the machines will be as profitable as the brochure. Then they all wondered it at once. "Is this the correction?" the boy asked. "No. This is a rehearsal." "When is the performance?" "Nobody sells tickets in advance." In New York, the largest bank in America earned $15.3 billion in three months and still disappointed the analysts. Its chairman warned that economic forces "shift under the surface." He is right. They also shift on the surface. That is mostly where one keeps the money. Also in New York, Apple has produced a small screen for the kitchen. It recognizes up to six members of the household by their faces and reads one's messages for recipes. $299. Ships in November. The old texts say the sage knows the whole world without leaving his house. Apple has reversed this. The house now knows the sage without his leaving it. Noted. One bright spot, in Sardinia. Formafantasma has built an exhibition about the ocean, for Prada and UNESCO's ocean commission, out of aluminium and wood that can be taken apart and carried to the next town. Lifelike crabs. A turtle. Children welcome. A building designed to leave. Monk was moved nearly to tears. The Way, Abbot, is like water. It goes where it is needed and sends no invoice. Most of what crossed this desk today flowed the other way: money toward the places that already hold the most of it, and screens into the kitchen. Anyway. Monk remains in transit. Bowl clean. Passport current. Please tell the novices that 3.1 percent is not enlightenment. It is merely growth. Yours, with the kettle on, The Monkhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-12-relic-006.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-12-relic-006.htmlMon, 12 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Raised $120 million. Launched in 2016 at $699, cut to $399 the next year. It pressed proprietary bags of chopped produce, and scanned each bag's code before it would agree to. Then reporters squeezed the bags by hand. The juice was nearly indistinguishable. Sales stopped in September 2017. The ancients prized the uncarved block, the thing in its plain state before cleverness arrives. The bag of fruit was already the uncarved block. Someone carved a $699 machine around it. Noted.https://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-12-letter.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-12-letter.htmlMon, 12 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Dear Abbot, Monk here. Monday. Bangkok is wet and full of economists. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank begin their annual meetings in Bangkok today. Monk will report their forecasts once they have finished consulting the weather. In New York, the market could not agree with itself. The Dow rose 0.38 percent. The Nasdaq fell 0.44 percent. The S&P 500 moved six hundredths of one percent and was described in the headlines as moderating. Energy and consumer staples led. Technology lagged. People must still drive and eat. They need not upgrade. Noted. In Washington, the administration announced a deal for Russia to supply millions of tons of diesel, to help lower fuel prices before the midterms. Six senators from both parties urged that it be reversed, since it sits awkwardly with sanctions. Meanwhile, in Brussels, the European Union sanctioned nearly 1,600 more Russian individuals and companies. So one side of the Atlantic sanctions the seller, the other side buys his diesel, and both call it pressure. "Master, are they on the same side?" "Yes." "Then why are they doing opposite things?" "Because one of them has an election in three weeks." In Stockholm, the Nobel Prize in economics went to two scholars for their work on macroeconomic stabilization. On the day of the award, by one commentator's count, diesel was at a record price and consumer sentiment at its lowest since May. Mortgage rates sat near 7.5 percent. The theory is excellent. Reality has been informed and is considering it. Also in Washington, regulators approved SpaceX's plan for 15,000 satellites that connect directly to ordinary phones. Telecom shares fell in America and Europe. Monk once climbed a mountain to be unreachable. It worked for a very long time. It will not work next year. In Redmond, Microsoft unveiled its third-generation AI chip and said it may deploy more than a million of them next year. What a million chips will think about was not announced. Thirty spokes share one hub, say the old texts, and it is the empty space at the centre that makes the wheel useful. Redmond has filled the centre with chips, and will tell us later what the wheel is for. And in Seattle, Starbucks denied that it was buying Chipotle. Starbucks shares rose. Chipotle's fell nearly three percent. Nobody asked the burrito. Nobody ever asks the burrito. Anyway. Monk remains in transit. Bowl clean. Diesel not purchased. Please tell the novices that stabilization is a practice, not a prize. They may meditate on this until the prize money arrives. Yours, from the departure lounge, The Monkhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-11-relic-005.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-11-relic-005.htmlSun, 11 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Built in 41 months. Inaugurated 21 April 1960. Laid out in the shape of a bird, or an aeroplane, or a cross, depending on whom one asks. The plan was for about 500,000 people. The planned core never reached it and today holds about 215,000. By 2000, two satellite towns outside the plan together held more people than the plan itself. The metropolitan area now holds about 3.5 million. Traffic lights were later added to the great Monumental Axis, which the plan had imagined without them. A city drawn for the car. The people walked around it. Noted.https://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-11-letter.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-11-letter.htmlSun, 11 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Dear Abbot, Monk here. Sunday. The long letter, as promised. Fetch a second cup. It was a week in which three things happened at once. The machines ate the memory. Governments rewrote the markets. And a city in the desert discovered gravity. First, the memory. In Suwon, Samsung expects a record third-quarter operating profit of about 107.4 trillion won, roughly $80 billion. It is the first South Korean company to pass 100 trillion won of operating profit in a single quarter. Nearly all of it comes from memory chips, sold to the people building artificial intelligence. Samsung also makes phones. Its phone and appliance business is expected to post a loss. Earlier this month it raised the price of its newest Galaxy by $100 in America and Korea, citing the cost of memory. So one half of Samsung sells memory to the world at a great profit, the other half buys memory from the world at a loss, and the customer pays the difference. Monk has examined this from several sides. It remains a circle. In Hsinchu, TSMC reported September revenue up 54.6 percent on a year earlier. In Cupertino, according to a Nikkei report relayed by Fortune, Apple has cut October component orders for its newest iPhones by 15 to 20 percent, and the new Pro models cost $100 more than last year's. IDC expects smartphone shipments to fall 16.7 percent this year, the steepest decline on record. "Master, are the phones getting worse?" "No. The phones are fine." "Then why will fewer people buy them?" "Because the memory has gone to think about other things." Noted. Second, the decrees. In Brasília, online betting sites went dark on Tuesday under a presidential measure banning fixed-odds sports betting and online casinos. Fourteen of the twenty top-flight football clubs carried a betting brand as their main shirt sponsor. The president of Flamengo, whose betting deal was worth R$268.5 million a year, asked: "How am I going to pay for Paquetá?" A fair question. Monk suggests the old method. Win. The AI agent company Manus, whose $2 billion sale to Meta was ordered unwound by Chinese authorities in April, raised more than $500 million on Thursday in a round led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital. It had moved its staff to Singapore. It deleted some user data in the divorce. Last month it was reported to be in talks at a $4 billion valuation, twice what Meta agreed to pay. Its newest product gives each personal AI agent its own email address, phone number and wallet. Monk has none of these things and is beginning to feel underdressed. Third, gravity. In the Saudi desert, Reuters reports that the NEOM Stadium, planned for the 2034 World Cup, has been shelved indefinitely. It was to seat 46,000 people, 350 metres above the ground, inside The Line, a 170-kilometre city that has been under a feasibility review since 2025. The old texts say a tower of nine storeys begins with a heap of earth. Nobody, it seems, began with the heap of earth. Noted. In New York, Jaguar unveiled its first car since the 2024 rebrand that left the world asking whether Jaguar still made cars. It does. The Type 01 is an electric four-door grand tourer, from $130,000, with deliveries in the second half of 2027. It has no rear window. A camera looks backward instead. It is a fine metaphor, and Monk refuses to explain it. And in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy gave the Nobel Prize in Literature to Anne Carson, the Canadian poet and classicist, for work in "playful dialogue with the classical tradition." She heard the news in Iceland. Her review of the jury, to Icelandic radio: "Crazy. I think they're all crazy." The best sentences of the week, Abbot, and six words between them. The poets have always known what the machines are now spending fortunes to learn. Say less. So. The week, summarized for the novices. Memory is expensive, and it has been sold to things that do not forget. A government can switch off an industry on a Tuesday. A stadium in the sky came down to earth without ever leaving it. And a poet in Iceland said the truest thing of all and went back to her afternoon. The ancients teach that the usefulness of a bowl lies in its emptiness. This week the world paid record prices to fill every bowl it could find. Monk kept his empty. By the numbers, it was the only thing that did not cost more. Anyway. Monk remains in transit. Bowl clean. Phone old, and keeping it. Please ask the office to file this letter under Long, and the week under Strange. Yours, with a second cup, The Monkhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-10-cable-kualalumpurhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-10-cable-kualalumpurSat, 10 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000AI ART EXHIBITION OPENS IN KUALA LUMPUR STOP ARTIST CALLS AI HER PARTNER STOP SHOW TITLED ART WITHOUT BOUNDARIES STOP PARTNER NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-10-cable-chicagohttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/cables.html#2026-10-10-cable-chicagoSat, 10 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000CHICAGO PERFORMANCE CASTS AUDIENCE AS FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGISTS STOP THEY LABEL TODAYS EVERYDAY OBJECTS STOP ASKS WHAT THE FUTURE WILL GET WRONG STOP MONK SUBMITS ANSWER STOP EVERYTHING STOPhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-10-relic-004.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/relics/2026-10-10-relic-004.htmlSat, 10 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Begun 1987. 105 floors. 330 metres. Work stopped in 1992, with the building at full height and nothing inside. Work resumed in 2008. The glass went on in 2011. A hotel group announced in 2012 that it would run the place, and suspended the plan the following year. By 2018 one face had become an LED screen showing animations. The sage, it is written, acts without acting. The Ryugyong has not received a single guest in nearly forty years and is still the most famous hotel in the country. Few have practised non-action so completely. Noted.https://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-10-letter.htmlhttps://thebuddhaslaugh.com/letters/2026-10-10-letter.htmlSat, 10 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000Dear Abbot, Monk here. Saturday. The world's money is on its way to Bangkok. So is the rain. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank meet in Bangkok this week. More than 15,000 delegates from 191 countries are expected. To keep the roads clear, Thai civil servants have been told to work from home on three days, and given a public holiday and a special holiday on two more. More than 320 electric vehicles will ferry the delegates. Some 500 tourist police will watch over them, with drones. The forecast for the weekend is heavy to very heavy rain. So the experts on global stability arrive, the city stops so they can get through, and the sky declines to cooperate. Noted. In Brussels, Ireland, holding the presidency of the European Union, has proposed cutting €141 billion from the next seven-year budget. That would still leave it 30 percent larger than the current one. Sweden's minister called the proposal unreasonable. "Master, they cut it and it grew?" "Yes." "And the Swedes are cross?" "The Swedes wanted it to grow less. In Brussels this is called frugality." In Barranquilla, on Colombia's Caribbean coast, the country's top architecture prize has gone to a mangrove park, with trails and birdwatching. More than a million visitors so far, say local authorities. The finest work of architecture in Colombia this year is mostly trees, standing in water, doing nothing. Monk feels seen. In Shenzhen, researchers have made a gel that keeps changing shape for up to four weeks after a single burst of light. It is described as lifelike. Asked how it might be used for now, its author said it could serve as a sensor or for laboratory demonstrations. Slow, patient, endlessly changing, of no immediate use. The Abbot will recognize the novices. In Kathmandu, egg farmers report producing about 3.8 million eggs a day against a target of six and a half to seven million, and selling at barely above cost. Meanwhile the airport at Pokhara has banned kites, drones, hot-air balloons and laser lights near its airspace. The eggs fall short. The kites are a threat. Each country chooses its emergencies. Noted. In Frankfurt, Germany's youth word of the year will be announced at the Book Fair. The three finalists are "Crashout," "Ragebait" and "Peak." All three are English. The language of Goethe, defending its title against the language of the group chat, has lost in the qualifying round. The old texts say the softest things overcome the hardest, as water wears down stone. This week a mangrove won an architecture prize, a gel took a month to change its mind, and English took Germany without a single grammar lesson. Softness, Abbot, is doing well. Anyway. Monk remains in transit. Bowl clean. Kite confiscated. Please tell the novices that a holiday given so that others may pass is still a holiday. They may take Tuesday. Yours, under a borrowed umbrella, The Monk