The Dalai Lama's visit to

Portland last month inspired me in the search for truth, peace and oneness with the universe. It wasn't just His Holiness's words or his demeanor. It was his mere presence in our little city that seemed to permeate my very soul. Thousands upon thousands of people from all walks of life gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square in peaceful homage to one of the world's most beloved leaders.

That's why I've decided to reach out to all my friends, my family, my associates and you, my readers... I've decided to set up-- here in Portland--the Institute of Strippers for World Peace, or ISWP (pronounced izz-whip).

Strippers have a lot of inner strength--sometimes misdirected-- that wants to be channeled into a spiritually desirable direction. I think that a world peace institution made up of strippers from Portland, and later all around the world, will make our world, and our fair city, a finer place.

We will be changing this magazine a little bit. It will be focused primarily on Tibet, and their peaceful struggle with the Chinese government. We will only have pictures of strippers who have found the light and are walking the path to spiritual enlightenment. This may thin the magazine down somewhat, and we will probably be featuring a few strippers shorn of their golden locks of hair, but they will be even more beautiful inside, in their souls and hearts and spirits.

Our Exotic office here in downtown Portland will be converted to a sanctuary of peace and love, and world headquarters for the ISWP.

Finally, we will be changing the name of the magazine from Exotic to Kumbum, after a sacred monastery in Tibet.

I know you readers probably have lots of questions right now about what our philosophical and political views and agendas are with this new focus. So just to keep the record straight and address the primary one right now: We do not dislike the Chinese government. We dislike their actions. Their unwanted occupation of a sovereign nation, and the displacement of a peaceful people, lifestyle and religious philosophy by a Communist oligarchy. We have no problem personally with the Chinese leaders. Only with their methods. To prove this, our first and foremost-- but certainly not our only-- goal within the Strippers for World Peace will be to send an envoy of volunteer strippers to Beijing to meet with President Jiang Zemin and his Cabinet members. This may not immediately free Tibet from the clutches of the communist foreign occupation, but certainly could set into motion a changing of energy and hope for all mankind to see.

Thank you and peace be with you.

One more thing: Judging from the phone calls we received from the mayor's office last month, Mayor Vera Katz will not be handling any of our photography anytime soon. We regret her decision on this matter, but we hope that after she finishes her illustrious career as Mayor of Portland, she will reconsider our offer and join us on our enlightening journey with Kumbum, and of course the Institute of Strippers for World Peace.