Via my friend Noel Hidalgo, His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited the New York State Senate yesterday. The video above shows HHDL as both the visionary leader and philosopher that he is, as well as a man with a world-class sense of humor.

Incidentally, Noel is just one of the recent new additions to the New York State Senate’s staff. They’ve added a great online communications and traditional communications team, including some of the best young minds in New York when it comes to politics and the online space. In addition to Noel, my friends Phillip Anderson, Brian Keeler and Nathan Freitas are doing work the the NYS Senate. That work is reaching a new benchmark for openness and transparency in government, as evidenced by the the redesigned and relaunched state senate website: http://www.nysenate.gov/