இது தான் புலம்பெயர்ந்தவர்களின் தமிழ்த்தேசியம்

[தூயவன்]

[தயா]

பாடசாலை ஒண்றின் முன் ஆமி மாமா..

[தயா]

செருப்பில்லாமல் தமிழ் மாணவன்...

ஆட்டம்பரமாய் நல்லூர்ர் கந்தன்...

(கள உறவு ஒருவர் மனதை பாதித்த விடயமாக இதை சொன்னார்..)

[narathar]

கோவில்களுக்கு செல்லும் மக்கள் எந்த தமிழ் தேசிய போராட்ட நிகழ்வுகளிலும் கலந்து கொள்வது இல்லை என்றோ அல்லது இது போன்ற ஈழத்தமிழர் ஆதரவு ஊர்வலங்களில் பங்கெடுக்கும் தமிழக மக்கள் கோவில்களுக்கு சென்று தேர் இழுப்பது இல்லை என்றோ எதை வைத்து குறுக்கர் சொல்கிறார்?

சும்மா... குறுக்காலும் மறுக்காலும் போய் கொண்டிருந்தால் போய்ச்சேர வேண்டிய இடத்திற்கு போய்ச்சேர முடியாது.

செக்கு மாடு எவ்வளவு நேரம் ஓடினாலும் செக்கை சுற்றியே ஓடும் என்பது இதை தானோ??!

ஆனாலும் இந்த அங்கப்பிரதட்சணம் எல்லாம் கொஞ்சம் டூ மச் தான்!

நான் திருவிழாக்களுக்கு கோவில்களுக்கு சென்று பல வருடங்களாகி விட்டதால், இந்த கண்கொள்ளா காட்சிகளை இங்கே இன்னும் காணவில்லை!

இவை தற்போதைய காலகட்டத்தில் தவிர்க்கப்பட வேண்டியவை என்பதில் மாற்றுக்கருத்துக்கு இடமில்லை!

ஆனால்! அப்படியான கோரிக்கைகளை மக்களிடம் எடுத்து செல்வதற்கு இந்த வெட்டி ஒட்டும் புரட்சிகள் அல்ல சரியான வழிமுறை!

இன்னும் சொல்லப்போனால் இது மாதிரியான வெட்டி ஒட்டும் புரட்சிகள், திருவிழாக்களுக்கு செய்யப்படும் மறைமுக தூண்டுதலும் விளம்பரமும் ஆகும்!!

நீங்களே பிழை என்று சொல்லும் விடயத்தை மக்களிடம் கொண்டு செல்வதற்கான சரியான் வழி முறை என்ன? அதனை நீங்கள் எவ்வாறு செய்துள்ளீர்கள்?

[மின்னல்]

மேலிருக்கும் இரு படங்களும் கீழிருக்கும் இரு படங்களுடன் எந்தவித தொடர்புமற்றவை. முதல் இரு படங்களும் தமிழர் திருநாளான தைத்திருநாளில் எடுக்கப்பட்டவை. காவடியாட்டம் உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு தமிழரின் கலைகள் அந்த நிகழ்வின் போது அணிவகுத்தன.

கடைசியாக இருக்கும் இரு படங்களும் கிளிநொச்சி கந்தசாமி கோவிலின் தேர் திருவிழாவின் போது எடுக்கப்பட்டவை.

[தூயவன்]

பெரிய கண்டு பிடிப்பு மின்னல். இதில் உள்ள தசாவதாரம், கடவுள்....., இந்தப் படங்களில் வந்த படங்கள் மட்டும் ஏதோ புலம்பெயர் தமிழர்கள் நடித்தது போல் உங்களுக்குத் தோன்றியதாக்கும். இங்கே உள்ளவரின் நோக்கம், புலம்பெயர் மக்களைச் சாடுவதில்லை. அவருக்கு தன்னுடைய பழியைத் தீர்க்கின்ற எண்ணத்திற்கு அதைப் பயன்படுத்த முயல்கின்றார்.

நான் இணைத்த படங்களில் கீழே அது எங்கே எடுக்கப்பட்ட சந்தர்ப்பம் கொடுக்கப்பட்டிருப்பதால் அது பற்றிய விளக்கம் நீங்கள் கொடுக்கத் தேவையில்லை.

[tamilsvoice]

Stewart Bell/National Post

Hundreds of thousands have fled Sri Lanka's civil war, many of them to Canada. While the war zone has been off limits to journalists, the National Post's Stewart Bell recently toured the front lines just as the conflict appears headed for a decisive showdown. This is the third of a six-part series.

MAHDU, Sri Lanka --

The one-lane road through the thick Mannar jungle passes a "Dangerous Area Do Not Enter" sign and the remains of a Tamil Tigers camp with twisted metal and collapsed trenches. Beyond that, an improbable sight appears in a clearing: a large Catholic Church with bright stained glass windows, marble floors, Roman columns, arches and a rooftop cross that rises above the palm tree jungle.

Madhu Church is the site of Sri Lanka's holiest Catholic shrine, and it lies right in the heart of the country's northern war zone - so close to the shifting front lines it has changed hands several times. The war has been hard on the church. The roof and walls are patched where they were blasted by artillery shells, and the statue of Jesus with outstretched arms is cracked, having smashed on the floor during fighting.

The village that surrounds the church is a ghost town. Lawns where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have stood are empty, except for wandering cows and the occasional mongoose. Monkeys have taken over one of the shelters.

"No life here," says a frustrated Father Emilianuspillai Santhiapillai, sitting on the shaded veranda in his white robe, beneath a framed photo of Pope John Paul II.

When he first arrived here two years ago, the church was under the control of the Tamil Tigers guerrillas. As clashes escalated, the church pleaded with both sides to avoid fighting on the grounds. The war came through anyway.

During that latest wave of fighting, shelling completely destroyed one building, although the main church took only a few direct hits.

"I think it is the grace of Our Lady nothing happened to this church," says Brother Justin Anthony.

Sri Lankan government forces recaptured the area around the church a few months ago.

"This is a useless war," Father Santhiapillai says in an interview.

"And we are losing our people, whether Sinhalese or Tamil, we are losing our people. It brings death, destruction."

He thinks it would be best if the fighting stopped and the two sides started talking, and one of their topics should be how to respect the rights of the country's Tamil minority.

"War is not the answer," he says.

Nobody seems to be listening but Father Santhiapillai continues to hold weekly mass anyway, even if the only congregants are three church workers and three Catholic brothers studying for the priesthood.

Reaching the church means driving west from Vavuniya, deserted and under lockdown following a Tamil Tigers attack. On the outskirts of town, signs of everyday life return.

The road is filled with kids riding bikes and walking to school in their uniforms - the girls wearing white dresses and neckties, the boys in dress shirts and shorts.

Soldiers patrol the road, some checking the identity cards of Tamils. Otherwise, the road is empty except for ambulances and troops riding double on motorbikes. Every so often, another checkpoint stops traffic.

he A-30 road cuts through open grasslands lined with coconut palms and peacocks. Every few hundred metres, there are small army posts, primitive houses built from mud, wood and corrugated metal, and surrounded by a defensive bulwark. A soldier shaves in front of a mirror hanging from a palm tree. A military uniform hangs from a clothesline. More than anything, the soldiers look tired and bored.

Turning north, through another checkpoint, the road enters what was until recently Tamil Tigers territory. A concrete arch over the road reads, "Welcome to Madhu Church."

The church shrine, Our Lady of Madhu, is a 450-year-old statue of uncertain origin. "Some people say that this statue was floating in the sea. Some people say it was brought by the Portuguese when they captured Ceylon," the priest says.

Religion is an important part of Sri Lankan life. Buddhism is the dominant faith, practiced by two thirds of the island's population. The minority Tamils are Hindus and Catholics in almost equal measure. The Portuguese brought Catholicism to the island in the 16th century. The first converts were massacred by the Jaffna king and persecuted by the Dutch and eventually moved their shrine deep into the jungle at Madhu.

Religious persecution ended under British colonial rule and the statue was crowned by a representative of Pope Pius XI in 1924. The church was consecrated two decades later.

The statue of Our Lady is said to protect against snake venom but when fighting broke out in the area, it became better known as a haven for war refugees.

By 1999, 10,000 civilians displaced by the conflict were camped around the church. That November, 44 of them died and 60 were injured in shelling that both sides blamed on each other.

About 200,000 civilians are currently trapped in the northern war zone, facing hardships from a shortage of food and shelter to indiscriminate shelling.

The military recently dropped leaflets from helicopters urging civilians to leave the conflict areas in advance of an anticipated offensive, but few have taken up the offer.

The government also ordered humanitarian workers to leave, and most have now pulled out, except for the International Committee of the Red Cross, which was allowed to stay.

Madhu church is no longer considered safe for the war-displaced. Government forces took control of the area in April, but it remains under tight seal behind roadblocks.

Only soldiers wander the streets. A no handguns sign hangs on the wall outside the church. The area is still being de-mined.

In the past, Sri Lankans of all faiths made pilgrimages to the Madhu church.

"When there is a festival, all the people come here, Hindus, Buddhists, even Muslims," said Father Santhiapillai.

In 2005, half a million came. "We lived here, one family. It made no difference, Sinhalese, Tamils ... everyone was engaged in prayer, meditation and religions activities. That's the beauty of this place, and still we want to have this as a place of unity."

Father Santhiapillai points out a plaque thanking a group of Sinhalese for repairing the church roof in 2005. Another plaque thanks a Muslim for donating one of the chapels.

A Tamil, he sees symbolism in the contributions the church receives from Sinhalese Buddhists and Muslim Sri Lankans, a sign of unity that offers a rare fragment of hope.

"These are symbols," he says. "If 500,000 Sinhalese and Tamils can come together and live here for three or four days, why can't the whole country live together?"

National Post

sbell@nationalpost.com

[tamilsvoice]

"I think it is the grace of Our Lady nothing happened to this church," says Brother Justin Anthony.

By 1999, 10,000 civilians displaced by the conflict were camped around the church. That November, 44 of them died and 60 were injured in shelling that both sides blamed on each other.

கட்டிடத்தை காப்பாற்றிய மாதா அருள் பக்தர்களைக் காப்பாற்றவில்லை பின்னர் எதற்கு மாதாவுடன் ஓடினார்கள் சிலையை அங்கேயே விட்டு விட்டுச் சென்றிருக்கலாமே ????

பின்னர் எதற்கு சிலையை கடத்திக் கொண்டு வரவேண்டும்

எதற்காக இவர்கள் வேடம் போடுகிறார்கள்

"This is a useless war," Father Santhiapillai says in an interview.

He thinks it would be best if the fighting stopped and the two sides started talking, and one of their topics should be how to respect the rights of the country's Tamil minority

"War is not the answer," he says.

இவர் நடுநிலை வாதி என்று வைத்துக் கொள்வோம்

சரி மனித நேயத்திற்கு பாடுபட்ட பாதிரிமார்களை சிங்களம் கிளைமோரில் கொண்டது பற்றி இவர் ஏன் சொல்லவில்லை புங்குடூதீவில் காணாமல் போன பாதிரியார் பற்றி ஏன் சொல்லவில்லை

"These are symbols," he says. "If 500,000 Sinhalese and Tamils can come together and live here for three or four days, why can't the whole country live together?"

இதற்கு என்ன அர்த்தம் ?????

[jaalavan]

கோவில் திருவிழாக்களும் - புலம்பெயர் தமிழர்களும்.

புலம் பெயர் நாடுகளில் தமிழ் மக்கள் கோவில்களுக்கு அதிக

முக்கியம் கொடுக்கிறார்கள்.இது ஒரு வகையில் நன்மை உண்டு

அதாவது புலம்பெயர் தமிழ் இளையவர்களுக்கு எமது கலை

கலாச்சாரங்களை ஊட்டுவதர்க்கு ஆலயங்கள் சிறப்பாக திகழ

முடியும்.ஆனால் இன்று எத்தனை ஆலயங்கள் இவ்வாறு

செயற்படுகின்றன என்பதனை விரல் விட்டுஎண்ண முடியும்.

அந்தளவிற்கு ஆலயங்கள் தவறான முறைகளில் மக்களை

அவர்களுடைய சிந்தனையில் இருந்து தடம்புரள வைக்கும் வகையில்

செயற்பாடுகளில் செயற்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன என்பது ஒரு கசப்பான

உண்மையாகும். கடவுள் நம்பிக்கை எனும் பெயரில் மக்கள் மத்தியில்

உள்;ள பல ழூட நம்பிக்கைகளை களையாது தொடர்ந்தும் மக்களை

அவ் மாயையில் வைத்திருந்து பணம் சம்பாதிக்கும் ஒரு வியாபார

நிறுவனமாகவே புலம் பெயர் தமிழர்கள் மத்தியில் உள்ள பல

ஆலயங்கள் செயறபடுகின்றன.இதனை புரிந்துகொள்ளாது பல மக்கள்

தமது பணத்தினையும் நேரத்தினையும் வீணடிக்கிறார்கள் என்பதே

வேதனைக்குரிய விடையமாகும்.

இத்தனைக்கும் மேலாக புலம்பெயர் நாடுகள் பலவற்றில் உள்ள

தமிழ்மக்களின் பல ஆலயங்கள் அரசியலுடன் நேரடியான

தொடர்புகளை பேணுகின்றன. இங்குள்ள சில கோயில்கள் சிறீலங்கா

தூதுவராலயங்கள் மற்றும் ஒட்டுக் குழுக்களினாலும்

நடாத்தப்படுகின்ற.இவற்றை தெரிந்தும் கூட எம் மக்கள் பல

ழூடநம்பிக்கைகளில் தொடர்ந்தும் அவ் ஆலயங்களுக்கு செல்கிறனர்.

இன்றும் சில கோவில்கள் பொது நோக்கங்களுக்காக ஒழுங்கான

நிர்வகங்களுடன் இயங்குகின்றன. எனவே அவ் ஆலயங்களுக்கு

செல்ல முடியும் எல்லா இடமும் இறைவன் ஒன்றுதான். நமது

மனங்கள்தான் வேறுபடுகிறன. பிள்ளையார் எந்தக் கோவிலில்

இருந்தாலும் அவர் பிள்ளையார்தான். நான் கோயில்களை

இடிக்கவேண்டுமோ அல்லது வழிபடக்கூடாது என்று சொல்லவில்லை

எம்மிடம் உள்ள பல ழூடநம்பிக்கைகளை களை எடுக்க வேண்டும்.

நாம் என்ன செய்கிறோம் என்னத்தை செய்கிறோம் என்ற எண்ணம்

எமக்கு சுயமாக தெரிய வேண்டும் எவனாவது சென்னவுடன் செய்ய

வேண்டிய தேவை இல்லை.

இன்று (31-08-08) பரிஸ் நகரின் லாச்சப்பலில் உள்ள பிள்ளையார்

கோவில் தேர்த் திருவிழா. இன்று லாச்சப்பல் வீதி முழுமையாக

தேங்காயால் ழூடப்ட்டிருக்கும் ஆயிரக்கணக்கான தேங்காய்கள,;;

உணவுகள் என்பன வீணாக போகும் இது ஒரு சிறிய உதாரணமே.

இதை விட ஆயிரக்கணக்கான யூரோ நாணயங்கள் மக்களிடம் இருந்து

ஆலய நடத்துநர்களுக்கு கைமாறும் நிகழ்வுமாகும். இவ் ஆலயங்கள்

தாயகத்தில் தாயகத்தில் எந்த ஒரு பொதுத் தேவைக்காகவும்

ஒரு சிறிய உதவிதனும் செய்ததாக தெரியவில்லை...இதைவிட

இன்னெரு சிறப்பம்சம் எம் இளையோர்கள் சிலர் கத்தி, வாள்,

மற்றும் போத்தல் சகிதம் வேடுவக் வேடம் போட்டு காடுகளில்

செய்ய வேண்டிய செயல்களை வீதிகளில் செய்வதனால் சில

இடங்களில் இரத்தங்கள் பாயும். இவர்களை இயக்குவதில்

சிறீலங்கா தூதரகம் பெரும் பங்காற்றுகிறது.

ஒரு கடைக்காறர் இருநூறு தேங்காய் உடைத்தால் அடுத்த

கடைக்காறர் முன்நூறு தேங்காய்.எதற்காக இவை எல்லாம்?

வன்னியில் எம் உறவுகளின் கதறல்களுக்கு மத்தியில் இவைகள்

முக்கியமா என சிறிது சிந்திப்போம்.. கோயில்களுக்கு

போகத்தான் வேண்டும் எனில் ஒரு தேங்காய் போதும் ஆயிரம்

தேங்காய் தேவை இல்லை மிகுதி பணத்தினை உண்ண

உணவின்றி வாழும் உறவுகளுக்கு கொடுங்கள்.

உண்மையிலேயே தமிழர்கள் வாழ்வியலில் கோயில்கள் கோயில்

திருவிழாக்கள் என்றால் மிக முக்கிய இடம் வழங்கப்படுவதுண்டு.

தாயகத்தில் ஒரு கோவில் திருவிழா என்றால் அந்த ஊர் விழாக்

கோலம் பூண்டிருக்கும். ஆகவே கோவில்கள் திருவிழாக்கள் என்பன

தமிழ்மக்களால் மிகவும் விரும்பப்படுகின்றன. அவற்றை செய்வதிலும்

தப்பில்லை.ஆனால் தற்போது தாயகத்தில் எம் உறவுகள் சிங்கள

வெறியரின் வெறியாட்டத்தால் உணவுக்காக ஒரு துண்டு கூரைக்காக

மழை வெயில் என்று சொல்ல முடியாத துன்பத்தில் துடித்துக்

கொண்டிருக்கையில் களங்களிலும் நம் உறவுகள் உயிரைக்

கொடுத்து மண் காத்துகொண்டிருகையில் நாம் இங்கு கோயில் குளம்

என்ற ஆடம்பரமான கொண்டாட்டங்கள் தேவையா? இரத்த உறவுகள்

உயிர் வாழத் துடித்துகொண்டிருக்கையில் நாம் இங்கு பட்டு வேட்டியும்

காஞ்சிபுரச் சாறியும் உடுத்து தங்க நகைகளுடனும் இறைதரிசனம்(?)

செய்து சாகாவரம் பெறப்போகிறோமா??

இங்கு ஒரு கோவில் திருவிழாவுக்கு செல்லும் மக்கள் தொகை

பொங்கு தமிழ் போன்ற தேசியத்திற்கு வலுச்சேர்கும் பெரியளவிலான

நிகழ்வுகளுக்குகூட வருவதில்லை.ஆனால் தமிழீழம் வேண்டுமாம்(?)

சுதந்திரம் கடையில் வாங்கும் பொருளா?? ஒருத்தன்

சொல்லியிருக்கிறான் தமிழன் என்றல் சொறியும் போது சொறிந்துவிட்டு

பின்பு தூங்கிவிடுவானாம். இந்த நிலை மாற வேண்டும். நம்முடைய

ஒவ்வொரு நடவடிக்கையிலும் சிந்தித்து செயற்படவேண்டும். சிலர்

சொல்வார்கள் விடுதலைப்புலிகள் சண்டை ஆரம்பித்தால் ஆதரவாம்

இல்லாட்டில் இல்லையாம். என்னையா புலிகள் இயந்திரமா? ஓவ்வொரு

போராளியும் எங்களைப் போன்ற ஒரு உயிர் என்பதை

மறந்துவிடக்கூடாது. எனவே அவற்றை எல்லாம்; மற்றும் எங்களுடைய

பலம் பலவீனம் எதிரியின் பலம் பலவீனம் என்பவற்றையும் கருத்தில்

கொண்டுதான் தலைவர் அவர்கள் திட்டங்களை வகுப்பார்.உதாரணமாக

சில நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு தமிழீழத் தலைநகர் திருமலையில் நடந்த

தாக்குதலை குறிப்பிடலாம்.

எனவே நாம் சிறிது காலத்திற்கு எமது தேசத்தற்காகவும்

தேசமக்களுக்காகவும் தலைவர் போராளிகளுக்காகவும் உழைத்துவிட்டு

தமிழீழம் அமைந்த பின்பு நாம் அனைவரும் தாயகத்திற்கு சென்று

தாயக உறவுகளுடன் இணைந்து தமிழீழத்தின் பிரசித்தி பெற்ற

நல்லூர், திருக்கோணேஸ்வரர், வல்லிபுரக் கோவில், வற்றாப்பளை

கண்ணகை அம்மன, திருக்கேதீஸ்வரா, போன்ற அனைத்து

தலங்களுக்கும் சென்று வடம் பிடித்து தேர் இழுப்போம்.

தாய் பிச்சை எடுக்க பிள்ளை அன்னதானம் கொடுத்தானாம்.

(இந்த வரிகள் நமக்கு பெருந்த வேண்டாம்(?))வத்திராயன்.

*********************************************************

நானும் ஒருதடவை முயற்சி செய்தனான்..... எவ்வளவு தூரம் வேலை செய்தது என்று தெரியவில்லை. இந்த ஆக்கத்தை ஒரு இணையத்தில் போடுவதற்கு கேட்ட போது வந்த பதில்

"""அன்புடையீர் தங்கள் எண்ணம் சரியாக இருந்தாலும் பல விடயங்களில் கருத்து தளம்பல் இருப்பதால்

XXX போன்ற எல்லோராலும் கண்காணிக்கப்பட்டுக் கொண்டிருக்கும் தளத்தில் இத்தொகுப்பினை பிரசுரிப்பது

பல்வேறு விமர்சனங்களைக் கொண்டுவரும்.இப்போதெல்லாம் தேசிய ஆதரவு தொலைக்காட்சிகள் போன்றவை

கூட அதிக நேரம் கோவில்கள்இ தேவாலய நிகழ்ச்சிகளையே நேரஞ்சல் செய்யும் நிலையில் நாம் இதனை

பிரசுரித்தால் நாம் தமது வரும்படியை குழப்பிவிட்டதாக துரோகி பட்டம் XXX க்கு சூட்டிவிடுவார்கள் பக்தர்கள்.

பிரசுரிக்க முடியாமைக்கு வருந்துகிறோம். இன்னும் தரமாக எழுத முயற்சிக்கவும். ஆசிரியர்."""

இதிலிருந்து வாசகர்கள் எந்த விடயங்களுக்காக ஊடகங்களுக்கு முக்கியம் கொடுக்கிறார்கள் என்பதுடன்

இவ்விடயங்களில் ஒவ்வொருவரும் சுயமாக முடிவெடுக்கவும் வேண்டும்.

முடிந்தவரை சொல்லுவோம் ஒருவர் மாறினாலும் வெற்றி.

" X ற்கு X சொன்னால் கேட்காதாம் மணிகட்டின X சொன்னால்தான் கேட்குமாம்"

(நான் சொல்லவில்லை)

நன்றி

வணக்கம்.

யாழவன்

[kurukaalapoovan]

Modernity: Identity Crisis

Based on the historical analysis of Jacob Katz’s Out of the Ghetto

After centuries of accepting their fate as a segregated autonomy, Jews in Western Europe finally saw the light of opportunity in the wake of enlightenment; but it came at the price of sacrificing some of their most valued traditions.

Enlightenment started a true revolution in the modern thought, reason and logic taking precedence over religious superstitions and rituals (but in no way replacing them). Studying languages, mathematics, and science became the popular activity of the moment. The French Revolution added to this social reformation and started a domino effect, pressuring the rest of the West (minus the resistance in the East) to replace their absolute governments with more liberal ones. The transformation into this new state of society was no easy task for the ghettoized Jewish community of the Diaspora, which had for centuries now been shaped by an internal legal, economic, cultural (including linguistic), and religious system and had been practically isolated from its surroundings except for occasional trade transactions, which required very limited communication. As a result, the community was largely unaffected by and distant from this occurring change. This posed a problem for the government. On the one hand, the government was interested in complete subordination from all sides and the complete cohesion of its human resources in order to fully utilize its economy. On the other hand, it did not know how to deal with this enormous, “uneducated” group of strange people it had been harboring for centuries (assuming it was not one of the countries to have completely rejected them to begin with). A huge effort would be required to rip this Jew from the heart of his system of beliefs – the Jew that had been restricted from pursuing anything besides trade and religious study – and throw him into this whirlpool of the modernized world. But for the Jew, it was not only getting adapted to this unknown atmosphere, but also fighting an internal conflict of interests and a battle of morality and principle in opposition to his and his state’s self-interest. Not only that, but the Jew would have to develop immunity to fight the enormous prejudice that has been established in the gentile world from the lack of interaction with his people this whole time – a prejudice based both on the lack of ability to comprehend his religion and tradition and the very one-dimensional, skin-deep knowledge of him exclusively as a greedy businessman. So how could the Jew abandon everything his family knew and valued, those key principles his people had followed for millennia and shed their blood to preserve, for the sake of acceptance by those he didn’t know and those that were uncompassionate to his cause? Yet abandonment of tradition seemed as the only remedy for integration with the rest of the society without being singled out as strangers and freaks.

Perhaps the reformists – political as well as religious – also began feeling a compassion for the rebellious character and perseverance of the Jew in light of their own similar status. A deeper understanding of the oneness of human nature had been conceived and had, for the first time, given the Jew the benefit of the doubt, due the inner desire to accept him as another human being – but perhaps a “different” kind of human being (see pages 59 – 64). Like an unwanted child, the Jew had to be dealt with, willingly or unwillingly. Of course, in the case of unwillingness, the solution is usually to abort the child – and in this case, it was either to prevent him from ever entering the land, or – as it could have been too late for that if the generation of the Jews was not primary and had claims to legitimate citizenship – to become rid of him. As we know, that is precisely how the “Jewish question” was decided with “the final solution” in the 1930s; but that is a topic for a different study. Anti-Semitism as a form of prejudice is a much bigger question in emancipation and modernization. It is not unlike the similar emancipation of the serfs (practically slaves) in feudal Europe (including Russia) or the African slaves in the Americas. In all these situations, the government realized that the only way to subdue an inevitable rebellion in this era of reforms was to anticipate it; as we know, though, the Jews had been passive and accepting of their situation, so it is questionable whether they would have actually volunteered to initiate a change in their status had it not been raised by the gentiles. Part of the dilemma of modernization is precisely that some Jews did not want a change and were content with living in their own sub-society of people they understood and could relate to socially and metaphysically. As a result, we are dealing with the seesaw of Jewish resistance to change on one side and the need for liberation and association on the other, a battle that is more psychological than political in nature.

Having described the center stage, in the second half of this discussion we will deal with the process of liberation and the measure of its success in Western Europe – the so-called “semineutral” acceptance. First, there were groups of freemasons, who advocated change and universal acceptance regardless of the branch of the Christian religion of the individual. Some of them invited Jews to participate, seeing them as good candidates, although some prejudiced groups still chose to exclude them (see Out of the Ghetto page 80). Then there were philosophers such as Moses Mendelsson, who made an intensive attempt to unite social circles of high-class Christian and Jewish scholars. To do so, he had to abandon the core Jewish principle of staying away from gentiles in any sort of non-job-related relationship, as described in Katz’s Tradition and Crisis. Quite expectedly, this stirred up some disagreement in Mendelsson’s Jewish community – he was almost considered a traitor. At the same time, his Christian counterparts were pleased, expecting him to eventually subside and crossover to their religion. Mendellson’s principle was that science reigned over tradition, as Katz mentions throughout Out of the Ghetto. His significance is critical in that he was perhaps the first really influential Jewish activist for Jewish emancipation. His views coincided with the views of his gentile proponents for the same cause – that separating church (or religion) and state was perhaps the best, if not only, path to be able to finally differentiate between one’s duties as a Jew (or any other follower of a certain religion, including the Protestant branch of Christianity) and his duty as a citizen and servant of his country. Realizing his role as the latter would ultimately lead to a common ground and shared interest with his gentile cohabitants. The transition to this new view of life would be eased only if the Jewish side would be willing to undertake the same activities as “normal people” (page 144) and get educated in “secular” subjects such as mathematics and languages. This inevitably involves abandoning many traditional, learned ways of life; but that same logic explains the history of almost any revolutionary event – including the eventual abandonment of the “barbaric” pagan religions by almost every European people – the very core of Judaism! Another method to integrate with the Christian surroundings would have been to, quite simply, intermarry – which is what some, such as one of Mendelsson’s daughters, chose to do. Such act would cause one of two things: one, the final disintegration of any sort of religious affiliation of the parties involved, as well as their offspring; or two – and more likely – the baptism of the Jewish party. Either one of these choices raised the important question of preserving one’s Jewish identity – an identity based solely on the history of Jewish people as its own, unique people. That history included religion, but just as importantly, it included customs – such as diet, burial rituals, and manner of dress – and the struggle to survive as a people, all of which defined Jews. The question of identity was especially felt in the uncertainty of the method of raising the offspring of this evolving Jewish society. The discrepancy between the varying opinions within the Jewish community on this matter resulted, directly or indirectly, in the eventual separation of the religion into “true”(Orthodox) and strayed-off branches, including the growing number of secular Jews that had chosen to reject the old beliefs altogether, realizing that those beliefs would eternally contradict with what was asked of them as citizens. For some of these Jews, religion had become a meaningless burden they were forced, rather than inspired, to observe.

Of all the pressures of enlightenment, education was a remarkably positive influence – it connected well with the people whose entire existence had customarily depended on the drive and striving for success, although it had been limited to religion and business because of the external factors that previously restricted Jews from becoming involved in anything beyond those. But even in the new, “semineutral” world, many Jews still felt restricted and unwelcome by the prejudiced Christians competing in the same occupation, who felt superiority for having been employed in those fields for generations (179). As a result, many, if not most, Jews stuck with their “craft” and remained in the fields of finance and trade, where they felt comfortable due to their expertise in the field; as the saying goes, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and people always tend to stick with what they feel comfortable with. This brings us to the sociological implication of the aftermath of modernity, mainly a question Katz raises on page 176 – that is, why did people still tend to “crowd together”, after all these painful attempts to unite them with their gentile cohabitants? The answer, most likely, lies in a relatively simplistic sociological explanation: human beings tend to form groups with people that are most like them. In this case, regardless of how much acceptance they had or had not gained, Jews must have still felt more connected with those like them – because, presumably, only other Jews would understand the emotional experience of this transformation into modernity. Even though there were other “outcasts” in the society – scientific and political reformists alike – no other group could probably identify with the scale of emotionaldrainage that abandoning the essence of the Jewish identity this transformation caused. For one of the primary reasons for this long passivity of the Jews against their suppressors had been their religious hopefulness of messianic salvation (Katz mentions this in both books). Accepting modernity as a “miracle-less” event meant accepting the futility of that hope and ultimately rejecting a great portion of the Judaic belief system. This conflict still exists, unresolved, in the modern Jewry. Some Jews, in an attempt to escape from having to make a decision, have chosen Zionism as the answer and fled to the Homeland – but the philosophical dilemma has not disappeared.

As a conclusion, a comparison must be drawn to another big social implication of the problem discussed above: one of Americanization. In a way, many first-generation immigrants experience the same pressure as the Jews in the 18th century Europe – the pressure to become “emancipated”. The choice to become equal, to become “normal”, to quote Katz again, is often translated into abandoning that person’s own cultural traditions that seem to interfere with the ones accepted in his new country or place of residence. Take a moment to think about this. In order to receive citizenship, the immigrant is required to take an oath of allegiance – the same one France and Germany requested of the 18th and 19th century Jewish “aliens” – and abandon any and all previous convictions or commitments. For many, it is a difficult but inevitable condition of staying in the country that accepted them as refugees from a country they felt abused their human rights. Willingly or unwillingly, people make the decision because they know it may be the only way to preserve their self-interest, such as pursuing opportunities they did not have before. Ironically, Mendelsson’s strategy proves that, when in Rome, you do as the Romans, and rationality and self-interest will take preference over personal convictions. Of course, there are exceptions. But the reality is that prejudice is still there. It will never, never, completely go away; at most, it will be blinded or covered up. People still have formed opinions about what the “normal” way of behavior and appearance is. Those that happen to stray from those definitions have to either figure out a way to blend in or to embrace their differences and use them to their advantage and make the most out of their abilities and opportunities – which is what the Jews have done throughout history and have persevered. Those that hope for discrimination to disappear for a miraculous reason have to realize that full equality is a utopian ideal of socialists that is not reasonably attainable. People will always be fundamentally different in their convictions, and they have to learn to accept and utilize that difference to the mutual advantage of the society, which depends on people’s uniqueness to fill the gaps that would be otherwise unfilled by the average person.

http://www.jacobkatz.co.il/english/booksEng2.html

[கரும்பு]

புலம்பெயர்ந்தவர்களின் தமிழ்த்தேசியம் இப்பிடி எண்டு ஆர்மி சொல்லிது.

[narathar]

புலம் பெயர்ந்த நாடுகளில் இருக்கும் சூழலைக் கவனத்தில் கொள்ளாது செய்யப்படிருக்கும் விடயம்.இதனை சிறிலங்கா அரசு நன்கு பயன் படுத்தும்.புலம் பெயர்ந்த நாடுகளில் உள்ள மக்கள் இதனை எவ்வாறு பார்ப்பார்கள் அரசுகள் எவ்வாறு பார்க்கும் அதனால் எமக்கு ஏற்படும் நட்டம் என யோசிக்காது இவ்வாறு செய்வது தவறானது.

சம்பந்தப்பட்டவர்கள் இவற்றைக் கருத்தில் எடுக்க வேண்டும். நாங்களே எம்மைப் பலவீனமாக்கிக் கொள்கிறோம்.

[குமாரசாமி]

புலம் பெயர்ந்த நாடுகளில் இருக்கும் சூழலைக் கவனத்தில் கொள்ளாது செய்யப்படிருக்கும் விடயம்.இதனை சிறிலங்கா அரசு நன்கு பயன் படுத்தும்.புலம் பெயர்ந்த நாடுகளில் உள்ள மக்கள் இதனை எவ்வாறு பார்ப்பார்கள் அரசுகள் எவ்வாறு பார்க்கும் அதனால் எமக்கு ஏற்படும் நட்டம் என யோசிக்காது இவ்வாறு செய்வது தவறானது.

சம்பந்தப்பட்டவர்கள் இவற்றைக் கருத்தில் எடுக்க வேண்டும். நாங்களே எம்மைப் பலவீனமாக்கிக் கொள்கிறோம்.

புலம் பெயர் நாடுகளில் இது இன்று நேற்றிலிருந்து நடக்கவில்லை ஒவ்வொரு பிரபல்ய கொண்டாட்டங்களிலும் நடைபெறுகின்றது.

இனிவரும் மாதங்களில் மீண்டும் அட்டகாசமாக நாட்டியம் எனும் பெயரில் அசத்தப்போகின்றார்கள்.

நாரதரின்ரை கண்ணிலை இண்டைக்குத்தான் பட்டுதாக்கும்

[nedukkalapoovan]

Children salute during a parade of students from military school for kids on October 28, 2007 in Nanjing of Jiangsu Province, China. Over 2,000 children from 42 military schools attended the event. According to local media, there are over 10,000 military schools for kids in China, in which children get national defence education. By China Photos/Getty Images.

(இதை சிறீலங்கா இராணுவ இணையத்தளம் கண்டிச்சு.. சீன ஆயுதங்களை வாங்காமல் புறக்கணிக்குமாமோ..??!)

புலம்பெயர் மக்களுக்கு அறிவுரை சொல்லுபவர்கள்.. இதற்கு..??!

[nedukkalapoovan]

அமெரிக்கத் துருப்பினர்.. இராணுவ உடை தரித்த சிறுவனோடு..! இது சிறுவர்களை இராணுவ மயமாக்கும் அமெரிக்காவின் செயல் என்பதாக defence.lk அறிக்கை விட வேண்டும்..??!

[குமாரசாமி]

அமெரிக்கத் துருப்பினர்.. இராணுவ உடை தரித்த சிறுவனோடு..! இது சிறுவர்களை இராணுவ மயமாக்கும் அமெரிக்காவின் செயல் என்பதாக defence.lk அறிக்கை விட வேண்டும்..??!

ஆமி உடுப்போடை நிக்கிற கறுப்பியை பாக்க அதுவும் குழந்தைப்பெட்டை போலை கிடக்கப்பா

[தயா]

ஒரு அம்மா அவலம் போக்குகிறாவாம்...

இன்னும் ஒரு அம்மா அவலத்தில்...

[kurukaalapoovan]

Sri Lanka hikes military spending for push against Tamil rebels+

Oct 1 06:24 AM US/Eastern

Write a Comment

COLOMBO, Oct. 1 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The Sri Lanka government will increase defense spending next year as the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam enters what senior political and military officials say is its final stages, government figures showed Wednesday.

According to the government's Appropriation Bill released ahead of the Nov. 6 budget for 2009, an allocation of 177.1 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) has been made for defense spending next year, up from 166.4 billion rupees for 2008.

The funds allocated to the Defense Ministry will meet recurrent and capital expenditure of the army, navy, air force and police, which in addition to normal law enforcement duties has paramilitary forces deployed against the Tigers.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is on record saying the war will be over "very soon," with government forces expected to take Kilinochchi, the LTTE's administrative capital, before the end of this year.

Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the army commander, has said the LTTE's conventional fighting capability will be soon eliminated, but he admits the Tigers will retain a residual guerrilla and terrorist capability for many more years.

The government has been strengthening its armed forces with more men and materiel for the past two years and has said that whatever is needed to finish the war will be provided.

The LTTE is now boxed by the military in a corner of the Vanni region that it has long held. But the intensified fighting has displaced an estimated 200,000 civilians.

The government has been urging those people to go to areas it controls and has assured them they will be looked after.

But the Tigers, who have long been accused of using civilian shields against advancing forces, prevent such movement.

Earlier this month, U.N. and nongovernmental personnel engaged in humanitarian activity in the Vanni were ordered out of the area by the government, saying their safety cannot be guaranteed.

Still, the government has continued to supply the region with food and essentials even though the LTTE appropriating a part of these supplies for its own fighters.

The Appropriation Bill will be presented to Parliament on Oct. 9.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9...;show_article=1

[kurukaalapoovan]

New forms of more complex conflict -Demographics of Tamil nationalism

Kumar David Writes

It takes a while for political analysts to incorporate the subtle but deep influences that gradual changes have on social conflict although they maybe aware of the bald facts. The initial emigration of Tamils overseas, followed by a flood post-1983 is well documented. Southward domestic migration, initially gradual and lubricated by economic opportunity, and later accelerated by the ravages of war, is also well known though statistics may be contentious - are there more ‘Ceylon Tamils’ in the South or the North-East? However, what has been less worked out is the political implication of these demographic changes. Is Thamil Eelam of less interest to Tamils than previously? Will support and recruitment into the LTTE decline due to demographic factors, leaving aside other reasons? Has the national question itself been transformed? This article takes a quick look at some of these issues.

Categories of Tamils

Sivaguru Ganesan, a comrade from engineering faculty student days, partitions the Tamil community along two axes; the class and the geographic. His demographic partition proposes the following categories - North and East (there is some distinction between them), Colombo (meaning domiciled in the South) and the diaspora. The Tamils of the Jaffna peninsula and the Wanni share a common ideological orientation towards the LTTE. The willingness of Wanni Tamils to follow the LTTE into the wilderness indicates that despite the ravages of war, Northern Tamils are willing to choose the LTTE over the Sinhala state.

However, partly due to war weariness, and partly what Brian Seneviratne calls the congeniital meekness of the Tamil psyche, this will never amount a people’s uprising - there will never be a Warsaw Ghetto uprising in Jaffna. The anger of the Tamils with the Sinhala state, though very real, will always remain muted; the Tamil is easier to domesticate and discipline. The rise of the LTTE in the shape of a militarist alternative is precisely the dialectical response, the antithesis, the rejection, that this state of affairs gave rise to.

The LTTE could not have got away with this hegemony of the military over the political if the Tamil population was politically bold and assertive. The retiring character of the people, rooted in social primitivism (caste), an undeveloped economic and class structure, ideological backwardness (as Professor Ganesan is wont to say) and the absence of radical politics, except in the exception - the militant youth movements, ‘the boys’. But this inversion of the political and military dimensions has, historically, been costly for the wellbeing of Tamil nationalism.

The long term evolution of the relationship between the Eastern Tamils and the TMVP is moot. Many people are willing to do a deal with the state due to war weariness and declining confidence in the armed struggle. My hunch, however, is that eventually quislings will be marginalised sans constitutional reform (a high degree of autonomy) and a solution to the land question, neither possible for the Rajapaksa regime. That is, a client TMVP will decay in time to no more than a Douglas type brigade.

The Tamil diaspora is the most interesting sector of the Tamil community. It is solidly pro-LTTE, it has enormous financial clout and political influence, and it is numerous in crucial Western countries. It is virulent in its militancy; that is, it is willing to fight to the death of the last Tamil domiciled in the island. I do not intend to mock; what I mean is that I cannot see an “Expatriate Tamil Brigade”, like the world Jewish community which stormed Palestine after World War I, or the Jihadists who are flocking to Afghanistan, landing on the shores of the Wanni. Indeed if the diaspora was willing to put its children where its money and mouth is, the ballgame will stand globally transformed; but that won’t happen, for sure. Nevertheless, the Tamil diaspora, safely ensconced overseas, can drive the nationalist movement forward for decades, irrespective of the outcome of today’s military campaigns.

Prospects for Tamil nationalism

Several erstwhile radicals are on the run; they proclaim the dawn of millennial happiness after pulverising the LTTE. Professor N A de S Amaratunga, in an otherwise lacklustre article, mocks Victor Ivan and speculates, “I hope it is not the changing horizons in relation to LTTE invincibility that has made him shift his position” (Sunday Island, 5 October); but I suspect that this is indeed the case. I am not expert enough to say whether the LTTE will suffer a knockout blow or eventually tie the military up in knots; I am buffeted by a variety of analysis from many quarters that I do not have the background expertise to sift through. Obviously if the LTTE strikes back effectively, Tamil nationalism will ride high again and changes will accelerate in the southern polity. Will the Rajapaksa regime go kaput at the hands of its own people? Nevertheless, for the time being, I am willing to go along with a compromise view that the LTTE is not invincible, but will not be entirely vanquished either.

The important issue, then, is how Tamil nationalism will evolve if this assumption is correct - the alternative I will explore in another article at a later date. The quick answer is that there will be a period of depression and disillusionment followed by the eruption of new politico-military struggles. I envisage a much bigger role for Southern Tamils in alliance with radical Sinhalese; the process will take a year or two to mature but Southern Tamils will come out of their shell since the regime is politically bankrupt. Faster reactions will be in the diaspora and in South India; a prominent role in Tamil nationalism will accrue to the diaspora, and it will be effective.

Ah, but my compromise assumption maybe wrong. I do not think we will know in a few weeks, the process that is unfolding will remain complicated for years.

http://www.lakbimanews.lk/archvi/lakbimane...olumns/col2.htm

[குமாரசாமி]

ஐயா குறுக்காலை போவாரே!

வெட்டி ஒட்டாமல் அதை மொழிபெயர்த்து போடலாம்தானே?

அடிக்கடி வெட்டி ஒட்டுறீங்கள் என்னைப்போலை ஆக்களுக்கு ஒண்டும் விளங்குதில்லை

[NMa]

புலம்பெயர்ந்தவர்களின் தமிழ்த்தேசியம் இப்பிடி எண்டு ஆர்மி சொல்லிது.

இவை இங்கு சுவிஸ் தூர்காவ் (Thurgau) மாநிலத்தில் ஓர் கலைநிகழ்வில் எடுக்கப்பட்ட படங்கள்.

இவ் நிகழ்வைப் பற்றிய செய்தி ஒன்று இன்று 20min (20min.ch) எனும் இணையத் தளத்தில் வெளிவந்துள்ளது.

[kurukaalapoovan]

தேசிய பொருளாதார பலமும் அதில் இருந்து அறுவடை செய்யப்படும் அரசியல் இராசதந்திர மற்றும் இராணுவ பலன்கள் - மீள் எழுச்சி கொள்ளும் ருசியா உதாரணம்.

The Bear Is Back: Rising Oil Prices Raise Russia's Global Influence

Oil, natural gas and the political power of Vladimir Putin have brought Russia back from its precipitous economic collapse in 1998 and left the former communist nation bristling with cash, pride and unprecedented global influence.

That is the richly researched and entertainingly written message of "Petrostate" by Marshall I. Goldman, a Wellesley College economics professor and a senior scholar at Harvard's Davis Center for Russian Studies.

Subtitled "Putin, Power and the New Russia," Goldman's narrative documents Russia's dramatic 10-year conversion from debt-ridden den of corruption to a cash-rich nation that, still, sports an unseemly underside of brutal power politics.

The ruble roars back

Timing has been everything as Putin, president Jan. 1, 2000, through March 2008, rode the rising tide of fossil fuel prices. Goldman writes: "With production and exports down by almost 50 percent and crude oil prices hovering at a low of $10-$12 a barrel, Russia had trouble paying its bills, and as a consequence suffered a massive financial collapse. On August 17, 1998, the government defaulted on its debt and most of the country's private banks closed their doors and locked their vaults."

But by 2005, oil was at $70 a barrel and the once-pathetic ruble was roaring back along with Putin's increasingly large footprint on world affairs, one that has increased further as fuel prices skyrocket.

Putin, a former KGB spy and chief of the KGB's successor, the FSB, became prime minister on Aug. 9, 1999, under ailing President Boris Yeltsin, who appointed him president on Jan. 1, 2000 (Putin was formally elected that March). Putin just became prime minister again, since the March 2008 election of President Dmitri Medvedev.

It is no coincidence that Medvedev, a former Kremlin chief-of-staff and first deputy prime minister also was board chairman of state-controlled (more than 50 percent of shares government-owned) gas giant Gazprom. Formed in August 1989 from the Ministry of the Gas Industry, Gazprom is Russia's largest corporation and the world's third largest, behind Exxon-Mobil and General Electric.

Marshall writes that Putin and other KGB/FSB alumni carry a cachet of power and toughness in Russian politics; Putin used it to bolster his power at the expense of wealthy business executives and unruly regional governors, and to establish state control over the media.

Putin used his galvanized power to capitalize on rising global demand for gas and oil.

"When Putin took over as prime minister in August 1999, the capitalized value of the nation's publicly traded stocks amounted to $74 billion," Goldman notes. "By 2006, the capitalized value exceeded $1 trillion." The result is what Goldman calls a Russian "energy superpower" that can exercise great economic and political influence over world affairs.

Waxing of Russian power

That waxing Russian influence has come as the United States has waned because of its growing trade deficit; increasing dependence on imported fossil fuels; its deepening public debt, much of it held by creditor nations rising in financial strength; and the nearly 50-percent devaluation of the dollar since America went back into annual government deficits in 2001.

"[Russia's] emergence as a new super energy power overlaps with the weakening of the United States as we have squandered our manpower and resources in Iraq," Goldman writes. "Russia under Putin, on the other hand, has developed a new hubris that is not based on mere bluster."

Russia's growing might, Goldman writes, is evidenced by the fact "that as of mid-2007, with more than $420 billion in the state treasury, Russia had the world's third-largest holdings of foreign currency reserves and gold, behind only China, with more than $1.4 trillion, and Japan, with $900 billion."

When most people think of the world's great reserves of oil, they think of Saudi Arabia and other members of OPEC, but Goldman writes that "by 2006, Russia was out-pumping Saudi Arabia. Just as in the periods from 1898 to 1901 and 1975 to 1992, Russia once again became the world's largest producer of petroleum."

As of 2006, the United States imported 3 percent of its oil from Russia, up from 2.2 percent in 2004 and likely to increase. Russia has the largest reserves of natural gas in the world. Although U.S. natural gas needs are largely self-supplied, with supplemental imports from Canada, Europe is another story.

Goldman describes Gazprom's gas empire as a monopoly with "a spiderweb-like maze of natural gas pipelines reaching from East Siberia west to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Arctic Ocean south to the Caspian and Black seas."

The Russians linked their gas pipeline system to Western Europe in 1985, despite the Reagan administration's failed efforts to dissuade General Electric and England's John Brown Engineering firm (President Reagan even lobbied ideological soul mate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) from selling the Soviets the compressor technology they lacked.

Russia now supplies gas to 40 percent of German households. The Baltic states and Finland purchase all their gas from Russia.

The obvious suspicion is that the Russians can withhold oil and gas supplies to further their political aims, a notion Putin frequently has discounted. Goldman cites Putin's June 2007 statement at the Balkan Energy Cooperative Summit: "For four decades now, despite the serious and truly global changes in the world, Russia has never broken a single one of its contractual commitments."

Goldman disagrees: "Such assertions ... overlook the fact that the Soviet Union in its day and Russia after 1991 have frequently terminated the shipment of energy supplies when a customer chose to oppose Soviet or Russian political or economic objectives. Yugoslavia under Tito, Israel in 1956, Finland in 1958, China in 1959, Latvia in 1990, Lithuania in 1999 and 2006, and Estonia in 2007 had their petroleum deliveries cut off. Later, Putin's regime halted or reduced the flow of natural gas supplies to Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and even Bosnia."

Contracts with state-controlled enterprises in Russia provide no guarantee against arbitrary moves, states Goldman, who further observes a longstanding Soviet/Russian pattern: "Concessions made at a time when Russia is weak and prices are low are invariably invalidated once prices rise and Russia regains its strength."

Chinks in Russia's armor

There are chinks in the Russians' energy armor, however, Goldman writes.

From the earliest years in the fossil fuel business, Russians have been dependent on foreign-supplied technology to extract and transport their oil and gas efficiently. Long before the aforementioned reliance on Western compressor technology to pipe their gas, the Russians' oil-drilling technology has been chronically inferior, which opened the door for foreign corporations to get a piece of the Russian profits, though not of Russia's oil and gas.

Secondly, being commodity-rich tends to make any nation less likely to develop manufacturing technology in general. Citing "Dutch Disease," Goldman notes that such nations as Russia and Saudi Arabia tend to accumulate commodity-fueled wealth and to use it to buy manufactured goods from other nations such as Japan and Switzerland that, lacking commodity wealth, have great motivation to develop manufacturing technology.

"Once the Dutch found natural gas off their North Sea Coast, the relative prosperity it brought came at the expense of the country's manufacturing section." Gas exports boosted Dutch currency and undercut prices of foreign imports, so Dutch manufacturing declined along with domestic employment, Goldman reports.

Norway also has natural gas but understood the negative impact energy export revenue can have, Goldman writes. "Norwegians have made a determined effort to shelter the rest of the economy from this energy windfall. They have set aside export revenues in a special fund to hold down inflation and prevent their currency from gaining too much value."

American readers cannot help but wish the United States had such a problem -- not to mention the wisdom to handle it.

So far, Goldman writes, Russia has not inoculated itself from Dutch disease, because of the lack of what Wellesley economist Karl Case terms "a moral infrastructure" of commercial laws and moral codes that are taken for granted in longstanding market economies.

Thirdly, Russians, the Saudis and other nations rich in fossil fuels would stand to lose market share if the rest of the word aggressively developed renewable wind and solar power, alternative fuels and conservation. For the foreseeable future, their revenues will flow freely as energy-voracious China and India base their economies on fossil fuels despite their short-term environmental shortcomings and their long-term economic and political pitfalls.

Goldman says the Russians inevitably will "pile up more and more dollars and euros" and use their cash advantage to acquire and expand overseas assets. For example, in 2000, Russia's large privately owned LUKoil corporation bought almost 3,000 gas stations in the United States from Getty Oil and Mobil.

Although these acquisitions did not include Getty and Mobil oil wells, Goldman writes that such a purchase might not all bad, despite the likely protectionist reaction: "Russian investment in the U.S. energy sector -- at least in petroleum production, refining and servicing -- is a good idea. The Russians are more likely to export petroleum to use and avoid any halt in deliveries if they have operations in the United States ... At the same time, of course, the properties Russians buy in the United States can serve as hostages if that should ever be necessary to offset similar pressures on U.S. companies in Russia."

A challenge to the world order

Goldman packs a tremendous wealth of historical background, economic data and business and political analysis into the 209 pages of text of "Petrostate," along with 14 pages of back notes and source citations, and a six-page glossary of people and companies.

International deal-makers and investors would ignore "Petrostate: Putin, Power and the New Russia" at their peril. Goldman argues that Russia's extraordinary liquidity and status have empowered Russia to challenge the world order.

In a June 2007 speech, Putin called the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund "archaic, undemocratic, and awkward" and said the United States, the European Union and Japan run the world like a private club. The EU selects the head of the IMF, and the United States nominates the World Bank chief.

Putin has questioned why the dollar and the euro serve as world currencies.

He has knocked NATO for opening bases on former Warsaw Pact territory. He has criticized President Bush -- who fawns over Putin and his young successor Medvedev -- for pursuing unilateral policies in Iraq and Eastern Europe.

"The tone and content" of Putin's comments toward "countries that were once enemies of the Soviet Union would have been unthinkable nine years ago," Goldman writes.

"Petrostate" concludes: "There was not much the targets of his attack could do but smile and seek to import more of Russia's gas and oil."

Bottom Line according to Marshall Goldman:

• Russia is on the way up in terms of oil, gas and financial strength.
  
• Vladimir Putin's rule could not have been better timed to capitalize on Russia's oil and gas. His influence has helped Russia exploit its resources to the max.
  
• Despite Russian assurances to the contrary, the USSR and now Russia have not been bashful about throwing around their fossil fuel weight to influence politics outside their borders; nor have they been reticent to play rough in the world of capitalism. Let the buyers of Russian stocks and the business people making deals in Russia beware.
  
• While the ruble gains value, the dollar sinks, and Russian challenges to the preeminence of the euro and the dollar can only be expected to become bolder and more frequent.
  
• A U.S. push toward renewable energy can only help it, economically and evironmentally.
  

http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1642

[narathar]

இவை இங்கு சுவிஸ் தூர்காவ் (Thurgau) மாநிலத்தில் ஓர் கலைநிகழ்வில் எடுக்கப்பட்ட படங்கள்.

இவ் நிகழ்வைப் பற்றிய செய்தி ஒன்று இன்று 20min (20min.ch) எனும் இணையத் தளத்தில் வெளிவந்துள்ளது.

இதன் தமிழாக்கம் என்ன?

[சித்தன்]

இதன் தமிழாக்கம் என்ன?

« Child soldiers » in romanshorn

by Katharina bracher

The Tamil culture Club thurgau than armed soldiers panelled children in romanshorn on stage. Commentators in Sri Lanka are outraged. Representatives of the Swiss Tamils defend.

Everything harmless? - Tamil children play war for the adults audience - box

Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylan) in 1948 a British Colony. 74 Percent of the 20 million inhabitants are Sinhalese people, 18 percent are Tamils and a small minority Muslims. The since 1983 conflict between the Sinhala - dominated Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil cost already tens of thousands of human life. Hundreds of thousands are escaped. From these life 43 000 people in Switzerland.

Intermediary the Norwegian Government in February 2002 ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE in force. This led in the next two years to a stabilization of the conflict. From 2004 caused a political shift in Sri Lanka Government again tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese people. Even after the tsunami end of 2004 remained skirmishes between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military order of the day. The decision of the EU, the LTTE on the list of terrorist organisations, the Tamil diaspora from all over Europe with protests confirmed.

The ceasefire was unsuccessful peace negotiations between Tamils, the Government of Sri Lanka and donor Nations end of January 2007. The conflict is since then, from the headlines disappeared, although the acts of violence on both sides not abreissen ".For us Tamils are the Tamil Tigers Heroes. Why should we not a play to?», in a reader comment of the online Edition of "daily news, a newspaper from Sri Lanka.

The newspaper published pictures where the soldiers panelled, Tamil children are homemade decoys of tanks fists and machine-guns. The pictures come from a the occasion of the Tamil culture Association thurgau. The srilankische newspaper accused the organizers, on behalf of the paramilitary organization LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). The LTTE many States of Europe as a terrorist organisation declared. Not so of Switzerland.

Model Tamil Tigers

Actually ideolize the children of the Tamil immigrants the Tiger rebels as pop stars. This is also the reason, why a group of children within the framework of the Festival in romanshorn occurred scenes from the Tamil "Liberation struggle against the singhalesischen « suppressor » played. This is certainly the President of the Tamil culture Association thurgau, kumaraijah nithianantham. On the idea of your role models to imitate, are the children alone. The blessing of parents.

"We want our children also far from home our culture maintain, explains nithianantham," therefore herzstiftung our liobu children competition. Some children showed a performance of traditional bharathanatyam dance, some played say from the Yogananda gods, and again other building from PVC - gouges and colaflaschen tanks fäuste to war to play. To delight the audience how Nithi

Info - box

Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylan) in 1948 a British Colony. 74 Percent of the 20 million inhabitants are Sinhalese people, 18 percent are Tamils and a small minority Muslims. The since 1983 conflict between the Sinhala - dominated Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil cost already tens of thousands of human life. Hundreds of thousands are escaped. From these life 43 000 people in Switzerland.

Intermediary the Norwegian Government in February 2002 ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE in force. This led in the next two years to a stabilization of the conflict. From 2004 caused a political shift in Sri Lanka Government again tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese people. Even after the tsunami end of 2004 remained skirmishes between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military order of the day. The decision of the EU, the LTTE on the list of terrorist organisations, the Tamil diaspora from all over Europe with protests confirmed.

The ceasefire was unsuccessful peace negotiations between Tamils, the Government of Sri Lanka and donor Nations end of January 2007. The conflict is since then, from the headlines disappeared, although the acts of violence on both sides not abreissen.

[kurukaalapoovan]