I say that “sanity isn’t normal” and “to the normal sanity looks insane.” These sayings aren’t meant to offend here, but they are about thinking outside of the box.

My experience tells me that most people here are too invested in the problem (1.e. employed by the problem) to consider real solutions as real solutions take them out of the box, are uncomfortable, threaten their identities (and jobs) and mean changes, that most are not willing to undertake. It may even be that there are no perceived profits in real solutions.

What say you?

Wm
http://www.timetender.ca

Ravana: Naïve? OK. Ill informed and ill researched? Yes, but even still Elam, Eelam, Eden or Serendib, the people of the Indian subcontinent seem inextricably interwoven into all of these ideas.

Asking, what is my country like and how do I want it to be, is about acknowledging reality, its potential, identifying attainable ideals and choosing strategies to attain these ideals. Ideals like:

One island one country
One island divided
Sri Lanka for the Singhalese (was this not the initial “democratic” offence)
Eelam for the Tamils
Eelam Lanka for all
Freedom of superstition
Unity with peace and prosperity
Majority over minority
Consensus
Impoverishment over prosperity
Enrichment for all
Rich over poor
Poor over rich
War for dominance
War for hate
War on liberation
One Nation of enriching and free people
One island of subjugating bullies, liars, murders, thieves and thugs

What have I got and what do I want? What am I willing to pay? Get them all down; let them all out.

Wm

http://electra.blogsome.com/2006/04/28/rich-bitch/#comment-3911

Ashanthi…did your ‘hubby’ lose a bet or summat?

Perhaps she realizes that democracy and free speech are dead in her community.

Ashanthi: To reiterate what Electra said, “WHAT IS YOUR POINT?” Please make it clearly if you have one and back it up with some sembalance of an argument. Don’t just rant like a banshee with her knickers in a twist.

Wm
http://www.timetender.ca

I’m not a fan of Indi because of the fanatic bloggers he seems to attract. I found the personal attacks made on various people by Indi’s mates & trolls quite shocking. Going back to the original way you & I got talking – I do believe these too alluded to family.

I’m not obsessed with Morq – we all respect his efforts during the Tsunami & his attempts to try and get alternative points of view across. As you can see by one of the many anon’s frequenting Indi’s blog these days, the latest being Iron – there is constant abuse re. how I’m and Morq are ltte sympathisers & you know it’s mainly because I’m Tamil and … you probably know full well that Morq is not an ltte sympathiser at all.

You’re personally insulting comment to me re how I don’t live in Sri Lanka and therefore have no right to get angry about what is happening there and make a comment on it is … well it’s astounding. Don’t crap on to me about getting points across – my days of writing essays to be marked by my teachers are well and truly over.

There are so many of us who have lost our birthrights through no fault of our own. It looks like with an attitude like that, you wish to continue to deny us the right to our land. Land which I sitll own, I have the title deeds for – and I have these title deeds – unlike so many people in Sri Lankan – because we did not steal this land from anyone by murdering them in the middle of the night but have owned it for 100′s of years maybe even 1000′s). By trying to shut me up you are denying me access to my culture which is being decimated even as we speak. By telling me that I need to moderate my comments to suit you & make them more palatable, you would even deny me the right to express my feelings? As I said before – how dare you.

Now – if you’d like to move on, I’ve asked you to keep me informed on my blog as to what is happening in SL at the moment & if there is anything at all “we” can do. If you’d like to get more nutter closet racist anti-Tamil blogging traffic continuing on schmIndi’s blog – keep going but I don’t have to point out to you, Miss self-proclaimed spoilt brat, exactly what I will think of you.

So you think that the LTTE is the “armed military leadership” of the people of the NE ?

A terrorist group that is heartlessly cruel to the point where it kidnaps and conscripts even 10 year old children and forces children to undergo military training has become the “military leadership” of the NE people ?

THANKS FOR REVEALING YOUR TRUE NATURE !

My comment was confined to whether or not it is right to point to the fact that Colombo is more developed than Vanni when arguing that the north east “didn’t benefit from the ceasefire”. You artfully dodged that that point.
I’ll repeat my point : The fact that Colombo is more developed than the North East doesn’t prove that the North East didn’t benefit from the ceasefire.
That argument is invalid, falacious and just plain absurd.
The argument is invalid. Do you get that ? Or are you going to pretent that you don’t get it and dodge the issue by bringing forward some other argument to demonstrate your contention that the people in the north east “didn’t benefit” through the ceasefire agreement.

You may bring forward other arguments if you wish, but the one you presented is plain nonsense.
In other words, the folloging equation is not valid.
People in Colombo live better than in NE = NE has not benefited from the ceasefire.

My point about Moneragala was made just to show you the fact that any difference in the level of development between Colombo and NE proves nothing.
3 or 4 years of ceasefire after around 20 years of war will not magically transform the NE and expecting such a 100% turnaround (instant equality with Colombo, of all places!) is just an excuse for turning a blind eye for the very real benefits that the people of the North East have had from the ceasefire.

I should add that many people who live within the city of Colombo have come from the NE.

Also, the blame for the fact that the benefits of the present ceasefire are “limited” should fall squarely on the terrorist organization (LTTE) that has SHAMELESSLY violated the ceasefire agreement ever since it’s inception and thus leading to a continuation of the sense of uncertainty which prevents more meaningful improvements.
(Or are you denying even this, are you actually denying that 95% of the ceasefire violations are attributed to the LTTE?)

“So – there you go, not only are Sri Lankans stupid, murdering, bloodthirsty.lying, uncivilized, wackos…. they are also petty losers that would sooner denegrate each others parents than have peace in that hole they call … “the motherland”. It’s a bloody slum basically, with filthy thugs running around commitiing every crime under the sun. Oh sorry except for a few “nightclubs” a couple of streets in Colombo 5 and of course Cinamon Garders.

Keep killing – that’s what you losers know how to do best. You’re so smart after all. I’m sure the Norwegians would agree with me, whole heartedly. ”

You really meant the word “Sri Lankans” as “Sinhalese” didn’t you?

Stop being such a hateful racist.

Why do you always seem to have a heart attack whenever ANYONE critiques the LTTE?

They deserved to be critiqued, they’re a bunch of savage barbarians.

what is your POINT, ashanthi? you’re not making a point. have you realized that? the last few comments, all you’ve been doing is insulting other people and defending yourself (when you aren’t even being dissed). so make a POINT. and get to it fast.

of course sophist is my mate, but that doesn’t mean we never agree to disagree. i’m not defending him, he’s perfectly capable of doing so himself if the need should ever arise, i was merely commending the precision of what he said. just because you like someone’s use of language, it doesn’t mean you agree with what they’re saying, just like i sometimes agree with something someone is saying, but dislike the way in which it’s being said. this is how i feel about morquendi, and you even. i almost feel like we’d agree with each other alot if you were actually making sense and staying focussed.

if you bothered to read anything anyone has written here, you may have noticed that we aren’t so hot about going to war. in fact, sophist very blatantly expressed his desire to see all the fighting come to an END. we’re all sick of it. we’re all on the same damn side, blinded by petty, personal bitching. how lame.

atleast i didn’t have to pick on you personally to get my point across, as you did when you said:

‘We don’t want you getting yourself into trouble with School, Mum & Dad or God.

Just joshing with you – you calm down now & stop stamping you feet & chucking a tantrum.

The blogshpere will remain a free medium for the whole world I hope & pray. Including a cheeky self-righteous school-girls who know to give as much stick as they get :-)’

i’m not afraid of getting into trouble, anyone who knows anything about me knows that.

“If not, please shut up about how great the LTTE is and get over your visceral hatred of the Sinhalese and other non-Tamils”
.
This is exactly the same sort of attacks that Morq gets just because he trys to present a possible other side of the argument. It’s just ridiculous. I have always & constantly condemned & do so again in no uncertain terms any suicide bombing. Ok “Iron” got it?

Yo Sittingnut – I am most pleased to get a smiley out of you machan :-) … though as usual I think you are being cheeky. Anyway – better to have you back being cheeky than stubborn & cranky :-) Err.. PS can we got back to your blog & continue arguing – I really shouldn’t be here…

Can everyone please stop talking to me on Indi’s blog – I’m not going to respond anymore.If you want to talk to me – please post a comment on my blog. I still haven’t removed comment moderator but I will shortly (I promise this time s/nut). Thanks.

If not, please shut up about how great the LTTE is and get over your visceral hatred of the Sinhalese and other non-Tamils.

It is true that in absolute terms the people in the North and East are not as rich as those in the South. Well, this is hardly surprising after 23 years of war. Even in terms of nutrition and health the Wanni population trail the rest of the country. No argument there, but in terms of the change that has taken place since 2002, I think the North and East have clearly received most of the benefits in terms of infrastructure, buldings, schools. Ask anyone who went to Kilinochchi immediately after the ceasefire and who have been there since. The economic development is visible.

Central Bank data is unreliable because data collection in the LTTE controlled areas is understandably sketchy and they don’t have previous figures to compare it with. At best they’ll have loose estimates and or projections. You have to talk to people.

Ashanthi: Did you just get dumped? Do you get really bad PMT? Did your parents never love you?

Sophist is no doubt more Sri Lankan than me & a mate of yours – you stick up for him. As Morq says he should join the army. He’ll learn what happens to tin soldiers in no time.

Re my sources – yes indeed, very good for me :-).

My summary concise response to your next p/graph is I had no idea the blog & my comments were being monitored so closely.

As for no-under 19 year olds having blogs – ahhh got your goat now haven’t I petal. Well – actually I think I might up that to under 21! We don’t want you getting yourself into trouble with School, Mum & Dad or God.

Just joshing with you – you calm down now & stop stamping you feet & chucking a tantrum.

The blogshpere will remain a free medium for the whole world I hope & pray. Including a cheeky self-righteous school-girls who know to give as much stick as they get :-)

Once you’ve calmed down – please send me the info i asked you via my blog – I would appreciate it and I always feel disloyal to Morq when I write more than 2 comments a week on indi’s blog!

-Sophist speaks like a venoumous snake-
so do a lot of us, hmmm?

-Not sure why you’re supporting him –
i’m not supporting him, i merely thought he made a well articualted comment. it doesnt mean i agree with what he’s saying, so much as i liked how concise it was. i didn’t say ‘sophist : i totally agree with you’, i said ‘sophist : well SAID’. big difference.

-but hey, I think I’ve worked out a whole heap fo intrigues amongst you “Sri Lankan” bloggers :-). I also have my sources.-
well, what does one say? good for you…?

ashanthi, i don’t know what it is with you, but it seems to me like you do a whole lot of jumping to conclusions and working up steam much before you’ve actually worked out what you want to say and what your stand is. don’t be so hasty, you’re talking when you’re livid, and like i said, it doesn’t always work in your advantage. quit endlessly defending yourself, if you look carefully enough, you might find that not all of us are endlessly trashing what you say. quit imagining that we are ‘ganging up on you’, we actually aren’t ; each to his own, say i. just calm down a little, and try and make valid judgments. shooting off your mouth (like a lot of us do a lot of the time) i have found, is most often proven to be futile, as everyone really misunderstands what you’re saying and that can be frustrating both for you and them.

you said on my blog :
-In fact I think I might advocate that no-one under the age of 19 should have a blog – certainly it’s not for the faint hearted.-
that has to be the biggest load of bull shit you’ve said. ever.

there were benefits(like more investor confidence and more tourists) but that was due to restoration of normalcy and economic reforms of unp which however hurt some ppl. and the beneficiaries in the south as in north were ppl who know how to benefit and take the opportunity. it will alway be like that. that’s not going to change whether it be in north or south or in another country.

but they still ran after the chimera that Karuna would win for them the war that the army could not; which suggests a degree of stupidity that is saddening
i am not sure anybody in south ever thought karuna is going to win the war for them. there are ppl who belive in a military solution from the start. karuna at most is just a helping hand.

……, no urgent need to win over the hearts and minds of the people of Moneragala and exert pressure on their armed military leadership to abandon the path of war and accept a political solution.
so why is moneragala so poor ? it only proves that peace does not necessarily lead to prosperity.

They would have voted for the presidential candidate who advocated the federal solution if they were allowed to. This suggests a degree of intelligence that is also saddening in that it was unreciprocated and not even appreciated.
why did they not vote in jaffna town? were they not allowed to there?

that a ceasefire was no substitute for a active process of providing concrete political solutions to the conditions that gave rise to the war
but to build concrete solutions attacks must stop and talks start. as long as there are attacks there will not be trust. and ppl making compromises and patience in face of ltte attacks appear weak. justifiably so. but all 3 governments in power all did that. that is why ranil lost in the south. ltte should do its part if its wants war. breaking the ceasefire repeatedly (several times over government’s transgressions) only proves its insincerity. what do you call attacks since dec good will gestures?

their armed military leadership
well ! do you condemn the suicide attack? is that a legitimate form of attack from ‘armed leadership’?

lets blame the breakdown of peace talks and possible war on those responsible . ltte.

ashanthi:
:-) can’t say anything else.

As for this petty continuing argument about who’s Sri Lankan & who’s not – again it is pretty pointless. So – not only do you all kill & fight amongst yourselves back home, I suppose you’d be kiling & fighting with us if the racist “British & the French” let you. I think comparing us with the British is particularily low.

What I think is the bottom line is you can’t take crticism. You can’t face facts & you can’t deal with the horrendous reality of your situation.Who can blame you for this but I do scold you.

I’m not interested in “other” races, most of them have stopped killing each other on the scale the we do. I’m concerned with us, these blogs are about us. Hence i voice my opinion about us.

Electra – Sophist speaks like a venoumous snake. Not sure why you’re supporting him – but hey, I think I’ve worked out a whole heap fo intrigues amongst you “Sri Lankan” bloggers :-). I also have my sources.

Sophist – I have lived & gone to school in Sri Lanka. I’m not sure why you had make you’re snide remark about me being one of the few Tamils who had rich relatives living in Colombo 7 etc… I think more than any of your other arsehole points, this one gives you away the most … Frankly I think you’d be scared shitless if we had peace & we ALL came back – together, you know why – because we’d be saying to you – look what you let happen & why did you & why were complicit.

I did leave a few requests for you Electra, on your blog – maybe we could move on from this factional posturing. Let us not as pure Sri Lankans diaspora Tamils know if there is anything that we should be doing or can do.

The people of the South clearly saw that the path of peace yielded more benefits (but they still ran after the chimera that Karuna would win for them the war that the army could not; which suggests a degree of stupidity that is saddening). The people of the North and the East saw none, except for the A9 and mobile telephony. They would have voted for the presidential candidate who advocated the federal solution if they were allowed to. This suggests a degree of intelligence that is also saddening in that it was unreciprocated and not even appreciated.

As far as I know the GOSL has not been at war with the people of Moneragala; has not burnt the crown jewel of their cultural identity to the ground (http://www.news.lk/news_2004_10_262.htm); has not publicly apologized for a pogrom against persons of their ethnic identity (http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/07/26/new02.html); has not bombed the people of Moneragala or used multi-barrel rocket launchers against them; has not taken over large areas of highly populated land for high-security zones, etc. There is, as far as I know, no urgent need to win over the hearts and minds of the people of Moneragala and exert pressure on their armed military leadership to abandon the path of war and accept a political solution.

It is in this context that I stated that the limbo of no-war no-peace was not acceptable to the Tamil people or to any of their leaders (if you don’t like the LTTE or the TNA, ask Ananda Sangaree or even Chandrasekeran). The constituents of the Sri Lankan state (not only MR and his propaganda machine) are to blame for this. They are responsible for EW3 (this is not the start, but just the hotting up; it’s been going on for some time; recall the gunboats, dvoras, etc.?). CBK perhaps is the most to blame for taking over the ministries in 2003 November, days after the ISGA proposals were submitted.

BTW, the fact that the ISGA proposals were submitted for discussion in October 2003 proves that the peace process was ongoing up to that point, and did not stop in April 2003 as claimed by one commenter.