Even If Emissions Stop, CO2 Could Warm Earth For Centuries

Even if carbon dioxide emissions came to a sudden halt, the carbon dioxide already in the Earth's atmosphere could continue to warm our planet for hundreds of years, found a new study.

If the results are correct, said one of the scientists conducting the study, the total carbon emissions required to stay below 2 degrees of warming would have to be three-quarters of previous estimates, which is only 750 billion tons of carbon instead of 1,000 billion tons.

The Princeton University-led research published in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests that it might take a lot less carbon than previously thought to reach the global temperature scientists deem unsafe.

The researchers simulated an Earth on which, after 1,800 billion tons of carbon entered the atmosphere, all CO2 emissions suddenly stopped.

Scientists commonly use the scenario of emissions screeching to a stop to gauge the heat-trapping staying power of carbon dioxide. Within a millennium of this simulated shutoff, the carbon itself faded steadily with 40 percent absorbed by Earth's oceans and landmasses within 20 years and 80 percent soaked up at the end of the 1,000 years.

By itself, such a decrease of atmospheric carbon dioxide should lead to cooling. But the heat trapped by the carbon dioxide took a divergent track.

After a century of cooling, the planet warmed by 0.37 degrees Celsius (0.66 Fahrenheit) during the next 400 years as the ocean absorbed less and less heat.

While the resulting temperature spike seems slight, a little heat goes a long way here. Earth has warmed by only 0.85 degrees Celsius (1.5 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. The IPCC estimates that global temperatures a mere 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial levels would dangerously interfere with the climate system.

To avoid that point would mean humans have to keep cumulative carbon dioxide emissions below 1,000 billion tons of carbon, about half of which has already been put into the atmosphere since the dawn of industry.

The lingering warming effect the researchers found, however, suggests that the 2-degree point may be reached with much less carbon, said first author Thomas Frölicher, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral researcher in Princeton's Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences under co-author Jorge Sarmiento, the George J. Magee Professor of Geoscience and Geological Engineering.

"If our results are correct, the total carbon emissions required to stay below 2 degrees of warming would have to be three-quarters of previous estimates, only 750 billion tons instead of 1,000 billion tons of carbon," said Frölicher, now a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. "Thus, limiting the warming to 2 degrees would require keeping future cumulative carbon emissions below 250 billion tons, only half of the already emitted amount of 500 billion tons."

The researchers' work contradicts a scientific consensus that the global temperature would remain constant or decline if emissions were suddenly cut to zero.

But previous research did not account for a gradual reduction in the oceans' ability to absorb heat from the atmosphere, particularly the polar oceans, Frölicher said.

Although carbon dioxide steadily dissipates, Frölicher and his co-authors were able to see that the oceans that remove heat from the atmosphere gradually take up less. Eventually, the residual heat offsets the cooling that occurred due to dwindling amounts of carbon dioxide.

Frölicher and his co-authors showed that the change in ocean heat uptake in the polar regions has a larger effect on global mean temperature than a change in low-latitude oceans, a mechanism known as "ocean-heat uptake efficacy."

This mechanism was first explored in a 2010 paper by Frölicher's co-author, Michael Winton, a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) on Princeton 's Forrestal Campus.

"The regional uptake of heat plays a central role. Previous models have not really represented that very well," Frölicher said.

"Scientists have thought that the temperature stays constant or declines once emissions stop, but now we show that the possibility of a temperature increase can not be excluded," Frölicher said. "This is illustrative of how difficult it may be to reverse climate change -- we stop the emissions, but still get an increase in the global mean temperature."

Story Source:

The story is based on materials provided by Princeton University .

Journal Reference: Thomas Lukas Frölicher, Michael Winton, Jorge Louis Sarmiento. Continued global warming after CO2 emissions stoppage. Nature Climate Change, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2060

Source:

Princeton University (2013, November 24). Even if emissions stop, carbon dioxide could warm Earth for centuries. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 28, 2013 , from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/11/131124200552.htm

Spiritual and scientific aspects of theosophy

Theosophy is a Greek word which means Transcendental or Pristine Wisdom which explains cosmic and individual existence and its intrinsic interrelation. It is the body of truths which forms the basis or common foundation of all religion. Theosophy generally traces its origin to Ammonius Saccas who lived in Alexandria around the 3rd Century AD and his doctrines set forth in his work “De Principis” have much affinity to those of Plotinus (AD 204-70) who was his pupil and who like Origen lived in Alexandria which owing to its commerce and famous university was the chief centre of syncretism.

Man from ancient times wants to know about himself, his origins, the universe and answers to fundamental questions of who am I (emphasised by the Indian sage Ramana Maharishi), why am I here and whither am I going? Speculation on these issues took two basic apparently contradictory forms - the rational versus intuitive or the materialist versus the spiritual. Materialists or rationalists believe that matter is primary and mind and consciousness is merely a product of matter or material processes while idealism or spiritualism holds the opposite view that consciousness or mind is the primary force both in the microcosm and macrocosm.

Materialist world view

Philosophical speculation and religious thought on these issues had both these strands from ancient times. In ancient Greece, philosophers like Leucippus, Democritus and the Atomists were regarded as the great materialists of antiquity while Rome produced such materialist thinkers as Zeno, Epicurus and the Stoics. Even in ancient India there were the materialist Carvakas “who denied God, ridiculed the priests, reviled the Vedas and sought salvation in pleasure” (Radhakrishnan).


Before AD 1500 the dominant world view was organic, its scientific framework resting on a few authorities - Aristotle and the Church. In the 13th century Thomas Aquinas combined Aristotle’s comprehensive system with Christian theology, which framework remained unquestioned in Europe throughout the Middle Ages.

This medieval outlook radically changed with the Scientific Revolution which began with Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Bacon, Spinoza, Locke, Newton, Kant, Hegel and Descartes among others and reached its zenith in the Newtonian-Descartes materialist world view as epitomised in Descartes’ celebrated maxim “Cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I exist). This view is that the universe is a mechanical system consisting of separate objects which in turn are reduced to fundamental building blocks whose properties and interactions determined all natural phenomena including living organisms. In biology this was reflected int eh theory of evolution presented by Lamarck, Wallace and Darwin while the origin of life was reflected in either the “primordial soup” theory of scientists like Cyril Ponnampperuma or the alternate view of scientists like Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe that life originated in outer space and was carried to earth by meteorites, asteroids etc.

Ancient spiritualism

Side by side however, was always the spiritualist or idealist view emanating from ancient times. These can be traced back to the Celtic and Scandinavian folklore, Hawaiian legends, Maoris, Mayans and Aztecs, Red Indian folklore etc and continued in the Egyptian mysteries, Assyrian and Chaldean fragmentary records, Greek Eleusinian mystery rites, Greek idealist philosophers like Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, Iamblichus and the theurgists, Hebrew scriptures like the Kabbala and the Talmud, early Christian fathers influenced by the Hermetica, gnostics, Valentinus, Basilides etc. the tradition is reflected in Islam by Sufism, in Hindusim by the Uapnishads and Puranas, in Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese Taoism, Persian Zoroastrianism and Zen in Japan among other traditions.

Modern scientific world view

The existing scientific view of the universe however underwent a radical change at the beginning of the twentieth century when physicists extended their range of investigations into the realms of atomic and sub-atomic phenomena and became aware of the limitations of the classical ideas and had to radically revise many of the concepts about reality.

Modern physics beginning with Einstein, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Edwin Schroedinger, Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, David Bohm etc changed the mechanistic Cartesian view of the world into an organic, holistic and ecological system which related to the view held in mystical traditions especially those of Eastern mysticism. Quantum theory made it clear that even sub-atomic particles are of a duel nature without any objective properties and based on what Heisenberg called the “uncertainty principle.” This discovery of the dual aspect of matter and the fundamental role of probability demolished the classical notion of solid objects. In sub-atomic or particle physics the Cartesian division between mind and matter, the observer and the observed is no longer maintained. In fact, the very fact of observation itself can change the nature of the observed phenomena. Matter or energy is not passive or inert but is in a continuous dancing and vibrating motion, its stability being one of dynamic balance. The relativistic quantum view postulates the universe as a flux with space and time not as absolutes but as a space-time continuum.

As the versatile writer Deepak Chopra puts it “Atoms disappeared when it was discovered that they are made up of energy, mere vibrations in the Void; Energy disappeared when it was found that vibrations are temporary excitations in a field and that the field itself does’nt vibrate but maintains a flat, constant ‘Zero point’; The Zero point serves as the switching point between existence and nothingness.” Physics was drawn step by step into the Void because nothing in the visible word was adequate to explain what had to be explained. As Shakespeare put it “There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

The parallels between the modern scientific view of the Universe and Reality and Eastern mataphysical thought and world view is strikingly brought out in Fritjoff Capra’s classic works “The Tao of Physics” and “The Turning Point.”

Development of Para-Psychology

Side by site with these developments in the physical science were the paralleled developments in Psychology, Neurology, Para-psychology, and Multi-dimensional experiences. The works of psychologists like Freud and Carl Jung demonstrated that the two realities of nature, physical and metaphysical, matter and consciousness, interlace and intermingle with each other. Research into para-psychological experiences such as extra-sensory perception (ESP), out-of-the body experiences (OBEs), near death experiences (NDEs) etc. were carried out by psychical researchers such as Emanuel Swedenborg, J B Rhine, Soal, Tyrrel, Frederick Myers, Edmond Gurney, William James, Richard Hodgson etc who established the Society for Psychical Research in London in 1882 with Prof Henry Sidgwick as first President and in America in 1885.

Their work was carried forward in modern times by such researchers as Raymond Moody, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Kenneth Ring and others and helped by such inventions as the Kirlian Camera which can photograph the astral vibrations surrounding individuals and living objects. These psycho-spiritual bodies or vehicles have their own characteristics and attributes. The sequence of bodies from the densest to the most subtle are the physical, etheric astral, mental, spiritual, cosmic and nirvanic. Mystic literature on these bodies are found in such classic works as the ancient “Egyptian Book of the Dead” the “Tibetan Book of the Dead” (Bardo Thodol) and modern classics such as the “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda etc. While it is difficult to explain these phenomena rationally, at the same time it is difficult to ignore and dismiss reported and documented cases.

Basic principles of theosophy

All these changes discussed above wee anticipated by the Theosophists beginning as stated, from Ammonus Saccs in the third century AD and revived by modern Theosophists. The Theosophical Society has had a long and momentous history being founded in New York, USA on 17th November 1875 by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Col Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge and others and incorporated under the laws of British India on April 3rd, 1905 with its Headquarters at Adyar, Madras (Chennai), India. The Sri Lankan Section of the Theosophical Society with its Headquarters in Colombo is the National Society composed of a number of Lodges to carry out within its jurisdiction the objects of the Society. These objects are:

1. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.

2. To encourage the study Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.

3. To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.

Theosophy therefore is a broad based philosophy with the objective of finding out what is the Truth as exemplified by its motto “There is no religion higher than Truth”. A cynic may at this juncture echo Pontius Pilate who asked Jesus “What is Truth?” and did not wait for an answer. Nevertheless, Theosophy is the search and the living of the Path leading to Truth or Reality which can be realized only by deep reflection, by meditation, by the practice of selflessness and service to humanity.

The word Religion which is not usually understood in its real sense means that which binds one back to the source, implying that religion can explain whence we came and therefore where we go and also why we are here. The word religion is derived from “religere”, to bind back (to the source). In the course of history many religions came into being according to the teachings of Great Masters of Wisdom.

Their original pristine teachings were scientific and rational. In course of time however all religions became institutionalized. Commentators made their own interpretations and there grew into being a corpus of dogma and doctrine which clouded the livingness of the original teachings.

While Theosophy does not deny the materialist interpretation of the universe, it postulates that it is only a limited view of Existence and Reality. With our finite fragmented ego-consciousness, we cannot comprehend the vast physical universe and still less the all - pervasive Cosmic Intelligence. As Krishnamaurti put it “Truth is a pathless land” and “You cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion or by any sect. Truth being limitless, unconditioned and unapproachable by any path whatsoever cannot be organized nor should any organization be formed to lead or coerce people along any particular path. “The core of Krishnamurti’s teaching lies in “Choiceless, Effortless Awareness’ somewhat akin to the sage of Jaffna, Yogaswamy’s dictum “Summa Iru” (Just be) which constitutes the core of Advaita philosophy.

One of the great merits of the Theosophical Society is to have drawn the attention of the western world to the immense interest of original religions and philosophies and toe restore a proper valuation to archaic doctrines and ancient thought. Theosophy seeks to liberate man imprisoned in the trammels of matter, by giving him the knowledge and the stimulus that can mobilize invisible forces within him.

Climate Change: A Religious Perspective

Science, religion and preservation are not necessarily mutually exclusive in their approach to this important subject. In Islam, seeking and accepting knowledge, respect to the environment, preservations, and respect of other forms of life are part of the faith

Nowadays, two groups have mainly polarized the discussions about global warming and the Environmental Protection Act. On one end, the religious right and its pundits have been very active in denying climate change and making mockery of any meaningful environmental protection measures.

On the other end, environmentalists, who are ignoring and/or ridiculing the role of religious upbringing in shaping people’s attitudes toward the environment, are undermining the importance of spreading their message across a large group of people.

Science, religion and preservation are not necessarily mutually exclusive in their approach to this important subject. In Islam, seeking and accepting knowledge, respect to the environment, preservations, and respect of other forms of life are part of the faith. There are no contradictions within Islam for Muslims to accept the scientific research of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW), and it is a part of its belief system that humans will suffer the consequences for any abuse of the earth’s natural resources.

It is without doubt that had humankind practiced a balance between enjoying the earth’s natural resources without being wasteful and preserving the environment for future generations, the world would be today a very different place. Furthermore, such a concept would have made it easier for the environmentalists to convey their messages to others.

We would not have reached the edge today from runaway Carbon Dioxide increases into the atmosphere that not only threaten our climates, but also our very existence. Pollutants and overfishing are destroying a great food resource, while gluttony and waste in food distribution further threaten a clean and healthy food supply.

Food has now become an entertainment with non-stop television commercials promoting a lifestyle where people live to eat instead of eating to survive.

We are in a vicious adaptation to the needs of consumerism; everything must be fun and entertaining. This demand for convenient and immediate gratification has, for example, led to the mass production of petroleum based plastic products that not only leach PCB’s into the food and water supply, but also create the ubiquitous waste of bottles and bags that swirl along our highways and have formed a giant whirlpool of plastic garbage in the Pacific Ocean further decimating wildlife and our food supply. “Corruption appears on land and sea because of (the evil) that man’s hands have done, so that He may make them taste a part of what they have done, in order that they may return.” (Quran 30:41)

In Islam, humans have to take full responsibility for their actions and not expect divine intervention to mollify their abuse of the world’s resources. Sadly some environmentalists have failed to make the distinction that not all religions are inherently antagonistic toward exploring meaningful solutions to halt the degradation of our environment.

The Quran teaches us that men are the caretakers of the earth (Quran 2:30), and are responsible for maintaining it. This belief is part of the Muslim tradition. While definitely not a part of the history of secular movements who tend to advocate, “Enjoy life as much as you can” which has contributed to the neglect of so many important aspects of our ecosystem. As a result our rain forests, aquifers, and waterways have suffered and cannot be expected to continue to sustain man’s endless appetite for more “stuff.”

Water conservation in Islam is more a matter of principle. The Prophet (pbuh) forbids wasting this precious resource even when it is available in abundance. He also cautions against its waste even while performing certain religious rites.

“Do not waste water even if you were on the bank of a flowing river.” (Prophet Mohammed [pbuh]). Interestingly, one of his sayings was promoted by a water bottling company in Australia to stress the importance of conserving water. It is a developmental lesson with profound meaning that should be

taught to all children. Just imagine our planet if we raised our children to respect the waters of our earth from the smallest springs to the mighty oceans. How much more would they appreciate the water flowing from the tap?

It has been counter-productive just to blame religion per se for obstructive solutions to rectify and address climate change, instead of focusing on the impact that consumerism has had on the ecosystem.

The Quran has clearly laid down a balanced and commonsensical approach, wherein individuals are instructed to enjoy the good things of life, but not become intoxicated with their pleasures and abuse them.

The “live as if there is no tomorrow” way of life only serves to further degrade our environment by encouraging everyone to consume more and more of the earth’s natural resources. The Islamic position, however, (often not reflected in the Muslim world today) of believing in “life is a test” is overlooked as is the belief that we will be held accountable for our actions. Even a skeptic would admit the benefits of this concept, which should make one at least pause and be more conscious of the squandering of the earth’s resources.

Ten Years After "The Party’s Over: Oil, War And the Fate of Industrial Societies"

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the publication of my book The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, which has seen two editions and many printings, translations into eight languages, and sales of roughly 50,000 copies in North America. The end of The Party’s Over’s first decade coincides with a widespread re-evaluation of what has come to be known as peak oil theory (which the book helped popularize). So it’s a good time to take stock of both.

Re-Assessment: Was (or Is) the Party Really Over?

The central claim of many recent “Peak Oil Is Dead” articles is that peak oil theorists were simply wrong. Were we? Well, let’s use The Party’s Over as a representative example of peak oil literature and see. I re-read the book (for the first time in several years) as preparation for writing thisessay, and the following are a few critical notes.

Chapters 1 and 2, which tell the tale of energy’s role in ecology, history, and the economy, are the book’s foundation. Leaving aside the question of how skillfully it’s presented, it still impresses me as a story that deserves to be known and understood by everybody. There’s very little that needs revision here.

Chapter 3, which explains peak oil, is pivotal to the book’s overall argument. By current standards, much of this material is simplistic and dated. I fixed some problems in the revised 2005 edition, but that version itself is now stale. The Party’s Over doesn’t offer an original analysis of oil reserves or production data; instead it surveys the forecasts of “peakists” who were active at the time, many of whom are now less active or deceased.

The most obvious criticism that could be leveled at the book today is the simple observation that, as of 2013, world oil production is increasing, not declining. However, the following passage from page 118 of the 2003 edition points to just how accurate the leading peakists were in forecasting trends: “Colin Campbell estimates that extraction of conventional oil will peak before 2010; however, because more unconventional oil—including oil sands, heavy oil, and oil shale—will be produced during the coming decade, the total production of fossil-fuel liquids (conventional plus unconventional) will peak several years later. According to Jean Laherrère, that may happen as late as 2015.” On page 121 of the book I explicitly endorsed the forecast of a peak sometime in the period between 2006 and 2015.

From today’s perspective that’s still an entirely defensible assessment of global oil supply prospects. Worldwide production of regular, conventional oil (excluding deepwater oil, tar sands, tight oil, biofuels, and natural gas liquids such as propane) did indeed begin a gentle, continuing decline around 2006, and a peak for all petroleum liquids by 2015 is still likely though by no means certain. True, no peak oil theorist in 2003 was forecasting that US petroleum production would soar during the 2011-2013 period due to the hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling of tight (low-permeability) oil-bearing rock formations in North Dakota and Texas. But tight oil and tar sands are substantially different from the conventional resources that drillers targeted in previous decades: the former offer a low energy return on the energy invested in production (EROEI), require high rates of up-front investment, and imply increased environmental costs and risks. Tight oil wells show such steep production decline rates that a peak and sharp drop in output from the Bakken and Eagle Ford plays—which have driven the recent boom in US production—is probable in just the next few years. Meanwhile, the ongoing erosion of global extraction rates of regular, conventional crude means that an ever-larger proportion of total supplies must come from unconventional sources.

Conventional oil, with its high EROEI and low production cost, fueled unprecedented levels of economic growth during the 20th century. That party is indeed over.

On page 117, I summarized Colin Campbell’s view that “the next decade will be a ‘plateau’ period, in which recurring economic recessions will result in lowered energy demand, which will in turn temporarily mask the underlying depletion trend.” That forecast appears to have been spot on. Meanwhile, Daniel Yergin (of Cambridge Energy Research Associates) and other petroleum industry-friendly energy commentators now tell us that peak oil is nothing to worry about because, instead of a peaking of crude supply, we are instead seeing peak demand, as consumption of oil in the US, Europe, and Japan has fallen. Why? Yergin and company cite improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency, but in reality most of the reduction in oil consumption in the older industrial countries has come about simply because fuel prices are so high that people are driving less: they can’t afford to fill the tank as often. And prices are high because the only new sources of oil available to the industry are ones that are very expensive to develop. Analysts critical of peak oil failed to predict that petroleum prices would skyrocket to such an extent; indeed, during the past decade Daniel Yergin himself repeatedly (and wrongly) forecast falling oil prices. “Peak oil demand” appears merely to be a rhetorical device that admits the reality of peak oil implicitly while denying it explicitly. Meanwhile a comparison of forecasts by the peakists and their critics shows the former were generally far more successful in modeling oil production and price trends.

The critics say peakists (like me) neglect basic economics: as oil prices go up, that makes more supply available. This is correct up to a point; again, no peak oiler I know specifically foresaw the scale of the current US tight oil boom. However, Campbell and Laherrère did clearly forecast that higher prices would promote the development of unconventional petroleum sources (that’s why Laherrère pegged the peak of “all liquids” several years later than the peak for regular crude). On the other hand, the peak oil critics themselves showed a lack of understanding of economic reality by ignoring the feedback between oil prices and the economy as a whole. Energy is what moves the economy; money is just a means of keeping track of wealth. Economics 101 tells us that supply of, and demand for a commodity like oil (which happens to be our primary energy source) must converge at the current market price, but no economist can guarantee that the price will be affordable to society. High oil prices are sand in the gears of the economy. As the oil industry is forced to spend ever more to access ever-lower-quality resources, the result is a general trend toward economic stagnation. None of the peak oil deniers warned us about this.

The petroleum industry has undergone a profound shift in the past decade. Levels of investment in exploration and production have doubled, rates of drilling have likewise doubled, but output has risen only modestly—and all of the increase has come from costly, problematic, unconventional sources. The world’s ten largest publicly traded oil companies have collectively seen their production decline by more than 25 percent. And the industry has taken on far more debt: this is especially true for the smaller companies that specialize in producing tight oil. This industry transformation was completely unforeseen by the peak oil critics, but it is exactly what should have been anticipated by anyone who carefully read “The End of Cheap Oil” in 1998, or The Party’s Over in 2003.

So much for Chapter 3. The following chapter discusses non-petroleum sources of energy, highlighting their various drawbacks and strengths. The section on natural gas requires substantial revision in light of the recent boom in US shale gas production (which I examine in my latest book, Snake Oil: How Fracking’s False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future); otherwise, aside from the need for a general updating, there’s little cause here for author embarrassment ten years hence.

Chapter 5, “A Banquet of Consequences,” discusses the likely societal impact of peak oil. While some of the more alarmist peak oil authors who were blogging during the years 2005 to 2010 suggested (or seemed to suggest) that society would effectively collapse before decade’s end, The Party’s Over paints a picture of developments likely to transpire over a longer period, from now until about 2050. A decline in available, cheap oil will impact the financial economy, agriculture, and transportation. We’ve already seen some problems along these lines as a result of oil prices at over $100 per barrel; more are on the way. There’s not a lot here that needs revision ten years after the book’s publication.

The final chapter, “Managing the Collapse,” offers suggestions for what individuals, communities, and society as a whole might do to answer the challenge of peak oil and to adapt to having less energy overall. If I were writing or re-writing this material today, I would point to recent efforts to prepare for the peak such as those organized by the Transition Initiatives or by the city-sponsored Peak Oil Task Forces of Portland, Oakland, San Francisco, and Bloomington. And I would cite several more recent books that do part or all of what this chapter attempted, but succeed more fully, elegantly, and entertainingly—such as Rob Hopkins’s Transition Handbook and Albert Bates’s Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook.

One possible criticism of the book: while it briefly discusses climate change, it does so at insufficient length. This issue now dominates just about all energy policy discussions and it deserved a more thorough treatment.

Altogether, nevertheless, The Party’s Over fares pretty decently upon today’s re-reading—even if I do say so myself!

Reflection: Lessons from the Peak Oil Decade

What has been achieved in ten years by efforts to warn the world about peak oil? The book authors and bloggers who turned the subject of oil depletion into a cottage industry inspired hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—of individuals worldwide to change their thinking, patterns of consumption, and expectations about the future. Some who read about peak oil changed careers or fields of study at university.

We peakists also changed the energy conversation: peak oil has become a recognized term and concept. In a way, the current “Peak Oil Is Dead” campaign is a testament to our success: the petroleum industry’s public relations arm has been forced to expend resources putting out a fire that hardly amounted to a spark a decade ago. As a result of that campaign, even more people have heard of peak oil than before—though most probably have a highly erroneous impression of it.

Peak oil bashing is not entirely the province of the industry: a very few leftist writers have argued that peakism is a conspiracy covertly organized by the petroleum industry itself to talk up prices (and profits) through invoking a false anticipation of scarcity. In my years researching the topic, and in my many interactions with oil geologists, engineers, and company representatives, I have seen no evidence to support this view. Instead I’ve heard industry spokespeople use every possible rhetorical trick to draw attention away from the process and consequences of oil depletion. Peakists within the industry are usually technical staff (geologists or engineers, not economists or PR professionals) and are only free to speak out on the subject once they’ve retired. The industry has two big reasons to hate peak oil. First, company stock prices are tied to the value of booked oil reserves; if the public (and government regulators) were to become convinced that those reserves are problematic, the companies’ ability to raise money would be seriously compromised—and oil companies need to raise lots of money these days to find and produce ever-lower-quality resources. It’s thus in the interest of companies to maintain an impression of (at least potential) abundance. Second, the industry doesn’t want society to mount a serious effort to reduce its dependence on petroleum. People who take peak oil seriously are understandably nervous about petroleum dependency and look for a way out. The oil industry wants more highways, not more streetcars and bicycles; more pipelines, not more “passive houses.”

Resistance to the idea of peak oil has also come from mainstream economists. That’s because (as The Party’s Over explained on pages 169-172) peak oil effectively means the end of economic growth as we knew it during the 20th century. Growth is sacred to most economists: even credentialed insiders (economists like Jeff Rubin or investment fund managers like Jeremy Grantham) who question growth get pilloried by the priesthood. Politicians and businessmen love growth and hate anything that might call into question our ability to maintain it from here to eternity. For this reason alone, peak oil theory was destined for a public thrashing regardless of its accuracy.

Some within the peakist movement now say the term “peak oil” has outlived its usefulness, and it is time to find new ways to name and frame the issues of resource depletion and energy scarcity. Others say we’ve invested years of effort in popularizing the term and we’re irrevocably identified with it anyway, so we simply have to do what we can to rehabilitate it. Either way, most peakists are pretty dispirited these days.

Our public relations failure pales in comparison to our inability to achieve our real goal—which was to convince society to prepare for the end of the brief age of cheap, abundant energy. While individuals, a few organizations, and a handful of communities have indeed responded, the numbers are relatively small. National governments have done almost nothing. The best broad-scale policy would have been an international agreement to reduce production and consumption of oil in tandem (this idea was mooted as a proposal known as the Uppsala Protocol, the Rimini Protocol, or The Oil Depletion Protocol). But aside from resolutions of support from the Portuguese Parliament and city councils of Portland, Oakland, and San Francisco, there has been no real governmental interest in such an agreement.

What have I learned from the past decade? That it’s hard to change the direction of society, but—given what’s at stake—that it’s worth trying. Knowing what I knew in 2003, I could not have lived with myself during the past ten years had I not at least attempted to alert the general populace and to change the thinking of policy makers.

It’s impossible to foresee how far ripples will spread from the efforts undertaken to raise awareness about our precarious energy ecology. Even though society is still headed toward a wrenching collision with resource limits, educated and aware people have begun to build model low-energy alternative food, transport, and building systems that can support organized human life during the transition to a post-fossil-fuel future. How much more can be done in the time we still have? Let’s find out.

For a book, it’s the end of a decade. But it’s not the end of the story.

Richard Heinberg is Senior Fellow-in-Residence at Post Carbon Institute. He is the author of ten books, including The Party’s Over, Peak Everything, and The End of Growth. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s most effective communicators of the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels.

Sri Lanka's Prosperity

Happiness seems to require a modicum of external prosperity. -Aristotle-Nichomachean Ethics

The latest Legatum Prosperity Index, which ranks nations according to wealth, quality of life and well being factors, has placed Sri Lanka at the 60th place moving up eleven places in overall Prosperity since 2009 when the country defeated three decades of terrorism.


Maha Parakramabahu
This year's Prosperity Index, compiled by London-based Legatum Institute, contains data on 142 countries for 89 variables, spread across eight sub-indices. The sub-indices include, country's Economy, Entrepreneurship and Opportunity, Governance, Education, Health, Safety and Security, Personal Freedom and Social Capital. The Legatum Institute is an independent non-partisan public policy organization whose research, publications and programs advance ideas and policies in support of free and prosperous societies around the world. The 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index offers a unique insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world. Traditionally, a nation's prosperity has been based solely on macro-economic indicators such as a country's income, represented either by GDP or by average income per person (GDP per capita). However, most people would agree that prosperity is more than just the accumulation of material wealth, it is also the joy of everyday life and the prospect of being able to build an even better life in the future. The Prosperity Index is distinctive in that it is the only global measurement of prosperity based on both income and well being.

Key findings

Sri Lanka has seen big improvements in its Economy scores, which have contributed to the country's improvements in the overall Prosperity Index. The Economy sub-index has risen twenty eight places to 74th since 2009, as a result of increases in capital per worker, gross domestic savings, perceived job availability, and satisfaction with access to adequate food and shelter.

Over the past five years, Sri Lanka has increased twelve places to 35th in the Social Capital sub-index, due to increases in willingness to help strangers and trust levels. The Index reveals that a great majority comprising of 82% of people say they can rely on others in times of need and 57% believe Sri Lanka is a good place to live for immigrants.

Norway led the overall rankings for the fifth year followed by Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark in that order. In the South Asian region, India declined to 106th and overtaken for the first time in 2013 by Bangladesh which ranked at 103rd. Nepal ranked at 102nd and Pakistan remains low in the rankings at 132nd with progress hampered by security-related challenges.

Among the key findings of the Legatum Institute are that this year, the US has moved down four places to 24th in the Economy sub-index. Countries that have overtaken the US in the Economy sub-index include New Zealand (17th) and South Korea (19th), among others. Mexico has increased seven places to 27th in the Economy sub-index, overtaking Brazil (32nd). However, Mexico still trails Brazil in the overall Prosperity Index, ranking 59th compared to Brazil at 46th. Bangladesh (103rd) ranks above India (106th) in the Prosperity Index for the first time in 2013.

Prosperity Index rankings

Although Bangladesh's rank has remained constant since last year, India has declined five places in the same period. India has fallen down the Prosperity Index rankings consistently over the last five years.

The UK has moved down three places to 16th in overall Prosperity, as a result of decreases in the rankings for six out of eight sub-indices since last year. The UK has been leapfrogged by Austria (15th), Germany (14th), and Iceland (13th). Latin America and the Caribbean rise above the world average in the Economy sub-index for the first time in 2013. Nine of the top ten countries on the Entrepreneurship and Opportunity sub-index are from Europe.

The top ten countries include Sweden (1st), Denmark (2nd), Finland (3rd), Switzerland (4th), Luxembourg (5th), Norway (6th), Iceland (7th), Netherlands (8th), and UK (9th). Hong Kong makes up the top 10, placing 10th in the sub-index.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his Address at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly held on September 24, 2013 said that: 'In the context of Sri Lanka, my vision has been to distribute the benefits of growth across all segments of the population and prevent inequalities, social exclusion and adverse environmental effects.

Socio-economic achievements in my country are the results of people centric government policies. Despite contending with one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world, the 2004 tsunami and the global food, energy and financial crises, Sri Lanka's attaining the MDGs is salutary. Statistics speak for themselves.

Sri Lanka was ranked 92nd out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index in 2012. Absolute poverty in Sri Lanka declined to 6.5% in 2012 from 15.2%, over a period of five years, surpassing the MDG mid- term target.'

Undisputedly the economic policies of the present Government has contributed largely to the rising of the prosperity index for Sri Lanka. Although the critics in the opposition ranks and the disapora propaganda machine oiled by the TGTE, the successor of the LTTE continuously and incessantly attack the economic and other policies of the Government it will be seen that the truth will finally prevail and these critics would be silenced in the near future in the face of the evident vast economic prosperity of Sri Lanka.

The forthcoming CHOGM would be an eye opener for the Commonwealth leaders to witness the rapid development processes taking place in Sri Lanka significantly in the North and East as they tour these regions during this month.

Economic development

At the recent launch of the Biography of the Speaker Hon. Chamal Rajapaksa at the BMICH written by a schoolmate of the writer at St.Aloysius' College Galle, a former D.I.G Punya De Silva, the great silent service rendered by the Speaker when he was the Minister of Irrigation was revealed when it was stated that the construction of many tanks including 'Mawara' the brainchild of Chamal had immensely benefited the people of Hambantota who were suffering with dearth of water for their cultivation activities. It is no secret that Sri Lanka's economic prosperity greatly depends on the improvement of agricultural activities.

The Rajapaksas including late D.A. Rajapaksa and his son the President have rendered yeoman service in this aspect of the improvement of the economy by granting the fertilizer subsidy and granting loans and other relief to the farmers.

The measures taken by Hon.Basil Rajapaksa for the improvement of economic development are also praiseworthy.

These measures for economic development and the prosperity of the nation has been made possible by the proper security measures taken for the safety of the land by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the infrastructure development of the City of Colombo and other urban areas as Secretary Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.

Sri Lanka is presently well on the road to prosperity reminiscent of the times of the great ancient kings such as Maha Parakramabahu.

The Lead Actor Slides Down The World Stage

Only days ago, the Ohio Clock, sitting near the US Senate Chamber since 1815, turned silent as the US government risked running out of money. After 16 days, a hastily healed cross-party deal made the Ohio Clock tick again.

Now, the clock continues to tick, and the time continues to move, and new time travels in. But the times of yesterdays and of tomorrows are not the same.

An old time talks of a passing phase, and a new time tattles a changing circumstance, and the world stage witnesses dramatic move as elements of change are turning bold.

The partial US gov. shut down presents all these: the clock, the time, the elements, etc. It took its cost in home, the US, and alerted the world, and shall come into compromise with increasingly changing world reality.

Costs in home

The standoff hurt the US economy, said US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. He was speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

In the economy, the cost was at least $24 billion, estimated Standard and Poor’s, and it “shaved at least 0.6 percent off annualized fourth-quarter 2013 GDP growth.” Moody’s Analytics cited a similar number: a $23 billion hit to US GDP.

Citing IHS, US Travel Association, the National Park Service, ABC’s estimate of the costs of the shutdown included $3.1 billion in lost government services, $152 million per day in all spending related to travel lost. Washington DC was especially hit hard. Regional (DC/Maryland/Virginia) impact: $217 million a day from lost/deferred federal and contractor wages. Washington DC economic activity impact: $44 million a week decrease, and tax revenue impact: $6 million a week decrease. (October 17, 2013, Shushannah Walshe, “The Costs of the Government Shutdown”)

Something is told by press

Press, from People’s Daily to The New York Times, echoed an emerging reality: The US dollar’s weakened reputation and the state of related politics. In The Washington Post, Zachary A. Goldfarb reminded the fact of “weakened US economy facing new threats.”

People’s Daily did not fail to mention changes that “have started to occur” in the “currently unmatched” “status of the US dollar”, and said “countries are increasingly bypassing the US dollar and entering into currency swap agreements. These have all dimmed the aura of the dollar as a reserve currency.”

China’s The Nan Fang Daily suggested a reduced “role of the US dollar and the US debt in the global market.”

An editorial in The New York Times didn’t spare the right-right: “The Republicans pushed the nation to the brink of default”.

In Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Anna Fedyakina sarcastically said: “The congressmen’s debate looked like another episode of a political blockbuster, which, according to Hollywood traditions, should have a happy ending. It seems that the American legislators are used to living like they were in a movie: letting the situation reach a boiling point, making a decision at the last moment and then declaring that they once again have saved everyone.”

Anna tells at least a part of US politics, the part related to the elites. In Le Figaro, Philippe Gelie’s tone was more biting about “irresponsible leaders” in the US: “(T)he spectacle presented in Washington over the last few weeks goes beyond the excessive taste of the Americans for political drama. … A minority of Tea Party MPs dictating the law in the name of a lost cause … Parliamentary leaders unable to discipline their rank and file. A president … isolated, who is paying for years of absence of dialogue with MPs.”

The movie-like political act on the stage of Legislature has its roots, and also a destination.

So, Dan Roberts and Paul Lewis predicts in The Guardian: “[A] more lasting split is not inconceivable”. The assumed split is also not without roots and fruits. The roots are deep in elite interests, increasingly factionalized, and, the fruits are for different sections of the entire society with varying types and tastes, acting and reacting in areas of political lessons and experiences of the masses of people.

Function of dysfunction

The just concluded Washington-dysfunction, a political function, was spectacular. It raised question: Is this the beginning of breaking down of the political system?

Jack Lew described events leading to the standoff as a political crisis rather than an economic one.

It’s not always possible to ignore the political aspect. Recognizing the “event” as political crisis is significant as it tells level and depth of related contradictions.

Republican senator John McCain told the NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “Those involved in it went on a fool’s errand, that’s just a fact.”

Everyone doesn’t prefer fruitless mission. Why and how they, those who understand, failed to prevent the “fool’s errand”? Are mindless characters more powerful? Or, was the travel a political necessity? In any of the cases, what’s there in future?

“This has harmed the lives of millions of people”, said McCain. One of the contradictions – an elite faction’s political stand harming people – has been identified, and acknowledged. At least the faction’s politics, essentially interests, turns clear: To have a chunk, quarrel, even at the cost of people.

Lew said: “We need some infrastructure. The farm bill needs to pass. The immigration bill is hugely important to the economy.”

Infrastructure and immigration are required for the interests of the elites, for their faster and bigger accumulation. Then, why the elites failed to prevent the shut down and move into the business? Was the tact more profitable? Or, was the incident their incapacity, failure in governance, a rupture, at least temporary, in collaboration among ruling factions?

In a White House speech, President Barack Obama scolded congressional Republicans. His observations, as news agencies reported, included: The US went to the brink of an economic calamity; “The American people are completely fed up with Washington”; events had inflicted “completely unnecessary” damage on the US economy; “There was no economic rationale for all of this”; “Nothing has done more to undermine our economy the last three years than the kind of tactics that create these kinds of manufactured crises”, the “spectacle” had hurt America’s credibility in the world.

Obama’s opinion tells the emerging reality elites face: a faction imposes its tact while another finds it hard to resist it.

There is factional fight within the US political right-right camp.

One faction – the Tea Party – imposes its will on its broader party. This means there are conditions conducive within the entire body that enables a faction to impose its tact – the government shutdown – on the whole. Their “maturity” inspires them to adopt a political tact that gives pains to the ordinary citizens and takes toll from the party. The party gains experience at a cost.

Greater inequality

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”: The shutdowns were a bad idea not consistent with conservative ideals. (The Christian Science Monitor, “McConnell vows no more government shutdowns. Does tea party agree?”)

The factional fight, political obviously, that denies ideological position goes to nowhere. It’s not immaturity; it’s a reflection of narrowed down scope for political fight. Harry Reid, Democratic Senate leader, expressed his feeling: I’m tired. (…L)et’s be honest: this was pain inflicted on the nation for no good reason. The political tact of a faction of the elites turns clear: take toll from people, which is essentially punish the people. And, what’s the condition of the societies in the country as people is the most important part of it?

Robert Reich, former US Labor Secretary said: “Of all the advanced economies, we are the most unequal and we are surging forward greater inequality at the fastest rate. The 400 richest Americans own more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans put together.”

The richest 1% of Americans own more than 35% of the country’s wealth while the bottom 50% control just 2.5%; the annual income of the typical American household has fallen 9% since 1999; since the recession ended in 2009, incomes for all Americans except the top 1% have hardly changed.

Incomes grew by only 4% for the bottom 99% but surged by more than 31% for the top 1%. And last year the top 1% accounted for 22% of the nation’s income; the top 0.1% took home half of that. (Daily Ticker, October 18, 2013, Bernice Napach, “Income Inequality Is the Enemy of Economic Growth: Robert Reich”)

With this reality in the US, the ruling elites face difficult question: Whether to help people out of poverty or not.

Now, it’s an urgent issue. The ruling capital has to decide whether to increase minimum wage, invest in education and infrastructure, reform the tax system, keep finance gamblers in control or not. And, here lies incapability of the dominating capital. It can’t move to all areas. And, it can move to some areas, but with bickering within its camp.

These quarrels, rifts and incapability will weaken the system and continue exposing the system to the people.

Farooque Chowdhury is Dhaka-based freelancer.

Courtesy: COUNTERCURRENTS. ORG

Obama’s anti-press measures shocking

It's hardly news that the Obama administration is intensely and, in many respects, unprecedentedly hostile toward the news-gathering process. Even the most Obama-friendly journals have warned of what they call "Obama's war on whistleblowers".

James Goodale, the former general counsel of the New York Times during its epic fights with the Nixon administration, recently observed that "President Obama wants to criminalize the reporting of national security information" and added: "President Obama will surely pass President Richard Nixon as the worst president ever on issues of national security and press freedom."

Still, a new report released today by the highly respected Committee to Protect Journalists - its first-ever on press freedoms in the US - powerfully underscores just how extreme is the threat to press freedom posed by this administration. Written by former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie, Jr., the report offers a comprehensive survey of the multiple ways that the Obama presidency has ushered in a paralyzing climate of fear for journalists and sources alike, one that severely threatens the news-gathering process.

Criminal investigations

The first sentence: "In the Obama administration's Washington, government officials are increasingly afraid to talk to the press." Among the most shameful aspects of the Obama record:

Six government employees, plus two contractors including Edward Snowden, have been subjects of felony criminal prosecutions since 2009 under the 1917 Espionage Act, accused of leaking classified information to the press - compared with a total of three such prosecutions in all previous U.S. administrations. Still more criminal investigations into leaks are under way. Reporters' phone logs and e-mails were secretly subpoenaed and seized by the Justice Department in two of the investigations, and a Fox News reporter was accused in an affidavit for one of those subpoenas of being 'an aider, abettor and/or conspirator' of an indicted leak defendant, exposing him to possible prosecution for doing his job as a journalist. In another leak case, a New York Times reporter has been ordered to testify against a defendant or go to jail."

It goes on to detail how NSA revelations have made journalists and source petrified even to speak with one another for fear they are being surveilled:

'I worry now about calling somebody because the contact can be found out through a check of phone records or e-mails,' said veteran national security journalist R. Jeffrey Smith of the Center for Public Integrity, an influential nonprofit government accountability news organization in Washington. 'It leaves a digital trail that makes it easier for the government to monitor those contacts,' he said."

It quotes New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane as saying that sources are "scared to death." It quotes New York Times reporter David Sanger as saying that "this is the most closed, control freak administration I've ever covered." And it notes that New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan previously wrote that "it's turning out to be the administration of unprecedented secrecy and unprecedented attacks on a free press."

National security

Based on all this, Downie himself concludes:

The administration's war on leaks and other efforts to control information are the most aggressive I've seen since the Nixon administration, when I was one of the editors involved in The Washington Post's investigation of Watergate. The 30 experienced Washington journalists at a variety of news organizations whom I interviewed for this report could not remember any precedent."

And this pernicious dynamic extends far beyond national security: "Ellen Weiss, Washington bureau chief for E.W. Scripps newspapers and stations, said 'the Obama administration is far worse than the Bush administration' in trying to thwart accountability reporting about government agencies." It identifies at least a dozen other long-time journalists making similar observations.

The report ends by noting the glaring irony that Obama aggressively campaigned on a pledge to usher in The Most Transparent Administration Ever™. Instead, as the New Yorker's investigative reporter Jane Mayer recently said about the Obama administration's attacks: "It's a huge impediment to reporting, and so chilling isn't quite strong enough, it's more like freezing the whole process into a standstill."

Back in 2006, back when I was writing frequently about the Bush administration's attacks on press freedom, the focus was on mere threats to take some of these actions, and that caused severe anger from vocal progressives. Now, as this new report documents, we have moved well beyond the realm of mere threats into undeniable reality, and the silence is as deafening as the danger is pronounced.

Courtesy: theguardian 

Police Powers for the North in Sri Lanka

By Darshana Ashoka Kumara 

While responding to the statement made by the Northern Chief Minister -- requesting more Tamil-speaking policemen to the North -- IGP N.K. Illangakoon noted that under the present constitution it is not possible to form police forces in ethnicity lines. In his view, country’s police is one and same for all the communities in the island. Newly appointed Chief Minister of the North C.V. Wigneswaran in his inaugural speech highlighted that “Policemen serving in the north with no Tamil language skills and cultural understanding was an annoyance for a long time,”

One of prime appeals of the Tamil National Alliance for a long time is police powers. The TNA was also pointing out that the 13th amendment ,which formed the provincial councils, grants the rights to have separate police and land powers for the provincial councils themselves.

But the UPFA led government and its coalition partners continued attacking on the TNA for promoting ideology of separatism. But, C.V. Wigneswaran, a former Supreme Court judge, rejected the claim by the government that the TNA is making attempts to divide the country and form much sought after Tamil Eelam of the LTTE.

Separatist ideology of the LTTE is still alive and the international network of the LTTE has been advocating for a separate land for a long time.  This was reflected in a statement made by Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran.

“We, the people of Tamil Eelam, have an inherent right to self-determination. Subject to Genocide at the hands of successive Sinhala national governments and as an essential measure of protection we wish to establish our own independent and sovereign State of Tamil Eelam.”

Preamble to the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter

Visuvanathan  Rudrakumaran, a lawyer by profession, currently based in the US, was the former International Legal Advisor to the late LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

As per the 13th amendment to the constitution, devolution of police powers will give birth to 'Provincial' police forces that come under the direct purview of the provincial administration. Hence, the TNA ,which secured a re-sounding victory over the other parties contested for the Northern Provincial Council, is requesting a separate police force for their administration in the North.  It is clear that the TNA is a sympathizer of the LTTE, overtly. The LTTE was a military organization that waged a war against the central administration and its tactics to achieve the goal were quite ruthless and could simply be labelled as terrorism. Therefore, the US itself branded the LTTE as the most ruthless terrorist outfit of the world -- some leading countries in the world, including some members of the EU, banned the LTTE.

Granting police powers to the TNA is still not the most viable solution for the country, as the TNA continues to listen to LTTE ideology. So, giving police powers to the Northern political block is susceptible to result unexpected outcomes.

Under the name of the police force, the Northern administration will be free to buy out arms sans approval from the central government.

Also, Sri Lanka's issue is not just a matter of the island -- but pretty international as the place where Sri Lanka, itself, is positioned is geo-strategic. At a very quick look, it able to understand this is an issue immediately connecting to the interests of China, India and Sri Lanka. Moreover, this issue does not restrict to China, India and Sri Lanka, in a larger picture as it is a matter of global politics. The US and the western block is throwing the weight over the Indian ocean and Eastern part of the world as the region is re-emerging as the economic powerhouse of the world. Also, China is quite ambiguous nation and working on some military projects, too that are not transparent enough to the outer world.

This is clearly stated by Rudrakumaran himself.

“Asia has become the most important political geography in the 21st century. President Obama’s policy of “Pivot to Asia” highlights this. As observed by diplomats and geo-political experts the island of Sri Lanka is strategically situated in the Indian Ocean. As we stated in our Advisory Committee Report published in 2010 March that the TGTE is conscious of the strategic location of the island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean and the geo-political situation in South Asia and elsewhere in formulating its political strategies. We believe that the Tamil political interest and the geo-political interests of the democratic powers can intersect and thrive.”

Hence, in the roadmap of the US and the West relating to the forthcoming Asian mission the northern tip of Sri Lanka is possible to be quite significant field. Therefore, existence of a provincial administration which has powers to handle armoury to some extend could be a danger to the central administrations of both India and Sri Lanka. In conclusion, the TNA is not still a ready enough to be granted with police powers as it is listening to the LTTE. But, in a day , the TNA is working in a more moderate milieu granting police and land powers  for the betterment of the people in the North will not be a crime.

The Hindu: From Dynasty To Plain Nasty

The shocking spectacle of Siddharth Varadarajan, the Editor of The Hindu, being forced out of his post by a cabal of its owners is a brutal reminder to journalists all over the country that however fine a professional you may be you will always remain at the mercy of media proprietors.

Just around two years ago when N. Ram, the then Editor of The Hindu, passed on the mantle to Varadarajan, a highly respected and independent journalist, he had touted the move as a radical shift away from being a family run outfit to one headed by professionals.

Ram’s motives were neither clear nor very noble, engaged as he was in a bitter struggle with his siblings over control of the newspaper. Still, for the newspaper to move away from its long tradition of tight family control was a welcome
, positive departure in a land where dynasties run everything from politics and religion to cricket and cinema.

Unfortunately, this flowering of corporate democracy was not to last too long. Ultimately the family managed to strike back with a vengeance, ganging up in a Board of Director’s meeting to demote Siddharth from the post of Editor to ‘Contributing Editor and Senior Columnist’ prompting his immediate resignation.

In a statement published in The Hindu, Ram justified the move as being due to ‘recurrent violations and defiance” of both the institution’s business and editorial values, without explaining what this really meant. It was also not clear at all whether Siddharth was ever given a chance to defend himself before the Board acted against him.

The key vote against Siddharth at the meeting incidentally came from N.Ram himself, for whom his former protégé’s independence may have been a bit too much to bear. Ram’s own tenure for years as Editor of The Hindu had seen the newspaper go from being a conservative but balanced newspaper to one full of glaring biases.

The Hindu’s whitewash under N.Ram, of the atrocities of the CPM government in Nandigram or the Mahinda Rajapakse regime’s genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils in Mullaivaikal, will forever go down as among the sorriest episodes in journalism anywhere. Ram’s refusal to give even a millimeter of space to anything that went against his political or business prejudices bordered on the maniacal, though one truly unsavory characters to get regular and ample coverage then was Subramaniam Swamy- with whom he apparently shared a common ‘love’ for China.

In sharp contrast Siddharth brought refreshing change to The Hindu, with some of the finest editorials on a wide range of themes to be ever written anywhere in recent times appearing on its pages in the last two years. Very courageously, he also opened it up to varying viewpoints and people – from Dalit intellectuals to anti-nuclear activists- who normally never get a say in much of the Indian media.

Thanks to Siddharth, for the first time ever, the ‘Mahavishnu of Mount Road’ got off His pedestal and became accessible to ordinary mortals. Under professional leadership The Hindu actually became what it has always pretended to be earlier - but never was – engaging, democratic and progressive.

Within The Hindu today there are stories doing the rounds that the Board’s action was a ‘pre-emptive one’ and motivated by a case filed by Ram’s friend Swamy challenging Siddharth’s eligibilty to be editor of an Indian newspaper as he was a ‘foreigner’. Siddharth is supposed to be a US citizen but this was obviously known when he was appointed and besides, in a country run by people with Indian passports and hearts in Washington, does it really matter?

Another story being spread is that The Hindu in the last couple of years took too hard a line against Narendra Modi and there was no distinction between ‘editorial’ and ‘news’ anymore. The Hindu’s coverage of anti-nuclear protests, particularly the Koodankulam issue in southern Tamil Nadu, is also supposed to have spelt his doom.

N Power, N Modi or N Ram- we will never know which one of them was really the cause of Siddharth’s ouster. The fact however remains what The Hindu has done to its former Editor is the public humiliation of a professional that should not just be condemned but challenged by journalists everywhere.

To let it go unchallenged would spell the end of the slenderest possibility that remains of the Indian media being an instrument of telling any truths and offering space to anyone of courage and integrity. The petty assertion of dynastical privileges in The Hindu goes to the heart of everyting that is wrong with Indian democracy today and should be resolutely resisted by all who value its survival.

Satya Sagar is a journalist and public health worker based in Santiniketan, West Bengal. He can be reached at sagarnama@gmail.com

Sachin Tendulkar to Retire After Playing His 200th Test Match Against West Indies

His bat will rest, not his legacy. By choosing the stage for his final walk to the crease, Sachin Tendulkar has followed in the footsteps of Sir Donald Bradman. One of the finest batsmen of the modern era has, like the great Australian, given his fans a chance to be part of his retirement.

The privilege of picking the final day on the cricket field had eluded the likes of Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble.

It has not eluded Tendulkar, though. He has always played cricket on his terms. It is hardly surprising that he is quitting on his own.

The clamour for his retirement, sometimes uncharitable, did hurt him. It was becoming increasingly difficult for someone, so used to entering the field to delirious chants of “Sachin, Sachin” to depart in deathly silence. The failures with the bat had become frequent and the evenings lonelier.

Universal phenomenon

Tendulkar was a universal phenomenon. Fans queued up outside Lord’s on the midnight prior to the match to catch a glimpse of him. In Australia, he was more popular than its icons. Even the Australians thought he was a better batsman than Bradman, though Tendulkar was never comfortable with that comparison.

In the West Indies, where he did not really have the best of times, he was as popular as Brian Lara. Pakistan’s legends never shied away from glorifying him as the greatest either. He was a cricketer with an international appeal.

It was tough to be Sachin Tendulkar. “Very tough,” he had confessed once. He rarely celebrated triumph, but always brooded in silence when the team failed.

The burden of expectations weighed heavy on his shoulders for a major part of his career. “You get Sachin, you get India,” was a line adopted unfailingly by the opposition. Often were they proved right.

It was Tendulkar’s character that epitomised his cricket. He never put a foot wrong. No colleague remembers Tendulkar venting his anger in the dressing room. No dissent on the field, no sledging. He remained a picture of dignity at the crease, playing the game as Bradman did, with the team’s interest above his own.

Vulnerable moments

Tendulkar did have his moments of vulnerability, as seen in his recent cheap dismissals. But he ensured that they did not impact the team’s interests. Bad umpiring decisions hurt him the most, but he took them in his stride, suffered them in silence.

He did not do as well as captain. It was largely because he expected similar commitment and intensity from lesser mortals, from men less gifted.

One remembers the painful night in Barbados in 1997, when tears rolled down his cheeks as India had lost a match it should have won. He was inconsolable, unable to come to terms with the result. However, like a true leader, he never blamed anyone for the debacle.

He never brought disrepute to the game. He not just upheld but enhanced cricket’s culture with his exceptional contribution with the bat.

For a generation that raved about Gavaskar and Amitabh Bachchan in different fields, Tendulkar was the biggest star, uniting the nation with his deeds in cricket arenas all over the world.

Tendulkar was the reason cricket survived the wounds of match fixing. He is the reason the game has thrived with people flocking the stadium for just this man.

The zeal

His zeal for the game was such that he was ready to bowl even at the most crucial of moments, especially the last over, even bowling a bouncer at Shane Warne in a Test match.

Adam Gilchrist savaged all bowlers but could never get the measure of Tendulkar, who could bowl spin and pace and everything in between. He could field anywhere; he was a fine out-fielder too, a quality that is often overshadowed by his stupendous batting records.

He married his tremendous talent with rare discipline, always honing his skills. He was always the first to give credit to team members.

He often hailed Laxman for his ability to bat with tailenders, and had words of high praise for Zaheer Khan after a record-breaking last-wicket partnership with him. He said a hundred times that it was a “pleasure” to watch Virender Sehwag bat, and how Dravid always inspired him.

Bradman received a standing ovation when he walked back for the final time in a Test. Let us accord Tendulkar, our boy from Bandra, the same respect that the boy from Bowral got, and celebrate his humungous impact on the game. Like Bradman’s average of 99.94, Tendulkar’s 100 international centuries will stand the test of time.

One hears the line, ‘The game will not be the same’ when an icon retires. It had never rung truer.

Timeline of Achievements

Feb 23-25, 1988: Tendulkar (14) and Vinod Kambli (16) compile a 664—run unbroken partnership for Shardashram Vidya Mandir against St Xavier’s at Azad Maidan, Mumbai. Kambli remains ubeaten on 349 not out and Tendulkar scores 326 not out. It remains the highest partnership recorded in any form of cricket, until in November 2006.

Dec 11, 1988: Makes first-class debut at the age of 15 and scores an unebaten century against Gujarat at the Wankhede Stadium. Becomes Youngest Indian to make a hundred on first—class debut.

Nov 15, 1989: Makes his Test debut in Karachi against Pakistan at the age of 16. Makes 15 on debut.

Dec 14, 1989: Suffers a bloody nose in the last Test in Sialkot after being hit by Waqar Younis. Makes 57 in the innings.

August 14, 1990: At the of 17 years and 112 days, becomes the then second—youngest to score a Test century. He scores 119 not out against England at Old Trafford which helped India to get a draw.

April, 1992: Signs up for Yorkshire and becomes the first overseas signing for the English county.

Nov 27-28, 1992: Becomes the youngest player to score 1000 Test runs at the age of 19 years and 217 days after he scores 111 in India’s 227 in Johannesburg.

Feb 11-12, 1993: Gets his first Test century (165) at home against England.

Nov 24, 1993: The world saw the first glimpse of Tendulkar as a match-winning bowler. Bowls India to sensational last-ball win against South Africa in the Hero Cup semifinal. South Africa needing six runs to win off the last over, Tendulkar gave them just three, and India a victory.

March 27, 1994: Opens the innings for the first time in an ODI aggainst the New Zealand. Scores 82 off 49 balls.

October 1995: Becomes the richest cricketer in the world after he signs up a five—year contract worth Rs.31.5 crore with WorldTel.

Feb-March, 1996: Plays his first World Cup at home and scores 523 runs at an average 87.16 and becomes the highest scorer.

Aug 8, 1996: Becomes the Indian captain at the age of 23.

Jan 2, 1998: Sacked from captaincy after a 15-month stint during which India won just three of 17 Tests.

Feb-March, 1998: In the best of his form against Australia in a home Test series and also gets his maiden double hundred. He also scored two hundreds and a fifty in the three-Tests series that India won 2-1.

July 28, 1999: Gets back his captaincy after Mohammad Azharuddin is sacked for India’s failure to reach the semifinals of the World Cup in England.

March 20, 2001: Scores a thrilling century in the deciding Test in Chennai and denies Australia the “final frontier”.

March 31, 2001: Becomes the first payer to score 10,000 runs in ODIs en route to his 139 against Australia in Indore.

Nov 19, 2001: Fined by match referee Mike Denness for ball tampering. The decision was later overturned after an outcry by the Indian cricket board.

Aug 22-23, 2002: Surpassed Don Bradman’s tally of 29 Test centuries. Misses double-century by seven at Headingley, but India win by an innings and 46 runs.

February-March, 2003: Scores 673 runs at 61.18 in the World Cup and also takes India to sniffing distance of winning the crown. His 98 against Pakistan was one of the best knocks played by Indians at World Cup. Australia are the champions, but Tendulkar is named the Man of the Series.

Aug, 2003: Is presented with a Ferrari 360 Modena for going past Bradman’s 29 Test centuries.

Jan 2-4, 2004: Scores 241 in Sydney, one of his best, even as Australia manage to hold on for a draw, and the series ends 1-1.

Aug, 2004: Suffers from tennis elbow during the Videocon Cup in Holland. Misses the Champions Trophy in England, and then the first two home Tests against Australia.

March 16, 2005: Scores 52 against Pakistan and becomes the fifth man to score 10,000 Test runs.

May, 2005: Goes for the surgery for the tennis elbow.

Dec 10, 2005: Becomes the highest centurion in Test cricket as he overtakes Sunil Gavaskar’s 34 en route to his 109 against Sri Lanka in Delhi.

March 19, 2006: Is booed at the Wankhede Stadium after he was dismissed for duck in 33 minutes against England in Mumbai.

March, 2006: Again goes under the knife. This time for surgery on his right shoulder in England.

May, 2007: For the first time in his career, Tendulkar is rested for the three-ODI series in Bangladesh.

Jan 4, 2008: Scores an unbeaten 154, against a major Test playing nation in two years and 19 Tests, against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

March 2, 2008: Sachin scores his first ODI century in Australia, in first of the CB Series final.

Oct 17, 2008: Surpasses Brian Lara’s record of most Test runs against Australia at Mohali.

Nov 5, 2009: Gets to 17,000 runs during his 175 off 141 balls in a 351-run chase against Australia in Hyderabad. India fall short by 19 runs.

Feb 24, 2010: Becomes the first player in the history of the game to score 200 in a single innings in a one-day international. He took 147 deliveries to power India to 401 and a 153-run win against South Africa.

Oct 2010: Tendulkar bags his first ICC award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

Dec 19, 2010: Gets his 50th Test hundred against a difficult South African attack in Centurion.

April 2, 2011: Realises his childhood dream of winning the World Cup that too at his home town of Mumbai and at the Wankhede. India beat Sri Lanka to win the World Cup for the second time.

March 16, 2012: Gets the 100th international century, scoring 114 in an Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in Mirpur. But India lost the match. The century came after 34 innings and more than a year after scoring his 99th international hundred.

Dec 23, 2012: Just minutes before the selectors were set to name the squad for the ODI series against Pakistan, Tendulkar announces his retirement from the format. Tendulkar finished with 18,426 ODI runs and 49 hundreds, well clear of any other batsman.

Oct 10, 2013: Tendulkar announces his retirement from Test cricket. Courtesy: The Hindu