Forum

«Karš bez noteikumiem»

2012-02-02T10:18:54-08:00

...«mūsu pašu vēstures izpratne sāk atgādināt kaimiņvalsts spoguļattēlu»...

Visu gaišu… un siltu,
/P

Wisława Szymborska, 1923 – 2012 ... & ...

2012-02-02T06:21:59-08:00

In recent days, many have died due to the extreme cold in Eastern Europe. See Džons’ weather thread.

There has also been a cluster of deaths in the poetry and art worlds. Dorothea Tanning, last of the Surrealists, after 101 brilliant years. Her work has influenced me deeply since adolescence.

Closer to home, Wisława Szymborska. Šimborskas dzejolis Ulža Bērziņa atdzejojumā.

Lai viņiem vieglas smiltis.

The Arts Diplomacy Festival 2012

2012-02-09T06:43:27-08:00

Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
The Arts Diplomacy Festival

22nd - 25th March 2012 - Berlin, GERMANY

The Arts Diplomacy Festival 2012 will explore how the arts can be used to change theory into practice and express, create and improve social awareness and diplomatic relations. The arts include a variety of mediums through which emotions and culture can be expressed: music, art, literature and sports, to name only a few. The program will examine how the arts can be used within the field of cultural diplomacy to initiate intercultural dialogue and cooperation through movement, thought and active expression.

The Arts Diplomacy Festival 2012 is the brainchild of Cultural Diplomacy in Practice (CDP), a department within the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. CDP is predicated on the ICD’s philosophy that diplomacy must transcend mere discussion and include practical implementation of theory for the reason that sometimes actions speak louder than words: Cultural diplomacy must show rather than tell.

Popular art forms have a unique ability to bring people from disparate backgrounds together by underscoring shared values. The Arts Diplomacy Festival intends to demonstrate the underutilized power of art and physical expression to further the cause of cultural diplomacy.

The program will consist of lectures, seminars, debates and panel discussions featuring leading figures from international politics, diplomacy, academia, civil society, and the private sector. The Festival will also showcase the performances of artists, musicians and performers from all over the world and include a full day of practical workshops devoted to planning for future initiatives.

The Arts Diplomacy Festival 2012: Cultural Diplomacy in Practice
Cultural diplomacy relies upon thorough dialogue between disparate nations and cultures as a tool to promote a global peace and stability; however, there remains a tendency within the field to let the development of theory overshadow the practical elements necessary for implementation. The Arts Diplomacy Festival aims to explore how the arts; particularly music, fine arts and literature, sports, gastronomy, academia, religion and politics can be utilized by and delivered to governments, businesses and universities in an active practical, informative and effective way of communication and expression.

Martins Vanags: Neasimiletais Karins

2012-02-01T10:14:15-08:00

According to Martins Vanags, Karins thinks that making Russians into Latvians is a priority; democracy can wait. He (Karins) has espoused his views in an interview with Playboy magazine.

Mārtiņš Vanags: Neasimilētais Kariņš
„Mums vajag, lai tie krievi, kas šeit aug, uzaug par latviešiem. Jā, patlaban tā ir politiski ķecerīga doma. Mums vajag saprast, ka integrācija ved uz asimilāciju, un tam ir jābūt mūsu mērķim – asimilēt viņu bērnus.” Eiropas Parlamenta deputāts Krišjānis Kariņš intervijā žurnālam Playboy 2012. gada janvārī.

Latvijas latvieši mēdz sevi uzskatīt par „īstajiem” latviešiem un visai atturīgi uztver cilvēkus, kuri latviski runā ar akcentu. Tādiem cilvēkiem veltītā atzinība – „Cik viņš labi runā latviski!” – norāda uz vērtējumu no pārākām, gluži vai latviskuma eksperta pozīcijām. Latvijas latvieša pārākums tiek vienlīdz vērsts gan pret trimdas latviešiem, kuri lielākoties runā ar amerikāņu akcentu, gan pret krieviem, kuri latviski runā ar krievu akcentu. Cilvēks var būt lieliski apguvis latviešu valodas gramatiku un plašu vārdu krājumu, bet vienmēr paliks kāds „nedalāmais atlikums”, kas šķir „īstu” latvieti no latviešu valodas zinātāja. Vietējais latvietis latviešu valodu nav „iemācījies” vai „apguvis”, tā viņam piemīt dabiski, kā iedzimts dotums. Savukārt akcents ir kā nolemtība, kuru nav iespējams pilnībā novērst. Kārlis Streips vai Krišjānis Kariņš latviešu valodu pavisam noteikti pārzina labāk, nekā vairums Latvijā uzaugušu latviešu, taču viņu akcents, kas pirmajā gadījumā ir gandrīz vai izzudis, tomēr vietējiem liek viņus uzskatīt par nedaudz svešiem.
Minētais nošķīrums labi parādās vietējiem latviešiem raksturīgajā ieradumā atdarināt amerikāņu vai krievu akcentus, savā lokā pārspīlējot to smagumu. Pat niecīga izrunas atšķirība, kas mērķtiecīgi uzsvērta, kalpo par atskaites punktu, lai noteiktu cilvēka piederību savējiem vai svešajiem. Var nobrīnīties, cik spontāns un gluži vai pašsaprotams arī inteliģentu un iecietīgu cilvēku vidū ir ieradums atdarināt viņa akcentu, ja saruna ievirzās ievirzās par kādu „neīstu” latvieti. „Īstie” latvieši gluži vai tīksminās, ka trimdas latvietis vai Latvijā uzaudzis krievs visdrīzāk nekad nespēs atbrīvoties no akcenta, savas izrunas stigmas.
Tāda veida attieksmi Freids savā darbā „Civilizācija un tas neapmierinātība” dēvē par „nelielu atšķirību narcisismu”, kas viendabīgai cilvēku grupai liek kritiski vērtēt cilvēkus, kuri no viņiem atšķiras niecīgi, - daudz kritiskāk nekā tos, kuri no viņiem atšķiras būtiski. Krievs, kas latviski runā ar akcentu, mums var šķist svešāks vai bīstamāks nekā tumšādains etiopietis, kurš par latviešu valodu nekad nav dzirdējis. [...] Krievu vai trimdas latvieti ar kaut vai ideālu latviešu valodu mēs nekad neatzīsim par „īstu” latvieti, jo tāds atzinums sakristu ar iedālā latvieša bojāeju. [...]
[...] Asimilācijas piekritēji balstās pieņēmumā, ka nacionālisma ideoloģija Latvijā ir svarīgāka par pārstāvniecisko demokrātiju. Kad politiski nepareizās partijas Saskaņas Centrs vēlētāju asimilētie bērni – „bijušie” krievi – iestāsies t.s. latviskajās partijās, tikai tad šos vēlētājus varēs laist pie varas. Kad krievi vairs nebūs krievi, tiks „atļauta” viņu reāla piedalīšanās Latvijas politikā, tas ir, nokļūšana valdībā. Tā sakot, vispirms padarīsim krievus par latviešiem, demokrātija pagaidīs.
Varētu jautāt, kādēļ gan Eiropas Parlamenta deputāts savu asimilācijas vīziju ir darījis zināmu tieši žurnālā Playboy. Intervijā Krišjānis Kariņš min, ka nekad nevarētu kļūt par francūzi vai vācieti – lai arī apguvis viņu valodu, kultūru un vēsturi, „es nekad nekļūšu par vienu no viņiem”. Diemžēl Amerikas latvietis Kariņš aizmirst piebilst, ka – saskaņā ar paša aizstāvētajiem tīrās latvietības kritērijiem – viņš nav kļuvis un arī nevar kļūt par vienu no „īstiem” Latvijas latviešiem. Tas Krišjānim Kariņam ir kopīgs ar Latvijas krieviem, kuru bērnus viņš grasās pilnīgi latviskot. Mudinot asimilēt Latvijas krievus, eiroparlamenta deputāts Kariņš vienlaikus vēršas pats pret sevi, stigmatizē savu klaida latvieša statusu un akcentu. Vai tā būtu traumas internalizācija? Šķiet, ka visa veida libido atbrīvotājs žurnāls Playboy mums ir ļāvis uzzināt par Krišjāni Kariņu vairāk, nekā viņš, iespējams, vēlas par sevi atklāt. (žurnāls Rīgas Laiks, 2012. gada februāris, autors Mārtiņš Vanags)

“The Suffering Olympics”

2012-02-02T10:11:18-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/opinion/the-suffering-olympics.html

‘The Suffering Olympics’
By ROGER COHEN
Published: January 30, 2012

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA — The “double genocide” wars that pit Stalin’s crimes against Hitler’s are raging in wide swathes of Europe and every now and again along comes a gust from the past to stoke them. The 70th anniversary this month of the Nazi adoption at Wannsee of annihilation plans for the Jews provided one such squall.

Yes, the past is still treacherous beneath Europe’s calm surface. Memory swirls untamed in the parts of the Continent that the American historian Timothy Snyder calls “Bloodlands,” the slaughterhouses from Lithuania to Ukraine that Hitler and Stalin subjected to their murderous whim.

To mark the Wannsee anniversary, over 70 European Parliament members, including 8 Lithuanians, signed a declaration objecting to “attempts to obfuscate the Holocaust by diminishing its uniqueness and deeming it to be equal, similar or equivalent to Communism.” It also rejected efforts to rewrite European school history books “to reflect the notion of ‘double genocide.”’

All of this was too much for the Lithuanian foreign minister, Audronius Azubalis, a conservative, who blasted the Lithuanian social democrat signatories as “pathetic.” His spokeswoman declared that the only difference between Hitler and Stalin was the length of their mustaches. She said legal qualifications of the crimes they committed were “absolutely the same”: genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Azubalis’s outburst reflected the rancor in states of the former Soviet Empire over their perception that, in the United States and Western Europe, Hitler’s slaughter of the Jews is amply memorialized while Stalin’s murderous crimes — before, during and after World War II — garner far less attention. Where, they ask, is the U.S. museum memorializing Stalin’s terror?

The Prague Declaration of 2008, signed by various luminaries including the late Vaclav Havel, attempted to address this by insisting that Communist crimes “must inform all European minds to the same extent” as Nazi crimes. It called for the establishment of Aug. 23 (the date of the 1939 Hitler-Stalin pact) as “a day of remembrance” for victims of both Nazis and Communists, just as Europe “remembers the victims of the Holocaust on Jan. 27th.”

We are witnessing what Antony Polonsky, a professor of Holocaust studies at Brandeis University, calls “the suffering Olympics.” As the Middle East tells us, these are a dangerous form of games.

By the time of the Wannsee conference most of the more than 200,000 Jews in Lithuania had already been slaughtered with the active help of Lithuanian police units and others. This was a bloody business beside ditches in forests: Gas chambers were a means to alleviate the emotional strain on overtaxed killers.

Post-Soviet Lithuanian history has then involved sincere but faltering attempts to deal with a thorny question: Were Lithuanians chiefly perpetrators (of Nazi crimes against Jews) or victims (of Soviet crimes against the nation)?

In an interview I asked the Lithuanian prime minister, Andrius Kubilius, this question. He said there had been “some misunderstanding” over Azubalis’s remarks and that, “It’s absolutely clear that Holocaust crimes are unique crimes, terrible crimes.” He added that it was a “very painful and shameful thing” that “some Lithuanians took part in that.”

Kubilius continued, “It’s obvious that Stalinist crimes were also very terrible and painful, although you cannot compare them,” citing Snyder’s estimate that 14 million people were killed between Berlin and Moscow in the 12 years Hitler and Stalin were in power. “A lot of them were Jews,” Kubilius said, “but also a lot of other people.”

The prime minister accused Russia of a “post-imperial syndrome” blinding it to Moscow’s crimes. Asked if Russia should pay reparations to Lithuania, he cited postwar Germany, which “understood its responsibilities.” On whether a formal Russian apology would be a good thing, he said, “Absolutely, not only for us but for Russia, too.” He called coming to terms with the past a “litmus test” for Russia.

Latvian language can only be defended and maintained in Latvia

2012-01-16T17:05:27-08:00

Vienīgā vieta uz pasaules, kur to sargāt un kopt kā vienīgo valsts valodu, ir mazā Latvija.

From this:-

http://www.tvnet.lv/zinas/viedokli/406780-diza_krievu_nacionalisma_dieviskais_uzdevums

also available in English:-

http://www.tvnet.lv/zinas/viedokli/407245-great_russias_divine_nationalistic_mission

A place to see before dying…

2012-02-07T12:33:03-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/travel/1000-places-to-see-before-you-die/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

Who to trust Kremlin or Russia Greenpeace? Fire at Nuclear research institute!

2012-02-05T17:44:23-08:00

http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/252012-russian-nuclear-power-plant-burns-moscow-beware/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW8oKtJvVJw

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/05/russian-nuclear-facility-fire-poses-no-risk-officials-say-greenpeace-calls-situation-extremely-dangerous/

http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/252012-russian-nuclear-power-plant-burns-moscow-beware/

http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/debate+Canada+What+safe+level+radiation/5994285/story.html
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/debate+Canada+What+safe+level+radiation/5994285/story.html

«Izļodzījies vai izļodzīts?»

2012-01-23T23:45:23-08:00

...«parādās hroniska Latvijas politiķu kaite divdesmit gadu garumā – ļaunuma sakni meklēt kaut kur ārpus sevis»...

Liānas Langas raksts par valodu.

Visu gaišu,
/P

Let’s talk about the weather

2012-02-01T17:31:48-08:00

I was born and lived most of my life in England where they talk about the weather all the time. As I accept the fact that cultural assimilation depends primarily on numbers, and as there are a lot more English than Latvians in England, I had no choice but to become culturally English, just as a Latvian that grew up in the USA is largely culturally American. So, I have no choice but to talk about the weather.

It’s cold here, -25c (-13f) with a promise of -30c (-22f) tomorrow night. Should get a little warmer Monday.

Džons