“Castling” is a unique movement on the game of chess. Under a special circumstance, the “king” and the “rook” (the “castle” in the 17th century England, the “chariot” elsewhere) exchange their positions. As a result, the king earns safety while the rook becomes more accessible to the center board. This “castling,” therefore, symbolizes the mobilization of chariots. Chess is a game of strategy and warfare, and the column aims to analyze and recapitulate them like chess. Of course, this column by no means “encourages” warfare.

Furthermore, “castling” was invented around the 14th or 15th century, and the European Renaissance started about the similar time period. By that time, the “queen” was introduced to chess which, in my opinion, symbolizes the gender equality (or better at least on the chess board as the “queen” is the strongest piece on chess).

Another interesting introduction in chess was the “bishop” which had been the “elephant.” Next to the “king” and “queen,” the “bishops” reside. Religion, therefore, is also an important aspect of my column as it often influences on political conflicts.

Of course, I do not forget other pieces, namely the “knight” and “pawn.” I interpret the knighthood as one way of moral conduct and an example of leadership. The “pawn” is the people, always moving forward. The “pawn” is the weakest piece on chess, but also the most creative piece as it evolves into any other pieces (except the “king” - because we do not support demagogue). This evolution reminds us the famous quote from Pascal: Man is but a reed, the weakest in the nature, but one is a thinking reed.

To cut a long story short, in order to carry out “long castling,” one needs to move the queen, bishop, and knight before the movement. In order to move them, you need to move the pawns in front of them. Hence, in order to carry out warfare, one needs to deal with social equality, religion, and leadership, while one cannot achieve anything above without thinking about the people’s advancement. This metaphor is the crystal of this column.

I kept checking the menu and checking the people from time to time. The place was not crowded but yet full of life. I looked around and saw waiters hurrying by, couples arguing loudly, kids running around the tables happily, mothers chasing their kids angrily….

And there across the tables, I saw him. He was close to the glass panel that day light made his eyes shine so brightly. The moment I laid eyes on him, I couldn’t take them off. He was gorgeous, completely amazing; the most beautiful being I ever seen.

I wondered if he had noticed me too. I couldn’t help not smiling at him when he looked my direction. I was so excited he smiled back at me. He kept flashing those dazzling smiles at me and I felt happier. The waiter came and blocked my view for few seconds. I drove him away gently and told him I’ll wait for my friends. I looked hurriedly at this beautiful face again and decided to wave at him. His smile was wider and he waved back at me. I was even happier.

My friends came and completely blocked my view as they sat down. I looked at the menu then back at him and thought: That must be the cutest baby I ever seen in my life.

It was 9 pm; the sun had already set and the moon was ready to take shelter under the stars. He had just left the office and was walking towards his car. The dancing trees were conveying that it would be a windy night. He was about to unlock his car when he realized a piece of paper flying in the air towards him. It whirled for a while thinking where to stop its journey. Getting slower by every second, it fell just in front of his feet. He stared at the paper, thought for a second to take it or not; then took the paper. The moonlight being there, he tried to see what it was. The handwriting was enough to make him dizzy, he immediately came to know it was her and he continued reading the rest with a heavier pain in heart aching more on each word:

“Dear You,

Although I did not mention any name, I bet as soon as you touch this piece of paper, you will come to know that this special letter has just been written for you and I bet you won’t be surprised as you have been used to my such letters all throughout the period we used to be together. Letters which were full of cries, full of begging, declaring how much I love you…Letters showing how much I need you, miss you, how much I long for you…Letters asking about solutions, resolutions, a way-out assuming you had the same feelings…And I bet before starting to read this one, you will have an anxious smile on your face not being able to decide whether you need to be sad or happy over these emotions which are also indecisive whether to reflect a smile or a cry changing mood on each word on every new page.

You are already fed up with all these unnecessarily said words, aren’t you? I always tried to render myself through words but these words have been inescapably incapable of capturing you, they have been far away from gripping your heart. Now you must be asking “if you are aware of this fact, why are you still writing?” To be honest even I don’t know the answer. I don’t write for a try or re-try, I don’t write with any kind of expectation, I don’t write to feel you between lines as I used to, I don’t write to cheer up remembering the past either.
Simply I write for nothing. May be it has been my habit making me feel alive, time to time reminding me that I still survive after you.

Frankly speaking, during the period I was away from you, I felt like a wreckage of a tired body, like a wounded soul in an unexpected crash. Now I consider myself as a mental patient who has just recovered from her illness.

If you are already bored, stop reading at this point because the rest will smell more past. It is my duty to warn you as you don’t need to endure all this as an outsider to my heart.

You know what, I wish I could convert this imaginary letter into a real one but unfortunately I even don’t know where you are living exactly and the chances that a mail-bird finding your way is quite less. That reveals a fact at this step, which is in fact I am writing this letter to myself!

When I look back (which I should not do according to you), I realize one thing—I did not ask for the permission to enter your life out of blue, in an unexpected way, and similarly you did not ask me either while leaving my life. So I guess we are equal now…

You know that the way we contacted each other or connected to one another was quite limited. But I suppose I always found a way to create a huge world for myself from even a word written or said by you, like whenever I heard your voice, I asked myself “What do I hear in his voice?” The reply was always the same: “The rest of my life!” However, a life with you is deemed to be a dream forever; a dream to be had but not to be turned into real.

Last night I was reading a book, suddenly a small piece of paper fell out of it. It was a note written by you three years ago and it was saying:
“Close your eyes,
Take a deep breath,
Hold your breath as long as you can,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Now take a breath,
I missed you as much as you missed the air.”

Naturally I couldn’t stop a drop of tear although I know how much angry you feel when I cry. Past keeps whispering to me such small anecdotes day and night letting me live every moment with you again and again no matter good or bad! What about present? Well, my present means only long waits…waiting for a sign proving that you were REAL, that what I had with you was truly SINCERE…

Your picture is in front of me right now, you are looking at me with your olive-like eyes. Your smile is embracing me; you are so close to me and far away at the same time, sometimes I feel as I can reach you by only one step, at other times you are oceans away! There is still so much to say that I would like to but no point…let them be entrapped in me.

Now before ending this letter I am putting a faded smile on my face hiding all the evidence of this love which is still at the level of madness. I always knew I had to be patient on the way I chose to walk!

Dear you, this is the end, may be my last paragraph in your life but not the last sentence. As I am so sure that you won’t read this letter, I can clearly, madly, enthusiastically scream or cry my last sentence without being shy or feeling embarrassed:

‚Tum bhi mujhse pyaar kar lo1’Yours forever…”

It was 9 pm when she was lost in dreams in front of the window. Suddenly she felt a relief inside as if her letter so that her words had reached him and tugged his heartstrings at last. She said to herself “it is too LATE now!” She had already swallowed the handful of pills…

After finishing the letter he felt as if his soul was taken away from his body. He thought he was totally misunderstood by her all throughout. He regretted as he had never disclosed his heart, never tried to explain anything, stayed as dull and silent as a wall…He decided to take a step to make himself clear to her so he would call her tomorrow as it was too LATE now!

1 “Please you too love me.”

Author’s Note: The characters, events, and the emotions within this letter are totally imaginary; any similarity, connection, reminiscence or resemblance is completely accidental or coincidental…

One can never forget the soft touch of someone’s hands

Its been decades
I used to write to her

Sitting at the corner of a shiny night
In that hazy glitter of a pointed moon
To her I would write
All the chores of today
All the hopes of tomorrow
And fasten those silent conversations to an even more silent piece of paper
I would go to her door to drop it off

She would take the letter from me
And I
For just that very moment
Would touch her hand
And let that soft ray of a human touch
Sink into my fingers

But fingers today
Don’t write letters
They type emails

Today, one sits in front of a shiny box
Presses a few buttons
And all the conversations
In an instance
Roam from one door to another
And sometimes
Same words
Knock at too many doors to make a meaning

They don’t write letters anymore

Holding that fading memory of a soft touch
Clutching his palms ever so tight

That old gloomy postman
Is thinking
I wonder how
People feel each other anymore

The End

Again, this is originally an Urdu poem, translated into English. And thus losing quite a bit in translation.

Traditional evidence based on macro economic data draws an inflated positive relationship between investment in road transport infrastructure and economic development. Recent studies based on the developed world moderate this impact by exemplifying that a rise in infrastructure investments by 3-4% percentage points of GDP reduces poverty by 0.6–1% annually (Asian Development Bank, 2007).

In the following paragraphs, I will start by discussing the theoretical and empirical groundings of the above phenomena, followed by a case study evaluating the impact of various road infrastructure projects funded by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in The Peoples Republic of China. Finally, I have proposed some policy directives in line with the discussion.

Theoretical and Empirical discussion

Theoretically speaking, an improved connection between the core and periphery regions, driven by investment in physical infrastructure should make it easier for the periphery producers to supply the goods to the large market (core + periphery). In addition it should increase their access to better education, health and social services. This was the wisdom behind the projects implemented by the Asian Development Bank in Thailand and India. However, evidence does not support this hypothesis at least in the short run. This is because it can be argued that infrastructure alone, without a major institutional change in the developing world would rarely contribute much to the positive long term prospects of the poor as noted by the Asian Development Bank. On the other hand, it would expose the region to competition from much more advanced products and markets, driving the local periphery producers out of businesses, subsequently deterring their livelihood.

The following is reiterated by evidence from the European Union, where the institutional framework within which the regions work is better relative to the developing world, however the results are similar. Evidence on Trans-European high-speed rail network (Vicker, Pierkermann, Wegner, 1997) and road network showed that the periphery gained more in absolute terms in comparison to the core mainly due to their low starting point, but the relative gap between the core and the periphery increased, hence greater inequality (Gutierrez and Urbano, 1996). This contradicts the reasoning for the projects, primarily based on reducing regional disparities and increasing efficiency. The above phenomena can be explained in light of new economic geography, which claims that firms gain from clustering together as long as the agglomeration forces (market access hence transportation cost) out-weight the dispersion forces (labour cost/mobility and congestion cost).

Generally speaking, in a location where there are many firms, each firm will earn a normal profit due to high competitiveness in the region. Hence there will be an incentive for firms to disperse and locate in different regions. On the other hand, they may cluster together to benefit from increasing returns to scale in the presence of imperfect competition and falling transportation cost. However, mobility of labour plays an important role in the above, if labour is mobile coupled with low transport cost this will reinforce benefits of agglomeration. Hence, clustering in the core and reinforcing the existing disparity. On the other hand, if labour is immobile or relatively immobile, accompanied with low transport cost, firms may relocate to gain from wage differentials (Puga, 2000).

However, this may not be the case in the real world, due to the presence of wage rigidities, minimum and maximum wage schemes, therefore the differences may not be reflected through wages. Hence, in the presence of relatively immobile labour, low transport cost (enhanced by investment in infrastructure) and mobile capital, the benefits in favour of agglomeration may outweigh the cost leading to increased polarization and disparity between the core and the periphery (Midelfart and Overman, 2002). This sheds light on the economic reality present in Pakistan, where low labour mobility can be a factor exemplifying the concentration of industrial activity in a few regions of Punjab and namely Karachi in Sindh, relative to the country as a whole. Similar is the case in Europe relative to the United States, where economic activity is concentrated in some parts of the continent explained through low inter/intra national mobility.

Furthermore, not only will economic activity influence the amount of transport investment required, the latter will subsequently rebound and influence economic activity through changing travel duration and frequency, hence both would evolve by feeding on each other.

At this point, a pertinent question is whether investment in transport infrastructure is actually reducing the true cost of transportation and enhancing economic activity. In other words, is it a good proxy? This is an important question as oil and gas prices have hit an unprecedented high without a sustainable long term reverse insight, and other sources of energy are failing to keep pace with the rising demand. Figures from the US cross national freight activity exemplify this reality, through falling transportation of goods by road, within national boundaries as noted by the Economist earlier this year.

Furthermore, what is the role of road and rail transport in an age where technology is exponentially multiplying and new modes of communication and contact are continuously evolving. In the post modern age, quality rather than the cost of transport is the most important factor in international freight, especially high value goods, therefore infrastructure investment targeted at reducing transport cost may not be fruitful. On the other hand, although enhancements and the rising scope of telecommunication may have reduced the need for personal travel, it has also served to create new markets. In addition, globalisation and integration of world markets into regional blocks has further instigated the need to divulge into transportation services.

Case study: Republic of China

Here we will consider the case of the Peoples Republic of China presented by the Asian Development Bank (2007) based on evaluating the impact of the various road projects implemented during the last 2 decades in the country to interconnect different core and periphery regions. As a generalization, low transport cost helped the poor in absolute terms in the form of lower input cost for farm and non-farm products, in addition they benefited from access to health, safety, security, education and information services. However, the poorest of the poor such as the handicapped, illiterate, chronic disease did not benefit much, not at least in the short run, as their poverty was depended on other factors.

In addition, the less productive may further suffer due to increased competition from the core market. In effect, better transport helped the individuals who were best or most able to mobilize their assets. Therefore, although all benefited in some direct or indirect way, there remained a feeling of inequity. Improved transport services seem to have increased the productivity of the poor, specifically in the regions where they are not captive and indebted through a middleman or a monopolised transport system. Transport alone does not help the poor, there needs to be a focus on enhancing the investment climate of the region which will further increase the benefits to the local community.

It was further found, that the impact of poverty varied between different regions, as it was correlated to the local conditions in the particular area. In regions where there is exhaustive agriculture opportunity, poverty reduction is independent of transport services and is dependent upon the ability of the locals to migrate to richer regions and reap the benefits of China’s economic growth and send remittances back home. However, if indirectly better transport can facilitate this process, it will have a positive impact on reducing poverty. On the other hand, this further boosted the economy of the elite regions as they were complemented by cheap labour and the increase in the share of the informal economy supporting the mainstream market.

In other rural areas of Yunnan Province with high potential for developing commercial crops, improved rural-road access enabled poor households to rise from poverty by growing and marketing such crops, attaining contracts from the main land etc. When comparing the provision and economic benefit of express ways and construction of local roads, the difference in the cost of construction compared with the economic return shows much higher returns from local roads in terms of poverty reduction. On the other hand, the gross increase in activity nationwide is higher through expressway (S. Fan, 2005). However, evidence from the United States shows that although highways increase activity in regions they cut through, they deter activity in regions in close proximity.

Therefore, the overall level of economic activity in the area is unchanged (Holl, 2006). An important point to note is that the amount of road infrastructure investment may be set against current industrial activity, however not only will economic activity influence transport investment, the latter will subsequently rebound and influence economic activity as well, through changing travel duration and frequency. On the whole, both would evolve by feeding on one-another.

Policy Recommendations and Conclusion

After a comprehensive coverage of the issue concerning transportation investment and its impact on inequality it should be noted that policy makers need to effectively balance their priorities by keeping a broader comprehensive outlook towards the issue of development, as transport infrastructure in isolation may not reap the intended benefit of social cohesion. Therefore, the predominant focus on efficiency (increasing the size of the income pie) needs to be countered with an equating priority to equity (equal distribution of the income pie), in the European context, a redistribution mechanism such as the EU structural fund which specifically focuses on investment in human capital and enhancing the flexibility of the target population (Pose and Fratesi, 2004).

To maximise the intended gains:

Firstly, a balanced strategy focussed on related pillars of local development namely human capital; local firm competitiveness; and foreign direct investment should also be given appropriate priority (Rodriguez and Tomaney, 2006).

Secondly, prices and wages should be market driven hence differences in wages should represent the respective market condition of each locality rather than artificially created equations (Midelfart and Overman, 2002).

Thirdly, there should be priority given to rural development plans, which energize the incentives of the local population rather than a pure move towards a first best mindset which deters from context.

Fourthly, with respect to the third world and given their low starting point, incentives to enhance investment of existing industries in the area should be encouraged, in order to increase the opportunities as well as the quality of jobs, therefore applying the true focus of economic development for the local and immobile in the region. However the appropriate recommendation can only be made in context of the geography of discussion.

Finally, it is important for policy makers to package these reforms with a set of complementing policies focussed on institutional capacity in order to maximize, sustain and disperse dividends.

Therefore, having considered the above case and the existing literature at the regional level, it can be concluded that investment in infrastructure (as undertaken today), would in absolute terms have a positive impact on the have-nots, which supplemented by complementing policies may trigger further long term economic development benefits for the region.

However, economic gains attained by infrastructure alone in the periphery would always be overshadowed by the much larger gains in the core. But then again the multiple social tickle down effects maybe far more valuable for the periphery than any economic quantification can forecast in the short or long run, as exposure and access leads to rising awareness and the proposition of a better life.

She woke up earlier today although it was weekend. She opened the curtains to a white world and started to watch the snow even without blinking her eyes. Each time a snowflake reached the ground and melted in the soil, she remembered him. Each time a snowflake was gone with the wind in the air carelessly here and there, she remembered him. And each time a snowflake fell onto the window smiling at her with a soft and calm move, she remembered him.

It was her birthday so the time was not proper to think about him, to remember him or frankly speaking to miss him. That would put her into an expectation, expecting a call for her birthday as his velvet-like voice, his warm smile contrasting to the cold whether would be the best gift she could ever have in her entire life, yet he had forgotten her last birthday.

She looked at the watch, it was 8 am. She tried to calculate the time in Ontario. It must have passed the midnight. He must have been sleeping already. For a short while, she got lost in her mind surrounded by the thoughts all about him. She thought they never watched the same moon at the same time, they never blinked at the sun at the same time, they never got wet under the same rain, and they never breathed the same air or never felt the cold face of the same snow…

That was nothing more than nonsense. She always thought she ended this issue in her mind months ago but her heart was against her as usual. Trying to divert her attention from him to something else she took a few steps towards the kitchen. All of a sudden she realized something on the carpet. A hairclip with blue-pink butterfly on it, the pair of which was sent to him a year ago in an envelope full of love and hope. Now she did not have enough courage to take it from the ground or to handle the situation itself. Right now this tiny hairclip let her dig her past deeper and deeper. She remembered how they used to imagine a day to spend together. A day in Ontario, on a lonely street buried into silence with the snow covering the whole city.

They would be walking hand in hand slowly, silently feeling each other more on each step. They would let the snow hide their footprints they left on the snowy road.

He would be smoking at the same time. She never had any special reason but she always had the impression that he looked more charming while smoking. After a long walk they would be sitting on a cold bench not even minding its being wet by snow. They would be looking each other’s eyes searching for the traces of love more and more until feeling satisfied. Her nose would be reddish due to chilling wind and he would warm it by rubbing his nose onto hers. That would let her feel his breath on her face…

These daydreams were going on for hours each time they called each other and just before they end the call, they used to repeat their promise given by heart: “No matter what happens, no matter where we are, no matter how old we are, no matter with whomever we are, we will meet at least once before we die!”.

She heard his voice echoing in her ear as if it was just whispered. She realized the bitter truth of the world once again. Different nations, different cultures, different religions, and parents isolating their children from this “difference”.

The voice in her ear carried on: “I know we have no end but I promise you I will be yours and only yours forever. Can you promise me as well?”

She whispered to herself “I promise”.

As soon as she finished her sentence the phone rang. Before daring to hear who it was, she checked the time again. It was 8:45 am. She picked it up. That familiar soft voice:

“Happy Birthday Ducky!”

Although she was longing for this call, hence waiting for it, she was shocked and had no words to speak. For a while they stayed silent. Then the guy carried on:

“Don’t you want to know about your birthday gift?”

“Even this meant a lot. Thank you for your nice behavior.”

“No, no…ask about your gift!”

“Ok then, what is my birthday gift?”

“A flight ticket!”

“Ticket? For me?”

“No, actually for myself.”

“For yourself? Ok, but to where?”

“To you!”

Just then another snowflake fell on the window slipping downwards smiling at her…

She glanced at the old grandfather clock on the wall and remembered her mother preparing the afternoon meal. It had been months since she had last seen her parents. She reminisced of that rainy evening when she was blinded by an unforeseen storm, that which changed her life forever.
Since then…life had become a debauched ritual. She closed her eyes and imagined…polka dotted frocks, colorful hair bands, schoolbags, innocent smiles, fragile fingers, …and suddenly a mammoth hand pressed down violently on her face and numbed all cries… clouds of sweat accumulated on her forehead…she shuddered. The daily ritual ended after a few minutes.

The sun looked down at her. The shadows of the grilled structure on the casement reflected on her face. She lay on the floor, dead, her body wrapped in red, her fingers tightly holding on to the silver pendant that hung from her neck.

[Dedicated to all those children who have been a victim of sexual abuse, to every unfortunate parent who lost their children or a close one to this dreaded crime. For the rest, this is a warning bell, it is time to wake up and realize the concerns of our children and stand up in guard to preserve a secured future for them.]

No living man knows what death is like. Seeing pictures of the deceased/ wounded in the newspapers or on the television is petty. No one knows what happens next after one’s gone. Those deaths are accidental and merely planned by God.

However, what hits one with great surprise and emotional disturbance is the suicidal death. It is that one stage in a person’s life when he becomes exceptionally tired to live another day. He becomes so weak and doomed to failure that at this point, suicide is his only answer – the point when he breaks the mirror of his fears into countless pieces and walks over them daringly. He feels no need to tell anybody about what he is going to do next. Perhaps, this is the only time when he thinks about HIMSELF most selfishly and leaves no room for any sort of interference.

I know when a man decides to sit down one day and finish himself and all boundaries of undue tolerance, he must be unafraid of God – for suicide is an unpleasant act in His eyes without any argument. He must be a coward as he chooses to leave the people behind to deal with the mess. Lastly, he must be a loner, unaided and figuratively dead already before committing suicide.

If the issue has become very fragile and you are feeling suicidal now, please stop long enough to read this. I do not wish to talk you out of your bad feelings. I am not a therapist or other mental health professional; only someone who knows what it is like to *feel* suicidal. I do not know who you are or why you are reading this page. I only know for the moment, you are reading it, and that is good! I can assume some of you are here because you are troubled and considering ending your life. If it were possible, I would prefer to be there with you – to sit with you and talk face to face and heart to heart. But since that is not possible, we will have to make do with this.

Well, you’re still reading, and that’s very good. I’d ask you to stay with me for the rest of this page. I hope it means that you’re at least a tiny bit unsure, somewhere deep inside, about whether or not you really will end your life. Often people feel that, even in the deepest darkness of despair. Being unsure about dying is okay and normal. The fact that you are still alive at this minute means you are still a little bit unsure. It means that even while you want to die, at the same time some part of you still wants to live. So let’s hang on to that, and keep going for a few more minutes.

Start considering this statement:

“Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.”

This means that you can survive suicidal pains if you do either of two things; find a way to reduce your pain or find a way to increase your coping resources. BOTH ARE POSSIBLE!

1. You have to believe that people do get through this — even people who feel as badly as you are feeling right now. Statistically, there is a very good chance that you are going to live. I hope that this information gives you some sense of hope.
2. Give yourself some distance. Say to yourself, “I will wait 24 hours before I do anything.” Or a week. Remember that feelings and actions are two different things - just because you feel like killing yourself, doesn’t mean that you have to actually do it right this minute. Put some distance between your suicidal feelings and suicidal action.
3. People often turn to suicide because they are seeking relief from pain. Remember that relief is a feeling. And you have to be alive to feel it. You will not feel the relief you so desperately seek, if you are dead.
4. Suicidal feelings are, in and of themselves, traumatic. After they subside, you need to continue caring for yourself. Therapy is a really good idea. So are the various self-help groups available both in your community and on the Internet.

Well, it’s been a few minutes and you’re still with me. Im really glad!

Since you have made it this far, you deserve a reward. The gift you will give yourself is a coping resource. Remember, back up near the top of the page, I said that the idea is to make sure you have more coping resources than you have pain. So let’s give you another coping resource, or two, or ten…! Until they outnumber your sources of pain. Here are a few online links that can be helpful to you a great deal.

• How serious is our condition? …”he only took 15 pills, he wasn’t really serious…” if others are making you feel like you’re just trying to get attention… read this.
• Why is it so hard for us to recover from being suicidal? …while most suicidal people recover and go on, others struggle with suicidal thoughts and feelings for months or even years. Suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Recovery from grief and loss …has anyone significant in your life recently died? You would be in good company… many suicidal people have recently suffered a loss.
• The stigma of suicide that prevents suicidal people from recovering: we are not only fighting our own pain, but the pain that others inflict on us… and that we ourselves add to. Stigma is a huge complicating factor in suicidal feelings.
• Resources about depression …if you are suicidal, you are most likely experiencing some form of depression. This is good news, because depression can be treated, helping you feel better.

Other readers, if you know someone who is suicidal… or if you would like to be able to help, if the situation arises, learn what to do, so that you can make the situation better, not worse.

• Handling a call from a suicidal person …a very helpful ten-point list that you can print out and keep near your phone or computer.
• What can I do to help someone who may be suicidal? …a helpful guide includes Suicide Warning Signs.

And lastly …take care!

First of all, I give my sincere sympathy toward those who lost family, friends, and houses. Regardless of their nationality, we need to help those victims of power politics. Moreover, I pray for those who lost their lives in the madness of war. Today, the way to the heaven is clouded by the Georgians, Ossetians, and even Russians who believed their leaders were doing the right thing. Those who lost lives are not guilty of this chaos: let us not forget them.

Second aspect I would like to point out is that “right” or “wrong” means little in a war. Even if the Georgian act of “retaking” South Ossetia is “right,” this “rightness” diminishes in front of the massive casualties. Given the fact that Russia has more tanks, ships, airplanes, and soldiers than Georgia, this operation in South Ossetia is a tactical and strategic mistake (even immoral, I think). Moreover, Tbilisi, hours before the attack, declared the cease fire unilaterally and broke it in the morning of 8th August. There are some reports that the Russian Air Force bombed small villages before the Georgian attack took place (and thus, implying legitimate retaliation). Yet, the remaining fact is that Tbilisi committed military actions hours AFTER the cease fire declaration (which was not officially accepted by South Ossetia) and the operation was conducted without prior diplomatic efforts with the United Nations.

Third, Russia has the right to intervene as there are many Russian citizens in South Ossetia. I am not going to legitimize the Russian position on the “peacekeeping” role: that is a different issue. But, one thing for sure is that as Russian citizens in South Ossetia were attacked by Georgia, Russia has the right to protect them. Once again, there is possibility that Russia provoked Georgia. Even so, Georgia should have considered that Russia would attack once Georgia launched offensive operations.

Lastly, some assume that Tbilisi was expecting stronger international support, possibly military intervention by NATO. However, as all political leaders were in Beijing attending the Olympic ceremony, such assumption seems fragile. On the contrary, Tbilisi might have assumed that Russia would react slowly given the Olympic condition. Prime Minister Putin, however, was in Moscow.

At last, Russia does not have the right to overthrow the Georgian government. As Russia had been the one who accused the American approach in Iraq, Russia should know at least on the rhetoric. That said, the fact that Georgia attacked South Ossetia without prior diplomatic consensus with the United Nations puts Georgia in a weak position. This was NOT a unilateral invasion by Russia into Georgia as anti-Russian media reports. It was a military conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia in which Russian citizens were involved. It looks like an invasion because the Russian Army and Air Force were overwhelming. Russia even moved the Black Sea Fleet for economic sanction against Georgia. As Georgia ceased fire, such aggressive actions by Russia are no longer necessary. Thus, it is high time to negotiate and to start the reconstruction of the “society of the people” - not the “territory of (some) nationals.”