Thailand ‘will not’ return Burma refugees

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Karen children at a refugee camp in Thailand (Reuters)

By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 8 October 2010

Thailand’s foreign ministry has denied reports that it is planning to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Burmese refugees after the 7 November elections.

Kasit Piromya, Thailand’s foreign minister, told reporters in New York last week that a “comprehensive program” was being planned “to prepare them to return to Myanmar [Burma] after the elections”. But a statement issued by the foreign ministry yesterday said that subsequent media reports were a “misinterpretation” of Piromya’s remarks, and that “there existed no such plan”.

It said instead that Thailand is to “help better prepare Myanmar people now residing in Thailand, including Myanmar displaced persons in terms of training, education and capacity building”, although did not clarify what they were being prepared for.

“The objective is to ensure that these people can return home with dignity, be self-reliant, and participate and contribute meaningfully to their country’s development when the situation in their country becomes conducive for their eventual return, whenever that may be,” it finished.

Some 145,000 refugees, the majority from Burma’s war-torn Karen state, live in camps along Thailand’s border with Burma. Kasit said however that “the intellectuals that run around the streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai province” will also be included included in the repatriation.

Thailand may still be feeling the burn from the condemnation that plagued its forced return of Hmong refugees to Laos earlier this year, as well as the furore that surrounded its plan to send 3000 displaced Karen back to Burma in February.

While much of the world has slammed at the looming elections in Burma, Thailand has asserted that opportunities exist for democratic transition, although Kasit acknowledged that conditions may not be altogether free and fair.

The foreign ministry statement said that Thailand “has consistently been supportive of the democratisation process in Myanmar, and the upcoming general election in November 2010 is a crucial step, which could lead to national reconciliation and unity there”.

The sentiment has been echoed by the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Surin Pitsuwan, who said on Wednesday in Singapore that “there will be a new Myanmar after the election because there will be a new group of people”.

Critics of the current junta say however that the elections, Burma’s first in 20 years, will be a sham, and that the same military leaders will call the shots after the vote.

Author: FRANCIS WADE
http://www.dvb.no/news/thailand-%E2%80%98will-not%E2%80%99-return-burma-refugees/12129
09.10.2010

Is the grand design within our grasp?

Alan Boyle writes:More than a decade ago, British physicist Stephen Hawking said there was a 50-50 chance that a unified "theory of everything" would be discovered in 20 years' time. Now Hawking thinks the theory has been found.

In "The Grand Design," he and co-author Leonard Mlodinow explain why a concept called M-theory offers the only path they can see to understanding the universe's grand design. Hawking got a lot of click traffic earlier this week for his observation that God wasn't needed to explain the origin of the universe. But his claim that "M-theory is the unified theory Einstein was hoping to find" could be, if anything, more scientifically controversial.

"Stephen often overstates the case, and that's fine," said Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University who's coming out with his own book about the ultimate questions of physics next year. "That's by virtue of the fact that it's hard for him to go into detail because of his medical condition. Because of that, he makes brief, blunt statements. It's almost like the Bible. Whenever he says anything, people jump on it."

M-theory is a key jumping-off point for "The Grand Design." The string theorists who came up with the term have never agreed on exactly what the "M" stands for, although the words "membrane," "matrix," "mystery" and "magic" have all been floated as possibilities. My favorite explanation is that M-theory is the "mother of all theories."

Pulling strings
String theory suggests that the fundamental constituents of reality are not pointlike particles (such as the concepts we have for protons, neutrons and electrons) but are more like tiny strings vibrating at different "frequencies." Such ideas can be used to make linkages between gravity and the other fundamental forces in physics, but only if you build 10 dimensions into the picture.

Theorists found that five different strains of string theory explained how the universe worked, from five seemingly irreconcilable perspectives. But if you added one more dimension to the picture, effectively turning the dimensional dial up to 11, everything made sense. The five perspectives could be seen merely as different ways of expressing the same super-theory. That's what's known as M-theory.

Hawking and Mlodinow may make it sound as if M-theory has to be the theory of everything, but Krauss says it's too early to declare "M-Mission Accomplished." One big issue is that M-theory makes more than one prediction about the nature of the universe. In fact, the number of predictions it makes is somewhere around 10 to the 500th power. That's a 1 followed by 500 zeroes.

"On the surface, that sounds like a bad thing," Krauss said. He has observed that this kind of string theory isn't so much a theory of everything as it is a theory of anything (or a theory of nothing). But most scientists have come around to the view that the multiplicity of M-theory's predictions is actually a virtue. Seen from this perspective, it may be that anything is possible when it comes to creating universes. We just happen to be in a universe where all the lottery numbers have added up to win what astrobiologist Paul Davies calls the "cosmic jackpot."

"Interestingly enough, what people are hanging onto is the lack of ability to make predictions," Krauss said. "It turns a wart into a beauty mark."

What Krauss finds exciting is that there could be ways to verify that something can come from nothing — which is the point behind Hawking's claim that God isn't necessary to explain the universe's creation.

Physicists have noted that the positive energy contained in particles and the negative energy represented by gravitational attraction appear to balance out precisely. "Empirically, we can actually have evidence that the universe came from nothing. One of the key things is that the total energy of the universe is zero, which is only possible if the universe came from nothing. It could have been otherwise. It could have been not zero," Krauss said.

The concept of a zero-energy universe and getting something from nothing may sound crazy, but this article from Mercury magazine and this video of one of Krauss' lectures, both titled "A Universe From Nothing," show that the ideas has been percolating among scientists for years. Such ideas are central to "The Grand Design," as well as to the book that Krauss is currently in the midst of writing.

"This is very premature, because we still don't know what M-theory is," Krauss told me. "The interesting question for me, ultimately, more than this metaphysics, is whether we'll be able to empirically answer these questions. Science has gotten to the point where there's the hope that we'll be able to turn some of this metaphysics into physics."

Mlodinow agrees with Krauss that M-theory still has miles to go, but he says it may be as close as science can get to the fabled theory of everything. The Caltech physicist has collaborated with Hawking for years — not only on "The Grand Design," but also on "A Briefer History of Time," a streamlined version of Hawking's classic work. Mlodinow has also done science writing as a solo act, as the author of "Feynman's Rainbow" and "The Drunkard's Walk."

During a telephone interview, Mlodinow told me that "The Grand Design" was truly a joint effort, in which he and Hawking traded, debated and restated each other's prose. "Everything was pretty much passed back and forth, so actually it would be hard to identify which one of us wrote what," he said. "In fact, at times where I've tried, I've gone back to my computer to see — and sometimes I'm wrong."

Thus, Mlodinow is as good a source as Hawking for insights into the meaning of "The Grand Design." Here's an edited transcript of our Q&A:

Cosmic Log: In the past, Stephen has talked about the quest for a theory of everything. The book makes it sound as if it's not so much one theory of everything, but a series of theories for different model-based views of reality. Do you get a sense that it's going to be possible to come up with one unified theory of physics?

Leonard Mlodinow: Well, the book is about why the laws of nature are what they are, and where the universe came from. We do say in the book that we believe the unified theory is M-theory. So we not only believe that it's possible, but we believe that it's here.

Q: But M-theory is an array of different perspectives on reality, and one of the things about that approach is that one model works for one scale, or one sphere of physics, and perhaps another theory – I don't know whether you'd call it a subtheory, or another perspective – works for a different one.

A: M-theory is the most general quantum theory that would include gravity, using the constraints that we feel need to be employed — for example, that it's finite and would make reasonable predictions. Whether it's a single theory or a network of theories is not yet known. I think Stephen feels that there's a good chance it's a network of theories, which is what we see today. Where they overlap, they agree. In other areas where they don't overlap, they make their own predictions. Stephen believes that's OK, and we shouldn't be disappointed if the final theory is a network of theories. According to model-dependent realism, all that is OK. It's just the way reality is. You can't ask which of the theories in that network is more "real."

Q: Do you have a slightly different point of view? Because it sounds as if you're presenting Stephen's view as distinct from your own.

A: No, I agree with Stephen. We debated this idea of model-dependent realism over quite a period of time. I'm saying that just because I'm assuming you were interested in Stephen's opinion more than mine. But I'm happy to jump in as well.

Q: In the latter part of the book, there's some discussion about how God does or does not play a role in the big questions about the universe…

A: Well, people have always wondered about the big questions: Where did the universe come from? Why is nature the way it is? At first we had mythology to answer that question. I suppose people just made up stories, and they became the myths. Or they evolved. Later we had the religions that we have today, and philosophy grew up. People used applied reason, intuition and some small amount of observation as well – and came up with their own concepts on the answers to these questions.

Bantam Books

"The Grand Design" delves into subjects ranging from M-theory to God's role.

A few hundred years ago we developed this thing called the scientific method, where we come up with theories phrased in mathematics, and we require that they not only describe what we're looking to describe but also make further predictions that can be tested. Then we do experiments, and if we find that the predictions are not right, if they're not verified, then we alter or discard the theory.

In the book, we argue that this is a better method. It's led to the modern society that we have today – to vaccinations, computers, electricity, television, telephones, everything else. When you understand nature to that extent, you can apply it. Since you really understand what's going on, you can create all this technology, which you don't create based on mythology, philosophy and religious explanations.

As far as God goes, we describe our theory of where the universe came from, and why the laws of nature are as they are. And we show that with this theory, there's no need for a God to create the universe or to create the laws of physics as they are. All of this can come purely from physics, from science, from nature.

Q: There's always a question about "what happened before the big bang," or about the nature of time. Stephen dealt with that in "A Brief History of Time," and you helped with that vision through your work on "A Briefer History of Time." How does this book advance the ball?

A: One of Stephen's big ideas in this book is called "top-down cosmology." It's the idea that we should trace the history of the universe from the present time backwards — and that the universe has many histories because it's a quantum system. In "normal" physics, we work in a laboratory and we do experiments. We set up the experiment in an initial state, then we let it go for a while, then we do measurements on its final state — and we check predictions. The theory tells us how the initial state should develop, and then we make predictions about the final state.

We can't do that with the universe as a whole. We don't set up the initial state. We don't have a laboratory where we can control what's going on. We can't repeat the experiment and take the data. Also, the universe — since we believe in quantum theory now — is a quantum system.

In normal cosmology, people start with the initial state as if it were a laboratory — which it's not — and they use classical ideas, meaning that there's one history of the universe which they trace forward. Stephen believes that we should start from our observations now, because that's all we can do, and trace it backwards, taking into account the fact that the universe has many histories and not just one.

Q: Right, there's a discussion in the book about how the past is as much affected by quantum mechanics as the future is. So there's uncertainty about the past — which is counterintuitive. That must be a hard sell with normal people who say, well, I remember specifically what I had for dinner yesterday. We know for sure what happened in the past because of things ranging from human memory to the fossil record to the process of baryogenesis at the beginnings of the universe. So how can you say that there's a factor of uncertainty about past events?

A: Well, if you happened to have experienced all possible aspects of the universe for all of time, there would not be uncertainty. Quantum theory doesn't say that if you ate an egg, you might not have eaten the egg. Let's get that straight. What quantum theory says is that in between the times when we observe and measure, and interact in that way, these properties that we talk about have no meaning.

For instance, in classical theory, if you push a billiard ball down the table, and if no one is interacting with it or measuring it, it still has one path with a well-defined position at every time. Those properties exist. In quantum theory, if you push it and then no one interacts with it, you cannot in general say that it has a particular position and velocity at any time. In classical theory, we say that it has those properties, and when we measure it, we're just reading off those properties. In quantum theory, it's not correct to say that a measurement is merely reading off those properties. Rather, it doesn't have those properties when we don't measure it.

Now, if you had an egg yesterday, you interacted with the egg, and there's an egg there. When we look at the universe today, with top-down cosmology, we don't allow for the possibility that the moon is made of green cheese – because we already know that the moon isn't made of green cheese. We put in all the data of all our observations, and that prunes down the number of different histories that have to be taken into account. But where observations haven't been made, we don't.

So the vagueness of the past is the vagueness of things unmeasured in the past.

Q: Does that imply then that there will be no way to answer that classic question, "What happened before the big bang"? Because the uncertainty goes to an indeterminately high level?

A: No, it's not that. As you go backward in time, quantum theory, combined with general relativity, tells you that if you go back early enough in the universe, time ceases to have the meaning that we assign to it today. It ceases to act as we know it. So it's not a well-posed question to say, "What happened at the beginning of time?" — because time doesn't go back to the beginning.

According to general relativity, time and space exist under certain conditions. Quantum theory tells you that there are always fluctuations in empty space, and if you make the universe small enough, the fluctuations are great enough that the matter is squashed down enough that this affects the character of space and time itself. Time doesn't exist at that point. So the question doesn't make any sense.

Q: I know we're coming to end of our time — speaking of that — but do you hold out hope that humans will at some point understand the totality of the grand design? Or is the grand design something that our brains aren't just big enough to hold? Or is it something that is unknowable, because that's just the nature of the universe?

A: No, we believe that humans can understand it. That's the great triumph and the great miracle of the universe.

source:04.09.10.http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/03/5040535-is-the-grand-design-within-our-grasp

Chin Refugees in Malaysia (Part 1)

Out of the Frying Pan, But Still Next to the Fire

by Antonio Graceffo

July 26, 2010

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The dead corpses of two mangled Chin babies represent the hopeless desperation of people fleeing Burma.

Burma’s citizens stow away in the trunks of cars or hide their children on overloaded fishing boats, giving all of their worldly possessions to pirates and human traffickers in the often vain hope of reaching a foreign country that would give them refuge until they could be permanently resettled in a land of safety: the US, Canada, Australia, or western Europe.

For many, the desperate flight ends in death. For others, their brief moment of hope and first act of self-determination ends in forced slavery, prostitution, or detention.

For nearly all of them, it is a one way trip. They will never see their homes or their loved ones again.

Between 40,000 and 50,000 Chin are currently taking refuge in Malaysia. The hardworking volunteers of the Chin Refugee Center, Malaysia (CRC), operating out of a small office with almost no funding, do what they can help them.

The Chin people are one of the larger ethnic minorities in Burma. They come from Chin State, one of seven ethnic states. Chin State borders on India and Bangladesh. The population of Chin State is estimated at less than half a million. 80-90% of the Chin are Christian.

The Burmese junta subjected the Chin people to the same type of torture and abuse that they perpetrated against the Shan, Karen, Arakan, and other minority peoples. Refugees fleeing Burma tell of forced labor, rape, mutilation, execution and arbitrary detainment at the hands of the Burmese Army.

While many Chin chose to flee their home, others formed the Chin National Army to fight back against the Burmese government troops. The CNA based themselves out of Nagaland, in neighboring India, as a way of avoiding the Burmese army.

According to a Chin representative, “The Nagaland army of India is fighting for independence from India so they were hiding in Burma. The Indian government asked Burma to chase the Nagaland army out of Burma. The Burmese government asked the Indians to chase the Chin National Army out of India.”

This bilateral agreement, between the governments of Burma and India was essentially the nail in the coffin of the Chin National Army.

The Chin representative went on to explain that the fight was hopeless anyway. “They cannot fight [the] Myanmar army because it is one of the largest armies in the world.’

Including the Shan, Karen, Wa, and remnants of the Karenni and Chin and other ethnic armies, the total number of insurgents fighting against the Burmese junta would come to less than 100,000. The Burmese army, the tatmadaw, has nearly half a million troops.

“The Chin National Army is almost finished now. They also have their own families and had to go home to take care of their farms,” explained the Chin representative.

In Malaysia, the UNHCR is often the only hope that refugees have. If they can get official recognition as refugees, signified by the issuance of a UNHCR card, there is a chance that they can be resettled in a third country.

On a recent visit to the office, Victor Sang, the coordinator of the Chin Refugee Center, Malaysia told me that about 20% of the Chin refugees had been issued UNHCR cards. But recent attempts to get cards for their families had failed.

“Now the problem on the refugee side is once they get recognized as refugees they bring their family here. We cannot blame them,” says Victor. “If they have been recognized as refugees and if there is any hope, then they want to bring their family here.”

Victor showed me a photo of women and children horribly mangled in an auto accident.

“These are the families of refugees,” he said. “They were coming here to join their father. They were chased by Thai police who shot out the tires, and 29 people were injured, 13 of them killed.”

Among the images of twisted metal and shattered lives, the one that stood out the most was that of two babies, Chin infants who never had a chance at life. Their tiny lives were ripped apart before they had even begun.

Cultures and languages differ from place to place, but a mother’s instincts are the same everywhere. No mother would ever risk the lives of her fragile children by taking such a dangerous flight unless the alternative was unspeakable horror.

These two bloody babies encapsulated in a single image the reality of life in Burma under the junta. Things in Burma are so bad that you would risk your children’s lives to keep them out of the hands of the generals.

Apparently, the father was a Chin refugee in Malaysia who, seeing a mere glimmer of hope, had summoned his wife and children to join him. He had already lost everything when he left Burma, and now the junta had robbed him of his last happiness, his family.

“The father had to identify the babies,” said Victor solemnly. He was quiet for a moment, and then the grieving was shattered by the reality of the tens of thousands of people he was responsible for. “The survivors are all in detention in Thailand ….”

As desperate as life is for refugees in Malaysia, a large percentage of them never even get that far.

Chin State borders on India. So, to get to Malaysia, they must first cross Burma, then cross Thailand and walk all the way to Malaysia.

Some Chin flee to neighboring India. The first stop for Chin in India is Miseram, where Victor estimates there are 70,000 refugees.

“In India they have to go all of the way to Deli for their UNHCR card. It is very far and the process is very slow.”

The number of refugees is shocking. In India alone, Victor said, “There are 90,000 refugees waiting to get to Malaysia.”

Getting to Malaysia is a death defying feat.

“In December, 45 Chin died on the sea. The boat was struck by a fishing boat; possibly there was a dispute between smugglers so they rammed the boatload of refugees.”

For those lucky enough to make it to Malaysia, more woes await them.

“Life is very difficult for us here,” explained Victor Sang “Although we are recognized by UNHCR, we are not recognized by the Malaysian government.”

Another CRC administrator told me, “The Malaysian government doesn’t recognize the refugees as refugees. They recognize them as economic migrants.”

Victor said, “We live in fear of arrest. Almost continuously there are raids. The last three weeks on Sundays, especially in the area around the office there have been raids.”

Immigration enforcement raids in Malaysia are often carried out by RELA a sort of volunteer police force which acts more or less with impunity. There have been widespread reports of abuses by RELA, resulting in a wide range of organizations, from the UN down to the Malaysian Bar Association, who have asked the Malaysian government to disband what many see as a deputized band of thugs. Rather than disbanding, the group has now grown to a size rivaling that of the standing Malaysian military.

“We can get raided by RELA or stopped by police, and get arrested or asked for a bribe,” said Victor.

For refugees without a UNCHR card, which is the overwhelming majority, there is the threat of immigration enforcement. For all refugees, even those with the cards, danger comes from illegal employment.

“The UN doesn’t give any money for refugees, only if they are sick in hospital, and the assistance is 300 -500 Ringits per month.”

So the refugees are forced to work illegally in order to eat and pay rent.

“In terms of job, it is difficult, because the government doesn’t allow us to work even if we have the UNHCR card.”

Any refugee who is working is by definition breaking the law. But, with no support from other sources, work is the only means refugees have of feeding themselves and their families.

Apparently, there are some employers who accept refugees to work if they have a UNHCR card. But the salary is low and sometimes they get cheated.

“Most are working in construction sites or restaurants. Some refugees have been here 5 years and speak Bahasa. They can earn up to 70 or 80 (Around $21 to $24 USD) per day. But for others, they can only get 30 Ringits ($9.33 USD) per day.

The CRC doesn’t have a dormitory for the refugees, so most are living communally, renting a flat.

“We pay 1,580Ringits per month for a flat and have 40 people living in there. They live according to the village they came from in Burma or according to the dialect they speak. They share food. The one with no job have to eat too, so they share.”

Under current law in Malaysia, refugee children are not allowed to attend public school. So the refugees have organized their own schools. “We have around 40 community run schools for Chin children.”

The picture becomes bleaker and bleaker. There are between 40,000 and 50,000 Chin in Malaysia, who are not permitted to work; neither are their children permitted to go to school. About 8,000 to 10,000 of them have UNHCR cards, which, theoretically means that they are awaiting resettlement to a third country.

“The resettlement process depends on the resettlement countries. If they agree to accept more refugees, UNHCR sends more. But now, most host countries have decreased the number they accept. The total resettled is about 8,000 per year.”

“The US accepts the most, 7,000. Australia 500, Norway and New Zealand will take about 100. So, the resettlement rate is very low. The office is controlled by headquarters in Bangkok. Australia also has an office for refugees in their embassy.”

The rest of the Chin wait, and wait. “How long have they been waiting?” I asked.

“CRC was founded in 2001, but even before that there were refugees… As far as we know no refugee has been given Malay citizenship or residency card.”

So, resettlement is their only option.

http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/07/26/chin-refugees-in-malaysia-part-1/

26.07.2010

More North Korean Rockets Reported in Myanmar

The M1991 MLRS is a more powerful version of the older M1985. It has 22 launching tubes and fires the same 240-mm rockets. It has various warhead capabilities, including HE-FRAG, smoke, incendiary and chemical. A standard HE-FRAG warhead weights 90 kg and contains 45 kg of explosives. A claimed maximum range of fire is 43 km. (photo : Military Today)

More North Korean Rockets Reported in Burma

North Korean-made truck-mounted multiple launch rocket systems have been reportedly set up at Burmese army bases in northern, eastern and central Burma, according to military sources.

The North Korean rockets were recently delivered to missile operation commands in Mohnyin in Kachin State, Naungcho and Kengtung in Shan State and Kyaukpadaung in Mandalay Division, sources said. Missile operation commands were reportedly formed in 2009.

It is not clear when the multiple launch rocket systems were shipped from North Korea. However, military sources said delivery of rocket launchers mounted on trucks occurred several times in recent years.

Sources said they witnessed at least 14 units of 240-mm truck-mounted multiple launch rocket systems arrive at Thilawa Port near Rangoon on the North Korean vessel, Kang Nam I, in early 2008. Previous reports said Burma had purchased 30 units of 240-mm truck-mounted multiple launch rocket systems from North Korean.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, North Korea produces two different 240mm rocket launchers, the 12-round M-1985 and the 22-round M-1991. The M-1985 rocket pack is easily identified by two rows of six rocket tubes mounted on a cab behind an engine chassis. The M-1991 is mounted on a cab over an engine chassis. Both launch packs can be adapted to a suitable cross-country truck.

The Kang Nam I was believed enroute to Burma again in June 2009. However, it reversed course and returned home after a US Navy destroyer followed it amid growing concern that it was carrying illegal arms shipments.

However, more arms shipments from North Korea appear to have been delivered to Burma in 2009-2010. The latest report about a North Korean vessel's arrival was in April. The ship, the Chong Gen, docked at Thilawa Port. Last week, the junta acknowledged that the Chong Gen was at the port, but it denied involvement in any arms trading with Pyongyang, saying Burma follows UN Security Council resolution 1874 which bans arms trading with North Korea. The junta said the North Korean vessel came to Burma with shipments of cement and exported rice.

According to reports by Burma military experts Maung Aung Myoe and Andrew Selth, purchasing multiple-launch rocket systems is a part of the junta’s military modernization plan. While the junta has acquired 107-mm type 63 and 122-mm type 90 multiple-launch rocket from China, North Korea has provided it with 240-mm truck-mounted launch rocket.

Some experts have said North Korea is also involved in a secret relationship with Burma for the sale of short and medium-range ballistic missiles and the development of underground facilities. Other experts and Burmese defectors claim that North Korea is also providing Burma with technology designed to create a nuclear program.

Burma severed its relationship with North Korea in 1983 following North Korean agents’ assassination of members of a South Korean delegation led by President Chun Doo Hwan. The two countries restored relations in early 1990s and officially re-establish diplomatic ties in April 2007.

Source:

http://defense-studies.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-north-korean-rockets-reported-in.html
26.06.2010

Evidence points to Myanmar nuclear program

BANGKOK, June 7 (UPI) -- Myanmar's military dictatorship is working on nuclear weapons, a report by a Norway human rights and democracy group claims.

The evidence from Myanmar, formerly called Burma, is analyzed in a 30-page report by a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Robert Kelley, and published on the Web site of the non-profit Democratic Voice of Burma.

Myanmar is likely mining uranium and exploring nuclear technology that is "useful only for weapons," Kelley said in his report that focuses largely on evidence from one man, former Myanmar Maj. Sai Thein Win.

Kelley, an American nuclear scientist, has worked for five years with DVB putting together the report based on documents and hundreds of photographs from Win, a defense engineer who studied nuclear and chemical technology at the Moscow Institute of Engineering Physics and the Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology.

Win later worked in Myanmar factories where he was part of a team making prototype components for missiles, DVB said on its Web site.

"Sai contacted DVB after learning of its investigation into Burma's military programs and supplied various documents and color photographs of the equipment built inside the factories," DVB said.

"The investigation has also uncovered evidence of North Korean involvement in the development of Burmese missiles, as well as Russia's training of Burmese nuclear technicians."

The report said that Win is a "remarkable individual" who "came out to Thailand to tell the world what he has seen and what he was asked to do." Win "can describe the special demonstrations he attended and can name the people and places associated with the Burmese nuclear program."

DVB said that Win is supplying nuclear information in the same fashion as did Mordechai Vanunu, an Israeli technician at the Dimona nuclear site in the Negev desert. Vanunu took photographs of activities in Israel that allegedly related to nuclear fuel and weapons development. The photos were published in the Sunday Times newspaper in London in 1986.

Vanunu was abducted, tried in an Israeli court and sentenced to 18 years in prison for divulging state secrets.

Two companies in Singapore with German connections sold machine tools to the Myanmar government's Department of Technical and Vocational Education.

"DTVE is probably a front for military purchasing for weapons of mass destruction; that is to say nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the means to deliver them, largely missiles," the report said.

Win provided high-quality photos of German technicians installing the equipment and the Germans were suspicious that the machinery was for educational use because there were no schools or colleges in the area.

Kelley said the quality of the machine parts and the mechanical drawings were "poor" and "nothing we have seen suggests Burma will be successful with materials and components."

Kelley also said that if Myanmar was discovered to have a nuclear development program it should face international sanctions.

Myanmar having nuclear weapons would pose a proliferation risk in the region that lies between the nuclear powers of India and China. Many of their Southeast Asia neighbors have proclaimed the region a nuclear weapons-free zone.

Last summer an article in the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported that North Korea was helping Myanmar build a nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction plant as part of a program to build an atomic bomb by 2014.

Evidence from Myanmar defectors said the plant was inside a mountain at Naung Laing in northern Myanmar and close to a research reactor Russia agreed to help build at another site, the Herald said.

Last August U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern over Myanmar's suspected nuclear ambitions at a regional security meeting in Thailand.

Indian authorities had recently detained a North Korean ship and searched it for radioactive material. The MV Mu San dropped anchor off the Andaman Islands without permission and was believed destined for Myanmar.

Most of the Andaman Islands, between India and Myanmar, are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India while a small number of the archipelago islands belong to Myanmar.

The search of the ship was done under U.N. sanctions adopted in June 2009 after North Korea's atomic test the month before.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/06/07/Evidence-points-to-Myanmar-nuclear-program/UPI-98681275928380/
26.06.2010

It's time to stop the Myanmar junta's nuclear ambitions

Myanmar, formerly Burma, is a poor country with an economy in terrible shape and a population in poverty. Its junta, in collaboration with North Korea's Kim Jong-il regime, is trying to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that, if successful, will dramatically alter Asia's strategic dynamic.
In the footsteps of North Korea, the Myanmar regime is pushing ahead with ambitions to become a nuclear power. The ruling generals in Naypyidaw, Myanmar's new capital, are working on a secret program to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, according to confidential documents smuggled out of Myanmar by high-ranking military defectors.

"They really want a bomb, that is their main objective," said former Myanmar army major Sai Thein Win, who also served as the deputy commander of the Myanmar army's nuclear battalion.

North Korea is assisting Myanmar generals with their nuclear weapon programs. According to Brian McCartan of Asia Times, "Two nuclear reactors are believed to be under construction in Myanmar. One, at Naung Laing in central Mandalay Division, is being constructed with North Korean help. Several hundred Myanmar military personnel have undergone nuclear training in North Korea in recent years." Desmond Ball, a defense analyst at Australia National University, thinks the reactor could be online in 2012 and a deliverable weapon could be developed before 2020.

"In many ways, Myanmar is a parallel to North Korea," Aung Zaw, exiled Myanmar journalist and editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy, told Al Jazeera, "They live in fear of an invasion by the West and they want the ultimate insurance against regime change."

To make things worse, while Myanmar might be shunned by the West, the country's giant neighbor, China, is working closely with Myanmar generals. Since 1988, Myanmar has become China's closest ally in Southeast Asia and a major recipient of Chinese military hardware.

Beijing sees Myanmar as its "tribute state" to project China's military power into the region and safeguard its new trade routes through Southeast and South Asia. What is perhaps even more important for rulers in Beijing, however, is the "region's bounty -- Southeast Asia's biggest proven gas reserve in Myanmar's Shwe Field. Since 2008, massive works have begun on a pipeline to carry these riches to China," according to the Economist.

Unfortunately, most governments in the region are taking a laissez-faire attitude toward Myanmar generals' nuclear ambitions. Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the two most important regional organizations, are doing nothing to stop the military regime's nuclear program, in accordance with their principle of "non-interference." Japan's Myanmar policy, say Benedict Rogers, author of "A Land without Evil," and Yuki Akimoto, director of Burma-Info in Tokyo, is based on a "misguided view that appeasement will bear fruit. Tokyo is extending political and financial support to Burma's military regime to protect its own short-term economic interests."

Washington's policy toward the Myanmar military regime is, at best, ambiguous. "The Obama administration," writes Bertil Lintner of Far Eastern Economic Review, "has adopted a more conciliatory approach, sending emissaries to Myanmar to 'engage' the generals. But Washington also believes that concern over Myanmar's WMD programs -- and increasingly close ties with North Korea -- should be equally important considerations in any new U.S. policy towards Myanmar."

The Myanmar junta's nuclear ambitions have been known for years, but no one had done anything. It is time for the world to act and send a strong message of "no tolerance" to the paranoid ruling generals in Naypyidaw. An "engagement" strategy with Myanmar junta risks allowing another rogue state to go nuclear, a risk that the world cannot afford to take.

Naypyidaw junta's nuclear scheme might amount to little more than a monumental waste of state resources, but its probable failure should not be a reason for world leaders to regard such a development as negligible. Not only is the total outlay of Myanmar's weapon programs astronomical, running into billions of dollars, but also the world is starting to witness a "bunker mentality" nuclear arms race that represents a clear and present danger, with the rise of terrorist groups that are willing to pay any price for a device.

Source:: http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20100622/OPINION02/6220317
23.06.2010

Myanmar's nuclear ambitions Secrets will out

A defector’s reports seem credible so far as they go

Jun 10th 2010

RUMOURS that Myanmar is the next recruit to a shady nuclear and missile network that seems to link North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Syria and possibly others swirl intermittently. The missile link is clearest: in all these cases, including Myanmar’s, North Korea has either sold missiles or helped them build their own. But aside from an agreement in principle in 2007 for Russia to build a small research reactor for Myanmar, there has been little hard evidence of its junta’s nuclear ambitions. The recent defection of a former major in the Burmese army, Sai Thein Win, however, and the documents and photographs he brought with him, appear to confirm Myanmar’s intent, if not yet capacity, to enrich uranium and eventually build a bomb.

Sai Thein Win handed over his evidence to the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an émigré-run broadcaster based in Norway. The material has been analysed by Robert Kelley, an experienced former inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear guardian. His 27-page report has plenty of caveats: Sai Thein Win is a missile expert, not a nuclear boffin, and some of what he reports is hearsay; some drawings are crude at best; some equipment seen in pictures could at a pinch have civilian uses too. But experimental work on lasers that could eventually be used to enrich uranium and other equipment for making uranium metal, a necessary step in bomb-making, heighten suspicion. So do close links between supposedly civilian nuclear officials and the Burmese army’s “nuclear battalion”, officially the Number One Science and Technology Regiment.

All this and other evidence, Mr Kelley’s report concludes, lead to the inescapable conclusion that such work is “for nuclear weapons and not civilian use or nuclear power”. An earlier report, published in January by the Institute for Science and International Security, an independent Washington-based outfit, debunked some of the wilder rumours about Myanmar’s nuclear quest. But it also concluded that foreign companies should treat inquiries from Myanmar no differently from “those from Iran, Pakistan or Syria”. All are known purchasers of illicit nuclear equipment.

Myanmar has only a “Small Quantities Protocol” with the IAEA. This exempts it from regular inspections, on the government’s assurance that it has nothing to inspect. Sharper questions are now likely to be asked. The agency had already been trying to dissuade Myanmar and Russia from the research reactor. Sai Thein Win, who learned missile expertise in Russia, says that since about 2002 hundreds of Burmese scientists have trained in Russian nuclear institutes, including one formerly linked to the Soviet nuclear-weapons programme.

Sai Thein Win offers no new insight into the North Korean link. But Western intelligence agencies watch North Korea’s activities in Myanmar. There have been reports that a company associated with the construction of a secret nuclear reactor in Syria (until it was bombed by Israel in 2007 just before completion) has worked in Myanmar too.

Source:http://www.economist.com/node/16321694?story_id=16321694
22.06.2010

Pay attention to the plight of refugees, Govt told

Pay attention to the plight of refugees, Govt told

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar urged the Government to pay serious attention to the dire circumstances that refugees and asylum-seekers face in Malaysia.

It said Malaysia’s treatment of such people should reflect the highest norms of international human rights since the country joins the United Nations Human Rights Council from Monday.

The Bar Council’s Law Reform and Special Areas Committee chair Datuk M. Ramachelvam made the call in conjunction with World Refugee Day today.

While Malaysia is not a state party to the United Nations convention on refugees, he said the Govern-ment continued to co-operate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on humanitarian grounds.
In order for the Government and the UNHCR to put in place an appropriate legal and administrative framework for dealing with refugees and asylum-seekers in a more humane and less arbitrary manner, he said the Government should:

> State its adherence to the principle of non-refoulement (the protection of refugees from being repatriated to places where their lives or freedom are threatened);

> Stop arresting those already here for not having the documentation required by the Immigration Act or, alternatively, invoke the exemption provided under the same Act;

> Allow the registration of birth;

> Allow refugees to register their marriages with the Civil Registry using their UNHCR identity cards;

> Allow Muslim refugees and asylum-seekers access to the Syariah court system for family disputes;

> Give access to vocational schools for those under 18 years, and to tertiary education and public colleges/universities for qualified youth; and

> Ensure better access to health care services at and to apply rates paid by Malaysians.


Source:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/20/nation/6509141&sec=nation
Sunday June 20, 2010

FATHERS' DAY HISTORY

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972.

Fear of change: Pain, perseverance, and gain

Most people are afraid of Pain and gainchange most of the time. That fear leads us to resist change — even changes that could make our lives simpler, our work more productive, our struggles with technology more muted.

As a consultant, it’s often my job to plan changes. How can I minimize that fear, and ease the transitions, as I try to make change as painless and productive as possible?

My short answer is that I can acknowledge that the fear is real, and often well justified. Change does bring pain — and pain is something most of us want to avoid!

But let’s put this in perspective. Almost every change follows the pattern shown on the graph above, that shows how productivity goes up and down when a change is introduced.

* Productivity immediately falls. In fact, it often falls much more quickly than shown on this graph. I call the amount of drop the pain. Think about getting a new cell phone. At first it’s awkward to receive or make a call. Then we may find ourselves even more challenged when trying to enter or update contacts, or generate text messages, etc.

* It takes a while for productivity to rise back to even the level where it had been. I call that length of time the perseverance. In the cell phone example above, that time may be measured in minutes, hours, or perhaps a few days.

* Ideally, productivity doesn’t stop rising after the perseverance time has passed. It keeps going up for some time, but then levels off. The amount of increase over the initial productivity is what I call the gain. (Note that this picture is slightly inaccurate — as the gain shown is a bit less than it should be). Following our cell phone example, the increased “productivity” may not be easy to measure, as it may not be just about faster dialing or address book maintainance.

We will have pain, perseverance, and (ideally) some gain with every change. However, the size of these parameters may be very different.

* Recently, our bank started using new ATM terminals that accept and read individual checks during each deposit, and that can print an image of those checks on the receipt. I stumbled during my first deposit, got it almost right on the second, but by the third time I was delighted to walk away from my quick and easy ATM transaction with a much better receipt than I had been used to getting. Pain was minimal, perseverance was short, and the gain was visible and real.

* About a year ago I moved into an office with a programmable thermostat to control heat and air conditioning. I’m still experiencing pain and confusion working with this device, so evidently the perseverance time is quite long. The supposed gain — more effortless temperature control on my part, and some energy cost saving for our landlord and for the nation — doesn’t seem to have fully arrived yet.

The thermostat example illustrates an important principle – the gain itself does not typically ease the pain. In engineering change, one must anticipate and allow for a “reasonable” amount of pain, and for an “acceptable” perseverance time. This is important and true no matter how great the gain.

* I’ve been involved with the design of a new hospital telephone and messaging system. Calls pop up automatically on computer screens, and the operators have instant access to a database of patients, medical staff, coverage instructions, etc. The “gain” here is clear. But hospitals installing such a system have a minimal threshold for “pain”. For reasons we could easily understand and accept, a few hours of pain was about the limit — and that only if the productivity drop was minimal. Emergency calls always need to be handled quickly and accurately — and the presence of a brand new computer system is never an acceptable excuse. We had clear limits for the amount of pain and the perseverance time that would be allowed.

* I’ve also worked on the design of sophisticated scheduling software for factories — that helps staff decide when to order their various raw materials or components, and when to schedule each fabrication or assembly step. Here the threshold for pain was much greater, and perseverance time might be measured in weeks rather than minutes or hours. Managers and line employees needed time to adapt to the new scheduling processes, and that was okay.

In planning for change, decide how much pain is acceptable and what level of perseverance can be required. Let this understanding guide both the design and development of any new technology, and the training and support to help everybody embrace the changes in the best possible way. The promise of great future gain does not typically ease the current experience of pain.

Source:
[16.4.'10]: http://arthurfink.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/fear-of-change-
pain-perseversance-and-gain/

Hope, Riches, and Power

I wonder how many of you are remembering my exhortation at the beginning of this series that you read through the book of Ephesians once a week until we have finished these studies. I'm sure that some of you have been faithful in doing this. Now, the rest of you repent, and begin again, will you? You will find that your life will never be the same again if you keep reading through this text thoughtfully and understandingly every week.

We have now arrived at the last part of the first chapter of this letter. We have been watching the Apostle Paul in his great concern for these Christians in Ephesus and the surrounding cities in the province of Asia. And we have learned from him that growth in Christians requires two fundamental conditions. It requires, first, the careful instruction of the mind in the great facts of reality. This is what Paul has been doing in the opening verses of this chapter -- setting forth the broad sweep of God's truth, the undergirding reality of the Christian life, the great facts upon which our faith can rest. He is careful to see that this is done thoroughly.

But, as we saw last time together, that is not enough. Beside the careful instruction of the mind there must be the prayerful enlightenment of the heart. So Paul is not content to leave these people merely taught; he also prays that the eyes of their hearts be enlightened, that the truth which they have heard and understood with their minds will come alive and capture their hearts, that they will experience a kind of "divine heartburn" -- like that of those two disciples whom Jesus met on the road to Emmaus and who said, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" {Luke 24:32 RSV}.

I wonder if much of our teaching isn't lost because we are not faithful in praying for each other that our minds be instructed and our hearts enlightened. It is so necessary that this truth not be held with the intellect only -- a mere academic understanding of doctrine -- but that it be gripping, vital, and compelling, and that we will see its full impact. This, of course, is the way God has designed us to operate: The teaching is to instruct the mind, the prayer is to awaken and enlighten the heart, and, thus, the will is enabled to act. And if people can't act as Christians it is very likely that one of these elements is missing.

Here we are dealing with the great problem of motivation. The apostle understood these Christians. He was a veteran warrior of the cross. He had been a Christian for many years by the time he wrote this letter and he had undoubtedly gone through all the varying experiences that a Christian can be subjected to. He knew the lukewarmness which can set in, the lethargic, apathetic attitudes which can sometimes arise after a warm and hopeful beginning. And, here, he saw these Christians as dispirited, listless, turned off, and he understood their need.

Perhaps many of you are struggling with this very problem. No Christian escapes this entirely in his lifetime. There are times when we simply get cold and our spirits grow apathetic. The apostle understood that. He knew that these people had lost sight of certain truth. They still held it with their minds -- they would have been able to pass an examination on the doctrine involved -- but they had lost sight of it in their hearts. It was no longer living, flaming, warm, compelling, motivating. So the apostle turns to prayer, and his prayer reflects his understanding of their needs. He specifies three things: He is praying that the eyes of their hearts will be enlightened,

...that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, {Eph 1:18b-19a RSV}

Hope, riches, and power. You notice that he doesn't pray in general, as most of us tend to do. He doesn't simply say, "Lord, bless the Ephesians this morning." Most of us drop general, blanket prayer upon everybody and expect that to take care of the situation. But Paul knows these people better than that. He knows that they have lost their vision. That is part of their problem. They have sunk into an attitude of indifferent routine. It seems to them as though nothing is happening in their lives and they are going nowhere. They have lost their sense of hope. They know it as a doctrine, but they have lost the experience of it. So Paul prays that God will enlighten their hearts so that they may know the hope of God's calling, the hope to which he has called them.

You and I know the need for hope. This word, of course, is one part of the great triad found very frequently in the Scriptures -- faith, hope and love -- the essentials to living a full-orbed Christian experience. You find these linked together often in the pages of the New Testament. Hope always concerns the future. These people obviously had lost their sense that anything happening now affected the future. And this happens to many of us. We are all waiting for the coming of the Lord, but it doesn't really turn us on very much. We know it as doctrine, but it isn't very exciting. These people had come to that place. The hope of a believer is described for us very plainly in Romans 8, Verses 18-25, which we should read so that we will understand what hope he wanted to find awakened within their hearts:

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. {Rom 8:18 RSV}

That is the hope -- a glory which is coming, a glory toward which we are moving day by day. That glory is waiting for us, Paul says. It is a glory which touches the whole world:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. {Rom 8:19-21 RSV}

That phrase, "the bondage to decay," is a very accurate description of what scientists call the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the law of entropy, the law which states that everything in the universe is running down, that it was wound up once but that now everything is declining, deteriorating. Paul includes not only the natural world, with its constant decay, but the human body as well. He says,

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly [and sometimes outwardly] as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. {Rom 8:22-25 RSV}

That was the hope which these believers entertained in their minds. They knew it academically. They knew that there was coming a day when their bodies would be redeemed, that God was working out that transformation, and that a whole new day was ahead. The central factor of this hope is the certainty of a new humanity. And you will notice that this hope is not just a faint possibility. It isn't an uncertain dream lying in the distant future. It is an absolutely guaranteed certainty, toward which we are now moving, that we will one day live in a whole new creation and will be men and women endowed with a spirit which can mount up with wings as the eagle, a soul that can run and not be weary, a body which can walk and not faint, equal to the demands of the spirit.

We know how true it is, in the words of our Lord, that the spirit is often willing, but the flesh is weak. About the best we can manage to say is that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is ready for the weekend! We need rest; we look forward to relaxation. But there is coming a day, says God, when we shall be in a new body, and it will be equal to all the demands of the spirit, so that we never get weary or tired. We're looking forward to that day.

"Well," you say, "that's fine. I understand that. But how does that help me now? Now, I'm bored, I'm caught up in a meaningless routine. Day by day goes by, and life is not very exciting. How does that distant hope help me now?" The answer is that the Scriptures do not teach that all of this hope is going to be attained in one blinding flash at the end. I think that many Christians today misunderstand it in this way.

Perhaps these Ephesians did too, and this was their difficulty. What the Scriptures actually teach about this hope had never dawned upon them. And that is that this is not going to happen all at one moment in the resurrection which occurs at the end of life, or at the end of the age, but it is something which is happening right now. It is true that the body is ultimately redeemed at that future time, but the new creation is taking place right now. Read the way Paul describes it in these most helpful words in Second Corinthians 4:

So we do not lose heart [we don't get discouraged]. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us [right now!] an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ... {2 Cor 4:16-17 RSV}

That is what is happening now! I never read the phrase "this slight momentary affliction" without thinking of what Paul says a little farther on in that same letter when he describes his own experience: He had been beaten with rods three times and had received thirty-nine lashes five times, he had been shipwrecked three times and a night and a day had been adrift at sea, he had even been stoned once (not on LSD or something like that -- rocks had been thrown at him) and left for dead, he was in danger constantly on the sea and on the land, in danger from false brethren, spent many a sleepless night and many a day without food or drink. All this he catches up in one phrase: "this slight momentary affliction." And he says that this is working for us, it is preparing us. It is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

That is what Paul is praying that these Christians will capture -- the sense that God is at work in their daily circumstance, and that this is happening now, that, in the midst of the old creation, the new one is gradually taking shape. You can't see it, although perhaps as you look back you can see some of the results of it in your spirit and in your soul. But these very trials and pressures and problems and afflictions are preparing us for that future time.

That means that the flat tire you had on your car yesterday and which upset you so -- just as you were in a hurry to go someplace you came out and found it there -- is working for you. It is preparing you for this day. It is teaching you something about how to be patient, how to handle your pressures. It is giving you a chance to exercise some of the power of Christ which is available to you. That spot of shoe polish you got on your best dress, the weariness you feel at the end of the day, the arthritic pains in your shoulder, the spat you had with your best friend -- all this, you see, is working together for your good. That is the point. That is what Paul wants these Ephesians to see. They are not lost in a meaningless routine of events, drifting through with some degree of numbness day after day. No, it is all working together. It is preparing them for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Learn to look at life that way! That is the hope of our calling.

There is no circumstance we go through which cannot, in the hands of God, be turned to our advantage. Granted, we often allow ourselves an immediate failure at that point, but that failure is not the end of the story. We can go back and say, "Lord, I see now that I didn't need to give way to the flesh, to its despair or its reaction of anger or impatience. Thank you for showing me that. When the situation arises again I'll be readier to rest upon your sustaining grace. I'll be more experienced in how to turn the problem over immediately to your strengthening hand upon which I can lean." When you begin to see that, then every moment, every event, is tinged with the flame of glory, with the touch of heaven upon it.

Paul knew also of their sense of impoverishment. He knew that these Christians tended to grow dull and flabby in their experience. They had begun with a vast comprehension of the greatness of God and the glory of life, and they had been set free from the habits which had held them in bondage and had limited their experience. But now, without realizing it, they were gradually drifting into a narrowness of experience. They were becoming limited and provincial. A sort of living rigor mortis was setting in. They were becoming established. (That means inflexible and rigid!) This condition afflicts many Christians.

I was in Portland, Oregon, yesterday. Some friends were telling me about a large evangelical church there, orthodox to the core, the people exposed to a great deal of Bible teaching. But the outstanding characteristic of that church is an increasing inflexibility and narrowness. Those who attend there are finding the walls of their lives moving in. They are limited in what they can or cannot do. There is a tendency to retire and to back away from life and not to get involved in the real issues. And they are gradually falling into a rut which is extremely unappealing and unattractive to others around, but they seem to be only dimly aware of it. This can happen to any of us. But Paul is aware of this condition among these Ephesian Christians, and so he prays that they may know

...what are the riches of his [God's] glorious inheritance in the saints. {Eph 1:18c RSV}

Notice how he puts that. He is not asking that they understand that God is their inheritance. It is true that God is our resource. He is our strength; we draw upon him. We belong to him, and he to us. And that is the great resource of the Christian life. But what Paul is emphasizing here is that we belong to God. We are his property. He has an inheritance in us. It is his delight to use us. And if we make ourselves available to be used, then enrichment and fulfillment beyond our wildest dreams await us. But if we are afraid to let God use us, we will narrow down into this living rut of experience, and we will find that the Christian life is gradually turning drab and dreary and dull and gray.

So what is needed is an understanding of the adventure which awaits anyone who makes himself available to God. This is Paul's appeal in Romans 12: "I beseech you, brethren, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice unto God," {cf, Rom 12:1}. Give him your life -- day by day, not just in one crisis moment of dedication but in every situation. Say "Lord, do you want to use me in this situation? Okay, here I am. I'm available. I see this need right in front of me. Help me, Lord, not to pass by on the other side. Give me the grace to be available now. Lord, have you given me gifts? Is there equipment in my spirit that you want to use? Well, here it is, Lord; I'm available for you to use to meet this need." And then move out, venture out, plunge in, risk a little bit! As you do, you will discover that this brings enrichment of life, that your life gradually becomes delightful in its adventure, broad in its understanding, rich in its varied experience.

Yesterday I attended a conference at a beautiful estate on the Columbia River. It was a glorious autumn day. After the morning meetings I wanted a little chance to be alone so I took a walk. I was walking along a rather well-defined, wide path, when I saw a little trail wandering off to the side. I wondered where it went. It looked as if it headed down toward the river. I thought perhaps it might open up a vista of the Columbia River Gorge. It was a steep path, and I knew that when I came back up the going might be a little tough, but I decided to try it. I hadn't gone two hundred yards before I broke into a clearing where I had a tremendous, glorious view of the whole river, the gorge, the autumn colors, the cliffs, the mountains beyond. It was well worth taking that path! I was thinking of this verse as I walked back up that path, thinking of how Paul prays that we might understand the riches of God's glorious inheritance in the saints -- the thrill of being used of God. It struck me that I had just experienced a living parable of that. I had to take the chance that the path went somewhere. It didn't appear to be much of a path, it could have dwindled into nothing -- so I had to risk something. But it was well worth the risk, because it enriched my life with the beauty of that scene.

And God is speaking in that way to you. Many of you are just waiting for God to tell you to do something. But the New Testament never instructs you to do that. Its message is: "God is with you; therefore reach out, risk something, venture, move out, plunge in, try something new that you've never done before and trust God to see you through it." The result will be fantastic enrichment of life. I wish we could take the time to have dozens of you in this congregation come up to the platform and share with us, as I know would be quite possible, how true this is, how you have found that as you ventured out for God it has opened up your life and enriched it beyond your wildest dreams.

There in Portland I ran into some folks who knew Dick and Pam Ewing. Many of you remember them from when they were at PBC while Dick was an intern. When they first came to us, Dick and Pam were such a quiet, retiring couple that you hardly ever even noticed they were around. We have to confess, as a staff, that some of us wondered if Dick would succeed as an intern because he was so quiet. But these folks gave me a report on what is going on in Portland. Dick and his wife moved up there near the campus of Lewis and Clark College, with no regular financial support at all -- no group backing them. They went alone onto this campus. No other Christian organization is working there -- just this couple. They met some students and invited them over to their home. They began to teach one or two of them the Scriptures and shared with them the truth that they had learned. They began to open up their lives to these students and helped them to see the richness of God. These first few brought others, and now there is a group of forty or fifty college students meeting with them every day. Dick is still a quiet person. He is very shy and retiring, and he doesn't teach with a lot of power and persuasiveness. But the richness of his own life is an evident testimony to the truth of what he is saying, and he is becoming a tremendous force for God on that campus. And his own life, as he shares in his letters to us, is so enriched, so much greater than he ever dreamed it could be.

I was just reading the letter sent out monthly from Taiwan by Lillian Dickson. What an amazing story her life is! She responds to every need that comes her way -- nobody mentions a need but that she doesn't do something about it. The result is that she has friends all over the world, and she has a ministry which is so rich and filled with exciting incidents that there is never a dull day, never a boring moment. Now, that awaits anyone -- if you will let God have his inheritance in your life, if you will present your body to him and say, "Lord, here I am, available to you." There is one final element in Paul's request here -- that you may know

...what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, {Eph 1:19a RSV}

The apostle knows that these Ephesian Christians, like Christians everywhere, are oftentimes immobilized by the grip of fear. He knows their insecurity. He knows that they are afraid of their neighbors, afraid of failure, afraid of persecution and ridicule. There is a deep sense of inadequacy and of impotence in their lives. They don't think they can do anything. They know how entrenched the forces of evil around them are and it seems hopeless to try to challenge any of the social situations of the day. They know what tremendous, relentless pressures the world can bring to bear upon those who seek to relieve some of these situations, and they are afraid.

The answer to fear is power. The minute you feel a sense of adequate power, you lose fear, because power overcomes fear. Love overcomes fear. These forces are mighty, powerful forces. And so Paul prays that Christians will get their eyes open, in a practical way, to the power available to them -- "that you may know ... what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us [not up in heaven somewhere -- in us] who believe." I am often distressed by the fact that so many Christians seem to give up. They feel that their struggles are just too much, that they just can't make it. It is because they have lost sight of the One who is giving them power. Paul develops this at some length here because it is so important to us. He wants us to see that this power was first demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus:

...according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, {Eph 1:19b-20 RSV}

It is resurrection power. That means that it is different; it is not like any other power. It isn't the power of a strong personality, nor of an educated mind. It isn't the power of a good family background, nor of money, nor numbers, nor leadership ability. It is the power that raised Christ from the dead, that is able to bring life out of death. What does that mean in practical terms? Well, it means, as I have often said, that it works best in a cemetery. If you are living in a cemetery, if everything is dead and dull and lifeless around you, try resurrection power. That is what it is for. It means that this power takes no notice at all of obstacles, just as Jesus rose from the dead, paying no attention to the stone, to the decrees of Caesar, to the fulminations of the Jewish priests, nor to the guard in front of the tomb. Resurrection power doesn't pay any attention to obstacles. It just surges on ahead, leaves the problems up to God, and goes on. It means that resurrection power requires no outside support. It doesn't rely upon someone else, nor upon something else. It doesn't need a vote of confidence. It doesn't require any kind of undergirding expressions of support from anybody. It can operate alone, completely alone, if necessary. And it means that it makes no noise or display. It doesn't try to arrest attention by some publicity stunt. It just works quietly and, without any noise, effects its transformation, brings life out of death. And further, you will notice that the apostle declares that it is supreme in the universe:

...far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; {Eph 1:21 RSV}

It is far above, greater than any other force, stronger than anything which can be launched against you. So believe these words! This is what the apostle is praying for -- that you will really grasp this thought, understand that this is exactly what God means.

Some years ago a young man came to me with anguish in his eyes, obviously in agony. He told me of how he had been struggling to overcome a terrible passion, terrible feelings of lust which affected him all the time. These would sometimes grow so strong that he would fall back into habits which he knew were wrong and were horribly destructive of him and his loved ones, but he would give way nevertheless and he just couldn't resist. We sat down and talked about power, about the power of a resurrected Lord, and what he has made available to us. I remember turning to this passage and reading him these words. At the time it didn't seem to affect him much, but I said to him, "You know, God's power is made perfect in weakness. Your problem is that you are trying to feel strong. You want to feel powerful. But God says, 'No, resurrection power is the kind that works best when you feel weak.' So if you feel weak, thank God. And the next time you find yourself threatened with being mastered by these surging lusts, run to Christ in helplessness. Commit yourself to him again. Say 'Lord, I can't handle this myself. I can't control myself. If you don't help me, I'm sunk!' And simply cast yourself upon him." He said, "All right, I'll try."

A couple of weeks later, I saw him again. His face was wreathed with smiles when he came to me. He said, "You know, it works, it really works! I was reading again through that passage which you read to me, and I was struck by two words. It says that Christ is seated at God's right hand in the heavenly places [i.e., in the seat of power in the universe], far above, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. And those two words, 'far above', really opened my eyes. Why, of course," he said, "if God is at work in me, and if he has that kind of power, then nobody else's power even approaches his. No demonic force, no lustful urge, can be greater than the power of Jesus Christ. When I saw that fact, I was able simply to rest in the Lord, and it has been working. God has set me free!"

You notice that Paul stresses the fact that the name of Jesus is greater than any name that is named. When you name a name you are representing the resource upon which you intend to act. A policeman acts in the name of the law. The President of the United States acts in the name of the people. A salesman acts in the name of the company. And there are men and women today trying to act in the name of Satan. But here is a name which is above every name. Of any name that can be named the name of Jesus is greater, not only in time but in eternity as well, not only in this age but in the age to come. Never will there be a greater name than the name of Jesus. What encouragement that gives! The last thing that Paul tells us of this power is that it is all made visible in the church:

...and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness [the manifestation, the visible expression] of him who fills all in all. {Eph 1:22-23 RSV}

The only place this kind of power is ever going to be manifest is in you and me, in the midst of our pressures and problems -- power to be patient (that takes power, doesn't it?), power to love, when someone is irritating the socks off of you, but you must love him nevertheless (that takes power!), power to be joyful in the midst of distressing circumstances, power to be thankful, etc. That is what Paul talking about -- power to live as God intended men to live.

This conference in Oregon yesterday consisted of a lot of new Christians, many of them teenagers, and some older couples who had been Christians for several years. There were some non-Christians present, agnostics. A young Jewish athlete was there. There was a crowd of about a hundred twenty-five people. I was teaching the New Covenant, the new arrangement for life made in Jesus Christ, and was stressing the fact that this is God's provision to set us free from our inner hangups, to relieve us from guilt and fear and hostility and anxiety, to relieve all our inner tensions so that we are at peace within and can operate out of a sense of oneness and wholeness in God's presence. I explained how this is so obviously available in Jesus Christ, and how it works, and I confirmed it with certain experiences.

At the end of one of the messages a man came up to me and rather abruptly said, "You know, we're going to have to find some way to shut you up!" I wondered what he was getting at. He said, "If you keep on talking this way, men like me are going to be out of work." I asked, "What do you do?" He said, "I'm a psychiatrist! But seriously, I want you to know that what you are saying, I have recently discovered, is the secret that can make psychiatry work." We went on to converse, and I found that, not too long ago, he had become a Christian. And now he was enjoying the discovery of a secret he had puzzled over and wondered at before -- why some of the psychiatric techniques he had been taught would work and others wouldn't. Now he understood that a new power is available, and that, in that power, these psychiatric approaches can be made to work consistently, and so he had begun to correct his psychiatry by the Scriptures. So this is what God is telling us. He has come to give us hope, and riches, and power -- power to be what he wants us to be, power to be what we, too, want to be.
Prayer:

Our Heavenly Father, we ask that this mighty prayer of this great apostle will become true of us -- that the eyes of our hearts will be enlightened, that these words will not be merely empty words, not mere phrases that we repeat because they are in the New Testament, but that they will come alive in our experience and we too will discover how encouraging it is that our failures are working for us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," that even in the times when we are distressed and we don't handle the situation rightly, if we will turn back to you then that situation will work out to our advantage. Lord, we thank you for this encouragement that if we will venture even a little bit, our lives are going to be enriched thereby. And we are grateful that above all, and undergirding everything else, is this amazing power that is within us, that is quietly able to bring life out of death, hope out of hopelessness, joy out of sorrow, and beauty out of ashes. Lord, we ask that we will understand this and live by it and act on it, so that the world around will begin to see it in us. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.



By: Ray C. Stedman
Scripture: Ephesians 1:18-23
Date: October 8, 1972
Series: Riches in Christ
Message No: 7
Catalog No: 3007

Source:
[16.4.'10]: http://www.pbc.org/files/messages/5238/3007.html