tag:,2008:/3 2008-05-21T03:15:40Z Movable Type 3.33 2008-05-21T02:55:27Z 2008-05-21T03:15:40Z

My first close encounter with the sixth highest mountain in Sri Lanka; Great Western was in 1992, when we visited my brother in law at the Great Western Estate. Well, he wasn't my brother in law at the time, but...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com Great Western Estate. Well, he wasn't my brother in law at the time, but he was the assistant manager of the estate and was living at the Gal Kanda bungalow. The estate covers the lower half of the mountain and right at the edge of the tea plantation is a Hindu Kovil. In 1993 we walked upto that Kovil for the first time. The kovil would be at an elevation of about 1500M, the peak towers a good 700 meters above it. Soon after Nishantha moved to Watagoda estate and lived at the Yoxford bungalow. Even from Watagoda estate you can still see the mountain very clearly. It's so prominent that you can clearly distinguish it all the way from Pathana to Nanu Oya. Nearly everytime we visited the place, I climbed to the top of the Watagoda rock. I got so good at it, that I could race to the top in forty five minutes. Even though the peak is a sheer cliff the climb isn't really difficult and you don't need ropes. That's because there is a small shrine at the top of the peak and steps have been crudely hewn into the rock face and at the most difficult places pitons have been sunk. Every time I climbed to the top, I would think about climbing Great Western but never got around to it. Then Nishantha was promoted as manager of Watagoda estate and moved to another bungalow which is somewhat further from the peak. After that, my journeys to the top of the Watagoda rock became less frequent. Thereafter Nishantha was promoted to Group Manager and moved to Great Western Estate. He has been living in that bungalow for nearly six years yet neither of us ever climbed to the top. That is until this monday.....]]> 2008-05-14T00:54:38Z 2008-05-14T01:00:50Z

The death toll in Myanmar's devastating cyclone Nargis might be as high as 100,000 the government of Sri Lanka has decided each of those lives are worth USD 1.00 In Sri Lanka life is cheap. Government backed terrors groups are...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com The death toll in Myanmar's devastating cyclone Nargis might be as high as 100,000 the government of Sri Lanka has decided each of those lives are worth USD 1.00 In Sri Lanka life is cheap. Government backed terrors groups are able to get away with mass murder and child recruitment, each month a handfull of suspects die in police custody and doctors go on strike killing many patients. Myanmar is ruled by a Military junta and things there are probably similiar. It's no suprise that our president has become firm friends with their rulers and rulers in other dictatorships like Iran. So there were no suprised when Myanmar promised to supply 100,000 tons of rice to Sri Lanka, rice that it can ill afford to spare. Our ministers are more concerned about getting their hands on that shipment of rice than the fate of the cyclone victims. 2008-05-12T13:35:50Z 2008-05-12T13:52:16Z

The terrorist has won the election to the eastern provincial council by preventing thousands of people from casting their votes. He had the help of the government and enjoyed police protection while he and his fellow terrorists intimidated opposing candidates....

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com The terrorist has won the election to the eastern provincial council by preventing thousands of people from casting their votes. He had the help of the government and enjoyed police protection while he and his fellow terrorists intimidated opposing candidates. Other candidates were not allowed to hold meetings while the terrorists candiates were allowed to campaign even on the election day when it was illegal to do so. But that's the least serious of their illegal actions of that date. Chasing voters away from the polling booths, stuffing ballot boxes and beating up all those who opposed them are surely more serious. Before the election the government moved nearly all the ministers and their goons to the province. Abductions were said to be common place. Thuggery more so and deception order of the day. Countless bulldozers were moved to the province supposedly to rebuild roads they will now all move back to the projects that they were asigned to earlier. Lampposts have also been moved for rural electrification schemes which never come to light. The posts will be moved again when the next province holds it's election. Thus some of the voters who weren't prevented from voting did indeed vote for the government sponsered terrorist. They were hoodwinked. 2008-05-10T10:37:42Z 2008-05-10T10:47:25Z

Traditionally before you move into a new house, you boil a pot of milk on a fire so that it boils over. You do the same thing for the Sinhala/Hindu new year. I think it symbolizes prosperity. I don't believe...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com I don't believe in tradition but went along with it anyway because my wife does believe in it. We had to enter the house at the absurdly auspicious time of 6:01 am on Friday the 9th. Then at 6:08 a lamp had to be lit up. At 6:15 the fire had to be lit and the pot of milk placed on it. Once the milk had boiled over it was time to partake in the first meal at the new house, which going by tradition again was milk rice and followed by traditional sweet meats. After more than 15 months of work, the house is ready for occupation. Well not quite. The gate hasn't been fixed, the hot water system hasn't even been delivered, and there are still a couple of doors that haven't been polished as yet. ]]> 2008-05-10T08:35:32Z 2008-05-10T08:39:58Z

Commenting on the bomb explosion at Ampara yesterday, president gotabaya Mahinda has said "don't be afraid of bombs". Look who is talking. He is the man who has a vast army of bodyguards with hundreds of vehicals to ferry them...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com gotabaya Mahinda has said "don't be afraid of bombs". Look who is talking. He is the man who has a vast army of bodyguards with hundreds of vehicals to ferry them around. But he doesn't use the vehicals if he can avoid it. Even within Colombo he chooses to fly by helicopter. Helicopters that are desprately needed at the war front. On the rate occaision when he does travel by road, they are cleared of all trafic. Parked vehicals are also moved. Unattended parked cars are towed away, even if they are legally parked. Even pedestrians aren't allowed to remain on the pavement. They are shoved into shops and offices. So mahinda doesn't need to fear bombs. Besides, he is the man who was elected to power thanks to the LTTE. ]]> 2008-05-09T15:34:08Z 2008-05-09T15:35:11Z

What rotten luck; a bomb has gone off in Ampara Killing 7 people. One of our beloved ministers Ferial Ashraff (who became a minister because her husband had a bit of rotten luck) had passed thatway minutes earlier....

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com What rotten luck; a bomb has gone off in Ampara Killing 7 people. One of our beloved ministers Ferial Ashraff (who became a minister because her husband had a bit of rotten luck) had passed thatway minutes earlier. 2008-05-07T03:12:59Z 2008-05-07T04:50:41Z

If Zimbabwe has galloping inflation our could at least be called cantering inflation. Our beloved minister of finance president Gotabaya Mahinda and Mr 10% are hell bent on making sure of overtaking Zimbabwe. They have reached their first milestone -...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com Gotabaya Mahinda and Mr 10% are hell bent on making sure of overtaking Zimbabwe. They have reached their first milestone - a new record figure of 30% inflation. That means unless an employee get's at an annual increment of at least 45% he is not growing at the job. The sad truth is that most companies only give out about 15-25% as increments. Worse still most companies don't have performance based evaluations so even high performers don't really get increments that will allow them to keep up with the rising prices. The very rich don't have it any easier. Bank interest rates on deposits is as low as 15% so the real value of your money declines by 15% each year. In the past many people have tried putting their money in foreign currency accounts. They have been hit hard by the dollar's constant decline. Only the Euro seems to be moving upwards, but the central bank is doing it's damnedest to keep the exchange rate artificially low. You could try investing in the stock market but the dividend yield is pathetic and the indices have been steadily declining since the date of the last presidential election. You could try putting your money into real estate except that for the first time in 15 years land prices in and around Colombo have declined. You could put your money into a new business venture but right now people don't have money for anything but essential items so you are unlikely to succeed. Of course you could start a business selling essential items like rice, but then the government will introduce a price control to make sure that all your accumulated profits are wiped off in a day. ]]> 2008-05-05T01:02:21Z 2008-05-05T01:04:48Z

Well the house building project finally looks like it's about to come to an end. Before moving into a new house, it's traditional to boil a pot of milk at an auspicious time. I don't have even a single supertitious...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com Well the house building project finally looks like it's about to come to an end. Before moving into a new house, it's traditional to boil a pot of milk at an auspicious time. I don't have even a single supertitious bone in me and believe auspicious times are just bull water but unfortunately my wife doesn't quite agree so we laid a foundation stone at an auspicious time and the door frames were also put in place at an auspicious time. Now the milk boiling ceremony will be on Friday at 6:03 in the morning. Ouch. 2008-05-03T15:32:44Z 2008-05-03T15:40:50Z

Construction work on my new house started more than an year ago. Like most projects, it's long past the deadline (several deadlines in fact) and the cost has far exceeded original expectations (as a result of which, I am in...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com Construction work on my new house started more than an year ago. Like most projects, it's long past the deadline (several deadlines in fact) and the cost has far exceeded original expectations (as a result of which, I am in debt). Much of the delay is due to lack of project management. It's not enough that I understand it, the guys doing the work need to understand it too. It's too costly to engage the biggest and the best construction firms for projects of this size. And the small companies are hugely lacking in project management, but when you look at some of the large civil engineering work in Sri Lanka it's damn hard to tell the difference between the small companies and the big companies. Alcoholism plays a huge part in the delays of many construction projects here. I just heard the sad news that the senior most mason to have worked on my house has just died - cause of death a liver that has been seriously effected by alcohol. At the end of the day most construction workers toss back a glass or two, some toss back several. You cannot blame them either. They are mostly from remote villages and living in Colombo away from their families is probably stressfully. Work sites rarely contain anything to keep them entertained in the evening. So they make a beeline for the closest bar, the next morning they are too hungover to start work and they make mistakes. The mistakes are usually trivial but they add up. 2008-05-01T01:41:22Z 2008-05-01T01:44:23Z

The minister of goons was involved in an accident but unfortunately he didn't suffer serious injury. Only his small toe was slightly damaged. Two of his companions suffered worse. One died and the other was more seriously injured. The president...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com The minister of goons was involved in an accident but unfortunately he didn't suffer serious injury. Only his small toe was slightly damaged. Two of his companions suffered worse. One died and the other was more seriously injured. The president immidiately rushed a helicopter to the site to airlift the mervyn the bashful to Colombo. HIs goon who was the other person injured wasn't included. The helicopter belonged to the ministry of defense. It should have been used to rush injured soldiers from the battle front to the hospitals in Colombo. instead they are left to die. 2008-04-29T12:50:10Z 2008-04-29T12:56:43Z

Just two days ago, the car belonging to the minister of censorship met with an accident and he wasn't even in it. What a disaster. Now today we here that Mervyn the Goon's car has met with an accident. He...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com Just two days ago, the car belonging to the minister of censorship met with an accident and he wasn't even in it. What a disaster. Now today we here that Mervyn the Goon's car has met with an accident. He has been injured but not died. What a calamity. A fellow passenger has died though. Why couldn't they have swapped seats? The dictator has rushed a helicopter to far off aranaganwila (where the accident occured) to rush the goon to Colombo. The helicopter was probably originally asigned to airlift injured soldiers from the northern theater of operations where they are falling like nine pins thanks to the ill advised tactics of the despot's brother. 2008-04-29T02:17:48Z 2008-04-29T02:24:22Z

Contrary to popular belief President Gotabaya Mahinda Rajapaksa is not the worst head of state in the world. NO there are others like the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Robert Mugabe who beat him to that title. Mugabe of course...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com Gotabaya Mahinda Rajapaksa is not the worst head of state in the world. NO there are others like the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Robert Mugabe who beat him to that title. Mugabe of course has been deposed but it doesn't look like he is ready to leave just, no doubt Mahinda will try to do the same when his terms ends (just like his predecessor Chandriak did). Since becoming president (with generous help from the LTTE and the JVP (Two terrorist organizations, that work together)), Mahinda has been going out of his way to make friends with despots and countries that sponser terrorism. That has culminated in a visit to Sri Lanka by Ahmadinejad yesterday. Evil people bring darkness. No wonder we had an island wide power failure last evening.]]> 2008-04-28T10:02:41Z 2008-04-28T10:27:49Z

There was another disaster earlier today. Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena’s car was hit by a train causing a delay and slight damage to the train. The disaster might have been averted if the minister had been in the car or...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com There was another disaster earlier today. Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena’s car was hit by a train causing a delay and slight damage to the train. The disaster might have been averted if the minister had been in the car or train and was knocked off. 2008-04-26T16:35:43Z 2008-04-26T16:49:14Z

More than 750 people have died or suffered injury at the hands of terrorists and war mongers during the past week. About 600 of it was chalked up on one single day at Muhamalai. That's a god forsaken place on...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com More than 750 people have died or suffered injury at the hands of terrorists and war mongers during the past week. About 600 of it was chalked up on one single day at Muhamalai. That's a god forsaken place on the northern pennisular that many people of the south have never visited. Yet at the last presidential election they wanted to try to capture it by force. Two years ago the army tried and lost around 200 soldiers in doing so. They tried again a few days ago and this time 150 lost their lives and more than 400 were injured. That's not counting the number of dead terrorists (which the government claims to be more than 250 but the LTTE claims is less than 50) Initially the idiot military spokesman claimed said there was no battle, then the planes loads of dead and injured started to arrive in Colombo and the news couldn't be supressed anymore. Things got so bad that morgues overflowed and some of the bodies were moved to the Thalangama Hospital in Battaramulla. Less than 2 Kilometers away is the Waters Edge country club (built on what was once a bird sanctuary). While the bodies were arriving at the morgue the president and prime minister attended a party at the very same waters edge. Roads were closed to provide security for them but there's no security for ordinary citizens; 24 of whom died in the Piliyandala bomb blast. The government intended to use the Muhamalai capture for cheap publicity at the Eastern Provincial council election. Instead it was the LTTE who distributed the battle photos on websites (of course the government has blocked many of them (but continues to deny that they have done so)). Then the government had another opportunity to gain cheap publicity with the recapture of the sacred Madhu Church after nine long years; unfortunately for them the terrorists set off that bomb in Pilliyandala. Mahinda's Chief Ministerial candidate must be pulling his hair in frustration. Hang on a second that candidate is a terrorist himself, and was a high ranking member of the LTTE until just a few years ago. But then Mahinda won the presidential election thanks to the LTTE anyway...... 2008-04-22T16:12:01Z 2008-04-22T16:21:50Z

The price of rice has been rising for quite a while now. This is largely because of the halfwits in parliament, there is a minister for trade, one for agriculture and one for consumer affairs (quarter wit). They have with...

e4c5 http://www.raditha.com thugs cops. So the rice sellers were forced to sell at a loss but they refused to obtain new stocks. (Apparently it's illegal to hoard rice but perfectly legal to hoard paddy. So any rice or paddy with) and apparently those stocks ran out today. Now the dimwit has raised the controlled price by 10 rupees!! ]]>