Scientists say they have found evidence of dunes of frozen methane on Pluto. By David ShukmanScience editor-31 May 2018
The research, which is published in the journal Science, suggests that the distant world is more dynamic than previously thought.
Pluto's atmosphere was believed to be too thin to create the features familiar in deserts on Earth.
The findings come from analysis of the startling images sent back by Nasa's New Horizons mission, which flew close to Pluto in July 2015.
After an epic trek through the Solar System that took nearly a decade, New Horizons sped by at a speed of 58,536 km/h (36,373 mph), gathering data as it passed.
In their study, the researchers explain how they studied pictures of a plain known as Sputnik Planitia, parts of which are covered with what look like fields of dunes.
They are lying close to a range of mountains of water ice 5km high.
The scientists conclude that the dunes are 0.4-1km apart and that they are made up of particles of methane ice between 200-300 micrometers in diameter - roughly the size of grains of sand.
NASA / JHUAPL / SWRIImage captionDunes can be seen in the bottom half of this picture of Pluto's Sputnik Planitia region
The paper's lead author is Dr Matt Telfer, a physical geographer at the University of Plymouth. He told BBC News: "We can't see individual grains but what we are able to identify dunes, and characterise their basic physical parameters, and the density of the atmosphere that they've been formed under.
"And we can measure some basic things like how far apart they are spaced, and have an estimate at least of the wind speeds that are forming them.
"We can feed all that back into a physical model and from that deduce what the size of the grains must be."
To be able to form, dunes need an atmosphere dense enough to make wind transport possible, a supply of dry particles, and a mechanism that lifts particles off the ground.
At first sight, none of those conditions seem to be met on Pluto.
But Dr Telfer and his colleagues calculate that the dunes may be in one of the windiest areas of the Pluto with wind speeds reaching up to 10m/sec - enough to keep particles moving.
NASA / JHUAPL / SWRIImage captionPluto's atmosphere was thought to be too thin to create dunes through the action of wind alone NASA / JHUAPL / SWRIImage captionPluto's strange "snakeskin terrain" may represent not dunes, but blades of ice
The wind is generated as air flows downhill from the neighbouring mountains and also as frozen material sublimates - or turns directly into gas.
They believe that the dunes are composed of grains of methane, and maybe of nitrogen as well, and that a "reservoir" of methane may exist in the snowpack of the mountains.
As for the process of "lofting" the grains off the ground, the paper suggests that the driver could be a slight warming from the distant Sun, raising the temperature above the frost point of nitrogen: -230C.
With that warming of the ice below the surface, methane crystals should enable nitrogen ice to sublimate - and that would allow the methane crystals to be wafted into the atmosphere.
Dr Telfer says the analysis provides a new insight to Pluto and also changes our view of it.
"It's really exciting just to be able to look at this world and recognise that it's not just a frozen icy blob in the outer reaches of the Solar System but really we're seeing a dynamic world still changing, still forming today," he said.
NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/STEVE GRIBBENImage captionArtwork: New Horizons will fly past the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 in January 2019
That sentiment is echoed in an article accompanying the Science paper by Prof Alexander Hayes, an astronomer at Cornell University in Ithaca, US.
He quotes the late Sir Patrick Moore, the famous BBC Sky at Night presenter, describing Pluto in 1955 as "…plunged in everlasting dusk, silent, barren, and touched with the chill of death…" and says that that perspective has to shift.
Prof Hayes says we now know Pluto to be "a geologically diverse and dynamic world driven by internal heat, extreme seasons and sublimating ices".
He adds that it's not the frontier of the Solar System as Patrick Moore suggested, but the "gateway" to the unexplored realm of the Kuiper Belt.
And it may be that dunes themselves are emerging as a fascinating new feature of space exploration.
Pluto now joins Earth, Mars, Venus, Saturn's moon Titan and even the comet 67P - which a European Space Agency (Esa) mission landed on - as homes to dunes.
And Prof Monica Grady of the Open University told me that the discovery raises fascinating questions about whether there are dunes on worlds in other star systems too.
"It makes you realise that you have to open your mind to the idea that familiar objects on different planetary bodies must have formed in their own ways," she said.
"What it does is lead you to thinking about what's there beyond the Solar System, because we can't see their surfaces at the moment but we will do and then we'll probably see familiar things - we'll see dunes and they'll remind us of the dunes of Pluto or the dunes on Earth but they'll have formed in a different way."
New Horizons is now approaching another object in the Kuiper Belt, known as 2014 MU69. The spacecraft will be brought out of hibernation next week and a fly-past is scheduled for Jan 1 2019.
On midnight 31st May 1981, the Jaffna Public Library, famous for being the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage, was set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs.
Over 95,000 unique and irreplaceable Tamil palm leaves (ola), manuscripts, parchments, books, magazines and newspapers, housed within an impressive building inspired by ancient Dravidian architecture, were destroyed during the burning. Some texts that were kept in the library, such as the Yalpanam Vaipavama (a history of Jaffna), were literally irreplaceable, being the only copies in existence. It was one of the largest libraries in Asia.
The destruction took place under the rule of the UNP at a time when District Development Council elections were underway, and two notorious Sinhala chauvinist cabinet ministers - Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake - were in Jaffna. Earlier on in the day, three Sinhalese police officers were killed during a rally by the TULF (Tamil United Liberation Front).
Nancy Murray, a western author, wrote at the time ''uniformed security men and plainclothes thugs carried out some well organised acts of destruction”.
"They burned to the ground certain chosen targets - including the Jaffna Public Library, with its 95,000 volumes and priceless manuscripts…no mention of this appeared in the national newspapers, not even the burning of the library, the symbol of Tamils' cultural identity. The government delayed bringing in emergency rule until 2 June, by which time the key targets had been destroyed."
The burning continued unchecked for two nights.
Homes and shops across Jaffna town were also set alight by the mob, including the TULF headquarters and the offices of the Ealanadu newspaper.
Virginia Leary wrote in Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1981, that “the destruction of the Jaffna Public Library was the incident, which appeared to cause the most distress to the people of Jaffna."
The Movement for Inter-racial Justice and Equality said in a report, after sending a delegation to Jaffna,
"If the Delegation were asked which act of destruction had the greatest impact on the people of Jaffna, the answer would be the savage attack on this monument to the learning and culture and the desire for learning and culture of the people of Jaffna... There is no doubt that the destruction of the Library will leave bitter memories behind for many years."
The scholar and community leader, Reverend Father David reportedly died from shock days after the incineration of his beloved institution. While his statue in the library courtyard is surrounded now by the spirit-soothing greens of local flora, his demise epitomises the loss suffered by every member of the Tamil nation alive on that day, and each generation born afterwards: the irrevocable loss of memories, of the lives and deaths of our predecessors, of the beauty they created as well as of the destruction they may have wreaked.
In 2001, then mayor of Jaffna Nadarajah Raviraj stated that the burning “is in my memory”.''Still I feel like crying after 20 years,'' he said.
Mr Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo in November 2006. Still no-one has been held accountable for his murder.
Despite Tamil attempts to memorialise the catastrophic event, by keeping part of the burnt wreckage preserved, the Sri Lankan government allegedly insisted on ensuring all areas of the building were completely rebuilt, leaving no signs of the damage done.
Yet, in 2010 the library was once again vandalised by a group of Sinhalese tourists. The Sinhalese group had attempted to gain access to the library whilst it was closed for an All Ceylon Medical Association seminar that weekend. Denied entry the “tourists reacted by running amok” said the BBC, “breaking some of the shelves and throwing books on the ground”.
They also went on to vandalise a statue of veteran Tamil politician S J V Chelvanayagam, remembered across the Tamil nation for spear heading the Vaddukoddai resolution.
In December 2016, an ‘apology’ for the burning, by current Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was criticised - after initially receiving praise as a step towards reconciliation; the offhand manner in which it was delivered revealing a marked disregard for how deeply Tamils on the island continue to mourn the burning.
Today, 37 years since the flames that engulfed this national symbol, none of the perpetrators have been brought to account. The Tamil nation continues to demand justice.
Issuing a media statement the Right to Information Commission of Sri Lanka says that “the RTIC is concerned that a ‘chilling effect’ may be created by this general prohibition. This concern is reinforced by the fact that the Bill provides that any ‘member or person or qualified auditor who communicates any such matter to any person or suffers or permits any unauthorized person to have access to any books, papers or other records relating to any such matter, commits an offence.’ General prohibitions on information and the criminalization of information disclosure that is in disobedience thereto are contrary to the letter and spirit of the RTI Act.”
STATEMENT BY RIGHT TO INFORMATION COMMISSION ON PROPOSED AUDIT BILL
June 1st 2018
In accordance with its duty to secure the effective implementation of Sri Lanka’s Right to Information Act, No 12 of 2016 (RTI Act) in Sri Lanka, the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) emphasizes the importance of upholding the public right to know which is a core principle of the RTI Act.
It is reminded in this regard that the RTI Act is premised on the principle of maximum disclosure while protecting specific interests (national security, privacy, law and order etc). These interests are, in turn, subjected to an overriding public interest test. As such, the RTI Act does not place specific categories or classes of documents or the functioning of specific offices beyond the reach of information requesters.
Consequently draft laws currently in the public domain that proposes to place selected state offices on an advantaged position as against others and enforce general prohibitions on citizens asking for information on the due and proper functioning of such offices raise legitimate concerns as to whether this will create exclusive domains of privilege for those offices.
In this regard, the Commission expresses its particular concern in reference to clause 9 (1) (b) of the proposed Audit Bill (gazette issued on 16.03.2018) and presently before Parliament which stipulates that members of the Audit Service Commission, any person appointed to any office under the Audit Act or any other person assisting any such person for the purpose of carrying out the provisions under this Act or a qualified auditor engaged by the Auditor General shall not disclose any information received in the performance of duties until documentation in that regard is placed before Parliament. The only exception will be where there is a request of Parliament or an order of court.
The Bill proposed to afford this protection unconditionally, without any assessment as to whether such a wide prohibition is necessary in a democratic society, without due regard as to whether grave prejudice will be caused by the release of information thereby and without any time period being specified in regard to the potential presentation of such report or statement before Parliament.
The RTIC is concerned that a ‘chilling effect’ may be created by this general prohibition. This concern is reinforced by the fact that the Bill provides that any ‘member or person or qualified auditor who communicates any such matter to any person or suffers or permits any unauthorized person to have access to any books, papers or other records relating to any such matter, commits an offence.’ General prohibitions on information and the criminalization of information disclosure that is in disobedience thereto are contrary to the letter and spirit of the RTI Act.
The RTIC emphasizes the fact that the precedent set by shielding some offices and individuals from RTI in this manner will dilute the victories gained for Sri Lankans through the enactment of a globally recognized law, risk a gravely negative impact on the embryonic development of the country’s Right to Information regime and discourage largely positive tendencies evidenced so far by Public Authorities in dismantling a decades-old culture of secrecy and denial of legitimate information.
Issued on Order of the RTI Commission, Rooms 203-205, BMICH, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka, Ph/Fax; + 94 11 2691625 , http://www.rticommission.lk
Democracy can be weak when a regime is incompetent or unresponsive, or when democratic traditions are not entrenched in the social fabric of a country.
( June 1, 2018, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) This situation usually leads to concentration of political and decision-making power in the hands of a few. This could lead to suboptimal use of human resources and cause political and economic instability. In turn, this will obstruct the ability to absorb foreign direct investment, which the capitalist governments mainly rely upon. Misery, poverty, and hopelessness could become pervasive in such a society. This provides an ideal environment for demagogues to raise their ugly heads.
These demagogues will make high pitch noises like saviours, without providing any solutions of substance. Nevertheless, such demagogues can raise a glimmer of hope among the ones whose lives have been adversely affected by this inequity. These nationalistic divisive demagogic leaders can emanate from any ethnic or religious background. Even if they utilise something that looks like a policy, it is solely a tactic used for grabbing power. Once in power they ditch or forget these policies, like those pledging to improve citizens’ economic circumstances and to eliminate their economic exploitation.
The 2008 economic recession that is considered the largest since 1929 created serious political repercussions. As a result, fundamentalist nationalist and religious currents came to the fore in many parts of the world. National and religious supremacy came to be asserted through violent extremism, mostly authoritarian and gave rise to many fascist trends. Simultaneously, political sentiments of certain segments of populations started moving towards extreme right-wing ideologies. Centralisation of decision making power in the hands of an autocrat as discussed is a manifestation of an extreme form of nationalism associated with fascist inclinations.
Concentration of power in the hands of an autocrat can be achieved via presidential and parliamentary elections or through extra parliamentary means. In the US, mostly racist fundamentalist right-wing groups brought Donald Trump to the Presidency. In many Nordic countries right wing groups have been elected to govern. Turkey extended the presidential term and also delegated prime ministerial powers to Tayyip Erdogan. Russian Federation concentrated power in Vladimir Putin’s hands and China made Xi Jinping president for life. Much closer to Sri Lanka, India, despite his hands being stained with Gujarati Muslim blood, Narendra Modi was made the Prime Minister.
Fascism
Fascism is based on the superiority complex of a nation bound by race, ethnicity or culture. This nationalist ideology is upheld by an anti-democratic totalitarian state. A fascist state needs to be totalitarian to ensure that its citizens support controlling aspects of their lives such as leisure time, education and political activity to ensure their support for the regime. Democratic elections do not need to ensure that candidates have national interests at heart. Parliament can become a talk shop and a rubber stamp instead of being a forum that devotes time to discussing, formulating, enacting and implementing policies. If other parties exist, pursuing an ultranationalist goal may be challenged; hence the need not to have other competing parties in parliament.
Democracy can be weak when a regime is incompetent or unresponsive, or when democratic traditions are not entrenched in the social fabric of a country. As a result, citizens become disenchanted and are willing to abandon democracy for another ‘stronger’ and ‘stricter’ regime. Fascism in the guise of ultra-nationalism flourishes in such an environment where democracy is weak, and nationalism is strong. This provides an ideal environment for fascism to replace the weak regime and effortlessly flourish for some time.
How does one come to support demagoguery? When income inequality prevails, most people, especially those at the lower end of the income spectrum find it extremely difficult to meet their needs, whether they are basic economic needs, psychological or self-actualisation. So, it is not surprising that fundamentalism, discrimination, racism and sexism become prevalent in society. Humanity at one time or another has had to confront such issues. When faced with socio-economic and political crises, people will use whatever means available to realise their needs. That is when people start relying on demagogues. That is how fascist trends have established roots in many parts of the world.
Over the past several decades in the western world, and certainly before that in some countries in Asia, totalitarian currents have surged under many pretexts. Humanity easily becomes blind when they cannot satisfy their survival needs. This was the post-World War 1 scenario in both Germany and Italy. Italian and German democracies and democratic traditions were only recent and had weak roots. Unemployment grew with the economic crisis post-World War 1. The Treaty of Versailles made Germans culpable for starting World War 1. They had to accept punitive reparations and significant territorial concessions. Italians contended that they were not bestowed with the territory that should have been awarded to them. Feeling humiliated, national resentment became omnipresent.
The Fascist and Nazi parties promised to restore their respective country’s national greatness. Hence, Italians and Germans started supporting fascism. Germany and Italy pursued their national superiority complexes via the Italian Fascist Party and the German Nazi Party. Benito Mussolini, the leader (Il Duce) of the National Fascist Party intended to “guide the material and moral progress of the [Italian] community.”[1] Adolf Hitler (der Führer) of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party wished to re-position the German nation as “the culture-founder of this earth.”[2] They wanted the loyalty to their nations to be above and beyond religion and social class.
To realise such goals, they needed an anti-democratic totalitarian state that would decimate any prevailing democratic systems and institutions. Mussolini removed all political opposition by employing his secret police and banning worker strikes. He and his followers of the Italian Fascist Party consolidated power by enacting laws and employing violent means that transformed the nation into a one-party dictatorship. His aspirations for creating a totalitarian state ended when he was deposed by the King. Yet, in a few months’ time, he established a pro-Hitler puppet regime in northern Italy and became the leader of the Italian Social Republic. In 1945, while fleeing with his mistress, he was captured and summarily executed.
Hitler believed that the Jewish people were responsible for the economic exploitation of Germans during World War-II. Germans not only accepted Hitler’s falsified version of events, but condoned his savage barbarism, simply because this was justification for their own personal economic benefit.
To be continued …
[1] Benito Mussolini, “The Ideology of the Twentieth Century”, In Griffin R 1998, International Fascism: Theories, Causes and the New Consensus, London, 254.
"A man must get a thing before he can forget it." — Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Are we now in a world where forgetfulness is the in thing, especially in politics and governance?
The Freedom of Forgetfulness came to light some months ago at the unravelling of the Perpetual Scandal on the Central Bank Bond Scams, when no less that a former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs, Ravi Karunanayake – admitted he could not remember getting paid millions for a Penthouse rent – from whom and how. Of course, there is evidence the millions came from Perpetual Treasuries or one of its associates. It is certainly an Aloysian Perpetuity.
That was a new height in the politics of the crooked. He will be remembered as the 'Ever Forgetful Ravi' – The Man with the Mathakayata Thitha, nothing to do with that 'Mathata Thitha’ propaganda line of the power drunk Rajapaksas.
"Forgetfulness is a form of freedom." – Kahlil Gibran
We now have another of the politically forgetful. The former Sports Minister, Dayasiri Jayasekera, well known for his political long jumping from the UNP in Opposition, to the SLFP in Government, and some time later to the Maithripala Sirisena- led Unity Government of Yahapalanaya. He is certainly one of the great forgetful, who gets a cheque for a million rupees, doesn’t know, can’t remember, whether it was a cash or crossed cheque, had it cashed by an employee, and quite proudly says he spent it on election campaigning. He too got this from Arjun Aloysius of Perpetual crookedness.
The catch in this mastery of forgetfulness is there is no record of such expenditure at the polls. Was it used to buy votes – which is corrupt, or to give drinks – milk or booze to those who came for one’s meetings? To transport voters to his meetings or the larger meetings of his party, the SLFP? Was it used to give scholarships to children of voters? Was it used to bribe officials? Total silence. The million rupee politico says it is common for candidates at elections to get such payments, contributions. Not a word about bribes, crooked payments, or political purchases.
And Dayasiri Jayasekera, now seated in the Opposition benches in parliament, says he did nothing to support Arjun Aloysius on the bond scam probe. It is not so easy to believe that a politician who gets money, a million at that, does not support the donor. But it certainly taints those 16 independent benchers in the Opposition. That is just by the way.
And we now have our only Field Marshal – none other than the former Army Commander, now Minister Sarath Fonseka, say he also received one lakh – a hundred thousand – from the same Aloysius – which by the way means a Famed Warrior. Did Arjun Aloysius give the one lakh because of the warrior fame of Sarath Fonseka, which fame sent him to prison under the Rajapaksa Regime? We know nothing on that. But, Sarath Fonseka says he did not use the lakh, but game it to two other candidates in the last General Election. What a fine and crooked political donation!
There is a foul political pattern emerging from these Perpetual-Aloysian contributions for Penthouse rents and electoral candidates, all politicians. It crosses party lines – Ravi Forgetful from the UNP; Dayasiri Forgetful - from the UNP – Sarath Fonseka Forgetful – contested from the Democratic Party, lost and came to the UNP National List. This perpetual money has a way of loading the already loaded.
Now we are told there are 118 others who have received this politically loaded money of the corrupt. Our parliament has 225 members - this 118 plus three (those who have already received perpetual cash) if in the House, means we have more than half of MPs Perpetual-Aloysius bound – with many more millions.
If those 118 names are revealed - and why not – can we hope to have a clean parliament any time in the approaching future? This looks like being a perpetual problem.
"Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders." - Friedrich Nietzsche
The politics of forgetfulness is bad enough in the cash flow from the perpetual sources. But it looks like this forgetful trend – the Amathaka Nemma – is making its way into other areas of politics and governance too. President Sirisena has forgotten the 100-day programme of his own manifesto. He must have good reasons to oppose his coalition leader – Ranil Wickremesinghe. But he has wholly forgotten that he pledged to appoint him Prime Minister, once the Common Candidate won. And, the late Ven. Sobitha Thera was alike when that manifesto was releases. Is he moving to a different wave of the perpetual forgetfulness, not about millions, but about power?
Forgetfulness is clearly the name of the game – the Political Game. It is the big game of governance in Sri Lanka, underscoring the crookedness of both politics and governance.
We are moving on to the Perpetuity of the Forgetfully Crooked in Politics and Government.
(Lanka-e-News- 01.June.2018, 11.30PM) President Pallewatte Gamarala the epitome of ingratitude who bites the hand that fed and kicks the ladder that elevated him to the top , gate -crashing the death commemoration ceremony of most Ven Sobitha Thera the chief organizer of the movement for just society , conducted himself most villainously and self degradingly.
On that occasion as though to deliberately desecrate the solemn ceremony , he mounted the stage and criticized the 100 days program which was initiated by the Late Ven .Thera with the latter playing a key role . Moreover it is an incontrovertible fact Ven. Sobitha Thera was most contributory to Gamarala’s presidential victory .
‘In the 100 days program report , dissolution of parliament was not there. I do not know who prepared it. Looking at Jayampathy Wickremeratne ( president pointing at him who was in the audience ) , it was the most foolish thing that was done. What should have been done if they had the brain was , dissolved parliament on the very night of the day I took oaths as the president’ Gamarala told in a fit of rage.
Gatecrashing and profaning the dead
Even a street urchin who knows even little decency and etiquette wouldn’t disrespect the dead in the way Gamarala did on this solemn occasion. Not enough entering the venue as an intruder , he even went on to publicly castigate the program of late Ven . Sobitha Thera who is long dead , and mind you , that too at the death anniversary of that most revered and venerated Buddhist prelate who made a major contribution to put Gamarala on the presidential pedestal.
A monk who attended the function said , because the president accepted the SLFP chairman post , the good governance turned turtle . Gamarala who was infuriated by this exposure , said indirectly in his speech that he UNP headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe which was responsible for that. Gamarala ‘s latest hobby horse – the 19 th amendment was the other topic he harped on . He reiterated with Peacock pride , it is because he took over the SLFP chairman post , the 19 th amendment could be passed.
Poor Gamarala like at the last local body elections when he tried to fasten the entire blame on the UNP of the consensual government , and clear himself of his guilt , on this occasion too he tried the same ploy . Gamarala was most rattled and distressed because that same morning the corrupt tender bid valuing Rs. 22 billion for the supply of food to the forces he sought to push through failed. Because Lanka e News exposed every detail of his corrupt tender bid to the people which Gamarala sought to steer through via a cabinet paper on the 22 nd , Gamarala could not achieve his foul traitorous aim and agenda.
His charges against 100 days program – our answers !
As a media Institution that supported the 100 days program , we deem it is our duty to furnish answers to the criticisms leveled against it by president Gamarala …
Firstly, let us remind him the 100 days program was not originated by a single individual , single party or single organization. It was the outcome of the support of the organizations , parties and media which were against the Rajapakse regime then.
The only common theme that could bring all together was abolition of the Executive presidency. During discussions the theme was to abolish this within 6 months. But the UNP said , that can be done within 100 days, and within that period , even a referendum if necessary can be held. On the 0ther hand , if the majority of the pro Rajapkses are not extending support towards this , then there was a method too to dissolve parliament and go for elections. Pallewatte who had no truck with the opposition campaign then may not have known this. However at the last moment when he joined he accepted those without questioning anything.
If mother had not died it is her umbilical cord which would have been eaten by this monster
Leaving alone the fact that Pallewatte Gamarala came to power flaunting the 100 days program , the same Gamarala saying today , he does not know who prepared that and it is a stupid program after swearing earlier on before the people solemnly wherever he went that he would implement it is not a matter for surprise knowing very well his uncouth , uncultured , uncivilized ,ungrateful and unscrupulous overriding traits.
It is certain going by his inborn evil traits , only if Gamarala’s mother had not died as he was born , he would have been the first to eat the umbilical cord of the mother who helped him to come to this world. May be it is after realizing that she had given birth to a serpent in human form when he was born that she died of shock. In any case may her soul rest in peace. .
It is only today Gamarala realized if the common candidate had become the president , talking about the constitutional amendment was foolish without dissolving the parliament that was with a ‘minority’ of 47 members while the pro Rajapkses were in the majority , though to the intelligentsia of the political arena that was the most crucial .
When an individual who is not a Rajapakse becomes the president , a parliament with a Rajapakse majority supporting the abolition of executive presidency is not an issue. That is simpler than when it is to be done by a new parliament . Political calculations point to that .Yet the parliament with Rajapakse majority at that time did not oppose that.
Has he forgotten how he waited until he could rise with Mahinda ?
It is none other than Gamarala who took over the role of SLFP chairman and impeded the program designed to abolish the executive presidency via the 19 th amendment . People are not that stupid to listen to his Gamarala baila or believe the fairy tales he is relating today after having conveniently forgotten what he told , promised and did three years ago.
It was Gamarala and no other after getting together with Rathane Thera and Champika Ranawake who is always a thorn when it relates to every national issue , and then showing an agreement signed with them tried to create a public opinion what must be abolished is not the executive presidency but only the deleterious aspects of the executive power .
Unbelievably it was Gamarala himself who diluted the 19 th amendment to suit his own ends. Can anybody forget how he used the SLFP of which he became the chairman and the UPFA to achieve that purpose?
What did Gamarala do then who is now saying it was folly that the parliament was not dissolved the day following his taking oaths, and blaming others ?
Moreover he postponed the dissolution of parliament even after the 100 days program until the defeated Rajapakse forces could ‘rise with Mahinda’ as a force
If Gamarala does not remember the requests made several times in writing to him to dissolve parliament without postponing by Ven . Sobitha Thera whose death anniversary fell on 30 th May ,it is best if Gamarala reads the newspapers of May and June 2015 .
What did he say about dissolution of parliament during local body elections ?
There are two things that should be highlighted to the president who is blaming others including the UNP that prepared the 100 days program, and without dissolving the parliament the day following Gamarala taking oaths as president : If he is one who has some amount of political vision and if he is not among those who prepared the 100 days program, why is that he did not dissolve parliament ?
Is the power to dissolve parliament vested in the prime minister and not president ? or vested in Ven. Sobitha Thera or in Jayampathy Wickremeratne at whom the finger was pointed today ?
Didn’t this skunk from the dark side of the Moon tell an entirely and diametrically different story to the SLFP ers and the UPFA ers from what he is telling now , during the local body elections? Didn’t he say if he dissolved parliament the day following his taking oaths the SLFP would have been finished , and therefore in order not to allow room for the UNP to form a separate government , he postponed the dissolution and delayed the elections with a view to confer an advantage on the SLFP ? Didn’t Gamarala tell all this to pose off as a hero among the SLFP members ? Now , what is he blabbering then today ?
Gamarala on the day following his becoming president met with the Rajapakses at the residence of Mahinda Amaraweera to promise nothing harmful will be done to them . Some days later he also had secret discussions with Gotabaya at former’s Paget road residence after extinguishing the lights. What has he to say about the cogent evidence in this regard in the book written by Malith Jayatileke a national list M.P. of Gamarala himself ?
What has he to say about the statement made publicly by his own Western province M.P. that Gotabaya was sent overseas by Gamarala fearing Gota might be arrested ? What has he to say about his screaming and shouting that ‘war heroes are being hauled up in courts’ when Gotabaya was summoned to courts, and chased out the Bribery and corruption commission Director General from the post ? What has he to say about the granting of bail to officers of the forces and their reinstatement when they were remanded over the Ekneliyagoda abduction ?
Gamarala forgets the 20 th amendment on Sobitha Thera’s death anniversary
Gamarala who swore day in and day out that he would abolish the executive presidency which was the cherished aim and primary goal of Ven Sobitha Thera , however when he arrived at his commemoration ceremony did not at least say he would support the proposed 20 th amendment . It is very rare such a scoundrel of the lowliest level gets an opportunity to become a ruler of the country . Such rascals being tolerated by the ruled is even rarer. It is because some curse that has befallen us and the country that we have to put up with such a double tongued stinking spittoon of a mouth president since 2015-01-08 .
This stupid moron who chose the commemoration venue of late Ven . Sobitha Thera to give answers to the statement made by Chandrika that not only Gamarala , even any other common candidate would have won the presidential election that time , spoke like a Kindergarten class child who is piqued and peeved. His replied to her statement by questioning ‘ if so , then could have put somebody else and won. Why wasn’t that done?’ Can such an idiot be addressed as a president ?
This same buffoon spoke about the granting of helicopter then to defeated Mahinda Rajapakse without naming the prime minister whom he tried to blame. We however do not see giving Mahinda helicopter transport at that time with a view to release the reins of power peacefully as an issue because Ranil did not load Mahinda’s helicopter with pro good governance crowd. On the contrary what did this two legged mutt do throughout the last local body elections ? Didn’t this mutt until the end of elections along with Mahinda’s Lotus Bud crooks travel by helicopter to canvass for votes? Wasn’t that to cling on to the cursed shawl of Rajapakses ? Can there be a worse show of self degrading conduct than that ?
Sobitha Thera’s name as an excuse…
Pallewatte Gamarala who like a typical mutt bit and ate the hands of all those forces all this while which propelled him to power spared only the name of Ven . Sobitha Thera, but today he finished him too. Before this he finished biting and eating the hands of all those who fed him . Those victims were Lanka e News , Civil Organizations ,Chandrika Kumaratunge , Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sarath Fonseka , and his closest Rajitha Senaratne
The UNP shall give the answers to the charges mounted that it did not implement the laws. In like manner the Daily Mirror newspaper too shall answer the charges leveled against it. We of course gave answers by exposing the absolute falsehoods uttered by Gamarala with regard to the 100 days program which was launched with our backing. Even others who were associated with that program shall furnish answers to this stinking skunk of a rare specie with rare abilities to change into a serpent , fox , mutt , swine or chameleon instantly and with consummate ease.
In any event , even as Gamarala is trying to paint a picture that he is clean and pure we are deluged with copious information and details about a most unlawful disgraceful act of his exerting unlawful pressures . We shall expose those lurid details in another report .
The video footage of the most despicable , detestable and self degrading speech of president Gamarala at Ven. Sobotha Thera’s death commemoration is hereunder
--------------------------- by (2018-06-01 19:59:46)
There are several major religions and philosophical schools in this world. Billions of people follow one of these religions or philosophies.There is a relatively smaller number of atheists and those not belonging to the idea of religion and God. The atheist does not believe that there is a God Creator. Here, God meaning the traditional definition of a God.However, if one analyses, the atheist though does not believe in God Creator, he still believes in something. It is not that the atheist is bereft of any belief whatsoever. The atheist may believe for example, in Cosmic power or Nature as the source of creation. Logically, belief is present but the object of the belief is different. The atheist misses the point that even these beliefs cannot come into being by themselves. This is a separate discussion.
When examining religions (for convenience, this includes philosophies too) a common phenomenon that is found in all of them is that each exhorts its followers towards goodness. This goodness can be broadly classified into three in the theological sense. Goodness to one’s self. Goodness towards the others and goodness towards the Creator. If we compare Buddhism, it teaches the same thing except that it does not accept the concept of a Theist. The practise of mindfulness (sati) in Buddhism in its various formats serves the essence of the self and humanity (For example see: Satipatthana Sutta,Majjhima Nikaya 10).
In this context, fasting can be identified as one such common phenomenon weaving through several religious beliefs. In Islam fasting has been prescribed in the Quran.It states:
“O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain tattaqūn (self-restraint, mindfulness)” (Chapter 2 verse 183).
Tanha
A salient feature in this verse is that it refers to fasting as having being prescribed to those people before Prophet Muhammed.This is making reference to all those previous religions.An interesting area for comparative research.In the context of its extended application, fasting would include all the three classifications listed above viz. goodness to one’s self, goodness towards the others and goodness towards the Creator. With regard to one’s self the exercise is that of restraining and abstaining from everything that attracts a person. Buddhist terminology recognises this attraction as Tanha. Meaning: craving, hunger for, thirst, excitement, the fever of unsatisfied longing (Pali English Dictionary, Edited by T. W. Rhys David and William Stede). Tanha is one of the foremost obstacles according to Buddhism which stands in the path to liberation (nibbana). It is classified into three as: kama-taṇhā(thirst for sensual pleasures), bhava-taṇhā (thirst for existence and becoming), and vibhava-taṇhā(thirst for non-existence) (P. 29. What the Buddha taught by Walpola Sri Rahula).
The Muslim fast starts from dawn and ends at dusk every day in the lunar month of Ramadan. During this time, the Muslim not only keeps away from consuming food and drinks. Fasting also very strictly includes abstaining from all kinds of sinful thoughts and mental actions (Mano-kamma), verbal actions (Vacī-kamma) and physical actions (Kaya-kamma) – like foul language, backbiting, slandering, lying, listening to music, sexual relations, stealing, time wasting by watching movies, gossiping, etc.During the month of Ramadan, Muslims undergo this training of controlling the tanha demonstrated by way of real practise. A Muslim has to strictly follow the rules of fasting. If not the fast is nullified. The Prophet Muhammed said that a person who does not observe the fast as it should be, had only remained in hunger. Meaning, he has not availed anything spiritually in the eschatological sense nor has benefitted mentally in the physical sense.
Tanha in the world of Buddhist thought, given a literal meaning, can be understood to be the result of attachment. Humans naturally have the tendency to like and liking creates attachment. Liking can include even loving something or someone. This attachment can lead to suffering which is dukkha. Therefore, it is said that the only way to end dukkha, that is suffering is by putting an end to tanha.
President Maithripala Sirisena said said that he had discussed with a US based global institution regarding the issues that had arisen in the country due to social media and that if they were unable to control such issues, he would have to ban social media websites altogether like some other countries had done.’ reports Daily Mirror.
But has has not disclosed the name of the institution he had consulted.
“I summoned a team of experts who work in a global institution in the US that attend to issues pertaining to social media. I discussed with them the influence of the social media has on social and national security, ethnic harmony, integrity of a family and so on because social media has influenced them badly. I also told the US experts that if they could not control what was going on in Sri Lanka, I would take steps to control misusing of social media notwithstanding whoever opposed,” he had said.
Showing that his main concern is news sited, he has further said that “we have no issue with web sites as to who does the correct thing and provides good entertainment to the people and useful education to children,” .
There were protests when I took measures to block social media websites during the recent ethnic unrest took place in Kandy. But subsequently, there were accolades and gratitude for actions taken to curb social media platforms.
The IGP gave me a report upon
my request on crimes induced by on line websites or social media. When I went through the report, I had goosebumps. Police officers told me that only 10% of crimes committed using modern technology is reported.
There were instances in the recent past where social media was used to influence Judges before the verdicts were delivered. Various fabricated allegations were levelled against Judges. These kinds of malicious campaigns had made the Judges distressed and perturbed. As politicians, we are used to mudslinging but not are the Judges.
“There are incidences of character assassinations, mudslinging and tarnishing people’s image using social media. I am one of the most affected victims of social media mudslinging campaigns. If this kind of acts committed during the previous regime, he or she would not have survived much longer.
Within days they would have been wiped out. But we don’t do this kind of acts and the social or main stream media enjoy the freedom enjoyed by them under this government to the fullest and sling as much mud at us maliciously and in most cruelest ways dishing out fabrications, misinterpretations, character assassinations, half-baked truths and absolute lies,” he has said.
31 May 2018
NASA / JHUAPL / SWRIImage captionDunes can be seen in the bottom half of this picture of Pluto's Sputnik Planitia region
NASA / JHUAPL / SWRIImage captionPluto's atmosphere was thought to be too thin to create dunes through the action of wind alone
NASA / JHUAPL / SWRIImage captionPluto's strange "snakeskin terrain" may represent not dunes, but blades of ice
NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/STEVE GRIBBENImage captionArtwork: New Horizons will fly past the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 in January 2019
31
