Why Mahinda Rajapaksha must win without Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka ?

President of Sri Lanka , Mahinda Rajapaksha
**********************************************



The suspected Tiger female suicide bomber who carried out the attack on the Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka has been identified as Anoja Kugenthiratasah.

Colombo, 27 April, (Asiantribune.com): The female suicide bomber who carried out the bomb attack on the Sri Lanka Army Commander on Tuesday 25 April, has been identified as a Tamil women from Vavuniya.
**********************************************

Sarath Fonseka ********************

the next presidential elections comes. what is people are expecting ? SF or MR ?
means Sarath Fonseka or Mahinda Rajapaksha. Both 2 sides are in a cold war regarding who is the Real Hero of the war in Sri Lanka. How can judge this ? specially UNP, the United National Party ? That was the main party in Sri Lanka who opposed in every way to stop the war and speaking about never ever can win a war or defeat Prabhakaran . They always opposed the way this government has done the way of war. always told its fake and made many speeches how Mahinda and Prabhakaran made a treaty and going to sell the country etc. In few weeks the war has been won by the government of Mahinda , there Sarath Fonseka was the Chief .

The problem was, in last 40 years Sarath was in the duty. Never won the 30 year old war. In few years after Mahinda's presidency it won in 4 years time. Who is the real hero ? you must decide . How Sarath is in power hungry these days ? others made him mind to that point. Now he himself believe as the real No. 1 hero is he. There are 3 army forces there. How we can tell Sarath is the one. Can say , only if anyone is insane . The power hungry UNP and the most destruction party in Sri Lanka JVP now in same platform to get the power making false arguments. Lalkantha, The JVP's cow (olamotalaya) is making many unbelievable arguments to see himself happy. One time in Sri Lanka the all of the had power including minister-ships. Only they know to shout. When they got the said power They didn't know how to do the minister ships.Making false arguments they left their memberships from the government. Because their lack of efficiency in the office.

Do you think Sarath Fonsake must take the presidency ? No , never. But we love him . Others like some opposite politicians have made his mind pollute these days. everyone like the power. Nothing except Sarath Fonseka. He assumes he will win. But never. The only votes he will receive are the votes of UNP, as always less than 50%
of the given votes.

The Only Problem witnSarath is, he doesn't know how to control a country even near to me, except Army. The control of army forces is very much easier than control people. Why ? The forces never question the leader. It's their duty. But people ? they always criticize the ruling party and the president. Do you thing an army chief like Sarath will hear their voice ? These days he will tell "He Can ". But with power he surely changes and will make his own decisions whether people like it or not. He will throw away UNP and JVP too as he left Mahinda and Gotabhaya, who made the way for Sarath to be the chief of Army.

Continue.........

Mininova.org to where ? What happened to Mininova ?

Mininova limits its activities to Content Distribution service

Published on November 26, 2009 in Mininova-related news.

Hi all,

Today is an important day in the history of Mininova. From now on, we are limiting Mininova.org to our Content Distribution service. By doing so, we comply with the ruling of the Court of Utrecht of last August.

Unfortunately the court ruling leaves us no other option than to take our platform offline, except for the Content Distribution service. According to the verdict (Dutch link) we have to prevent uploads of torrents to Mininova that refer to certain titles or to similar-looking titles. We’ve been testing some filtering systems the last couple of months, but we found that it’s neither technically nor operationally possible to implement a 100% working filter system. Therefore, we decided that the only option is to limit Mininova to Content Distribution torrents from now on. We are still considering an appeal at this moment.

We launched our Content Distribution service in 2007. This service allows producers and artists to easily publish and distribute their content for free through Mininova. The launch of Content Distribution has proven to be a success. Countless content owners have used Content Distribution to distribute their content (e.g. albums and documentaries) for free to millions of users. For example, the Dutch band Silence is Sexy released their complete album on Mininova and received the Interactive Award 2009 for doing so. The Dutch television broadcaster VPRO decided to start using Content Distribution in 2009 in order to distribute documentaries.

We would like to thank you for your support. Especially everyone that contributed to Mininova receives a big “thank you!” for the effort! We hope to keep welcoming you on Mininova and our other projects (e.g. Snotr, Dispostable).

Thanks! The Mininova staff

Boyzone - No More , Stephen Gately is dead with sad news to all

Pop world mourns Boyzone's Gately

Boyzone, with Gately centre, reformed in 2007 after eight years apart

The remaining members of Boyzone arrived in Majorca on Sunday

Friends, fans and stars have paid tribute to Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who has died suddenly at the age of 33 while on holiday in Majorca.

Gately's bandmates described him as "our friend and brother" and said that he "lit up our lives".

Boyzone manager Louis Walsh pulled out of Sunday's X Factor show, where judge Simon Cowell paid tribute to Gately.

A spokesman for Gately's family attributed his death to natural causes and ruled out drugs and suicide.

Gately was on holiday with his long-term partner Andy Cowles, who was introduced to him by Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, and married in a civil partnership in 2006.

Gately's boy band enjoyed huge success in the 1990s, scoring six UK number one singles.

They reformed in 2007 before embarking on a string of comeback concerts and were planning to release a new album next year.

BOYZONE UK NUMBER ONE HITS Words - October 1996 A Different Beat - December 1996 All That I Need - May 1998 No Matter What - August 1998 When The Going Gets Tough - March 1999 You Needed Me - May 1999 In pictures: Life and career In quotes: Stars pay tribute

A statement from the four remaining members of Boyzone said: "We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more.

"Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit. Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen's family. We love you and will miss you forever."

Singer Ronan Keating was in Chicago when the news of Gately's death emerged and has travelled to join the rest of the group, who flew out to Majorca on Sunday evening, where they spent more than a hour visiting Mr Cowles at Gately's apartment.

Irish solicitor Gerald Kean, a spokesman for Gately's family, said: "There's no foul play involved and it's not suicide.

"It's just a tragic accident is what we've been told and we're happy that that is correct information.

"There is nothing untoward, it's not drugs, we don't believe, it's not suicide, it's not murder, it's not a fight. That's what we've been told."

The family hope to have the remains returned to Ireland by the end of the week for the funeral in Dublin, he added.

A post mortem will take place in Spain on Tuesday.

Police said they were called to a house near Port d'Andratx on the western tip of the island on Saturday afternoon.

"At the moment it is not known how he died," a police spokesman said. "There are no signs of suspicious circumstances."

Sir Elton said on Sunday he and Furnish were "stunned by this tragedy".

"Stephen was the kindest, gentlest soul," he said. "We send our love and condolences to his partner Andy and to all his friends everywhere."

Gately died in his apartment complex in Port Andratx, Majorca

Former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, a friend of Gately, said the singer and his group had been "part of Irish life, and far wider than that" for 15 years. "It's a huge, huge tragedy. It's so sad," he said.

Louis Walsh's spokeswoman confirmed that the manager would not go ahead with his appearance as an X Factor judge on Sunday's live results show.

His spokeswoman said: "He thanks you all for the messages of support at this sad time."

Walsh earlier told the News of the World newspaper that he was "in complete shock".

Fellow X Factor judge Simon Cowell paid tribute to Gately, saying his death was "really, really, tragic" and sent his condolences to the star's family, but added: "The show must go on."

Fellow Irish boy band Westlife, also managed by Walsh, put out a statement describing Gately as a "friendly, positive spirit and a passionate performer".

SAVE THE CHILDREN FROM SUICIDE

SAVE THE CHILDREN FROM SUICIDE

By Shalika Ranaweera

The future of this country are the school children and their well being is very important to the society. Some incidents taking place in the schools already shows a bad signal and our school children are not really in a position to handle some of the problems on their own.

It is a pathetic situation that the students see the best option available as committing suicide for small issues.

To get the opinion regarding this situation the Daily Mirror contacted some professionals in the field of education yesterday.

Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana

Dhanapala Wijesinghe, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Sri Jayawardanepura

The socialization of children is the main reason for this problem. Socialization is the way how we train a child to behave in an accepted manner in society and direct them to a good life style.

It is a life long process and through the socialization we develop the personality. Socialization trains the people to integrate with society. Integration is an important fact because it is the pathway to learn how to live in society and adopt the conditions prevailing in society.

There are different levels of integration. If the student’s level of integration is low he or she would not interact properly in society and try to lead a solitary life. They prefer being alone than in a company.

If the level of integration is high they tend to lead highly committed social lives abiding by norms and customs. High levels of integration help them to build their personalities and they are capable of sharing their good and bad. As they have enough people around them they have the chance of sharing all their problems. Even before taking a critical decision like committing suicide they would discuss their problems with friends.

But solitary confined children take unto themselves and develop an egoism. To avoid this type of incidents, parents must develop a strong relationship with their children. Weak integration reflects the weakness prevailing within the family.

Family should be one entity and share everything within the family. Then children develop confidence in their parents and they would divulge all their problems to the parents. Other than this the idea of freedom has been misused in society. Earlier in our traditional society parents had a control over the children and allowed them certain freedom. Society had been able to make an impact on the children’s behaviour as well.

But the Western concept on freedom is controversial to this. Children are given much more freedom and parents think that they should not intervene into children’s problem.

I personally believe that the parents should be more inquisitive and look into what their children are up to. If not, the children would enjoy their freedom in a wrong manner.

It is a fact that the weaker integration with the family and society would persuade them to make their own decisions. Their solitary life would lead to several psychological problems and breaks the psychological equilibrium. That also disturbs the tolerance levels of the students.

When it escalates into higher level, students tend to get various ideas. Some retrieve, some commit suicide, that depends on the level of experience they have received.

To solve these type of problems, the best option is that we as adults should not allow children to become solitary in their lives. Parents must be watchful about their children’s behaviour and should be aware of their associates.

Parents and teachers should observe the children carefully and assist them to solve their problems in an appropriate way. There should not be any secrets in the family and the children would not fear to come up with their problems.

A highly integrated child would never commit suicide because when he/she takes the decision all the relationships, loving and affectionate people in the child’s surrounding would come to their mind. That would definitely avoid those hasty decisions taken by them.

Deputy Principal, Royal College, Colombo

Students took those hasty decisions because they did not have the strength to solve their own problems.

The media is responsible for the repetition of these incidents. They highlight those incidents and figures as if those who committed suicide are heroines. That sets a bad example for those weaker students. Sometimes the TV channels narrate the story while performing suicide. But it is not the proper thing that they should do. Media must correct the wrong in it.

Teachers are there to correct students and they should point out their mistakes.

All students do not have the same capability to bear problems. That might be due to the way they were brought up in the family. Any way the schools are there to leverage those shortcomings.

At the same time parents should be helpful in solving the problems of the children and they must not exert pressure on them. Parents must not try to achieve what they could not through their children.

Through counselling there is a possibility of solving the student’s problem. Parents should develop a friendly environment at home as well.

Ajith Liyanage – Businessman

Now both the students and the parents are busy and they live in their own world. Earlier the situation in our families was different and the parents had enough time to listen to their children. Parents were willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of their children. Now the children live away from their parents and they see each other rarely. So the child has no way of sharing their problems with the parents, thereby the children are isolated in their own world and there is nobody to direct them in the correct path.

Chaminda Dandeniya – A graduate

Now the society is more complicated and the students have more exposure to the world, they have to spend more time out of the family in a tuition class or in a boarding house, thereby the students build up unnecessary relationships that puts them in the wrong path.

Vindya Wickramanayake – Teacher

Students are weak in their thinking and they should develop their advance thinking. They should share their problems with the parents. It is definite that the school supports us in building our personality but the most important fact is family bond between parents and children. If that bond is high children would have courage to solve the problems in a better way.

Roshini Perera – Audit Trainee

Students must develop good relationship with their families. Now the competition is high and students have no time to communicate with their parents. The parents are also busy and they let their children grow in their own way, thereby parents do not know the friends of their children and this leads to many of these problems.

Mayasiri Dias – Driver

These incidents occurred due to the inborn weakness of the students.

They are not in a position to think far and get their own decisions correctly. These types of incidents are common in the city.

In rural areas the family bond is high and children do not take decisions haphazardly.

Dailymirror.lk

Backstreet Boys, Straight Through My Heart, song video with lyrics

Backstreet Boys' "Straight Through My Heart" is their new video from the upcoming album "This Is Us" which will be out on oct 6 in 2009. I think this is a very good news for whole entertainment industry. Enjoy..They are same like old time..Happy to see them like this.



***************Lyrics are here...............

In the heart
Of the night
When it's dark
In the lights
I heard the loudest noise
A gunshot on the floor
Ohhhh Ohhhhh

I looked down
And my shirt's turning red
I'm spinning around
Felt her lips on my neck
And her voice in my ear
Like I missed you
want you tonight

Chorus:
Straight through my heart
A single bullet got me
I can't stop the bleeding
Ohhhh
Straight through my heart
She aimed and she shot me
I just can't believe it
Ohhhh
No I can't resist
And I can't be hit
I just can't escape this love
Straight through my heart
Soldier down(my heart)
Soldier down(my heart)

Thought I moved
More than on
Thought I could
Fool her charm
I really wanna go
But I can't leave her alone
Ohhhh ohhhh

Hear the sound
Of a love so loud
I just can't, I just can't
Ignore this feeling
Said she misses me
And she wants me
Wants me tonight

Chorus

In the heart
Of the night
When its dark
In the lights
I heard the loudest noise
A gunshot on the floor

The New world's tallest man - 8'1"

8'1" Turk takes title of world's tallest man

LONDON – A towering Turk was officially crowned the world's tallest man Thursday after his Ukrainian rival dropped out of the running by refusing to be measured.

Guinness World Records said that 8 foot 1 inch (2.47 meter) Sultan Kosen, from the town of Mardin in eastern Turkey, is now officially the tallest man walking the planet. Although the previous record holder, Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk, reportedly measured 8 feet 5.5 inches (2.57 meters), Guinness said he was stripped of his title when he declined to let anyone confirm his height.

Stadnyk, 39, told The Associated Press he refused to be independently measured because he was tired of being in the public eye.

"If this title had given me more health or a few extra years, I would have taken it, but the opposite happened, I only wasted my nerve cells," he said.

"If I have to choose between prosperity and calm, I choose calm."

Kosen, 27, told reporters in London that he was looking forward to parlaying his newfound status into a chance at love.

"Up until now it's been really difficult to find a girlfriend," Kosen said through an interpreter. "I've never had one, they were usually scared of me. ... Hopefully now that I'm famous I'll be able to meet lots of girls. I'd like to get married."

Kosen is one of only 10 confirmed or reliably reported cases in which humans have grown past the eight foot (2.44 meter) mark, according to Guinness.

The record-keeping group said he grew into his outsize stature because tumor-related damage to his pituitary triggered the overproduction of growth hormones. The condition, known as "pituitary gigantism," also explains Kosen's enormous hands and feet, which measure 10.8 inches (27.5 centimeters) and 14.4 inches (36.5 centimeters) respectively.

The tumor was removed last year, so Kosen isn't expected to grow any further.

The part-time farmer, who uses crutches to stand, said there were disadvantages to being so tall.

"I can't fit into a normal car," he said. "I can't go shopping like normal people, I have to have things made specially and sometimes they aren't always as fashionable. The other thing is that ceilings are low and I have to bend down through doorways."

But he noted some advantages too, including the ability to see people coming from far away.

"The other thing is at home they use my height to change the light bulbs and hang the curtains, things like that."

Kosen's trip to the U.K. — his first outside Turkey — was organized by Guinness to publicize the release of its 2010 Guinness World Records book, this year's repertoire of weird and wonderful records.

___

Associated Press Writer Maria Danilova in Kiev, Ukraine contributed to this report.

On the Net:

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/

Facebook, Twitter experienced intermittent access problems

NEW YORK – Hackers on Thursday shut down the fast-growing messaging service Twitter for hours, while Facebook experienced intermittent access problems.

Twitter said it suffered a denial-of-service attack, in which hackers command scores of computers toward a single site at the same time, preventing legitimate traffic from getting through.

The attacks may have been related to the ongoing political conflict between Russia and Georgia. They started with hackers using a botnet to send a flurry of spam e-mail messages that contained links to pages on Twitter, Facebook and other sites written by a single pro-Abkhazia activist, according to Bill Woodcock, research director of the San Francisco-based Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit that tracks Internet traffic.

Russia recognized as independent the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after a brief war with Georgia a year ago.

When people clicked on the links, they were taken to the activist's legitimate Web pages, but the process of loading the pages at such volumes overwhelmed some servers and disrupted service, Woodcock said. He said it's hard to immediately tell whether it was a case of hackers trying to punish the sites for publishing views they disagree with, or if they were directing traffic to the sites out of sympathy for the activist's message.

"There's very little way of distinguishing which side was taking this action, because either side could hypothetically benefit from it," Woodcock said.

The fact that a relatively common attack could disable such a well-known Web site shows just how young and vulnerable Twitter still is, even as it quickly becomes a household name used by celebrities, large corporations, small businesses and even protesters in Iran.

"Clearly they need a stronger infrastructure to be able to fight this kind of attack," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at computer security firm Sophos. Twitter's tech support teams, he added, "must be frankly out of breath" trying to keep up with the site's enormous growth.

According to comScore, Twitter had 20.1 million unique visitors in the United States in June, some 34 times the 593,000 a year earlier.

For Twitter users, the outage meant no tweeting about lunch plans, the weather or the fact that Twitter is down.

"I had to Google search Twitter to find out what was going on, when normally my Twitter feed gives me all the breaking news I need," said Alison Koski, a New York public-relations manager. She added she felt "completely lost" without Twitter.

The Twitter outage began at about 9 a.m. EDT and lasted a few hours.

Facebook, whose users encountered intermittent problems Thursday morning, was also the subject of a denial-of-service attack, though it was not known whether the same hackers were involved. Unlike Twitter, Facebook never became completely inaccessible. Facebook said no user information was at risk.

LiveJournal, a 10-year-old online diary and blogging site that has waned in popularity in recent years, was also the subject of a denial-of-service attack that lasted about an hour Thursday morning, the company said.

By early afternoon both Twitter and Facebook seemed to be functioning, giving cubicle-bound social media addicts a collective sigh of relief. Twitter warned, though, that as it recovers, "users will experience some longer load times and slowness."

Technology business analyst Shelly Palmer told AP Radio that denial-of-service attacks are a reality of the information age.

"People tend to want to take sites that are very public and go after them," said Palmer, managing director of Advanced Media Ventures Group. "In fact you'd be surprised how many sites for major companies are really attacked on a daily basis. This is a crime, it's a real crime and it should be treated that way."

Earlier this week, Gawker Media, which owns the eponymous media commentary blog and other sites, was also attacked. In a blog post, Gawker said Tuesday it was attacked by "dastardly hackers," leading to server problems that caused network-wide outages Sunday and Monday. It was not immediately clear whether those attacks were related to Twitter's.

Thursday's was not the first — and likely not the last — outage for Twitter.

Besides planned maintenance outages, overcapacity can cripple Web sites, especially such fast-growing ones as Twitter and Facebook.

In fact, service outages on Twitter once were so common that management began posting a "Fail Whale" logo on the Web site to signal when the service was down. The logo featured a whale being hoisted above the water by a flock of birds.

Millions of Twitter users aren't familiar with the 3-year-old service's history of frequent outages because they began tweeting in the past six months, around the same time that the San Francisco-based company had was spending more money to increase its computing power and reduce the disruptions. With the added capacity, the Fail Whale rarely surfaces any more.

Even so, the entire site being down means Twitter hasn't put enough measures in place to prevent such an attack, Cluley said. That could include working with Internet service providers to filter potentially malicious requests from legitimate ones, as well as having servers spread out around the world.

Denial-of-service attacks are typically carried out by "botnets" — armies of infected computers formed by spreading a computer virus that orders compromised machines to phone home for further instructions. They are generally used to send out spam or steal passwords, though some can be commanded to overwhelm Web sites.

Successful attacks on popular Web sites were common earlier this decade. Sites such as eBay, Amazon.com and CNN were overwhelmed by such attacks, sometimes for days, in 2000.

But Thursday's attack underscores the fact that no one is immune.

"With these attacks, if you get enough infected machines ... you can take down anyone," said Dmitri Alperovitch, vice president of threat research at security vendor McAfee Inc.

Last month, dozens of U.S. and South Korean sites, including those of the White House and South Korea's presidential Blue House, were targeted in denial-of-service attacks.

For Lev Ekster, who runs a mobile cupcake truck called CupCakeStop in New York, Thursday's Twitter hiccup meant no tweets to customers and fans on the truck's location and the day's flavors.

But it wasn't the end of the world.

"As soon as I saw the Twitter outage, I went on to our Facebook fan page," said Ekster, who also uses Twitter to get reviews of his cupcakes, find employees and let people know about giveaways.

The lesson, he says, is "not to limit yourself to Twitter and live or die by Twitter."

___

AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson contributed to this story from San Francisco.

New LTTE leader KP arrested, being questioned in Colombo

New LTTE leader KP arrested

The new self appointed LTTE leader and chief arms dealer Kumaran Pathmanathan also known as KP, who was wanted by INTERPOL, has been arrested, Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona told Daily Mirror online. The LTTE last month announced that Kumaran Pathmanathan, will lead the struggle for Eelam now that its supreme leader V Prabhakaran has died in action without realizing his dream. The LTTE executive committee has said KP, who was made head of the international division by Prabhakaran,”will lead us into the next stage of our freedom struggle”.

KP being questioned in Colombo

Kumaran Pathmanathan also known as KP is now being questioned in Colombo. The Hindustan Times today quotes MP Basil Rajapaksa as saying KP was flown down to Colombo following his arrest although details of how arrest was conducted was not revealed. Meanwhile respected columnist D.B.S Jeyaraj, in a posting on his blog site said that according to informed sources KP was staying in Kuala Lumpur(KL) , Malaysia when taken into custody. Pathmanathan had met with two visitors from London, England at a hotel room in KL in the afternoon of August 5th. He had received a call on his cellular phone. KP had then signaled to his visitors that he was going out to the corridor and walked away while conversing on the phone. He had not returned for a long time and the when the worried visitors from Britain went out in search there was no sign of the new global tiger chief. Meanwhile the friend who had been talking to KP on the phone had heard a sudden thud and some noise while chatting. The phone went dead and repeated calls were not successful. The friend then alerted some assistants of KP in Malaysia who went in search of KP to the place where he was staying in KL. The place was empty but KP’s insulin and syringes and other medical stuff was still there. The visitors from London also got alarmed and contacted circles close to KP. Meanwhile KP seized in Malaysia was taken to Bangkok in Thailand. Sri Lankan authorities were contacted and a team from the Police Terrorist Investigation Department flew to Bangkok in the early hours of Thurasday August 6th. The team returned with Pathmanathan alias KP on a special flight on the same day. KP was handcuffed and had a mask covering his head and face when disembarking from the plane at Katunayake Airport. He was whisked away in a vehicle with tinted glasses to a high-security , secret location run by the terrorism investigation dept personnel. KP is to be interrogated intensively by Sri Lankan anti-terrorist sleuths. It is widely believed that the arrest was made possible through “inside information” supplied by some members of the LTTE abroad who were opposed to KP donning the tiger leadership mantle after the demise of supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Mervyn Silva, Speak to Daily Mirror

Mervyn Silva on Hot Seat
-Daily Mirror

"Ahasa Nuba metharamm" >> Rumesh-Lakshan's song with new visual Hirthik Roshan and Kareena in..Wonderful Love Song

I've visualized this amazing love song "Ahasa Numba Metharamm" of Rumesh - Lakshan's first music album.Now all of can enjoy this song also If you like to download the original quality video use Rapidshare link below mentioned.

Download Here - Rapidshare

"Child with cerebral palsy with a classroom assistant" border

Software 'gives children a voice'

Pupils with communication problems have been testing the software

Scientists claim to have developed the first technology of its kind to allow children with communication problems to converse better.

'How was school today?' is software to help children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy communicate faster.

The system is the result of a project between computing scientists from the Universities of Aberdeen and Dundee, and Capability Scotland.

Pupils from Corseford School in Renfrewshire were first to trial it.

I was happy to take part in How was school today? It made me feel good about myself Nicole Vallery Corseford School pupil with cerebral palsy

Dr Ehud Reiter, from the University of Aberdeen's school of natural and computing sciences, said: "How was school today? uses sensors, swipe cards, and a recording device to gather information on what the child using the system has experienced at school that day.

"This can then be turned into a story by the computer - using what is called natural language generation - which the pupils can then share when they get home.

"The system is designed to support a more interactive narration, allowing children to easily talk about their school day and to quickly answer questions."

Rolf Black, from the University of Dundee's school of computing, said: "For a child with severe motor disabilities and limited or no speech, holding a conversation is often very difficult and limited to short one to two word answers.

"To tell a longer story a communication device is often needed to form sentences but this can be very time consuming, putting a lot of strain on holding and controlling the conversation."

'Talk easily'

Sue Williams, head teacher at Capability Scotland's Corseford School in Kilbarchan, said: "In the week we used the system we found it very useful to pupils, teachers, therapists and parents alike. It allows children to take control of the conversation without having to rely on help from us."

Children said they enjoyed using the new software

Nicole Vallery and Rebecca Clelland were two of the pupils at Corseford to test the new software.

Nicole, 11, who has cerebral palsy, said: "I was happy to take part in How was school today? It made me feel good about myself."

Rebecca said: "It was something different, I enjoyed it."

Nicole's mother, Jan, said: "We really enjoyed using How was school today? and hearing Nicole's story.

"The programme enabled her to talk easily and answer questions quickly, prompting more interaction and giving us a very detailed insight into her day."

Plans are in place to examine how it could be used to support children with different levels and types of impairments.

The project was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup 2009 Schedule

http://cricketschedule.blogspot.com/

Schedule: ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup 2009

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
India	Pakistan	Australia	New Zealand
Bangladesh	England	Sri Lanka	South Africa
Ireland	Netherlands	West Indies	Scotland
Group E	A1, B2, C1, D2	Group F	B1, A2, C2, D1

Friday, June 5
England vs Netherlands	Lord's	Match report | Scorecard | Images
Saturday, June 6
New Zealand vs Scotland	The Oval	14:30 IST
Australia vs West Indies	The Oval	18:30 IST
India vs Bangladesh	Nottingham	22:30 IST
Sunday, June 7
Scotland vs South Africa	The Oval	18:00 IST
England vs Pakistan	The Oval	22:00 IST
Monday, June 8
Bangladesh vs Ireland	Nottingham	18:00 IST
Australia vs Sri Lanka	Nottingham	22:00 IST
Tuesday, June 9
Netherlands vs Pakistan	Lord's	18:00 IST
New Zealand vs South Africa	Lord's	22:00 IST
Wednesday, June 10
Sri Lanka vs West Indies	Nottingham	18:00 IST
India vs Ireland	Nottingham	22:00 IST

Placement for the Super Eight stage is determined as follows:
The first two teams in each group are placed 1 or 2. They will retain this position for the Super Eight stage, irrespective of whether they finish first or second in their group, unless they are knocked out by the team 3 in their group. In this instance, team 3 replaces the position of the team they knock out.

Thursday, June 11
D1 v A2	Nottingham	18:00 IST
B2 v D2	Nottingham	22:00 IST
Friday, June 12
B1 v C2	Lord's	18:00 IST
A1 v C1	Lord's	22:00 IST
Saturday, June 13
C1 v D2	The Oval	18:00 IST
D1 v B1	The Oval	22:00 IST
Sunday, June 14
A2 v C2	Lord's	18:00 IST
A1 v B2	Lord's	22:00 IST
Monday, June 15
B1 v A2	The Oval	18:00 IST
B2 v C1	The Oval	22:00 IST
Tuesday, June 16
D1 v C2	Nottingham	18:00 IST
D2 v A1	Nottingham	22:00 IST

The teams finishing first and second in groups E and F, based on points obtained in the Super Eight stage will compete in the semi-finals

Thursday, June 18
E1 v F2, 1st Semi-Final	Nottingham	22:00 IST
Friday, June 19
F1 v E2, 2nd Semi-Final	The Oval	22:00 IST
Sunday, June 21
Final	Lord's	19:30 IST

Tironda Lal Egodage >> Heroes Welcome in Matara

Tironda Lal Egodage - One of the Army solder of Sri Lanka security forces has returned to the home town in Matara , Hittatiya after the Sri Lankan government victory over deadly LTTE terrorists who had killed thousands of innocent people of Tamil and Sinhala, even Rajeeve Ghandi, the Prime Minister of India, leaded by the worlds No.1 butcher Prabakaran.
Now the President of Sri Lanka Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksha is recognized as a world Hero for the entire history as he is able to end the 30 years old war in Sri Lanka.
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A Wonderful Tamil Song >> Santosh Subramaniam - Kadhalukku Kangal

Santosh Subramaniam - Kadhalukku Kangal

A Wonderful Tamil Song

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Kumaran Padmanadan (KP) must be killed before long to safe innocent Tamils

Reliable sources reveal that LTTE's chief for cross border terrorist activities, Kumaran Padmanadan, alias "KP" has been hidden after the ending of the war in Sri Lanka. Now he is very afraid to have been killed.He is hiding saying "I must hide if not Tamils will not safe'. But all the world know all the Tamils including 'Karuna" are here in safe in Sri Lanka.Millions of people say the governments must kill this No1 butcher "KP" before his next attacked on innocent people as before.
Kumaran Padmanadan is one of the most wanted terrorists by the International Police (Interpol) who has been running the global procurement network of the LTTE terrorists.
Some Tamils say KP will head the LTTE. But now..LTTE is no more. Only the name. KP will go to hell without any doubt.

Prabhakaran is still alive, A fake story from India !!

Some news papers in India have created a fake a story thar LTTE leader, Prabhakaran is still alive. Only to sell their news papers among the poor , idiot people in India. We've found that story is a created one to sell the news papers among the imotional people who don't have facility to reach internet or satellite TV etc.This newspaper office must be sealed and take all the people who created and sold the newspapers in to costody or killed for the charges helping to safe one time their leader in India Rajeeve's kiler and helping the world's No.1 butcher.

This video help U to undrstand how they created the fake story.

India....Seeled the news paper office as imediately !!!

Australian FM condemns attack on 2 Lankans in Australia?

Australian FM condemns attack on 2 Lankans in Australia?

Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith has condemned the recent unprovoked attack by a gang of thugs on two Sri Lankan young men in which both had been badly injured. The Minister said that the local police investigation is being overseen by a Special Central Unit. He made these observations when he telephoned his Sri Lankan counterpart, Rohitha Bogollagama today (21 May 2009) and exchanged views on developments following the defeat of LTTE terrorism in the country. Minister Bogollagama appreciated the strong condemnation of this incident by the Australian Government contained in a Statement issued by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans. The Australian Foreign Minister informed Minister Bogollagama that Australia was increasing its assistance to the humanitarian relief programme for the IDPs in the North by a sum of A$ 10 million. He noted that Australia is a longstanding friend of Sri Lanka was keen that a durable political settlement is found, in order to bring about lasting peace and security in the country. Australia is also concerned about the welfare of the large number of IDPs who have fled the former conflict zone and are now being accommodated in various IDP centres and welfare villages. Hence, he hoped that the additional sum of money that Australia has pledged would help in the humanitarian relief efforts. Foreign Minister Bogollagama while expressing his appreciation for the Australian Government’s additional aid pledged to the UN System, pointed out that if assistance could be made available bilaterally, such aid would reach the beneficiaries more quickly, avoiding unnecessary bureaucratic delays. Minister Smith responding positively stated that he would explore this request to channel Australian assistance for capacity building and humanitarian relief operation at the bilateral level. Minister Bogollagama giving a comprehensive briefing to Minister Smith on the new developments in the post-conflict phase, referred to the address to the nation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 19 May wherein the President unequivocally stated that the Government had removed the word “minorities” from the Sri Lankan agenda three years ago. All citizens of Sri Lanka have equal rights and the Government was determined to ensure that the Tamil people, particularly in the North who have been subjected to the brutal reign of terror of the LTTE, are once again able to enjoy the fruits of democracy. He also pointed out that critics of the Sri Lankan Government abroad who had warned of an imminent bloodbath and a humanitarian catastrophe in the days leading to the final phase of the security forces’ humanitarian mission to rescue the civilians held as human shields by the LTTE in the former no-fire zone (NFZ), have now being effectively silenced. The Minister said that all LTTE combatants who had been captured or surrendered to the Government forces are now being put through a comprehensive year long rehabilitation programme under the aegis of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation. He also said that the President has declared that henceforth, para military groups will not be permitted to operate on Sri Lankan territory. While appreciating the Australian Foreign Minister for his continued interest in Sri Lanka, Minister Bogollagama invited him to visit Sri Lanka to have a firsthand look, which would enable him to gain a better perspective of the ground situation. Minister Smith thanked the Sri Lankan Minister for the invitation to visit Sri Lanka and stated that he look forward to doing so at an early date. (Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Tamils, Sinhalese clash in Westmead

• Dylan Welch
• May 18, 2009

A LARGE brawl broke out in Sydney's west last night between Tamils protesting against the war in Sri Lanka and supporters of the Government's offensive.

Several people were arrested after a punch was thrown at a police officer during the brawl involving more than 50 people, and a man was bashed by four others after he took a small Tamil flag from a car and snapped its pole in half, police said.

He was taken to Westmead Hospital with bruises and a cut to his right eye.

The violence occurred after a convoy of about 120 cars of young Tamils drove through Sydney's CBD waving Tamil flags yesterday afternoon.

When the group returned to a Hindu temple in Westmead - where a Tamil has been on a hunger strike for the past two weeks - reports began to filter in of Tamils being attacked at Westmead railway station, the protest organiser, who wished to be known as "Vish", said.

Vish and some friends went to the station and were set upon, he said. "We got out of the car, went around the corner and then there were three Sinhalese [the Buddhist ethnic majority in Sri Lanka] guys with three crowbars who came running at us."

He managed to escape from the three men and call police. He then heard a large brawl had erupted at a nearby car park.

When he arrived he found more than 50 Tamils and Sinhalese in a brawl involving weapons. "It was about to get worse … but then the police came," he said.

A Tamil protester, already on crutches, was hit with a crowbar across the arm, Vish said.

A senior member of the Sri Lankan Tamil community, Ana Pararajasingham, said he was surprised the protests, until now peaceful, had turned violent.

Sinhalease Target by Tamils ???? Sri Lankan tensions hit Australia community

Sri Lankan tensions hit Australia community .....Sinhalease Target by Tamils ????

ONE NewsAustralia

Racial tensions in Sydney's Sri Lankan community have spilled over, with acid poured over the faces of two sleeping students just hours after brawls involving rival ethnic groups.

At least five men forced their way into the Sinhalese students' home in Alexandra Avenue at Westmead about midnight (AEST) on Sunday.

They threw acid over a 22-year-old man, identified only as Jayasiri, leaving him severely burned and fighting for his life in Concord Hospital in an induced coma.

They also doused 27-year-old Chathuika Weerasinghe in acid before stabbing him in the abdomen and breaking his ankle.

A third man in the house at the time managed to escape uninjured and called police.

The intruders rampaged through the house during the attack, splintering a bedroom door, leaving windows, a coffee table and television smashed and blood splatters on walls and furniture.

The attack followed two brawls on Sunday, both believed to have involved members of the Tamil and Sinhalese communities.

The violence is thought to have been sparked by the Tamil Tigers admitting defeat in their 37-year battle for an independent ethnic homeland in Sri Lanka, which is ruled by the Sinhalese majority.

The Tamil community has been protesting for weeks in Sydney and Canberra over what they say is the genocide of their people.

Police are speaking to Sri Lankan community leaders, and have appealed for witnesses to the politically-motivated unrest to come forward.

"We respect the right of everyone to express their political or social allegiances, however these protests must remain peaceful and free of violence or acts of retaliation by groups with opposing viewpoints," Superintendent Karen Webb said.

Sri Lanka's Consul-General Gothami Indikadahena, who visited the scene of the acid attack on Monday, said Sinhalese people in Australia feared for their safety.

"That is a serious concern which I need to address with the NSW government and the Australian government," she said.

"We want to contain these incidents because we are a united country; we want to live happily here.

"These boys came here just to study because we feel that in Sri Lanka they are not safe because of the terrorists."

Indikadahena said she was disturbed by the attack, and a witness was under protection amid fears of more violence.

Tamil spokeswoman Sam Pari also condemned the attack, saying it was unlikely to have been carried out by a member of her community.

"My own concern is that it could be individuals with their own kind of individual grievances against people," Dr Pari said.

"If it was someone from a Tamil background, then our community would have nothing to do with it because we spoke to everyone and we told them this issue should be left up to the authorities."

She said Tamils too were concerned for their safety.

A distressed neighbour said the three university students targeted were good neighbours and not the sort of people who make trouble.

Another witness told The Sydney Morning Herald the intruders had been screaming in Tamil during the rampage.

Police are investigating possible links between the acid attack and a brawl involving about 100 people outside a Wentworthville supermarket about 4.30pm (AEST) on Sunday.

Five people have now been charged over the fight, which left a police officer concussed and another man injured.

A separate fight, in which Pari alleged a Tamil man was attacked by a group of Sinhalese, broke out about 30 minutes later outside Westmead railway station.

The Tamil man was taken to Westmead hospital suffering lacerations above his right eye and soft tissue damage to some of his limbs.

Indikadahena said the three students were not involved in the brawl, just a few minutes walk from their house.

Sri Lanka Celebrate The Victory over LTTE........Watch Matara , Sri Lanka Celebrate Nidahasa after killed Prabhakaran

Sri Lanka Celebrate The Victory over LTTE........

Hoist the National flag..............

All state institutions are requested to hoist the national flag for a period of one week to celebrate the victory over terrorism.

LTTE leader dead: Sri Lanka official

The leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was shot dead while trying to flee government troops, a senior defence official told AFP. Prabhakaran tried to flee the area in an ambulance along with two close aides, but was ambushed and killed, the senior defence ministry official said on condition he not be named. "He was killed with two others inside the vehicle. There will be a formal announcement later," the official said. (AFP) Country liberated - Army Chief 'Job well done' The commanders of each branch of the armed forces and the IGP conveyed the victory over LTTE terrorism to the President in a ceremony at Temple Trees this evening. (Pics courtesy of Government) Army Commander Sarath Fonseka announced that the entire country has been liberated from the LTTE after more than three decades of terror with the death of LTTE Leader Vellupilai Prabhakaran.

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Mr.president , Mahinda Rajapaksha will add to the world history, not only in Sri Lankan history as a hero who defeated the most deadly terrorist organization in the world , LTTE.

Un- believable !!! 30 years long deadly War in Sri Lanka is over !!! May Mahinda, The President of Sri Lanka and the Brave Security Forces Long live !!!!! The Devil-LTTE'rs may go to hell !!!

See the U-Tube videos I've uploaded Matara celebration.
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"Slumdog" child star's Mumbai shanty home torn down

"Slumdog" child star's Mumbai shanty home torn down (Reuters)

MUMBAI (Reuters) - City authorities in Mumbai demolished the shanty home of a "Slumdog Millionaire" child star on Thursday, forcing his family into the streets months after the Oscar-winning film shot him to global fame.

Azharuddin Ismail, 9, played the character of Salim as a child in the film, a rags-to-riches romance about a poor Indian boy competing for love and money on a television game show.

Ismail's tarpaulin-covered home in a teeming slum was one of several shanties, illegally built along a drain, that were demolished by local authorities in Mumbai, India's financial capital and entertainment hub.

"When they came I was sleeping, they shook me awake and one policeman even threatened me," Ismail, surrounded by half-broken suitcases filled with clothes and utensils, told Reuters.

"What can I do if they have demolished my house? I will sleep out in the open."

A poster of "Slumdog Millionaire," signed by director Danny Boyle, fluttered from the only wall of Ismail's shanty still standing. Open sewers run nearby and it had no running water.

Authorities said the shanties had been demolished earlier but had sprung up again on the same spot.

"The shanties are all touching a drain that has to be cleaned before the advent of the monsoons," said U.D. Mistry, the local official in charge of the demolition drive.

Earlier this year, there was an outcry after pictures emerged of "Slumdog Millionaire's" child stars living in squalor despite the movie's box-office success and eight Academy Awards.

The film also sparked controversy for its name, deemed by some to be offensive to slum dwellers, and its treatment of the cast. Its depiction of the lives of poor Indians was dubbed "poverty porn" by sections of the media.

In February, the housing authority of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said they would give Ismail and fellow child star Rubina Ali new houses. But Ismail's mother, Shameem, said the family is now at the mercy of the rains.

"We also heard that the government had promised us houses, but what happened? We are still homeless," she said. "My son has brought glory to the country, shouldn't he get some credit?"

(Writing by Tony Tharakan; Editing by Matthias Williams and Paul Tait)

White House glamour

White House glamour

Michelle Obama was clear what she wanted when she appointed the Californian interior designer Michael Smith to refurbish the private quarters of the White House. ‘Michael shares my vision for creating a family-friendly feel to our new home and incorporating some new perspectives from some of America’s greatest artists and designers,’ she said. She could not have chosen better. Smith is brilliant at creating historically based rooms that are comfortable, light and airy. He combines antiques with family life: the television and Scrabble board taking their place alongside gilded screens and Sultanabad carpets. Smith’s style is steeped in the English country-house look (from his days studying decorative arts at the V & A), yet he does not disdain mass-produced products when they are right for the job.

‘I have no qualms about buying printed cotton bedspreads from Urban Outfitters if they have that vibration I’m looking for,’ he says. Just as well, as it is said that one of his first tasks at the White House will be the bedrooms of Sasha and Malia Obama (though he never comments). Every president is allotted $100,000 per term for the private quarters, which wouldn’t go far in the houses of his Hollywood clients: Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman and Michelle Pfeiffer. One of his main tasks is finding out what his clients want – he never imposes his own style. But there are elements that recur in many of his houses: white sofas, faded oriental rugs, polished plaster walls in subtle colours, four-poster beds, hand-blocked fabrics, chinoiserie wallpapers, dark Japanese-inspired kitchens and rush matting. These lovely interiors give us a glimpse of the new style that is coming to the Obama White House.

‘The proportions of these rooms are so commanding and strong that they would be beautiful even without anything in them. As in Palladio’s villas, the materials are incredibly raw yet refined. The ground floor is covered in pietra serena – the stone used to construct the city of Florence. The walls are Venetian plaster and the carpet is 17th-century Persian. There are two seating groups focused on a fireplace at each end. I had hemp custom-woven for the sofas. The palette is pale, except for the indigo in the rug and the red fabric on two Georgian chairs, which I had copied from an antique Indian textile. I have used a large table between the seating groups in the living-room to anchor the space and mark a passageway through the centre.’

Japanese-style kitchen, Malibu

‘This is my 21st Japanese-feudal kitchen – one of my favourite rooms in this house. Someone gave me a book on feudal Japanese palaces and I’ve been carrying around those pictures in my head.

Then I crossed that idea with a northern European castle (creamy plaster walls, wood beams) and modern minimalism. The island is made of walnut over stainless steel with an inset of stone round the sink. The Japanese tansu chest is 18th century, and the hanging lamps are made of fabric over a wood frame and were salvaged from a 1940s department store in Japan. It’s Shogun in Malibu.’

Dining-room, Santa Barbara, California Smith has commissioned a painted mural here, but for his own dining-room he used a hand-painted mural wallpaper by the British firm De Gournay

‘Dining-rooms are always tough. You want to create a sense of magic and I think nothing does it better than a mural. Suddenly you’re enveloped in this otherworldly atmosphere. You’re looking beyond the walls to the trees and sky. The northern Italian-style chair is covered in a damask linen.’

The library, Smith’s home in Los Angeles

‘The dark painted-leather screen sets off the bright yellow English Regency sofa, draped with an old Indonesian quilt, which I bought because I loved the pattern. Then I threw on more pattern with the cushions covered in a Turkish ikat and Indian fabrics. The coffee table is a 19th-century Chinese table, cut down to work in front of the sofa. The whole room is layered with objects I love: blue and white porcelain, old French maps, a marble obelisk – all guaranteed to transport you to another place and time.’

Guest-room in flat, Eaton Square, London

‘The guest-room in this apartment, on one of the most beautiful squares in London, is comparatively small. Funny how you get ideas – I was invited to Christian Lacroix’s show and he sent out the models against a backdrop of enormous black-and-white blow-ups of paintings. I loved that idea and replicated it by wrapping this guest-room in a grisaille wallpaper by Zuber. The vistas expand the narrow space. Then I furnished it with a stately neoclassical Russian secretaire and hung claret-red curtains, making the grey look even more crisp. It adds romance. It’s regal.’

Smith’s own bedroom, Los Angeles

‘I couldn’t find the perfect four-poster bed, but I found these Georgian posts and built a bed round them, hung with a fabric I designed called Indian Flower hemp. Of course, it had to have a canopy. If you’re going to spend a third of your life in bed, it might as well have a sense of ceremony. Beds are for lounging and I always make them super-comfortable with plenty of pillows. The cushion on the floor is meant to be for the dogs, but you can guess where they end up.’

* Extracted from ‘Michael S Smith: Houses’ (Rizzoli, £25), by Michael S Smith with Christine Pittel

Daily Telegraph

Suffering of civilians cornered by HRW

Suffering of civilians cornered by HRW

Rajiva Wijesinha

The Anglo American Corporation Human Rights Watch (HRW) is now engaged in a campaign, along with its patrons, to denigrate Sri Lanka in the eyes of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. This follows its campaign throughout 2009 to dissuade civilians from leaving the LTTE controlled territory to refuge with the Sri Lankan Government.

In both cases, the HRW agenda fits in with that of the LTTE. This may not be deliberate, but it is certainly convenient for the LTTE. Now that the LTTE is reduced to using the civilians it has entrapped, not just as a shield, but as a weapon of mass destruction, HRW has begun to issue lengthy descriptions of their suffering. It ignores completely its own contribution to this suffering, through its protracted campaign to suggest throughout 2008 that the civilians were as well off with the LTTE as they would be with Government.

Security Forces distributing drinking water to civilians. Picture by Rukmal Gamage

In July last year, when it became clear that the Tigers were forcing civilians to accompany them as they retreated into smaller and smaller areas, HRW began the game of claiming that the facilities the Sri Lankan Government provided for refugees were internment camps.

Rousing emotions associated with what the British did to the Boers and the Nazis to the Jews, forcibly taking people from their homes, HRW thus sought to persuade the world that the civilians the LTTE were forcing to go along with them would suffer just as much if they succeeded in escaping.

This year the campaign continued, with vicious falsehoods about conditions in the welfare centres, and claims of shortages of food and medicine in February, when we were looking after fewer than 40,000. No one else made such claims, so HRW obviously had an ulterior motive in continuing to insinuate that people would suffer if they succeeded in getting away from the LTTE.

Despite this dissuasion, nearly 30,000 more fled to us in March, and over a 100,000 in April. Finally now the penny seems to have dropped, that conditions of life with the LTTE are much worse than those in Government welfare centres. But even so, HRW manages to write a whole article on the horrors of the No-Fire Zone without a single mention of the fact that the LTTE will not let people leave.

This is evil evasion. HRW provides a description of refugees who left the No-Fire Zone on April 20, and spent nine days at sea, but omits to mention that that was the day on which the Sri Lankan Forces managed to breach one of the walls the LTTE had built, enabling 40,000 people to flee to safety with the Government, followed by another 70,000 on the next two days.

There is no mention of this rescue operation in the article, no demand that the LTTE set free the hostages it has taken. Instead HRW’s senior Asia researcher, yet another in the band of mercenaries paid to denigrate Sri Lanka, claims that ‘The Sri Lankan Government is doing everything it can to keep these stories of suffering from reaching the world’.

Nonsense. The Sri Lankan Government knows there is suffering, suffering because the Tigers ration the food we are sending in as those who have fled to us make clear (but HRW will doubtless claim that we are starving them in internment camps); suffering because the Tigers have piled up heavy weaponry in the zone and are using it in particular against civilians trying to get away (but why should anyone want to get away, according to HRW, since conditions are equally bad everywhere); suffering because of the landmines the Tigers have strewn in profusion, and which caused the bulk of the injuries of those who succeeded in fleeing to us (and also a number of the deaths TamilNet declared occurred on that day).

According to Human Rights Watch, in its latest bombshell, timed to explode as its mentors strive to rouse feeling against Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council, just as the LTTE flag waving demonstrators are doing in Western capitals, all this is the fault of the Sri Lankan Government. Even the one mention of LTTE firing is accompanied by the assertion that this puts civilians at risk from retaliatory fire.

The story of the boat people is truly horrifying. The owner of the boat lost six members of his family, a mason lost five, and seems to be left with just his 8-month old son. But it never occurs to Human Rights Watch that the root cause of this suffering is the wickedness of the LTTE, in holding these people for so long, in firing at those who tried to flee by land, in building walls and laying mines to stop them getting away.

But there is more to it than this. There is also the contribution of Human Rights Watch, which strove so hard for so long, in its bitterness against Sri Lanka, to deny the magnitude of the LTTE horrors. They may find it easier to continue to blame Sri Lanka. But if they are at all bothered about their immortal souls, they should stop to consider how their connivance with an LTTE agenda has helped that terrorist organization.

Human Rights Watch has thus contributed to the immeasurable suffering of the Tamil people trapped by the LTTE, seeking to escape, dying so tragically even when in sight of freedom. The LTTE may be appallingly evil. Human Rights Watch exemplifies the banality of evil, as Hannah Arendt described it, the triviality and self-centredness that has contributed to so much destruction in this world.

The writer is the Secretary General, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process