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Monday, January 31, 2011

ALIEN SPACESHIPS TO ATTACK EARTH IN 2011

Three giant alien spaceships are heading for Earth!  Scientists predict they will arrive in early 2011.
UFO encounters continue to increase – as documented on WWN.  And today scientists at SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), an independent non-commercial organization,  made a major announcement:
“Three giant spaceships are heading towards Earth. The largest one of them is 200 miles wide. Two others are slightly smaller. At present, the objects are just moving past Jupiter.  Judging by their speed, they should be on Earth by early 2011,” said John Malley, the lead extraterrestrial expert at SETI.
The spaceships were detected by HAARP search system. The system, based in Alaska, was designed to study the phenomenon of northern lights. According to SETI researchers, the objects are extraterrestrial spaceships. They will be visible in optical telescopes as soon as they reach Mars’s orbit – sometime in March of 2011. The US government has been reportedly informed about the event.
SETI researchers have spent fifty years monitoring space.   Professor Malley said that they have conclusively proven that “we are just newcomers in this huge and unexplored world. Many believe that there are many other civilizations in space beside our own civilization.”
Wikileaks recenlty released many classified documents that prove that NASA and high-level U.S. official are aware of the three spaceships and are making plans to battle the spaceships.  They have been concealing information from the U.S. public for decades. Wikileaks also confirms that the UFO sightings over the last three months prove that the alien invasions (long predicted by SETI) has begun. The three spaceships will mark the official beginning of the alien invasion.
Malley said that recently a Chinese official, Mao Kan, had obtained over than 1,000 secret NASA photographs depicting not only human footprints, but even a human carcass on the surface of the Moon. Some of the bones in the carcass were missing, the official said. The human corpse must have been dropped on the Moon from an alien spaceship, whereas the extraterrestrials kept some tissue samples for research.
Dr. Ken Johnston, former Manager of the Data and Photo Control Department at NASA’s Lunar Receiving Laboratory, said that US astronauts had found and photographed ancient ruins of artificial origin on the Moon.  US astronauts had seen large unknown mechanisms on the Moon.
Both Johnston and Mao Kan agree that the alien spaceships are heading for Earth.
Beginning in February of 2011 the U.N. will begin preparing citizens of the world for the attack of the three spaceships – which are believed to come from Planet Zeeba. 
http://weeklyworldnews.com

Sri Lanka website's office torched after government criticism

Unknown assailants torched the offices of a Sri Lankan website critical of the government Monday.
"The main office of the website comprising the computer hall and the most precious and valuable library have been completely destroyed," Lanka-e-News said in its own report on the attack.
"For many days now, we learnt from neighbors, unknown men have been carrying out surveillance outside and making inquiries about staff. Last night a caller threatened me that I would be killed," said Bennet Rupasinghe, news editor of the widely read website.
"All this is because we have been posting stories critical of the government," he said.
The office was doused with petrol and set on fire, he said. A computer screen exploded, which alerted the neighborhood.
There was an earlier attack on the offices of the website last year when it was housed in Nugegoda, he said.
Last year, the editor of the website, Sandaruwan Senadheera, and his family fled to the United Kingdom after reported threats to his life.
"Since he was forced to leave, I have been facing a string of threats and intimidation for exposing corruption and reporting on matters disliked by those in high authority," Rupasinghe said.
The website's offices are now located in the Colombo suburb of Malabe.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the "police to conduct an immediate investigation," spokesman Bandula Jayasekera told reporters.
Lanka-e-News said journalists have suffered "unprecedented" losses since the president came to power, including the killing of reporters and editors.
"It is well to note that under the President Rajapaksa regime, the free media had suffered most and sustained losses to persons and property on an unprecedented scale in the media history of Sri Lanka," the site said.
"Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickremetunge and 13 media personnel have been killed since this government came to power. The Professional Journalists Association Secretary was abducted and his legs were broken. A Lanka-e-News political columnist went missing. Sirisa (a leading TV network) was attacked and a claymore bomb was hurled at it," the report said.
"This is the government's new media culture. No dissent is tolerated. These attacks, intimidation of journalists are government's response to any view or facts they (the government) dislike," Mangala Samaraweera, the media head of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), told CNN.
Samraweera is a former Media Minister and Foreign Minister in President Rajapaksa's government.
Several media organizations are due to meet Monday evening to voice their protests over the incident. 
Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN)

ඇයිදෝ වෙනස්‌ වුණේ - මහදේ වේදනා මවා

මාගේ අතීත දිවියේ
සැමරුම් මැකී මැකී
කුමරී ඔබේ සිනාවේ
කොහේදෝ මුළාවී

මාගේ කුමාර කාලේ
සෙනෙහේ අතීතයේ
පෑයූ සුපුන් සඳක්‌ වාගේ
අප්සරාවියේ
ඇයිදෝ වෙනස්‌ වුනේ මහදේ
වේදනා මවා

අපගේ පැතුම් විමානේ
වෙන්වීලා එක්‌වුණේ
භවයෙන් භවේ පැතූ අපගේ
ආදරේ නිසා
කාලය ළඟා වුණේ ආයේ
වේදනා නිවා

පද රචනය - සනත් ගුණතිලක
ගායනය - මිල්ටන් මල්ලවආරච්චි
තනු නිර්මාණය - ගේ්‍රෂන් ආනන්ද

ආදරය කරන අයට වගේම ආදරයෙන් පැරදුණු අයටත් ඒ ආදරයේ අතීත සිහිවටන බොහෝ සේ වටිනවා. සමහරු ප්‍රේමනීය සැමරුම් ආවර්ජනය කරමින් සතුටු වෙනවා. ඒ පෙම්වතුන්.. ඒත් සමහරු ගෙවී ගිය අතීතය මෙනෙහි කරමින් හදවතින් හඬා වැටෙනවා...... ඒ විරහවේ වේදනා විඳිමිනි.

විරහව ගැන, වියෝව ගැන අනන්තවත් ගීත අපි රසවිඳිනවා. ඒත්....... විරහ වූවන් යළිත් එකට එක්‌වන අවස්‌ථාවත් තියෙනවා. ඒ ගැනත් ගී ලියෑවෙනවා නම්.......

මාගේ අතීත දිවියේ
සැමරුම් මැකී මැකී
කුමරී ඔබේ සිනාවේ
කොහේදො මුළාවී...

මේ පෙම්වතාගේ අතීත සිහිවටන මැකී ගිහින්...... ඇයගේ සිනාවට ඔහු මුලාවෙලා......

සනත් ගුණතිලක.. ප්‍රවීණ රංගන ශිල්පියා, පරාජිත පෙම්වතා.... ලියූ පළමු ගීය..... හදවතින්ම ගොනු වූ පද පෙළක්‌...... ගැයුවේත් යොවුන් වියේ පසුවන්නන්ගේ ආදරය දිනාගත් මිල්ටන් මල්ලවආරච්චි.

මිල්ටන්ගේ ගීතවලට මම තදබල ලෙස ඇලුම් කළා..... "අවසර නැත මට" සිහිනෙන් ඔබ මට... වැනි විරහව ගැන ගැයෙන ගීතවලට අමතරව දෙදෙනකු විරසක වී යළි එක්‌වන කතාවක්‌ ගයන්න..... කියලා මම දවසක්‌ මිල්ටන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක්‌ කළා. ඒ ආනන්ද ගනේගොඩගේ නිවසේ පිරිතකදී...... "එහෙම නම් මල්ලි ඔයාම සිsංදුවක්‌ ලියන්න" කිව්වා. "මම කොහොමද සිංදු ලියන්නේ.." කියා මම ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කළා. දින ගණනකට පස්‌සේ මිල්ටන්ගේ අලුත් කැසට්‌පටය කරද්දී මට ගෙදර එන්න කියලා පණිවුඩයක්‌ එව්වා. මම යද්දී කුලරත්න ආරියවංශත් හිටියා. ග්‍රේෂන් හදපු මියුසික්‌ එක දාලා ඒකට පදමාලාවක්‌ ලියන්න කියලා මට කිව්වා. මට හරිම ගැටලුවක්‌.. කුලරත්න ගිහින් ඒ ගැන මහාචාර්ය සුනිල් ආරියරත්නට කියලා.... ආ..... කවද ඉඳලද සිංදු ලියන්නේ කියලා ඒ වෙලාවේම ආරියරත්න මහත්තය මට දුරකථනයෙන් කතා කරලා ඇහුවා. මම සිංදුව ලියන්න බැහැම කිව්වා. මිල්ටන් මාව ඇදගෙන ගිහිං කාමරයකට දාලා වහලා යතුර ගත්තා. උඹ සිංදුව ලියලා එළියට වරෙං කිව්වා."

කොහොමහරි ඉතිං සිංදුව ලියෑවුණා.

මාගේ කුමාර කාලේ
සෙනෙහේ අතීතයේ
පෑයූ සුපුන් සඳක්‌ වාගේ
අප්සරාවියේ
ඇයිදෝ වෙනස්‌ වුණේ මහදේ
වේදනා මවා..."

ඔහුගේ නාඹර තරුණ අවධිය..... ආදරයෙන් බැදුණු කාලය.... ඇයව දුටුවේ පෑයූ පූර්ණ චන්ද්‍රයා වාගේ..... ඒත් හදවතට වේදනා එක්‌කරමින් වෙනස්‌ වුණේ ඇයි..........

ආදරයෙන් හැබෑවටම පැරදුණු පෙම්වතෙකුට ඉතා අපූරුවට මෙවැනි පදවැල් ගොතන්න පුළුවන්.. මේ සනත් ගුණතිලකගේ මෑත කාලීන ප්‍රේමය බිඳවැටීමේ අත්දැකීමක්‌ නොවේ. අනූව දශකයට පෙර සිදුවූ සිද්ධියක්‌ ගැන ලියවූවක්‌....... ඒ කියන්නේ විරාගයට පෙර........

ඇත්ත ... මේ වචන මගේ ජීවිතයේ සත්‍යතාවයට බොහෝම සමීපයි. උපකල්පනය කරලා ලියන ගීයකට වඩා අත්දුටු විරහවක්‌ ගැන ලියද්දී හදවතින්ම වදන් පෙළ ගැස්‌වෙනවා.... මේක මගේ පුද්ගලික අත්දැකීමක්‌.......

අපගේ පැතුම් විමානේ
වෙන්වීලා එක්‌වුණේ...
භවයෙන් භවේ පැතූ අපගේ
ආදරේ නිසා
කාලය ළඟා වුණේ ආයේ
වේදනා නිවා...

මේ පෙම්වතා වැඩි කාලයක්‌ විරහ වේදනා විඳින්නේ නැහැ. දෙදෙනා යළි එක්‌වෙනවා. ඒක සංසාරයෙන් සංසාරෙට එන බැඳීමක්‌ වෙන්න ඇති....... මේ දෙදෙනාගේ ආදරය භවයෙන් භවයට පැතූ ආදරයක්‌.. දැන් ඔහුට වේදනාවක්‌ නැහැ. ඇය යළි ආදර ලෝකයට ආවා.. හදවතේ ඇවිලුනු විරහ ගින්න නිවී ගියා.

ප්‍රේමය බිඳී ගියාම සමහර පෙම්වතුන්, පෙම්වතියන් ජීවිතයෙන් පළා යන්න උත්සාහ කරනවා...... ඒත් බිඳී ගිය ප්‍රේමයක්‌ යළි පෑහෙන්නත් ඉඩකඩ තියෙනවා.

ගීතයේ රචකයාට නම් ඒ අත්දැකීම ලැබී ඇත්දැයි යන්න සැකයක්‌. ඒ ඇයගේ ලෙන්ගතුකමේ සුවඳ විඳිමින් ඔහු තවමත් තනිකඩව සිටින නිසා.


Sunday Divaina - අජිත් අලහකෝන්

බලන් සකි සඳ අසිරි - මාතර




දෙනිපිටියේ නුගරුක

කොළොතොට, කොල්ලුපිටියේ ඉපැදුණු ගජමන් නෝනා, නොහොත් දෝන ඉසබෙලා (පෙරුමාල්) කොරනේලියා" දහතුන් වැනි වියේ සිටම හොඳ කවිකාරියක්‌ව සිටියා. දවසක්‌ වතුර ගේන්න ළිඳ ළඟට ගිය මේ කෙල්ල" කළේට වතුර පුරවල තිsයලා ළමයි එක්‌ක සෙල්ලම් කරන්න ගියා. එනකොට කළය තිබුණේ නෑ. ඉතින් කොරනේලියා මොකක්‌ද කළේ. කළය හංගපු "ජඩයට" ඇහෙන්න කවියක්‌ කිව්ව.

පුංචි රුවන් පුංචි රුවන් පුංචි කළේ
වතුර අරන් ළිඳ උඩ තැබුවාය කළේ
අට පහ නොදන්නා ජඩයෙකි මේක කළේ
ගෙදර යන්න දෙනවද මගෙ පුංචි කළේ
මේ ඇයගේ කාව්‍ය සිතුවිලි තරමයි.

1746 මාර්තු 10 වැනිදා උපන් ගජමන් නෝනා" කවියට උපන් හපන්කම් කීවේ පවුලේ අයගේ දක්‍ෂතා නිසාමයි. කොහොමහරි ඇයගේ දරු උපතකට බේත් හේත් ගන්න නිතර ආගියේ වැලිගම දෙනිපිටියේ වෙදගේගොඩ වෙද ගෙදරට. ඒ එනකොට දෙනිපිටියේ පොල් අතු ගඟ අසල තියෙන සුන්දර, ඒවගේම සුවිශේෂී නුග ගහ ගැන ඇයට දැනගන්නට ලැබුණා. මේ ළඟ තිබ්බ මුහන්දිරම් වලව්වෙ වැස්‌සියක්‌ ගඟට උඩින් වැටී තිබ්බ නුග අත්ත දිගේ එහා පැත්තට ගිහිං ඉරිදා පොළේ එළවළු කන්න පුරුදු වෙලා හිටියා. ඒ වගේම එදා මේ පාරෙන් ගිය උදවිය නුග ගහයට තිබ්බ අම්බලමෙ නැවතිල, පිං තාලියෙන් දියබීල නුග අත්ත දිගේ එගොඩ මෙගොඩ වුණා. ගජමන් නෝනා දෙනිපිටියේ නුග රුක වර්ණනාව කළේ මේ කතාන්දර සියල්ලක්‌ දැකල. ඒත් ඉතින් අවාසනාවකට අද මේ නුගරුක කපල එතැන සංස්‌කෘතික මධ්‍යස්‌ථානයක්‌ හදල. දැන් ඉතිsන් මෙතනට සංස්‌කෘතික මධ්‍යස්‌ථානයක්‌ තිබල වැඩක්‌ තියෙනවද කියලා අපට නම් මහා ප්‍රශ්නයක්‌ ඇතිවුණා. කොහොම වුනත් ඒ නුග රුක කපාපු අයටත් එක්‌ක බලන්න අපි ආයිමත් ගජමන් නෝනාගේ දෙනිපිටිය නුගරුක වර්ණනාවේ කවියක්‌ කියනවා.

පිනවන දුටු දන සෑම - ගඟ ළඟ පිහිටි කදීම
තුරුපෙළ අවට සැදීම - යුත් සෙවනැල්
ගන මෙ කැලෑවේ දිලීම - විහඟුන් මත රැව් දීම
සුළඟින් පත් ලෙලදීම - ඇති හැම කල්
යන එන දන සැපසේම - එහිදී හිඳ ගිම් සැනසීම
දසදිග අතු විහිදීම - තිබෙන විසල්
දෙනිපිටියට ඉතාම - වටිනා මහ නුගදුම
බලයකි එහි සිත් සේම - නිලඹර දුල්

ගජමන් වළව්ව
කොල්ලුපිටියේ හිටපු ගජමන් පවුල මාතරට ගියේ ගජමන් ආරච්චිට (ගජමන් නෝනාගේ තාත්තා) ලැබුණු ආණ්‌ඩුවේ තනතුරක්‌ හින්දලු. මේ අතරෙදී ගජමන් නෝනා වැඩිදුර කාව්‍යකරණය ඉගෙන ගත්තා. ඒ මාතර වේරගම්පිට රජමහා විහාරයේ කරතොට ශ්‍රී ධම්මාරාම හාමුදුරුවන්ගෙන්. පිරිමියෙක්‌ වගේ වෙස්‌ වළාගෙන. ඉංගී්‍රසි ආණ්‌ඩුවේ හම්බන්තොට - මාතර ආණ්‌ඩුවේ ඒජන්ත හා අයබදු එකතු කරන්නා වූ ජෝන් ඩොයිලිත් සිංහල ඉගෙන ගත්තෙ මේ කරතොට හාමුදුරුවන්ගෙන්ම තමයි.


ගජමන් නෝනාගේ දෙවැනි සැමියා වුණේ මාතර උයන්වත්තේ දොන් ගේබ්‍රියෙල් විජය විමල මුහන්දිරම්. ඔහුගේ අභාවයෙන් පස්‌සේ දරුවන් තුන් දෙනා හදාගන්න ගජමන් නෝනා මහත්සේ දුක්‌ වින්දාලු. ඉතින් ආණ්‌ඩුවේ ඒජන්ත ජෝන් ඩොයිලිට මේ දුක කවියකින් ලියල ඇරපු ගජමන් නෝනාට උදව් කළ ඩොයිලි, හම්බන්තොට නෝනාගම නමින් නින්දගමක්‌ පවා ලබා දුන්නාලු. මාතර වේරගම්පිට විහාරය ආසන්නයේම ගජමන් නෝනා දිවිගෙවූ ගජමන් වළව්ව තාමත් නිරුපද්‍රිතව තියෙනවා. ඉතින් දෙනිපිටියට වගේම මේ වළව්වටත් ගොඩවෙන්න අපි අමතක කළේ නෑ.

"සඳ මෙන් කවා ඇති කළ ළම පැටවුන්ඩ
අද දින පමණ නැත බත් උන් රැකගන්ඩ
සොඳ ගුණ ජෝන් ඩොයිලි දිසා මැතිඳුන්ඩ
වැඳගෙන දුක කියමි පිහිටක්‌ ලැබගන්ඩ

පොල්අතු මෝදර - මුට්‌ටිගස/පෙට්‌ටිගස

දෙනිපිටිය පහුකරගෙන තවත් දකුණු දෙසට එනකොට අපිට පොල්අතු මෝදර හමුවෙනවා. පොල්අතු ගඟ මුහුදට වැටෙන්නෙ මෙතනින්. කිලෝ මීටර් 57 ක්‌ දුර ගෙවාගෙන එන මේ ගඟ පටන් ගන්නේ ගාල්ලේ උඩුගමෙන්. මතකද දෙනිපිටිය නුග ගහ තිබ්බෙත් මේ පොල්අතු ගඟ අසලම තමයි.

මුට්‌ටිගස/පෙට්‌ටිගස


පොල්අතු මෝදර රේල් පාර ළඟ දුලබ, වටිනා ගහක්‌ තියෙනවා. පොත්පත්වලත් සඳහන් වන මේ ගහ හොයාගෙන අපිත් එහි ගියා. මේ තමයි ඉතා දුලබ එහෙත් සත්‍ය කඩොලාන ගණයට ගැනෙන මුට්‌ටි කඩොල් නම් ශාකය. ඞහකදජ්රචමි ටර්බ්එමප ලෙස හඳුන්වන මේ ගසට පෙට්‌ටි ගස කියලත් කියනවා.

සනත් ජයසූරිය ක්‍රීඩාංගණය
මාතර නගරයට ඇවිත් පාළමෙන් එගොඩවුණු ගමන් අපට පේන්නේ ලන්දේසි කොටුවේ ඔරලෝසු කණුව. කොටුවට යන්න කලින් එතන නැවතුණොත් දකින්න ලැබෙන්නේ කොටුවට පිටින් මුහුද අද්දර ඇති ක්‍රිකට්‌ ක්‍රීඩාංගණය. මේ තමයි ක්‍රිකට්‌ වලින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නම ලෝකෙටම ගෙනිච්ච සනත් ජයසූරියගෙ නමින් නම් කළ ක්‍රීඩාංගණය. සනත් ජයසූරිය ක්‍රිකට්‌ ක්‍රීඩාංගණය.

ජාත්‍යන්තරයේ මාතර ලකුණ අන් කිසිවක්‌ නොවේ. සනත් ජයසූරියම තමයි. 1996 ක්‍රිකට්‌ ලෝක කුසලානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට දිනා දීමට ඔහු කළ කාර්යය විශිෂ්ටයි. 1989 සිට ජාතික කණ්‌ඩායමේ ඉන්න සනත් එක්‌ දින තරග ජාත්‍යන්තරයේ ලකුණු 13000 ක්‌ සහ කඩුලු 300 ක්‌ ඉක්‌මවූ එකම ක්‍රීඩකයාද වෙනවා.

ලොව වේගවත්ම අර්ධ ශතකය, ලොව වේගවත්ම ශතකය සහ ලොව වේගවත්ම ලකුණු 150 රැස්‌ කිරීමේ වාර්තා ඔහු තැබුවා. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නියෝජනය කරමින් ටෙස්‌ට්‌ තරග 100 ක්‌ ක්‍රීඩා කළ ප්‍රථමයාත් සනත්. ඉතින් මාතර ක්‍රීඩාංගණය සනත්ගේ නමින් නම් වුණේ ඔහුට ගරු කිරීමක්‌ වශයෙන්.

මාතර ලන්දේසි කොටුව

ගාල්ල වගේම මාතර කොටුවත් ලන්දේසීන්ගේ යුද බලකොටුවක්‌. නිර්මාණශීලිත්වය හා ශක්‌තිමත් භාවය අතින් එය විශිෂ්ට නිර්මාණයක්‌. එක්‌ පැත්තක්‌ මුහුදට මුහුණලා තිබෙන මෙය තවත් පැත්තකින් නිල්වලා ගඟට මායිම් වෙනවා. ගාල්ල වගේම මාතර කොටුව තුළත් පැරැණි ගොඩනැඟිලි රැසක්‌ම පවතින්නේ අතීත මාතර නගරය මේ බව අපට පසක්‌ කරමින්.


රෙපරමාදු පල්ලිය

ලන්දේසි පෙරමාදු දේවස්‌ථාන හතරක්‌ ගැන සඳහන් වෙනවා. 18 වැනි සියවසේදී ඉදිවුණු මේවා ලන්දේසි ආක්‍රමණයත් සමගයි බිහිවුණේ. ගාල්ල රෙපමාදු දේවස්‌ථානය ගැන අපි කතා කළා. එවැනිම දේවස්‌ථානයක්‌ මාතර කොටුව තුළත් තියෙනවා. යාපනය හා කොළඹ තමයි ඉතිරි රෙපරමාදු පල්ලි තිබිල තියෙන්නේ. මෙහි ඉදිරියේ 1767 දී ඩැනියල් බර්රාට්‌ ඔ ඔපර්කූප්මන්ට්‌ යන වදනක්‌ සඳහන්ව තිබෙනවා.

මාතර නගරයේ ලන්දේසි කොටු දෙකක්‌ම තියෙනවා. එකක්‌ "තාරකා කොටුව" ඒ ගැන අපි අද කතා කරන්නේ නෑ. ඒ ගැන ලබන සතියට ඉතිරි කරල අද අපි කියන්නෙ පැරැණි "පරෙවි දූපත" ගැන නොහොත් වත්මන් "උපෝසථාගාරය" ගැන.


නිල්වලා ගං තොට

මේ තමයි අද අපගේ නවාතැන. මාතර නගරයෙන් මුහුද සිපගන්නා නිල්වලාවේ මෝයට අපි ගියේ මාතර පැරැණි ලන්දේසි කොටුව මැදින්. ජනාකීර්ණ නොවූ, නිසසල පෙදෙසක, පොල්වත්තකට යාව පිහිටි නිල්වලා මෝය, දුටු විගස මට සිහිවුණේ අප ගමන පටන් ගත්ත කැලණි ගං මෝය. මොකද, මේ දෙකේම පෙනුම එක වගේ හින්දා. සිංහ රාජයේ ගොංගල කන්දෙන් ඇරඹෙන නිල්වලාව ලංකාවේ ප්‍රකටම ගංගාවක්‌.

රන් දූපත උපෝසථාගාරය
ඉස්‌සර පරෙවි දූපත දැන් රන් දූපතයි. මුහුද මැද තිබුණු මේ දූපත කලක්‌ ගල් පරෙවියන් විසූ අලංකාර වූවක්‌. එහෙත් විවිධ කටයුතුවලට යොදාගත් මේ දූපත දැන් බෞද්ධාගමේ කේන්ද්‍රස්‌ථානයක්‌ බවට පත්වෙලා. සියම් මහා නිකායේ ශ්‍රී රෝහණ පාර්ශ්වයේ උපෝසථාගාරය වන්නේ දැන් මේ විහාරයයි. රෝහණ පාර්ශ්වයේ භික්‍ෂූන්ගේ උපසම්පදා විනයකර්ම මෙහිදී සිදුකෙරෙනවා. ඉතා අලංකාර රන් දූපත සතර මහා දේවාලවලින් ආරක්‍ෂාව ලබන අති උතුම් පිං බිමක්‌.

අප ස්‌වාමි දුවගේ සිද්ධස්‌ථානය/දේවස්‌ථානය

මාතර ගැන කතා කරන කොට මේ සිද්ධස්‌ථානය ගැනත් කතා කළ යුතුමයි. මේ දේවස්‌ථානයේ තොරතුරු සොයා ගිය ගමනේදී දේවස්‌ථානයේ චාල්ස්‌ හේවාවසම් පියතුමා අපට ලබාදුන්නු කාරුණික අනුග්‍රහයත් විශේෂයෙන් සඳහන් කළ යුතුමයි.

මේ දේවස්‌ථානය මඩුපල්ලිය, තේවත්ත, තල්විල වගේම තවත් වැදගත් සිද්ධස්‌ථානයක්‌. ඉතින් ආගම් භේදයකින් තොරව ජනයා මෙහි පැමිණෙනවා. වාර්ෂික මංගල්ලයක්‌ ජයටම කෙරෙන්නෙ රාජ්‍ය අනුග්‍රහය ඇතිව.

මෙය සිද්ධස්‌ථානයක්‌ වන්නේ කිතුණුවන් "මාතර මෑණියන්" ලෙස මෙහි පවතින ප්‍රතිමාව වන්දනා මාන කරන නිසා. වසර 500 කටත් වඩා ඉතිහාසයක්‌ තියෙන බව කියන මෙම ප්‍රතිමාවේ ක්‍රිස්‌තුස්‌ වහන්සේ ළාබාල අවධියේදී මරිය තුමිය විසින් වඩාගෙන සිටින ආකාරය පිළිබිඹු කෙරෙනවා. ඒ වගේම මෙම ප්‍රතිමාව ආශ්චර්යවත් එකක්‌ ලෙසයි සැලකෙන්නේ. ඒ කිහිප විටක්‌ම මුහුදු බත් වෙලා නැවත නැවත හමුවෙලා තියෙන නිසාම.

පළමුව මේ ප්‍රතිමාව හමුවෙලා තියෙනවා කියන්නේ මීට වසර 500 කට පමණ කලින් වැලිගම ධීවර පිරිසකට. ඒ මුහුදේ පාවෙලා ආපු පෙට්‌ටියක තිබිලා. පස්‌සේ මාතර තිබ්බ දේවස්‌ථානයට භාර දුන්නාලු. 17 වැනි සියවසේ මුල් භාගයේදී පිළිමය පිළිසකර කරන්නට බෙල්ජියමට යෑව්වාලු. පිළිසකර කර "බීච්" නම් නැවේ එන ගමනේදී කුණාටුවකට හසුව ප්‍රතිමාව නැවත මුහුදු බත් වුණු බවයි කියන්නේ. ආයිමත් ප්‍රතිමාව ලැබුණු කෙනෙක්‌ එංගලන්තයේ මිඩ්ල්ස්‌ බරෝ වරායට නැවකින් ගෙනිහිල්ල තියෙනවා. එතනදීත් අතුරුදන් වෙලා තිබුණු ප්‍රතිමාව අදේවවාදී අයකු ළඟ තිබිල මුහුදට දමල තිබිල හමුවුණු බවත්, මූර්ති ශිල්පී (බෙල්ජියම) හෙන්ට්‌ හී සියස්‌ විසින් පිළිසකර කරල බෙල්ජියම් ජාතික ජෝශප් වෑන් රීඩ් බිෂප්තුමන්ට භාර දුන් බවත් කියනවා. මේ පියතුමා තමයි ගාල්ල ආසන දෙව් මැඳුරේ පළමු පියතුමා වුණෙත්. 1912 දී බිෂප්තුමා ලංකාවට ආවත් ආයිමත් ප්‍රතිමාව නැවේ තිබුණේ නැතිලු. ඒත් පසුව ආපු "කුකමාර්" රුවල් නැවෙන් ප්‍රතිමා පෙට්‌ටිය ලංකාවට ගෙනවිත් මාතරට යළිත් භාරදීල තියෙනවා. 1912 නොවැම්බර් 12 තමයි මේ සුරුවම වත්මන් දේවස්‌ථානයේ තැන්පත් කරල තියෙන්නේ. තවත් පුදුමයක්‌ නම් 2004 දෙසැම්බර් සුනාමියට මේ දෙවස්‌ථානයත් හසුවෙලා ආයිමත් ප්‍රතිමාව මුහුදට ගසාගෙන ගියා. ඒත් දින තුනකින් හක්‌මන ප්‍රදේශයේ මිල්ටන් හක්‌මනගේ මහතාට හමුවෙලා නැවත භාරදීල තියෙන්නෙ සුනාමියට අහුවෙලත් කිසිදු අඩුපාඩුවක්‌ නැතිවලු. ඉතින් මේ සියලු දැ සිහිකර මරියතුමියගේ උපන්දිනය යෙදෙන සෑම සැප්. 8 දාකම වාර්ෂික මංගල්ලය කරනවාලු.
Courtesy - Sunday Divaina
ජගත් කණහැරආරච්චි
ඉන්ද්‍රජිත් සුබසිංහ
වාසල සේනාරත්න
ස්‌තුතිය - කේ.එච්. පියසේන රංජන් ගාමිණී ජයවර්ධන දේ. සු. ද සොයිසා

Five year old girl swims across Kelani Ganga

A five year old girl swam across the Kelani Ganga last morning at a point where it was about 1000 metres wide, to the amazement of a large crowd that had gathered to witness the event. 
The small girl who performed this amazing feat is Viyama Oshadhi of Sedawatta, Wellampitiya. She swam across the river starting from Kelani river bank in Sedawatta under the observation of two instructors of the Sports Medical Institute -- G.A. Ranil Panditaratne and J.R.J.Udugama.
Oshadhi took 14 minutes and 41 seconds to swim across the river. The two sports instructors said this was the first time a girl of her age had attempted such a feat.
Oshadi’s father, Nimal Peiris Hemachandra (49), said that she had had a great liking to swim from her small days. Oshadhi, who is learning swimming under a swimming instructor, said that she hoped to swim in the sea in a similar manner in the future. She is a student of the Carlton pre-school in Colombo.
A large crowd had gathered on the banks of the Kelani Ganga in Sedawatte to see her swim across the river and they cheered and encouraged her during the swim. Colombo district MP R. Duminda Silva and Provincial Councilor Renuka Perera were also there to see the girl swimming across the river. After she had finished the swim Mr. Duminda Silva gifted her a laptop computer to encourage her.
Courtesy DM - By Shantha Seneviratne

Sri Lanka news website office set on fire

Jan 31, Colombo: An unidentified group in the wee hours of Monday has broken in and set fire to the office of a Sri Lankan news website 'Lanka-e-News' located in a suburb of capital Colombo.
According to a brief posted on the website, the office located in Daham Mawatha, Malabe, has been set on fire around 2:00 a.m. by a group of unknown personnel who had broken into the premises.
"By now everything that was inside the building has been destroyed," the brief news item said.
The Sinhala language website says it has come under various threats and attacks since the presidential election January 2010 for its support for common opposition candidate former Army commander Sarath Fonseka.
Prageeth Eknaligoda, a journalist and a cartoonist of the Lanka-e-News website went missing without a trace just days before the presidential election last year.
colombopage

Southern expressway section opens in June

A section of the Southern expressway between Makumbura in Kottawa and Pinnaduwa in Galle will be opened to the public by June this year.

The Southern highway will reduce travel time. File photo
"About 80 percent of construction work of the section is already over," a Highways Ministry spokesman said.
He said that the travel time from Matara to Colombo will be drastically reduced with the opening of this road and the travel time will be about two hours. The Government has given priority to this project.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has paid special attention for this matter and instructed officials to expedite the work, the spokesman said.
The project funded by the Asian Development Bank and Japan Bank for International Co-operation will have 11 entry and exit ramps. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 85 billion.
The spokesman said that the Government had made the biggest allocation of Rs 102 billion to the Highways Ministry to providing an efficient and systematic road network.
He added maintaining of a proper road network is essential for the country to carry out its development programs.
Courtesy - Daily News By Irangika Range

Floods and global warming

It is distressing to hear that so many countries have been devastated by recent floods and mudslides causing deaths, loss of homes and property, crops, infrastructure and displacement of people

[Floods]

*Sri Lanka
  Affected areas - Central, Northern,
  Eastern provinces
  Homeless people - Over 541,000
  persons were displaced
  No of deaths - 23
* Brazil
  Affected areas - Rio de Janeiro,
  San Paulo States
  No of homeless - 4,600
  No of deaths - 471
*Philippines
Affected areas - one third of provinces
No of homeless - 400,000
No of deaths - 42
*Australia
Affected areas - Three-fourth of Queensland State
No of affected - 200,000
No of deaths - 35

Flooding in Sri Lanka has resulted in deaths of about 23 persons during a week of monsoon floods in the Central, Northern and Eastern provinces especially Batticaloa and Trincomalee once severely bitten by terrorism. Over 541,000 persons were displaced and had to take shelter in 275 camps set up by the Government, bringing the total number of displaced persons to about 1,081,000.
Sri Lanka depends on monsoon rains for purposes of irrigation and generation of power but the seasonal, relentless downpour caused deaths and damage to homes, crops and infrastructure in low-lying areas and mountainous regions.

Disaster zone

In Brazil, the heaviest rainfall in 44 years caused mudslides and floods that swept away homes, killing nearly 471 persons and leaving 4,600 homeless in Rio de Janeiro and San Paulo states.

Heavy floods left vast tracts of Queensland State under water. Picture courtesy: Google
In Philippines, 42 persons had been killed as a result of on-going torrential rains and landslides rendering about 400,000 homeless. About one-third of the Philippines' 80 provinces were reported to be affected. The damage to crops and infrastructure was estimated to be around one billion pesos (US $ 20 million).
Australia faced the most damaging floods in the State of Queensland including the capital city Brisbane. Nearly 70 towns and over 200,000 people were affected and the damage initially was assessed at Australian $ one billion. Three-fourth of the State of Queensland was declared a disaster zone. Over 35 persons were killed by the floods and nine persons were reported missing. The floods of Queensland wiped off billions of Australian dollars from the national GDP. Floods will also cost the supermarket chains tens of millions of dollars.

Flash flooding

The Queensland disaster was followed by floods in the Victorian State and more than 50 communities in Western and Central Victoria were affected as a result.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a plan to raise $ 5.6 billion for flood damage and to reconstruct Queensland by scrapping not-so-important capital expenditure projects and imposing a one-off 12-month flood levy that cuts in gently on incomes over $ 50,000 but rises steeply on incomes over $ 100,000. Floods are not always caused by heavy rainfall but by seawater flooding, tidal flooding, run-off rivers and dams and especially flash flooding due to defective and inadequate urban drainage.
It is true that floods have both negative and positive results. Floods can bring relief for people in drought-stricken areas whose crops and livestock are affected by shortage of water and can be a natural way for wetland regions, swamps and native waterways to survive.
They will also reduce high salt levels in lagoons and land-locked lakes.
The long history of floods shows that the largest known floods of the Quaternary Period (about 1.64 million years ago to the present) resulted from breaching dams formed by glaciers or landslides. The late-Pleistocene Missoula floods in the Pacific Northwestern United States were some of the largest ever to have occurred on earth. The Lake Bonneville flood of about 14,500 years ago resulted from nearly 5,000 cubic kilometres water spilling out of the Great Basin into the Snake River drainage.

Climate change

In general, larger river basins produce larger floods.
Floods mainly occur due to rainfall and some do occur due to snowmelt, rain-snowmelt and snowmelt/ice jam. Floods on large rivers from ice jams result from break-up jams in which dislodged river ice accumulates at river bends forcing bonding upstream and rapid release of water when the ice dams breach.
During the second half of the 20th Century, largest floods have occurred in Zaire (Congo River basin, Russia (Amur) and (Ob-Irtysh), Chad (Chari), Australia (Murray), Bangladesh (Ganges) and (Brahmaputra), Senegal (Senegal), Vietnam (Mekong) and Kazakhstan (Amu Darya).
The problem we face today is that most countries are obsessed with climate change, dryness brought about by global warming due to human activities which result in warm to hot temperatures, severe droughts and rising sea levels.
The belief that the earth would become increasingly parched has prompted most countries to impose water restrictions to conserve water.
Construction of dams across major rivers to store water for future use to ward off dry seasons consequent on less rainfall has made them almost dangerously full in times of torrential rains and flooding.
The recent floods clearly show the flawed notion of releasing water from the dams before they breach almost at the same time as flash flood waters enter the river system effectively contributing to the deluge.
This belief in anticipated droughts and parched land to which most countries cling on leads to building on areas normally subject to flooding which becomes almost the first easy target of rushing flood waters.
Nevertheless, it is hard to fix the blame on any government or institution for this highly complex natural disaster.
It is really a war against nature which, of course, has the power to override man and have its own way.
Courtesy - Daily News - Dr Mathu H Liyanage

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Independence celebrations shift to Kataragama this year

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By Franklin R. Satyapalan

Sri Lanka’s 63rd Independence Day celebrations will be held on a grand scale at Kataragama on February 4. Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W. D. J. Seneviratne said yesterday that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was scheduled to address the nation at 9.15am . He said the garlanding of the statue of the first Prime Minister of Independent Ceylon Mahamanya D. S. Senanayake was scheduled to take place by the members of late D S. Memorial Committee. Military Spokesperson Major General Ubaya Medawela said all arrangements had been made for 1400 personnel from the Army, 300 each from the Air Force and Navy, 250 each from the Police and the Civil Defense Force followed by a large number of school cadets to join the march past.

He said there would be a fly past by aircraft from the Sri Lanka Air Force and a 21-gun salute by the members of the Security Forces stationed in Colombo.

Kataragama POC, CI Laksiri Chandimal said yesterday that several thousand police personnel from outside the region would be deployed for security duties on the directions of SSP Tangalle Division A. J. G. Chandrakumara under the overall supervision of DIG (Southern Range) Neil Daluwatte.

Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs Bandula Abeyakoon said the government had made arrangements to conduct religious observances giving priority to all religious denominations commencing from 8 am .

He said that the Buddhist religious observances would be held at the Kiri Vehera Rajamaha Vihare presided by the Chief Sanganayake of the Ruhunu Magam Pattua Ven. Aluthwewa Soratha Nayake Thera, Hindu religious ceremonies at Gana Devalaya in Kataragama, Islamic prayers at Kataragama Jumma mosque, Catholic prayer service at Church in Buttala and the Methodist Church in Wellawaya .

District Secretary (GA) of Moneragala U. K. Mihindukulasooriya said that arrangements had been made for a march past by school children with students from the Uva

Cultural Center participating in pageants during the celebrations .

He said that the Kataragama town and surrounding areas had been given a facelift with reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and infrastructure and public facilities.
Sunday Island

Never Let Me Go — Life, Love, Death…


The story begins with Kathy (Carey Mulligan) watching Tommy (Andrew Garfield) on an operating table. Soon he will “complete”. Kathy H is the narrator of Never Let Me Go. She takes us back to her childhood in Hailsham, an upper class boarding school where everything seems quite normal until a few clues are thrown in, to make us realise that this isn’t a school like any other.
The children live in complete isolation under the tight control of “Madame” and of several “guardians”. In some ways they just seem like a group of normal kids, bullying one another or being a little unruly like any regular child would be.
But the ambience is bizarre. Prominence is given to poetry and art; but most of all to the student’s health. They are dosed with vitamins, milk and are very carefully scrutinised by a doctor.
One day the van drivers who do the usual deliveries to the school bring a truck load of boxes filled with old toys and other used items. The children who utilise plastic coins as fake money seem a little too overjoyed at the sight of decapitated dolls and broken objects. Kathy does not find anything she likes but Tommy buys her a cassette tape called Songs After Dark by fictional singer Judy Bridgewater. The third character in the story is Ruth (Keira Knightly) a beautiful and jealous girl who watches with envy, a strong bond build between Kathy and Tommy. From that time onwards, she makes it her mission to win him over and she does. Kathy passively allows the boy she loves to turn away from her and for several years none of them will act upon their emotions.
When they turn 11 years, one of their guardians tells them about their origins. They have been created to be donors, they will donate their organs and submit to an inevitable death also called a “completion” after about their third donation. Some will live a little longer by being ‘carers’ and looking after those who donate.
The film which is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro is divided into several sections: Childhood in the boarding school, adulthood where the clones are moved into residential “cottages” and are given the opportunity to mingle with the outside world and a third section where Ruth and Tommy become donors and Kathy a carer.
The theme of cloning has been used and re-used many times in science fiction ‘features,’ however Never Let Me Go does not really fit into that category. Nothing is loud or violent and there will be no Bruce Willis popping out of a bush and saving our three heroes from a pre-destined faith.
Strangely it never occurs to Kathy, Ruth and Tommy to even try to escape as there seems to be a bizarre acceptance on their part that their lives will be short because they were created to serve a purpose which isn’t to fulfill their dreams or build a future for themselves. Also having known nothing other than the safety of each other’s company and the regimented surroundings of boarding schools and cottages, their urge to go elsewhere seems non existent.
That perhaps is the most heart wrenching point of the story, our protagonists’ passive acceptance of their faith and premature death. One wants to shake them and force them to scream that they have souls, feelings and emotions but there is a sad and at the same time peaceful air of resignation in most of them.
They are part of a society which believes that people like Ruth, Kathy and Tommy have been created to be disposed off and are not entitled to fall in love and grow old. One terribly disturbing fact is that the England depicted is picture perfect; the people are polite and in control and having clones give up their lives to save severely ill patients is just an accepted fact of life.
Despite being shocking and heartbreaking, Never Let Me Go does not reach the same levels as Ishiguro’s brilliant novel. However the film successfully questions the themes of life and death and making the most of the limited amount of time we are given on this Earth. Does this symbolise the end of humanity? Possibly yes, as that begins when human  lives (the clones have blood running through their veins and have feelings and emotions) become disposable items. When Ruth “completes” after her third donation and her heart is taken out of her chest, is one of the most poignant moments of the film and the hardest to watch. Let us never reach those levels.
The Sunday Leader - By Sumaya Samarasinghe

ON LINE CHAT


“ඕනෑම දෙයක් ඕනෑවට වඩා ඕනේම නැත”
මේ කනට හුරු කදිම කියමනකි. ඒ කතාව දැන් අන්තර්ජාලය සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිතර නිතර කියවෙන තැනට කටයුතු සැලසී ඇත.


අති උතුම් 16 වැනි බෙනඩික් ශුද්ධෝත්තම
පාප් වහන්සේ අන්තර්ජාලයේ පුද්ගල සබඳතා
පිළිබඳව ඉතා වැදගත් ප්‍රකාශයක් නිකුත් කළහ.
“පරිගණකය, අන්තර්ජාලය, විද්යුත් උපකරණ ඉතා බුහුටි ලෙස පරිහරණය කරන ළමයින් වැඩිහිටියන් ලැජ්ජාවට පත් කරවන තරමට නවී
න තාක්ෂණයේ කෙළ පැමිණියෝ වෙති. එහෙත් බයිසිකලයක් පැදීම, මතු නොව සපත්තුවේ ලේස් පටි නිසි ලෙස ගැට ගසා ගැනීම වැනි කටයුතුවලදී මේ කාලයේ ළමයි පුදුමාකාර අලස බවක් පළ කරති.”


අන්තර්ජාලය හා ළමයින් සම්බන්ධයෙන් දිගුකාලීන පර්යේෂණයක යෙදුණු ඇමෙරිකන් ජාතික මහාචාර්යවරයෙක් එසේ කීවේය.
“facebook, twitter වැනි වෙබ් අඩවි පෙනී සිටින්නේ අන්තර්ජාලයේ සමාජ සබඳතා වෙබ් අඩවි හැටියටයි. (Social Network Web Sites)  එහෙත් මේවා ඉත්තීරුවෙන්ම සමාජ විරෝධී වෙබ් අඩවි බව මම සැක නැතිව කියන්න කැමතියි”
ඒ කතාව කියනුයේ තවත් ඇමෙරිකන් ජාතික මහාචාර්යවරියකි.
මේ අතරවාරයේදී අති උතුම් බෙනඩික් පාප් වහන්සේ ද අන්තර්ජාලයේ පුද්ගල සබඳතා පිළිබඳ ආන්දෝලනාත්මක ප්‍රකාශයක් නිකුත් කළහ.
“අන්තර්ජාලයේ පුද්ගල සබඳතා ඉතා හොඳ අවස්ථාවක්. ඒත් සැබෑ ලෝකයේ ස්වභාවික මානව සබඳතාවලට එය කිසි සේත්ම ආදේශකයක් නොවන බව“ උන්වහන්සේ කීහ.
අන්තර්ජාලය ඔස්සේ පුද්ගලාන්තර සබඳතා පවත්වන අය හැබෑ ලෝකයෙන් හුදෙකලා වී සැබෑ මානව සමාජයේ ඥාති-මිත්‍රාදී සබඳකම්වලින් බැහැරව විකෘති ගමනක් යන බවත් උන්වහන්සේ පෙන්වා දුන්හ. ඇමෙරිකාවේ ප්‍රමුඛ පෙළේ පර්යේෂිකාවක වන මහාචාර්ය ෂෙරී ටර්කල් මේ තත්ත්වය හඳුන්වා දෙන්නේ “නූතන උන්මාදය” හැටියටය.
facebook, twitter  වැනි වෙබ් අඩවි හා අන්තර්ජාලයේ CHAT සබඳතා නිර්දය විවේචනයට ලක් කරන ඇය තව දුරටත් පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ මිනිසා සැබෑ ලෝකයෙන් හුදෙකලා කරන මෙවැනි අන්තර්ජාල ක්‍රියාකාරකම් නිසා සැබෑ මානව සබඳතා අඩපණ වී සයිබර් අවකාශයේ සැරිසරන සමාජ විරෝධී පුද්ගලයන් බිහිවන බවයි.
එවැනි පුද්ගලයන් බිහි කරනට facebook  වැනි වෙබ් අඩවි ඇය නම් කරන්නේ සමාජ විරෝධී, හීන ලෝකයේ වෙබ් අඩවි වශයෙනි. මනුෂ්‍යත්වයෙන් හීන පුද්ගලයන් බිහි කරන මෙවැනි සමාජ විරෝධී ක්‍රියාකාරකම්වලින් ඇති කරවන හානිය සුළුපටු නොවන බවත් ඇය පෙන්වා දෙයි.
අන්තර්ජාලය, විශේෂයෙන්ම facebook  වැනි සුප්‍රකට මිතුරු සබඳතා පදනම් කොට ගෙන පවත්වා ගෙන යන වෙබ් අඩවිවලට එරෙහිව මෙතරම් විරෝධයක් මතු වෙමින් තිබෙන්නේ ඇයි? facebook  වෙබ් අඩවියේ සැරිසරන පුද්ගලයන් සංඛ්‍යාව මිලියන 600 ඉක්මවන බව සඳහන් වෙයි. ඒ අතින් ගත් කළ ටචජඥඡධධඬ යනු මේ ලෝකයේ ඇති අමුතුම පන්නයේ අධිරාජ්‍යයකි.


ඒ දෙවැනි වන්නේ twitter වෙබ් අඩවියට පමණි. ලොව සුපතළ රාජ්‍ය නායකයන්, ක්‍රීඩා තරු, සිනමා තරුfacebook හි සාමාජිකයෝ වෙති. එහෙත් facebook හි බැරැක් ඔබාමා ලෙස පෙනී සිටින්නේ ඇත්තම බැරැක් ඔබාමා ද යනු ප්‍රශ්නයකි.


සුප්‍රකට නම් යොදා ගෙන අප්‍රකට පුද්ගලයන් facebook වැනි වෙබ් අඩවිවල පෙනී සිටීම කාලයක සිට සිදුවන සෙල්ලමකි. කේට් මිඩ්ල්ටන් ළඟදීම එංගලන්තයේ විලියම් කුමරු සමඟ විවාහ වීමට නියමිතය. මෑතකදී කේට් මිඩ්ල්ටන් යන නමින් පෙනි සිටි තරුණියකගේ ගිණුම අවලංගු කළ facebook බලධාරීන් කියා සිටියේ ව්‍යාජ නම්වලින් පෙනී සිටීමට තමන් ඉඩ නොදෙන බවයි.
එහෙත් කේට් මිඩ්ල්ටන් යනුවෙන් තවත් තරුණියක් ඇත්තටම එංගලන්තයේ ජීවත් වෙයි. ප්‍රංස ජනාධිපති නිකොලස් සාකෝෂි facebook හි සාමාජිකයෙකි. ඔහු සතුව අන්තර්ජාල මිතුරු මිතුරියන් දහස් ගණනක් සිටිති. මෑතකදී facebook හමුවේ නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කළ ප්‍රංස ජනාධිපතිවරයා දැනුම් දී තිබුණේ තමා ජනාධිපති ධුරයෙන් ඉල්ලා අස්වන බවයි.
ඒ ප්‍රවෘත්තිය වහා පැතිර ගියේය. එහෙත් ඇත්තටම සිදු වී තිබුණේ සාකෝෂිගේ facebook ගිණුමට හොරෙන් ඇතුළු වූ කණ්ඩායමක් විසින් යට කී බොරු ප්‍රවෘත්තිය ප්‍රචාරය කරන ලද බවයි. මෙවැනි වංචාවන් කොතෙකුත් සිදු වෙයි. සමාජ සබඳතා ආශි‍්‍රත වෙබ් අඩවි මඟින් මිතුරන් මුලා කරන නොයෙකුත් වංචාවන් සිදුවන අතරම වඩාත් හානිකර දෙය බවට පත්ව තිබෙන්නේ පුද්ගලයා සැබෑ ලෝකයෙන් ඉවත් කැර සයිබර් අවකාශයේ පාවෙන ලෝකයක කොටු කැර තැබීමය.
අසල්වැසියන්, ඥාති මිත්‍රාදීන්, දරුවන්, දෙමාපියන්, ගුරුවරුන්, සිසුන් යනාදී වශයෙන් අනාදිමත් කාලයක සිට පැවත ආ සමාජය සකස් කළ පුද්ගලාන්තර සබඳතා අන්තර්ජාලය නිසා බරපතළ තර්ජනයකට ලක් වෙමින් පවතින බැව් අසන්නට ලැබෙයි. සැබෑ ලෝකයේ ස්වභාවික මානව සබඳතා පැවැත්වීමට මැළිවන පුද්ගලයන් වඩාත් නැඹුරු වන්නේ අන්තර්ජාලය ඔස්සේ නොදන්නා හෝ දන්නා පුද්ගලයකු සමඟ Chat කරමින් ඡායාරූප හුවමාරු කර ගනිමින් කාලය කා දැමීමටය.
මෙයට ඇබ්බැහි වන පුද්ගලයා තව තවත් අන්තර්ජාලයටම නැඹුරු වන අතර ඇත්ත ලෝකයේ සැබෑ මානව සබඳතාවලින් දුරස්ථ වෙයි. අන්තර්ජාලය නිසා අතිශයින්ම හුදෙකලා වූ විකෘති පුද්ගලයන් නිර්මාණය වන බවට මහාචාර්ය ෂෙරි ටර්කල් පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ එම පසුබිමේය.
එංගලන්තයේ සිදුකළ අපූරු සමීක්ෂණයකින් හෙළි වී තිබුණේ විවාහක අඹු- සැමියන් ගෙන් සියයට 17 ක් පමණ අන්තර්ජාලය නිසා දික්කසාද වන තැනට පැමිණ ඇති බවයි. හේතුව වී තිබෙන්නේ ඔවුනොවුන් අතර අඹු-සැමි සබඳතා පැවැත්වීම වෙනුවට ඔවුන් අන්තර්ජාලය ඔස්සේ වෙනත් අය සමඟ Chatකරමින් සිටීමට වැඩි නැඹුරුවක් පළ කිරීමය.
ඕනෑම දෙයක් ඕනෑම නැත කියන්නේ ඒ නිසාය.
අන්තර්ජාලය නිසා ලෝකය එකම ගම්මානයක් වන බවට වූ කතා ඇති පදම් ඇසුවෙමු. එහෙත් සිදු වෙමින් යන්නේ කුමක් ද? global village හෙවත් ගෝලීය ගම්මානය බිහි වී ඇති මුත් ඒ ගම්මානයෙන් සැබෑ ලෝකයේ මිනිස් සබඳතා, යාළු මිත්‍රකම්, පලා යෑමට පටන් ගෙන ඇත. අන්තර්ජාලය ඔස්සේ නොදන්නා පුද්ගලයන් සමඟ දවසේ වැඩි කාලයක් Chat කිරීමට පෙලඹෙන නව පරම්පරාව තම අසල්වැසියා, ඥාතියා, කවුද යනු නොදන්නා පමණට සැබෑ ලෝකයේ මනුස්ස සබඳතාවලින් ඈත් වී ඇති බවට දැන් ප්‍රබල චෝදනා නැඟෙයි. එහි ඇත්තක් ද ඇත.



Deepa Mehta To Shoot Midnight’s Children In Sri Lanka


Deepa Mehta does not want a repeat of the controversies when she had attempted to shoot Water in Varanasi.
Oscar nominated director Deepa Mehta and multi-awardwinning author Salman Rushdie’s screen adaptation of his extraordinary international bestselling novel Midnight’s Children will commence shooting in Sri Lanka shortly.
Shabana Azmi, Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Nandita Das, Chandan Roy Sanyal and Seema Biswas will star in the English language film.
The film is being shot in Sri Lanka because Mehta has sworn off India following her nightmare experience shooting Water at Varanasi locations. Water was subsequently shot in Sri Lanka. But Midnight’s Children could yet run into problems because in the late 1990s the BBC was planning to film a five-part mini-series of the novel with Rahul Bose in the lead, but due to pressure from the Muslim community in Sri Lanka, the filming permit was revoked and the project was cancelled.
Courtesy Indian Express
The Sunday Leader 

Australia floods: PM Julia Gillard unveils new tax


Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a new tax to help pay for devastating floods that she says will cost A$5.6bn ($5.6bn; £3.5bn) in reconstruction.
Ms Gillard said the 12-month tax, starting from 1 July, would be levied on those earning A$50,000 or more and those affected by floods would not pay.
"We should not put off to tomorrow what we are able to do today'," she said.
More than 30 people have been killed since flooding began last month.
Ms Gillard said: "The Treasury's preliminary estimates are that GDP growth in this financial year will be about half a percentage point less due to the floods.
"The best preliminary estimate of the direct cost to the federal budget of the summer's flood disaster is A$5.6bn." Cost-cutting The new tax will charge an extra 0.5% on those earning A$50,000-A$100,000 and 1% more on those earning more than A$100,000.
Ms Gillard said that ''in a growing economy, we pay as we go" and said deferring the costs was a "soft option" she was not prepared to take.
Large parts of Queensland, the eastern seaboard and Victoria have been inundated by flooding.
Agriculture, mining and transport infrastructure have been badly hit, along with the massive damage to private homes. Ms Gillard said: ''The great floods of this summer have been a national tragedy, not just a natural disaster because of the awful loss of human life."
She said there would be an immediate payment from the federal government of A$2bn to Queensland, the worst-hit state. Unemployed Australians will be paid to move to Queensland.
Ms Gillard is also delaying or cutting infrastructure projects to save about A$675m and cutting back on carbon abatement programmes to save further costs.
However, Ms Gillard must get the tax through parliament and as she relies on minor parties and independents in both houses, she faces a tough task given that the main opposition is opposed to the levy.
The Greens said they supported the new tax but added that it "beggars belief that the government would choose to cut climate change" measures.
BBC

Protecting underaged children from abuse



Anoma Dissanayaka
Parents should focus more attention on their underage children when keeping them home alone or when sending them to schools in private vehicles without the care of responsible elders, National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), Chairperson Anoma Dissanayake said in an interview with the Sunday Observer.
She said the NCPA receives about 20 child abuse cases from many parts of the country everyday and majority child abuse takes place due to the negligence of parents.
Therefore it is the responsibility of parents to look after their children, especially underage children in a more careful manner.
The children should not be isolated even for a few minutes as there are possibilities by unscrupulous persons to destroy their tender lives at any time.
She also said that elders must always be with underage children when going to schools in school buses, vans or trishaws.
According to several on-the-spot investigations, many small schoolchildren have been seen travelling in vans and trishaws without the company of elderly persons.

 A child domestic
Two boys labouring in a garbage dump
Pix: Vipula Amarasinghe
Following are the excerpts of the interview:
Q: How many children's homes are in the country?
A: There are many children's homes in the country and all of them are coming under the purview of the Probation and Child Care Bureau.
Q: What is the role played by your Authority?
A: We have to investigate all matters that are related to child abuse cases in the country.
Q: When Child abuse cases are reported what action is taken by the NCPA?
A: We visit the places concerned and conduct investigations. We also take prompt action to crack down on the persons responsible for such child abuse cases.
Q: Could anybody or a group of persons maintain a children's home?
A: If anybody wants to operate a children's home, then he should first get the approval from the relevant authorities, unless no children's homes could be operated.
Q: How many child abuse cases are reported to the NCPA a month?
A: We receive at least 20 child abuse cases a day. Among them are those abused sexually.
Q: Is it true female domestic workers are the most vulnerable persons?
A: Not only female domestic workers, but also underage male domestic workers face untold hardships.
Q: What do you think of mothers who seek foreign employment after leaving their underage children, especially girls?

 A domestic carrying a heavy bag
A: Although there are financial problems in families, my view is mothers who have underage children should not leave their children alone and go for overseas jobs. On the one hand, children in such families stop their education and get involved in unlawful activities. Such children also face numerous forms of sexual and physical abuse.
Q: Have you taken any step to stop such mothers leaving the country for foreign jobs?
A: We have already informed the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to stop sending such females for foreign jobs. I think there is a good response from the SLBFE.
Q: Do you think only parents are responsible to look after their children and save them from unscrupulous elements.
A: Even school principals, teachers and elders in society could play a vital role in eliminating child abuse, since there were many instances that schoolchildren, especially underage girls had become victims and ultimately lost their lives at a very tender age.
Q: How do you educate ordinary public on the importance of safeguarding young children from unwanted persons?
A: We conduct seminars very often not only to educate ordinary persons on this matter, but also law enforcement officers on how to deal with child abuse. We are also happy to say that our law enforcement officers carry out their duties without considering anybody's social status.
Q: If anybody wants to make a complaint to the NCPA regarding a child abuse case, what is the procedure?
A: We have a 24 -hour hotline service, "The Child Line - No. 1929). Anybody could complain through this line and we will take prompt action to help victimised persons and also to crack down offenders involved in such cases. The objective of introducing this hotline is also to eradicate various forms of harassments made on schoolchildren by school authorities as well as domestic servants by employers.
Q: What are your advice to parents and elders on child abuse matters?
A: Child abuse could be completely eliminated if elders, especially parents and teachers are vigilant on their children's day to day social activities. Children should not be isolated. Always young children must be accompanied by elders. Underage children should not be deployed on domestic work or to be employed at unknown places.
A senior student of a research team on `Child Abuses' from the Colombo University said child abuse cases are mainly reported from the estate sector, where labourers keep their children in houses in Colombo as domestic servants with the objective of earning a good monthly salary.
But, ultimately many of these domestic servants face untold sexual harassments. Due to the poverty they do not reveal such matters even to their relatives and keep them secret.
If any parent makes complaint against such affluent people they take legal action and ultimately the victims are suffering.
At Mahabellana, Panadura, a mother who is employed in a garment factory was in the habit of keeping her seven -year old daughter with a 20 -year old male domestic servant during the day.
When questioned the research team was informed that the father of the child had been missing from home due to a family dispute.
Although the residents had repeatedly requested the mother not to keep her daughter with that young domestic servant she had not suspected that man.
But later it was reported that the small girl was sexually abused by that man on several occasions.
"This is a good lesson for parents who leave their young children alone with male domestic servants or even with any other male person,".
Therefore, he requested parents to send their children to schools without allowing them to work as domestics.
Parents must know that we have social service organisations to keep children free of charge, free educational institutions including Government schools to admit children and also pirivenas to admit children free of charge.
Sunday Observer -

Saturday, January 29, 2011

2012 … The End Of The World?


Perspective by Jack Kelley
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” (Luke 21:25)
The year 2012 is lining up as a uniquely pivotal year in many respects. Aside from the fact that some futurists are predicting world wide food and job riots by then, and the two most powerful thrones on Earth (US and UN) will be up for election, there may be a never before seen confluence of signs in the heavens due to arrive then. In case you’ve been visiting another planet for the past couple of years, here they are.

Mayan Calendar Ends. Dec.21, 2012

By way of introduction, somehow the Mayans knew that the Sun travels in an orbit through the galaxy just like the planets of our solar system travel in an orbit around the Sun. They calculated that it requires 25,625 of our years for the Sun to complete one circle, called a galactic day. The Mayans divided this day into 5 cycles of 5125 years each. According to their calendar the current cycle, which is the 5th, will end on the day we know as Dec. 21, 2012, the winter solstice.
The Mayan Calendar does not necessarily predict the world will end on that day, as some think, but they did believe that the Sun, having reached the center of the galaxy, would receive and emit a powerful surge of light from this alignment and would reverse its polarity. This would cause a great cosmic event on Earth and result in the end of life as we know it. Below are some modern confirmations that will demonstrate just how accurate the Mayans were. They lend more credibility to the view that the influence of the Nephilim with their supernatural knowledge might have been much more widespread than previously thought. Hints of their meddling can be seen world wide.
According to the Mayans, the effect of all this will depend on our reaction to it. If, as a civilization, we try to cling to our current ways we’ll suffer chaos and destruction. But if we change to become united in one positive consciousness and stop fighting each other and poisoning our environment we’ll enter our Golden Age. Sounds straight out of the New Age, doesn’t it?

Magnetic Polar Reversal, Earth And Sun Combined. 2012

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (Rev. 6:12-14)
Over the past few years the magnetic North pole has been drifting across Canada and is headed for Siberia. Also, the Earth’s magnetic field has weakened noticeably compared to its strength when scientists began measuring it in 1845. Based on these findings, some scientists are now convinced that a reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles is underway. They’re predicting that in 2012 the magnetic field will be at its weakest and a polar reversal could suddenly and dramatically take place with the North pole having the polarity of the South pole and vice versa.
In 2012 the Sun will also experience a polar reversal producing radiation emissions at their strongest levels in 50 years. Although the Sun’s magnetic poles reverse every eleven years, in the memory of man the Earth has never experienced such an event. While no one can predict the outcome of this double shift, it could produce massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions of a magnitude that could actually cause a measurable continental shift.
A study by the National Academy of Sciences released in early 2009 indicated that a “solar storm” like this could also cause catastrophic damage to the power grid and other communications as well, knocking out satellites, phones, and computers. They confirmed that the 2012 event would be more severe than others we’ve experienced in the past.
If this reversal caused the magnetic field around Earth to collapse, the effect would be even more severe. According to some projections, the electromagnetic energy released from the sun during a polar reversal could cause Earth’s upper atmosphere to “erupt in flames” if our magnetic field isn’t there to deflect it. Was John referring to this in saying the sky vanished like a scroll being rolled up? No one knows. We can only imagine what a sudden reversal of magnetic poles would do to life on Earth. Predictions range all the way from a temporary increase in the frequency and severity of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes to a worldwide disaster of “Biblical proportions.”

Galactic Alignment. Sun At The Equator Of The Milky Way. Dec. 21, 2012

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.(Rev. 8:5)
The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. (Psalm 114:4)
In December 2012 the Sun will be on the equator of the Milky Way Galaxy, with all the planets lined up in their orbits behind it, like little chicks behind their mother. Some scientists believe this will amplify the Sun’s gravitational pull on Earth causing increased instability in its inner core. They say the increased gravitational pull combined with increased radiation from the twin polar reversals will heat the Earth’s molten core and cause it to spin faster. This could result in anything from more frequent and more powerful earthquakes to volcanic eruptions, great tsunamis and even displacement of the Earth’s crust.

Planet X Returns To The Solar System. 2012

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water- the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. (Rev. 8:8-11)
Planet X has been the subject of much debate among scientists, both as to its actual existence and its name. Some refer to Planet X as Nibiru, a large planet listed in 5000 year old Sumerian tablets, but missing from the Solar system today.  Others say it’s Rahab, the ancient seat of Satan, hinted at in Job 9:13 & 26:12Psalm 87:4 & 89:10, and in Isaiah 30:7 & 51:9. Those who advocate for its existence say it’s been privately tracked by NASA since the 1980’s and both the New York Times and the Washington Post have speculated about its appearance in the sky. Documented naked eye sightings from the Southern Hemisphere are also claimed.
The name Rahab appears in the Old Testament a total of 11 times.  Five times it refers to the Rahab of Jericho who hid the 2 spies, was the mother of Boaz, and appears in the Lord’s genealogy.  The other six times, listed above, it does not.  Some believe these other references are to a planet that was once part of our Solar system and that Satan and his followers inhabited along with Earth and Mars. These people disagree as to whether it was originally our 5th or 6th planet, but supposedly these three planets were judged at the time of Satan’s rebellion in the gap between Genesis 1 :1 & 1:2 . They also disagree as to whether it was completely destroyed leaving only the asteroid belt as a memorial, or was sent spinning out into the far reaches of the universe, or some combination of the two.  Proponents of the partial destruction theory say that the remnant of the planet Rahab can now be seen again, and that God will use it to effect some of the judgments of Revelation.
To many, this idea of Satan’s Kingdom planet re-entering our solar system is wild conjecture. After all, they say, it was developed out of a study combining the apocryphal Book of Enoch with the application of ELS (Equi-distant Letter Sequencing), commonly known as the Bible Codes.   But if we’re as close to the end as I think we are, it won’t be long until we know whether the Rahab theories are truth or fiction. For what it’s worth, some believe Nostradamus predicted a comet/planet coming in 2012.
In any case, whether you call it X, or Nibiru, or Rahab, there are some serious people who believe it’s headed our way and will at least come dangerously close to Earth in 2012, showering us with the asteroids it has captured and causing great damage on Earth.

What’s The Point?

The short answer to the title question is, “No. 2012 will not bring the end of the world.” But without attempting to tie these predicted events to specific prophecies, I think it’s interesting to see how similar the Biblical descriptions of end times judgments are to the scientific view of possible coming events.  (It appears that talking about signs of the End of the Age is not just for Christians any more.)   Due to the nearness of 2012, I only used verses from Revelation that describe judgments during the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week , before the Great Tribulation even begins. After that it gets much worse very quickly.
See, the day of the LORD is coming -a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.  The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.  I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir.  Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger. (Isaiah 13:9-13)
So what will the 2012 disasters accomplish? I believe that God will use these and other End Times judgments to begin putting the Earth back into the condition it was when He gave it to Adam. Remember, Jesus called the Millennium the time of restoration of all things (Matt. 19:28) and Paul said the whole creation has been groaning in anticipation of being liberated from the bondage it was subjected to. (Romans 8:20-21). And at the beginning of the Millennium God will proclaim, “I am making everything new.” (Rev. 21:5)
Since the creation, mountains have been pushed up and valleys made lower to contain the enormous amounts of water generated in the Great Flood. The protective water vapor canopy that permitted long life spans in pre-flood times collapsed at the time of the Flood. Earth’s land mass has been pushed apart to form the current continents and islands, the Earth’s orbit has been extended by 5 ¼ days, and its axis tilted by 23.44 degrees. All this and more will have to be fixed in order for Earth to once again be the paradise it was created to be.
You and I will view all of this from the mezzanine during our time of repose with the Lord. On Earth it will be the beginning of the most terrible time known to man.
Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD ? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light-pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? (Amos 5:18-20) You can almost hear the Footsteps of the Messiah (08-29-09)
gracethrufaith.com