I just watched President Bush address the Radio and Television Correspondents dinner on youtube. Its nice to see the president cracking jokes. I'm sure it mustn't have been easy. Drives home the fact that he is human too. This is the best speech I have heard him make so far.
There was also a skit by two of the "Whose Line Is It Anyway" guys. The last bit of their skit was a rap song about Karl Rove. It was Rove in a whole new light.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Those fire alarms!!
I had never heard a fire alarm ring until I got here. The first time I heard it was about three weeks into my first semester. I was in my room studying when I heard it go off. Never having heard a fire alarm before, I didn't recognize it. I actually thought it was one of my hall mates playing their music. After all, I had heard songs like "chicken noodle soup" and "peanut butter and jelly" and wouldn't have been surprised if this was a song. I ignored it until I heard people running around in the hall and went to find out what was going on. I was told that we had to evacuate the building. It turned out to be a hoax.
The alarm has gone off three times since then that I was around for and each time it was a hoax. I don't understand why they even put alarms in the building. It is a brick building and would not catch fire anyway. The best part though is that when someone actually lit a paper on fire in one of the halls this semester, the alarm didn't go off!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Testing the "War on Terror"
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting the government of Sri Lanka for over two decades. They have used various tactics, including suicide bombing. They claim that the government has continuously discriminated against the minority Tamils, compelling them to carry out a separatist war.
I am not a supporter of the LTTE's methods and I do not support their cause, but I believe they have genuine gripes, including consistently being discriminated against by the Buddhist majority. Being a die hard proponent of the concept of satyagraha, I firmly believe that civil disobedience would further their cause more than violence ever will.
However, the LTTE has continued its fight and has grown over the years, earning the reputation of being one of the worlds most ruthless terrorist organizations. They have well established funding and weapons smuggling networks and are prescribed as a terrorist organization in many countries including the UK and US.
I am in no way claiming that the successive Sri lankan governments are innocent in all this. In fact, they have been corrupt, inefficient and very much responsible for the sorry state of affairs of my country. Not one of them has had the courage to come up with a solution to this conflict and have been fudging with national security forever. The government though is elected and sovereign whereas the LTTE kills any political opponents while claiming to be the sole representatives of the Tamil people.
This brings me to the point of this posting. On Monday the LTTE carried out an aerial bombing of a Sri Lankan Air force base. This is a terrorist organization, which now has a air force! There is no terrorist organization in the world that has aircraft! This is unheard of and unthinkable, yet it happened. The fact that the LTTE has aircraft and used them to attack should send shivers down the spine of any government. This not only threatens Sri Lankan and regional security, but international security. If one terrorist organization is capable of acquiring aircraft, which terrorist organization is not?
Curiously though, none of these governments seems to have even noticed. In fact, one would think that a "Coalition of the Willing" fighting an "International War on Terror" would in the very least have something to say. Somehow though, there has been no significant reaction from any of these countries.
This is why I have always maintained that the "War on Terror" is a big fat farce. This attack to me is a real test of the "War on Terror". If fighting terrorism is the real motive, in the least there would be strong reactions. Yet, there are none. The fact that an illegal terrorist organization that is more ruthless than any other has now got a functioning air force doesn't seem to be raising any eyebrows.
Too caught up in its own issues and the arrogant belief that its power is infinite, the world's sole superpower is failing to provide leadership that is desperately required. In the process, it is undermining its actions and destroying its credibility. Historically, this has signalled the beginning of the end of an empire.
I am not a supporter of the LTTE's methods and I do not support their cause, but I believe they have genuine gripes, including consistently being discriminated against by the Buddhist majority. Being a die hard proponent of the concept of satyagraha, I firmly believe that civil disobedience would further their cause more than violence ever will.
However, the LTTE has continued its fight and has grown over the years, earning the reputation of being one of the worlds most ruthless terrorist organizations. They have well established funding and weapons smuggling networks and are prescribed as a terrorist organization in many countries including the UK and US.
I am in no way claiming that the successive Sri lankan governments are innocent in all this. In fact, they have been corrupt, inefficient and very much responsible for the sorry state of affairs of my country. Not one of them has had the courage to come up with a solution to this conflict and have been fudging with national security forever. The government though is elected and sovereign whereas the LTTE kills any political opponents while claiming to be the sole representatives of the Tamil people.
This brings me to the point of this posting. On Monday the LTTE carried out an aerial bombing of a Sri Lankan Air force base. This is a terrorist organization, which now has a air force! There is no terrorist organization in the world that has aircraft! This is unheard of and unthinkable, yet it happened. The fact that the LTTE has aircraft and used them to attack should send shivers down the spine of any government. This not only threatens Sri Lankan and regional security, but international security. If one terrorist organization is capable of acquiring aircraft, which terrorist organization is not?
Curiously though, none of these governments seems to have even noticed. In fact, one would think that a "Coalition of the Willing" fighting an "International War on Terror" would in the very least have something to say. Somehow though, there has been no significant reaction from any of these countries.
This is why I have always maintained that the "War on Terror" is a big fat farce. This attack to me is a real test of the "War on Terror". If fighting terrorism is the real motive, in the least there would be strong reactions. Yet, there are none. The fact that an illegal terrorist organization that is more ruthless than any other has now got a functioning air force doesn't seem to be raising any eyebrows.
Too caught up in its own issues and the arrogant belief that its power is infinite, the world's sole superpower is failing to provide leadership that is desperately required. In the process, it is undermining its actions and destroying its credibility. Historically, this has signalled the beginning of the end of an empire.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Sinking a billion hopes
One thing I never really thought I would miss is cricket. Sri Lanka won the world cup in 1996, and ever since, the country has been cricket crazy. It is so widely played and televised that any one could be forgiven for thinking that it is our national sport.
As recently as during my trip back home in February, I could be heard telling people discussing the forthcoming world cup that cricket is one thing I don't miss. I always thought it was a waste of time, and still do.
However, since the world cup started this month, I have found myself visiting (intentionally) the world cup site a few times. Just the fact that I am curious about world cup news is a new development that has surprised me. Before I got here, if I visited the site even once, it would be a big deal. On the other hand, if I were back home, I would be surrounded by never ending discussions of every bowl over and over again. Given that there are 600 bowls per cricket match, that's a lot of conversation that I would rather not hear. My life is devoid of those conversations now and I'm wondering if absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
I visited the site a while ago to find out the results of Sri Lanka's match against India today and was overjoyed when I read: "Sri Lanka sink a billion hopes". I immediately messaged a (typical Indian) cricket obsessed friend of mine to gloat about it. I also read about Pakistan's coach being murdered and hope that things are resolved soon.
That however does not sour our victory and I am just as overjoyed as any Sri Lankan right now. In fact, at this moment, I can picture my family celebrating and my Indian cousins going into mourning. The news coming out of Sri Lanka in the past few days hasn't been good and I hope all my fellow Sri Lankans are taking a moment to revel in this victory.
I know I am.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Civil disobedience + Bin Laden = joke?
We were discussing civil disobedience and the factors that need to be present for it to be considered as civil disobedience in my American government class yesterday and obviously, the Mahatma and Martin Luther King were discussed. While these discussions were on, my mind wandered and I imagined Bin Laden and his gang marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, placards and all, voicing their gripes. I burst out laughing at the thought, which I'm sure most of us would do.
Thinking about it later though, I was wondering if it was really that funny. I would think that if any one could carry out civil disobedience, it would be a "radical Muslim" like Bin Laden. Look at what the pillars of Islam constitute. We have fasting - abstinence from food or drink from sunrise to sunset for 30 days straight. We have prayers that are prayed 5 times a day at specific times and the pilgrimage of Hajj. I would think that if any one could summon the discipline required to carry out civil disobedience, it would be Bin Laden.
Thinking about it later though, I was wondering if it was really that funny. I would think that if any one could carry out civil disobedience, it would be a "radical Muslim" like Bin Laden. Look at what the pillars of Islam constitute. We have fasting - abstinence from food or drink from sunrise to sunset for 30 days straight. We have prayers that are prayed 5 times a day at specific times and the pilgrimage of Hajj. I would think that if any one could summon the discipline required to carry out civil disobedience, it would be Bin Laden.
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