A Human Kaleidoscope !

email from Edwin Kirubs.

This is a fantastic clip and you wonder about the coordination of so many artists in producing it
​Click on the link below to view the 'human kaleidoscope':-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0-zCwSfkOo      

Attentive Eye Test.....

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai

The School of Psychology, Harvard University, recently conducted a public survey called "What really do you see?"

People were asked to focus their attention on a very simple picture, and then asked if they had noticed anything odd.

Now, you have the chance to take part in this survey.  Study the picture for 1 minute; then reveal what you see that is HORRENDOUS.

Start now.....

Question : What do you see that is HORRENDOUS?

Scroll down for the answer :  

 Answer : There's a MOUSE on one of the doughnuts!

Results of the Survey :

1. 100% of males failed this test. They were distracted by the bosom.

2. 100% of the females also failed this test. They were distracted by the wide choice of doughnuts.

A message from a wife.

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai.

Sri Lankan economy.

Economy. Read scripts below pl.

jksw

Most of the 9 Provinces in Sri Lanka are agriculture based, be it Tamil or Sinhalese,

and the per capita income there is around $600/ as against a four times higher figure for the Western Province.

All regions by now have received access in the form of roads, large and small.

It is upto the people to utilize these.

Maybe water is often scarce off season and deep tube wells may be useful. Not many dry regions can hope for two big harvests a year.

Till then,  

Mass migration is inevitable.

And some do not wish any reverse migration of the poorer people to these poor areas on communal basis.

Any ideas? All to do the management jobs and cattle to do the others? We used to call these people goviyas in loin cloth then.

Now with modernization these farmers are educated, cultured, wearing trousers and T shirt, many contributing to national production.

(I did send photos of paddy threshing machines which did all the work except packaging and transport.)

Say, farming region Deegavapi  east of Amparai and MahaOya, east of Mahiyangana  is as low in income as Mannar, Vavunia or Mulaithivu,

Jaffna itself being many steps ahead. Plenty  of good schools primed to produce ‘managers’.

jksw

“Officials in the province say that many graduates and other educated youth in the region remain unemployed, or seek jobs below their qualifications outside the province.

“There are no management jobs here,” Sivalingam Sathyaseelan, secretary to the provincial ministry of education, told IPS. “The only available employment falls in the category of day-labour. Most of the youth want something better than that.

Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2014 11:29 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Sri Lanka Newsreel May 31

Sri Lankan Youth Desperate for Change

One of the obstacles, says Deen, is that the older generation sees reconciliation and development as separate issues, whereas young people view them as parallel movements, working in tandem.

“It is important for everyone in this country to understand the concept of harmonious living,” he stressed. “That’s why we are working with the younger crowd [who] recognise that peace and harmony correlate highly with the development of this country.”

Deen’s fears find echo in the post-war development initiatives that have permeated Sri Lanka’s former war zones in the north and east.

Here, a young Tamil man named Benislos Thushan tells IPS, mega development projects have failed to improve the lives of the local population, possibly due to lingering racial discrimination against the Tamil minority.

“There are big highways [being built] and other projects in the works, but people in the province are still poor, still looking for jobs,” he said.

The government claims it has spent close to four billion dollars on large infrastructure development schemes in the northern province alone, but available data show that unemployment rates in the north are double the national average of four percent.

Officials in the province say that many graduates and other educated youth in the region remain unemployed, or seek jobs below their qualifications outside the province.

“There are no management jobs here,” Sivalingam Sathyaseelan, secretary to the provincial ministry of education, told IPS. “The only available employment falls in the category of day-labour. Most of the youth want something better than that.

 http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24043-sri-lankan-youth-desperate-for-change

Sri Lanka’s Top Central Banker Welcomes Modi

Sri Lanka’s central bank governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, says the election of Narendra Modi as India’s new prime minister will be good for his nation’s economy and make his job “a little easier.”

Getting India’s economy growing at a faster clip is going to be a top priority for Mr. Modi, who was propelled to power by voters in India who want better job opportunities, higher standards of living and a more efficient government.

The markets are optimistic that Mr. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party will be better at getting things done than the last bunch of leaders in New Delhi.

A pro-business leader in India should be good for Sri Lanka for which India is a major export market.

“A strong, business-friendly government is definitely something to look forward to,” said Mr. Cabraal in an interview with The Wall Street Journal during a visit to London to meet investors.

Mr. Cabraal said the expects to see early signs of that positive impact on Sri Lankan exports later this year, while a boost to trade should “definitely be visible” in 2015.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/05/30/sri-lankas-top-central-banker-welcomes-modi/

​

World.City News Updates - 

Click the weblink below to read today's full issue.

http://cityvista.tumblr.com/post/2014-May-31

To see previous issues, click any item at the top of the displayed web page.

  

​​

To print a selection from any issue select items with mouse and copy to a word processor document 

Tell a friend to join our mailing list

email  World.City updates

Scottish Thoughtfulness

email forwarded by JKS Weerasekera.

A Scotsman and his wife walked past a swanky new restaurant.

"Did you smell that food?" she asked. "Incredible!"

Being a 'kind-hearted  Scotsman', he thought, "What the heck..., I'll treat  her!"

So, they walked past it again...

=

China - India, battle for the legacy of Buddhism.

email forwarded by Senaka Weeraratne.

Click on the link below:-

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/120118/nepal-buddhism-dalai-lama-china-tibet

India has its own 'soft power' - Buddhism

email forwarded bySenaka Weeraratna

By Sudha Ramachandran

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IG04Df02.html

BANGALORE - As the Sino-Indian battle for influence in East and Southeast Asia intensifies, India is backing its political and economic diplomacy with soft-power diplomacy. To counter China's efforts to keep India out of the region on the grounds that it is an "outsider", India is drawing attention to its solid Buddhist credentials.

Buddhism originated in India around the 5th century BC. But after flourishing here for many centuries, it declined in the land of its birth. However, it spread across Asia, winning adherents in such countries as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia and China.

Buddhist monks traveled far to spread the religion. Scholars came to India to study at its universities. There was a healthy exchange of ideas, of philosophic, religious and cultural traditions right from ancient times. The impact of this interaction and exchange can be seen and felt to date across Asia. It is this shared Buddhist heritage that Delhi is now emphasizing in its engagement with East and Southeast Asia.

"China has sought to keep India out of regional arrangements in Southeast Asia by portraying India as an outsider. By underlining the multi-millennia-old bond of Buddhism that it shares with these regions, India is quietly clarifying that it is not a gatecrasher," said an official in India's Ministry of External Affairs.

Although the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, or the Buddha as he came to be called, was born in Nepal and not India, all the important milestones in his life, whether it was his enlightenment, his first sermon or his attainment of nirvana, happened in India. Most of the important sites of significance to Buddhists the world over are in India.

While India has emphasized its cultural and civilizational links with East and Southeast Asia for decades, this diplomacy has received a boost with the pan-Asian initiative to revive Nalanda University.

An ancient seat of learning, Nalanda University was primarily a center of Buddhist studies, but it also imparted training in fine arts, astronomy, politics and languages. The university died a slow death around the 12th century AD.

A giant, multinational effort is now on to set up an international university at Nalanda that will capture the grandeur, spirit and essence of this renowned seat of learning. Several countries, including India, Japan, Singapore and China, are part of this effort.
And while India is at the center of the Nalanda initiative (the university being located here), China is ensuring that its links with the university are not forgotten. Besides being part of a mentor group (headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen) that will provide vision and direction to the Nalanda initiative, China has contributed funds for the Xuan Zang Memorial Hall in the university. "It is making sure that its links with Buddhism are noted," said the Indian official.

Xuan Zang was a Chinese Buddhist scholar of the 7th century AD who spent two years at Nalanda. His contribution to Buddhism is substantial. Not only did he translate Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese during his years in India, but it was from his translated Chinese copies that scholars recovered Indian Buddhist texts lost in subsequent years.

Buddhism might have arrived in China several centuries after it was born in India, but China has more Buddhists than India does today. In fact, with 100 million, it is home to the largest number of Buddhists in the world.

In recent years, China has been making a concerted attempt to project a Buddhism-friendly image of itself, drawing attention to its Buddhist heritage. Monasteries and temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution have reportedly been rebuilt. Last year, China played host to the First World Buddhist Forum at Hangzhou in which Buddhist monks and scholars from 37 countries participated.

China's projection of a Buddhist-friendly image today has to do with its Tibet policy.

"Having destroyed Tibetan Buddhism and put in its place a state-sanctioned version of Buddhism, Beijing is making grand gestures to shore up its Buddhist credentials. It wants to soften its image for East and Southeast Asia but, more importantly, Tibet," said the official. "Hence Beijing's bonding with Buddhism."

The Hangzhou meet, he said, was aimed at presenting China as a country that is in favor of harmonious living with its neighbors. More important, it provided Beijing with an international platform to present to the world Gyaltsen Norbu, the Panchen Lama (Tibet's second-ranking spiritual leader) it appointed in 1995, and to showcase its Buddhist credentials. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who fled to India in 1959 in the wake of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, was not invited to the gathering.

China's effort to project its Buddhist credentials has been tarnished by its record in Tibet. Indian officials say that so long as the Dalai Lama lives in India and millions of Tibetan Buddhist refugees remain in India, China's claims over Buddhism will be weak. While China's Buddhist credentials are questionable thanks to its blood-soaked record vis-a-vis Tibetan Buddhists, that of India's is impeccable. China cannot match India's formidable record as a protector of Buddhism. India has provided refuge to millions of Tibetan Buddhists fleeing Chinese oppression.

Indian officials admit that in the past India neglected highlighting adequately its central role in the Buddhist world and its Buddhist legacy. In the process, "it surrendered the mantle of being the custodian of Buddhist heritage and its leadership role in the Buddhist world, which was quickly appropriated by countries like Japan and China", said the official. This is being corrected now.

Indrani Bagchi writes in The Times of India: "In the past five years, India has fought back, to reclaim what the government believes is India's by right - that it is India which is at the heart of the Asian civilization, that in many ways, India has been the cultural trend setter."

Last year, India built a Buddhist temple in Luoyang in China. The temple is in the Baima temple complex where a Chinese emperor welcomed Buddhist monks from India 2,000 years ago. "The temple in Luoyang has been built in the Indian style," said the official. "It marks the fact that Buddhism traveled to China from India." It underscores the fact that Buddhism in China is an Indian export.

India has made Buddhism the core of its soft-power push in Asia. This is aimed not only at reminding countries of their long-standing links with India but also that the roots of their cultural heritage lie in India.

The dispute between India and China over territory and their race for military and economic supremacy are a familiar tale to the outside world. The outcome of these contests will determine who will dominate Asia - if not the world - in the coming decades. Less visible but equally important is their tussle over ownership of Buddhism. This keenly fought contest will determine which of the two is Asia's "mother civilization". 

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.

Courtesy:  Asia Times (2007 Asia Times Online Ltd.)

Bottled Water

email from Gallege De Silva	03:04 (2 hours ago)
Click on link below to save this power-point presentation. You could then click the saved file to watch it.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f9f9290c98&view=att&th=14649e806fc05e88&attid=0.1&disp=safe&zw

Heaven.

email from JKS Weerasekara. Perhaps, The Best Poem Ever..... Its more than a poem... The truth ! No offense intended to any denomination please ... PERHAPS THE BEST POEM IN THE WORLD  I was shocked, confused, bewildered  As I entered Heaven's door,   Not by the beauty of it all,  Nor the lights or its decor.  But it was the folks in Heaven  Who made me sputter and gasp--  The thieves, the liars, the sinners,  The alcoholics and the trash.   There stood the kid from seventh grade   Who swiped my lunch money twice.  Next to him was my old neighbour   Who never said anything nice.   Bob, who I always thought   Was rotting away in hell,   Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,   Looking incredibly well.   I nudged Saint Peter, 'What's the deal?  I would love to hear Your take.  How'd all these sinners get up here?  God must've made a mistake.  'And why is everyone so quiet,  So somber - give me a clue.'  'Hush, child,' He said,  'they're all in shock.  ‘No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

How To Improve Immigrants' English (Pathe filmlet).

email from  "J. K. S. Weerasekera" 

How to talk intelligibly. Short. 4 minutes. Very useful.

jksw

Subject: FW: How To Improve Immigrants' English (Pathe filmlet)

  

 Sinhala to English

How To Improve Immigrants' English (1940s Instructional Film) [HD]

http://youtu.be/Dt9I6H0Oi40

Musings.

Email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai:-

We seldom get what we want,
We seldom want what we get, 
We seldom have what we like, 
We seldom like what we have.
And still we live & love. 
That's life...

The best kind of friend, 
Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, 
Never say a word,
And then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

It's true that we don't know
What we've got until it's gone,
But it's also true that we don't know 
What we've been missing until it arrives..

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back!
Don't expect love in return; 
Just wait for it to grow in their heart,
But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone,
An hour to like someone,
And a day to love someone,
But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive. 
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. 
Go for someone who makes you smile, 
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seem bright. 
Find the one that makes your heart smile!

May you have
Enough happiness to make you sweet, 
Enough trials to make you strong, 
Enough sorrow to keep you human, 
And enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others' shoes.
If you feel that it hurts you,
It probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people 
Don't necessarily have the best of everything; 
They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Happiness lies for
Those who cry, 
Those who hurt,
Those who have searched, 
And those who have tried, 
For only they can appreciate the importance of people 
Who have touched their lives.

When you were born, you were crying 
And everyone around you was smiling. 
Live your life so that when you die, 
You're the one who is smiling
And everyone around you is crying.

Please send this message
To those people who mean something to you, 
To those who have touched your life in one way or another, 
To those who make you smile when you really need it, 
To those that make you see the brighter side of things When you are really down, 
To those who you want to know 
That you appreciate their friendship.

And if you don't, don't worry, 
Nothing bad will happen to you, 
You will just miss out on the opportunity 
to brighten someone's life with this message... 
~~~~~

'Thosai'making' machine.

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai.

Some facts we may not know about INDIANS...

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai:-


1. 38% of doctors in America are INDIANS.
2. 12% of the scientist in America are INDIANS.
3. 28% of the IBM employees in the world are INDIANS.
4. 36% of the NASA employees are INDIANS.
5. 17% of the INTEL employees in the world are INDIANS.
6. 34% of the MICROSOFT employees are INDIANS.
7. Sanskrit is the mother language of all the European languages spoken
WHICH MEANS SWEDISH TOO.
8. SANSKRIT is most suitable language for computer software spokenreported in Forbes magazine, 1987.
9. CHESS was invented in INDIA ..
10. Creator and founder of HOTMAIL is INDIAN (SABEER BHATIA).
11. Aryabhatta who was from INDIA , invented the number ZERO.
12. INDIANS invented the NUMBER SYSTEM.
13. ALGEBRA was invented in INDIA ..
14. CALCULUS and TRIGNOMETRY came from INDIA ..
15. The general manager of HEWLETT PACKARD (HP) is INDIAN (RAJIV GUPTA).
16. Creator of the PENTIUM CHIP(90% of today's Computers run on it) is INDIAN (VINOD DAHM).
17. BHUDHYANA first calculated the value of pi (3.14), and he the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean theorem;he discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
18. We have almost 5600 different newspapers and 3500 different with approximately 120 million readers every day.
19. SUSHRUTA (from India ) is the father of SURGERY. 2600 year ago, he and health scientist of his time conducted complicated surgeries like artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery
20. LAXMI MITTAL (the steel king) is the richest man in ENGLAND. His house in England is the most expensive house in the world, more than 70 million pounds.
21. ALBERT EINSTEIN once said:- We owe a lot to the INDIANS,who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery would have been made.
22. INDIA has the THIRD largest army in the world with more than 105 million men......
 

'How Great Thou Art', a song from the heart.

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai:-

This little boy's performance of "How Great Thou Art" will leave you in awe 

This small fellow sings from his heart.

 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=565874703479003&set=vb.154798851253259&

Capitalist thinking.

email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai.

http://www.worthytoshare.com/pretty-girl-seeking-rich-husband-reply-got-banker-priceless

This Pretty Girl Was Seeking A Rich Husband. The Reply She Got From A Banker Was Priceless!

The following is what a woman posted on a dating forum seeking a rich husband:

I’m going to be honest of what I’m going to say here. I’m 25 this year. I’m very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above. You might say that I’m greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York.

My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you?

Among those I’ve dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit.
If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden(?), $250k annual income is not enough.

I’m here humbly to ask a few questions:

1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches are only average-looking? I’ve met a few girls who don’t have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys.
4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)
Ms. Pretty

A philosophical reply from CEO of J.P. Morgan below:

Dear Ms. Pretty,
I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor.
My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I’m not wasting time here.
From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain.

Put the details aside, what you’re trying to do is an exchange of “beauty” and “money” : Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square.
However, there’s a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can’t be prettier year after year.

Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It’s not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worse 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a “trading position”.
If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term – same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or “leased”.

Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income.This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps.

signed,
J.P. Morgan CEO