Reaping the Choice

So here we are, going about our usual business along a sunny, seemingly usual morning, just cause we didn't get shaven by yesterday's department-store bomb. We’ve been lucky, and heaven knows, as things are, for how long. Life has hit record time uncertainty on the paradise island.

This, of course, is our own choice. Ours means the majority (something like of 51-2%). We've chosen this path of violence, this path of all-out war, this path of 'crushing-it-out' in 2005. We had a clear choice between a better option [of course, relatively], and this. Simply, Sri Lankans have sowed the wind, and are now reaping the whirlwind, so is to say.

I’m not saying that a UNP executive government would have been a godsend. Of course, you and I have lived in paradise for long enough to understand that the thief is the thief regardless whether he's blue or green in color. But honestly, we had a selection between a country torn apart and broke by war, and a better choice, where the government would seek a solution by staying on a higher plane than terrorism, an economy where it would make sense to bank my money for future security, and a place where we could work towards a hopeful future. But now it's too late, we've made the selection, and we're doomed.

This will not be the first. We are returning to the era of rush hour bombs, targeting civilians. And we seem to think that the solution is also a rush hour bomb, a bit higher up the country. This way, no almighty would be able to stop the country from tearing apart. This ain't a problem to be solved by street thugs and Dons: time had long come for solving this problem via intelligence.

As a Sri Lankan who hopes for a future in this country, not an unthinkable expatriate one, i need a country to be in. A home to come back. A place to return and stay. Until now we had it, albeit sometimes 'almost'. SL, what ever troubles she had, was one pf the best places, perhaps the best, home, for people like us in the whole world. But now it seems like her end is nigh. She’s been torn apart by the pack of wolves she has been entrusted into by her own children. I only hope that this is hallucination, a bad dream, from which I’d be able to wake up ASAP and sigh a breather.

But it won't come by just sitting along.

freedom of choice

how many more?

I can't believe that Sri Lankans are this mad. We had a peace process. We had it under control. People died less. At least we had a sane man's way outta this melee where everyone had to have a real big reason not to participate. We had a way to save the country.

But the public, maybe apparently, opted out. They voted for a goverment and a president whom they, with certainity, knew would abandon the peace process. Perhaps the option wasn't apparent. Or they got away with the 'Peace with Honor' badge, where the real analogy should've been a parent trying to take the knife away from her 5-year old who's having a tantrum. An un-ignorable majority of Sri Lankans seem to believe that 'crush'em out' would bring a viable solution to this problem. In that they've earned themselves an utterly unstable and insecure present, and for their children, a total loss of hope. Not to mention the millions the warmongers earn though the exchange..

Clearly, this has to stop. We can't wait foir another 6 or 12 years or sometimes, 'forever' as they predict. Do we wait for saner decisions til we have to wheelbarrow rupees to buy bread? We have been doing this for years and surely the government can not hope for 'total annihilation'. If they truly believe it, then they're a bunch of fools themselves (yes they are), which I believe not. I believe they know this sure wouldn't end this way, but know it'd provide an eternal excuse to keep doing whatever they're doing as of presence. Easy, isn't it? We're at war. This is Emergency. Simple as that.

Sri Lanka has made some darn mistakes but none like the ones made in the last public elections. They've literally selected between war and peace, and now it is destroying the country. Yeah, there are factors like the 'liberated East' cause. But I'd like to see how many of our MPs would like to take a vacation in the Liberated East, let alone the public.

In short, Sri Lanka need drastic action. The sane public should urge the government for alternate solutions, but I don't think these fools can be convinced. Like they want to. It just sucks that Sri Lanka had done so much so for a proper solution, only to see it all go down in vain. If we go on like this.

Because It Can Be Your Friend..

World map of suicide rates per 100,000 (Wikipedia)

What a queer day at work. B walks around in the wee early morning, handing out a suspiciously sticky fruit toffee. I'm eating it and text L anyway so she can catch the culprit if something happens :-). Moments later, Mr S hops about giving out a leaflet and a sticker. I suspect it's the ubiquitous parking/speeding ticket, but it's something about the World Suicide Prevention Day thing. Hmm.., behavioral patterns to identify a suicidal person, great. Oh god, everybody stares after him, suppressing snickers and guffaws. Is this what we look like? Poor D comes last, and Mr S whizzes out the last leaflet at him. We exchange knowing snickers again. D's dumbfounded.

It almost seems funny now. I never thought I had much to do with it, but once I had a close shave with it. One of my best [i mean bestest] friends, attempted it. She was out of the country at that time, abroad in university. She had undergone a recent emotional tragedy and was so depressed about it. I knew it, and tried to be there for her, keeping touch with her every now and then. But somehow she went so near and attempted it, almost. She had a lucky escape, a really 'lucky' escape, cause another friend had phoned her just about in time [all her hostel friends had been sleeping when she tried it]. If it had not been that phonecall, all would've been over. Thank heavens things turned better, and now stuff is fine, but still, it came so close. It could've cost me my pallie. If her colleagues there took a bit more care of her, if they had been a bit more aware of the behavior, she might not have had to rely on her 'luck' to escape. Actually no one should. She told me afterwards that it had not been a planned act. It had been spontaneous, and she said her intention was only 'to get away'. She said afterwards that she herself was surprised that she didn't even think about her parents. Her focus only had been to get away from her burning emotions.

I think we all should be more careful about this. Cause it might lurk quietly down under and raise its ugly head when no one expects it. Careful about friends or acquaintances who have undergone similar circumstances. Keep your eyes open for them. It can be someone you really care about.

Is My Membership Due?

Dijkstra's Algorithm by riggzy

Here's an algorithm puzzle I came across this morning. It requires simple logic but is harder than it seems. Check how long does it take you to do it:

You have two dates, both in mm/dd/yyyy format. One is the day you last renewed your library membership and the other is today. Write an algorithm [using simple pseudocode] to determine whether your library membership has expired or not. Remember, the only variables you can use are the mm, dd and yyyy values of the two dates.

Membership renewal date : mm1 / dd1 / yyyy1
Today's date : mm2 / dd2 / yyyy2

No PLs what-so-ever. Simple English.