Bill meets Dear Leader...

Clinton meets Kim Jong Ill...ah.. pity Prabakaran is dead...if not ,some where down the line Bill would have got the chance to meet both Dear Leaders...

IOM toilet training for refugees in Myanmar-Thailand border

Pix is a poster that's part of IOM's 10 day training for Burmese refugees who are destined for resettlement in US.. idea is to train the refugees in the ways and means of the new country they will live and in this case its the US..

Sadly the training is just 10 days, that include basic English,culture and life in US,currency etc...and part of that training include the use of airplane toilets as they will be flying from Thailand to US..

Most of these people have never been to a school nor have a clue outside the world of Refugee camps in Thai-Burma border.. and majority had never seen a proper Bus let alone a Plane!!!!!

I can't imagine their shock and horror of an alien land when they land in US..i wanted to post this few weeks back to coincide with International Refugee Day..but never made it..

Kottu, Fair & Lovely cream, Michale Jackson...& my stupid posts..

Readership of Kottu is such an enigma.. that much i know.. most of the serious posts i come up with go unheeded,and then some stupid post with a sarcastic twist stems serious discussion.. that was the fact with my previous post titled "Michale Jackson's legacy in South Asia"..

I just wanted to make some fun out of the dead mans skin color and our 'yearn' to be fair..and hey presto.. some serious discussion follows on the comments box!

Of course, this whole 'wanting to be fairer' thing is not something that came up with the open economy (nor MJ's music).. its been there from time immemorial and Sam has aptly pointed that out with the best ever example..the Sigiri Chicks..and also in our aged old tradition of depicting Gods and Deities with dark skin in blue..

Anyway Michale Jackson has nothing to do with this but of course his legacy in this part of the world is that his music opened up pop culture and a more western approach to a society that was slowly embracing a market economy and opened so many doors in so many unseen ways.. how good or bad that was, I'm not an expert to say..

But one thing is for sure, that man is an icon..will be missed and may he rest in peace!

As for Anon1&2,Liberal Lanka, Dee and Sam, many thanks for your valuable comments and insights and also for reading my blog!

Michale Jackson's legacy for South Asia-Skin Bleach

Yes, we all know it, we get bombarded by it on TV.. wanting to be 'Fair and Lovely" the dark skins urge to be fair skins..
That's the unending legacy of Michale Jackson left for this part of the world..like Jacko,we too want to be like suddha and its the same same story in India,Bangladesh and Nepal (where its big business and part of daily life of not only well to do types but with almost struggling types too..) ...
Even far east as Burma and Laos, its the same story..even in remote and poverty stricken areas of India,some of the most needed commodities are 'fair and lovely' cream...

KP<TE Inc. on Michael Jackson's Death

Death of Michael Jackson has been a shocker for all most all... in a statement issued to the press Kumanran Pathmanadan or KP, hitherto leader and the President of the Provisional Transitional Dreamland of Tamil Eelam has stated that it was with great sadness that they remember both Michael Jackson and their dear late Leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan, who both perfected the art of moonwalk and added that it was the LTTE like Michael Jackson who had a special place for young children, especially boys..and to who grew up with "Thriller" and "Beat It" in their minds..but of course unlike Jakho,LTTE played with the music of violence said KP.

Projected 'Liberation' ...

[pix by unknown]

As part of the renewed campaign for the liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the European Parliament has projected her image onto one of its Brussels buildings, along with its message in English and Burmese saying "Free Aung San Suu Kyi now" ...

Projecting pictures of imprisoned political leaders on walls of a Parliament in far away European capital is not going to get Suu Kyi released , instead the people inside the very Parliament can tell countries like France and Germany to stop dealing with Myanmar in terms of joint Oil and Gas exploration/extraction (France) and Iron ore/Minerals (Germany) trade.

But in a realistic world this doesn't happen but in the name of 'Liberation' they project pictures on their walls.

Western duplicity at its best.

why you should always check your child's homework

a good one...below is the accompanying text i got along with the pix..very funny!

"This is why you should always check your child's homework before they go to school:
[see Image]
(Here's the reply the teacher received the following day)

Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow
shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely, Mrs. Smith "