August 2006 Full Moon

Anna's lessons to journalists

Appropriately titled "Is Journalism Worth Dying For?', the book is a collection of articles written by Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was shot dead in Moscow in 2006.

A mother of two, Politkovskaya was described as a "fearless journalist" who wrote some of the most devastating articles on the darker side of Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, including thuggery, corruption, extra-judicial killings, a partisan judiciary and a brutal war against the separatists in Chechnya.

Some of the horror stories in the 468-page book are a reflection of an authoritarian regime where no dissent was tolerated. She fought a relentless battle to expose the ruthlessness of the regime and graphically describes a Chechen woman scraping her father's brains "from the walls into a bag in order to bury them."

But Politkovskaya, 48, paid for her fearless writing with her life leaving the question in the title of her book unanswered: "Is Journalism Worth Dying For"?

Siyatha boss stopped by PSD

The President and the Opposition Leader showed up for a rare joint appearance at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara for a ceremony to coincide with the 2600 Sambuddhatva Jayanthi celebrations this week on the eve of Vesak full moon day.

The two of them were hosted to lunch after the religious events. The added excitement of the President and the Opposition Leader being present together attracted many worshippers who normally visit the historic temple.

One person who was inside the temple was, however, not allowed into the sanctum sanctorum of the Vihara despite being a member of the Dayaka Sabha or the Board of Trustees. That was Priyantha Kariyapperuma who was not allowed in by the burly PSD men.

The one time Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) and presently of Siyatha TV station, Kariyapperuma unfortunately backed the 'wrong horse' at the Presidential election, say those in the corridors of power.

Dutch police grill LTTE member in Oslo Court; official wants Norway to join EU against Tigers

A Norway-based Tamil who is believed to have played a key role in financing the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) was secretly interrogated for two days at the Oslo District Court, according to Norwegian media. The interrogation was conducted at the request of the Dutch authorities.

Dutch investigators believe the man has played a key role in the financing of the LTTE. A few months ago, members of the Dutch police called on the suspect, who works at a kindergarten. The man has been living in Norway since 2005. In the spring of 2003, he was part of an LTTE delegation that was invited to the Norwegian Parliament (Storting), where the delegates met Erik Solheim, the politician who had a lead role in Sri Lanka’s peace talks.

AdventureLisa: Sore paw, nice nite O runnin', full moon run and ...

At dance class on Monday night I started off by cutting the back of my right heel on the bottom of the pole. Really silly. Not a deep cut but a nice vertical slice that is irritated even by walking on my heel - like one of those paper cuts on the bend of a finger that keeps opening. As I've realised, I think I did a bit of bruising at the same time because it is more sore than just the cut should be. It is actually better running on it than walking as I don't heel strike much when running. And then, about an hour later, I bruised the forefoot of my left foot! That was a sore one and I've felt it on runs. On Tuesday it was quite swollen and felt like I had a wad of gauze under my sole - much improved this morning. Tonight is a night orienteering event hosted by the junior orienteers at Wits University, my alma mater . Although I don't go on campus often, it is familiar ground and I enjoy the tricky navigation between buildings, so I'm looking forward to it. The thing with Wits is that there's a lot of up and down. We start running from the bottom of campus - bottom of the hill - and will certainly do lots of up and down. *phew* Nice to do this run for D31. Straight line distance is 3km... I hope to make 4km from it - may need to run around the field a bit to make sure. I finished scouting locations for my Winter Metrogaine event on Tuesday. I think it's a pretty good route and running through the suburbs around Zoo Lake at night is going to be fabulous. Today, a public holiday, I'll finish all the graphics on the map, removing street names and typing up control location clues. Remember that entries need to be by Monday morning for map printing.  http://www.ar.co.

The Key to Speculation on the New York Stock Exchange

Encyclopaedia Britannica Almanac

The Daring Book for Girls

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices: Countries A-L

The Witches' Almanac, Spring 2006-Spring 2007