NPP and JVP

NPP and JVP

Yes, my objection to NPP and JVP is based on "Buddhist Way of Life" and not based on hate but on persuasion of right thinking (Summa Dhitti) based on Ariya Ashtangika Margaya (Eightfold Path to Emancipation).

1. To begin with there was no need for Wijeweera to incite young blood and raise a revolution in Ceylon when the life and politics was peaceful in our mother Lanka..

This mad idea was taken up by the L.T.T.E and made this country a living hell aided by RAW and Indira Gandhi who thought Ceylon was a Province of India an Modi still believes his mythology of Modi's MAD Maha Barath.

Current Government has taken a contract to please Tamil Diaspora and belittle our Army and especially Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 

I do not carry a brief to Rajapaksas but one decimated the L.T.T.E propaganda and the other saved us from Coronavirus.

2.  We have a constitution where Buddhism is enshrined (If USA can enshrine Christianity in its constitution "what is wrong", if it is done in Ceylon) with equal opportunity for all other religions big and small.

For that matter if somebody wants a Gus Gemmba (a tree frog) to be his religious leader s/he can do that in his or her own private life not on YouTube.

3. My biggest objection is using Month of MAY was used for May Day Ralley which Buddha was supposed to be born in which Buddhists devote entirely for Dhamma after the New Year festival.

It was USED for POLITICS by ANURA and His NIRAGAMIKA CLAN.

I blame Maha Nayakyaka and Diyawadena Nilmae for agreeing to "Dalada Exposition' for political propaganda.

This should never have happened in CEYLON.

Yes, Mahinda Rajpaksa and his clan did politicized Buddhism in Ceylon.

That includes Champika Ranawaka, too.

They are reaping the benefits and are completely thrown out of the main stream.

We do not need a second innings by Anura and the clan.

My prediction is NPP/JVP also will be thrown out unceremoniously, if they continue on the same footsteps.

The average citizen needs a equitable life and nothing more.

System change was bizarre slogan.

Dhamma is for the MIND and not for Body Politics "is my slogan".

4. I have nothing against Nirgamika theme and according to Brahmajala Sutta there are 64 or 68 Views about World.

5. These guys in JVP/NPP has never read a single verse in Dhmmapada representing Ceylon in a Wesak Ceremony in Vietnam is also political and an antithesis to me.

We know J.R.J who published a postage stamp by the name Dharmista Samajaya and subsequently made it a living hell for our brethren the Tamil Community.

It is still in my living memory.

Gladly, I was in UK during this period.

I was fortunate to be away from this country and I did not take part in that scheme.

The diaspora in UK is still working against US and undermining our sovereign state.

That is the reality of our politics.

Once a bad thing is done it cannot be undone by visiting temples and sacred places.

If an action is not sacred it remains so in history.

Hitler is a good example and very soon Israel's history will be be worse than Hitler's and the name tag to goes with it.

President Trump's unwavering support for Israel is no brainier by itself. 

Covid-19

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Covid-19

The “Ceylon epidemic” as it used to be called, has been extensively studied, and in the 1950s the British epidemiologist George MacDonald used the Ceylon case study in developing the first application of ‘basic production number’ (or rate) for epidemics, the celebrated R0 (R naught or R zero). R0 represents the number of additional infections that one infected person can generate in a population. MacDonald has used estimates of 7.9 and 10 as R0 the malaria epidemic. Based on these numbers the herd immunity (R0-1)/R0) for malaria without DDT would have been around 90%.

Imagine if the Coronavirus was carried by a Mosquito Vector

R0 for Covid-19 is considered to be between 2.5 and 3.5 ( depending on countries and locations), and that would suggest a herd immunity threshold of 60 to 70%,i.e., 60 to 70% of the population will have to be infected before virus transmission can be stopped. Until a vaccine arrives on the scene, social isolation and lockdown measures are the only tools available to reduce the value of R0.

Virus transmission ends when R0 is reduced to being less than one, but that is not the end of the virus.

There is optimism that a vaccine breakthrough might come as early as January 2021. There is ‘ethical’ potential for a new therapy in Remdesivir, a "broad-spectrum antiviral medication" with established safety profile which has been previously developed as treatment for SARS, MERS and Ebola. These efforts may or may not come to fruition, and in the desired short time line, according to experts. The same experts also acknowledge when nothing else is working against the coronavirus it is natural to be enthusiastic about every new development that is going on.

Whither Covid-19

Outside South Asia, the general assessment is that the first wave of the virus is now over, the transmission has either stopped or is significantly slowing, and the affected countries can begin to ease up, while being fully prepared for the next wave.

For South Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, there is no certainty as to whether or not the first wave is past them, and there is no clarity about what is ahead in the next few weeks and months.

There were 600 cases in India, when the Modi government began the lockdown, on March 25. Now, just over a month after, the cases have multiplied fifty times and the total is past 33,000 and the number of deaths is upward of 1000.

The stories in Pakistan and Bangladesh are not any different.

Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 numbers - less than 700 cases and seven deaths - are mercifully lower than what would have been the daily tally during the malaria epidemic. The low numbers should be a cause for cautious optimism, and the country should be in a position like New Zealand. The island country of five million people has about 1000 cases and 19 deaths, and it is confidently returning to normalcy but fully prepared for the second wave of the coronavirus. New Zealand’s much larger neighbour, Australia, an island continent, is almost equally well placed.

In Sri Lanka, there is no certainty or assuredness about what lies ahead.

The country is under a prolonged curfew to enforce social isolation.  As many people are in custody for breaking the curfew as have been tested for Covid-19, or sent to quarantine without being tested. Every time there is an announcement of relaxation, there is a spike in the number of cases and the curfew is extended. And the most recent spikes in cases are among the custodians of Covid-19 quarantines – the armed forces.

There is growing skepticism about even the Covid-19 statistics that are put out by the officials.

In yesterday’s Island, Dr. Vinoth Ramachandra called it strange that after six weeks of lockdown, "the ‘official’ deaths have remained static for the past two weeks and ‘official’ infections are miniscule in comparison with other countries."

He went on to ask the officials "is there another purpose that the lockdown serves?"

But my assessment is doctoring data for political reasoning and advantage!

The Alliance of Independent Professionals have been raising similar questions in their periodical ‘statement of facts’ on the Covid-19 crisis. Is testing being deliberately kept under capacity to keep the case numbers low?

Are clinical case definitions being ignored or tampered with where Covid-19 testing is not available?

Are patient deaths being properly recorded with causes prior to cremations?

It is unethical and illegal to tamper with official data or their collection. Where data involve helpless patients, it is also heartless and immoral to tamper with them or destroy them.

And monkeying with data involving Coronavirus will boomerang spectacularly, because without reliable information there cannot be a plan to break the chain of transmission of the virus.

Fish Tuberculosis from India

 Fish Tuberculosis from India

Keeping Pet Fish may not be fun

This is another piece from my mobile edited subsequently.

Even if you are not a novice keeping pet fish can be pain in the neck.
I keep pet fish as an accompaniment to nursing water plants of many species.
Some water plants are like weeds and take over the territory by default making exotic varieties stunted.

Fish, the guppy I keep as the controller of mosquitoes.

I just had a nasty episode of guppy disease which luckily did not effect other species.

But my major problem is algae.

It never culminated to "toxic algal bloom" due to my vigilance, but nevertheless is a problem hard to overcome.

They take all the oxygen and make water cloudy with ugly green tinge.

I have to change the water frequently since global warming has taken effect even in the normally moderate cooler climate of the hill country.

I try to keep up with my challenges with the spirit of a basic scientist.

Today's message is different,

I met a father of a kid who had gone abroad leaving an exotic disk fish under his son's care. The son was asking the assistant of the fish vendor many questions.

I knew him over 20 years and when he was learning the trade.
He was a fast learner and I told him never to sell sick fish.

In those days vendor squeezes the belly of the fish so that the fish will die in 3 days of renal / kidney failure.

The vendor blames the poor customer.

This was a time very little was known about fish disease and I managed to diagnose fish tuberculosis in an ornamental fish imported form India.
 

I gave up fish keeping with that episode.
 

I overheard the entire conversation but resisted any intervention due to my close association with the vendor.

He ultimately decided to buy only the particular fish food which was almost ten rupee per gram and there was only 30 grams left in stock.

My bill was 600 hundred rupees but comparatively expensive gram per gram.

I do not buy fish food that are sold in super markets.

They are no good and some are contaminated with fish diseases.

 
I purchased them after him and both of us came out together making that little corridor of opportunity to lash out my wisdom thoughts uninhibited.

I told him keeping pet fish in our age is pain in the neck rather pain on my back after every water change.

I gave him two options.

1. Return the fish to the vendor at cut rate.

2. Do not change the tank for a bigger one.
The fish will never over grow the tank.

3. If he wants to make money by selling it when gorgeously big go for an insurance cover, first.

The fish would die due to poor equality of water.

Either due to neglect or overzealous water changes.

It is all hard work.

 
I reminded him to let his son knows his plans before they are executed.

Doctors and their mistakes

 

Doctors and their mistakes

 I will publish this book  in my death bed so that I won't leave a doctor to administer a lethal dose of sedatives.

As a True Buddhist I need to die in a "Lucid State" with a proper Gathi Nimitta (which I deserve) and me having no control  of it.

Assumption was every illness was related to infection in the pre-antibiotic era. 

Viral infection did not excite inflammation to begin with.

Diagnosis pneumococcal bacterial pneumonia needed specific signs without and X-ray.

Viral pneumonia in infants can be missed unless an X-ray is take at the precise time.

28, 32, 40 ratio was unknown.

28% could be diagnosed without ancillary investigations

32% with the help of investigations.

40% missed by even learned professors.

They end up at the pathologist and the pathologist knows he cannot fill up the 40% in all his life. 

This was told to me my professor to which I am grateful to this day.

That put me off completely.

This is the list I put in my histology class and no student could define the word definition.

I use tuberculosis as a model disease which only 5% show symptoms. 

In 95% the patients it heals by itself leaving a site of calcification which vary from where the bacteria enters the body.

1. Definition, 

2. Incidence, 

3. Etiology,

4. Bacteriology, (applies this only to bacterial infections)

5. Morbid anatomy,

6. Symptoms, 

7. Diagnosis, 

8. Complications, 

9. Prognosis, 

10. Treatment and 

11. Prophylaxis.

My Dream with a philosophical tilt

 My Dream with a philosophical tilt

This is a another seed for another book and I won't expand it fully.

It was a very brief one.

I was put up with a Japanese guy in a closed cubicle.  

The purpose of which was ill defined.

 

We could not communicate quite similar to me sitting with Professor Ama Mia. He only could speak Japanese, whereas Dr. Handa was fluent in English. Within a month we figured out what we need to do and in six months we accomplished all what we needed including networking the Faculty. 

They money for networking came from the Rotary Club of Kandy.

 

We had private meetings every week. 

 

The bottom line was we had a plan and we did not waste time in talking and running round. 

 

It was all a mental exercise.

In this dream, it was mental communication and not verbal since we did not understand each other's spoken language.

So we set ourselves  in to a philosophical mood. 

Some sort of deep contemplation.

Then suddenly a guy came with sand and cement and dumped them in the room meant for philosophical retreat.

After a moment guy understand the precarious situation and in return dumped them in the bathroom.

 

I was rudely woken up with a pump tight and the bathroom, rather toilet  was occupied with cement and sand bags.

I must make some reference to Professor A.D.P. Kalasuriya who is no more who introduced me to philosophy.

Philosophy is the first order discipline and all the others including science are second order disciplines.

Diagnostic Tips and Blood Relations

Diagnostic Tips and Blood Relations

This is just to expose the duplicity of medical wheeler dealing in public and private hospitals.

1. Blood picture is one of those tests that can discover many underlying diseases and rarely requested in present day setup.

Coulter blood count is almost superfluous and rarely diagnose disease in early stages.

Whereas, a simple blood picture (by a competent guy or girl) can diagnose liver diseases, kidney diseases and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (advanced stage of  shock).

2. Blood count does not help except in an advanced stage of leukaemia.

There is a cell called Natural Killer Cell in the blood picture.

This is the cell that eliminates cancer cells and gives a clue to underlying cancer.

During D.J.V.P. insurrection, I used to go to the laboratory secretly, during lunch time and examine (preliminary screening) all the blood films.

There was a blood film of a GP on the tray.

I examined it and found a lot of Natural Killer Cells (simple staining) and I wanted to talked to the surgeon (our PR guy).

I told him this guy has a prostate cancer and did you do a PR.

He said NO.

He asked how do you know?

I told him you have to put your foot in.

He got the message.

This guy (GP) had been coming to the hospital for nearly 9 months and nobody had considered an underlying serious condition.

He did have a prostate cancer and I did not explore anymore.

It brings me to the next topic.

4. Next important thing for me is the Temperature Chart.

This guy who presented with underlying cancer would have had a consistently elevated basal temperature.

His presentation was PUO or Pyrexia of Unknown Origin.

There is a standard procedure for PUO.

5. Next important thing is ESR.

Things were bad under Sirimavo and NM time.

I did neither had a MLT nor a Microscope at my Base Hospital.

I did not have any facilities and ESR was the only test.

I managed to get a stock of capillary tubes.

ESR had to be mounted everyday by 8AM.

I come to ward at 9AM.

I look at the serum and diagnose hepatitis and I confirm that with the sclera.

Hepatitis was endemic then.

Cholera was sporadic.

Careful examination above the serum would indicate the platelet status (low or high).

Malaria had to be diagnosed with the temperature chart but I took several blood films and sent them to the MRI for confirmation.

List can go on but let me stop here by saying that every test has to be supported with BHT records.

Otherwise, it becomes a hapless routine.

Reliability of the tests is fundamental to the diagnosis.

Specificity and Sensitivity are the key components.

None of the current tests is specific nor sensitive in the 21st century.

I can kick the bucket now in peace and I won't  subject to any of these tests except at the Border Zone of a country for a VISA application.

They are only interested in Tuberculosis which is very difficult to diagnose.

In closing, I must state, one of my aunts who was a nurse was diagnosed as a cancer but she died of tuberculosis.

Everybody missed it.

I was never consulted but duly attended the funeral.

"Rare manifestation of commoner diseases are commoner than rare diseases" is a catch phrase in medicine.

She did have all the tell tale signs and a few symptoms.

Perhaps, she would have hid the symptoms to the five girls in the family (fairly well educated).

Uncle I reserve my comments, perhaps he may have had some grudge with my father.

My father of course neglected us and cared for them until they were fully employed.

From them, I have not received even an extra nib for my pen that got me to the university.

Once I made it a point to state that fact emphatically.

He blushed.

I used to love Parker Pens and I still have one as a souvenir.

 

Fedora 22-3-Design Suit

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Fedora 22-3

Design Suit

I have downloaded Fedora 22-3 design suit and it has fantastic collection of utilities.
It is 1.7 GB and Gnome and boots up fast.
It come both in 32 and 64 bit formats.
I am posting this with the live DVD booted up.
It has many Isos to suit one's needs.

 
You may take little time to get to know new Gnome but it is worth the trouble.