Politics Unpacked

Good man gone?

Recently, a no nonsense publication on international affairs opined that the best chance of becoming the next UN Secretary General falls on a certain South Korean. Attributes that qualified him for the job were liberally highlighted, but the conclusion of the piece was that the less controversial and forthright a person was, the better chance he had of heading the UN body.

It's roughly like this: If you had anything like real integrity, forget it. What of our own man, Jayantha Dhanapala? A good candidate, said the writer, but given that he had (fortnightly) advocated a complete ban on all ballistic missile, his chances were greatly diminished in the eyes of certain big powers interested in those types of weapon systems.

Now, we all know who these biggies are, don't we?

By the book...

A novelist said recently that the best way to start a war is by attacking the East. This got the goat of one of his ardent admirers who said that with this kind of novel approach to problem solving, we could expect more military experts to recline in their armchairs..

Malice on the beach

It takes extraordinary mean-spiritedness to undermine acknowledged success. Recently, a scurrilous e-mail was doing the rounds about the so-called attitude of a certain -- let us say -- seafood tsar ensconced by a well known Beach Hut on the Wellawatte coast. His waadi styled operation was maligned, just because somebody who is a nobody felt he did not get VIP treatment.

Shabby, but all the hoteliers who got the virus like e-mail, joined forces to stamp out this boor's discordant note. You could say a big business mogul chipped in with his portly presence.

Not so black humour

A very politically correct hotel makes sure that no guest comes to any premature conclusions about the nature of its immediate surro

It is said in bold lettering, right next to the lifeguards perch, that the ''outlet to sea is strictly to drain seawater'' and that the ''sand is black because of the Kalu Ganga.'' Good thinking. One never knows, next time some lobbyist masquerading as a sunbather might say that black sand is due to imminent discovery of oil -- or worse still, due to certain extra judicial happenings...

Sell of a thing

A hotel industry man was confronted not too long ago, by a team of men who said they wanted any hotel that was being sold on the southern tourist belt. They were willing to buy ramshackle outfits for jaw dropping prices, and if hotels were from the basket, you could say they were buying in the fistful.

Now, why would they do that with the hotel industry said to be in jeopardy? Or was this an operation of a cleansing nature?

No glasses pls

Somebody went too far in handling Vasu for the Mayoral race. One aide wanted Vasu to be his own man (which he forgot, Vasu is anyway...) In his zealousness to promote his man, he suggested that Vasu removes his spectacles for all photo opportunities.

He said it's hardly the thing to do, to carry the other fellow's election symbol on his noise. Vasu laughed it off with his usual elan, saying if by chance he loses, they'd have to look for the reasons right under his nose.