Apology for cyclone named after Sri Lankan king

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's top meteorology official on Tuesday apologized for naming a deadly cyclone after a king who built massive irrigation tanks well over a millennium ago and was venerated as a god.

Political leaders and civil groups have protested the naming of a cyclone after King Mahasen, who ruled Sri Lanka in the 4th century. At least 18 deaths related to Cyclone Mahasen were reported in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka before it weakened by May 16. Bangladesh alone evacuated 1 million people from coastal areas.

S.H. Kariyawasam, director general of the meteorology department, said Tuesday that he apologizes "if any insult was caused to King Mahasen or the country's proud history."

Mahasen built 16 large reservoirs, including the massive Minneriya tank, and two irrigation canals that even today are part of the irrigation system in the north-central region. After his demise, people started venerating him as "God of Minneriya."

Groups such as the National Council for the Protection of Historical Irrigation Cultural Heritage, Buddhist monks and political leaders have said it was an insult to name a cyclone after Mahasen. The council even threatened to take legal action if the meteorlogy department fails to conduct a proper inquiry.

The department decided to drop the name Mahasen from the cyclone May 13 and requested that other countries follow suit, but the name continued to be used across the region.

In a letter addressed to the council Tuesday, Kariyawasam said Mahasen was among 23 names submitted by Sri Lanka in 2003 to the Panel on Tropical Cyclones for the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, which is responsible for naming tropical storms in the region. Eight other Asian countries also submitted names.

He wrote that the names "were merely proposed as Sri Lankan names and their selection did not have any basis, explanation or intention."

The president of the council, Buddhist monk Kamburugamuwe Vajira, accepted the apology but said Sri Lankans were greatly saddened by the use of the king's name.

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Teen makes tearful apology to wisdom teeth after surgery

Some people will tell you that pain is the basis of spiritual growth. Sorrow, regret and eventually letting go are life lessons we all go through at some point.

But not all of us experience those painfully emotional moments in association with our wisdom teeth. And even fewer have had to deal with the moment being captured on video and posted to the delight of countless strangers.

But that’s exactly what Kansas teen Abbie Kritz is going through, after her boyfriend posted a video of Kritz lamenting the loss of her wisdom teeth while under the influence of pain medication.

"I did it against my own will, I would have kept you," Kritz says earnestly to the removed wisdom teeth, which she is holding inside a plastic jar while being driven home by her mother.

"I loved you from the first moment on."

Her boyfriend and mom can be heard laughing in disbelief as Kritz continues the soliloquy to her lost choppers.

"They were just trying to help me chew and I didn't accept them," she explains." I could have accepted them."

Eventually, Kritz came to terms with the situation. Or, put another way, the dentist’s drugs wore off. And for her part, Kritz appears to be taking in all the attention with a toothy smile.

“Oh my goodness it was awful,” she wrote on her Twitter account. “I just remember wanting to stop crying the whole time but I couldn't!”

Still, there’s no word on whether Kritz stands by her previous offer of putting the wisdom teeth back in place.

"They just wanted to be a part of my body and I said 'No, get out,'" she said tearfully in the video after making it back home. "I didn't meant it. You can come back if you want."

Then again, Kritz might be onto something, not just previously on something. While many people eventually have their wisdom teeth removed, there is growing opposition to having them removed without a clinical reason to do so.

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