April 27, 2024 · 1:52 am

Ranasinghe Premadasa: As Pragmatic as Visionary in Political Method

Dr. Mahim Mendis, in Daily FT, 26 April 2024 …. where the title runs thus: “Revivial of Premadasism the Way Forward for Sri Lanka,”

…in DailyFT, 26 April Truly cultured men and women have the capacity to be thankful for the progressive measures taken by Ranasinghe Premadasa. He was a true embodiment of Social Democracy, governing the entire social, political, cultural, and moral order. He was not a mere propagator of a Social Market Economy, when he took over leadership from a right wing, J.R. Jayewardene led UNP that tried to dislodge Deputy Leader Premadasa from his well-earned Presidential candidature in 1989. The same right-wing forces in the UNP, tried to impeach him together with Feudalist sympathisers, who lost all their social status due to Premadasaism

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April 26, 2024 · 9:36 pm

Journalistic Articles from my Pen: A Bibliography, 1996-2009

Michael Roberts

Articles that appear in academic journals are subject to a refereeing process before they, so to speak, scale the heights and enter the academic world. But there are numerous forums at the cutting edge which serve up essays on hot topics. These are not necessarily run-of-the-mill mundane pieces. They can be spin-offs presented by writers in the academic field.  As I look to the future when my mortal steps in this world will no longer generate any sound, I present here a listing of some of these ‘pop-articles’ produced in the period 1996-2009.  Many of them relate to the Eelam wars and the Tamil Tiger commitment to “sacrificial devotion” (a term I deploy in lieu of “suicide missions”).

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April 25, 2024 · 7:46 pm

ANZAC DAY Commemorations Today … 25 April 2024

The Ceremonial “Markings” in Turkey and Elsewhere: Momentous & Indelible Recollections

GALLIPOLI, TURKEY – APRIL 25: New Zealand Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae speaks at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at ANZAC Cove on April 25, 2010 in Gallipoli, Turkey. Today commemorates the 95th anniversary of ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915. Today April 25 is commemorated with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars ….. Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images   

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April 25, 2024 · 1:01 pm

‘At the Going Down of the Sun’ …. ANZAC Remembrance Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April 24, 2024 · 2:56 am

Ironies in the Metaphors of Anzac Cove in Australian Lore

Richard Koenigsberg plus ….

Addressing the practices of remembrance in Australia, Richard Koenigsberg has noted the irony that a battlefield defeat at Gallipoli in World War One, 1915, served a people as an emblem of nationhood: the “Australian nation, came into being on the foundations provided by the slaughter of its young men.”

There is more irony. The commemoration of Australian courage, sacrifice and manliness at Gallipoli (and subsequently on the Somme) was threaded by tropes of youthful innocence that drew on classical Hellenic motifs; while the monuments and epitaphs that were crafted in Australia to mark this event were manifestly Greek in form. The gendered masculine metaphor, in turn, was often embodied in the seminal image of a full-bodied blonde young man. “Archie Hamilton” in Peter Weir’s classic film Gallipoli was/is one such trope (and he died of course).

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April 24, 2024 · 1:21 am

The Magpies Cricket Club in British Ceylon: An Exclusive & Peculiar Enclave

Michael Roberts

MAGPIES_FLG_CRICKET_1923

I came across this unusual photograph in loose-leaf form amidst my files and lata pata in my study.  David Sansoni in Sydney has rendered it more presentable, while Mevan Pieris has provided me with critical information on this unusual club and pointed me to pertinent data in that classic work by SS Perera reproduced as The Janashakthi Book of Sri Lanka Cricket (Colombo 1999).

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April 23, 2024 · 7:20 pm

The Royal-Thomian: Yesterday & Today

Uditha Devapriya & Uthpala Wijesuriya, in https://scroll.in/where the title reads thus: “Cricket, class and baila: The many layers of Sri Lanka’s celebrated Royal Thomian sports encounter”

With an unbroken 145-year streak, the face-off between two of the island-nation’s oldest schools has become a cultural rite of passage for the nation’s elite.

Prefects leading a cheer at the 144th Royal Thomian, 2023. |

Uthpala & Uditha … in match fervour

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April 23, 2024 · 3:02 pm

Epitome of British Perfidy: Piers Morgan Laid Bare

Camel Rider **

Listen//See https://youtu.be/aelzcw0Q3QE?si=GyB80oZknUfG71Fk

When you see the level of stupidity, arrogance and incompetence, as part of a massive disinformation campaign coming from the British mainstream media today (as illustrated in this interview by Piers Morgan) we can have absolutely no confidence whatsoever in anything the Western mainstream media says. In this interview, Professor Marandi’s explanations were correct. His analysis of Iran’s response to Israel’s destruction of the Iranian Embassy was correct. Iran responded by mounting three interrelated operations.

Piers Morgan 

P rofessor Marandi

The first was a Psychological Warfare operation. Here, Iran delayed their retaliatory strike by two weeks in order to sow fear among the Israeli population and to undermine confidence in the Israeli Government.

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April 21, 2024 · 11:13 pm

Ushering in the New Year in Culturally Meaningful Manner in Colombo 

Uditha Devapriya and Pasindu Nimsara, whose preferred title is “Kévum, KrÏda, and Kadé: Avurudu in Colombo”  … from The Island, 19 April 2024

No Avurudu would be complete without an Avurudu Ulela. It has become part of our national social calendar, an event that must be organised, a tradition that must be kept. Practically every institution, from nurseries to universities to companies to Rotaract Societies, has a shot at holding one. The result is that somehow or the other, an Avurudu Ulela unfolds somewhere every other day until the end of April.

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April 21, 2024 · 3:32 pm

Strident US Powermongers Set on World War III?

An American on The Fringe, whose preferred title is “Russia, China, Iran & North Korea – Combatting the New Axis of Evil”

“Evil is on the march! History is calling! And now is the time to act!” declares Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX). He says Congress has an opportunity today to do the equivalent of “stopping Hitler” in the 1930s ……………………………….. https://twitter.com/i/status/1781688097693909335

Mike McCaul

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