Born in 1931 — on 31st December no less — Kingsley Muthumuni de Silva, is still batting … with a pen. This compilation has been assembled by Iranga de Silva of ICES Kandy…. and is arranged in reverse chronological sequence.
Author Archives: thuppahi
The Neck Smothering WE Males Desire
…. and the Lambada on the Sands that paves the way
Decisive Verdict from the Supreme Court
Sugeeswara Senadhira, in Daily News, 5 June 2020, with this title “Executive, Judiciary and Legislature: Precise balance and respect for sanctity”
The essence of the Supreme Court judgement on Tuesday (June 2) was that even though elections could not be held within three months on the day fixed by the Elections Commission and the new Parliament could not be convened as stipulated in the Constitution on the scheduled day, the Presidential Gazette on dissolution of Parliament and the subsequent Gazette on General Elections could not be considered as a void documents.
Gananath Obeyesekere’s 1975 Article on Murder by Sorcery
Gananath Obeyesekere: “Sorcery and Premeditated Murder: The Canalization of Aggression”[1]
In this paper I want to deal with a series of interrelated problems beginning with the following specific questions and propositions. First: how far can we make inferences about the human psyche and social structure from official statistics computed by government agencies, in this case statistics on homicide and crimes of violence? Criminology as a discipline is especially concerned with this problem, and criminological studies in Sri Lanka have made social structural, cultural and psychological inferences from the statistical data.[2] At the outset, let me emphasize that I am not concerned with the conventional debate about the accuracy of governmental statistics. Criminologist who have dealt with this issue are agreed that Sri Lanka’s official statistics on homicide and violent crimes are reasonably accurate, and on the face of it there is perfect justification for using these data for social analysis.
Filed under accountability, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian religions, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, psychological urges, religiosity, Saivism, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, trauma, unusual people, vengeance, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
A Chilling and Terrifying Word-Picture of USA Today
David Kilcullen, in The Inquirer, 30 May 2020 and the Australian, 4 June 2020, with this title “Home of the hateful, fearful, heavily armed” …..
Coronavirus is threatening to ignite a tinderbox of grievances in the US. The growing parallels with Iraq, Lebanon and Somalia are real and disturbing.
The rise of militias and armed protesters across the US is sometimes seen as a fringe right-wing issue, but it is much broader. Armed groups have formed across the political spectrum, worsening divisions the coronavirus has exposed in American society.
Filed under accountability, atrocities, australian media, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, coronavirus, cultural transmission, democratic measures, discrimination, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, world events & processes, zealotry
USA as World’s Policeman 1945-2020
An Incidental Point from Dr Cornel West’s Indictment of the US Administrations’ Internal Policing Programs
KEY Detail within Transcript: USA has 800 military bases worldwide; and has has carried out 211 interventions since 1945.
SEE video and transcript of yesterday’s interview with Dr Cornel West on the 7.30 Report on ABC in Australia = https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/dr-cornel-west-looks-at-the-unrest-in-the-united/12318386
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, historical interpretation, human rights, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, military expenditure, military strategy, modernity & modernization, security, self-reflexivity, social justice, unusual people, war reportage, working class conditions, world events & processes
The Web Site on “Sacrificial Devotion” …. Its Short Run
Recent Thuppahi entries have highlighted the Workshop on “Sacrificial Devotion” held in Adelaide University in late 2005, one framed within the concept fashioned by Michael Roberts to study and comprehend suicidal commitments to political cause. Note the ITEM
Thilipan on Fast unto death in 1987
Filed under accountability, anton balasingham, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, cultural transmission, discrimination, ethnicity, fundamentalism, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, jihad, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, psychological urges, racist thinking, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, world events & processes
Face-to-Face in 1977: Early Moves towards Civil War in Lanka
Jane Russell ... with highlights imposed by the Editor, Thuppahi
These are the scratched graffiti of Sinhalese soldiers and policemen abandoned by their government [1991]. They are uncertain of their future. Some believe they will be airlifted to safety. Others have realised that they are about to be overrun by Tamil Tigers camped outside the perimeter walls of the Fort in Jaffna which they have been tasked to defend, and that no-one will come to save them. Whatever their hopes and fears, they are all doomed to die. These graffiti are etched into the rock walls of the entrance to the Dutch built Fort (photo top right). They were carved not so long ago. 1991, 29 years, just a generation since. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, unusual people, women in ethnic conflcits, world events & processes
A Sino-Tibetan Folded Book from 1410 predates the Gutenberg Bible
Colin Marshall in Open Culture, 15 May 2020, where the title is “Breathtakingly-Detailed Tibetan Book Printed 40 Years Before the Gutenberg Bible”
The Gutenberg Bible went to press in the year 1454. We now see it as the first piece of mass media, printed as it was with the then-cutting-edge technology of metal movable type. But in the history of aesthetic achievements in book-printing, the Gutenberg Bible wasn’t without its precedents. To find truly impressive examples requires looking in lands far from Europe: take, for instance, this “Sino-Tibetan concertina-folded book, printed in Beijing in 1410, containing Sanskrit dhāranīs and illustrations of protective mantra-diagrams and deities, woodblock-printed in bright red ink on heavy white paper,” whose “breathtakingly detailed printing” predates Gutenberg by 40 years.
Filed under ancient civilisations, Buddhism, China and Chinese influences, cultural transmission, evolution of languages(s), heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, modernity & modernization, pilgrimages, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, world events & processes
