Category Archives: citizen journalism

September 29, 2025 · 12:30 pm

Shattered Lives in Sri Lanka’s Wars: Several Lesser-Known Strands

Dennis McGilvray in ASIAN  ETHNOLOGY Vol 73, 1&2, pp 348-49, reviewing  Sharika Thiranagama, In My Mother’s House: Civil War in Sri Lanka. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011

The title of this book points to the author’s personal connection with the decades-long Sri Lankan ethnic conflict, which ended abruptly in 2009 after much of the manuscript had been written. Her mother was a Tamil academician and human rights activist assassinated by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in 1986 in Jaffna because of her outspoken condemnation of brutalities committed by the Tamil Tigers as well as by the Sri Lankan armed forces. This volume offers a scholarly analysis of the deep effects of the civil war upon a generation of displaced Sri Lankan Tamils and Tamil-speaking Muslims, but the author’s family history will be immediately recognized by many readers familiar with Sri Lanka.

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September 26, 2025 · 2:15 pm

The Western Pitch Exposed by Sachs & Mearsheimer

Matt Gable  ….. WATCH    https://www.youtube.com/live/VkS9zukrCFA?si=Un2HLPdhlqRVMLF5

Jeffrey Sachs takes a similar view to mine about the Jolani and General Petraeus meeting at the UN a few days ago. Fast track in this interview to 24’50 and the phrase beginning,  “Switching gears before we go ..” we see the same film clip at the UN of Petraeus expressing deep concern for the hand-chopping head-chopping terrorist Jolani followed by Sach’s readings of Petraeus and Syria.
Sachs    …..  Mearsheimer

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September 22, 2025 · 2:51 am

USA vs Ceasefire in Gaza !!

‘Archie  S’

The United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Gaza no longer exists.   The UN is a zombie – an impotent bunch of misfits, like a limp dick. One can only feel sorry for the Palestinians. They’ll be turned into cutlets for the “Free World’s” dinner in “the great feast of celebration of democracy, freedom and prosperity” on the blood and bones of Palestinians. It reveals democracies are parasitic that feeds of the bones and blood of others.

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September 17, 2025 · 1:38 pm

London’s “Aragalaya”? A Populist Revolt ….. From the Right!

A NOTE  from  AVI YEMENI to BERTRAM DANIEL,  September 2025 

Hey Bertram,

Finally, the world is uniting against the Cabal and the control

I’ve covered a lot of rallies in my time, but I’ve never seen anything like what unfolded in London on September 13.  An enormous number of people flooded the streets for Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally. The atmosphere was electric. It wasn’t just another protest; it felt like a cultural revolution in motion.

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September 16, 2025 · 1:07 pm

The Israeli Concept of “Human Animals” in Palestine

Gamini  Seneviratne

Appropriate though it is, the words …  “Human Animals” …  in the heading do not refer to those who are slaughtering the human beings resident in Gaza and the West Bank. They are the ones used by the Zionist invaders to refer to the people of Palestine.

Indeed, the term “human” is used by them and their fellow criminals in the Western world in this context only as an adjunct to ‘shields” employed by Hamas. Incidentally, and there are many such features ‘incidental’ to the completely false Zionist-Euro-American narratives, no evidence has been forthcoming of Hamas shielding itself behind anyone, least of all the people they represent and protect.

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September 5, 2025 · 4:32 pm

Presenting Curious Things with Humour & Discernment

Stephen Keim, reviewing Richard Glover’s BEST WISHES , ABC Books.

 Richard Glover has been in the humour and entertainment business for a very long time. He has written a weekly humour column for the Sydney Morning Herald since 1985. Since January 1996, he has presented the 3.30-6.30 pm drive segment on 702 ABC Sydney.  This role came to an end in November 2024, after just short of 29 years. He has published 15 books prior to Best Wishes.

The roles of humour columnist and radio presenter include making observations about various curious things about the way we live in society and presenting them in a way that informs and entertains and, in the best case, brings a smile to people’s faces.

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September 2, 2025 · 12:55 pm

Transforming Gaza …… “The Great Trust”

Outback Aussie

The Great Trust is a 38-page document setting out plans to turn Gaza into a grand American Riveria by constructing over the bones and bodies of Palestinians — hotels, casinos, bordellos, condominiums, golf courses, and million-dollar seaside properties.  America has no legal basis for taking control of Gaza but they want to do it anyway which is why the US and the West support the genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing, and if need be the extermination of all Palestinians in Gaza.

VISIT https://www.madamasr.com/en/2025/09/01/news/u/the-38-page-displacement-framework-for-a-tourist-hub-atop-the-rubble-of-gaza/

Palestine and Israel news today on map – Jerusalem today – Israel News today – Palestine News today – israelpalestine.liveuamap.com

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July 30, 2025 · 1:22 am

In Appreciation of James T. Rutnam

Sachi Sri Kantha, whose preferred title is “James T Rutnam (1905-1988): Noted Bibliophile and a Valued Mentor” … with the highlighting in colour being impositions from The Editor Thuppahi

Introduction

My destiny to meet and interact with James T Rutnam came in the aftermath of the August 1977 anti-Tamil riots. Previously, I had written a little about the anti-Tamil riots that engulfed the island then, and my initial attempts to make a grade as a writer in English. [Please check this link. https://sangam.org/s-p-amarasingam-1977-anti-tamil-pogrom/].

I wrote to Mr. S.P. Amarasingam, the editor of the Tribune (Colombo). At that time, I was unaware that James Rutnam was an influential contributor to the Tribune, since its inception in 1954.

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July 20, 2025 · 2:17 pm

Political Complexities in Jaffna & the Killing of Rajani Thiranagama

BEING Chapter 3 of Palmyra Fallen, from Rajani to War’s End, by Rajan Hoole ….. Published 2015 …. a book printed and bound by Global Printing Works, 5 Stork Place, Colombo 10 …. a chapter entitled “Some Crucial Pieces of the Jigsaw” … [with the highlights here –– except for those in black — being impositions by The Editor, Thuppahi]

 “To everything there is a season…A time to be born and a time to die…A time to weep and a time to laugh: a time to mourn and a time to dance…I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it”- The Book of Ecclesiastes

Dayapala & Rajani Thiranagama in 1984 .. . well before her assassination in late 1989

Dayapala in later years

 

3.1 The Sands Run Out

More recently, we have been able to put together more detailed information about Rajani’s killing. Given that much water has since flowed under the bridge, we felt that while placing the truth about her murder on a record that adequately traces its manner, purpose and the parties involved, it would also be appropriate to bring out a publication that allows today’s reader to see her relevance to the present. As is evident from our account, Rajani’s killing was well planned, mobilising a network of LTTE contacts and agents. Here in Chapter 3, we detail the cold-blooded murder and cover-up by the LTTE and the names of those who were involved at the time. In Chapter 4, we discuss who within the LTTE was involved.

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July 18, 2025 · 2:44 pm

The Killing of Fr. Saverimuttu Selvarajah in 1990

Ruki Fernando in Groundviews,  11 July 2025, where the title reads “Getting Rid of A Troublesome Priest” ... with the highlighting emphasis being the workd of The Editor, Thuppahi

 

Photo courtesy of Ruki Fernando

July 11, 2025 marks 35 years since the disappearance of Fr. Saverimuttu Selvarajah, a Catholic priest from the Diocese of Batticaloa. Known as Fr. Selva, he was 30 years at that time and serving as the parish priest and administrator of Holy Cross Shrine in the remote village of Sorikalmunai in the Ampara district.

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