ITEMS sent to me by my old Aloysian mate Sarri Junaid in Canada…
Trump’s Failed War on China ….
How long will Trump last
Europe is An Economic Basket-case
Category Archives: citizen journalism
The NPP’s Revolutionary Voting Success in the North & East of Island Lanka
Michael Roberts: this item was sent to me by a Canadian pal, Edward Upali and bears the following title in its original site: “Anura “Alai”(Wave) Engulfs the Tamil Nationalist Stronghold of Jaffna. JVP/NPP Comes First in Jaffna with Three of Six Seats,”
THAT, therefore. was DBS’s preferred heading. I have opted to impose an alternative title and also taken the liberty of imposing highlights in order to emphasize DBS’s weightier points or facts.
DBS Jeyaraj in his website in Canada.
The National People’s Power (NPP) known in Sinhala as Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) and Theseeya Makkal Sakthi (TMS) in Tamil has recorded a historic victory in the Parliamentary elections held on 14 November 2024. The NPP is a coalition of 21 political entities and trade unions of which the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is the chief constituent. The NPP polled 6,863,86 (61.6%) votes to win 159 seats in the 225 member Parliament. Of these 141 are directly elected MPs on a district basis while 18 will be appointed as MPs from the national list.
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, democratic measures, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, Left politics, life stories, parliamentary elections, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, world events & processes
Joachim’s Letter to AKD in Sri Lanka: An Earnest Appeal
Your chance to re-write history Mr. President! A second letter to AKD……. – by Aubrey Joachim**
Dear Mr. President,
Your victories have been stunning to say the least. Winning the top job was good enough. Your virtual clean sweep of the legislative chamber is more than impressive. However, unprecedented is your victory in the North where for the first time in modern political history a Sinhalese Buddhist has been given a mandate by the Tamil Hindu populace. Let this be the last time that Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans have to be referred to by race or religion. You have ensured that our great country is but one nation of people who can achieve greatness.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, democratic measures, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, life stories, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, rehabilitation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes
Sri Lanka’s Forthcoming General Election: A Review
Filed under accountability, citizen journalism, democratic measures, demography, electoral structures, governance, island economy, Left politics, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom, sri lankan society, working class conditions, world events & processes
Where have all the fruit trees gone……….
Dushy Perera
I live in the same neighborhood where I was born three score and ten years ago. My grandfather’s garden, which was approximately 3 acres in extent was literally, a self-sown orchard. Hence it attracted many birds, butterflies, lizards, land and water monitors and other reptiles. It was not uncommon to see a Cobra (naya) or a Russell’s viper (thith polonga) whilst the common Ratsnake (garandiya-Ptyas mucosa) was often seen sliding away whenever we children played cricket or hide-and=seek or climbed trees just to while away our free time. Never was any of us children bitten by these reptiles, although we ventured carefree all over the garden.
Dushy in his youthful days with parents Herbert and Constance Perera
President Anura’s Unfulfilled Files …. In Sri Lanka
Darshani Ratnawalli
In the USA, public prosecutors are elected.
To get elected public prosecutors must achieve convictions, the more convictions the better, the more sensational the convictions, the better.
If a public prosecutor only files cases, only talks about cases and fails to make any of it stick, i.e achieve convictions, he starts being seen as a failed prosecutor by the people.
He won’t be elected again.
In search of Nihal Fernando …. A Documentary Film by Martin Pieris
Your chance to support a 2024 a film on a great Sri Lankan artist, conservationist and visionary, Nihal Fernando (1927-2015).
In search of Nihal Fernando …. A documentary film by Martin Pieris
Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, heritage, landscape wondrous, leopards in the wild, life stories, nature's wonders, photography, photography & its history, plantations, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, wild life
Presidential Election Outcome in Sri Lanka: Reactions From Individual Lankan Friends
A: From An Ex-Army Officer in USA, 26 Sept 2024
Quite an achievement for AKD! In the 2019 presidential election, the JVP vote plus ‘also ran’ others was less than 6%. SEE ……………………………………………… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Sri_Lankan_presidential_election
I think it is a good result for the nation. The people were sick and tired of the corrupt and inept political elites and the crony capitalists. The portly ‘monkeys’ that occupied the palaces and travelled around in gilded coaches will be kicked out!
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, democratic measures, economic processes, governance, island economy, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, parliamentary elections, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, world events & processes
BBC Weighs Sri Lanka’s Presidential Options
Samira Hussain, for the BBC, 15 September 2024, where the title runs thus: “Still reeling from crisis, Sri Lanka holds pivotal election”
A rally for Ranil Wickremesinghe in the coastal town of Beruwala – he’s the man to beat but lacks his own big political base
“I thought I’d spend my whole life here, fighting a corrupt government – but the younger generation did something.” Samadhi Paramitha Brahmananayake is looking at the field where she spent months camped out with thousands of other demonstrators in Sri Lanka’s capital in 2022.
She can’t quite believe that luscious green grass has replaced the hundreds of protester tents that filled the field opposite the presidential secretariat. “I feel we’re now more energetic, more powerful,” says Ms Brahmananayake, a 33-year-old banker based in Colombo.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, female empowerment, governance, Left politics, life stories, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, Presidential elections, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, violence of language, world events & processes
Left-wing Groupthink is strangling UK’s Universities
Matt Goodwin, in The Sunday Times, 1 September 2024 where the title reads “Left-wing groupthink is strangling universities, so count me out”
Having watched free speech being marginalised by a narrow monoculture over two decades, Matt Goodwin is stepping down from teaching students
This summer, after more than 20 years of teaching and researching in Britain’s universities, I decided to quit my full professorship. While I remain an honorary professor I will no longer teach students or carry out my usual academic duties. This is the first September in two decades that I will not be welcoming first-year students on to campus.
Why?
Universities are weighed down by financial problems, an ideological monoculture and a shift in focus to “student satisfaction”
ILLUSTRATION BY RUSSEL HERNEMAN
Filed under accountability, Britain's politics, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, democratic measures, disparagement, education, education policy, governance, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, teaching profession, world events & processes
