Entering the Fort – Original Entrance with the VOC Plaque **
Category Archives: landscape wondrous
An Unknown Aussie in India: A Covid Travel Saviour …. Simon Quinn
Richard Guilliatt, in The Australian Weekend Magazine 20-21 June 2020, where the title is
Simon Quinn is a 32 year old PhD student from Australia, studying Sanskrit living in Gurgaon 30km South West of Delhi. When the Indian government announced a sudden & draconian nationwide lockdown on 24th March, to halt the spread of Covid19 among the nation’s 1.38 billion people, he logged on to a chat forum for Aussies travelling in India on his lap top. Anxious messages were flooding in.
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, charitable outreach, communal relations, coronavirus, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, transport and communications, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, voluntary workers, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
An Epitaph for Martin Luther King and Memphis Today –when Black Lives Matter
Jane Russell, reviewing Stuart Cosgrove “Memphis 68: The Tragedy of Southern Soul,” Polygon Press Oct. 2017
This book is the middle section of a critically acclaimed sixties ‘soul’ trilogy by Australian-Scot Stuart Cosgrove, award winning broadcaster for Channel 4 and long-time writer for UK music media, Echoes and New Musical Express. It follows on from Detroit 67: The Year that Changed Soul and anticipates the forthcoming Harlem 69: The Future of Soul (October 2018).
Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, conspiracies, cultural transmission, democratic measures, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, social justice, trauma, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
The Rhodes Statue and Battle Lines in Oxford University: Aristocratic Brits face Black Extremists
Anonymous Oriel College Collective …….The letter (below) is a response from [one part of] Oxford University to black students attending as Rhodes Scholars who demand the university removes the statue of Oxford Benefactor, Cecil Rhodes.
Interestingly, Chris Patten (Lord Patten of Barnes), The Chancellor of Oxford University, was on the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 on precisely the same topic. The Daily Telegraph headline yesterday was “Oxford will not rewrite history”. Lord Patten commented: “Education is not indoctrination. Our history is not a blank page on which we can write our own version of what it should have been according to our contemporary views and prejudice.”
Filed under art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, British imperialism, communal relations, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, taking the piss, truth as casualty of war, Uncategorized, unusual people, violence of language, world events & processes
Danger for Mannar: Anxiety Aroused by Australian Sand-Mining Project
in Daily Mirror, 25 June 2020, where the title reads “Red Alert on Manna Mineral Extraction Project” ………….. Australian Company had acquired land in December 2018 and March 2020
As a popular tourist attraction in the country, Mannar boasts of a rich cultural heritage dating back to the Portuguese, Dutch and British periods. Dotted with palmyra trees and a scenic stretch of the Northern coastal belt, it is a popular destination for nature lovers as well. During the flamingo season, the pink, red or orange feathered visitors frequent Mannar’s wetlands till the end of March.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, economic processes, heritage, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tourism, transport and communications, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, wild life, working class conditions, world events & processes
Gorillas in Rwanda snapped by Lankan Tourists
Scenes at the Gisenyi & Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda …. in 2011
…. only the rear end on show
Filed under landscape wondrous, life stories, travelogue, unusual people, wild life
Gotabaya’s Governance in Groundviews Gunsights
Borella Junction 24.25 July 1983 —Pix by Chandragupta Amarasinghe –here juxtaposed with the Pix deployed by GV which, in my reading, may not be from the July pogrom but from other moments of violence
COLOMBO, PEACE AND CONFLICT, POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE
Sri Lanka And The US: A Pogrom And A Black Death At The Hands Of A White Policeman: Salutary Lessons
The Scene The morning of July the 25th 1983 is etched in my brain. I saw a group of people running or walking very fast away from the environs of Colombo. On…
Filed under accountability, communal relations, disparagement, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, taking the piss, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Legal Blanket obscures Company Failures: Corporate Power’s Clout
Elmo Jayawardena, in The Island, 24 June 2020, where the title reads “Did Kobe Bryant die in vain?”
The National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) of the USA has come out with a 1700-page investigation report on the helicopter crash in Los Angeles in which Kobe Bryant and his daughter died. The pilot was also killed along with 6 other passengers in this tragic accident. The report has given no final conclusion as to the cause of the crash. In aviation that is the norm in most such events. Thousands of pages written by the powers that be who are mired in bureaucracy that end their conclusions without a conclusion. Finally, they may come out with the Ace of Trumps as the cause – Pilot Error.
“How some things become legal at times is more a fairy tale than a legality.” …. Quote of the Week
Mahela’s Leadership in Aftermath of Lahore Terrorist Attack Recognised
In a previous study of the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket entourage at Lahore in 2009 I was guided by several news reports and chats with a few players in marking the resolution and actions of the bus driver Mohammed Khalil, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Broad during the initial ordeal and the resolute work of Lal Thamel in aiding the injured at the stadium and in hospital. Our thanks now to Rex for revealing Mahela’s firm leadership when moves were afoot to keep the two injured players Paranavithana and Samaraweera back in the air force hospital. Those who play together stick together….Michael Roberts
Rex Clementine, in The Island. 27 June 2020, where the title runs thus: “Paranavithana and Warnapura recall Lahore attack”
