Category Archives: politIcal discourse

The Insidious Work of American Soft-Power Agencies


 An Observer in a Georgian Black Sea Resort Town

The NED/CIA have been using soft power to target the youth and media institutions in countries around the world. Take Georgia and Hong Kong as case studies.

Protestors rally against the draft law outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi.

In the last few weeks, the Georgian parliament, the elected representatives of the country, tried to introduce a Foreign Agent’s Register Act just like the one Australia introduced in 2018. The Georgian version used very similar language to the US foreign agent’s registration law which was passed in the 1930s.  Suddenly, the Georgian youth came out on to street demanding the government reject this draft law. EU leaders labelled the proposed Georgian foreign register law as being “against EU values”, even though almost all EU countries have the same law.  This is a repeat performance of what happened in Hong Kong in 2018-2019.

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People Inbetween: Ethnic & Class Prejudices in British Ceylon

Michael RobertsContent of His Talk on this topic at the National Trust in Colombo in June 2018 

The National Trust’s brief was for me to present motifs from the book People Inbetween. The Burghers and the Middle Class in the Transformations within Sri Lanka, 1790-1960s, (Ratmalana, Sarvodaya Book Publishing Services, 1989) and more specifically its first chapter viz. “Pejorative Phrases: the Anti-colonial Response and Sinhala Perceptions of the Self through Images of the Burghers” 

Many think People Inbetween is a history of the Burghers. Not so. It is multi-faceted. It describes (a) the rise of the middle class in British times, an influential force within which the Burghers were a critical element and a vanguard in the questioning of British rule; (b) the initial strands in the development of Ceylonese nationalism and (c) the development of Colombo into a metropolitan hub that became the island’s hegemonic centre.

 

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Sri Lankan Armed Forces vs the Tamil Tigers: The Last Phase

Serge De Silva Ranasinghe, in The Diplomat, 20 May 2010,*** where the title runs thus “Reflections on the Tigers”

A year after the LTTE’s defeat, evidence shows criticism of Sri Lanka’s army is misplaced, says Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe.

Tamil civilians reach safety across Nandhikadal Lagoon —Pix by SL army

 

 

A year ago this week, the Sri Lankan government officially declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in one of the most extraordinary counter-insurgency campaigns in recent times.

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Contrasting Cricketing Tours Abroad: UK in 1975 vs Australia in 2022

IN Response to the News Item by Callistus Davy on the Profligate Tamasha enjoyed by SL’s cricketing officials during the recent World Cup in Australia ………… EMAIL NOTE: Mevan Pieris of [S. Thomas’ College] to Prabodh Kariyawasam [Richmond College], 19 January 2023

Dear Kari,

I read your mail and thought of the past when cricketers were amateurs. We went to the Oval in our own vehicles at our own cost and remember getting Rs 15/= per day during a 4 day test match, which was probably enough to clean the boots. I also remember how we went to England to play in the first World Cup in 1975, carrying with us just 3 pounds of foreign exchange, and how we had to  lodge in the Student Centre in difficult conditions. Yet for all no one grumbled and derived happiness from our love for the game which exceeded love for money. It was nice reading the long list of VIPs who seem to have made merry down under [in 2022]. Socrates is said to have told Hercules that God helps those who help themselves. We certainly have a damn good lot of believers in Socrates.
Good night Kari, ……………….. Mevan

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Cartooned! Western Leaders Skewered by Cartoon!

 

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Danger! Danger! Read All About IT !!! Ye Australians

A good friend of Malaysia and Indonesia currently on the Black Sea … with a title and highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

A:  Paul Keating released this statement today saying the AUKUS arrangements represent “the worst international decision by a Labor government” since Billy Hughes introduced conscription.  Very strong words here, highly critical of his own party – a betrayal in fact.

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Paul Keating Eviscerates AUKUS Pact and Aussie Warmongers

Former prime minister Paul Keating examines the merits of the AUKUS submarine deal and its implications for China-Australia relations and regional stability.

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War with China!!! Moronic Demands from Powerful Sydney Newpaper Chiefs

Paul Keating

The Sydney Morning Herald’s prominent series of provocations, urging Australia into a war with China, concluded its third instalment today.

At Item 20 of its presentation, apart from its advocacy of the reintroduction of compulsory national service, it wantonly urges that Australia should further consider ‘basing US long-range missiles armed with nuclear weapons on Australian territory’ and goes on to say ‘if the US were interested in doing so’.

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Resisting the British Imperial Forces: Tales Today in Uva Wellassa

Chandani Kirinde, in Sunday Times, March 2023. where the title runs thus: “Pride and tears of Uva Wellassa”

200 years after what is considered one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of colonial rule here, Chandani Kirinde visits the area that saw an uprising by its people that was brutally crushed by the British

A British cannon recovered from Wellassa. Pix by Indika Handuwala

The awe-inspiring cloud covered mountains, lush forests, formidable waterfalls and clear streams of Uva Wellassa bear little testimony today to the darkest and bloodiest chapter in the country’s history under British rule.  There is little sign of the burnt hamlets, scorched paddy fields, broken tank bunds, felled trees and the skeletons of the thousands of men, women and children killed or starved to death when the military might of the coloniser was turned on the population of the Kandyan provinces to put down a rebellion against British rule.

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The “Truth Tigers” Documentary of May 2002

Truth Tigers – Sri Lanka  ….. Journeyman Pictures

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27 May 2002 Blood drips off the deck; a torrent of rapid gunfire sores through the air. We are in the midst of a savage sea battle, fought by the Sea Tigers — the maritime arm of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Produced by ABC Australia Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

 

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