STAGE TWO IN 2019: “ANAMCHARA” at the HILTON, 19 August 2019
Category Archives: psychological urges
A Muslim Lankan’s Thoughts on the Atrocities and Their Implications
Irfan Husain, in Sri Lanka Guardian, 29 April 2019, where the title is “Jihadis in Sri Lanka”
Whenever there’s a terrorist attack anywhere, I pray that Muslims weren’t involved. And if they are, I cross my fingers and wish none of them were Pakistanis. In the horror stories emerging from Sri Lanka, I seem to have got my second wish. However, this is scant consolation for the mayhem unleashed by a little-known Islamist group, the National Towheed Jamaath (NTJ), backed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.
Filed under accountability, Bodu Bala Sena, citizen journalism, communal relations, conspiracies, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, Islamic fundamentalism, island economy, jihad, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, patriotism, politIcal discourse, psychological urges, reconciliation, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, terrorism, tolerance, trauma, women in ethnic conflcits, working class conditions, world events & processes
Paranoid Fears and Ethnic Supremacy: From Christchurch to Sri Lanka and Beyond
Lakshman Gunasekara, in Horizons, 31 March 2019, with this title “Supremacism: harnessing myth, paranoia”
“…Before we deal with the fertility rates, we must deal with both the invaders within our lands and the invaders that seek to enter our lands…” declares the mass murderer of Christchurch in his 80 plus page long ‘The Great Replacement’ political declaration which he had posted on the internet. Does this declaration by a deadly mass killer ring a bell to us, Sri Lankans?
Readers only need to refer back through our own post-colonial national discourses to come up with loads of this stuff. Our news media and other publishing archives and records will reveal the sheer volume of similar such statements expressed in political party rhetoric, nationalist activist arguments, and even in parliamentary debate over the decades since our island society won back its freedom from European colonialism. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, conspiracies, disparagement, electoral structures, fundamentalism, historical interpretation, Islamic fundamentalism, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, Muslims in Lanka, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, psychological urges, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
The Christchurch Killer’s Dungeon of a Mind
ONE = Greg Sheridan: “A Manifesto for a Dark Age,” in The Australian, 23 March 2019
The manifesto of Brenton Tarrant, the alleged Christchurch gunman, displays an extreme contemporary embodiment of six historical trends. It is the mirror in morality, personality and rhetoric of the archetypal Islamic State terrorist. It is the inheritor of the most extreme traditions of white racism, both the North American tradition and its Germanic cousin. Its outlook is crippled by an addiction to conspiracy theories of a type long familiar, especially in the modern US.
Brenton Tarrant as a youth with his father Rodney n 2006
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, conspiracies, cultural transmission, discrimination, ethnicity, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, politIcal discourse, psychological urges, racist thinking, security, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
From Individual Atom to God Almighty
From Individual Atom to God Almighty
Michael Roberts
With the growth of Western civilization from the 16th century onwards and its sweeping sway in the world today, we have seen the power vested in the individual atom known as “man” in its non-gendered sense. Individuation, and its blood-brother, egoism, is the warp and woof of everyday living in most parts of the world and is most pronounced in the states identified with the “West.”
It is imprinted and glorified in many sports competitions: say, surfing, marathon-running, motor-cycling, gymnastics, et cetera. Its imprint has been expanded by new technology such as skateboards and fancy bikes. There are also age-old sports which sustain the emphasis on intense individual action: for instance, fishing and hunting.
Filed under accountability, australian media, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, historical interpretation, Islamic fundamentalism, legal issues, life stories, martyrdom, meditations, politIcal discourse, psychological urges, racist thinking, religiosity, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
The British Way: An Appraisal of Donald Trump
Nate White responding to the Question:“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”
“A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, cultural transmission, de-mining, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, performance, politIcal discourse, psychological urges, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, the imaginary and the real, trauma, unusual people, world events & processes
Visvakarma’s Celestial Manifestatations in Asia and Sri Lanka
Lopamudra Maitra Bajpai, in newsin.asia, 17 September 2018, where the title reads “Vishwakarma, the celestial architect who built Sri Lanka”
The Vishwakarma puja, which was observed on September 17, is not restricted to India but is observed in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The puja closely follows the celebration of the Ganapati festival. In some places, it is performed the day after Diwali in October or November.
Vishwakarma puja or Kanya Sankranti is celebrated in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand in North India; Karnataka in the south; and Assam, West Bengal Odisha and Tripura in the east, in honour of Vishwakarma – the celestial architect.
Vishwakarma idols of Bengal made of clayFiled under art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, elephant tales, female empowerment, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, pilgrimages, psychological urges, Saivism, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, world events & processes
Rebic + Modric + Rakitic tick-off Argentina in World Cup Soccer Match
Croatian Goalscorers in Match vs Argentina …..
Ante Rebic (53′) …………… Luka Modric (80′)…… Ivan Rakitic (90’+1′)
Croatia wins three-zip
Modric celebrates
Ehemai Deviyo!
Filed under architects & architecture, authoritarian regimes, Buddhism, cultural transmission, economic processes, fundamentalism, heritage, life stories, martyrdom, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, psychological urges, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, world events & processes
