Category Archives: the imaginary and the real

August 4, 2023 · 11:34 pm

Survivor’s Tales: A Kidnapping …. & …. Dunkirk Rescue Boat

From the MIRROR

Surviving Kidnapping: When Stephanie Slater was kidnapped by killer Michael Sams back in 1992, he kept her captive in a lockable wheelie bin. But rather than murder her – as he had done with his previous victim Julie Dart – he demanded a ransom and let her go after it was paid. But why did Sams release her? In a fascinating new revelation about the case, it seems the Mirror’s own health expert Dr Miriam Stoppard played a key part. Stephanie had read Dr Miriam’s advice book on how girls can deal with dangerous situations including how to build a rapport if you find yourself in a vulnerable situation. Sams was later jailed for life for murdering Julie and abducting Stephanie. Dr Miriam says: “I have never expected anything I have written to have such a big effect on somebody’s life.”

Stephanie Slater

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Filed under female empowerment, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, trauma, unusual people, world events & processes

July 28, 2023 · 8:31 pm

Hindu Zealots of the RSS target Sri Lanka

PK Balachandran in Email Note to Roberts, late July 2023, … with highlighting being my imposition

The RSS  has begun exploiting the Tamil issue to spread its Hindutwa ideology. The idea is to win over the Lankan Tamils to its side by discrediting the secular Tamil identity in SL. None of the speakers listed has any knowledge of the Lankan Tamil issue. Tamil Nadu BJP leader K.Annamalai has already visited Sri Lanka and is trying to put up an RSS-BJP unit here. Very dangerous development. The Sri Lankan government should make certain that Sarath Weerasekara and the monks don’t do anything anti-Hindu. It is sad that this ís happening when India-Lankan relations are improving thanks to the correct policies of Modi and Ranil. Continue reading →

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Filed under centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, ethnicity, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, psychological urges, religiosity, security, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, world affairs

July 26, 2023 · 12:32 am

Reflections: My Engagement with the Pogrom of July 1983 in Sri Lanka

Michael Roberts

The attacks on Tamils living and/or working in the southern and central parts of island Sri Lanka by elements of the Sinhala population were indefensible, horrible and disastrous for the country.  It is not adequate to depict them as “riots.” They constituted a “pogrom” – with all the pejorative colourings attached to that concept.[1]

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July 25, 2023 · 8:22 pm

Death of a Trotskyist … In Memory of Nathan Sivasambu

Jane Russell … presenting “a fictional short story in warm testimony fo Nathan Sivasambu who was a one-off: a convinced Trotskyist, his greatest gift was in bringing people together to celebrate the era of ‘British Ceylon’ of which he was a true patriot.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was October 23rd, two days before the Centenary of the Revolution. The black and white photo of Leon Davidov Trotsky looked down from his ebony frame on the sitting room cum study wall. This version of Trotsky was unsmiling: stern – very much Creator of the Red Army, Hero of the Revolution. The photo had been taken in the early 1920’s, in St. Petersburg, when it was still called Petrograd.

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Filed under centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, meditations, politIcal discourse, Russian history, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, unusual people

July 23, 2023 · 5:32 pm

Rhodes Island is Burning!

Tourists and residents are being evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes due to severe forest fires. The fires began after a prolonged heat wave, and temperatures are expected to rise further in the coming days, and winds are also expected to increase.

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Filed under ancient civilisations, climate change issues, landscape wondrous, life stories, the imaginary and the real, tourism, trauma, travelogue

July 13, 2023 · 12:18 am

Leading Aussie Newspaper’s Gross Misreading of Ukraine’s War Situation

An Observer at A Black Sea Town … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

I thought Ukraine was doing well – so says Peter Jennings writing in The Australian yesterday.  Jennings claimed Putin was “fighting for his survival” and talked about Zelensky’s “astonishing fighting spirit”; that Putin has been defeated in every war aim; that Ukraine will never come under Russian control; and that Putin’s “strategic leadership has been stunningly incompetent”. Yes, Ukraine has held up well.

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July 10, 2023 · 6:29 pm

Intertwining Pathways in Past Lanka Time …. A Tale. A Tale

Synopsis by the Publishers

In the month of 11 in the year 2048 of the Buddhist era, how many people knew that the South of Lanka would face a deadly cyclone which would change the entire history of the country. The lion race came to know of the year 1505 of the Christian era only then. The life of ten-year-old Hethu who lived on the coastline of the South changed in the same way as everybody else’s life. The life of 10-year-old Juan who worked on the Portuguese ship “Maria Helena” also changed on the same day. Their lives became intertwined with that of a monk named Rahula who lived in a Vihare in Kotte. Destiny brought them together in a strange way. It is through their meeting that the thoughts and knowledge of the realities of life changed each one of them. They see God and man in different ways. “Balakotu and Nauka ” is a new kind of novel.

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Filed under ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, historical novel, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, pilgrimages, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real

July 3, 2023 · 12:22 pm

“Lake Beauty”: A Murder Mystery in the Aussie Outback

A Novel entitled “Lake Beauty” by Rob George …. with hihlighting mpose d by The Editor, Thuppahi

... where Sam and Annie conspire against authority to bring about justice for a murdered woman. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, Australian culture, communal relations, cultural transmission, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, travelogue

June 30, 2023 · 12:07 am

Western Media in Blind Alley on Russian Scenario

An Observer in a Black Sea Town

Very pleasing to see no blue haired, transexual, transgendered non-binary people in this group of young attractive Russian girls filmed in February 2023 at the Shaman’s concert in Yekaterinburg singing the song Я Русский [I’m Russian]. The girls sing: “I am Russian, and I am lucky”. **

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June 21, 2023 · 7:31 pm

Edgbaston. What A Match! Errol’s Armchair Pleasures

Email Commendation from Errol Fernando in Melbourne, 21 June 2023

Bravo, Captain Pat Cummins!

No words of praise are adequate to describe  how Captain Pat, in that final hour, turned certain defeat into victory. And he did it with lots and lots of smiles!  It was good to hear Cummins, in his post-match interview,  acknowledge the crucial support of warrior Nathan Lyon. He also stated that the most important contribution in the  match was made by Usman Khawaja. Best of all, he was gracious and modest in victory.

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Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, martyrdom, performance, the imaginary and the real, unusual people