Category Archives: the imaginary and the real

Yuri Gagarin’s Journey Beyond Our World

Gp Capt Kumar Kirinde, SLAF [retd], as Compiler, …. whose preferred title was “Yuri Gagarin: First Human Being (Man) to go into Space”

Introduction: …. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (9 March 1934–27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Travelling in the Vostok 1 capsule, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. By achieving this major milestone in the Space Race he became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, his nation’s highest honour.

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The Elephant in the Room: Geopolitics and the ‘Great Reset’ in Sri Lanka

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, in Countercurrents

“But to watch cricket, there has to be a country left for us to watch it in, no?” A fan at the Galle Test Match that ended with an innings victory for Sri Lanka. July 11, 2022

Spirits were high on July 11 when the Sri Lankan cricket team beat the visiting Aussies by an innings even though the country was in its worst economic crisis ever, due to a lack of Dollars to buy fuel caused by an international Sovereign Bond (ISB), debt trap and Staged Default.

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An Expat’s Bitter Interpretation of the Progress from Ceylon in 1948 … till Today

Charles Seevali Abeysekera ++

Sri Lanka is officially bankrupt and a failed state in all but name. How did a country of 22 million people with a level of literacy on par with most of the developed world end up in such a dire position where the state coffers did not have the measly sum of 20 million dollars to purchase fuel to keep the country functioning beyond the next working day?

Whilst the vast majority of the population have concluded that the blame for this economic armageddon is due to the gluttony of corruption and greed, instigated and enabled by the Rajapaksa family , its acolytes and sycophantic nodding dogs, my own assessment is different.

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Ranil Wickremesinghe in His True Colours

Dr Dayan Jayatilleka in The Island, 23 July 2022, where the title reads “The real Ranil report and Aragalaya 3.0″

Ranil Wickremesinghe is a leader without any popular vote; a ruler without a mandate; a ruler without legitimacy. And yet he seeks to crush the citizens using military and police force. Aragalaya 3.0 must be born as the Resistance against Ranil’s rule and can only end with his political retrenchment.

Actions speak louder than words, as the old saying goes. The actions came from Ranil. Speech is also an action. He sounded belligerent for days. After he was elected by the Rajapaksa majority in Parliament as the leader of this country, and he stopped along the way to thank the military and Police, he was heard to say something disparaging about the Aragalaya. At the Hunupitiya Gangarama Temple, he needlessly criticised the Aragalaya. After he swore in yesterday, he went to the Ministry of Defence where he was greeted by Gota’s closest comrade in arms, (retd) General Kamal Gunaratna, the Secretary/Defence.

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Gotabaya’s Getaway: His Devious Routes amidst Many Pressures

Kapila Punchihewa, in Mawbima, July 22 2022, where the title runs thus:  The story of the running man Gotabaya unfolded. Exclusive”

  • President Pleads for safety with Sajith whom he sidelined a few weeks ago.
     All powerful President is shaken and runs for safety from place to place. 18 million for a luxury hotel in Malé 
     Indian USA and European Nations show the “cold shoulder’.
  • No place to go at home or the world

President Gotabaya Rajapakse was elected with 69,lacks of the votes. He was only in office for 969 days before abruptly leaving the country last Monday afternoon, amidst massive public opposition he had to face. No one knew until that fateful Monday afternoon that he hAD left the country. Nobody even knew where the president was.

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The American & IMF Bear in Sri Lanka’s Drawing Room

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, in InDepthNow,  July 2022 ….. https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/opinion/5466-the-elephant-in-the-room-geopolitics-and-the-great-reset-in-sri-lanka …. where the title is “The  Elephant in the Room: …”

“But to watch cricket, there has to be a country left for us to watch it in, no?” A fan at the Galle Test Match that ended with an innings victory for Sri Lanka. July 11, 2022.

Spirits were high on July 11 when the Sri Lankan cricket team beat the visiting Aussies by an innings even though the country was in its worst economic crisis ever due to a lack of Dollars to buy fuel caused by an International Sovereign Bond (ISB), debt trap and Staged Default.

The cricket victory followed a magical weekend in which the Aragalaya, or peoples’ struggle, exceeded all expectations, staging multiple coups to peacefully claim both the Presidential Palace and the Prime Minister’s official residence. Massive waves of protestors unseated the island’s President and PM without a single person killed in the gunfire. Later the protestors cooled off in the Presidential pool and had impromptu concerts celebrating what appeared to be a successful regime change operation.

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Wunderbar! Reviving a Wounded Tusker Elephant

#ElephantZone #elephanttreatment #elephantrescue

Tusker elephant fallen lifelessly with severe injuries brought back to life with proper treatment

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Facing Ranjan De Silva Foursquare: A Demolition Job

Fair Dinkum**

On Saturday 16 July I received two emails from Michael Roberts which contained emails from two of his friends. The first email came from someone Michael describes as “An old schoolmate from Galle now in Canada”, while the second email came from someone described by Michael as “a Burgher pal with a sharp mind and pen”. The two emails from these Sri Lankans contain highly erroneous claims that cannot go by unchallenged and hence this refutation.

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Sri Lanka’s Crisis: Lies peddled by Naive Lankans in Western Agencies

Fair Dinkum

An article written by Dayanath Jayasuriya was published in Round Tablethe Commonwealth Journal of International Relations which is pro Western and commonwealth

It summarizes a few things in an unoriginal manner of things we all know,  but the last part, as expected from a Western sources, gives the misleading impression that China, India and Bangladesh are the main sources of SL debt, and ignores any mention of US-UK sources of debt. We have UK Lie Trap as well as a US debt trap

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Kumar Gunaratnam: JVP & Aragalaya Leader Extraordinary

  DBS Jeyaraj in Daily Mirror, 17 July 2022

A remarkably significant outcome of the Aragalaya has been the emergence of the “Peratugami Samajavadi Pakshaya” (Frontline Socialist Party) as an influential player in Sri Lankan politics.

The Peratugami Samajavadi Pakshaya is composed of the members who defected from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). It can be considered as a party that was born in the political womb of the JVP and competes with it.

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