Courtesy of Victor Melder in Melbourne
Category Archives: world events & processes
Anuk Arudpragasam’s Book reviewed by Ru Freeman
Ru Freeman, reviewing Anuk Arudpragasam’s “The Story of a Brief Marriage,” published: 6th July 2017, …. ISBN: 9781783782383, pp 208
War is a constant wellspring of literature, and the best of it looks not for the obvious and sensationally violent, but instead searches for the subtle ways that life unfolds regardless. WhileSri Lankans writing in Sinhala and Tamil have long borne nuanced witness to the country’s three decades of civil war, writing in English has been much slower to respond. And too much of it hastaken the easy route, giving a foreign readership what it desires: a voyeuristic, and ultimatelyunengaged, affirmation of what it believes is true of savage peoples in other countries.
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, IDP camps, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, military strategy, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, Rajapaksa regime, refugees, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, the imaginary and the real, trauma, unusual people, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes, zealotry
Evaluating the Rajapaksas’ Seeming Leanings Towards China
Uditha Devapriya, in The Diplomat, 1 February 2022 where the title runs thus “Is Sri Lanka Under Gotabaya Rajapaksa Really Tilting Toward China?”
Simplistic narratives fail to account for the complexities that have defined foreign policy in Sri Lanka since its independence.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, sri lankan society, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Taiwan in the Centre of US-China Wrestling Match
Brian Victoria, in Countercurrents, 2 February 2022, where the title reads thus “Pearl Harbor Comes to Taiwan“
For the moment at least, the Ukraine crisis has pushed the possibility of a Chinese attack on Taiwan off the front pages. Nevertheless, on a near daily basis we read of what are presented as increasingly ominous incursions of Chinese aircraft into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Seldom, however, do we see a map showing the area claimed by Taiwan for its ADIZ. On those rare occasions when the map is shown, even a cursory inspection reveals that more than a third of Taiwan’s ADIZ is actually land incontestably a part of the Chinese mainland. Thus, if China were to completely cease flying into Taiwan’s ADIZ it would have to stop flying over its own sovereign territory. How many nations, of whatever political orientation, are prepared to do that?
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, historical interpretation, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, slanted reportage, transport and communications, violence of language, war reportage, world events & processes
Threatening Situation for Russia
Ivan Timofeev, in Valdai Discussion Club, where the title reads “Russia now has just three options left on Ukraine”
With Washington rejecting many of Moscow’s security concerns, the prospect of escalation is rising
Conscripts for the Russian Army wearing protective face masks stand at attention before being sent to the place of their military service, in Novosibirsk, Russia. © Sputnik / Alexandr Kryazhev
The US has handed Russia a written response to its proposed security guarantees. While Washington refuses to accept Moscow’s demands for a legally binding pledge that NATO will not expand further towards its borders, it has indicated it is ready to discuss certain issues, including arms control and strategic stability.
Grotesque Cricket Events at Afghanistan-Sri Lanka U19 Encounter at Antigua
Michael Roberts
If the famous West Indian lyricist and calypso-king Lord Superior was still alive and watching the Under 19 World ODI Cup being contested in his home territories in the Caribbean, he would surely have honed-in on one of the craziest matches in world history – one underlining the ridiculous mistakes from both sides participating.
Recalling Aubrey Collette’s Remarkable Talents and Journey in Life
I: An Appreciation from Patrick Ranasinghe, 1 February 2022 …. Aubrey Collette 1920 -1992
Remember the cartoons of the mid to late 50’s and early 60’s. The issues he touched on are more relevant than ever now.
Filed under accountability, anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, Australian culture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, pulling the leg, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes, zealotry
British Imperial Pillage? The Parthenon Marbles
An Item in the Archaelogy News Network, 20 October 2021, with this title “Trophies For The Empire: The Case Of The Parthenon Sculptures”
A recently published article by eminent Professor David Rudenstine at New York’s University Cardozo Law School examines the cultural property dispute between Greece and Great Britain over the Parthenon Sculptures taken to London in the early 1800s by the British ambassador, Lord Elgin. The article specifically assesses the legality of their appropriation and argues that, contrary to conventional narrative, there is no evidence that establishes that Ottoman officials gave Elgin prior or subsequent written permission to remove the Parthenon Sculptures from the edifice. Three translations of the document were said to have been made (Ottoman to Italian, then Italian to English), however the English document has since been lost.
Filed under ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, taking the piss, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
