“The Last Drop of Ukrainian Blood” — A Russian Propaganda Film
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Heated Debate in Australia on the Ukraine Crisis
One “Mr Z” has sent me the news items below and added his thoughts at the end
A = Ruan Zongze: “China seeks peace in Ukraine crisis,” The Weekend Australian, 1 March 2023
On February 24, as the full escalation of the Ukraine crisis reached its one-year mark, were leased China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. Overall, the response of the international community toward the document is positive.
Many countries welcome and support the document, acknowledging China’s constructive role. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, says: “The plan put forward by the Chinese government is an important contribution.” However, some Western countries suspect China’s position and purpose, claiming China can’t be an “honest co-ordinator” due to its close relations with Russia.
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The Pioneering Female Cricketers in Ceylon: Facing England in 1948
KKS Perera, in Daily Mirror, March 2023, where the title reads thus: “three Johnians in First International Womens’ Match vs England in 1948
Sri Lanka Cricket with [its] record profit of Rs 6.3 billion made in 2022 could easily allocate more funds for developing women’s cricket. Times have changed. The gentlemen’s game is not only meant for men; today it is the ladies’ game too.
The Ceylon Times headline on November 2, 1948 — “Ceylon team goes down fighting.” ‘ [while also referring to ] ….a catch which any first-class cricketer would have been proud to make, a brilliant one-handed effort above her head with which Beverly Roberts ended centurion Hide’s innings.”
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The American-IMF Monster Revealed in Dissection of Sarvanandan’s Reading of the World
X … [who, alas, has to protect himself from potential ‘hits’ from American and Aussie agencies] …. NB: the highlighting emphasis is my imposition
The Western template for stories on so-called predatory practices by China was crafted some years ago by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US, UK and Australian think tanks. Sarvanandan is simply rehashing the same thing.
His claim to be offering a “factual cum reality check” is another misleading fact-reality check.
Tom Toles Editorial Cartoon
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Hot Hot Cricket News from Sri Lanka
Victor Melder’s COMPILATION, end of February 2023
The Department of Sports Development (DSD) has decided to call for nominations through a newspaper advertisement for the 2023 Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Committee. This followed a high-level discussion led by Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe with the participation of officials of the National Sports Council and the National Sports Selection Committee (NSSC) on Monday. The newspaper notice inviting nominations to the Cricket Selection Committee will be published in the next few days, Amal Edirisooriya, Director General of DSD told the ‘Daily Mirror’.
Since there are issues with regard to cricket selections, NSSC Chairman General Shavendra Silva and NSSC member Sanath Jayasuriya said that henceforth there should be transparency in the appointment of the Cricket Selection Committee. Under the previous system, the executive committee nominated 10 names to the Sports Minister out of which five or seven members were appointed to the selection committee. In future, anyone who has played cricket can apply to be a member of the Cricket Selection Committee. Under the existing system, since members to selection committee were appointed on the basis of being friends with executive committee members, it has been brought to the notice of the Sports Ministry that there was no transparency when it came to national team selections. Although the DSD has called for nominations, the interviews will be conducted by a special committee chaired by the Chairman of the NSSC, DSD Director General Amal Edirisuriya added. Starting with cricket, the Ministry of Sports hopes to implement this system for other sports as well. (Daily Mirror. 1.2.2023).
Encirclement in Religious Practice & Deadly War Strike
Michael Roberts, inspired by interaction & dialogue with Douglas Farrer of the National University of Singapore in the years 2009 to 2014**
VISIT 2012 “Encompassing Empowerment in Ritual, War & Assassination: Tantric Principles in Tamil Tiger Instrumentalities,” in Social Analysis, sp. issue on War Magic ed. by D. S. Farrer, 2014 ……………………………… https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/social-analysis/58/1/sa580105.xml
a groom ties the THALI round the bride’s neck…. https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/862931978596501453/
ABSTRACT: This study highlights the Tantric threads within the transcendental religions of Asia that reveal the commanding role of encirclement as a mystical force. The cyanide capsule (kuppi) around the neck of every Tamil Tiger fighter was not only a tool of instrumental rationality as a binding force, but also a modality similar to a thāli (marriage bond necklace) and to participation in a velvi (religious animal sacrifice). It was thus embedded within Tamil cultural practice. Alongside the LTTE’s politics of homage to its māvīrar (dead heroes), the kuppi sits beside numerous incidents in LTTE acts of mobilization or military actions where key functionaries approached deities in thanks or in preparation for the kill. These practices highlight the inventive potential of liminal moments/spaces. We see this as modernized ‘war magic’—a hybrid re-enchantment energizing a specific religious worldview.
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China’s Quasi-predatory Lending to Sri Lanka
Muttukrishna Sarvanandan,** whose preferred title reads thus: “Chinese Lending to Sri Lanka: A Factual cum “Reality” Check. A Rejoinder to Umesh Moramudali and Thilina Panduwawala”
Abstract: This is a response to the Briefing Paper entitled Evolution of Chinese Lending to Sri Lanka since the mid-2000s – Separating Myth from Reality, written by Umesh Moramudali and Thilina Panduwawala published by the China-Africa Research Initiative of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the John Hopkins University, USA. This response identifies a few factual errors (both quantitative and qualitative) and provides alternative data, and contests the interpretations of the data and conclusion drawn therefrom by Moramudali and Panduwawala by providing concrete examples to the contrary. We characterise Chinese lending to Sri Lanka between 2007 and 2022 as quasi-predatory lending, having defined the characteristics of predatory lending………….Keywords – China, Hambantota Port, Predatory Lending, Sovereign Default, Sri Lanka
Introduction: This is a response to a Briefing Paper (No.8 dated November 2022) written by Umesh Moramudali and Thilina Panduwawala entitled Evolution of Chinese Lending to Sri Lanka since the mid-2000s – Separating Myth from Reality published by the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the John Hopkins University (JHU) in the United States of America (USA).
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The Economic Sinking of Island Lanka: The IMF-US Monsters
Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, whose preferred title is “Alternatives to the IMF and the future of the Welfare State: Beyond the blame game between Superpowers”
The economic proxy war between the rising and fading Superpowers is escalating and expanding in the “Asian 21st Century.’ This was apparent in an (un)diplomatic exchange between Chinese and United States officials over the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) debt restructuring delays in Sri Lanka which was the venue of the recent CARAT/MAREX war games. These happened in the run up to the country’s February 4 commemoration of 75 years of ‘Lost Independence, Democracy and economic sovereignty’ as a commentator put it.
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Understanding the Kamikaze Attacks in World War Two
Kostas Sapardanis, at http://sapardanis.org/2016/05/20/kamikaze-who-they-were-why-they-died/ on 20 May 2016, where the title runs thus “Kamikaze – Who they were, why they died” ... item sent to me by retd Brig Hiran Halangode
“Every time one country gets something, another soon has it. One country gets radar, but soon all have it. One gets a new type of engine or plane, then another gets it. But the Japs have got the kamikaze boys, and nobody else is going to get that, because nobody else is built that way.” …. John Thach
Near the end of 1944, almost 10 months before the end of the 2nd World War, the Japanese had already realized that their military effort would lead them to defeat. Their weapons and armaments were short, the stock of soldiers was dramatically decreasing and morality was low. Their precious bombs, other than being too few, were missing their targets and their pilots could not contest the Americans. So, in a desperate last effort to revive the army, the Kamikaze Special Attack Unit was formed. The aim was to obstruct enemy planes from taking off from aircraft carriers. The conversion of pilots themselves into bombs would surely mean the decrease of the failed bomb attacks.
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Sacrificial Devotion in Comparative Perspective
A Short Essay in the Library of Social Science, presented at ………………………………………………. https://www.libraryofsocialscience.com/newsletter/posts/2015/2015-04-03-Roberts-2.html with this NOTE “Part II of Michael Roberts’ Review Essay of Nations Have the Right to Kill”
To read the entire essay on our website, click here.
Michael Roberts
The LTTE emerged as an underground militant organization in May 1976. Though sustaining strong informal links with the Tamil United Liberation Front, the parliamentary party committed to independence, the youth who led the LTTE believed that a revolutionary path was the only route available to their peoples.
The pogrom directed against Tamil people living in the south central parts of Sri Lanka in July 1983 resulted in a huge expansion of its personnel. It was around this stage that Pirapāharan decreed that all fighters should carry a cyanide capsule—a kuppi as they call it in Tamil—so that they could “bite it” when imminent danger of capture was looming.
LTTE soldiers in camp seen with the kuppi round their necks (photo by Shyam Tekwani)
Female recruits receive the kuppi at a passing out ceremony
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