July 14, 2022 · 10:15 am

Destructive Vengeance Beyond Reason in Sri Lankan Protest

Fair Dinkum

Michael, You may like to circulate this item from RT which aired on Wednesday 13 July 2022. A Russian film crew was given access to the home of Ranil Wickremesinghe and his brother, who lived in a neighbouring house that was also destroyed by protestors according to him, appears describing what occurred, and the damage caused, including the destruction of artworks and 2,600 books which had been handed down from Ranil’s ancestors and which he intended to donate to libraries for future Sri Lankans.

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July 14, 2022 · 12:04 am

Aussies Castigate Steve Smith for Burning a Review

Steve Goodwin at ………. https://au.sports.yahoo.com/cricket-2022-fans-turn-steve-smith-over-horrible-act-001951761.html

Steve Smith had copped an absolute roasting from cricket fans and commentators after a horrible review during Australia’s collapse in the second Test against Sri Lanka.

The Aussies were bundled out for just 151 in their second innings on Monday in Galle, losing by an innings and 39 runs.

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July 13, 2022 · 8:25 pm

Marvels of the Camera. At Cricket. At Galle

Michael Roberts

As an ardent cricket-spectator as well as a Galilean it was a tremendous pleasure to follow the coverage of the Test Matches at Galle over the last two weeks. The roaming aerial views provided by the drones enhanced my pleasure and generated a nostalgia that cannot be captured by words. HERE, however, I wish to highlight a remarkable photographic highlight on the final day.

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July 13, 2022 · 7:13 pm

Malinda’s Inside View from within the Colombo Cauldron

Malinda Seneviratne, at …. https://malindawords.blogspot.com/2022/07/when-centre-cannot-hold.html  …. with this title “When the centre cannot hold…”

I write (it is 12.09 pm, on Wednesday) at a time when there’s a remarkable and unprecedented lack of political clarity in the country. As I write, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has left the country. As per the Constitution, if indeed Rajapaksa did resign, or, as reported, Rajapaksa citing Article 37.1 of the constitution , Ranil Wickremesinghe has assumed the presidency in an acting capacity. There’s ‘fighting’ within parliament with parties and politicians unable to decide on Rajapaksa’s successor and of course who the next premier should be. There’s fighting among ‘aragalists’ over representational legitimacy, ideological and political thrust, and preferred endgames.

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July 13, 2022 · 6:46 pm

China’s Hand of Support for Sri Lanka Today

Du Qiongfang, in Global Times, 12 July 2022, with this title “China ready to work with relevant countries, intl financial institutions to help Sri Lanka tackle current difficulties: FM”

China will continue providing assistance for the economic and social development of Sri Lanka and support its efforts to recover the economy and improve its people’s livelihoods, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The remarks came after foreign media claimed that Sri Lanka, mired in economic and debt crises and suffering political instability, is in discussions with Japan, and possibly with China in the future, on “bridge financing.”

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July 12, 2022 · 9:28 pm

Awesome Moments at Galle and the Presidential Palace

Errol Fernando in Melbourne **

The events of the past four days in Sri Lanka have been earth-shattering,  Michael,  and reporters and journalists would not have had a moment’s rest. Even the cricket was pretty riveting although it paled in comparison with the resignations of the high and mighty and the occupation of the presidential palace.

 

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July 12, 2022 · 8:43 pm

Sri Lanka Trounce Australia at Galle: A Reality Check

 Alex Malcolm, in ESPNcricinfo, with this title “Progress made, but subcontinent cracks still present for Australia”

A reality check, indeed. Pat Cummins‘ first defeat as Australia Test captain in Galle, by an innings inside four days, was more than just a blip on the radar.
It doesn’t quite warrant the vitriolic email former Cricket Australia head of high-performance Pat Howard sent from a Dhaka cafe the day after their first-ever Test loss to Bangladesh in 2017. Continue reading →

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July 12, 2022 · 7:47 pm

The ARAGALAYA Proclaims in Sri Lanka: A Six-Point Set of Demands

With thanks to my Aloysian compatriot KK De Silva

  1. Gotabaya Rajapaksa should resign from the post of Executive President forthwith.
  2. Government including Ranil Wickremasinghe, Rajapaksa regime should resign forthwith. ( This includes all Cabinet, Non cabinet, Deputy, Project Ministers, Ministry Secretaries, Directors, Advisors, State & Corporation Chairmen, Ambassadors).
  3. With the removal of the Gota-Ranil government, an interim administration should be set up which accords with the economic, social & political objectives & aspirations of the Peoples Struggle (Aragalaya). A Peoples Council  in which there is legal binding for representatives of the Peoples Struggle to  intervene/create an impact, should be established.

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July 12, 2022 · 2:11 pm

Western Deception re Sri Lanka: Many Agencies

Orcadian’s NOTES in response to Benjamin Norton’s Revelatory Essay on the Sources of Debt faced by Sri Lanka 

A = “NORTON’S article needs to be tattooed on the brains of every mindless Western  journalist, every Western academic, everyone at the BBC, over the brains of Mike Pompeo, over Abe’s tombstone, over Morrison and Turnbull’s brain and over the Sri Lankans who repeatedly lie or fail to acknowledge that the vast majority of debt Sri Lanka owes is to the West, not to China.  There was NEVER a China debt trap. That was a false narrative propagated by Western interests to disguise the true picture about the vast US and Western debt trap.”

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July 12, 2022 · 1:49 pm

Colossal Deception: Gross Lies about Sources of Sri Lanka’s Debt Burden foisted on the World by Western Agencies

Benjamin Norton, in Multipolarista, July 12 July 2022 where the title reads thus “Real debt trap: Sri Lanka owes vast majority to West, not China” ... with highlighting emphasis in colours imposde by the Editor, Thuppahi

Sri Lanka owes 81% of its external debt to US and European financial institutions and Western allies Japan and India. China owns just 10%. But Washington blames imaginary “Chinese debt traps” for the nation’s crisis, as it considers a 17th IMF structural adjustment program.

  A protest in Sri Lanka in April 2022

 

 

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