October 28, 2021 · 9:44 pm

Quinton De Kock Takes Fresh Guard, but … Unease Remains?

Firdose Moonda

t may be tempting to think that Quinton de Kock‘s refusal to take a knee ahead of the match against West Indies earlier this week is out and out racism, but ignorance of racial inequalities that have resulted from slavery, colonialism and apartheid might be what caused him to not comply with Cricket South Africa’s directive, and to consequently withdraw himself from the match.
That’s not the soft view, nor one that seeks to justify de Kock’s continued inaction over antiracist gestures, but rather one that aims to add nuance to the ever-complex conversation around race and sport, and especially race and sport in South Africa.

 

 

 

The array of gestures before the game against Australia that probably drove CSA to mandate the whole team taking the knee  ICC via Getty Continue reading →

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October 28, 2021 · 9:04 am

A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka

Gehan de Silva Wijeyratne, in Ozlanka, https://www.ozlanka.com/2021/10/10/a-naturalists-guide-to-the-birds-of-sri-lanka/,…… where the title is  “A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka”

British company John Beaufoy Publishing has published a significantly revised third edition of A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Previous editions of this pocket guide have served as a first book on birdwatching in Sri Lanka to many visitors and local residents. The third edition has been extensively revised to reflect current taxonomic thinking influenced by advances in molecular phylogenetics. The arrangement of birds to reflect their evolutionary relationship to each other is the science of taxonomy or systematics, which has been in a state of flux for centuries as taxonomists attempt to construct the evolutionary relationship between birds. The new arrangement of families will hold many surprises. For example, consider the familiar Sri Lanka Woodshrike, an endemic bird that is easily seen in popular dry lowland sites such as Yala. Many local birders will be surprised to find that it is now included in the family Vangidae, which comprises birds known as Vangas better known from Madagascar. The exact placement of some bird species still remains unresolved despite significant advances in genome sequencing.

 

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October 26, 2021 · 11:34 am

Misreading the Asian Political Scenario: Ameer Ali’s Six Misconceptions

Fair Dinkum

Ameer Ali’s essay of 6 June 2021 in the Colombo Telegraph [reproduced recently in Thuppahi ……… https://thuppahis.com/2021/10/24/betwixt-india-and-china-little-lanka/) suffers from three fatal flaws. First, there is a failure to identify his political affiliations and to show some understanding of how this might influence his opinions. Second, by failing to do so, he presents his claims and arguments as if these were absolute truths. Third, he fails to critically evaluate US, Indian and CBK interests and intentions. He presents a false representation of what is occurring in the world today in the context of US efforts to demonize China as “a threat” in an attempt to undermine its rise. He makes a dangerous recommendation as to how Sri Lanka should manage India and China interests by urging the government to join the US confrontation against China. He is clearly a cheerleader for CBK and the anti-Rajapakse crowd in Colombo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this response essay, I will unpack six claims made by Ameer to explain why each are blatantly false.

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October 24, 2021 · 7:55 pm

Shock! Terror! 9/11…… From Within CIA Headquarters at Langley

Anbereen Hasan

On 9/11 I was at my desk at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA. We had just started our morning meeting when the planes hit the World Trade Towers in NYC. We sat in stunned silence, trying to absorb the catastrophe before our eyes; then we shifted to frantic action. Overnight, my professional world changed. I was now front and center in our fight against terrorism. The walls outside our embassies only got higher as the world saw the U.S as a target and a threat.

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October 24, 2021 · 7:20 pm

Vale: Joe Weeramunda, Versatile Anthropologist, Warm Friend

Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana, in The Island, 28 August 2021, with this title  “Appreciation Professor Anton Joseph Weeramunda”

I write this appreciation as one who has been Joe’s classmate at St. Joseph’s, roommate at Marcus Fernando Hall at the University of Peradeniya, and a life-long friend. Joe was an exceptional human being who was quiet, modest, smart, and kind to all and sundry to a fault. His family and friends will miss him terribly. All the friends that I contacted to let them know about Joe’s passing away have written back expressing their profound sorrow to learn about his passing. He was a genuine person that all of us came to admire, like, and be devoted to.

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October 24, 2021 · 12:42 am

Betwixt India and China: Little Lanka

ACL Ameer Ali in Colombo Telegraph, 6 June 2021, where the title is “Delhi’s Choice & Colombo’s Highway to Beijing ”  … but note that the highlighting is an imposition of The Editor, Thuppahi

Post-war Sri Lanka has turned into a contestable terrain for a new Great Game played chiefly between two regional powers, India and China with their respective allies. Although India’s presumption of control over the Indian Ocean remained uncontested once the former colonial masters started leaving the region one by one, Indian historians and political strategists like K. M. Panikkar warned Independent India of economic and security perils of surrendering control over Indian Ocean[…]

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October 23, 2021 · 8:11 pm

Andrew Fernando’s Clinical Assessment of Sri Lanka’s Prospects in T20 World Cup

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, October 2021, where the chosen title is “Not a lot is expected of Sri Lanka, and that may free them up to punch big”

If you look at a certain set of statistics, you’d think Sri Lanka were T20 World Cup kings. In the history of this tournament, they have won more T20 World Cup games (25) than any other side, their win/loss percentage of 2.083 unmatched. They have reached the final in half of the six World Cups played. And they have produced some of the World Cup’s most iconic performances. But such has been their rate of decline since 2014 (when they won), that they were forced to qualify for the main draw this time. They arrive in the Super 12s ranked tenth in the world, having won only two of their last 12 bilateral T20I series. Since the last T20 World Cup, they have had at least five captains in the format. Although their ODI and Test cricket has also suffered substantially over the past few years, T20Is have been Sri Lanka’s worst format.

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October 23, 2021 · 7:45 pm

Comparative Insights: USA’s Failures in Vietnam and Afghanistan

H.D.S Greenway, in Sri Lanka Guardian, 23 October 2021, … where the title runs thus  = Half century long American misadventures

A veteran war correspondent recalls the ignorance, poor judgement, exceptionalism, and hubris in all of [USA’s]  interventions.

Nearly half a century ago I watched the South Vietnamese army, an army that had been trained and equipped by the United States, simply melt away before a less well equipped but better-motivated army of North Vietnam. The South Vietnamese fled in panic before the North’s final offensive. I saw soldiers taking off their uniforms and fleeing in their underwear. Cities were falling before the North Vietnamese had time to get there.

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October 23, 2021 · 6:52 pm

Namibia as Lilliput among the Giants in Cricket’s T20 World Cup

Firdose Moonda, in ESPNcricinfo 20 October 2021 where her title is “Namibia live out their desert dream”

Namibia is a country of 2.5 million people, nine cricket fields, five cricket clubs and 16 contracted players. And they’ve made it to the Super 12s of a T20 World Cup. Along the way, they’ve won their first-ever major tournament match and they’ve beaten a Full Member. Over the next three weeks, they will play against four others and they have automatically secured a spot at the next T20 World Cup too. Their performances will get people talking about the deserts and the desolate landscapes of the country they call home; a place where you can drive for hundreds of kilometres and not see another soul; of Africa’s last colony, with no major cricketing achievements to its name until now.

 

 

Namibia’s captain Gerhard Erasmus top-scored in the game that took them to the Super 12s  ICC via Getty Continue reading →

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October 22, 2021 · 7:53 pm

LTTE Activists at Work in Britain, 2021 …. stirring both Labour and Tories

Maya Anthony, in Ceylon Today, 14 October 2021,where the title reads  “The LTTE Born Again; Second-Generation Terrorists”

The remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are regrouping in the UK. Like Osama bin Laden groomed Hamza bin Laden to succeed him, the LTTE leaders and members are grooming their own children. Prabhakaran too set an example by training and grooming his children; Charles Anthony, Dwarka and Balachandran. To radicalise their next generation, the separatists are promoting a false narrative. Using funds and votes, the terrorists are planning to penetrate both the Labour and Conservative Parties in the UK. 

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