On the 70th birth anniversary of the co-founder of the Sri Lanka Navy Special Boat Squadron (SBS), Late Commander (VNF) Cedric Martenstyn NVX 5068, which fell on 5th October 2016, Sri Lanka Navy renamed their Arrow Boats as “Cedric” in honour of him. The SBS was raised by the present Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne and Commander Cedric Martenstyn in October 1993 keeping in line with the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Squadron and the US Navy SEALS Special Boat Unit.
The story of how the survivors received a racist response in the U.S. is prompting viewers to reflect on China’s rise. During the editing of “Titanic,” the 1997 blockbuster about the ship’s fated maiden voyage in April 1912, a scene of a Chinese man laying on a door, floating in the ocean and awaiting rescue, was left on the cutting room floor.
Filed under accountability, China and Chinese influences, discrimination, disparagement, historical interpretation, immigration, legal issues, life stories, meditations, politIcal discourse, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, trauma, world events & processes
Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, in .. where the ttile runs thus “Geopolitics Of The Easter Attacks: The Weaponization Of Religion Amid Hybrid War”
“We have met the enemy and he is us” — Walt Kelly from Pogo Comics, quoted in “The ISIS is US: the shocking truth behind the Army of Terror”[1]
“Crime is a form of communication that is both complex and fascinating as it is always characterized by a relationship that can be established between elements present and something absent, or yet to be discovered…Investigating a crime and trying to prevent recurrence means evaluating every possible voluntary and involuntary message left by an author..”[2]
Filed under american imperialism, ancient civilisations, arab regimes, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Islamic fundamentalism, landscape wondrous, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, violence of language, world events & processes, zealotry
Asoka Bandarage, in Asia Times, 3 April 2021, where the title runs thus: ‘Human rights’ and Sri Lanka’s ecological crisis “
A UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution of March 16 brought extensive charges against Sri Lanka over alleged human-rights violations, but is arguably seriously flawed. Opportunistic and strategic use of human rights by the Western powers to maintain hegemony continually ignores violations of the rights of nature and humanity rooted in the destructive model of economic development the same powers introduced to the world.
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, environmental degradation, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, population, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Lakshman Kadirgamar
“Ladies and Gentlemen, let me see whether politics and cricket have anything in common. Both are games. Politicians and cricketers are superficially similar, and yet very different. Both groups are wooed by the cruel public who embrace them today and reject them tomorrow.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, conspiracies, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
A recent article by Dishan Joseph (see below) has marked the role of a commando outfit known as the SBS, or Special Boat Service, that was developed within the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) during the Eelam Wars. The story is complex and demands an elaborate ‘companion piece’ that is attentive to time, combat locations, initiatives and the lessons derived from a remarkable and formidable enemy, namely, the Sea Tigers. In war one becomes like one’s opponent in order to survive. The innovativeness of the LTTE was monumental and its sea-faring capacities were one reason why it outdid-and-outbid the other Tamil militant organisations in the fight to lead the claim for independence for Thamililam during the 1980s/1990s.
Filed under education, Eelam, ethnicity, female empowerment, historical interpretation, insurrections, island economy, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military strategy, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil Tiger fighters, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, unusual people, war reportage, women in ethnic conflcits, working class conditions, world events & processes
Photo courtesy of my old student pal Piyasiri Wickramasekara ….more details below
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, chauvinism, cultural transmission, education, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, modernity & modernization, patriotism, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
“White Storks in Southern Portugal” ….. What a Wonderful Picture! …. An Elegant Couple in a Striking Setting
“Did you know? Legend has it that in the old days in Portugal, it was considered very bad luck to kill a stork. The punishment, so the story goes, is that an offender had his hand chopped off. Now that really is bad luck. Ancient Thessaly, a region found in modern Greece, originally implemented the death penalty for anybody killing a stork; even worse luck.
For many years the stork has been a protected species worldwide. In Portugal they are almost revered. Unfortunately, these beautiful creatures migrate from southern Europe to the Near East and Africa where, despite still being protected under law, many countries do not enforce the law, or they implement very light penalties, that do little to deter hunters. Much illegal killing of storks and other protected species still takes place when these birds migrate” — https://meravista.com/en/algarve/information/fun-stuff/storks-in-the-algarve
thuppahi
