When I first heard the phrase “MiG deal” as a kid in 2007, I never expected that less than two years later, the printing of those two words in my father’s newspaper would lead to my standing over his open grave on the darkest day of my life. It has long been clear to me, and to all those familiar with the evidence, that had my father not exposed the MiG deal in The Sunday Leader, he would still be alive today, still writing, still exposing wrongdoing, still standing tall against the powers that be. He knew the risks of exposing a man who cherished his holier than thou public persona, but the risk did not stop him from doing his job.
Locals and Environmentalists Challenge An Aussie Sand-Mining Project in Mannar
As a small child, Shreen Abdul Saroor remembers getting up before dawn with her father to spy on the masses of migratory birds that would visit her island. The birds were on their way down the Central Asian flyway — a migration path that crosses 30 countries from Siberia to the Indian Ocean. “We would hide somewhere and … we don’t make any noise,” Ms Saroor recalls. “[Then we’d watch] them coming and landing in the causeway areas and then catching fish and taking off as a huge group covering the entire sky.”
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Filed under accountability, australian media, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, economic processes, environmental degradation, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tourism, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
QAnon Right-Wing Extremists and Scott Morrison: Ominous Togetherness
Christopher Knaus and Josh Taylor, in an essay in 2019 which gains relevance in the light of the recent events in Capital Hill in Washington …. This essay was entitled “Revealed: the QAnon conspiracy theorist who is friends with Australian PM Scott Morrison”
A significant Australian proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory is a family friend of Scott Morrison, and his wife is on the prime minister’s staff. The sprawling, disjointed and incoherent QAnon conspiracy variously claims that Donald Trump is leading a behind-the-scenes fight against a shadowy deep state, that powerful forces are hiding and protecting satanic paedophile rings, and that a secretive individual named Q leaves clues for his followers to decipher on internet forums.
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Filed under american imperialism, Australian culture, australian media, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, conspiracies, disparagement, economic processes, fundamentalism, historical interpretation, life stories, modernity & modernization, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world affairs, world events & processes
Ceylonese Enlisting in RAF during World War II: More Data
Group Captain Kumar Kirinde, SLAF (Retd)
Clarence Shelton Anthony Perera was a member of the 1st batch of Ceylonese to join the RAF. As per the only ATA record available he has first served in the RAF from September 1941 to January 1943. He has left the service as a LAC. He then in April 1943 joined as a Pilot Cadet in the Air Transport Auxillary (ATA), a civilian organisation ferrying aircraft for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy ” — Charles Amarasekere Continue reading →
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Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, martyrdom, patriotism, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
The Lasantha Wickrematunge KILL: The Financial Shenanigans Inspiring the Strike
Ahimsa Wickrematunge, courtesy of Groundviews, 8 January 2021, where the title reads “The MIG Deal: Why My Father had to Die”
Twelve years ago today The Sunday Leader Editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was brutally murdered in broad daylight within a high security zone. His killers have never been punished. Here is why.
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Sathasivam’s Gem of a Double Century vs Madras in 1947
Nicholas Brookes …. with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi
On February 1947, a Ceylon Cricket Association XI was invited to play Southern India in Madras. It was a great moment for Ceylonese cricket. Everyone scored runs: Makkin Salih made 98, de Saram 42, Jayawickrema 52 and Heyn 66 – but no one remembers these innings. They were blown out of the water by a sublime 215 from Sathasivam, a new record at Chepauk and according to many, the best innings ever played at the ground. Bertie Wijesinha, who made his first-class debut in the game, later wrote ‘Sathasivam wafted his magic blade and carved out a work of art’. Sport is often described as performance, but rarely has the term been more apt. Satha played for the crowd. His was a batsmanship elevated beyond the mere making of runs.
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Coconut Goodies Sri Lankan Style …. with Hard Work
VISIT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJk4JaLNyd4
TRADITONAL ME tells us
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England Cricket Squad in Lanka …. Moeen with Covid
Rex Clementine, in ISLAND, 8 January 2021, “England begin training after negative PCR tests”
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Satha and De Saram: Outstanding Batsmen as well Prominent Jailbirds
Nicholas Brookes in The Cricket Monthly at ESPNcricinfo, 6 May 2019, where the title runs “The story of De Saram and Satha: batting geniuses who went to jail” …. Two of Sri Lanka’s greatest batsmen had memorable lives, but they have been nearly forgotten today
The 1947 Ceylon squad that played South India: De Saram and Sathasivam are seated third and sixth from left (holding bats) …. details at bottom of this item
Ask any sports fan what it takes for a player to reach the pinnacle of their game and you’ll get the same tired answers. Talent. Temperament. Determination. But sporting greatness also relies on factors more arcane. Like luck. Or opportunity. Being in the right place at the right time. Just imagine if Pelé had been born in Bombay or if Gavaskar had grown up in Brazil. Where would they be now?
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Red Letter Day for Women: Penetration of Cricket Umpiring Heights
ESPNcricinfo staff ………. https://www.espn.com.au/cricket/story/_/id/26615484/claire-polosak-make-history-first-female-umpire-men-odi
Australia’s Claire Polosak will make history on Saturday as she becomes the first female umpire to stand in a men’s ODI when she officiates in the final of the World Cricket League Division 2 between Namibia and Oman.
PLUS: For the first time in 144 years of Test-match cricket, a woman – Australia’s Claire Polosak – has officiated in the longest format of the game, as the fourth or reserve umpire, in the third Test between Australia and India, which started at the SCG on Thursday.







