Terrorsim in Britain has been Blunted and Contained

THE SPECTATOR, Editorial, 18 August 2018, with title Terrorism isn’t ‘losing’. It has already lost”

By now, the routine is familiar: a lone wolf strikes, roads are sealed off, buildings locked down and a biographical picture begins to emerge. Often, the perpetrator turns out to be born and bred in Britain. His astonished friends and neighbours say they saw no signs that he had succumbed to fanaticism. It later emerges that radicalisation happened incredibly quickly — perhaps inspired by online videos — and the terror plan was so low-tech that interception would have been impossible. How, it might be asked, can any country protect itself against such threats?

Pic from Getty

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CIA Network Identified and Eliminated in China

Zach Dorfman, in Foreign Policy, 15 August 2018, where the title runs thus: Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents”

It was considered one of the CIA’s worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities systematically dismantled the agency’s network of agents across the country, executing dozens of suspected U.S. spies. But since then, a question has loomed over the entire debacle. How were the Chinese able to roll up the network?

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Digs for Ancient Chinese Artefacts in Jaffna and South

Zhang Kun, in China Daily … taken up by News-in-Asia, 16 August 2018, where the title is “Sino-Lankan archaeologists look for Chinese artifacts buried in Jaffna”

Archaeologists from the Shanghai Museum embarked on a 40-day excavation mission to Sri Lanka on Monday. The group will be working in ancient ruins in Jaffna alongside representatives from the Central Cultural Fund and a local university in Sri Lanka.

the archeologists’ team from the Shanghai Museum

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Impressive India House Ceremony in Colombo on 15th August

Editor, News-in-Asia, 15 August 2018, where the title runs “Large attendance marked India’s 71 st. Independence Day celebrations in Colombo”

An impressively large number of resident Indians and Sri Lankans braved inclement weather to attend the Indian Independence Day flag hoisting ceremony held at ‘India House’ here on Wednesday. Men, women and children dressed in their best, turned up to  express their joy over India’s turning 71,  and to show their solidarity with a resurgent India.

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New Constitution opens door for CBK and Mahinda to enter Presidency Stakes

EDITOR, News-in-Asia, 19 August 2018, where the title is “No constitutional bar on becoming Lankan President more than twice, says constitutional expert Prof.G.L.Peiris”

Prof. G.L.Peiris, a former Sri Lankan Minister for Constitutional Affairs who is currently one of the leaders of the Joint Opposition (JO), has said that there is no constitutional bar against any person being President of Sri Lanka more than twice, even though the 19 th.Amendment (19A) enacted in 2015 says that a person cannot be President more than twice.

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Dharmapāla’s Seminal Moment at Buddha Gāya in 1891: An Anagārika for the Universe

 Michael Roberts, courtesy of  The Island and Sunday Times and with thanks to Sasanka Perera & Steve Kemper

Sasanka Perera has recently introduced readers to a new book by Steven Kemper entitled Rescuing Dharmapala from the Nation (University of Chicago Press, 2015) – a book which surveys the socio-political activities of the Anagarika Dharmapala in a refreshing manner. I have yet to get hold of the book, but Sasanka provides enough commentary to provoke a discussion.

 Dharmapala in USA –probably at the World Congress of Religions 1893

Within a context where Dharmapala aka Don David Hewavitarne is regarded as an influential Sinhala Buddhist chauvinist by many social scientists analysing Sri Lankan history and politics, Perera indicates that Kemper provides broader dimensions by re-situating Dharmapala “within the Buddhist world of his time by … focusing on his international activities in aid of Buddhist causes and cross-faith discussions.” Kemper’s new work, therefore, is a modification of the Protestant Buddhist thesis popularized in social science circles by Gananath Obeyesekere’s writings in particular. Continue reading

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Remarkable Compositions, Natural and Man-made

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Hidden Treasures

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Lakemba Sydney is “No-Go” Area for White Aussies

Watch “Thrown Out Of Sydney No Go Zone” on YouTube

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/16543248573c5861?projector=1

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Hardy Women: Yesterday’s Africans in Today’s Lanka

African sisters in Sri Lanka

On the road to Sirambiyadi

On the road to Sirambiyadi

In every culture family is an important element of human life. For centuries Ceylon had been a maritime domain for foreign traders, defiant conquerors and zealous missionaries. All these foreigners left behind their ancestors, who with time, integrated into our society. There were many nationalities who lived here in those ancient times – Arabs, Europeans, Indians and Africans. Much focus has been given to the various ethnic clans, but, people of African origin domiciled here were marginalised. Once in a while, these African-Sri Lankans would capture our attention via a youtube song video. One of the last such families of direct African origin live in Puttalam. The name Puttalam, is believed to be derived from the Tamil word “upputhalam” – uppu meaning salt and thalam meaning area of production, thus Puttalam is still famous for salt.

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