| French military using winged warriors to hunt down rogue drones. This is amazing. |
Following incidents of drones flying over the presidential palace and restricted military sites – along with the deadly 2015 Paris terror attacks – the French Air Force has trained four golden eagles to intercept and destroy the rogue aircraft.
A golden eagle grabs a flying drone during a military training exercise at Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base, Southwestern France.
Alex Van Arkadie
Long before the legendary seafarer ‘Sinbad’ chanced to harbor in waters lapping the little isle of ‘Serendip’, or European colonizers discovered Ptolemy’s ‘Ceylan’, pilgrims from the distant Orient have been visiting here. During the reign of the Indian Emperor Asoka (2nd Century BC), the island’s North Central Province was home to Sinhala Kings under whose patronage Buddhism spread. Following India’s gift of a sapling from the Bodhi Tree under which Sidharta Gautama Buddha attained ‘nirvana’, the ancient city of Anuradhapura draws pilgrims and curious visitors from everywhere. The tree is regarded as the oldest in the world (2,200 years). Similarly, a painting in the office of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Rome, depicts “Emissaries of the Sinhala Royal Court presenting Credentials to Emperor Claudius” (according to Roman Historian Gaius Plinius Secundas, AD 23-79, pix. below).
Juliet Coombe, in Daily News, 1 December 2017,where the title runs “Fragments of the past”
“New things you can replace. Old things are irreplaceable.” Such is the mentality that has underpinned the empire that is now the Historical Mansion, right through from the inventor of the museum, Hussain senior, who has passed the museum onto his eldest son Kamal who now runs it, along with the arcade, gem making workshop in the central courtyard and the fabulous antiques gallery with filigree jewellery that is hundreds of years old. Newness is not important to Kamal, he simply wants to preserve what his father collected so that future generations can understand and appreciate the lives that were lived without electricity hence the notches in the walls for candles and if you wanted water you had to draw it from the central courtyard well.
Michael Roberts, being a reprint of an article entitled “Wunderkidz in a Blunderland: tensions and tales from Sri Lankan cricket,” that appeared in Sport in Society Vol. 12, No. 4/5, May–June 2009, 566–5 … with emphasis added by highlighting in blue and/or red.
The story of Sri Lankan cricket is a tale of great cricketing success within the context of a polity struggling with civil war and great levels of internal violence. Cricket is the one arena in Sri Lankan public culture where Tamils and Sinhalese, locked in a bloody civil war for decades, come together on a national public platform. From being reviled as a Western import in the early years of independence to its gradual embrace and penetration of new catchment areas in less affluent and more rural areas, the story of Sri Lankan cricket in many ways mirrors the development of the post-colonial Sri Lankan nation. This essay fleshes out prominent themes in the history of Sri Lankan cricket within the context of the major socio-political developments in twentieth century Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan cricketers celebrate their defeat of Australia on 17th March 1996 with the treasured World Cup in their hands
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, cricket for amity, discrimination, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, sri lankan society, unusual people
Item in the Indian Sun, http://www.theindiansun.com.au/new-multicultural-commissioners-
Victoria’s multicultural communities will have new voices advocating for their interests, with the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) welcoming three new Commissioners, and the reappointment of three more. VMC Chairperson Helen Kapalos said each Commissioner brings a wealth of experience and insight to their role.“The role of a Commissioner requires compassion to listen to people and understand their challenges and aspirations; it requires innovative thinking to find lasting, meaningful solutions; and it requires the courage to provide frank and fearless advice to the Victorian Government,” said Ms Kapalos.
Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa
BBC Item, 19 November 2017, …. “Why some Germans look at Syrian refugees and see themselves”
Between 1944 and 1947, an estimated 12 million ethnic Germans fled or were expelled from their homes. Overshadowed by the crimes of the Nazis, their stories have often received little international attention. But these days, as Bethany Bell reports from Germany, the new arrivals from Syria have awakened old memories about what it means to flee.
Christa Nolte as a baby with her mother and her brother – she still has the teddy bear Continue reading
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, discrimination, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Rt. Revd. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Bishop of Colombo: Extracts from His Address at the 132nd Annual Sessions of the Diocese of Colombo, Church of Ceylon.
‘One of the most disappointing failures of the govt. has been its inability to end rampant corruption’
Each year, both in the report of the Standing Committee of our Diocese and in my own charge we turn to look at the significant events that have taken place in the country, viewed from the standpoint of the Church. Our scriptural and theological understanding of God’s concern for and involvement in the history of peoples and nations requires us to engage fully with the issues of our country and the world. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, cultural transmission, democratic measures, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, modernity & modernization, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, religiosity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, world affairs
Michael Roberts, providing a reprint of “Landmarks and Threads in the Cricketing Universe of Sri Lanka,” Sport in Society, January 2007, vol. 10 (1): 120-42…. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17430430600989209
Cricket developed in British Ceylon [1] as a pastime indulged in by the British ruling elements, whether military men, officials, merchants or planters. It was but one sport in a wide repertoire of pastimes pursued by the British rulers, practices that were assisted by the resources they commanded, not least a host of minions servicing their leisured enjoyments. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, cricket for amity, disparagement, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
Dayan Jayatilleka, Island, 24 November 2017, where the title reads “A Lankan left project: Why Sri Lanka needs a left option”
Castro , Lenin , Dharmapala , Puran Appu
“Nationalism is not our essential idea, although we do love our homeland dearly. We consider ourselves internationalists…”(Fidel Castro, Economy 98, July 3rd 1998 speech)
“…We’re not very nationalistic. We’re patriots but we’re not very nationalistic…” (Fidel Castro, Talks with US and French journalists, 1983, pp. 34-5)
“We internationalist revolutionaries always say…humanity comes before our country!”
(Fidel Castro Speaks, ed. James Petras p159)
Filed under american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, Buddhism, conspiracies, democratic measures, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, working class conditions, world events & processes
S. S. Chandra Perera, in The Janashakthi Book of Cricket 1832-1996, Colombo, pp. 320-26 …. with emphasis in blue & red from The Editor, Thuppahi and that in black by Chandra Perera himself
In 1935, a selection debacle had been commented on in verse. Now, 33 years later, a few more lines in verse in a local newspaper fired the first shots to start the controversy over the 1968 tour to England. The tour certainly created much dissension amongst the local cricket fraternity. The lines by pro Bono ‘Pabilis’ read:
And so the Chairman had his day
We thought it would only be HIK,
And poor Mike who won a Test
Found after all he was not the best,
And neither was Gamini, the Cambridge Cap,
Came all the way from England
Little realising that we are now free
And that two Selectors are as good as three.
Does it matter who played against Lister?
Wimalaratne is just poor sister
May be he can play the Chairman’s role
And vote for himself and the Nation
In one magnificent operation.
Remember the words of good old John,
“Serve yourself till you are gone:
Life is but a fleeting thing
Nomads may travel, Gypsies are Kings”.
thuppahi
