Eymard de Silva Wijeyeratne, in the Island, 14 July 2011
“And, indeed, our intellectual as well as our ethical education is corrupt. It is perverted by the admiration of brilliance, of the way things are said, which takes the place of a critical appreciation of the things that are said (and the things that are done). It is perverted by the romantic idea of the splendour of the stage of History on which we are the actors. We are educated to act with an eye to the gallery”. (Karl Popper – ‘The Open Society and Its Enemies’. Vol. II, ‘The High Tide of Prophecy’, Chapter 25 – ‘Has History Any Meaning?’)
I was wary of writing this piece, because it would appear trivial when set against the superbIslandeditorials and the contributions made by others on the same subject. Even today’s (11th July 2011) editorial on Peter Roebuck’s shot-gun blast atSri Lankadeserves congratulations.
The introductory paragraph may create an impression in the minds of readers that my intention is to devalue and dismiss Kumar Sangakkara’s ‘Cowdrey Lecture at Lords’. On the contrary, I use it to highlight its value in the context of the contemporary social scene in Sri Lanka, as it relates to governance, cricket administration, the destruction caused by terrorism and the struggle to get back to a life of peace and tranquillity. The following extracts from his speech, which indicate the suffering endured by the Sri Lankan people, are important because of the international audience that listened to it. I will quote a short passage from his speech to illustrate its value. Continue reading →
COULD Norway have done anything to anticipate the weekend terrorist attacks? And what are the lessons from those events? The obvious place to start is with the perpetrator, and whether there were warning signs that could have alerted authorities to the danger he posed.
Pic of McVeigh when in US Army
Pic from AP
