By Under Dog
 
Amidst the bombs, the war, the white vans, and the checkpoints, I look back with fond memories of the ceasefire. It brought four glorious years of peace and prosperity, and also did what the naysayers said could never happen—it split the LTTE in two. Karuna, the LTTE’s fiercest combat commander, and an incessant thorn in our side during the ill-fated Jayasikurui operation, decided he wanted out. Perhaps he wanted a bigger share of the spoils from the LTTE money machine, perhaps more authority, or perhaps he had a lover’s quarrel with Prabhakaran (when the Dear Leader asked ‘do I look fat in this?’ he shouldn’t have recommended changing the uniforms to vertical stripes). Anyway, the …

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Stupid Old Men

I don’t want to end up being a stupid old man
Just look at what they have done to our world in vain
What’s the big deal in going to the moon
As he yet settles score by inflicting pain
War on terror, crusade or witch hunts
Stupid old men run scared to ruin
Peace on earth has little chance to shine

I wonder whether it’s the testosterone drain
that give men the jitters when age is on the gain
I need to wise up and control this mind game
Or else I will end up a stupid old man

Dig not my heals in the old men’s club
When science of Descartes takes the quantum leap
Calling it mumbo jumbo quackery they oppress
The new magic of now you see and …

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Economic sanctions have been used for foreign policy objectives since the time of Ancient Greece.

The idea that economic sanctions might be an alternative to the use of force received attention after the First World War, largely owing to President Woodrow Wilson’s advocacy. Since World War II, Economic sanctions have been employed to promote democracy and human rights, to end civil war, to stop drug trafficking, to fight terrorism, to combat weapons proliferation, and to promote nuclear disarmament. Since the creation of the United Nations in 1945, the Security Council has imposed sanctions in fifteen cases: Southern Rhodesia (1966), South Africa (1977), Iraq (1990), former Yugoslavia (1991), Liberia (1992), Libya (1992), Somalia (1992), Angola (1993), Haiti (1993), Rwanda (1994), Sudan (1996), …

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It was a busy afternoon on the Galle Road in Moratuwa and I stopped my vehicle at a pedestrian crossing to allow a few women and children cross the road.  The vehicle on the left lane also stopped and the people were now more than halfway across when a Matara bound Leyland bus squeezed through the left and overtook both vehicles along the curb, barely missing the people crossing the road.   The bus then cut across to the right lane and nearly missed another bunch of people about to cross at another pedestrian crossing and sped away.  The above scenario is a common site on our roads, but no one takes any action, so the unsociable behaviour from the bus …

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As soon as the security forces arrived at Arrippu, in September 2007, we were escorted out of our villages, some with personal belongings many with only what they were wearing. We sheltered at Nanattan School for 15 days. We made a request to the area commander through our GA Mn & DS Nananattan to resettle us in our native place.

First they said that they would allow us to go to our village with in a month. Then they said after 06 months. Finally they said that they would resettle us when The Defense Ministry would give an order only they would allow us to go. We still remain IDPs unable to go back to our villages.

Since we engage in fishing …

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There appears to be renewed interest in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) within policy circles here.  The GFA is certainly unique because it fundamentally reconstituted the state and politics in NI. Republican and unionists expectations on a number of issues were diametrically opposed to each other, but major concessions were made on both sides in order to reach agreement. Sinn Fein (SF) and the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) eventually agreed to a settlement which did not grant them their primary political aspiration - a united Ireland.  The unionist agreed to share executive power with the Catholic community, an idea resisted by them for decades. The GFA has many lessons for Sri Lanka, and it is …

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Any satisfactory answer to this question must examine, and consider the root causes for this problem; however, the solution must be sensitive to the numerous complexities brought about by the conflict itself. In the case of Sri Lanka, it would be naive examine this problem from a purely pre-1983 perspective.

The fundamental cause for this conflict is the perception by one race that the other race was privileged; there was a general perception racial inequality was prevalent. How did this perception arise? The origins lie in the 19th Century; the American missionaries established a wide network of schools in the Jaffna peninsula that molded an educated, English speaking group of people. The British then tapped into this ready pool of resources …

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My mother in law, age 55 is from Kalliyaddy, Mannar, (an LTTE controlled area) came to live with her daughter, who is married to me in Sinnakarishal, Pesalai on 15.01.08. Kalliyady is in LTTE controlled area with around 500 families. Life there has been extremely difficult for her and during the latter stages even more difficult. It is mandatory that a member of a family join the LTTE in their struggle. However, my mother in law managed to get her daughter out of the LTTE controlled area and gave her in marriage to me. 

She was adamant that she will not give her other daughter to join the LTTE and thought it was best to flee Kalliyaddy with her 25 year …

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This video was filmed approximately two and half hours after the bomb exploded on a crowded bus at a bus-stop in Piliyandala, near Colombo, in Sri Lanka. There was a mobile phone ringing inside the bus.

(please note the date-stamp on the video should read 25th April, NOT 24th April)

The LTTE are being blamed for the bus explosion. Latest reports say that 24 people are dead and 40 wounded.