Pri's blog

"Greeks and Greek-Americans in the U.S. Diaspora, like myself, have been watching the strikes, demonstrations and tragic deaths that have brought our country to a standstill with mixed emotions. The images of Athens burning, tear gas rising and riot police clashing with citizens sharply contrast with images of white sandy beaches, beautiful islands, historic landmarks and mouthwatering cuisine that usually come to mind. Despite feelings of shock, sadness and even anger, to those who know Greek public political culture in its entirety, it is not surprising to most that this day would eventually come. Greek citizens, immigrants and those with strong ties to the country, admit the role that societal norms, mainly tax evasion, nepotism, clientelism and bribery (all very persistent in Greek public political culture) are in part responsible for bringing the country to the brink of collapse. For the past decade, Greek citizens did not heed warning their culture of corruption and the ...

Find it terribly depressing to think that self-interest is a fundamental, unalienable characteristic of human beings. When we do something for others, whether it’s for individuals, or for society, sure we feel good, but our motivation for doing it is not necessarily to feel good, but because we want to help, or because we think as members of society we want to make a contribution – surely that cannot be classed as ‘self-interest’, or even ‘enlightened self-interest’? What about the thousands of mothers who make different kinds of sacrifices for their children, is that self-interest? Freedom fighters like Steve Biko or Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jnr do we reduce their actions to ‘ego trips’? Was Mother Theresa just a crazy Albanian woman who got a kick out of working in Calcutta’s slums? Or Ela Bhatt (the founder of SEWA) a trade unionist merely interested in recognition for herself? Equally depressing that young women (especially young women) all of whom are at least fifteen...

  (photo taken by Pri) In peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons

Saw this on Fiona's facebook, and wanted to blog it because it really should be an inspiration to anyone who is working towards change, whatever one thinks of the labour party or of Gordon Brown. The words are stirring.

[Apologies - this is not much of a blog, is it? Just some occasional musings. Take it as you wish] This week two prizes for imagination. One to His Excellency, Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, President of Sri Lanka, for giving Mr Mervyn Silva (or is he Dr?) the portfolio of Deputy Media Minister. Maybe Mervyn is about to make amends for his assault on media personnel including the Rupavahini News Director in 2007. I don't suppose we are expecting him to close down all media like he did all taverns in his electorate. He has vowed to "protect journalists" maybe to achieve patron sainthood of some sort, now that he has an honorary doctorate and is a Honorable (?) Member of Parliament. His responsibility to protect could mean that he incarcerates all journalists and dictates their copy so that no known or unknown persons can attack them by barging into their offices or killing them at close range on the street. This could earn him one of my imagination prizes! [For those who mis...

I was spared the video because I don't watch television. Here it is from the Daily Mirror Website. Check it out here My September 26 vignette was about war. But this one is about something happening in peace time, in Bambalapitiya, in the heart of residential and commercial Colombo. The man who was bludgeoned to death was deranged and as such violent to those around him - but do our forces not have any training to overpower him without killing him? and what about all those people, civilians like you and me, who stood around watching this happen? Is this our post-conflict collective conscience?

Check this out if you haven't already. http://tinyurl.com/kw526a It is a video of the Sri Lankan army executing Tamils early this year and was shown on Channel 4 recently and did the rounds of emails, facebook etc. Naturally it sparked a huge row. GOSL denied it of course. Experts tried to prove it was a fake. Last heard, GOSL was going to sue Channel 4. The footage is udoubtedly quite horrific and irrespective of whether this video is a fake or not, I think it is quite possible that such incidents could have taken place. What I find disturbing is that responsible journalists, and responsible citizens are happy to accept 'evidence' that has so obviously not been triangulated, that is openly admitted to being 'unverified'. Is it not also an indictment of our times that no one is seeing the video as depicting the brutalising effect of war . Armed conflict creates monsters on both sides - and this for me is the most important message that this video needs to bri...