{"id":139063,"date":"2023-12-16T17:14:30","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T00:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=139063"},"modified":"2023-12-16T17:14:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T00:14:30","slug":"sri-lanka-india-sail-hush-hush-under-us-navy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2023\/12\/16\/sri-lanka-india-sail-hush-hush-under-us-navy\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka & India Sail Hush-Hush Under US\u00a0Navy"},"content":{"rendered":"

e-Con e-News<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Before you study the economics<\/strong>, study the economists<\/strong>!<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

e-Con e-News 10-16 December 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One objective of the USA\u2019s \u2018colour revolution\u2019 in Sri Lanka aka \u2018Aragalaya\u2019 has been achieved \u2013\u00a0mission accomplished!<\/em>\u00a0The Sri Lankan & Indian Navies are now operating under USA-England\u2019s\u00a0Combined Maritime Force (CMF).\u00a0<\/strong>Midst lots of blabber about \u2018nonalignment\u2019 and \u2018strategic neutrality\u2019 etc, we are about to end up embroiled in white military (naval) attacks on the Western IOR (Indian Ocean Region<\/strong>), already stalked by the\u00a0US Central Command<\/strong>. This could immediately mean fighting against\u00a0Ansarullah<\/strong>\u00a0(which BBCysts call Houthi) of\u00a0Yemen<\/strong>, against\u00a0Eritrea<\/strong>,\u00a0Ethiopia<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Somalia<\/strong>, and potentially against\u00a0Hezbollah<\/strong>,\u00a0Iran<\/strong>,\u00a0Syria<\/strong>, and even\u00a0Palestinian Liberation Movements<\/strong>. They aim to use us as cats\u2019 paws to claw at our neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     So, what was the media headlining while this Anglo-US takeover was being effected? Readers can check our past ee News<\/em><\/strong> Indexes<\/em><\/strong> to verify this: The media was jabbering about Chinese \u2018spy\u2019 ships, about protracted kerfuffle between the headline-grabbing Minister of Justice and the National Aquatic Resources Research & Development Agency (NARA)<\/strong> over control of the mapping of the country\u2019s ocean floor, about Tamil N\u0101du\u2019s incessant poaching<\/strong>, and about the rare interceptions of their dangerous drugs<\/strong> and fake medicines<\/strong> (which are yet flooding the country), etc. How we can intercept contraband when allied to the main drug dealers of the world (of English Opium Wars<\/strong> & US Golden Triangles<\/strong>, anyone?) remains a mystery? It was also pointed out this week that the international (read: English) media \u2018without hesitation categorizes all Chinese research vessels as spy ships\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The CMF is commanded by a US Navy Vice Admiral<\/strong>, who also serves as Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command (Navcent) and US Navy 5th<\/sup> Fleet <\/strong>(stalking the Persian Gulf, Red Sea & Arabian Sea). All 4 commands are based at US Naval Support Activity (NSA) <\/strong>in colonized Bahrain. CMF\u2019s Deputy Commander is an English Royal Navy Commodore <\/strong>who recently visited Sri Lanka, again rather hush-hushedly.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     <\/strong>So, what\u2019s going on? Wasn\u2019t SWRD Bandaranaike murdered for also kicking the English navy out of Trincomalee & Katunayake? So, is this the end of \u2018flag & anthem\u2019 independence\u2026 of \u2018briefcase independence\u2019? (see ee Random Notes<\/em><\/strong>, US Navy)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 He likes to play the baba: this University of Colombo Professor<\/strong> S Abeyratne. ee<\/em><\/strong> used to mock him as Reductio Ad Abeyratne, for his ability to condense any and all trivia into the utopian talking points demanded by the white embassies: rule of law, corruption, free trade, etc. He writes a weekly column in the President\u2019s family rag The Sunday Times<\/em>. \u2018Endless bribes & commissions from top to bottom<\/strong>\u2019 are required to do business<\/em> in Sri Lanka, he wails this week, saying villagers impudently ask, \u2018What do I get? \u2013 Mata Monavadha Lebenne?\u2019 when private businesses are set up in their communities \u2013 in this case on Temple Lands!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     He\u2019s such a baba, but then so are the rest of these 5th<\/sup>-column economists. They rather attack Sinhala (nay, all Black peoples & countries) as somehow genetically corrupt. Someone should ask Mistuh Abeyratne why the English embassies (England, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) in Sri Lanka call their chief agents, High Commissioners<\/strong>. Is it cos they take the highest commissions? Monavadha Oonta Lebenne? \u2013 What do they get? This he can\u2019t & won\u2019t, and is simply not allowed to, say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The USA speaks its own variable English, and calls their siccarios, Envoys (from the French for \u2018on the way\u2019<\/em>, perhaps to invade!). The English & their settler colonies as well as kalusuddha colonies (India, etc) are more honest \u2013 if we choose to explore or rather excavate their English \u2013 an English never taught in our obese & flatulent English departments. These \u2013 D\u2019Oyly\u2019s great-grand-spawn \u2013 have never heard of England\u2019s industrial revolution, nor of their de-industrialization of our world. This ee<\/em><\/strong> continues examining the metasizing of imperialist \u2018supranational\u2019 institutions under the guise of \u2018aid\u2019 and \u2018development\u2019. Premier among them is the Crown Agents Office in Sri Lanka set up way back in 1833:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The Office of the Crown Agents (OCA)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

was the English empire\u2019s middleman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

if colonial governments needed to buy something,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

they set it up<\/strong>. Under the Secretary of State for the Colonies<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it then managed colonial investments<\/strong> and the supply<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

of all non-locally made goods<\/strong>, as well as supervising<\/p>\n\n\n\n

construction projects<\/strong> & paying colonial officers\u2019 salaries & pensions<\/strong>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(ee Focus<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 This ee<\/em><\/strong> charts the evolution of the OCA into England\u2019s Commonwealth Development Corporation<\/strong>, originally called the Colonial<\/strong> Development Corporation, to use exports from colonies to pay off the vast US loans that funded their 20th<\/sup> century world wars<\/strong>. The term \u2018development<\/em>\u2019 was a cunning corporate 1950s advertising strategy led by Unilever in Africa<\/strong> to justify the continued dominance of companies closely linked to the English empire<\/strong>. Think of all the government ministries who sport the title \u2018development<\/strong>\u2019 now, think of the names of NGOs & banks (eg, World Bank\u2019s real name, IBRD). This ee<\/em><\/strong> unearths the origins of imperialism\u2019s fake aid business in England\u2019s Crown Agent Office (OCA)<\/strong>; the US World Bank\u2019s International Finance Corporation (IFC)<\/strong>, which under the guise of \u2018poverty reduction\u2019, is behind several so-called \u2018commercial banks\u2019 in Sri Lanka; the USA\u2019s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),<\/strong> which makes electricity expensive for people yet diverts it inexpensively to tourist hotels, the UN\u2019s \u2018Sustainable Development Goals\u2019<\/strong> which talk of ending \u2018poverty everywhere\u2019 and providing \u2018quality education for all\u2019 but insists on teaming up with big businesses (aka IMF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 This ee<\/em><\/strong> looks at the close corporate links with NGOs and continues our charting of the corporate coup d\u2019etat to overthrow \u2018independent\u2019 governments. In Sri Lanka, this attack is led by Unilever, one of the largest corporations in the world, who not only has captured our home market, but also controls our media. ee<\/em><\/strong> therefore examines the colonial origins of Unilever and the devastation it has left in its path; and also looks at the setup of an international legal system<\/strong> to control and plunder the resources of the world, and overthrow governments that challenge corporate domination. This involves, the \u2018nefarious alliance\u2019 between so-called NGOs like Care USA<\/strong>, Save the Children<\/strong>, Oxfam<\/strong> etc & corporations (Unilever also claims to be an NGO!<\/strong>). They all seek to promote profit over justice<\/strong>, weakening labor laws<\/strong> and eviscerating workers\u2019 protections & rights<\/strong>. To enforce this predatory behavior, MNCs have created a global Supreme Court<\/strong> (ICSID) and are raising & funding private mercenary militias<\/strong> (death squads) to crush labor movements, and intimidate & murder activists. Welcome to the age of perpetual war and full spectrum dominance: Gaza is meant to show us their ways\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Hotels, catering to foreign<\/strong> tourists<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bask in the luxury of subsidised electricity<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

paying a mere Rs28\/unit<\/strong>, while ordinary households<\/p>\n\n\n\n

over 181 units monthly face a peak-time tariff of Rs106\/unit\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ee<\/em><\/strong> also reproduces the incisive criticisms of the President\u2019s 2024 Budget by economist Dhanusha Pathirana \u2013 reproduced ironically in both the President\u2019s family monopoly media \u2013 the Wijeya Group (WG)\u2019s Financial Times<\/em> and the Daily Mirror<\/em>. Pathirana correctly points to our ruling oligarchs as \u2018an unproductive rentier elite<\/strong> holding the country\u2019s domestic and foreign debt hostage\u2019. Crucially, he points to the need for industrialization. He fulminates against corruption<\/em>, a favorite flogging horse for a pseudo-populist media, yet we wonder if this is the very nature of such an animal \u2013 feeding off \u2018rents\u2019 (ie, making money off money<\/strong>, off unproductive land<\/strong>, off tourism, off state access<\/strong>, etc). Corruption is in the very DNA of such merchants & moneylenders & high-commissioned importers of multinational goods. If our politicians & officials & capitalists were brahmacharis<\/strong> & bodhisattvas<\/strong>, would such a system produce different outcomes?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The concern with Pathirana\u2019s critique is that he naively absolves the IMF<\/strong> of culpability by suggesting that the IMF demanded direct taxes. IMF staff, however, know full well that in order to meet their ambitious fiscal targets in short order, indirect taxes<\/strong> are the easiest to collect for governments. Taxing the rich would require stringent capital controls<\/strong> & a strong government<\/strong> which IMF-supported policies have happily eroded<\/strong> over the past decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Education is surely an essential, but education for what<\/strong>? More arts & humanities graduates<\/strong> to bloat government bureaucracy? More lawyers, doctors, nurses & technical workers<\/strong> to immigrate to the white West? In a way, funding road & infrastructure<\/strong> is more productive as it at least provides livelihoods for rural workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     It is true that taxes are low<\/strong> & tax holidays are excessive<\/strong> in Sri Lanka. But anyone who calls themselves Marxist has to ask why this is the case. It cannot just be due to the unique meanness of the Sri Lankan ruling class<\/strong>. It is a reflection of very low levels of productivity<\/strong>, requiring tax cuts to maintain profits.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     High interest payments<\/strong> are specifically due to the high exposure to private debt. Sections of this pseudo-Left jumped on the anti-China debt-trap narrative<\/strong> and helped manufacture consent<\/strong> for further exposure to private debt<\/strong> in 2015. Unlike Chinese debt, there are no records or corresponding assets of the way higher private-US-vulture-bank ISB debt has been used<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The purpose of state-led industrialization<\/strong> is not just to correct market failures<\/strong>, but to actually build the home market<\/strong>, which would ensure further industrial advance, particularly in the countryside<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Finally, Pathirana refers to so-called \u2018independent trade unions<\/strong>\u2019. \u2018Who are they \u2018independent\u2019 of? Are they those that met with US & EU ambassadors & their agents in the lead-up to the 2015 Yahapalana mess and\/or during 2018\u2019s so-called \u2018coup\u2019, or during the Aragalaya, which delivered us to the IMF? Are they just independent of mass political parties, and therefore of the people? Does their leadership reflect the social character of the membership? Do they derive their funding from members, or from foreign NGOs<\/strong> & CIA-backed \u2018unions\u2019<\/strong> like the AFL-CIO? Do they represent the productive workers of the countryside<\/strong>? Or are they simply a small urban enclave representing the interests of government bureaucracy<\/strong> & the neocolonial service sector<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Recall that some of these so-called independent unions were linked to certain sectarian fellow-travelers in various \u2018international\u2019 unions, all, if not mostly, based in Europe or the US. Most of whom supported the US & EU & English wars on Iraq, Syria, Libya, Palestine, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 ee<\/em><\/strong> also reproduces the criticisms by the Nicholas<\/strong> father-&-son tag team, of the new Central Bank Act<\/strong> (CBA). They point out it is Washington<\/strong> (metonym for the powerful US state) who demanded that the IMF release funds only after passage of the new Act. The old Central Bank Act of 1950, also being a US Federal Reserve creation<\/strong>, has now outlived its purpose. The Nicholases also record that another NATO-faithful economist & WG columnist WA Wijewardena<\/strong> recalls that the current governor of the Central Bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe<\/strong>, a former IMF stipendiary, stenographed this US demand for a new CBA, much earlier on, during the 2015 US-misbegotten Yahapalana regime, while working under Governor \u2013 now criminal fugitive \u2013 Arjuna Mahendran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     At this moment when the new pro-NATO President of Argentina, as a candidate wielded a chainsaw to indicate his anarcho-corporatist intentions for their Central Bank, the next government should not just amend the new CBA, but abolish the existing US-sculpted Central Bank, which SBD de Silva pointed out, has always opposed the independence of the country, from day one. They should establish a new People\u2019s Bank to directly finance heavy industry and put the current Governor on public trial \u2013 along with his old boss Mahendran hiding out in rule-of-law Singapore, who CNN easily located & interviewed when the US dislodged the last President Gotabhaya Rajapakse!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a>\u2022 And speaking of Argentina, well known for its animal husbandry, wool, etc, this <\/a>ee Focus<\/em><\/strong> continues sharing the Communist Party of Sri Lanka\u2019s Alternate Program<\/strong>: this week examining Livestock & Dairy<\/strong>. Until JR Jayawardena\u2019s post-1977 \u2018open economic\u2019 policies promoting imports, local milk production could fulfil 80% of Sri Lanka\u2019s milk consumption needs<\/strong>. Now Sri Lanka produces only 45%<\/strong> of the demand for milk & related products<\/strong>. So, in a country where parents consider providing milk and milk-related products to their children as a mandatory obligation<\/strong>, what is to be done?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     We should point to a curious lacuna, though. The failure to address what SBD de Silva<\/strong> called Staple Base Dynamism<\/strong> (SBD!) This refers to the practice allowed in the settler colonial countries, where primary staples<\/strong> were developed through dynamic rural industrial processes: milk to yoghurt to cheese, etc; wheat to flour to bread and desserts, and industrial chemicals, etc. Nonetheless, ee<\/em><\/strong> is pleased to continue our coverage of the CPSL\u2019s program, of matters rarely well-detailed in other party programs (see ee Focus<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A1. Reader Comments<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 ee<\/em><\/strong> Fires up \u2022 MAS\u2019 Israeli & South African Directors \u2022 CPSL Program is Cool \u2022  Colombo\u2019s Eco Ice Waste \u2022 Kissinger the Only War Criminal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A2. Quotes of the Week \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 IPKF Follies \u2022 SJB\u2019s Ranil-run Economics \u2022 LNT Mendis & CPSL \u2022 White Riots & Cuban Protests \u2022 Liberals are the Real Face of US Imperialism \u2022 Boeing\u2019s Bedded Presidential Candidates \u2022 Israel\u2019s Radiation Wall \u2022 Hollywood Avoids Napoleon\u2019s Real Rise & Fall \u2022 Napoleon & Proletariat \u2022 Fake Optimistic US Indicators<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A3. Random Notes \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Sri Lanka & India under US Navy \u2022 JVP Goes NutFlix \u2022 IMF\u2019s Austerity Budget Means \u2022 Was Kissinger or Obama Worse? \u2022 Lanka-Japan Friendship \u2022 Bureau Veritas\u2019 Tech Imports \u2022 Sim\u2019s Chemical Imports<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. ee<\/em><\/strong> Focus<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 B1. Taxing<\/strong> the Impoverished to Reward the Rentiers<\/strong> \u2013 Budget 2024: Dhanusha Pathirana<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 B2. A future government should significantly amend the Central Bank Act<\/strong> \u2013 Part I: The Nicholases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 B3. Colonial History of Aiding Unilever & NGOs<\/strong> under Cover of Development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 B4. Livestock & Dairy<\/strong> & Idirimagen Idiriyata: Alternate Program of Communist Party of Sri Lanka, Pt10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C. Building Blocks \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Guaranteed Rice Price for Industrialization \u2022 Creation of a Home Market<\/strong> for Industry \u2022 Japan\u2019s Limits on Industrial Exports<\/strong> \u2022 Smallholding<\/strong> & Science \u2022 Extraordinary Culture of Machine Tools<\/strong> \u2022 Making Central Banks Independent<\/strong> of the People? \u2022 On State-owned Enterprises & Privatization<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D. News Index<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A1. Reader Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ee <\/em><\/strong>thanks Readers<\/em><\/strong> who send articles of interest. Please excerpt or summarize what is important about any news sent, or your comments, and place any e-link at the end. Email: econenews@gmail.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2018I get fired up with all sorts of good ideas after reading through ee<\/em><\/strong>. But there needs to be more continuity with the themes.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2018There are no Sinhala directors on the MAS<\/strong> Board. However, they have an Israeli Jew and a White South African. Maybe that\u2019s what they mean by diversity, inclusivity & equality \u2013 DIE!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2018It\u2019s cool that ee<\/em><\/strong> is reproducing the Communist Party\u2019s alternate program. Last week, I learned lots about Sri Lanka\u2019s rivers, that I never knew before.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2018Colombo has a new ice rink called Eco Ice<\/em><\/strong>. Where do these people live? Perhaps it\u2019s export-substitution. You don\u2019t have to travel to subarctic Canada or Sweden to experience deep freeze. But at what cost? How cynical to call it \u2018eco\u2019? Especially when the country may experience furthers power cuts after the US escalates wars in West Asia.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2018Why has the capitalist press found Kissinger a war criminal only after his death? When he was calling the shots, all were with him.\u2019 (see ee Quotes<\/em><\/strong> & Random Notes<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A2. Quotes of the Week_<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2018In the final analysis, [India\u2019s] highly professional<\/strong> foreign service officers carry out their briefs from headquarters, keeping aside their personal reservations<\/strong>, if any. As Counsellor in our embassy in Bonn (West Germany), my ambassador DS Kamtekar summoned me one afternoon to give me a cable which had just arrived from Delhi regarding the decision to deploy the IPKF to Sri Lanka<\/strong>. Kamtekar, an extraordinarily cerebral mind, asked me with a twinkle in his eye what I thought of the GoI decision, since I had only recently completed my 3-year assignment in Colombo as 1st Secretary (Political). I told the ambassador in brutal frankness<\/strong> that the decision was a monumental folly<\/strong>, as Sri Lankans were sure to close ranks against us<\/strong> & evict us<\/strong> eventually. Nonetheless, we did a fine job and briefed German officials exactly on lines Delhi wanted. That is the wonder that was India.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Bhadrakumar (ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, Diplomatic blow to India as Biden turns down invite)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 SJB\u2019s Ranil-run Policies<\/strong> \u2013 \u2018The SJB economic platform represents policy continuity with Ranil<\/strong>, not change. The Harsha-Eran economic model<\/strong> has 5 pillars which make it morphologically Ranilian<\/strong>: 1) Renewed access (through an IMF rubber-stamp) to the foreign money markets, ie, a return to the original addiction<\/strong>. 2) A castrated Central Bank incapable of state intervention<\/strong> to offset external shocks, ie, do a Mahathir. 3) Unilateral rewriting of the Social Contract in favour of foreign & local big capital<\/strong>, by scrapping labour & land reform laws<\/strong>. 4) Unfettered, maximum \u2013 not optimum \u2013 privatisation & foreignisation of the economy, deleting the state & cooperative sectors<\/strong>. 5) Retention of the 2017 foreign exchange law which facilitates outflow<\/strong> and loss to the country of hard currency earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Weighed-down by the albatross of Harsha\u2019s Economic Blueprint<\/strong>, Sajith is handicapped in 2024 in his ability to compete with the JVP-NPP by losing the liability of a UNP profile as Ranasinghe Premadasa so easily did in 1988.\u2019 \u2013 Dayan Jayatilleka (ee Economists<\/em><\/strong>, Sajith-Ranil equation, Opposition Alliance, Tamil Question & Foreign Policy)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 \u2018LNT Mendis was a Marxist until his death. Of the old traditional school. As a young undergraduate at University College, Colombo, in 1940, he became a founder member of the-then Ceylon Communist Party<\/strong> headed by SA Wickremasinghe. He always worked for the state. He abhorred the very thought of ever working for the private sector. Starting as an elections officer, he went through being Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services<\/strong> at the time Phillip Gunawardene\u2019s Paddy Lands Act <\/strong>was operating at its zenith, to serving the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation<\/strong> (being one of the pioneers with Sam Silva<\/strong>, James Lanerolle<\/strong> & former Auditor-General Wijesuriya<\/strong> in 1961), to heading the Oils & Fats Corporation<\/strong> and the Building Materials Corporation<\/strong> that he set up under the Ministry of Housing & Construction<\/strong> with Pieter Keuneman<\/strong> as minister in the mid-1970s. He prematurely retired as Senior Asst Secretary of his Ministry.\u2019 \u2013 Susirith Mendis (from FB<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 <\/strong>\u2018Given how the facts are communicated, a paradox arises: if the incidents occur in Europe<\/strong> or the USA<\/strong>, they are riots<\/strong>; if they happen in Cuba<\/strong>, we are dealing with a civic protest against the regime\u201d. If the demonstrators are European or US citizens, they are rioters or violent criminals, to whom the law must be rigorously applied; if they are Cubans, they are activists, fighters for democracy\u201d etc.\u2019 \u2013 ee Media, <\/em><\/strong>Double standards & new protest linguistics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022<\/strong> \u2018Contrast Kissinger to the ideological maniacs of \u2018US democracy & human rights\u2019 in power today who are responsible for far more carnage, death and destruction than him. I recommend anyone take a trip to DC. You may think that the face of US imperialism is some ruthless, cold-hearted pragmatist \u2013 but it\u2019s the opposite. It\u2019s \u2018bleeding heart\u2019 liberals willing to spill the blood of children to pursue their idealistic fantasies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     I reject this \u2018universal celebration\u2019 not because I think Kissinger is defensible. To be clear, he is a criminal with blood on his hands. I reject the \u2018universal celebration\u2019 where John Fetterman advisors, Biden campaign staff, \u2018democratic socialists,\u2019 liberal UkroNazi-NAFO supporters, \u2018anarchists\u2019 and young idealistic liberal interns for the US State Dept & other vermin \u2013 join alongside self -proclaimed \u2018Communists\u2019 & \u2018anti-imperialists\u2019 to hold hands, sing together, feel good about themselves, and throw a party together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This is just sanitized Hollywood Leftism<\/strong> that is completely inauthentic and distracts from the fact that imperialism\u2019s most aggressive champions are in fact maniacal ideologists like themselves, not cold-hearted realists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     It reminds one of the \u2018humanitarians\u2019 in the state dept who \u2013 while concretely fully supporting \u2018Israel\u2019 \u2013 engage in \u2018humanitarian\u2019 platitudes as a fake attempt to show sympathy to Gaza (while \u2018condemning Hamas\u2019). This actually helps imperialism by giving it a mask of principled ideological consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     In reality, the bloodshed of Gaza proves the irredeemability of the US \u2018rules based\u2019 world order!\u2019 \u2013 ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, <\/strong>Not Sorry for Ruining the Fun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 \u2018In general, I don\u2019t think we want capitalism & democracy<\/strong> to share the same bed anymore. It\u2019s time for a clean divorce. Let companies be companies<\/strong> but I don\u2019t like the crony capitalism<\/strong>. This dates back a long time in both parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     And I think that we need to end the lobbying<\/strong>, and I personally believe that if you have been working in the Government, you should not lobby that Government for 10 years<\/strong>. If you have been a government-elected official, doing deals with companies, be they Boeing or be they pharmaceutical companies, you should not join the board of that company for 10 years after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The former chair of the FDA<\/strong>, the Commissioner of the FDA, ended up on the board of Pfizer<\/strong>. Nikki Haley<\/strong> did deals for Boeing and ends up on the board of Boeing<\/strong>. I don\u2019t care if it is a Republican or Democrat, we need some basic principles that end the corruption in Government. That\u2019s how we got the health insurance exemptions<\/strong>. That\u2019s how we got the pharmaceutical liability exemptions<\/strong>. We need to end the corruption.\u2019 \u2013 Vivek Ramaswamy, ee Industry<\/em><\/strong>, \u2018Mr. Trump Says He is Very Proud of Operation Warp Speed: Should He Be?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 \u2018The neutron bomb<\/strong> was invented in 1958 by Samuel Cohen of the Livermore Laboratory<\/strong> of California and then RAND<\/strong>. In 1984 he proposed that Israel construct a neutron radiation wall<\/strong> around the country. \u2018What I am suggesting is the construction of a border barrier whose most effective component is an extremely intense field of nuclear radiation (produced by the operation of underground nuclear reactors), sharply confined to the barrier zone, which practically guarantees the death of anyone attempting to breach the barrier. Establishing such a nuclear wall\u201d at the borders of a threatened country can make virtually impossible any successful penetration by ground forces \u2013 as well as a preemptive ground attack by the threatened country\u2019.\u2019 \u2013 ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, New Evidence that Israel is Using a New Uranium Weapon \u2013 Make that the Neutron Bomb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 \u2018The Hollywood movie has no real explanation of why Napoleon rose to the top in the French revolution<\/strong>, why he won his battles and why he lost the war in the end\u2026 France may have occupied Europe, but England had the colonies of the USA, Canada, Africa, India, & Asia<\/strong> behind it. England, based on its international trade, could mobilize more economic resources, raw materials and labour<\/strong> than France. In a prolonged war, England could survive longer and better than France.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u2018The workers who dug the canals, raised the triumphal arches and manned the factories were not allowed to go on strike, or to form unions to bargain for better working conditions or higher pay<\/strong>. However, Napoleon\u2019s government saw to it that wages should keep abreast of prices, that bakers & butchers & manufacturers were under state price regulation<\/strong>, and that \u2013 especially in Paris \u2013 the necessaries of life should be supplied. Until the last years of Napoleon\u2019s rule, wages rose faster than prices and the proletariat shared (modestly) in the general prosperity, proud of Napoleon\u2019s victories. There was no unemployment, so no political revolt. \u2018Nobody is interested in overthrowing a government in which all the deserving are employed,\u2019 said the great man.\u2019 \u2013 Roberts (ee Economists<\/em><\/strong>, Napoleon\u2019s War Economy)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 \u2018The economic indicators that the optimists and mainstream economics single out to judge the health of a capitalist economy are mainly \u2018lagging\u2019 indicators<\/strong>. They look at employment, consumer spending, GDP and prices. But Marxist theory tells us that what drives capitalist economies first is profits; then profits as invested in productive investment<\/strong> (this raises productivity of labour & output, not invested in fictitious capital like stocks & bonds); and only then does investment & production growth feed down to employment, wages & consumer spending.  And when we look at these forward looking indictors of the US economy, it is not so rosy.\u2019 \u2013 Roberts (ee Economists<\/em><\/strong>, Goldilocks & the last mile)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A3. Random Notes (\u2018Seeing Number in Chaos\u2019) _<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Sri Lanka & India under US Navy<\/strong> \u2013 In July 2022 the Indian Navy quietly joined the USA\u2019s Combined Maritime Force (CMF<\/strong>) based in colonized Bahrain. It didn\u2019t get much media in India, for it was \u2018buried 12 paragraphs deep in the joint statement issued at the end of the India-US 2+2 dialogue<\/strong> in Nov 2023\u2019, in a 3-line paragraph that says less than what it means: \u2018The Ministers welcomed India\u2019s full membership of the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) headquartered in Bahrain.\u2019 The apparent hush-hush is due to: \u2018A Shift in Policy as India Joins Multinational Force Not Led by UN\u2019<\/strong> (see ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     On 2 Oct 2023, English Deputy Commander Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), Commodore (Royal Navy) Philip Edward Dennis<\/strong>, based in colonized Bahrain, called on SL Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera in Colombo. Deputy Chief of Staff & Director General Operations, Rear Admiral Pradeep Rathnayake, Naval Assistant to the Commander of the Navy & Chief Hydrographer of the SL Navy Hydrographic Service, Commodore Kosala Warnakulasooriya, Defence Advisor at the English High Commission in Colombo, Colonel Darren Woods<\/strong>, et al, were also reported present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Midst media diversion about battles between Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapakse and the National Aquatic Resources Research & Development Agency (NARA)<\/strong>, the US Army Pacific Deputy Commander<\/strong> entered Sri Lanka \u2018unheralded\u2019, reported ee<\/em><\/strong> (18 Nov 2023). US Envoy Yatathvijitha Koreavay<\/em> Julie Chung twitted on Nov 16 that she \u2018welcomed Major General Christopher Smith, Deputy Commanding General of the US Army Pacific to explore ways to enhance our US-SL security partnership\u2026 ensuring a secure Indo-Pacific region. ee<\/em><\/strong> also noted that India & USA were moving \u2018to grab Oceanic Surveys around Sri Lanka\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     On 20 November 2023<\/strong>, Sri Lanka joined the USA\u2019s Combined Maritime Forces in West Asia as its 39th<\/sup> Member. \u2018We are excited to have Sri Lanka as part of CMF,\u2019 said Vice Adm Brad Cooper, CMF commander, calling it a \u2018growing international naval coalition in the Middle East, which protects some of the world\u2019s most important waterways. The naval partnership upholds the international rules-based order<\/strong> (except in Palestine etc) by supporting security & stability across 3.2mn sq.mi of water encompassing some of the world\u2019s most important shipping lanes.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     On 4 December, the Indian Navy marked its Navy Day, which commemorates India\u2019s attack on Karachi harbour<\/strong> during the 1971 War under \u2018Operation Trident<\/strong>\u2019. India\u2019s navy is also gearing up to host its largest multilateral exercise Exercise Milan<\/strong> in Feb 2024, with over 50 countries, \u2018to assist countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as the first responder & Preferred Security Partner<\/strong>. The Indian Navy conducts 17 multilateral and 20 bilateral exercises annually. The last edition of Milan was held off Visakhapatnam with over 40 countries.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Apparently, India\u2019s Mobile Training Teams (MTT)<\/strong> have undertaken Operational Sea Checks<\/strong> of ships from \u20182 friendly countries\u2019 \u2013 Sri Lanka & South Africa at Gokanna (aka Cheena Varaaya aka Trincomalee) & Cape Town. INS Nireekshak<\/em> also conducted mix gas diving training for Sri Lankan Navy personnel in Trincomalee, in 2022-23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Indian Navy Survey Ships have also conducted several hydrological surveys<\/strong> in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Maldives, and Mauritius, as well as joint Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance<\/strong>, as \u2018requested\u2019 by Indian Ocean littoral states such as Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius. And these are not spy ships, apparently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2022 \u2018See the venue AKD has chosen to showcase his \u2018knowledge\u2019 of the music industry, of global supermarkets<\/strong> and Netflix: Uda Dumbara<\/strong>, a sleepy mountainous area inhabited by impoverished paddy, vegetable & highland cultivators!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     AKD should be taught about the speech given by China\u2019s Premier Zhou Enlai<\/strong> at a forum on literary & artistic creations & screenplay writing in 1961. Zhou delineated physical & intellectual production and discussed class struggle & united front, to whom art & literature serve, development laws, heritage, creation & leadership in art & literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Before uttering unscientific nonsense AKD should learn the ideas expressed by Marx, Engels and Lenin on art & literature, and Chairman Mao\u2019s treatises on art & literature which have a profound relevance to countries in the East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Has AKD written any theoretical essay? If the JVP claims that it is a Marxist party, what extraordinary profound knowledge of Marx do they have, of the ability to apply Marxism-Leninism<\/strong> to the economic and political situation of Sri Lanka? Is it able to unite Marxist parties and circles into a single unit giving it political leadership? It is an affront to Lenin if we try to describe what Lenin did before the Great October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     What ideological struggle do AKD & JVP\/NPP wage against the SLPP, UNP, SJB & other splinter groups, except calling all of them horas<\/strong>? Is he criticizing their political & economic programs? What work have they done to unite Marxist groups & circles<\/strong> when it is not banned, at a time of enjoying democratic rights without any police persecution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     What change \u2013 if the JVP is not using the term \u2018Revolution\u2019 \u2013 is the JVP going to bring about? Is it a bourgeois-democratic revolution<\/strong> as Lenin put forward in his Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution<\/em> or A Phase of New Democracy<\/em> as expounded by Mao? Both leaders said the Proletariat \u2013 Working Class \u2013 Communist Party must be the leader. Is the JVP or NPP such a party becoming the leader of the bourgeois democratic or new democratic revolution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Giving an interview to the Sunday Times<\/em>, AKD had stated that his party\u2019s aim will be a \u2018Pohosath Janathawak \u2013 Pohosath Ratak\u2019 (Rich People \u2013 Rich Country). All are hackneyed phrases (like \u2018engine of economic growth\u2019), nothing new in what he says; we have heard all this from all people who sought a mandate from people since Independence. These so-called engines are like the different types of locomotives the Ceylon Government Railways (CGR) has imported from its inception, which still cannot provide an efficient and effective service to commuters! What kind of \u2018economic democracy\u2019 AKD imagines, we do not know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     How is AKD going to make people \u2018rich\u2019 is the biggest question. \u2018Rich\u2019 in what? They are \u2018rich\u2019 in rhetoric. In words, not deeds. It seems that AKD is thinking that statecraft \u2013 with apologies to Mao \u2013 is \u2018a dinner party or writing an essay or painting a picture or doing embroidery\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     If the JVP\/NPP assumes that they will come to power very soon, in preparation to hold power we advise them to read and understand Lenin\u2019s essays Impending Catastrophe & How to Combat It<\/em> and One of the Fundamental Questions of Revolution <\/em>(Collected Works<\/em> \u2013 Vol25).\u2019 \u2013 ee Politics<\/em><\/strong>, Janus-faced JVP: False Conceptions & the Harini Amarasuriya Factor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Analyzing Sri Lanka\u2019s 2024 Annual Budget<\/strong> \u2013 \u2018Over the last 7 or 8 months our economic policymaking has been almost on autopilot \u2013 we have just been following the IMF benchmarks<\/strong> and what there is in the World Bank Country Partnership Framework<\/strong>. These are 4-year term agreements and programs<\/strong> and the government really doesn\u2019t seem to be thinking about how to get either the people or the economy out of this crisis except through this IMF path<\/strong>, and austerity<\/strong> is very much a part of it. And by austerity, I mean that there is very little government expenditure for people<\/strong> and programs, and even investment<\/strong> for that matter. Along with that, their vision is one of serving commercial interests<\/strong> \u2013 about what is best for business, what is best for the private sector and more importantly over the last 4.5 decades not just in Sri Lanka all over the world, Finance Capital has been dominant, big finance, the banking sector and as we all know Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt last year and much of that debt is owed to powerful bondholders<\/strong>, hedge funds<\/strong>, western pension funds<\/strong>, insurance companies<\/strong> who buy Sri Lanka\u2019s debt, and this budget is focused on repaying them their debt and then creating a climate in Sri Lanka where those who might be interested in taking forward commercial interests are given all sorts of goodies.\u2019 \u2013 ee Economists<\/em><\/strong>, Analyzing Sri Lanka\u2019s 2024 Annual Budget with Ahilan Kadirgamar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Was Kissinger or Obama Worse? <\/strong>\u2013 \u2018What is notable in the current moment, in the moralizing obituary circuit, is the framing that Kissinger was somehow uniquely evil & murderous \u2013 a moral cancer on the US body politic \u2013 and that he personally shifted US policy in this direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The Wickedest Man Alive<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 This \u2018exceptional war criminal\u2019 framing is especially promoted by the Imperial Liberal Press, in particular the Overton window gatekeepers such as The Nation, DemocracyNow!, NY Times<\/em>, and Washington Post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     These sources draw liberally from the Bishop of Bombast, Christopher Hitchens, who described Kissinger as a \u2018one-man rolling crime wave\u2019, and his actions as \u2018the wickedest thing ever done in American political history\u2019, a moral crisis and stain on US politics. But is this characterization correct?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Kissinger had his fingerprints all over Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, East Timor, Chile, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cyprus, implementing or greenlighting horrific, genocidal-politicidal atrocities.  But these actions were not sui generis<\/strong> nor were they uniquely Kissingerian.  They had already been templated, foreshadowed, & rehearsed for by previous US policies<\/strong>, long before the realpolitiking Kissinger had laid his felonious fingers on the reins of foreign policy. Korea (1948-53), Indonesia (1965-66) and the Philippines (1899-1902) are some key exemplars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Gaza Covered with Snow<\/strong> \u2013 In the case of Korea, 20% of the population were killed<\/strong>, according to General Curtis LeMay<\/strong>, who designed and conducted the bombing campaign. What had been done tactically to individual cities \u2013 Dresden<\/strong>, Tokyo<\/strong>, Hiroshima<\/strong> \u2013 was concretized as continuous strategy for Korea: 635,000 tons of bombs<\/strong>, more than the entire Pacific bombing campaign<\/strong>, dropped in endless sorties of high explosives, cluster bombs & napalm over an entire country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     To get a contemporary image of this, take the worst bombing of Northern Gaza<\/strong> \u2013 already unimaginable and unthinkable in its sheer, atrocious barbarity \u2013 imagine, eg, the devastation of the Jabaliya<\/strong> refugee camp \u2013 and then double the intensity of that bombing, and then magnify the theater of bombing 800-fold. Add in endless napalm and time-delayed cluster bombs \u2013 to kill anyone who tried to rescue survivors \u2013 then you have a small sense of what Korea went through. Then add snow: Korea borders Siberia<\/strong>, and temperatures can drop to -25 degrees Celsius. If you were bombed and somehow survived the shredding of your flesh by cluster bomb shrapnel, or its incineration by napalm, there\u2019s a good chance you would die from exposure to cold under an open sky, as the US rolled out massive air strikes in the month of November, 73 years ago.  And still, if you survived all this, and had dug yourself into subterranean shelter, you could have been drowned later when irrigation and hydroelectric dams were attacked, and entire valleys inundated with flooding, while subjected to threats of biological & chemical weapons.\u2019 \u2013 see ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, Question the Narrative that Villainizes Henry Kissinger: Correcting the memory of the obsequious butler of US empire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Lanka-Japan Friendship Society new office bearers: <\/strong>\u2018Exco for 2023\/24: Patron Hideaki Mizukoshi, Ambassador for Japan, Vice Patrons: Merrick Gooneratne\/Immediate past President, Sumana Liyanage, Deepal Gunaratne, Mikinaga Hotta, President: MD (Tony) Saldin, VPs: A Anandagoda, Jayaraja Chandrasekera, Gaminda Haegoda, Neomal Perera, Sunitha Wijepala, General Secretary: Samadara Mampitiye, Asst Gen Secretary: Diloshini Nesakumar, General Treasurer: M Thiyagaraja, Asst Gen Treasurer: R Kadirgamar Rajah, Executive Committee: Nemantha Abeysinghe, Dhammika Attygale, Vijaya Corea, PHP de Silva, Mahendra de Vaz, DARM Nishanthi Galhena, WI Gunawardena, Jannath Ismail, Upali Jayawardena, Brigadier Samantha Jayasundara, Captain Ganesh Mendis, Sarojini Nagendran, Rohan Pallewatte<\/strong>, Shanil Perera, SN Raghavan, Shelly Thenuwara, Manoranjan Wijebahu, Himani Wijemanne.\u2019 (see ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Bureau Veritas of France exports to Sri Lanka:<\/strong> \u2018Calibration of calipers, external micrometers, circular sample cutters, steel rulers, dial gauges, thickness gauges, crock meters, balances, weights, glassware, piston operated pipettes, refractometers, hydrometers, pH meters, thermometers, cold refrigerated storages, ovens, incubators, water baths, furnaces and RPM of rotors, among many others.\u2019 \u2013 ee Industry<\/em><\/strong>, Bureau Veritas provides high-precision calibration services for diverse industry sectors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2022 Serving large MNCs for 22 years<\/strong> \u2013 Sim Lanka Ltd has partner companies Cable Solutions, Alu<\/strong>flex Lanka, Prime Packaging,<\/strong> and Quality Floors<\/strong>. Sri Lanka Export Development Board assisted its products for the multinational electronics industry<\/strong>. Its newest alliance is with Control Print, India, a coding and marking solutions provider. Sim operates in 4 key sectors: electronic manufacturing<\/strong>, printing & packaging, industrial oil regeneration services<\/strong>, and industrial automation. Partners offer solutions for cables and harness applications for white goods, industrial, automotive & aerospace industries, industrial plastics<\/strong> and biodegradable products for paints, lubricants & dairy industries, aluminium foil lids, sealants & heat transfer labeling (HTL) for applications covering dairy, pharmaceutical, tea & industrial sectors, and flooring solutions, such as laser leveled, polished concrete and heavy-duty PU and epoxy flooring. Sim Lanka has strategic alliances<\/strong> with global brands such as Weller, Murr Elektronik, Simco-Ion, Huby, Distrelec, Kleentek, Ferrocare Machines, Sure Print, Giantlok & Oilmax. The company embraces<\/strong> women\u2019s empowerment, diversity & inclusion, carbon neutral operations, children\u2019s education & nutrition. \u2013 ee Industry<\/em><\/strong>, Sim Lanka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sri Lanka & India Sail Hush-Hush Under US Navy<\/a><\/blockquote>