Considering the climate crisis, the ‘4th industrial revolution’, the current pandemic, and a recent ideological campaign named the ‘New Optimists’ that celebrates humanity’s progress, the paper revisits this idea, which marked the emergence of the Western world and has been globalized in the 20th century. The paper, in particular, examines three basic assumptions of the idea of progress: that it encompasses society as a whole; that improvements and increases are infinite; and that the present is always more advanced than the past, and the future will be more advanced than the present. The main question is how far these assumptions hold today. I argue that the climate crisis is removing the sense of infiniteness, traditionally accompanying the belief in progress, which is now being shifted from the social to the private horizon. As progress no longer guarantees the future, the past emerges, as I also argue, as memory, as nostalgia, but also as a threat.

The mosque is prime institution to accomplish its articulated mission as a community development center to play leadership role in shaping Muslim life by its multi-functional and complex role at once of religion, social, education, culture, and politics in its community. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the leadership attributes of the mosque in Sri Lanka based on servant leadership factors and examine the implication of these attributes for the mosque involvement in the community works and their management practices. This study used the statically analysis of data obtained through questionnaire and survey administered among the randomly selected mosques and their Jamacat members. The findings illustrate that the mosques admitted to exhibit eight factors of servant leadership attributes in the meantime their jamacat members perceived of that the mosques overestimate as they exhibit all these attributes. The difference between the mosques functional attributes of servant leadership as admitted by mosques and the observation of the jamacat members on these attributes was statistically significant. Furthermore, there is no significant correlation of the mosques’ performance in spiritual development of the community and financial health to the servant leadership factors except the first factor, vision. Nevertheless, the level of mosques involvement in community development works significantly related to each factor of the servant leadership attributes of the mosque.

The inhalation of landfill smoke and odour poses a health hazard to humans. This knowledge intensifies recognition of the public health risks these landfills pose to residents living around them. Though the effects of landfills on residential communities are well-known in literature, there are inconclusive findings in developing countries on the effects on living close by them. This study sought to address this knowledge gap by testing our main hypothesis that the Retirement Landfill in Montego Bay, St. James has an impact on the health of individuals living closer to it. The research questions looked at how health effects vary amongst residents exposed to landfill smoke and odour within 1-3km and 3-5km of the Retirement Landfill. Data were collected using a cross sectional study design with non-probability sampling applied. Interviewer administered questionnaires concerning demographics, medical diagnosis of ill health and general perception of the Retirement landfill were issued to a total of 384 household residents, with an equal split between residents residing within (1–3km) and (3-5km) of the Retirement Landfill. The results showed that over 70 % of respondents displayed at least one health symptoms when exposed to landfill smoke while over 56% reported health symptom when exposed to landfill odour. Residents closer to the Retirement Landfill were three times more likely to experience respiratory symptoms and four times more likely to experience gastrointestinal health symptoms, as a result of the smoke and odour from the landfill. These findings strengthen our call for better solid waste management policies aimed at increasing operational and infrastructural efficiencies at the Retirement Landfill, through recycling initiatives and implementation of a sanitary landfill.

Muslims Against Crusaders (MAC) was the last reincarnation of Al Muhajiroun. Some of its members travelled to Syria and joined ISIS and others have been arrested the British security services. Most research on Al Muhajiroun and its reincarnation tend to focus on socio-political and economic circumstances allied with Salafi/Wahhabi Islam, to explain the motivations to join extremist groups. However, such explanations fail to account for the role that collective strain, vicarious strain and linked fate have on individuals deciding to join MAC. This paper argues that the experience of collective strain, collective strain and linked fate by members of MAC contribute to them deciding to join the group.

In light of this anomalous time, this paper explores pertinent literature capturing the essence of continued learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A meta-analyses methodology was adopted for this review. Findings from the literature review reveals that higher educational institutions took drastic measures in ‘migrating’ from traditional method of face-to-face teaching to online virtual learning. This exploratory paper aspires to shed some light in hopes that future readers will find benefit, especially for those who plan to do research of this field for the very first time. The impact of online learning, implications of the findings and recommendations are further discussed.

Sri Lankan population can be broken down as urban, rural and estate population. They enjoy different infrastructure facilities and have different cultural values and social norms. The Estate sector mainly consists of Tamil ethnic groups who have been working in estate plantations for generations. These people live below the poverty line and they have very low literacy levels and skills as compared with the people in other two sectors of the country. While the estate sector suffers from various socioeconomic inadequacies, their habitual practice the alcohol consumption brings out domestic violence and child abuse. This study aims at finding the causes of child sexual abuse in the estate sector and the parental role in protecting their children within their environment. The data were collected in 2019 with regard to the child sexual victims in the estate sector families in Nuwaraeliya, Thalawakele and Ruwanwella areas by selecting a random sample of 20 households. Interview schedule and case study methods were used for the data collection from the victims and their family members. The study revealed that the physical and social environment of the estate sector was conducive for committing child sexual abuse. The livelihood of the people of the estate sector also affects the protection of children and their leaving children alone at home during the day time provides opportunities for child sexual abusers to prey on children for sexual abuse. This study suggests creating awareness among parents especially of the rights of children and the protection required for them. The changes in improper practices of parents such as drunkenness and domestic violence and also the enhancement of child protection will help reduce child sexual abuse in the estate sector.

After moving to the United States, composer Kurt Weill was interviewed by American Radio where he recalled his prior image of the New World: We liked everything we knew about this country. We read Jack London, Hemingway, Dreiser, Dos Passos, we admired Hollywood pictures. America was a very romantic country for us. In addition to his classical training in Dessau under Ferrucio Bussoni, where he worked primarily on Mozart, Lortzing and Weber, Weills own music was influenced by contemporary music, American Jazz and Blues, as well as the operetta and the dance- and popmusic of the era. Swing and Charleston had detached the traditional Waltz from the 19th century. He played with these influences and soon developed his own style which linked all these elements. Even before meeting the Poet Brecht, he had said to his opera buffa Der Zar läßt sich fotografieren .In the end, I decided that the only way I could take it to the next level was to complete the tone colour. This led me to add the grammophon scenewhere a mechanical instrument and dance music became key to driving the action forward. I was only able to spare myself the saxophon and jazz sound for this Tango Adele, Weill noted in 1927. Weill, who at this time was keeping up with the latest music in his work as a critic and essayist for a radio station in Berlin, saw jazz imports from America as an enrichement.The rhythm of our time is jazz, the Americanisation of the entire way we live, which is slowly but surely taking place, finds its strangest expression here. Weil raves about the brilliant jazz bands of the Negro Revues and writes polemically of the„miserable, primitive pop music of the pre-war period means the Years before 1914, W.R.), which was completely fading away against the richess of modulation, the rhythmic and sonorous achivements of jazz. Weill 1927, Berliner Rundfunk The theory began to take shape in early 1928 when Brecht and Weill were commissioned to rewrite John Gays Beggars Opera for a German audience. The idea was to contrast what was happening on stage (the strange and curious life from gangsters, criminals, sluts and outcastswith„new music, with sloped melodies and sounds never heard before. Kurt Weill proved a suitable candidate for this project, combining elements of modern e-music (right down to twelve-tone-musicwith popular elements of American jazz and ragtime (songs, blue notes, chromatic chord movements. To this end, he tried out various unusual band arrangements Wind inetruments, trumpets, saxophones, percussion, timpani, banjo, piano, as most evident in the Moritat from Mackie Messer Ballad of Mack the Knife. This Song was a typical example of how Brecht and Weill juxtaposed the music and action on stage Macheach comes across on stage as sweet gigolo under the gallows, while admitting his dastardly deeds in a song accompanied by a kind of funky faiground music carried by barrel organ. A tragic circus number Weill orchestrated the song as follows: the first two stanzas accompanied by harmonium, then the winds, banjo, and piano joined in, followed by the saxophones and drums at the end, eventually turning the song into an elegant foxtrot. The popular musical was very sucessful and often sold out in the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm and was played ensuite over one year. Two years later the musical was filmed under the direction of Georg Wilhelm Pabst and even came to be shown in the United States. After the Threepenny Opera, Weill would go on to use instrumentation drawn from jazz and popular music in the following musical Happy End a project that was unsucessful and abandoned after just a few performances. For its stand-our song Surabaja Johnny, compoed for only the singer and piano, the tempo ist marked very quiet blues and moves between E flat major und C minor. Despite the failure of this alternative Christmas fairy tale, there was still a happy ending for Kurt Weill, first with the Play Mahagonny, then later in Hollywoods movie scene.