Bob Dunn’s Book on THE DISPUTED COUNTRY. AUSTRALIA’S BORDE , pubd in 2004 and bearing ISBN 0 646 43306 7 serves up an intriguing set of stories amidst fascinating photographs and illustrations. It is yet another insight into the complexities of colonisation in this continent made possible for me by Michael Evans who has lent me the booklet.
Category Archives: australian media
Gaza: Glaring Double Standards in the West
Fair Dinkum
It is easy to beat up on a small nation like Sri Lanka. As [Padma Rao Sundarji contends in her article on Canada’s pro-Tamil Tiger policies], the way the West [did] this [was] to use the threat of sanctions to meddle into the conflict [that prevailed] in Sri Lanka, to undermine the efforts of the Sri Lankan military, and to prolong [Etelam War IV] for as long as possible. Perhaps Canada doesn’t like peace. It is only when you stand up to them, that countries in the West back off.
Pause for a moment to compare the West’s response to Sri Lanka [in the first decade of this century] with what is now happening in the latest war in the Middle East. The West is not calling for sanctions to be imposed on Israel in response to Israel threatening to wipe Gaza off the map, and to cut off food, water and electricity supplies to all three million residents of Gaza. Nor have sanctions been called for after Israel bombed a UN building in Gaza killing 15 UN representatives. That was fine with some Canadian commentators.
Some graphic shots of the scenarios in Gaza after Israel strikes .… Pix from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-war-satellite-images-reveal-gaza-strip-devastation-hamas-attack/ … & note Map at end of this TPS Item
Filed under accountability, arab regimes, atrocities, australian media, authoritarian regimes, Canadian politics, centre-periphery relations, discrimination, disparagement, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, jihadists, legal issues, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, terrorism, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, violence of language, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes
A Voice on THE VOICE ….. Its Double Standards
Peta Credlin in The Sunday Telegraph, 7 October 2023, where the title runs thus “Voice’s Yes campaign full of deceit and double standards”
The unauthorised protesters who marched through Sydney this week spewing anti-Semitic bile and screaming “Gas the Jews” are a sign of what can happen when people make everything about race.
After being poisoned for decades with hatred against “the Jews who stole their land”, it’s hardly surprising Palestinians (and their supporters here) don’t want peaceful co-existence with the people of Israel. Instead they want to wipe Israel off the map and drive the Jewish people into the sea, quite literally.
Anthony Albanese and Ray Martin on stage at the Factory Theatre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers
Peta Credlin says Anthony Albanese has not been up front with the Australian public regarding the Voice. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers
Filed under Aboriginality, accountability, anti-racism, Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, electoral structures, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, rehabilitation, self-reflexivity, tolerance, unusual people
The World’s Watchdogs: The United Nations & Its Manifold Weightages and Flaws
An Observer from a Black Sea Town
When it comes to things like human rights, military/humanitarian interventions – small or weak states are always targeted, not big powerful states. It is easy for NATO to intervene (without UN Security Council authorization) to bomb Serbia and Libya because these countries are not big powerful states. NATO recently announced its intention to intervene into North Africa and the Sahel countries, again without UN Security Council authorization. So, NATO doesn’t just circumvent the UN Security Council, but its goal is to unilaterally replace it.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, australian media, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, democratic measures, discrimination, doctoring evidence, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, legal issues, Middle Eastern Politics, modernity & modernization, nationalism, Pacific Ocean politics, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, terrorism, truth as casualty of war, Ukraine & Its Ramifications, UN reports, war crimes, world events & processes, zealotry
Danushka’s Past & Future! … & His Blonde Pillar of Suppor
Michael Roberts
The newshounds in Sydney and in Sri Lanka have been remarkably obtuse and incompetent. Those in Sydney following the series of court appearances faced by Danushka Gunathilaka did not have the capacity to ascertain the name and other details about the blonde Australian lady holding Danushka’s left hand (and he is a left-handed batsman) during his several court appearances. Or, maybe, they discreetly refrained from seeking or voicing any such detail. As an observer from a distance, this led me to wonder if that lady was convenient cover – meant to indicate that Danushka was not a gay lothario who preyed on women.
Well, that thought has been knocked on the head. That lady has accompanied Danushka all the way to distant Sri Lanka …. still on his left and firmly clasping his hand. So: they are, it seems, a steady couple [the photo in The Island rejected ALL efforts to copy it for reproduction here! … We are clerly ina recalcitrant field!]
Ekanayake to Skipper Australian Seconday Schools Rugby Squad
News Item in Rugby.com.au, 27 September 2023 ….. https://www.rugby.com.au/news/australian-schools-u18s-side-named-for-nz-clash-2023927
The Australian Schools side has been confirmed to face NZ. Photo: Rugby Australia. Australian Schools & U18s head coach Shannon Fraser has confirmed his side to face New Zealand Secondary Schools at Viking Park in Canberra on Thursday. NSW Waratahs flanker Aden Ekanayake has been appointed captain for the opening clash of the two-game series, with both fixtures to be broadcast live and on demand on Stan Sport.
Danushka Gunathilake as A Conquering Hero & Gentleman
Devika Brendon, in GROUNDVIEWS, 29 September 2023, where the title runs thus: “The Conquering Hero: ‘Success’ in Danushka Gunathilaka’s Sexual Assault Case” **
In the 11 months just past, several media reports were busy portraying the events in the trial of Danushka Gunathilaka, the Sri Lankan cricketer charged with sexual assault and violence against a woman in Australia last November, in a very upbeat way. It was a “positive update” they say, and “a win for him” that his strict bail conditions were relaxed, in the lead up to the judge’s decision.
Danushka At Cricket: Beyond the Couplings
Andrew Fidel Fernando …. official presentation within ……………… https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/danushka-gunathilaka-345821
FULL NAME: Mashtayage Danushka Gunathilaka
BORN: March 17, 1991, Panadura
AGE: 32y 196d
NICKNAMES:Dana
BATTING STYLE: Left hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right arm Offbreak
PLAYING ROLE: Allrounder
HEIGHT: 6ft 1in
EDUCATION: Mahanama College, Colombo
TEAMS
Sri Lanka: Colombo Cricket ClubGalle GladiatorsSchools Invitation XISouthern ExpressSri Lanka ASri Lanka Board President’s XISri Lanka Cricket Combined XISri Lanka Under-19sSri Lanka Under-23sSylhet SixersTamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club
A poised, attacking left-handed opener groomed in part at Sinhalese Sports Club, DanushkaGunathilaka was plucked from the domestic system largely on potential, and drafted into Sri Lanka’s A team for the tour of New Zealand in mid-2015. He impressed on that trip, hitting two smart fifties from four innings, to finish as the team’s second-highest run-scorer.
Danushka Gunathilaka’s Travails Over: Free to Cricket … so to speak
Lauren Ferri & Steve Zemek in The AUSTRALIAN, 29 September 2023, where the title reads ‘I’m happy that my life is normal again’: Cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka not guilty of sexual assault” .… with highlighting imposed b The Editor Thuppahi
Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka says he is looking forward to resuming his playing career after a Sydney judge acquitted him of sexual assault facing a judge-alone trial in the Downing Centre District Court, Mr Gunathilaka was on Thursday found not guilty of one count of sexual intercourse without consent relating to an allegation that he had removed a condom without a woman’s knowledge during sex.
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, cricket for amity, cricket selections, cultural transmission, ethnicity, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, trauma, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, Uncategorized, unusual people
Neil Para’s Marathon Walk to Secure PR in Australia
Item in the DAILY NEWS, 12 September 2023… where the title reads “SL asylum seeker granted PR after 1,000km walk to Sydney”
As he neared the end of his 1,000-kilometre walk to Sydney to raise awareness for thousands of families living in limbo as they seek permanent residency, asylum seeker Neil Para and his family have been granted theirs.
