Category Archives: slanted reportage

January 18, 2022 · 11:48 pm

The Pandora’s Box That is the Djokovic Case

Josh Roose, in The Age, 16 January 2022, where the chosen title runs thus: “Right and left unite over Djokovic – and why they are both wrong”

It is easy to dislike Novak Djokovic. At the height of a pandemic that has claimed millions of lives globally, he has consistently refused to reveal his vaccination status, despite freely travelling the world for tennis tournaments, and has been pictured acting irresponsibly on numerous occasions.For many, he has become the embodiment of the adage that one rule applies for the wealthy and powerful and another for the rest of us.

 

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January 16, 2022 · 11:02 am

Paul McNamee steps into the Djokovic Courtside Drama

Paul McNamee in The Age, 15 January 2022, where the title reads “Djokovic an easy target in anti-vaxxer witch hunt”

Clearly, the outcome of the Federal Court case on Sunday has implications for Novak Djokovic. How about for the Australian Open?

The Australian Open is far and away Australia’s biggest international sporting event. Hosting all the world’s best tennis players in arguably the best sporting precinct in the world, it generates close to one billion dollars in economic impact for the state of Victoria. It puts Melbourne front and centre on the world stage for two weeks but, this year, for all the wrong reasons.

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January 9, 2022 · 11:35 am

Djokovic and the “Secretary-Bird”

Michael Roberts

When my wife and I went on a Safari tour in Zimbabwe in the 1990s I was fascinated by sightings of a “Secretary Bird” through my binoculars. The official identity of this strange figure  was “Sagittarius serpentarius.”   But, in my reading and juxtaposition, its upright walking stance simply indicated a prim and proper secretary persona.           

When I first saw Novak Djokovic on the tennis court, I immediately associated the two figures.  Maybe a strange leap; but it is a fixed asociation im my mind –one which did not, and does not, degrade my admiration for Djokovic’s tennis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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December 24, 2021 · 11:40 am

Ganging Up against China in France and Elsewhere

Global Times Item, 10 December 2021, where the title runs thus “French media pushes anti-China narrative in a monolithic block, but at least one man is fighting for objective views”… with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

“Bursting alliance”

Photo: Zheng Ruolin, a senior Chinese media professional and European studies expert talked with Maxime Vivas,French writer and journalistPhoto: Zheng Ruolin, a senior Chinese media professional and European studies expert, talks with Maxime Vivas, French writer and journalist
Editor’s Note:  “Maxime Vivas (Vivas), French writer and journalist, has been insulted and attacked for his objective views on China. Vivas started in early November on the world’s largest petition platform, change.org, a petition to call on all sectors of society to have an objective view of China. But then the link for the petition quickly became unavailable, as the US-based website deleted the petition. “Respect China like we respect ourselves!” Vivas openly criticized the Western media outlets and social media that demonize China, but was frequently attacked by the French media. The Global Times reporters Chen Qingqing and Liu Xin recently had an online forum with Vivas and Zheng Ruolin (Zheng), a senior Chinese media professional and European studies expert who has lived in France for several years, to look into where the Western media bias came from on China-related coverage and how to deal with their smearing of China.”

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December 8, 2021 · 10:47 pm

Pressures on Lanka: Machinations in Washington

Fair Dinkum, responding to developments in Washington involving the US State Department and SL Tamil representatives outlined by Daya Gamage recently

Michael,  I read Daya Gamage’s article published in the Colombo Telegraph (4/12/2021) with considerable interest. It raises red flags for Sri Lanka, and I’ll touch on three in this short memo.

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/u-s-congress-state-department-to-bring-fresh-pressure-on-sri-lanka-for-devolution-accountability/

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December 7, 2021 · 10:46 pm

Rulership: Modalities of Superiority and Domination in Sri Lanka

Michael Roberts

When viewing the Tamil or Sinhala-majority arenas in pre-colonial times in Sri Lanka one can perceive manifest symbols of lordship and hierarchy existing amidst layers of caste and class differentiation. The penetration of Portuguese and Dutch colonial powers in certain coastal areas from the 16th century onwards merely complicated, amplified and strengthened these practices of superordination and subordination. Fortunately, the English prisoner Robert Knox observed these modalities of hierarchical power and provided us with classic ‘engravings’ of King Rajasinha the II’s imposing regality and autocracy in the mid-seventeenth century.

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December 5, 2021 · 4:50 pm

Cricket Teams on the Road: Ship. Rail. Air. Road

Deepti Unni, in The Cricket Monthly, 1 November 2021, where the title is “Long way round. Will travel for cricket”

Bio bubbles, pandemics, extended quarantines, months away from family – cricketers have spent more time away from home this last year and a half than at any time in the recent past. It’s almost a throwback to the early years of the game, when Test tours would run six months and longer, including the time spent getting there and back by ship.

Well-wishers wave goodbye to Douglas Jardine and the other members of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) as they set sail from Tilbury to Australia on the Orient liner Orontes….Photo by Davis/Getty Images

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November 26, 2021 · 11:45 pm

World’s Leading Mass Killers? Who? Answer = US Military Machine

Michael Moore, in Information Clearing House, 23 November 2021, where the title reads thus: “A Memorial to the Terrorists – when the Terrorists are US!”

Eleven days ago on Veterans Day, while watching the cable news, I learned that our Congress, never missing a chance to ingratiate themselves with what they think Middle America wants — more money for the military, more flags flying everywhere, more fake patriotism and more pandering to the fake patriots — decided it was time to create a brand new national memorial on the already overcrowded National Mall in Washington, D.C., between the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol building. The memorial will be called “The Global War on Terrorism Memorial.” I’m not making this up.

And what patriotic politician or red-blooded American wouldn’t be in favor of that!

Well, me. I’m not in favor of it. And I hope you won’t be, either.

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November 26, 2021 · 1:12 pm

Exploring Sri Lanka’s Experiences with Democracy

Sarah Kabir and ROAR on “A Journey of a Demcracy: The Sri Lankan Story”

ROAR is embarking on the generation of a documentary thatseeks to create awareness and understanding of Sri Lanka’s post-independence history…… SEE INITIAL NOTICE: https://thuppahis.com/2021/11/19/imaginative-explorations-of-sri-lankas-history-on-the-cards/#more-56776

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Intervention

It has been over a decade since the end of Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict, but what we have today is ‘negative peace’ – which is the absence of overt violence. Limited understanding of Sri Lanka’s history, politics, democracy, ambition, intent, and the refusal to acknowledge acts of intolerance and discrimination that destroyed lives and led to bloodshed makes it increasingly difficult to avoid the recurrence of violence and we risk repeating the same mistakes. Today, we are confronted with choices that could lead to positive peace or a resumption of cycles of violence. Even now, the difficulties of dealing with COVID-19 and the resulting economic fallout could lead to social unrest that may morph into inter-communal violence if manipulated. Continue reading →

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November 23, 2021 · 12:51 pm

Continuation of Venom and Bias at the UNHRC

Malinda Seneviratne in his web-site MalindaWords where the title runs “Spit and venom in Geneva (same old, same old)”

 

 

 It’s Bachelet’s hour. That’s Michelle. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The second of her bi-annual Christmas-come-early party in Geneva. Time to get her kicks, probably. The grave countenance, deep tone and malice disguised as concern.  Yes, folks, it’s that time of year of regurgitating tired arguments based on tendentious claims made by unreliable sources with agendas that have little or nothing to do with human rights.

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