January 27, 2018 · 10:20 pm

In Honour of Ambalavaner Sivanandan as Anti-Racist Radical Intellectual in Britian

Meera Srinivasan, in The Hindu, 4 January 2018, where the title is “A ‘Black intellectual’ from Sri Lanka”  …. Emphasis added in this version

Sri Lanka-born British writer Ambalavaner Sivanandan, theorist of state racism and Black liberation politics and founding editor of Race & Class journal, passed away in London on Wednesday. He was 94.

Best known for his political essays and his novel When Memory Dies, Mr. Sivanandan made original contributions to understanding communities of resistance in Britain, focussing on the Black working class that he felt was more prone to the “racism that kills”, as opposed to the “racism that discriminates” against middle-class Black people. Continue reading →

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January 27, 2018 · 10:23 am

Queen Elizabeth at Trinity in 1954

Sheshan Abeysekara in Trinity College web site, where the title is “Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Trinity in 1954”

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II must have fond memories of her first visit to Sri Lanka in 1954.  As well as visiting Colombo during the ten days she spent here, she also visited Kandy to watch the Perahera, and while there, she was felicitated at the grounds of Trinity College Kandy before she was escorted to the historical “Magul Maduwa” to be welcomed by a delegation of Kandyan Chiefs.

QUEEN_AT_TRINITY_1954_-2_

Picture: “The Mayor of Kandy welcoming the Queen at  the Trinity College main entrance drive.” | Picture Credits: GettyIma

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January 27, 2018 · 2:15 am

Trinity College Chapel: Two Images

Trinity College Chapel …. courtesy of ThreeBlindMen

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January 24, 2018 · 10:39 am

Islamic Terror within French Prisons

Yves Mamou, in Gatestone Institute, 23 January 2018, where the title is  “Prison in France: Terrorism and Islamism”

  • Like its police and the firefighters, France’s prison guards say they live in a permanent climate of violence and fear. And their exasperation is growing.
  • “Before, every morning, I was afraid to discover a guy hanging in his cell. You know what I’m dreading today? To be slaughtered, stripped, stabbed in the back. In the name of Islam and ISIS. Every day, on my way to work, this fear gnaws at my belly.” — ‘Bernard,’ a French prison guard.
  • “In the old days, aggressive behavior was linked to the difficulties of everyday life. Now hatred and violence are unleashed [by Islamists] against [our] authority, our society and its values.” — Joaquim Pueyo, MP, former director of Fleury-Mérogis prison.

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January 24, 2018 · 12:59 am

The Fort of Galle: Images Past and Present

 

Identified as “Old Dutch Fortification, Point De Galle,” this image a has been kindly supplied by the National Library of Australia. It is a late 19th century picture — before the new entrance was punched through the frontal ramparts and before a clock tower was built to honour Dr Anthonisz.

Whately’s water-colour painting (12.9 x 17.7 cm) of Point de Galle, dated 31 July 1874 has also been provided by the National Library of Australia.

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January 23, 2018 · 2:03 pm

Restoring the Hymen or Re-virginising

Re-virginising: From an Australian clinic’s advertisement offering hymen repair surgery, or hymenoplasty

Many women approach us to have their hymen re-instated for social, cultural and religious reasons. Many women’s hymens may have inadvertently broken through strenuous sporting and vigorous activity. We have been performing this simple procedure for many years.

The Wonder Down Under: A user’s guide to the vagina by Ellen Stokken Dahl and Nina Brochmann.

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January 23, 2018 · 1:57 pm

The Vagina: Exposing Its Myths

Helen Rumbelow, courtesy of The Australian, 19 January 2018, where the title runs “The Vagina Myths Exposed” ... with emphasis in highlights added by The Editor Thuppahi

It is nice that little boys are so proud of their penises. It’s an enthusiasm that never goes away: a lifetime bromance of “check out this little chap” swagger. Their wrinkly tube of erectile tissue gets to be a wingman, with a name, a personality and a lot of reflected glory. Could women ever feel this fantastic about their genitals?

Authors Ellen Stokken Dahl and Nina Brochmann reveal a few truths that eluded Masters, Johnson and many other experts.
Authors Ellen Stokken Dahl and Nina Brochmann reveal a few truths that eluded Masters, Johnson and many other experts.

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January 22, 2018 · 3:28 am

Animal Ways

a hermit crab at Mirissa

  a copulating pair of Toque Macaque at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens …. maybe 7-to-8 acts of penetration within the minute…not rape – just a willing partner

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January 21, 2018 · 3:40 pm

Two Reflections on the Galle Literary Fest of 2008

Michael Roberts, on 9th February 2008

ONE: GALLE LIT UP: FROM THE RIGHT FLANK

As a moderator and panelist participating in the Galle Literary Festival held between the 15th and 20th January 2008, my commentary is biased. It is doubly biased. I was born and nourished within the walls of the Fort in Galle, a site that cast a magic spell on the literary fare all and sundry encountered during these heady days.

 with my sister at Girl’s Bathing Place … and as Little bum Mike on the way home

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January 21, 2018 · 2:39 pm

Seth, Vidal et al at the Galle Lit-Fest in 2008

Vikram Seth in demand …

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