October 22, 2017 · 7:27 am

Reporting War. Outrageous Obfuscations during the Last Phase of Eelam War IV

Michael Roberts

The demand for news and the monies generated in mass media mean that journalists attempt to cover modern wars at close quarters. Access to war fronts is dictated by many factors, including location and access as well as the nature of the war terrain. Access to locations where the battle-lines are fluid and changing may be easier than those with definitive war-fronts, though such conditions can turn out to be more fatal – as Western reporters in Libya and Marie Colvin discovered in Syria in 2011/12.

Adie  Colvin Nesmann Birtley

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October 22, 2017 · 5:16 am

German Courts Institute Censorship

Judith Bergman, in Gates Institute Item, 21 October 2017, with title as “Germany: Full Censorship Now Official
Courts Rewrite History”

Germany has made no secret of its desire to see its new law copied by the rest of the EU.  When employees of social media companies are appointed as the state’s private thought police and given the power to shape the form of current political and cultural discourse by deciding who shall be allowed to speak and what to say, and who shall be shut down, free speech becomes nothing more than a fairy tale. Or is that perhaps the point?

Perhaps fighting “Islamophobia” is now a higher priority than fighting terrorism?

 A German court recently sentenced journalist Michael Stürzenberger (pictured) to six months in jail for posting on his Facebook page a historical photo of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, shaking the hand of a Nazi official in Berlin, in 1941. The prosecution accused Stürzenberger of “inciting hatred towards Islam” and “denigrating Islam” by publishing the photograph. –Image Source: PI News video screenshot

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October 21, 2017 · 1:38 am

Reporters struggling with Eelam War IV: Some Recollections and Reports

 Michael Roberts

In addressing the serious issues raised by some of the Western media reportage of the events unfolding during the last phase of Eelam War IV and several seemingly deliberate obfuscations, I recently sent a short set of questions to some Indian journalists who were in Sri Lanka then and also to a few Sri Lankan reporters/cameramen who had been taken to the war front – guided here by an official list available. I have only received responses from a few, but it is enough to set the reflections rolling.

  Journalists in plane en route to war front, circa 27 January —Pic by Kanchan Prasad

These responses throw light on the difficulties faced by journalists in reporting the war and I see them as important appendages to an analytical review that I have already penned in draft form (in progress). Those studying Eelam War IV should pay heed to these recollections, while also visiting the Al Jazeera You-Tube presentations provided by Tony Birtley & David Chater and marveling at the capacities revealed by Sergei de Silva Ranasinghe in deciphering the ups-and-downs of the SL Army progress from distant shores far better than Birtley or those in Colombo who visited the front on conducted tours on some occasions. Continue reading →

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October 20, 2017 · 10:17 am

A British Royal Wedding …. Papare Style

The Royal Wedding Sri Lankan Style = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JozDcbBDCQY

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MonkeyArtCreations

Published on May 7, 2011

This is what the Royal family would have done if Sri Lankan Papare music was played!!! 😀 Made possible by @kanchanasandeep

102 Comments …. Wow!

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October 19, 2017 · 1:08 pm

House of Lords Debate Sri Lanka and Michael Naseby stands steadfast

LISTEN TO LORD MICHAEL NASEBY + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYerAzq7t1Q

Item in several web sites: “West must remove war crime threats on SL: Lord Naseby”

The West, particularly the US and the UK, must remove the threat of war crimes and foreign judges that overhangs and overshadows all Sri Lankans, especially their leaders, a British Baron told the British Parliament on Thursday. Michael Morris, Baron Naseby PC, who started the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka in 1975, expressed these views during a debate on Sri Lanka. Continue reading →

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October 16, 2017 · 1:26 pm

Religious Dispensations and the Subordination of Women

Upul Wijayawardhana, courtesy of Daily News

The systematic suppression of women, persisting over centuries, has been legitimised, largely by religions and is an art-form mastered by ‘Men in Robes’. At the dawn of civilisation, women were considered superior for the simple reason that only they could produce an offspring for the continuation of the species. There is evidence to show that in Mesopotamia, one of the cradles of civilisation, if not ‘The Cradle of Civilisation’, there was equality. In the early Sumerian period, “a council of elders”, represented equally by men and women, ruled the population but gradually a patriarchal society emerged.

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October 16, 2017 · 1:02 pm

Mohan Munasinghe receives Legion of Honour

Item in Daily FT

Jean-Marin Schuh, Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, bestowed the honorary distinction of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour), upon Prof. Mohan Munasinghe at the French Ambassador’s residence. The Légion d’Honneur is the first and highest national order and distinction of the French Republic, coming directly under the purview of the President of France.

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October 16, 2017 · 12:48 pm

A Treasure Trove within a Magnificent Colonial Building

Ishara Jayawardane in Daily News, 12 October 2017, where the title is “Magnificent historical haven”

Located at Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha the National Museum is a majestic construction that is a familiar site to those in Colombo. With a long history, it is one of the most famous of the old Colonial buildings in the country. The Daily News spoke to Archt. Ismeth Raheem on the National Museum where he shared some known insights of the construction of the National Museum.

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October 15, 2017 · 3:22 pm

Albert Namatjira emerges from the Copyright Dungeon

AAP-SBS News, October 2017,    where the title is “Albert Namatjira’s copyright deal: Rewriting a historical wrong”

An injustice has been righted more than 30 years on with the family and clan of famed Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira recovering the copyright to his work.  A 15-minute phone call and the princely sum of $1 have resolved what has been the country’s longest copyright battle for the rights to the works of Aboriginal painter Albert Namatjira. It is a victory for his family and clan who have been denied any rights or revenue from his work for more than 30 years, The Weekend Australian reported.

Namatjira, an Arrernte man from Central Australia, is recognised as Australia’s greatest indigenous painter and the first to work in the western tradition. He is best known for his watercolour paintings of the outback and created about 2000 artworks during his life.

**FILE** A Oct 19 2006 file photo of Albert Namatjira’s first painting is displayed at a Sotheby’s preview in Sydney. The auction of the Aboriginal art including Albert Namatjira’s first painting will be on in Melbourne today, Tuesday Oct. 31, 2006. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

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October 14, 2017 · 6:54 am

Islamists in France engage in Jihad via Facebook

Yves Mamou, at https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11109/france-islamists-facebook … where the title is “France: Facebook Islamists Hunt in Packs”

  • The “moderating hubs” for France’s social media are generally located in French-speaking countries with cheap labor, in North Africa and Madagascar. In France, rumors abound that Facebook’s moderators are located in French-speaking Muslim countries such as Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Facebook never confirms or denies outsourcing its “moderation” work to companies employing cheap Muslim labor in North Africa.
  • Notably, Muslim hate-speakers continue to proliferate on Facebook, while anti-Islamists face harassment and the loss of their accounts.
  • These Facebook users, like dozens of others, seem to be the victims of Islamist “packs”. Once the opinions and analyses of these Facebook users are noticed, they are denounced to Facebook as “racists” or “Islamophobes” and their accounts are deleted.

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