Predator-Proof Fence to create Huge Wild Life Sanctuary
Paige Taylor in The Australian, 13 June 2017, where the title is “Predator-proof ploy foils feral-fed catastrophe”
Work has begun northwest of Alice Springs on the world’s largest predator-proof animal enclosure. It has come to this for our endangered species. The 185km electrified fence will separate feral cats from the marsupials they have pushed to the edge of extinction. The non-profit Australian Wildlife Conservancy is buying vast tracts of the bush and fencing out feral cats that kill between five and seven animals each night.
Extermination War in Outback Australia
Julie Power, in Sydney Morning Herald, 19 February 2017, where the title runs “War on feral cats: Australia aims to cull 2 million”
The federal government will unleash every weapon in its arsenal to wipe out 2 million feral cats – about a third of the population – and will provide $5 million to community groups to serve as foot soldiers in the battle. It’s a race to save about 124 species of native wildlife at risk of extinction from feral cats, which are notoriously hard to kill. Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews said the cull, which goes until 2020, did not target domestic cats, nor was driven by bloodlust. “They are the single biggest threat to our native animals, and have already directly driven into extinction 20 out of 30 mammals lost,” he said.
Effrontery …. or Bust !!!
Filed under accountability, Al Qaeda, art & allure bewitching, asylum-seekers, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, energy resources, female empowerment, fundamentalism, gender norms, governance, growth pole, landscape wondrous, life stories, medical marvels, performance, psychological urges, Responsibility to Protect or R2P, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, wild life, world affairs, zealotry
Christian Evocations: Anglican Churches in Lanka to Music
SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ3Gl3C5M30 …by … The Church of Ceylon – Anglican Church in Sri Lanka
Trinity College Chapel.
Uploaded on Dec 24, 2011
A selection of photos of parishes of the Church of Ceylon – Anglican Church in Sri Lanka.
Background Music – Wachet Auf (Sleepers wake) – A cantata by J S Bach on the Second Advent of Christ.
Travails at the Indo-Pak Border
Muralidhar Reddy, courtesy of gfiles, June Issue, Vol 11 where the chosen title of this article is “Border Woes”
I was The Hindu Pakistan correspondent from July 5, 2000, to May 25, 2006. It was on May 25, 2006, that I took a flight from Islamabad to Lahore, returning to India at the end of nearly six-year-long meaningful, intense and a truly historic phase in the history of ever turbulent, religious and secular life in Pakistan.
The period was chaotic and terrific for Pakistan after the United States of America made a determination that it was the forces commanded by Osama Bin Laden, supposedly operating from Tora Bora caves inside Afghanistan, that were responsible for bringing down the twin towers in New York. Predictably, Washington stuck a military death blow to the Taliban and the faithful of Bin Laden.
A Historical ‘Cuppa’ of Ceylon Tea
Ceylon Tea: The Trade That Made a Nation
The Colombo Tea Traders’ Association will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ceylon tea on July 20th with the launch of an illustrated history entitled Ceylon Tea: The Trade That Made a Nation. This art-quality large-format illustrated book has been authored by Richard Simon with Dominic Sansoni as Illustrations Editor, while the design has been fashioned by Sebastian Posingis. Continue reading
Filed under British colonialism, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, gender norms, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, immigration, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, travelogue, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions
Islamic Jihadists and Their Twisted Beliefs
Anthony Bergin, in The Australian, 9 June 2017 — with title “Twisted Beliefs driving Islamic Butchers”
Terrorists operating against Western targets claim their acts are inspired, and in many cases required, by Islam. Federal Social Services and Multicultural Affairs Assistant Minister Zed Seselja should be commended for his plain speaking when he argues we have tolerated extremism too often and that the Muslim community should now do more to call out Islamic extremism (“Minister tells Muslims to call out terrorism”, The Australian, June 8). “Those who believe in this Islamist ideology are a small minority of Muslims, but there are still far too many of them. So it’s on the majority — including the moderate, peaceful Muslims of our world — to rise up against this,” he said. Seselja suggested his colleagues should stop dancing around the issue and “call it for what it is”, saying it was an insult to suggest terrorism wasn’t religiously motivated. “Pretending that Islamist terrorists are simply mentally ill and not driven by an extreme ideology is not only dangerous, it is insulting to all Australians … “We are surely mature enough as a nation to have an open discussion about the inspiration for Islamist terrorism in Salafist jihadist teaching, while acknowledging that most Muslims in Australia are good citizens who reject this extremism.”
Seselja 
Filed under Uncategorized
Kumar Sangakkara’s Many Steps towards Reconciliation and Sensible Institutional Governance
Michael Roberts
In July 1983 Chokshanada and Kumari Sangakkara – in step with some Sinhalese, Malay and Burgher and other Sri Lankan families and in implicit opposition to the actions of Sinhalese people of violence –sheltered a number of Tamils who were in severe danger from the assaults on person and property that was a frightening element of the pogrom that occurred then. Many Sinhalese families in the central and southern districts protected their neighbours and/or friends in this manner. In conjectural manner, one can say that humane considerations and cultural traditions of alms-giving and amity informed such actions — a dimension of riots/pogroms in southern Asia that has been sidelined in historical studies of various “riots” in southern Asia. Perhaps inspired thus and perhaps encouraged also by the ecumenical spirit nurtured by his parents as well as Trinity College, Kumar and Yehali Sangakkara have continued this line of enterprise. In a significant step Yehali was beside Kumar when he visited St. Patrick’s College in Jaffna in April 2011 during the World Cup.
Filed under accountability, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, meditations, plural society, politIcal discourse, power politics, reconciliation, riots and pogroms, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes
Have Cricket. Will Reflect. Sanga in Q and A with Rex
Rex Clementine, in Sunday Island, 11 June 2017, where the title is “Sanga backs Graham Ford, reveals hard times during captaincy” … with highlights being the impositions of The Editor, Thuppahi
Former great Kumar Sangakkara has moved from batting to commentating like a duck taking to water. The transition has been so smooth. Not that he has lost the golden touch with batting or anything Playing for Surrey this year in 2017 he made five First Class hundreds in a row and nearly got a World Record sixth before falling short by 16 runs. Sunday Island sat down with the former Sri Lanka captain for a chat during the Champions Trophy. In this candid interview, he gives his opinions on the state of Sri Lankan cricket, his exploits in county cricket and why Graham Ford is the best man to take Sri Lanka forward. He also responds to criticism of retiring from international cricket in 2015 and reveals the difficulties of leading the team.
Kumar Sangakkara with SLC Board sometime back …http://www.thepapare.com/kumar-sangakkara-to-make-icc-tv-commentary-debut/
