November 27, 2015 · 5:50 am

Nostalgic Pictorial Excursions in and around My Galle Fort

Michael Roberts

I was born and bred in Galle Fort, living there in Pedlar Street and then in Middle Street in houses rented from Muslim moor landlords by my retired father, T. W. Roberts, of the CCS. I visit the place whenever I can and several pictures taken during the last ten years are inserted within this collection… with Images by Michael Roberts, where not otherwise specified

deft work -chain gang Dutch-style verandahs –here in a house being repaired with a chain gang transferring clusters of tiles –yes, tiles — Up-Catch-Shift-Place. Wow, efficient-Pic by Roberts Continue reading →

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November 27, 2015 · 4:19 am

Daredevil Diving off the Majestic Fort of Galle

Seemingly Anonymous, Courtesy of the Daily News, 27 November 2015…. where the title is “Dare Devils of Galle Fort”

Galle Fort jumping off the ancient citadel walls started in the early 90s and it is the world’s equivalent to the bungee jump only a lot more dangerous, because the guys don’t even use an elasticised rope to pull you back from the near death experience, or a totally clear landing point. This hair rising jump off the walls is based on the Fort Ramparts at the top of the wall known as Flag Rock between Point Utrecht Bastion and Triton Bastion.

GALLE FORT DD-1 Continue reading →

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November 27, 2015 · 4:08 am

Prasanna Vithanage’s Latest Film deteriorates into Ideology

Uditha Devapriya,  in The Island, 22 November 2015, with the title ” ‘Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka’: Descent Into Ideology”

Prasanna Vithanage’s latest film Oba Nathuwa Oba Ekka was originally slated for release back in 2012. The government imposed a ban, while the government that followed it removed the ban. Same story as before: been there, seen that. Vithanage however has discounted the likelihood of miracles from the new government, and in an interview with Wasantha Rupasinghe has called for the elimination of the Public Performances Board (PPB). He uses his film as leverage for his argument. In this I agree with him.

A= OBA NATHUWA On the other hand I wonder what the government saw fit to ban in the film. In the interview Prasanna points out that censors were uncomfortable with his main character, Sarath, owning a pistol in his house despite being an ex-Army combatant. He laments that authorities felt it should be cut off. “Stupid!” is the word one can use when describing the censors in this respect. Continue reading →

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November 25, 2015 · 12:35 pm

Victor Melder’s Remarkable Sri Lanka Library in Melbourne

Courtesy of the web journal CONFLUENCE at http://www.confluence.mobi/blog/unique-sri-lanka-library/

An unique library on Sri Lanka, perhaps the only one of its kind overseas, exists in Melbourne, Australia. This library was begun by Victor Melder in 1968, when he migrated to Australia. Victor, who had only one book with him then, has today accumulated over 4,600 books, 2000 magazines and journals, 25 years Sunday newspapers and a collection of video and audio tapes all on Sri Lanka.

Victor 003Victor, who grew up in a village in Peradeniya, states he has savoured village life to its fullest and attributes this to be the cause of his unpretentious love for his motherland. This love, admiration and respect for this beautiful island is something he wishes to share with everyone alike in Australia. This is what gave birth to the ‘Victor Melder Sri Lanka Library’, which today is used by many Australia wide, as a primary source of reference on Sri Lanka. Continue reading →

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November 25, 2015 · 10:47 am

A Critical Bibliography: Challenging the Machinations of the International Powers vis a vis Sri Lanka

Gerald H. Peiris: “The Doctrine of Responsibility to Protect: Impulses, Implications and Impact,” 30 June 2010, http://www.slguardian.org/2010/06/the-doctrine-of-responsibility-to-protect-impulses-implications-and-impact/ AND https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/from%3A(geraldpeiris%40yahoo.com)+OR+to%3A(geraldpeiris%40yahoo.com)/1510fc7141751033?projector=1

tRUTHPic from http://blogs.aljazeera.com/sites/default/files/styles/ns-horizontal-xlarge/public/inside_2.jpg?itok=VoOrDpCi

Michael Roberts: “Lilliputs in a World of Giants: Marga and CHA bat for Lanka in the Propaganda War, 2009-14,” 18 November 2015, https://thuppahis.com/2015/11/18/lilliputs-in-a-world-of-giants-marga-and-cha-bat-for-lanka-in-the-propaganda-war-2009-14/#more-18467

Michael Roberts: “Sturdy Advocacy: Marga’s Questioningof the UNPoE’s Assassination Job,” 25 November 2015, https://thuppahis.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=18544&action=edit&postpost=v2

Jeevan Thiagarajah: “Confronting the OCHR Investigation in Geneva, September 2014,” 19 November 2015, https://thuppahis.com/2015/11/19/confronting-the-ochr-investigation-in-geneva-september-2014-memorandum-from-jeevan-thiagarajah/#more-18481

Sunday Times: “Marga/CHA confront the OISL Investigation in Geneva, September 2014: Godfrey Gunatilleke in Q and A with Lasanda Kurukulasuriya,” 19 November 2015, https://thuppahis.com/2015/11/19/margacha-confront-the-oisl-investigation-in-geneva-september-2014-godfrey-gunatilleke-in-q-and-a-with-lasanda-kurukulasuriya/#more-18492 Continue reading →

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November 25, 2015 · 6:06 am

Sturdy Advocacy: Marga’s Questioning of the UNPoE Assassination Job

Michael Roberts

Apart from the extended session with Sandra Beidas of the OISL (or OHCHR) team at Geneva, the three ‘advocates’ from Marga and CHA also participated in some side-events where they presented their interpretations of Eelam War IV and the evolving processes in Sri Lanka since then. The photograph immediately below and that at the end of this post depict one such event when they met representatives from a number of INGOs with interests in Sri Lanka, with the chair being a gentleman from a Sri Lankan organisation in Geneva (World Buddhist Congress?) which is accredited to the United Nations.

  Marga-Godfrey speaks-GENEVA“Two Sri Lankan civil society organizations –the Marga Institute and the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) presented their recent work on the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka at a side event to the UNHRC sessions in Geneva on 8th September 2014. Godfrey Gunatilleke  [in grey suit] is speaking; Jeevan Thiagarajah is on his left and Asoka Gunawardene is far right Continue reading →

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November 25, 2015 · 2:02 am

From Raqqa to Paris with Hate: The Modernist Cyber-Caliphate as a Virtual Community

Carl-Ungerer_gallerylargeCarl Ungerer, courtesy of The Australian, 25 November 2015, where the title is “Paris attacks: Islamists exploit West’s open societies” … and where there already are 26 blog-comments

As the Paris attacks demonstrate, the modern cosmopolitan city is now the preferred operating environment for the thousands of jihadists returning from conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and west Asia. Six of the terrorists in Paris previously had fought in Syria. Like the Madrid, London and Boston bombings before it, significant elements of this “protean enemy” have devised a clear strategy to move from the periphery of failing states in the Middle East and North Africa to operate in Western cosmopolitan cities. Just as Western security agencies grapple with the issue of trying to prevent the flow of foreign fighters to the conflict in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State has already devised a plan to send many of these fighters back to the West, including through the irregular immigration flows that cross daily into Europe. Continue reading →

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November 25, 2015 · 1:25 am

Stefan D’Silva displays his Discoveries in Word and Image

Tripedia’s Interview with Stefan D’Silva,  … http://tripedia.info/interview-with-stefan-dsilva/… with the following opening: “Stefan D’Silva is from the pearl of Indian ocean; Sri Lanka. He is a passionate traveler who has trotted in almost every part of his country. This interview is a reflection of his enthusiastic travel life. His website is storehouse of life styles, cultural patterns and geographical elements. – See more at: http://tripedia.info/interview-with-stefan-dsilva/#sthash.0gtjy1gD.dpuf”

At Kala Oya Stefan at the Baobab Trees on the banks of the Kala Oya inside Wilpattu NP

A sample of one image deployed in this travelogue

trinco cove 2 A cove and hide away at Trincomalee. “The ship is actually a war relic. We were told by our guide at the time It was damaged by a female suicide bomber who ‘rode’ a torpedo – or something similar in design — and crashed into the ship. It lies idle in a cove between Greater Sober Island and Sober Island. There is a gaping hole in its side”–Stefan. Continue reading →

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November 22, 2015 · 2:54 pm

A Hardline R2P Interventionist? An American Analyst’s Assessment of Samantha Power in April 2014

Richard Gowan, 23 April 2014, courtesy of Poltico at http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/samantha-power-is-back-105968, where the title is “Samantha Power Is Back”

Samantha_Power Power- en.wikipedia.org

Samantha Power, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, has two problems. One of them is the United Nations. The other is the United States. Power – who took up her post in August after a storied career as public intellectual, humanitarian activist and senior member the National Security Council – has been especially prominent in recent months, speaking out over issues ranging from the Ukrainian crisis to the chaos in South Sudan and ongoing slaughter in Syria. She has hit the mark more often than not. Having sat through her Russian counterpart Vitaly Churkin’s denials of skulduggery in Ukraine, she quipped that he had “more imagination than Tolstoy and Chekhov.” She can channel outrage as well as humor, condemning a fatal attack on a U.N. base in South Sudan as a “brazen, inhuman” act. Continue reading →

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November 22, 2015 · 10:33 am

Sarah Jameel’s Love Letter to Beirut, Paris and Beyond

An emotional essay written by a Sri Lankan student studying at the University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland following the deadly Paris attacks has gone viral on social media. Sarah Jameel (23) is a dental student at UCC. She had her primary education in Sri Lanka and recently graduated from McGill University in Canada in Biomedical Sciences and International Relations. Her essay titled “A love letter to Beirut, Paris and beyond from Sri Lanka” has been read by thousands of people across the world and it was also picked up by various websites and newspapers in the world. She was also interviewed by Spirit Radio in Ireland.

paris 11 paris 22

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