Monthly Archives: June 2013


In Rajapaksa Sri Lanka, anything which does not challenge familial rule is good and permissible

“Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don’t know because we don’t want to know”- Aldous Huxely (Ends and Means)
Almost 60 fishermen died at sea, because the authorities failed to warn about an impending storm.
No one accepted responsibility, no one apologised and no one resigned.
 
A Deputy Inspector General of Police was arrested for abducting and murdering a […]

Read More
By Tisaranee Gunasekara | Published on June 22, 2013 at 10:52 pm

Human Rights Defender Nimalka Fernando harassed, heckled and threatened by Sri Lankan Embassy officials in Japan

THE INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT AGAINST ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AND RACISM (IMADR) Japan has condemned
roundly the harassment of a Sri Lankan Human Rights Defender Dr. Nimalka Fernando by Sri Lankan Embassy staff in Tokyo. Fernando was heckled and interrupted during a seminar lecture delivered by her . Embassy staff also followed her and tried to intimidate and threaten […]

Read More
By | Published on June 22, 2013 at 10:22 pm

Lester James Peiris- a cultural icon beyond compare

It is indeed a great privilege to pen some thoughts and emotions that ran through my mind on one of the momentous occasions which Lester James Peiris and his wife Sumithra commemorate yearly. Although I am no film critic in the strict sense of the word but I dare say that I am a devoted […]

Read More
By Palitha Pelpola | Published on June 16, 2013 at 12:31 pm

The gap between the Sinhalese and Tamils seems unbridgeable, and sadly so…

“Collective”- Bauddha Jathika Balavegaya (BJB) reborn!
“I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders.” — Leo Tolstoy
Ghosts from fifty five-years ago
The ghosts of the past, not from very distant one but from an era of exactly fifty five years ago, are invading our confused and troubled […]

Read More
By Vishnuguptha | Published on June 15, 2013 at 8:50 pm

Sri Lanka: Will the people have the balls to resist the insidious media ethics law

“That is a slave’s lot – not to be able to speak one’s mind” — Euripides (Ion)
In Turkey, an attempt to uproot a public park and build a shopping mall ignited a tidal-wave of protests which is yet to abate.
No balls to stand up an condemn
In Saudi Arabia, innumerable Islamic sites are being annihilated in […]

Read More
By Tisaranee Gunasekara | Published on June 15, 2013 at 8:38 pm

ACLU sues over NSA surveillance program

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. government surveillance program that collects the telephone records of millions of Americans from U.S. telecommunications companies.
It is the first substantive lawsuit following reports in The Washington Post and the Guardian last week that detailed two vast surveillance programs run by […]

Read More
By Washington Post | Published on June 13, 2013 at 4:19 am

Ron Paul: Fear Snowden could be target of drone assassination by Obama administration

Former GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul insisted on Tuesday that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is not a traitor, but he fears the U.S.
government may send drones or a cruise missile to kill the 29-year-old, who has fled the United States.
“I don’t think for a minute that he’s a traitor,” Paul told Fox Business’ Melissa Francis.
“Everybody’s […]

Read More
By Ron Paul | Published on June 13, 2013 at 1:48 am

Thirteenth Amendment changes: More at stake for Rajapaksa government than countering terrorism

The government’s ongoing bid to seek changes to the 13th Amendment prior to holding elections to the Northern Provincial Council has suffered a reversal with the refusal of some of the government’s coalition partners to go along with it. This is likely to be a temporary reversal. The ethnic
minority political parties that are part of […]

Read More
By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on June 11, 2013 at 12:03 am

Those in the Opposition:stop dreaming and go back to the drawing board…

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
The pillar of success?
With the total flop of the one-day Island-wide strike of May 21, 2013, organized by the so-called joint-Opposition, the air went out of the balloon,
deflating the huge imaginary bubble that the Opposition had been blowing. […]

Read More
By Vishnuguptha | Published on June 9, 2013 at 9:10 pm

Media ethics and reality control in Sri Lanka: “All of us always approve what the Führer does”

“Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government”
(US Supreme Court on Pentagon Papers)
If the Rajapaksas succeed in turning their ‘media ethics proposal’ into law, Sri Lanka will have her very own Minitrue (Ministry of Truth). And the role of Lankan media will be redefined, from ‘watchdogs of democracy’ to ‘lapdogs of […]

Read More
By Tisaranee Gunasekara | Published on June 9, 2013 at 6:01 pm


Opinion

In Rajapaksa Sri Lanka, anything which does not challenge familial rule is good and permissible

“Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don’t know because we don’t want to know”- Aldous Huxely (Ends and Means) Almost 60 fishermen died at sea, because the ...

Issues

Human Rights Defender Nimalka Fernando harassed, heckled and threatened by Sri Lankan Embassy officials in Japan

THE INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT AGAINST ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AND RACISM (IMADR) Japan has condemned Nimalka Fernando roundly the harassment of a Sri Lankan Human Rights Defender Dr. Nimalka ...

Opinion

Lester James Peiris- a cultural icon beyond compare

It is indeed a great privilege to pen some thoughts and emotions that ran through my mind on one of the momentous occasions which Lester ...

Issues

The gap between the Sinhalese and Tamils seems unbridgeable, and sadly so…

“Collective”- Bauddha Jathika Balavegaya (BJB) reborn! “I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders.” — Leo Tolstoy Ghosts ...

Opinion

Sri Lanka: Will the people have the balls to resist the insidious media ethics law

“That is a slave’s lot – not to be able to speak one’s mind” — Euripides (Ion) In Turkey, an attempt to uproot a public park ...

Issues

ACLU sues over NSA surveillance program

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. government surveillance program that collects the telephone records of millions ...

Issues

Ron Paul: Fear Snowden could be target of drone assassination by Obama administration

Former GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul insisted on Tuesday that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is not a traitor, but he fears the U.S. Former Republican Presidential ...

Opinion

Thirteenth Amendment changes: More at stake for Rajapaksa government than countering terrorism

The government’s ongoing bid to seek changes to the 13th Amendment prior to holding elections to the Northern Provincial Council has suffered a reversal with ...

Opinion

Those in the Opposition:stop dreaming and go back to the drawing board…

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. The pillar of success? With the total flop of ...

Opinion

Media ethics and reality control in Sri Lanka: “All of us always approve what the Führer does”

“Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government” (US Supreme Court on Pentagon Papers) If the Rajapaksas succeed in turning their ‘media ethics ...