Nittewa: Pseudo-Academic

Monday, November 21, 2005

Pseudo-Academic

I bet everyone who comes to this blog at one point or the other have been the site of The Lanka Academic.

Even thought LAcnet has been running for quite some time and has gained a reputation as a fairly decent news site, I think there are serious flaws in the way they work.

Recently they started a forum where people are allowed to discuss things. If you go there you will notice the moderators coming down rather hard on people who are critical of the right-wing fundamentalists in Sri Lanka. A majority of the commentors in the forum are very clearly Sinhala chauvinists living abroad, and they have little tolerance for anything even remotely LTTE-friendly or peace-process friendly. Overall there is little space for anyone, Tamil or otherwise, to say anything about the LTTE without calling the terrorists.

When the Sinhala chauvinist commentors trash the others the moderators remain silent and when one of the others decides to retaliate with trash (not more spiteful than that which was aimed at them) the moderators shut them down. Several of my friends who have tried to have intelligent discussions on a TLA forum have quit out of exasperation because the moderators have made it very clear as to their stand on things.

I do not know if this is the policy of TLA. Perhaps the people who are moderating their forum have started to push their individual political agendas without the knowledge of the TLA people, but that is highly unlikely. Even when people have complained to the TLA admin, they have been asked to respect the rules set down by the moderator and shut up.

But increasingly they have also begun to openly express their right wing pro-war stance through reports in news, such as the one I reproduce below.

LTTE begins aggressive fund raising in Europe. Demands large
Special Correspondent in London, Mon Oct 31 14:58:58 EST 2005

During the last few weeks, LTTE operatives in major European cities have commenced an aggressive fund raising campaign demanding large sums of money from the Tamil expatriate community. In London, LTTE operatives are reported to be demanding 5000 pounds from individuals and 50 thousand pounds from businessmen. Despite the fact that the LTTE is a banned terrorist group and contributing or collecting money for the group is a punishable offense in the UK LTTE operatives are openly visiting business premises and demanding large sums from the shop owners. The operatives visiting Tamil residents at their homes are reported to be saying that 'After the elections, we are going for the war. This is the final and decisive attack to get our homeland. We need large sums of money urgently. We will return the money with interest in 3 years".

This article has the potential to be a huge story and TLA knows that. But there is no reporter credited with the story, and the details are very very vague. Special Correspondent in London? My ass. TLA doesn't have paid reporters anywhere. One of their friends probably called them up and told them this story.

I do not deny that this story is probably true. I have heard stories from people in Australia and Canada about the LTTE engaging in similar activities over there after the election. But the reason TLA put this story out is not because it wants to tell the truth, but because it wants to further it's own agenda (or the agenda of those who run it). They've become just another one of those groups who are always looking out for a big stick with which to beat the LTTE.

It's sad that these people call themselves academics, do little but steal news stories from other sources and republish them. They do no reporting of their own, and only publish rumors they have heard when it suits their need or is in keeping with their agenda.

But then, Sri Lankans are used to people like this calling themselves 'academics'.

posted by Morquendi @ 6:39 PM || 48 opinion/s ||

Comments:

# posted by Anonymous : November 21, 2005 10:25 PM

In 2001, inflation was around 15% and increasing rapidly, economic growth had turned negative, foreign reserves were drying up rapidly while government debt was increasing rapidly. Ordinary people felt the effects of that bleak economy when construction workers were out of work and taxi drivers couldn’t find hires.
Just imagine what would have happened if those trends continued.
This is what Ranil had to deal with then he took power in 2001. He had to reverse the rapid decline of the economy and to do that he took steps to ensure that government spending was placed under tight discipline.
If he hadn’t done that, the economy would have gone down hill further.
Ranil’s policies didn’t faile. In 2001 the economy was a sinking ship. Ranil succeeded in rescuing that ship.
Unfortunately the voters of this country failed. They failed to comprehend reality and see through the lies of Wimal Weerawansa and his comrades. The electorate has proven that it has a very short memory and isn’t capable of thinking.
The only gratitude Ranil got was being booted out of government in 2004 and out of politics in 2005.
The electorate said –
“Thanks a lot Ranil. You worked hard and saved this ship from sinking. But that’s all we expect from you and from now on we’ll pretend not to know what you did for us. What we want is people like Wimal Weerawansa who entertain us. We enjoy he SCREAMS and his fancy stories and his conspiracy theories. You are boring! We’d prefer somebody with a red shawl around his neck!!! ”
Unfortunately the voting public have proven yet again that they will always go with fancy nationalist/socialist rhetoric so long as the economy hasn’t deteriorated to the point where taxi drivers don’t get hires and construction workers can’t find work. They’ll wait till the economy is crawling on it’s knees (like in 2001) to elect a politician who has a sound comprehension of reality rather than those with fancy nationalist/socialist slogans.
As in all things in life, people will have to face the consequence of their foolish decisions. It will not take long for inflation to reach 25% for the exchange rate to spiral downward and for the economy to stagnate (or worse). That’s because the policies that led to the bleak economic situation that existed in 2001 are contained in an amplified form in “Mahinda Chinthena”. On top of that Prabhakaran will probably want to resume the war (why else would he ensure the UPFA candidate’s victory by calling for a boycott) and the people will discover that the war mongers they elected aren’t even competent enough to fight a war!
When the ship starts sinking again, the people should be told not to grumble and not to cry. They should be told bluntly that the ship is sinking again because of the ingratitude they showed to the leader who saved the sri lankan economy from collapsing - Ranil Wickramasingha. They should be told it is because they are foolish enough and corrupt enough to prefer the “Sobaneya” of a red shawl, fancy nationalist/socialist rhetoric and the lies, conspiracy theories and SCREAMS of people like Wimal Weerawansa Sahodereya. They should be told that the ship is sinking because they are not capable of instinctively identifying the real leadership that Ranil offered when the ship was no yet sinking!

# posted by Anonymous : November 21, 2005 10:49 PM

If you have a problem with the Lanka Academic, do not read it or access it. No one is forcing you to visit the website. It is run by people who had the initiative to run a Sri Lankan news website and they will choose how to run it as they please. They are free to follow whatever editorial policy they wish to follow.

Now I know your facist little brain will have trouble comprehending that, because everyone is supposed to only do your bidding and what not, but there is always hope that you will be able to open your eyes and see the real world for a change.

# posted by Anonymous : November 22, 2005 4:08 AM

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GK23Df01.html

Ashanthi needs to read this. Not just browse through, but really study it to get some background knowledge.

# posted by Anonymous : November 22, 2005 8:53 AM

i agree that there's a lot of racist vitriol everywhere on the Sri Lankan web, but one thing I was wondering,

Are sinhala chauvinists really extreme right wing? Wouldn't stuff like the JVP and the big government stance of the SLFP be left-wing?

# posted by Morquendi : November 22, 2005 9:13 AM

Even though the JVP are identified as Marxist by the international media, they themselves do not call the ideology of the party marxist.

So even thought the JVP may not have 'right-wing' economic policies, they are very right wing in terms of their ultra-conservative attitudes, and also in terms of being a part of the establishment.

What makes one a right-winger is also debatable.

# posted by Anonymous : November 22, 2005 10:07 AM

I've been going through your blog for quite some time, Mr Morquendi. I find it strange that you should point fingers at the Academic.

"People in Glass houses..." and all that.

Even thought LAcnet has been running for quite some time and has gained a reputation as a fairly decent news site, I think there are serious flaws in the way they work.

Overall there is little space for anyone, Tamil or otherwise, to say anything about the LTTE without calling the terrorists.

Althugh you keep telling that the LTTE are terrorists on Nittewa, don't you also think that Nittewa is just the opposite?

Here anyone who makes an anti-LTTE point is instantly branded a Sinhala chauvanist. But not like the TLA moderators, you even go on to attack them as well, instead of ignoring them.

Your posts are full of venom, but when a commentor uses your own terms, you attack them for doing so and dismiss them.

Perhaps the people who are moderating their forum have started to push their individual political agendas without the knowledge of the TLA people, but that is highly unlikely.

Do you have a policy for nittewa?

This article has the potential to be a huge story and TLA knows that. But there is no reporter credited with the story, and the details are very very vague. Special Correspondent in London? My ass. TLA doesn't have paid reporters anywhere. One of their friends probably called them up and told them this story.

So what makes you the expert? Are you a special correspondent or reporter? Does the fact that you typed many smses during the tsunami also give you the credibility to make such comments on the political situation in the country?

Who are your sources then? You dismiss many stories that have appeared, but you do not reveal your own sources. What are you hiding?

They've become just another one of those groups who are always looking out for a big stick with which to beat the LTTE.

Just like you have become another group who are always looking out for a big stick with which to beat the government and anyone who disagrees with you.

It's sad that these people call themselves academics, do little but steal news stories from other sources and republish them. They do no reporting of their own, and only publish rumors they have heard when it suits their need or is in keeping with their agenda.

Is nittewa any different? What makes you the big man to tell such a thing?

You may have Ashanthi and her birds of a feather fawning over you, sittingnut warmongering after his greens lost the election and some other assorted Sinhalese and Tamil extremists contributing with comments....

...but apart from Rebecca, Yaaro, Disco Bob, Ivap, Jack Point and Ian, who among you has made any original and intelligent comments?

I have read your big fights with Indi. At least that fellow is decent enough make a point and stick to it. You scold Ranil, then you scold Mahinda, then after that you scold the LTTE for letting Mahinda win. You argue for the sake of arguing, but you also sling mud at all. You have no principle of your own.

You pretend to be a moderate, speak in filth, and try to teach other people with more experience how to do their job.

You are nothing but a glory-hound. No use complaining about other people's faults when you are full of shit yourself.

Get your own act together before you start teaching your grandmother to suck eggs.

# posted by Anonymous : November 22, 2005 12:14 PM

You are absolutely right. When I want anti-Tiger news I go to Lanka Academic and when I want anti- Sri Lankan news I go to Tamilnet. Between them they cancel each other out and the truth lurks somewhere in between. Bottom-line although lanka Academic purports to be neutral and projects such an image, it simply cant. It is as biased and propagandist t like all Sri Lanka news organizations.

Human Rights watch once used Lanaka Academic as a source for one of its reports, the more pathetically biased Lanka Academic becomes less valuable it will be as a source of real information,

# posted by Morquendi : November 22, 2005 6:50 PM

Dear Obfuscator (and in General),

A) Nittewa is a blog. Not a news site. You can ask Indi what a blog is. Or check it out on Wikipedia.

B) We don't claim to be news. We're political commentry. Editorials, sorta. Perhaps you should find out what that means. I am a journalist and I could give you a detailed explanation of why stuff found on Nittewa isn't news. TLA claims to be a balanced news site but is in fact just full of pro-Sinhala propaganda, which is more dangerous.

C) The opinions posted here are of the poster. I am biased and my biases show up on my posts. Sittingnut's biases are different from mine and they shey show up when he writes. Everything is tolerated. If you want to say something then join.

D) We do not have a 'policy' like TLA. Nittewa has no policy. It exists, and tolerates. Do you see us removing Sinhala Chauvinist comment, even the ones that use derogatory terms? We leave them, because this is a democratic space. TLA is not democratic, and they do not tolerate pro-LTTE opinions.

E)As for my principles, I do not have blind faith in anyone. I do not support the JVP, UNP, PA or LTTE. When they do something positive I write about it. When they do something negative I trash it. I have praised and trashed all of them at different points. That's called 'being openminded'. Something you don't seem to understand.

E) Obfuscator, you're what bwe call a troll. If you do not leave a valid identity you will not get any more responses.

# posted by Anonymous : November 22, 2005 7:03 PM

There are other plenty of sites too which are very similar to what you described in your blog. Some of the prominant ones are

a) Asian Tribune
b) Lanka Truth
c) Nitharsanam

It is really sad indeed.

# posted by sittingnut : November 22, 2005 7:23 PM

what you say about the lanka academic is true. they depend too much on 'the island' reporters, that is the problem. when i pointed out the bias in their own forum,(you may check my comments there under member sittingnut and judge for yourself ) i was made inactive(?) so i am presently unable to login.
it used to be very unbiased. i began reading it (then known as slnet i think) when they did not have a website and was merely a email newsletter. i even contributed money to them in 90's.
but ppl have started to protest which is good.

# posted by Anonymous : November 22, 2005 7:44 PM

What morq do here is called acting. He has a career which indirectly benefits from being ruthlessly anti-sinhala-buddhist. But to keep a veil of 'neutrality' it's necessary to bash everyone else once in a while. This whole blog, as a lot of other blogs, is not something real. This is something like SMS presidency of Ranil (yeah, now I'm a Mahinda fan JVP troll alright eh, intellectuals?), a feel-good thingy, to satisfy a few people's personal needs - in different levels of need hierarchy. For Morq, it's a image boost. it's a part of Sanjaya Senanayke as a concept. For sittingnut, it's a way to release his frustration. See how he went all anti-ltte overnight. (It's interesting these balanced people who talk about ripping off a large number of votes being prevented in Jaffna forget the fact that this number itself was wrong to begin with, and that's why LTTE and Tamil mps don't allow census. :-)) As for ashanthi, she's a meta worm - a worm who lives on other worms shit. Morq lives on the shit of SL society, and Ashanthi the peace-blogger-is-my-occupation is living on Morq! I do not have anything serious against ivap and Indrajith.

Unlike you, no one in Lanka Academic owe their importance or presense to what they do there, because they are not vapourware like you. People at LacNet don't call others names, they don't try to dissect others with different opinions. They say what they say, don't pretend to be politically correct by allowing all, and go on their real life.

You "allow" others to comment, but when someone really questions you, or does not belong, you label him as a troll and ignore him. And then you feel good for allowing various views, and call Lanka Academic names. You have a set of your own "others" here who argue against you and whose arguments you arbritarily choose to address. They are your complement - not opposition. This is a problem in western academic ethics to begin with (because you see LacNet as pseudo-academic i guess you must be thinking that there is a great ethical thing called real academics which you adhere to): According to western ethics, in order to be a gentleman it's enough to allow others views. It is not necessary to address critisism or accept that you are wrong. As Max Plank correctly said, "a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
Thus, Kasbawa is a troll and Morq is a gentleman, sittingnut is another gentleman who doesn't always agree with morq.

This is a big part of Ranils falure too. Instead of addressing issues on CFA etc. whole UNP campaign was focused on taxonomy: labelling those people who don't submit to their version of truth. Even now, instead of analysing where they went wrong, they seem to live on two arguments: LTTE argument, nauseous now, and the argument that the people who didn't vote UNP are stupid, and Mahinda is a buffalo. Very funny kind of serious people you are.

Before Blogger, there were a lot of important, correct, intellectuals like you, who were interviewed on weekly basis by Ravaya every time Chandrika farted. Idea was to analyze how the fart would affect Sri Lanka. (Of course, it would sure make Sarath N de Silva look very bad and threaten his position) Sure they thought they had a lot of infuence to serious politics in SL. (I don't know if they are still there, but i hear in news that Ravaya got almost closed, except thanks for Kumar but CJ is still alive and kicking) - but i'm sure VI is still thinking that he has a say in politics. Thanks to free websites, now the batton is in your hands. FREE One-click publishing. Enjoy while it lasts, dudes, and think you are the ones whom people listen to and that you can label anything at will :)

# posted by Anonymous : November 23, 2005 2:46 AM

There were no dragons in LotR last time I checked. For some people Tolkien=LotR I know.

sleepy, will answer other stuff laters.

If i feel like.

# posted by ivap : November 23, 2005 3:05 AM

Oooh it's getting hot in here. I think this whole argument is just academic... :-)

Morq - Obfuscator has contributed before in the bpp thread if I recall correctly. He / She is legit.

Too many lurkers not enough contributors I say.

# posted by Morquendi : November 23, 2005 5:23 AM

Ashanthi, it is true that there are no dragons in the LotR, other than for a mention of Smaug the Magnificent (who features prominently in the Hobbit).

The only other dragons of middle earth I know of are Glaurung, Worm of Morgoth, Father of Dragons and Scatha of the Ered Mithrin, the greatest Dragon of the North.

There are a few more but I do not know their names.

But chill, anonymous coward didn't know that Smaug was mentioned in LotR. So he's wrong.

# posted by Morquendi : November 23, 2005 5:34 AM

LotR's Appendix A II: The House of Eorl, has Scatha's slaying mentioned.

# posted by Morquendi : November 23, 2005 5:38 AM

Ivap, there was a Discombobulator mon the BPP post. No obfuscator.

# posted by Morquendi : November 23, 2005 5:48 AM

Anonymous Coward, if you'd said something like this on TLA Forum you'd have been removed by now. IN fact anyone who's critical of the way it's being run, or the biases of the moderators is removed from the forum immediately.

The Forum of TLA, like many of the academics in Sri Lanka, are fakes.

You have linked to the X Group. They're fakes too. I have worked with them. They're Sri Lanka's number one pseudo-academics. They think they're the cats whiskers and more, but in fact they don't even properly understand the philosophies they pretend to be experts at, and none of them have ever properly read Foucault, Derrida or Marx.

I hate to sound classist and elitist here but the simple truth is that very little of the work of these thinkers has been translated into Sinhala, and many of those in the X Group or the X Party do not understand Engligh enough to be able to read such material.

I haven't read much Foucault or any Derrida, but I don't pretend to know them. And I don't pretend to be an academic.

And have you read their magazine 'London'? They're what we call Sarva Asubhavadiyo. They are critical of anyone and everything, without really investigating what makes those people or those processes tick.

They have very little respect as academics in Sri Lanka. Young people from rural areas who come to the universities might be initially awed by their heavy words and their apparently depp sounding philosophies, but the fact is that very few ofg them stay with the X group or X party for very long.

Do you know that right after the protest in Fort against Sivaram's killing the X Group and the X Party engaged in a major street brawl right outside the Fort Railway Station?

# posted by ivap : November 23, 2005 2:05 PM

Is this true ?

http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=16224

# posted by Ian Selvarajah : November 23, 2005 3:55 PM

ivap - I came across that article and was wondering the same thing. I hope not, but if it is, that is absolutely disgusting!

# posted by sittingnut : November 23, 2005 4:48 PM

one of the results of current bias in sl media is that we will never be able to find the truth about this unless one or more of the foreign wire services confirm this.

# posted by Anonymous : November 23, 2005 7:07 PM

Well Said Anonymous Coward!

Morquendi is nothing but a facist hypocrite who has an ego of cosmic proportions. From time to time he tends to stroke it so that it magnifies into truly terrifying proportions. Only he is right and everyone else who doesn't share his hatred, vitriol and opinions are nasty dregs who deserve to rot and die in some scum-covered canal in Pettah. You can see how his friend Ashanthi comes rushing into defend him when he is totally exposed - with filth and anger and all the rest. Don't expect anything decent from such people.

It's plain to see - as anonymous corward reveals - that Morquendi is ruthlessly anti Sinhalese-Buddhist inside and out. So anything that pertains to this community is worth bashing, screaming and wailing about, as the louder the screams are, the more "truthful" and "unbiased" his rantings supposedly become. Now you might be laughing at this, but this is actually how Morquendi works and what he believes is "the right thing"; only the Sinhalese Buddhists are evil and they should all be locked up in some concentration camp and be done away with. If only that could happen.

Normally people get into such rants and ravings like Morquendi when they realize they are quite simply insignificant participants in the Sri Lankan community. And that's the truth - Morquendi is an insignificant little man whom no one really gives a toss about and that's why he is so angry and full of hatred. He realizes that the Sinhalese Buddhists are the dominant community and he hates it, because none of the "glory" is his. I'm tempted to use that saying about barking dogs here but I won't.

It is time for people Morquendi to think and act like Sri Lankans, instead of trying to create ethnic and religious divisions that are only going to divide Sri Lanka's society further. This may be asking too much because the hate, the anger and the pain of the UNP's defeat is well and truly set into his heart but I believe it's worth a try. Dividing Sri Lankan society along ethnic and religious lines like Morquendi does, and attacking certain communities is doing zero for social harmony.

Oh and Ashanthi, the Lanka Academic will run the website how they wish to run it. You and Morquendi are more than welcome to start your own Sri Lankan News Website. But it seems you two would rather sit on your lazy posterior and whine and moan about people who actually have the initiative to do such a thing. Do you ever get embarassed about how you behave?

# posted by Anonymous : November 23, 2005 7:25 PM

To close the worm issue, when I say that there were no dragons in LotR, I was not meaning passing mentions. Anyway I let it go first because nobody gives a shit and second because I'm not as infallible as you not to admit that I indeed forgot Smaug's mention in LotR.

To address issues in the order they were presented; Ashanthi, for FSM's sake read before you write.
I DID NOT post as an anon. I manually chose a name that seperates me from other anons, and that name happened to be a parody due to /. and it seems that I should have known better. If you say I'm still an anon as long as I do not have a blogger profile, since when does having a blogger profile was mandatory for people to talk?
As for indi/ivap - I said I do not have any love for those people - Just that I don't comment on them because I haven't seen enough to comment. I have neither seen nor talked to them and I don't undertake sockpuppet jobs. Only event I can recall having stumbled upon them was when I saw a few dozen of hits a website I manage got with indi.ca as referrer url.

For Morq:
As could be predicted, you resorted to hit strawmen.

I already addressed TLA/deletion argument. If I post this in TLA and get deleted, it would be wise for me not to post there. And I leave it at that. But my very argument was that non-deletion is not the ultimate measure of balance and on philosopical grounds, you are not any better than TLA except on how you look. Read my first post; I hate repetition.

As for XG, no I don't endorse them. I chose that link so that I can save typing. What you said about them are more or less already known, and afaik after the Dec 26 split there are no academics left there. And from the reasons given for split I felt that those who left were no less hypocritical than those remained. But, to come to the matter at hand, isn't it a big ugly strawman to bash X-Group hanging on a link, when my major argument ---that non-deletion does not make you essentially holier-than-thou --- has nothing to do with them?

I hope you won't start criticising Wikipedia this time.

I heard about the Sivaram insidence - ironically from XP website where they boasted about that.

To close with your "if you posted this in TLA" argument, I never visit them frequently, and I never visit you frequently. I was just trying to get whatever little news I can gather about SL online. Although I found this TLA issue interesting, I don't post on your (narcissistic as almost all blogs, and stupid, imho) political rants because of the reason I mentioned -- I don't think they have any serious effect on physical society -- and when I linked to XG to give that very point, you , rather than addressing that issue, resorted to say how stupid XG is, a thing I agree, but never bothered about. AGAIN, you proved what I said about you -- that so-called intellectual/ political/ know-it-all bloggers are just following a script and that script entirly consists of laballing others than finding out what the fuck is wrong with ourselves. Continue talking how great Ranil is and how stupid those Anuradhapura gamaya's were to vote him out. Continue ranting about LTTE robbing votes, and now move in to that hand-cutting thing and have another round of bloggheria of condemnation. Whole SL will eventually prosper.

In retrospect, it was stupid to get involved with you in the first place. You will never get even this post for what it is on principal grounds. You, ladies and gentlemen, are FUBAR. So much for arguing with you.

# posted by Anonymous : November 23, 2005 11:51 PM

To morquendi… your views about the people who don’t understand much English.. mind you 95% of the Sri Lankan people do not understand English even if they speak … good English… and its not a shame! For the Chinese, Japanese and even Russians have conquered the world with out having this “ I know English” mentality… the problem in Sri Lanka up to the date… that people’s inability to get out of the colonial mentality and some people who has benefited and still benefit from it.. Promotes this colonial mentality against the rural poor Sinhalese… that’s why you say that “rural university students who come to Colombo, in other words ‘non English speaking poor students..’ are impressed by group’s that have big words and who do not know what these words mean…….please don’t insult people who try to learn something from the maximum facilities that they get… they do not have rich parents as in the case of the visitors to this blog or any other to send their children abroad and give them a better exposure… so from the only and best exposure they get from the University and Colombo is similar groups like X, or the Vibavi, or any other social group…. So they follow them… what else can they do/???

Now don’t take me as an advocate to the XG, yes I read them… only to be informed not to follow… if they have a point I agree and if they talk nonsense I don’t read them… but any body is entitled to their any opinion and I don’t want to let any one down just because they have a different opinion…yes they fought at the railway station and then at May 1st celebration in Nugegoda and now there is a fraction in the group which for me is hilarious…. But if you visit INdi.ca blog… can you see how those guys fight..? for you maybe its not questionable because they fight in English Filth and they respond in English filth?? So morq… please get your balance back.. you had been extremely balanced and unbiased through out… and have had some sort of humanness in your comments previously.. I wonder whether this is real morq or that was real morq… I am confused when I see how you change your opinions over nights..

When it comes to group forming in blog or socially.. for me, specially in SL, it is a good trend… we never had a culture of talking.. sharing opinions and being able to understand each others opinion…so please try and respect whatever movement either Sinhala or English that evolves in the society.. at least those guys have the courage and to show physically without disguising themselves and to say what they believe in… in the case of the bloggers… they hide the identity and yell, scream… and talk and exchange in filth and try and convince each other…

Anonymous Coward.. thank you for your very stimulating points…respectful language but please do visit Indi.ca and see for yourself what he is capable of….. it might give you a wider knowledge of the kind of people that we have in our society…. Who in one or the other try to form an opinion by having a bunch of henchman around him to protect him…from his own insecurities….you should see how they throw mud at people and how the innocents are being drag in to conversations…..by using their names….in the comments…..so by reading them you will have a wider knowledge of people who wants to feel important because they don’t feel important in their real day to day lives…

I have no blog… and I have no intention of having one… I hope that it’s not a disqualification for voicing my opinion…

Observer

# posted by Anonymous : November 24, 2005 11:48 AM

Kesbawa,

problem of continuing is that you cannot defeat these people on theoretical grounds - for the same reason you cannot fight a mosquito with a sword, however pathetically weak the mosquito is, however sharp the sword. Like I showed, they will never opt to answer you to the point.

If you think the audience will get your point, do what I did - just point it out and close the matter and don't hang on. (I wouldn't even bother doing that if the bugger didn't take it on TLA). By persistance, you give them credibility. But never really bother about audience - they really haven't much. Without real outside opposition --not the homegrown clinically sanitized one-- they are just a bunch of narcissist wannabe losers. Don't let the numbers fool you -sittingnut for some extent and ashanthi 100% are running on morq's own social fuel.

Their better counterparts - idiots but who dared to sweat for their causes like Vasu/WK/VD and Nimalka don't get any hearing. These bloggers are highly unlikely to. so don't be afraid that they will become significant. They don't get to the blogspherical Chandrasekhar limit necessary to make them follower-blackholes. Ashanthi for instance is invariably a petty-bourgeoisie idiot -- all the Colombo upper class chicks I happened to know are down-to-earth and never talk about things they don't know. Except chandrika. Bourgeoisie/petty-bourgeoisie are highly unlikely to do society changes - they'll eventually marry, then get busy on forging electricity bills and register voting to some shanty near a popular school to get their children in. If they manage to make it to abroad, they'll change the song altogether to gamaya-who-went-to-heaven like that Sunanda Deshapriya "journalist" idiot did even after his short pina trip to Canada.

If these people can be effective ideological enemies for you, so can those middle-aged uncles who chat over the fence after reading sunday morning newspapers.

If you 'troll' for your own fun, for gods sake continue. Otherwise let ahsanthi do the job for you. You (I guess you are an academic) must know bloody well how academic journals get their reputation from the quality of crap they publish.

Move on, people, there's nothing to watch here - that noice was just some kids playing.

# posted by ivap : November 24, 2005 2:04 PM

Well discussion here been healthier than usual. I don't think anyone here take this to be an intellectual endeavour. Blogging in general in it's current incarnation is something akin to a kopi-kade discussin of politics, particularly in the Sri Lankan blogophere. To expect otherwise, I think, is a mistake. AFAIK this blog is far from any intellectual endeavour. From what I have seen there are only two blogs that contribute in that manner 'kathika' and 'Hells Dire Agent'. Even 'lankacitizen' seems to be a copy-and-paste of the sri-lankan op-ed pages.

Anonymous Coward, Kesbewa, Observer all of you have some valid contributions that I believe would be usefull discussing. Something the other trolls rarely do. I'll have a go at addressing your issues later tonight (Aus time), hopefully you guys/gals will be around over the weekend.

# posted by Anonymous : November 25, 2005 12:42 AM

ivap,

Thanks, but I do not have any intention to continue this debate for several reasons, but before elaborating on them let me quickly address your cofeeshop argument:

Although Morq says: "We're political commentry. Editorials, sorta. ..... I am a journalist and I could ..."
I follow you and assume that when he said political commentary he didn't mean anything serious than cofeeshop arguments.

I did not expect either, this to be academic; to expect morq to conduct an academic discussion would be akin to expect a chihuahua to be a guard-dog. I was not questioning morq on the ground that he must be academic; I was arguing that certain ethics he tries to expect from others are merely subjective, as in, say, when morq says "TLA does not allow all, but I do" he is talking rubbish.

I don't mind anyone having their coffee-shop discussions, and it is not for having private discussions I criticised them. I criticised them for thinking that they are important - to say stuff like the above - that his allowing all comments on his private blog is better than TLA (what about BBC?) not allowing all comments on theirs and questioning their academic quality, or lack thereof, on an unrelated policy matter.

To quote morq: "Several of my friends who have tried to have intelligent discussions on a TLA forum ..."

Are these so-called intelligent discussions the same as what you do here, or do you admit that you people can talk a lot more intelligently than this? In former case, I'm happy that they deleted them; after all, what is intelligent to you is not what it is to me, and TLA is not a democracy: I like to read only quality stuff rather than skimming through hundred coffee-shop arguments to get a single good one. (don't ask why I come here if i don't think you are intelligent, I already said how and why I ended up here) In the latter case, why don't you ask your friends to bring those intelligent discussions here for all of us to see?

It's this kind of policy dictation that I questioned, and initlally, it was to prove this point that I brought up the argument that they are no more holier than anyone else to whine around on how others' policy should be.

Later, I brought up the matter again, more prominently, to answer Kesbewa's request, to show why I (and he) must not bother to "let our views be known" here - that's a different story. Other than that, I don't expect per se that morq or anyone else will be serious - to the contrary, as that was the very point I opposed.

Now to why I do not bother to continue here:

One, if this is a cofeeshop indeed, I'd like to have a one with better ambience. There is no reason for me to post here; that's why I was this late to be involved - I thought morq would finish his analysis with that "what our trolls teach us" post. (which is a fucking joke when it comes to reasoning imo, he establish a theory about trolls first, then comes up with an an argument how trolls should have behaved according to his theory, then observes that does not happen and wonders why.) But I let it go, and then comes, TLA is unholy.

Second: the old reason. I don't want to consider that my ability to post here as a devine gift morq bestows upon me for his love of balance. There are many thousands of bloggers who do that but they all do not rant about it. It's not like that I gain any glory from having to post on morq's particular blog. If I see something stupid, and if he thinks that his letting me to comment on it as a holy gift, fuck off. I'd rather not post. I don't die if I don't get to post here. After all, Blogger is free, and it takes only five minutes to get a blogger account and two minutes to create a new blog. If I badly needed space, I could do that already and that blog, I suppose, would function as better as the one you "allow" me into condescendingly.

Since morq thinks that he's some kind of an elite for "allowing" that space (he himself got for fucking free), all I can assume is that he thinks posting on his blog has some kind of divine returns. No, I don't think so. I don't feel privileged for being "allowed". Mostly, I don't think your blog would bring me glory. That's why i refuse to get a Blogger account despite Morq and Ashanthi's crap how Blogger "unique" identities magically make one a non-troll.

So I refuse morq's generous and invaluable gift. Keep you precious blog real space for you and your coffeeshop mates. I don't post here. Now it's time to say "we didn't need you anyway", Morq. That will make you feel good, sittingnnut feel good and Ashanthi feel GREAT.

As for you, ivap, sorry to say that there won't be any weekend staying for me: may be we will meet elsewhere more decent, in a different time. After all, internet is not Colombo - where some mental villagers with inferiority-complexes keep thinking how they are better than real villagers. Starbucks' and Coffee Beans are around every corner, and decent Coffee shops are not a luxury that should be thrown at commons by self-proclaimed elites.

# posted by ivap : November 25, 2005 5:19 AM

Had a busy day and I'm too tired to write anything cohesive tonight. Later.

Anonymous Coward - as you please.

BTW, I still prefer the hot and bubbly condensed milk coffees that I used to purchase compared to the whats on offer at SB or GJ ( except for the occational vanilla latte of course )

# posted by Anonymous : November 25, 2005 3:30 PM

when is gods name are sri lankans going to creep out of the time warp and consider the present: so that at least the immediate history of our present kid generation will reflect even a semblance of sincerity and rationality. because - dammit - aren't we the present generation responsible? or is this blame game going to continue to keep sri lanka in the myrrh of south asian politics ?
you know what - i'm NOT interested in what lanka academic or tamilnet have to say. it's about the individual's atitude and actions. "every drop.." isn't that the truth? i.e if "evry drop" demanded sincerity from our bigotted politicians, there will be the revoultion sri lanka needs. a people's revolutions. color blind, economic blind, race blind, religion blind - REVOLUTION.
so get off one's ass and off the lazy arm achair. enough of politics. demand a society that's ruled by freedom of speech and access to information - therein and therein alone lies the liberation all sri lankans seek. all human beings. dammit.
'tis my steam. tikiri's.

# posted by Anonymous : November 25, 2005 3:32 PM

# posted by Anonymous : November 25, 2005 3:39 PM

# posted by sittingnut : November 25, 2005 9:03 PM

some ppl think that posting as two ppl will fool others.(now didn't i have similar experience sometime ago, where one person tried to pose as several). but full marks for the effort.

He realizes that the Sinhalese Buddhists are the dominant community and he hates it, because none of the "glory" is his. I'm tempted to use that saying about barking dogs here but I won't - look who is talking . the way jhu/jvp and their supporters online rant one would have concluded that minorities run sri lanka. but this is as ivap said 'academic', ltte do run sri lanka since the election of buffalo. jvp/jhu do not even have a cabinet minister. that must have been a big let down. so use the phrase you were 'tempted' (hmmmm, rather curious turn of words for a 'buddhist') and let others judge who the dogs are.

Dividing Sri Lankan society along ethnic and religious lines like Morquendi does, and attacking certain communities is doing zero for social harmony.- aren't you giving too much power to morquendi and his like after saying he 'is an insignificant little man'.
but then again since you support the buffalo one should not expect consistency.
as for who is really harming social harmony ask any member of a minority.

the Lanka Academic will run the website how they wish to run it- sure they will. if they want to run it like a mouthpiece of the sinhala buddhist chauvinists that's their right. just do not pretend to be unbiased.

I manually chose a name that seperates me from other anons - so you are not a bot. but we knew that already bots are at least consistent.

for the same reason you cannot fight a mosquito with a sword, .- but one can certainly kill one, if one knows how to. but you ...

They don't get to the blogspherical Chandrasekhar limit necessary to make them follower-blackholes. - :-D somebody has just read, let me guess 'brief history of time', or something similar, :-D but has not understood. man you are hilarious.

I do not have any intention to continue this debate for several reasons - :-) how many times do you intend to say that here before you change your name? 50 times? 100 times?

anyway if you post be
1. consistent
2. be relevant (though more black hole jokes or similar are welcome for entertainment value)

so does anybody disagree with the statement
'the lanka academic is a biased news website with a in intolerant forum policy'?

# posted by sittingnut : November 26, 2005 9:03 PM

so you two were married? :-)

# posted by ivap : November 28, 2005 7:20 AM

For the record, I don’t find the TLA news portal to a be too biased. There is very little original news items and the rest can be found at other sites too. However, I find the ‘features’ section to be interesting. As a practice I usually doubt stories that do not credit their reporters. I don’t think I’m alone in this.

As for the forums, I don’t access it often enough to comment with any authority. IMO morquendi would have had a better argument if he was able to provide some examples of his friends’ comments / conversations.

On the question of criticising the TLA, I don’t think this blog can be compared with it. It’s a case of apples and rambutans. It’s also dissapointing to see the uncivil discourse, involving intolerance and personal attacks, flying in every direction rather than debating the issues at hand.

# posted by ivap : November 28, 2005 7:41 AM

Observer – The question of language tranlations have been on my mind for a long time. Are you seriously suggesting that we can progress in modern science and technology without english? It’s also in the constituion as the link language between singhala and tamil. Are you suggesting that this be abandoned as well ?

I think your argument carries more weight in the arts. As I see it, the problem is not with learning english but in the translation of books written in english (and other languages) to the local languages. I suspect there is a significant demand for such translated books. Probably a market ripe for the budding entrepreneur

# posted by Anonymous : November 28, 2005 11:03 PM

to IVAP...no I dont think that we can advance without having a knowldege on English... I only indicated that there are countries which have ahcieved without having the attitude that a langauge is essential... one of the plus points for investors to come to SL is our people's litteracy ( not necessarily th knowledge of English) ...What i said in my comment is that we should not have the attitudes towards any language. I think still the SL Society do not have visibel class system is due to the gap of english speaker and non english speaker.. i.e. employment.. becourse this language has become a symbolic capital of a certian class.What we need to do is using a langauge as a tool or skill not as a jwellery... to show off..and not discriminate nor insult anybody on something which is not even owned by us..
I am actaully for the translation of books. yes there will be a good market for the good translated books... but in the other hand speacially university students in the faculty of arts and any body who is learning in sinhala medium should be exposed to a good learning enviorement... i hope that some one will come up and help those who do not know how the world advancing without labeling or discriminating them as in the case of in some of the comments made here. Its just not fair...

I guess Morq's wife, ashanthi is going to the extend of divorcing the love of her life.... becourse of trollers...so surely i dont want to be a part of detroying anyone's relationship... therefore... i think its not a good idea to post any comments here.. IVAP, please let me know if you have blog and a worthwhile discussion...

Observer

# posted by ivap : November 29, 2005 6:01 AM

ashanthi - I'm confused. Are you making a statement, asking a question, telling me off or just being sarcastic?

# posted by ivap : November 29, 2005 6:29 AM

observer - I look forward to continuing the discussion here as this where it originated. I doubt if anyone is going to jump on you as long as you don't resort to troll like [link] inflamatory comments.

Will address you comments later

# posted by Anonymous : November 29, 2005 8:25 AM

"Most horrific injustices committed today on the planet."

Man.. sanjay's bitch is just so funny.

In which language must a "Tamil man who is accused of a crime sign a statement" in Aus, France, Netherlands or Norway?

In which language must a Sinhala man who was accused of a crime had to sign a statement in Ceylon under the rule of the white masters of you slaves?

# posted by Anonymous : November 29, 2005 11:39 PM

Thanks IVAP..... the language is an important part in a society and its culture, it does a lot for the identity factor of any culture...without its own language, a culture can not be identified clearly. Language is a symbol of expressing the opinions, feelings .. what ever… for an example.. same English word could be use in Australia, England, the USA to give a different message because the cultures of these countries a very much different even if they speak the same language. Therefore, language is one of the most important part in any culture…not a simple element…

Getting back to SL, the main problem so far is that of the language.. it has affected Sihalese and Tamils in two different ways... I am coming from a Sinhala+ Tamil family and fluent in both languages. The rural of Tamils and Sinhalese both suffer from the dilemma of not being fluent in English… this mindset lead, lot of them to be violent, arrogant and hateful for those who are skilled with it. The gap and the feeling of being different start from there.. and as I mentioned in my previous comment, some people regardless of any ethnicity, mostly newly rich or people not much exposed to other cultures in SL, so called high society, use the English language to maintain their stand in confusing class system and to secure their position without allowing anybody to enter into their circle..

Therefore gap and difference start from there… I don’t believe in having Sinhala as the national language nor a culture of SL. Both Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim cultures have so many commonalities and they are linked to one another… this one can not see on surface but if one observes clearly an study them properly… it’s quite clear how much these cultures have blended together…

Coming from a mix family of Sinhala and Tamil, experiencing racism from both sides.. sometimes I wonder the people make comments here had really been exposed to what racism means from both sides... When i look at my cousins in Jaffna... how they struggled before the 17th amendment to get things done government circulars and letters of appointments ….… in total Sinhalese language!!! But it has changed.. the regulations are different.. in the civil service the medium that some one is recruited will be the language that person would be officially communicated… which I think is a good thing…. Further now the enemy of most people coming from rural area is English… the factor of Sinhala and English langue have slowly drifted apart… and the new challenge for the youth in SL in building their lives is the over coming of the barrier of English…

The religion in SL, though Buddhism had been politicized to a large extend.. the Hindu and Buddhism are so connected… that’s why places like Chillaw, katharagama and Kovil in Bambalapitiya are crowded through out by people of both Sinhalese and Tamil cultures..

plus religious practices in SL should be discussed in a different forum for it is a large topic which requires a different approach…

Observer

# posted by Anonymous : November 30, 2005 12:12 AM

I am sorry I have made a mistake… 13th amendment to the constitution had taken off language barriers between Sinhala and Tamil in the Government communications…

If I add more, on the issue of the confessions of Tamils in Police or Army Custody…yes there was a time that the confessions were made in Sinhala and the arrested persons were force to sign it without really understanding them… ..… though still it happens in Wanni for Karuna supporters, where they are not asked to sign but being killed for having a different opinion…

I hope there will be room for reconciliation… that’s the difference between being civilized and otherwise… plus if you can check the web page Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva, you could see that 75% of the innocence’s have been compensated….that is the first step for reconciliation…accepting that there was something wrong and acknowledging that some one out there had been victimized…

If Nelson Mandela kept on ranting about his suffering, he wont be able to make people of South Africa one of the most distinguished nations in the world…its time for young to take a truly peaceful stand and campaign for peace not for divisions within their capacities…that’s what make people feel human, great and useful…

Observer

# posted by Anonymous : November 30, 2005 12:19 AM

I am sorry I have made a mistake… 13th amendment to the constitution had taken off language barriers between Sinhala and Tamil in the Government communications…

If I add more, on the issue of the confessions of Tamils in Police or Army Custody…yes there was a time that the confessions were made in Sinhala and the arrested persons were force to sign it without really understanding them… plus in any war situation things like that occur from both sides... i am sure you guys read whats happening in Iraq, Afganistan, Chechniya, Isreal and Palestine, Rwanda, USA... So lets not be not emotional but rational...

I hope there will be room for reconciliation… that’s the difference between being civilized and otherwise… plus if you can check the web page Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva, you could see that 75% of the innocence’s have been compensated….that is the first step for reconciliation…accepting that there was something wrong and acknowledging that some one out there had been victimized…
If Nelson Mandela kept on ranting about his suffering, he wont be able to make people of South Africa one of the most distinguished nations in the world…its time for young to take a truly peaceful stand and campaign for peace within their capacities not for divisions …that’s what make people feel human,great and useful…

Observer

# posted by sittingnut : November 30, 2005 5:53 PM

ashanthi:
it is no longer true that sinhala is the only language in which official business is carried out. to what extent those rules are carried out practically, is debatable.
recently a veddah filed a fundamental rights petition against the police for not recording his statement in his language. so there is redress in law. again the question is practicality now, not deliberate discrimination on government's part anymore.

--
as for english, translation while good won't work. there will never be a large enough market for anything but the most poplar books. and books are only a small fraction of learning experience. only way is to learn english.

as for class differentiation being mainly expressed in english here, you can't avoid that. that is how ppl behave, if it is not english, it will be the accent ,or the dress, or the ..... it doesn't matter. these things are facts of life. and they do not really matter, if the individual wants make something out of him/herself in the present sri lankan economy. it is pretty well liberalized in individual level.
sri lanka is the land of opportunity in spite of war, politics and corruption.
--
i tried posting this yesterday but something was wrong.

# posted by Anonymous : November 30, 2005 11:31 PM

The practicality of the government regulations can be understood if you have spoken to someone who wanted to get things done from the government office or if you have talked someone in the government sector… once a rule is circulated, any officer is abide from those rules… but matter could be differently handled by an individual from the way he/she works….

On the issue of the difference of the class..if you have empathy for those who feel the way they feel about these un ethical barriers.. you will understand more.. if you can observe why people become JVP or any other group members and study properly the slogans or the way they work… you will understand more how this had been affected to most of the individuals… so when you are aware of such mentality.. what you can do is to make the others feel comfortable without making them feel that they are outcatsed…that’s where anyone can make a difference and to help those who can not help themselves…

If we have a background in SL where each individual can benefit from the liberalized economy we have.. we wont have any problems.. will we?? What I said about lack of knowledge in English as a barrier in building the lives of young generation is simple as this… if you go through the job opportunities published in Sunday Observer… can any one say that any individual who is motivated enough will have a chance there…?? I am sorry to say that its not as simple as that… plus you might not feel it (I assume that you would’nt have been affected by any of it.) because we would’nt have had to face an incident like that…but where you can make a attitude difference is that trying to build empathy not sympathy for some one who were not born to a surrounding that you or I have been born..

I can see how emotional you guys become when you talk politics… well politics is part of the society... and you can not talk of politics without understanding social issues…therefore… be aware of social issues… it would help you to understand what politics are about… the people who voted in the last elections itself proves what kind of social issues we have in SL… and what our society is made off….those who elect to the parliament in the district other than Colombo, Kandy, Gampaha and Galle …(Jaffna is a different story)…. are the decision makers who are the elements who evolves… out of these social issues…

Besides Politics should not limit to UNP or SLFP, JVP, SLMC or any other political party and of course LTTE and TNA, Karuna Fraction….it should go beyond…up to the masses….then only the each individual will be able to make a rational decision…then only Political rallies will be crowded without the alcohol, lunch packet, 100 rupees and false promises… then only the politicians will not be able to buy votes but people will cast their votes…

I hope that there will be a radical social change with the help of young generation…

Observer

# posted by Anonymous : December 01, 2005 12:21 AM

English for All

"The UNP has promised in its manifesto a new national programme called ‘English for All,’ to improve the ability to read, write and converse in English of our people within 6 years". so up to a certian extend... one political group do understand that there is a problem!!

this is for your information... i just saw this....in an educational forum...

observer

# posted by Anonymous : December 01, 2005 6:49 PM

Never heard of Lanka Academic till today. Seems to be a pretty reasonable site?? Dunno what the fuss is all about?? Checked the forum too and I see nut cases from both sides going at each other :)

Nyways thanks for the info. Will recommend Lanka Accademic to my buddies.

# posted by sittingnut : December 02, 2005 2:19 PM

observer:
i can certainly understand what it feels like to be on the wrong side of class barrier, but that does not make any difference. these barriers won't go away, that is human nature, but imo in a liberalized economy (like sri lanka) they do not matter to a 'motivated individual'.

to help those who can not help themselves - unless a person is underage or mentally challenged he/she should be able to help themselves.

build empathy not sympathy for some one who were not born to a surrounding that you or I have been born- you assume too much about me.

your contention that it's the rural voters in the south who are the main deciders in a election, is not supported by the facts. they for the most part have continued to vote the same way in the past 13 years or so. that did not prevent unp from having 7% and 8 % swings in 2001 and 2005 elections. this kind of swing is enough to change the government when other factors remain the same.

swing voter actually live in outer suburbs of colombo and in other main cities. one can probably tell who will win by observing how the vote percentage changes (not who gets most but the change) in moratuwa or maharagama polling divisions. this of course assumes that other factors do not change as happened with the boycott.

to address the social issues of a rather unproductive group to the detriment of more a productive group will not get us anywhere except to socialist misery nor will it change the political landscape.

i do not know about your experience, but during the last election two political rallies(one from each side) i observed, in fact, did not feature 'alcohol, lunch packet, 100 rupees' but did feature lot of 'false promises'.

there is no such thing called radical social change, but there will be gradual social change in a free market economy.

# posted by Anonymous : December 03, 2005 10:29 PM

SITTINGNUT…

Well… about the social change…. If you read what happened in Europe and the US, in the 1960’s …. That’s what I meant by a social change by the young…since you maintain a Political forum like this… I think its better if you can be aware of such pressure groups which had been extremely influential on society in the past…specially in the 60’s and 70’s….

I am not living in SL and not been much aware of the election campaign… if the lunch packet thing did not happen this time… then its really good, guess it is indeed a good development..

Plus, I am not a person who writes to open forums. I was drag into this kind of discussion only when one of friends was insulted in one of your blogs… then only I was trying to see what kind of bloggers we have in SL because in the US blogger culture is mainly popular among teenagers..

Thanks for your views..

Observer

# posted by sittingnut : December 04, 2005 3:13 PM

observer:
i am aware of what happened in the 60's in the 'old' century. it is alway debatable whether it was the 'pressure groups' of 'young' ppl or the economic forces that were more influential. anyway that explains your, let us say, peculiar outlook. :-)

it was you who brought up the 'lunch packet' issue, and now you admit you are not here? :-) typical anon behavior. silly prejudices won't get you anywhere.

as for being a friend of an anon nutter here, i can only say choose friends carefully. otherwise you will always end up in false positions.

I was trying to see what kind of bloggers we have in SL because in the US blogger culture is mainly popular among teenagers.. :-) you obviously have not read u.s. political blogs, please do so before rushing to prejudgments.

Nittewa

The Nittewa are a Sri Lankan mystery, like all politics here are to me.

Monday, November 21, 2005

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