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24 Apr 2009 10:47

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World: Sri Lanka and the UN can’t agree on who’s in danger

  • killed A document from the UN claims 6,432 civilians have been killed and 13,946 wounded. Sri Lanka says these numbers are inflated.
  • escaped The UN says at least 108,000 have left the Tamil warzone since Monday; Sri Lanka says 196,000 have escaped since the beginning of the year.
  • trapped The UN estimates that 50,000 people are still trapped in the warzone; Sri Lanka says the number is much closer to 10,000 to 20,000. (It’s a lot.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Feb 2009 11:06

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Music, World: Is M.I.A. an apologist for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka?

  • She’s unknown at home Despite her massive critical acclaim, the ubiquity of her hit “Paper Planes” and her recent Grammy and Oscar nominations, she remains fairly unknown in her homeland, Sri Lanka. Those who do know her claim she’s an apologist for the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group which has fought a lengthy civil war for independence.
  • In her words M.I.A., born Maya Arulpragasam, recently commented on the crisis in an interview on Tavis Smiley’s PBS talk show. “Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said “There’s a genocide going on.”
  • Fighting art with artMany Sri Lankans who have seen M.I.A.’s videos claim that her imagery either glorifies or supports the cause. M.I.A. says she doesn’t support terrorism, but at least one rapper has taken her head-on: DeLon, a Sinhalese rapper based in L.A., put up a video remix which directly attacks the singer’s stance. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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