Checking out one of the most popular (or would ‘most widely read’ be a more suitable term?) blogs on kottu yesterday I was struck once again by the vehemence of one respondent in particular who spared no pains to express his attitude towards the blogger in the most personal and vituperative way, even bringing the blogger’s family into the equation (okay, alright – it is Sittingnut and Indi that I’m on about – as if that would have required brains to figure out!). And this made me flash on the emotive responses that, in all probability, all us bloggers are susceptible to.
Ever had the feeling that someone out there didn’t care for you, probably based on your views and or perhaps a comment that may have been made? And have you ever felt suspicious that it was that entity who made it a point to tag your title on Achcharu with particularly insulting or caustic remarks? And did this train of thought extend to you ‘getting back’ at this ‘asshole’(?) by making comments and/or tagging his/her stuff with insulting stuff in return? And was this all based on suspicion? No? Never had that feeling? Okay – guess we haven’t been in the same boat at one time or another!
Anyway, this particular phenomenon does work in reverse as well – as I’m sure all of us are well aware of. Positive or complementary comments will, in all probability stoke that part of the consciousness that basks in the adulative expressions that result from a particular post – just as much as it will be quick to take offence at what is perceived to be a put-down. And the heavier the ‘put-down’ comes across, the more the negative will be the personal reaction, is how it seems to work. Unless of course one has the capacity to be totally objective and ‘see’ any comment in perspective, without attaching any ‘personal’ value to whatever is said – a rare state of mind, to be sure but one that may well exist.
What is weird to me about this whole phenomenon is that emotions are created by the mind towards nebulous entities in response to stuff that one perceives as being put out by them. And this results in either cultivating a positive relationship with an individual that could well extend to exchange of mail and even meeting up, or it could well go the other way around – resulting in negative emotions that could go to whatever extreme may be possible. And what is even more weird is that sometimes offence could be taken (for whatever reason) against folk who could well be ‘soul-mates’ and get to be close friends, if not for some misconception that results in exchanges that are seen to be obnoxious and personal. So how does one deal with this? Or does one deal with it at all? Does one ‘go with the flow’ and let the emotional responses take over? Or does one try to be more ‘objective’ about it all and let this reflect in whatever response one decides to apply to a given situation?
In the end I guess it is an ‘all is fair..’ game out there with entities that put their thoughts out in cyberspace for anyone to latch on to and do what they will with it in terms of responding. But shouldn’t there be at least a modicum of ‘decency’ or ‘ethics’, if you will, with regard to the reactions and counter-reactions? We have seen this in the past as well, with Groundviews in general and Sanjana in particular coming in for some seriously profane schtik for the views that they express. Of course cyberspace and the organisms therein allow the individual freedom to express one’s self in any manner one chooses to do, so it would only be by self-censorship that the type of vicious diatribes we sometimes see could be stemmed (all credit to those that allow this type of shit to appear as comments on their blogs). And so it goes.
In Java’s words:
Shheeet maaan, takes all fuckin types – but some types are more fuckin dan odders
Ephemeral Ruminations 
55 comments
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October 8, 2007 at 8:44 am
RD
I fail to understand the negative criticism that so many seem to attract. It always appears to be the easy option to me. It’s easy to criticise something that someone has created, easy to tear it to bits and simple to attack the person.
The hard bit is to do the creative thing in the first place. Postitive criticism is much harder to come out with than the destrctive type.
October 8, 2007 at 9:40 am
Darwin
It’s all a bit mad isn’t it? Personally I aim for ‘funny or snarky’ tags on Ach related to the post rather than personal attacks on the blogger who authored the post. Of course there are plenty of bloggers and posts there that are irritating to say the least, but thats why Ach has such a handy ‘blacklist’! 🙂
I think I can guess the certain tag authors on Ach but I’m never 100% sure. On the rare occasion that I get mean tags on Ach, especially personal attacks, I merely ignore it – I don’t mean to sound all arrogant and superior but whoever writes them obviously has a lot of issues, and aren’t worth my attention!
October 8, 2007 at 9:57 am
Theena
I have of late stopped visiting Ach all together. Gone are the days when you’d read some incredibly sarcastic tags; now we are left with attacks fueled by personal vendettas and so-called jokes that have long run their course (the “we get it” tags, for instance).
October 8, 2007 at 12:24 pm
R
My question is why do sons have to answer for their father’s sins? (If a sin has been committed in the first place.)
As to your pondering of objectiveness over going with the flow, I honestly think that a sane person would have to have the same thoughts and feelings. Otherwise he/she wouldn’t be sane.
If you’re instinct is out of phase with rational thinking, then there’s an internal conflict of values. And if neither the paradigm or the emotional discipline fail to change and reciprocate each other, then the individual can bring dire consequences to society.
October 8, 2007 at 3:09 pm
R
AArrgh! My last comment went to spam. I hate wordpress.
October 8, 2007 at 11:24 pm
N
Eh..most of the people I’ve seen on blogs have no concept of presenting an argument, evidence, etc….and very little wit…hence the moronic, unfunny personal attacks that we see so often…bleh…
October 9, 2007 at 9:59 am
Sanjana Hattotuwa
This is a tough one.
I’ve written extensively and am deeply interested in how one constructs and sustains civil discussions online that engage with emotive and complex issues without descending into vicious, personal diatribes.
It’s tough when my wife and 8 month old son get dragged into discussions that I am part of online in terms that are often quite distressing to read. Clearly, it’s not an option to descend to the levels of most trolls and having a clear set of guidelines for posts and comments on Groundviews has been invaluable in creating an atmosphere of constructive debate on the site. You end up with less comments, but qualitatively better discussions.
Moju.lk was InfoShare’s first foray into building an online community. It was unmoderated and had to be shut down because the comments there, some of which I’ve preserved and were mostly against Indi and his girlfriend (who was not part of any of the discussions and also not a blogger at the time). It got to the point where I advised InfoShare to shut the website down because we could have got into serious legal problem had those vilified on the site taken legal recourse.
There is however another chapter to the Moju story. Two of the most rabid trolls on Moju, were, to my initial shock, behaved markedly different on Groundviews. Their views hadn’t changed, but the manner of their expression was far more civil. Perhaps it was the guidelines on the site, or perhaps it was just that Groundviews is, unlike Moju, moderated by me. One even wrote to me last week saying that the person still didn’t agree with me, but appreciated what I was doing with Groundviews and Vikalpa, which was pleasantly surprising.
As Indi and I are the two individuals in the SL blogosphere most hated by trolls and regularly hung, drawn and quartered on various blogs, I guess one develops a thick skin or just learns to laugh at comments that are just so vicious they are positively funny. On balance, I’m happy that I’ve been able to create progressive discussions through some indubitably great content on a whole range of issues on Groundviews and Vikalpa, that in my mind by far outweigh the nonsensical blather of one or two individuals (often with multiple identities) with an axe to grind.
SH
October 9, 2007 at 10:26 am
javajones
Sanjana – Interesting! Hey, but on the up-side – my personal view (and I’m certain many others share it) is that Groundviews (and you, I guess) are doing an outstanding job of furthering debate on issues that are crucial to the country and our collective well-being, so congratulations and do keep up the sterling work.
It’s just too bad that some of these folk have to descend to the depths of coarseness to get their views across. I guess it’s just a reflection of their breeding. What to do?!!!
October 9, 2007 at 10:31 am
javajones
Darwin – yeah, the snarky and trippy tags are very cool and do add a whole new dimension – good on Drac! And the ‘guessing games’ are also a bit of a trip. I have managed to guess a few (confirmed later, of course), but there are others that are misty and most not worth the time or effort.
Your attitude about the creepy ones is probably one of the best ways to go.
Cheers!
October 9, 2007 at 10:34 am
javajones
Theena – Get back on Ach man, it has a lot to offer – and then again we must support our buddy. And besides, you could add to the quality – maybe?
October 9, 2007 at 10:36 am
javajones
N – Maaann yo gettin to be cynical at yo age already? Watch dat sheet, it may reflect in yo photos!!
October 9, 2007 at 11:08 am
javajones
R – Your comment(s) got caught in the spam trap. I have since ‘de-spammed’, but it may take a day or two to sort out, according to WordPress. So do try again. Maybe use another nomdeplume?
RD was having a similar problem – hey do you thnk the ‘R’ has anything to do with it???!!
October 9, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Darwin
Java looks like your post has started quite the storm up on Ach now! Oh dear…
October 9, 2007 at 12:53 pm
javajones
Darwin – oh yeah? Better check pronto and see what the deal is. Shit!!!
October 9, 2007 at 2:52 pm
drac
Heh. The latest tags and err… suspect imagery are all in good fun folks.
Specifically about Ach: Fair enough about the negativity in tags. The thing is that not everyone uses Ach as a source of snark and humour. Some people use a tag to make a counterpoint to the actual post. Even if I don’t always like the practice; that is a legit use.
Anyway, humour is so subjective that it’s quite possible to mortally offend someone and have someone else collapsing with laughter at the same tag. The moderators occasionally disagree about tags too 🙂 Personally, I hate poetry 😉 There are any number of recourses left open to anyone who doesn’t like a tag though – ranging from just emailing me and saying you didn’t like it (and why) or using your vote on the site.
It only takes about 4-5 people to white-van a tag. Sort of like a democracy, really. If you don’t use your vote (with no cost attached), then I honestly don’t see why or how you can complain if things turn out in a way you don’t like 🙂
On the wider issue of civil discussion:
I haven’t had anywhere near the degree of bile that has been directed at Sanjana so I honestly can’t imagine what it might feel like. I sort of agree with N though… even when the discussion has steered clear of that sort of thing, has it really been intelligent and thought provoking? Or merely sycophantic and lengthy me-toos from either side of whichever divide is being posted about?
October 9, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Sanjana Hattotuwa
Hey Drac,
Good question.
On GV, the discussions have had their high points and low points. Some of the comment threads have been really fascinating for niche audiences, like the thrust and parry of wit on the finer points of constitutional reform and federalism between “Publius” and Prof. Sumanasiri Liyanage on each other’s posts. I’ve had all kinds of people (and not just from the Colombo cocktail circuit civil society crowd) including many from the diaspora, who email me or come up to me and say they are appreciative of the content on the site, so I guess at some microscopic level, the content there’s making some impact.
One is at the end of the day hostage to the ability of those who post and comment to do so in a manner that pushes the debate forward instead of just writing onanistic prose. That’s a tough call – the SL blogosphere seems to have markedly few people who can disagree without being disagreeable.
SH
October 9, 2007 at 4:40 pm
javajones
Hey Drac – I be getting to be worried bout yo ass maan, so glad to hear bout dat dat fun ‘n games sheet. An yo don dig T.S.Elliot maan? Sheeet! Or Lewis Caroll?? Maaannnn!!!
Hey, but yo be right bout dat humor sheeet – one man’s somting be anodder’s poison or som such, huh? Anyways, more power to Ach – good fo da soul sometime. Now yo be cool, hear?
October 9, 2007 at 4:42 pm
javajones
Sanjana ma maaan – ‘onanistic prose’ huh? Toooo cooool!
October 9, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Theena
Hahah…cheeky bastards are on my case now 😀
October 10, 2007 at 1:52 am
Sanjana Hattotuwa
Shakesperera on Ach!
October 12, 2007 at 9:52 am
Psy
When Theena mentioned that he had stopped visiting Ach altogether, it saddened many an Ach user like myself. To be honest we love tagging his posts, so we wouldn’t want him to stop visiting Ach! A few of us urged Drac to launch the Tag Nice Week campaign to get Theena’s attention, not to mock him or single him out. You guys seem to have assumed the worst… for shame 🙂 Just kidding, it’s natural to assume the worst when it’s Ach in question 🙂 Which is also why it was linked to his comment on this post, and it was why his avatar was the base for the TNW logo. The poet references were obviously to avoid using his pseudonym because that would be breaking Ach’s no call-out rule.
The influx of poet tags came afterwards. Granted they may have been overkill, but Ach or it’s overlord isn’t responsible for the tags and cannot censor it’s taggers completely, or else Ach wouldn’t be the ‘democracy’ we have all come to love.
As for Theena, he’s been a great sport about the whole thing. Good for him. Ach users ❤ Theena!
Cut Drac some slack though, he’s getting too old for this 😉
October 12, 2007 at 11:18 am
javajones
Hey Psy – ‘You guys’??? You obviously know something ‘us guys’ don’t. Thanks for clearing it all up!
And I do love Drac (and Ach), so no worries on that score (don’t know about the other ‘you guys’)!
October 13, 2007 at 11:55 am
poetlost
Oh I feel loved now :d
Just for the sake of closure, I am going to post my reply to Drac’s mail:
“Hey Drac,
Thanks for taking the time to send me a personal note.
To be perfectly honest, when I first heard of this campaign on Ach I was under the impression that this was indeed retaliation for my views on Ach; the timing of it all made it difficult to think otherwise. A cursory glance, though, at the tags was all it took for me to realize that no malice was intended. Heck, I laughed my ass off at some of the tags, partly because they were closer to the truth than I’d care to admit. And I love what you guys did with my avatar of the Bard :o)
As far Ach is concerned, I have to admit that I never got beyond its most basic function – ie tagging – but it was one that used to give me immense pleasure. Emphasis on ‘used to’. And I do understand your point – like most things in life humour is pretty subjective and it was quite naive of me to expect Ach’s sensibilities to remain that way always.
With that in mind, I’d like to take you up on your offer to set me up with an access key. If anything, this Tag Nice/Poet Week has convinced me to go back and check what the rest of Ach is like.
Again, thanks for taking the time to clear things up.
Take care and best regards,
Theena
PS: I also took the time to tag some blog posts with the poet reference. There’s nothing like self-parody, I tell you :)”
And that’s that.
For such a young online community, the Sri Lankan blogosphere is full of drama, eh, Java? First Lakbima gate, people hacking into other’s blogs and now this.
October 13, 2007 at 12:07 pm
javajones
See Theena, what did I tell you! Ach has much to offer – and perhaps this ‘campaign’ has added another dimension to it. I guess we would all agree that humor is wonderful, as long as it isn’t used to intentionally demean and insult – particularly on a site like Ach. And hey, did you hear about the ‘Poetniks’?
Anyway, glad to hear about the kissing and making up!
Cheers you two!
October 15, 2007 at 1:13 am
javajones
RD – your comment finally made it, so I guess you’re on the okay list with WordPress!
Agreed with your comment. Maybe it would be more productive for those ‘destructive’ types to use that energy and content to do a ‘creative’ post instead?
October 15, 2007 at 1:21 am
javajones
R – Just received the comment – looks like you’re ‘de-spammed’!
Actually, I don’t understand the relevance of your first question – sorry.
The second one is also a bit obscure, so if you want to explain…
Agreed on the’ conflict of values’ one. However, it seems that the natural process in most individuals is that a resolution is arrived at and the action results. Or the action results in spite of the conflict within – sometimes with ‘negative’ consequences. The ‘dire consequences to society’ would depend on the scale of the process, I guess.
October 15, 2007 at 4:11 pm
R
The first one wasn’t really a question. It was a statement. I didn’t see why Indi had to be dragged into, and held in question for his fathers business.
The second was to say that our emotions and reason are out of phase. Yep, the magnitude depends on the scale of the process. But society is to blame. Human society has still not elevated to a level in which people can act according to their emotions.
October 16, 2007 at 12:16 am
javajones
R – yeah, I believe the consensus was that it was a poor show on Sittingnut’s part to drag Indie’s family into his diatribe. Hey, you must be into the Bible(?!!) – there IS stuff in there about the sins of the fathers being visited on the sons, you know.
The next part of your answer could possibly initiate a whole other debate, so I’ll let it be for now. Suffice it to say, as ‘society’ is very much part of our ‘conditioning’, it will be “to blame” (as you put it) in one way or another.
October 17, 2007 at 4:05 am
poetlost
Is Ach working for everyone? I’ve been getting a 500 Internal Server Error message for three days now.
October 17, 2007 at 7:05 am
javajones
Theena – I’ve had the same problem for yesterday and today.
October 17, 2007 at 8:45 am
drac
It’s working now, gents 🙂 Thanks to everyone who wrote in to let me know.
Sheesh, you people. I go AWOL from my janitorial duties for just one day and you break Ach*. For shame 😉 Ach was down from appoximately nighttime Monday to about half an hour ago.
As usual with all these problems, the fix just required changing a couple of lines in a config file. *sigh*
* note: I broke Ach all by myself. No one else did. I just didn’t realize I had broken it until later 🙂
December 5, 2007 at 3:45 am
Sri Lankan Village called kottu.org « Cerno
[…] There are naturally the big names. Groundviews, Lirneasia, Lanka Libratarian, Indi, London Lanka and Drums, and Voice in Colombo (apologies to the unmentioned). Politics is the constant topic – politics of The War. Which tends to creates its own weather system of personal politics. […]
June 6, 2008 at 9:51 pm
sittingnut
i initially missed this post (i don’t remember reading it anyway ) but since it is been referenced elsewhere i found it now. i will defend against several things i am accused of
1. any personal “attack” i make against indi will not compare against his attacks against me at padashow blog ( and i have enough proof he is padashow) ( or more correctly one of the collaborators) . when padashow started i gave fair warning to padashow what to expect when identity was discovered . you are free to find padashow’s attacks fun while mine are not so, but that is personal opinion
2. as for indi’s father i have given my reasons to the person concerned in indi’s blog . if one writes about political corruption make sure you are not a hypocrite and have not benefited from such things . pointing that out is a perfectly legitimate argument .. again that is personal opinion you are free to disagree.
3. as for “attacks” against sanjana hattotuwa , every one of them (as with all my arguments) can be defended with evidence. nor do they compare with homophobic attacks against me he indulged and encouraged in moju blog after i pointed out the clear plagiarism of a cpa report published there, may be you didnot see that?. why not ask him to provide the copies of relevant moju posts ( make sure to ask for only those copies, not the copies of his posts where he published tro reports and other such stuff , the reason why he probably deleted the blog )and of all the comments he published there in those threads.
him to pointificate here about personal attacks and civility after that, is laughable.
i am well aware that some people do not like my probing questions or rational arguments based of substantiated facts. it so easy to live on airy fairy prejudices ( like “peace” is good, ltte is fighting for tamils, ’83 caused terrorism ) and when such prejudices are questioned ( by say asking what peace with ltte implies in detail to those under ltte terrorists, probing the racist implication of ltte claim to represent tamils, or poverty does not excuse stealing ) people get tongue tied with regard to rational arguments and focus on my style.
they are free to do so. i am confident about my position.
talking of positions, some people want to forget facts from their past ( like allowing ltte to import broad cast equipment or inviting meryen silva to speak at peacenik rallies in company with them ) .. i do try to remind them ( esp those who pontificate) of those facts, esp when i compared to them do not have much to regret..
as i said i will remain confident of my position and i do not delete blogs as some do
June 7, 2008 at 1:40 am
javajones
Hi Sittingnut – long time! I had forgotten about this post, but did wonder at the time about your ‘silence’. No matter!
Whatever your reasons for your ‘style’, I will not agree that vituperative and insulting responses that bring in members of one’s family into the discourse are ‘appropriate’ – but that’s just me. I entered the blogosphere after Moju and Padashow exited, so really had no chance to observe the exchanges. However, from what I know about Indi and Sanjana, I doubt that they would deny what they have been responsible for. And since I don’t know you, it’s difficult for me to give you the benefit of the doubt.
The post was about how some folk lack “decency and ethics” when either stating their case or defending it and the descent into profanity, insults and innuendo – not to mention bringing other unrelated (to the issue under discussion) entities into the exchange. It was not about ‘war’ or who is to blame for it, or even about your “probing questions” or “rational arguments”, which some folk I know consider to be subjective and simplistic. In the end I guess it all depends on from where you are coming and what the view is like!
Cheers!
June 7, 2008 at 7:49 am
Sanjana Hattotuwa
Hi Sittingnut,
For the umpteenth time, I had nothing to do with Moju save for being a contributor and working at InfoShare, whose (great) idea it was to begin an unmoderated forum that would serve as a platform for intelligent debate. That it turned out eventually to be anything but is due to a number of reasons that I have explored on my own blog, but certainly nothing to do with me engaging in “homophobic” attacks against you or “taking down” the blog. You are free to believe what you will, but the burden of evidence when you continue to belabour falsehoods ad nauseum, ad infinitum is in your court, not mine.
Reading the vicious sentiments on your blog in which you accuse the likes of Sara, Sunila and others as being “human rights violating criminals” I think is quite telling. It makes it impossible for me to take you seriously even though looking at some of your very early posts on your blog, you bring up points (in a far more civil manner) that are quite pertinent.
I have no idea what made you hate me or CPA in particular so much and what made you one of the most vicious bloggers and trolls in the SL blogosphere. I find it quite sad to go through your blog and encounter your singular manner of expression – a language of hate and harm no different to the idiom of the Ministry of Defence today that takes violent exception with all those who promote alternatives and questions the status quo.
However, I take away from you and your blog a valuable lesson – in a country getting more violent daily, you may well have a more receptive and attentive audience today than I.
Sanjana
June 7, 2008 at 3:35 pm
sittingnut
java jones:
great to know that you missed my presence 🙂 was busy with business
you are completely at liberty to discount their “vituperative and insulting responses” and choose to believe the worse of me based on your admittedly limited personal experience. you are not required to find facts and get rid of doubts before pronouncing guilt, (even when the topic is decency and ethics as you say)
as for bringing family members, you are again at liberty to think that some corruption is better not referred to ( even in posts about corruption ) because it may effect the sensibilities of the audience. you are right i am not that polite.
my apologies for going off topic. examination of whether my arguments are subjective and simplistic, can be better be reserved to a discussion were people can be challenged for coming to prejudgments without facts or can be accused of intellectually dishonesty when indulging in criticism without expressing an alternative ( whether complex, simple, or plain stupid ) .
btw i can understand your use of words “insults and innuendo” but “profanity”? where? that is one area where indi padashow and i differ me thought.
cheers to you too ! 🙂
–
my apologies for the length but has to cover all the accusations and mischaracterizations
–
sanjana hattotuwa:
your exact designation at moju or infoshare does not concern me . i saw and read what i saw and read, including your own comments and those of people you actively encouraged by your comments. i have saved copies and i am sure infoshare has a copies and cache sites have copies . i have dealt with this elsewhere in detail. you are liberty to deny.
rest of your comment is what javajones here will consider off topic but since you have written, and speculated about me in your comment i have to answer .
i am ready to defend my use of words “human rights violating criminals” to describe people who actively advocate handing over thousands( and their human rights ) to ltte in the name of “peace”, accepted its claim to be sole representative of tamils (sole and rights do not go together) , lobbied against eu’s ltte’s ban ( help perpetuate what was already done), and has engaged in many such activities, some of which i have described with detail in my blog. what else can you call them? “defenders of human rights”? lol
i certainly do not like people who do all those things and do express my contempt for them. you are, as you have done, free to express your disgreement and even disgust with me for doing so. i will however defend my words with vigor and evidence
as for taking “violent exceptions” to alternatives views, we know what happened at moju and your own censorship at groudviews of comments that are completely within guidelines there, ( just because they challenged the slanders and inaccuracies just as bad as some slanders at mod ) which are on display elsewhere
your comparison of me to mod says lot about your ignorance about basic positions adapted by mod and me, which differ.
i have always welcomed all viewpoints unlike you or mod ( even ones i positively detest ).
as for country getting more violent ? huh? where have you been for last 25+ years? may be you do believe that ceasefire was peaceful and ltte did not set off bombs and kill people by the hundreds in spite if all the evidence to the contrary?
btw unlike you i do not care about the size of my audience, but about the principles and foundations based on which i write ( respect for human rights, justice, democracy, and freedom. esp individual freedom as expressed in basic libertarian principle). they have always been the same. you are free to challenge me whenever i have departed from that .i promise i will defend your right to say that or anything else in the same way i protested the banning of tamilnet.
June 7, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Sanjana Hattotuwa
“i saw and read what i saw and read, including your own comments and those of people you actively encouraged by your comments. i have saved copies and i am sure infoshare has a copies and cache sites have copies . i have dealt with this elsewhere in detail. you are liberty to deny.”
Please show us your “saved copies” of that which you claim I said that were, inter alia, “homophobic” comments against you. I’ll be very interested to see them. You can do it in public if that tickles your fancy. You’re the type who would have lost no time in splashing them across the web if you did have them, so I think you are getting your knickers in a twist based on your own fertile imagination.
When have I, or CPA, accepted the LTTE’s claim of sole representation? Name a single instance / point to a single webpage / website / quote / article / public assertion / private correspondence in which this has been the case. We are on record as stating quote the opposite at a time when it wasn’t fashionable to do so.
You confuse moderation with censorship, but then again, English comprehension was never your strong point was it?
Sanjana
June 7, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Sanjana Hattotuwa
One more thing.
You say you are for “respect for human rights, justice, democracy, and freedom”. Sorry, but as far as I know it was only CPA that got a restraining order from the Supreme Court to halt the evictions and this year got a judgement in its favour that which stated that future evictions should not take place unless in accordance with the law and with a judicial order.
See http://www.cpalanka.org/Statements/CPA_welcomes_Supreme_Court_order_on_evictions.pdf
You hide behind a monicker and engage in slander. It is all you can and ever will do. Others thankfully, actually do defend human rights.
Sanjana
June 7, 2008 at 11:40 pm
javajones
Sittingnut – “you are completely at liberty to discount their “vituperative and insulting responses” and choose to believe the worse of me based on your admittedly limited personal experience. you are not required to find facts and get rid of doubts before pronouncing guilt, (even when the topic is decency and ethics as you say)”
As Sanjana challenges you to, why not disclose “the facts”, as I just do not have the time or the inclination to spend time digging for them?
“examination of whether my arguments are subjective and simplistic, can be better be reserved to a discussion were people can be challenged for coming to prejudgments without facts or can be accused of intellectually dishonesty when indulging in criticism without expressing an alternative ( whether complex, simple, or plain stupid ).”
This statement of yours could also be justified if you divulge “the facts” so that then you could not be accused of “intellectual dishonesty”
Profanity – You have called Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu “a criminal ass-licker” and you frequently use the term “pussy” to describe those you scold, and since I’m sure you don’t mean “cat”, I’m assuming you are using the term profanely.
June 9, 2008 at 7:10 am
sittingnut
this is going to be long since i will post it in three comments. two dealing with other matters in javajones and sanjana hattotuwa comments . other dealing with the evidence requested
sanjana hattotuwa
lol look who is being “vituperative and insulting” now!
you cannot run from the truth however.
out with your original copies! why hide? I am going to give the threads and numbers of comments!
first thing first
i will deal with other matters raised in your comment before going on to evidence of you disgusting conduct at moju
i never hide behind a monicker, as you pettily say.
1/ my name is not hard to find to anyone who search for it.
2/ i have always maintained ( and have periodically announced esp when silly comments like yours have been made ) that my name is available to anyone who ask for it through email on a reciprocal basis.
you, yourself have asked for it and i have provided it as you know.
are you denying that ?
why i use “siitingnut” online (which i started using from early 90s, long before blogs and popularity of www. ), instead of my real name i have explained several times.(including during your moju attack, in my post “my name and spoofing” on may 09, 2006) url will provided below in context.
—
“You confuse moderation with censorship, but then again, English comprehension was never your strong point was it?”
as i said i was referring to “censorship at groudviews of comments that are completely within guidelines there”
people can judge whether it was moderation or censorship that took place by reading this.
http://llibertarian.blogspot.com/2007/02/citizen-journalism-or-trampling-on.html
read the censored comments and ever changing absurd excuses given for censorship
why were those comments censored? you were not able to give a clear truthful answer.
fact is you cannot stand evidence based alternative view points to your pro terrorist point of view.
btw very like you petty mind to attack me on my english, as if your pompous prose is any better. i know my english is bad, esp since my first two languages are tamil and sinhala, question is whether you know that about yours . 🙂
—
When have I, or CPA, accepted the LTTE’s claim of sole representation ?
ltte wanted recognition of its sole representation as pre condition for peace talks. there was debate a about this . far from being fashionable various people explicitly objected to such recognition. cpa on the contrary advocated starting of peace talks, accepting those conditions in the process.
all this is public record. if you have evidence of your public rejection of this please let us see.
nor was there any condemnation of ltte’s claim of sole representation by cpa, since .
instead cpa and other human rights violating criminals, among other things, condemned people who rejected peace talks on those terms, lobbied against ltte banning in eu, etc etc. while ltte was killing on and on.
those are again public facts.
i see that you do not challenge other instances ( among many others ) that i pointed out above of those people’s human right violating activities. does that mean you accept them to be true ? if so they are human right violating criminals.
for even more such human right violating criminal activity by these people refer my blog
—
“I know it was only CPA that got a restraining order from the Supreme Court to halt the evictions”
so? does that excuse cpa’s other human rights violations?
your logic is absurd and silly
i will illustrate this for your irrational ( or slow) mind with an analogy
are you saying that a person( say a lawyer), who helps a murder to be carried out, and then when a suspect is arrested, insists that suspect’s rights be respected, and thereby is absolved of his guilt ?
June 9, 2008 at 7:13 am
sittingnut
javajones
“why not disclose “the facts””
see below if you want further detail just ask me ::-)
“I just do not have the time or the inclination to spend time digging for them”
usually if that is the case, people would not come to judgments
but as i said you are free to come to judgments based solely on prejudices and personal connections ( oops… i almost said cronyism) as you explicitly admitted above. 🙂
“Profanity -You have called Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu “a criminal ass-licker””
so?
in other comment and in my blog , i have dealt with why given lot of his specific actions, i consider him criminally servile to ltte,
ass lickers may be considered a colloquial or slang expression for a servile toady. as such it is no more profanity than your use of f word in your title here .
“you frequently use the term “pussy” to describe those you scold, and since I’m sure you don’t mean “cat”, I’m assuming you are using the term profanely.”
it is here that you you make a serious mistake in your desire to cover up naked pettiness of your argument.
kindly substantiate the your positive claim that i use the word “pussy” to people i disagree with instead of exclusively for tigers terrorists.
i use word “pussy ” to refer exclusively to ltte tiger ( note – tiger – a word of their own choosing) terrorists who ( i don’t know whether you agree to this given your pronounced biases ) are in the cowardly habit of killing innocents. cowardly tigers = “pussies” ? is that profanity ?
may be if you have great respect and love for the tiger terrorists . i don’t, may be you do? if so say so
profanity of the kind that indi padashow use is different. it uses the literal meaning of words like f word, instead of their evolved colloquial meanings as i (or you , when you used the f word above) do.
so again i ask, why do you condemn me for profanity as you did ? if i am guilty, so are you. (and you are a hypocrite )
June 9, 2008 at 7:17 am
sittingnut
sanjana hattotuwa
evidence of your disgusting behavior at moju
first, i did not delete moju blog, you did, to cover up your other pro terrorist slanderous posts ( and this evidence as well). you have complete control of that orginal material
so the best method, if you are innocent, is to release the moju archives ( why not to your archive site) as you have done with groundviews etc. ?
why this secret ? what are you hiding?
evidence i want is contained in following threads, you encouraged those attacks , most virulent and homophobic ones came after i and an anon by the name of SLMM replied to your attack on the real person who was initially mistaken for me.
now that i am giving the threads and specific comment numbers, why don’t you release them ? why are you hiding them? this the best method to confirm the authenticity (btw you are right we will release them in full some day, so that everyone can see what moju and you were up to . probably when i acquire the domain moju )
–
before pointing the specific threads and comments some history as to how things unfolded
cpa published report on trinco riot, telling that it was a result of fact finding mission. it was also published at moju. (04/21/06)
-http://moju.lk/2006/04/21/call-for-immediate-action-on-trincomalee-situation/
i found that it was plagiarized ( with whole passages copied word to word ) and biased and pointed that out .at moju and in my blog (04/22/06)
-http://llibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/04/examination-of-bias-in-recent-ngo.html-
-http://llibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/04/did-cpa-plagiarize-dbs-jeyaraj-in.html-
-http://llibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/04/update-cpa-report-on-trincomalee.html-
–
04/27-04/28 i was assumed to be suranga rajapakse and attacked in that moju thread. admin even after i have confirmed my real name to him refused do anything . while you, sanjana hattotuwa, in comments encouraged such attacks. when i and other replied to your attacks .
04/28/06-> homophobic and vile and then (05/08/06 )spoof comments began to appear under “Sittingnut” ( usually but now always spelled with capital S) and other names which got increasingly more disgusting. you ( and your supporters in moju such as billy nomates ,lana, dmonk etc) etc continued to encourage them . these comments appeared in several threads.
at initial stage of the attack (05/09/05) i wrote this in my blog
-http://llibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/05/my-name-and-spoofing.html-
attacks ( consisting of 40+ spoof comments alone ) continued till 05/13/06
on 05/12/06 full blown attack on me was published as a post at moju by dmonk and billy nomates)
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/12/sittingnut-syndrome/-
my reply to that was posted as a comment and in my own blog (0513/06)
-http://llibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/05/moju-hypocrisy.html-
throughout this as moju comments and my blog testify, i requested that spoof comment be deleted . this was sometimes done bit almost immediately more comments appeared. as result given no other option i left protest comments clearly so marked.
my request that every thing at moju including the logs with ip numbers be made public( which would have given away the identity of the spoofer (or spoofers ) was denied.
spoof comment died done after the attack post. around (05/13/06)
—
June 9, 2008 at 7:22 am
sittingnut
comments at moju had a number, expressed in their url, as here. i will include number, date, and writer of the most relevant comments as well
—
evidence is contained in the following threads
thread – “Call For Immediate Action on Trincomalee Situation”
-http://moju.lk/2006/04/21/call-for-immediate-action-on-trincomalee-situation/-
commet 664 – Sanjana Hattotuwa 25. April, 2006 at 12:29
has the sentence addressed to Sophist ( who found the concerns i raised there valid in commet 631)
“I’m the official rude & sardonic bastard in Moju and don’t take kindly to anyone who tries to usurp this hard-earned position.”
there are also several bitter comments by sanjana hattotuwa about concerns i raised ( which he is free to do)
861- KM 27. April, 2006 at 05:09
has words “Suranga Rajapakse (aka sittingnut): ” and personal attack,
875- by me -27. April, 2006 at 10:19
requesting KM to withdraw his wrong identification and pointing how he/she can confirm my identity by emailing me
879 – by admin Vajra 27. April, 2006 at 10:53
acknowledging my emails disclosing my real identity but deciding against doing anything to protect Suranga Rajapakse
then there is back and forth comments between me and admin about his responsibility to protect third parties in the receiving end of attacks
926- Sanjana Hattotuwa 28. April, 2006 at 10:36
making fun of Suranga Rajapakse usng lyrics of Eminem’s Slim Shady
938 SLMM 28. April, 2006 at 18:05
claims sanjana is responsible for the plagarism
955- by me 29. April, 2006 at 01:22
asking sanjana hattotuwa to quote more suitable to him “vanilla ice”, when engaging in classless personal attacks
this seem to be the trigger that started spoof comments
1045 Who is Suranga? 2. May, 2006 at 14:21
1049 Slip 2. May, 2006 at 19:48
1060 Free Suranga From The H4XX0RS! 2. May, 2006 at 21:56
1071 Free Suranga From The H4XX0RS! 3. May, 2006 at 04:34
1135 Free Suranga From The H4XX0RS! 5. May, 2006 at 01:27
(some of these are posted near the times sanjana hattotuwa post comments in other threads at moju, like 1046 -2. May, 2006 at 14:24 on thread 2. May, 2006 at 14:24 )
all of these are vile homophobic attacks on me and Suranga Rajapakse and mocking of my protests against attacks on Suranga Rajapakse
1225 “Sittingnut” 8. May, 2006 at 05:10
spoof comment not by me
1228 Sigmund Fraud feels sorry for David Blacker and opens up a can of whoopass! 8. May, 2006 at 05:55
personal attack on me
1228 “Sittingnut” 8. May, 2006 at 07:16
1240 “Sittingnut” 8. May, 2006 at 13:07
1250 “Sittingnut” 8. May, 2006 at 14:28
1269 “Sittingnut” 8. May, 2006 at 15:15
1275 “Sittingnut” 8. May, 2006 at 16:39
1287 “Sittingnut” 8. May, 2006 at 20:29
1295 “Sittingnut” 8. may, 2006 at 23:12
all vile homophobic attacks on me
sanjana hattotuwa, david blacker, and billy nomates, actively encourages the spoofer in the comments in between
i protest periodically pointing out that these are not mine . admin removes them but they reappear almost immediately.
June 9, 2008 at 7:25 am
sittingnut
“Sri Lanka Govt website down for days”
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/03/sri-lanka-govt-website-down-for-days/-
1103 Who is Suranga? 3. May, 2006 at 17:43
1104 billy nomates 3. May, 2006 at 18:02
hate posts
several homophobic spoof comments under 24 hours upto 9. May, 2006 at 06:55 using name “Sittingnut”
i protest periodically pointing out that these are not mine . admin removes them but they reappear almost immediately.
“Between Three Devils and the Deep Blue Sea”
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/04/between-three-devils-and-the-deep-blue-sea/-
lana , and billy nomates, asks for spoof comments by “Sittingnut” in reply to my comments on this thread
1359 Sittingnut’s Father 9. May, 2006 at 19:58
in a disgusting comment about pedophilia sanjana hattotuwa is asked to excuse his attacks on me
1361 “Sittingnut” 9. May, 2006 at 20:25
another disgusting comment with incest etc . .
1390 “Sittingnut” 10. May, 2006 at 13:32
insists he is real sittingnut and want my comments deleted
i protest periodically pointing out that these are not mine . admin removes them but they reappear almost immediately.
“New website for Ministry of Defence launched”
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/09/new-website-for-ministry-of-defence-launched/-
1384 “sittingnut” 10. May, 2006 at 12:34
protest against my protest comments, use “2001 space oddessy quotations
1387 HAL 9000 10. May, 2006 at 13:12
1428 “Sittingnut” 10. May, 2006 at 21:20
1431 “sittingnut” 10. May, 2006 at 21:30
1434 “sittingnut” 10. May, 2006 at 21:32
more spoof comments
1438 LaughingNut 10. May, 2006 at 22:02
i told not to comment and change my name
1440 Stupidnut says:10. May, 2006 at 22:24
more personal attacks
i protest periodically pointing out that these are not mine . admin removes them but they reappear almost immediately.
June 9, 2008 at 7:25 am
sittingnut
“Censorship in Sri Lankan Cinema”
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/10/censorship-in-sri-lankan-cinema-2/-
1456 “Sittingnut” 11. May, 2006 at 13:48
1462 “Sittingnut”:11. May, 2006 at 16:47
1489 “Sittingnut” 12. May, 2006 at 14:49
a homophobic and pedophilic comments
“LTTE, suicide bombings and women’s rights”
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/09/ltte-suicide-bombings-and-gender-rights/-
1457 “Sittingnut” 11. May, 2006 at 13:50
spoof comment
“LTTE sinks ship; Govt retaliates”
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/11/ltte-sinks-ship-govt-retaliates/-
1573 “Sittingnut” 13. May, 2006 at 00:00
1574 “Sittingnut” 13. May, 2006 at 00:43
more spoof comments
“The sittingnut syndrome” by dmonk
-http://moju.lk/2006/05/12/sittingnut-syndrome/-
a full post attacking me attributing to me various attitudes including racist ones i have never espoused ( predictably there is no quotations )
by this time 40+ spoof comments ( not counting other attacking comments under other names ) were published at moju, starting from my comment 955 which replied to sanjan hattutuwa comment 926’s attack on suranga rajapakse ( see above)
as i said i have copies of these comments you have the original copies. why don’t you disclose what you have to establish authenticity.
June 9, 2008 at 7:38 am
sittingnut
comment was so long that i had to cut it (6+ 1 with this ) get it accepted. i also defanged the urls so that they wont cause any trouble
but then you both wanted this
i have all the voluminous details of these comments and threads, detailing your conduct. at moju
in order make this easier and to work from originals, i am asking the orginals of the specific comments or threads named here to be produced in infoshare archive site, as with groudviews
i repeat it is not me who deleted moju blog but the person who wanted things to be hidden – .sanjana hattotuwa.
as i prove here i am ready with the details to prove my claims
if you think all those details i provided above are false and refer to non existent comments and threds , why not prove me wrong by opening moju archive. why hide them like a criminal?
June 9, 2008 at 8:41 am
javajones
Sittingnut – No we’re not ‘cronies’ – personal connections just enable one to get a better idea of the types of folk they are, which should explain my statement.
My use of profanity in my blog has nothing to do with using it on individuals that I disagree with or don’t like. I have no problem with ‘profanity’ – in fact I quite like it and use it a whole lot. I even did a post ( https://javajones.wordpress.com/2007/02/13/on-profanity/ ) on it where my views are very clear – and use it liberally, but not in the way I object to in my post.
Apologies for confusing the ‘cat’ or ‘pussy’ analogy with the ‘profane’ use of it. My mistake. And I have no love for the LTTE – no more than I have for all the other human-rights violators and perpetrators of crimes against humanity.
And no, I don’t believe I am a hypocrite either.
I hope that explains my position – the rest of it in the post stands.
About the listing of your “facts” – many thanks, but like I said, I’m not about to delve into them for what should be obvious reasons. I’ll leave that to Sanjana – if he has the inclination to.
Hey, why don’t we all meet for a drink and chat sometime?
June 9, 2008 at 9:05 am
Sanjana Hattotuwa
I am now a criminal! Fucking hilarious. (in the sense of the “evolved” use of the F word as brought out clearly by you and not to accuse you of fucking around, being a fuck, coming up with fucked up arguments, being fucked up, a fucktard or fuckwit).
Firstly, I can’t make head or tail of what you claim to be are comments that are homophobic against you by myself in 2006. Who is Suranga Rajapaksa and what does he have to do with all this? And who the devil is Billy Nomates? Who or what is SLMM that makes some strange claim that I plagiarizing? Plagiarizing what, where? Is this your “evidence” of my “homophobic” comments? And are you now claiming that David Blacker, Indi and I all ganged up against you? Though this is a delicious thought, but I must confess that I certainly don’t know what you are talking about re. the example above.
As for CPA accepting LTTE’s sole representation, your favourite hobby horse, you still have to provide evidence of your assertion. Our position is clearly on the web and not just on our site. Do your own research. Admittedly, the problem of English comprehension may still get in the way but I live in hope and risk disappointment.
June 9, 2008 at 9:07 am
Sanjana Hattotuwa
Java maan, you be naked and petty. Have no shame bwouy? Cover up them crown jools.
June 9, 2008 at 9:50 am
javajones
Sanjana – come again???!!!! And dat word be ‘nekid’!
June 9, 2008 at 10:18 am
javajones
Sittingnut – just in case I’m misunderstood, I said that Indi and Sanjana were not ‘cronies’ in response to your accusation of ‘cronyism’. They ARE my friends, but don’t get special treatment or ‘favours’ because of the relationships.
June 9, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Sanjana Hattotuwa
“it is here that you you make a serious mistake in your desire to cover up naked pettiness of your argument.”
Nice turn of phrase no? Man is unwittingly creative and hilarious oftentimes.
OK – over and out. Thanks for the space for something to laugh about and in your original post, shit to think about. Back to the fruitcakes in government and figuring out how if we’ve killed all them LTTE cadres we are still at war…
Won’t be back on this thread, but guess who will be?
June 9, 2008 at 1:59 pm
javajones
Sanjana – ooops – should’ve figured that one out!!! Sorry to get you all caught up in this – albeit unwittingly. I think we should all call it a day and hope that there will be less of those ‘none so blind as those who…..’. or else we’re in for the long cold Winter (or should that be long sweltering Summer?)!!
Cheers!
June 9, 2008 at 4:12 pm
sittingnut
javajones
“And I have no love for the LTTE – no more than I have for all the other human-rights violators and perpetrators of crimes against humanity.”
always good to know . good on you !
so what are you going to do about it . continue relations with those same people who advocate and perpetrate human-rights violation and crimes against humanity? and object to their being so called with evidence ? hope not 🙂
hmm judging and condemning others based mainly on personal relationship with one party ( and disinclination to find facts) is not cronyism? i am sure that mahinda buffalo thinks so about mervyn silva ( another peacenik rally speaker and participant ) but as i said before you are not required to be objective.and completely free when you made that decision against me above. i just put my case i don’t need more than that. i have faith in truth.
thanks for explaining about what you consider various types of profanities . even though, i must say, by most standards of justice, condemning some action while engaging in the same is considered hypocrisy, you are free to consider same action good and others wrong based your judgment (or hair splitting). i have no objection.
as i said i just wanted to put and defend my case, nothing more. i wont hide, delete, or run. i have faith in honesty, truth, and reality triumphing against empty slander and fantasies.where it counts.
“Hey, why don’t we all meet for a drink and chat sometime?”
why not? 🙂
–
sanjana hattotuwa
thanks for focusing on that sentence about naked pettiness of disagreeing with tiger terrorists being called “pussies” .your anger at that designation creeps through your fake humor 🙂 .
do run away 🙂
and do continue with slanders and attacks. when are you going to delete groudnviews like you did moju, afraid that your slanders ( most of them sourced from pro terrorist sources ) will catch up with you? i always knew you who was so free with your accusations of slander to me above, would run away when facts about you actions get revealed. and these attacks on me were the least of what you want to hide
if not archive moju on your archive site .
“figuring out how if we’ve killed all them LTTE cadres we are still at war…”
how typical. did anyone say ltte was eliminated?
but then you are free to “figure out” such fantasies. . 🙂
such empty fantasies removed from reality, no doubt give relief to your worried to death about ltte soul.
but dont let me keep you, do run, slander, hide/delete, and fantasize .. 🙂
March 14, 2009 at 6:32 am
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