Maya Arulpragasam and Bill Maher had as sober a discussion as I’ve ever seen on Maher’s show last night. Arulpragasam talked about the civil war, the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and the clampdown on the media. Maher pushed back gently, reminding her of the LTTE’s record of terrorism.

It wasn’t all dirgey:

Maher: Tell the public why, if you’re from this island nation, you sound like Mick Jagger… That’s not what they all sound like, right?

Maya: No. But we’ll never know, because they keep killing them all.

And M.I.A. in a dark suit, sans day-glo retrographics and sparkly leggings? *rubs eyes* It’s like Levi Johnston all over again.

Maya cleans up nice

[Editor's note: HBO yanked the video off YouTube. Boo. Let us know in the comments if you see it elsewhere?]