ofGay: 2010-04-18

Emo tbem fode

Namoro bom demais

PowerShift IV

Hot Men In Hot Sex

after drilling the hole they meet

A polícia

cock roller and sucker

Flagrante...

NEGROS (video)

Arrombador ataca novamente

Interracial Threesome

KamaSutra Dreams

Former foreign war reporters revisit Cambodia

Former Washington Post correspondent Elizabeth Becker (L) consoles former staff member of Kyodo News, Yoko Ishiyama, as she prays at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010, in memory of her husband, Koki Ishiyama, a former correspondent for Kyodo, who was killed covering the Cambodian civil war in 1973. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Carle Robinson (L), former Associated Press correspondent prays at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Former Time-Life photographer Tim Page and other foreign correspondents pray at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Former foreign correspondents observe a moment of silence in front of a grave on a rice field at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010 . About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Former Washington Post correspondent Elizabeth Becker (L) reads a list of killed foreign correspondents as former staff member of Kyodo News, Yoko Ishiyama (R), weeps at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. The list includes Yoko Ishiyama's husband, Koki Ishiyama, a former correspondent for Kyodo, who was killed covering the Cambodian civil war in 1973. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Former Time-Life photographer Tim Page prays at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Sylvana Foa (R), two-time nominee for the Pulitzer Price, former Newsweek and United Press International (UPI) correspondent and currently a journalism teacher at New York University's Tel Aviv campus and former staff member of Kyodo News, Yoko Ishiyama (L), place a flower at the dedication of memorial of journalists in Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. Yoko Ishiyama's husband, Koki Ishiyama, a former correspondent for Kyodo, was killed covering the Cambodian civil war in 1973. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Carl Robinson (R), former Associated Press correspondent and Chhang Song , former Khmer minister of information, stand near the sign dedicated to the memory of Cambodian and foreign journalists killed or missing during the Cambodian civil war April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Mobile technology gives Cambodians a voice [Dial 1-800-4Democracy?]

April 23, 2010
By Chak Sopheap
Guest Commentary
UPI Asia Online

Niigata, Japan — Cambodia: The Rise of Citizen Media via Mobile Phone

Mobile phones have gained in popularity since 2000, even at the bottom of the economic pyramid, due to their affordability and indispensability. This is especially true in Cambodia, the first country in the world in which the number of mobile phone users surpassed the number using fixed landlines.

There are nearly 4 million mobile users, representing 26 percent of the population, according to the United Nations Development Program’s 2009 report, “Cambodia Country Competitiveness.”

Even though the population size and penetration rate of mobile phones in Cambodia are much lower than in neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, which have penetration rates over 80 percent, the Cambodian market seems to be booming, with nine service providers to cover 14 million people.

Thailand, with a population of 67 million, has only seven providers, while Vietnam has eight operators for its 87 million people, according to a report in Economics Today.

Cambodia’s excess of service providers may not be viable in the long term, but the competition has lowered prices and brought greater customer satisfaction.

Thanks to low prices, mobile phones have become indispensable in Cambodia, preferred over traditional communications including landlines and the postal service. With poor transportation infrastructure and a shortage of electricity coverage, mobile phones are the most convenient appliance, offering a range of services including radio, music, videos, and even Internet access.

Interestingly, mobile banking service was recently introduced to Cambodia. Now rural Cambodians can make low-cost payments and money transfers from their mobile phones.

Beyond that, mobile phones have had a great impact on mobilizations and collective actions, during the election campaign for example. Political parties use SMS text messaging, the cheapest and most effective way of widely spreading their message, for their political campaigns. Also civil organizations that monitor elections use SMS to communicate among themselves.

Probably due to its accessibility and vast penetration, text messaging in Cambodia was banned during the last day of the Commune Council Election in 2007 by the National Election Committee. Though opposition parties and human rights groups claimed the ban would hamper the right to freedom of expression, the committee claimed the ban was justified by the law prohibiting campaigning on election day or the day before, and it would prevent parties from using text messaging to mobilize rallies, thereby ensuring a quiet environment for voters.

Surprisingly, SMS text messaging partly contributed to the 2008 election victory of the ruling party, which had supported the earlier ban of text messaging. This is because a nationalistic movement coincided with the election campaign, due to a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over the Preah Vihear temple. This generated political approval of the government, which publicly denounced any invasion of Cambodian territory. Mobile phone text messages circulated saying, “Khmers love Khmer and should boycott anything Thai or with Thai writing on it.”

Another side effect of mobile technology is that it mobilizes people for human rights activism and social causes through SMS text messaging. When human rights activists were being arrested in Cambodia in late 2005 and early 2006, for example, human rights activists used SMS text messaging to mobilize public support to demand the release of those arrested and freedom of expression.

In other Asian countries SMS text messaging has become an effective means of disseminating information and mobilizing people. The spread of information about the 2007 Saffron Revolution in Burma was possible thanks to mobile technology; it led to a global mobilization to free Burma from human rights abuses.

During that time, a group of Cambodians wearing red shirts gathered to protest in front of the Burmese Embassy in Phnom Penh. Thanks to the widespread use of mobile text messaging and blogs, people around the world could join the same cause at the same time.

This trend, the rise of citizen media, is especially important in countries like Cambodia, where people who otherwise would have no voice are encouraged to disseminate information, organize events, and join social causes through mobile phone communication.
--
(Chak Sopheap is a graduate student of peace studies at the International University of Japan. She runs a blog, www.sopheapfocus.com, in which she shares her impressions of both Japan and her homeland, Cambodia. She was previously advocacy officer of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.)

Cambodia to Send Its Officials to Timor Leste

ASIC's eyes on BHP

AUSTRALIAN regulators are likely to do their own investigations into corruption claims involving mining giant BHP Billiton, according to a leading corporate law expert.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission yesterday would not confirm whether it was investigating already, but Melbourne University's Professor Ian Ramsay said local regulators would be "almost forced" to make inquiries.

Prof Ramsay noted that ASIC chief Tony D'Aloisio had confirmed the regulator was making routine inquiries into Rio Tinto in the wash-up of the Stern Hu affair, and expected it would have to respond the same way to the BHP situation.

US regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Britain's Serious Fraud Office are probing the claims, apparently related to a bauxite exploration project in Cambodia.

BHP revealed on Wednesday it had uncovered evidence of possible violations of anti-corruption laws involving dealings with government officials, but it has refused to say whether it is connected to allegations of an unofficial $US2.5 million payment to secure exploration rights in the Mondulkiri province.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said yesterday he could not see grounds for an inquiry into the conduct of Australian mining executives overseas.

"I don't think that is a sensible or appropriate response for the Government to take," Mr Smith told Sky News.

In a message to BHP staff yesterday, company chief executive Marius Kloppers said: "While matters of this kind are of great concern, they remind us that we must work in a way that is consistent with our code of business conduct and our charter values. Along with safety, nothing is more critical to our success than working with integrity.

"That means working in a way that upholds our values, which underpins everything we do."

Prof Ramsay said the type of wrongdoing alleged was more common than the conduct in Rio Tinto's bribery scandal. "So that's why I would have thought that regulators in Australia would be making inquiries. In fact, they're almost forced to make inquiries now," he said.

Prof Ramsay noted the increased focus of governments and regulators on bribery matters in recent years, including the much higher penalties for bribery under Australian law which came into effect this year.

He said it was inevitable BHP would be pressured to disclose more.

"It's just better to put it all out there initially -- and that assists in terms of preventing speculation," he said.

Asian drought damage reconstructed

Tree ring scientists Edward Cook (left) and Paul Krusic trekked for nearly two weeks to reach this 1,000-year-old hemlock in the Himalayas of Nepal during their 15-year research. (Brendan Buckley/Columbia University)

Friday, April 23, 2010
CBC News

Scientists at Columbia University's the Earth Institute and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have put together a 700-year record reconstructing the destruction caused by droughts that happened when the Asian monsoon resulted in less than normal rainfall.

The study, Asian Monsoon Failure and Megadrought during the Last Millennium, and the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas published this week in the journal Science look at the seasonal weather system since 1300, its effects on the continent and how the monsoon's future might impact climate change.

While the monsoon feeds nearly half of the world's population when the rain does fall, when the monsoon fails to provide the usual amount of water and there is a drought, death and destruction are rampant, the study found.

Columbia scientists measured tree data from mature tree rings in 300 locations across the Asian continent, Siberia and northern Australia to come up with the findings.

For most tree species, rainfall determines the width of the species, resulting in annual growth rings, scientists said.

By studying the rings, scientists were able to determine that at least four major droughts led to the devastation in the continent and surrounding areas.

Drought led to fall of China's Ming dynasty

For example, a drought in northeastern China led to the 1644 fall of country's Ming dynasty.

Another drought occurred from 1756-1768, which coincided with the collapse of kingdoms in present-day Burma, Vietnam and Thailand.

The study also looked at the 1876-78 drought known as the "Great Drought," which resulted in widespread famine and the death of a record 30 million people in India, China and present-day Indonesia.

"Global climate models fail to accurately simulate the Asian monsoon, and these limitations have hampered our ability to plan for future, potentially rapid and heretofore unexpected shifts in a warming world," said Edward Cook, the head of Lamont's Tree Ring Lab who ran the study, said in a statement.

"Reliable instrumental data goes back only until 1950. This reconstruction gives climate modellers an enormous dataset that may produce some deep insights into the causes of Asian monsoon variability."

The study follows a similar report in March by the Lamont tree-ring team suggesting that dramatic differences in the monsoon may have influenced the collapse of the ancient Khmer civilization at Angkor — now known as Cambodia — nearly 600 years ago.

That paper, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the U.S., showed evidence of a mega-drought in the wider region around Angkor from the 1340s to the 1360s, followed by a more severe but shorter drought from the 1400s to the 1420s.

The droughts were combined with severe flooding, resulting in the kingdom's eventual collapse, researchers of that study found.

The research for the latest study was funded by the U.S National Science Foundation.

Cambodia's fight to stop spread of drug resistant malaria

World Malaria Day is a day to recognise the global effort to provide effective control of the disease. Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in the developing world, infecting more than 500 million people a year and killing more than a million. About two years ago a new strain of drug resistant malaria emegerd in Cambodia, sparking fears it could spread and lead to widespread health problems.

Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Dr Duong Socheat, National Centre for Malaria Control; Dr Steven Bjorge, WHO malaria specialist

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

CARMICHAEL: In recent decades, the area around the town of Pailin in western Cambodia has been the source of several drug-resistant malaria strains.

Dr Steven Bjorge of the World Health Organisation's office in Phnom Penh explains that one malaria strain in Africa that is resistant to choloroquine which was for years the standard medical treatment has been proven to have originated in western Cambodia.

Reason enough, then, for the concern expressed last year by health experts over the news that another drug-resistant strain had emerged in Pailin.

In this case, the resistance found in Pailin is to the standard drug treatment called ACT used against the falciparum strain of malaria.

ACT, which is a combination of drugs, normally eliminates the parasite from the body within two or three days. But Pailin's falciparum parasite, which has built up some resistance to ACT, now takes twice as long to clear.

Since ACT is the standard treatment worldwide for malaria, full resistance would be a huge public health problem in combating a disease that kills around one million people a year, most of them in Africa.

BJORGE: And so the fear is that again the drug-resistant parasite, for example from western Cambodia, will move to Africa, and Africa has a malaria problem many magnitudes worse than anything in southeast Asia

CARMICHAEL:The number of people dying from malaria in Cambodia is low relative to many African countries. Last year the disease killed around 270 Cambodians - a figure that has declined from around 800 deaths ten years ago.

But concerned at the public health implications for Cambodia, the region and possibly the world donors last year implemented a containment plan that saw a huge tract of land around Pailin designated as Zone 1 the main area for targeting the problem.

A buffer area comprising around half of the rest of Cambodia is known as Zone 2, while the rest of the country is classed as Zone 3.

BORGE:We have emerging tolerance which undoubtedly will lead to full-blown resistance if it continues. So what we've done now in Zone 1, increasingly in Zone 2 and then under Global Fund Round 9, what we'll do in Zone 3 is provide early diagnosis and treatment together with mosquito control through insecticide-treated bednets.

CARMICHAEL: Dr Duong Socheat, who heads the government's anti-malaria effort, says aspects of the containment plan include educating people on the correct drug use should they contract malaria, cracking down on fake or substandard medicines, and treating malaria in Zone 1 with a new combination known as DHA.

Another key element is that every village in Zone 1 now has at least one volunteer trained to test for malaria in fellow villagers.

Dr Duong Socheat is hopeful that not only will these efforts turn around the problem of the resistant strain, but that in another decade there will be no deaths from malaria in Cambodia.

So how is the containment programme going?

DR DUONG SOCHEAT: If you look deep you can see very good results.

CARMICHAEL: Dr Duong Socheat explains that last year there were no deaths from malaria in Zone 1, adding that the zone also showed no increase in the number of malaria cases.

He says a key challenge in the coming decade will be dealing with migrant workers. If they contract the resistant form of malaria, they could transfer that to their home provinces.

DR DUONG SOCHEAT: This is the main issue. The migrant, they move from the eastern part to the western part to look for the job for the crop season and come back with malaria.

CARMICHAEL:Next week, after the country has marked World Malaria Day on Sunday, health workers will move into a dozen villages in Pailin that are most afflicted by malaria.

The initiative - the first in Cambodia's treatment of the disease - will see them take blood from every villager in each village, test it at a lab in Phnom Penh, and within 48 hours treat anyone who is infected with the disease but not exhibiting the symptoms.

WHO's Dr Steven Bjorge says this effort, along with the entire containment plan, gives him some hope that they are making progress.

DR STEVE BJORGE: We feel that in Zone 1 we are having some success. It's still early in the game and so we're trying to gather the data and evaluate it, but we think that we're having some impact.