Temple Time Click for Angkor Wat fun and bas relief closeup.

Cultural Diffusion Phnom Penh Style I'm too lazy to wash my clothes myself so I usually go to a laundry place near the Russian market. Just across the street is a 'Haircut and Tattoo' sign that looked a little familiar for some reason I couldn't figure out. (I guess you could get your tattoo while you cut your hair too!) Then just the other day I realized, it's Sam! Sambath Hy from the Lowell MA Khmer Hip Hop group SEASIA, which has a CD available here. The shop just riffed on the CD cover for their sign. Small world, no? Here's the Barbershop and the CD cover for comparison. SEASIA site: http://www.seasiamusic.com

"Totally Zen... Take a mystic journey in ths fabulous bikini by Onda De Mar Swimwear of Colombia. Colorful watercolor scenes are embellished with tiny jeweled beads giving it serene beauty. Bikini top is a sliding tri-top. Bottom has adjustable scrunchy sides and offers moderate coverage n back. Onda De Mar's designers create high fashion swimwear from their native country of Colombia." Baby Buddha Bikini by Onda De Mar Swimwear 2004 That was the wording from a recent clothing catalog. Click if you want to see a very strange looking swimsuit made in Colombia, marketed for the West. (Certainly not Asia!) 2004_04_23_baby_buddhabikini_large.jpg What's next, Jesus swimming trunks? I heard about this from the 'Camnews' email list, a message from which follows below. From: khmerview*cambodianview.com Date: 04/23/04 10:28:26 I am astonishingly to see the picture of the Buddha has been printed in such female swimwear. This Victoria's Secret company must be responsible to its consequences. It is an act of degrading, belittling, insulting, desecrating, ridiculing and blasting to the Buddha and Buddhists worldwide. Such inexcusable act shall be affected to yourselves. Of course, you(the manufacturer), has done nothing bad to Buddha and Buddhists but you degrade yourself and your own reputation as humanness, especially to declare another chaotic message to our world. It is absolutely intentional of the person behind this idea to demean Buddhists and blast Buddhism popularity. In our present world with the sense of multiculturalism, multilanguages, multireligions; this act is really a blasphemer! As we are Buddhists and peaceful lovers must condemn and accuse this act as illegality, disharmony and inhumanity. http://www.buddhistnews.tv/current/ondademar-220404.php http://www.buddhistnews.tv/current/bikini-230404.php http://www.buddhistnews.tv/current/vic-secret-230404.php http://www.buddhistnews.tv/current/ondademar-220404.php http://www.buddhistnews.tv/current/vic-secret-220404.php http://www.buddhistnews.tv/current/ondademar2-220404.php http://www.buddhistnews.tv/ With Metta, Bhikkhu Vodano Sophan ==== From: Savouth Chea Date: 04/23/04 11:57:18 There is a petition that you can sign. http://www.petitiononline.com/VSlotus/petition-sign.html

The Munich Institute for Social Science (MISS) in cooperation with the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation (HBF) and the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh Cambodia (BI) hosts the: International Conference on CIVIL SOCIETY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA – ROLES AND CONCEPTS Phnom Penh, 07-08 June 2004 Buddhist Institute in Cambodia Through globalization processes, the debates on civil society around the world have been strongly influenced by western discourses. This trend also effects the region Southeast Asia, where many nations are confronted with western conceptions of civil society and civil institutions. Therefore it is of particular relevance to host the conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which is a post-UN-country and highly effected by international influence. Clearly there is more then one concept of civil society: national and cultural characteristics have evolved and numerous distinct traditions of civil society can be observed in different countries. The question is whether the countries of Southeast Asia will find a way towards their own, genuine civil society. In our opinion civil society is not solely to be understood as a place beyond market and state, but rather as the incorporation of a certain attitude towards society which is equally relevant in all sectors of society. Civil Society is more than just about active participation in politics, rather it is the citizen’s engagement in all sectors - economic, social, cultural and political - on different levels. Participants from the local political scene, representatives from the private sector, scientists, civil society activists and local groups will examine civil society processes not only in politics, but also in economics and society. The cultural and religious dimensions will play a vital role, particularly with respect to the potential impact of the Buddhist and Islamic traditions on the future development of civil society. The ultimate aim of the conference is to compare and contrast different concepts concerning civil society in its development capacity. We hope to sketch a path towards civil development policies that respect the national and cultural characteristics of the participant nations. This conference is following up on a symposium that took place in February 2004 in Bonn, Germany: http://www.socialscience.de/news. For further information please contact Eileen.Maternowski@socialscience.de or Karl.Lemberg@socialscience.de.

Australia, Cambodia In 1996 and 1997 I taught English at Cambodian Association of Victoria. I remember it as a pleasant place to work, with some dedicated staff. At the time Jeff Kennett was in power, Pauline Hanson was condemning immigrants, and Springvale, Victoria was touted as 'Heroin City' by the Herald-Sun. It seemed pretty tame to me. Now it seems that the Association is in the news again - this time relating to politics. I don't know about the veracity of the allegations, I think time will tell the truth. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/19/1066502077090.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/19/1066502077087.html http://www.theage.com.au/media/2003/10/19/1066502077632.html The Cambodian community in Australia is pretty cohesive compared to the USA, but it has many challenges like refugee populations the world over. Here is hoping things will resolve themselves in a way that is conductive to helping transparency and local participation in the political process.

Bees @ Angkor Angkor Wat is so big, it's got it's own internal environment. And if insects want to nest there, it's none of your beeswax.

Bombing Laos and Cambodia... San Francisco Chronicle Monday, April 5, 2004 Page B - 7 A Vietnam-era lesson in telling the truth by Pete McCloskey [Pete McCloskey was a Republican congressman representing the Peninsula from 1967 to 1982. He lost to Pete Wilson in the U.S. Senate primary in 1982 and is now a country lawyer and farmer in Rumsey (Yolo County)] The recent comments of Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski reflect great courage on her part and give faith to the rest of us that there are still those in public service dedicated to learning and disclosing the truth. In 2002, after more than 19 years of service, Kwiatkowski was looking forward to retirement and a well-earned pension. She was also an idealist who believed the government should tell the American people the truth. There have always been idealists in government service who rebel when their superiors ask them to participate in the deception of the public. Paul O'Neill, Joe Wilson and Anthony Zinni are cases in point; there will likely be many more in the days ahead. Kwiatkowski rebelled when she realized that her office in the Pentagon, assigned to the analysis of intelligence on the Mideast and North Africa, was being turned into an assembly line of public-relations papers to support the forthcoming invasion of Iraq. Her work was being merged into that of the Pentagon's new "Office of Special Plans," a group of specialists charged with offering up talking papers to support the invasion of Iraq, not so much for the eradication of any threat to the United States, but to remove Saddam Hussein and to establish military bases in Iraq that would be free of the restrictions imposed on bases in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf countries. The young lieutenant colonel was appalled when she heard dedicated staff members refer to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni as "traitors" for putting roadblocks in the way of their planned invasion of Iraq. She finally resigned her commission in order to speak out. Her courage brought to mind a long-forgotten experience 33 years ago with a similar young Air Force lieutenant colonel. In the spring of 1971, like Kwiatkowski, he had served more than 19 years in the Air Force. He had just returned from leading a fighter-bomber squadron in Vietnam to serve out the remainder of his time at a Nebraska base. I, too, had just returned that March from a 12-day visit to Vietnam and Laos. The Nixon administration was then denying reports of the bombing of Laos and Cambodia. On Dec. 31, 1970, Congress had just repealed the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which had authorized President Johnson to "meet aggression with aggression in Southeast Asia," essentially against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in Vietnam. We had started to remove our troops from Vietnam. There was no longer even a semblance of legal justification to bomb in Laos or Cambodia. While in Vietnam and Laos during March 1971, I had taken sworn affidavits from a number of pilots who stated they had been bombing targets in Laos and Cambodia, many with the coordinates of specific rural villages, some being in Laos' famous Plain of Jars, a considerable distance from the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which had once been a legitimate bombing target. Upon returning home, I testified before two Senate committees. I was interviewed on various television shows, including that of William Buckley. I related the stories of the bombings of which I had been told, both by Air Force pilots and by Laotian refugees from the Plain of Jars. My statements were immediately denied by various high-ranking administration spokesmen, who stated unequivocally that the United States was not bombing in Laos. The controversy received national coverage. One afternoon, an Air Force lieutenant colonel called from Nebraska. Our conversation was brief and went something like this: "Sir, I am Lieutenant Colonel 'X' and I have just returned from commanding a fighter-bomber wing in Vietnam. You are right, sir. We are bombing in Laos and the Pentagon is lying when they say we are not. I will be glad to give you an affidavit of my own bombing sorties." I took his name and number and thanked him. A few minutes later, a woman called: "Congressman, I am Mrs. 'X.' My husband has served 19 1/2 years in the Air Force and is about to retire. Please don't use his affidavit. It will cost us his pension." I thanked her and told her I had plenty of similar affidavits from lieutenants and captains and wouldn't use or identify her husband. Minutes later, Lt. Col. "X" was on the phone again. "Sir, I appreciate what you told my wife, but please disregard her request. I took an oath to tell the truth when I enlisted nearly 20 years ago and I feel I owe the country a duty to tell the truth." I thanked him again. That same afternoon, I was visited by a former Marine officer and close friend from Stanford, Dick Borda, then serving as assistant secretary of the Air Force. Borda was a solid Nixon supporter. We had served together on a number of Marine Corps training exercises in the 1950s and he knew me to be honest if misguided. He asked me how I could be making these false accusations about U.S. bombing in Laos when he was receiving daily briefings at the Pentagon that we were not. I brought out the affidavits from the Air Force pilots in Vietnam and Laos. Borda was visibly shocked. He returned to the Pentagon, but later called and asked if I would meet him that night at a residential address in Alexandria, Va., and would I please bring my affidavits. I arrived at the appointed hour and was introduced to a tall and distinguished gentleman identified as Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans Jr. When I showed the secretary the affidavits, he also reflected shock. A few days later, it was announced that we were indeed bombing in Laos, but that for security reasons, this knowledge had been withheld from the civilian secretaries of the Air Force, Navy and Army. At the direct order from the White House to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, false coordinates were reported to the secretaries for the daily and nightly bombing runs over Laos and Cambodia. The justification, then as now, was that national security required that the bombing raids not be disclosed to the American people. One has to thank God for the idealism of young people. They may yet educate the American people, as Kwiatowski and the members of the Sept. 11 commission are now doing in their probe for the truth of our intelligence failures prior to the terrorist attacks. Lincoln was right. All of the people can be fooled some of the time, and some of the people all of the time. But you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Ultimately, the truth will out.[End]

Hot season: flames everywhere Took a few minutes at lunchtime to see the remnants of the 'Flames of Peace' ceremony, where they burn AK-47s in a big heap. The project aims to reduce the tremendous number of firearms floating around in this 'post-conflict country'. A steaming hot day - on the way, back, my bike caught on fire! Old wiring and an electrical short circuit made for a little excitement. Some minor repairs and it's back in action.

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