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Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Turkish attack a reminder of Cold War dynamics
8:34 PM
Royan Idris
(CNN) – The suicide bombing in Ankara Friday is a reminder to counterterrorism agencies that it’s not just jihadist groups who threaten Western governments and their interests overseas. Pockets of the extreme left and extreme right still consider political violence legitimate — among them the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party in Turkey.
Turkish authorities have blamed the U.S. Embassy attack on the group, better known as DHKP-C, and are in the process of identifying the bomber.
Suicide bomber strikes outside U.S. Embasssy in Ankara
Analysts say it is likely the attack had two aims — to embarrass the Turkish government and to demonstrate the group’s hostility to the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries on Turkish soil. Several members of the group are thought to be close to the Syrian regime.
DHKP-C has a relationship with the Turkish Kurdish separatist group PKK, which is also close to the Syrian government. About one-third of the PKK’s fighters are said to be Syrian, according to regional analysts.
DHKP-C is viscerally hostile to the Turkish state, the United States and NATO, and has had links with the far-left in Europe.
In recent days, Turkish police have arrested several dozen people suspected of links with DHKP-C, among them a number of lawyers. However, Human Rights Watch called the arrests an “arbitrary and abusive use of anti-terrorism laws in Turkey.”
Turkish authorities believe the suicide bomber Friday was Ecevit Shanli, a longtime member of the group. DNA tests are being conducted to confirm his identity.
Shanli received bomb-making training somewhere in Europe in the mid-1990s, according to Hasam Selim Ozertem, a security expert at the International Strategic Research Organization in Ankara. Turkish officials say that as a result of counterterrorism operations on Turkish soil, DHKP-C became increasingly active among the Turkish diaspora in Europe.
Shanli returned to Turkey in 1997 and was subsequently involved in attacks on the Istanbul police headquarters and senior military officials using anti-tank weapons. After being arrested, Shanli went on a lengthy hunger strike and was released from jail in 2002 because of a neurological disorder.
DHKP-C has been active for more than 30 years and espouses a Marxist-Leninist philosophy reminiscent of the Cold War. It grew out of another far-left group, Devrimci Sol (Revolutionary Left), formed when Turkey was in political turmoil, with clashes between militant left- and right-wing groups undermining a weak political system. Devrimci Sol claimed responsibility for gun attacks that killed two Americans, including a U.S. military employee, and an attack that wounded a U.S. military officer in early 1991 in protest of the Gulf War.
Among other attacks attributed to the DHKP-C was the assassination of a former justice minister, Mehmet Topac, in 1994, as well as the murders of a number of senior police and military officials and, 1996, a prominent businessman, Ozdemir Sabanci.
Among its more recent operations was an attempt to kill another former justice minister, Hikmet Sami Turk, in 2009. The female suicide bomber’s main explosive charge did not go off.
Security analysts say the latest attack is very similar to one launched on an Istanbul police station last year. Again, a former hunger striker who was critically sick with cancer arrived at the police station wearing a belt stuffed with explosives and triggered the bomb just before passing through an X-ray machine.
Ozertem told CNN he is unaware of any links between DHKP-C and al Qaeda-type actors, but the possibility can’t be entirely dismissed because al Qaeda sympathizers have become increasingly active in the region.
The Turkish National Police assessment of the group says, “American, European and Israeli companies and enterprises are also among the targets of DHKP-C since they are considered by the terrorist organization as assets of global imperialism.”
It says the group is also involved in drug trafficking to finance its operations.
Analysts consulted by CNN do not believe the organization has the capacity to launch a sustained terrorist campaign, nor penetrate security at well-guarded installations. Its last known attack aimed at a U.S. target in Turkey was in 1999, when two men tried to fire a rocket at the U.S. Consulate General building in Istanbul. Both were killed in a subsequent firefight.
South Korea satellite ‘communicating’
6:33 AM
Royan Idris
South Korea says the satellite launched on Wednesday has made contact with a ground station and is sending data.
The launch was South Korea’s first successful attempt to put a satellite into orbit using its own rocket.
The satellite, which collects climate data, made contact at 03:27 on Thursday (18:27 GMT on Wednesday).
The launch – which came weeks after North Korea successfully put its own satellite in orbit – had been delayed twice due to technical reasons.
President Lee Myung-bak praised what he called a “first step towards opening an era of space science in earnest”.
“We should make this an opportunity to elevate national power by a notch.”
The rocket, which blasted off from the Naro Space Center at 16:00 (07:00 GMT) on Wednesday, was built in partnership with Russia. Two previous launches in 2009 and 2010 had failed.
South Korea now plans to develop a fully home-made three-stage rocket.
There has been no reaction yet from North Korea, which was condemned by the UN last week for its rocket launch – seen as a banned test of missile technology.
“The North should not see it [the South Korean launch] as a threat because they too can enjoy the same transparency with regard to the programme that the rest of us have, which is a far cry from how the DPRK [North Korea] behaves,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Hun Sen Cup serves up four tasty quarter-final clashes
6:27 AM
Royan Idris
The seventh Samdech Hun Sen Cup enters its knockout phase today with four quarter-finals at two venues.
In the 2pm kick-off at Olympic Stadium, 2010 winners Ministry of National Defence face arch-rivals National Police Commissary in a rematch of their January 12 Metfone C-League meeting, which saw the Army team stage a walk off after 75 minutes following a controversial goal scored against them. The game was recorded as a 5-0 win for Police.
“If the match officials are going to make fair decisions, I think there will be no problem in defeating our opponents,” MND coach Op Sam Art told the Post yesterday.
The 4pm game at Olympic Stadium pits Build Bright United, who were the only side to win all three of their group matches, against Naga Corp, who were tipped as one of the favourites to lift the title but suffered an embarrassing loss to Chamkarmon in the last round.
The crowd at Old Stadium will see Group C toppers Boeung Ket Rubber Field take on two-time Cup winners Phnom Penh Crown at 2pm.
Kampong Cham-based Boeung Ket are considered favourites to complete a league and Cup, having ripped through Kirivong on Tuesday with an almost exclusively second string line-up.
Crown, in comparison, had to fight until the last minute to secure a vital win over holders Preah Khan Reach.
“With the Hun Sen Cup and MCL games being scheduled close together, the teams didn’t have a lot of recovery time between the games.
“We lost Keo Sokngorn and Sok Sovann [to injury] because of this. This might cause trouble for us,” Boeung Ket general manager Be Makara said.
The day’s only clash between two provincial sides, Preah Vihear’s Asia-Europe University and Takeo’s Kirivong Sok Sen Chey, gets under way at 4pm at Old Stadium.
AEU created the biggest surprise of the group stage, with the MCL newcomers ending up in first place in Group D having beaten PKR 2-0 in a result that paved the way for defending champions’ early elimination from the tournament.
It remains to be seen if they can follow up their promising start in this year’s competition with an advance to the semi-finals.
Nigeria qualified for the next round of the Africa Cup of Nations after two late Victor Moses penalties gave them a crucial win against Ethiopia.
6:23 AM
Royan Idris
Moses, 22, opened the scoring from the spot after he was fouled by defender Alula Girma with 10 minutes to go.
The winger earned the second penalty when he was brought down by goalkeeper Sisay Bancha, who was sent off.
If Moses had not scored they would have lost a quarter-final spot to Zambia due to a worse disciplinary record.
Holders Zambia and Nigeria had come into their last round of group fixtures level on points and with an equal goal difference after they drew both their opening games 1-1.
Before Moses’s intervention, his side had been set for an early trip home as they had collected more yellow cards. But instead it was Zambia who were eliminated after they could only manage a goalless stalemate against eventual group winners Burkina Faso.
Aware of the potential for that scenario, the Super Eagles began in Rustenberg with an intent absent in the tournament so far.
Defender Efe Ambrose – recalled to the team after missing out against Zambia through suspension – headed a Moses free-kick over the crossbar when well positioned, before Bancha was alert to stop Ikechukwu Uche reaching an incisive John Obi Mikel through-ball.
Some more sharp play from Nigeria saw another chance go to waste when a selfless cut-back from Uche was blazed well over by rampaging left-back Elderson Echiejile.
While struggling to retain possession in their usual manner, Ethiopia did sporadically threaten with their set-piece delivery.
Nigeria head coach Stephen Keshi had decided not to select fit-again captain Joseph Yobo, and in the 32-year-old’s absence, the Super Eagles struggled to convincingly deal with high balls played into their penalty area.
Saladin Seid headed one Ethiopia corner over, while a number of other crosses caused panic at the back for Nigeria.
Dead balls were also causing a problem at the other end of the pitch, and Echiejile stung Bancha’s fingertips with a powerful header from a deep Moses corner.
Nigeria’s suspect defending had already seen them surrender late leads against Burkina Faso and Zambia, and a comical misunderstanding between retreating winger Sunday Mba and right-back Ambrose played in Ethiopia danger man Seid but his shot was deflected harmlessly into goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama’s hands.
The Walyas could then have been reduced to 10-men before the interval after Degu Debebe put in a high, two-footed challenge on the influential Mikel that was only punished with a yellow card by referee Bouchaib Al Ahrach.
Nigeria had begun to lose momentum in the final minutes of the first half and Ethiopia were the team to begin the brightest after the break.
Centre-back Kenneth Omeruo – who had earlier wasted a decent chance when a deflected shot fell to him in the Ethiopia box – was at his sharpest as he stretched to deny Seid a clear header on goal.
Nigeria finally began to show some real intent with 20 minutes to go as they began to pick up the tempo as the threat of making only their third group stage exit in the Africa Cup of Nations drew nearer
This fate looked to have been avoided as centre-back Godfrey Oboabona rose to powerfully meet a corner but his header was cleared off the line by the diligent Abebaw Butako.
Undaunted by the clearance, Nigeria continued to pick up the pace and the exciting Moses was felled by a tired challenge in the area after he had skilfully cut inside Girma.
The Chelsea winger exhibited none of the pressure surrounding his penalty as he calmly sent Bancha the wrong way.
Nigeria had barely finished their jubilant celebrations, though, before their hope of progression was nearly in doubt again when Seid was picked out in the box but Enyeama athletically tipped his effort to safety.
Qualification then looked secured as Moses charged down on goal and was tripped by Bancha. The referee instantly followed up his decision to point to the spot with a deserved second yellow card for the Walyas keeper.
With Ethiopia already using their three substitutions, Moses slotted past midfielder Addis Hintsa who was forced to be a stand-in goalkeeper.
As Zambia were unable to put on a late surge of their own in the other Group C game, Nigeria will now face tournament favourites Ivory Coast in the next round.
រឿងដ៏ល្បីសម្រាប់ដើមឆ្នាំ២០១៣របស់ឈិនឡុង Chinese Zodiac មានភាសាខ្មែរដែរ
6:20 AM
Royan Idris
រឿងដ៏ល្បីសម្រាប់ដើមឆ្នាំ២០១៣របស់ឈិនឡុង Chinese Zodiac ដែលរៀបរាប់អំពីបញ្ហាចរាចរវត្ថុបុរាណនោះ មានឈុតមួយនិយាយអំពីខ្មែរដែរ។
រឿងលំដាប់ហូលីវូដដ៏ល្បីនេះ និពន្ធ និងសម្ដែងផ្ទាល់ដោយឈិនឡុង (Jackie Chan) ដោយថតនៅប្រទេសបារាំង ជាមួយនឹងតារាល្បីៗ មកពីចិន ហូលីវូដ និងកូរ៉េខាតត្បូង។ ក្រៅពីឈុតឆាកវាយតប់គ្នាដ៏ជក់ចិត្ត ក៏មានឈុតឆាកដែលអប់រំមនុស្សឲ្យចេះឲ្យតម្លៃលើវត្ថុបុរាណផងដែរ។ ក្នុងភាពយន្ត Chinese Zodiac នេះ មានការដាក់លក់វត្ថុបុរាណធ្វើឲ្យប្រជាជនជាច្រើនប្រតិកម្ម ហើយគ្រប់បណ្ដាទូរទស្សន៍ផ្សេងៗធ្វើការផ្សព្វផ្សាយអំពីការលក់វត្ថុបុរាណនោះ។
ក្នុងឈុតនៃបណ្ដាប្រទេសផ្សេងៗផ្សព្វផ្សាយព័ត៌មានអំពីការលក់ដូរវត្ថុបុរាណនេះ ទូរទស្សន៍មួយបាននិយាយជាភាសាខ្មែរថា៖ “ការលក់ទំនិញខុសច្បាប់កាន់តែជំរុញឲ្យកាន់តែមានវិបត្តិធ្ងន់ធ្ងរ”។
ថ្វីត្បិតឈុតដែលនិយាយជាភាសាខ្មែរហាក់ដូចជាខ្លីបន្តិចក្ដី វាធ្វើឲ្យខ្មែរមានឈ្មោះបោះសំឡេងបន្ដិចដែរ ទៅលើឆាកអន្តរជាតិ ព្រោះខ្មែរក៏មានវត្ថុបុរាណជាច្រើនត្រូវបានបាត់បង ហើយត្រូវបានគេដាក់លក់ដេញថ្លៃនៅលើឆាកអន្តរជាតិទៅវិញ។ បើបានទស្សនារឿងនេះដោយផ្ទាល់ សង្ឃឹមថា ប្រិយមិត្តនឹងមានមោទនភាពក្នុងនាមជាខ្មែរម្នាក់ជាមិនខាន៕
Wang Children Sweden ស្រក់ទឹកភ្នែកពេលឃើញវីដេអូសិច បង្ហោះតាមអ៊ីនធើណិត
5:52 AM
Royan Idris
នាង Wang Children Sweden ដែលជាតារាចម្រៀងចិន សិចស៊ី មានប្រជាប្រិយភាព និងមានសម្រស់ ស្រស់ដូចកូនក្រមុំជ័រនេះ បានរងការរិះគន់យ៉ាងចាស់ដៃ ពីទស្សនិកជន បន្ទាប់ពីឃើញវីដេអូសិចរបស់នាង បង្ហោះតាមប្រព័ន្ធអនឡាញ។
តាមប្រភពព័ត៌មានបរទេសនៅថ្ងៃទី ៣១ ខែមករា ឆ្នាំ ២០១៣ នេះ នាង Wang Children Sweden បានអង្គុយយំយែកយ៉ាងខ្លាំង ពេលឃើញវីដេអូសិច ត្រូវសិចបង្ហោះ តាមប្រព័ន្ធអ៊ីធើណិតក្នុង MV របស់នាង។
តាមសម្តីអ្នកគាំទ្រនាង បាននិយាយថា តារាចម្រៀងកូនក្រមុំជ័រ ក្នុងវីដេអូចាប់រំលោភនេះ គឺពេលនាងចេញទៅសម្តែង នៅប្រទេសជប៉ុន ហើយវីដេអូសិចរបស់នាង កំពុងបន្តលេចធ្លាយ តាមប្រព័ន្ធអនឡាញ ពាសពេញប្រទេសចិន។ នាងរងការរិះគន់យ៉ាងចាស់ដៃ ពីទស្សនិកជន ដោយពួកគេទាំងនោះ បានដាក់ឈ្មោះថា “wave up” ឲ្យនាងទៀតផង៕
Faces of the world: Nat Geo photographer's amazing portraits
5:30 AM
Royan Idris
As the child of a Pan Am flight attendant, award-winning photographer Alison Wright says that her passion for travel was acquired "in utero."
Often on the job for magazines such as National Geographic and Smithsonian, Wright, 50, has traveled to 125 countries.
Her latest book is an unusual step for a travel photographer used to capturing landscapes and dramatic scenes.
"Face to Face: Portraits of the Human Spirit," due out March 28, is a collection of 184 color portraits of people she's encountered on her travels, from geishas and cowboys to the Dalai Lama and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Photojournalist Alison Wright travels two-thirds of the year. CNN Travel: How often do you travel?
Alison Wright: A lot. I like to be in motion. I’m from San Francisco, but I’ve been based in Europe, a few years in Australia, a few years in Nepal. I’ve now been in New York for four years but I’m always out the door. As soon as I moved here I had to shoot three books for National Geographic on London, Great Britain and China, so I wasn’t here very much.
Now I’m really in and out, I don’t even count how many days, but I’d say at least 200-240 days of the year.
CNN Travel: How do you decide where to travel next?
Wright: Sometimes I get a specific assignment, or I’m asked to go somewhere and I’m not quite sure what the angle is until I get there. Other times it’s my own personal project that I shoot and pitch later.
I like photographing travel stories, but I love the meaty in-depth projects.
Travel inspires me while socially conscious issues motivate me.
CNN Travel: Why a book of portraits?
Wright: I have spent a career traveling to the remotest regions of the globe, documenting the traditions and changes of indigenous cultures and people as well as issues concerning the human condition in all its evolving compassion and chaos. The curiosities of humanity will never cease to engage me, but it’s the emotive beauty and grace of the human face, in all its diversity, that will never cease to inspire me.
One of the many things I have learned during my years of global travel is that no matter how unique we may look in appearance, from the exotic to the mundane, we basically have the same universal desires and concerns.
This book is a celebration of the spirit within us all. It is what bonds us as mankind, a continued thread, as together we continue on this journey in the pilgrimage of life.
CNN Travel: What travel destinations do you recommend?
Wright: Personally, my heart is in Asia. I love the mellow Buddhist vibe and it’s so visually stimulating. I always travel to shoot.
I’m a photographer that travels, not a traveler that happens to photograph.
CNN Travel: Is there a particular country that you make a point of visiting regularly?
Wright: I’ve been returning to Tibet and covering the Tibetan Diaspora for more than 25 years. My heart breaks for this culture as it continues trying to survive without a land. I feel a little like Edward Curtis, who documented the demise of America Indians, photographing these nomads who will probably not exist for another generation as we know them.
CNN Travel: You also have an affinity for Laos.
Wright: In the year 2000 I was in a devastating bus accident in Laos. If it weren’t for the local villagers I would have died.
It’s a harrowing story, but after more than 30 surgeries and years of rehabilitation I’m back doing what I love. It brought a whole new empathy to my work and after I wrote my book about the experience, “Learning to Breathe,” it prompted me to start my foundation, Faces of Hope Fund, which helps children in crisis around the world through medical care and education.
We've been busy supporting a health clinic in Laos, sending girls to school in India and donating to a rehabilitation center for children in the Middle East. I'm now returning to Thailand to help fund a mobile medical unit for Burmese refugees in Thailand.
CNN Travel: What kind of cameras do you use?
Wright: An array of Nikons, mostly Nikon D3S and D3s now.
CNN Travel: What are some tips for taking a good portrait?
Wright: I think about my backgrounds, look to catch lights in the eyes and try to connect with the person that I’m photographing. I love the challenge of bringing a face to the place, and bringing that universal human connection home.
Workers brave the capital's cold nights
5:27 AM
Royan Idris
HA NOI (VNS)— Temperatures of around 10 degrees Celsius and continuous rain at nights has made Ha Noi a desolate and quiet place in recent weeks.
However, in the streets labourers are still working strenuously at all hours in the hope of earning a little more money as Tet approaches.
Tran Thi Gai, 48, from Hung Yen Province's Khoai Chau District, is among those night workers.
The slim female vendor says at 3pm every day she rides her old bicycle loaded high with bags of baked maize and sweet potatoes around the city to sell. Her working day finishes at around 2 am the next morning, regardless of how horrible the weather is.
After eating a small supper and having four-hours sleep, she is again in a hurry to prepare the goods for another day. Every day, except in extraordinary circumstances, her bicyle, weighing nearly 100 kg, makes its journey around all corners of the city.
"Selling maize and sweet potatoes at night is a hard job for any one. For women, it is even more miserable," Gai says sadly.
However, she says that the long hours and harsh temperatures are nothing compared to the fear that she might not be able to afford tuition fees for her children.
Gai confides that she moved to work in the city after her rice field at home was reduced to just 360sq.m to make room for a new industrial park. That provides her with about two hundred kilos of rice each harvest; double that for a whole year. However this amount of food is not enough for her family, so she must eke out a living with a night job in the city.
"I have four children, two of them got married but they are very poor so we can not ask for their help. The other two are studying at the local vocational school and their tuition is a big challenge for me. My husband and I even quarrel with each other over the money issue," she confides.
Gai says that in the winter people usually enjoy warm dishes so her products sell best in these times. On average, she earns between VND100,000-200,000 (US$4.8-9.6) per day.
After deducting the expenses for materials, she is able to keep about half of the earnings.
"With such a small amount of money, I have to be sparing with the amount I eat while also renting a cheap of low-roofed room to save for my children's tuition," she says.
At a cross-road in Tu Liem District's Ho Tung Mau Street, Nguyen Van Khoi, a 35-year-old motorbike taxi driver, is huddling himself on his bike, with a face pale in the chill.
"The weather is so cold that people prefer traveling by car taxis; therefore we hardly find enough customers these days. Standing in the street from early morning until late at night, we get nearly VND100,000 (US$4,08) ", the driver says in a tired voice.
Khoi is a farmer in Quoc Oai District, but he does not earn enough from that to earn a living so he decided to move to the capital in the hope of making sufficient money to feed his family, which has been difficult ever since his wife lost her ability to work in an accident.
While other people are fully covered with thick layers of clothes, Do Danh Huong, a construction worker from Ung Hoa District, wears only a thin shirt when he works, and still he is bathed in sweat. The 50-year-old puts all of his energy into covering the roads with sand and gravel, patching over potholes and cracks. He has to finish his work before dawn, so he works nocturnally.
"My working day starts at 9pm and finishes at 4am tomorrow morning, so people's night-time is my day-time and vice versa," Huong says.
"In such cold weather, nobody likes working outside. I myself long to lie in the warm out of the chill. But I have to take this painstaking job as it offers me VND200,000($9.6) for every six working hours, which is much more than I can make from farming," he continues.
According to the Viet Nam Social Security office, there has not been any specific research on the health of workers immigrating to the capital so far. But in a study published in the International Journal of Cancer, Pascal Guenel, director of French National Institute of Health and Medical Research in June 2012, said that breast tumour risk increased 30 per cent among female night workers and males working night shifts are almost three times as likely to develop prostate cancer as those who do day shifts.
While experts have not been able to discover exactly why this is, it is believed to be related to exposure to light at night.
Many Vietnamese labourers still risk their health for jobs in the city as they have no other occupational opportunities in their hometown where high buildings are being constructed in their rice fields, says economist Nguyen Minh Phong from the Ha Noi Institute for Socio-economic Development Study.
"In fact, there is no exact statistical figure of night workers in the Viet Nam's informal sector in general and in Ha Noi in particular because their living places are normally unstable," says Phong.
He also adds that immigrant workers are not encouraged in the city even though they do not have any negative influence on the capital city's economy. Local authorities have given little support to this type of labour.
"Ha Noi's budget is not enough to support such a large amount of workers. In addition, the time when everything is subsidised by the State has long gone," he explains.
For the foreseeable future it seems that laborers like Gai, Khoi, and Huong still choose to earn money on the cold nights, because if they don't, how else can they afford to live? — VNS
ព្រះរាជពិធីដង្ហែព្រះអង្គារ ទៅបំប្លេងក្នុងទន្លេចតុមុខ
4:20 AM
Royan Idris
ព្រះករុណាជាអម្ចាស់ជីវិតលើត្បូង
និងសម្តេចព្រះមហាក្សត្រី ព្រះវររាជមាតាជាតិខ្មែរ
ស្តេចយាងប្រទានព្រះរាជតំណាង គឺសម្តេច នរោត្តម យុវនាថ
អមដោយព្រះរាជវង្សានុវង្ស ដើម្បីដង្ហែព្រះអង្គារជាក្បួន
យកទៅបំប្លែង ក្នុងទន្លេចតុមុខ នៅម៉ោង ៩ និង ៥០ នាទី។
Tuesday, 05 February 2013
នៅរសៀលម៉ោង ១៦:៣០ ថ្ងៃទី៥ ខែកុម្ភៈនេះ ជួបជុំព្រះរាជវង្សានុវង្ស ចៅជិតចៅចម ជំទាវ ខុនណាង ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំព្រឹទ្ធសភា រដ្ឋសភា រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល មន្ត្រីកិត្តិយសនៅទីលានព្រះមេរុ។ ព្រះករុណាជាអម្ចាស់ជីវិតលើត្បូង និងសម្តេចព្រះមហាក្សត្រី ព្រះវររាជមាតាជាតិខ្មែរ ស្តេចយាង ព្រះបរមអដ្ឋិ គង់ក្នុងព្រះកោដ្ឋពេជ្រ រួចដង្ហែទៅតម្កល់នៅលើព្រះមហាបញ្ចាក្នុងព្រះមេរុ និងនិមន្តព្រះសង្ឃ ៩០អង្គ ស្វាធ្យាយព្រះសត្តប្បករណ៍។
កម្មវិធីមាន អុជប្រទីបជ្វាលា អុជកាំជ្រួច ភ្ញីទៀន និងនិមន្តព្រះសង្ឃ ៣២អង្គ ចម្រើនព្រះបរិត្ត នៅក្នុងព្រះមេរុ រួចទេសនាបឋមត្រាស់ និងពុទ្ធាភិសេក។
Tuesday, 05 February 2013
ព្រះទីនាំងសាឡង់ តុបតែងជារូបនាគដង្ហែព្រះបរមអដ្ឋិទៅបំប្លេងនៅក្នុងទន្លេចតុមុខ។រូបថតហេង ជីវ័ន
ព្រះអង្គារ ត្រូវបានដង្ហែពីវាលព្រះមេរុ ឆ្ពោះទៅកាន់វេទិកាអុំទូក
នៅមុខព្រះបរមរាជវាំង នៅជិតព្រះអង្គដងកើ ហើយព្រះរាជវង្សានុវង្ស
នាំយកព្រះអង្គារ ទៅបំប្លែង នៅទន្លេចតុមុខ តាមព្រះទីនាំងសាឡង់
តុបតែងជារូបនាគ។នៅរសៀលម៉ោង ១៦:៣០ ថ្ងៃទី៥ ខែកុម្ភៈនេះ ជួបជុំព្រះរាជវង្សានុវង្ស ចៅជិតចៅចម ជំទាវ ខុនណាង ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំព្រឹទ្ធសភា រដ្ឋសភា រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល មន្ត្រីកិត្តិយសនៅទីលានព្រះមេរុ។ ព្រះករុណាជាអម្ចាស់ជីវិតលើត្បូង និងសម្តេចព្រះមហាក្សត្រី ព្រះវររាជមាតាជាតិខ្មែរ ស្តេចយាង ព្រះបរមអដ្ឋិ គង់ក្នុងព្រះកោដ្ឋពេជ្រ រួចដង្ហែទៅតម្កល់នៅលើព្រះមហាបញ្ចាក្នុងព្រះមេរុ និងនិមន្តព្រះសង្ឃ ៩០អង្គ ស្វាធ្យាយព្រះសត្តប្បករណ៍។
កម្មវិធីមាន អុជប្រទីបជ្វាលា អុជកាំជ្រួច ភ្ញីទៀន និងនិមន្តព្រះសង្ឃ ៣២អង្គ ចម្រើនព្រះបរិត្ត នៅក្នុងព្រះមេរុ រួចទេសនាបឋមត្រាស់ និងពុទ្ធាភិសេក។
លោកហ៊ុន សែនស្នើក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌ពិចារណាបន្ធូរបន្ថយទោសថៃអាវលឿង
12:32 AM
Royan Idris
លោកស្រីយីងឡាក់ ស៊ីណាវ៉ាត់ នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីថៃ
បានធ្វើលិខិតស្នើសុំអន្តរាគមន៍ជាថ្មីម្តងទៀត នៅថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍នេះ
ពីលោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីហ៊ុន សែន អោយពិចារណាអំពីការបន្ធូរបន្ថយ
និងលើកលែងទោសដល់សកម្មជនថៃអាវលឿង២នាក់
ដែលកំពុងជាប់ពន្ធនាគារព្រៃស។
ប្រមុខរដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាបានស្នើអោយក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌ពិចារណាលើការ
ស្នើសុំរបស់នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីថៃនេះ។
ក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌បានចាប់ផ្តើមនីតិវិធីទៅតាមការស្នើរបស់លោក នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីហ៊ុន សែនហើយនៅថ្ងៃនេះ។ លោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីដែលបានស្នើអោយក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌ពិចារណា ទីមួយ បន្ធូបន្ថយទោសទណ្ឌិត វេរ៉ា ស៊ុមខ្វាមឃីត ដើម្បីអាចឈានទៅដល់ការលើកលែងទោស និងទី២ លើកលែងទោសទណ្ឌិត រ៉ាទ្រី ពីប៉ាតាណាប៉ៃប៊ូន ក្នុងឱកាសព្រះរាជពិធីថ្វាយព្រះភ្លើងព្រះបរមសពព្រះរតនកោដ្ឋ។
យោងតាមសេចក្តីប្រកាសព័ត៌មានរបស់ក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជា ការស្នើរបស់ប្រមុខរដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាធ្វើឡើងតាមសំណូមពររបស់ លោកស្រីយីងឡាក់ ស៊ីណាវ៉ាត់ នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីថៃ ដែលផ្ញើលិខិតមកលោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីហ៊ុន សែន នៅថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍ទី១០មករានេះតែម្តង។
លោកសម ប្រជាមានិត នាយកខុទ្ទកាល័យរបស់រដ្ឋមន្ត្រីក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌ បានអះអាងប្រាប់វិទ្យុបារាំងអន្តរជាតិ នៅរសៀលថ្ងៃនេះថា ក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌បានផ្តើមនីតិវិធីហើយ ដោយការពិនិត្យលើទិដ្ឋភាពច្បាប់ និងទិដ្ឋភាពមនុស្សធម៌ មុននឹងធ្វើរបាយការណ៍ផ្ញើទៅលោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីវិញ។ លោកនាយកខុទ្ទកាល័យរូបនេះមិនអាចបញ្ជាក់ថា តើពេលណានឹងអាចបញ្ចប់នីតិវិធីនេះនោះទេ។
គួរបញ្ជាក់ថា កាសែតថៃធ្លាប់បានផ្សាយកាលពីពេលថ្មីៗនេះអោយដឹងថា ករណីជនជាតិថៃអាវលឿងទាំងពីរនេះ ត្រូវបានលើកឡើងនៅក្នុងកិច្ចប្រជុំគណៈកម្មាការចម្រុះស្តីពី សហប្រតិបត្តិការទ្វេភាគីកន្លងមក ដែលដឹកនាំដោយរដ្ឋមន្ត្រីការបរទេសកម្ពុជាថៃ។ ពិសេសករណីនាងរ៉ាទ្រីដែលត្រូវបានកាត់ទោសអោយជាប់ពន្ធនាគារ៦ឆ្នាំនោះ បើតាមច្បាប់កម្ពុជា គេអាចចាប់ផ្តើមនីតិវិធីស្នើសុំការបន្ធូរបន្ថយទោសបន្ទាប់ពីបាន អនុវត្តទោសបាន២ភាគ៣នៃទោសសរុប។
គួររម្លឹកថា អ្នកទាំងពីរ ជាមួយនឹងមនុស្សមួយក្រុមទៀតបានដើរឆ្លងកាត់ព្រំដែនចូលក្នុងភូមិ ខ្មែរ នៅក្នុងខេត្តបន្ទាយមានជ័យកាលពីចុងខែធ្នូឆ្នាំ២០១០។ អាជ្ញាធរកម្ពុជាបានចោទប្រកាន់ពួកគេពីបទឆ្លងដែនខុសច្បាប់ ចូលក្នុងបន្ទាយយោធា និងបទធ្វើចារកម្ម។ សាលាដំបូងរាជធានីភ្នំពេញបានដាក់ទោសវេរ៉ា ស៊ុមខ្វាមឃីត ដែលជាសកម្មជនអាវលឿងអោយជាប់ពន្ធនាគារ៨ឆ្នាំ និងនាងរ៉ាទ្រីអោយជាប់ពន្ធនាគារ៦ ឆ្នាំ។
វាអាចជាការដល់ពេលដែលត្រូវស្នើសុំលើកលែងទោសដល់ជនជាតិថៃ អ្នកគាំទ្រគណបក្សប្រជាធិបតេយ្យរបស់លោកអាប់ភីស៊ីតទាំងពីរនេះមែន។ ប៉ុន្តែពេលវេលានេះ វាក៏បានកើតឡើងស្របពេលជាមួយគ្នានឹងចលនារបស់ក្រុមអាវលឿងកំពុង គាបសង្កត់អោយលោកស្រីនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីយីងឡាក់បង្ហាញជំហរលើបញ្ហា ព្រំដែនប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ។ ប្រសិនបើ រដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាអាចសម្រេចបន្ធូរបន្ថយ និងលើកលែងទោសដល់ទណ្ឌិតថៃអាវលឿងទាំងពីរនេះមែន លទ្ធផលក៏ទំនងជាអាចជួយសម្រាលសម្ពាធរបស់រដ្ឋាភិបាលលោកស្រីយីងឡាក់ ដែរ៕
ក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌បានចាប់ផ្តើមនីតិវិធីទៅតាមការស្នើរបស់លោក នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីហ៊ុន សែនហើយនៅថ្ងៃនេះ។ លោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីដែលបានស្នើអោយក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌ពិចារណា ទីមួយ បន្ធូបន្ថយទោសទណ្ឌិត វេរ៉ា ស៊ុមខ្វាមឃីត ដើម្បីអាចឈានទៅដល់ការលើកលែងទោស និងទី២ លើកលែងទោសទណ្ឌិត រ៉ាទ្រី ពីប៉ាតាណាប៉ៃប៊ូន ក្នុងឱកាសព្រះរាជពិធីថ្វាយព្រះភ្លើងព្រះបរមសពព្រះរតនកោដ្ឋ។
យោងតាមសេចក្តីប្រកាសព័ត៌មានរបស់ក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជា ការស្នើរបស់ប្រមុខរដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាធ្វើឡើងតាមសំណូមពររបស់ លោកស្រីយីងឡាក់ ស៊ីណាវ៉ាត់ នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីថៃ ដែលផ្ញើលិខិតមកលោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីហ៊ុន សែន នៅថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍ទី១០មករានេះតែម្តង។
លោកសម ប្រជាមានិត នាយកខុទ្ទកាល័យរបស់រដ្ឋមន្ត្រីក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌ បានអះអាងប្រាប់វិទ្យុបារាំងអន្តរជាតិ នៅរសៀលថ្ងៃនេះថា ក្រសួងយុត្តិធម៌បានផ្តើមនីតិវិធីហើយ ដោយការពិនិត្យលើទិដ្ឋភាពច្បាប់ និងទិដ្ឋភាពមនុស្សធម៌ មុននឹងធ្វើរបាយការណ៍ផ្ញើទៅលោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីវិញ។ លោកនាយកខុទ្ទកាល័យរូបនេះមិនអាចបញ្ជាក់ថា តើពេលណានឹងអាចបញ្ចប់នីតិវិធីនេះនោះទេ។
គួរបញ្ជាក់ថា កាសែតថៃធ្លាប់បានផ្សាយកាលពីពេលថ្មីៗនេះអោយដឹងថា ករណីជនជាតិថៃអាវលឿងទាំងពីរនេះ ត្រូវបានលើកឡើងនៅក្នុងកិច្ចប្រជុំគណៈកម្មាការចម្រុះស្តីពី សហប្រតិបត្តិការទ្វេភាគីកន្លងមក ដែលដឹកនាំដោយរដ្ឋមន្ត្រីការបរទេសកម្ពុជាថៃ។ ពិសេសករណីនាងរ៉ាទ្រីដែលត្រូវបានកាត់ទោសអោយជាប់ពន្ធនាគារ៦ឆ្នាំនោះ បើតាមច្បាប់កម្ពុជា គេអាចចាប់ផ្តើមនីតិវិធីស្នើសុំការបន្ធូរបន្ថយទោសបន្ទាប់ពីបាន អនុវត្តទោសបាន២ភាគ៣នៃទោសសរុប។
គួររម្លឹកថា អ្នកទាំងពីរ ជាមួយនឹងមនុស្សមួយក្រុមទៀតបានដើរឆ្លងកាត់ព្រំដែនចូលក្នុងភូមិ ខ្មែរ នៅក្នុងខេត្តបន្ទាយមានជ័យកាលពីចុងខែធ្នូឆ្នាំ២០១០។ អាជ្ញាធរកម្ពុជាបានចោទប្រកាន់ពួកគេពីបទឆ្លងដែនខុសច្បាប់ ចូលក្នុងបន្ទាយយោធា និងបទធ្វើចារកម្ម។ សាលាដំបូងរាជធានីភ្នំពេញបានដាក់ទោសវេរ៉ា ស៊ុមខ្វាមឃីត ដែលជាសកម្មជនអាវលឿងអោយជាប់ពន្ធនាគារ៨ឆ្នាំ និងនាងរ៉ាទ្រីអោយជាប់ពន្ធនាគារ៦ ឆ្នាំ។
វាអាចជាការដល់ពេលដែលត្រូវស្នើសុំលើកលែងទោសដល់ជនជាតិថៃ អ្នកគាំទ្រគណបក្សប្រជាធិបតេយ្យរបស់លោកអាប់ភីស៊ីតទាំងពីរនេះមែន។ ប៉ុន្តែពេលវេលានេះ វាក៏បានកើតឡើងស្របពេលជាមួយគ្នានឹងចលនារបស់ក្រុមអាវលឿងកំពុង គាបសង្កត់អោយលោកស្រីនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីយីងឡាក់បង្ហាញជំហរលើបញ្ហា ព្រំដែនប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ។ ប្រសិនបើ រដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាអាចសម្រេចបន្ធូរបន្ថយ និងលើកលែងទោសដល់ទណ្ឌិតថៃអាវលឿងទាំងពីរនេះមែន លទ្ធផលក៏ទំនងជាអាចជួយសម្រាលសម្ពាធរបស់រដ្ឋាភិបាលលោកស្រីយីងឡាក់ ដែរ៕
110 Days of Remembering Norodom Sihanouk
12:29 AM
Royan Idris
Keo Sovan Mony journeyed from Preah Vihear province to Phnom Penh to
welcome King Father Norodom Sihanouk’s body back to Cambodia on October
17. But unlike the hundreds of thousands of mourners who joined her in
the capital 110 days ago, the 68-year-old Buddhist nun never left.
She has been camping out in front of the Royal Palace ever since.
Each morning for the past three and a half months, Keo Sovan Mony has woken up in her cardboard bed on the grass in front of the Royal Palace, tucked her few provisions into a plastic bag, and begun another day of mourning.
In her white robes, Keo Sovan Mony would sit on a blanket or plastic bag in front of the massive portrait of the late King Father on the palace wall and pray alongside fellow mourners—mostly elderly women—with their hands folded in their laps or pressed together resting on their chests.
When the sun came up over the Tonle Sap and the heat settled in, she would retreat to a shady place under a tree until dusk, when she would return to prayer in front of the palace.
In many ways, Keo Sovan Mony incarnates the sheer display of adoration the Cambodian people have shown for Norodom Sihanouk since his body was returned to Phnom Penh from Beijing, where he died of heart failure on October 15.
“There has never been a king with a heart like his. He helped many poor people and saved our country,” she said yesterday as she sat nearby the Royal Palace.
When Keo Sovan Mony first began her mourning routine, thousands joined her. But as time went by, the number of mourners dwindled to less than 100 each day. She estimated that about 15 other nuns lived with her throughout the 110-day mourning period.
Keo Sovan Mony heard of the late King Father’s death at her pagoda in Preah Vihear. “We felt shock and it was unbearable to accept that it was true,” she said. The next morning, she was in a taxi to Phnom Penh.
Keo Sovan Mony is from a generation that saw many of its peers killed by the Khmer Rouge—she lost 11 family members under the brutal regime. But she remembers fondly Norodom Sihanouk’s Cambodia of the 1950s and 1960s.
“King Sihanouk provided free schools, created factories and provided free hospital services for the poor. So that is why many old people loved him and are now praying for him,” she said.
When Keo Sovan Mony was young, she remembers then-Prince Sihanouk visiting her village in Siem Reap province to donate money and food to poor villagers.
“The king always came to help people when they had disasters or droughts in the provinces,” she said.
Over the past few months, Keo Sovan Mony has relied on the good will and generosity of volunteers in Phnom Penh who were seemingly inspired to follow in the late king’s footsteps.
Each day, people from NGOs, youth groups, private companies or universities would visit Ms. Sovan Mony and her fellow mourners to distribute water, rice and bread.
The most difficult times for Keo Sovan Mony were when it rained. Makeshift beds would be soaked at night and it was impossible to stay dry during the day.
“Even when the rain came and the water filled the ground and made me wet I stayed there,” she said.
Keo Sovan Mony stuck it out and said the real reason she came to the capital was to ask the late King Father to continue watching over the country after his death.
“Although the King Father passed away, we pray for him to look after our people and make our Prime Minister Hun Sen respect our people,” she said.
“Our government does not notice our suffering. Many people do not have homes to stay in. The powerful hurt the poor people and the king has to be here to take care of the country,” she added.
She has been camping out in front of the Royal Palace ever since.
Each morning for the past three and a half months, Keo Sovan Mony has woken up in her cardboard bed on the grass in front of the Royal Palace, tucked her few provisions into a plastic bag, and begun another day of mourning.
In her white robes, Keo Sovan Mony would sit on a blanket or plastic bag in front of the massive portrait of the late King Father on the palace wall and pray alongside fellow mourners—mostly elderly women—with their hands folded in their laps or pressed together resting on their chests.
When the sun came up over the Tonle Sap and the heat settled in, she would retreat to a shady place under a tree until dusk, when she would return to prayer in front of the palace.
In many ways, Keo Sovan Mony incarnates the sheer display of adoration the Cambodian people have shown for Norodom Sihanouk since his body was returned to Phnom Penh from Beijing, where he died of heart failure on October 15.
“There has never been a king with a heart like his. He helped many poor people and saved our country,” she said yesterday as she sat nearby the Royal Palace.
When Keo Sovan Mony first began her mourning routine, thousands joined her. But as time went by, the number of mourners dwindled to less than 100 each day. She estimated that about 15 other nuns lived with her throughout the 110-day mourning period.
Keo Sovan Mony heard of the late King Father’s death at her pagoda in Preah Vihear. “We felt shock and it was unbearable to accept that it was true,” she said. The next morning, she was in a taxi to Phnom Penh.
Keo Sovan Mony is from a generation that saw many of its peers killed by the Khmer Rouge—she lost 11 family members under the brutal regime. But she remembers fondly Norodom Sihanouk’s Cambodia of the 1950s and 1960s.
“King Sihanouk provided free schools, created factories and provided free hospital services for the poor. So that is why many old people loved him and are now praying for him,” she said.
When Keo Sovan Mony was young, she remembers then-Prince Sihanouk visiting her village in Siem Reap province to donate money and food to poor villagers.
“The king always came to help people when they had disasters or droughts in the provinces,” she said.
Over the past few months, Keo Sovan Mony has relied on the good will and generosity of volunteers in Phnom Penh who were seemingly inspired to follow in the late king’s footsteps.
Each day, people from NGOs, youth groups, private companies or universities would visit Ms. Sovan Mony and her fellow mourners to distribute water, rice and bread.
The most difficult times for Keo Sovan Mony were when it rained. Makeshift beds would be soaked at night and it was impossible to stay dry during the day.
“Even when the rain came and the water filled the ground and made me wet I stayed there,” she said.
Keo Sovan Mony stuck it out and said the real reason she came to the capital was to ask the late King Father to continue watching over the country after his death.
“Although the King Father passed away, we pray for him to look after our people and make our Prime Minister Hun Sen respect our people,” she said.
“Our government does not notice our suffering. Many people do not have homes to stay in. The powerful hurt the poor people and the king has to be here to take care of the country,” she added.
A Nation Bids Farewell to Its Beloved King Father
12:17 AM
Royan Idris
In a ceremony as tender as it was regal, a country yesterday bade farewell to a king, and an era in Cambodia’s modern history came to a fitting end.
Heads of state sat nearby and lenses from around the world were trained on the elaborate crematorium at Veal Mean where the body of late King Father Norodom Sihanouk lay. But, in the end, it was the silence that preceded the rip and roar of fireworks and artillery gunfire that spoke volumes about what his passing has meant to his beloved son, wife and subjects.
Months of planning, construction and nationwide mourning culminated in a moment that saw a grieving King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath offer one final prayer to the late monarch. Then, they quietly lit a candle each before screens were drawn across the atrium in which the King Father’s body lay.
After they brought the candles in contact with his sandalwood oil-soaked coffin, a final 101-artillery gun salute thundered across Phnom Penh at 6:33 p.m. Fireworks erupted, pyrotechnics lit up the sky and the few faithful “children”—as the late King called them—that managed to gain access to the street adjacent to the site, gazed up at the crematorium, their hands clasped in prayer, their eyes red and cheeks wet.
Inside the crematorium, flickers of flames could be seen through gaps in the trellis-like screens. A steady plume of smoke began to rise in the center of the ornately decorated structure and seeped through the roof and apex, blowing gently southward in the direction of the Royal Palace.
“May his Majesty go to paradise and Nirvana, to be close to our Buddha,” King Sihamoni said in a speech after the cremation.
“Please, King Father, take care and protect the Kingdom of Cambodia and Cambodian people forever,” he added.
The ceremony was executed seamlessly and on a remarkable scale that spoke to Norodom Sihanouk’s illustrious life. A notable absence, however, was felt on the streets directly bordering the cremation site and grounds in front of the Royal Palace.
All were largely devoid of any life, save for members of the media, security personnel and a few tourists. This had not been the case in the morning; people began lining up to pay their final respects to the King Father at about 4:30 a.m. yesterday. By 11 a.m., however, all had been told to move and the area lay empty.
As the day drew on and the sun began to set over the city, mourners thronged at barricades surrounding the area. All were met with the bitter disappointment of being told they could not go any further.
Still, that did not stop them. Some people climbed over barriers near Wat Ounalom, while others pushed and shoved against police manning the barricades.
The frustration of not being able to bear witness to the event was too much for some, who walked off angrily.
Nean Srey, 29, sold one of her valuables—a ring—to pay for her mother, children and relatives to come to Phnom Penh for the royal funeral. Her hopes fell flat.
“We wanted to pay our respects and see the King for the last time, but we are going home without seeing the King for the last time,” Ms. Srey said.
In the end, many people on the streets around the Royal Palace crowded into restaurants and cafes to watch the events unfold on small television sets.
In Wat Botum Park, where tens of thousands had gathered, lining Sothearos Boulevard for blocks, many who came out to say goodbye to the late King Father were frustrated that there weren’t even television screens set up for the crowd to see what was going on at the cremation site.
“They should have set up TV screens where there were many people blocked from going to see the cremation,” said business student Yim Thol, 28, who was among he crowd on Sothearos Boulevard blocked from the grounds near the palace and cremation site.
“The government only took care of foreign dignitaries,” he added.
These included Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Chinese senior leader Jia Qinglin and a number of ambassadors.
About 100 mourners managed to gain access to Street 178, from where they could see the cremation site. At about 6 p.m., the hum of prayer rose up among the crowd, softly cutting through the silence.
“Please come back, your majesty,” they said, “to solve the problems of our country.”
As the last of the crematory smoke billowed across the sky, several thousand mourners were finally able to fill the grounds in front of the Royal Palace. At first, they sat quietly and contemplatively, many in prayer.
But as the car bearing King Sihamoni and Queen Monineath left the cremation site for the short journey to the palace, the crowds surged and for a moment, it appeared the masses were on the brink of a crush.
A solemn Queen Monineath smiled and waved as the car drove past the adoring, swelling melee. Today, she and King Sihamoni will scatter some of the late monarch’s ashes over the Mekong.
After the last of the officials had gone, the site from which so many had been excluded was reclaimed. Thousands milled about and thronged toward the cremation site. The melancholy drone of a news report flashed across a screen mounted on one of the palace walls. Pockets of mourners sat quietly. For some, with the night came a final vigil in the presence of the King Father’s portrait.
“I wanted to see the King for one last time,” said 80-year-old Reoung Yory. “I don’t have anywhere to go tonight, so I will be sleeping in front of the Royal Palace.”
Aung San Suu Kyi draws thousands to Myanmar's first literary festival
12:10 AM
Royan Idris
Though the "Lady" was the main attraction,
the Irrawaddy Literary Festival managed to focus the spotlight on
Myanmar's changing book landscape
By Kate Whitehead
5 February, 2013
The Irrawaddy Literary Festival was never going to be a regular book bash. Not with one of the world's great democracy icons as the star of the show.
And the thousands that turned up to hear Aung San Suu Kyi weren't what you'd call the usual literary festival crowd.
"It's the draw of this country and Aung San," said Jane Heyn, the festival's director and wife of the British ambassador to Myanmar, as the three-day festival came to a close on Sunday.
Three thousand made their way through the doors of Inya Lake Hotel in Yangon on Saturday and more than a thousand of those packed the hotel ballroom to hear Ms. Suu Kyi speak.
She spoke of how books helped her through the 15 years she spent under house arrest.
"I read a lot about prisoners and prisoners of conscience," she said. "Through books you can learn how people cope intellectually and spiritually through the challenges of life."
Suu Kyi's favorite genre -- detective stories -- have proved more than a source of entertainment. She says they've helped her understand people.
"And now that I'm chair of the Law and Order Council, I know a lot more about the law and courts because of reading detective stories," she says. "The more detective stories you read, the better able you are to work out who the villain is."
For Suu Kyi, literature sustains the soul and gives strength: "If you have ever learned some poems, they will come in very handy if ever you are imprisoned."
Monday, February 4, 2013
Mourners Rush to Buy King Father Mementos
9:19 PM
Royan Idris
Portraits of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk covered the floor
and dozens of coin-sized badges emblazoned with his image were
scattered on the sidewalk in front of the Singha Meas printing house on
Sunday.
Kuo Ransiky, the 41-year-old owner of the printshop on Phnom Penh’s Street 13, usually produces signs, posters and billboards for restaurants and shops around the capital. But for the past three days, she has brought in extra staff to help with the business of printing and laminating photographs of the late King Father, who was cremated yesterday.
Ms. Ransiky is one of dozens of shop owners and entrepreneurs in Phnom Penh who have temporarily turned their establishments into sales hubs at the center of a frantic network of street vendors trying to meet the demand of the hundreds of thousands of people expected to turn out for the late King Father’s cremation this evening.
Hundreds of vendors have taken to the streets around the Royal Palace to sell badges, ribbons, and posters—mementos the mourners can buy to remember their beloved former monarch.
At 1,500 riel, or about $0.37, per piece, Ms. Ransiky estimates that she will sell about 7,000 placemat-sized photographs of the late King Father, along with thousands of lapels made of black-and-white ribbon and a small photo of the king, which sell for the same price.
Business was even more brisk at Golden Book & Stationary Shop on Phnom Penh’s Street 130. Hoards of people crowded around the tables outside the shop purchasing stacks of images of the late King Father. Inside, six laminating machines were going full steam, with employees feeding in one photo after another.
Sao Leakena, the shop’s owner, said she was struggling to keep up with demand.
“We are selling the photos like hot cakes. There are so many vendors coming to our shop to sell them that sometimes we can’t even print the photos quickly enough,” she said.
Vendors were racing between shops to stock up on photos to sell to the masses of mourners who poured into the streets around Veal Mean and the Royal Palace.
Eout Mean, 62, said she has bought and sold about 500 photos of the former king and 300 badges bearing his likeness since Saturday, making about 500 riel, or about $0.12, per sale.
“People told me that they were buying the keepsakes because they wanted to have his image for their children to remember,” she said.
“If I did not sell pictures of King Sihanouk, how would Cambodian people remember his face and reputation? They will know how he built our country and educated many people through these photos.”
Phnom Penh was not the only place where the photos were in demand, according to 25-year-old Hout Keat, who came to the capital to buy 100 photos for her sister to sell in Siem Reap province.
“There are many people who come to buy photos of the king in Siem Reap,” she said.
One group that is not profiting from the fervor around the late King Father’s cremation are the photographers whose shots are being sold.
Ms. Ransiky said that her production process begins with a Google search of “King Sihanouk.” She then downloads the photos she wants to sell, sends them to a printing house she owns near O’Russei market, and has them back within 24 hours.
The images include some of the most iconic taken of the late King Father, his wife, Queen Mother Norodom Monineath, and their son, King Norodom Sihamoni.
In one photo, then-King Sihanouk and Queen Monineath are photographed wearing kramas and playing with a monkey in the forest. In another, where the family is posing in their living room, King Sihamoni looks to be in his teens with a full head of jet-black hair.
In a number of photos, the late King Father, who was for many years the commander of Cambodia’s military, is seen saluting troops or posing in military garb.
Scenes from his whole life, in fact, can be purchased, from his childhood to his ascension to the throne as a 19-year-old prince, his two stretches as king, time as head of state, nine years as King Father as well as photographs of the procession through Phnom Penh in which his body was carried to the cremation site in front of the National Museum.
Leam Cheam, 54, bought six photographs of the late King Father on Sunday, which she plans to keep at home to show her children and grandchildren.
“Although the King Father has passed away, we can still remember him through these photographs,” she said.
Kuo Ransiky, the 41-year-old owner of the printshop on Phnom Penh’s Street 13, usually produces signs, posters and billboards for restaurants and shops around the capital. But for the past three days, she has brought in extra staff to help with the business of printing and laminating photographs of the late King Father, who was cremated yesterday.
Ms. Ransiky is one of dozens of shop owners and entrepreneurs in Phnom Penh who have temporarily turned their establishments into sales hubs at the center of a frantic network of street vendors trying to meet the demand of the hundreds of thousands of people expected to turn out for the late King Father’s cremation this evening.
Hundreds of vendors have taken to the streets around the Royal Palace to sell badges, ribbons, and posters—mementos the mourners can buy to remember their beloved former monarch.
At 1,500 riel, or about $0.37, per piece, Ms. Ransiky estimates that she will sell about 7,000 placemat-sized photographs of the late King Father, along with thousands of lapels made of black-and-white ribbon and a small photo of the king, which sell for the same price.
Business was even more brisk at Golden Book & Stationary Shop on Phnom Penh’s Street 130. Hoards of people crowded around the tables outside the shop purchasing stacks of images of the late King Father. Inside, six laminating machines were going full steam, with employees feeding in one photo after another.
Sao Leakena, the shop’s owner, said she was struggling to keep up with demand.
“We are selling the photos like hot cakes. There are so many vendors coming to our shop to sell them that sometimes we can’t even print the photos quickly enough,” she said.
Vendors were racing between shops to stock up on photos to sell to the masses of mourners who poured into the streets around Veal Mean and the Royal Palace.
Eout Mean, 62, said she has bought and sold about 500 photos of the former king and 300 badges bearing his likeness since Saturday, making about 500 riel, or about $0.12, per sale.
“People told me that they were buying the keepsakes because they wanted to have his image for their children to remember,” she said.
“If I did not sell pictures of King Sihanouk, how would Cambodian people remember his face and reputation? They will know how he built our country and educated many people through these photos.”
Phnom Penh was not the only place where the photos were in demand, according to 25-year-old Hout Keat, who came to the capital to buy 100 photos for her sister to sell in Siem Reap province.
“There are many people who come to buy photos of the king in Siem Reap,” she said.
One group that is not profiting from the fervor around the late King Father’s cremation are the photographers whose shots are being sold.
Ms. Ransiky said that her production process begins with a Google search of “King Sihanouk.” She then downloads the photos she wants to sell, sends them to a printing house she owns near O’Russei market, and has them back within 24 hours.
The images include some of the most iconic taken of the late King Father, his wife, Queen Mother Norodom Monineath, and their son, King Norodom Sihamoni.
In one photo, then-King Sihanouk and Queen Monineath are photographed wearing kramas and playing with a monkey in the forest. In another, where the family is posing in their living room, King Sihamoni looks to be in his teens with a full head of jet-black hair.
In a number of photos, the late King Father, who was for many years the commander of Cambodia’s military, is seen saluting troops or posing in military garb.
Scenes from his whole life, in fact, can be purchased, from his childhood to his ascension to the throne as a 19-year-old prince, his two stretches as king, time as head of state, nine years as King Father as well as photographs of the procession through Phnom Penh in which his body was carried to the cremation site in front of the National Museum.
Leam Cheam, 54, bought six photographs of the late King Father on Sunday, which she plans to keep at home to show her children and grandchildren.
“Although the King Father has passed away, we can still remember him through these photographs,” she said.
ដង្ហែព្រះបរមអដ្ឋិ យាងទៅតម្កល់នៅលើព្រះមហាបញ្ចា ៩ ជាន់
7:04 PM
Royan Idris
ភ្នំពេញ: ព្រះករុណាជាអម្ចាស់ជីវិតលើត្បូង ព្រះមហាក្សត្រ
សម្តេចព្រះបរមនាថ នរោត្តម សីហមុនី
បន្ទាប់ពីស្តេចយាងជាព្រះរាជាធិបតីភាពដ៏ខ្ពង់ខ្ពស់រើសព្រះបរមអដ្ឋិ (
ព្រះបរមធាតុ ) ជាមួយនឹងសម្តេចម៉ែរួចហើយ ព្រះអង្គបានយាងដង្ហែព្រះបរមអដ្ឋិ
ទៅតម្កល់នៅលើព្រះមហាបញ្ចា ៩ ជាន់ ក្នុងព្រះពន្លាខាងត្បូង។
ថ្ងៃទី 5 កុម្ភៈ 2013
ដោយ: កូឡាប
CEN
បន្ទាប់មក មានព្រះរាជពិធីសាសនា សូត្រធម៌ សត្តប្បករណ៍ ថ្វាយព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ ដោយមានការជួបជុំព្រះរាជវង្សានុវង្ស ចៅជិត ចៅចម ជំទាវ ខុនណាង សម្តេចអគ្គមហាពញាចក្រី និងលោកជំទាវ សម្តេចចៅហ្វាវាំង និងលោកជំទាវ ឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី និងលោកជំទាវ អនុប្រធាន ប្រធានគណៈកម្មការព្រឹទ្ធសភា រដ្ឋសភា និងលោកជំទាវ ប្រធានក្រុមប្រឹក្សាធម្មនុញ្ញ ប្រធានតុលាការកំពូល សមាជិក សមាជិកា ព្រឹទ្ធសភា រដ្ឋសភា រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល អនុរដ្ឋលេខាធិការ ព្រមទាំងអ្នកមុខអ្នកការជាច្រើនទៀត។
នៅថ្ងៃទីប្រាំ នៃព្រះរាជពិធីបុណ្យ ព្រះបរមសព ព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ នៅថ្ងៃអង្គារ ១០រោច ខែបុស្ស ពុទ្ធសករាជ ២៥៥៦ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី៥ ខែកុម្ភៈ ឆ្នាំ២០១៣ ជាព្រះរាជកម្មវិធីរើសព្រះបរមធាតុ ព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ និងដង្ហែព្រះអង្គារ ( ផេះ ) យកទៅយកទៅបំប្លែង ក្នុងទន្លេចតុមុខ៕ H
ថ្ងៃទី 5 កុម្ភៈ 2013
ដោយ: កូឡាប
CEN
បន្ទាប់មក មានព្រះរាជពិធីសាសនា សូត្រធម៌ សត្តប្បករណ៍ ថ្វាយព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ ដោយមានការជួបជុំព្រះរាជវង្សានុវង្ស ចៅជិត ចៅចម ជំទាវ ខុនណាង សម្តេចអគ្គមហាពញាចក្រី និងលោកជំទាវ សម្តេចចៅហ្វាវាំង និងលោកជំទាវ ឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី និងលោកជំទាវ អនុប្រធាន ប្រធានគណៈកម្មការព្រឹទ្ធសភា រដ្ឋសភា និងលោកជំទាវ ប្រធានក្រុមប្រឹក្សាធម្មនុញ្ញ ប្រធានតុលាការកំពូល សមាជិក សមាជិកា ព្រឹទ្ធសភា រដ្ឋសភា រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល អនុរដ្ឋលេខាធិការ ព្រមទាំងអ្នកមុខអ្នកការជាច្រើនទៀត។
នៅថ្ងៃទីប្រាំ នៃព្រះរាជពិធីបុណ្យ ព្រះបរមសព ព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ នៅថ្ងៃអង្គារ ១០រោច ខែបុស្ស ពុទ្ធសករាជ ២៥៥៦ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី៥ ខែកុម្ភៈ ឆ្នាំ២០១៣ ជាព្រះរាជកម្មវិធីរើសព្រះបរមធាតុ ព្រះបរមរតនកោដ្ឋ និងដង្ហែព្រះអង្គារ ( ផេះ ) យកទៅយកទៅបំប្លែង ក្នុងទន្លេចតុមុខ៕ H
Thai Spy Freed; 412 Prisoners to Be Released on Monday
6:38 AM
Royan Idris
Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, who had been imprisoned on espionage charges since 2010, shed tears of joy when her six-year sentence came to an early end on Friday thanks to a Royal Pardon by King Sihamoni, who has lessened scores of jail terms and released hundreds of Cambodian prisoners to mark the cremation of his late father Norodom Sihanouk.
Thai espionage convict Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, center, leaves Prey Sar prison on Friday after receiving a Royal Pardon. (Siv Channa) Thai espionage convict Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, center, leaves Prey Sar prison on Friday after receiving a Royal Pardon. (Siv Channa) Addressing members of the Thai media who gathered at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison to cover the release, Ms. Ratree spoke of her more than two-and-a-half years in jail for crossing the Cambodian border illegally, and then entering a restricted military area in Banteay Menachey province as part of a protest by ultra-nationalist Thai “yellow-shirts.” She was arrested, charged and convicted along with her boss, senior yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid, whose sentence of eight years in jail was reduced by six moths on Friday. Ms. Ratree’s release and Mr. Veera’s reduction in sentence were granted after Prime Minister Hun Sen had asked the Justice Ministry for their release earlier this month, and were not related to wider pardons granted as part of the King Father’s cremation ceremony, said Nuth Sa An, secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior. “This is a diplomatic matter between Cambodia and Thailand and has nothing to do with the cremation ceremony…. Samdech Hun Sen…talked to [Thai] Prime Minister Yingluck [Shinawatra] and she requested him to release and reduce the jail sentences for both of them,” Mr. Sa An said at the prison. Making political hay of the event, Mr. Sa An added that the release was proof of the strong ties between Bangkok and Phnom Penh, and that both leaders did not think about the profit of individuals, but how to benefit the whole nation. Ms. Ratree had less to say about the occasion. “I am happy,” she said in Thai, before getting into a car provided by the Thai Embassy. Another 412 prisoners will benefit from a Royal Pardon and walk free from prisons across the country after their presence at the King father’s cremation ceremony on Monday, prison officials said. Last week, King Sihamoni signed a royal decree releasing the 412 prisoners, whose freeing from prison will be officially announced on Monday. Jail terms were also reduced for 84 inmates by between six months to one year.
Thai espionage convict Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, center, leaves Prey Sar prison on Friday after receiving a Royal Pardon. (Siv Channa) Thai espionage convict Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, center, leaves Prey Sar prison on Friday after receiving a Royal Pardon. (Siv Channa) Addressing members of the Thai media who gathered at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison to cover the release, Ms. Ratree spoke of her more than two-and-a-half years in jail for crossing the Cambodian border illegally, and then entering a restricted military area in Banteay Menachey province as part of a protest by ultra-nationalist Thai “yellow-shirts.” She was arrested, charged and convicted along with her boss, senior yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid, whose sentence of eight years in jail was reduced by six moths on Friday. Ms. Ratree’s release and Mr. Veera’s reduction in sentence were granted after Prime Minister Hun Sen had asked the Justice Ministry for their release earlier this month, and were not related to wider pardons granted as part of the King Father’s cremation ceremony, said Nuth Sa An, secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior. “This is a diplomatic matter between Cambodia and Thailand and has nothing to do with the cremation ceremony…. Samdech Hun Sen…talked to [Thai] Prime Minister Yingluck [Shinawatra] and she requested him to release and reduce the jail sentences for both of them,” Mr. Sa An said at the prison. Making political hay of the event, Mr. Sa An added that the release was proof of the strong ties between Bangkok and Phnom Penh, and that both leaders did not think about the profit of individuals, but how to benefit the whole nation. Ms. Ratree had less to say about the occasion. “I am happy,” she said in Thai, before getting into a car provided by the Thai Embassy. Another 412 prisoners will benefit from a Royal Pardon and walk free from prisons across the country after their presence at the King father’s cremation ceremony on Monday, prison officials said. Last week, King Sihamoni signed a royal decree releasing the 412 prisoners, whose freeing from prison will be officially announced on Monday. Jail terms were also reduced for 84 inmates by between six months to one year.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
The Final Journey of King Father Norodom Sihanouk
12:36 AM
Royan Idris
The golden casket bearing the body of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk made its final journey through the streets of Phnom Penh on Friday before coming to rest at Veal Mean, where an elaborate site has been constructed for the royal cremation on Monday.
The funeral procession for the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk moves along Sisowath Quay on Friday on his final journey before coming to rest at the cremation site adjacent to the Royal Palace. (Lauren Crothers/The Cambodia Daily)
The funeral procession for the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk moves along Sisowath Quay on Friday on his final journey before coming to rest at the cremation site adjacent to the Royal Palace. (Lauren Crothers/The Cambodia Daily)
Government officials and mourners quietly gathered in front of the Royal Palace as the sun rose. A red carpet marked out the path that the casket—bedecked with fragrant jasmine flowers—would take before being placed upon an ornate carriage out of which dozens of naga heads emerged.
The King’s body left the Royal Palace for the last time at 8:10 a.m. and was placed on the carriage.
As it began to move forward at a somber pace, members of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Special Force Airborne 911 Brigade discharged 101 deafening rounds of 105-mm shells from 12 Howitzer artillery guns pointed over the Tonle Sap River.
The shells exploded with such force that the ground reverberated, ash fell from the sky and pigeons took flight with each detonation. Many people had to cover their ears.
In some ways, it was through dying that the late king, who peacefully won independence from France in 1953 and continued to mediate ends to the country’s conflicts into the 1990s, was brought back to life in Cambodia.
Despite spending the majority of his last years living in Beijing, where he ultimately died of a heart attack at the age of 89 on October 15, he remained one of the most venerated personalities in the country. The country’s young and old have been united in a sense of loss since his passing, and the reverence was amplified as they lined the streets together on Friday to watch the final funeral procession.
The cortege, which organizers put at about 20,000-strong, provided a number of contrasts. While mourners were clad in black and white, the march was embellished with splashes of color, which, in many ways, typified the late king’s joie de vivre.
Two of the most notable floats bore a menagerie of exotic, plaster animals from polar bears to sharks and tigers atop rocks, greenery and waterfalls. The procession was also made up of military officials, Red Cross youth members, indigenous groups and apsara dancers.
Click to view pictures of the procession.
As it made its way up Sisowath Quay, over to Wat Phnom, down Norodom Boulevard, around Independence Monument and on to Sothearos Boulevard toward Veal Mean, the park in front of the National Museum where ambassadors, government officials, monks and scouts awaited, people knelt clutching lotus flowers and the late monarch’s portrait.
Kun Pov, 80, had traveled to Phnom Penh from Pursat province for the fifth time since the King Father’s death.
“I’m still very sad and I miss him,” she said. “I used to work for [Queen Monineath] before she got married to the King. The king was very nice and kind.”
Srun Phallin, head of the Mondolkiri provincial department of culture, said Norodom Sihanouk “took care of not just the Khmer, but also the ethnic minorities.”
He said he and his 90 indigenous community companions from Ratanakkiri and Mondolkiri provinces would leave Phnom Penh on Saturday.
Van Nget, a 69-year-old Banong man from Mondolkiri, said he wanted to represent indigenous people during the King Father’s procession.
“I am very sad,” he said. “He was a very good king, a shade for the people.”
At Wat Phnom, crowds scrambled with their cameras to capture the moment the procession passed by. Some called out the names of participants. Others kneeled quietly with their hands clasped together and cried.
For all intents and purposes, the parade proceeded without a hitch, although Deputy Prime Minister Sok An fainted before it began and had to be escorted into an ambulance.
Sok Sokun, director of the municipal health department, said the 63-year-old Mr. An was aided by a doctor at the Royal Palace.
“He had a problem with his health, but now he is fine,” Dr. Sokun said.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan insisted that Mr. An’s collapse was nothing serious.
“He is alright, he is at home at his residence and he was just exhausted from a long trip to Paris,” he said. “He went to Calmette Hospital to have a general check up and he was released before 10 a.m.”
Outside the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, two people fainted in the heat and were whisked away by waiting ambulances.
As the late king’s body arrived at Veal Mean, the second 101-artillery gun salute shattered the relative silence.
Onlookers peered through gaps in the surrounding wall at Veal Mean as the body of Norodom Sihanouk made three slow rounds of the crematorium, before being placed inside.
Once the casket was laid to rest, the surrounding streets slowly filled with the business of everyday life and the wait began for Monday, when Norodom Sihanouk’s body will be cremated.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Undies ground
6:41 AM
Royan Idris
A participant of "No Pants Subway Ride" stands in a subway train in Mexico City on Sunday, January 13, 2013. The event is organised by Flashmob Mexico where participants have to strip down to their underwear as they go about their normal routine, said organisers.
Mexico City - Hundreds of people in Mexico City doffed all but their smalls to take part in the “No Pants Subway Ride” on Sunday, just for laughs, around the world.
Young and old, men, women and children got in on the 12th annual round of the prank held once a year in 50 cities, the well-ventilated movement said on its website.
It was the third time people in Mexico City took part in the underwear fununderground.
Facebook unites siblings years later
6:37 AM
Royan Idris
Davenport, Iowa - A man has been reunited with his sister 65 years after they were separated in foster care thanks to a seven-year-old friend who searched Facebook.
Clifford Boyson met his sister, Betty Billadeau, in person on Saturday. Billadeau drove up from her home in Florissant, Missouri, with her daughter and granddaughter for the reunion at a hotel in Davenport.
Boyson, 66, and Billadeau, 70, both tried to find each other for years without success. They were placed in different foster homes in Chicago when they were children.
Then seven-year-old Eddie Hanzelin, the son of Boyson’s landlord, got involved.
Eddie found Billadeau by searching his mom’s Facebook account with Billadeau’s maiden name. He recognised the family resemblance when he saw her picture.
Boyson said he’s looking forward to visiting Billadeau near St Louis and meeting more family. – Sapa-AP
Friday, January 11, 2013
Obama’s Fair Deal: Violate Your Tax Pledge So I Can Keep My Pledge to Reform Entitlements
4:55 PM
Royan Idris
This debt debate comes down to negotiables and non-negotiables for each side. Negotiables are things they are willing to put in play to achieve their goals. Non-negotiables are things they need to keep of the table at all costs. Both sides, not surprisingly have non-negotiables that involve keeping their chances alive for next year’s elections. Let’s start with those.
For their part, House Republicans refuse to raise taxes. That’s their non-negotiable and has been all along. Many of these folks were elected in a Tea Party wave that was all about limited government. Many of them made an explicit pledge not to vote for a tax increase. They simply can not raise taxes and expect to survive. Tax increases are off the table.
Meanwhile, President Obama has refused any short term deal which would force him to face this issue again next year. He knows he can’t negotiate with his re-election on the line, so he wants this off the table for 2012. Last week, Jake Tapper did a fine job of pointing out how transparently political this demand was. But the President repeated this demand again yesterday. Election year debt negotiations are off the table.
So those are the non-negotiables on each side. Here’s the difference. Speaker Boehner isn’t asking for a short term deal. In fact, he was asked this question yesterday and explicitly said he was not interested in one. In other words, he is not pushing the President on his non-negotiable.
Meanwhile, on Thursday the President demanded $400 billion in additional revenues which Speaker Boehner says would come from tax increases. The President does not deny that he asked for the additional revenue at the last moment. When asked a sharp question about moving the goalposts by Norah O’Donnell the President’s reply was halting:
What this came down to was…there doesn’t seem to be a capacity for them to say yes.
Well, when you’re asking people to negotiate their non-negotiables after you’ve already agreed to something else, they do tend to balk. And in case you’re wondering, there is no doubt the President knows just how non-negotiable this is for GOP House members. In fact, he talked about the tax pledge many of them had signed yesterday, saying this left them “boxed in.” Boxed in is just another way to say they made tax increases a non-negotiable.
And yet the President seems to think House GOP members should violate a pledge they made to their constituents, one which a) they believe in as a matter of principle and which b) helped get them elected. He just expects them to “say yes” anyway.
Here’s the most frustrating part. Obama has a pledge of his own in this debate, something he promised more than two years ago. Obama pledged to reform Social Security and Medicare from the earliest days of his administration:
President-elect Barack Obama pledged yesterday to shape a new Social Security and Medicare “bargain” with the American people, saying that the nation’s long-term economic recovery cannot be attained unless the government finally gets control over its most costly entitlement programs.
So while Paul Krugman and others on the far left may not like it, Obama will certainly claim the reforms that the GOP are demanding from him are a promise kept, not one he has broken. Entitlement reform isn’t a concession for him, it was a goal!
That’s where things stand. President Obama is demanding the GOP violate their non-negotiable pledge on taxes so that he can fulfill his pledge to reform entitlements. The President repeatedly called this a “fair deal” yesterday. Well, it certainly is fair to him.
from: hotair
by John Sexton
Norway, with a substantial rate of gun ownership, is normally noted for non-violence
4:53 PM
Royan Idris
The nation of Norway was an especially unlikely setting for a shooting rampage that left at least 85 dead. The country of 4.9 million residents has one of the lowest per-capita homicide rates in Europe.
Interestingly, however, gun ownership is relatively common in Norway, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Gun ownership in Norway is common, although strict gun regulations and limitations are in place on ammunition for certain kinds of guns.
According to GunPolicy.org, an Australian university-based website, the estimated number of guns held by civilians in Norway was 1.4 million in 2007, the most recent year for which the site has such statistics for Norway.
Citing the “Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City,” published by Cambridge University Press, the website give the rate of private gun ownership in Norway as 31.32 firearms per 100 people[.]
In the wake of a shooting, after the initial shock and sorrow subside, two reactions predictably emerge — calls for greater civility in discourse and calls for greater gun control. Such was the case, at least, after Jared Lee Loughner shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (R-Ariz.) in January.
And, indeed, some have already begun to criticize the rhetoric in Europe that has supposedly contributed to the sort of climate of hate that would prompt someone to release fire as at Oslo:
The attacks in Oslo on Friday have riveted new attention on right-wing extremists not just in Norway but across Europe, where opposition to Muslim immigrants, globalization, the power of the European Union and the drive toward multiculturalism has proven a potent political force and, in a few cases, a spur to violence.
The success of populist parties appealing to a sense of lost national identity has brought criticism of minorities, immigrants and in particular Muslims out of the beer halls and Internet chat rooms and into mainstream politics. While the parties themselves generally do not condone violence, some experts say a climate of hatred in the political discourse has encouraged violent individuals.
“I’m not surprised when things like the bombing in Norway happen, because you will always find people who feel more radical means are necessary,” said Joerg Forbrig, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin who has studied far-right issues in Europe. “It literally is something that can happen in a number of places and there are broader problems behind it.”
Perhaps the calls for increased gun regulations are not far behind. Both reactions are understandable. Natural to want to make sense of senseless violence and even more natural to want to forestall it by tempering tongues and enacting obstacles to gun ownership. But we must not seek solutions where they will not be found.
On some level, perhaps the wisest course is to remain a while longer in the spell of shock and grief that evil casts, allow ourselves to feel the full extent of its horror — precisely so we will realize that no carefully crafted words, no perfectly strategized policy will ever eliminate it entirely. Perhaps in that realization we will then awaken to a new realization — that evil will only fully and finally be overcome by something greater than ourselves.
Cornel West: Best. Interview. Ever.
4:49 PM
Royan Idris
Dr. James Joyner picks up on an interview with one of President Obama’s staunchest former allies, but also more recent critics, in the person of Professor Cornel West. Joyner titles his piece, “Cornel West is Crazy.” I’m not going to jump immediately to that point, but I’ve got to tell you, for a “highly sought after” guy with a doctorate from Princeton, this interview is… well, I suppose “remarkable” works.
What’s with the black suit, white shirt, black tie outfit you always wear? Do you have anything else in your closet?
I’ve got four black suits that I circulate, and they are my cemetery clothes — my uniform that keeps me ready for battle.
Your cemetery clothes?
It’s ready to die, brother. If I drop dead, I am coffin-ready. I got my tie, my white shirt, everything. Just fix my Afro nice in the coffin.
So for somebody who dedicated his life to getting Barack Obama elected, what turned things around?
So let me ask you: in 2007, you introduced Barack Obama as your “brother, companion and comrade.” But in May, you referred to him as “the black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs” and the “head of the American killing machine.” What in the world happened?
It was a cry from the heart. What happened was that greed at the top has squeezed so much of the juices of the body politic. Poor people and working people have not been a fundamental focus of the Obama administration. That for me is not just a disappointment but a kind of betrayal.
But you have also acknowledged that this is more than just political — you’ve said that after campaigning for him at 65 events, you were miffed that he didn’t return your phone calls or say thank you.
I think he had to keep me at a distance. There’s no doubt that he didn’t want to be identified with a black leftist. But we’re talking about one phone call, man. That’s all. One private phone call.
If you’re waiting for some sort of lesson from this media event or deeper meaning, I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you. Aside from this being yet another symptom of far left elements jumping ship as Obama tacks toward the center in hopes of securing a second term, I don’t think there’s much more to be gained from it.
But, to quote Dr. Joyner, “it’s no wonder that Barack Obama feels more comfortable around sane Jewish brothers than this cat.”
That’s one crazy cat.
Elly Tran Ha - Vietnamese model pictures
4:14 PM
Royan Idris
Elly Tran Ha is an American-borned-Vietnamese, who has recently moved back to Vietnam from the USA. She works as a part-time model while furthering her studies.From 2009,she got famous on the Internet as her photos are circulated. Profile: Real name: Tran Kim Hong Nick name: Elly Tran Ha Birthday: 6/8/1987 Height: 5′6″ (168 cm) Weight: 104 lbs (47 kb) Measurements (inches): 35-23-35 Measurements (cm): 88-58-90 Blood group:...