Gaylove, pinkgay

what is gay?

2009-11-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - the nation's primary lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media advocacy and anti-defamation organization - applauded Lynch's decision.

"Gov. Lynch's signing of the marriage equality bill grants legal protections for same-sex couples in New Hampshire to take care of and be responsible for each other," said the organization's president, Neil Giuliano.

"As people get to know the loving and committed couples at the heart of marriage equality, our culture is moving to equality."

Both chambers had previously voted to approve same-sex marriage but Lynch said he would sign the bill into law only if the legislature added new language to protect religious institutions that did not want to perform such marriages.

"We can and must treat both same-sex couples and people of certain religious traditions with respect and dignity," Lynch had said. "I believe this proposed language will accomplish both of these goals."

The Democratic governor said that in recent months he had spoken to lawmakers, religious leaders and constituents as he formed his opinion on the bill.

New Hampshire becomes the sixth state in the nation - alongside Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Iowa and Vermont - currently providing or soon to provide marriage benefits to gays and lesbians.

Vermont's law takes effect September 1 and Maine's September 14, unless its citizens collect enough signatures to put the measure on the fall ballot in the state. New Hampshire's new law takes effect on January 1, 2010.

New Hampshire and Maine are the only states in the nation where representatives elected by voters approved same-sex marriage legislation. The others were decided by high court decisions, although legislatures in Vermont and Connecticut subsequently passed measures codifying the court rulings.

Marry Mo Baxley, executive director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry told CNN, "We're so very proud of our elected officials. We've taken our grievances to our elected officials, and they've responded."

Still, married gay couples do not share federal benefits such as Social Security, tax breaks and immigration benefits that are granted to straight married couples. Baxley is counting on President Barack Obama to make those changes.

"He said he would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and we fully expect him to keep that promise," she said.

Even amongst the excitement, GLAAD president Giuliano remained cautious, referring to the topic of gay marriage benefits as one "that will be a future debate and a future conversation that we'll be having in this country for quite a while."More detail from site http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/03/nh-governor-signs-same-sex-marriage-into-law/

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2009-11-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

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Gay History Project: Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle

2009-10-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

Walt Whitman, best known as the father of modern poetry and American poetry, was also the longtime lover of Peter Doyle, son of a blacksmith, a former Rebel soldier who worked as a streetcar conductor. They were often affectionate in public; both their families, and all Whitman’s friends,.. knew about their relationship. Doyle was a conspicuous influence on many of Whitman’s works. The couple first met on a Washington, DC streetcar in 1865, on a stormy winter night toward the close of the Civil War. Whitman was 45; Doyle, 21. Doyle thought his bearded only passenger, a blanket over his shoulders, looked “like an old sea captain.” “I thought I would go and talk to him,” Doyle said in an interview. “Something in me made me do it. He used to say there was something in me had the same effect on him…We were familiar at once. I put my hand on his knee …from that time on we were the biggest sort of friends.” Whitman was a burly six feet tall; Doyle, a slender five foot eight. Their differences extended beyond the physical. Whitman was a government clerk, journalist, and a published poet; Doyle, a workingman supporting his widowed mother and younger siblings. Whitman prided himself on patriotism; his brother George was a Union soldier, and he’d spent the last two years nursing the wounded in Washington’s army hospitals. Doyle had been a Confederate artilleryman, who’d obtained release from federal prison by claiming to be a British subject (born in Limerick, Ireland, he and his family emigrated here when he was a child). Pete and Walt were living proof that opposites attract. They were a familiar sight on Washington streetcars and at the bar in Georgetown’s Union Hotel. A favorite pastime was to hike along the Potomac River in Maryland, take the ferry to Virginia, and then hike back along the river on the Virginia side. They were unable to live together due to Pete’s obligations to his dependent family, though Walt wanted to settle down with Pete and brought it up repeatedly. But each man was warmly embraced by the other’s family. Pete would fondly recall dinners at the Whitmans’: “After we had our dinner she (Walt’s mother) would always say, ‘Now take a long walk to aid digestion.’ Mrs. Whitman was a lovely woman.” After Whitman’s first stroke in 1873, his mother wrote to Walt to express her confidence in Pete: “I knew if it was in his power he would cheerfully do everything he could for you.” Pete lived up to her expectations, nursing Walt for months. The Doyles also counted on Walt for whatever help he could offer, including recommending Pete’s brother Edward for a job with the Treasury Department, and lobbying newspapers to protect Pete’s older brother, policeman Francis, from sensationalized accounts of brutality. Walt considered Pete’s mother Catherine, brothers James, Francis — and younger brother Edward, and sister Margaret, who lived with Pete — dear friends. Doyle would have a lasting impact on Whitman’s work. For one thing, Doyle – who was present at Lincoln’s assassination – would shape Whitman’s writings about that tragic event. Doyle had gone to the performance of “My American Cousin” in Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865, because he’d heard the Lincolns would be there. He heard the shot and saw John Wilkes Booth leap from Lincoln’s box to the stage, but didn’t know Lincoln was dead until he heard Mary Todd Lincoln cry out, “the President has been shot!” He was so stunned that he was one of the last to leave the theater, ordered out by a policeman. Lincoln had been one of Walt’s heroes, though they had never met. Walt, a friend of the President’s former secretary John Hay, had seen Lincoln in person numerous times. He’d written, “I never see the man without feeling that he is one to become personally attached to.” Walt would use Pete’s account in Specimen Days, Memoranda During The War, and lectures. Pete also affected Whitman’s most popular Lincoln poem “O Captain! My Captain!” Doyle came to America with his mother and three brothers on the William Patten in 1852; the ship nearly wrecked in a storm on Good Friday, also the day of Lincoln’s assassination. Whitman knew this. The poem memorializes Lincoln as a ship’s captain, who died while guiding his vessel safely to port through a storm. The poem, unlike most of Whitman’s, is metered and rhymed. During their walks, Doyle would often quote Limericks to Whitman; the poem’s extant first draft is in free verse, so he likely revised it to impress Doyle. Another poem written around the same time, “Come Up From The Fields Father,” is the only time Whitman ever identified a protagonist with a personal name — Pete. Pete could not have inspired “Calamus,” the notorious series of homoerotic poems published in 1860. (The controversial poems had gotten Whitman fired from his Department of the Interior job, but well-connected Walt quickly got a similar job in the Attorney General’s office.) Doyle did, however, affect Whitman’s decision to excise three of these poems from the 1867 edition of “Leaves Of Grass”. The three expressed despair over Whitman’s earlier failed relationship with another Irishman, Fred Vaughan, who married after splitting from him. Pete also figured prominently in Walt’s private notebooks, particularly passages cited by some scholars as the most convincing proof of Whitman’s gay sexuality. In the summer of 1870 Whitman began to suspect that Pete did not return his love. He wrote feverishly, vowing “TO GIVE UP ABSOLUTELY …this …USELESS UNDIGNIFIED PURSUIT OF 16.4.” 16 and four are the numeric locations of the initials P.D. in the alphabet. Walt also obviously later erased the “im” in “him” and replaced it with “er” in these entries. But before Walt left to visit his family later that summer, Pete confessed his love, ending Walt’s ambivalence. In a July 30 letter, Walt enthused, “I never dreamed that you made so much of having me with you, nor that you should feel so downcast at losing me.” Soon afterward, when Pete griped about his job, Walt wrote promising “a good smacking kiss, many of them – taking in return many, many from my dear son – good loving ones too.” Their relationship remained intense during Walt’s years in Washington. But Walt suffered a stroke in 1873, which impaired his left arm and leg. He went to live with his brother George in Camden, N.J., considering the arrangement temporary. Walt’s beloved mother died that same year, taking an emotional toll on him as well. Pete was by now working a dangerous, stressful job—brakeman– for the Pennsylvania Railroad, but would still visit Walt daily before his evening shift, nursing him while there. Walt took the precaution of making out a will, in which Pete was the only non- family member included. In 1874, Walt forfeited his Washington job, and broke the news to Pete that his move to Camden would be permanent. In 1875 another stroke affected Walt’s right side. For the next two decades, Pete and Walt continued to correspond, and Pete continued to visit regularly, but they began to see less of each other. In 1876, Walt met another working class youth, Harry Stafford, a Camden New Republic office clerk in his twenties. Harry became Walt’s new “darling boy.” Stafford’s parents considered Walt a “good influence.” Whitman began to spend time at the family’s farm near Timber Creek, about ten miles from Camden. Walt’s letters told Pete about the farm, but not about Harry. Like Fred Vaughan before him, Harry would marry in 1884, but he and Walt would remain friends. After Pete’s mother Catherine passed away in 1885, Pete relocated to Philadelphia. Though Pete and Walt remained in touch till 1889, no correspondence exists from between 1881 and 1886, as they saw each other frequently. In 1888, Walt suffered another stroke and became severely ill. He would live four more years, during which he would publish “November Boughs,” “Goodbye My Fancy,” and the so-called “Deathbed Edition” of Leaves of Grass. Pete would be mysteriously absent for most of this time. Whitman speculated to friend Horace Traubel that Pete “must have got another lay.” On New Year’s Day, 1892, Walt revised his will to exclude Pete, who he presumed was dead. But before Walt passed, Pete did visit him again, and explained the reasons for his absence. In an interview, Pete recalled “In the old days I had always open doors to Walt – going, coming, staying as I chose. Now, I had to run the gauntlet of Mrs. Davis (Walt’s housekeeper at his own new Mickle Street home) and a nurse and whatnot….Then I had a mad impulse to go over and nurse him. I was his proper nurse – he understood me — I understood him. We loved each other deeply….I should have gone to see him, at least, in spite of everything, I know it now…but it’s all right. Walt realized I never swerved from him – he knows it now. That is enough.” Walt, 73, died of tuberculosis on March 26, 1892. Pete viewed the body, and attended the funeral. He remained part of Walt’s surviving circle of friends until his own passing at 63 in 1907 from uremia (kidney disease.) The most substantial documentation of their relationship is a collection of letters Walt sent to Pete from 1868-1880, published in 1897 by their mutual friend, psychiatrist/author Richard Maurice Bucke, as “The Calamus Letters.” “Calamus” poems are interspersed between letters in the book. The book included Bucke’s revealing interview with Doyle, which Henry James would call “the most charming passage in the volume“ in his 1898 review. From Doyle’s interview with Bucke, conducted after Whitman’s death: “I have Walt’s raglan here. Now and then I put it on, lay down… Then he is with me again… I do not ever for a minute lose the old man. He is always nearby…in a crisis, I ask myself, ‘What would Walt do?’ –and whatever I decide Walt would do, that I do."

Gay News/ Gay blog|

2009-10-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

Marriage Equality on Agenda as Paterson Calls for 'Extraordinary Session' on November 10
"Paterson wants what is technically called an extraordinary session on Nov. 10 that would address the deficit and take on unfinished business... The regular session ended in June. The special session is expected to include a possible vote by the Senate to give final legislative approval to a same-sex marriage bill. Paterson has predicted the bill will be passed and signed into law in coming weeks. Paterson also is asking legislative leaders to call a rare joint session of the Legislature on Nov. 9, where he plans to address the Senate and Assembly on the need to act on the deficit and reduce spending. The governor also has scheduled a public meeting with legislative leaders Thursday in New York City."http://www.towleroad.com/2009/10/marriage-equality-on-agenda-as-paterson-calls-for-extraordinary-session-on-november-10.html

http://preapdownload.blogsome.com/2009/10/20/gay-history-project-walt-whitman-and-peter-doyle/

2009-10-20T07:28:00.001-07:00

Sentenced for insulting gay Pole

2009-10-18T04:38:00.000-07:00

In Poland a 44-year old woman was sentenced to pay a fine of 3.645 euro for offending her homosexual neighbor. Ryszard Giersza (25) was pummeled with bricks and tomatoes after the woman had called him a faggot in public.

In his ruling the judge said that ‘everybody has the right to a protected private life’, which is seen as an important breakthrough by Polish gay organizations. It’s the first time a gay person has fought back after being insulted like that.

Ryszard Giersza was first faced with harassment in February 2009 after his boyfriend had moved in with him in the little town of Wolina in the North West of Poland. “The faggot has brought another faggot with him,” his neighbor had said in the village shop. The insults were a nasty surprise because before no one knew of his homosexuality. After this, he and his friend were abused, threatened, and beaten up. Giersza also lost his job. Judge Urszula Chmielewska explained the high fine saying the neighbor “should really feel the punishment.”
Next to paying the fine the neighbor should also really change her behavior, the judge said. The neighbor also has to pay for the trial costs of about a thousand euros. The unemployed neighbor stated that all witnesses lied during the court case, she doesn’t feel guilty and announced she was going to appeal.
“I’m very happy,” said Giersza yesterday after the ruling was made public, with tears in his eyes. “I’m a normal person and I just want to live quietly with my partner. The last six months have ruined us. I’m very happy we started this trial, it was worth it. I hope it will be an example for others.”

The Polish gay activist Robert Biedron was relieved that the judge didn’t treat Giersza as a ‘second rate citizen’. “If a judge doesn’t do that, perhaps society will stop doing that too.”
more infor from: http://www.gay-news.com/article04.php?sid=2647

Obama Nominates Openly Gay Ambassador

2009-10-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

An official from President Obama’s administration has announced the President plans to nominate David Huebner, an openly gay lawyer as the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and American Samoa.

If confirmed by the Senate, Huebner will become the administration’s first openly gay ambassador. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both had openly gay ambassadors during their terms as well.

Gay History Project: H.D.

2009-10-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

The bisexual poet H.D., whose full name was Hilda Doolittle, was born on Sept. 10, 1886, in Bethlehem, Pa., to a wealthy upper- middleclass family. A contemporary of the American poet Ezra Pound, with whom she was involved at one point, she became a great Imagist poet, who at the end of her writing career broke with strict Imagism. She received literary awards including the Gold Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and, later in life, the Brandeis and Longview Awards.

Hilda attended the Ivy League women’s college Bryn Mawr, but dropped out and moved to England in 1911. Her romance with Ezra Pound had ended, but he introduced her to London's avant garde literary circles. She married the novelist Richard Aldington in 1913.

The Imagist poets believed in direct treatment of the subject, allowing no inessential words and following the musical phrase rather than strict, traditional regularity in their rhythms. H.D.'s first published poems appeared in the journal Poetry in January 1913.

H.D. was fascinated by ancient Greek culture, and now she began to travel throughout Europe and saw Greece for the first time. Her poetry appeared in the English Review, the Transatlantic Review, and the Egoist. She also began an intense but non-sexual relationship with novelist D.H. Lawrence, and her marriage became troubled. (Her novel "Bid Me to Live" is largely about this time.)

She lived downstairs from her husband's mistress, and was introduced to a friend of the Lawrences, Cecil Gray, who became the father of her daughter, Frances Perdita, named for H.D.'s first great love and lifelong friend, Frances Gregg, and for the lost daughter of Hermione in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. The birth left H.D. very ill, but a woman named Bryher came to her rescue.

Bryher, born Annie Winifred Ellerman, met H.D. on July 17, 1918 in Cornwall. She took the name Bryher from one of the fabled Scilly Isles, located to the west of Cornwall and site of many ancient legends and megalithic stone monuments. A wealthy heiress who was also a writer, her friendship with H.D. blossomed into love. They were lifelong companions, although often maintaining separate residences and their independence. They travelled together and kept their relationship throughout their other affairs, and throughout Bryher's marriages to Robert McAlmon and Kenneth Macpherson.

The two women moved to Paris, mingling with the expatriate literary community. After Bryher's marriage to McAlmon ended, and the one to Macpherson began, they were drawn into the world of film. Bryher and Macpherson began POOL Productions and the film magazine Close-Up. H.D. appeared in the POOL films productions Foothills (1927) and Borderline (1930), which received their most enthusiastic reception in Germany.

H.D. and Bryher lived at this time in Kenwin, the Bauhaus home Bryher had built near Riant Chateau in Switzerland. H.D. sought out analysis, and Bryher, an early supporter of psychoanalysis, arranged for Dr. Hanns Sachs and Havelock Ellis to recommend H.D. to Sigmund Freud. H.D. referred to herself as Freud's pupil, and he referred to her as his analysand, during 1933 and 1934. H.D. later wrote "Tribute to Freud" as a fictionalized memoir of this period.

Her interests at this time also included mysticism, Hellenic studies, Egyptology, and astrology. Her long poem “Helen in Egypt” reflected those interests. She and Bryher were able to get to London when World War II broke out; Bryher barely escaped Switzerland before helping over a hundred refugees to homes in other countries.

The years during World War II were very productive for H.D. She and Bryher lived together during this time. H.D. became very interested in spiritualism, and her poetry began to strain at the boundaries of Imagism. "The Walls Do Not Fall," the first part of "Trilogy," was her break with Imagism.

After the war, H.D. suffered a mental breakdown, and returned to Switzerland. She lived at Kusnacht, a clinic, and various hotels. She was now 60, yet was experiencing the most prolific writing years of her life. Her book “Hermetic Definition” (1972, New Directions) contains the angel-haunted poems of her old age. Other books include “Selected Poems of H.D.” (1957, Grove Press) and “Trilogy” (1973, New Directions).

In July 1961 she suffered a stroke and died on Sept. 21, 1961. She was buried on Nisky Hill, in Bethlehem, Pa., among her family. She was survived by Bryher, her daughter and son-in-law, her grandchildren and many other family members and friends.

H. Hernandez writes, “Her gravestone lies flat in Nisky Hill Cemetery… and usually has sea shells on it, left in tribute. It bears lines from her poem ‘Epitaph’:
…So you may say,
Greek flower;
Greek ecstasy
reclaims forever
one who died
following intricate song's
lost measure.
H.D.”

download: http://www.easy-share.com/1905567298/Foda%20No%20Sofa.rar

2009-10-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

TV case tests Russian gay rights

2009-09-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

A former reality show celebrity has become the first person in Russia to go to court over claims that he is gay.

Vasily Pechen has embarked on a test case for Russia

Vasily Pechen, who appeared on Russian reality shows Big Brother and Dom 2, made Russian legal history by bringing the case to a Moscow court this week.

He says that publications in a tabloid newspaper and gay news website, which also claimed he regularly frequented gay clubs and even received money in return for sex, caused irreparable damage to his TV career.

Mr Pechen also said the publications, which were accompanied by revealing pictures of the Z-list celebrity, even contributed to his mother's death due to the stress caused by the claims.

In total, he is seeking up to four million roubles (£76,000) by way of compensation: the sum he claims his career would be worth if not for false claims about his sexual orientation.

Second attempt at fame?

However, legal expert and Moscow gay pride organiser Nikolai Alexeyev said that the case would be baseless if the claims only concerned Mr Pechen's orientation.

Perhaps he just wants to remind the world of his existence
Russian TV company TNT

"Being gay in Russia is no longer a criminal offence and no longer considered a mental illness," Mr Alexeyev told the BBC Russian Service.

"If he tries to take someone to court because they said he was gay, he probably will not get very far.

"The second part of the claim concerning the publication of indecent photos of the claimant and accusations that he worked as a prostitute have a better chance of success."

However, when approached for further information about the reality show participant, Russian TV company TNT said they could barely remember who he was.

"Perhaps he just wants to remind the world of his existence," said the company's press office.

Changing attitudes?

Attitudes towards gay people in Russia remain generally negative, which might explain Mr Pechen's desire to refute the claims over his sexuality so robustly and so publicly.
Nikolai Alexeyev
Mr Alexeyev said the lawsuit would fail if based on sexual orientation

However, human rights activist Edward Murzin - who tried to apply for a same-sex partnership in Russia in 2005, although not gay himself - says reality shows like Big Brother and Dom 2 have gone a long way to break down taboos in Russian society, especially among youngsters.

The website GayRussia.ru, which is also run by Mr Alexeyev, carried out a survey in 2005 with the Levada Center into public attitudes towards sexual minorities in Russia.

The poll showed that the majority of Russians still oppose gay marriage and the idea of a gay president, but support a ban on sexual orientation discrimination.

Although larger Russian cities do have active gay communities and gay scenes, and attitudes towards gay people are slowly changing, few people in Russia are openly gay and discrimination remains widespread and virtually unchallenged.

All applications for organising a gay pride march in Moscow have been blocked by the Russian authorities, and any attempts to hold the event without permission have ended in violence, with demonstrators being arrested and beaten by the security forces.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993 and was removed from the official list of mental illnesses in 1999.

However, there is equally no legislation protecting people from discrimination or harassment on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

There is also no formal recognition of same-sex relationships.source from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8197735.stm

Daily gay News: Gay Tourism Culture and Context

2009-09-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

About the Book
The gay tourism industry—a progressive social force or a pull towards an oppressive status quo?

The pink tourism dollar is now recognized as a highly profitable niche of the tourism market. Gay Tourism: Culture and Context critically investigates the emergence of a commercial gay tourism industry for male clients, the way it is organized, and how the tourism industry promotes cities, resorts, and nations as ’gay’ destinations. This careful examination critically questions the social, political, and cultural implications regarding relationships between gay tourism, Western gay male culture, the erotic, sexual politics, and sexual diversity.

Gay Tourism: Culture and Context begins by detailing how travel often enabled the expression of Western same-sex male desire in the nineteenth century and then charts the
emergence of a Western gay tourism industry in the late twentieth century. A critical analysis is given of gay guidebooks and erotic videos that help to establish and maintain destinations as seemingly gay utopias, including Hawaii and the Greek island Mykonos. Carefull consideration
as to debates about how the gay tourism industry operates in the context of questions regarding the globalization of sexuality, sexual citizenship and place-marketing of (homo)sexualised cities. The text includes an extensive bibliography plus several photographs, charts, and figures to
clearly present concepts and ideas.

Topics in Gay Tourism: Culture and Context include:

* the history of gay travel and tourism
* the effect of HIV/AIDS on gay tourist destinations
* gay travel writing sustaining same-sex fantasies about popular gay tourist destinations
* analysis of the socio-political ramifications of gay tourism
* the sexual politics of a heterosexual nation
* gay tourists as an “invading force” of corruption
* the economic rationale for the (homo)sexualized city
* the concept of “gay villages”
* the role of special events and festivals in gay tourism
* and many more!

Gay Tourism: Culture and Context is enlightening reading for tourism policymakers, tourism planners, tourism managers, and teachers and students in the fields of tourism studies, gay studies, social and cultural geography, and sociology. source from: http://www.routledge.com/books/Gay-Tourism-isbn9780789016034

Business "booming" as gay travel moves into Brighton

2009-09-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

The Uk’s leading gay travel agent known as Mantrav international Group has released there plans to open a new office in the UK’s Gay capital Brighton, With the business booming and the opening of the new, New York Office on 42nd street there are plans to broaden the horizons of the business in the very popular UK sea side resort of Brighton.

The company, which was founded in California in 1990, but has been based in the UK since 2001, Mantrav international is the leading gay travel agent in the UK which have over 20 years experience in the Gay travel market with all its employees having a good knowledge in gay destinations and travel all over the world.

The group’s Club Mancha resort in Gran Canaria has been running at a 92% capacity all through the current year despite the economy turn down. Mykonos appears to have been this year’s top destination in short haul and Thailand as long haul.

There is an agreement to merge with London and Brighton’s top Gay magazine 3Sixty by opening a shop together on 4 Steine Street just off Marine Parade located in Brighton’s Gay area.

The new owners of the magazine Graeme Austin & Tony Vassallo have become directors of the Mantrav International Group and are looking to expand the companies together With Malcolm and his team.

Malcolm Hardy the director of Mantrav International Group says “With the company going from strength to strength I am now going to be motivating my employees to provide the best service possible and create good value for our customers, the merge with 3Sixty and the opening of the shop has given us the chance to make these promises happen, providing complete customer satisfaction is now my next goal".

The team Including Ben Frankling (Sales and Marketing) and Matthew Cary (Business Development manager) have said that they are extremely excited about the merge and think the new shop opening will give Mantrav the chance to provide are customers with the service they deserve and give the company a more friendly face to face approach.

The 3sixty team are also excited about the merge and think it will expand the magazine; they are all very keen to build a bigger and better company with Mantrav and expand their team.

Plans are set to produce the first gay travel loyalty card for all the customers that have helped make their recent Growth materialise and try to re-pay their frequent travellers.http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/32876-Business-%22booming%22-as-gay-travel-moves-into-Brighton

Daily gay News: Dissenting Gay Marriage

2009-09-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

LA Daily News: Dissenting Gay Marriage
Jurist is a Lesbian
Until my friend Peter Cashman in Southern California tipped me off to this opinion column in yesterday's LA Daily News, I had no inkling that one of the state Supreme Court justices who dissented in the ruling two weeks allowing gay marriages to begin, Carol Corrigan, is a lesbian.

From the column written by Ann Bradley:
Certainly the first line of Associate Justice Carol Corrigan's obituary will be that, as a lesbian, she wrote one of the two dissenting opinions in the landmark California Supreme Court case to ensure her own community's right to marry. Or to be clear, to use the word "marry." Make no mistake, this case is about that word: "marriage."
In her dissent in re Marriage Cases, self-proclaimed centrist Corrigan writes, "Californians should allow our gay and lesbian neighbors to call their unions marriages. But I, and this court, must acknowledge that a majority of Californians hold a different view, and have explicitly said so by their vote. This court can overrule a vote of the people only if the Constitution compels us to do so. Here, the Constitution does not. Therefore, I must dissent."

Hmmm, "as a lesbian" in relation to Justice Corrigan got my Googling juices flowing and, lo and behold, there's plenty out there on the web about her sexual orientation, or, at least plenty of speculation on the matter.

Let's start with an article from the January 5, 2006, edition of the Gay & Lesbian Times of San Diego:

The California Supreme Court will rule this year that the California constitutional guarantee of equal protection requires that the state allow gay and lesbian marriages. Here are my reasons:

Just before the holidays, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Carole Corrigan to the California Supreme Court. While completely ignored by the GLBT media, Corrigan is (perhaps) the first lesbian appointed to the California Supreme Court. As the Los Angeles Times reported, she lives in Oakland with her live-in girlfriend. (You do the math.)

That LA Times story was also referenced in December 2005 by a Sacramento Bee political blogger, because of Corrigan's claim she's moderate in judicial temperament, but note what he says about locating the story that got the lesbian allegation going:

UPDATE: An emailer sends along an LA Times story from Oct. 21, which I can't find a link to online, where Corrigan describes herself as a "centrist" in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor.

Sure enough, the LA Times profile on Corrigan does not turn up either on the paper's web site or through Googling. However, the American Chronicle blog gave more details about the profile and what it actually said about her house-mate:

Carol Corrigan, as the Los Angeles Times, so coyly informs us in a sentence fragment at the end of a biographical sidebar about the soon-to-be Justice of the California Supreme Court, "[i]s unmarried and shares a house in Oakland with a female friend."

Over at the hard-right's Free Republic site, more text from the profile is posted, along with a link to the LA Times piece, but clicking on the link leads to a dead-end.

And the people behind the NNDB.com site, described as "an intelligence aggregator that tracks the activities of people we have determined to be noteworthy, both living and dead," state in sexual orientation line of Corrigan's profile that she's a lesbian. The source? An October 2006 American Family Association newsletter.

Gay activist Peter Cashman in an email to me touches upon how conservatives were all over Corrigan's lesbian orientation, while mainstream gay leaders remained silent on the subject:

She was first outed (that I am aware of) when Arnie nominated for the Supreme Court.

In particular the anti-gay marriage folks and other right-wingers mentioned it widely in opposing her nomination.

In our own community there seems to have been some weird silence in the glowing endorsements from all the usual suspects like EQCA. Was this a conspiracy of silence that we had so often seen before? In so far as prominent queer folks seeking or nominated to public office 'get a pass' to stay in the closet on the basis they will 'do the right thing'.

Jackie Goldberg is an outstanding example of this. In 1994 she ran for LA City Council in the closet until she was 'outed' by the LA Times prior to election day. A group of us had already decided that the days of supporting closet cases was over. We already had a closeted gay man on Council - Joel Wachs. The voters had a right to know.

Gay media and community silence on Corrigan had a notable exception when the Gay & Lesbian Times ran its 2006 article.

Thanks, Peter, for sharing the LA Daily News column with me. It will go a long way toward raising a public discussion on the sexual orientation of Associate Justice Corrigan.source from : http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2008/05/la-daily-news-dissenting-gay-marriage.html

Internal education on gay liberation

2009-09-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

Lavender & red, part 80

By Leslie Feinberg
Published Dec 3, 2006 8:02 PM

Workers World Party’s youth group, Youth Against War & Fascism (YAWF), formed an internal Gay Caucus in 1971—which soon after became the Lesbian and Gay Caucus. Bob McCubbin, who played a key role in its political and organizational formation and development, recalls what led up to and followed the establishment of the caucus.

McCubbin writes that he had been doing gay liberation work and Workers World Party (WWP) organizing on the West Coast. He had told leading members of the Buffalo branch he was gay when he moved to San Francisco, where there was no branch, six months after the Stonewall Rebellion.

And he remembered that one of the founders of the party, Vince Copeland, “had actually used the presence in New York of a large gay community as one of his incentives to get me to move to New York City” to work in the party center.

However, not until 1971 did McCubbin ever take the floor at a party meeting to speak from the political perspective of a gay man. “In the late summer of 1971, I left San Francisco for New York City and a few weeks later, at a party meeting, I took the floor to defend the party during a minor factional struggle. One of the charges being leveled was that the party had no position on the gay liberation movement.”

McCubbin stood up and said, “Well, I’m gay, and I’ve always understood that the party supports the struggles of all oppressed people.” There were a few seconds of absolute silence and then strong applause, recalls McCubbin.

McCubbin explains, “What followed the branch meeting where I came out were several months of preliminary discussions with leading comrades in New York, in particular with Vince and Dottie [Dorothy Ballan, a founder of WWP], and with a few lesbian and gay comrades in party branches.

“At the end of 1971 or the beginning of 1972, the party held a winter conference, and I asked Deirdre [Griswold] if an announcement could be read at the Saturday plenum to the effect that a meeting of lesbian and gay comrades and friends would be held in the evening. Deirdre assured me that would be no problem.

“Well, about 50 people showed up!” Not all of them were LGBT, McCubbin recalls. “It was a wonderful expression of solidarity on the part of many heterosexually oriented comrades, but the 12 or 15 of us who were lesbian and gay had to schedule a further meeting the following morning to get some work done after the evening meeting full of praise for us and solidarity statements.

“This conference,” McCubbin concludes, “marked the beginning of a party-wide effort to educate ourselves and our class on this issue.”

Sam Marcy vs. gay oppression

Workers World Party founder Sam Marcy made a tremendous contribution to the development of the party as a revolutionary communist organization, and to the historic struggle for sexual liberation, when he oriented the party about the gay struggle politically, theoretically and historically in a significant part of a 1972 internal document he wrote as orientation for the party conference.

Marcy said of the oppression of nationalities, women, youth and gay people: “The degeneration of monopoly capitalism into state monopoly capitalism carries to an extreme all the forms of oppression which the capitalist system, in the previous epoch, had engendered and developed. As the crisis of the social system becomes more and more apparent, the need of the ruling class to unload its burden on the most oppressed sections of society becomes more evident. Only by dividing, only by fragmenting and continually pitting different elements of the oppressed masses against each other, can the capitalist establishment maintain its sway over all society, and hope to survive.”

This same sharpening of the persecution and oppression, however, creates the impetus for a genuinely progressive militancy and resurgence of Black and Latin@ peoples, women, youth and gay people.

Marcy characterized the lack of widespread support for the gay struggle in the progressive movement at that time as a legacy of the deep-seated prejudice that emanated from the religious bigotry of the Middle Ages and its reinforcement throughout the entire course of capitalist development.

“It is particularly significant,” he wrote, “that the public change in attitude—such as it is—comes on the heels of a very formidable wave of struggle by gay people, a veritable ‘coming out’ in a most demonstrative way. Gay Pride took a cue from Black Pride. ...

“Without the struggle launched by gay people,” Marcy stressed, “the prejudices which have been ground into the consciousness of the masses by indoctrination would not even have been challenged, let alone shaken to their foundations.

“All this shows how intimate is the connection between the ideas of a particular time—even progressive ideas—and the conditions of the time, in this case, the state of the struggle.”

‘Influence of October Revolution’

Marcy continued, “An important influence in the progressive movement insofar as the gay struggle is concerned, dates back to the victory of the October Revolution in Russia. In early 1917, the Soviet government annulled all laws which restricted the rights of homosexuals. It also, of course, annulled all the reactionary laws pertaining to divorce as well as the feudal-bourgeois family relations.

“What is important about this,” he emphasized, “is that for the first time in history, a workers’ government established equality in law—and to a measurable degree also in fact—between men and women, for heterosexuals and homosexuals.”

Marcy noted that, “Unfortunately this period of very progressive development was short-lived, and was succeeded by a period of reaction with the rise of Stalin to power.” The 1934 move by the bureaucratic grouping at the helm of the workers’ state to reinstate laws against homosexuality, Marcy explained, had a profoundly negative ideological impact on communist parties around the world that looked to the Soviet Union for political leadership.

“Our party,” Marcy stated, “which bases itself on Marxism-Leninism, looks to the early model of the Soviet Union as the embodiment of what our own political position should be in relation to the struggle of gay people.

“Our first, most elementary and fundamental duty as well as objective on this question is to completely eliminate and abolish all forms of persecution and oppression of gay people. It must also fight against all ideological, political and social manifestations of gay oppression which may be reflected in our own ranks.”

Marcy wrote that the demand to end all sexual oppression and persecution “is really an elementary democratic demand which a bourgeois democracy should be able to grant along with all other democratic demands. But imperialist democracy tends to restrict the elementary rights of all people—not only gay, women, youth, Brown and Black. It is only the struggle that can wrest concessions. In the long run, only the abolition of the capitalist system can produce a lasting, free and equal treatment of all peoples.”

Marcy concluded that although regression in the Soviet Union had bequeathed a backward ideological legacy on the question of homosexuality, “The socialist revolution is a permanent revolution, one of continuous change. Along with many other changes that need to be made in the socialist countries, the gay question is surely one of them.

“In the meantime, we ought to concentrate on preparing our own revolution, of which the struggle for the liberation of all oppressed people, including gay people, is an indispensable condition for victory of the revolution.”

Next: Historic WWP contribution: Publication of “The Gay Question” by Bob McCubbin
source from : http://www.workers.org/2006/us/lavender-red-80/

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network

2009-09-23T07:24:00.001-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is a national organization comprising lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and allied individuals who wish to put an end to discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in K-12 schools in the United States. There are nearly 40 chapters of the organization around the United States.

The organization supports Gay-Straight Alliances along with sponsoring the annual National Day of Silence and No Name-Calling Week and providing resources for teachers on how to support LGBT students. It also sponsors and participates in a host of other "Days of Action," including TransAction!, Ally Week and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Organizing Weekend.
Mission

The organization's mission statement reads,
“ The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. We believe that such an atmosphere engenders a positive sense of self, which is the basis of educational achievement and personal growth. Since homophobia and heterosexism undermine a healthy school climate, we work to educate teachers, students and the public at large about the damaging effects these forces have on youth and adults alike. We recognize that forces such as racism and sexism have similarly adverse impacts on communities and we support schools in seeking to redress all such inequities. GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes in creating a more vibrant and diverse community. We welcome as members any and all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or occupation, who are committed to seeing this philosophy realized in K-12 schools.
History
Founded as the Gay and Lesbian Independent School Teachers Network (GLSTN) in 1990, the organization began as a local volunteer group of 70 gay and lesbian educators. At that time, there were two Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in the nation, only one state with policy in place to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, and a general lack of awareness of the needs of LGBT students. LGBT youth did not have a voice in the education community or in the LGBT movement. There were few, if any, resources available for teachers to discuss LGBT issues.

However, groups of concerned individuals began to establish chapters across the country, advocating locally and regionally for safe schools for students who were, or were perceived to be, LGBT.

In 1995 GLSTN became a national organization and hired its first full time staff person, GLSEN’s founder and Executive Director Kevin Jennings, (who is now Assistant Deputy heading the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education). In 1997, GLSTN staged its first national conference in Salt Lake City, UT, in order to respond to the legislature’s move to ban all student groups in an effort to prevent the formation of GSAs in the state. It is also this year that GLSTN changed its name to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, in order to attract new members to the struggle for safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

Currently, more than 3,600 GSAs have registered with GLSEN, which has approximately 40 full time staff, a governing board of 20 members and two advisory committees at the national level. In addition, nearly 40 Chapters are affiliated with GLSEN on local levels. At this point, GLSEN has successfully hosted more than 8 national conferences to bring together student leaders, educators, chapter leaders and activists. GLSEN also sponsors the National Day of Silence, in which hundreds of thousands of students participate each year. Students from more than 5,000 middle and high schools registered with GLSEN as 2007 Day of Silence participants.
more source from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay,_Lesbian_and_Straight_Education_Network

Sex education before safe sex education for gay men.

2009-09-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Maguire B; International Conference on AIDS.

ISSUE: Sex plays a major role for gay men who are just becoming sexually aware or active, in gaining peer approval and developing a place in the gay community. It is not enough to know about safe sex in order to avoid HIV or AIDS--skills are needed. Most gay men are too embarrassed to actively seek out gay sex information. Strategies in HIV prevention encouraging safer non-penetrative alternatives mistakenly assume that gay men automatically have the skills and techniques to perform these activities comfortably. De-stigmatisation of gay love-making and increased community discourse about gay sex can serve to counter a lack of access to gay sex information. PROJECT: Nitty Gritties is a free five session course offered to gay men of all ages. The course covers anatomy; physiology; self examination and sexual maintenance; sexual negotiation; safe sex; HIV, STD and opportunistic infection avoidance; unsafe sex and risk assessment, sexual techniques and other issues participants may wish to discuss. RESULTS: Men who have the sexual confidence to successfully negotiate sex itself find less difficulty in negotiating safe sex. Sexual risk assessment often involves sophisticated cognitive processes, which may be ill-informed, HIV-phobic or inconsistent. Gay male knowledge of anatomy, physiology and sex technique is very poor. CONCLUSION: Participants report increased skills and comfort in all stated course objectives.
Publication Types:

* Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

* Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
* HIV Infections
* HIV Seropositivity
* Homosexuality
* Homosexuality, Male
* Humans
* Interpersonal Relations
* Male
* Patient Education as Topic
* Peer Group
* Safe Sex
* Sex Education
* Social Behavior

Other ID:

* 98399212

UI: 102230393

From Meeting Abstracts
more detail from : http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102230393.html

How Abstinence Education Leaves Out Gay Teens

2009-09-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

What is Abstinence-Only Education

Abstinence education is a federally funded program that runs in schools around the country. In addition to ignoring information about condoms, birth control and sexual expression, it excludes gay teens and teaches that the only place to have sex is in a heterosexual marriage.
The History of Abstinence Education

Sometimes called abstinence-only education, abstinence education was introduced 10 years ago under the Clinton administration.

When George Bush came into office a few years later, he dramatically increased the funding for the program.

In the first few years of the program, only California rejected the funding. However, by 2005 two other states had also decided to turn it down. By 2008 fewer than half the states were still accepting it!

But that still means that plenty of teens are getting some pretty skewed information.
What Does Abstinence Education Teach?

Federally funded abstinence programs require schools to follow a very rigid curriculum which:

* has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;
* teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school-age children;
* teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other associated health problems;
* teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity
* teaches that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects; teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child’s parents and society.

How Abstinence Education Excludes Gay Teens

The last time I checked, same sex marriage was only legal in Massachusetts, Iowa, Maine, Vermont and Connecticut. So teaching that sex outside of marriage is unacceptable is basically telling gay teens that unless they happen to live in those five states, they should never, in their lives, have sex!

Additionally, any of the programs have been found to perpetuate negative stereotypes about the GLBT community.For example, in 2004, California senator, Henry Waxman found abstinence education programs were teaching that half of all gay teens in America had AIDS!

In many programs, teachers are not allowed to discuss GLBT issues or sexual orientation at all.
What Gay Teens Can Do in an Abstinence Education Class
If you find yourself stuck in an abstinence education class you have a few options. You can educate yourself using reliable sources. If you are feeling brave, you can challenge some of what you are learning. But you can also think about taking action towards getting comprehensive sex education implemented in your school. This is a style of sex education which teaches about everything from sexual orientation, to condoms, sexual expression and the decision not to have sex.

Here are three resources that can help you do that:

* Planned Parenthood Federation of America: R.E.A.L. Kit
* SIECUS: Community Action Kit
* The ACLU: Take Issue, Take Charge

Being a GLBT teen can be hard enough. The last thing you need is a sex ed class that not only deprives you of life saving information, but which also ignores your existence or acts as if there is something wrong with you!
more detail from : http://gayteens.about.com/od/school/qt/abstinence.htm

Gay Teens Experiences with School Life

2009-09-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

School is a big part of teens' lives. Some GLBT youth have really positive experiences, but sadly, others do not. In fact, the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network did a school climate survey which found that almost 9 out of 10 GLBT students experienced harassment at school in the past year.

Here gay teens share some personal reflections on school that cover everything from coming out, to being involved with a GSA and getting bullied.soucre from : http://gayteens.about.com/od/school/ss/school_exps.htm

What Gay Youth Need to Know About Teens Teaching Teens

2009-09-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

Peer Education

When I was in college, I volunteered as a peer sexual health educator. This meant that after completing a semester long training program, I ran workshops for other students on things like safer sex, sexual orientation and HIV /AIDS. And while I wasn’t as polished as a professional, the experience was a really positive one, both for me, and I hope, for my classmates.
So why the need for peer education? The organization Advocates for Youth explains that,

“Research suggests that people are more likely to hear and personalize messages, and thus to change their attitudes and behaviors, if they believe the messenger is similar to them and faces the same concerns and pressures. Numerous studies have demonstrated that their peers influence youth's health behaviors—not only in regard to sexuality but also in regard to violence and substance use. Peer education draws on the credibility that young people have with their peers, leverages the power of role modeling, and provides flexibility in meeting the diverse needs of today's youth. Peer education can support young people in developing positive group norms and in making healthy decisions about sex."

So for example, if an adult stands up and begins to lecture a groups of teens on the importance of using a condom, they are more likely to tune out than if another kid tells them the same thing. Similarly, if a 45-year-old gay man comes to talk with teens about his experiences with sexual orientation, the kids are less likely to relate than if they were addressed by someone their own age.

A lot of different organizations run peer education training programs. Two good ones are, Planned Parenthood and Advocates for Youth.from site http://gayteens.about.com/od/school/a/peer_education.htm

Gay, Bisexual Teens at Risk for Eating Disorders

2009-09-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers may be at higher risk of binge-eating and purging than their heterosexual peers, starting as early as age 12, a new study finds. Past research has found connections between sexual orientation and the risk of eating disorders in adults — showing, for instance, that gay men have higher rates of symptoms than their heterosexual counterparts. Less has been known about how sexual orientation affects teenagers’ risks of various eating disorders. For the new study, researchers at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital Boston used data from a U.S. survey of nearly 14,000 12- to 23-year-olds to look at the relationship between sexual orientation and binge-eating and purging. They found heightened rates of binge-eating among both males and females who identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or “mostly heterosexual.” Purging, by vomiting or abusing laxatives, was also more common among these teens, the researchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Read the full story from ABCNews.
source from: http://biggaynews.com/gay-bisexual-teens-at-risk-for-eating-disorders/3346

Why girls flaunt their gay friends?

2009-09-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

Not every woman will admit it, but every girl loves having a gay friend. The ones who have’em, love to

Girls and their gay friends (Getty Images)

flaunt them!
Who can forget about the popular TV soap ‘Will and Grace,’ which outlined the life of a girl staying with her gay friend- always happy and gay. They were inseparable and could give any romantic couple a run for their money (sans all the action in the bed), such was their chemistry. Look around you and you will realise that guy friends and girl friends are losing their sheen, rather making way for gay friends. But what could possibly be the reason - after all the biggest flattery for any woman is to see a guy drool over her? We found out five reasons:

Feels attractive : A girl with a gay friend wants to drive home the point that she is so attractive and sexy that even gays are attracted to her. Irrespective of his sexual preference, she basks in the feeling that he prefers to stay by her side. “I feel every girl needs a gay friend. My gay friends are sexier than my other guy friends and I love to have them around me. It's therapeutic and makes me feel in control!” says writer Aindrita Dutta.

Feels cool and progressive : No matter how liberated our society is, when it comes to gay men, eyebrows are raised even today. So when people see a girl coolly walk in with her gay friend, they take notice. "I have noticed my girl pals do this all the time. They love the world to know that they are with their gay friend. It makes them feel one up on the others. He is like a ‘trophy’ friend," says MBA student Kirti Kapoor.

Gives emotional support : Since gay men are in touch with their emotional side, a girl always finds him great company in times of stress. Gay guys would not want to talk about girly bodily functions or want to wear make-up, but they give you a comforting shoulder. Call centre executive Ronita Bose feels, "Unlike other men, my gay pal will hear me out patiently; genuinely advise me if I have boyfriend issues without any malicious intentions. He won't try to take advantage of the situation."

Great partner for shopping : While a woman might get competitive shopping alongside a female friend, she can be rest assured when shopping with her gay friend. Most gay men can be completely honest with you and even be blatant if you are not looking sexy. If the dress is a misfit, he will not mince words. Laughs Shilpi Sinha, "When I go out with my gay friend, I always end up spending more. He encourages me to buy extravagantly, unlike my boyfriend and also compliments me when I need it the most."

Admire guys together : It is kind of necessary for gay men to talk about guys they feel attracted to, but then girls know that they would safely not be competing for the same man. It’s a lot of drama that both parties seem to love! "I enjoy going out to pubs or mall hopping with my gay friend. We admire men together and it's so much fun. It's an open world out there," quips air hostess Deepika Gosain. source from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/LIFE-STYLE/Relationships/Man-Woman/Why-girls-flaunt-their-gay-friends/articleshow/4720053.cms

Top 10 Reasons Gay Marriage Should Be Illegal

2009-09-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Reasons to Make Gay Marriage Illegal

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all like many of the principles on which this great country was founded; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of marriages like Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.
from site http://www.stopgeek.com/top-10-reasons-gay-marriage-should-be-illegal.html

Alberta Delays Gay Lesson Opt-Out

2009-09-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Alberta’s strange new law requiring teachers to notify parents before tackling any lessons dealing with sexual orientation has been delayed until next year so that the school boards can prepare formal procedures.

The Alberta Teacher Association as well as several large municipal school boards was against this bill from the start, but the provincial Conservative government has so far been adamant that the law is necessary for parents to be able to pull their children out of classes, preventing them from learning anything about gay issues.

The law was part of a revision to the Human Rights Act, which means that any teachers who violate the new law will see themselves before the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

The whole thing is a bad idea, so sparing an extra year’s worth of children from all this is welcome news. Too bad it’s not delayed indefinitely.

Gay history of the world

2009-09-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

Written and compiled by Anitra Budd & Angela WaldochPermission to republish
(Originally published on the WWW at
http://suphawut.com/gvb/gayly/gay_history1.htm)

Nearly every month, historians unveil new discoveries about the world's queer past. In fact, history is replete with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who have contributed significantly to world history even though the world's cultures have rarely condoned homosexuality. But going back as far as the dawn of human cultures complex enough to be called "civilizations," you can find references to GLBT people.
Let the Reader Beware

Any piece claiming to be a history of the world naturally invites skepticism and this piece is no different. Creating an accurate account of the world's queer history, one that weaves people and events into a cohesive narrative, can seem insurmountable. For some segments of history, early accounts are scarce and the sources vary widely in type. For other times, world regions and cultures, research into homosexuality has only recently begun.

Homophobia across time has played a significant role in documenting our history. In many parts of the world, homosexuality was a taboo subject, punishable by death. It wasn't until the identity politics of the late 20th century that gays and lesbians had a positive incentive to recognize each other, to unify as groups or to document any gatherings. In reality, they had more reasons for hiding their sexuality at all costs. To counter the misrepresentations of gay people as evil, immoral or perverted throughout history, we must share our stories.

Currently, the history of the world's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people reads like a compilation of vignettes, rather than a novel. Incidents occur and famous gays and lesbians come and go worldwide, but seldom are clear connections made, even when diverse cultures exist concurrently. In addition, many documented accounts of homosexuality bear the stamp of Western bias, especially as we get closer to modern history. This gives queer history a lopsided feel that should be rectified as time passes and as more scholars research cultures of other regions.

Remember these caveats as you travel back in time during this admittedly brief queer history. And enjoy it for what it is a collage of myriad fascinating stories rather than as an unrealistically straight line running from a definitive beginning to the present day. source: http://www.suphawut.com/gvb/gayly/gay_history1.htm

Gay College Crush My Gay College Crush Is Driving Me Crazy

2009-09-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi Mona,

I've had strong feelings for a guy for about a year now. The thing is, he doesn't know it. There are clues that tell me he was into me, but can I be wrong?

We are both in college, and last year we lived down the hall from each other. We shared the same bathroom and study lounge, etc. Although we saw each other a lot, we never talked. He is probably the first guy I was into, and whenever I was around him I shut down and closed up. He made me very nervous, but on the inside I was so happy to be around him. I constantly failed to make eye contact with him, which is something I regret now.

There were times when he would try to find an excuse to be around me. For example, he would come in the bathroom and use the sink (but it was obvious he had no need to). Also, while studying in the lounge, he would come in and sit next to me when there was plenty of other seats around. Sometimes when I got out of the shower and walked to my room, he would hurry down the hall to get a drink at the fountain or something. I just got the feeling that he wanted to be around me, but I was so nervous around him.

I am confused because he had pictures of women up in his room, and he would talk about "doing girls" his friends. Although I have never seen him kiss a girl or hold hands or anything, it makes me wonder whether or not I am wasting my time being attracted to this guy. Did he just want friendship or something more?

Confused College Guy

Dear Confused,

First, let's get the pictures of women and the spanking girl talk out of the way. This could have been a complete front, especially if he wasn't out. College is a hot bed for sexual exploration and discovery. His need to be near you could be seen as an innuendo, but the only way you could've been sure was to get to know him.

Given the past tense of your question, I'm assuming your neighbor has moved to another part of campus. It is, however, a very small world and an even smaller campus. You may have missed your room to room possibility this time, but if the opportunity strikes again step beyond the wall of anxiety and return his subtle hints. Don't come on too strong, this may only scare him away. Make him a friend or look for an excuse to talk to him. Play the game. As my best friend always tells me, "You gotta be in it to win it!"

Get the strength and return the glances. If he sits next to you, ask him to study together. I met my first boyfriend the same way. I avoided his glances and innuendos at first, and then started a conversation which later turned into me coyly giving him a kiss on the forehead one night. I clearly recall running home terrified after I did it. To my surprise, instead of making fun of my forwardness, he later called me and told me his crush was mutual. Take a chance and see if your crush can turn into first love.

Yours in love,
Mona
source from http://gaylife.about.com/od/gaysexquestionsanswers/qt/gaycollege.htm

Gay Student College Fair

2009-09-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

When prospective gay students look for a college or university, location, ranking and programs aren’t the only factors they consider. Often times, the climate towards GLBTQ students on campus and its reputation for safety influence their decision. After all, being accepted into a college or university is like being granted entrance into a scholastic community for four or more years.
This makes it all the more necessary for institutions to provide a safe and welcoming community for its gay students, who themselves seek a comfortable environment at a gay-friendly university.

In response to this growing need, the Youth Pride College Fair was organized to bring together prospective gay students and representatives from a wide selection of institutions from small rural colleges to major state universities.

"Many students experience anti-gay discrimination and harassment in high school," said Nathan DeCarolis, President of Youth Pride Alliance, the organization sponsoring the college fair. "We hope this event helps gay and straight students find colleges that welcome all students."

The college fair is organized by the Maret School, Office of College Counseling; the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education; Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays; Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League; and the Youth Pride Alliance and scheduled to coincide with the Youth Pride Day celebration.

How To Find a Gay and Lesbian Friendly College

2009-09-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Looking for a gay-friendly college environment? The climate on a college campus is an important factor when making a choice about a higher learning institution. Whether you are already out or plan on coming out in college, a gay-affirmative campus can foster memorable experiences. Here's how you can find a gay and lesbian friendly college:

Do your research.
Have you decided what you want to study or have a general area of interest? First, research schools based on their academic programs and your interest in their areas of study. Start with directories like Princeton Review's The Best 368 Best Colleges and U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2009. They publish annual rankings of colleges and universities based on region, academic programs and other criteria.

Check their discrimination policies.
Once you've narrowed your search, check each university's discrimination policies. Each school should publish their policies online or have them available in their administrative offices. Be weary if the school does not have a published discrimination policy or ones that don't mention sexual orientation or gender expression.

Check for gender neutral housing.
A growing number of colleges and universities are offer gender neutral housing to meet the needs of their diverse student population. A campus with gender neutral housing has demonstrated that they are not only abreast of, but are concerned about their gay lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.

Search for LGBT clubs and organizations.
Search on the university web site for LGBT-based organizations. The more clubs and groups that they have, the better potential for a more gay-affirmative experience on campus. Not only do some of these groups lobby the university concerning gay issues, but many are social and support clubs that can assist you on campus. The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals publishes a directory of college and university offices that are run by at least one paid professional staff or graduate assistant directing LGBT resources.

Scan the course bulletin.
Have you spotted any lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer study themed courses in the college bulletin? Not only are these courses a good indicator of a campus' openness and diversification, but they may fit perfectly in your academic areas of interest.

Visit the campus and surrounding cities
The best indication of a college's environment is a campus visit. Schedule an appointment with the admissions office or attend an open house. Don't be shy about asking if the university has any of the above things mentioned. Also, cruise through surrounding cities, looking for gay activity in the area. Your college experience may expand outside of campus. Is there a gay center nearby? What about gay bars, clubs or cafes? The gay vibrancy of the surrounding area can often spill over into a more gay-friendly campus and vice versa.

Finding a gay and lesbian-friendly campus takes research, but the pay off comes in a more affirmative experience for you as a gay student on campus.
source : http://gaylife.about.com/od/gayteens/a/friendlycollege.htm

Gay Dating

2009-09-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

Gay Dating: How to find True Love?

You might find that it is difficult being gay and finding love. Here are a few pointers to help you succeed in the gay dating scene. First of all, it is most important to market yourself; you have to consider the image you project. This is a rule not just in gay dating but in all dating, you will attract the type of person who is attracted to the signs you are sending out. If you feel you are stuck in a rut in the gay dating scene and meeting the same type of guys or all the wrong guys perhaps you change your attitude. If you don’t usually smile at people, try giving them a quick grin of if you find yourself too uptight and stuffy, loosen up a bit. If you find yourself failing in the gay dating scene and frustrated because you are unable to find Mr. Right perhaps it is because you are unsure as to what you want. Make a list of qualities that you want in a man, and not just tall, dark, and handsome; think about the personality traits you are looking for in your ideal partner. This will definitely make gay dating a great deal easier if you know what you want; you don’t have to waste time with other men figuring out if they are right for you. Now that you have figured out what you want from a man, you have to go to the right places to find him. An important part aspect to success in gay dating is go where they go. If you are looking for a certain type of guy, you need to go to them. If you want a guy who is intellectual and loves to read, join a local book club or reading group. You are much more likely to find success in the gay dating scene if you know what you want and are able to go get it.

Looking for Love Online

Now, you may have busy lifestyle and the gay dating scene just may not be your friend. There are a plethora of online gay dating sites that will help you find the man of your dreams. Perhaps you don’t really have time to join a book club or aren’t really the bar/club type online gay dating sites could definitely help you get your love life back on track. However, online gay dating sites may not always be legitimate and you need to know for certain that you are on a safe website talking to real people and it’s not just a scam. Don’t be discouraged there are as many legitimate online gay dating sites as there are shady ones. Many online gay dating sites offer free registration, photo, and profile posting. When it comes to responding or writing to somebody you are interested in, many online gay dating sites do charge a fee but they are usually nominal and will not break the bank. If you live in a city, where people are constantly on the go it may be difficult to meet people therefore online gay dating sites could truly benefit you. There is some stigma surround online gay dating sites, about the nature of the people on it and the type of relationships they are looking for. However, that is no longer the case now and the old thought that those who used online gay dating sites were desperate is also no longer the case. It is just an alternative to meeting somebody at the bar or else where. I mentioned it above, safety is definitely a huge issue in online gay dating sites however it is an issue everywhere. Safety is a concern when you are at a bar or walking back home, gay online dating sites at least allow you to screen who you meet so if you find somebody to be shady you don’t have to talk to them or meet them.

If you are having trouble in the gay dating scene follow some of the pointers above, be open, and you are sure to have some success. source http://www.gaylife.org/

Back To School Gay

2009-09-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

Exploring your sexuality as well as your scholastic interests? I came out in college. Here are are the things I would've done differently and what you can do to better your college experience as a gay man
Tips for Gay College Students
Are you gay and out in college? Or, are you planning on coming out in college? College is much less insular than high school campuses can be. It's a great time to explore your interests and your sexuality.

I didn't come out until I went to college. Here are the things I would've done differently and suggestions on how you can better your college experience as a gay man:

Dorms and Residence Halls
Living in a residence hall as a freshman was the first time I ever lived on my own. It was overwhelming at first, but I was excited to get away from home. I knew I was attracted to guys; but I was way too scared to explore my feelings so I stayed in the closet for a while. I was also somewhat distant from my co-ed hall mates. I feared my secret might ruin my new friendships.

* What I would have done differently: Looking back on the situation, most of the guys and girls around me were also excited about being away from home and exploring their own interests. Months later, when I did come out, I found that most of them didn't care at all. I wasted great bonding time and denied myself some wonderful experiences by not being myself. Of course, you should only come out when you are ready (and I wasn't at the time), but try not to make assumptions about your new suite or hall mates. They are looking to find themselves in their own ways. You are entitled to the same.

Finding Gay Friends
After months of thinking I was the only one, I ran across a guy in one of my classes that I had a feeling was gay. Tired of having no one to talk with about my sexuality, I did everything I could to befriend him. I joined his math group. I asked if he wanted to study together. I made random comments about lecture. We eventually became good friends and came out to each other.

* What I would have done differently: I invested a lot of time trying to figure out if one guy was gay, as if he was my only option. And while it paid off and I had a new gay friend, looking back I would've explored more. There were many gay and gay-friendly groups on campus that I could have joined to meet other gay people. I could have also reached out and befriended more of my dorm friends. I later found out that they knew other gay people and could've made a connection. When looking for gay friends on campus, don't put all of your hopes on one person. Explore and be proactive about your search.

Dating
I longed for a boyfriend, especially after I started meeting gay friends. I would chat with guys online, but either couldn't get up the nerve to meet them or I just didn't think they were a good fit. I didn't give up my search, though. I knew eventually I would make a connection with a guy I liked. But when I did meet my first boyfriend, it was in the most unlikely of places–a club I joined. It wasn't a gay club, but there were gay guys in it. Me and a few of the guys eventually became friends since we spent so much time together at club meetings. One of the guys and I became especially close. He was my first boyfriend and my first love.

* What I would have done differently: Prior to meeting my first boyfriend, I became more and more eager to find a man. It would have been best if I let the situation happen instead of letting my desperation drive my actions. Usually, the best dating situations happen in the most unlikely of circumstances. When I stopped seeking, I found a great guy. Just like making gay friends, it's best to get out there and explore social or academic options on campus. You and another great single guy will eventually find each other. Another lesson I learned was taking a more active role in my safety, which brings me to the next topic.

Online Hook Ups and Campus Safety
Meeting someone online is a cool way to get to know them–initially. I would chat with guys online during study breaks and off time. I developed an entire network of online buddies. But, after some time I wanted to meet them face-to-face. No online dating questionnaire or number of chat hours can replace an in-person chemistry check.

* What I would have done differently: There were many times when I would meet up with online guys only to discover that we didn't quite connect in person. Also, I didn't take my safety into account enough times. Unfortunately, not everyone online is on the up and up. You should always follow these safety tips before meeting an online buddy in person. Also, if you have a suite mate or close buddy, give them your schedule and keep them up on where you are traveling around campus (especially at night). It's always better to side with safety.

Sex
Some people choose to explore same gender sexual experiences while in college. A first same-sex experience can either be a wowing confirmation of your emotional attractions or not at all what you expect (or a little bit of both).

* Suggestions: Take your time when exploring your the physical aspects of your sexuality. There is no rush, nor does a prize go to the quickest explorer. It's best to be selective about who you experience with. Know the person, get proof of their HIV status, practice safer sex, and always keep your safety in mind.

Gay

2009-09-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637
The term later began to be used in reference to homosexuality, in particular, from the early 20th century, a usage that may have dated prior to the 19th century
In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and occasionally as a noun, that refers to the people, practices, and culture associated with homosexuality. By the end of the 20th century the word gay was recommended by major style guides to describe people attracted to members of the same sex
At about the same time, a new, pejorative use became prevalent in some parts of the world. In the UK, U.S., and Australia, this connotation, among younger generations of speakers, has a derisive meaning equivalent to rubbish or stupid (as in "That's so gay."). In this use the word does not mean "homosexual", so that it can be used, for example, of an inanimate object or abstract concept of which one disapproves, but the extent to which it still retains connotations of homosexuality has been debated.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay

What is gay culture?

2009-09-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

Illustration: A Richard Allen

When Time Out New York’s queer staffers sat down to figure out what would go into a feature about “gay culture,” we quickly realized it would be no easy task. Did we want to tackle it in the classic, universal sense—as in Judy Garland, campy drag shows and Stone Butch Blues? Did we want to talk about new queer indie films, and why they are often low-budget and unimpressive? Or about the hottest, freshest talents around, and how they’re shaking up media ranging from music and downtown theater to edgy lit and trans burlesque? ...

Maybe it's us, but it seems harder and harder to keep track of who's gay (Lindsay Lohan?) what's gay (Trader Joe's?) and what any of it means. Read on for our humble attempt to make sense of it all.

We thought about trying to figure out why queer women and men are so separate—and why they then separate themselves further, as with the bears and the twinks and the rocker dykes and the lipstick Jersey girls and the genderqueers. Not to mention nightlife’s deep (and oft-unspoken) racial divide that sends some partyers to Splash and Henrietta’s and others to Escuelita or Lover Girl.

Then there is the ever-present generation gap. It can seem particularly wide in our community, with folks over 30 still generally feeling a need to connect with some sort of LGBT culture—whether it’s by catching the latest Paul Rudnick play or ducking into a lively piano bar for the evening—while queers in their twenties and younger may have less of a need to belong to anything other than society at large. They came out in their teens, after all, and find themselves more or less accepted everywhere they go. Why cling to old-fashioned notions of barroom communities and identity art?

These questions and issues tend to hit us with force every year at this time, as June is Gay Pride month (and an especially proud one in 2008, after California’s gay-marriage victory). To mark it, make sure to hit at least one of the marches, parades and festivals that span the five boroughs, beginning Sunday 1 in Jackson Heights. That event, Queens Pride ’08, remains one of the city’s most vibrant, least commercialized and most ethnically diverse festivals. Check it out and you could find yourself thinking—amid Colombian drag queens, gay cops, queer-youth groups and flocks of Indian families applauding on the sidelines—that you’ve just stepped into the very heart of the elusive gay culture.

In the meantime, though, we realize that we don’t have all the answers—but we do know that it’s the questions themselves that really matter. So we decided to continue the discussion outside of our bubble, with local LGBT culture makers, to bring even more expressions of queerness into the mix. To that end, we’ve assembled a panel of writers, artists and performers to bounce our ideas off of, and to add to our already complex image of what gay culture might be. It may be a difficult concept to pin down, but it sure is an exciting one to ponder.

Beth Greenfield, Gay & Lesbian editor

from: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/features/29935/what-is-gay-culture/2.html#ixzz0QOPjajKv

Floating villages on the Tonle Sap

2009-08-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

Local residents rest on a boat on Tonle Sap Lake, northwest of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Aug. 19, 2009. Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, covering an area of 2,500-3,000 square kilometers during the dry season. In recent years, Tonle Sap Lake has become a famous scenic spot for tourists from all over the world, who have interest in the lifestyle of local residents living in floating villages around the lake. (Xinhua/Lin Yiguang)
Local vendors sell vegetables and fruits on a boat on Tonle Sap Lake, northwest of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Aug. 19, 2009.(Xinhua/Lin Yiguang)
Local residents live on a floating water dwelling on Tonle Sap Lake, northwest of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Aug. 19, 2009.(Xinhua/Lin Yiguang)
Foreign tourists take a tour by boat on Tonle Sap Lake, northwest of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Aug. 19, 2009.(Xinhua/Lin Yiguang)
Local fishmen return home after a day's work by boat on Tonle Sap Lake, northwest of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Aug. 19, 2009.(Xinhua/Lin Yiguang)
Children play on Tonle Sap Lake, northwest of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Aug. 19, 2009.(Xinhua/Lin Yiguang)

The stport News

2009-08-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

O'Neal takes on dominant athletes in other sports
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Years after dubbing himself as professional basketball's most dominant center, Shaquille O'Neal takes on dominant athletes in other sports in a competition series premiering on Tuesday night on ABC.

In the premiere of "Shaq VS," the 7-foot-1-inch NBA star, who has never played organized football, will quarterback a team in a seven-on-seven game, with two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger quarterbacking the other team.

O'Neal prepared for tonight's episode by training for a week under the tutelage of Charlie Batch, Roethlisberger's backup quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Later episodes will have O'Neal play against the Olympic gold medal-winning beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor; box 10-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya; swim against 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps; play tennis against 11-time grand slam singles champion Serena Williams; and compete against St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols in a home run hitting contest.

O'Neal will be given an advantage in several of the events in an attempt to increase their competitiveness.

O'Neal said he is doing the series because "I represent the male bravado couch potato."

"I don't really consider myself one of those salad-eater, elite athletes," O'Neal said in an interview during ABC's portion of there cent Television Critics Association summer press tour. "I'm just a regular guy with a lot of heart and determination that thinks he can do anything."

O'Neal said if he does win a challenge, it will probably be "because it was handicapped anyway."

"I'm not doing this to show anybody up," said O'Neal, who was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a trade from the Phoenix Suns this summer and said he may retire if the team wins this season's NBA championship.

O'Neal said he has no fear of injury participating in the series.

"Most of the time, I'm just training, so I don't see how I can be hurt training," O'Neal said.

Cleveland general manager Danny Ferry said late last month that he was "looking forward to seeing him do all this stuff."

"We talked through things to make sure no one would get hurt," Ferry said. "It's all in good fun. It's good for the NBA. He enjoys doing this stuff."

When he boxes De La Hoya, who stands 5 feet 10, O'Neal said he will wear headgear and is "not going to go all out."

"I may give it to him once or twice. I know he may give it to me once or twice, but it's not going to be an all-out heavyweight brawl," said O'Neal, whose listed weight of 325 pounds is more than double De La Hoya's final 145-pound fighting weight.

AIDS patients...

2009-08-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

AIDS patients struggle in isolated Cambodian town

Guatemala's Beteta assumes as subregional director of UN ECLAC-Mexico

2009-08-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Guatemala's former Finance Minister Hugo Beteta assumed on Monday as the new director of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)'s subregional headquarters in Mexico City, a UN press release said

During Oscar Berger's presidency, Beteta served as planning minister from 2004 to 2006, then as finance minister from 2006 to 2008.

He was the first Central American named Secretary of the Inter-American Development Bank in 2007. He also served as alternate governor of the International Monetary Fund and as president of Inter-American Investment Corporation.

He holds a civil engineering degree from Rafael Landivar University and has received Spain's Order Isabella the Catholic for his contribution to the Inter-American Dialogue.

OECD chief urges Mexico to seek green growth, cut fuel subsidies

2009-08-24T20:00:00.001-07:00

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Mexico should seek a green growth and cut fuel subsidies to boost both the economy and clean energy, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Jose Angel Gurria, said at a Monday conference organized by Mexico's Environment Ministry.

"Green growth is an opportunity for exports, jobs and wealth," Gurria told the conference. "Developing green technology could be a business opportunity for Mexico."

He said that global spending on alternative fuels could top 500billion U.S. dollars by 2020, and cited the success story of Denmark, which has become the world's biggest exporter of wind turbines though its geographical conditions are not so favorable for the development of wind energy.

"There exists a bad caricature that the choice is between economic growth and the environment," Gurria said. However, there are many cases where that has not been the case, he stressed.

The U.S. state of "California's Global Warming Solutions Act could create hundreds of thousands of jobs by making California a center of innovation," he noted.

He also called on Mexico to cut subsidies that hurt the environment, including policies like setting the price of fuels below the international price, even though the nation imports around 40 percent of the fuel it consumes.

"Doing so will save the government and taxpayers money and help raise economic efficiency," he said. Last year, when U.S. citizens crossed into northern Mexico to buy cheaper fuel, much of which was originally imported from the United States, the Mexican government was losing money on every sale, he noted.

"In Mexico, over the next 20 years, low oil production will pressure the government's ability to spend on social programs. Investing in clean energy will reduce the government's dependence on oil and raise Mexico's competitiveness," he said.

The Mexican government gets around 40 percent of its annual income direction from state-run energy giant Pemex, which is producing less oil each year as Cantarell, the supergiant field that has been its mainstay since the 1970s, enters a final decline. A carbon tax could help compensate for this, Gurria suggested.

Real Madrid crushes Rosenborg 4-0, wins Santiago Bernabeu trophy

2009-08-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Real Madrid's Raul (L) and Jose Maria Gutierrez "Guti" hold up the trophy after their victory over Rosenborg during their Santiago Bernabeu trophy soccer match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid August 24, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

U.S. heart group recommends limits on added sugar intake

2009-08-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- People are recommended to limit their added sugar consumption by the American Heart Association in a statement as quoted by news agencies Tuesday.

The organization said on Monday most women should take in no more than 100 calories of added sugar per day, or six teaspoons, while for most men the recommendation is just 150 calories or nine teaspoons.

The recommendation is far below the 22 teaspoons or 355 calories of average sugar consumption by the Americans per day, according to data gathered during a national nutrition survey between 2001 and 2004.

Added sugars offer no nutritional value other than calories to the diet, and too much sugar intake not only makes people fat, but also increases their risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, according to the statement.

The recommendation only applies to the added sugars, which are added to foods during manufacturing or by consumers, including sugar in soft drinks, candy, desserts and sweetened dairy products such as ice cream and yogurt. Sugar that occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables, dairy products and other foods is not included.

The organization particularly aimed at the soft drinks, which the organization said is the No. 1 source of added sugars in the U.S. diet. It said many studies have shown a correlation between higher intake of sweetened beverages and obesity.

For example, one 12-ounce (0.35 liter) can of regular soda contains roughly 130 calories, which already exceeds a woman's daily sugar budget.

The organization also suggested that if people want to eat more sweet treats, they need to increase their sugar budget by becoming more physically active.

(Agnecies)

Experts from American countries discuss vaccination strategies against A/H1N1 flu

2009-08-24T19:58:00.002-07:00

SAN JOSE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A group of 150 immunization specialists from American countries met on Monday in Costa Rica to discuss vaccination strategies against the A/H1N1 flu, said the Pan American Health Organization (PHO).

Members of the PHO Advisor Technical Group (GTA), which meet biennially on disease immunization, eradication and elimination, attended the meeting.

The meeting, which will last for three days, is expected to focus on how to protect the most vulnerable groups against the A/H1N1 pandemic.

"The meeting will discuss the A/H1N1 flu vaccination recommendations, whether it should be kept a seasonal vaccination in case of a pandemic and who will be first to be vaccinated," the PHO said in a statement.

Experts from Argentina, Canada and the United States joined the delegates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in the meeting.

Nicaragua confirms second A/H1N1 flu death

2009-08-24T19:58:00.001-07:00

MANAGUA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Nicaragua confirmed its second A/H1N1 influenza death on Monday, the Health Ministry announced.

A 44-year-old female patient from Costa Rica died in a hospital in Managua, Health Minister Guillermo Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the patient, who was probably infected with the disease when she arrived in the country, was hospitalized for 12 hours before death.

Nicaragua confirmed its first A/H1N1 flu death on Aug. 12 as a 30-year-old patient from Cruz del Rio Grande in the Caribbean region died of the virus.

So far, Nicaragua has reported 775 infections since the first case in the country was confirmed in June.

Panama reports 8 suspected A/H1N1 flu cases

2009-08-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

PANAMA CITY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Panamanian health authorities reported on Monday eight suspected cases of A/H1N1 flu in the Atlantic city of Colon, 80 km to Panama City.

Regional director for the Health Ministry Aurelio Pineda told the press Monday that there were pregnant women and children among the possibly infected patients.

The medical staff directly assisted these patients and their blood samples were taken to the Commemorative Institute Gorgas, whose lab is specialized on A/H1N1 virus detection, Pineda said.

The ministry has a program of quick response in the Atlantic coast in case the patients test positive of A/H1N1 flu, he added.

The national authorities have reported a total of 654 confirmed cases, including eight deaths.

Panama reported its first case on May 8 and since then it launched a massive preventive campaign to stop the virus from spreading.

Over 1,000 new A/H1N1 flu cases confirmed in Europe

2009-08-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A European health agency said on Monday that 1,048 new A/H1N1 flu cases were reported in European countries within the last 24 hours.

Of the new cases, 585 were confirmed in Germany, 223 in Portugal and 207 in Greece while other cases were reported in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Finland, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its daily situation report.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases of the A/H1N1 flu virus in the EU (European Union) and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries increased to 43,152, with 14,325 cases in Germany, 12,957 in Britain, 2,210 in Portugal, 1,631 in Greece and 1,538 in Spain, the ECDC said.

The total number of fatal cases rose to 93, with nine new fatal cases from France and one from Spain, the ECDC added.

The ECDC publishes a daily situation report about the H1N1 flu cases in the EU and EFTA countries based on official information from these countries

U.S. heart group recommends limits on added sugar intake

2009-08-24T19:56:00.001-07:00

BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- People are recommended to limit their added sugar consumption by the American Heart Association in a statement as quoted by news agencies Tuesday.

For example, one 12-ounce (0.35 liter) can of regular soda contains roughly 130 calories, which already exceeds a woman's daily sugar budget.

The organization also suggested that if people want to eat more sweet treats, they need to increase their sugar budget by becoming more physically active.

(Agnecies)

S Korea, DPRK to hold family reunion talks

2009-08-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The two Koreas decided to hold family reunion talks from Aug. 26 to 28 at the DPRK's Mount Kumgang resort, South Korea's unification ministry said Tuesday.

According to Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung, Pyongyang accepted Seoul's earlier proposal to hold talks on reunion of families separated during the Korean War.

Seoul's proposal, made last week, came after an earlier agreement reached between DPRK leader Kim Jong-il and South Korea's Hyundai Group Chief Hyun Jeong-eun to resume the reunion move.

Japan Meteorological Agency wrongly issues strong quake alarm

2009-08-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

TOKYO, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a false alarm saying a strong earthquake was imminent in Tokyo and surrounding areas early Tuesday, casing subway and other train services to briefly halt shortly before morning rush hour, Kyodo News reported.

The quake warning was issued around 6:37 a.m., but no jolt perceptible to people was observed in the region, the agency said, blaming the error on a possible computer glitch.

The alert caused Tokyo Metro to suspend services on eight of its subway lines for two to nine minutes, including halting trains, but the timetables were restored by 8 a.m. Other railways were also affected.

A quake centered under the sea east of Chiba Prefecture occurred after the alarm, and the agency said its quake alert system may have misjudged signals of this tremor, Kyodo said.

The system is designed to release a warning when a strong quake of intensity at least lower 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 is forecast based on minor initial tremors detected by seismometers

Pakistan seeks assistance in Istanbul

2009-08-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

ISTANBUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrived here on Monday to attend the ministerial meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP), the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said Monday that Pakistan is trying to engage the private sector of FoDP countries to participate more and more in Pakistani investment and trade activities, said the report.

The Istanbul meeting of FoDP, which aims at finding solutions to the problems of Pakistan, will provide assistance to the Pakistani government in the fields of education, health, energy, economy and local administration.

A pilot project, which touches upon the reconstruction and rehabilitation of displaced people in the Malakand division as well as the prospect of cooperation in public and private sectors, will be discussed at the meeting.

Representatives from 20 countries and 6 international organizations will participate in the two-day meeting, among whom were U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.

Qureshi will also hold formal talks with his Turkish counterpart, according to the report.

Singapore official reiterates commitment to security for APEC meeting

2009-08-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

SINGAPORE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng on Monday reiterated the city state's commitment to security for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting which will be held here in November this year.

According to Channel NewsAsia reports on Monday night, Wong, who is also Singapore's Home Affairs Minister, said that the country is not letting its guard down.

Stressing that he understood the regional security situation, he said the city state is widely exposed to threats by people who want to do the city state harm.

The key is to ensure that the country remains a hard target for terrorists, he added.

Leaders from the 21-member group will attend the two-day meeting from Nov. 14 to 15.

In recent days, there were media reports of a plot to attack the APEC meeting that was uncovered during investigations into the Jakarta bombings in July. But on Sunday, Singapore's Law and Second Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam called them "unverified rumors".

The Sesan Krom II Hydro-Electric Dam Affects Nine Villages – Monday, 24.8.2009

2009-08-24T19:50:00.001-07:00

Posted on 25 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 627
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“Phnom Penh: The Sesan Krom II hydro-electric dam in Phluk village along the Sesan River in Stung Treng, to be constructed with a height of 75 meters from the bottom of the river, with resulting lake having a total length of more than 10 km, will flood more than 30,000 hectares of land and force about 5,000 citizens of nine villages above the Sesan Hydro-electric dam to move out.

“The environment projects officer of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, Mr. Tonn Kunthel, said, ‘The Sesan Krom II hydro-electric dam, to be built from early of 2010 to 2015, will affect nine villages in Sesan district lying along the Srae Pok River: Srae Kor 1, Srae Kor 2, Srae Sranok, Kbal Romeas, Kbal Spean Srae Pok, Krabei Chrum, Khsach Thmey, Svay Rieng, and Rumpot villages.’

“Mr. Tonn Kunthel added that ‘the 75-meter-heigh dam will submerge farm land of more than 30,000 hectares of the community and the National Road 13 from Stung Treng to Ratanakiri, worrying minority people who live along the Srae Pok River.’

“He went on to say that the environmental impacts will happen through the change in the flow of water: destructive floods which contaminate the water, landslides, loss of private land, loss of fish shelters and other water-borne life, and the sources of water-borne diseases affect the health of people in the community.

“All ethnic minority people living along the river will have to relocate to new villages far from their current villages, where the soil is not fertile enough for farming, and they will have to give up the crops that are providing good yields in their current villages.

“The Ratanakiri deputy governor, Mr. Mom Saroeun, said on 20 August 2009 in a celebration in Ratanakiri to mark the seventh anniversary of the three-river system â€“ Sesan, Srae Pok, and Sekong rivers, ‘Development cannot avoid certain impacts that we try to steer clear of.’ He added, ‘First we need to assess the impacts on the society, the economy, and the environment, especially to organize plans with the participations from all relevant institutions and from the communities, before any projects are finally decided.’

“Mr. Mom Saroeun said, ‘We will work together to take responsible actions to solve for existing problems emerging from the impacts, where we had found that there are more negative impacts than positive ones, and more loss than gain; project developers have to decide whether projects should be implemented or not, but their decisions must be really correct.’

“He added that not all developments yield profits, but they can also affect the society, the economy, and the environment.

“The Phluk Village chief, Mr. Khean Bun Heng â€“ a 43-year-old person from a Laotian ethnic minority, told Deum Ampil at his village, ‘More than 800 villagers of the 227 families in Phluk village that would be affected by the Sesan Krom II hydro-electric dam, do not want that some companies construct a hydro-electric dam up-stream from their village, because they fear that the dam might break, flooding their houses, damaging their property, and killing them.’

“Representing Phluk villagers, the Phluk village chief asks the Cambodian government to cancel the contract to construct the dam.

“Mr. Choeum Kea, chief of the Kbal Romeas village, which lies up-stream from where the Sesan Krom II hydro-electric dam is to be built, in Kbal Romeas commune, Sesan district, Stung Treng, told Deum Ampil that citizens of the 120 families in Kbal Romeas village will be forced to move away from the Srae Pok River, because the village will be flooded with a water level more than 30-meter above the village. This village chief added that the Phnoung ethnic people in the village do not want to relocate to new places.

“He explained that all people of the Phnoung community in the village are doing farming on fertile land and respect the spirits believed to be protecting them. At new places for settlement, the land is not fertile and has many stones. It is a low-lying area where it is difficult to establish a village, because the area is regularly flooded and under standing water.

“It should be noted that the Sesan Krom II hydro-electric dam in Sesan district, Stung Treng, is planned to be constructed from early 2010 to 2015. The companies managing the plan are a company from Vietnam, Power Engineering Consulting Corporation 1 (PECC1), and a Cambodian company, Key Consultants Cambodia (KCC), investing approx. US$816 million. According to a Memorandum of Understanding achieved in 2007, between the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Energy of Cambodia and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the EVN will study the implementation of the Sesan Krom II project by assessing also the environmental impacts.

“The Sesan Krom II hydro-electric dam will generate more than 400 megawatt for the provinces around Stung Treng, and the rest of the electricity will also be sold to Vietnam and Laos.â€?

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #270- 23-24.8.2009

ACID ATTACKS: A cruel way to get even

2009-08-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.nst.com.my

MARIAM MOKHTAR, Ipoh
2009/08/25

I RECOIL in horror at the mutilation of a police constable and his girlfriend by his ex-wife ("Wife splashes acid on cheating hubby" -- NST, Aug 18).

Sadly, thousands of women in South Asia, particularly Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Cambodia, have suffered the same fate.

Most of the victims are injured in violent attacks involving acid which has become a way of getting even.

The attacks are a male backlash against modern women who have become socially and financially independent.

It has also been documented that the attacks are a common form of revenge by men who have been jilted, spurned or who are involved in a dispute.

It is an evil act whether it is done by a man or woman. The perpetrator may not want to kill the victim but in some perverse way wants to do something that will make the victim suffer for the rest of his or her life.

Acid eats away flesh and even bones. It causes terrible pain and shock. It also induces terror. Victims are inflicted for the rest of their lives with permanent disabilities such as blindness and disfigurement.

Survivors face social isolation and rejection. Few survivors can afford reconstructive surgery. None can fully recover from the horrible ordeal and for many, it is a fate worse than death.

Unmarried women who are victims may never marry. The social stigma, loss of self-esteem and economic rejection is enough to break anybody's will and spirit.

It is a tragedy for the policeman and his girlfriend to have suffered this fate. But what is worse is that his ex-wife is the saddest and most tragic figure of this crime.

EDITORIAL Hitting crime at the borders

2009-08-24T19:49:00.001-07:00

Bangkok Post

http://www.bangkokpost.com

Published: 25/08/2009

Cooperation has steadily increased in recent years among the six nations that share the resources of the Mekong River. That is not to say that Thailand, China, Laos, Burma, Vietnam and Cambodia see eye-to-eye on every common problem. But the constant meetings, especially at rural and riverside locations, have steadily brought the six nations closer. Trade, transportation and other fields have prospered.

Now Thailand is pushing its five neighbours to set up a network of border monitors to stem the flow of illicit drugs. The only question is, what took so long?

Chief architect of this excellent plan is Krissana Pol-anand, secretary of the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB). This is fitting. Over the past three decades, the major anti-drug targets by Thai police and officials has been in the area of the Mekong. Indeed, the Golden Triangle, arguably the world's most notorious centre of drug trafficking, lies where the mighty river separates Thailand from Burma and Laos.

From the time that the Thai government began to seriously tackle narcotics trafficking in the early 1970s, the Golden Triangle has figured in the effort.

During the worst years, the area - including Thai territory - was under the influence if not the actual control of drug warlords like Lo Hsing-han and his successor Khun Sa. Drug gangs controlled farmers, forcing them to grow opium for a pittance. The gangs bought protection in the three countries of the Triangle, sometimes high-ranking protection.

But even when the Thai army ran Khun Sa out of northern Thailand and back inside Burma, there was little cooperation among the six Mekong governments - if any. The generals who controlled Burma were believed at times to be in cahoots with the top drug lords of the heroin trade. China remained aloof, as did Vietnam. Cambodia considered it was not even involved in the problem.

Two major events occurred in the 1990s that changed all of that, hopefully forever. The first was the decision by the Burmese drug traffickers to begin producing and selling methamphetamines to neighbouring countries. This quickly became a bigger problem than the overall heroin trade. It involved China and Cambodia by enslaving their citizens, and by using their territories to smuggle and to sell both the old opiates and the new speed pills.

This occurred as the six Mekong riparian nations were finding that it was more productive to stress and seek common goals than to argue and bicker uselessly over disputes. The Mekong itself became recognised as a resource that must be shared. And while there are still many disagreements over the river, the common goals have brought the six nations into a formal union that embraces far wider goals.

One of these goals must be better cooperation against the international traffickers in drugs, people and illicit goods. Indeed, if anything, Mr Krissana's plan for a six-nation network of border posts deserves to be immediately expanded to cover all facets of international crime.

The plan envisions a literal network of border posts, constantly interacting with one another to share information on possible criminal activity. This is a hugely feasible project, given the state of advanced communications in all six countries. Computer, satellite and mobile phone networks already exist. These could be tapped and used in the proposal for a six-nation defence system. Cross-border crime of all kinds causes common security dangers. The Mekong Region countries should begin immediately to flesh out this excellent ONCB plan, and put it into operation as quickly as possible.

Eradicate red tape — Angara

2009-08-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.journal.com.ph

August 25, 2009

By: Bernadette E. Tamayo

SEN. Edgardo Angara is saddened by a recent study by the World Bank and International Finance Corp. that it is easier to open business in Cambodia than in the Philippines.

The WB and IFC report said it would take only four days to start a business in Singapore, while in the Philippines it takes 52 days. The study also put the Philippines at 140th out of 181 countries on the ease of doing business.

“Our country, one of the lowest-ranked in the region, was behind Cambodia at 135 and only ahead of Laos at 165 and East Timor at 170. The average ranking for East Asia is 83,” Angara said.

Angara said the country should improve its business environment by eliminating “red tape” amid the global economic crisis affecting job creation and investment generation efforts. “Starting a business in the country takes an average of 18 procedures, 11 of which are required nationally and seven by local governments,” he said.

He noted that the IFC report, entitled Doing Business 2009, took into account the laws, rules and regulations that enhance or impede business activities.

Aside from cutting the time it takes to set up a business, Angara said it is also important to provide necessary infrastructure and human capital development.

Singapore demand and phony contracts sustain booming Mekong sand exports

2009-08-24T19:48:00.001-07:00

http://english.vietnamnet.vn

24/08/2009

VietNamNet Bridge – The volume of sand exported to Singapore from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta in the first half of 2009 was equivalent to the total exports of the last ten years. Ironically, most of it is shipped under falsely backdated contracts.

The many channels of the Mekong river are filled with sand dredging barges. Though the area has long supplied building sand to the Ho Chi Minh City region, its sand export business has not been considerable until now.

The Customs Office of Can Tho City reported that the volume of sand exported in the January-June period of 2009 rose dramatically to nearly 7 million tones, as much as was exported during the previous ten years.

The surge in exports was stimulated by Cambodia’s decision to ban further exports of its own river sand in order to reserve it for domestic use and limit further erosion of river banks.

Prior to May, while Cambodia still allowed sand exports, sand from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta was not favoured because it is of lower quality than Cambodian river sand.

Now, with the demand for sand by Singapore and some other countries in the region still on the rise, Vietnamese companies have lept at the opportunity to export this natural resource to Singapore, reports Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Nguyen The Hung, manager of a sand exploitation enterprise in Can Tho city, said that before Cambodia closed down sand exports, the prices for sand in the Mekong Delta were quite stable, from 15,000 to 17,000 per a cubic meter. Now, the prices are 25,000 to 30,000 per a cubic meter.

Cambodia exported its high grade sand to Singapore at the price of 90,000 dong per cubic meter. Currently, Vietnamese firms ship sand to Singapore for 40,000 dong per cubic meter. However, the profit from sand is still big because exporters can purchase sand at only 15,000-17,000 dong per cubic meter.

Vu Duc Hung of the River Police Bureau in Can Tho City said that since Cambodia banned sand exports, hundreds of sand barges travel on local rivers while sand ships of 10,000 tons or more anchor at Tra Noc and Cai Cui every day to take aboard sand from the barges. Each day around ten ships leave Vietnam, each carrying hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of sand.

Ironically, the booming sand export business is in patent violation of the intent of Vietnamese law. Prime Ministerial Instruction No. 29, issued in October 2008, established a temporary ban on Vietnam’s own exports of sand and gravel exploited from rivers and seas.

There was a huge loophole, however, exports could continue indefinitely under contracts signed before November 30, 2008. Based on this clause, sand is still exported to Singapore.

The deputy head of the Can Tho Customs Office, Nguyen Minh Thong, said that the the total volume of sand for export committed in contracts signed before November 30 2008reaches tens of millions of cubic meters.

“Lured by virtually unlimited profits,” Thong said, “sand exporters change the date of signing contracts to before November 30 2008 to continue exporting sand.” The customs official added that hisoffice is not responsible for controlling these contracts.”

Thong said that because sand is a limited natural resource, the government should study the matter and establish a sand exploitation plan. He said the Can Tho authorities have proposed the Prime Minister to reconsider the instruction on sand export.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

Dancing Away From Tragedy

2009-08-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro (right) teaching Khmer Arts Ensemble dancer Pum Molyta at the Khmer Arts Theater in Takhmao, Cambodia. Photo by James Wasserman.

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro '97 was among the first students to re-learn the classical dances of war-ravaged Cambodia. Now, she teaches the almost-lost art form and produces original choreography, which has been staged around the world.

By Angilee Shah
Contributing Writer

UCLA Magazine
http://www.international.ucla.edu

Khmer Arts Ensemble dancers Mot Pharan (left) and Sao Phirom in Sophiline Cheam Shapiro's Shir Ha-Shirim. Photo by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro

After the terrible violence of Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, the joy of dance returned to war-ravaged Cambodia. Sophiline Cheam Shapiro '97 was among the first students to re-learn the country's classical dances. Now, this National Heritage Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts is teaching the almost-lost art form in the Long Beach studio of her Khmer Arts Academy.

Cheam Shapiro's students are often the children of refugees; she hopes her students find inspiration in the arts the same way she did as a young girl who survived a terrible tragedy. "You can either run [from the past] or come back and help," she says. "I chose dance."

Cheam Shapiro is from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and at 8 years old, in 1975, she was forced to leave the city and work in the fields. It was the time of the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields of Cambodia. In four years, more than 1 million people — as many as 2.2 million by some estimates — were killed by the genocidal Communist regime. Among them were Cheam Shapiro's father and two brothers.

The Khmer Rouge saw Cambodian classical dance as a symbol of royal power, a backwards spectacle that went against the principles of a cultural revolution. But Cheam Shapiro saw it as resurrection of Cambodian cultural pride. When she returned to Phnom Penh with her mother in 1979, their house had been burnt to the ground. But her uncle, a well-known artist, had survived and begun the work of reviving classical art by creating an artists colony. He told Cheam Shapiro, then a teenager, that she could have a long career if she studied theater arts.

But she loved the slow and intricate movements, the representations of nature and life that infuse Cambodian dance. In 1988, she graduated from the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh (now the Royal University), part of the first class to master the now-rare art form after the Khmer Rouge was removed from power. She joined the university's faculty and performed her unique pieces around the world, including uniquely Cambodian adaptations of such English-language classics as Othello, and choreography that both built upon and challenged traditional forms.

In 1991, Cheam Shapiro moved to California with her husband. But she felt that she had lost her "sense of Cambodian-ness" and started practicing dance at home. She made her own practice costumes, and when she put them on she felt like she was maintaining her identity.

At UCLA, she graduated with a degree in dance ethnology. Since then, her choreography has been seen around the world. In 2002, she opened the Khmer Arts Academy with her husband, and more recently created the Khmer Arts Ensemble in Takhmao, outside of Phnom Penh. The 29-member troupe of dancers and musicians has performed Cheam Shapiro's original choreography in festivals and shows around the world.

"I came from Cambodia and I had nothing with me but dance," Cheam Shapiro explains. Thanks to her, people around the world have it, too.

Starting Over in Cambodia

2009-08-24T19:47:00.001-07:00

The Washington Post

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com

FAITH IN ACTION

By Katherine Marshall

Everyone in Cambodia has an extraordinary story of personal or family survival. Almost the entire population was displaced, often fleeing again and again, during the genocidal era of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, from 1975 to 1979. Most people lost everything they had. About two million people died. Schools were closed and destroyed, and anyone with an education was targeted. It is only in the past 10 to 15 years that it has been possible to talk of hope.

Most Cambodians are under 20 so they remember only more recent traumas - one young colleague described how in 1997 her house and her grandparents' house were set afire. She remembers vividly seeing dead and dying soldiers along the road as she walked to school. Cambodia's leaders all hold, not far below the surface of warm smiles and constant cell phone conversations, their vivid memories. With only a little encouragement they tell stories of a modern reality few of us can even imagine. At last, 30 year later, some of the perpetrators of the very worst atrocities are on trial at an international tribunal. The papers report on it every day and in the market every stall with a television is tuned to the trial.

But most Cambodians have their eyes on the future and the formidable task of rebuilding. They want to benefit from globalization, but also recapture some of the magic they see in their society, though it has known so much evil.

I've spent the last two weeks here trying to understand the current situation and where things are headed, with the basic question: what's religion got to do with it?

In a sense religion is so much a part of Cambodia's past and present that it is hard to separate out its distinctive roles. Few people mention religion when they talk of development but there are countless links. Cambodia is almost 95 percent Buddhist, and monks in bright orange are everywhere. Though many were killed during the genocide, today there are some 60,000 monks and over 4,300 temples. Cambodia has a fascinating Muslim community, the Cham, with their own ethos; the Cham were also targeted by the Khmer Rouge but the community seems to be reviving. And though the Christian community is very small, Christian organizations are extraordinarily active here in just about every field, from HIV/AIDS to helping abused children to campaigning against smoking.

Venerable Sareth Brak, a young monk from a small village about an hour from Phnom Penh, is determined to build a modern school for his community of about 12 villages. His story is one example of the complex ways that religion comes into the picture.

His temple (called the pagoda, or wat) has almost 50 monks today. That includes some young boys who are among the 27 orphans the pagoda cares for. The pagoda used to serve as the community's school, teaching many subjects, and welcoming, he said, girls and boys, young and old. But the system collapsed during the time of troubles and what was left was a desultory system where a few volunteers taught bits of knowledge to children, sitting under the palm trees or in the ruined pagoda. Fifteen years ago, when Ven. Sareth finished secondary school, he restarted the school, at the pagoda at first. Then he gradually cobbled together funds to build a set of serviceable if mismatched buildings (UNICEF built one, the community itself most of the others). Today, the complex has more than 300 children, four government paid teachers, and nine volunteers.

Computer classes (only keyboarding, no internet within miles) and tailoring are taught in the pagoda. Ven. Sareth and and other monks try to teach the adults and they work to resolve conflicts within the community. Domestic violence, they say, is widespread, one legacy of the period of turmoil. And it is increasing, as people come back from the city with many vices, angry at the limited opportunities to make a living.

Ven. Sareth stands out among monks I met because he shows a passion and determination to overcome formidable obstacles and he can show results. He talks the language of human rights. Where did he learn that? From his mother, he says, who was a teacher before the Pol Pot era. He argues that all Cambodians should learn about all religions and all cultures. Only knowledge, he says, can overcome the violence and pain he sees in the society. He sees Buddhist values as contributing to modern life as well as linking Cambodia to its happier past. And the pagoda itself, with some rebuilt structures and crumbling ancient remnants of the past, can help bridge past and present. It is the community center and development starts from there.

Ven. Sareth's is one of many stories that help answer that difficult question for a traumatized country: where to start. Cambodia is a classic example of what is termed a post-conflict society, where the needs are so enormous and the pain of conflict still so fresh. He started with what he had, engaged his community, took what he could find as resources, and forged ahead. It's an inspiration.

Katherine Marshall is a senior fellow at Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, a Visiting Professor, and a senior advisor for the World Bank

Top Commanders Meet Over Border Dispute

2009-08-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
24 August 2009

Top military commanders for Cambodia and Thailand met Monday to ease mounting military pressure over a prolonged border standoff and recent maritime grievances.

Gen. Pol Saroeun, commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, met his Thai counterpart, Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatra, following protests from Thailand of recent offshore oil exploration initiated by Cambodia.

The two also discussed potential removal of troops from the border near Preah Vihear temple, where they have been entrenched since July 2008, said Chhum Socheath, spokesman for the Cambodian Defense Ministry.

“The two sides spoke in the name of the two states,” he said. “We unite and cooperate in keeping peace along the border of the two nations for not having the standoff and to let the border committees of the two countries solve [the dispute]. Besides that, we are prepared to meet military officials of the two countries in all levels more often.”

The Thai commander said the border issue was not a problem, “because the two nations are neighbors and have since ancient times shared the same culture and tradition,” he said. The Cambodian commander said he requested Prime Minister Hun Sen withdraw a number of troops from the border.

The two sides also agreed to develop the border area to improve people’s livelihoods there. They agreed to hold a joint Buddhist ceremony to raise money for pagodas.

The Thai delegation was scheduled to visit the temples of Kampong Thom and Siem Reap provinces Tuesday.

Govt confirms intent to sue Chea Mony

2009-08-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

Monday, 24 August 2009
Chrann Chamroeun

Comment: Cambodian government should not jump to play double-standard of justice travesty by suing the victim like Chea Mony in this time. Chea Mony has been already traumatized by the lose of his older brother Chea Vichea, and the light to justice for his old brother has been still blowing in the wind. He has just recalled for accountability and responsibility of the government. Good governance means those who are working to protect their citizen by bringing fair treatment and just/unbiased court to every citizen. Not only Chea Mony who are very daunted by Cambodian government and the court, the victims of granade attack in 1997, Ho Sok's family, Om Rasdy's family and friends, Ven. Som Bunthoeurn's followers, Khem Sombor and his son's mother and children and friends, Piseth Philika's family and friends etc are watching your fair treatment and real action to defend their own people by bringing perpetrators to hold accountable. But your approach to sue Chea Mony of his disappointment and suffering will exacerbate your government, and the page of Cambodian history will never been erased about your double-standard playground of justice travesty. The legacy of your government will not be productive at all!

The Phnom Penh Post

The government reiterated on Sunday its intention to sue the brother of murdered trade union leader Chea Vichea for claiming the authorities were behind the killing, but admitted it has yet to notify him officially.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, made the remarks at the Appeal Court on August 17. The court had ordered further investigations into the case following requests from the defence lawyers of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, the two men convicted of Chea Vichea's shooting in 2004.

"I maintain my stance from the beginning and acknowledge that [Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun] were fake killers, and I urge the court to find the real killers," he said at the time. "I am ready to take responsibility and dare to be imprisoned for my conclusion about my brother's case, which is that the government prepared a plan to kill my brother."

Khiev Sophak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said Sunday that the government intends to use the full force of the law against Chea Mony, although it has yet to notify him of its intentions.

"We haven't sued Chea Mony yet, but our ministry reserves our rights to lodge a complaint against him, without scheduling a specific time, because his criticism of our government was very serious," he said.

Speaking to the Post, Chea Mony said Sunday that he had yet to receive any formal notification of the threatened lawsuit.

"I haven't received any official information from the government about preparing to sue me," he said, stating his continued belief that the authorities were responsible for his brother's killing. "I only know about the threat of a lawsuit because I read about it in several newspapers."

The Cambodian Supreme Court released the two men convicted of murdering the outspoken union leader in December last year, sending their case to the Appeal Court for further investigation pending a retrial and citing contradictory evidence in the prior trials.

I only know about the threatened lawsuit because I read it in the papers

The two men had been in prison for nearly five years of their 20-year sentences, but were freed on provisional release pending their retrial.

Cambodian and international human rights groups that said the pair were used as scapegoats.

In a statement dated August 21, the Free Trade Union renewed its appeal for the judiciary to find and prosecute the real killers. It said the case should be reinvestigated in order to secure justice not just for the victim, but also his family and the two accused, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun. The statement condemned the culture of impunity that, it said, was gaining increasing hold in a state where the law is used to silence political dissent.

Reviving Khmer classical dance

2009-08-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

The Dance of Loyalty to the King, May 1923. Bettmann Archive.

How Cambodian culture re-emerged after the devastating Pol Pot years

Bangkok Post

Writer: TOM FAWTHROP
Published: 24/08/2009

Newspaper section: OutlookThe awesome grace and meticulous movements of the performers have entranced audiences since ancient times, an experience now shared with plane-loads of tourists descending on Siem Reap in western Cambodia, the jumping off point for the world's largest temple complex - legendary Angkor Wat.

Dating back to the days of the great Angkor empire that flourished from the 9th to 15th centuries, Cambodian dance is a celebration of the gods, mythology and the world of the royal palace.

This 144-page lavishly illustrated coffee-table book authored by Denise Heywood, a lecturer on Asian art, brings the reader a fine appreciation of Cambodian dance intertwined with the turbulent history and how it has always been at the core of Khmer culture and identity. The book details and explains the origins and development of the dances, music and shadow puppetry, all in the context of their spiritual importance as a medium for communicating with the gods.

But Cambodia's recent tragedy brought its great tradition of dance near oblivion. The "Killing Fields" regime of the Khmer Rouge not only killed through slave labour, starvation and slaughter nearly 2 million people, including 90 per cent of artists, dancers and writers, but it also came close to extinguishing Khmer culture and tradition. Pol Pot's brand new agrarian dystopia had no place for the arts, culture or any other kind of entertainment except xenophobic songs and Pol Pot propaganda.

Heywood first arrived in Cambodia as a freelance writer in 1994, and her interest in dance was heightened by the extraordinary tale of how a few dancers and choreographers survived the genocidal years from 1975 to 79.

CAMBODIAN DANCE: Celebration of the Gods Denise Heywood River Books Bangkok, 144 pp, $45 ISBN 987-9749863404

In January 1979 a new Heng Samrin government backed by Vietnam proclaimed the restoration of normal society after four years of the Pol Pot regime had trashed most aspects of family life and the previous society.

A handful of survivors emerged from the darkest era in Cambodian history dedicated to resuscitating their cherished traditions of dance. Actor, poet and director Pich Tum Kravel and former director of the National Conservatory Chheng Phon were among the cultural stars who miraculously survived.

They became the key people enlisted by the new Ministry of Information and Culture under Keo Chenda, charged with the critical mission of bringing all the surviving dancers together.

The expertise was handed down through the generations from master to pupil and never documented in written form, so everything depended on human memory. The late Chea Samy became the leading teacher at the re-established School of Fine Arts in 1981 (ironically Pol Pot was her brother-in-law).

Piecing together the collective memories of survivors and much of the vast repertory, the performing arts were revived.

When this reviewer saw the post-Pol Pot Cambodian National Dance Company perform in Phnom Penh in 1981, it was a highly emotional experience. Members of the audience wept. This outpouring of raw emotion encompassed both tears of sadness for those loved ones they would never see again - and tears of joy that Khmer dance was alive again and had risen from the ashes of nihilistic destruction.

Pamina Devi choreographed by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro.

Nothing had greater significance for the Khmer people in this process of rebuilding than this revival of the nation's soul and psyche in which dance plays a central role.

While Heywood is to be commended for her documentation of the revival of dance in the 1980s, it is a pity she has wrongly contextualised this cultural renaissance by claiming that "Heng Samrin's Vietnamese government" organised a national arts festival in 1980.

In fact President Heng Samrin and everyone else in the new government were all Cambodians and not Vietnamese. Somehow the author has been infected with the cold war propaganda emanating from Asean governments and US embassies in the region that stressed Phnom Penh was being run by a "Vietnamese puppet-regime" and the Cambodians blindly followed Hanoi's orders.

The reality was more complicated. The cultural revival depicted in this book makes it clear that Vietnamese control over security and foreign policy, despite tensions and differences with their Cambodian allies, did not block the re-emergence of Khmer culture that at the same time planted the seeds for future independence.

In 2003 Unesco bestowed formal recognition proclaiming the Royal Ballet of Cambodia to be a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage. And one year later Prince Norodom Sihamoni, a former ballet choreographer and dancer, was crowned king.

Thai classical dance borrows much from the dance traditions of Angkorian times. After Siam's invasion of Siem Reap in 1431, hundreds of Cambodian dancers were abducted and brought to dance in Ayutthaya, at that time the capital hosting the royal court of the Thai king.

This timely book also mentions that Cambodian choreographer Sophiline Shapiro has, among many other projects, adapted Mozart's Magic Flute to Khmer classical dance as part of a 2006 festival to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the great composer's birth.

This production with many innovations caused a stir among the purists. Shapiro passionately defends her new productions against the critics, telling the author "increasing the repertory of dance will help to preserve it and prevent it from atrophying or becoming a museum piece."

Thai PM voices preparedness for "political change"

2009-08-24T05:16:00.000-07:00

BANGKOK, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Monday that he will not cling to his post as party leader and was ready for, if any, political changes, including party dissolution.

Thai language news agency Matichon Online quoted the premier assaying this at Government House to a group of politicians who was attending a training course on political development.

When asked what if the Democrat Party, of which he is a leader, is dissolved, Abhisit said even though he might become the opposition leader, or the Democrat Party might want to change the leader in the future, he will continue his MP status only with the Democrat Party until he stops his political career.

The question was raised by a member of the opposition party as Abhisit's party, which serves as the biggest ruling party in the coalition government, faced a possibility of dissolution.

The Democrat party was accused of illegally receiving a donation of baht 258 million (7.58 million U.S. dollars) from a listed company and had abused the Election Commission's (EC) party development fund worth baht 29 million (0.85 million U.S. dollars).

About the verdict, the prime minister said he is ready to accept it as long as it is made with justice.

EC member Sodsri Satayatham said on Aug. 12 that the commission is likely to decide within this month whether to seek a court verdict for dissolution of the party over the allegation.

Sodsri said that based on information from the EC's investigative team, the five election commissioners would decide whether the Democrat Party had illegally obtained 258 million baht(7.58 million U.S. dollars) in political donations from TPI Poleneas had been alleged, and whether the party had misused the 29 million baht (852,455 dollars) in the Political Party Development Fund obtained from the EC.

A source, however, said on Aug. 15 that the EC sub-committee probing the allegation has ruled in favor of the party and filed their decision to EC.

The sub-committee voted three to two on that day that the donation issue was a personal matter which did not involve the party, Bangkok Post quoted the unnamed source as saying.

Failure to report political donations and misuse of funds obtained from the EC contravened the country's Political Party Act and the offences could cause the political party registrar, a position held by the EC chairman, to petition the Constitution Court to disband the violating party.

75 Gitmo detainees hold hunger strike

2009-08-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- About 75 detainees have been staging a new wave of hunger strike since last weekend in the prison of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. media reported Tuesday.

Robert Durand, the U.S. commander at Guantanamo, was quoted as saying that the hunger strike is a "short term, sympathy" protest to gain attention from the outside world in advance of the June 12resumption of war-crimes trial proceedings there.

He said the protest "reflects detainee attempts to elicit mediaattention to bring international pressure on the United States to release them back to the battlefield."

According to U.S. definition, a hunger strike refers to a detainee refuses nine meals in a row, which means the 75 detaineesbegan fasting overnight last Thursday.

The U.S. military did not disclose the names of hunger strikers,nor their nationalities, but said the 10 men facing war-crimes trials are not among them.

Food has frequently been the subject of a struggle for international legitimacy of the Guantanamo prison, where the United States holds about 460 detainees on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

The U.S. military has emphasized from the opening of the prisoncamps in January 2002 that captives are well fed, and given Islamic-approved halal meals in keeping with a cultural sensitivity.

Still, detainees have staged on-again, off-again fasts since the earliest days of the detention center.

Human rights groups said the hunger strikes reflect the growingfrustrations of the detainees, many of whom are being held indefinitely without a trial.

Many in the international community, including the United Nations and U.S. allies, have been urging the United States to close the prison for the concerns of the conditions of the detainees. Enditem

Football's international language

2009-08-24T05:07:00.000-07:00

A few month's back on Radio 5's World Football Phone-In (Friday night/Saturday morning, normally between 2.30 am and 4am if you care to join us), the excellent analyst of European football, Andy Brassell, was talking about the first Champions League game he attended in Italy.

He had a shock. An English team was involved, but the match stewards could not speak English. In my wanderings around South America, however, I would get a similar shock if I saw such a thing as a steward.

I have often put forward the view that part of the explanation for the extraordinary global success of football is that the game is a universal language which we speak with different accents.

Football's apparent simplicity contains a vast range of options. A player can pass right or left-footed, short or long, forwards, backwards or sideways, in the air or on the ground - or he can run with the ball if the fancy takes him, and use his head, chest or thigh to bring it under control or move it around the field.

With such variety on offer, individuals and groups can express themselves physically and mentally by the choices they make.

Cultural differences don't only apply to the game on the field. They are also present in the way the game is administered - and the way it is watched

In his groundbreaking book 'Football Against the Enemy,' Simon Kuper described the experience of going to a game in Moscow in the early 90s. "I reflected on what a perfect tourist event a Russian football match was," he writes.

"It was an authentic Russian occasion, for the game was not staged for our benefit, and nobody even cared we were there; the setting and the fans' behaviour was so similar that we could recognise differences between it and England; there were real local passions on display; good sport; and all that for three pence."

Tottenham v Olympiakos in a pre-season friendly

I paid a fair bit more than three pence earlier this month when, back in England for August, I took my Brazilian girlfriend to games at West Ham and Tottenham.

But the point remains. Going to a football match is an excellent activity for visitors, not least because appreciation of the event does not require language skills. She doesn't speak much English (though she can now chant 'Who are you?) but can still enjoy the occasion for itself and also make comparisons with the experience back in Rio.

Many things made an impression on her - the patience of the fans, for example, their perpetual encouragement and reluctance to turn against their own team after a misplaced pass.

But it was the organisational aspects that struck her most - modern, clean, compact stadiums with the fans close to the pitch, numbered seating where the numbering is respected, toilets in excellent condition. All these things combined to create an environment that, unlike Brazil, she found safe and welcoming.

I explained how this is a relatively new development, how a traditional culture of football watching was rapidly replaced following the trauma of Hillsbrough and Bradford and the entry of new money.

There are, of course, dangers in all these changes. Contemporary English football needs its critics, pricking its hype bubble, bemoaning its commercialisation and fearing that excessive prices are excluding the future generation of players and thus jeopardising the soul of the game.

But English football is clearly doing something right. The matches we saw were pre-season friendlies - both with crowds considerably higher than the average in the Brazilian First Division. And the most extraordinary thing is the depth of this popularity.

The same is true of the Championship (for foreign readers, the name used in England to refer to the Second Division) - all Saturday's games attracted crowds over 10,000, with only three below the Brazilian top-flight average of 15,000.

It is powerful evidence for the view that the new money has been attracted in large part because the old culture is so well-entrenched.

I tend to see this in connection with the country's industrial past. In its mass form, British football was the creation of the world's first industrial society, with its sense of community and its labour intensive emphasis on physical strength and reliability.

The domestic game's crisis years were those of the crisis of industrial society and now, in a time of uncertainty and bewildering technological change, football offers an opportunity to get back in contact with the collective values of the industrial age - in this new, safe and sanitized manner which so impressed my girlfriend.

Back in her homeland, a different dynamic is in effect and Sports Minister Orlando Silva is aware that the local game has fallen a long way behind.

"Brazilian football could be better and stronger," he said earlier this month. "There is no pre-occupation in having safe and comfortable stadiums to increase the crowds, or altering the kick-off times to get more people into the stadiums. The problem is that in Brazil the principal source of income is selling players."

The other major source is TV rights, which he touched on obliquely in his complaint about the kick off times - the powerful TV Globo ensures that the big evening matches get underway around 10 at night, after the main soap opera.

This leaves South American football with an awkward question. In a model of administration where, compared with player sales and TV rights, the money paid by the fan at the gate is relatively unimportant, why bother investing in supporter comfort?

Comments on today's piece in the space provided. Other questions on South American football to vickerycolumn@hotmail.com, and I'll pick out a couple for next week.

From last week's postbag:

Q) I would very much like to hear you opinion on Éver Banega's impending move to Everton. Following observation of Banega's performances throughout the 2007 U20 World Cup in Canada, I had extremely high hopes for his future career. I particularly enjoyed the way he dictated the rhythm of the side with his intelligent and imaginative passing and his performances were reminiscent of one of my favourite players - Juan Roman Riquelme.

Do you think Éver will be equipped for life in the premier league and will Moyes be able to coax the best out of him or will this be another case of a talented player leaving South America too soon and falling by the wayside?

Dean Moran

A) I'm a huge fan, but I share your concerns. I first saw him during the South American Under-20 Championships in Paraguay at the start of 2007, and the excellence of his passing meant that he was in my notebook within the first 30 seconds of the first game.

I wrote at the time in World Soccer magazine that this was a player who would be best advised to develop in Argentina for a few years before making the move - but the money talks, he walked into a very difficult situation at Valencia, was unable to make much of an impression at Atletico and is now heading for another awkward situation at Everton.

I never really imagined him as a natural for the Premier League - but he is much more of an all rounder than Riquelme. He spent a year at Boca playing the holding role in midfield, which put a strain on his defensive abilities but did ensure that the first pass forward was played with quality.

I'd love to see him come off - to do so will take some patience and careful handling from Moyes as well as a real desire to knuckle down and adapt on his part.

Q) I am a keen listener to the World Football Phone In and last time my ears pricked up as you mentioned that the Chilean coach employs a 3-3-1-3 formation, apparently to great success.

I would be interested to find out what you think would be required of the players if a 3-3-1-3 formation was to be employed and if it would be a successful tactic if used in the English Premiership, or any of the European leagues.

My own view is that it would lack width and a team would need to have a star man to boss the midfield in order to make it work, the strikers would need to work hard to find space and the attacking midfielder (the 1, in the 3-3-1-3) would have to be careful not to get pressured out of the game.

Dominic Herring

A) It's a personal thing of Marcelo Bielsa, the fascinating Argentine coach in charge of Chile. He wants to attack, and he wants the game to take place in the opposing half of the field, so he reasons that there is little use in the conventional full back.

He has one more defender than the opposing strikers - ie they come with two, he has three back, two to mark, one to cover and a defensive midfielder in front.

There is no lack of width. The idea is to have the constant creation of two v ones down the flanks, with wide midfielders linking up with the two wingers. The more obvious problem is the space left behind and the vulnerability to the counter-attack.

Bielsa seems to be interpreting the system with more flexibility now than when he was in charge of Argentina at the start of the decade. Then, the central striker seemed to get squeezed into the box without much space to work in. Now there's more inter-changing going on between the central striker (Suazo) and the attacking midfielder Fernandez.

It's a high pressure, high tempo philosophy that requires excellent levels of fitness. Argentina's big problem in the 2002 World Cup was that, drained at the end of the European season, the players didn't have enough gas in the tank to carry out their attacking intentions.

The news

2009-08-24T04:11:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 24, 2009

Phnom Penh: The editor of Khmer Machas Sruk newspaper Hang Chakra has the flu in the detention in Preysor prison. His daughter Hang Pisey said that her father had flu and became thin. This makes all of them worry about his health. Licadho Doctor also checked his health. Hang Chakra lawyer said that due to his bad health, his client’s family has not made a decision whether continue his case to the Supreme Court. Chakra was sentenced one year into prison on 26 June for disinformation after he issued the two articles.

Calzaghe's second coming

2009-08-24T04:04:00.000-07:00

The king is dead, but long live the gym.

It wasn't that long ago that a tumbledown old rugby clubhouse on the edge of an backstreet industrial estate deep in the heart of the Welsh valleys was the centre of the boxing universe.

The Calzaghe gym was renowned the sporting world over as a pugilist production line, once housing three fighters from the Newbridge Boxing Club that ruled the world.

But since the great Joe Calzaghe quit, Enzo Maccarinelli was mauled and Gavin Rees was rumbled, the gym's crumbling frame seemed to resemble the deteriorating fight factory inside.

Joe Cazlaghe
Nothing can match the adrenaline rush of fighting, but hopefully promoting comes close

Promoter Joe Calzaghe

Yet as boxing's vultures circle to read the Calzaghe dynasty its last rites, the empire is fighting back like it only knows how.

Enzo Calzaghe, the gym's Sardinian godfather, is preparing for its second coming, with his one-time world champion son, Joe, now the talisman outside of the ring rather than in it.

"I created this empire - and it can be built again," the 60-year-old Calzaghe sr, who admitted he almost threw in the towel on his 30-year boxing career during the gym's darkest hour, told BBC Sport.

"It hasn't collapsed, it has just gone through a bad period, but I have the ability to ensure this gym has a second coming.

"What happened? The appetite disappeared, for everybody not just myself. Not just because Joe retired but some of the fighters left."

Maccarinelli and the promising Nathan Cleverly left the gym as boxing politics threatened to kill the famous Welsh fight club, while former WBU middleweight champion Gary Lockett retired in the aftermath of his defeat to Kelly Pavlik.

But after much soul-searching, Calzaghe sr, a BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year and an American Boxing Writers trainer of the year, decided not to go the same way.

Rees, the former WBA world light welterweight champion, and one-time Commonwealth light middleweight title-holder Bradley Pryce have been comfortable in Joe's stately shadow for the best part of 20 years.

Now the boys in the background must step forward to lead the legendary stable back from the brink.

The double-act will jointly-headline Calzaghe Promotions's first major event, 'The Boys are Back in Town', on Friday in Newport.

Unbeaten Calzaghe jr shot to sporting super stardom and two-weight world dominance due to his own individual genius.

But the Welshman has formed a team with Triple S Sports - run by sports agent Paul Stretford and former Newcastle United chairman Freddie Shepherd - to take the next step in his boxing journey.

He will be the father figure of a new promotions company as he bids to give the gym his dad built the kiss of life.

"Two years ago this gym had three world champions and that has never been heard of before," recalled Calzaghe.

"It was an incredible achievement, but that bubble was always going to burst. That was inevitable. Boxing is a cruel sport as we've found out.

"It is a difficult time to start a promotion business due to the lack of television coverage with Setanta going under, but there are still very good boxers out there.

Bradley Pryce, Harry Miles and Gavin Rees with coach Enzo Calzaghe
Helping Bradley and Gavin does run deeper than pure business for me, we're like a family

Promoter Joe Calzaghe

"Nothing can match the adrenaline rush of fighting, but hopefully promoting comes close."

The Calzaghe camp was once compared to Emanuel Steward's legendary Kronk gym, where Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis honed their skills.

Now Pryce and Rees are ready to shoulder the burden and lead their beloved stable into a new chapter.

"I'm not just hoping for victory for personal reasons," said Rees. "It means everything for me to carry this stable.

"It could have been easy for Joe and Enzo to have walked away. They stuck with us and we will stick with them. Now it time for us to repay some faith."

Rees has not fought for 18 months since he lost his WBA world title to Andreas Kotelnik - still his only professional defeat - but now his road to redemption starts against 36-year-old journeyman Gary Reid in the lightweight division on Friday.

"Bradley and Gav got beaten but like the true champions they are are not defeated," said Calzaghe jr.

"I've known them since I was a kid and my dad guided them through their successful amateur career so helping them is not just a professional decision, it's personal.

"I wouldn't say I have a responsibility to them but helping Bradley and Gavin does run deeper than pure business for me. We're like a family.

Find out what Joe Calzaghe did next

"I've done my bit and have given them a platform, now they have to get their butts into shape and take things seriously.

"They've got a dietician and are doing it like professionals - that is showing me and my dad respect."

Best mate Pryce, meanwhile, returns to the ring for the first time since losing his Commonwealth crown in a two-round battering by Matthew Hall in March.

The 28-year-old, like Rees, fights another ageing also-ran as his opponent Michael Monaghan has won just two of his last 14 bouts.

"Joe's always been there for us and now it is time for us, not to just perform for ourselves but to maintain the honour of our gym," said Pryce.

The Calzaghe camp is now ready for a battle with fellow world champions-turned-promoters Ricky Hatton and David Haye as they bid to be kings outside the ring.

Calzaghe is actively seeking reinforcements for his stable - so it's seconds out. Round one is on Friday.

Cricket Australia backs Ponting

2009-08-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

Ponting has now lost the Ashes in England in 2005 and 2009

Ricky Ponting will not be sacked as Australia captain after the 2-1 Ashes defeat, according to Cricket Australia selection chairman Andrew Hilditch.

Ponting, who has now lost two Ashes series in England, said he wants to remain as skipper of the side.

Hilditch said calls for Ponting's dismissal would be "completely unfair" and added: "He had a very good series. He's been under incredible pressure."

Hilditch also refused to blame Australia's selectors for the defeat.

They have come in for heavy criticism in the Australian press and from former Test players, particularly after the omission of spinner Nathan Hauritz for the final match at The Oval.

I don't think that in anyway we can hold the selectors accountable for us losing the Ashes

Cricket Australia chief Andrew Hilditch

England off-spinner Graeme Swann took eight wickets in the match, while Australia skipper Ponting used part-time slow bowlers Marcus North, who took four wickets, and Michael Clarke.

Former Australia spinner Shane Warne said the decision to leave out Hauritz, who played in the first three Tests, was "staggering".

However, Hilditch stated: "I think it would be jumping to conclusions too quickly to blame the selectors.

"I think everyone will be looking for people to blame. I don't think that in any way we can hold the selectors accountable for us losing the Ashes."

And he questioned whether it was the non-selection of Hauritz or the Australian first-innings' collapse, when they were dismissed for 160, that cost them any chance of victory.

"At the end of the day, the players go out and do the business on the field," he said.

Ponting inconsolable after defeat

"We've lost the game by 200 runs, which is a pretty significant defeat, and having a spinner in the side wouldn't have helped us in the first innings, when we were bowled out for 160 and effectively lost the game."

Australia's defeat has resulted in them losing their ranking as the number one Test team, with South Africa replacing them in top spot.

Ponting took a young team to South Africa earlier in the year and won the Test series.

"It was only six or seven months ago that we had fantastic series in South Africa where we beat the number one team in the world with a pretty similar line-up," said Hilditch.

"The selectors were hailed for their selection."

Australia have lost several established players in recent years, with the likes of Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer retiring.

"I don't think Cricket Australia is under any illusions as to where this team is at," conceded Hilditch.

606: DEBATE
Will Ponting be in charge for the 2010-11 series?

"We're definitely in a rebuilding phase after losing some of the best players to ever play cricket for Australia and, right now, what you get with a young and relatively inexperienced team is some ebbs and flows in performance.

"We saw a little bit of that in the Ashes series. Our best cricket was very, very good, and our not so good cricket, in a couple of critical moments, were really the reasons why we let the Ashes slip."

Ponting insisted after the defeat on Sunday that he felt that his young squad, which included inexperienced Test players such as Phil Hughes, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Hauritz, was improving.

'England average but Australia arrogant'

"I'm comfortable with where we are at. We've been rebuilding for 12 to 18 months," he said.

"These are guys who have a few Tests under their belts and are still learning about the game.

"They all should be a lot better off for being part of this series. We're definitely heading in the right direction and I'm really proud of the guys."

And he added that he was determined to remain as skipper.

"With a loss, I'm more determined than ever to be a better player and leader than I am at the moment," commented the Tasmanian.

"I hope I have another chance to play another Ashes series back in Australia."

Soulja Boy Bird Walk Video

2009-08-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

Soulja Boy Bird Walk Video – Soulja Boy has premiered a music video for his song “Bird Walk” off his iSouljaboytellem album out on December 16, 2008.You can watch the clip after the jump.

Soulja Boy 2009 BET Awards:Turn My Swag On

2009-08-24T03:03:00.000-07:00

Soulja Boy 2009 BET Awards:Turn My Swag On – Soulja Boy Tell’em performed his new hit song called “Turn My Swag On” at the 2009 BET Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday (June 28) in Los Angeles.Soulja Boy is really getting his money

'Better' test for asbestos cancer

2009-08-24T02:43:00.000-07:00

Asbestos exposure is linked to most cases of mesothelioma

Scientists claim they have developed a more sensitive test for the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

The cancer develops long after exposure to asbestos but patients usually have a limited life expectancy.

The test developed by a team at Oxford University looks at levels of a protein closely linked to the cancer in fluid around the lungs.

A UK lung expert welcomed the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine study.

A simple test which can exclude the diagnosis without resort to more invasive methods would be welcomed

Dr Paul Beckett, British Thoracic Society

Mesothelioma is an invariably fatal tumour found in the surface of the lung. While relatively rare, it is very difficult to treat because of its location and because it does not seem to respond well to chemotherapy.

The disease has been found in people with no history of exposure to asbestos, but inhaling the dust released by the mineral when it is broken up is known to be a key risk factor.

It has particularly affected tradesmen such as joiners, plumbers and electricians.

Because it can take many decades for the disease to develop, experts expect the number of cases in the UK to peak at around 2,200 by 2013.

Laws preventing occupational exposure to asbestos are in place in the developed world. There are no such restrictions in developing countries, however.

High levels

The researchers focused on ways of distinguishing mesothelioma as a cause of pleural effusion, the build-up of fluid in the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs.

There are many causes of this symptom, many of which are benign or linked to other types of cancer but over 90% of people with mesothelioma have the symptom.

At the moment, doctors carry out pleural fluid cytology - a lab test which looks for cancerous cells.

However the Oxford team say this is not a very sensitive test.

Team members used pleural fluid samples from over 200 patients who had been referred to a specialist respiratory clinic.

They then looked at levels of the protein meothelin - which is released in high quantities in the pleural fluid of most patients with mesothelioma.

It was found that levels of the protein were almost six times higher in patients with the cancer than in those with secondary lung cancers, and 10 times greater than those with benign conditions.

Rapid diagnosis

Dr Helen Davies, who worked on the research, said: "This study suggests a way for clinicians to more readily identify cases of mesothelioma from the start."

She added: "Because mesothelioma has a median survival time of 12 months, minimising the number of invasive procedures and tests patients require is crucial to reduce morbidity and the time they need to spend in hospital.

"An earlier diagnosis also allows speedier interventions to relieve symptoms as well as initiation of other treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy if appropriate.

"Claims for worker's compensation may also be instigated once the diagnosis is confirmed."

Dr Paul Beckett of the British Thoracic Society said: "A simple test which can exclude the diagnosis without resort to more invasive methods would be welcomed, allowing a more streamlined diagnostic pathway both for those with and without the disease.

"Such a pathway would be expected to lead to more rapid diagnosis and therefore treatment and perhaps improve the outlook for this disease, as well as avoiding unnecessary tests in those who don't have mesothelioma."

Egypt 'Hezbollah cell' on trial

2009-08-24T02:20:00.000-07:00

Lawyers for the men said the charges were "absolutely not true"

A group accused of plotting attacks in Egypt for the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah has gone on trial in Cairo.

The 22 defendants in court deny spying on ships in the Suez Canal and plotting attacks on holiday resorts popular with Israelis in Sinai.

At least one defendant said he had been tortured. Another four are on the run and being tried in their absence.

Hezbollah's leader has admitted one of the men was an agent for the movement but denied any plan to harm Egypt.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said the Hezbollah member was tasked with smuggling weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The 26 men - two Lebanese, five Palestinians and 19 Egyptians - are charged with spying for a foreign group and planning attacks against tourists and shipping in the Suez Canal.

They are also accused of sending operatives into the occupied Gaza Strip to help Palestinian militant groups there.

'Revenge'

As the charges were read out, several of the accused reportedly shouted: "We live and die as Egyptians. We will never betray our country."

At least one of the accused said he had been tortured while in Egyptian custody, Reuters news agency reported, adding that he had been referred for medical checks.

A lawyer for the men said the charges against them were "absolutely not true".

"There was never any question in this case of a plot for the assassination of figures inside Egypt," said the lawyer, Montaser al-Zaiat.

Hezbollah has said the charges are politically motivated and in revenge for the movement's stance on Egypt's support for the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Hezbollah supports Hamas - the Islamic movement which controls the coastal enclave - and has strongly criticised Egypt for not opening its border with Gaza to relieve the Israeli-imposed blockade on the territory.

The trial has been adjourned until October.

Indonesia thieves loot tiger body

2009-08-24T02:15:00.000-07:00

Sumatran tigers are on the brink of extinction

Thieves have killed an endangered Sumatran tiger in an Indonesian zoo and stolen most of its body, officials say.

Only the intestines of the female tiger were left, staff at Taman Rimba Zoo said. Police believe the thieves intend to sell the animal's fur and bones.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates that fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild.

Despite laws against the sale of tiger parts, wildlife groups say they are sold openly in several Sumatran towns.

A 2008 study by British-based wildlife trade monitoring network, Traffic, showed that tiger bones, claws, skins and whiskers were being sold openly in eight cities on the island.

Traffic says tigers are killed to supply parts for souvenirs, Chinese medicine and jewellery.

The Sumatran tiger is listed as critically endangered, the highest category of threat.

They are on the brink of extinction because of rapid deforestation, poaching, and conflict with humans.

Encephalitis kills 200 in India

2009-08-24T02:14:00.000-07:00

By Ram Dutt Tripathi
BBC Hindi, Lucknow

Children under 15 are particularly vulnerable to the disease

At least 200 children have died in an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in northern India, health officials say.

So far, 900 affected children have been admitted to hospitals in Uttar Pradesh state. Some patients have come from neighbouring Bihar state and Nepal.

There is no specific cure for the mosquito-borne disease which has killed thousands in India since 1978.

Health experts complain that red tape has prevented development of an effective vaccination programme.

The disease occurs regularly during India's monsoon.

Doctors say children between the age of six months to 15 years are worst affected and most of the victims are poor people from rural areas.

Breeding ground

"The attack of the encephalitis virus is extremely ferocious this year," says Dr Rashmi Kumar, an expert on Japanese encephalitis at Lucknow Medical College hospital.

"Children are developing a serious condition within a day or two of getting infected," she says.

Health officials in the state capital, Lucknow, say cases of acute encephalitis are being reported mostly from 14 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh in the foothills of the Himalayas.

The low-lying areas are prone to annual floods, and severe water-logging and a lack of sanitation provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Doctors say Gorakhpur town is the epicentre of the disease.

Last year, the government said it would spend 60 million rupees ($1.24m) to upgrade facilities at Gorakhpur Medical College hospital.

But, doctors say, the hospital does not have adequate numbers of medical staff to deal with the large numbers of patients.

Doctors say the children who survive will have to face lifelong problems as the disease has a crippling effect.

'Preventable'

While there is no specific cure for the disease after it has been contracted, three vaccines are in use worldwide that have reportedly been successful in preventing the disease.

But India has so far failed to develop an effective vaccination programme.

After the disease killed 1,500 children in 2005, a public outcry forced the government to import vaccines from China and a mass vaccination project was started.

However, doctors say the vaccine coverage has not been satisfactory this year, with many parents of affected children saying no vaccination was done in their areas.

Japanese encephalitis, which causes high fever, vomiting and can leave patients comatose, usually hits Uttar Pradesh state in July-August.

The disease has recurred annually in eastern regions of the state since 1978.

35 militants arrested in NW Pakistan search operations

2009-08-24T02:12:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- As many as 35 militants arrested in ongoing search operations in northwest Pakistan during the last24 hours, an army statement said Monday.

Pakistani security forces continued search operations in various areas of Swat and Malakand in North West Frontier Province(NWFP). 35 militants were arrested and six militants voluntarily surrendered to security forces in Swat, according to Inter Services Public Relations.

Relief activities were continued, and 265,012 cash cards have been distributed amongst the internally displaced persons of Malakand.

Over 1,600 militants have been killed since Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants late April after militants in early April entered the Buner district from the neighboring Swat district and refused to vacate the area despite their pledge to do so.

S Korea to join U.N. disarmament forum in Japan

2009-08-24T02:11:00.000-07:00

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea will participate in the annual U.N. disarmament forum to be held later this week in Niigata, Japan, foreign ministry said Monday.

According to ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young, Shin Dong-ik, director general of the international organization bureau, will attend the 21st U.N. Conference on Disarmament Issues, scheduled from Wednesday to Friday.

The forum is co-organized by the U.N. and Japan, the ministry said.

Shin, on the sidelines of the forum, will meet his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo to continue meetings on bilateral disarmament, added the spokesman.

Beer drinking Muslim set free

2009-08-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

BEIJING, August 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Kartika Sari Dewa Shukarno, who was convicted of drinking in public and sentenced to six lashes of the cane, has been freed by Malaysian authorities.

The reason for her release is not entirely clear though prison rules require anyone who is to be canes must be in detention first. However legal experts said at the weekend that it was not right to detain Ms Kartika since she had not been given a jail sentence by the Islamic court.

A van had taken her from her northern Malaysian home to put her in detention so that she could be caned sometime this week. But after half an hour the van returned, with officials saying the sentence would not be carried out. A senior Shariah court judge and some lawyers have said she cannot be caned unless she is in jail, and as she was not given a jail sentence, she cannot be caned. As such it creates a paradox for Malaysia's court system.

Kartika had pleaded guilty to the offence under Islamic and would have been the first woman in Malaysia to be punished in such a way，saying she wanted to deter others from committing similar offences. "I want to send a message that I really regret what I did, so I want to be punished in front of other people," Kartika said from her northern home state of Perak. "If other Muslims can see me being caned, I hope it will convince them not to drink."

Malaysian authorities say the purpose of caning is to "educate" rather than punish. But the penalty has led to criticism by some politicians and women's rights activists who claim it is still too harsh. The law in Malaysia allows for a three year prison term and caning for Muslims caught drinking, but most offenders are fined. Drinking is legal for non-Muslims.

(Agencies)

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2009-08-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

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Markets fall after World Bank lowers forecast

2009-08-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

By Sue Lannin and Brigid Glanville

Posted Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:19pm AEST
Updated Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:59pm AEST

Strong share market falls are pointing to the possible end of the three month rally (REUTERS: Daniel Munoz, file photo)

The World Bank has again downgraded the outlook for global growth this year because it says that foreign investment and trade flows have dried up.

The bank says the world's economy will shrink by 2.9 per cent this year and global trade will plunge by almost 10 per cent.

It also says that poor countries face a dismal problem getting finance, and many will find it difficult to pay their foreign debt.

'Luck' needed to speed recovery

Over the past few months the focus for the world economy has been on the glass being half full - share markets have rallied and the green shoots of recovery have appeared to take root.

However, the World Bank's downgraded forecast for the global economy has helped push world share markets, commodity markets and the Australian dollar into reverse.

The World Bank's Andrew Burns says the figures take into account a worse than expected start to the year, and a main problem has been stalled business lending.

"The revision is mainly a reflection of what has already happened rather than what is going to happen over the next several months," he said.

"When our earlier forecasts came out with those of the IMF and many others, we hadn't gotten the first quarter results that were so bad in so many countries and, as a result, much of the revision really is a reflection of how bad the first quarter was, and the fourth quarter of 2008.

"Looking forward, we do see recovery beginning in the second half of this year and into next year."

However, with world trade expected to fall by 10 per cent this year, a recovery in 2010 could be difficult and Andrew Burns says it could get worse.

"We probably need a bit of good luck. There is the real risk that these concerns and worries that drove the pulling back in investment that we saw in the third and fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, that they don't recover," he said.

"That some of that stabilisation that we've seen most recently doesn't pursue and if that occurs, then we have the possibility anyway that in some regions of the world, particularly Europe and Central Asia, some of the former Soviet bloc countries, there is a possibility of the crisis deepening in those countries and that they serve to be a further drag on global growth."

Hope rests on Asian giants

The main bright spots are China and India; their economies have not been as badly affected by the global economic downturn because of their strong level of domestic savings.

Andrew Burns says those economies are still growing, but that their growth is not strong enough to fuel a quick recovery.

"Some of the strength that we are currently seeing in the global economy is coming from developing countries, particularly Chinese demand for imports is rising relatively rapidly. That is sparking some of the recovery or some of the stabilisation that we observe in Japan. So there is something coming from developing countries," he said.

"The real story here is that we are going into a recovery that is going to be a lot weaker than it has been in the past."

Richard Martin, managing director of consultancy IMA Asia, is an optimist, but he agrees that falling foreign investment is hampering any recovery.

"That forecast is a bit of a rude shock at the end of a pretty good second quarter so I think this World Bank report is the first big negative report we have had out in almost three months," he said.

"What it seems to be indicating is that... we are not getting global finance working as well as it should, and we won't get out of this recession until we start to get a better flow of capital inside markets and across borders.

"They are starting to ask questions which a lot of people are asking: 'What happens after the fiscal stimulus if we don't get a private sector lift?' 'Do governments have enough money to come back in with another injection into the economy?' And the answer for many countries is, no they don't."

Investors take profits

The gloomy news from the World Bank has pushed down share markets around the globe and, just after opening, the Australian share market had fallen 3 per cent and is maintaining those losses into the afternoon. There are similar falls in both Japan and Hong Kong.

Commsec's chief economist Craig James says much of the losses relate to profit taking.

"Fund managers around the world are scrambling to lock in some of the gains, very sharp gains that we are seeing in terms of commodity markets and equity markets over the past month and certainly over the past quarter," he said.

"So a fair degree of profit taking is occurring at the moment, particularly in the commodity markets and of course, that is hitting Australia quite hard."

Craig James also thinks that the World Banks forecasts are a scapegoat for a correction that was going to come anyway.

"The World Bank has issued a new forecast for economic growth but those forecasts were originally released on June 11, around about a fortnight ago," he said.

"Those forecasts were out at that time, barely caused a ripple in the market. Overnight it is blamed for the fact that the equity and commodity markets have fallen. I think it is more the scapegoat rather than anything else. I think what we are seeing is just good old fashioned profit taking."

Commodity strength

Mr James sees some longer-term causes for optimism, particularly in regards to the Australian economy.

"Overall, it is a fairly favourable picture over the longer term. While there is a decline in commodity export revenue over the next 12 months, a lot of that is driven by weaker prices for coal and iron ore, and coal and iron ore prices soared over the past year," he said.

"They were clearly not going to be sustained, and that is why we are seeing the drop, but if you look at mineral and energy commodities more specifically, they are going to be up around about 6 per cent over the year. Farm exports are going to rise a little over the next 12 months.

"When you consider the sort of environment we are in, to see the commodity export revenues rise is a very encouraging sign."

And he thinks that the pick up in farm export earnings, and this financial year's expected 36 per cent increase in mineral and energy export revenues should have a strong positive impact on economic growth.

"I think we are seeing a turnaround at the moment. We are seeing slow pick up over the past couple of months and that is going to continue in coming months," he said.

"The farm sector is holding up quite nicely in terms of the mining and the energy sectors. We are seeing stronger demand from China and India. Higher demand, higher prices, and that is good news for our revenues."

Midterm correction for GBP/USD

2009-08-10T05:24:00.000-07:00

From a high of 1.7042 the GPB/USD has fallen to 1.6740. More selling could occur, sending the pair as low as the 1.6600 resistance level, and could continue to slide as low as 1.6450. However, if it remains above 1.6700, a rally is possible beyond the previous highs. More from http://www.forex-info.com/

Sport news yearly

2009-08-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Forex News Trading

2009-08-09T00:34:00.000-07:00

Traders on the Foreign Exchange market, Forex market for short, can potentially make thousands of dollars based on the volatility and fluctuations of a country’s currency. To better themselves and have a leading advantage over other traders, some Forex traders and investors participate in a practice known as news trading. The risks are very high, but the potential gains can be worth thousands of dollars and many traders and investors use this technique.

The technique of news trading is quite simple. It is the trading of foreign currency immediately before or after an important economic news announcement. After such announcements, there is a high possibility that market prices will fluctuate, either for the better or worse, depending on the announcement. For example, if the U. S. Federal Reserve announces another increase of the interest rate, many traders might invest in the U.S. dollar as it is expected that its value will appreciate. The main advantage of news trading is the potential for a country’s currency to make huge gains or losses in very little time. Within minutes of an economic announcement, a country’s currency can gain or lose one hundred points almost instantly. The potential of huge profits attracts Foreign Exchange traders and investors, however there are various risks associated with news trading.

Like any investment, there is always a risk, and news trading on the Forex market is no different. Though the potential profits are huge, the losses are also equally as large. The dangers of news trading come from the fact that a trade must be made quickly or else you are going to lose. If you are caught on the bad side of a trade, your money will be gone quicker than you can blink your eye. You will lose money so fast that there won’t even be time for you to manually close your trades, leaving you with nothing. Stop-loss orders are also potentially dangerous as there is a high probability of slippage because of the sudden price fluctuation.

Though some investors and traders might get lucky trading news, there is only a small probability that you will make a profit. Even if you are an expert news trader, you should still be very, very cautious when participating in this practice. Successful news trading depends solely on how you get your news. The most successful news traders are the ones with the fastest news feeds and those that are able to quickly place their trades immediately after an announcement has been made. Even using other forms of news trading, such as placing orders above or below the market price is still a guessing game, and those traders in the market who base their trades on guesses, won’t have much money after a short time.

For many Forex traders and investors, their trades are dictated by technical indicators and price indexes. Hours are spent researching every indicator, taking every risk into account and then making a decision based on everything they have studied. However, for a Forex news trader, none of this matter, and the only thing they take into account is economical news announcements.

News trading is possible because the Forex market is always open, unlike many financial markets. In a financial market, securities trades of certain stocks are suspended when an important company announcement is being made. These announcements are usually made after the market has closed for the day. However, because the Foreign Exchange market is open 24 hours, any economic announcement will have direct affects on the currency of that country, and maybe others as well. In the Forex market, there are eight major currencies that are traded, as well as over seventeen derivatives to be traded as well. This means that on any given day, there will always be economic announcements from any of the major traded currencies. The major trader currencies are as follows:

1. U.S. Dollar (USD)
2. Great British Pound (GBP)
3. Euro (EUR)
4. Japanese Yen (JPY)
5. Australian Dollar (AUD)
6. Swiss Franc (CHF)
7. Canadian Dollar (CAD)
8. New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

Because of the availability of each currency, currency pairs, and its derivatives, such as USD/JPY, EUR/USD, AUD/USD, as well as several others, each currency can be traded at any given time because these currencies are globally traded.

Any Forex news trader or news investor will have to have the latest most up to the moment news announcements. Even if the news announcements are only a couple of minutes old, this can have devastating effects for any trader who has risked any sum of money. Most news traders like to keep an eagle eye on any news regarding economical activity, but most importantly news dealing with interest rates changes, FOMC rate decisions, retail sales figures, inflation indicators such as the consumer price index (CPI), producer price index (PPI), unemployment figures, industrial production announcements, boost in business and consumer confidence, as well as business sentiment surveys. Manufacturing sector surveys, trade balance release details, and foreign purchases of U.S. Treasuries may also prove useful for a news trader to better make decisions regarding when or when not to trade.

However, it should be remembered that these news announcements can have ranging impacts on a country’s currency, and after an announcement, the volatility of a currency may greatly fluctuate. It is important to take advantage of news that creates movements in volatility that will last for a few minutes or even hours. Trading on the Forex market based solely on news is a difficult and sometimes dangerous practice. However, there are some indicators that can make a news trader’s job easier, such as breakout indicators (Bollinger bands, breakout of a candlestick bar, or a price bar). Research has proved that news announcements can impact a currency’s value quite severely, in some cases it can gain or lose anywhere from 33 pips to 124 pips, opening up the ideal trading opportunity looked for by news traders. If a news trader is able to act quickly enough, even the smallest news release can be turned into a potential profit of thousands of dollars. However, it is important to remember the volatility of such announcements, and although the profits seem endless, the losses can happen from site http://www.googleforexx.com/2009/07/forex-news-trading/

Clinton threatens Eritrea action

2009-08-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that the US will "take action" against Eritrea if it does not stop supporting militants in Somalia.

She said after talks with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, that Eritrea's actions were "unacceptable".

She also said the US would expand support for Somalia's unity government.

Eritrea denies supporting Somalia's al-Shabab militants, who are trying to overthrow Somalia's government.

Al-Shabab is growing in strength and 250,000 Somalis have fled their homes in fighting between militants and government forces over the past three months.

Wreath-laying

Mrs Clinton was holding the talks with the UN-backed Somali leader, a moderate Islamist, on the second day of her African tour.
Wreath-laying

Mrs Clinton was holding the talks with the UN-backed Somali leader, a moderate Islamist, on the second day of her African tour.
At a joint news conference with him after the meeting, she said: "It is long past time for Eritrea to cease and desist its support of al-Shabab and to start being a productive rather than a destabilising neighbour.

"We are making it very clear that their actions are unacceptable. We intend to take action if they do not cease." She added: "There is also no doubt that al-Shabab wants to obtain control of Somalia to use it as a base from which to influence and even infiltrate surrounding countries and launch attacks against countries far and near."

Mrs Clinton said if al-Shabab obtained a haven in Somalia "it would be a threat to the United States". The US has ruled out sending its forces to fight insurgents in Somalia.

Eritrean officials have repeatedly denied supporting al-Shabab, calling the allegations a "fabrication" of US intelligence.

Several Somali Islamist groups operated from Eritrea after being ousted from the capital, Mogadishu, when Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in 2006. Before the talks on Thursday, Mrs Clinton honoured the victims of the August 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in a wreath-laying ceremony in Nairobi.

More than 220 people were killed and 5,000 injured in the first major attack by al-Qaeda on US targets.

AP news agency quoted her as saying that the embassy site was a reminder of "the continuing threat of terrorism, which respects no boundaries, no race, ethnicity or religion, but is aimed at disrupting and denying the opportunity of people to make their own decisions and to lead their own lives". There are reports that al-Shabab - the Somali Islamist group which favours strict Islamic law and is accused of links to al-Qaeda - is gaining support from militants around the world.

Earlier this week, police in Australia arrested several men, charging them with planning suicide attacks on a base in Sydney and saying they were linked to al-Shabab.

The BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says President Ahmed needs all the support he can get. Pro-government forces are only in control of a small section of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Our correspondent points out it is far too dangerous for the American secretary of state to venture into Somalia, as the fighting continuesKenya violence

Somalia's foreign minister told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Washington's support for his government was a "golden opportunity".

"It is absolutely clear that the people of Somalia are tired... sick and tired of war, sick and tired of chaos," he said. The US admits it has supplied pro-government forces in Somalia with over 40 tonnes of weapons and ammunition this year, and another delivery of weapons is predicted, says our correspondent.

But there are growing fears that the Horn of Africa country - which has been without an effective central government since 1991 - risks becoming a haven for terrorists.

On Wednesday, Mrs Clinton held talks in Nairobi with Kenya's president and prime minister.

America's top diplomat described as "disappointing" Kenya's failure to investigate a bout of violence that left at least 1,300 people dead after the disputed December 2007 presidential election.

Addressing African leaders at Wednesday's economic summit, Mrs Clinton said the continent had "enormous potential for progress".

But she stressed that harnessing that potential would require democracy and good governance.

During her 11-day trip Mrs Clinton will also visit South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde.

Clinton Begins Africa Trip With Stop in Kenya

2009-08-04T22:51:00.000-07:00

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in the Kenyan capital Nairobi Tuesday, the first stop on a seven-nation visit to Africa. She will be taking part in a forum that has been a centerpiece of U.S. trade, aid and investment policy in Sub-Saharan Africa for the past eight years.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton’s first visit to Africa as secretary of state will officially begin on Wednesday, when she will speak at the ministerial opening ceremony of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act forum.

Also known as AGOA, the act was signed into law in 2000 by Secretary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, to expand benefits under an existing Generalized System of Preferences program. AGOA provides 41 eligible countries in Sub-Saharan Africa duty and quota free access to U.S. markets for certain African-made goods, especially textiles and apparels. Eligibility is based on a country’s commitment to good governance and free trade and it can be revoked.

Kenyan economist James Shikwati says the topic that will likely dominate Ms. Clinton’s talks with African ministers of commerce, trade and finance will be on how eligible countries can fully exploit the benefits of AGOA.

Shikwati says although AGOA is credited with helping Sub-Saharan Africa increase the volume of trade with the United States by more than 50 percent since 1999, non-oil exports under AGOA are still negligible compared to developing countries in Asia.

“If you look at the trade volumes, especially for last year, 80 percent is actually crude oil,” Shikwati said. “Twenty percent is the only window, where 7,000 plus products are struggling to make the American markets. So, when you look at that kind of arrangement, it clearly points [out] that America is benefiting more than the African people.”

Washington-based public policy organization, The Brookings Institution, estimates that nearly 96 percent, or $56.3 billion worth of trade under AGOA in 2008, consisted of energy-related products. In the area of apparel exports, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for little more than one percent of the total market in 2008, nearly three times less than what Bangladesh exported to the United States in the same year.

Brookings says several factors have played a role in limiting AGOA’s potential. The high cost of doing business has kept the African continent uncompetitive; AGOA has not done enough to encourage eligible countries to diversify their economies to attract American capital; and cumbersome rules and regulations in the United States prevent African agricultural products from reaching U.S. markets.

Shikwati says the challenge for the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa now is to transform AGOA from a largely petroleum-importing initiative to one that Africa and its people can fully exploit. To do that, he says African nations participating in AGOA must identify what it is they want from America.

“We have a trade pact, where America understands what it wants and is very clear about what it wants. But African countries are yet to even figure out what they want,” Shikwati said. “If I use Kenya as an example, you will get government officials, business people thinking in terms of ‘What can America do for us?’ when in essence, we should be exploiting some of the ideas our interaction with American are churning out. When a country understands what it wants, it develops its interests and marshals its people to exploit available opportunities.”

International anti-poverty agency, ActionAid, is also urging African leaders and the United States to make sure that any increase in trade and jobs under AGOA is accompanied by efforts to improve working conditions for laborers and respect for human rights.

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2009-08-03T01:39:00.000-07:00

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2009-08-03T01:37:00.000-07:00

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2009-08-03T01:29:00.000-07:00

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Monday, October 20, 2008 How To Create A Test Blog On Blogger Platform

2009-08-03T01:13:00.000-07:00

Millions of bloggers use the Google's blogger platform for blogging. If you have a typical personal blog, on which you occasionally post your musings, there is no need for any test blog. However, if you are more inclined towards professional blogging, a test blog should be made. But why a test blog? Is there any need for it? Let's try to understand why we need it and how to create it correctly on blogger platform.

Image Credit: William A. Franklin

Why Do I Need a Test Blog?

A novice blogger may ask, "Why do I need it?". Well, the answer is very simple. You cannot afford to change the template with several modifications directly on your main blog. If something went wrong, the incoming traffic will get a garbled home page, and you may loose your potential subscribers, as well as your hard earned reputation.

How To Create It?

Creating a fresh blog on blogger is very simple. Once you have made that, converting it into a test blog is very simple. You may ask, how the test blog will be different from the main blog, or what extra configuration I need to do? To understand that, you may ask few questions to yourself. First of all, you will never want that your test blog is listed in public listing of blogger. You may never want that your test blog is spidered by search engine. You may never want that anybody else can view it except you. You may also want that your test blog does not appear in your blogger profile page. To configure all these settings follow these simple steps.

Hiding Blog From Search Engine and Blogger Public Listing

1. Go to Settings tab.
2. Go to Basic sub-tab.
3. Set 'No' for Add your blog to our listings? option.
4. Set 'No' for Let search engines find your blog? option.

After configuring these settings, neither your test blog will be indexed by search engines, nor it will be displayed in public search listings of blogger blogs.

Restricting Readers From Viewing the Test Blog

1. Go to Settings tab.
2. Go to Permissions sub-tab.
3. In Blog Readers section, check the Only blog authors option.

After configuring this option, no one can view your blog except you.

Removing Test Blog From Blogger Profile Page

By default, all blogs created by you are visible in your blogger profile page. You may not want that people know about your test blogs from your profile page. For hiding your test blog in profile page, follow this procedure.

1. Click Dashboard to go to your blogger main area.
2. Click Edit Profile in left side menu.
3. Click Select blogs to display.
4. Uncheck your test blog from the listing.
5. Save your blogger profile. Done.

Over To You

Do you think a test blog is needed? If not, how do you manage the modifications done on your blog?

Cambodia rejects landmine beauty contest

2009-08-03T00:28:00.000-07:00

August 2, 2009 -
The Age

The Cambodian government has urged the cancellation of a beauty pageant in which landmine victims will compete to win a prosthetic leg, organisers say.

In the Miss Landmine Cambodia contest, 20 competitors from around the country are due to appear in a photo exhibition opening on Friday in Phnom Penh, followed by an internet voting campaign to select the best candidate.

But in a letter to organisers, the Ministry of Social Affairs has called on them to cancel the contest - although the Cambodian Mine Action Authority said in 2007 it fully supported the event.

"The ministry asks the people who organise this contest to stop this action ... for protecting ... the honour and dignity of people with disabilities," the letter said in English.

But Norwegian pageant director Morten Traavik said the contest, which offers as the top prize a custom-made prosthetic leg, would increase awareness about the victims of landmines.

"I have asked to meet the Cambodian officials to clear up our misunderstanding, and I hope once they know about our project details, they will welcome this," he said.

He explained that the pageant aimed "to raise awareness of what landmines have done to the people", adding that it would be a "big shame" if people could not see the exhibition.

The first Miss Landmine contest was held in Angola last year, drawing protests from rights activists who viewed it as exploitative and racist.

Cambodia remains one of the world's most heavily mined countries, along with Afghanistan and Angola.

Hundreds of people are killed or maimed every year by the millions of landmines and other unexploded ordnance still littering the countryside after decades of conflict.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen cancelled a Miss Cambodia beauty pageant in 2006, saying he would not allow such a contest until poverty in Cambodia was reduced by more than half.

Thailand opposed oil concessionaires awarded to Total off the coast of Sihanoukville

2009-08-03T00:26:00.000-07:00

The yellow areas are the areas awarded to Total which are described as "Thailand-Cambodia Claim Area Blocks".

Source: Koh Santepheap newspaper
Reported in English by Khmerization

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has led a delegation to the 6th border talks with Thailand in Bangkok from 4-6 August. According to official sources, the talks will be centred on the delimitation and demarcation of the general borders between the two countries.

But unofficial sources said that the agenda of the meeting will be focused more on the oil concessionaires recently awarded to the French company, Total, which was said to be opposed by the Thai government.

The Koh Santepheap newspaper reported that a Thai website has reported that a group of Thai "yellow shirt" activists had lodged a letter of complaint against the oil concessionaires awarded to Total by saying that the areas awarded to Total are located in the Thai territorial waters. The letter stated that the concessionaires awarded to Total by the Cambodian government is illegal which will eventually cause diplomatic frictions between Thailand and France, including the impact on trades and businesses between the two countries.

Ms. Vimol Kitchob, spokeswoman for the Thai Foreign Ministry, was quoted by the website as saying that the areas awarded to Total by the Cambodian government used to called "overlapping areas", but the two governments later agreed to stop using the words "overlapping areas" because she said there is no part of the areas that was "overlapped". The website quoted the Thai spokeswoman as saying that the areas are "undelimited areas"- meaning that the areas have not been decided to which countries they belong.

Samlaut Uprising might be repeated as peasants faced land confiscations

2009-08-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

Samlaut residents showing Radio Free Asia reporter the lands in dispute.

Source: Radio Free Asia
Reported in English by Khmerization

Sources from Samlaut on 30th July said that many Samluat peasants in western parts of Battambang province are facing losing thousands of hectares of their lands to a private development company.

Sources said a private company, Rath Sambath, is planning to develop on 5,200 hectares of farm lands the peasants claimed they owned since the Khmer Rouge still control the areas in the 1980s and 1990s.
One peasant said: "At that time, Cambodia was still at civil war, we have not achieved peace yet. But after 1993, after the peace talks (between the government and the Khmer Rouge), we came to clear the lands, some were killed, some have their limbs blown off (by landmines) in these areas."

According to the map of the Rath Sambath concessionaires, it was indicated that in 2002 the 5,200 hectares of lands were areas covered with thick forests. But according to the on-the-spot survey report, the concessionaires had covered 946 hectares of lands owned by peasants from 200 families in three communes.

A human rights investigator from the human rights group Adhoc, who investigated the case on the ground, said: "First, there must be a re-evaluation of the areas. Secondly, we appeal to the company not call any more meetings to intimidate (to coerce people to accept the comapnay's terms). Thirdly, I notice that the concession agreements (with the governent) are surrounded with secrecy, especially in regard to the documentations."

Radio Free Asia is unable to seek comments from provincial officials or representatives from Rath Sambath company.

Many analysts are of the view that this land dispute might lead to a repeat of the Samlaut Uprising when the Samlaut peasants launched a peasant rebellion in 1967 after provincial and government officials forcibly confiscated their lands. Thousands of Samlaut residents were brutally killed in the government crackdowns. Many people fled to a near by mountain called Phnom Vay Chap and set up a guerrilla base to oppose the government. Khmer Rouge leaders later claimed that the Samlaut Uprising was the cornerstone of their peasant revolution that brought them to powers in 1975.

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