Conduct your own Sarah Palin interview

H/T Belledame

Conduct your own Sarah Palin interview. It's very random and quite scary.

Has that parrot joined the choir invisible?

Oh, well, some decisions that have provided me an interest in our day, politicians have readily shared much lesser tales of adversity than the nightmare world in which this man, and others equally brave, served and suffered for their kids. That's got to show the support, in this post-9/11 world, where we're able to speak God's words.

A leader who's not looking at poll numbers. What I know that inaction is not supposed to work. Thanks to my kids have provided me a lot of things that John McCain has inspired with his words.

Is Severus Snape a force for good or evil?

They're our next door neighbors.We need to pursue those and we need them. They need on their team to provide for the right agenda for America. ...It's to make a difference, they make people's lives better. I did recognize though that Commissioner Monegan could provide for better public service, I haven't micromanaged them. So, I didn't hesitate, no.

A leader who's not looking for a year. [And so] on a personal level, when I learned I was very appropriate that we need someone like that was just born recently, And he's just an awesome sweet baby. Trig was born with Down Syndrome has opened my eyes too to challenges that others have. Every American I'm speaking of now, [an] oil service company's undue influence of lobbyists in public service in another area, so I didn't blink then even when asked to do is rid this world where war is hell and I replied back then, as I would never presume to know God's will or to speak with him with no preconditions being met." Diplomacy is about doing a lot of concerns from not just self-protection, but also for our military, those who would have followed any law anyway? No. You start banning guns and you ask that question is kind of irrelevant, because it's accepted. Of course you can raise a family.

Do you believe in witchcraft?

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but...

Help me Barack Obama you're my only hope

More wars?

VIA Debs.

There are disturbing images in this vid

Election matters

With the elections coming up on Sunday, there is a tense atmosphere. Political party posters are on wall, cars, shops and even my favourite American diner. The roads are emptier and people are returning to the province to cast their votes.

My local 7-11 owner is asking me if foreigners are nervous and was surprised that I'm not leaving the country, as many appear to be doing. He asked me if I thought the elections would be fair and then retracted the question saying that he shouldn't be asking me. Assuring him that, he could ask anything he wanted, I told him that I have no idea.

The mobile phone messaging system will be down to prevent last minute campaigning via text message. There is also a strange edict banning the sale of alcohol for 48 hours the day before and the day of the election. KI-Media has the story.

"Cambodian and foreign citizens must cooperate with the government," said Hun Sen.

The action is being instituted to ensure the vote proceeds in a non-violent fashion, without intimidation, threats and other incidents associated with excessive alcohol consumption, the premier said in the statement.

"Military police, police and local authorities at all levels must educate people to implement this directive, to suspend the selling or drinking of alcohol so as the election would be free, fair and non-violent," he said.

A couple of pubs have declared that they will be flouting the ban but many others are closing for three days. Foreigners are expected to comply with prohibition. The notion is to prevent violence. Let's see what happens.

Hopefully the elections will pass without violence and will be free of corruption. Only time will tell but people are nervous.

ETA: There are 90 000 election observers to prevent fraud.

Irish politics: they're special!

From That's Ireland

1. In October 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern became the highest paid Prime Minister in the democratic world at €310,000, more than US President George Bush at €279,000. Fianna Fail Ministers such as Willie O’Dea are paid more than US Vice President Dick Cheney.

7. In September 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, while being questioned at the Mahon Tribunal, said that he must have given £30,000 to somebody else (to make a transaction that the bank had no record for), but he didn’t know who he gave the money to.

11. In July 2007, after a strenuous seven days of work since being elected in mid-June, the Dail adjourned for a three-month summer holiday.

14. In June 2007, Fianna Fail changed the law to create three new Junior Ministers with salaries of €150,000 a year. They had previously done this in 1977 and 1980. When Fine Gael did the same in 1995, Fianna Fail called it an abuse of the taxpayer and an act of hypocrisy, and Bertie Ahern vowed to abolish the new posts.

And so much more. Read the whole post.

Why do they keep getting voted in? Truly incomprehensible. Enough to make one stew in impotent rage, being so far away.

Irish expats have no voting rights. Prisoners can vote. Non nationals can vote. Almost every other developed country (France, Finland, Sweden, Germany, UK, US...) has an overseas voting system; Fins can even vote any Swedish embassy if there is no Finnish presence. Poles can vote in the UK.

Irish abroad have no voting rights. It is a shameful state of affairs for a developed democratic society. The Irish I know would travel to vote. There are Irish embassies in Vietnam, China, Malaysia and Singapore. If the citizens of so many other countries can manage then why cannot the 'second most globalised country in the world', as we so proudly boast, get the finger out and organise voting for its citizens abroad?

Magic water 2

Does swearing to die over Buddha water if you do not vote for the CPP at next election, constitute a violation of the election laws? It turns out that the magic water isn't so much magic as a death threat backed by thugs.

A villager from O village, Svay Sor commune, who is one among the many who drank oath water said that he was forced by his group chief to drink oath water, and he was very scared about this issue. “They call us in to drink (the oath water), they are concerned that we are not faithful, that we do not want to vote for them. They pour water in a cup, they put in a small statue of Buddha (in the cup), they told us to drink. We are concerned, but we don’t know what to do, so I drank…”

The commune and village authorities recognized that they did indeed call the villagers to come in and drink the oath water because there is a disparity between the number of people receiving gifts and the number of votes the CPP received during the recent commune election.

Prang Chheun, the Svay Sor commune chief, said that he was the one who came up with this idea, and he did not receive any order from anybody else. He said that this stems from the fact that the CPP have 1,800 adherents in the commune, however, during the April commune election, the CPP received 700 votes less than the number of (alleged) party members.

The actions of CPP violate the secret ballot. How can a voter choose a candidate independently, if they have drunk the magic water in front of witnesses? There would be a constant fear of discovery and/or denunciation. The CPP know how many people pledged loyalty through this charade and how many voted for them. Intimidation will uncover who accepted CPP gifts and voted for another candidate. Intimidation works almost as well as corruption - but with the two in sync the results are impressive

Intimidation via magic water

In Cambodia, you prove loyalty to the party by drinking "magic" water

A group of villagers living in the Svar Sor commune, Varin district, Siem Reap province, claimed that the population of many villages were rounded up by their CPP village chiefs and commune chiefs who forced them to drink “magic” oath water in order to prove their faithfulness to the CPP party in the commune.

“… they forced us to drink, they say whoever are faithful to them, they let them drink (the water), but those who are not, they let them go. I drank, we all drank, and we are drinking every day. In this village, several hundred people (drank)…”

Prang Chhoeun, the (CPP) Svay Sor commune chief, recognized that he organized this ritual, but that he only forced CPP party members to drink only, and he is not forcing anybody else to drink at all.

Prang Chhoeun said: “We organized this ritual because we want to know who among the villagers are faithful to our CPP, we don’t force anyone, we just conducted business as usual.”

Kul Panha, the executive director of Comfrel, said that according to the commune election law, and the general election law, it is stated that forcing of people to drink ‘magic’ oath water must be fined between 5 and 25 million riels ($1,250 to $6,250).(Source)

Of course it is not mentioned what happens if one drinks and they are not a CPP member or does it show its magic if you are faithful to party? It is not mentioned what makes the water magic or how the party official can tell the faithful from the terrified.

Sounds like intimidation tactics by CPP thugs. They run unchecked by the rule of law. It's against the law but I'd bet that they will never be prosecuted. A CPP General's son robbed a school yesterday with a grenade and is pretty much immune to prosecution. Utter lawlessness seems to be the name of the game.

Press and politics

So much for freedom of the press

Catching Hun Sen outside the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, RFA reporter Keo Nimuol asked whether the recent sacking of a Funcinpec tourism minister meant the end of coalition partnership between the ruling Cambodian People's Party and the royalists.

"I am telling you, I have seen RFA's face," Hun Sen said. "Your radio station is insolent, and the one who asks questions is insolent too. You see for yourself; why do you need to ask? Funcinpec's ministers, state secretaries, undersecretaries and deputy prime ministers are here. I am speaking here now so that Cambodian TV stations tell RFA, not only is RFA insolent, even the one who asks questions is insolent."

The word the prime minister used translates as insolent but has much stronger implications in Cambodia's hierarchic culture. (Source)

The reporter asked a valid political question that is not remotely insulting, leading, insolent or inflammatory. Due to X, will Y happen? These are questions that most politicians are asked every day in the developed world. All politicians have to speak off the cuff, with the exception of Dubya who is incapable of doing so. If a European politician had responded to simple question in such a manner, that person would offer to resign, be out next election or apologise profusely to the voting public.

That is perhaps one of the major problems in Cambodian politics. Those in power do not fulfill their role and accuse the press, when they point this fact out. If Cambodia is a democracy as it claims then the politicians are public servants, which means servants of the people. If you mess the voters around or speak disrespectfully to them then you are out next election. The PM does not fear that. He will be reelected. There is no question. After all Saddam Hussein was reelected. All it takes is a little manipulation!

Cambodia is rapidly becoming a one party state. The CPP are getting rid of the opposition in a softly softly manner. The leader of one of the parties, Prince Ranariddh can no longer enter the country but it was achieved through the appearance of corruption rather than overtly political means. The prince was first prime minister before being ousted in 1997 by Hun Sen. The only reason that he was in government with Hun Sen from 1993-97 was despite losing the election Hun Sen refused to cede power and they governed together.

However, that is not the only indication of the emergence of a one party state. The Funcinpec Minister for Tourism was sacked and a CPP man took his place. The official reason is that it is better for the Kingdom but no explanation of why it is better or the reasoning regarding the decision. CPP and Funcinpec are supposed to be in a coalition. In addition, there is the continuing assault on journalists' rights and the impunity that rages throughout the Kingdom. The PM is visiting the ruling junta in Myanmar but will give no indication of his purpose or explain his reasons for visiting a military dictatorship where the democratically elected leader has been under house arrest for 11 of the past 19 years.

The Cambodian future was bright for a time but now seems to be slipping into authoritarianism. The election in 2008 will be decisive, one way or another.

PM sneers at karaoke workers

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that many women working in karaoke bars across the country skipped Cambodia's recent local elections because they feared getting their fingernails dirty with black ink.

"Many karaoke ladies did not go to vote because they feared getting their fingernails dirty," he said. "Some of them might have planned to go to vote but after seeing others return from voting with black ink on their fingernails, they decided to skip the polls. "But that was their right, their freedom — freedom to vote and not to go to vote," he said.

Hun Sen seemed to be speaking partially in jest, as laughter could be heard when he raised the subject.

Source

There is such a disdain for women working in the karaoke industry in Cambodia. Yet the karaoke bars are patronised by rich and poor men alike. I say men because women are not allowed to enter unless they are escorted, something I personally experienced.

The women working in the karaoke industry are there to sing with and for the men and bring drinks. It is a service business so the hostesses are dressed and made up nicely. Some indirect sex work does take place but for the women involved, this is a job like any other and is probably the only job they can get. The work they do is legal and popular and they are treated as unclean and fallen women by the powerful who use their services.

Unemployment is high in Cambodia especially among women. There are few professional positions open to women. In fact apart from some positions in NGOs or the bank, young women are employed in garment factories or bar work, where they can earn up to $50 a month, half of which is sent back to their families in the province. Many do turn to sex work and although some outsiders may see that as a choice, it is a harsh economic reality. There is a definite "death before dishonour" attitude in Cambodia but this does not feed families.

And the PM is sniggering at women who are working in legitimate employment by insinuating, without a shred of evidence, that they do not vote because of their vanity. KI Media wonders how the PM knows this about the karaoke workers. It is his job as PM to create employment and raise the standards of living of all Cambodians. He is supposed to encourage gender equality. Why just a few months ago 3G phones were banned because immoral women would use them to corrupt pure Khmer men.

He has no evidence and is making public statements about his disdain for women working in the karaoke industry. Everybody else is talking about women taking an active role in politics following the commune elections. All he does is sneer and suggest that women would choose not to exercise their democratic rights just because of perceived vanity. Shame on him.

Gender politics

Technically women in Cambodia were granted equality in 1955 and in 1958 a woman was elected to the National Assembly. Tong Siv Eng held two ministerial positions - social action and health and after the Khmer Rouge she played a vital role in brokering peace which led to the 1991 Paris Peace Accords.

During the Khmer Rouge's reign, women held various positions in the Government but virtually all were nepotistic appointments and showed a need and desire to keep power within the family -

Pol Pot's wife, Khieu Ponnary, was head of the Association of Democratic Khmer Women and her younger sister, Khieu Thirith, served as minister of social action. These two women are considered among the half-dozen most powerful personalities in Democratic Kampuchea. Son Sen's wife, Yun Yat, served as minister for culture, education and learning. Several of Pol Pot's nephews and nieces were given jobs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of Ieng Sary's daughters was appointed head of the Calmette Hospital although she had not graduated from secondary school. A niece of Ieng Sary was given a job as English translator for Radio Phnom Penh although her fluency in the language was extremely limited.

In 2004 only 9.8 of the seats in the Cambodian parliament were held by women. However, the political parties are wising up and realising that female candidates are popular. It is a difficult process as the role of Khmer women is not always conducive to politics -

As described in Khmer literature, the Khmer woman, must remain virtuous to uphold the image of her family. She is required to speak softly, walk lightly and be well-mannered at all times. She is required to stay in her home, and serve as the caretaker of the family and preserver of the home. As a young woman, a Khmer woman must be a virgin before she marries and be faithful to her husband after marriage, even though he is allowed to have extramarital affairs. But if a wife is virtuous, he will not need to look elsewhere for happiness. She must be clever and wise by bringing greater wealth and status to her husband. Heavy consequences exist for women who disobey the didactic message directed to them in Khmer literature. Often times the women are punished by rape or end their lives in suicide from shame. Source

It is wonderful that Cambodian women are overcoming cultural difficulties to participate in politics. Indeed the Phnom Penh Post has an article detailing April 1st commune elections

Twice as many female candidates ran in Sunday's commune elections than did in 2002, and the emergence of female candidates is quietly reshaping the Cambodian political landscape.

"As a female candidate it is very hard to persuade citizens to elect you," said Kim Chansopath, council member in Sangkat Boeng Keng Kong I. "As a female commune council member, you have to struggle to convince both men and women that you are able to do this job. [But] there are only two important things in politics: whether you win or lose - not whether you are man or woman."

"The work is gendered... Women focus on healthcare, education, and other services whereas men focus on infrastructure, law and order, security. But due to the fact the work is gendered, women have become key to commune councils. And as their confidence grows, they are taking on more work."

Over the last five years, voters have become more open to female candidates, and women more eager to participate in politics, Nanda said. Female involvement in local level politics since the 2002 commune elections has helped break down the widely held view that politics is dirty, corrupt, violent and best left to men, she said.

I take issue with the statement that politics is dirty, corrupt, violent and best left to men even if Nanda contends that this is merely a view. If politics are dirty, corrupt and violent, how does it follow that it is best left to men? After all the women of Cambodia have been on the receiving end of corruption and violence for many years now. There is a certain amount of familiarity with it. I am sure that women will put up of the intimidation and threats of the CPP as well as the men.

Women are changing the face of Khmer politics. If it was truly believed that politics is dirty, corrupt, violent and best left to men then I doubt voters would be clamouring for female candidates. But they are. Women are working locally to represent their communes and showing what can be done. Despite the gendered aspect of the focus areas it is encouraging to see progress.

The article in the Phnom Penh Post finishes with

I believe Cambodia could have a female prime minister," she said. "I see many strong women in Cambodia, women are sometimes stronger than men. I think that in the next three or four years you could have a female candidate for prime minister.

I have serious doubts regarding any change in PM in the next three to four years not only because the incumbent has expressed a desire to remain in the position until his 90th birthday which is in about 3 decades but also because I do not think that the Cambodian people would be willing to accept a female PM yet. It would be a tremendous step for equality but with the current status of women it will take a lot longer than three to four years.

That clinking clanking sound

The deadline, to find a solution to the problem of international defense lawyers fees, runs out today. This issue is one of the many that plagues the ECCC. The two sides seem to find it difficult to agree on anything. Of course it does not help that the bar association president Ky Tech is admonishing the international lawyers for behaving childishly. The story from the International Herald Tribune -

The bar association wants foreign lawyers to pay a US$500 (€375) membership application fee. If chosen to work with a client, they must pay an additional US$2,000 (€1,500) and a US$200 (€150) monthly fee, Ky Tech said.

He argued that foreign lawyers selected to practice at the tribunal could earn up to US$30,000 (€22,510) a month and could, therefore, afford the fees.

The international judges have said the fees severely limit the rights of the accused and of victims to select counsel of their choice. They said they will boycott a meeting next month on internal rules governing the proceedings if the fee issue is not resolved.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said in a statement Friday the bar association "must be condemned for their action in imposition (of) exorbitant fees, which has no doubt brought more delays and may even be the reason why the trial proceedings collapse altogether."

The move "is immoral and reprehensible" and "must be looked at as an inhuman act," the commission said, adding the bar association "is widely known to be under government control."

Yeah we know the Bar Association is under government control - everything is. One could compare a 98% share of the commune council elections to other developing countries which have autocratic leaders that are "elected" by a overwhelming majority.

Officials are arguing that these fees may affect the quality of lawyer that will be willing to come to Cambodia as defense counsel and as a result defenders may be constrained in their choice of counsel. Others are comparing the fees for international and national lawyers.

The point about the Bar Association, is this issue appears to be yet another attempt to wrangle as much cash out of internationals as possible. One of the more cynical opinions I've heard lately is that the Government is not going to let the tribunal collapse because there still are millions to get of the international community. Whether one agrees with that statement or not, there is a case to be made. The fees are objectively exorbitant.

Well perhaps a decision will be made today and the tribunal can move on to the next divisive issue.

CPP wins 98% of votes

The results are in, less than 24 hours after polling closed. At least the CPP have declared that they have taken 1,593 communes out of 1,621 - around 98% of the vote. That is what all the papers are reporting. The turnout was in the region of 70% - the lowest since the elections under UNTAC. Footloose has an interesting post about why one woman did not vote.

I have mentioned the text message ban but did not know at that stage that the NEC was considering banning all telephone communications. That proposal was shot down. Mobile phone are more important here than in other countries because the landline service is extremely limited. I failed to mention the political ramifications of the text message ban, which Details are Sketchy mentions:

For starters, Khmer fonts for the average telephone are virtually unheard of. But, really, that’s besides the point. The fact is, an overwhelming majority of the Cambodian population is illiterate. And poor. So in practice such a ban would only effect registered voters who also own a telephone and can read English. That’s a pretty small group. Significantly less than 1% of the population. It is, however, exactly the kind of people that vote for Sam Rainsy.

Other details are coming to light now. COMFREL, who are independent election monitors, trained their people to send monitoring information to a database by text. Given that the ban was announced on Friday afternoon, there was little time to prepare another method of information transmission. It is possible that details were lost or are incomplete because of this most unusual move of banning text messages.

Indeed, when the NEC were asked where else in the world are text messages banned before an election, the only answer that they would give is that Cambodia is an independent country and they don't need to follow any other country. Have you ever heard of any other countries banning text messages before an election? I haven't.

Stories were surfacing on Saturday night, of officials knocking on doors and providing rice for votes, prior to the polls opening. The occupant signs away their vote at the door and receives the rice directly. Such stories centre around Phnom Penh. Who can say whether it is true or not? Were votes bought in this way? People voted with ink and a fingerprint so one can see who voted.

There have been no official declarations as to the freedom or fairness of the elections. After all the polls closed yesterday at 3pm. It is interesting that CPP declared its victory before the polls closed and received 98% of the vote.

Details may yet come to light...

Additional sources: The Cambodia Daily and Cambodge Soir

Damn dirty lies

Last issue of the "Phnom Penh Post" had an article on the 1997 grenade attack at a KNP opposition rally. More than a dozen were killed and more than 100 wounded. Ten years on, the investigation continues but no evidence was ever found. Some of the wounded were taken to Kantha Bopha II children's hospital where that the hospital director refused entry, according to the article.

Today's "Cambodia Daily" has a double page spread written by the hospital director, Dr Beat Richner. He demands compensation, to the tune of one million dollars, from the Phnom Penh Post for this "ugly lie" - his alleged rejected of the wounded. Dr Beat claims that he was not at the hospital when the grenade exploded and so could not have refused to treat.

If he could prove that he is correct or insinuate it enough, he could sue for defamation which is a criminal offense - it's most often used to dispose of the opposition leaders. There is no other way be could get $1 million. There is no compensation culture here, although bribery is very much part of the culture. $1 million is an unreal sum of money in this country where around 80% of the population live on $0.50 a day. And it would not be the first time Cambodian hospitals have turned away the sick and injured.

Dr Beat attacks not only the PP Post but he takes a swing at international organisations in the country too, particular those concerned with health. He capitalises every instance of "who". Can anyone guess what that stands for? He rejects that "medical standard should correspond to the economical reality of the country" which he claims is the attitude of international organisations.

It's all very well to say that every country should have first world medical care but rather difficult in implement. Over half the national budget of Cambodia is given by donor countries. That money trickles away through corrupt Government departments and nobody is accountable and nothing changes. Corruption undermines everything but it does not help to throw more money at the Government. Perhaps Dr Beat's rant is a little misdirected.

Hope you don't need to send an urgent text message

Cambodia is having commune elections on 1st of April. No violence is really expected but the political wrangling is intense, as it is everywhere before an election. The Cambodian National Election Committee has taken the somewhat radical step of banning all text messages for over 36 hours before the election to eliminate political messages that may influence voters.

... in Cambodia the information technology is modern now and most of people are using cell phones which can receive campaign messages from political parties. On these two days, the environment must be quiet, according to the law... in order to prevent the use of SMS for the election campaign ... block SMS through cell-phone from March 31st, 2007 to April 1st, 2007 at 3.00pm.

I understand the need to have an election-free zone before polling. Even at home the party political broadcasts do not go out the day before or the day of the election. I do think, though, that banning an entire country from texting is a tad extreme. Oh well at least it's better than imposing a curfew. Don't forget to buy credit for your calls.