tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40455921953520261622024-03-14T07:05:34.736-07:00Rath, Muni's ResourcesRMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.comBlogger429125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-34049407777516191132011-10-29T23:49:00.000-07:002011-10-29T23:49:02.627-07:00Cambodia celebrates 20th anniversary of ex-King's return<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUKPI-hGTO4pTVtMFS8xM5t4yLpXLBHVlxMft9F8VEKZOr21faf-600guah7Grj8qevqmYoAVtqIkVXXsbDfev6RN7LY1yyYjv4hKbX0wyxpXR0jEbqxc2_DXjyYUHal0805seBFA_g5D/s1600/T-456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUKPI-hGTO4pTVtMFS8xM5t4yLpXLBHVlxMft9F8VEKZOr21faf-600guah7Grj8qevqmYoAVtqIkVXXsbDfev6RN7LY1yyYjv4hKbX0wyxpXR0jEbqxc2_DXjyYUHal0805seBFA_g5D/s320/T-456.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3333ff; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;">The signing the Paris Peace Accords in 1991. </span></span>R-L: Khieu Samphan, Ieng Mouly, Sihanouk, 4th <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">person</span> unidentified, Hun Sen and Hor Namhong.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.dap-photos.com/images/September-2011/T-455.jpg" style="color: #3333ff; font-style: italic;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.dap-photos.com/images/September-2011/T-455.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 295px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 400px;" /></a><span style="color: #3333ff; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: red;"></span>Sihanouk, French FM Roland Dumas and Hun Sen.</span><span style="color: #3333ff; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: red;"></span> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5ojYwNgOftTXyGBKaGMNqcVf9ygqJ-DtifKxmLMBi1w_VgrSj7Lv3IPXWbQkBuNSumTAa3O9VCXoYRPGddOjkcUpIAhGJkNfr4lT6yju9qNwiEtHu2HVLFO4tfVUWL2vCraRbQLtdE5G/s1600/T-457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5ojYwNgOftTXyGBKaGMNqcVf9ygqJ-DtifKxmLMBi1w_VgrSj7Lv3IPXWbQkBuNSumTAa3O9VCXoYRPGddOjkcUpIAhGJkNfr4lT6yju9qNwiEtHu2HVLFO4tfVUWL2vCraRbQLtdE5G/s320/T-457.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3333ff; font-style: italic;">Hun Sen signed the Paris Peace Accords.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #6600cc;">PHNOM PENH,</span> <span style="color: red;">Oct. 30</span> <span style="color: #009900;">(Xinhua)</span> -- <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD11">Cambodia</span> on Sunday celebrated the 20th anniversary of ailing former <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD12">retired</span> King Norodom Sihanouk's return from exile and his 89-year-old birthday turning to 90 on Oct. 31.<br />
<br />
The auspicious ceremony was held in front of the Royal Palace with the high presence from King Norodom Sihamoni, Sihanouk's son, Senate acting-President Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak, President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin, Prime Minister Hun Sen, and <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD9">foreign</span> diplomatic corps.<br />
<br />
In his first public <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD5">appearance</span> since his abdication in October 2004 in favour of his son Norodom Sihamoni, the former King was warmly greeted by throng of about 40,000 people from all walks of life.<br />
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Traditional dance has been performed to bless the former King with good health and longevity.<br />
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In his remarks, Sihanouk said he was very happy to have an honor to address to his beloved compatriots and highly appreciated Prime Minister Hun Sen for his tireless efforts and <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD6">achievements</span> to develop the country.<span class="fullpost"><br />
<br />
"Also, I admire the <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD10">government</span> of Cambodia and the parliament for their joint efforts to develop the nation," he said in a speech and live <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2">televised</span> by the state-owned National Television of Cambodia.<br />
<br />
The former King and Queen returned to Cambodia on November 14, 1991 from their exile in China's Beijing at <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1">the invitation</span> of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said Prime Minister Hun Sen in a speech during the celebration.<br />
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He said the celebration was to reflect the sincere hearts of Cambodian people towards the former King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Norodom Monineath for their tireless efforts and achievements in national construction.<br />
<br />
"We, all Cambodian people, wish the king father for good health and longevity in order to stay as a cold shadow for peace, political stability and prosperity of Cambodia and Cambodian people," he said.<br />
<br />
Hun Sen said in the history of Cambodian Kings, there have never had any ex-kings who had as long life as the former King Norodom Sihanouk.<br />
<br />
"In the past and in the future, the government of Cambodia vows to protect monarchic regime, constitutional law, full peace, political stability and national unification," he said.<br />
<br />
During the celebrations, there is an exhibition displaying former King Norodom Sihanouk's royal crusades and achievements in his efforts to develop the nation.<br />
<br />
Also, at the night of Oct. 30, <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD7">there will be</span> fireworks and concerts.<br />
Editor: Yamei Wang</span></div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-69629963445392301062011-10-28T13:24:00.000-07:002011-10-28T13:24:27.309-07:00Big Buddha unearthed at Ta Prom<dl class="article-info clearfix"><dd class="create">Thursday, 27 October 2011 12:02 </dd><dd class="createdby"> Bridget Di Certo </dd><dd class="createdby"><a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011102752391/National-news/big-buddha-unearthed-at-ta-prom.html">Phnom Penh Post </a></dd><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvku_EmH4ItbfB9prJbJ9d8pYsIAiwtjw9MAq98OEMV9njl3QvtDmo-1kg6_Qt5DDHVXINHhGpSc3lOntV93d6R4gzXhjM6DyeK-7dkJMdEZyZiEc3aIjvzqk2-VutajNHH3Ip1oK7y8t5/s1600/111027_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvku_EmH4ItbfB9prJbJ9d8pYsIAiwtjw9MAq98OEMV9njl3QvtDmo-1kg6_Qt5DDHVXINHhGpSc3lOntV93d6R4gzXhjM6DyeK-7dkJMdEZyZiEc3aIjvzqk2-VutajNHH3Ip1oK7y8t5/s320/111027_02.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="right"><b> Photo by: Photo Supplied </b></div>A two-metre section of a Buddha statue unearthed this week sits on blocks at the Ta Prom temple, in Siem Reap province.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><dd class="createdby"> </dd></dl>The largest Angkorian-era Buddha statue to be discovered since the Khmer Rouge regime ended was unearthed at Ta Prom temple last Friday, an official from the Indian embassy confirmed yesterday.<br />
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The Ta Prom temple, at the world-famous Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, has been under restoration by a team of Indian Government-funded technical experts since 2004.<br />
<br />
Indian Embassy First Secretary Saurav Ray said the Buddha statue, found in the Hall of Dancers at Ta Prom, was the “largest Buddha statue discovered so far in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge era”.<br />
<br />
“The statue is incomplete – missing a large buddha head with a naga snake fan and part of the base,” he said, adding that the portion of the statue found was a massive two metres high.<br />
<br />
“We have had 151 local people employed on the restoration work, and this is an amazing discovery,” Ray added.<br />
<br />
Ta Prom temple is thought to have been built in the 12th or 13th century and was founded by King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university.<br />
<br />
Like most temples at the Angkor Wat complex, Ta Prom was slowly strangled by the jungle after a decade of neglect during the Indochina war beginning in mid-1940s and later the civil conflict that engulfed the Kingdom from 1975 to 1998.<br />
<br />
The Archaeological Survey of India first came to the temple in 1983 and conducted brief restoration work, before later returning in 2004 to begin a projected 10-year restor-ation effort of the impressive Angkorian structure.<br />
<br />
UNESCO Culture Program specialist Philippe Delanghe said yesterday he had deployed a field officer to invest-igate the impressive find.<br />
<br />
“It is a Buddha sitting on a Naga, and seems to be a very huge thing indeed,” he said.<br />
<br />
“Such a big statue is quite a significant find – it looks at least as big as the famous Buddha at the Bayon temple.”<br />
<br />
Restoration efforts by donor countries such as France and China, being conducted at many of the Angkor complex temples, have previously come under fire from natur-alists as being too aggressive. <br />
However, UNESCO said that so far all restoration efforts had been received positively.<br />
<br />
“The International Co-ord-ination Committee adhoc experts have very regularly been visiting the restoration sites and are very happy with the work that is being done,” Delanghe said.<br />
<br />
Saurav Ray said Indian technical experts had received nothing but praise for their efforts from the Apsara Authority, the governing body of the Angkor complex.<br />
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“We are extremely happy with this very important find,” Ray said, adding that the technical experts were now conducting examination and analysis of the statue.<br />
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Representatives from the Apsara Authority declined to comment yesterday.RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-78661758307581048332011-10-20T07:37:00.000-07:002011-10-20T07:41:11.581-07:00Gaddafi killed as Libya's revolt claims hometown<span id="articleText"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz6ZtQ9Scjv3V5lY1dgJfSu2i44IpxJvd9Nv2u-_ea1wTkHfsO6EOYHWzqPDdkIac0RuYHmE2cNfxgAP4KDLz4Un1qqPb47d89t92UW_YgOHB6y_BncCfcQg_9tUpHaKONTSA9ntzGpxTJ/s1600/Libyan+leader+Muammar+Gaddafi+speaks+during+a+ceremony+in+Tripoli+in+this+June+12%252C+2010+file+photo..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz6ZtQ9Scjv3V5lY1dgJfSu2i44IpxJvd9Nv2u-_ea1wTkHfsO6EOYHWzqPDdkIac0RuYHmE2cNfxgAP4KDLz4Un1qqPb47d89t92UW_YgOHB6y_BncCfcQg_9tUpHaKONTSA9ntzGpxTJ/s320/Libyan+leader+Muammar+Gaddafi+speaks+during+a+ceremony+in+Tripoli+in+this+June+12%252C+2010+file+photo..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="imageCaption">Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi speaks during a ceremony in Tripoli in this June 12, 2010 file photo. <br />
<span class="label">REUTERS/Ismail Zetouny</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>By Rania El Gamal and <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=tim.gaynor&">Tim Gaynor</a></div><span class="location">SIRTE, Libya</span> | <span class="timestamp">Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:12am EDT</span> </div><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span class="focusParagraph"> (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi was killed on Thursday as Libya's new leaders declared they had overrun the last bastion of his long rule, sparking wild celebrations that eight months of war may finally be over.<br />
</span><span id="midArticle_1"></span>Details of the death near Sirte of the fallen strongman were hazy but it was announced by several officials of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and backed up by a photograph of a bloodied face ringed by familiar, Gaddafi-style curly hair.<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span>"He was killed in an attack by the fighters. There is footage of that," the NTC's information minister, Mahmoud Shammam, told Reuters.<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span>Western powers, who have backed the rebellion which took the capital Tripoli two months ago, said they were still checking. NATO said its aircraft fired on a convoy near Sirte earlier, but would not confirm reports that Gaddafi had been a passenger.<br />
<span id="midArticle_4"></span>Several NTC fighters in Sirte said they had seen Gaddafi shot dead, though their accounts varied.<br />
<span id="midArticle_5"></span>With a final declaration of the country's "liberation" from 42 years of one-man rule apparently imminent, and crowds firing in the air and dancing in the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi, Libyan television said NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil was about to address the nation.<br />
<span id="midArticle_6"></span>The two months since the fall of Tripoli have tested the nerves of the motley alliance of anti-Gaddafi forces and their Western and Arab backers, who had begun to question the ability of the NTC forces to root out diehard Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte and a couple of other towns.<br />
<span id="midArticle_7"></span>Officials said some of Gaddafi's entourage had been killed in the same incident, while his son Mo'tassim and other aides were taken prisoner. Another son, Saif -- long the heir-apparent -- was believed by the NTC to be still at large, possibly in the immense southern deserts of the Libyan Sahara.<br />
<span id="midArticle_8"></span>ARAB SPRING<br />
<span id="midArticle_9"></span>The death of Gaddafi himself became perhaps the most dramatic development since the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt and threaten the grip on power of the leaders of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/places/syria" title="Full coverage of Syria">Syria</a> and Yemen.<br />
<span id="midArticle_10"></span>"He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head," NTC official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."<br />
<span id="midArticle_11"></span>Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi, who was in his late 60s, was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked. He said he had been taken away by an ambulance.<br />
<span id="midArticle_12"></span>An NTC fighter in Sirte said he had seen Gaddafi shot after he was cornered and captured in a tunnel near a roadway.<br />
<span id="midArticle_13"></span>The capture of Sirte means Libya's ruling NTC should now begin the task of forging a new democratic system which it had said it would get under way after the city, Gaddafi's hometown rebuilt as a showpiece for his rule, had fallen.<br />
<span id="midArticle_14"></span>As potentially vast revenues from oil and gas begin to roll in again, Libya's six million people, scattered in towns spread across wide deserts, face a major task in organizing a new system of government that can allocate resources across long-competing tribal, ethnic and regional divisions.<br />
<span id="midArticle_15"></span>Gaddafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of ordering the killing of civilians, was toppled by rebel forces on August 23, a week short of the 42nd anniversary of the military coup which brought him to power in 1969.<br />
<span id="midArticle_0"></span>NTC fighters hoisted the red, black and green national flag above a large utilities building in the center of a newly-captured Sirte neighborhood and celebratory gunfire broke out among their ecstatic and relieved comrades.<br />
<span id="midArticle_1"></span>Hundreds of NTC troops had surrounded the Mediterranean coastal town for weeks in a chaotic struggle that killed and wounded scores of the besieging forces and an unknown number of defenders.<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span>NTC fighters said there were a large number of corpses inside the last redoubts of the Gaddafi troops. It was not immediately possible to verify that information.<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span>(Writing by Jon Hemming, <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=william.maclean&">William Maclean</a> and <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=alastair.macdonald&">Alastair Macdonald</a>; Editing by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=david.stamp&">David Stamp</a>)RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-59437051156270397502011-10-17T14:40:00.000-07:002011-10-17T14:40:08.255-07:00U.S. President to Visit Cambodia for First Time Next Year<div style="text-align: left;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOvpbyj4RDXSuC6nV7zoUamjz8G1XTXekgyXyGYizkEM_hR-7M1E4pEaQlP2Dn9XRGXoNuBMjmXblzrETd0qZwiaIhunR0LTCMofAdELvPU6nUsmIW-ZquIGjYiYL1JnUSrfXS7t0Z8J6/s1600/Obama-hun+sen+%2528SEAsia+Weekly%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOvpbyj4RDXSuC6nV7zoUamjz8G1XTXekgyXyGYizkEM_hR-7M1E4pEaQlP2Dn9XRGXoNuBMjmXblzrETd0qZwiaIhunR0LTCMofAdELvPU6nUsmIW-ZquIGjYiYL1JnUSrfXS7t0Z8J6/s320/Obama-hun+sen+%2528SEAsia+Weekly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3333ff; font-style: italic;">President <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD8">Barack Obama</span> (L) shakes with Cambodian Prime <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD4">Minister</span> Hun Sen during the latter's visit to <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2">Washington</span>.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="color: #009900;">17th October, 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">Xinhua Web Editor: yangyang66</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Cambodia is expected to welcome the visit of the incumbent <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD7">President of the United States</span> for the first time in history next year when the country chairs ASEAN, officials said.<br />
<br />
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, minister of foreign affairs, on Monday, visiting Ambassador of the United States to ASEAN David Carden said the U.S. congratulated Cambodia for hosting the ASEAN next year and said the U.S. was ready to <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD9">assist</span> Cambodia to chair the ASEAN successfully.<br />
<br />
"The U.S. fully supports ASEAN to establish an ASEAN community by 2015," he said. "Our president will be given the opportunity to attend the ASEAN-U.S. Summit and related meetinghahas here next year."<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">Koy Kuong, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the ASEAN-U.S. Summit will be held in late November, 2012 in Phnom Penh, and the U.S. presidential election will be held in early November 2012, so, probably, the incumbent U.S. President <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD11">Barack</span> Obama will take part in the summit as the new elected U.S. President in the next year's election will take office in December.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">During the meeting, Hor Namhong asked the U.S. to accelerate its assistance to Lower Mekong countries including Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos under the framework of the Lower Mekong- U.S. cooperation on the sectors of environment, <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1">education</span>, <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD10">health</span> and <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD12">infrastructure</span>.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">"The U.S. plays a key role to help the four lower Mekong countries to develop connectivity. It is a part of ASEAN connectivity, " he said.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">Singapore</span>, Thailand and Vietnam.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost">David Carden arrived here on Sunday for a four-day visit. During the stay, he will meet Cambodia's <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD6">ministers</span> of education, environment, and commerce, and also pay a courtesy call on the Prime Minister Hun Sen.</span></div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-84015088473496765432011-10-06T18:59:00.000-07:002011-10-06T18:59:39.248-07:00Steve Jobs Was a Dharma Teacher AlsoSteve Job's death yesterday came as a shock. We all knew he was dying, but were hoping that he would be a part of this world for a little while longer. As a tribute to him, I would like to share this video of him giving the Commencement Speech for the Stanford class of 2005.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/UF8uR6Z6KLc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>I especially appreciated his story about death:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<i>When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.</i><br />
<br />
And I thought of <a href="http://minddeep.blogspot.com/2011/09/we-must-all-file-on.html">the wisdom of another man</a>, not famous like Steve, but just as wise . . . </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
This is the truth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Original Posted at: <a href="http://minddeep.blogspot.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-was-dharma-teacher-also.html"> http://minddeep.blogspot.com</a></div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-64465993561920227362011-08-26T15:03:00.000-07:002011-08-26T15:03:53.939-07:00Video: Hurricane Irene to bring extensive storm surge in New York, New Jersy and Philadelphia<span about="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44287431');" class="inline external tease"><span class="video"></span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44287431#44289814" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;">Video: Hurricane Irene to bring extensive storm surge </span></a></span>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-68465427608382710242011-08-26T14:59:00.000-07:002011-08-26T15:01:28.855-07:00Residents, Tourists Seek Higher GroundIrene causing traffic jams, gas shortages along coast <br />
<h2 class="entry-summary" id="deck" property="dc:description">NYC orders first-ever mandatory evacuations; mass transit to be hit across Northeast </h2><div class="entry-summary" property="dc:description">Please go to the link <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44285405?GT1=43001">NBC</a> for <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44287431#44289814">VIDEO</a></div><div class="entry-summary" property="dc:description">NBC, msnbc.com and news services</div><div class="txt timestamp" content="2011-08-26T21:38:46">updated <abbr class="dtstamp updated" style="display: inline;" title="2011-08-26T21:38:46">7 minutes ago</abbr><span class="hide" property="dc:created dc:issued dc:date">2011-08-26T21:38:46</span></div><div class="txt timestamp" content="2011-08-26T21:38:46"></div><div class="txt timestamp" content="2011-08-26T21:38:46"><span class="hide" property="dc:created dc:issued dc:date"><strong>Top developments:</strong></span><br />
<span class="hide" property="dc:created dc:issued dc:date"></span><br />
<span class="hide" property="dc:created dc:issued dc:date"><ul><li><strong>2.3 million under evacuation orders; 300,000 are in NYC </strong></li>
<li><strong>NYC, N.J., Philadelphia to suspend mass transit service during part of weekend</strong></li>
<li><strong>Storm begins to hit Carolinas; maximum winds weaken to 100 mph</strong></li>
<li><strong>Obama to leave vacation island a day early due to Irene </strong></li>
</ul>NEW YORK -- With more coastal cities ordering evacuations ahead of Hurricane Irene, residents and tourists alike from North Carolina to New York City were moving toward higher ground. <br />
Traffic jams as long as 20 miles were reported and some service stations in New Jersey and other areas had run out of gasoline, according to the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks supplies and prices. Gasoline demand jumped 20 percent to 40 percent in Mid-Atlantic states, the service said.<br />
<br />
Evacuation orders covered 1 million people in New Jersey, 315,000 in Maryland, 300,000 in New York City, 300,000 in North Carolina, 200,000 in Virginia and 100,000 in Delaware. <br />
"This is probably the largest number of people that have been threatened by a single hurricane in the United States," said Jay Baker, a geography professor at Florida State University. <br />
New York, the nation's largest city, was among those announcing evacuations Friday. <br />
"We've never done a mandatory evacuation before and we wouldn't be doing it now if we didn't think this storm had the potential to be very serious,'' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in warning some 300,000 people living in low-lying areas. <br />
Earlier Friday, President Barack Obama warned East Coast residents to prepare for the worst, saying all indications point to a "historic" storm.<br />
"Don't wait, don't delay," the president said from his vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where many were already leaving ahead of Irene. Obama and his family had planned to leave the island on Saturday, but the White House on Friday said it had been moved up to Friday evening.<br />
<span about="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44287431');" class="inline external tease"><span class="video"></span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44287431#44289814" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;"> Video: Hurricane Irene to bring extensive storm surge </span></a></span><br />
Irene not only is packing 100 mph winds, it is also massive: hurricane-force winds extend 90 miles from the center, and tropical-storm winds extend 290 miles. Up to 15 inches of rain could be dumped across the East Coast by the time she barrels through.<br />
By 5 p.m. ET Friday, Irene remained a Category 2 storm with top winds near 100 mph — 15 mph less than overnight. <br />
Little change in strength was expected by the time the heart of the storm reaches the North Carolina coast on Saturday morning and Irene should then drop to a Category 1 storm with winds around 80 mph as it moves into the Northeast.<br />
Even as a Category 1 storm, Irene has the potential to cause billions of dollars in damage. At least 65 million people are in its projected track. <br />
<br />
"One of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole Northeast coast," said Max Mayfield, a former National Hurricane Center director. "This is going to be a real challenge."<br />
Rain from Irene's outer bands began falling along the North and South Carolina coast early Friday. Swells and 6- to 9-foot waves were reported along the Outer Banks. Thousands had already lost power as the fringes of the storm began raking the shore and North Carolina was told to expect storm surges up to 11 feet.<br />
Hurricane warnings extend along the North Carolina coast all the way up into New York City, Long Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. <br />
<a href="http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/26/7486141-how-to-prepare-really-tips-from-a-hurricane-vet"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;">How to prepare, really, tips from a hurricane vet</span></a><br />
Below is a look at impacts and preparations by region: <br />
<strong>New York City</strong>Bloomberg ordered an evacuation by 5 p.m. Saturday for low-lying areas that include the Battery Park City complex on the southern end of Manhattan; Coney Island, famed for its boardwalk and amusement park; the beachfront community of the Rockaways; and other neighborhoods around the city. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said subways, buses and commuter trains in the city, on Long Island and in the northern suburbs will be suspended starting around noon Saturday. <br />
Cuomo added that 1,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen would help over the weekend <br />
The George Washington and Tappan Zee bridges, among others, were ordered shut if winds top 60 mph, as was the New York State Thruway. <br />
<span about="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44289814');" class="inline external tease"><span class="video"></span><a href="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44289814');" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;"> Video: Bloomberg: 'Prepare for the worst, hope for the best' </span></a></span><br />
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have said they can't run the transit system once sustained winds reach 39 mph, and they need an eight-hour lead time to shut it down. <br />
Officials have entreated residents to take it upon themselves to get out early, but it remained unclear how many would heed the warnings that subways and buses might not be there for them if they waited. <br />
A hurricane watch was in effect for New York City and Long Island for Sunday, with storm conditions possible Saturday night. <br />
<div class="page i2 txt" id="fullstory" style="display: block;">The MTA has never before halted its entire system — which carries about 5 million passengers on an average weekday — in advance of a storm, though the system was seriously hobbled by an August 2007 rainstorm that disabled or delayed every one of the city's subway lines. <br />
<a href="http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/26/7487884-readers-capture-hurricane-irenes-approach"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;">Readers capture Hurricane Irene's approach</span></a>On Thursday, Bloomberg ordered nursing homes and five hospitals in low-lying areas evacuated beginning Friday and advised residents on the southern tip of Manhattan and on Brooklyn's Coney Island to start moving items upstairs.<br />
"We do not have the manpower to go door-to-door and drag people out of their homes," he said. "Nobody's going to get fined. Nobody's going to go to jail. But if you don't follow this, people might die."<br />
Apartment building managers emailed residents, telling them to close windows and expect power outages. Flyers were posted in building lobbies. <br />
Forecasters said Irene passing near Manhattan could lead to a nightmare scenario: shattered glass falling from skyscrapers, flooded subways and seawater coursing through the streets.<br />
Even if the winds aren't strong enough to damage buildings in a metropolis made largely of brick, concrete and steel, a lot of New York's subway system and other infrastructure is underground and subject to flooding in the event of an unusually strong storm surge or heavy rains.<br />
<span class="inline internal slice-4 x-photos"><span class="icon"><span class="photos"></span></span><a class="internal" data="44244580" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44285405?GT1=43001#slice-4"><strong><span style="color: #336699; font-size: medium;">Slideshow: Cartoonists poke at Irene </span></strong></a> (on this page)</span>New York City's two airports also are close to the water and could be inundated, as could densely packed neighborhoods, if the storm pushes ocean water into the city's waterways. <br />
In the low-lying Financial District surrounding Wall Street, the New York Fed was readying contingency plans but expected normal functioning of its open market operations on Monday, a spokesman said. <br />
The city had a brush with a tropical storm, Hanna, in 2008 that dumped 3 inches of rain in Manhattan. <br />
In the last 200 years, New York has seen only a few significant hurricanes. In 1821, a hurricane raised tides by 13 feet in an hour and flooded all of Manhattan south of Canal Street, the southernmost tip of the city. The area now includes Wall Street and the World Trade Center memorial.<br />
<a href="http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/26/7487884-readers-capture-hurricane-irenes-approach"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;">Readers capture Hurricane Irene's approach</span></a><strong>North Carolina</strong>Traffic was steady as people left the Outer Banks. Tourists were ordered to leave the barrier islands Thursday, though local officials estimated Friday that about half the residents on two of the islands have ignored evacuation orders.<br />
As a result, officials ordered dozens of body bags. <br />
"I anticipate we're going to have people floating on the streets, and I don't want to leave them lying there," said Richard Marlin, fire chief for one of the seven villages on Hatteras. "The Coast Guard will either be pulling people off their roofs like in Katrina or we'll be scraping them out of their yards." <br />
In Nags Head, police officer Edward Mann cruised the streets in search of cars in driveways — a telltale sign some planned to stay behind. He warned those that authorities wouldn't be able to help holdouts, and that electricity and water could be out for days.<br />
<a href="http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/26/7489091-price-gougers-put-on-notice"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;">Price gougers put on notice</span></a>Some told Mann they're staying because they feel safe or because the storm won't be as bad as predicted. Mann, 25, said some have told him they've ridden out more storms than years he's been alive. <br />
Bucky Domanski, 71, was among those who told Mann he wasn't leaving. The officer handed the retired salesman a piece of paper warning of the perils of staying behind. Domanski said he understood. <br />
"I could be wrong, but everything meteorologists have predicted never pans out," Domanski said. "I don't know, maybe I've been lulled to sleep. But my gut tells me it's not going to be as bad as predicted. I hope I'm right." <br />
<span about="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44285309');" class="inline external tease"><span class="video"></span><a href="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44285309');" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;"> Video: N.C. Gov.: Preparing for worst, praying for best </span></a></span>As thousands fled beach towns, some farmers began early harvests to minimize any losses to Irene.<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong>After the Outer Banks, the next target for Irene was the Hampton Roads region of southeast Virginia, a jagged network of inlets and rivers that floods easily. Emergency officials have said the region is more threatened by storm surge, the high waves that accompany a storm, than wind. <br />
Gas stations there were low on fuel Friday, and grocery stores scrambled to keep water and bread on the shelves.<br />
Few people were left along the coast of Virginia Beach, where officials ordered the mandatory evacuation of the city's Sandbridge section. <br />
Similar orders were issued for at least 10 other localities and some roads inland had backups 7-8 miles long.<br />
<strong>Maryland</strong>The beach community of Ocean City was taking no chances, ordering thousands of people to leave.<br />
"This is not a time to get out the camera and sit on the beach and take pictures of the waves," said Gov. Martin O'Malley.<br />
<strong>Washington, D.C.</strong>Irene forced the postponement of Sunday's planned dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. While a direct strike on the nation's capital appeared slim, organizers said the forecasts of wind and heavy rain made it too dangerous to summon a throng they initially expected to number up to 250,000 strong.<br />
<span about="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44275419/ns/community-firstperson/t/are-you-irenes-path-share-photos-if-its-safe-do-so/" class="inline external "><span class="story"></span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44275419/ns/community-firstperson/t/are-you-irenes-path-share-photos-if-its-safe-do-so/" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;"> Story: Are you in Irene's path? Share photos, if it's safe to do so </span></a></span><strong>New Jersey</strong>Transit trains will stop running at noon Saturday, Gov. Chris Christie said Friday. <br />
Aiming to speed up evacuations, Christie also suspended tolls on all parts of the Garden State Parkway south of the Raritan River and the Atlantic City Expressway.<br />
Summer resort towns were emptying as officials ordered mandatory evacuation of the popular tourist areas along the state's coastal barrier islands. <br />
<span about="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44291201/ns/business-oil_and_energy/t/irene-bring-outages-scattered-shortages-gas/" class="inline external "><span class="story"></span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44291201/ns/business-oil_and_energy/t/irene-bring-outages-scattered-shortages-gas/" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699;"> Story: Irene to bring outages, scattered shortages of gas </span></a></span><br />
Hundreds of thousands of people were likely to be affected by the orders, which included evacuation of such heavily visited towns as Wildwood, Ocean City and Avalon, all in Cape May County where the summer tourist population is typically 750,000 people. <br />
Traffic was jammed for some 20 miles on the Garden State Parkway, said Mike Durkin, who drove home to Jenkintown, Pa., from the Jersey shore. <br />
"I think there is a lot of nervous energy," he said. "There are people who have been there for 30 years who always rode out the storms before. A neighbor told me he just wasn't going to take a chance on this one though," he added. <br />
<span about="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44288676');" class="inline external tease"><span class="video"></span><a href="javascript:ijv.launchVideo('44288676');" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Georgia;"> Video: Christie issues stern warning of Irene to N.J. residents </span></a></span>All 11 of Atlantic City's casinos were ordered to close by noon Saturday, he added. The city's casinos have shut down only twice before, in 1985 for Hurricane Gloria and in 2006 because of a state government shutdown.<br />
<strong>Philadelphia</strong>Mass transit in the city and suburbs will be shut down early Sunday morning, officials said Friday.<br />
<span class="inline internal slice-1 x-data"><span class="icon"><span class="data"></span></span><a class="internal" data="43096768" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44285405?GT1=43001#slice-1"><strong><span style="color: #336699; font-size: medium;">Interactive: Hurricane facts, figures & preparation </span></strong></a> (on this page)</span><strong>Connecticut</strong>Gov. Daniel Malloy declared a state of emergency and warned there could be prolonged power outages if Irene dumps up to a foot of rain on already saturated ground. <br />
He said emergency responders must be ready in event of any evacuations from heavily developed urban areas. "We are a much more urban state than we were in 1938," he said, referring to the year that the so-called "Long Island Express" hurricane killed 600 people and caused major damage with 17-foot storm surges and high winds.<br />
At Mystic Seaport, a popular "living history" museum that depicts 19th century New England seacoast life, staff members were hauling parts of the collections to higher ground. The museum will be closed on Saturday and Sunday as staffers load up sandbags. <br />
<span about="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44285829/ns/travel-news/t/airlines-begin-canceling-flights-irene-nears/" class="inline external "><span class="story"></span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44285829/ns/travel-news/t/airlines-begin-canceling-flights-irene-nears/" property="dc:title"><span style="color: #336699;"> Story: Airlines begin canceling flights as Irene nears </span></a></span><br />
<strong>Boston</strong>While some residents flocked to the supermarket for bottled water and nonperishable food, others rushed to the local hardware store. <br />
"Our number of customers has tripled in the last day or two as people actually said 'wow, this thing is going to happen,'" said Jack Gurnon, owner of Charles Street Supply, a hardware store in Boston's wealthy Beacon Hill neighborhood. <br />
Tape for windows, flashlights and batteries were flying off shelves, but Gurnon said people were worried about flooding and have been scooping up sump pumps, too. <br />
<strong>Rhode Island</strong>The towns of Narragansett and South Kingstown on Friday announced mandatory evacuations for residents in flood-prone areas for no later than 10 a.m. Sunday. <br />
<strong>Florida</strong>While avoiding a direct hit, the state did see the first U.S. injuries from Irene when eight people were washed off a jetty in West Palm Beach on Thursday by a large wave churned up by the storm. All survived.<br />
<strong>Bahamas</strong>Irene exited the northernmost part of the archipelago by midday Friday. <br />
The government said the storm knocked out communications to islands such as Eleuthera and Abaco and that only partial reports of damage were available. <br />
No reports of deaths or injuries were received, but 70 homes on the southern island of Acklins were destroyed, 29 sustained major damage and 84 received minor damage. <br />
The capital sustained relatively minor flooding and damage.<br />
Insured losses in the Caribbean from Hurricane Irene will be between $500 million and $1.1 billion, risk assessor firm Air Worldwide said on Friday, adding that the Bahamas will account for more than 60 percent of the loss. <br />
<span class="copyright" property="dc:rights" rel="item-license license"> The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report</span></div></span></div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-81440833259660463632011-07-21T20:39:00.000-07:002011-07-21T20:39:49.820-07:00លោក ហោ ណាំហុង៖ លោកមិនមែនជាអ្នកគ្រប់គ្រងគុកបឹងត្របែកទេ ???<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><h5 class="byline"> <span>ដោយ តាំង សារ៉ាដា</span></h5><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mzmswOWQ0Mpvi8TzCiP6o3n2HTUyTcQZ8r9L5etCC_3uvXaijeyxAikf3gO90VtvQxSnW63Up9VfrWFjw1xEVIRy5tpOTRDySs4qjBUFRH2qS40NNzy2A5fU9r8WimooZx9ZKe5sjPBR/s1600/hornamhong_305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mzmswOWQ0Mpvi8TzCiP6o3n2HTUyTcQZ8r9L5etCC_3uvXaijeyxAikf3gO90VtvQxSnW63Up9VfrWFjw1xEVIRy5tpOTRDySs4qjBUFRH2qS40NNzy2A5fU9r8WimooZx9ZKe5sjPBR/s1600/hornamhong_305.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="photobyline">RFA/Sok Serey</div><div class="photocaption">រដ្ឋមន្ត្រីក្រសួងការបរទេស និងជាឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ផ្ដល់បទសម្ភាសន៍អ្នកសារព័ត៌មាននាអាកាសយានដ្ឋានអន្តរជាតិភ្នំពេញ នៅថ្ងៃទី១៧ ខែធ្នូ ឆ្នាំ២០១០។</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><h5>2011-07-20 "<a href="http://www.rfa.org/khmer/indepth/hor_nam_hong_denies_he_was_chief_of_kr_prison-07202011214103.html">ដើម្បីស្ដាប់សម្លេង ចុចត្រង់នេះ!</a> "</h5>មន្ត្រីជាន់ខ្ពស់នៃក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជា បានច្រានចោលចំពោះការចោទប្រកាន់នានា ទាក់ទងនឹងការទទួលខុសត្រូវ ឬជាអ្នកមានអំណាចក្នុងគុកបឹងត្របែកនៅសម័យខ្មែរក្រហម។<br />
<br />
ការបដិសេធរបស់លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ធ្វើឡើងនៅបន្ទាប់ពីមានការបញ្ជាក់ពីឯកសារ សាក្សី និងសេចក្ដីរាយការណ៍របស់មន្ត្រីស្ថានទូតសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិកប្រចាំនៅ កម្ពុជា ដែលថា មន្ត្រីការបរទេសខ្មែរមានជាប់ពាក់ព័ន្ធនឹងឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មសម្លាប់ បញ្ញវន្តខ្មែរ ឬក្រុមអ្នកការទូតខ្មែរពីបរទេស ដែលជាប់ឃុំក្នុងគុកបឹងត្របែក កាលពីឆ្នាំ ១៩៧៥ ដល់ឆ្នាំ ១៩៧៩ នៃរបបកម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ។<br />
រដ្ឋមន្ត្រីក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បានបដិសេធថា លោកមិនមែនជាអ្នកគ្រប់គ្រងគុកបឹងត្របែក នៅសម័យខ្មែរក្រហមនោះទេ។ ផ្ទុយទៅវិញ លោកថា លោកក៏ជាអ្នកទោសម្នាក់ដែរ។<br />
លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ថ្លែងប្រាប់វិទ្យុអាស៊ីសេរី តាមទូរស័ព្ទពីប្រទេសហុល្លង់ កាលពីថ្ងៃអាទិត្យថា ប្រធានគណបក្សជំទាស់ លោក សម រង្ស៊ី កន្លងមក ក៏ធ្លាប់បាននិយាយបរិហារកេរ្តិ៍រូបលោកអំពីបញ្ហានេះដែរ ហើយតុលាការរបស់ប្រទេសបារាំងនៅតែលើកលែងទោសដល់លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ដោយសារហេតុផលនយោបាយ។<br />
លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ៖ <i>«តុលាការបារាំងកាត់ប៉ុន្មានដងវាគ្រប់ហើយ។ ខ្ញុំជាអ្នកជាប់ទោសរបស់ខ្មែរ ក្រហម។ ខ្មែរក្រហមដែលចាត់តាំងគណៈកម្មការហ្នឹង គឺគណៈកម្មការអ្នកទោស។ អត់មានសិទ្ធិអំណាចអីទេ។ ខ្ញុំមិនដែលស្គាល់ខ្មែរក្រហមយ៉ាងម៉េចផង ហើយតុលាការបារាំងកាត់ប៉ុន្មានដង លើកលែងតុលាការកំពូលកាត់ផ្សេងៗ វាមិនជាក់ ព្រោះថា សម រង្ស៊ី បានបរិហារកេរ្ត៍ខ្ញុំពិតមែន បែរទៅជាលើកលែងទោសឲ្យគាត់ ដោយសារគាត់ជាអ្នកនយោបាយ»</i>។<br />
លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ដែលកំពុងរស់នៅនិរទេសក្នុងប្រទេសបារាំងមានប្រសាសន៍ថា ការកាត់សេចក្ដីរបស់តុលាការកំពូលបារាំងធ្វើឡើងប្រកបដោយយុត្តិធម៌ តាមការផ្អែកលើភស្តុតាង និងសាក្សីគ្រប់គ្រាន់។<br />
លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ៖ <i>«តុលាការបារាំងដែលខ្ញុំឈ្នះក្ដីលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ហ្នឹង គឺដោយសារតុលាការ បារាំងហ្នឹងគេយល់ឃើញដោយមានប្រភពជាច្រើនដូចគ្នា ចោទប្រកាន់លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ពីរឿងដូចគ្នា ហើយអ្វីដែលគេអះអាងនោះគួរឲ្យជឿបាន។ បើគ្មាន ពិត គ្មានមូលដ្ឋាន គេមិនអនុញ្ញាតអ្វីឲ្យយើងចេះតែនិយាយបានទេ»</i>។<br />
កាលពីថ្ងៃទី ២៧ ខែមេសា ឆ្នាំ ២០១១ តុលាការកំពូលរបស់ប្រទេសបារាំង បានច្រានចោលសេចក្ដីសម្រេចរបស់សាលាដំបូង និងសាលាឧទ្ធរណ៍ ដែលបានសម្រេចឲ្យលោក សម រង្ស៊ី ចាញ់ក្ដីលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ពីបទបរិហារកេរ្តិ៍ទាក់ទិននឹងការចោទប្រកាន់ថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជាអតីតប្រធានគុកបឹងត្របែក ក្នុងរបបខ្មែរក្រហម។ ប៉ុន្តែ តុលាការក្រុងភ្នំពេញ កាលពីដើមឆ្នាំ ២០១១ បានកាត់ទោសលោក សម រង្ស៊ី ក្នុងករណីដូចគ្នាឲ្យជាប់ពន្ធនាគាររយៈពេលពីរឆ្នាំ។<br />
គេហទំព័រ វីគីលីគ (Wikileaks) កាលពីថ្ងៃទី ១១ ខែកក្កដា ឆ្នាំ ២០១១ បានចេញផ្សាយរបាយការណ៍របស់លោក Alexander Arvizu អតីតអនុប្រធានបេសកកម្មរបស់ស្ថានទូតសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិកនៅកម្ពុជា ដែលកាលពីឆ្នាំ ២០០២ បានសរសេរថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជាអតីតប្រធានគុកបឹង ត្របែកក្នុងរបបខ្មែរក្រហម។<br />
ក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជា កាលពីថ្ងៃទី១៤ ខែកក្កដាថ្មីៗ នេះ បានចេញសេចក្ដីថ្លែងការណ៍ថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង រដ្ឋមន្ត្រីក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជាបានកោះហៅ លោក Jeff Daigle អនុប្រធានបេសកកម្ម និងជាភារធារីនៃស្ថានទូតសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិកប្រចាំក្នុងទីក្រុងភ្នំពេញ ដើម្បីសំដែងការតវ៉ាជំទាស់នឹងរបាយការណ៍នោះ ហើយទាមទារឲ្យមានការកែតម្រូវ។<br />
សាក្សីដែលបានដឹងអំពីវត្តមានរបស់លោក ហោ ណាំហុង នៅគុកបឹងត្របែក នៅកាលពីសម័យខ្មែរក្រហម បានបញ្ជាក់ថា ពួកគេបានដឹង និងបានឮឈ្មោះ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង នៅពេលនោះ។<br />
អតីតបុគ្គលិករបស់វិទ្យុសំឡេងសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក លោកស្រី នៅ សារឹម ដែលជាអតីតជនរងគ្រោះពីគុកបឹងត្របែក មានប្រសាសន៍ថា គុកបឹងត្របែកនៅពេលនោះ មានមណ្ឌលបីកន្លែង។ មណ្ឌលមួយសម្រាប់ដាក់ក្រុមនិស្សិតដែលវិលត្រឡប់ពីបរទេស ហើយមណ្ឌលមួយទៀតសម្រាប់ដាក់ក្រុមមន្ត្រីការទូតខ្មែរពីបរទេស។<br />
លោកស្រី ដែលពេលនោះជានិស្សិតបញ្ចប់អាហារូបករណ៍ផ្នែកភាសាបារាំងពីប្រទេស បារាំង បានជាប់ឃុំក្នុងមណ្ឌលមួយក្បែរមណ្ឌលគ្រប់គ្រងដោយលោក ហោ ណាំហុង។<br />
លោកស្រីបន្តថា ពេលនោះ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជាអ្នកគ្រប់គ្រងមណ្ឌលដែលឃុំឃាំង ក្រុមមន្រ្តីការទូតខ្មែរពីបរទេសក្នុងមន្ទីរបឹងត្របែក ៖<i> «នៅបឹងត្របែកហ្នឹងមានខ្មែរក្រហមធំខាងលើគេត្រួតហ្នឹង ឈ្មោះ សាវ៉ន ត្រួតមន្ទីរហ្នឹងណា៎ ចាស។ ហើយមន្ទីរដែលពួកគេខ្ញុំនៅហ្នឹង មិនមែន ហោ ណាំហុង ទេ។ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង គាត់ជាប្រធានបឹងត្របែកមួយទៀតហ្នឹង ដើម្បីដើរឲ្យដល់កន្លែងរបស់គាត់ គឺត្រូវដើរឆ្លងកាត់តាមមន្ទីរដែលខ្ញុំនៅហ្នឹងចាស។ ដូច្នេះ គាត់ជាប្រធានកន្លែងពួកទូត។ ពួកដែលគេនៅហ្នឹងសុទ្ធតែជាពួកទូត ហើយពួកដែលគេចូលទៅស្រុកវិញហ្នឹង ហើយលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជាប្រធាននៅពេលហ្នឹង។ ក្រោយលោកណាៗ ទាំងអស់»</i>។<br />
លោកស្រីមានប្រសាសន៍ថា សម្រាប់មណ្ឌលដែលអ្នកស្រីស្នាក់នៅ លោកស្រី បានឃើញមនុស្សប្រមាណជាង ១០ នាក់ត្រូវបានគេដឹកចេញយកទៅសម្លាប់ <i>«មុន គេយកមនុស្សចេញគេជេរយើងខ្លាំងណាស់។ រួចទៅបានគេដឹកមនុស្សចេញ។ ខ្ញុំដឹងតែកន្លែងខ្ញុំ។ កន្លែងខ្ញុំយ៉ាងហោចជាងដប់នាក់ដែរចាស៎។ អ្នកខ្លះទៅទាំងគ្រួសារតែម្ដង មានកូន ប្រពន្ធទៅជាមួយ។ យ៉ាងហោចហើយជាងដប់នាក់ចាស៎»</i>។<br />
ចំណែកសាក្សីដែលនៅរស់ពីមន្ទីរឃុំឃាំងបឹងត្របែកមួយរូបទៀត គឺលោក សេង ចាន់អន មានប្រសាសន៍ថា លោកធ្លាប់ឮឈ្មោះលោក ហោ ណាំហុង នៅមន្ទីរបឹងត្របែកនៅពេលនោះ។ ប៉ុន្តែ លោកមិនជាប់ក្នុងមណ្ឌល ដែលគ្រប់គ្រងដោយលោក ហោ ណាំហុង នោះឡើយ។<br />
លោក សេង ចាន់អន ៖ <i>«នៅបឹងត្របែកមានជំរំបី។ ទីមួយ ទីពីរ ទីបី ហើយខ្ញុំអត់នៅជាមួយគាត់ទេបាទ។ ដូច្នេះ ខ្ញុំអត់មានស្គាល់ការដឹកនាំអីរបស់គាត់ទេ ពីព្រោះខ្ញុំអត់បាននៅជាមួយគាត់ ហើយក៏អត់បាននៅបឹងត្របែកហ្នឹងជាប់លាប់ដែរ។ ដូច្នេះគ្រាន់តែដឹងតាមមិត្តភ័ក្ដិអីអ៊ីចឹងទេ ហើយខ្ញុំអត់ដឹងថា គាត់ជាប្រធាន ឬធ្វើសកម្មភាពអីច្បាស់លាស់នោះទេ»</i>។<br />
ផ្អែកតាមសៀវភៅជាង ២០០ ទំព័រ បោះពុម្ពក្នុងឆ្នាំ ២០០៣ ដែលសរសេរដោយ លោក អុង ថុង ហឿង អតីតអ្នកទោសនៅមន្ទីរឃុំឃាំងបឹងត្របែក កាលពីសម័យខ្មែរក្រហម បានបញ្ជាក់ថា គុកបឹងត្របែក ត្រូវបានបែងចែកជាមណ្ឌលបី គឺមណ្ឌល ប-៣០ ប-៣១ និង ប-៣២ ដែលមានលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជាប្រធានក្រុមអ្នកទោស ហើយភរិយារបស់គាត់ជាប្រធានក្រុមអ្នកទោសស្រី។ ចំណែកកូនប្រុសរបស់គាត់ធ្វើជាប្រធានក្រុមកុមារ។<br />
មណ្ឌល ប-៣២ នេះ ជាមណ្ឌលដែលឃុំឃាំងក្រុមបញ្ញវន្ត មន្ត្រីរាជការ ឬអតីតមន្ត្រីទូតមួយចំនួន ដែលមានវ័យចំណាស់បន្តិច។<br />
សៀវភៅរបស់លោក អុង ថុង ហឿង ក៏បានសរសេរផងដែរថា ប្រធានក្រុមអ្នកទោសបឹងត្របែកមានបុព្វសិទ្ធិ និងមានអំណាចក្នុងការរាយការណ៍អំពីអ្នកទោសទាំងអស់ទៅឲ្យថ្នាក់លើ របស់ខ្មែរក្រហម ដើម្បីធ្វើការពិចារណាក្នុងការយកអ្នកទោសទៅសម្លាប់ចោលនៅវត្តជើង ឯក ឬយកទៅធ្វើទារុណកម្មនៅគុកទួលស្លែងជាដើម។<br />
ជុំវិញការប្រកែករបស់លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ដែលថា មិនមានជាប់ទាក់ទងក្នុងការគ្រប់គ្រងមន្ទីរឃុំឃាំងបឹងត្របែកកាលពី សម័យខ្មែរក្រហមនោះ លោកបណ្ឌិត ឡៅ ម៉ុងហៃ ដែលជាអ្នកវិភាគឯករាជ្យ និងជាអ្នកឃ្លាំមើលស្ថានការណ៍នៅកម្ពុជា មានប្រសាសន៍ថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ខ្លាចមានឈ្មោះជាប់ជំពាក់នៃការដឹកនាំរបស់របបខ្មែរក្រហម។<br />
លោកបណ្ឌិត ឡៅ ម៉ុងហៃ ៖<i> «ហើយគឺគាត់ខំការពារ គឺនៅពេលដែលមានដូចថា បញ្ហាអំពីតុលាការខ្មែរក្រហម អាចធ្វើការចោទប្រកាន់ឯទៀតៗ នៅមានភាពចម្រូងចម្រាសនៅឡើយ។ វាមិនទាន់ដាច់ស្រេចពីរឿងតុលាការខ្មែរក្រហមហ្នឹង។ បើតាមខ្ញុំយល់គាត់ខ្លាចជាប់ខ្លួនគាត់ដែរ»</i>។<br />
កាលពីខែមិថុនា ឆ្នាំ ២០១០ ឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី និងជារដ្ឋមន្ត្រីក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង មានប្រសាសន៍ថា លោកគ្រាន់តែជាអ្នកទទួលបន្ទុកចាត់ចែងម្ហូបអាហារក្នុងគុកបឹង ត្របែកប៉ុណ្ណោះ ហើយថា អ្នកដែលទទួលខុសត្រូវធំបំផុតឈ្មោះ សាវ៉ន។<br />
លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ៖ <i>«ខ្ញុំជាគណៈកម្មការអ្នកទោស ដោយសារអ្នកទោសនៅបឹងត្របែកនោះ ខ្មែរក្រហមបានចាត់តាំងគណៈកម្មការ ដើម្បីរៀបចំម្ហូបអាហារដោយខ្លួនឯង រស់បានយ៉ាងម៉េចរស់ទៅ។ ដូច្នេះ គ្រាន់តែជាអ្នកប្រតិបត្តិដ៏សាមញ្ញ ដែលមានតួនាទីត្រឹមតែអនុវត្តការងារកំណត់ដោយប្រធានមន្ទីរឃុំឃាំង គឺអា សាវ៉ន ពេលខ្មែរក្រហម។ មេគេឈ្មោះ អា សាវ៉ន»</i>។<br />
កាលពីដើមឆ្នាំ ១៩៩១ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បានប្ដឹងសម្ដេចមហាវីរក្សត្រ ព្រះបាទ នរោត្តម សីហនុ ទៅតុលាការប្រទេសបារាំងទាក់ទិននឹងការចោទប្រកាន់រូបលោកជាប់ ពាក់ព័ន្ធនឹងការគ្រប់គ្រងគុកបឹងត្របែក ហើយពេលនោះ តុលាការបារាំងបានសម្រេចឲ្យលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ឈ្នះក្ដី។<br />
នៅឆ្នាំ ២០០១ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បានប្ដឹងលោក កៃ គឹមសុង អ្នកយកព័ត៌មានកាសែត The Cambodia daily ពីបទផ្សាយព័ត៌មានមិនពិត ដែលបានចុះផ្សាយអំពីតួនាទី និងការគ្រប់គ្រងរបស់លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ក្នុងគុកបឹងត្របែកនៅសម័យខ្មែរក្រហម។<br />
តុលាការកម្ពុជាតាំងពីសាលាដំបូងរហូតដល់តុលាការកំពូល បានកាត់ឲ្យលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ឈ្នះក្ដី ហើយតម្រូវឲ្យលោក កៃ គឹមសុង សងសំណងជំងឺចិត្តចំនួន ៣០ លានរៀល ស្មើនឹង ៧ ពាន់ ៥ រយដុល្លារសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក។<br />
នៅដើមឆ្នាំ ២០១០ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បានប្ដឹងលោក សម រង្ស៊ី ទៅតុលាការប្រទេសបារាំង ពីបទបរិហារកេរ្តិ៍អំពីសំណុំរឿងដដែលនេះ និងទាមទារសំណង ចំនួន ១៤ ម៉ឺនដុល្លារសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក។<br />
នៅក្នុងកំឡុងឆ្នាំ ២០១០ ទាំងសាលាដំបូង និងសាលាឧទ្ធរណ៍បារាំង បានកាត់ឲ្យលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ឈ្នះក្ដី។ ប៉ុន្តែ នៅខែមេសា ឆ្នាំ ២០១១ តុលាការកំពូលរបស់បារាំង បានបដិសេធចោលសេចក្ដីសម្រេចរបស់សាលាដំបូង និងសាលាឧទ្ធរណ៍ ហើយសម្រេចឲ្យលោក សម រង្ស៊ី ឈ្នះក្ដីលោក ហោ ណាំហុង ចំពោះការចោទប្រកាន់នោះ៕<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-68628166377970792352011-07-20T20:42:00.000-07:002011-07-20T20:42:05.510-07:00Buddhism Rebounds in Russia<h3 style="margin: 0 0 5px 0;">by JamesBrooke, VOANews, Jul 17, 2011</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg653DwT-akKdBZFNggWwXo4slywRTP4MSN6QFptIr041VPDmBpLdx6l75W0NmkPRLCgLGCziNQaozUCJuAZdSzWOJcO-wclI7poz3W6S0lJYTSOe34dU4lzhyuPhzrhrjlDkUQCN6NsA5_/s1600/russia-bud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg653DwT-akKdBZFNggWwXo4slywRTP4MSN6QFptIr041VPDmBpLdx6l75W0NmkPRLCgLGCziNQaozUCJuAZdSzWOJcO-wclI7poz3W6S0lJYTSOe34dU4lzhyuPhzrhrjlDkUQCN6NsA5_/s1600/russia-bud.jpg" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0;"> <strong>Ulan Ude, Russia</strong> -- For four generations, the Soviets waged war on Buddhists, sometimes branding them “Japanese spies.” Now, 20 years after the collapse of communism, Buddhism is experiencing a massive revival in its historic areas.</div><div style="margin: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0pt;"><strong><< Photo: VOA - J. Weeks<br />
Buddhist temple in Buryatia, Russia</strong></div><div style="margin: 0pt;"><strong> </strong> </div>Yes, there are Russian Buddhists<br />
The drums, the bells and the chants are redolent of Asia. But the language spoken between the monks here near the shores of Lake Baikal is Russian.<br />
<br />
Yondon Ulzutuev, who teaches philosophy at Ivolginsky datsan, Russia’s main Buddhist monastery, says that when he was studying Buddhism in India, people did not believe he was Russian.<br />
<br />
The 25-year old is one of over a million people in post-Soviet Russia who are embracing the Buddhist faith of their ancestors.<br />
<br />
<strong>Attitude change</strong><br />
<br />
<div id="googleGAD"> </div><div id="googleGAD">Czarist Russia largely co-existed with the Tibetan Buddhist faith of the Mongolian peoples it conquered in Central Asia. But the Soviets waged war on Buddhism. They bulldozed temples and monasteries. They used ancient manuscripts to roll cigarettes. They shot hundreds of priests - and sent the rest into the gulag. </div><div id="googleGAD"> </div>Buddhist nun Tenzin Choidrin talks of the communist destruction of Buddhist culture and civilization here.<br />
<br />
“As a result of communist repression, almost the entire Buddhist system was destroyed," she says. "The Buddhist world view, the basis of the traditional way of life was destroyed, the traditional system of values was destroyed.”<br />
<br />
The Soviets forced Buddhism underground. But, they failed to eradicate the faith from its historic strongholds - the border republics of Kalmykia, Tuva, and here in Buryatia.<br />
<br />
<strong>Rebound</strong><br />
Although more Russians are Buddhists today than before the revolution, the Kremlin rejects their central demand.<br />
<br />
They want their highest spiritual leader, Tibet’s Dalai Lama, to come to Russia and consecrate new temples and monasteries, but Moscow has refused to give the Dalai Lama a visa since his last visit in 2004.<br />
<br />
However as a nun, Choidrin says a visit by the Dalai Lama is needed. She says a price can not be put on the role of the Dalai Lama for the rebirth of Buddhism in Russia. Choidrin says his visit would be like water, which is needed by parched, sunbaked soil.<br />
<br />
The nun says now that the Dalai Lama has given up his political role as leader of Tibetan exiles, Russia should give him a visa.<br />
<br />
<strong>Chinese reaction</strong><br />
<br />
But China is now Russia’s largest single trading partner. Chinese officials have warned that the Kremlin has a clear choice: the 1.3 million followers of the Dalai Lama or 1.3 billion Chinese.<br />
At a neighborhood temple, Buddhist practitioner Irina is praying for her unborn child. After spinning the prayer wheels, Irina explains that she comes to the temple to pray that her pregnancy and baby’s birth will go well.<br />
<br />
And, judging by the large number of pregnant women coming to temples to perform rituals and to receive blessings, time seems to be on the side of Buddhism, here in Russia’s Asian corner.<br />
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</div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-14606653194975109232011-07-20T20:31:00.000-07:002011-07-20T20:31:46.418-07:00American Buddhism facing generational shift<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dHGPypXyDUc" width="560"></iframe><br />
<h1 id="watch-headline-title" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="long-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Norman Fischer, Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Wetzel at the Garrison Institute">Norman Fischer, Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Wetzel at the Garrison Institute </span></span></h1><h1 id="watch-headline-title"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Buddhism's growth in the West has spurred a rich cross-fertilization among the great traditions. In this spirit, Buddhist teachers have met in support of one another on past occasions in the US, Dharamsala and Europe. During the 2011 Buddhist Teachers Council held at the Garrison Institute in June, 2011, Jack Kornfield, Sylvia Wetzel and Norman Fischer sat down to discuss the state of Buddhism in the West today. They spoke with Robert Gabriele, Chief Operating Officer at the Garrison Institute.</span></span><span class="long-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Norman Fischer, Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Wetzel at the Garrison Institute"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></h1>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-80963341358316125532011-07-20T20:29:00.000-07:002011-07-20T20:29:02.485-07:00American Buddhism facing generational shift<h3 style="margin: 0 0 5px 0;">By Rachel Zell, Associated Press, July 17, 2011</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPfluZHuIsvvJ2HMQHzKzCXqEZeH4Q9I5ZR2lzfLA9tttUppIYMSHAzg85G9hGOZW2hvxFoR_r1FaVJ0lWBiVJMoyhzwGg0iwKCuGGgDTIAATJIlGWyIlzVlEph5M2ZtaC5ABOUWXb21JJ/s1600/garrison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPfluZHuIsvvJ2HMQHzKzCXqEZeH4Q9I5ZR2lzfLA9tttUppIYMSHAzg85G9hGOZW2hvxFoR_r1FaVJ0lWBiVJMoyhzwGg0iwKCuGGgDTIAATJIlGWyIlzVlEph5M2ZtaC5ABOUWXb21JJ/s320/garrison.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0;"> <strong>GARRISON, N.Y. (USA)</strong> -- Crosses still adorn one wall of this former Roman Catholic monastery, but a 6-foot golden Buddha now anchors the main room. The meditation hall, also used as a meeting space, is where the luminaries of Buddhism in the West recently gathered to debate.</div><div style="margin: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0pt;"><strong><< Buddhist teachers meeting at Garrison, NY, June 2011</strong> </div>The issue they were facing had been percolating for years on blogs, in Buddhist magazines and on the sidelines of spiritual retreats. It often played out as a clash of elders versus young people, the preservers of spiritual depth versus the alleged purveyors of "Buddhism-lite." Organizers of the gathering wanted the finger-pointing to end. The future of American Buddhism was at stake, they said.<br />
<br />
So on a sweltering day at the Garrison Institute, a Buddhist retreat overlooking the Hudson River, the baby boomers who had popularized the tradition in the West met with younger leaders to tackle their differences.<br />
<br />
"How can those of us who were pioneers in the '60s and '70s, support them without getting in their way and let them know that they have our blessings and support?" said Jack Kornfield, a prominent Buddhist teacher who helped introduce mindfulness, or insight, meditation to the U.S. four decades ago.<br />
<br />
<br />
Buddhism in America is at a crossroads. The best-known Buddhist leaders, mostly white converts who emerged from the counterculture and protest movements of the Vietnam era, are nearing retirement or dying. Charlotte Joko Beck, a pioneer of Zen practice in America, passed away in June.<br />
<br />
<br />
The next generation of teachers is pushing in new directions, shaped by the do-it-yourself ethos of the Internet age and a desire to make Buddhism more accessible. Informal study groups are in; organizing around a single teacher is out. Unsettled elders worry that the changes could go too far and lose touch with tradition.<br />
<br />
"It seems to be one of the facts of life right now, not only in Buddhism, but in religion in general: it's about mixing and matching," said Zoketsu Norman Fischer, a longtime Zen priest, scholar and poet affiliated with the San Francisco Zen Center. "The freedom people feel that they have to experiment — how do you prevent that from becoming consumerist or completely superficial or dangerous?"<br />
<br />
It is a complex problem for a spiritual path with no ultimate worldwide authority such as a pope.<br />
<br />
Within the United States, Buddhism is even more decentralized. Practices and beliefs that had developed in isolation from each other for centuries around Asia are side-by-side in North America, leading to sampling from different traditions. In Asia, monastics generally lead Buddhism in roles shaped partly by their monarchical societies; in the U.S., the teachers are mostly lay people. Beyond the Dalai Lama, Buddhism is best known in the United States not for any particular clergyman, ritual or liturgy, but through mindfulness-based stress reduction, which adapts strategies from vipassana, or insight medi tation.<br />
<br />
Yet, a vein of conservatism runs through American Buddhist communities.<br />
<br />
Many American Buddhist pioneers spent a decade or more studying with masters in Thailand, India, Burma and Nepal before returning home to take on students. On their websites, U.S. teachers post photos of themselves as young women in saris, or young men draped in robes, their heads cleanly shaven, on the steps of overseas monasteries. They are handing over leadership to the first convert Buddhist generation that was trained almost entirely in the West.<br />
<br />
"The prior generation was modeled after the monastic model, where the old guy was the abbot," said the Rev. Jay Rinsen Weik, a recently ordained Zen priest, who leads the Toledo Zen Center in Ohio with his wife, Karen, who is also a Zen priest. "The last generation suffered from not being able to distinguish the personality of the guy and his dharma (teachings)."<br />
<br />
At Weik's center in Toledo, he said, "people would never make that mistake," because they aren't conditioned to defer to one revered teacher.<br />
<br />
For younger Americans, spending several years cloistered abroad, absorbing the cultural traditions of another country, seems not only unnecessary but counterproductive for reaching Westerners. Spring Washam, 37, a founding teacher of the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, which has brought Buddhism to poorer, more diverse neighborhoods, said the attendees at her center want support, connection and friendship.<br />
<br />
"These people want to be happy in their lives," Washam said. "They're not going to be monastics."<br />
<br />
One of the most startling developments for elders has been the formation of the Dharma Punx, who participated in the conference. The relatively new, popular movement mixes punk rock-inspired rebellion and Buddhism, seeing both as seeking freedom from suffering. Amid the grey hair and muted clothes of the attendees, the Dharma Punx stood out, with their tattoo-covered arms and T-shirts the color of traffic cones. The movement emerged from the work of Noah Levine, the son of American Buddhist author Stephen Levine. The younger Levine rediscovered Buddhism after a troubled youth; he and his colleagues have built a reputation for successfully bringing Buddhist practices into juvenile detention centers — a sign of the social activism that young Buddhists tie to their meditation practice.<br />
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"I'm all about adaptability," said Vinny Ferraro, a Dharma Punx teacher, who said it would make no sense for him to "go off to a cave" and meditate for years.<br />
<br />
"What attracts people is relevance," he said. "Youth is suffering. These are prime suffering years, but I need it in my language."<br />
<br />
Whatever the elders think of these new approaches, they know they need the energy young innovators are bringing to the communities.<br />
<br />
In the 1980s and early '90s, few twenty- and thirtysomethings took up Buddhism. Leaders attributed the problem to a 1980s' backlash against spiritual seeking and society's focus in that era on accumulating wealth. (One Western convert at the Garrison Institute, who became a Tibetan monk, said that when he wore his robes in North America in the 1980s, he was treated like "a nut case.") Interest among young adults slowly grew in the last decade or so, but a still common complaint is that American Buddhists, outside of immigrant Asian communities, have been overwhelmingly older, wealthy and white.<br />
<br />
Weik said he doesn't want Buddhist parents to feel they must leave their family behind when they practice. He and his wife started a Sunday dharma school for children as young as 4 years old, and they are trying to develop rites-of-passage for young adults so they feel included. Study groups are meeting online and newcomers are learning about mindfulness meditation through yoga.<br />
<br />
Weik said he understood the concerns about the future of Buddhism, but he said the teachings have always had multiple expressions in different cultures.<br />
<br />
"That's what's going on here," Weik said. "Our job collectively is to do what's always been done. To authentically make this up as we go."<br />
<div style="margin: 0pt;"><br />
</div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-77684034734993932932011-07-18T09:16:00.000-07:002011-07-18T09:16:36.521-07:00International Court of Justice's latest Decisions<a href="http://www3.icj-cij.org/docket/files/151/16564.pdf">Request for interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia <i>v.</i> Thailand) (Cambodia <i>v.</i> Thailand) - Order - Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures. Please click here for full article.</a>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-11827761975894533062011-07-18T09:12:00.000-07:002011-07-18T09:13:34.070-07:00Latest press releases "Case concerning theTemple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand)"<a href="http://www3.icj-cij.org/docket/files/151/16582.pdf">Request for interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the Case concerning theTemple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) (Cambodia v. Thailand) - Request for the indication of provisional measures - The Court finds that both Parties must immediately withdraw their military personnel currently present in the provisional demilitarized zone defined by it, and refrain from any military presence within that zone and from any armed activity directed at that zone. Please click here for full Press Release.</a>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-9867239716961656442011-06-29T20:04:00.000-07:002011-06-29T20:04:09.192-07:00Footprints In The Dust I<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"> <span class="post-author vcard">Posted by <a href="http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2011/06/footprints-in-dust.html">Shravasti Dhammika</a></span> <span class="post-timestamp"> at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2011/06/footprints-in-dust.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2011-06-29T17:10:00-07:00">5:10 PM</abbr></a> </span><br />
<span class="post-timestamp"> </span><br />
<span class="post-timestamp"> </span>The only two of the great religious teachers who were successful during their own lifetimes were the Mohammed and Siddhatta Gotama, the Buddha. Both had long teaching careers and both lived to see their respective religions firmly established. Prof. Basham has written that Buddhism was a minor religion until its adoption and promotion by King Asoka. Basham bases his assumption on the fact that there is no archaeological evidence of Buddhism before Asoka’s time but this seems to me to be a rather weak argument. What physical evidence are wandering ascetics, which are what the Buddha’s disciples were, likely to leave? They established few permanent monasteries and those they did build were made of mud, bamboo and thatch. As for stupas, these did not become an important feature of Buddhist worship until about the 2nd century BCE. The Pali Tipitaka offers ample and convincing evidence that the Buddha was well known throughout wide tracts of northern India and that his Dhamma attracted large numbers of converts from all classes, especially the elite.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">The highly critical attitude of Jains and brahmins towards the new teaching as recorded in the Tipitaka suggests that they saw it as a real threat. An important cause of the Buddha’s success was no doubt his extraordinary personality. Even despite the great distance in time between he and us, the heavy editing of the suttas and their rather stilted language, the Buddha’s warm and compassionate presence shines through on nearly every page. The logical consistency of his Dhamma must have been an important factor also. However, no matter how appealing a teacher or how common-sense a teaching it will not attract converts unless they can come into contact with it. The Buddha was a missionary from the very beginning and this was, together with the two things mentioned above, the most important factor in the early succe<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczWJVoiw4snpHgDZWpIRawt9cmTNrvg-rZTelh8-rQq8hnYeeyOxacKdMYeJvy9UCpWRb9svVTcVi_FoS1mRL1HxmpFiVBiUTQt5Pz77rKf2OxhjpPXP17bv-KcwOyjlYXknEBD-cv4xd/s1600/3237707251_a32b0f10a6%255B1%255D.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623798750540992130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczWJVoiw4snpHgDZWpIRawt9cmTNrvg-rZTelh8-rQq8hnYeeyOxacKdMYeJvy9UCpWRb9svVTcVi_FoS1mRL1HxmpFiVBiUTQt5Pz77rKf2OxhjpPXP17bv-KcwOyjlYXknEBD-cv4xd/s320/3237707251_a32b0f10a6%255B1%255D.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 230px;" /></a>ss of his teachings. He had a still heart but a very mobile body.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">According to the Tipitaka, almost the first thing the Buddha did after his enlightenment was to embark on a long journey in order to teach others what he had discovered. Equally significantly, his instructions to his first five disciples was that they should ‘wander forth’ to teach others what he had taught them.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">The area in which the Buddha wandered during his life corresponds roughly to the modern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The furthermost east he went which can still be identified is Kajangla (now Kankjol, 18 k south of Rajmahal right on the Indo-Bangladesh border) and the furthermost west he is known to have gone is Mathura, some 180 kilometres south of Delhi. These two locations are nearly a thousand kilometers apart. The Buddha’s movements northwards were of course limited by the then impenetrable jungles of the Himalayan foothills and it is unlikely that he ever went further south than the southern edge of the Ganges watershed. Still, this would mean that his wanderings covered an area roughly equivalent to 200,000 square kilometers, a huge area by any standards.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">The evidence suggests that the Buddha only occasionally visited the outer edges of this region. For example, he only visited Mathura once and he probably visited Anga in the east (i.e. Campa, Bhaddiya and Kajangla corresponding to modern Bhagalpur District) only once also. Incidentally, I believe that Bhaddiya or Bhaddiyanagara as it is also sometimes called in the Tipitaka, can be safely identified with the village of Bhadariya some 12 kilometers south of Bhagalpur. However, most of the Buddha’s wanderings took place in the eastern part of this area, between the great cities of Savatthi, Rajagaha, Vesali and Kosambi. The Tipitaka mention carriageways in towns and paths, roads and highways through the countryside. However there is little doubt that these names referred to the frequency of traffic on these arteries, not to the quality of their paving or their width. All roads in ancient India were little more than dusty, rutted tracks in the summer and impassable rivers of mud in the rainy season. Banditry added to the risks of long distance travel.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">Travellers on the road between Savatthi and Sakheta were often robbed (Vin, IV: 87) and of course the fearsome Angulimala was a robber and murderer who operated in forested areas around Savatthi. Once the Buddha and an attendant were on tour of Kosala when they came to a fork in the road. The Buddha said they should take one fork while the attendant said they should take the other. This debate continued for some time until in a huff the attendant put the Buddha’s bowl down and walked off on the way he thought correct. He hadn’t gone far before he was attacked by bandits who ‘struck him with their fists and feet and tore his robe’ (Ud, 90). In the more remote districts travellers might have difficulty finding food, water and shelter. The Tipitaka mentions a traveller getting down on all fours to drink from a puddle in a cows footprint because no other water was available and of two parents lost in the wilderness who saved themselves from starvation by killing and eating their child. More normally though travel was just uncomfortable, tedious and undertaken only when necessary. And yet it seems that the Buddha spent most of his time on the road in order to reach as many people as possible. Such was his determination and compassion.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">In keeping with the rules laid down by himself and in accordance with long established samana tradition, the Buddha spent three months of the rainy season in one location and the rest of the year on what were called ‘walking tours’. According to the commentarial tradition after the 20th year of his ministry he spent every rainy season in or near Savatthi, the capital of Kosala. The fact that more of his discourses are set in this city that in any other place suggests that there is some foundation in this tradition and if it is true he may have decided to limit his wanderings at that time due to age. He would have been sixty years old at the time. All the Buddha’s journeys were undertaken on foot although as there are numerous rivers in the land he knew he must have often had to use boats or ferries despite being no specific mention of him ever actually doing this.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">We read of monks once crossing a river by holding on to the tails and backs of a herd of cattle that was swimming across the same river suggesting that when there was neither bridges, boats or rafts that the Buddha might have had to improvise as these monks did. There is no mention of the Buddha travelling by carriage or cart. In only one place is he described as wearing sandals, so he probably went bare footed most of the time (Vin,IV:186).</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">The Tipitaka mentions the itinerary of many of the Buddha’s journeys giving us an idea of the distances he sometimes travelled. For example, we know that within the first twelve months after his enlightenment he went from Uruvela to Isipatthana via Gaya and Benares, spent the three months of the rainy season there and then travelled to Rajagaha via Benares, Gaya, Uruvela and Lativanna. All these places can be identified with certainly and thus we can calculate that he must have walked at least 300 kilometers. In the longest single journey recorded in the Tipitaka, he went from Rajagaha: to Vesali to Savatthi and back to Rajagaha via Kitigiri and Avali, a round trip of at least 1600 kilometres (Vin,IV,189). It is likely that he would have started a trip like this at the end of the rains retreat and arrived back in time for the next retreat nine months later. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know how much time these or any of the other journeys might have taken.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;">In the famous Mahaparinibbana Sutta we know that he went from Rajagaha to Kusinara via Nalanda, Patna and Vesali, a total distance of about 300 kilometers. According to the sutta he left Vesali at the end of the rains retreat (October) and of course he is supposed to have attained final nirvana in Kusinara on the full moon of Vesakha (May). This suggests that he took seven months to travel about 95 kilometres. Even allowing for the fact that he was old and in ill health this seems like a very long time. It should be pointed out that only later text in the Tipitaka mention that the Buddha’s parinivana took place at Vesakha and the sutta gives the impression that while his last journey was slow it was at a steady pace. However, it seems likely that the Buddha conducted his journeys at a leisurely pace.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6276102143647309044" style="text-align: justify;"> The evidence suggests that he would wake before sunrise, go for pindapata in the nearest town or village just after sunrise and having eaten, would set off while it was still cool. He would walk until the midday heat became unpleasant and then take an afternoon rest. If there was a village nearby he might stay until the next morning and if not he might continue walking until he got to the next village. How long he stayed at a particular place would have depended on many factors - whether local people came to talk with and listen with him, whether food and water was available, whether the atmosphere was congenial. We know for example that he cut short his first stay in Rajagaha when people began to complain that too many young men were leaving their families to become monks (Vin,IV:43). Once he arrived in the village of Thuna to find that there was no water to drink because the brahmin inhabitants, hearing that he was coming, had blocked up their wells with rice husks and cow dung (Ud,78). The warm and respectful reception that Buddhist monks get today was not always available to the Buddha and his disciples. He is often described as travelling with either 500 monks (a conventional number meaning ‘a lot’) or simply with ‘a large group of monks’. At other times he would dismiss his attendant and companions telling them that he wanted to wander by himself for a while (S.III:94). <br />
</div><div> </div><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1"><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span class="post-author vcard"> </span><span class="post-timestamp"><a class="timestamp-link" href="http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2011/06/footprints-in-dust.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2011-06-29T17:10:00-07:00"></abbr></a></span><br />
<span class="post-timestamp"><a class="timestamp-link" href="http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2011/06/footprints-in-dust.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2011-06-29T17:10:00-07:00"></abbr></a> </span></div><span class="reaction-buttons"> </span> <span class="star-ratings"> </span> <span class="post-comment-link"> </span> <span class="post-backlinks post-comment-link"> </span> <span class="post-icons"> </span> <div class="post-share-buttons goog-inline-block"> </div></div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-49986692999068700492011-06-28T07:34:00.000-07:002011-06-28T07:39:18.227-07:00Thailand has no one to blame but itself<ul><li>Published: <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/search/news-and-article?xDate=28-06-2011&xAdvanceSearch=true">28/06/2011</a> at 12:00 AM</li>
<li>Newspaper section: <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/search/news-and-article?xNewsSection=News&xAdvanceSearch=true">News</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/244305/thailand-has-no-one-to-blame-but-itself">Bangkok Post </a></li>
</ul><div id="main-sns"><div class="tweetmeme_button"></div><div class="facebook-share"></div><div class="google-share"></div></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpRkj_qdZaIUCIAdAByHG2dAKSbZ5w7DePMwHXH21wi9SN68uik9Fiand37HjKem8bdAhizw8ANQgu2v-K3ZHxVrKEp8jsAExbnWgLXPvQ0K56zpK0NNJqOsOfYkF1UxYYbAjJ9cmke6U/s1600/Puangthong+Pawakapan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpRkj_qdZaIUCIAdAByHG2dAKSbZ5w7DePMwHXH21wi9SN68uik9Fiand37HjKem8bdAhizw8ANQgu2v-K3ZHxVrKEp8jsAExbnWgLXPvQ0K56zpK0NNJqOsOfYkF1UxYYbAjJ9cmke6U/s320/Puangthong+Pawakapan.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puangthong: We ‘should have known’</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Chulalongkorn University political scientist Puangthong Pawakapan believes the decision to withdraw Thailand from the World Heritage Convention will cast a negative light on the country's image. The academic shares her opinions with AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK on the issue.<b> </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What's wrong with Thailand's foreign policy on the world stage?</b></div><div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have to look at the overall problem. Thai and Cambodia have been at loggerheads over Preah Vihear since Cambodia managed to get the ancient temple listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008. Thailand's opposition has hurt its image. The country is viewed as losing a boxing match, but it and its fans refuse to accept the defeat.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Does a conflict over the 4.6-sq km disputed area (near Preah Vihear temple) not carry enough weight for the WHC to listen to Thailand?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Abhisit government explained that the listing of the temple and its management plan has allegedly encroached on Thai soil. But the government failed to produce clear evidence showing the alleged encroachment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If we look at a map submitted by Cambodia for the listing of the temple, the listing has not included the 4.6-sq km disputed area. This area had been removed from Cambodia's application since the Samak Sundaravej government was in office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Only the temple and areas on the eastern and western sides of it were listed as a World Heritage site. Evidence about the alleged encroachment must be produced when Mr Suwit opposed the listing before the WHC. But I think we have no evidence, only words.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Why did Thailand fail to lobby other membership countries to back its stance?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's hard to lobby them as we have to produce clear evidence about alleged encroachment. The kingdom should have opposed the management plan before the WHC held a meeting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The WHC had invited Thailand to participate in a panel to consider Cambodia's management plan but we refused so we had no opportunity to oppose the plan at that time. It's too late to cast an opposition when the WHC meeting [had been] called.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Wasn't the government aware of such procedures?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I think the government was fully aware, but opted not to tell the public. I don't know why it had to make public its opposition to Cambodia's management plan during the WHC meeting.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cambodia had submitted the plan in February last year.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thailand also has its representative on the WHC and should have know what was going on.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The management plan is not confidential as its details are displayed on several websites.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Which country has [gained] an advantage and which one stands to lose over Thailand's withdrawal from the WHC?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most of members of the WHC show an inclination to support Cambodia. Thailand's image over the issue has been badly affected.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This prompts other countries to back Cambodia despite the fact that they don't like Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen for being an authoritarian. Even foreign media based in Cambodia also dislike Hun Sen, but they support Cambodia over the issue.</div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-75680949031090899742011-06-23T07:37:00.000-07:002011-06-23T07:37:44.045-07:00The Meaning Of Life by Venerable Shravasti Dhammika<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwsWatds3gWa_Io58KGWMPcIqQ85apdyJHF-DwzI4gCM_fwV5UfMYAZBG03GuBEkjRtdC_yLIARdm3CNorJhpaQw6s6h0TNmLBjdZ0j_eQ5jJy77pkopzqWhfcfj3yP8PpVGldGRL4fPY/s1600/tumblr_lgd2ons9Eo1qzjqrio1_500%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwsWatds3gWa_Io58KGWMPcIqQ85apdyJHF-DwzI4gCM_fwV5UfMYAZBG03GuBEkjRtdC_yLIARdm3CNorJhpaQw6s6h0TNmLBjdZ0j_eQ5jJy77pkopzqWhfcfj3yP8PpVGldGRL4fPY/s320/tumblr_lgd2ons9Eo1qzjqrio1_500%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From the biological perspective the purpose of life is to acquire the necessities for continued existence, to reproduce and to survive. But what about the purpose of life from the religious point of view? If life has a single and specific purpose, as some religions and philosophies claim, then one would expect everybody, sooner or later, to naturally gravitate towards it, discover it and then strive to achieve it. In actual fact, we see that the various religions posit quite different and sometimes contradictory purposes of life. We also notice that many people manage to get through life alright without ever asking or thinking about whether or not life has a meaning. Others take one path, then another, according to circumstance, embrace each one, and manage to get through. We see yet others who claim that what they believe has ‘given their life meaning’ but later we here they have abandoned it for something else. This suggests very strongly that beyond the biological, life does not have any innate purpose or meaning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
From the Buddhist point of view, this is a good thing - it means that we have the freedom and the possibility to give our life the meaning that we want. If we decide to make the accumulation of wealth or power the purpose of our life, then it will become so. If we decide to make the pursuit of pleasure, dedication to our family or the contemplation of the divine the purpose of our life, then it will become so. Whenever one of his disciples attained enlightenment and became an <em>arahat</em>, the Buddha would always say that he or she had `done what had to be done' (S.III,68). From this we can deduce that for the Buddha, the meaning, the purpose and the fulfillment of life is to attain the joy and freedom of enlightenment. </div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-11105626580885588802011-06-14T17:22:00.000-07:002011-06-14T17:22:57.563-07:00HUMANITY DIVIDED BY RELIGIONS<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Below is a discussion about <a href="http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2011/06/temples-treasured-by-cambodian-saints.html" style="color: #6600cc;">Christian groups working in Cambodia to help poor Cambodians</a>. Opinions are divided whether they are <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2">helping</span> Cambodians or trying to convert Cambodians, who are predominantly Buddhists, to Christianity</span><span style="font-style: italic;">. Please have a read:</span></div><br />
<span style="color: red;">Anonymous said...</span><br />
<br />
I have nothing against Christians but they really need to learn tolerance. Khmer people will lose pride in the Hindu and Buddhist temples they built if this keeps up.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Anonymous said...</span><br />
<br />
One after another, Christians opportunists trying to grab hold of Cambodian populations through exploitation of their disadvantages by injecting Jesus Christ into their lives. These Christians are on the brink of madness to convert every living human being on earth to believe that only Jesus Christ can save them. The white Christians are notoriously tenacious in their mission of conversion. This is why there are attacks on Christian all over the world.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Anonymous said...</span><br />
<br />
These Christians are helping poor Khmers so we should welcome their works. When you are poor, religion is secondary, you tend to follow whatever religion that can feed your stomach. <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD5">Good job</span>.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Anonymous said...</span><br />
<br />
Something is wrong with the social fabric in Cambodia. I blame on the believing system that contribute to this social ill. You can see the poor kids work and skip school while the capable adults and young adults lived a sedentary lives in monasteries. Monks engaged in outrageous sexual scandals and <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1">made money</span> by performing some questionable rituals. <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD4">Domestic violence</span> and rape are skyrocketing and other crimes and drugs abusing are widespread. I'm coming to admire our Khmer Islam minority whose community is more safe in term of rarely having rapes and less vices etc...<br />
Also the new Christian faith groups are doing well too. Khmer spent a lot of time and resources on Buddhism, let's hope this main stream believing system can serve the society well in this present live and the next.<br />
14 June 2011 1:00 PM<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Anonymous said...</span><br />
<br />
1:00 PM, you're a disgrace for insulting Buddhism, assuming you're not a Buddhist, assuming you're a Christian or a Catholic. These two faiths have committed so much sins onto themselves that they don't even realize it. The history of atrocity committed by these two faiths by the believers have earned themselves a special place in hell. You're just picking and choosing the negative side of a few misbehaved Buddhism monks who have committed sins and generalized that as the fault of Buddhism and blaming the poor and suffering of people who are Buddhists. This is <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD9">base</span> on your Christian or Catholic ignorance.<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> You're telling me that Christians or Catholics have no scandals? Well, I hope you remember those huge scandals involving priests molesting and having sex with young boys? Should I blame that on the priests or your faiths?</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> Buddha, Yesua (Jesus Christ), and Mohammed are masters or great teachers. Please try to open your eyes and realize that all those great masters of each religion preaches to people to do good to one another. As time past, believers take things into their own hands and twisted a bit to serve their purpose. If you don't agree, then you are not practicing the <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD8">teaching</span> of your religion. If you are practicing the teaching of your religion, don't do it because you are a Christian or a Catholic, but do it because you want to help another human being. If we can do that, we are all god's (whoever he or she might be) children. I'm a Buddhist, when I help another person for whatever reason, I did it not because I'm a Buddhist or make any hint that I'm a Buddhist. I did it because I want to help that human being. His/her appreciation for my help is what god sees in me. This is why I love god and fear god.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost">-----------------------------------</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"><span style="color: red;">Anonymous said...</span></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> HUMANITY DIVIDED BY RELIGIONS,</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> I can't <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">help it</span> but to say a few more things. Religions seems to be connected with violence virtually everywhere. In recent years, religious violence has erupted among right-wing Christians <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD12">in America</span>, angry Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, quarrelling Hindus and Muslims in South Asia, and violence clashed in Southeast Asia between 2 Buddhist neighbors of Cambodia and Thailand. The human family is divided by religions with several major religious power locked in perpetual rivalry. Is there any reason to believe that Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims will ever help each other to ever exist together peacefully?</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> Another sad reality is the fragmentation that exist within each of those principle religious blocs. According to one estimate, Christiandom is broken up into more than 30,000 <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD11">denominations</span>. Islam is also divided by conflicting beliefs. Disunity amongst Muslims is the root cause of the problems in the Islamic world. Other influential religions such as Hinduism and Judaism are likewise, fractured into many conflicting sects.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<span class="fullpost"> Religions seem to influence nearly every aspect of secular life. Religious people are getting more vocal and misrepresent in all sorts of fields in business and politic. Religion is also creeping up in economics. The more <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD6">damaging</span> influence has to do with the long-standing history of religion meddling in politic. They should be separated. Religions is more likely to be the cause of war when religion and the state authorities become closely allied or intertwined. Religion has been to this day, tightly interlocked with politic. In many part of the world, predominant religions have become symbols of patriotic and racial identities. As a result, the line between nationalistic hatred, racial prejudice, ethnic rivalry and religious enmity are virtually indistinguishable. This explosive cocktail has the necessary ingredients to tear the world apart. The perplexing paradox in all of this is that much of the religions such as Christian, claim to represent the God of the Bible, the Creator. Does it make any sense that an almighty, all-wise, see-all, know-all, loving Creator would have anything to do with divisive and blood-guilty religions?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="fullpost">Source: <a href="http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2011/06/humanity-divided-by-religions.html">Khmerization </a></span>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-78853150642557918572011-06-09T13:57:00.000-07:002011-06-09T14:15:28.430-07:00Clash between fed up villagers and cops in Kampong Speu<div style="text-align: justify;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_jU2dwnxLQk" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Reuters // Reuters</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">PHNOM PENH, June 9 (Reuters) – At least 11 people were injured when armed police broke up a protest in Cambodia on Thursday by about 300 villagers resisting a court order to transfer farmland to a Taiwanese businessman, villagers and witnesses said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The clash comes amid growing discontent over forced evictions in Cambodia that have outraged rights groups and foreign donors, who say the government is driving people off their land to benefit cronies in cahoots with foreign firms.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bone of contention is a lack of title deeds in Cambodia, since most legal documents were destroyed during the ultra Maoist Khmer Rouge era in the late 1970s, when an estimated 1.7 million people were killed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Four policemen were among those wounded when 200 officers with assault rifles and electric batons clashed with villagers carrying sticks and knives in Kampong Speu province, about 40 km from capital Phnom Penh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We never sold our land, we have owned the land from our ancestors, so why are the title deeds now in Chinese names?” Sun Bunchhuon, 42, a representative of the villagers told Reuters by telephone, adding three villagers had been shot and four beaten and shocked with electric batons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The provincial police chief Keo Pisey and his deputy Som Bora declined to comment on the clashes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Protests over land grabs are taking place regularly in Cambodia and Housing Rights Task Force, a group monitoring forced evictions, reported 30,000 Cambodians were moved off their land last year, up from 27,000 in 2009.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chheng Sophors, a representative of local rights group Licado, witnessed the incident and said the government was making no effort to tackle the problem at national level.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Violence over land issue has been getting worse and worse and there have been no solutions. People are always the victims of economic land concessions,” Chheng Sophors said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a recent visit, Surya Subedi, the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, expressed concern about crackdowns on protesters and legal action taken against land activists and people who made claims to disputed land.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also urged foreign investors to be responsible in their business dealings in Cambodia. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Martin Petty and Miral Fahmy)</div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-71950577706907203472011-06-03T22:08:00.000-07:002011-06-03T22:08:56.370-07:00Poem & Picture dedicated to the 62nd anniversary of the loss of Kampuchea Krom on 04 June 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUizT8-bo0RKIbg52Liv3zYa0jV08bbv5PW4oAA4fm87zno4RYbP3YE2zL7g-F7BsOc4cz9okrmqWMvYoyLeBtHpaht5sBDSgoZrBqzKnOSeFKtePuhBwHgK-mP93yCyZia_QYQp0v30C/s1600/sacrava+noo+2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUizT8-bo0RKIbg52Liv3zYa0jV08bbv5PW4oAA4fm87zno4RYbP3YE2zL7g-F7BsOc4cz9okrmqWMvYoyLeBtHpaht5sBDSgoZrBqzKnOSeFKtePuhBwHgK-mP93yCyZia_QYQp0v30C/s400/sacrava+noo+2019.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIx663HxZ29qeSns7_uXPENHhktbhNWoZ7O4XpHPurbIyswzqQv9K_aXWUicuBXYyv9S5u5w2_HhrNWcDl7mK6V4EfrqhU7aJy8_BFrkKwALf5sAC46h-DM8jii4IPbCcuEqMYoPEDpMI/s1600/Dei+Khmer+Krom%252C+4+Mithona+Chenda+Chorng+Cham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIx663HxZ29qeSns7_uXPENHhktbhNWoZ7O4XpHPurbIyswzqQv9K_aXWUicuBXYyv9S5u5w2_HhrNWcDl7mK6V4EfrqhU7aJy8_BFrkKwALf5sAC46h-DM8jii4IPbCcuEqMYoPEDpMI/s400/Dei+Khmer+Krom%252C+4+Mithona+Chenda+Chorng+Cham.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><br />
Source: <a href="http://sacrava.blogspot.com/">Sacrava</a> & <a href="http://kamnapkumnou.blogspot.com/2011/06/dei-khmer-krom-4-mithona-chenda-chorng.html">Kamnapkumnou</a>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-35020400799204820742011-06-03T21:07:00.000-07:002011-06-03T21:07:03.880-07:00ROYAL-DeCREE-EnG on Animals and Plants as National Symbols of Cambodia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/57051883/ROYAL-DeCREE-EnG-on-Animals-and-Plants-as-National-Symbols-of-Cambodia"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlMHojkNXpaIgn-x-mDTD-WV61TuhaRJcxV-ey6rC7zPOUQzPVBgbwLpQTGebS24c8I4ZjyQqN0ibWC8NnFZdQE1v9VlwVHgb5LRAWOath7ow9iJOLcY2zuAMUAcXJ14DMUsXN5kQ71pT/s400/animalsplantscambodia1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/57051883/ROYAL-DeCREE-EnG-on-Animals-and-Plants-as-National-Symbols-of-Cambodia">Click the picture to read.</a>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-31266498232114863942011-06-03T17:32:00.000-07:002011-06-03T17:32:30.259-07:00Cambodian (Khmer Krom) will commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the loss of Kampuchea Krom on 04 June 2011Cambodian (Khmer Krom) will commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the loss of Kampuchea Krom on 04 June 2011. <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/57051789/Preynokor-News-Number22-2011-for-June04">Click here to read full article.</a>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-49533725863985906232011-06-02T22:36:00.000-07:002011-06-02T22:36:52.374-07:00Summary of ICJ Judgment of 15 June 1962 - Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand)<table><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="99%"><div class="a11b">Summary of the Summary of the Judgment of 15 June 1962</div><div class="a11b">(website of International Court of Justice)</div><div class="a11b"><br />
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<tr><td colspan="2"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>CASE CONCERNING THE TEMPLE OF PREAH VIHEAR</b></div><h6 style="text-align: center;">(MERITS)</h6><h6 style="text-align: center;">Judgment of 15 June 1962</h6><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Proceedings in the case concerning the <b>Temple of Preah Vihear</b>, between Cambodia and Thailand, were instituted on 6 October 1959 by an Application of the Government of Cambodia;</span> the Government of Thailand having raised two preliminary objections, the Court, by its Judgment of 26 May 1961, found that it had jurisdiction.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">In its Judgment on the merits the Court, by <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>nine votes to three, found that the Temple of Preah Vihear was situated in territory under the <span style="font-size: large;">sovereignty of Cambodia</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span>and, in consequence, that T<b>hailand was under an obligation <span style="font-size: large;">to withdraw any military or police forces</span></b>, or other guards or keepers, stationed by her at the Temple, <span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>or</i> in its vicinity on Cambodian territory.</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">By <span style="font-size: medium;">seven votes to five, the Court found that <span style="font-size: large;">Thailand was under an obligation to restore to Cambodia any sculptures</span>, stelae, fragments of monuments, sandstone model and ancient pottery which might, since the date of the occupation of the Temple by Thailand in 1954, have been removed from the Temple or the Temple area by the Thai authorities.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Judge Tanaka and Judge Morelli appended to the Judgment a Joint Declaration. Vice-President Alfaro and Judge Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice appended Separate Opinions; Judges Moreno Quintana, Wellington Koo and Sir Percy Spender appended Dissenting Opinions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">*</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">* *</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">In its Judgment, the Court found that the <span style="font-size: medium;">subject of the dispute was sovereignty <span style="font-size: large;"><b>over the region of the Temple of Preah Vihear</b></span>.</span> This ancient sanctuary, partially in ruins, stood on a promontory of the Dangrek range of mountains which constituted the boundary between Cambodia and Thailand. The dispute had its<i> fons et origo </i>in the boundary settlements made in the period 1904-1908 between France, then conducting the foreign relations of Indo-China, and Siam. The application of the <span style="font-size: large;"> Treaty of 13 February 1904 </span>was, in particular, involved. That Treaty established the general character of the frontier the exact boundary of which was to be delimited by a Franco-Siamese Mixed Commission</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the eastern sector of the Dangrek range, in which Preah Vihear was situated, the frontier was to follow the watershed line. For the purpose of delimiting that frontier, it was agreed, at a meeting held on 2 December 1906, that the Mixed Commission should travel along the Dangrek range carrying out all the necessary reconnaissance, and that a survey officer of the French section of the Commission should survey the whole of the eastern part of the range. <span style="font-size: medium;">It had not been contested that the Presidents of the French and Siamese sections duly made this journey, in the course of which they visited the Temple of Preah Vihear. In January-February 1907, the President of the French section had reported to his Government that the frontier-line had been definitely established.</span> It therefore seemed clear that a frontier had been surveyed and fixed, although there was no record of any decision and no reference to the Dangrek region in any minutes of the meetings of the Commission after 2 December 1906. Moreover, at the time when the Commission might have met for the purpose of winding up its work, attention was directed towards the conclusion of a further Franco-Siamese boundary treaty, the Treaty of 23 March 1907.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The final stage of the delimitation was the preparation of maps. <span style="font-size: medium;">The Siamese Government,</span> which did not dispose of adequate technical means, <span style="font-size: medium;">had requested that French officers should map the frontier region. These maps were completed in the autumn of 1907 </span>by a team of French officers, some of whom had been members of the Mixed Commission, and they were <span style="font-size: medium;">communicated to the Siamese Government in 1908.</span> Amongst them was a map of the Dangrek range <span style="font-size: medium;">showing Preah Vihear on the Cambodian side.</span> It was on that map (filed as <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Annex I </b></span>to its Memorial) that Cambodia had principally relied in support of her claim to sovereignty over the Temple. Thailand, on the other hand, had contended that the map, not being the work of the Mixed Commission, had no binding character; that the frontier indicated on it was not the true watershed line and that the true watershed line would place the Temple in Thailand, that the map had never been accepted by Thailand or, alternatively, that if Thailand had accepted it she had done so only because of a mistaken belief that the frontier indicated corresponded with the watershed line.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Annex I map was never formally approved by the Mixed Commission, which had ceased to function some months before its production. While there could be no reasonable doubt that it was based on the work of the surveying officers in the Dangrek sector, the Court nevertheless concluded that, in its inception, it had no binding character. It was clear from the record, however, that the maps were communicated to the Siamese Government as purporting to represent the outcome of the work of delimitation; since there was no reaction on the part of the Siamese authorities, either then or for many years, they must be held to have acquiesced. The maps were moreover communicated to the Siamese members of the Mixed Commission, who said nothing. to the Siamese Minister of the Interior, Prince Damrong, who thanked the French Minister in Bangkok for them, and to the Siamese provincial governors, some of whom knew of Preah Vihear. If the Siamese authorities accepted the Annex I map without investigation, they could not now plead any error vitiating the reality of their consent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Siamese Government and later the Thai Government had raised no query about the Annex I map prior to its negotiations with Cambodia in Bangkok in 1958. But in 1<span style="font-size: medium;">934-1935 a survey had established a divergence between the map line and the true line of the watershed, and other maps had been produced showing the Temple as being in Thailand: <b>Thailand had nevertheless continued also to use and indeed to publish maps showing Preah Vihear as lying in Cambodia. </b>Moreover, in the course of the negotiations for the 1925 and 1937 Franco-Siamese Treaties, which confirmed the existing frontiers, and in 1947 in Washington before the Franco-Siamese Conciliation Commission, it would have been natural for Thailand to raise the matter: she did not do so.</span> The natural inference was that she had accepted the frontier at Preah Vihear as it was drawn on the map, irrespective of its correspondence with the watershed line. Thailand had stated that having been, at all material times, in possession of Preah Vihear, she had had no need to raise the matter; she had indeed instanced the acts of her administrative authorities on the ground as evidence that she had never accepted the Annex I line at Preah Vihear. But the Court found it difficult to regard such local acts as negativing the consistent attitude of the central authorities. Moreover, when in 1930 Prince Damrong, on a visit to the Temple, was officially received there by the French Resident for the adjoining Cambodian province, Siam failed to react.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">From these facts, the court concluded that Thailand had accepted the Annex I map. Even if there were any doubt in this connection, Thailand was not precluded from asserting that she had not accepted it since France and Cambodia had relied upon her acceptance and she had for fifty years enjoyed such benefits as the Treaty of 1904 has conferred on her. Furthermore, the acceptance of the Annex I map caused it to enter the treaty settlement; the Parties had at that time adopted an interpretation of that settlement which caused the map line to prevail over the provisions of the Treaty and, as there was no reason to think that the Parties had attached any special importance to the line of the watershed as such, as compared with the overriding importance of a final regulation of their own frontiers, the Court considered that the interpretation to be given now would be the same.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Court therefore felt bound to pronounce in favour of the frontier indicated on the Annex I map in the disputed area and it became unnecessary to consider whether the line as mapped did in fact correspond to the true watershed line.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>For these reasons, the Court upheld the submissions of Cambodia concerning sovereignty over Preah Vihear.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">* * * </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Source: <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=284&code=ct&p1=3&p2=3&case=45&k=46&p3=5">International Court of Justice</a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-59268745371144554022011-06-02T22:30:00.000-07:002011-06-02T22:30:04.843-07:00Khmer people<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyjdiCHJCyA4U9Fc8yT3FVwns0YYIHTSqbXFWZ6I7PWtXl2-TYpOViA82LXg6aNgZQNCpVyZtU_Ea2rKbnQ1p89GXOjpubJF1xzQqWH5nLD2AvQZf0P-48B1eXQ-eCUwQdWfIoVxyWpJP/s1600/250px-Map-of-southeast-asia_900_CE.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyjdiCHJCyA4U9Fc8yT3FVwns0YYIHTSqbXFWZ6I7PWtXl2-TYpOViA82LXg6aNgZQNCpVyZtU_Ea2rKbnQ1p89GXOjpubJF1xzQqWH5nLD2AvQZf0P-48B1eXQ-eCUwQdWfIoVxyWpJP/s320/250px-Map-of-southeast-asia_900_CE.png" width="227" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Khmer people</b> (<span lang="km">ខ្មែរ</span>, <small>English pronunciation: </small><span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/ˈkmɛər/</a></span> or <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/kəˈmɛər/</a></span>) are the predominant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_group" title="Ethnic group">ethnic group</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a>, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-CIACB_0-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people#cite_note-CIACB-0"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup> people in the country. They speak the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language" title="Khmer language">Khmer language</a>, which is part of the larger <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon-Khmer_languages" title="Mon-Khmer languages">Mon-Khmer</a> language family found throughout <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a>. The majority of the Khmer are followers of the Khmer style of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a>, a highly syncretic version which blends elements of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada_Buddhism" title="Theravada Buddhism">Theravada Buddhism</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism" title="Hinduism">Hinduism</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism" title="Animism">animism</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestor_worship" title="Ancestor worship">ancestor-spirit worship</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HARVARD_8-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people#cite_note-HARVARD-8"><span>[</span>9<span>]</span></a></sup> Significant populations of Khmers reside in adjacent areas of Thailand (<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Khmer" title="Northern Khmer">Northern Khmer</a>) and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta" title="Mekong Delta">Mekong Delta</a> region of neighboring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Krom" title="Khmer Krom">Khmer Krom</a>). Full article at:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_people"> Khmer People</a></div>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-23500467906599993292011-06-02T22:09:00.000-07:002011-06-02T22:09:23.214-07:00Heroic Oknha Son Kuy, Khmer national hero, Governor of Preah Trapeang Province, Kampuchea Krom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thepreynokor.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/son-kuy.pdf"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcRLON2TGl4PrP-L8lI1fBm6mBfmoVVf1TU_0JbMal0RGqo3XqTHEisGLS2S-5xyftAwynjODAk4Hpbn8G07X6kzKibTxFAr4WiuBr41pUZ_4iMQlwZJATpV7_epwV3RLVn0C4e7TikCZ/s400/Son+Kuy.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><a href="http://thepreynokor.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/son-kuy.pdf">Click the image above to read the story!</a>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4045592195352026162.post-71744518019520099392011-06-02T15:04:00.000-07:002011-06-02T15:04:10.919-07:00Australian Defence Forces seek a Buddhist chaplain – any takers?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQig9tMfufSdR0GD4di9BjIDAiAxeOHkU9aMBdZB6-y0fBEwQQwJmVJWerikfHEO3cHH5DwdBvfmAcZH3s-Zs6ic5leVRwHVBYyvsk8NXabZML8lkp6rXgeqi6pKCL9aO8p2zTnxc_qmn/s1600/logo-7b-600.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQig9tMfufSdR0GD4di9BjIDAiAxeOHkU9aMBdZB6-y0fBEwQQwJmVJWerikfHEO3cHH5DwdBvfmAcZH3s-Zs6ic5leVRwHVBYyvsk8NXabZML8lkp6rXgeqi6pKCL9aO8p2zTnxc_qmn/s320/logo-7b-600.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The number of Buddhists in the Australian Defence Forces has now exceeded 350. This means the ADF is seeking a chaplain to minister to their needs. This issue has been discussed a number of times over the years, but it is only now that the number of Buddhists is great enough that the ADF is actively seeking a chaplain for them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The role would be as an officer, who would receive basic ‘brush & comb’ training in protocol and so on, but would not go through boot camp. They would minister to the spiritual needs of Buddhists in the Defence Forces – which, one can imagine, would be a tough call.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">This call has come through the FABC. If anyone’s interested, let me know and I’ll put you in touch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">In this <a href="http://sujato.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/resource-package-related-to-buddhist-chaplaincy.docx">Resource Package Related to Buddhist Chaplaincy</a>, you’ll find an interesting selection of material on this issue, complied by the ADF. </div><br />
Source: <a href="http://sujato.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/australian-defence-forces-seek-a-buddhist-chaplain-any-takers/"><span>sujato</span></a>RMV's Colleaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05415802798219055223noreply@blogger.com0