Nude girl 16, surf magazine

9 msn: Surf mag slammed for showing nude girl, 16  An Australian surfing magazine has come under attack from women’s rights activists after publishing a naked photo of a 16-year-old girl on its front cover with an accompanying article that talks about teenage "perfection".

Ella Rose Corby, an aspiring model from Kingscliff near the NSW/Queensland border, stripped down for the cover of the November issue of alternative surfing title Stab.

In the photo Miss Corby, who won a competition to pose for the magazine, covers herself up with strategically placed arms and legs and her body is covered in words painted on by an artist.

The accompanying article, written by fellow competition winner Mike Jennings, discusses teen sexuality by using terms like “unspoiled form" and “hotter than fish grease”.

Jennings' article focused on how 16-year-old girls meant "danger to the adult male".

នាវាទេសចរណ៏ខា្នតយក្សចូលចតនៅព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា

កោះសន្តិភាព : នាវាទេសចរណ៏ខា្នតយក្សចូលចតនៅព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា

Local photographer seeing the Kingdom in a new light

Phnom Penh Post Hacking a digital camera so it records inivisible light is not the usual approach to making pictures – but Meoun Nhean is not your usual photographer

Angkor Wat has been photographed from every conceivable angle and light from sunup to sundown. It hosts millions of tourists a year, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a visitor who isn’t trying to capture its beauty through his own lens.

So snapping a truly unique picture of the temple seems like an impossibility.But it’s a challenge he thrives on.

Finding new ways of capturing Cambodia’s picturesque places is Moeun Nhean’s artistic passion, and his recent work – which uses a digital camera to record light waves that are invisible to the human eye – shows the Kingdom’s most recognisable locale from a different perspective.

In a photo of the entrance to the Bayon temple in Siem Riep, the statues lining the road look normal, but are shaded by bright white trees that appear to be covered with snow. In a photo of Angkor Wat, the temple looks purple, the sky looks green, and the trees reflect the same ghostly white. These images have not been digitally manipulated on a computer, but produced in-camera.

Although Moeun Nhean’s photos are taken with digital cameras, infrared photography, and the ethereal effect it creates, has been practised since the early 1900s.

In infrared photography, the film or sensor is made sensitive to infrared light – light which is invisible to the human eye. Red or almost opaque filters are then used to allow infrared light through while blocking some or all of the visible light.

The fluorescent look of foliage created with this process is called the “Wood effect”, after Robert W Wood, who pioneered infrared photography.

Report calls for welfare system

Phnom Penh Post AS Cambodia’s major growth industries face a prolonged slowdown sparked by the global financial crisis, the government must develop a better social safety net to lessen the effects of increased joblessness and poverty on human development, according to a new UN report.

Titled “Global economic downturn: opportunity or crisis?”, the report examines the impact of the financial crisis on Cambodia and recommends mitigating policies – including the creation of a system that ensures a basic standard of living, improves income and food security, and provides vocational training.

Speaking at the launch of the report on Monday, Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association and the report’s research team leader, said: “Right now, we have many activities to assist the poor, but these are scattered over hundreds of NGOs and programmes from donor governments. They are not developing as an integrated social protection system.”

Douglas Broderick, UN resident coordinator, said Cambodia’s social spending was low for a developing country. “On average, safety net expenditure in developing countries is in the range of 1 to 2 percent of GDP, but Cambodia’s estimated expenditure is currently lower than 1 percent,” he said.

25m lives loose to AIDS

AIDS has killed 25 million people worldwide but new infections are slowing sharply, the UN said on Tuesday as it issued its annual report that mixed hope with a warning against complacency.

Almost 60 million people have been infected by the HIV virus since it was first recorded but prevention programmes are having a significant impact, the UNAIDS agency said in its latest report, released here in Shanghai.

Around two million people died of the disease in 2008, bringing the overall toll to around 25 million since the virus was first detected three decades ago. The UN figures

Some 2.7 million were newly infected in 2008, it added, bringing the world total to 33.4 million.

Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS executive director, told a Shanghai news conference on the report's launch that the number of new human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus infections has been reduced by 17 percent over the past eight years.

"The good news is that we have evidence that the declines we are seeing are due, at least in part, to HIV prevention," Sidibe said.

Some of the most notable progress has been reported in Africa, the report said.

HIV incidence has fallen by 25 percent since 2001 in East Africa while the figure for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole was around 15 percent -- equating to around 400,000 fewer infections in 2008.

In South and South East Asia, HIV incidence has declined by 10 percent in the same time period, the report said.

What former US President J. Carter said about Bush and world affairs

Bangkok Post

FORMER US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER was in Chiang Mai last week to help build houses for the homeless in the Mekong region. The Carter Work Project works with the international housing charity organisation, Habitat for Humanity, which launched a campaign on November 16 to build 50,000 homes over five years. Carter said 82 Thai homes were being built in Chiang Mai's San Sai district in honour of His Majesty the King who celebrates his 82nd birthday next month.

Suthichai: How do you assess President Obama's performance so far?

Carter: He has set a good goal for himself in many ways. He has announced an end to torture. He has announced his goal to do away with nuclear weapons. He has changed the image of my country among many people around the world.

Do you think he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?

Yes, I do.

Some people don't agree with that.

I was surprised when he got it so early. But I think the Nobel committee looked at what he had already said and done. There is no doubt that he has transformed our country's image - and the reputation of our country. He has also set himself some goals that are very admirable.

Do you think he can sustain the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan?

My hope is we will withdraw from Iraq very quickly. Unless there is a violent change, I think we will withdraw as scheduled by the end of 2011.

Afghanistan is another story.

Yes, it's another story. I hope we will withdraw our massive military effort in Afghanistan to reconcile with the people and cut down on the violence and attacks on the Afghanistan people.

Do you think Afghanistan may turn into another Vietnam?

I hope not … I don't think so.

Australia sold to the higher bid

News Com Au

WITH a list of iconic Australian tourism destinations being sold off to the highest bidder, Tracy Spicer fears Australia has become ripe for the picking.

AMERICAN tour guide, Far North Queensland, circa 2020: "Well, folks, welcome to the Great Barrier McReef!

"Over there you can see Woodrow Wilson Island, named after our late president. Hey, any of you been to Nike Air's Rock yet? Used to be called Uluru but that's a bit hard for us to pronounce!

"Seems some folks back home liked these Aussie tourist attractions so much, they bought the companies! Anyone for a Bud?"

Welcome to the brave new world of McTourism. While we've been looking over our shoulders at interlopers on leaky boats, an American conglomerate has bought five of our iconic tourist destinations.

Delaware North now owns three islands in the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef - Wilson, Lizard and Heron.

But wait, there's more.

The hospitality and food giant has also gobbled up Kings Canyon Resort in Watarrka National Park, midway between Uluru and Alice Springs.

And the ink is almost dry on the contract to buy El Questro Wilderness Park & Homestead on one million acres - yes, you read that right - in WA's remote Kimberley.

You'd know this property from the famous cattle-driving scenes in the movie Australia.

Whoever said irony was dead?

Oh - and guess what else is up for grabs?

Australia's biggest property trust GPT says it wants to offload the remainder of the Voyages portfolio, including Ayers Rock Resort, Longitude 131 and Brampton Island.

Now, I'm not implying that Delaware North is incapable of protecting our pristine assets. And I'm not implying that it fails to understand the Australian market.

Delaware North has a 20-year history Down Under.

Furthermore, I'm not implying that Delaware North has nefarious intentions.

But when did it become OK to sell off the family jewels?

Since the free trade agreement was signed in 2005, the US has been able to invest up to $1 billion at a time without seeking approval.

China has asked for the same deal, during its free trade negotiations.

At the same time, foreign companies are covertly buying up adjacent farms in Australia to use as a "salad bowl" in the case of global food shortages.

Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait want to purchase more than $1 billion worth of our farmland to feed their own people.

It all smacks of a neo-colonialism. And Australia is ripe for the picking.

We're like eager puppies, rolling over and begging for a belly scratch from our benevolent masters.

Who has beetroot on their hamburgers anymore? Why not grab a Big Mac!

Our mates, male and female, are referred to as "guys".

Rather than G'Day, we greet each other with "hey", straight from a Seinfeld episode.

This might seem inconsequential. Xenophobic, even. But cultural genocide is the death of a thousand cuts.

I can accept the American influence in film, music, sport, literature and language.

What I can't accept is the loss of what makes this place special - the coral cays of the Great Barrier Reef; the red rawness of the Kimberley; the land of the Never Never.

Could you imagine the US Government agreeing to such a thing?

The Grand Aussie Canyon.

The Statue of Liberty, holding aloft a meat pie. Snags at the Smithsonian.

It would never happen.

Delaware North says the purchase of its reef and wilderness properties is part of an overt strategy to move into hotels and resorts in Australia. It makes you wonder what's next.

Thai businesses fear closure of border

Bangkok Post

As the Thai-Cambodian media skirmish continues, Thai executives are starting to fear their operations will suffer.

Thai exports to Cambodia last year were worth 67 billion baht, while imports from Cambodia were only 3 billion baht

Vietnam benefits from close proximity with Cambodia, with significant border trade. Vietnam's exports to Cambodia have soared from US$178 million in 2002 to $1.43 billion last year.

Gamblers are staying away from casinos in Koh Kong and Poipet, while tourist numbers are on the slide. Kasikorn Research Center said the escalating tensions could affect businesses and populations on both sides of the border.

The conflict between the Thai and Cambodian governments recently reached a new and alarming level when both countries withdrew their ambassadors after Cambodia named fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser and refused to extradite him when he visited the country.

But the Thai-Cambodian border remains open so the border trade, which accounts for as much as 80% of bilateral trade, continues as usual.

If the conflict is quickly resolved without either side resorting to force, trade will not be disrupted, said K-Research.

Even a temporary border closure, similar to that caused by the earlier Preah Vihear temple dispute, would only have a limited impact, the researchers said. But a prolonged closure would inevitably damage trade, causing Thai exporters to lose their share in Cambodia's market.

Thai exports to Cambodia last year were worth 67 billion baht, while imports from Cambodia were only 3 billion baht.

Thailand's trade surplus reflects Cambodia's inability to supply its market's demand, while Cambodian consumers are accustomed to imported Thai products such as sugar, beverages, cosmetics, soaps and related products. The Cambodian business sector also relies on imported processed oil and cement.

Thailand is currently the largest exporter to Cambodia, supplying 23% of its imports, followed by Vietnam with 17% and China with 15%.

Like Thailand, Vietnam benefits from close proximity with Cambodia, with significant border trade. Vietnam's exports to Cambodia have soared from US$178 million in 2002 to $1.43 billion last year. The country is now competing directly with Thailand in oil, sugar and cement.

Chinese goods, currently in third place, also have good opportunities for growth due to the strength of the Chinese economy and the development of the logistics system linking China and Asean.

But Cambodia would also face losses from this scenario. Materials and intermediate goods from other countries for its production sector would likely have higher prices due to the logistics costs. Similarly, Cambodian consumers would likely have higher living costs.

Fortunes and glory

Phnom Penh Post

Never ask three Khmers to pose together for a photograph. Cambodians believe the person in the centre of the trio is thus cursed to a premature death – bringing ghastly literal meaning to the phrase “cut out the middleman”.

From miraculous animals to mystical pendants, via lucky numbers, magical totems and voodoo tattoos, most Cambodians are fanatically superstitious. The culture is riddled with folk illogic.

Meach Ponn, 75, former professor at the National Buddhist Institute, says fortune-tellers were plying their trade here more than two millennia ago. “When the Buddha was born in 623BC, his parents invited eight Brahman fortune-tellers to predict his son’s future,” he told Asia Life. These days, most Khmers (96.4 percent, say the CIA) are Buddhists. With karma set to decide their fates, many of them regularly flock to check their astral accounts.

Thus the cultural landscape is ripe for all manner of fortune-tellers, soothsayers, witch doctors, astrologers, numerologists, mediums, mystics, clairvoyants, psychics and quacks. Cambodia’s futures market is indeed a lucrative industry.

“Most people believe in it [the ability to see the future] – even if they don’t actually use it,” says Phap Sina, a 27-year-old project assistant for NGO Active Help Cambodia.

Khmers consult fortune-tellers for advice on business, building, buying and investments, marital compatibility, relationships and disputes, specifying timings to the luckiest minute – gamblers even seek advice on lottery numbers.

On the flipside lurk darker, more esoteric prescriptions. Phap Sina wears a lucky pendant to guard against harmful spells. He says his “witch can make people hate or love each other – or even kill”.

Curiouser and curiouser – especially as I’m about to have my first fortune-telling session.

I’d like to offer an open mind, but that’s probably wishful thinking. Firstly, I worship at the altar of science. Secondly, where I’m from, the word “superstition” is used pejoratively; referring to unempirical “old wives’ tales”. Thirdly, I’m a cynical journalist, who has studied “cold reading” – a technique used by false prophets conflating sleight of hand, cheap wordplay, and basic intuition.

So I’m hardly the most receptive subject. However, I am genuinely intrigued, so that will have to suffice.

In Phnom Penh, tellers set up booths – decorated with cabalistic diagrams of palms, astronomical wheels and zodiac symbols – in public squares, markets or malls. Others stalk the riverside or temple grounds with a folding table or groundsheet, ready to unpack incense, candles and cards from a briefcase.

I reckon I’m onto a winner with “Grandfather Floating Stone”, mystic correspondent for The Moon Magazine and Apsara TV’s Serey Sour Sdey Pordermean (Happiness News), until the show was dropped due to lack of sponsorship (wonder if he saw that one coming?)

Long Bora takes matters into his own hands…

Lest anyone forget his spell in the limelight, Grandpa Floating Stone displays his media credentials on a bright yellow banner in the terraced shop-house from which he operates. Trading on his famous pseudonym – coined after a rock he claims to have found bobbing buoyantly on Oudong Mountain – is good for business. The artist formerly known as Long Bora says he gets 20-30 clients a day.

Maybe so; he was out when I arrived, but quickly returned when summoned, by telephone not telepathy, duly noted. The “grandfather” (who, aged 31, is three years my junior) beckoned me to a table set by a sprawling, multi-faith shrine featuring statues of Buddha, Brahma and Chinese deities.

My nerves were jangling slightly by now. Long Bora had a lazy eye. It gave him an otherworldly air; surely a selling point in his line of work. I was asked to shuffle then split a deck of cards and pick a couple. Long Bora then asked for the Chinese zodiac sign of my birth year (the dragon).

Long Bora studied some charts and began reciting his reading, adopting the dispassionate monotone used by Buddhist monks during worship – their ceremonial drone. Phap Sina translated:

“Previously, you were confused about all the troubles and stress. You’ve got too much to think about.”

True – but haven’t we all? More shuffling and droning.

“You have been planning to ask me something, but you’re not sure if you will yet.”

Right again; I had been considering probing the dubious sage for information. But then, as a hesitant foreigner, doubt was probably pouring from my every pore. A strange pinging noise sounded. Long Bora consulted a touchscreen phone.

Gleeson edges ahead at Open

Phnom Penh Post Australia’s David Gleeson goes into the second day with a one-shot lead in the Cambodian Open, while two home-grown amateurs enjoy the experience

Siem Reap - AUSTRALIA’S David Gleeson broke away from a bunched leaderboard to take the first round lead at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open on Thursday.

Gleeson, a two-time Asian Tour winner, shot a five-under-par 67 which included a birdie at the 18th hole to lead by one shot in US$300,000 event.

Filipino Artemio Murakami, Taipei’s Lin Wen-hong, Malaysian Khor Kheng Hwai and Thai trio Pariya Junhasavasdikul, Annop Tangkamolprasert and Atthaphon Prathummanee share second place on 68s at the Phokeethra Country Club.

India’s Shiv Kapur shot a 70 which included an eagle two and three other birdies.

Gleeson turned in 35 with birdies on the second and fifth holes but dropped a shot on the ninth. He continued his climb up the leaderboard with further birdies on 10, 13 and 15, but it was the 20-foot birdie conversion at the closing hole which highlighted his round.

“The 18th hole is one of the strong holes here, so I am quite surprised I was able to sink that putt. It was one of those that fell in the last minute. I didn’t know it was going in but it is definitely good to move away from the rest,” said Gleeson.

Catch me if you can, but you don't want to, do you?

Bangkok Post

Then we all may have to answer to the people who are really in charge of this country: The military.

Does anyone actually think that the Thai authorities want Thaksin Shinawatra arrested? If they wanted Thaksin arrested, wouldn't he already have been arrested?

Could it be that the reason he hasn't been arrested is simply because they don't want him in custody?

Why launch a coup when he was in New York? Did that mean he was not supposed to be arrested in the first place? Why did he pack more suitcases than Imelda Marcos on his trip to the UN meeting in New York in September 2006? Was it because he knew there was to be a coup? That it has been arranged and he was informed by the coup makers ahead of time? Why was he allowed to attend the Beijing Olympics when the court had already convicted him and he was in Thailand, in the grasp of the Thai authorities?

Don't make a fuss. Just fade away. It's good political decorum.

Tearing up MoU on JDA is so wrong

Bangkok Post The government's tit-for-tat response to Cambodia's appointment of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic adviser by tearing up the accord to settle disputed waters, raises the serious question whether this serves our country's interests at all.

Linking the MoU to Thaksin and politics because the MoU was signed on June 18, 2001 when he was in power, in order to justify the MoU's termination, is not a fair statement.

It's a pity the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration was so quick to cancel the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that would have led to a sharing of the potentially rich hydrocarbons in the territorial claims in the Gulf of Thailand, without first thoroughly deliberating the implications and consequences.

The government's decision to nullify the MoU reached with Cambodia in 2001 may not be the right means to retaliate against Phnom Penh's growing hostility and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's siding with Thaksin.

That knee-jerk reaction effectively demolished a foundation on which lay the goodwill and intention of both countries to negotiate for mutually-acceptable terms to open the 26,000-sqkm area for exploration and production while possibly unlocking the age-old disagreement of the maritime boundary.