I love my new home and new neighbors and neighborhood. A great blessing beyond imagination. I'm such a country girl at heart. Well, with easy access to wine and cheese as it's only a 40 minute ride to the Independence Monument. The best of both worlds.

For more information re the abuse and cover-up, see below.

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Beauties! Health is wealth. Isn't that the honest truth?

The Honest Earth. A friend's company.

It's the perfect dessert (it's delicious!); it's the perfect meal (full of protein leaving you settled, full, satisfied), well, maybe also a side salad.

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Lamentations

by the BRILLIANT friend I met in India several years ago.

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JK Rowling: The third is that, as a much-banned author, I’m interested in freedom of speech and have publicly defended it, even unto Donald Trump. [...]

Most people probably aren’t aware – I certainly wasn’t, until I started researching this issue properly – that ten years ago, the majority of people wanting to transition to the opposite sex were male. That ratio has now reversed. The UK has experienced a 4400% increase in girls being referred for transitioning treatment. Autistic girls are hugely overrepresented in their numbers.

The same phenomenon has been seen in the US. In 2018, American physician and researcher Lisa Littman set out to explore it. In an interview, she said:

‘Parents online were describing a very unusual pattern of transgender-identification where multiple friends and even entire friend groups became transgender-identified at the same time. I would have been remiss had I not considered social contagion and peer influences as potential factors.’

The Strange Death of Europe

Douglas Murray

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Sunflowers by the amazing Khmer-American photographer Nam Ing

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Michael Miller who filmed the assault on the riverfront.

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The Sre Ampil Abuse and Cover-up

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Extreme Poverty

and Abuse by "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

Often, they're one and the same.

ធនាគារ ពិភពលោក កំណត់ «ភាពក្រីក្រ ខ្លាំងបំផុត» ដូចជា ការរស់នៅ ក្រោម ១,៩០ ដុល្លា រអាមេរិក សម្រាប់ មនុស្សម្នាក់ ក្នុងមួយថ្ងៃ។

ឧទាហរណ៍ សម្មតិកម្ A hypothetical graph. Assuming it’s in sCambodia. Electricity and fuel are more expensive in sCambodia than in Vietnam or Thailand. Phnom Penh ranks 5th most expensive city in the region.

ប្រសិនបើ នេះ ជាប្រាក់ខែ របស់អ្នក, តើ អ្នក នឹងមាន អារម្មណ៍ យ៉ាងណា? មានសុវត្ថិភាព និងអារម្មណ៍ កក់ក្តៅ? ឬងាយរងគ្រោះ បំផុត?

If this is your monthly salary for full-time work, would you feel safe and secure? Or vulnerable? Would you feel free to address your concerns? Or afraid?

តើ វា ជាបញ្ហាទេ ប្រសិនបើ, នៅក្នុង សេណារីយ៉ូ នេះ, និយោជិក ពេញម៉ោង ទទួលបាន ប្រាក់ឈ្នួល ប្រចាំខែ ទាបណាស់ ដូចនេះ ធ្វើការងារ ឱ្យអាជីវកម្ម ឬស្ថាប័ន មនុស្សធម៌ អភិវឌ្ឍន៍?

Would it matter if the full-time employees being paid these staggering low monthly wages in this hypothetical scenario work for a business or a humanitarian, developmental institution?

នៅក្នុងសេណារីយ៉ូ សម្មតិកម្មនេះ, តើ អ្នក គិត យ៉ាងដូចម្តេច ចំពោះ មនុស្ស ដែលមាន ការគ្រប់គ្រង ជាក់ស្តែង (ថៅកែ ជាក់ស្តែង ទោះ​បី​ មិន នៅលើក្រដាស ក៏ដោយ) ទទួលខុសត្រូវ ចំពោះ ស្ថានភាព នៃទាសភាពនេះ?

In this hypothetical scenario, how do you imagine the person with effective control (the boss, even if not on paper) responsible for this condition of servitude?

2019. Our electricity and fuel used to be exorbitantly high, now only very high, in comparison to Vietnam and Thailand. Cambodia imports vegetables from Vietnam.

where I live — où je vis — កន្លែង ដែលខ្ញុំ រស់នៅ

I can't breathe.

ខ្ញុំ មិន អាចដកដង្ហើម បានទេ។

Je ne peux plus respirer.

Read text in English, ជាភាសា ខ្មែរ

How complicit are you? Time and again I’ve seen enablers standing silently by--worse, active participants!--on less costly, less threatening issues.

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Our Dear Leader making us proud again for making the cover of The Economist

Covid Extortion

How to Kill Off Tourism already on Life Support

Covid: Suffer the Children

Vice: But it’s not just anxious teenagers being targeted by police for spreading “fake news.” VICE News has determined that since January, the Cambodian authorities have arrested at least 39 people for spreading “fake news” about the coronavirus. Many more have been subjected to public intimidation.

Many are former members of the now-banned opposition party, the CNRP. It was dissolved in 2017, when its leader Sam Rainsy was accused of colluding with the U.S. to overthrow Cambodian Prime MInister Hun Sen, in power for 35 years.

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យើង ត្រូវ ឈប់ធ្វើ ជាទាសករ ហិរញ្ញវត្ថុ របស់ ធនាគារ ជញ្ជក់ឈាម ដោយសារ ករណី ប្រធានសក្តិ គឺ ស្ថានការណ៍ ដ៏ធ្ងន់ធ្ងរ បំផុត ដែលមិនមែន ជាចេតនា របស់យើង ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ ត្រូវ តែ ទាមទារ ឲ្យទាល់តែបាន នូវការ ផ្អាកសង បំណុល និងបញ្ឈប់ បង់ការប្រាក់ ឲ្យទៅ ធនាគារ រហូត ដល់ទីបញ្ចប់ របស់ វិបត្តិសេដ្ឋកិច្ច និងការរាតត្បាត ជំងឺកូវីដ-១៩។

ABOLISHING FINANCIAL SLAVERY The Covid-19 pandemic and the severe world economic crisis with its dramatic repercussions for Cambodia is a case of "force majeure." It justifies suspension of the repayment of principal and interest on the colossal debts of the Cambodian population which is financially enslaved to predatory lenders. - Sam Rainsy on RFA

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The Dream Team

See Entrapment and Betrayal

[Letter from Hun Sen to Kem Sokha]

"Dear Excellency Kem Sokha"

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"In this spirit, the government would like to express truly its gratitude and pride in you for your contribution of USD5,000 (five thousand) to the royal government to combat this most vicious disease..."

"May Your Excellency and family be showered with the 4 Buddhist blessings..."

"30 March 2020, Hun Sen"

Brothers: Big and Tinny

The Human Rights Party, pictured here voting on a party decision in 2013, has voted to dissolve their party, according to President Son Soubert (left). Pha Lina (Phnom Penh Post, now a government mouthpiece)

Khmer Leadership Style that Needs to Change

Sam Sok: "We are almost always inclined to expect too much from our "leader." We often give them blank checks, naively thinking that they will give the best of themselves, without ulterior motives, in order to accomplish their missions and duties in the national interest. But the results, alas, have rarely measured up to the long-awaited hopes. We have hopes arising from deep inside ourselves to be led, 'enlightened,' by responsible leaders, conscious of their duty and mission. We find only demigods, who care above all for themselves and their private interests. They present no serious and coherent political program nor clearly defined objectives, nothing but empty words and speeches wrapped in an artistic vagueness calculated to dull the mind."

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Moral Rebels

Norman was a white man from Australia, a country that had strict apartheid laws, almost as strict as South Africa. There was tension and protests in the streets of Australia following heavy restrictions on non-white immigration and discriminatory laws against aboriginal people, some of which consisted of forced adoptions of native children to white families.

The two Americans had asked Norman if he believed in human rights. Norman said he did. They asked him if he believed in God, and he, who had been in the Salvation Army, said he believed strongly in God. “We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat, and he said “I’ll stand with you” – remembers John Carlos – “I expected to see fear in Norman’s eyes, but instead we saw love.” ...

But then Norman did something else. “I believe in what you believe. Do you have another one of those for me ?” he asked pointing to the Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on the others’ chests. “That way I can show my support in your cause.” Smith admitted to being astonished, ruminating: “Who is this white Australian guy? He won his silver medal, can’t he just take it and that be enough!”. ...

He was the greatest Australian sprinter in history and the holder of the 200 meter record, yet he wasn’t even invited to the Olympics in Sydney. ...

In the statue the spot where Peter Norman stood is empty, prompting many to call for him to be added. It transpires that this was not something Norman wanted. In an interview on Democracy Now, John Carlos explains that Norman wanted his spot empty so that anyone visiting the statue could stand on it and have their photo taken on the plinth, standing in solidarity with Smith and Carlos, as he had done. Peter Norman, we salute you.

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Is There Still Room for Debate

Andrew Sullivan | New York Magazine | June 2020

[excerpts]

Liberalism is not just a set of rules. There’s a spirit to it. A spirit that believes that there are whole spheres of human life that lie beyond ideology — friendship, art, love, sex, scholarship, family. A spirit that seeks not to impose orthodoxy but to open up the possibilities of the human mind and soul. A spirit that seeks moral clarity but understands that this is very hard, that life and history are complex, and it is this complexity that a truly liberal society seeks to understand if it wants to advance. It is a spirit that deals with an argument — and not a person — and that counters that argument with logic, not abuse. It’s a spirit that allows for various ideas to clash and evolve, and treats citizens as equal, regardless of their race, rather than insisting on equity for designated racial groups. It’s a spirit that delights sometimes in being wrong because it offers an opportunity to figure out what’s right. And it’s generous, humorous, and graceful in its love of argument and debate. It gives you space to think and reflect and deliberate. Twitter, of course, is the antithesis of all this — and its mercy-free, moblike qualities when combined with a moral panic are, quite frankly, terrifying.

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values,” President Kennedy once said. “For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” Let’s keep that market open. Let’s not be intimidated by those who want it closed.

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Changing the Conversation:

A Progressive Argument for Not Tearing Down Confederate Statues

Louis Bickford

Please, end the erasure culture. There's another way.

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See more at Vietnamization: China Responds

ក្នុងទស្សនាវដ្ដីអន្តរជាតិ Foreign Affairs ចេញផ្សាយថ្ងៃនេះ ពីសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក លោក សម រង្ស៊ី បង្ហាញពីនយោបាយចិនកុម្មុយនីស្ត ជួយជនផ្តាច់ការ បំផ្លាញលទ្ធិប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ នៅតំបន់អាស៊ីភាគអាគ្នេយ៍ ហើយយកប្រទេសកម្ពុជា ធ្វើជាឈ្នាន់ ដើម្បីឈ្លានពានប្រទេសជិតខាង។

Foreign Affairs magazine | June 10, 2020

China Has Designs on Democracy in Southeast Asia

A Base in Cambodia Is Only the Beginning

By Sam Rainsy

In January 2019, Dan Coats, then the U.S. director of national intelligence, warned the Senate Intelligence Committee that Cambodia’s “slide toward autocracy” could enable China to establish a military presence in the country. Such a move would pose a grave threat to regional stability and to the political independence of many Southeast Asian nations.

An armed Chinese presence on Cambodian soil would violate Cambodia’s constitution, as well as the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements that ended its long civil war. To be sure, Beijing is Cambodia’s largest source of aid, credit, and investment, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s corrupt, authoritarian regime relies heavily on Chinese patronage. But allowing Chinese troops in Cambodia is a political “red line” that Hun Sen cannot risk crossing, at least publicly.

Cambodian defense officials derided the U.S. intelligence chief’s statement as “fake news.” Hun Sen, too, issued vehement denials, repeatedly proclaiming that Cambodia’s constitution forbids foreign bases—as if the very existence of the prohibition made a Chinese troop presence impossible. But recent reports have suggested that the two countries have signed a secret deal giving the Chinese military exclusive access to Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, and a leaked document details a previously undisclosed visit that a team of Chinese military surveyors made to Cambodia.

The Cambodian and Chinese governments continue to defend China’s vast investment and infrastructure projects in Cambodia as peaceful efforts to boost economic growth, employment, and trade. But a military presence on Cambodia’s coast would significantly expand China’s ability to project power in the region, and there is growing evidence that indicates China is pursuing this strategic goal covertly, through dual-use projects. Indeed, the sheer scale of some of the Chinese construction projects that are now underway in Cambodia—such as the new runway and deep-water port in Koh Kong Province and the new resort on the island of Koh Rong—strongly suggests that they were designed with the needs of China’s military, and not Cambodia’s tourism industry, in mind.

A TROUBLING HISTORY

China’s track record gives the world reason for concern about its intentions in Cambodia. When Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, he promoted it as an effort to build soft power internationally by means of major infrastructure projects and loans to developing countries. But Xi has since increased focus on a strategy of military-civil fusion that has systematically erased the division between China’s domestic commercial and defense sectors. In so doing, the policy has also eroded the line between Chinese soft power and hard power overseas.

As a result of laws Xi’s government enacted in 2015 and 2016, Chinese cargo vessels must now be built to military standards, and Chinese civilian companies engaged in international shipping are required to provide supplies to Chinese military vessels when needed. In the disputed waters of the South China Sea, even Chinese fishing boats have been used to enforce China’s territorial claims.

The BRI investments, meanwhile, offer Beijing not only economic partnerships with governments but also a framework for military cooperation. The Center for Advanced Defense Studies found in 2017 that China, by investing in commercial ports in the Asia-Pacific region, routinely makes its national security interests a higher priority than economic development. And as the Brookings Institution noted in September 2019 of China’s BRI investments, “These infrastructure projects are quicker to build, easier to operationalize than proper military bases, considerably less expensive to establish and maintain, and nonetheless effectively Chinese-owned.”

China’s track record gives the world reason for concern about its intentions in Cambodia. Through the BRI investment projects, particularly in ports and coastal areas, the Chinese government is building a robust infrastructure in strategic foreign locations, even as it plausibly denies that these efforts serve any military purpose. Moreover, because of the investments, China now has far-flung economic interests to protect—and for which it needs and can justify developing nearby defensive capabilities. From there, developing offensive capabilities will require relatively little additional investment. As China expands its presence overseas, these self-reinforcing steps are becoming an established pattern.

In 2013, China began a major dredging and land reclamation project in the Spratly Islands, a disputed chain of tiny atolls and coral reefs in the South China Sea. Beijing initially denied that it intended to militarize the archipelago. By building artificial islands and equipping them with airfields, the Chinese government insisted, it meant to protect fragile reefs and enable prompt assistance to distressed ships. China eventually acknowledged that the islands served a military purpose but maintained that it was a purely defensive one. Beijing stuck to this story even while installing a sizable force of fighter jets and cruise missiles in the Spratlys.

A similar pattern of public denial and obfuscation surrounded Beijng’s first—and to date, only—official overseas military base, built in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa. China had invested heavily in Djibouti since 2000, cultivating influence with its government by dangling tempting loans it could never repay. But for years, the Chinese government disavowed any interest in establishing military bases in foreign countries. American officials were reportedly blindsided when Djibouti’s government announced, in 2016, that it had given China a ten-year lease on land for a base. The Chinese base in Djibouti opened, with great fanfare, on August 1, 2017—the 90th anniversary of the founding of China’s People’s Liberation Army. Although China has said that the Djibouti base is merely a logistics facility to support humanitarian and counterpiracy missions, the Pentagon claims that lasers operated from the base have been used to blind U.S. military pilots, and satellite images of recent construction work show that the base is now large enough to accommodate warships and nuclear submarines.

FOSTERING AUTOCRACY

China’s recent history of engagement with Phnom Penh suggests that Beijing now hopes to use the same militarization template in Cambodia as it has elsewhere. Just as it did in Djibouti, China spent years carefully cultivating Hun Sen’s government. The combination of Chinese investment, loans, and political support, uncomplicated by any regard for human rights violations or cronyism, proved potent, and Hun Sen’s authoritarianism increased in step with his dependence on China.

Today, Hun Sen often behaves more like an obedient Chinese regional governor than a prime minister. Isolated on the world stage and increasingly unpopular with Cambodia’s youthful population, he has little choice. Hun Sen’s displays of fealty to China during the novel coronavirus pandemic—he was the first foreign leader to visit China after its lockdown ended and pointedly declined to cancel flights between the two countries during the worst of the crisis—proved to Cambodians that he values Chinese money over his country’s public health. And Hun Sen’s eagerness to prove his loyalty to Beijing on the global stage, helping China dodge U.S. tariffs, for example, by rerouting exports through Cambodia’s Chinese-owned Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, shows that he values his alliance with China over international norms.

China presents its investments in Cambodia as a means of promoting economic growth and employment that will benefit ordinary Cambodians. But the reality on the ground is quite different. The Chinese airport and deep-water port project in the southwestern province of Koh Kong—pitched as an effort to boost Cambodia’s tourism industry but widely believed to be designed to serve China’s armed forces—is a case in point. The giant parcel of land that Hun Sen’s government handed over to China’s Tianjin Union Development Group for the project is more than three times the legal limit under Cambodian land law and constitutes 20 percent of Cambodia’s coastline. The terms of the agreement—a paltry $30 per hectare on a 99-year lease—dramatically favor China and prevent Cambodia’s private sector from developing coastal industries. Many of the more than 1,000 families that were evicted to make way for the Chinese project in Koh Kong were never compensated; when some traveled to Phnom Penh to submit a petition to the Chinese embassy, they were detained by police.

A profusion of Chinese infrastructure investment projects like these, which serve China’s interests and benefit few in Cambodia beyond Hun Sen and his circle, have alienated ordinary Cambodians and become the focus of popular anger. With Chinese support, Hun Sen’s regime has systematically undermined Cambodia’s democratic opposition and eviscerated its free press—but the fact that the prime minister remains sensitive to questions about Cambodia’s sovereignty, as evidenced by his repeated reference to the constitutional prohibition on foreign military bases, is telling.

Basing armed forces in Cambodia would improve Beijing’s access to the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, better enabling China to harass U.S. vessels and threaten their access to U.S. allies in the region. Between its military presence in the Paracel and Spratly Islands and a base in Cambodia, China would effectively draw a triangular perimeter around mainland Southeast Asia. Cambodia’s neighbors in Southeast Asia have thus far largely remained outside the direct sphere of Chinese influence. But if the international community does not act now to halt China’s development of dual-use infrastructure that will soon allow Chinese armed forces to operate from Cambodia, the political independence of these nations will be in jeopardy.

China’s dangerous military expansion in Southeast Asia is not yet inevitable. But as Cambodia comes into sharper focus as a front in the intensifying great-power rivalry between the United States and China, a coherent U.S. strategy to stop the stealthy advance of Chinese military power in Cambodia is urgently required.

The United States has already helped Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam acquire technology to detect maritime security threats, including covert Chinese military activity, and share the information with Washington. Such initiatives must now be expanded in the recognition that Cambodia could easily become the Achilles’ heel of the U.S. containment strategy in the region. The United States and its allies must also act now in support of the Cambodian people—to protect their land rights, demand a new general election, and restore Cambodia’s independence and neutrality.

SAM RAINSY is the interim leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party.

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Every day is an April Fool's day in the Age of the Corona.

Quarantine Blues, 11 May 2020

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សួស្តីឆ្នាំ​ថ្មី

Happy Easter!

សៀវភៅ «កិច្ចការ» គឺ ជាភាគ ទី២ សរសេរ ដោយគ្រូពេទ្យ ឈ្មោះលូកា។ ភាគ ទី១ គឺ ជា «ដំណឹងល្អ របស់លូកា» ដែលនិយាយ អំពី ជីវិត, ការស្លាប់, និងការរស់ ឡើងវិញ របស់ ព្រះយេស៊ូគ្រីស្ទ។ «កិច្ចការ» បន្តរឿង នៅក្នុងការប្រាប់ អំពី កិច្ចការ របស់ ព្រះយេស៊ូ ក្នុងការផ្សព្វផ្សាយ ដំណឹងល្អ ដល់អាណាចក្រ​ រ៉ូម៉ាំង ទាំងមូល តាមរយៈ ពួកសិស្ស របស់ទ្រង់, ក្នុងរយៈពេល ៣០ ឆ្នាំ, ចាប់ផ្តើម ភ្លាមៗ ពីពេលដែលទ្រង់ បានត្រលប់ ទៅឋានសួគ៌ នៅឆ្នាំ ៣៣គ.ស.។ វា គឺ ជារឿង ប្រវត្តិសាស្រ្ត គួរឱ្យចាប់អារម្មណ៍ ដ៏មានឥទ្ធិពល អំពី ការរីករាលដាល យ៉ាងលឿន របស់ គ្រីស្ទសាសនា។ ACTS is about the very quick, dramatic spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire immediately after Jesus rose again.

Meditation on the Psalms (23, 46, 121) during this Covid Era

And Psalm 19 (English)

And the Beatitudes (Khmer)

Videos Inviting Cambodians to Read Punctuated Khmer

(particularly the stories of Passion Week)

ESTHER

អេសធើរ គឺ ជាសៀវភៅ ខ្លីមួយ (ជាខេមរៈ ភាសា) អំពី ក្មេងស្រីកំព្រា ដែលបានក្លាយជា មហាក្សត្រី នៃចក្រភពពែរ្ស, គឺ ជាប្រវត្តិសាស្រ្ត គួរ ឱ្យចាប់អារម្មណ៍ អំពី ភាពក្លាហាន និងស្នេហាជាតិ របស់ ព្រះមហាក្សត្រិយានីនេះ ដែលនាំមក សេចក្ដីសង្គ្រោះ ប្រជាជន របស់ ព្រះនាង (ជាជនជាតិ យូដា ឬជូហ្វឺស ឬហេប្រឺ) ពីការប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍។ How an orphaned Jewish girl became queen of Persia and saved her people from genocide, 470 B. C. (Before Christ).

SONG OF SONGS

កំណាព្យស្នេហា ដ៏អស្ចារ្យបំផុត នៅលើពិភពលោក (ជាខេមរៈ ភាសា) | The greatest love poem, translated into every language under the sun, including Khmer.

The 3 Wisdom Books

in both the

Jewish Holy Book (The Torah)

and the

Christian Bible (The Old Testament)

1. PROVERBS

2. ECCLESIASTES

សៀវភៅ នៃប្រាជ្ញា មួយ ក្នុងចំណោម ៣ ក្បាល របស់ ស្តេច សាឡូម៉ូន (ជាខេមរៈ ភាសា)។ អំពី ការស្វែងរក របស់ បុរស មានប្រាជ្ញា ម្នាក់ នៃអត្ថន័យជីវិត និងសុភមង្គល, ហើយ ការរកឃើញ របស់គាត់។ សាឡូម៉ូន សោយរាជ្យ ពីឆ្នាំ ៩៧០ ដល់ ៩៣១ មុន ព្រះគ្រីស្ទ ឬ ២,៩៩០ ឆ្នាំ កន្លងមក (៩៧០ + ២០២០)។ About one wise man's search for meaning and happiness and his discovery.

3. JOB

The Book of GENESIS

The Book of EXODUS

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