Obama’s Nixonian Precedent – New York Times Drones invade our dreams in 2013, our blogs, and the sputtering discourse on television and on airwaves. Now the pundits have rediscovered the Cambodian carpet bombing nastiness of the Vietnam War era, and are making analogies left and right comparing small-scale drone strikes to the constant onslaught of […]
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Ieng Sary is Dead – So It Goes
I began the day with the news that Mam Sonando had been released, which segued smack dab into the news that 87 year old Khmer Rouge Tribunal defendant Ieng Sary had died. A busy day. A day that can be defined as both productive and profoundly sweaty, in a way that only Cambodia in March […]
Mam Sonando Appeals Court: A few rays of hope for supporters of the radio host
PHNOM PENH – Hundreds of Cambodians turned out on March 5th and 6th to attend appeals hearings for 72-year-old Cambodian radio station owner and pro-democracy activist Mam Sonando, who is currently facing a widely decried 20-year prison sentence on charges of sedition. The hearings lasted until midday Wednesday, when court observers reported that the prosecution […]
Devouring Dogs: Coldhearted Arguments Against Canine Consumption
As so many Westerners do, I feel distinctly icky about eating dog meat. * I have long attributed this to my Western ideals, my long-standing personal fondness for dogs, and a keen appreciation for how useful the critters can be as helpmates and companions — but I didn’t have much logical underpinning to that whole “eating […]
Dead Soldiers Of World War II at Taukkyan Cemetary, Yangon
There is a small panoply of Places You Never Knew Existed at most major tourist destinations. They may garner a small cameo in the Lonely Planet or on Wikitravel, but they are un-visited for a reason: far away, of limited interest to the non-profoundly nerdy, of a nature somewhat unappealing to a person mostly interested […]
Hazara’s protest in Pakistan — and more people should care.
The Hazara, a Shiite minority group found in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, are being slaughtered with impunity in the Pakistani city of Quetta. These historically discriminated against people are blown apart with bombs at pool halls and at produce stands in the most cold blooded and cowardly fashion imaginable: 210 have been killed since 2013 […]
War correspondents of legend and song unveil memorial in Phnom Penh, Cambodia – GlobalPost
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Many of the most prominent surviving correspondents who covered Cambodia’s civil war gathered in Phnom Penh on Wednesday for the unveiling of a memorial to the “at least” 37 journalists who perished on Cambodian soil between 1970 and 1975. Buddhist monks performed religious rites and Cambodian information minister Khieu Kanharith […]
War Correspondents at Meta House
I went to the “old hacks” panel at Meta House last night. Allow me to crib from the Meta House schedule regarding who was there: James Gerrand / filmmaker (The Prince and The Prophecy) * Roland Neveu / photographer, who covered the fall of Phnom Penh * James Pringle / AP correspondent, who covered the […]
Cremation of Sihanouk: GlobalPost
Cambodia Sends Off King Sihanouk in Fiery Ceremony – GlobalPost PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — One hundred one guns flashed against a quiet summer sky, then the sound of conch shells pierced the air. Norodom Sihanouk — Cambodia’s two-time king and former prime minister — had been placed onto his final funeral pyre. Sihanouk’s son, King […]
It’s time to play NGO WORKER BINGO!
Have some fun with that souless jargon that sucks the life out of your days! Justify your continued employ in the service of, uh, the underserved! Play a game of NGO WANKER BINGO!