grace: November 2010

airplane quotes - photos

News

Remembering Leslie Nielsen with 'Airplane!' quotes
By sanain "Airplane!" quotes are arguably some of the funniest quotes ever delivered in a Hollywood movie. The quotes were able to cause lots of laughter ... read more

NTSB releases report on fatal Payson plane crash
The report quotes witnesses as hearing and seeing the plane descend vertically in a spiral or spin, making numerous rotations before impact. ... read more

Chris Selley's Full Pundit: The Toronto Star, at war with itself
But all that is redeemed by English's conclusion, in which she quotes a Star editor rejecting a freelancer with the exact same pitch some months ago: “We'll ... read more

Photos

"Samrach Samruol Romchuol Romchoeub" a Poem in Khmer by Yim Guechsè

LGBT-Human Rights Event!

“Just-Us” Justice

November 30, 2010
Op-Ed by Justin C. Sok

I have great admiration and gratitude for the outpouring of the genuine sympathy and the many relief efforts for Khmer people from around the globe reaching out to offer their support to the survivors and their families who were injured and those who had lost their loved ones at the “Diamond” Island Bridge. The victim’s agony and anger hung in the air like an angry rain cloud waiting to expel its load. I have shared their pain and lose. It was a lost for all of us. For those who had lost their lives during this terrible tragic event, may you rest in peace. For the victims’ families and for those who were fortunate to have survived, I wish you well and hope those who were injured quickly recover.

They were the innocent, industrious, and seasonal farm-workers, and citizens from the rural community. They had saved their hard-earned money and have been waiting with great anticipation to participate in the national annual Water Festival, which is celebrated at the end of the wet season. They came to the Phnom Penh city to see the modern life, cars, skyscrapers, and city’s sparkling neon lights. In the night, they looked up to the vastness of the sky, squinted their eyes, searching for the stars. But there weren’t any stars left in the sky. They have learned that some people in the city are fortunate to own their stars and proudly wear them on their uniforms. And soon, they have realized that anything could be out there, behind the darkness, in the future; anything could possibly happen now.

During this national annual Water Festival, the elite society took the opportunity to strut off their success from the greasing-palm of the businesses, with golden spangled stars on their uniforms, hobnobbed with their insignia of honorees and ranks, tossing champagne and hors d’oeuvres, emblazoned on their fronts - interspersed on both sides with outrageously expensive homes and cliffs with made-for-Hollywood views, advertising their business products and merchandises on the billboards, named their man-made island, “Diamond” Island and their bridge, “Diamond” Island Bridge, displaying their ornate watercraft with scintillating neon lights, which float lazily atop the murky water-like surface, and of course, with their wishful and greedy thinking for more fruitful years to come. With their sordid attitude and “reckless disregard” to human lives, they had no idea what was about to happen right before their eyes.

At the dusk, it was hot, humid, and clear; but still the people could hardly see any stars left in the sky. The bridge is short and with narrow suspension, and it hosted thousands of people sandwiched together. Some had speculated that, the electrical wires and cables might not have been properly installed. And some had witnessed that there was, “water host spraying by the military police, who had only taken 24-hour crash courses in training, to break up the rascals,” which would make it more likely for anyone to get electrocuted. There was no one to monitor crowd control, and therefore, it was inevitable that some individuals with culpable minds started with their own scare tactics, shouting, “The bridge is going to collapse!”

The South Korean peninsula received heavy shelling from artillery fired by the north – it destroyed towns, injured some people and left two of their soldiers and two civilians dead. Two days later, the Defense Minister of South Korea resigned. In Cambodia, estimated more than 350 innocent lives were stampeded to death and hundreds more injured within hours. The next day, the chief of police, with his air of superior, waving his finger-pointing and self-assured attitude, issued a statement, “I believe that the [police] authority completed their duty, they did well in helping and saving the victims on the Koh Pich Bridge already. Personally, I worked hard to help them also, but we couldn’t help them on time because there were too many people, and the bridge was narrow so it was difficult to work there.” With their hen-scratching investigative notes, they were finger-pointing with one another over whom has the ability to appear in limelight to do good public relation - to seal all knowledge of what had really happened prior to and after the tragedy, will be in a locked and buried in caskets.

Victims of the stampede (Photo: AP)

This is another macabre and unjust incident, which once again, has echoed of our unpalatable memorable flashback to the dark days. With no one is being held responsible for, and soon, the tragedy of the Diamond Islander Bridge will be like footstep in the sand, either lost in the empty stretches of time or blown together in an impenetrable blur of inconsequence. With their collective harebrained ideas, irresponsibility and lack of accountability, they had no sketchy on the details to offer to the public’s demand as to what had led to the tragedy. To add insult to the injury, Chea Kean, deputy secretary general of a government festival committee announced, "The ceremony will still be held as usual." In addition, Prime Minister Hun Sen appeared before the public as tutelary, kneeling down at the memorial service near the bridge where the festival goers were killed, holding incense sticks, and perhaps, quietly reciting and sermonizing Lord Buddha rites, and searching for the divine from above to be forgiven and for guidance. The smoldering smoke from the incense sticks, which he was holding, slowly evaporated, caused to irritate his eyes, presumably, the public has speculated that he might have shedding some tears. He has described the disaster as “Cambodia's worst tragedy since the Khmer Rouge’s 1975-1979 reigns of terror, which killed up to a quarter of the population.” Historically, the public would have objected to the statement made by Prime Minister Hun Sen. They believe that he has a lapse in judgment and his statement would further lacerate on old wound. The public can assert that: (1) some of the former Khmer Rouge comrades who had their hands stained with blood are currently serving on his administration; and (2) the worst tragedy since the Khmer Rouge regime 1975-1979 was not the recent tragedy of the Diamond Island Bridge, but the K-5 plan. Retrospectively, the K-5 plan, which took place in the mid 80‘s, which the innocent people were rounded up from the outskirt of the countryside, enticed them into work force with low wages. Their mission was cleared, “have them work on the minefields”: (1) to make way for the Vietnamese armed forces, and (2) the fields would serve as a buffer zone against Siamese. They executed a policy, “shoot-to-kill” for those who would attempt to escape. People were killed by stepping on land-mines. The people had inadequate food to eat, died of overwork, starved to death, suffered from illnesses and inadequate medical care, and were raped and tortured.

For the past week, the mainstream medias have been pitching one softball question after another, back and forth, and the government has dodged one important question asked by the public, “Who is responsible for the Diamond Island Bridge tragedy?” And recently, Prime Minister Hun Sen, with his own “confession,” had appeared before the public on behalf of his administration and stated, “This was a joint mistake that nobody expected. I would like to inform our countrymen that nobody must receive punishment in an accident.” Oh, really! With an estimation of more than 350 innocent people who died a violent death, hundreds people more were seriously injured under your watch, and the whole nation comes to mourn of our lost loved ones, and no one should be held accountable? Not even one rat and/or roach? In a democratic world, “losing one life is too many.” Someone must be brought to justice, in both civil and criminal court. And someone must pay for the punitive damages, be sentenced to jail, and/or resign.

MP Sam Rainsy, President of Opposition Sam Rainsy Party, is a man of integrity. On October 25, 2009, MP Sam Rainsy was invited by our Cambodian farmers to Chantrea District, Svay Rieng Province, to witness the illegal movement of border posts that were covertly planted by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s administration and his counterpart, “Hanoi,” inside our Cambodian land. MP Sam Rainsy and our Khmer farmers had made a formal request to the government to intervene and to defend for our homeland, but was denied. MP Sam Rainsy and the Khmer farmers put their own cleanup plan into motion, knowing they could not leave something this serious up to the “circle of incompetence,” uprooted those illegal movement border posts. Despite of all the legal evidence and documentations that MP Sam Rainsy had produced and presented to the government, the two innocent Khmer farmers were convicted and sent to serve 12-month sentence in jail, and MP Sam Rainsy was convicted of having “instigated, disturbed the peace, and destroyed public property,” and he was sentenced to jail in absentia for 13 years. In the developed world, justice is for the jury to decide. But in Cambodia, justice is for the government decides, “just-us” justice!

One wonders, “How the world would react if these 350 deaths were the result of the military police violently abusing them during a peaceful demonstration – demanding their fundamental rights? How would this administration handle it differently if this tragedy was the consequence of a terrorist attack?

Thank you

P.S.: I would like to take this opportunity to say “hello” and “Chum Reap Sur” to each and every Koun Khmer around the globe.

I have the greatest leaf blower: Stihl BR 500 low-noise backpack blower

best backpack leaf blower I never never thought I would EVER have a leaf-blower because I was a raking snob. However, now that I'm in my 50s the prospect of raking a whole lot of grass is just depressing and it makes my wrists hurt. So I broke down and bought a low-noise backpack blower from Stihl and I just love it. I wrote about why I have gone over to the dark side and gotten addicted to this wonderful lawn tool: here's my review of the Stihl low-noise backpack blower.

It would make somebody a great Christmas present!

Dimple Kapadia Wallpapers

Dimple Chunnibhai Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian film actress. In her early career, she starred in commercial movies, such as Bobby and Saagar

poems that i love

Salmon

I watched them once, at dusk, on television, run,
in our motel room half-way through
Nebraska, quick, glittering, past beauty, past
the importance of beauty,
archaic,
not even hungry, not even endangered, driving deeper and deeper
into less. They leapt up falls, ladders,
and rock, tearing and leaping, a gold river
and a blue river traveling
in opposite directions.
They would not stop, resolution of will
and helplessness, as the eye
is helpless
when the image forms itself, upside-down, backward,
driving up into
the mind, and the world
unfastens itself
from the deep oceans of the given. . . . Justice, aspen
leaves, mother attempting
suicide, the white night-flying moth
the ants dismantled bit by bit and carried in
right through the crack
in my wall. . . . How helpless
the still pool is,
upstream,
awaiting the gold blade
of their hurry. Once, indoors, a child,
I watched, at noon, through slatted wooden blinds,
a man and woman, naked, eyes closed,
climb onto each other,
on the terrace floor,
and ride—two gold currents
wrapping round and round each other, fastening,
unfastening. I hardly knew
what I saw. Whatever shadow there was in that world
it was the one each cast
onto the other,
the thin black seam
they seemed to be trying to work away
between them. I held my breath.
As far as I could tell, the work they did
with sweat and light
was good. I'd say
they traveled far in opposite
directions. What is the light
at the end of the day, deep, reddish-gold, bathing the walls,
the corridors, light that is no longer light, no longer clarifies,
illuminates, antique, freed from the body of
the air that carries it. What is it
for the space of time
where it is useless, merely
beautiful? When they were done, they made a distance
one from the other
and slept, outstretched,
on the warm tile
of the terrace floor,
smiling, faces pressed against the stone.

Jorie Graham

Attention Latina/o Poets: Apply, Apply, Apply

Applications are now being accepted for the 2nd Annual CantoMundo Master Poetry Workshop, the only national, poetry-centered workshop/retreat specifically for Latina/o poets.

All applications must be received by December 17, 2010.

Complete guidelines here.

call for submissions: Arroyo

Arroyo began with an investigation. Several ambitious students sought to find a magazine that truly captured the spirit and unique voice that was prevalent in Bay Area writers. What they discovered, however, was a void. Bigger presses seemed to ignore the dynamics of California culture, while smaller presses had predicated themselves on niches. With the opportunity presenting itself, those same students built the school’s first literary magazine from the ground up, eventually releasing the premiere issue in Spring of 2009.

Lack of Police 'Professionalism' Found in Bridge Disaster

A female victim of the deadly stampede, on Monday November 22, 2010, is carried onto a rescue truck, by Phnom Penh police. Hou Chanthy, 47, lost her daughter, said, "I'm thankful for the donations, but the donations will never compensate me.” (Photo: by Heng Reaksmey)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Tuesday, 30 November 2010

“The accident is our largest experience for the government and the authorities." [... but not when it comes to accountability!]

The government committee investigating last week's bridge disaster has said the police and military police must now be better trained for crowd management to avoid future incidents.

The investigating committee stopped short of placing direct responsibility on police, city or Water Festival authorities, after thousands of people stampeded on a crowded bridge, killing 351 and injuring 395 people Nov. 22.

Prum Sokha, secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior and head of the investigating committee, said the crowded situation on the bridge exceeded the “preparedness and capacity” of security forces. He recommended a “build-up of professionalism” for police and military police to better handle large crowds in the future.

Council Minister Sok An, who is overseeing the investigation and response to victims, said the Diamond Bridge tragedy was an experience the government intended to learn from.

“We must prepare a plan for the future to avoid a stampede like this,” he told reporters. “The accident is our largest experience for the government and the authorities. We must hold a meeting to deeply consider the experience and to increase the professionalism of authorities like the police and military police.”

The government will study better methods of crowd management, security response, emergency response and other aspects of disaster preparedness, he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday no one would be fired as a result of the disaster, and that no single person deserved the blame for what he called an accident caused by “carelessness.”

Meanwhile, families of victims have begun to receive donations from the public, the government and the owners of Koh Pich island. Each family is expected to receive a total $12,000 each from donations raised by television stations and other groups.

Hou Chanthy, 47, lost her daughter, Soung Channy, a garment worker, in the bridge stampede. She said she had so far received $5,000 and expected to receive more in coming days, through several distributions.

“I'm thankful for the donations,” she said. “But the donations will never compensate me.”

Apply skills to move forward in new year

A humorous view of new year resolution from Calvin and Hobbes

December 1, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

The new year will be upon us in 30 days. Some will reflect on the past. Sometimes such reflection helps us understand our present circumstances and may clarify next steps.

Still, those who understand human behavior warn against being endlessly mired in questions of why we are the way we are. It's easy to get stuck and be unable to move forward. Engaging your own creativity is a positive action that keeps you forward-focused.

In the new year, we can't repeat what we've always done and expect different outcomes. We need to strike a new path, look at old problems through a new lens. M.J. Ryan advises in her book, "This Year I Will ... " that we switch from "why" thinking to "what could be possible" thinking. Indeed, we're the change we want to see.

For most of us, life is hard in today's nasty financial and economic situation. Yet, food is not lacking, materials remain abundant, technology continues to thrive and bring change -- you can choose to ride, or not, in a vehicle that practically drives itself! There are people who live well; there are many who can't make ends meet.

On the world stage, national governments continue to compete for power, influence and prestige. The perennial clash between democracy activists and autocratic regimes that trample rights and freedom in the name of political stability and economic development raises many moral questions.

Constant struggle

Life is a constant struggle within ourselves and with pressures and temptations in the wider world.

Inwardly, the "I, me, mine" rule lives -- a source of greedy consumption that Lord Buddha saw as a source of "suffering." Outwardly, the same "I, me, mine" gives rise to a need to control, intensifying the just-unjust conflict.

Yet, humans everywhere basically want similar things: To be in good health; to enjoy a level of contentment in life; to be able to meet the basic necessities of life.

A democracy seeks to ensure that people live well. An autocracy seeks to remain in power by beating its people to obey and submit.

Focus on intelligence

Those who are schooled in the social sciences tell us it's not how much we know, but how we think, that determines our future. Some, however, mistake their opinions for analytical thought and knowledge. Opinions are based in our emotions.

Analytical thinking evolves from knowledge, from one's capacity to observe, wonder, imagine, inquire, interpret, evaluate, compare, relate, analyze, calculate and innovate. Our brains can be trained and taught to think better.

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 85 percent of Americans say they are happy. Yet, those millions who are happy want to be happier still. People want more.

But look around. People live longer, eat better, have more things, but still many are stressed and depressed. The traffic is heavy, grocery lines are long, services are slow, people are rude, etc.

Lord Buddha saw man's insatiable consumption as a source of unhappiness and suffering that ends only through elimination of the need for more.

Positive thinking

A person with a "can do" attitude sees difficulties as opportunities; his or her questioning mind produces a panorama of alternatives to choose from. A person with a "can't do" attitude moves nowhere.

Whether in family life, at work, in the community, or in the world, positive thinking, backed by the power of one's imagination, energizes a person to engage in sustained assaults on problems and predicaments. Problems can be solved; predicaments addressed. It's about keeping things in perspective. Through sorrow we appreciate joy; through war we understand peace; through the negatives, we innovate and create new ways.

As we approach the new year, Khmer democrats should apply their capacity to imagine, relate and innovate to fight the dictatorship under which they live.

In earlier columns, I have connected several useful concepts. In traditional teaching, Khmer elders have urged us to waste nothing: curved wood can make a wheel, straight wood can make a spoke, and crooked wood can make firewood.

Psychologist-consultant Dr. Linda V. Berens identified four temperaments in humans: the theorist values competence, uses strategic analysis; the catalyst idealizes a vision, advocates, and brings people together toward self-actualization; the improviser seizes the moment and varies actions to get things done with what's available; and the stabilizer maintains order and stability through structures, and prevents institutional fragmentation.

An education leader of one of America's most successful public school systems, Jerry D. Weast, described as a leader's "toughest job, ... to move from strategy to execution." That requires the help of the "people who do the work" every day in their unsung roles in the office, the streets or field. They are the "heroes" moving the institution forward, he said.

A results-oriented human resources executive, Katharine Giacalone, says it's important to know who is on your team in order to maximize its effectiveness -- the peacemaker who wants every member to be included; the organizer, who wants everyone to line up and count off; the revolutionary who hates routine and prefers to adapt to the moment; or the smart and opinionated steamroller who handles opposite views and floats ideas at 30,000 feet.

Who is on your team and how can each member be most effective?

Be ready for the new year!

Disaster Demands Response Evaluation: Rights Advocate

(Photo: AP)

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Tuesday, 30 November 2010

“I just want to ask you [authorities] whether you're at peace when this happens within your area of responsibility and your carelessness.”

A leading rights activist says last week's deadly bridge stampede and the authorities' response to it reflect a poor safety and security system that needs addressed for large events.

In order to avoid a future disaster, Cambodia must now focus on safety measures, including building structures, training of security teams and safety exits, said Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

The Diamond Bridge stampede left 351 dead and 395 injured at last count, one of the worst disasters in decades, and authorities, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, have said no one will be held directly accountable.

A government investigating committee said the stampede was caused when thousands of people panicked on a swaying suspension bridge, leaving victims trampled and asphyxiated.

“We don't want to say who is right or wrong,” Thun Saray said. “But this is an experience for which we have to examine our preparedness so as not to have such an event in the future.”

Callers to Monday's program demanded to see more responsibility for the fatal disaster.

“As a Cambodian, I want to make sure that the lives of my countrymen lost in the incident do not go in vain,” said caller Sok Pheary, from Phnom Penh. “I just want to ask you [authorities] whether you're at peace when this happens within your area of responsibility and your carelessness.”

Thun Saray said Cambodia was not ready to push officials to resign over the incident.

“Our country does not have a culture of accountability as in civilized countries,” he said.