It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I had just emptied the joint bank account because he had spent all of his own money plus a big chunk of our security deposit check from the last apartment we were thrown out of.

I was sitting on the couch, working but about to go to bed. It was almost midnight. I heard him stomping up the stairs and then straight up into the office once he got in. He then stomped (even harder) downstairs and shouted, “Oh, no, the babies [cats] can’t go to the bathroom because SOMEONE didn’t clean the bathroom and now there’s shit all over the floor!”.  I didn’t say anything, I was just confused, and I didn’t even move from the couch. I watched him go into the downstairs bathroom, scream and slam the cabinet door loudly and hard several times until I heard something smash.

He came out of the bathroom and yelled,  “obviously you haven’t been to the bathroom in a really long time because there’s been a broken lightbulb all over the floor since 6.30pm!”. It didn’t make any sense because he had left around 4.30pm and had only just got back. He reeked of alcohol. He kept telling me to clean it up, insulting me. I didn’t say anything. I just asked him to keep it down.

He lunged at me and crushed me with his body weight a few times, squeezing my arms, and pressing my right eyeball very hard with his long talon-like thumbnail (I had double-vision and my contact almost broke),  even though the entire time I neither touched him nor moved from my position on the couch. He was screaming at me that  people “know” about me, and that when I had my “fit” the previous day (i.e. the incident when I rightfully but rationally yelled at him for stealing money from the joint account), there were witnesses in the room. I told him that no-one was there but he told me that there were “relationship experts on the internet” in a webcam he had set up, even though he was pointing to an empty space on the living room cabinet (there was no webcam). He grabbed my laptop, slamming it shut, and proclaimed he was going to call his boss, then dropped the computer (fairly hard) on the floor. It wouldn’t switch on at all right after that. He had broken it. I couldn’t believe it. I ended up having to send it off to have the hard drive replaced, losing everything I had on there.

He complained about the glass again and inbetween shouting, screaming, crushing me, hitting me and stomping up and down the stairs (each time with a promise that he would leave me alone), he came downstairs to get a tall glass (one of the landlord’s) and hurled it to the floor as hard as he could, sending glass flying everywhere. This was in the living room. He pretended to scream and shout while stepping on the glass, complaining that he was bleeding and that it was my fault because I wasn’t picking up the glass (he tried to insist that I was the one who had broken it). The entire time his volume level was inexplicable. He screamed and shouted so much but all I kept trying to do was beg him to stop shouting. He grabbed me and slammed me into the floorboards, holding my arms behind my back and pressing me down to the floor.

He stood in front of me and asked me if I wanted Christian Day or Laurie Cabot, and then took his flaccid penis out of his trousers and jiggled it in his hand in front of me, saying he had “it” (or them, I forget), “right here”. He then crushed me again and told me that I was Christian Day and Laurie Cabot, and that I was everything that was wrong with this town. He wasn’t making any sense.

Upstairs he grabbed me and threw me to the floor, bruising the small of my back. He again crushed me with his body weight, sitting on my torso, crushing my ribs and making it difficult for me to breathe. He grabbed my arms and forced my hands into fists, and used them to beat both sides of my face (including my temples and my cheeks) as hard as he could, leaving blood, split skin and painful bruising. He told me that I secretly liked white people but that I also hated them, and that I should re-affirm my [apparently horrible] Muslim faith by saying ‘allah akhbar’. He was whispering it into my ear in a maniacal, chilling whisper over and over, trying to get me to say it. I tried stroking his face lovingly to try to snap him out of it, but he ignored it. He kept his face close to mine, the way normal couples do when they’re dancing happily, but instead he was crushing me and whispering to me like a serial killer.

This entire ordeal went on for about an hour and a half. The police finally showed up while I was in tears and visibly bruised. Even though they told me the neighbours could only hear him, they warned the both of us. The next morning he blamed me for it, but he admitted that he was still out of it at that point.

After he had thrown up several times, he remembered that he had gone out drinking with his boss, and that he had only had a couple of drinks (but admittedly little to no food), and that he didn’t remember what happened. He was suddenly very apologetic, and felt ashamed. He told me that the way he “flipped out” on me was the same way that his mother had when she was both bipolar and an alcoholic. He was terrified of himself, and tried to hug me, but I only returned the hug to keep the peace.

He was out of control. And he admitted it. And I was really hoping that this would be a turning point for him, a wake-up call to the things he himself (without any influence from me or any of his blame puppets) is capable of doing. The unstoppable horror he can inflict on me.

But I was wrong.

He was laughing about it with his boss and friends, downplaying the whole thing in front of me with each person he would come across while I sat or stood there, privately humiliated but knowing the truth.

Soon he was back to his usual self, irresponsible, blame-shifting and selfish. Taking out his forgetful, drug-addled, paranoid mess of a personality on me. Reminding me that I [somehow] chased away his friends [even the ones I never met!] and that I like to get hit [hence why I don't shut up when I am told]. Lying to his friends and making it look as though I’m a horrible, controlling person and then slamming the door in my face/hanging up on me before I can explain that this persona he’s carved out to show for his friends is not what they would see if they had bothered to think beyond his controlling, convincing lies. All they see is the irritated me, the leftover carcass of geniality because I don’t know how to act around people who are too stupid to wonder whether or not I’m a balanced, human person who has her own side of the story. From the way he paints things (and on such a consistent, dedicated and spiteful level), it’s no wonder if his friends don’t hang out with him, because they’re sick of hearing him complain, or they just don’t want to walk into the middle of the manic episodes that he only dispenses to me in front of an audience.

Tonight I talked to him on eggshells. I told him I was worried because to make rent, I had to dip into the immigration fund money. AGAIN. I was all set to file the day before he broke the computer. I can’t make rent by myself every month. Not only did he not contribute this month, but he took part of what I was planning to contribute, and he tried to blame me for it, saying that I should have known somehow that he was spending irreplaceable money on unimportant things. I didn’t mention any blame or any of that, just that we were now in a situation where I can’t support myself without stealing from my own immigration fund.

He tried to tell me that it was my fault because I didn’t “visualize” the US as my home and that my parents “bailed us out” too many times. Idiocy, stupidity, moronic bullshit – visualizing does nothing to help a purely practical situation. If my parents hadn’t “bailed us out”, we would have been homeless. I would not have “figured it out” like he said. It’s clear that he’s incapable of having a mature conversation, especially with someone from a completely different country, going through everything he’s never known anyone to go through. He hasn’t even been outside of this tiny cluster of states. He had no idea what he was talking about, and he had drunk almost a whole pint of rum (which he had bought after screaming at me when I told him not to steal any of the landlord’s expensive liquor).

He blew me off, deciding for me that the only reason that I was bringing this up at all was to cause him misery/because I want to “get hit”/because I want to vent/because it’s all about my mother and my father. His pathetic attempts at pop psychology notwithstanding, he seemed incapable of having a mature conversation with me, regardless of the time. He was rude, spiteful, childish and his inexperience completely stank up the conversation. It’s clear – in a situation like this, he would go back to being homeless. He would have been since November 2007 if he hadn’t swept me into a joint lease with him in our first apartment. He was just using me.

Even when he’s nice, I have to remember how quickly he can change. I can’t let my guard down and do any favours for him. I can’t let him think that he can walk all over me. Because then he catches me off-guard by taking control over the conversation, and if I didn’t like it, it meant that I wanted to argue, that I wanted to make him miserable and that I wanted to “get hit”. That mentality – that “she was asking for it” attitude – is now ingrained in his brain for everyday usage, even when psychopaths might think it was a little harsh.

WordOnTheStreets:
This is one nasty shocking rumor. Pleasure P the former lead singer in the group Pretty Ricki is being accused by an assistant/daughter to the lawyer who allegedly represented him in a child molestation case in Florida. She states she has documented proof of the case that Pleasure P AKA Marcus Cooper in fact did Molest several children while he was a member of the group. Our lead writer Isis Wisdom logged on to her twitter acct and found this from a member by the name of @AGoldsteinGirl:

AGoldsteinGirl

@isiswisdom Now, the truth is out they’re threatening my family nd telling my dad he’s going to get sued. But they can’t because its a crime
about 19 hours ago from web
Reply Retweet

AGoldsteinGirl
@isiswisdom The guy Pleasure P molested a 4 yr old child and was about to molset another one when police came and saved the child.
about 19 hours ago from web

AGoldsteinGirl
@isiswisdom hiding that he was a child molester. his managers or whatever hired my dad to keep it quiet so he could get a record deal
about 19 hours ago from web

AGoldsteinGirl
@isiswisdom say that it was someone famous but I found out who he was talking about. This guy Pleasure P got kicked out of a group bc he was
about 19 hours ago from web

AGoldsteinGirl
@isiswisdom My dad was being paid to cover it up but they owe my dad a lot of money and don’t want to pay him. I first overheard my dad say
about 19 hours ago from web

AGoldsteinGirl
@isiswisdom I got your twitter from goggling you and I want to give you proof that singer Pleasure P is a child molester.

According to her tweets on her page the child agency Child Net which is who get’s called in situations like this, were the ones who brought the case against him.

Wow not only that we reached out to the group Pretty Ricky and was told this:

“Unfortunately due to Pleasure P’s lawyer filing an injunction against us from speaking, we are not at liberty to speak about the case.” How ever we will let it be known that we did kick him out of the group, he did not leave on is own free will. We did a deal with Atlantic via Craig Calman that we would let him out of the group if they bought out his contract with us and Blue Star which is the official label of Pretty Ricki. We are not at liberty to discuss why we kicked him out of the group.
Pretty Ricki

Speak about the case? What case? You mean he went to court for child molestation? When? Is this the reason why he is no longer with the group? All we can say is we hope that is not true. Journalist Isis Wisdom is on the case story developing…

Update: The CEO Of Blue Star has requested an exclusive interview. According to him he was there in the court room when it all went down. Not only that since we broke the story, it is being reported that it was a boy he molested. Stay tuned as more updates will be posted here.

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 641

“At the beginning of the UN Human Rights Council meeting on Monday, 1 December 2009, Cambodia was criticized from different sides over human rights issues, including housing rights, attacks on its citizens, and injustice at the courts.

“Created in 2006, the Universal Periodic Reviews by this council checks the human rights practices of the 192 members states of the United Nations every four years in order to solve problems of human rights violations and to promote the respect of international human rights.

“A researcher of Amnesty International, Ms. Brittis Edman, said on Monday that she hopes that land ownership rights and housing issues will be the most important agenda items of the meeting in Switzerland.

“Ms. Edman wrote in her email, ‘It is the very important that forced evictions and housing rights are brought to be discussed and reflected in the report on the findings. It is also important that all the monitoring states call on their governments to approve and to strengthen laws that clearly ban forced evictions.’

“Most non-government organizations working on human rights, that were invited to express suggestions regarding human rights problems on the record of the government, presented notes to the UN Human Rights Council, using serious words against Cambodia.

“A submission by Human Rights Watch, an international organization, says, ‘While Cambodia had experienced strong economic growth since the UN-brokered elections in 1993, the government has treated respect for human rights as an obstacle, rather than an aid, to development.’

“This submission specifically addressed concerns about the lack of independence at the courts, intimidation against freedom of expression, forced evictions, and violence against women, among other problems.

“In contrast, the document submitted by the government to the council says, ‘The Royal Government guarantees rights and freedoms, and continues with its commitment to achieve the best human rights for Cambodian citizens.’ But it has provided little documented evidence about the achievements of those rights.

“Responding to criticism from international human rights organizations, the government frequently called to review any problems in the context of the history of the country that has just recovered from the Khmer Rouge regime and from civil war.

“The government documentation continues to say, ‘Any human rights assessment in Cambodia should be based on considerations about the previous situation, on the efforts made during the first stage following the Paris Peace Agreements [of 1991].’

“The deputy head of the Human Rights Committee of the Cambodia government, Mr. Mak Sambath, said on Monday that Cambodia will be presented during the Universal Periodic Review by members of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee Mr. Touch Khemarin and Mr. Ith Rady, who is an undersecretary of state of the Ministry of Justice.

“Mr. Mak Sambath said, ‘They have the ability to work on the task because they have worked a lot with the government and with civil society.

“He added that the independence of the courts, the freedom of expression, and violence against women, are issues expected to be presented during the review.

“Both the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and Amnesty International said on Monday that they have representatives to present their cases.

“Not only the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia, Mr. Surya Subedi, who had reported to see serious human rights violations in Cambodia, but also several other countries consider that Cambodia is under oppressive rule, though this country has international agreements about the respect of democracy, which includes the respect for human rights as a major point of policy.” Sereypheap Thmey, Vol.17, #1824, 2.12.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Wednesday, 2 December 2009

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #351, 2.12.2009

• [Thai Prime Minister] Abhisit Vijjajiva Expressed the Accusation That There Is a [not named] Third Person Who Creates Trouble between the Leaders in Phnom Penh and in Bangkok [according to the Bangkok Post]
• Cambodia Sends Representatives to Present the [Cambodian] Human Rights Situation to the United Nations
• Two Cars Collided with One Another, Hitting Two Motor-taxi Drivers to Death, while They Were Sitting and Waiting for Clients [Phnom Penh]
• Lecturers of the Royal University of Agriculture Strike [by not teaching the students who have paid tuition fees] because of not Transparent Actions of the Leadership [under corruption allegations; about 500 students protested]
• Over 600 People [including government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and non-government organizations] Gathered to Mark the World AIDS Day [in Cambodia, there are 44,371 people infected with AIDS, and 92% of them receive medical treatment; 70% are orphaned children]
• Cambodia and South Korea Signed an Agreement to Build a Building for the Cambodian Stock Market Worth US$6 Million

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2113, 2.12.2009

• Four Khmer Citizens Carrying Drugs into Thai Territory Were Arrested by Thai Police and Sent to Court
• Officials of the Ministry of Health Said Pregnant Women and Children Receive the A/H1N1 Vaccines First [Cambodia has received 300,000 doses of A/H1N1 vaccines from the World Health Organization]

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6820, 2.12.2009

• In One Year [from early 2009 to November] Siamese [Thai] Black Clad Soldiers [of the special border protection unit], Shot and Killed 4 Khmer Citizens, Injured 3, and Jailed 96 at Oddar Meanchey Border Area
• Two American Men Had Different Problems: One Was Arrested in Siem Reap for Shooting, and the Other Fainted and Died during the Night in Phnom Penh
• [The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation] Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong Encouraged the Asian Development Bank to Look at Cambodia’s Railway Problems
• In 2008, Two Million People Died of AIDS [70% in the sub-Sahara region], and 2.7 Million Were Infected with HIV [according to UNAIDS and WHO]

Phnom Penh Post [Khmer Edition], Vol.1, #58, 2.12.2009

• [The Australian company] OZ Minerals Hopes to Extract 2 Million Ounces of Gold by 2010 [in Cambodia]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5062, 2.12.2009

• A Thai General: Phanlub Pinmani – phonetic -, a member of the Puea Thai Party, said the diplomatic] Dispute Might Lead to War
• More Than 80 Pieces of Luxury Wood Had Been Hidden by Merchants in Kounmom District, but Were Intercepted [Ratanakiri]
• Two Sand Dredging Workers Died because of Inhaling Chemicals and Lacking Oxygen [Koh Kong]
• America Announces to Continue to Help Cambodia to Combat AIDS

Sereypheap Thmey, Vol.17, #1824, 2.12.2009

• Cambodia Was Criticized from Different Sides over Human Rights Issues

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it directly from the main page of the Mirror.
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The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 640

“Phnom Penh: The Appeals Court of Cambodia issued a surprising decision, sentencing Ms. Chea Ratha [a former military police brigadier general, who had a lesbian relationship with actress In Soklida] for 18 years to jail for an acid attack against the aunt of the actress In Soklida, and also other accomplices are to be imprisoned. The decision made by the Appeals Court at this time is totally in contrast to the former decisions made by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to dismiss the accusations against the accused persons.

“The acid attack against Ms. In Soklida’s aunt had been brought for a hearing and judgment by the Appeals Court on 27 November 2009, with Mr. Seng Sivutha as the head of the council of judges, with Mr. Nhoung Thul and Mr. Thou Monei as members, and with Mr. Hean Rith as representative of the prosecutors.

“The judgment decided to uphold Decision 82, dated 31 August 2009, of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, but rejected Point 1, which is related to punishments for all who had been charged. The new decision of the Appeals Court exempts Meas Mao, male, 40; and Meas Chandy from the charge of illegal gun use, but sentenced them to serve 18 years in prison for violating the right of an individual, and for planned and attempted murder. Chea Ratha, female, 43, was removed from the charge of illegal use of a weapon, but she is convicted to serve 18 years in prison for planned and attempted murder. Ie Puthea, male, 33, and San Savuth, called San Sanut or Nut, 29, were freed from the charge of using a weapon illegally, but are to be imprisoned for 15 years for violating the right of an individual, and for collusion in a planed and attempted murder. Siek Sophal, male, was removed from the charge of using a weapon illegally, but is to be jailed for 15 years. Chan Dara, male, was removed from the charge of using a weapon illegally, of violating the right of an individual, and of collusion in an attempted murder, that means he is free from all accusations. All the six accused persons were ordered to pay to cover the cost of the medical treatment and to compensate the plaintiff with US$100,000, and an arrest warrant was issued to arrest those who escaped.

“It should be noted that the acid attack against Ms. In Soklida’s aunt occurred on 8 May 2008 in front of the RHAC Hospital on street 433, Tuol Tumpung 1, Chamkar Mon, Phnom Penh.

“The Phnom Penh Municipal Court had sentenced to dismiss the accusations against all accused persons, but the plaintiff’s lawyer later appealed against this judgment, and there was also a complaint from the prosecutor of the Appeals Court dated 23 September 2009.

“The reason leading to this new judgment is that there was an acid attack against the victim Ya Sok Nim, Ms. In Soklida’s aunt, by two unidentified persons, who rode a 2008 Viva motorbike, and then stopped behind her to attack her with acid, and escaped.

“After the event, the victim’s husband lodged a complaint to the authorities to solve the case according to the law, but he could not identify the perpetrators’ faces.

“According to a note of the victim read by a clerk, a day ahead of the attack, bodyguards and Chea Ratha came to her house to ask for information about her niece (In Soklida), but she said that she did not know where she was. They asked to check in the house, but they still could not find her. Then they left.

“A few days later, Chea Ratha phoned to warn her, ‘If you do not deliver In Soklida, there will be bloodshed.’ This i was recorded, and her voice was played in the municipal court. Later on, the acid attack happened on 8 May 2008.

“Sok Chey, a person who witnessed the event, said he saw two men, whose faces he could not identify as they wore masks, but remembers their appearance, as they appeared behind the victim, attacked her with acid, and escaped.

“After that, police arrested two perpetrators, after showing their photos to the victim. The victim was sure that they were the perpetrators, bodyguards of Chea Ratha, as the victim had gone to the accused’s house [Mr. Chea Ratha’s house].

“After hearing the information and conclusions from the prosecutors, the Appeals Court took the decision as mentioned above.” Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5059, 28.11.2009

Note:

The Camboia Daily reported on Saturday/Sunday 28/29, November 2009:

“Mr. Ratha’s defense attorneys Keo Ya and Nach Try, who had lobbied Cabinet Minister Sok An ahead of the municipal court trial of Mr. Ratha seeking his intervention to have the case dropped, said they were unaware of their client’s whereabouts. Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said on Thursday that the lawyer’s letter was not considered in any way by Mr. Sok An, as it was the work of the courts.”

“There was no report that the office of the Deputy Prime Minster rejected this attempt, requesting an illegal act of influencing the court.”

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 28 November 2009

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #348, 28.11.2009

• The Asian Development Bank Provides a US$10 Million Loan to Cambodia to Counter the Impacts of the Economic Crisis
• Cambodia Has a Family Counseling and Strengthening Center Called “Mlub Kruasa Center [“Family Shade” - in Phnom Penh, assisted by the French government]

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2110, 28.11.2009

• [Former Tuol Sleng prison chief] Duch Asked the Court to Release Him [he said so during the last hearing of Case 001 on 27.11.2009 at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal]
• Because Somebody Just Looked Straight at His Face, Man Drew a Gun and Shot to Kill Another Man among the Crowd [the victim was injured while the perpetrator was arrested – Phnom Penh]
• A Ghanaian Man Was Arrested after His Girlfriend Reported that He Was Involved in Cross Border Drug Smuggling [Phnom Penh]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #541, 28.11.2009

• [Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian] Son Chhay Asked [Prime Minister] Hun Sen to Send the Border Demarcation Document with Yuon [Vietnam] to the National Assembly

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6817, 28-29.11.2009

• A Loan from Thailand Was Canceled, but Government Officials Said that Cambodia Has Sufficient Resources to Improve the 117 km of Road 68 [spending about US$41 million without the Thai loan -the Road 68 goes from Kralanh district in Siem Reap to Ou Smach and Samrong districts in Oddar Meanchey]
• Nineteen Companies Received Economic Concession Land of More Than 80,000 Hectares, where Some Companies Are Having Disputes with Citizens [according to a report of the forestry authorities in Kompong Thom]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5059, 28.11.2009

• The Wind Changes Its Direction: Chea Ratha Was Sentenced to Serve 18 Years in Prison
• In 2010 the State Starts to Collect Tax from House Owners [at 0.1% of a the value of a house]
• The Sihanoukville Port Announced the Start the Construction of a Special Economic Zone [on 70 hectares of land]
• Two Girls Who, They Are Aunt and Niece [to each other, 6 and 7 years old] Were Raped by a 14-Year-Old Boy [the teenage boy was arrested – Banteay Meanchey]
• [Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs] Kasit Piromya: Thailand Will Not Negotiate with Cambodia as Long as [Thai fugitive ousted prime minister] Thaksin Shinawatra Is Still Advisor [of the Cambodian government and of Prime Minister Hun Sen]
• A Suspect Involved in the Massacre in the Philippines Was Charged

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it directly from the main page of the Mirror.
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or: Brown smartly appeals to younger voters, GOP entrenches for further in-fighting

The gloves have come off for the holidays; the season of pomp and cheer being replaced with an air of accusation and jeering. It seems that the three major candidates are already dealing with crises, the GOP candidates especially seem to still be trying to separate themselves from one another and, by smearing the next guy, trying to make it a vote that consists of just ‘not voting’ for the greater of the evils. Brown has had few PR issues and is now making some smart moves appearing at a fundraiser recently to get out and damage control the ‘recording scandal’ while Whitman and Poizner and both dealing with yet another round of unflattering facts coming out under scrutiny of the platforms and merit badges they point at to show their qualifications. So early in the campaign these candidates are already doing more repairs than improvements to their campaigns as this shapes up to be less of a ‘race to the Governor’s office’ and more of a pushing and shoving match to grab the last slice of pizza at a frat party.

Steve Poizner, third place GOP candidate with essentially no chance of winning even a ‘participant’ trophy at this point, has been cut down in some of his claims that, under his leadership as Insurance Commissioner, the state has seen a reduction to insurance costs to the tune of nearly $2 billion. Analysts at Consumer Watchdog seem to conclude that this figure really is inflated by $800 million since these cuts were set forth by Garamendi, Poizner’s predecessor. The Mercury News goes further to explain that Poizner, in fact, made some changes in May of 2008 to actually make it easier for insurance companies to hike up rates in certain sectors totaling $282 million in price increases. Poizner’s people, of course, defend his actions by saying that necessary changes were made and cite that the decreases of overall cost are factual, and no matter who initiated the changes, Poizner approved them and set them in motion.

Here is where you need to question the facts. There are facts that contradict one another under Poizner’s actual effect in his position. You could argue that he has simply been a custodian of the Garamendi legacy as insurance commissioner while doing little of his own work. It seems that Poizner’s people, as with all other candidates, cite facts, and they are facts, that paint him in a good light. They aren’t all out lies, what is more closely related to the reality of the situation is that the facts have been shaped and are stated as vague enough that you can’t call him a liar or a lame fish because he gets to tote the accomplishments of the office he hold and does not have to state what he has actually done. This creative manipulation of stats and facts shows up again when he beats the drum of cutting department cost by 15% overall and cutting staff by some 200 or so. Those numbers are a bit inflated and it seems that he should not be claiming this as his accomplishment being that the mandate for those cuts came down from legislature and the Governor due to the state deficit. So Poizner really should be claiming that he was able to operate within the constraints of a failing economy in California; he’s a good ‘Yes Man’.

Jerry Brown has faced a similar issue in the ‘recording scandal’ that was never really a scandal per say. Like Poizner’s claims being ambiguously inaccurate but not entirely a lie Brown has faced the same scrutiny in his poorly handled internal investigation of the incident that saw one of his senior aides resign. But Brown has chosen a very clever strategy of finally taking the offensive in fundraising and doing something that is entirely necessary in his campaign, he is reaching out to those that don’t remember ‘Brown’s California’…the young people. In a stroke of genius, in my opinion, the 71 year old Brown spoke at a club on the Sunset Strip to a group of 20, 30, and 40-somethings, called the Generation for Change. This is who he needed to reach out to, those that either were not alive or have no real recollection of what he did as Governor so long ago. This is a group of progressive professionals that may only be able to recall Brown in his ’92 bid for President, which failed, so it is vital that he reach out to this voting base and either change the impression they have of him, or give them an impression at all.

Brown, in ’92, ran on a campaign finance reform idea that he would accept a maximum of only $100 dollars from individuals and organizations; smartly he has abandoned this platform commenting that it is impossible to do this today in a state race and that if Whitman was willing to return the contributions to her campaign and take back the nearly $20 million of her own dollars she has spent then he would agree to a $100 maximum contribution rule for this election…unlikely though. Brown was able to get the group to laugh, he very creatively explained away claims that he changes all the time, “Well, if you are alive and if you are listening and you are growing, you will change, because the world is changing, and if you still were where you were before, you are dead.” He was able to outline the problems we face in California with a deficit, but he spoke to the fact we all seem to forget, that California has a state wealth of $1.6 trillion…it’s not all bad since our deficit is only about 1% of our overall wealth, this can be fixed.

I have to say here that I have a growing respect for the ‘campaigning Brown’. He is making a lot of good decisions thus far in so many different areas. The fact that he let Newsom burn himself out was a savvy decision on his part, to say the least. Brown has also now started to reach out to the younger voters with an air of charisma and has handled the recording scandal very well hushing it down to mere whispers. He is positioning himself with his record as a man of age, a career politician, that has changed with the times and is human in his maturing and changing over the years. It has to be said that he has also done a great job in highlighting issues of the election in a light of optimism and speaking in more constructive and positive terms, also avoiding name calling and negative ads, which can’t be said for his opponents. Brown is on a roll with great poll numbers and alliances with powerful players to get through the primaries unopposed and unscathed. When the debates start is when he may be tested, but by then there will be so much negative press for his opponents that it seems he will have no problem cutting them down as inexperienced opportunists with very negative, short histories in his beloved state.

Now we come to Meg Whitman…wow, this woman is running an insane campaign right now that seems to keep springing leaks that money can’t plug. Most recently she has had to contend with tax returns that only further highlight her inabilities as a recent conservative convert and business woman. Recent tax returns show that a foundation she is a director of contributed $200,000 dollars to the Environmental Defense Agency in the struggling delta of California. This is the same group that, since running for Governor, she has criticized and come out against as an opponent of development and farming jobs. She gave the group she is campaigning against money to support them, odd to say the least. Being that she only recently started voting, and the fact the only more recently she registered republican, in addition to he funding of projects she now opposes shows she is trying to pander to the conservative right to get in to office without regard for what she really believes.

If this weren’t enough two other facts have come out to destroy her claim of being a savvy business woman. I have written before of her poor record of running Ebay in the last few years at the company, nearly ruining Skype, and now there is more facts to support this claim. As with many different foundations in 2008 it took a bit of a hit with the failing markets, but her foundation took it particularly hard, at the rate of nearly 50% loss of equity. This might have something to do, though, with the fact that about 79% of the company’s value was represented in Ebay stock at the start of 2008, by the end the number was closer to 15%. This coincides oddly with her sitting on the board of directors at Ebay until late 2008. at the start of the year stock value was at about $33 a share, when she left they sat at under $15, since she left Ebay entirely they have seen an increase of stock value to nearly $24 a share under the direction of new acting CEO Donahue. A weird coincidence to say the least; though some losses were inevitable in 2008, under her direction in the last few years, during a national crisis, she has not performed well to stop financial blood letting in ventures she participates in. Anyone can succeed in a good times, but we need someone who can succeed during crisis, her record speaks for itself on this front.

Where we find ourselves is at a point when the three big names in the campaign are at very different points of decision. I feel that Meg’s projected $150-million dollar campaign will get her to the general election, but that is simply because her GOP rivals just cannot compete with her name recognition and propaganda team. Brown will skate to the general election with ease and he has yet to officially be in the race. Poizner has some serious soul searching to do as he is not closing the lead Whitman has and has no chance against Brown if he made it to the general election. Poizner should try to save face, dropping out soon, and reload for a position in the state people give a crap about before he jumps in to the Governor’s race. The primaries will embarrass Poizner as Campbell and Whitman enjoy very large leads over him now, and Campbell has done less than anyone!

I think that the opportunistic, flawed politics of the GOP candidates is going to fail, it is not genuine and they will not be able to contend with Brown’s views and record as things like immigration, reform, and a history of service in California come in to play. Poizner and Whitman will lose some of the conservative base with their history and their position on abortion that pandering and flip flopping on other views won’t make up for. The hubris of the rich elitists will not sway the people of California when matched against the life of service Brown has tucked up his sleeve; this is the Achilles Heel that will become apparent as middle american California hits the voting booths.

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 640

“The rector of the Chamkar Doung Royal University of Agriculture, Mr. Chan Nareth, is accused by lecturers working under his administration of being involved in corruption to take between US$300,000 and US$400,000 university resources each year.

“A local website wrote, following the claims of many lecturers, staff, and civil servants of the university, that Mr. Chan Nareth took the money, income of the university, for himself alone, while lecturers, staff, and civil servants receive only small salaries that cannot even support their daily living expenses.

“The lecturers describe on the website their accusation against the university rector Chan Nareth, claiming he commits corruption for his own interest, and at present he has luxury cars and several residencies.

“The Royal University of Agriculture is located in the Meanchey district of Phnom Penh; it is also called the Chamkar Doung School or the Chamkar Doung University of Agriculture.

“The lecturer Chhum Phetlun wrote on the website that since 1999, this university started to charge tuition fees from its students, for the studies that began in 2000, so it brings in US$300,000 to US$400,000 each year. This large amount of resources was not shared with lecturers, staff, and civil servants of the university to assist their family livelihood, but Rector Chan Nareth took it alone. Because they can no longer bear the greed of their director, they decided to disclose this case through the media in order to inform the leaders so that they take action to seek justice for lecturers, staff, and civil servants of the university.

“Earlier on, 72 lecturers, staff, and civil servants had thumbprinted a demand addressed to Mr. Chan Nareth to add US$6 per hour to the hourly remuneration decided by the state [for the lecturer's remuneration], and to add additional payments for civil servants, who earn US$80 per month, and for other staff who earn US$50 per month, starting from 2010.

“The lecturer Chhum Phetlun added that previously, being afraid of the power and influence of Rector Chan Nareth, all lecturers, staff and civil servants did not dare to protest, or to report anything to higher level leaders. But now, because of the rector’s greed to take US$300,000 to US$400,000 per year for himself alone, they cannot stand it any longer, and are not afraid any longer, and they decided to report it to the media to help to bring this message to the leaders, especially to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Mr. Chan Sarun, to learn about the difficulties of lecturers, staff, and civil servants of the Royal University of Agriculture of Chamkar Doung.

“Adding up the amounts of US$300,000 to US$400,000 each year from 2000 to 2009, it comes to as much as US$2,700,000 to US$3,600,000.

“Yesterday [26 November 2009] Khmer Machas Srok could not reach Rector Chan Nareth, who is being accused, for a comment.

“Analysts said that in this case, Mr. Chan Nareth probably did not dare to take the money alone, there must be some other higher leaders with whom he shared it, so that he can be happy above the pile of difficulties of many lecturers, civil servants, staff, and workers.

“Therefore, they wait to see what measures the higher level leaders of the relevant institutions, especially the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Chan Sarun, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Keat Chhon, will take on Mr. Chan Nareth, if this scandal is true.” Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #540, 27.11.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 27 November 2009

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #347, 27.11.2009

• Two Boys, Seven and Eight Years Old, Are Accused of Raping a 5 Year-Old Girl [Banteay Meanchey]
• Two Girls [13 and 14 years old] Died in a Pond when They Took Clothes there to Wash [Kandal]

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2109, 27.11.2009

• Soldiers Patrolled the Border and Stepped on a Mine Left from Wartime, Resulting in One Death and One Injured in Thma Da Commune [Pursat]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #540, 27.11.2009

• Lecturers of the Chamkar Doung Royal University of Agriculture Wait to See How Chan Sarun Takes Action against Chan Nareth

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6816, 27.11.2009

• Asia Pacific Regional Conference about the Prevention of Violence against Woman and Children Was Held [in Siem Reap; and a 16-Day Campaign to combat violence against women and children was launched]
• Terrible Trick: [Three] Men Cheated a Woman to a Guesthouse; Some Raped Her and Some Took Pictures of Her [Nude] Body to Extort Money from Her [they were all arrested - Phnom Penh]

Phnom Penh Post [Khmer Edition], Vol.1, #55, 27.11.2009

• Duch Hearings Will Finish Today and the Judgment Will Be Announced in 2010
• A/H1N1 Has Killed Five People [and the number of infected people has increased to 472 in Cambodia]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5058, 27.11.2009

• A Thai Official from the Ministry of Defense and the Mother of the Thai Alleged Spy Will Meet Him Today
• Robbers Shot to Rob a New Series Motorbike [then they escaped; the victim died at a hospital - Phnom Penh]
• Siamese [Thai] Police Found 6,000 Explosives and 8 Guns Prepared to Welcome [Thai Prime Minister] Abhisit Vijjajiva [during his visit to Chiang Mai]
• Vietnam Approved the Plan to Create a Nuclear Power Electricity Generation Plant

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it directly from the main page of the Mirror.
And please recommend us also to your colleagues and friends.

Back to top

To say I’m thankful would be an understatement. Let me explain:

PART ONE - childhood to college

I grew up very emotionally abused, hurt, withdrawn, confused, angry, and fearful. I was raised to believe that, in order to get to heaven, you have to be an extremely well-behaved person. I assumed that if God existed at all, then he probably hated me because I wasn’t perfect. I was keenly aware of the disappointment my mom felt towards me when I was anything less than spectacular, and I just decided that God must be the same as my mom – a powerful, angry authority figure who breathed down my back and analyzed my every move.

Well – through a series of crazy and unexpected events, I came to meet some people who believed in a very different God than what my churches and my parents had been teaching me my whole life. I was just turning 18 when I was first exposed to this new idea. It was the idea that God is relational. I’m sure you have heard at least once, if you’re living in the United States, that “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Well, these people actually believed that!

Long story short, I came to actually believe, for the first time in my life, that my life mattered to God. I sincerely thought that he wanted me dead up until I was 18 – and it wasn’t until I turned 20 that I had let my guard down enough to let Jesus be my friend. I actually prayed, asking him to forgive me for relying on my rule-following and religious activities for my salvation. I recognized that only by relying on Christ to be my righteousness would I ever be able to be in heaven, face to face with God.

So time went by; I left a religious organization that I had been very active in; I started praying differently. Before it had been, “God, please help me to do everything right today, please help me to try harder, please help me to stop feeling upset.” Now it changed to things like, “I feel really discouraged today.” and, “Thank you for being present with me” and eventually.. after a very, very long time, it was, “I love you.” I was so amazed that I was actually approved of by God himself, that God did not want me dead; rather, he wanted nothing short of the best for me.

PART  TWO- no hope

Age 20 was when I made that decision to have a friendship with God and leave my life of never-ending striving to be perfect, striving to feel the “right” way, think the “right” way, dress the “right” way, listen to the “right” kind of music, etc.  I really had thought I was something – boy, look how much better I was than other people! It was a very new experience to be freed from that bullshit and live out of relationship rather than out of obligation and fear.

But drama was going on in my family and I was severely depressed.  I moved out of my home to escape the abusive environment; this led me to become so depressed that I didn’t want to live anymore.  My mom was livid that I had stopped believing what she believed – that I now was not taking seriously the ever important rules that she followed.  It wasn’t that she was heartless, but that she genuinely felt I would go to hell if I didn’t wear green socks every Tuesday. 

Lol – that example is a little extreme, but hopefully you get the idea.  I no longer believed a woman had to live with her parents until she got married; i no longer believed a woman had to get married as quickly as possible and start having lots of babies; i no longer believed that birth control was from the devil; i no longer believed that the type of music I listened to or the length of my skirts determined my eternal destiny.  And she was livid! 

When I moved out, in May 2006, she forbade me to visit the family because she felt that I was a bad example for my younger siblings.  She said I had become worldy and that she and her church were praying for me to repent and turn back to God.  That was an incredible amount of pain to carry around with me – being accused and also being separated from my siblings.  I had always considered myself their protector – although I never mentioned this to my mom- because I knew they were hurt by her and I wanted to provide them with a sense of safety and comfort.

In December I received a $100 Wal-Mart gift card from my mom.  I was so angry and hurt that she was keeping me away from the family, but this gift showed that she still must care to a certain degree about us.  I spent that gift card on Christmas gifts for them, even though I was not allowed to spend Christmas with them – and neither was one of my brothers.  So I spent Christmas eve at my brothers’ house hoping to feel less empty inside if I could at least be two of my family members. 

On Christmas morning, my brother who was allowed to visit the family went over there and he took with him the presents I had bought and wrapped.  I had included a gift for my mom as well, although she only got one gift (whereas my siblings had all gotten two) and her gift only cost $5.  I thought perhaps she would be enraged by my sending gifts b/c she had told me not to contact the kids – not even letters.  So I threw the gift in for her so she would hopefully sway her opinion of me.

The gesture did soften her up.  She called me!  She sounded very timid and awkward, kind of afraid, but she said thank you for the gifts and she asked if I wanted to talk to the kids.  I got to talk to each one individually on the phone.  Hearing their cute little voices, chattering and chattering away about all the presents they had gotten.  I felt bad that I wasn’t talking much myself.  I didn’t want my voice to give away that I was weeping at the sound of their voices.

All that said – I attempted suicide on Feb 14, 2007.  I felt completely, desperately alone and rejected – not by God, but by my family, which was the biggest thing in my life.  I knew my family much better than I knew God, and my little sisters were so precious to me and now I wasn’t even able to be in contact with them.  I wasn’t in touch with my dad, who had always been my protector when I was bullied by my mom, and there just was no hope.  My brothers (1 year and 3 years younger) had already moved out long before me and were struggling financially and my mom was so mean to them.  There was just no hope; everyone I loved was suffering and I was powerless to change it.  And I myself had been disowned.  So what was left for me?

PART THREE- Sex, Drugs and Alcohol

I kinda recovered from that to a certain extent, was trying really hard to be positive and keep living.  The realization that I had come so close to death scared me and I didn’t want to take my life into my own hands again, so I kept living day after day.  I talked to my pastor and my mentor a lot, read the Bible a lot, tried to understand better who God was and tried to believe that he was taking care of me.  I had so many loving friends who encouraged me to trust God and they prayed with me often.

But then my brother announced to me one day that our mom was getting married and moving out of state!!  I hadn’t even seen or spoken with my mom or my youngest siblings in months, and that hurt me bad enough!  Now they were all leaving permanently! I found this out during the fall semester of 2007. 

In January 2008, she invited me over to say goodbye.  My fist time seeing them in months – and I was seeing them to say goodbye.  My mom was getting remarried and they were all flying to Alaska for the wedding and to live their new lives there.  After the visit, as I was walking back to my car, my littlest sister Allie ran out to say goodbye again and to hug me.  It was a great, big “squeeze hug” as we call them in my family – but a few minutes went by and she still hadn’t let go of me.  I looked down at her, and their were tears streaming down her face.  And I felt so helpless, so grieved, and so overwhelmed with heartache in that moment.

-to be continued- (it has a happy ending, i promise!)

Remember that (superamazingoneofthelastgreatsongsheeverproduced) Eminem/ Dido collabo, Stan? About the crazy stalker fan? Well:

There’s this character on Twitter who goes by the pseudonym Numba2fan, who is on some other … ! This person is running a game of ‘exposion’, much like that pop culture split second known as Joburg’s Most Notorious Ho’s (remember that?).

Numba2fan has been active on Twitter since 18 November, and only has 43 followers (at this moment), but has already managed to pick some Twitbeef with fashionista and socialite Uyanda Mbuli.

Some of Numba2fan’s greatest hits:

- [In reference to Bonang Matheba] Well shame but @bonang looked pretty last night, Shooo but “THE LEGS”!!! Naw, u need surgery. they are so NOT hott!! #thetruth

- [Refering to Uyanda] Gee, @uyandam ’s RURAL cum FAKE accent shocked us today on VUZU! Advice – Spend more money on English lessons & less on Brands! Blacks!!

- [Model Precious Makgaretsa also gets trashed and Khanyi's name is brought into it] We wonda if @preshmak is still missing Eric! We thot u should know that @therealmissk is after ur ex-fiancee – for obvious reasons – CASH!

- [Precious and Babalwa Mneno] OH! @preshmak, But this ERIC also seems to be back with his ex & ur dear mentor cum friend @barbiliscious! Do u still miss him? Kisses!

- [Bonang and DJ Euphonik] We miss @bonang with those hilarious legs. We wonder if she is missing her secret lover @euphonik??!! LOL!! NOT ANYMORE

- [Miss Mbau] We discovered that @therealmissk offered her pussy to get VIP seats at an award show… HOW CHEAP IS THAT?! N.B -don ever try deny this one!

- [Nonhle Thema and Precious - again] We LV @nonhlethema, nys smile! BUT we hear she also does THOSE trips to NIGERIA, @preshmak knows exactly wat tht means, right SEXY?? *winks*

Now some of these ‘rumours’ aren’t just rumours – they’re pretty much open secrets… But obvi it’s about figuring out which ones are true, which aren’t. I wonder, though, how long it’ll take Numba2fan to go the same way as the Notorious Ho creators – that is, to fade into obscurity…

the other day an old friend accused me of being flighty

i found no responsive words

save a winged laugh

i suppose i confirmed his suspicions

A strange month. Worst weekend ever. Well, a bad one.

Broken hearts, hours of consoling and pulling a suicidal girl off the road nearly getting killed myself. Absolute trauma. Accusations, inclinations. Hurting others, being hurt by others. Breakups, break-downs.

Too much alcohol. Being someone I am ashamed of. Life is a roller-coaster, everything cracked on the way down this time. I was doing so well – I shouldn’t have let it happen but well, I did and I fell.

I am strong, I am dedicated. I will fix me. You are strong. I have faith in you, you and you.

Apparently time heals all. Well let me tell you – that is bullshit.

Time helps with healing, especially with what doesn’t seem so trivial but in reality will later be laughed about. It helps to heal a lot. We all hurt, but time is all we’ve got.

No judgment, no justifications, no excuses, no regrets – only lessons. Lessons.

but in this moment, nothing seems to work..

I fought hard for our security deposit cheque from our last landlord. My husband was yelling defensively and trying to force the landlord into seeing his point of view, rather than explain the benefits of just giving back our security deposit (which was rightfully ours), so that we could just end our landlord-tenant relationship quickly and without a fuss. He agreed, and even though there are now additional problems (he changed the locks, stole the last of our things before the move-out deadline he stated on his letter), we got the money.

I made the mistake of depositing it into our joint checking account.

My husband paid rent almost two weeks late this month. It was terrible, and embarrassing, and another notch in our will-they?-won’t-they?-get evicted soap opera of a tenancy we have here. And it’s only been a month. He has been working for the past two weeks or so, getting semi-regular tours, but he told me recently we only had $400 in our account. I checked today and found that $95 of the $475 cheque was missing, so instead of having $475 plus any money he made this month, we actually had LESS than what we started out with with just the cheque alone. He of course blamed me, yelling and screaming (in the day, through email and just now, after 12 midnight) that I was with him and saw that he was using his card (he has the EXACT same card for his personal account with the EXACT same bank! How was I to know?).

All I do know is that if I had deposited the cheque into my personal checking account (to which he has no access), then that $90 would have been safe. He spent it on useless crap at Target, gold in his video game (to cheat) and other crap. I hate what he is. I hate that he is such a scumbag. I trusted him and he stole. He stole from me.

He told me again that he’s moving out on the first, and that he’s moving in with his boss, who has 2 spare bedrooms. I don’t know how he’s going to deal with the fact that she already has two cats and a brand new Akita puppy (and he’s apparently the biggest male puppy of the litter). Either he hasn’t thought this through, or is pulling this out of his ass/bluffing, or he’s genuinely going to go through with it.

Either way, I’m not scared of him anymore. At all. He’s a joke to me. He kicked the couch hard, moving it forward, of course while my back is turned. He’s such a coward. No…what I’m scared, absolutely stone-dead terrified of is the neighbours being able to hear, and judging me, and getting us kicked out. They’ve already threatened to do it once. Somehow I don’t think that 12 midnight is a good time to be disturbed, but it happened to be the time he came home.

After ranting his entire plan to leave (move out, notifying the police that if I alleged that he hit me that it was a lie etc), he went upstairs, slammed the door. Came downstairs twice, yelled at me about something and slammed the door. The last time he was down here he ripped a Halloween card I gave him (a cute romantic one with two mummies on saying “I’m glad we wound up together”) in half and told me it was worthless because “people don’t ‘wind up’ together”. It hurt that he tore it up, but what he said – I didn’t know what that meant, so I left it alone. I tossed the pieces on the floor, he picked them up and tore them furiously into the tiniest little shreds on the stairs, and tantrumed his way upstairs.  Even while going in and out of other rooms, he’s slamming the door. Completely oblivious to how easily sound carries in the day, let alone at this late hour.

Right now he’s upstairs coughing himself to tears from choking on a bong hit. I think that’s the pose in which someone will find his dead body.

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 639

Apologies for the delays, which may continue for some days, as I am attending the UN Internet Governance Forum meetings in Sharm el Sheikh/Egypt with a busy schedule, in a different time zone, and then traveling back to Cambodia. I try to be on time as much as possible.

Norbert Klein

“According to a news source, at least three disabled veterans, poor citizens, were arrested between 14 to 16 November 2009, when they resisted armed forces and police of the Kompong Thom authorities, coming to enforce a notification to confiscate land, where the authorities claimed that those citizens live there illegally, in Banteay Rou Ngieng village, Kraya commune, Santuk district, Kompong Thom.

“The source of this information claimed that there is an association with more than 1,700 families of disabled veterans, living there since 2004, and that the association lives on more than 10,000 hectares of land, where each family was provided with 3 hectares by the head of that community, for housing and for growing different crops, since 2005. But on 14 and 16 November 2009, about 50 armed forces and other authorities came with machinery to remove their houses, and they arrested three people.

“The disabled veterans said that the authorities burnt their houses, shot at them, and even arrested some people and hit them with riffle handles, in order to evict them to seize the land for the Tan Bieng company [a Vietnamese company].

“Responding to the accusation that the authorities ordered armed forces to burn their houses, shoot at them, and arrest people, the Kompong Thom deputy police chief, who had gone himself to conduct the eviction, Mr. Nou Thany, told Deum Ampil on 18 November 2009, via phone, ‘The accusation is not true. And if there is anything true in it, the authorities used only their right to self protection, because those disabled people used knives, sticks, and gasoline bottles to burn the machinery of the authorities and to chase them away and to hurt them with knives.’ He added that the action was taken following a notification to confiscate the land for the Tan Bieng company, which had received the right from the Royal Government to make some investment on that land. For evictions, the municipality has a policy to offer each of them a plot of land in the nearby Thma Samlieng area, but only somewhat more than 100 of them agreed to register to take this offer of land at the new location. The rest protested, rejecting this policy and they used force against the authorities who went to enforce the eviction order.

“Mr. Nou Thany emphasized that the disabled veterans association does have the right to create an association at that area, but not the right to control the land. Therefore, there was a notification, ordering them to leave. Before they would have to leave, the municipality had set the deadline of 25 November 2009 for them to accept new land; however, they turned to resist strongly on 14 to 17 November 2009.” Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #340, 19.11.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Thursday, 19 November 2009

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #340, 19.11.2009

• Three Were Arrested for Preventing the Implementation of a Notification to Confiscate Land in Kompong Thom
• Most Malaria Medicines Are Fake and No-Quality Medicines [according to expert officials of the Ministry of Health]
• Tragedy as a Boat Sunk [because of strong wind] Resulting in the Deaths of a Man and of Three Children while His Wife Survived [Kandal]
• Two Young Men Died Immediately after They Were Hit [while riding on a motorbike] Behind a Bus of the Capital Company [Battambang]

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2102, 19.11.2009

• [About 300] Staff and Workers of the Royal Railways of Cambodia Stopped Protesting after the Ministry [of Public Works and Transport] Promised to Pay Their Salaries on 27 November 2009
• More Than 600 Square Kilometer of Cambodia Are Still Mine Infested [according to the Cambodian Mine Authority]

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #533, 19.11.2009

• Mr. Sam Rainsy and Ms. Tioulong Saumura Attended the European Community Parliament Meeting about Cambodia Yesterday [in Brussels]

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6809, 19.11.2009

• The Red Shirt Demonstrators Announced to Conduct a Large Demonstration on Sunday [29 November 2009] to Dismiss [Prime Minister] Abhisit Vijjajiva’s Government
• Special UN Envoy [in charge of AIDS in the Asia Pacific, Dr. Nafis Sadik] Met with a Group of Most Vulnerable People in the City [drug addicts, people infected with AIDS, and orphans - Phnom Penh]

Phnom Penh Post [Khmer Edition], Vol.1, #49, 19.11.2009

• Court Started to Question a Thai Man about Spying [he had copied flight documents of Prime Minister Hun Sen and of Thai ousted fugitive prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to send the copies to Thailand]
• Cambodia Is Still the Country with the Most Corruption among the Countries in the Region [of Asia Pacific; according to a report of Transparency International, Cambodia stands at the 158th position among 180 countries affected by corruption in the public sector, while in 2008, Cambodia was at the 166th position]
• Construction Investments Increased by 22% within 9 Months Compared to the Corresponding Period [last year; by the end of September 2009, there were 1805 projects amounting to US$1.165 Billion, while in 2008 there were only 1558 projects]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5051, 19.11.2009

• A Robber Shot a Policeman to Death and Then after Half-an-Hour Siege the Robber Was Shot Dead by Police [if he had agreed to let police arrest him and not shoot one policeman to death, he would not have be killed - Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh]
• A Japanese Man [a staff member of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)] Fell from the Second Storey of a Building of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and Died [police has not identified why he fell down - Phnom Penh]
• The Minister of Tourism Asked UNESCO to Help Create a Master Plan for Eco-Tourism around the Tonle Sap Lake

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it directly from the main page of the Mirror.
And please recommend us also to your colleagues and friends.

Back to top

He doesn’t care that he’s not supportive of things that I do. He showed that on the day that I graduated. Instead of bothering to even try and muster up some shred of happiness or pride for his wife, he brushed it off like it was no big deal, then reminded me that I didn’t deserve this degree, the jobs that I’ve had, or the education I’ve experienced. They had all been handed to me, and I didn’t deserve them. It was implied, of course, that he did.

He doesn’t care who hears our arguments, or who he airs our dirty laundry to. Unless it’s on his own terms. His friends, his lies to them, his speech to me that all of his friends hate me and that they “know” what I’m like, so I’d better cave to his ideal of me before it’s too late for me to live amongst these people without some biased perspective of me hanging over my head.

Often though, he’ll vacillate between telling me there’s still time, that there’s no more time, and that there was never any such problem to begin with. Or, he’ll run out of the door and leave me to deal with neighbours knocking on my door, warning us to shut up or be kicked out. Then when I tell him of those incidents, he calls me a liar. There’s no way for me to prove what other people are thinking without actively dragging them into our arguments, which would make them so much worse.

He corrects me when I tell him how I feel. If he can’t convince me that what he thinks I feel is how I really feel, then he reminds me that my feelings are stupid, or exist solely as tools with which I destroy his life, from which I then derive sadistic pleasure.

Last night he shared some news with me that I was wary of and had certain reservations of but that I supported regardless. It was a side business venture he and his boss were kicking about. It was legimitate, but I had concerns about its validity and usefulness to the community, and whether or not he was qualified to undertake it. I didn’t feel that he was. What I was really concerned was that this was concerning his religon, into which he retreats whenever he’s around other people who are also of his religion. And every time it’s been isolating me from him, breaking us apart a little, because it’s all he ever talks about. I’m not spiritual, and he’s known this since day one.

I thought the fight was over after the last email exchange we sent each other (at least it kept the noise level down). But this morning I went in the bedroom to grab loo roll. He was being polite and cute, apologising for using so much. I responded in kind. But while I was in the bathroom a few moments later, he pounded and slammed on the door, screaming and telling me to go fuck myself. He kept trying to start fights even after I got out, before and after my shower, and right before he left (minutes before I did). He told me the marriage was over, and later on he said he was moving out on the 1st. A little bit later I asked him if that was still the case, and that if so I’d ask if he left the youngest cat at least (I wouldn’t mind taking care of them all), and that even though he would probably take them all to spite me.

After I told him I then had some things to take care of, he assumed I meant taking him to court/lying about physical abuse (“lying”??). He wouldn’t believe me, but I didn’t want to admit that the real reason I was going was to take the amount we got for the security deposit out of our joint bank account, because I needed it to pay rent, and since I had paid last month’s rent (and first month’s rent), this amount (which was converted by the ex-landlord from our roommate’s last month’s rent to a security deposit), was rightfully mine.

I thought I was free. Finally free. Free without one of us having to be dead.

But then he backtracked, saying that he was forced to stay with me because I would retaliate somehow. All I wanted was my laptop back, and none of my things taken. He could take all the cats, the food, his clothes, his knick-knacks, his furniture….everything that was his. But not the laptop, and not that money. I would probably have to sell it to get rent money anyway.

He stormed out, yelling and causing a big stink, to the point where I knew the neighbours were still home. They left right after he did, and I heard shouting outsde. I’m hoping that they didn’t meet, and also that whatever that shouting was, it wasn’t related to my husband’s idiocy.

I really hope he meant it. I really hope he leaves on the 1st. Even though I know it won’t happen.

I had been looking up some Thanksgiving recipes that I could make shortly before I went into the bathroom and was terrorized. He keeps telling me how I feel, what I want, and getting angry when I disagree or get confused. He warns me that everyone knows what I’m really like, and that I should change, but I don’t know which persona he wants me to adopt. It changes every day. If only he would finally decide.

Apparently I have enough time to update my post tag list, nothing new in the land of N yet, trying to figure out how I’m going to interlink all of my story’s into movuies and stuff.