KFC Denmark's website hacked

Just took this screenshot from kfc.dk. No doubt KFC will try to fix it soon.

"When I give food to the poor...

Hélder Câmara was a Brazilian Roman Catholic Archbishop. In 1973, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He also wrote a short tract in 1971 called "Spiral of Violence" in which he links structural injustice (Level 1 violence) with escalating rebellion (Level 2 violence) and repressive reaction (Level 3 violence).

Here is an excerpt:

The authorities and the privileged are alarmed by the presence of agents coming from outside whom they call 'subversive elements', 'agitators', 'communists'.

Sometimes they are indeed people committed to an ideology of the extreme left who are fighting for the liberation of the oppressed and have opted for armed violence. At other times they are people moved by religious feeling, who can no longer tolerate religion interpreted and lived as an opium for the masses, as an alien and alienating force, but want to see it at the service of the human development of those who are imprisoned in a sub - human condition.

The authorities and the privileged lump the two groups together. For them, those who, in the name of their religion (whether they are clergy or laity), are working for fundamental reforms, for a change in structures, have abandoned religion for politics, are foundering in leftism or, at the very least, are innocents preparing the way for communism.

There are two main counter - arguments to this attitude. The authorities and the privileged pretend to believe that without the presence of 'agitators', the oppressed masses would remain with their eyes closed, passive and immobile.

Today, with all the means of transport and social communication available (including the transistor radio), it is ridiculous to think that one can prevent the circulation of ideas or the spread of information.

And secondly, monolithic and obsessional anti - communism is responsible for many absurdities. The prime one is maintaining injustices because tackling them 'might open the door to communism'.

Yes, the authorities and the privileged (the powerful and the rich) are predictable. Câmara was proved right once again 16 years later, in Singapore. In 1987, a group of Singaporean Roman Catholic activists were labelled "Commnunists" (or more precisely "Marxists"), and imprisoned by the government in The Marxist Conspiracy.

Replace "communism" with "socialism" and you have the USA today.

As for aid (Cambodia is due to receive USD1 Billion for 2009):

"Aid is necessary, but not enough. Until someone has the courage and intelligence to undertake a complete revision of international trade policy, the poor countries will continue to get poorer and to enrich the wealthy countries more and more."

Not only will poor countries enrich wealthy countries, but the poor within those countries will enrich their elite.

Thanks Marx051 for adding the image to reddit so I got to know about Hélder Câmara. You can read "Spiral of Violence" here . The book is out of print but Alistair McIntosh scanned it so we can still read it. I love the Internet community.

Sorry for the Scientology Google Ads

I have just spent today trying to get scientology.org out of my blog. I noticed it a while back and I am sorry if any readers clicked on the deceptive ads only to find themselves on the scientology website. The ads advertise themselves using "Love" and other warm, fuzzy, words to attract readers. If you click on the flash ads they will take you to www.scientology.org.

I tried to block the ads following Google's instructions on banning ads. The instructions are far from clear (read the section "Finding the Ad URL" which caters only to IE or Netscape users). And what is worse, nowhere on this page is there this warning (which I found only on another page): "Please do not click on your own ads to determine the destination URL, as this is a violation of our program policies. To determine the URL to filter, please review our Competitive Ad Filter Guide."

How stupid is that? Instinctively that is what users would do to try to find the ad URL. That is what I did - not that it helped at all. In the end this was what I did in case you want to do the same: Go to your adsense account, click on adsense setup, then type in the URL you don't want - in my case scientology.org.

Hopefully it will work but not according to this Computerworld writer who wrote a month ago Why is Google adsense doing the bidding of Scientology?":

"My Google AdSense seems to be infested with Scientology ads. I am not sure why but I can't get Google to remove them from my site. It's not a random ad, either. It seems like every single time an ad comes to my site from Google, it is Scientology.

I am not necessarily anti-Scientology...But this is outrageous. Scientology is every ad block 24 hours/day for over a week now. My readers have rightfully started complaining and I'd really like Google to stop. If they are paying Google an exorbitant amount to advertise, I am not seeing any difference in my CPM rates. So, I've tried just about everything in my power to get them removed.

Google being Google, they haven't made removing specific ads very easy. I've done the requisite posting on AdSense forums with strangely no answer. I've also researched competitive ad filters and put every Scientology URL in the filter. To no avail. The Scientology ads keep coming...I've also tried to call someone at Google. If you have ever tried this, you know that is a joke. I can't even get past reception. Way to serve the 99% of your revenue base!?!?

I don't want to get into conspiracy theories but Google also removed the Anonymous AdSense account. Anonymous was the group that was exposing some internal Scientology stuff (I don't follow this stuff too closely). Google also killed a Youtube account of an anti-Scientology crusader who was about to publish an expose on Scientology. They also removed Xenu.net, another anti-Scientology website's links.

I don't think Google is doing the work of Scientologists. I just think they are getting a lot of cash from them and don't want to deal with their litigation tactics.

But, you'd think that Google would be more friendly with their publishing partners. I may only serve up 3 million pageviews a month but they are practically begging/forcing me to go to one of their competitors.

And honestly, I don't care if there is an odd Scientology ad on my site. But this is ridiculous. What am I supposed to do?"

Well, unlike the writer, I do have something against scientology, which is on trial in Paris where it is accused of organised fraud.

You can read this expose of the sect by the St Petersburg Times here and this Aug 2 report More Church of Scientology defectors come forward with accounts of abuse. One woman wrote about her experience on the Cult Help website. She says Quentin Hubbard, son of scientology founder Ron Hubbard, committed suicide at age 22 because he could see no way out of the trap he was in.

Google should take a page from Wikipedia and limit scientology's use of the company's technology to push the church's agenda. In May, Wiki banned the church from making edits because they were pushing their agenda too much, thus closing the longest-running court case in Wiki's history. Because honestly, like the Computerworld writer, I will dump Blogger, owned by Google, for one of their competitors (hello, wordpress) if this continues.

Churches in Cambodia

I just read this New York Times article which reports on Mormon missionaries becoming door-to-door sales people. “It’s missionary work turned into a business,” said Cameron Treu, 30, who served his mission in Chile and was recruited into D2D (that is door-to-door in sales lingo) by another former missionary.

It seems Mormons make great salespeople. “They’re used to knocking on doors, and they’re used to rejection," Scott Warner, Pinnacle’s manager of the Chicago sales team told the NYT.

I was told the Mormon church (also known as the Church of the Latter Day Saints) is the largest church in Phnom Penh. It was given permission to set up in 1994. There is also one in Siem Reap, along National Road No. 6 (pictured).

This 2008 news report describes how the church was partnering with the Center for Study and Development of Cambodian Agriculture (CEDAC), an NGO in Cambodia, to improve the lives of 7,000 families. The article says "The 'Academy Performers' tell the audience members they are sponsored by LDS (Latter Day Saints) Charities, but do not proselytise."

Hard to believe. Here is a first person account of the Church's missionary work. "Mike and Mary Lee Morgan are on an 18-month assignment in the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They have been assigned to do both proselyting [sic] and humanitarian services for the Cambodian people. (My italics).

In Phnom Penh, I actually got to know 3 young women, all Mormons from Utah, who came to the Bloom cafe frequently. It took them a while before they started their evangelising, but anyone could see that was why they were there.

The women, in their early twenties, were often accompanied by a young ethnic Vietnamese woman who was born in Cambodia. They seemed nice enough, and told me they had all worked for a year to save money to do their missionary work in Cambodia. They led a very strict regime and were not allowed to surf the Internet except for an hour on Tuesdays. Phone calls, too, were restricted. The women used to ride their bicycles from the Russian Market to the cafe and one of them told me she learnt how to bargain with vendors in the Russian market who often quoted her ridiculously high prices. "Knyom ot cher-koot teh!" ("I'm not crazy!"), she would say, which really made me laugh.

In 2003, the Ministry of Cults and Religion issued a new "disciplinary order" regulating the activities of "outside religions."

"People have complained a lot to the Ministry of Cults and Religion," Minister of Cults and Religion Chea Savoeun told the Cambodia Daily, adding that some Christian groups have been accused of "looking down" on other religions and disturbing people in their homes.

When I first arrived in Cambodia, I met a young man, Saveth, who was learning English at New Life, a centre near our house. I wonder if New Life in Cambodia is related to New Life Church, the Colorado church founded by the evangelical preacher Ted Haggard, who in 2006 admitted, after initial denials, to soliciting prostitute Mike Jones for homosexual sex and methamphetamine.

Saveth became a fervent Christian and used to run down Buddhism and tell me about the sex crimes perpetrated by his country's monks. He had no idea about Ted Haggard though.

This is what is found on the homepage of cambodianewlife.org:

Our primary focus is to train nationals to reach Cambodians for Christ. How do we do that? Click on the link to our ministries [which include "college", "radio", and "women"]. New Life Missions is working with many different Church denominations in Cambodia and some in the United States. The ultimate purpose of this mission is a life-long commitment to serve the World Church. Our method both in practice and principle has been designed in such a way that New Life Mission becomes all things to all people. To the wise we become fools. To the fools we become light. New Life Missions is the gateway to world vision. If it's not a "mission," it's not a "Church".

At least New Life is honest about why they are in Cambodia.

This other website describes New Life as "a church dedicated to raising up leaders with in the body and sending them out to surrounding provinces to plant more churches. Currently New Life has over 60 church plants spread through out the country of Cambodia with plans to move into surrounding countries such as Vietnam and Laos."

I've met many Westerners here who tell me they are "church planters" or more often, their husbands are church planters. I'd never heard of the term until I got to Cambodia.

Jews in Singapore and Cambodia

I just discovered this about the playwright Tom Stoppard:

Born Tomáš Straussler in Zlín, Czechoslovakia, Stoppard fled to Singapore with other Jews on 15 March 1939, the day that the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia. In 1941, the family was evacuated to Darjeeling, India, to escape the Japanese invasion of Singapore. His father, Eugene Straussler, remained behind as a British army volunteer, and died in a Japanese prison camp after capture. From wikipedia.

I wondered how many Jews fled to Singapore during the Second World War and found this on www.singaporejews.com:

"The first Jews to settle there were of Baghdadi origin, mainly from India, who migrated to Singapore when Sir Stamford Raffles established Singapore as a trading post in Singapore in 1819, to find new opportunities."

"An interesting and influential figure at the turn of the century was Sir Manasseh Meyer. A rich Jew (who was then probably the wealthiest in the Far East), he was knighted by Queen Victoria for his part in raising the cultural level of the Singapore territory." [Meyer Road is still one of the priciest streets in Singapore].

"Today, there are just over 300 hundred local Jews left, together with the many expatriates and foreign workers, the Singapore Jewish community holds steady at approximately 1000. Both synagogues are active. Despite the small numbers, our community has much to offer her members; a good Jewish education for the youth, weekly discussions, up to the minute gossip and Sabbath luncheons and dinners, which will help to keep the spark burning for generations to come."

As well, Singapore's first Chief Minister, David Marshall was a Jew.

I could not find anything about the first Jews who arrived in Cambodia. There must have been as I am sure the Jewish diaspora, like the Chinese, went all over the world. There must have been Jews who came to Cambodia during French rule. In fact, wikipedia notes "the first Jews to visit Vietnam likely arrived following the French colonization of the country in the latter half of the 19th century." History of Jews in Vietnam.

I did come across this blog, whose writer had met Adollah, former name Hanh Nen, who says that 20-plus years ago, "God told him that he had to choose between Judaism and evil. He chose Judaism, and was told that he would found a Jewish community in Cambodia....Adollah lives in Phnom Penh, maybe ten minutes away from the city center. He does not leave his house very often; God has instructed him only to eat kosher foods, and kosher food is hard to find in Cambodia. I met his son Moses ("My dad calls me Moses, but at school I am Somnang")". There are photos of Adollah on the blog.

And in 2007: "At the behest of The Cambodia Daily publisher Bernard Krisher and at their own expenses-three Lubavitchers landed in Phnom Penh for Cambodia's first-ever organized service for Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, the holiest of all Jewish holidays."

“We have a responsibility to educate our brothers. How are we supposed to rectify the world if we stay within the confines of a synagogue?” Saadya Notik, a 25 year old rabbi from Brooklyn, NY, asked. The report Rabbis Do Work of 'Repairing World' in Cambodia also notes:

"One curious Cambodian sat in the back row for Friday's service, with a makeshift yarmulke, or head covering, fashioned from a handkerchief. Sok Sidon, 23, works as a peace trainer for the Khmer Youth Association and said he came, simply, for the exposure to new culture. He said he thought it would be a learning experience that could help him figure out “how to keep ourselves at peace.” Sok Sidon said he is looking forward to traveling to Svay Rieng province come October to celebrate Pchum Ben, the Buddhist Festival of the Dead.

Click this link for more updated news on the [expatriate]Jews of Cambodia : " I met a greater number of my people, perhaps forty of them, at a Hanukkah party in early December. Menorahs were lit, latkes were eaten, and dreidels were spun. Fortunately, no Mainschewitz was to be found anywhere. There were Americans, Belgians, Poles, Frenchmen (and women), and even a Kiwi!"

There was also this story I found: "There are many Jews in the kingdom of China: they are the ones who built, in Cambodia, the city of Angkor which, as I said, was discovered in 1570. They abandoned it when they emigrated to China, according to what the Jews from the East Indies told me when, passing through there, I conversed with them about that matter." Hahahahaha! From "Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog".

This reminds me of the Chinese who claim they invented golf.

Methodists in Siem Reap

I met these two lovely women, Pat and Susan, who are from Wisconsin, USA. They've have been to Cambodia a number of times to help Khmer women through their church. They told me about a Khmer woman, Chariya (pictured) who wants to provide skills training for poor women in her neighbourhood. On this trip, Pat and Susan taught the women to sew bags and school uniforms.
At first I was sceptical when I saw Chariya's house--she is obviously not poor, so would her neighbours be poor? It turns out some of the women who learn how to sew at Chariya's house are actually homeless, she says, and they live by the roadside, in tents. I think it is great that Chariya is helping her own people. I bought some woven bags from her to sell at the Bloom shop. Hopefully they will sell so I can buy some more.
These are the women. It is a small group and those are the bags pictured below. I had been thinking of setting up a workshop in Siem Reap, but maybe this is a good alternative. Instead of starting my own Bloom workshop number 2, I can work with Chariya's group. I plan to send up one of the experienced Bloom sewers to come to Siem Reap to train Chariya's team. That way they can make bags for Bloom, to the same standards and quality. I hope to be able to do this as soon as our Christmas orders are out of the way. I would also hope Chariya's group will be run like a cooperative.

I then ended up giving a talk at the Methodist church here in Siem Reap. Susan and Pat wanted me to share my experience as a business person and as an employer to a group of young Cambodians who attend this church. They were doing a project on "Life Plans" which I thought was great--you get people to write down all the important stages of the life thus far and what milestones they'd like for the future. For all the kids, getting a job, marriage and having a family were important--just like people everywhere. Pat and Susan had also bought biscuits and soft drinks and we had a small party after that.