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 Turkish
Flags Are Hot Items in Indonesia
Turkish bakers making bread for residents
of Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province are finding their
loaves aren't the only hot item in town. Anything emblazoned with
the Turkish flag -- a white crescent and star on a red background
-- is in demand, too.
The reason: it's
a near look-alike of the banned symbol
 of
the region's separatist rebels. (NY Times)
Muslim world falls short on tsunami aid -
Wolfowitz
Parts of the Islamic world are "big
on talking about jihad" but have fallen short in aiding Muslim
victims of the South Asian tsunami, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz said on Thursday. (REuters)
Malaysia urges Indonesia to drop plans to sue local firms: Reports
(JKT Post)
Indonesia's Democracy Target of Bush Budget Request (all
American Patriots.com)
Expat Pool League Getting Bigger and Bigger...!
Bar owners and pool league committee came together in Crossroads
Bar last Wednesday to discuss the increasing popular expat pool
league. A new record of expatriates (almost 400!) in Jakarta have
submitted their name to participate again in the league that will
start next week Wednesday. More info at: http://www.jakartapoolleague.com
On the picture from left to right: John
(Crossroads), Fabien, Rene, Len (committee), Hitesh (My Bar), Fred
(Aphrodite), Mie (Fez-Kinara), Theresia (Oscars), Bartele
(BuGils), Sake (Everest), Hano (F39), Daryl (D's Kemang), Paulus (Sportsmans),
David (committee), Glen (Maddogs).
FROM THE EDITOR:
 Over
the years I met a number of Americans who claimed they worked for
CIA, but that they preferred to be low key during their visit to
Indonesian and kindly asked me not to tell anybody else. If they
really were CIA they probably would never be so stupid to tell it
to a half drunk bar manager / newsletter distributor! (or could
they be that stupid..?) Anyway, I had again an ex-CIA employee in
my bar two weeks ago. When I asked him why he left the service he
responded that he had married this beautiful Indonesian girl and
he didn't want her to go her trough all the screening tests or
back ground checks. Why? Could he be afraid of the outcome? An
innocent Indonesian girl like her could never be a threat to the
American society (or could she..?). Anyway, the man and his wife
were nice and I had a few beers with them.
 An
evening later they were back. When the talk went on about food,
the American claimed he was trained to be a cook before he joined
with the CIA. If I needed some help in the kitchen he would be
happy to assist for a few months and to set up a menu. He was
jobless at the moment anyway. I appreciated his offer but having
an ex-CIA agent in my kitchen didn't seem to be a good idea to me.
After all, BuGils had outsourced the kitchen to KOI restaurant and
I was sure our Belgium chef Bernois doesn't want to have his
secret recipes to fall in the hands of the CIA!
 For
the third time in a row the ex-CIA officer and his wife were back
in BuGils. I introduced him to Lee, a long-time American friend
and colleague (he just sold his bar in St. Louis). They played
some pool but apparently the Democrat and the Republican didn't go
along that well, and after some quarreling Lee decided to leave.
Lee send me the following text message later that night: 'I left
as he was one of us Americans who think we should rule the world.' I
asked him back: 'I would expect an ex-CIA to be a bit more
discrete with his political opinions'. Lee's second SMS made a lot
clear to me: 'Bart, mind you, CIA also stands for Culinary
Institute of America', it is one of the biggest
organizations in the US'.
I know a lot of you think I make up this stories. Believe me, I
don't. -- Bartele
PS. The previous newsletter was regarded as SPAM be many providers
due to the content of some explicit language in some of the
newstories. The link to that previous newsletter is:
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Feb07nl2005.htm
ELSEWHERE IN THE ASIA:
Date from Hell: Rescue!
It's every single person's nightmare: You're on a date, it's a
disaster but there's no way out.With Valentine's Day looming, a
mobile phone company in Australia has come to the rescue with a
service offering
an escape from the date from hell.
ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD:
Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! A British woman was
sentenced to two and a half years in jail for ripping off
her ex-lover's testicle with her bare hands during a drunken brawl
after he refused her sex. Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage after Geoffrey Jones, 37, who had ended their
long-term relationship, rejected her advances. She grabbed him by
the genitals, tearing off his left testicle, then hid it in her
mouth before a friend of Jones handed it back to him saying "that's
yours." Monti, of Birkenhead, near Liverpool, pleaded guilty
to unlawful wounding at an earlier hearing. (Reuters)
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