|
 Freed
Cleric Is Hailed by Students, but Support Could Be Waning
The crowd gathered to welcome the release
of Abu Bakar Bashir, Indonesia's militant
Islamic cleric, did not number in the thousands as many had
expected. (New York Times)
Australia angry as cleric freed
(BBC)
WB expects clear program in eradicating
bird flu in Indonesia
Donors promise 5.4 bln USD for Indonesia
in 2006
Aid groups fight to raise cash as Java quake
homeless toll soars
Financial Times
 Two
trapped after Indonesia volcano erupts
- Rescuers dug through volcanic
debris Thursday to reach two people trapped
when Indonesia's most volatile volcano erupted,
nearly enveloping a village with a searing gas cloud and forcing
thousands of residents to flee. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Spanish FC BuGils players first ones to
buy new Playboy editions
Simon and Jacobo, two well known FC BuGils players, paid less
attention to the world cup for a moment while buying the latest
Playboy edition. They were seeing gasping in disbelief at the
controversial magazine. 'She said her picture would be in here!',
said one of two, not elaborating any further. The
disappointed look on his face made clear he had received some
unreliable information from an undisclosed person in an even more
undisclosed location that turned to be untrue. (BuGils Daily)
FROM
THE EDITOR:
'I hope it will not influence our friendship,
but not showing the world cup on the big screen in Cazbar is
unacceptable...'. The Cazbar share holder spoke in a calm tone,
but his eyes were looking cold and hard straight at me. Other
shareholders nodded in agreement. 'We told you long time ago to
arrange the South African channel, like they have in other bars...
Why didn't you do it?' One shook his head, another made notes and
the speaker was still looking straight trough me. I wanted to
explain them about the landlords' wife who had died a few days
earlier. He of course had not been in the mood for decisions and
refused to give us permission to put the satellite dish on the
roof. 'Next week aja', was the generals' final word on it,
just a few hours before the opening game. The shareholders
demanded a deeper explanation for my failure to have the world cup
games broadcasted in Cazbar, obvious disappointed in the missed
opportunity to profit from it. 'Why didn't you put up an antenna
then? Everybody does that. Cheap and fast'. Again heads shaking in
disbelief when I explained that the SCTV signal in Kuningan is
bad. 'Can you not climb over the roof?', another suggested. 'The
top floor is the office of Indonesians' ex vice-president. The
next world cup that you will see is, on a 20 inch TV in Cipenang
jail...', I fired back. But 'nothing seems to be done', was
their final conclusion. This was last Saturday.
On Tuesday we received the green light from
the landlord to put the metrix dish on the roof. Finally we had
the big screen up and running in Cazbar. My daughter Patricia, now
almost four years old, sometimes spends an hour or so in Cazbar
after her school. She enjoyed the large and clear picture on the
big screen more then anybody else. 'Look Papa! Sponge Bob is
huge! Bagus ya?'. While enjoying the afternoon cartoons, the
always gentle ex-vice president Try Sutrisno walked in, surrounded
by some very nervous dark brown dressed assistants and body
guards. He sometimes eats at the second floor of Cazbar. This time
he had some people wearing bright Korean made ties with him,
obvious of the kind that hoped to get some kind of a business
deal. Noticing this little girl in front of the big screen,
Sutrisno's assistants rushed to the projector and wanted to turn
it off. Patricia furiously turned around. Her little finger went
up in the air and she shouted: 'He! Jangan kamu! (dont
you dear!) I want to watch Sponge Bob. I was here first!'
Funny enough, the assistants were baffled by the little girl for a
second.
 Then
the Cazbar staff rushed to the front, trying to move Patricia away
from the ex-president to lower levels, where her father was trying
hard to find ideas for a newsletter story. Try Sutrisno however,
laughed at the scene and asked his staff to leave Sponge Bob on.
Coincidence or not, he did position him so that he could see the
program as well. Patricia crossed her arms in front of her on the
table and laid her head down on them. She turned around one more
time, looking straight at Try Sutrisno, with a warning look, just
to check if they have had gotten the message. 'Awas loe...',
(Betawi slang for 'you be carefully now') she apparently whispered
in herself, before concentrating again on the cartoons.
So what will happen if a contingent of
British hooligans will come to Cazbar to watch the game at 23.00
tonight, and Patricia is watching Mister Bean or Mickey Mouse? I
think she will tell them to go waste themselves. But then I will
have the shareholders on my neck again... Decisions... The staff
in BuGils is debating who should serve the spectators on the stage
tonight. By now, their legs are stiff from climbing the stairs.
 They
want free spa treatments. Decisions.... I have another great story
about this German, but will he still come to Eastern Promise once
I write again about him? Last night he already wondered by
everybody suddenly seems to know him... Decisions.... My brother
wants to arrange a permanent stay permit for his Magelang
girlfriend. Should she bring her 8-year 'adoption' child
with her to Holland? Decisions.... Then my father called. He
had not phoned me for a while - its normally my mother who informs
me on neighbors moving from number 8 to number 10, etc, etc. My
father wanted to know if I had the plan to come over to Friesland
this summer. He is getting a year older and the bales of hay or
getting heavier. I got the message. But I am here, trying to get
things done. I need to make decisions. Oh Patricia, please grow up
quickly, so you can do the shareholders meetings. But I make at
least one decision today: All Trinidad passport holders are
entitled to free drinks and food in BuGils, Cazbar or Eastern
Promise! I expect one or two worried phone calls from shareholders
after I sent out this newsletter: 'Are you sure you wanna give
Trinipalezen free drinks? Jangan kamu, we better have a meeting
first...Awas loe....'.
New BuGils
Bucks??
Hanna....
Marni...
 Asian
Highway network gathers speed -
The monumental Asian Highway network, which will weave through 32
countries and link Asia with Europe, is making progress. While
many issues such as customs procedures remain to be addressed, the
completed system could well become more important than its Silk
Road ancestor. (Asia Times)
But who's going to do this sober?
Vietnam's popular karaoke bars, renowned for hard drinking and
prostitution, face tough new restrictions starting in July,
according to a government decree. The decree, issued this month by
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and shown to Reuters Wednesday, bans
karaoke bar patrons from drinking spirits, imposes fines for
public drunkeness and limits the number of servers to
one person per room to
discourage prostitution.
Scottish World Cup fans limber up on rum &
mangoes
Trinidad footballers promised barrels of rum
|
