Phnom Penh (Ah!) Travel Tips - US POLITICS & How Is US Taxpayer Money Being Spent?

US Presidential Debates Barack Obama John McCain

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

How Is US Taxpayer Money Being Spent? - TV In Cambodia - NR TOP SECTIONS AND STORIES - NATIONAL RADIO IS PUBLISHED IN 5 LANGUAGES

Wednesday October 15, 2008

The US Taxpayer Money Buck Stops Where?

Tomorrow morning October 16 (Thursday - Wednesday night Oct 15 in the US) in Southeast Asia the final US presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain will be televised. The economy is the topic scheduled to be discussed.

Third Presidential Debate Date: October 15 – Site: Hofstra University – Topic: Domestic and Economic Issues – Moderator: Bob Schieffer – Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table – Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate – Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

The debate will begin at 9pm ET, 6pm PT USA time and last for 90 minutes. Both campaigns also agreed to accept the CPD’s participation rules for third-party candidate participation. Third-party candidates will be included if they poll 15% or above in at least 5 national polls. Each debate will be broadcast on the major broadcast networks, including CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. They will also be aired on cable news channels such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and C-SPAN.

With the current US economic crisis what's important is the way American taxpayer's money is being used to fund NGO's which exist in Cambodia and other receiver nations. One NGO chief that is supposed to fight human trafficking said about his funding, "its all bullshit man. Some taxpayer in the United States from Arkansas is paying for all of this," as he surveyed his equipment including several Land Cruisers and employees spread around a field. The individual is British but he was revealing his self ingratiating attitude to an American.

That set the tempo of my viewpoint on the attitude of NGO's in Cambodia as well as their disrespect for the Cambodian people and their culture by creating disturbances in once quiet neighborhoods with their loud alcoholic induced behavior. Many NGO's are about putting on a good show, writing copious notes and reports, make themselves a healthy salary, consume large quantities of beer and wine and indulge themselves dining at the best restaurants while very little gets done with the millions of US taxpayer and donor dollars that they take in every year and squander.

John Perry Barlow had a point of view when he visited the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia a few years ago addressing a crowd of NGO staff and news media. His opinion was that the NGO's mission of getting the job done would mean that THERE WOULD BE NO JOB. Shock waves went around the room as many who were in attendance were probably being faced with looking in the mirror. But there's more.

A former journalist for the New York Times and Washington Post made a speaking engagement at Pananasstra University few years ago and expressed how amazed she was about the number of cars on the streets of Phnom Penh particularly LUXURY vehicles. We've been told by those living in Phnom Penh during the mid nineties that there were about 50 cars on the roads of Phnom Penh. They pointed out that the people were then using bicycles as a means of transportation. At that time traffic wasn't an issue.

Many of these luxury vehicles have prominently displaying license tags stating RACF (Royal Cambodian Air Force) or POLICE. That raises the question of during the US and global financial crisis how much of American taxpayer money has been used to purchase those vehicles. When you see a car lot on Monivong Blvd. near Mao Tse Tung blvd. filled with NEW Lexus Land Cruisers and cars it makes one wonder where is the money coming from.

In the first debate McCain pointed out that American taxpayer dollars were going to countries who don't like America. If American taxpayer money was taken away from many countries would they like America? Is the money intended to help a country develop being used for that purpose or is being used to buy luxury vehicles and refurbish old wooden homes into massive concrete villas for the purpose of demanding a high rental intended for the well healed NGO's who are flocking to Cambodia cluttering and doing nothing but being party animals and not taking care of the business they are raising money for?

The Cambodia Daily's (www.cambodiadaily.com) October 7 edition page 25 noted a 25-year-old RCAF Lieutenant when he randomly shot into a crowd near the Royal Palace killing one person and leaving two injured. His outrage stemmed from his being angry that his Lexus SUV was damaged by a group of men who smashed his rear windshield. He's at large and has a lawyer negotiating compensation to the families of the victims for $3,500 and $4,000. He most likely won't be prosecuted and will buy his way out of the crime. WHAT!!! Obviously a person in his position has a lot of money. It raises the question does US taxpayer money contribute to corruption and MURDER? It raises the questions what kind of salary does a RCAF Lieutenant receive that enables him to purchase a Lexus SUV? Where did that money come from for what? Why is the US funding a country which has no fair order of law?

Those foreigners benefiting from the funding is another issue. What is their motive for being in the country for what? They remain over the years moving from one funded NGO to another and continue to reap considerable financial rewards and enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle. The NGO business could be interpreted as being the modern form of colonialism. These people have money to burn.

We asked long time French resident of Phnom Penh who is involved with a NGO funding why she was here? "I'm an opportunist," she frankly replied.

At a book signing we overheard a NGO money grabber say at 6:30 PM that he had five more stops to make that night to bars along the riverfront and he would have beer in each bar. This was after he had consumed several alcoholic beverages at the book signing event. "Is that a part of your job," the other NGO money grabber to whom he was speaking asked? "Yes." was the reply. "I do it every night."

Well for an alcoholic it's a good job if you can get it but again…. where's the money coming from? Whose money is he using anyway? Several months ago we had a conversation with a donor in Belgium asking if we knew of a responsible NGO that helps children for donations ranging from US $200 - 300 thousand. What is surprising about the matter is that so much money is being sent to Cambodia, Thailand and other developing countries and the donors don't know who and how the money is being spent. You would think that an individual would take the time and spend less than $5,000 to come and meet the recipients and observe their facilities, behavior and how they do business. They don't and that goes into the GO FUGURE FILE.

When Angelina Jolie had concerns about how her money was being spent she took the time to come and observe. She didn't like what was going on and changes were made. I have wealthy friends who say they give to reputable foundations. We contacted one the (Sports Academy) and found them to be less than honorable and professional. When you check out these marquee name NGO's and observe their staff for the most part the end result is they produce minimal results. It makes a US taxpayer wonder where is the BANG FOR THE BUCK? WHERE ARE THE CONSTRUCTIVE AND POSITIVE RESULTS?

Continued

We are published in five languages, English, Thai, French, Russian and Khmer (Cambodian language). Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns are legally available ONLY on our National Radio site.

NR SECTIONS MOST VISITED

This month there are some changes in the sections most visited. The Phnom Penh remains at the top of the pile with American Idol moving up two positions from fourth to second. Cambodian Sports made the charts and is ranked third. The Thailand section took the fourth spot in doing so dropped one position from third. The Sports Notes section rounded off the top five.

NR TOP 5

The Top 5 most visited sections are:

1 . Phnom Penh

2. AMERICAN IDOL

3. Cambodia Sports

4. THAILAND

5. Sports Notes -- NEW

FULL TOP 10 LISTS

Previous Top 5 most visited sections are:

1 . Phnom Penh

2. TRAVEL TIPS

3. THAILAND

4. AMERICAN IDOL

5. CAMBODIA

NR TOP FIVE STORIES

Our July 2006 Phnom Penh column took over the number one position moving up one spot from second. To column notes Vann Molyvann the designer of Olympic Stadium - Cambodian Premiere Football League postponed AGAIN - Naga Corp no wins but goodwill in Vietnam. Naga gives players RESPECT, CARE and GOOD WAGES - Former Freshie Girl winner Vanda now given space to talk

The April 2005 column also moved up one position from third to second. The story takes a look a Gold Quest a company that created frenzy and got many Khmer youth involved in what might be considered a pyramid scheme business.

The March 2005 column moved up from fifth to third. The main topic is Cinema Cambodia at Pananasstra University and the French schools film festival. Cinema Cambodia has since failed and as its organizer Dr. Raymond Leos said they simply don't have the money to compete with the French school that has plenty of it.

The September 2005 edition retains the fourth position with the primary focus being beauty contests in Phnom Penh and the government's destruction of weapons.

A new surprise entry is the May 2004 column which takes the fifth position. That features Former US Ambassador Charles B. Salmon Jr. Addressing American Foreign Policy at the University of Cambodia. Also noted are: Changes At Phnom Penh's Riverfront - Olympic Stadium Properties For Sale - Who Is Teaching, Training and Influencing The Youth Of Cambodia? - Phnom Penh's Traffic Barriers - NR Readers Visit NR - NR Mail

The oldest column to make the Top 30 was from March 2003 which features Faces & Places. It noted that DDD's TIM KELLER RETURNS TO USA. The former President of Digital Divide Data returned to the USA to continue his education.

Also noted is BILL HEROD who could be called the Godfather of the Internet in Cambodia. He is responsible for bringing the Internet to the nation. At a meeting at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia (FCCC) last year, Herod told the story of how non English speaking Cambodians are using the Internet.

Cambodia (PDF) 13 James Loving, "DDD - Bridging the Digital Gap of Have and Have. Notes," (by James Loving, National Radio Text Service, 8 April 8, ... www.com.washington.edu/ict4d/upload/2004052712430458_03760155.pdf - 117k - View as html WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Our Roman Wanderaugh columns have been linked to other web sites by all three search engines without our permission. The most flagrant violator is Thai Visa. We have contacted them in the past but they have ignored our request to take our stories off their site.

All three of the mentioned search engines have used our story information and linked it to Thai Visa without our permission. Thai Visa actually stole our story and posted it on their site. In the past they not only stole our Cambodia By Land & Sea story but also used our photo. Since that time the photo is not on our story on their site.

Google provides advertising for the site. The question is why would a company that is worth billions of dollars resort to supporting a web site that steals?

The information of our information page on the Google site also had the following endorsing going to the Thai Visa site. ©2007 Google - Google Home - Advertising Programs - Business Solutions - About Google FRONT PAGE WITH THAI VISA

MSN did the same. They listed incorrect information and linked our work to Thai Visa as noted below:

Thaivisa.com The latest updated Thai visa immigration news; work permit and residence permit in ... Friday, 15 December 2006 Cambodia visa trip "TRAVELING AROUND" by Roman Wanderaugh o www.thaivisa.com/344.0.html o ¡¤ 7/14/2007 o ¡¤ Cached page

Cambodia visa trip "TRAVELING AROUND" by Roman Wanderaugh "AN INEXPENSIVE TRIP from BANGKOK to CAMBODIA by LAND & SEA" If you're an adventurous traveler the trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia from ... o www.thaivisa.com/border-run/page_2.html o ¡¤ Cached page o +Show more results from www.thaivisa.com

MSN also listed the headline TRAVELING AROUND on the Cambodia Land & Sea story. It raises the question why was it necessary to make two listings on the same story to link to the Thai Visa site?

Roman Wanderaugh and any other National Radio columns are only legally available on the Internet on National Radio. We DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION for any other web site to use our material including soliciting our photos to the public.

We negotiate directly with interested parties for use. We are published in print in five languages. We do not approve of Thai Visa using our material and all of the search engines misleading the public to other web sites using National Radio information.

Isn't a search engines job to lead the public to the information they seek? It is clearly stated on our National Radio web site:

© Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

© Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED