Nathalie Abejero

Logo ripoffs

10 October 2009 by Nathalie Abejero 4 Comments

coffee shop in toul kork

7-elephant near boeng keng kang

Wish we’d taken photos of the other logo ripoffs over the years. Since they aren’t copying the logos down to the pixel, I wonder if these are considered copyright infringements..? In any case, LDCs have until at least 2016 to implement the vastly complex and far-reaching provisions and agreements in WTO.

Cambodia joined in 2003. It was significant for both for the country and the WTO. The accession highlighted Cambodia’s full commitment to major regional and international organizations governing international economic relations. For the WTO the negotiation was its first LDC (along with Nepal) since its inception in 1995.

Cambodia wanted accession mainly because of the 2005 deadline on the garment industry, ending the quota regime governing trade in garments. After that date all WTO members (theoretically) would be guaranted market access to member countries, plus a lock in on earlier trade liberalization. Those outside the WTO (as Cambodian garment exporters would be without membership) faced continued quotas on their exports, which would have major negative repercussions on FDI.

websites for civic action on US health financing reform

10 October 2009 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

For those interested in staying abreast of the developments in the US’ health financing reform, here are a few noteworthy sites for civic action:

Side-by-side comparisons of the current bills, including Obama’s principles for what meaningful health care reform should include
President Obama’s health care reform website
Democrats Abroad there are a sprinkling of useful info and sites posted by overseas Americans. Expatriates in the Asia Pacific region have recently decided to open a google group to facilitate communication
Change.gov White House updates on health care reform, with discussion forum
Health care for America NOW group blog with civic action tools and contributors eg moveon.org and other civic organisations

Good sources of information:

Nate Silver‘s blog. He analyses polling and political data. I find his site useful to triangulate with other info online.
Kaiser Health News posts opeds and collects news from around the web regarding HCR
Bill Moyers not restricted to HCR but very good intelligent discussions on it
Health Care Blog group blog on all things health care
Change.org group blog by activists, one of the topic areas covered is Universal Health Care

Find your State representatives and write to them (here’s a sample letter):

24 Hour Comics in the Penh

3 October 2009 by Nathalie Abejero 7 Comments

The second 24-Hour Comics in Cambodia was held in Java Arts Cafe today, with six participants. This event is a creative challenge conceived by Scott McCloud in 1990. Artists brainstorm a storyline and draw a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The first international event was organised by Nat Gertler on April 24, 2004. Today it’s held annually in many cities on the same day.

See the 2008 highlights of the very best pieces submitted over the years here. And keep an eye on Webbed Feet, Weblog or @john_weeks on Twitter for more updates. [Read more…] about 24 Hour Comics in the Penh

technology and politics

3 October 2009 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

using alternate operating systems

This year’s 2-day BarCamp Phnom Penh event was held at Paññāsāstra University (South Campus), Phnom Penh. Increasing interest in all things technology shows in the registration and attendance- over 1000 registered with many more walk-ins, compared to last year’s several hundred in total. In the months leading up to this conference the organising group held weekly mini-barcamps, where different ideas, tools and networks were showcased.

Tharum Bun writes in the KI Media: [it] introduces Cambodians a new way, if not a breakthrough, in which learning, collaboration, sharing and networking can take place here in Cambodia.

Such quick uptake of new technologies, as elsewhere, signals a positive development for the country for the potential means to influence direction of change. Politically, Cambodia’s descent to intolerance has invited much condemnation from the world’s leading human rights and development institutions. After several decades in office, the ruling party consolidated its power base through national elections that severely weakened opposition parties in 2008. This was followed by a worrying rash of crackdowns against detractors both inside parliament as well as in civil society. Even the state institution for Buddhism is implicated in the political squabbles, which bodes poorly for the already fragile social fabric that is recovering from the wars.

So it’s refreshing to see, given these political events, an increase in social networking (among other things tech) among the young people here. It gives critics a chance to be heard, no matter how sparse its peers and audience may be at first..

At least they have a small head start, on the heels of widening censorship of internet use across Southeast Asia. As with its neighbors, Cambodia currently lacks the technical capability to police the internet. Or perhaps that’s the strategy behind the poor communications infrastructure despite donor interest in building it up? :-\

#FollowFriday

24 September 2009 by Nathalie Abejero 1 Comment

Extended isolation is wretched dull. Boundless gems brewing in the Kingdom notwithstanding, there’s nothing like the left-thinking stimulation from people who are so totally different than you’re daily engaging with. I love the witty babble and people who facilitate mental bridges. That said, here are some streams with a lot of smarts, a dash of personality, and a little bit of sassy.

Must-follow for their critical views:

@pdenlinger China, China-US, Asia-West business and politics

@kawdess @elizrael @jerusalembureau @3arabawy @asteris @alexlobov Mid-East and North Africa

@AriCostello @atomiota (@kevindoylejones #socap/#socent) (@kiwanja @tmsruge #socap/#socent in Africa) Investing

@teresakopec @yatpundit @davidbadash @scobleizer (also see his follow list) US happenings (stateside perspectives)

@jayrosen_nyu @fuzheado journalism, media matters

@sagarikaghose @sardesairajdeep @gregorylent India and Asia life and politics

For their expertise / interest areas:

@meryl333 Consumer advocacy in the US; grassroots health, safe food and farming initiatives

@fridley IT and social networks, and news on Japan and Australia — see his very cool-designed blog and #FollowFriday recommendations

@marabg a connector– a warm, generous, big-hearted people-person

@imrananwar news on Pakistan, Afghanistan

@tri26 @terryfrd @saksith @ktiu on the escalating troubles of Thailand [Read more…] about #FollowFriday

SIALY: Slow Internet-Adjusted Life Years

19 September 2009 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

One of the metrics used to define the burden of disease is DALY, or Disability-Adjusted Life Years. It quantifies the difference between the actual health status of a population and an ideal situation where all individuals live long lives free of disease and disability. It measures mortality and morbidity, and it’s a measurement based on time. This allows for the impact of disease or risk factor to be determined in that one DALY is equivalent to one lost year of healthy life.

DALY = YLL (Years of life lost to premature death) + YLD (Years lived with a disability)

Given that posts sometimes take 15 minutes to write but two hours to upload, I’ve come up with a unit of measurement to measure the burden of slow internet for an aid worker living in a developing country.

SIALY (Slow internet adjusted life years) = YLL (Years of Life Lost) + YLSI (Years living with Slow Internet)

Mind you, my slow high-speed connection in this Kingdom’s capital is not as bad as some of the screaming fast Commodore 64 connections that other colleagues have to contend with. So kudos to the best of you who can produce creative pieces of writing amid these uninspiring conditions. I think I just grayed three more hairs.

:-(