Handsome Men Mean Better Sex

 

Women orgasm more quickly and more often with handsome partners, according to research carried out by anthropologists and psychologists. 

 

Women orgasm more quickly and more often with handsome partners, according to research carried out by anthropologists and psychologists. Noting that "supporting evidence indicates that female orgasm promotes conception," the researchers concluded that the female orgasm is linked to the urge to produce "quality" offspring.
The study, which was carried out at Pennsylvania State University, focused on the sex lives of 110 heterosexual couples, who reported who orgasmed and how often.
The male subjects were rated for "objectively-measured facial masculinity, observer-rated facial masculinity, partner-rated masculinity, and partner-rated dominance"; observers, as well as the men themselves, were also asked to rated their own attractiveness.
Women whose partners rated as masculine and dominant reported more frequent and earlier-timed orgasms than those whose partners rated less well. The women whose partners were deemed attractive also orgasmed more often during or after male ejaculation.
Frequency of female orgasm as a result of masturbation was not predicted by the male partner's attractiveness.
"Thus, possible conception-promoting correlates of female orgasm may be especially effective and/or likely when copulation occurs with masculine males," the authors wrote in the study, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour.
"These results appear to support a role for female orgasm in sire choice."
 

Amnesty Int'l Hails US Court's Verdict on Exxon Mobile in Aceh

Amnesty International hailed the decision of the United States court of appeals on US-based Exxon Mobil in facing the demand for the alleged murder outside the law, torture and arrest by Indonesian troops in Aceh province, Indonesia, under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS).
A group of rural people from Aceh had filed civil cases in 2001 and 2007 against Exxon Mobil Corporation, the US company which operates the big natural gas extraction and processing facilities in Aceh province in 2000 and 2001, Campaigner of Indonesia & Timor-Leste, Amnesty International Secretariat, Josef Roy Benedict, said here.
Josef Roy Benedict said they claimed that Exxon Mobil is responsible for the involvement in the alleged violation of human rights by Indonesian troops who were supposed to protect the property and operations of the company. In the first and second verdicts on July 8, 2011, the US court of appeals stated that Exxon Mobil did not have the company’s immunity against the claim made by 15 Indonesians under the ATS.
The decision to send a signal to the Indonesian government to do more to make sure of the truth and justice for the past human rights violations in Aceh. There were no suspects brought before the court for one of the thousands of cases of human rights violations including torture, believed to have taken place between 1989 and 1998 when the province was a Military Operation Area (DOM).
Aceh province faced rebellion for tens of years including human rights violation and lack of development, which ended after the peace agreement of August 2005, while the Indonesian government and the armed pro-freedom movement (Free Aceh Movement/GAM) was signed. Law no 2006 on the Aceh administration on the formation of a human rights court on the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) Aceh branch. The two government institutions have not been set up until today.
Amnesty International called on the Indonesian government to immediately form a human rights court and make sure that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is set up and functions according to the international law and standards, like contained in the report of Amnesty International, truth, justice, and reparation: forming an effective commission of truth.
The government must also make sure of the responsibility of violators of human rights in the past including torture in Aceh. This includes cooperation in connection with the litigation process on the case filed in the US.
Amnesty International knows only two examples, in Indonesia, on the case involving human rights violations in Aceh between 1998 and May 2003 had been verified and produced a trial. Only several human rights violation cases had been handled during the military emergency period and the following civil administration (May 2003-August 2005).
Amnesty International praised the decision of the US court of appeals that the company was not immune from its obligations under the ATS for the despicable treatment by the perpetrators violating international law.
The victims of the human rights violations in which the multinational company was also involved, must have unlimited access to the court, and the countries need to take measures to eradicate the obstacles to the access of the victims.
Like this case shows, access to the court of the country of origin (place where the company has its domicile or was registered) has often become the only realistic way to claim the victims of human rights violations by the company need to be listened to and reached all kinds of reparations.
The decision of the court of appeals which make possible a claim to be continued in the US, giving an important opportunity for charges made against Exxon Mobil to be examined by the court.

Tobacco Could be GOOD for You

Tobacco plants are being used to create a potentially life-saving HIV treatment

Aspirin, Ginseng and Caffeine are just some of the useful medications produced by plants. Now scientists have adapted the much maligned tobacco plant to create a drug they hope will combat HIV. UK regulators have approved the first clinical trial of specially designed antibodies that stop the virus passing from person to person.
Eleven women will be treated with the topical treatment, which has been created from genetically modified tobacco plants. Should it prove safe at different doses, larger trials will follow to test its effectiveness. It is hoped that the antibodies will reduce the risk of treated women from catching the disease.
The landmark trial marks the culmination of a controversial E.U funded project to develop a drug from an engineered plant and take it through all the manufacturing stages.
Most drugs are currently made at great expense in fermentation vats containing bacteria or mammalian cells, but the mass production of medicines in genetically modified plants could reduce costs by as many as 100 times, making it far cheaper to produce life-saving drugs. Project researcher Professor Julian Ma, at St George’s, University of London, said: 'This is a red letter day for the field.
'The approval from the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) for us to proceed with human trials is an acknowledgement that monoclonal antibodies can be made in plants to the same quality as those made using existing conventional production systems.
'That is something many people did not believe could be achieved.'
The clinical trial is being carried out at the University of Surrey Clinical Research Centre. HIV is exchanged via bodily fluids and is most commonly spread during sex.
At the end of 2008, an estimated 83,000 adults aged over 15 were living with HIV in the UK. Of these, just over a quarter did not know they were infected.
The last stage of the virus is Aids, when the patient's immune system stops working and they develop life-threatening illnesses. Patients in western countries can live with HIV for many years thanks to antiretroviral drugs, but these are often not available in the developing world.
The active ingredient in the vaginal cream is an antibody called P2G12. If successful, the investigators will try combining it with other HIV-neutralising antibodies. The genetically modified tobacco plants producing P2G12 were grown in containment greenhouses at the Fraunhofer Institute in Aachen, Germany.
The antibody was isolated and purified in a custom-designed processing plant on the same site. It is the first time a license has been granted to manufacture engineered pharmaceutical products from plants in Europe.
Professor Rainer Fischer, Pharma-Planta coordinator and Fraunhofer Director, said: 'We now have a facility in Europe for producing modern medicines in transgenic plants that is unique in the world, although this has taken many years and much investment to establish.
'This approval is a springboard for European plant biotechnology and will enable many important medical products to be realised.'
The researchers claim there is next to no risk of such GM plants spreading or contaminating other crops because they are contained and would not be grown on an agricultural scale.

Nudity Disappears from German Beaches, Parks

Mostly clothed people relax in Munichs English Garten park. The naked sunbathers who once crowded Germanys Baltic beaches and city parks are becoming an endangered species.

If you're visiting a public park or beach in Germany expecting to see plenty of exposed flesh, you may be in for a surprise.

The naked sunbathers who once crowded Germany's Baltic beaches and city parks are becoming an endangered species due to shifting demographics, the fall of the Berlin Wall, growing prosperity and widening girths.
Much to the chagrin of Free Body Culture (FKK) enthusiasts who have been stripping off their clothing on beaches and parks since the early 1900s, a cold wind has been blowing across Germany for nudists and their numbers are steadily dwindling.
"German society is changing and it's not easy to be a naturist anymore," said Kurt Fischer, president of the German FKK association (DFK). There are some 500,000 registered nudists and a total of seven million Germans sunbathe naked regularly.
"But the numbers are unfortunately falling by about two percent each year," Fischer told a group of reporters in the Foreign Press Association (VAP) while sitting, fully clothed, at a beach bar in Berlin's government quarter. "Times are tough."
The main problem is the shrinking population, Fischer said.
The number of Germans fell by more than 3.2 million over the last three decades even though the country's total population has managed to remain more or less steady at about 82 million thanks to immigration -- often from countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans as well as Turkey and Arabic countries.
"Our problems are demographic changes and the fact that immigrants aren't interested in social nudity," said Fischer, 70, whose association has such honoured standing in Germany that it is even part of the Olympic Sport Federation (DOSB).
"Germany is relying more and more on immigrants to keep the population steady. But many come from countries with strong religious beliefs. They just aren't into FKK."
Immigrants who arrive from cultures where headscarves are common will not usually be interested in becoming naturists in Germany, he said. Virtues of social nudity
With one of the lowest birth rates in the world, Germany's native population is projected to fall from about 75 million to 50 million by 2050, population researchers say.
The dwindling number of Germans has caused myriad problems -- affecting everything from beer and schnitzel sales to the numbers of schoolchildren. The country's proud nudity traditions are not immune. Fischer said the trend is inexorable.
"It's better that we shrink in a controlled fashion and keep a diverse age-group structure with all age-groups than to try to stay bloated with mostly seniors and few young people," he said.
Fischer added they were using "special trial offers", direct recruitment and other gimmicks to attract young people.
Nude sunbathing has a long tradition in Germany. The Free Body Culture (FKK) movement was founded in the early 20th century and succeeded in taking much of the smut and embarrassment out of nudity.
Even Germany's top model Heidi Klum was quoted in the German media recently extolling the virtues of topless sunbathing and describing difficulties she has pursuing it in places such as the United States and Italy where it's frowned upon or illegal.
"I love to get a sun tan and I don't like white stripes," said Klum. "I don't worry about what other people think." Her parents often ran around in the nude and still do, she said.
In Germany, public nudity on beaches and lakes is by and large tolerated and practitioners face no legal consequences, although some courts have fined some caught hiking nude on public trails or riding bikes or horses while naked.
For decades nudity was a popular way for those living in Communist East Germany to express themselves -- and was a small piece of freedom for those behind the Iron Curtain. East German beaches on the Baltic were always filled with nude bathers.
But that began to gradually fall out of fashion in many areas in the east after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and then tensions sometimes flared when some western German tourists unaccustomed to the widespread nudity complained.
"When we moved from western Germany to a town in the east, we noticed there was less of a taboo about nudity," said one American surprised by the ubiquitous nudity in the east. "It really struck me at a nearby lake when people were just naked in the water or getting a tan in the sun and nobody was bothered."
That, however, has also begun to change. "We've got a lot chubbier"
Increasing wealth and fashion-consciousness in Germany and especially the east has hurt the movement as well. "We're all equal in the nude," said Fischer, a westerner who admitted it felt like "torture" for him to sit in his clothes on a bright sunny summer afternoon while talking to journalists.
"When people are naked you can't tell the difference between the man with the doctorate and the man who collects trash. There used to be more of an egalitarian attitude. People now want to distinguish themselves and one way to show off is with fancy swimsuits. It's not easy for the nudist in a society like this."
There are other reasons contributing to decline of the unique German cultural tradition. As a 70-year-old eastern woman named Brigitte pointed out, growing prosperity has led to growing waist sizes.
"In East Germany, there were a lot more people with attractive physiques," said Brigitte, a retired dental assistant and avid naturist who asked that her full name not be used.
"But with the rise in prosperity a lot of people have come apart at the seams and they can't show their bodies in public anymore. We've become a lot chubbier with all this prosperity. It's not really very aesthetic anymore."
Brigitte said she misses the East German era when entire beaches and camping areas were packed with nudists even though parts of West Germany, such as Munich's English Garten park and West Berlin's Tiergarten, have proud FKK traditions.
"I miss those places more and more," she said, admitting that she often feels inhibited about being nude and now wraps a towel around herself until she gets to the water. "You definitely see fewer people in then nude. But I don't think the movement will die out. It's too much fun."

Facebook Could Become Adults Only

Alarming ... according to cyber security expert Susan McLean, Facebook gossip sites have "exploded in the last two or three months".

















Ways to force Facebook to give parents access to their kids' profiles will be discussed today by state and federal attorneys-general in a meeting that will also examine an 18+ Facebook age limit.
The idea was first proposed by a South Australian Family First MP, Dennis Hood, and is being championed by South Australian Attorney-General John Rau. Rau argued that giving parents assistance to supervise their children on Facebook would help protect against online predators and limit access to unsuitable material.
But Susan McLean, who was Victoria Police's first cyber safety officer and is now an online safety consultant, said the proposal was “ill informed and it shows a total lack of understanding of what the internet is”.
“It's not Facebook's fault that there are problems on Facebook. You can't legislate against stupidity or poor parenting or anything like that,” said McLean.
“It would be nice but it can't be done and it breaks down any level of trust that you should be trying to develop with your kids.”
Facebook's terms of use currently requires users to be aged at least 13 but there is no proof of age requirement and kids regularly lie to gain access.
At their meeting today, the country's top lawmakers will consider requiring proof of age checks and even raising the age limit to 18, federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland confirmed.
This would be at stark odds with recent comments from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who floated the idea of removing the 13 minimum sign-up age policy.
“Age verification is something that various platforms deal with and I can't see why it should be beyond the wit of Facebook to do the same thing, if that was the solution people wanted,” said Rau.
“I think people need to understand that just because they are operating in the virtual world, that is on the internet, it does not mean that there should not be boundaries or rules or standards of behaviour.
“Exactly how these boundaries and rules should be applied and enforced is a matter that we need to discuss.”
It is unclear how the attorneys-general could apply such regulations to Facebook given it is a US-based company. Rau said changing the rules on access to Facebook would require cooperation from operators and the federal government would need to use its communications powers.
McClelland said yesterday it would be Rau's task to come up with methods of implementing the restrictions.
He said Rau made a fair point as “there has been concern expressed by some parents that the images being put up by their own children are prejudicial to their future career prospects”.
“I think that all Attorneys recognise it as a legitimate issue to raise and … John having raised it, will be tasked … to come back with a few suggested solutions,” said McClelland.
“Having Australian jurisdiction extend off shore is the challenge. That's not to say a bit of discussion can't get some goodwill. Hopefully we will be able to look at a few options.”
Asked whether the issue could be solved simply by parents sitting down with their children, rather than with new regulations, McClelland agreed that this would be a preferable approach.
“Having said that, I have four kids, not in every situation can we reach an accommodation so I can understand some parents have raised the issue,” he said.
But McLean said implementing the proposals would be impossible.
“Say we get this law that says parents are allowed to access their kids facebook accounts, how am I going to prove that I'm your mother?,” she said.
“It's totally unworkable because there is nothing on the internet that allows anyone to age and identity verify anyone, so that's where it's going to fall down in the first place.
“Secondly, American companies aren't necessarily obliged to obey Australian law. Thirdly, tech savvy kids will set up two accounts – here's the one mum can see and here's the one where I do whatever it is I wanna do on it.”
Stephen Collins, spokesman for the online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, agreed with McLean that any restrictions would be difficult to enforce.
"We'd very much prefer a social and educational approach - teach people good privacy practice, make it easy for them, educate about acceptable behaviors (e.g. why should online behaviors be different in terms of what we accept from those in the physical world?)," he said.
"So too, a parental right to access that is any greater than exists in law now (such as access to medical details for 16-18 year olds) seems heavy-handed."
Comment is being sought from Facebook. The site counts about 10 million Australian users, or almost half the population.
At the meeting today the attorneys-general will also discuss whether to allow an R18+ rating for video games. The federal government is a vocal supporter of the change but has had difficulty convincing some states that it won't result in a stream of ultra-violent and sexualised games flooding the market.
Privacy is also on the agenda after the government raised the idea of a statutory right to privacy following the hacking scandal that has engulfed News Corporation.
Ways to deal with the online publication of suppressed legal material will also be discussed. Rau said it was clear that suppression orders – which prevent media from reporting details of court cases - were being undermined by social networking sites.

Indonesia Seeks Meet between North and South Korea

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, left, talks with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of an ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Friday, July 22, 2011.

Indonesia's foreign minister says he will ask top diplomats from the two Koreas to hold informal talks on the sidelines of Asia's largest security forum.

Marty Natalegawa made the comments ahead of a closed-door meeting Friday with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun. He said he hoped he could help facilitate an "informal" meeting between Pak and South Korea's Kim Sung-hwan, helping ease testy relations.
Negotiations to end North Korean's nuclear weapons program have been stalled for more than two years. But top diplomats from all six countries involved in the talks — the United States, China, Russia, Japan and North and South Korea — are attending the ASEAN Regional Forum. That's raised hopes for talks between North and South Korea.

Groundwork for Obama's Visit to Indonesia

U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the Indonesias Airforce base in Ngurah Rai , Bali July 21, 2011. Clinton is in Bali to attend the 18th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Nusa Dua. Indonesian hosts the 44th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), Post Ministerial Conference (PMC) and the 18th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Bali.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday kicks off two days of talks with her Asian counterparts focusing on security issues, amid rising tension in the South China Sea.
Clinton arrived on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Thursday after a trip to India where she urged New Delhi to be more assertive in Asia, a message likely to be read with deep suspicion by the government in Beijing.
She will meet her counterparts from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the wider East Asia Summit on Friday, followed a day later by the ASEAN Regional Forum.
The forum is Asia's premier security dialogue and includes senior ministers and officials from across Southeast Asia as well as China, Japan, the Koreas, Russia and Australia.
Issues such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea, North Korea's nuclear program, the Thai-Cambodia border dispute and human rights in Myanmar are expected to be discussed in the course of the meetings.
Clinton will also be laying the groundwork for President Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia in November for the East Asia Summit leadership meeting, which will be the first time a U.S. president has attended the forum.
“Clinton has decided that Southeast Asia, specifically ASEAN, will serve as the fulcrum for a long-term Asia strategy,“ Centre for Strategic and International Studies analyst Ernest Bower wrote in a briefing paper.
He said ASEAN was not more strategically important than India, China, or Japan, but “it is the focal point where the most important geostrategic chess games of the 21st century will be played“.
“At times like this, it appears that the secretary of state is the only U.S. cabinet member, except perhaps Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who understands this fact,“ Bower added.
Clinton's visit comes after China and Southeast Asian nations announced a “breakthrough“ in drawn-out talks on their overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The countries endorsed a set of guidelines designed to reduce tensions in the strategic waterway and create an atmosphere conducive to the eventual adoption of a binding code of conduct.
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan all have overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits and home to shipping lanes vital to global trade. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters in Bali on Thursday that tensions in the South China Sea were “nothing new.“
“Everyone realises the complexity of the issues we are dealing with and the important thing is to develop a degree of communication and goodwill among all the players going forward,“ he said.
Clinton riled the Chinese delegation at the last ARF in Hanoi a year ago when she stated that it was in the United States' “national interest“ to keep those shipping routes open for business. Tensions have escalated in recent months, with the Philippines and Vietnam expressing alarm at what they say are increasingly aggressive Chinese actions.
These include accusations of Chinese forces opening fire on Filipino fishermen, shadowing an oil exploration vessel employed by a Philippine firm, and putting up structures in areas claimed by the Philippines.
Vietnam voiced anger after a Chinese vessel cut the exploration cables of a Vietnamese survey ship in May, and Beijing condemned U.S.-Vietnam naval exercises that began last week off Vietnam's coast.

Indonesia's Govt Calls for Speedy Passage of Land Acquisition Bill

The government has called for the speedy conclusion of parliamentary discussions on the bill on acquisition of land in the public interest to ensure the smooth implementation of its infrastructure development plans.
"Unless the law is passed, we will not be able to speed up infrastructure development," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said at the parliament building here on Monday.
Therefore, he said, he hoped that an agreement could be reached soon as discussions of the bill so far had already gone on for eight months.
"I wish my friends in the House factions could finish it this year because they have been talking about for the past eight months," he said.
He said the slow progress in the bill’s discussions would cause delay in the implementation of projects included in the master plan for the acceleration of Indonesian economic development and expansion.
"I have not been invited by the DPR (House of Representatives) to discuss the bill. If I have , we will certianly discuss it."
The government had earlier said it was ready to issue a government regulation (PP) if the discussions of the bill in parliament dragged on and could not be finished by the end of 2011. The chief of the National Economic Commission (KEN), Chairul Tanjung, said the President was ready to issue a PP to ensure legal certainty for ongoing or future projects.
"He hopes the discussions of the bill could be completed by the end of the year. But if they are not, he is ready to issue a PP," he said.
Chairul said that the government and the DPR leadership had actually made an agreement to finish the discussion of the bill in October 2011. But if the plan fails the President will issue a PP as a temporary regulation so that "investors will not question ’how we can invest in infrastructure if we do not have land.
If the law on land acquisition is passed it is hoped the need for land for infrastructure development will be easily met. Land acquisition has so far been the main obstacle hindering many infrastructure development projects in the country such as toll roads, airports and seaports.

Just Hangin' by The Pool

 

Catch me if you can: One participant in the latest craze leisure diving takes a beer down with him  

They call it the 'leisure dive' - and it's coming to a pool near you this summer. Following the craze of planking which swept the internet, a website has flourished after compiling hilarious pictures of divers striking a comedy pose in mid-air before they hit the water. With the motto, 'live and let dive', the site recommends just how to get the most out of your split-second posing.
The ideal position is achieved with a diving board, giving swimmers enough height to get their hips parallel to the waterline. If successful then it's a shot worthy of the family album or at the very least, Facebook.
The people behind LeisureDive.com encourage originality but there seems to be a couple of recurring favourite looks. The most common is the hand on the hip, with a quizzical look and grasping a beer, book or bizarrely a croquet mallet.
Leisure diving looks set to take the place of planking - a phenomenon which involves lying face down in a public place, the weirder the better, and posting photos on social networking sites.
The favourite pose is to lie expressionless with a straight body, hands by the side and toes pointing towards the ground. The website founders ask for the best leisure dives to be sent to them - http://www.leisuredive.com/index.php - to be ranked against other competitors in the new craze.
And although it could make you incredibly popular on the internet, it's unlikely to do so with other holidaymakers relaxing at the hotel pool.

In Face of Fasting Month

In the face of the fasting month of Ramadhan in the next two weeks, the government is preparing steps to ensure that Muslims in the country will be able to carry out their rituals solemnly without facing shortages of basic needs and security disturbances.
In order to meet the need of people for basic necessities and other things during and in the post-fasting month festivities, the government is taking steps to ensure the availability of food, the smooth distribution of staples, stabilize commodity prices and ensure enough energy supplies. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday ordered his ministers to ensure the stability of basic commodity prices, and food availability across the country in the run up to and during the fasting month.
According to Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, the government has prepared four steps in the economic field to anticipate the worst possibilities during the fasting month and during the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities. In a coordination meeting last week, the relevant ministers formulated the government steps to be carried out in the fasting month that would likely start on the first day next August.
"The first thing is that food must be available in all places," Hatta said.
Food was an essential element during Ramadhan and Lebaran and all people in the predominantly Muslim country must have access to food under whatever conditions, he said. In this case, National Logistics Agency (Bulog) has assured that it has a stock of 1.6 million tons of rice which are enough until the end of the year.
"Stocks are enough for six months ahead. Our supplies are estimated at 1.6 million tons. God Willing, we will have no problems in the post-fasting month festivities," Head of Bulog Sutarto Alimoesa added.
"We can even guarantee that rice stocks are enough until the end of 2011," he added.
The second thing was that the government would ensure smooth distribution of staple foods and other basic necessaries to all regions in the country. Therefore, transportation facilities and infrastructures must be in good condition, Hatta said.
"It must run smoothly. We have decided to anticipate it," he said.
The third strategy is that the government would try its best to stabilize the prices of commodities. After all, the government would tolerate any price hike if it did not go beyond the limits of propriety. Though now prices have begun to spiral up, yet the government sees that it is still within the reasonable level. Director General for Internal Trade of the Ministry of Trade Gunaryo said prices of commodities at present were still within the stable level so that market operations were not yet needed.
"Prices at present are relatively lower than those in the past year," he said. The director general said that market operations would be launched if prices were too high while stocks in the market were running short. "Market operations will be launched if price increases exceeded 15 percent. This is because we have to protect small traders," he added.
Basically, according to Hatta Rajasa, market operations will be carried out if prices are on the rise. "In case of a price surge we will intervene in the market by launching large-scale operations," he said.
For market operations, Bulog is preparing 800,000 tons of rice to be released into the market. Of the amount, 500,000 would be for market operation and 300,000 tons of commercial rice.
Actually, Bulog has now begun conducting market operations at a number of locations to stabilize the fluctuation rice prices. With the government step, the people should not be worried about shortage of stocks in the face of the fasting month and the festivities thereafter.
The fourth strategy was ensuring energy supplies, particularly electrical power and fuel oils. Therefore, there must be a good distribution system to ensure that energy supplies would reach all parts of Indonesia, the minister said.
But food is the most essential element during the fasting month. Therefore, Director General for Internal Trade Gunaryo inspected on Monday the bubulak abattoir in Bogor as part of the government efforts to assure the availability of food stocks, including meat. .
He said that food stocks, including meat, are enough in the face of the fasting month next August. He guaranteed the availability meat until the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities. "We have secure stocks of food stuff such as rice, meat, chicken and others. They are enough until Lebaran (Idul Fitri)," he said.
In the meantime to ensure security during the fasting month in the capital city of Jakarta, the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Command is planning to field around 20,000 personnel.
"We have 29,000 personnel and we will field up to 20,000 or two thirds of them for Ramadhan," Jakarta Metropolitan Police Command spokesman Senior Commissioner Baharudin Djafar said.
The police personnel would be assigned until seven days after the Idul Fitri post-fasting holiday. Their operations would include monitoring possible sweeps by community elements on entertainment centers.

US Stars Accept YouTube Marine Ball Invites

Hollywood stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis have accepted YouTube invitations from two US marines, one serving in Afghanistan, to accompany them to military balls.
And singer-turned-actor Timberlake and “Black Swan” star Kunis are having fun with the invitations by a male and female Marine, which went viral on the video-sharing site last week.
“Marines have a lot of balls,” Kunis told the Today show on MSNBC on Monday, confirming that both of them had accepted their invitations to separate balls in November.
“We want to pay honor to our country and embrace their balls,” added Timberlake, who starred in last year’s Oscar-winning Facebook movie “The Social Network.” The story started when a Marine Sgt. Scott Moore, stationed in Musa Qala, southern Afghanistan, posted a video on YouTube inviting Kunis to the Marine Corps Ball on November 18 in Greenville, North Carolina.
Kunis, who co-starred with Natalie Portman in last year’s sexually-charged hit movie “Black Swan,” was asked about the invite during a press interview and spontaneously said she would go. That prompted female marine Corporal Kelsey De Santis to issue an invitation to Timberlake — co-starring with Kunis in a new movie “Friends With Benefits” — to a Marine Corps Ball on November 12 in Washington DC.
“So Justin you wanna call out my girl Mila, well I’m gonna call you out and ask you to go to the Marine Corps Ball with me,” said De Santis, who is stationed in Virginia and is a martial arts expert. Timberlake confirmed he will attend, quipping: “I don’t get asked out, ever. So, I was very flattered by that. And I hear that she’s trained in martial arts, so I’m hoping we can tussle at some point.
“That last bit was a joke,” he added.
And it doesn’t stop there: on Friday veteran US comedy actress Betty White, 90, was invited to a marine ball by Sgt. Ray Lewis, who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq. “She’s funny, she’s sweet, she’s mature, she’s the all around perfect woman,” Lewis says in the YouTube video invitation.
But the 89-year-old declined, diplomatically. “I am deeply flattered and truly appreciate the invitation, as everyone knows I love a man in uniform,” she said, in a statement forwarded by her publicist.
“But unfortunately I cannot accept, as I will be taping an episode of ’Hot In Cleveland,’” she said, referring to her hit show about three ageing showbiz veterans who find renewed fame when they unexpectedly land in Cleveland, Ohio.

Indonesia's Export to Egypt Up 63.8 Pct

A worker checks new cars before loading them into the ship for delivery to other provinces at the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta October 22, 2010. Indonesia is selling cars faster than it is building roads, increasing gridlock in cities and doing its efforts to attract foreign direct investment no favours. Picture taken October 22, 2010.

The Egyptian revolution that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak last February did not hamper Indonesia’s non-oil/non-gas exports (to that country) and even rose  by 63.8 percent, an Indonesian embassy official here said.
    
"In the January-March 2011 period, our exports to Egypt even increased by 63.8 percent compared with that in the same period a year earlier," Walther S. Kariodimedjo, acting trade attache at the Indonesian Embassy said on Monday. Walther referred to the Indonesian Trade Ministry’s data which were compiled by the embassy’s trade section.
Based on the embassy’s trade section data, Indonesia’s exports to Egypt in the January - March 2011 period were recorded at 261.8 million US dollars, higher that that in the same period in the previous year which were 159.8 million, or an increase of 63.8 percent.
    
In the meantime, Indonesia’s imports from that country in the January - March 2011 period declined 26.3 percent to 44.9 million US dollars from 61 million dollars in the same period in 2010.
    
Indonesia’s imports from Egypt were dominated by among others phosphate, aluminum, cotton, fruit, carpet and textile. The two-way trade values of the two countries in the January - March 2011 period were 307.7 million US dollars, or an increase of 38.8 percent from that in the same period last year which were 220.8 million US dollars.
Walther S. Kariodimedjo said that Indonesia’s main commodity in its exports of about 700 goods to Egypt was crude palm oil (CPO).
    
According to the Egyptian Central Bureau of Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt’s CPO imports in the January - March period increased to 86.7 million US dollars compared that in the corresponding period i 2010 which were recorded at 70.5 million US dollars.
    
Walther said that Indonesia’s exports to Egypt since 2008 continued to increase from year to year and were in favor of Indonesia. In 2010, the two countries’ two way trade values totaled 1.07 billion US dollars, up 18.4 percent from 802.5 million US dollars in 2009.
CAMPMAS recorded that Indonesia had  50 main commodities exported to Egypt, which included CPO, rubber, car tires, papers, motor vehicle spareparts, computers, electric utensils, food stuff and drinks.

BI Aims to Boost Domestic Islamic Finance Industry

Bank Indonesia is aiming to raise the Islamic finance industry's share of the country's total financial market to 10-15% from around 3% at present, a deputy governor said Monday.

To that end, Bank Indonesia Deputy Gov. Halim Alamsyah said in a seminar that the central bank will continue to educate the public about Islamic finance.
Alamsyah also said Indonesia's domestic Islamic finance industry was $10 billion to $12 billion in size as of June 30.
The Islamic finance industry is still in its infancy in Indonesia compared with neighbour Malaysia, despite the former having the world's largest Muslim population.
But now the government is keen to develop the local market to diversify sources of funding to help finance its budget deficit.

Indonesia, US Intend to Convene Entrepreneurs, Innovators

Indonesian Ambassador to the US Dino Patti Djalal 

 

Indonesia and the United States are looking forward to an opportunity to bring together innovators and entrepreneurs from the two countries to exchange ideas, an Indonesian official said.      "Both Indonesia and the US have a lot of talented people in the science and business sectors. Bringing them together will hopefully unleash great potentials for our future relations," Indonesian Ambassador to the US Dino Patti Djalal said here on Friday at a dialog titled "The Ups and Downs in Indonesia-US Relations".    
Speaking through a teleconference from Washington, the ambassador said there was a need to change the mindset in terms of promoting more contacts between both countries and promoting more people-to-people relations was one of the keys.    
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel who also attended the discussion at the US Cultural Center in Jakarta expressed agreement to the idea to connect Indonesian innovators and entrepreneurs with their American counterparts.    
"Relations between Indonesia and the US had turned into a new direction, especially since the signing of the Indonesia-US Comprehensive Partnership Agreement in 2010. I believe when we get our innovators and entrepreneurs together, there will be a lot of excitement on both sides," Dino said.
 

Indonesian Climbers to Conquer Seventh Summit in 7th Month

After conquering six of the world’s highest mountain peaks, Indonesian mountain climbers grouped in the Seven Summits Expedition Mahitala Unpar, Bandung, left for Alaska, the United States on Saturday, to scale Mount Denali.
The climbers team consisting of Sofyan Arief Fasa, Janathan Ginting, Xaverius Frans and Broery Andrew left for Alaska from Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang, Banten province, at 02.00 pm western Indonesia standard time (wib) by China Airlines. The climbers grouped in the Seven Summits Expedition Mahitala Unpar (Bandung-based Parahiyangan University) or in short called ISSEMU on May 20, 2011 reached Mount Everest`s peak (8.848 masl) in the Himalayas, coinciding with the 103rd National Awakening Day.
Before reaching the Himalayas, they successfully reached Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 masl) on February 26, 2009 in Indonesia (Australasia), the Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters masl) via Machame on August 10, 2010 in Kenya (Africa), the Elbrus Peak (5,642 masl) in Russia (Europe) on August 24, 2010, Vinson Massive (4,897 masl) in Antarctica on December 13, 2010 and Aconcagua (6,962 masl) in Argentina (South America) on 9 to 29 January 2011.
According to the climbers spokesperson Widyastuti in Jakarta on Saturday (June 18, 2011) the team will conduct acclimatize before scaling the mountain in the North America. The team actually had just arrived in Indonesia on June 2 after completing their expedition to climb to Mount Everest`s peak.
When they arrived home, they were enthusiastically welcomed by their parents, climbers, relatives, students and lecturers of the university. Widyastuti said further that the success of the ISSEMU team was also thanks to the prayers and support of the Indonesian people.
The struggle of the ISSEMU team was started early in April 2011, and the main climbing effort was made on May 12, and the peak of Everest was reached on May 20, 2011 after going through many obstacles posed by bad weather conditions. The Indonesian Red-and-White flag was raised for the first time on six of the highest peaks of the world.
"One peak yet to be reached is Mt Denali’s in Alaska which we hope to accomplish next July," Widyastuti said.
In the meantime, Unpar rector Cicilia Laow wished that the four climbers become the first Indonesian team to hoist the country’s Red-and-White flag on the world’s seven highest mountain peaks. The university has since the beginning fully supported the activities undertaken by Mahitala, in addition to the full support from alumni of one of the leading universities in Bandung.
The university also expected all students involved in the team’s seventh expedition to fully concentrate on the climb. Cicilia Laow expressed hope that after the completion of the climb, all the four climbers should return to their campus. "No more dispensation," she said.
With high spirit and support from all parties such as from the campus, alumni as well as from the sponsor PT Mud King Asia Pacific Raya, the rector hoped the support can accelerate in the realization to be "The Seven Summiters".
Mahitala Unpar is a group of nature loving students set up on April 8, 1974. To date, it has a membership of around 700 people.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng when seeing off the team said that he was proud of the achievements of the Indonesian youths. The four Indonesian climbers who are now striving to set foot on the last mountain summit hopefully can reach the seventh mountain peak on the seventh of the month of this year or in line with their expedition planning from June 18 through July 26, 2011.
If the climb is successful then the four climbers deserve the title of "The Seven Summiters".

What Will Happen if Indonesia Lack of Food Stocks

Vice President Boediono said Indonesia must always make sure it has sufficient food stocks because food shortages would have far-reaching and fatal consequences such as the threat of poverty, social unrest, security disturbances and other problems.
"Food scarcity can result in an increase in social disturbances and security threats," Boediono said in remarks at the opening of the 13th National Farmer-Fishermen’s Week here.
He said agriculture in Indonesia and the world was now facing its greatest-ever challenge, namely the threat of food scarcities. Therefore, he said, national farmers must work with the aim of increasing food production.
Rising food prices had also become another challenge to the world community, in addition to uncertainties about availability and supplies. To avoid the problems, Indonesia must make sure it can always meet its need for various types of food such as corn, bananas, cassava, and other edible tubers.
If food supply meets the national market’s demand, the nation can be certain that domestic food prices will be stabilized, something that will also have a positive impact on the state’s economic conditions.
Indonesia’s food production must be increased continuously and therefore synergy was needed between the government, private sector, agriculture observers, the farmers and fishermen’s communities. They should all be involved in the production line.
"We must be grateful that God has given us vast natural resources to be used as agricultural areas, and it all must also be used properly," he said.
If the natural resources can be managed well, then it can increase agricultural productivity, so that Indonesia can be free from the global food crisis threat. Furthermore, in order to increase food production, the government must continue fulfill the availability of agricultural facilities and infrastructures such the sufficiency of fertilizer, seeds and other facilities needed.

Indonesia's Future Lies in Oceans

Indonesia, one of the world’s largest maritime countries with about 5.8 million square kilometers of marine territory, recently observed World Oceans Day by reminding the people of the important role of oceans for the nation’s future.
The world’s oceans which account for about 70 percent of the Earth’s surface are essential to food security and the health and survival of all life, power the climate and are a critical part of the biosphere.
The official designation of World Oceans Day (WOD), which falls on June 8, is an opportunity to promote global awareness of the current ocean-related challenges such as depleted fishery resources, the impacts of climate change, deterioration of the marine environment, and maritime safety and security problem
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message for World Oceans Day 2011 theme "Our oceans: greening our future", said "All activities and policies related to oceans and the marine environment need to acknowledge and incorporate the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental, social and economic. Only then can we achieve the development objectives set by the international community."
He also urged governments and all sectors of society to embrace the individual and collective responsibility to protect the marine environment and manage its resources in a sustainable manner for present and future generations.
Indonesia has around 92,000 km-long beach and coastal areas, second after Canada. It is the biggest archipelagic country in the world, with around 70% its territory is waters and it has 17,480 islands.
"Local governments must have an awareness of the importance of developing the oceans for the future of the nation," Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said when commemorating the World Ocean Day here recently.
In daily activities, the community enjoys the marine services, such as for transportation, consumption, and recreation, he added. Defense Minister Poernomo Yusgiantoro, who joined Fadel in the WOD commemoration, said small islands in border regions have double functions, namely as marine security and the development of economic potential.
As many as 12 islands in border regions such as Nipah Island, Miangas Island, and Berhala Island are given priority for the double functions. Poernomo also pointed out the very important role of oceans as trading routes because 90 percent of goods in the world is transprted over oceans.
"Therefore, marine security is important to support economic activities in these regions," he said, adding that the country has placed its troops at 12 of 92 outer islands of its border areas.
Despite the huge marine potentials, however, Indonesia has so far been able to utilize only eight percent of its marine potentials so there should be strong efforts to encourage their greater use, according to Minister Fadel Muhammad. The country’s marine and fishery resource potentials are still wide open for development through aquaculture, marine tourism, mining, maritime transportation, and development of marine services.
The contribution of the fishery sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010 reached 3.1 percent. The ministry had set itself the target of increasing the fisheries sector’s contribution to GDP from 3.1 percent to 3.5 percent in 2011.
Fishery exports in 2010 ware estimated to reach a total value of 2.79 billion US dollars, up from 2.46 billion US dollars in 2009. Chairman of Indonesian Fishery Product Processing and Marketing Association Thomas Darmawan recently suggested that the government support traditional fishermen by giving them a subsidy to buy more sophisticated fishing tools.
For example, he said, many traditional fishermen in Indonesia did not have cooling devices to preserve their catches’ freshness during transportation. "Our fishermen also need capacity building trainings such as how to operate sophisticated fishing tools or learn other useful fishing skills," he said.
As part of the capacity building plan, Fadel had asked higher education institutes to create reliable and capable human resources for the maritime and fishery sector in Indonesia. "The Higher Education Cooperation Forum is of strategic significance in the development of maritime-and-fishery-related education and national development in the maritime and fishery sector," Fadel said after meeting with Vice President Boediono at the latter’s office last May 2011.
The Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry had also set aside Rp212 billion, or 33 percent of its total budget, to improve the welfare of fishermen through several empowerment programs. Minister Fadel said that the programs included housing for fishermen, villagers’ fish pond empowerment, fishermen’s groups improvement and procurement of boats for fishermen through regional governments.
He will propose a budget of Rp1.2 trillion especially for improving the welfare of fishermen in 2012. The ministry plans to hold a forum and expo themed Indonesian Blue Revolution or IBREF 2011. Around 60 marine industries will take part in the expo to be held from October 6-9, 2011 at the Jakarta Convention Center.
IBREF 2011 is a forum to promote a change in the developmental paradigm from land- to sea-oriented, and balance between land and marine development, Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said recently when launching the forum and expo.
"The event is also a means to promote the wealth of Indonesia’s marine resources and the beauty of its submarine environment. It will show Indonesia as a strong and great maritime nation," the minister said.
Indonesia organized the first World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, North Sulawesi, bringing together experts and officials from over 70 countries, in May 2009.

Saudi Beheads Indonesian Woman Convicted of Murder

An Indonesian woman was beheaded by the sword on Saturday after being convicted of murdering a Saudi woman, the interior ministry said.
The woman named Roiaiti Beth Sabotti Sarona, according to a transliteration from Arabic, was found guilty of killing Saudi Khairiya bint Hamid Mijlid by striking her repeatedly on the head with a meat chopper and stabbing her in the neck, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
The ministry did not elaborate on the motives of the crime, nor it did disclose the relation between the two women. But Indonesian officials say that around 70 percent of the 1.2 million Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia are domestic staff.
The beheading in the western province of Mecca brings the number of executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom this year to 28, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports.
London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia last week to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in the number of executions carried out over the past six weeks.
It said at least 27 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia in 2011, "the same as the total number of people executed in the whole of 2010. Fifteen people were executed in May alone." In 2009, the number of executions reached 67, compared to 102 in 2008.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

Audi Sees "Dramatic" Industry Shift Towards Emerging Market

Audi AG Chairman Rupert Stadler stands next to the new Q5 Hybrid car during a presentation during the first media day of the 81st Geneva International Motor Show at the Palexpo in Geneva March 1, 2011.

German premium car maker Audi AG expects emerging markets to fuel growth for the auto industry in coming years, with the luxury-car segment anticipated to grow faster than the overall market.
“The so-called BRIC-states plus Indonesia and South Korea will account for more than half of the global economic growth until 2025,“ Chief Executive Rupert Stadler said Thursday at a luncheon event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce. BRIC is the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China.
“We have to decide now how we want to position ourselves for this future,“ Stadler said. He noted, however, that the U.S. will remain a key market for the auto industry and added that competition there is heating up again after the recovery of U.S. rivals. Stadler said he wants to increase Audi's footprint in the U.S. without granting high rebates to boost market share.
He reiterated that Audi is considering starting car production in the U.S. “We want to transfer our successful strategy from China and Europe to the U.S.,“ Stadler said. He didn't elaborate on the time frame when production in the U.S could start.
The world's third-largest luxury car maker by sales volume after BMW AG and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand targets a new global sales record of more than 1.2 million cars this year after selling 1.09 million vehicles in 2010, driven by booming demand for luxury cars across the globe. China is set to be become Audi's largest market this year with anticipated sales of around 280,000 cars.
Stadler told German TV station DAF in an interview that Audi might even surpass the 280,000 sales mark in China this year. In the first five months of the year, Audi sold around 535,400 cars worldwide, up almost 18% on the year.
Stadler dismissed recent media reports suggesting the new small A1 suffers from sluggish demand. “Its selling very well,“ he said, adding that the car is on track to reach its sales target of 120,000 cars in 2011.
In May, parent Volkswagen AG inaugurated its new production plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., a cornerstone of the German auto maker's global expansion plan and a crucial step to make its loss-making U.S. operations profitable again. Volkswagen wants to roughly triple its U.S. sales volume to more than 1 million by 2018, with the Audi brand accounting for 200,000 cars.
Audi is a key earnings contributor for Europe's largest auto maker by sales. Audi's first-quarter revenue was up 27% on the year at EUR10.5 billion. Operating profit rose to EUR1.12 billion from EUR478 million in the same period last year. Audi's operating return on sales was 10.6% in the first quarter after 5.8% last year, making it one of the world's most profitable car makers. Chief Financial Officer Axel Strotbek said earlier this year he expects profitability in 2011 to remain at last year's level.

Now Apple Wants to Block iPhone Users from Filming Live Events

On the way out Apple is developing software that will sense when an iPhone user is recording a live event, and then switch off the devices camera.

The days of filming a live concert or sporting event on your iPhone may soon be a distant memory. Apple is developing software that will sense when a smartphone user is trying to record a live event, and then switch off the device's camera.
Anybody holding up their iPhone will find it triggers infra-red sensors installed at the venue. These sensors would then automatically instruct the iPhone to shut down its camera function, preventing an footage from being recorded.
Only the iPhone's camera would be temporarily disabled; other features, such as texting and making calls, would still work. Apple filed a patent application 18 months ago in Calfornia. It has just come to light after being obtained by The Times.
Such a development would be welcomed with open arms by many concertgoers, fed up with their view being blocked by a sea of glowing mobile phone screens. However, the real reason Apple is developing the technology is to placate broadcasters upset that members of the public are posting footage of events on websites including YouTube when they have bought the exclusive rights.
Many of these firms sell their own recordings of high-profile events, including Glastonbury and Wimbledon, and dislike being pipped to the post by reams of amateur footage online.
Assisting record companies in this manner is likely to help Apple secure more favourable terms with labels when negotiating deals to place music for sale on its iTunes website. It could also potentially provide Apple with another source of revenue by charging people to film live events.
The development comes just days after iPhone users in the U.S. found out they no longer have to rely on hackers to 'unlock' their devices to switch carriers or save money when travelling.
Apple quietly started selling 'unlocked' iPhones in the U.S. for the first time on its websites and in stores, for $649 and $749 depending on how much memory they have.
The devices are identical to the versions sold for use on AT&T Inc's network, but don't require a two-year contract. The buyer will separately have to buy a Subscriber Identity Module, or SIM card, from a carrier to activate the phone.
Apart from AT&T, the only national U.S. carrier that's compatible with the phone is T-Mobile USA, and it can provide only phone calls and low data speeds.