Jakarta on Trial

Mother Jones, not my favorite publications, has the following:

"Indonesian prosecutors are asking that the son of former dictator Suharto be given a 15-year prison sentence for his role in the murder of a Supreme Court justice. The BBC reports that prosecutors were entitled to seek the death sentence against Tommy Suharto, and that their decision to seek a more lenient penalty is being attacked as a political fix -- particularly since judges in Indonesia routinely impose sentences even more lenient than those requested by prosecutors. Antara reports that, after calling for the 15-year sentence, prosecutors quickly left the court by a back door, refusing to comment on their decision. Prosecutors reportedly cited several "mitigating factors" during their court appearance, among them Tommy Suharto's good behavior since being captured and the fact that he has a family to support. While the prosecutors involved in the case were tight-lipped, The Jakarta Post reports that the city's chief prosecutor described the sentence as "sufficient for the four charges." The sentencing is not the only thing raising eyebrows, either. Bill Guerin of the Asia Times writes that Tommy Suharto isn't exactly suffering while in jail. The former millionaire playboy's cell is fenced off from the rest of the prison and includes a private bathroom, a 21-inch television, cellular phones -- luxuries which Guerin says "no doubt create conducive conditions for his frequent five-hour conjugal visits." The court's ruling, Guerin reports, holds special importance for Indonesia. "This is a battle between good and evil," a prosecutor explains. "If you can't put him in jail, don't talk about reform anymore." " [via Moreover]

3:36:04 PM     

categories: Indonesia

Indonesia's unreformed military

An editorial from the NY Times

1:03:04 PM     

categories: Indonesia

Weblog software platform

One of the key decisions that I'm facing is what software to use for weblogs.or.id. Radio is out, sorry Dave. A huge percentage of internet users in Indonesia use internet cafes (warnets) so we need a tool that is server based. Some possibilities are: Manila, MT, Drupal, Greymatter, Pitas, B2, LiveJournal, etc.. What others should I consider? I'm trying to draw up my criteria right now. Here's the short list, lots of this is obvious stuff. Sorry for the somewhat random order:

1. Server based (user data stored on server, editing via any internet cafe)
2. OSS prefered (I'd like to gather together a very small team on this side of the world that can contribute)
3. In active development (no dead tools that I have to revive)
4. RSS/synication
5. Blogger/metaweblog APIs support
6. themes/templates
7. Standard weblog format (calendar, dated entries, reverse chrono, ???)
8. categories
9. automatic archiving
10. commenting
11. support for multiple authors (would be nice)

I'll think of lots more. The choices are a little overwhelming. I don't want to make the wrong choice, but I do want to choose.

10:15:06 AM     

categories: Weblogs.or.id

Cause for great cheering by my daughters

Disney Channel Launches in Indonesia. At least some members in our house are very, very happy. Happily there is no "Boy meet world"! This is a good thing since we've seen every episode ad nauseum, thanks to my second oldest.

9:25:25 AM     

categories: Family & Friends

Indonesian weblog hosting site

As I hinted at a few days ago, I'm getting ready to launch a weblog hosting site focused on Indonesian webloggers. The site will be located on a server on the IIX and will be localized into Indonesian. The goal is to encourage self-publishing on the web in Indonesian about things relevant to Indonesians. A significant sub-goal is to foster healthy communication between members of various people groups and religions in Indonesia. It will be located at www.weblog.or.id. Right now that is just a static page, but soon (a month or two?) it will be the jumping off point for Indonesian webloggers

9:21:17 AM     

categories: Weblogs.or.id

Taxes! Yes, in July

I'm just starting my taxes. Yes, I am a procrastinator. Living overseas buys me some extra time, an automatic extention until August. Here I go to the TurboTax website.

8:59:40 AM