(Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)

“…… Should I use Doctors and Drugs to Heal Me or Spiritual Methods?

"Dear Kryon, I have heard that you should stay natural and not use the science on the planet for healing. It does not honor God to go to a doctor. After all, don't you say that we can heal with our minds? So why should we ever go to a doctor if we can do it ourselves? Not only that, my doctor isn't enlightened, so he has no idea about my innate or my spiritual body needs. What should I do?"

First, Human Being, why do you wish to put so many things in boxes? You continue to want a yes and no answer for complex situations due to your 3D, linear outlook on almost everything. Learn to think out of the 3D box! Look at the heading of this section [above]. It asks which one should you do. It already assumes you can't do both because they seem dichotomous.

Let's use some spiritual logic: Here is a hypothetical answer, "Don't go to a doctor, for you can heal everything with your mind." So now I will ask: How many of you can do that in this room right now? How many readers can do that with efficiency right now? All of you are old souls, but are you really ready to do that? Do you know how? Do you have really good results with it? Can you rid disease and chemical imbalance with your mind right now?

I'm going to give you a truth, whether you choose to see it or not. You're not ready for that! You are not yet prepared to take on the task of full healing using your spiritual tools. Lemurians could do that, because Pleiadians taught them how! It's one of the promises of God, that there'll come a day when your DNA works that efficiently and you will be able to walk away from drug chemistry and the medical industry forever, for you'll have the creator's energy working at 100 percent, something you saw within the great masters who walked the earth.

This will be possible within the ascended earth that you are looking forward to, dear one. Have you seen the news lately? Look out the window. Is that where you are now? We are telling you that the energy is going in that direction, but you are not there yet.

Let those who feel that they can heal themselves begin the process of learning how. Many will be appreciative of the fact that you have some of the gifts for this now. Let the process begin, but don't think for a moment that you have arrived at a place where every health issue can be healed with your own power. You are students of a grand process that eventually will be yours if you wish to begin the quantum process of talking to your cells. Some will be good at this, and some will just be planting the seeds of it.

Now, I would like to tell you how Spirit works and the potentials of what's going to happen in the next few years. We're going to give the doctors of the planet new inventions and new science. These will be major discoveries about the Human body and of the quantum attributes therein.

Look at what has already happened, for some of this science has already been given to you and you are actually using it. Imagine a science that would allow the heart to be transplanted because the one you have is failing. Of course! It's an operation done many times a month on this planet. That information came from the creator, did you realize that? It didn't drop off the shelf of some dark energy library to be used in evil ways.

So, if you need a new heart, Lightworker, should you go to the doctor or create one with your mind? Until you feel comfortable that you can replace your heart with a new one by yourself, then you might consider using the God-given information that is in the hands of the surgeon. For it will save your life, and create a situation where you stay and continue to send your light to the earth! Do you see what we're saying?

You can also alter that which is medicine [drugs] and begin a process that is spectacular in its design, but not very 3D. I challenge you to begin to use what I would call the homeopathic principle with major drugs. If some of you are taking major drugs in order to alter your chemistry so that you can live better and longer, you might feel you have no choice. "Well, this is keeping me alive," you might say. "I don't yet have the ability to do this with my consciousness, so I take the drugs."

In this new energy, there is something else that you can try if you are in this category. Do the following with safety, intelligence, common sense and logic. Here is the challenge: The principle of homeopathy is that an almost invisible tincture of a substance is ingested and is seen by your innate. Innate "sees" what you are trying to do and then adjusts the body's chemistry in response. Therefore, you might say that you are sending the body a "signal for balance." The actual tincture is not large enough to affect anything chemically - yet it works!

The body [innate] sees what you're trying to do and then cooperates. In a sense, you might say the body is healing itself because you were able to give it instructions through the homeopathic substance of what to do. So, why not do it with a major drug? Start reducing the dosage and start talking to your cells, and see what happens. If you're not successful, then stop the reduction. However, to your own amazement, you may often be successful over time.

You might be able to take the dosage that you're used to and cut it to at least a quarter of what it was. It is the homeopathy principle and it allows you to keep the purpose of the drug, but reduce it to a fraction of a common 3D dosage. You're still taking it internally, but now it's also signaling in addition to working chemically. The signal is sent, the body cooperates, and you reduce the chance of side effects.

You can't put things in boxes of yes or no when it comes to the grand system of Spirit. You can instead use spiritual logic and see the things that God has given you on the planet within the inventions and processes. Have an operation, save your life, and stand and say, "Thank you, God, for this and for my being born where these things are possible." It's a complicated subject, is it not? Each of you is so different! You'll know what to do, dear one. Never stress over that decision, because your innate will tell you what is appropriate for you if you're willing to listen. ….”

Monsanto / GMO - Global Health


(Subjects: Big pharma [the drug companies of America] are going to have to change very soon or collapse. When you have an industry that keeps people sick for money, it cannot survive in the new consciousness., Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)
"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS" – Sep 29, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: ... I'm in Canada and I know it, but I will tell those listening and reading in the American audience the following: Get ready! Because there are some institutions that are yet to fall, ones that don't have integrity and that could never be helped with a bail out. Again, we tell you the biggest one is big pharma, and we told you that before. It's inevitable. If not now, then in a decade. It's inevitable and they will fight to stay alive and they will not be crossing the bridge. For on the other side of the bridge is a new way, not just for medicine but for care. ....) - (Text Version)

Pharmaceutical Fraud / Corruption cases

Health Care

Health Care
Happy birthday to Percy Julian, a pioneer in plant-drug synthesis. His research produced steroids like cortisone. (11 April 2014)

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Psst. Want a Hit? The Secret Lives of Drug Dealers

Jakarta Globe, Marcel Thee, April 29, 2010

Two drug dealers tell their stories and reveal the ins and outs of the business. (AFP Photo)

There’s something intriguing about the personal lives of drug dealers. Classified as criminals, they are people whose survival depends on the addiction and, in some cases, the misery of others. How do they feel about their methods of survival? And what brought them into this line of business? The Jakarta Globe spoke to two people who, at least for a period in their lives, have depended on selling drugs as their main livelihood.

For a former small-time drug dealer, Budi sure plays the part well. The 30-year-old speaks with a slow, reflective tone, traces of nostalgia evident in the stories that take him back to his younger days as a student and drug dealer in Yogyakarta.

His lanky legs give way to a flabby torso under a buttoned-down work shirt, which cannot hide eyes that have the faraway stare of someone who has been on a few out-there trips himself. His dark-skinned face breaks out in sweat as we talk during his lunch break in a food court at Plaza Senayan. He says he doesn’t sell drugs anymore, but declines to say what he does now for a living.

“I sold drugs for … around 10 years,” he begins. “I [started] in college, when I was studying in Yogyakarta. I was a user and I used every drug there was, from cimeng [marijuana] to crack cocaine.”

Before long, Budi’s dealer, who he describes as a “person from Aceh,” took notice of this particular client . He offered to introduce him to the local drug lord, who, as it turned out, had also been keeping tabs on Budi, instructing his couriers to gauge the young man’s potential. Budi agreed to meet with the boss, and soon thereafter made the jump from buyer to dealer.

By his own account, Budi began selling various drugs — but mostly marijuana — in the late 1990s while he was still in Yogyakarta, with clients consisting mostly of his fellow university students. According to Budi, his story is not unique. “Tons of university students sell drugs,” he says.

A case in point, Alison, a 28-year-old bank employee in Kuningan, South Jakarta, began selling drugs when she was an economics student at a prominent university in West Jakarta in the mid-2000s. She makes no bones about her drug sales, which she says she still engages in today.

I meet Alison at a sidewalk eating area near her office during her lunch hour.

“I did light drugs like marijuana and social drinking, just for fun. Then during a party one of my friends asked whether I wanted to make some money,” she explains. Alison, who was then surviving on a small monthly allowance, expressed interest and was soon introduced to a supplier who regularly sold behind Atma Jaya University in Semanggi.

“He said that I had to give him my contact address and then he took my picture ‘for filing.’ He said he would call me within a week, and he did,” she says.

The supplier never told Alison where the drugs came from, only that she would receive a certain amount of local marijuana which she had to sell. The quantity would increase if Alison did a good job.

Before long, she was selling marijuana and black-market liquor to her college friends. By 2007, she had become a regular supplier of what she calls “party beverages” for an increasing number of clients, as her customer base expanded beyond her university acquaintances to young urban professionals.

Alison and Budi both received regular drug shipments to conduct their business. From his suppliers, Budi would receive one kilogram of “pure” Aceh marijuana (“the best of its kind,” he says) every two weeks. He sold the drug according to weight, with prices ranging from Rp 20,000 ($2) to Rp 500,000 ($55). He says he earned around Rp 5 million to 10 million each month.

During her first years as a dealer, Alison received a half-kilogram of pot every month. After about six months, her supply was increased to a full kilogram. After a year, she also began selling hallucinogenic or “magic” mushrooms that she believes came from Bali because “that’s where the best ’shrooms come from.”

Alison, who “still regularly smokes pot, but nothing else,” says that these days she prefers clients who she does not personally know. She says new clients usually get to her by word of mouth.

“A buyer is a user, and a user is someone who hangs out with other users, who then become new buyers,” she says, grinning.

Budi, who says he has been clean since 2000, had moral qualms about selling drugs to minors but would leave the decision up to the customer.

“If they were school students [in uniform], I would try to talk to them. Although if in the end they decide to go ahead with the purchase, I’d tell them that the risk is theirs alone” he says.

All the money Budi made from selling drugs would go to the purchase of clothing, food and luxuries. In the meantime, he continued to receive a monthly allowance of Rp 200,000 to Rp 300,000 from his parents.

“My parents and siblings did not know about my side occupation,” Budi says. “Most of my friends probably did, though. I wasn’t exactly very good at being discreet.”

Alison says she used to spend a portion of her earnings on pot for her own personal use, as she was forbidden to smoke any of the supplies she sold. But she also made sure to save some of the money, a habit she keeps up today.

“I got through the last years of my university by my own dime,” she says. “I told my parents that I was selling second-hand cellphones.”

Alison says her earnings have increased over time from Rp 500,000 to Rp 4 million each month.

Budi says he would conduct most of his deals at night at locations set by the buyers. Sometimes, if he knew them well enough, he would have them come to his kost , a type of affordable lodging often used by students. He says the after-dark business hours had nothing to do with a fear of being caught, he just had to go to class during the day.

“There would be no problem even if I were selling in broad daylight,” he says, adding that he would occasionally receive deliveries during the day.

“I remember the guy who came and brought in my supplies every two weeks would rest the drugs, which were wrapped in newspapers, on the jock of his motorbike, right in front of where he was sitting. It was very matter-of-fact.

“I remember, one day I was carrying some drugs wrapped in newspaper when I got pulled over during a routine police raid on the road,” Budi says.

“A policeman asked for my driver’s license and ID, and right there sitting in front of me was the drugs. He did not even notice it, and I was safe. This was during the daytime!”

Alison says that eventually she will have to decide how long she will engage in this line of work. She says that she does not see herself quitting anytime soon, adding that drug sales account for more than 50 percent of her monthly income.

“Judge me all you want, but the demand will still be there even if I didn’t sell drugs. It’s not heroin or cocaine or some other hard drug anyway. I’m just supplying a demand,” she says.

Budi says he believes he could have been a drug kingpin eventually had he chosen to accept an offer from the top dealer.

“The big boss once asked me if I wanted to increase the quantity of the drugs I was dealing, essentially to dedicate my life to drug dealing,” he says.

“But I would have to sign a contract and give them details of my life, including my ID. That was too much for me. There comes a time, like when I decided to quit drugs, when you know you have to stop.”

New website targeting healthcare policies

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 04/29/2010 10:08 AM

Indonesian health policies often end up missing their targets because of a lack of accessible and comprehensive data on the country’s health situation, experts said Wednesday.

“All this time the formulation of health policies has actually not been evidence-based when it should based on accurate data,” said Firman Lubis, a medical professor from the University of Indonesia.

Firman said the government’s health policies were often motivated by projects.

“Often policies are made because they are part of a project funded by the government and initiated by someone who thinks a certain issue [on which the policy is based] is important,” he told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

Such policies often had ineffective results, wasted funds and did not address the problems that needed urgent attention, Firman said.

Earlier this week, the Center for Health Service Management launched the Indonesian Health Policies website (kebijakankesehatanindonesia.net) aiming to serve as a bridge between researchers, members of the community and policy and decision makers.

Laksono Trisnantoro, the director of the Gajah Mada University Center for Health Service that manages the website, said the government was in need of accurate data as well as analysis methods for its programs.

“All this time, there have been no systematic methods in place to analyze Indonesia’s health policies,”

he said.

The website would host forums discussing Indonesia’s health policies, as well as various references such as news articles, research and program reports on those policies.

“From several decades back there has been no clear relationship between [health] policy making and scientific evidence. This [website] is designed so that researchers can have an input [in policy making],” Laksono said.

The government’s program was not effective or transparent and did not use a clear model, he added.

“We have to look at this case by case. For health funding, for example, there no research model for Askeskin [the health insurance for the poor scheme] or Jamkesmas [community health insurance scheme]. In Thailand, they used extensive research [for such schemes],” Laksono said.

There are several health treatment cost coverage schemes for Indonesians, including Jamkesmas, which could provide exemption of payment to poor patients of state hospitals and private hospitals that joined the scheme; and Jamsostek, which is the workers’ healthcare scheme.

The government is currently working to develop a new system, based on the 2004 Social Security Law, that is said to provide Indonesians with universal coverage for health treatments. Under this system, all citizens would be insured under a state or commercial health insurance plan.

Healthcare funding is one of the topics of discussion on the new website. Provoking topics the forum covers include the government’s options in forming an institution to carry out the task of managing universal coverage.

This particular subject has already garnered four comments, from one claiming to being the Sukabumi Health Agency (in West Java).

Aside from economic problems such as healthcare funding, Firman said the government was also in need of accurate data to determine the state of healthcare and public health in Indonesia.

“The data is often under-reported. Such as [that of] malaria and tuberculosis. Even the number of deaths is still underreported ... the data is often unreliable because there are too many forms to fill in [during surveys], poor methods of filing, and so on,” he said. (dis)

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Heroin Worth Rp 8 Billion Seized

Tempo Interactive, Wednesday, 28 April, 2010 | 16:20 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Bandung:Customs and Excise officers in Bandung, West Java have foiled the smuggling of heroin worth Rp 8 billion at the Husein Sastranegara International Airport. The 3.250 grams of heroin was carried from Malaysia by a woman with the initials CCB, 23 years, a passenger aboard AirAsia airline, flight QZ-7592 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Bandung.

“The heroin was found in a suitcase carried by the suspect. The airplane landed about 10.50AM on Sunday, April 25,” said Customs and Excise director Thomas Sugijata, yesterday. Based on the questioning of the suspect, the police have also caught two other suspects; Wt alias As, 26, and Nc alias Ic, a Nigeria national.

Two immigration officers arrested for facilitating drug smuggling

Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/28/2010 5:48 PM | Jakarta

Jakarta Police’s anti narcotics division announced Wednesday it had arrested two immigration officers for allegedly facilitating drug smuggling in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten, for more than a year.

Speaking in a press conference, division chief Sr. Comr. Anjan Pramuka Putra said the two suspects, Lukman and Herry Pranowo, had been arrested on April 15 after the police had found strong evidences that they had attempted to help Indian national Narayanasamy Bhaskaran smuggle 15.3 kilograms of ketamine worth Rp 15 billion (US$1.67 million) through the airport earlier this month.

“The suspects helped the smuggler get his Visa on Arrival then took over his luggage for X-ray checking,” Anjan said.

During the X-ray checking, however, the on-duty customs and excises officers told their colleagues that they suspected the luggage they brought contained a suspicious material.

“The suspects initially insisted that the luggage only contained a number of smaller bags but they could do nothing when the customs and excise officers forced them to open the luggage,” Anjan said.

The police only arrested Narayanasamy on the crime scene. They finally arrested Lukman and Herry a week later after collecting evidences which include Narayanasamy’s testimony and CCTV recordings.

Ketamine is an anesthetic used for animals and humans, but its psychedelic side effects make it a popular recreational drug.

Although in several countries, including Singapore , Hong Kong , India and Canada , ketamine is a class 1 narcotic, it is not classified as a narcotic in Indonesia .

However, smuggling the drug carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of Rp 1 billion.

Replace problematic foreigners: Team

Dicky Christanto and Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Batam | Wed, 04/28/2010 10:19 AM

A fact finding team investigating last week’s clash in Batam has recommended PT Drydocks World Graha repatriate its problematic foreign employees and replacing them.

The team also suggested the company gradually reduce its foreign workforce and replacing their positions with capable locals.

“We expect in future there will only be foreign workers with rare [skills] and high competency here,” fact finding team chief Hayani Rumondang said Tuesday.

Batam Manpower and Transmigration Agency data shows that there are presently 4,000 foreign workers in Batam.

Besides problems regarding the foreign workers, the team also reported unfair outsourcing practices that had hurt the company’s contract workers.

“We received complaints from contract workers who said many of them were unpaid. So, the whole problem with the foreign workers was just a trigger [that ignited the older] problem,” she said.

Hayani said many workers had also complained about the hourly wage system used by subcontractor companies and Drydocks. These workers preferred monthly or daily wages, she said.

The team strongly encouraged Drydocks to commence serious talks with subcontractor companies to improve its working contracts.

Hayani said the team would hand down its recommendations to Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar. “The rest is up to the minister,” she said.

Formed by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, the team comprising officials from the ministry was tasked to gather evidence and find out what caused last week’s riot.

Director General for Industrial Relations Mira Maria Hanartani said stricter monitoring mechanisms would definitely be applied following last week’s incident.

Commenting on this, Riau Islands Legislative Council member Riki Indrakiri said it would be better for Batam if the monitoring was directly conducted by officials from the ministry in Jakarta.

“We are facing a serious lack of monitoring officials down here,” he said.

To date there were only nine monitoring officials in Batam, tasked to monitor 4,000 foreign workers there, he said.

Data show that Drydocks uses 30 subcontractor companies at its three Batam yards, each of which employs 16,000 workers.

Drydocks World Southeast Asia chief executive officer Denis Welch denied allegations there were disharmonious relations between the company’s foreign and local staff.

“Since taking over the yards in 2008, we have enjoyed excellent relations between our multi-national, multi-ethnic workforce, employed on Batam without a single formal complaint being lodged by any worker,” he said in a press release.

However, Welch encouraged workers to file complaints according to the company’s procedure whenever they received any ill-treatment in the workplace.

Welch said Drydocks had reopened two of its three yards, namely Pertama and Nanindah.

He added that the company aimed to transfer skills to local residents, thus reducing the number of foreigners it employed.

“In 2008, the number of directly employed Indonesians stood at 1,400 and today that figure has reached 5,688 local workers,” he said.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Customs seize 31 kg of crystal meth at airport

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Fri, 04/23/2010 5:39 PM

Big catch: Police and customs officers display Friday packages of crystal methamphetamine totaling 31 kilograms seized from a cargo terminal at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang. Since January officers have foiled attempts to smuggle 140 kilograms of drug. – JP/Multa Fidrus

Customs and excise officials at Soekarno-Hatta Airport have seized 31 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, worth Rp 69 billion (US$7.6 million) from a cargo terminal.

Wijayanta Bahaduri, head of the airport's customs office, said Friday that the drugs had been sent from Tehran via Qatar Airways and were addressed to a man named Mahmoud at a hotel room in Jakarta. The drugs were discovered Thursday at Jasa Angkasa Semesta cargo terminal by a customs tactical unit.

“This is a new modus of drug smuggling - the package description said the item was a dressing table,” Bahaduri told a press conference at the airport.

He said the drugs had been wrapped and mixed with disassembled parts of a wooden dressing table. Officers examined the package and found 31.3 kilograms crystal methamphetamine hidden inside.

“The method was pretty nifty – designed so that no one would think the board pieces contained drugs.” he said.

Customs and excise director Thomas Sujata said customs officers had now foiled 21 drug smuggling attempts at the airport since January, confiscating 140 kilograms of drugs.

“If we suppose that each gram of those drugs was intended for one person, that means we have saved 156,290 people from drugs,” Thomas said.

300 people poisoned by mixed liquor, 22 die in Salatiga

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Salatiga, Central Java | Fri, 04/23/2010 7:49 PM

Out of 300 people, who were poisoned by mixed liquor and treated in hospital in Salatiga, Central Java, 22 had died as of Friday, a police officer said.

Salatiga Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Susetio Cahyadi said that the number of victims would likely grow bigger.

Susetio said that the victims were poisoned by the mixed liquor made by Rusmanadi alias Tius, 41, a resident of Tingkir district in Salatiga.

They bought the liquor at Rp 10,000 per liter from Tiur's kiosk on April 16, 2010, Susetio said, adding that one day after consuming it, they started to vomit, experienced breathing difficulties and had headache.

Those who died had been seen since Sunday and their number could possibly rise, he said.

Susetio further said that the police already named Rusmanadi as suspect in the poisoning case and detained him at the Salatiga Police headquarters.

Rusmanadi could be charged under Article 80 Paragraph 4 of Law No. 23/1992 on health with jail sentence of up to 15 years. He could also be charged under Article 204 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law with jail sentence of up to 15 years or life if the victims died.

Bali police arrest suspected rapist

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali | Thu, 04/22/2010 11:11 PM

Suspected: Denpasar police escort Salvador Da Costa, a suspect in a series of rapes targeting young girls, for questioning Friday. The police arrested Salvador at his house in Denpasar on Thursday afternoon. – JP/Zul Trio Anggono

Bali police arrested on Thursday a suspect in a series of rapes targeting little girls, which have haunted people on the island over the last three months.

The suspect, identified as Salvador da Costa, 28, was nabbed at his home on Jl. Pulau Moyo in the Bali capital of Denpasar. He is being detained at the South Denpasar police post, pending a questioning.

Bali police chief Insp. Gen. Sutisna said detectives were hunting down other suspects.

He said Salvador was accused of raping a 9-year-old girl at her home on Friday last week, when her parents were working and entrusted her to an ailing housemaid.

“We 100 percent believe the suspect is the perpetrator. We will find out if he is also responsible for other rape cases,” Sutisna said.

At least six minors have been fallen victims to rape in the last three months. Coming under pressure for their slow investigation into the cases, the police distributed a sketch of a suspect earlier this week.


Related Article:

2nd Suspect Held in Bali Rapes, But the Police Hunt Continues


Thursday, April 22, 2010

Indonesian Red Cross Gets Help from the Public

Tempo Interactive, Thursday, 22 April, 2010 | 15:44 WIB

Surakarta:The Surakarta branch of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has disbursed Rp 1,9 billion to organize a charity month. “We organized an outbound training, training on motivation, educational institutions, and seminar,” PMI Surakarta secretary, Sumartono Hadinoto, said yesterday. There was also a charity shop for a humanitarian program, calling on people to donate their used items that can be resold. PMI will also organize another charity program on May 20, on the National Awakening Day.

The funds will be used for disaster management, free medical treatment, free ambulance services, free early test for cervical cancer, and to subsidize patients needing blood transfusion. “The biggest allocation of Rp 1,4 billion will be dedicated to patients in the blood transfusion unit,” said PMI Surakarta chief Susanto Tjokrosoekarno.

UKKY PRIMARTANTYO

Young slum dwellers dislike using condom

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/22/2010 11:24 AM

The lack of information and knowledge about contraceptives has contributed to the common practice of unsafe sex among sexually active youth who live in poverty in Jakarta.

Many people who live in poverty have been said to believe that condom use decreases the experience of sexual activity.

Iqbal, 30, of Kampung Sepatan in Rorotan subdistrict, Cilincing, North Jakarta, said recently that many of the youth in the neighborhood had been in sexual relations and thought condom use could reduce a couple’s intimacy.

Kampung Sepatan is one of the urban slums in Jakarta and home to around 1,400 lower-income residents, many whose livelihood’s depend on trash picking, farming and fishing.

“Using a condom while having sex is not enjoyable,” Iqbal stated.

It was said that while young people there were aware of the dangers of practicing unsafe sex, there was a social propensity among them that championed unsafe sex as a way to cement a relationship.

“My ex-girlfriend insisted that we did not use condoms to hold me responsible if she became preg-nant,” Iqbal’s friend told the The Jakarta Post on condition of anonymity, adding that using condoms in a relationship also symbolized a lack of trust.

Sex education among the youth in the neighborhood appears to lack.

Reportedly many NGOs visiting the area are focused on providing young residents with more assistance with food, clothing and vocational training.

“No NGOs that have visited have provided sex education,” Adi, 20, said.

He said they received sex education from their schools in biology class, which consisted of information about their reproductive organs and function.

Similar to their counterparts in Kampung Sepatan, the young people living along Ciliwung riverbank of Bukit Duri and Kampung Pulo subdistricts, South Jakarta, also agreed that unprotected sex was a strategy to find love.

A young woman said, “I’d rather have sex without using condoms because it’s a symbol of intimacy and trust”.

Unprotected sex is a way in which a woman can ensure her boyfriend remains loyal, she said.

Zaky, 19, told the Post that they had better more informed and became aware of the dangers of unprotected sex after several NGOs recently visited their area to educate them about sex.

However, NGOs did not discuss the importance of using condoms, despite the fact that many young people there were sexually active.

“The NGOs explained the dangers of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections [STIs], but not about contraception in detail,” Zaky said.

The Lamp Science Foundation (YPI), a grassroot organization active in promoting the awareness on HIV/AIDS, confirmed that its approaches to young people in lower-income urban areas had been proactive in educating them about reproductive health, STIs and HIV/AIDS prevention.

“We highlighted condom use as one way to reduce the risk of HIV infection,” YPI secretary Srisulistyurini said.

She said that premarital and unsafe sex was prevalent among the youth in shanty areas, and that sex education was the key to curbing the rapid spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS.

The YPI suggested that communities of slum areas in Jakarta should initiate workshops on sex education by requesting NGOs such as the YPI to visit their areas.

“It needs comprehensive participation from society because many NGOs don’t have the resources to map all the slum areas in the city whose young residents need sex education,” Srisulistyurini said.

According to the health agency, 3,863 AIDS cases were reported in 2009, with women and young people being the most prone to infection. (tsy)

Sex education among the youth in the neighborhood appears to lack.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Doctor Arrested in Drug Bust

Jakarta Globe, April 21, 2010

Jakarta Metro Police narcotics officers showing the evidence seized from a methamphetamine laboratory in this file photo. In the latest bust, a young doctor from an Islamic institute has been arrested for allegedly supplying the raw materials used in the production of the drug. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

A young doctor from the Islamic Hospital Foundation is facing serious drug charges after Jakarta Police raided a methamphetamine factory in a home in Bogor, West Java.

Chief Comr. Anjan Pramuka Putra, head of the Jakarta Police's narcotics division, said "the suspect, MHm, allegedly supplied the raw materials for other suspects.”

Besides MHM, a staff member from Yarsi University, identified as HS, was also arrested.

“HS works in the university's anatomy section,” Anjan added.

The presence of the factory was discovered after police arrested two suspects in Jakarta.

“They had marijuana and methamphetamine with them,” Anjan said.

The factory was discovered at the Villa Nusa Indah housing complex in Gunung Putri, Bogor, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Police arrested a total of four suspected confiscated raw materials such as ephedrine pills, acetone, iodine and phosphorous.

According to Anjan, the factory had been operating for two months.

“They have a small daily production, less than 1 kilogram. They only produce meth when they have orders,” he said.

The suspects are beingl interrogated at the Jakarta Police headquarters.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Seven millennium development goals reached by 2015, Bappenas says

Antara News, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 19:59 WIB

Tampak Siring, Bali (ANTARA News) - Minister of National Development Planning/Head the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Armida S Alisjahbana said the seven targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are hopefully satisfied by 2015.

"According to several indicators, nationally most of the MDGs have already been met. The government has also received appreciation from the United Nations for what it has achieved so far, and for its commitment to meet all the MDG targets by the end of 2015," she told a press conference at the Tampak Siring Presidential Palace in Bali Tuesday.

She also said that the seven targets are the eradication of poverty and hunger, basic education for everyone, promoting gender equality, empowerment of women, reducing infant mortality, promoting mothers` health, control of HIV and AIDS, malaria and other contagious diseases, and securing the environment.

She also said that right now efforts at meeting the targets were already on track, although some still off track.

"The three still off-track are indicators on the death rate of delivering mothers reaching 100,000 life births, prevention of HIV/AIDS and increase in forest land covering," he said.

For these purposes, he added, the government will increase its focus on disparities in the overall reducing the targets, with the support of all the stakeholders including the government, businesspeopel, the general public and religious leaders.

Armida also wished to reduce the discrepancy between the different regions in reaching the targets, by giving attention to the regions whose performance is still below national average.

"The regions are playing a very important role, and later based on the results of the working meeting solutions will be sought on the basis of the condition of the individual regions to speed up meeting the MDGs, and the more systematic commitments of the regions," he said.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Govt to continue improving people`s welfare programs

Antara News, Monday, April 19, 2010 18:31 WIB

Tampak Siring, Bali (ANTARA News) - The government will continue to improve its social and people`s welfare programs to eliminate prosperity gaps in society as called for in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

Speaking at a national working meeting of key central and provincial government officials at Tampak Siring Palace here on Monday, the president said : "Our purpose this time is to secure, improve, and make perfect our people`s welfare and social program," the president said at the meeting attended by cabinet ministers, provincial governors, regional legislative council (DPRD) chairmen, state enterprise (BUMN) chiefs, and state institution leaders.

At one of the sessions of the meeting, Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono explained the people`s welfare and social programs currently being carried out by the government.

"The poverty rate at present is 14.1 percent, the unemployment rate 7.9 percent. The number of poor people in Java is 57.8 percent and in Papua 4.2 percent," Agung Laksono said.

Therefore, he said, in the medium-term development plan 2010-2014, national development programs should be carried out justly and evenly across the country.

"Various efforts should be made to abolish social imbalances in various areas by expanding job opportunities in order to reduce the unemployment rate," Agung Laksono said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the meeting on Monday morning in the company of Vice President Boediono.

The meeting would last until Wednesday, April 21, 2010, and was expected to produce a "Tampak Siring strategy" which would be implemented through a Presidential Instruction.

The meeting would focus on four things, namely Indonesia`s economic development over the next five years, an evaluation of pro-people programs, law enforcement and justice for the people, and efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Domestic helpers need healthcare insurance

The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Sun, 04/18/2010 9:07 PM

Domestic helpers need to have healthcare insurance to cover possible accidents at work or while on the way to work, says a state-run insurance company officer.

“Some domestic helpers do not live with their employers. Accident may happen while they are going to their workplace, or during work hour, for example, burn injuries,” PT Jamsostek's Yogyakarta marketing unit head Hasan Fahmi said Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Hasan said that he found it essential to recognize the profession of domestic helpers and therefore provide them with health insurance.

Bali Police Have No Answers as Sixth Schoolgirl Rape Reported

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, April 19, 2010

A 9-year-old girl on Friday became the sixth victim in a spate of schoolgirl rapes that have shocked the resort island of Bali, as police detectives struggle with dead ends in an investigation suggesting a serial rapist is behind the vicious attacks.

Friday’s incident, however, differed from previous cases as the rapist attacked the schoolgirl at her own home on Jalan Pulau Moyo in Denpasar.

Each of the five schoolgirls attacked previously were abducted by a man while on their way home, after being tricked into believing he had been sent by their parents to pick them up.

“The parents of the child are in deep shock,” said Luh Putu Anggreni, from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission.

“They don’t want to report the case to police because their child is severely traumatized.

“The modus operandi was different,” she added. “Before, [the victims] were abducted on their way home from lessons or school. This time, the suspect actually entered the house, pretending to be a guest. The child is currently being treated in the hospital.”

Once again, the attack occurred in broad daylight, at about 12:30 p.m. The victim was alone in the house as both her parents were at work and the maid had gone home early because she was ill.

“[The victim] was all alone,” Anggreni said.

“We’re scheduled to meet with the Bali Police chief on Monday to demand swift action,” she added.

Denpasar Police Chief Gede Alit Widana expressed shock at this latest attack, and said that his officers were doing everything in their power to capture the perpetrator.

“We urge the parents of the girl to file an official report,” he said, adding that sketches of the suspect had been distributed in towns and port areas across the island.

The perpetrator is believed to have a scar on the right side of his nose. Police describe him as being between 25 and 35 years of age, 1.65 meters tall, riding a Yamaha Jupiter motorcycle and wearing a black jacket.

Friday’s attack occurred three days after another 9-year-old girl was abducted and raped on her way home from school. That attack also occurred in broad daylight.

The victim in Tuesday’s attack, a third-grader at Sumerta Elementary School, was found nearly unconscious on Jalan Merdeka in Denpasar. The girl said she had been walking home from school at around 1:30 p.m. when an unknown man on a red motorcycle approached her, saying her parents had sent him to pick her up.

“How is it possible that 1,800 police officers are unable to catch a single perpetrator?” Bali Police Chief Sutisna said during a visit to the school.

“If police see a man with a school-age child on a motorcycle, stop him. Ask if they’re related.”

Two officers have been deployed to patrol every elementary school in Denpasar during class hours.

The youngest of the six victims is a 7-year-old girl, police say.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Bust Reveals Major Drug Dealers Operating from Behind Bars

Jakarta Globe, April 16, 2010

Officials adopting an unusual approach to destroying ecstasy during a recent news conference in the capital. Jakarta Police on Friday launched a major drugs bust resulting in the closure of an ecstasy factory. (Antara Photo/Fanny Octavianus)

In yet another major blow to the credibility of the Indonesian prison system, Jakarta Police have busted two prisoners operating a major ecstasy supply ring.

The involvement of the prisoners was discovered during the raid on ecstasy factory in East Pluit, North Jakarta, on Friday.

Chief Comr. Anjan Pramuka Putra, head of the Jakarta Police's narcotics division, said factory produced 1,000 ecstasy pills a day generating Rp 6 billion ($665,000) a month.

He said the alleged owner of the factory, YM, was arrested along with three accomplices, identified as AP, IW and AN.

“We are still investigating if they are part of a drug ring,” Anjan told SCTV.

Anjan said police machine used in the manufacture of the popular drug, as well as 46,000 pills and the raw materials used to produce them, including methamphetamine.

He said the pills had been ordered by two inmates at Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta.

Comr. Kristian Siagian, head of the narcotic division with West Jakarta Police, told the Jakarta Globe that the imates used cellphones to order the pills and relied on a courier to deliver them. The courier is still at large. The prisoner were not identified.

“The Salemba inmates would buy the pills and sell it outside the penitentiary, not inside,” he said.

There have been a string of recent cases involving crimes being committeed from behind the bars of the nation's notoriously poor prisons, often with the use of cellphones.

Last week, Surabaya Police discovered an inmate has been running a syndicate of counterfeiters from his cell.

Last month, terrorist Iwan Dharmawan, also known as Rois Abu Syaukat, was found to have had eight cellphones with him while an inmate at Jakarta’s Cipinang Prison, which he had used to communicate with a terrorist network in Aceh.

Last year, Jet Lie Chandra, a death row convict in Pondok Bambu Penitentiary in East Jakarta, was found to have been running a drug-distribution business from behind bars.

The country’s overcrowded prisons, where inmates vastly outnumber prison guards, are known to be plagued by corruption, drug abuse and trafficking, and human rights violations by both guards and inmates.

The latest drug bust is the first this month. On March 23, Jakarta Police announced that they had confiscated about $22 million worth of narcotics from an ecstasy and methamphetamine laboratory in what they are calling the biggest drug raid in the capital this year.

The raid was carried out on Monday at a house in the Citra Housing Complex in Kalideres, West Jakarta, following a two-month surveillance operation.

Police displayed 50,000 ecstasy pills, 60 kilograms of ecstasy ingredients, 200 kg of methamphetamine and 30 kg of methamphetamine ingredients along with acetone and methanol — just some of the evidence collected from the house that is estimated to be worth Rp 200 billion.

In February, Police raided a home in Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, discovering a methamphetamine factory allegedly run by a family. The raid took place at Villa Permata Lippo Karawaci on Jalan Taman Parahyangan. Police confiscated 200 grams of ready-to-sell methamphetamine.

Narcotics are a major problem in Indonesia, particularly Jakarta.

Anger over slow response to rapes

Luh De Suriyani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali | Thu, 04/15/2010 10:51 PM

A spate of child-rape cases against elementary school girls in Denpasar has sparked anger among parents and children’s groups, who believe local authorities have reacted too slowly.

Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika was visibly upset as he addressed the media, urging police to hunt down those responsible.

“I implore the police to quickly find these heartless perpetrators,” Pastika said, giving law enforcers a one-week deadline to solve the case.

The governor also asked parents and schools to tighten their security to help prevent any similar cases in the future.

Since February this year, five young girls aged between seven and 12 years old have been abducted and sexually assaulted.

The latest case happened last Tuesday, when a 10-year old girl was abducted and raped by an unidentified man. The modus of the crime was similar to previous attacks. The attacker picked the girl up from her school in Tanjung Bungkak, East Denpasar, before taking her to a secluded area and raping her.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Drug smuggling attempt foiled in East Java

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/14/2010 4:27 PM

Police foiled on Wednesday an attempt to smuggle 502 grams of drugs worth Rp 1 billion (US$111,000) in Tulungagung, East Java.

Police also arrested a middleman, Titus, when he was about to take the crystal methamphetamin or locally known as shabu-shabu package from a courier service.

"We receive information that the drug package is sent from Jakarta to Tulungagung," East Java Police detective chief Sr. Comr. Erwin Azhar Siregar said as quoted by kompas.com.

He added police had monitored the drug network for a week before capturing Titus red-handed. Police were still hunting other suspects.

Some 37 illegal immigrants nabbed in West Java

Antara News, Wednesday, April 14, 2010 11:03 WIB

Sukabumi, W Java (ANTARA News) - Some 37 illegal immigrants from the Middle East were nabbed by Sukabumi police early Wednesday morning.

They were arrested at Palampang beach, Ciemas subdistrict in Sukabumi, West Java, when they were about to board a boat for Christmas Island. Palampang beach is quite close to the Australian island of Christmas.

They were herded to Ciemas police office and then driven to Sukabumi immigration office for further investigation.

Chief of Sukabumi police criminal investigation unit Adjunct Commissioner Suciptono also confirmed that the 37 illegal immigrants were captured early Wednesday morning at Palampang beach.

"We have nabbed the 37 illegal immigrants from the Middle East and now they are still at Ciemas police station," Suciptono said they would be driven to Sukabumi immigration office at 9 on Wednesday morning.

But he made no mention on whether they would remain in Indonesia or be deported to their country of origin.

"We will hand over the illegal immigrants to the immigration office to decide whether they should be deported or not," Suciptono said.

Meanwhile, it was reported from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Monday, April 12, 2010, that a total of 135 illegal immigrants had been caught in the province over the past few months and they were still staying at a local immigration detention center.

They came from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, were arrested by the police and immigration authorities in Kupang, I Gusti Ngurah Rai, head of the Kupang Immigration Detention Center, said on Monday.

The detained illegals were still waiting for a clarification process to be conducted by the UNHCR and the International Organization of Migration (IOM).

The majority of the detainees were Afghans, he said, adding that they were not in possession of legal travel documents when caught.

The illegal immigrants mostly wanted to go to Australia as asylum seekers but while waiting for the UNHCR and IOM`s clarification process, the police had sent them to the detention center, he said.

Anti-rape condom ready for SA World Cup

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 13 April 2010 - 7:36pm

The Rape-aXe (Photo: Rape-aXe)

A South African doctor wants to distribute 30,000 free anti-rape condoms for women ahead of the football World Cup. Dr Sonnet Ehlers first developed the special condom five years ago and says it is now ready for widespread use.

The Rape-aXe, as it is called, is a condom women can insert themselves. The interior has tiny spines which, in case of rape, attach to the man's penis.

Dr Ehlers emphasizes that they do not draw blood, since this would increase the danger of HIV infection. However, they do cause a great deal of pain if the man tries to remove the condom. The condom has to be removed in hospital, she says, which means the rapist can immediately be arrested.

Critics argue that the Rape-aXe could work as a provocation and the rapist is likely to become more violent when he realises he has been trapped.

The anti-rape condom is not yet available in the shops in South Africa and has not yet been tried out on test subjects.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

American Killed by Train in Alleged Suicide

Jakarta Globe, April 13, 2010

Police evacuated RR from the railway in Bandung, West Java (Photo Courtesy SCTV)

An American man may have committed suicide by standing in front of a train at a railway crossing on Jalan Merdeka in Bandung, West Java, on Monday night, according to reports.

SCTV reported that police suspected the man, identified as RR and whose passport was issued in California, appeared to have killed himself because he ignored warning shouts from passersby that a train was approaching.

The body was dragged for at least 10 meters.

Bandung Police said they would notify the US Embassy about the incident.

Middle East countries agree to improve protection of RI workers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/13/2010 7:05 PM

Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have agreed to improve protection of Indonesian migrant workers employed in the Middle East countries.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar had visited the four countries and discussed efforts to protect Indonesia’s migrant workers, Secretary of the Directorate General for Workers' Training and Placement, Abdul Malik Harahap, said Tuesday.

Qatar, UAE and Lebanon have signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering health services and working hours. Saudi Arabia has yet to sign pending its drafting of new legislation on migrant workers, especially those working as domestic helpers.

“A total of nine countries have already signed the MoU,” the Director of Migrant Worker Placement, Rostiawati, told The Jakarta Post, citing Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and UAE.

Indonesia hopes to improve its migrant workers’ situation by guaranteeing their basic rights and improving their placement.

“There are still some of our workers in shelters in Qatar; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and in Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, waiting to be sent home,” Rostiawati added. (ipa)

‘Mentally Ill’ Schapelle Corby Appeals to SBY for Clemency

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, April 12, 2010

Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby has taken the necessary legal steps to formally appeal to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for clemency and release from prison or for a reduction of her sentence for humanitarian reasons because she is mentally ill.

Corby’s appeal claims that she has become insane during her time at Kerobokan Prison in Bali.

The former beauty therapist, an Australian citizen, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after she was arrested at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai Airport in October 2004 carrying 4.1 kilograms of marijuana.

“The papers have been sent off [to the Supreme Court] on March 31,” said Gede Ketut Rantam, a court clerk at the Denpasar District Court.

He said the Supreme Court would forward the documentation to Yudhoyono.

“Considering that there is a formal criminal sentence, the convict has requested clemency from the Indonesian president in the form of a reduction in sentence, or release from jail,” said the appeal, which was forwarded by Corby through her lawyer, Iskandar Nawing. Last August, a psychiatrist reported that Corby’s mental health was deteriorating.

A decision from Yudhoyono could take many months.

Aside from documentation of rulings issued in the case, letters from two separate psychiatrists, one from Denny Thong, who examined Corby for a five-day period last May, were attached to the request for clemency.

Denny’s letter states that Corby is suffering from severe depression and is showing symptoms of psychosis, and recommends that she be moved to an environment which could provide her with proper, regulated medication in order to deal with her condition. Another psychiatric examination by Jonathan Phillips was conducted on Aug. 13, 2009.

Phillips again evaluated Corby during a visit to her prison in Bali this month and warned that her mental health was rapidly deteriorating.

“She is lost in her own bewildering world where fantasy, hallucinations and bizarre ideas dominate her mind,” Phillips said, according to a report in New Idea magazine.

Phillips, a former president of the Psychiatrist’s Guild of Australia and New Zealand, said Corby was “hanging by a thread” and needed to be moved.