Blogger Auto Pagination Speeds Page Loads but Angers Bloggers

Susan's Blogging Blog, by Susan Gunelius, Thursday February 25, 2010

Last week, Blogger rolled out Auto Pagination, which automates the amount of content that is displayed on Blogger blog pages based on the amount of HTML and and images on each page. Google claimed that the purpose behind the change is to speed page load time. For example, with the new Auto Pagination feature, a Blogger blog might be limited to only display two posts per page if those posts include a lot of images. Visitors would need to click on the Next Post link to view additional posts from the blog.

While the change is unlikely to affect a lot of smaller bloggers, it has caused concern from larger bloggers, particularly those who use Blogger for photo blogs or blogs that are image-intensive, such as celebrity fan bloggers.

Many of the Blogger users who found their blogs suddenly altered to display only a couple of posts per page blogged about the new Blogger Auto Pagination feature in order to complain about the change. According to some of the more vocal bloggers, they were able to email Google and work with them to modify their blogs so the Auto Pagination feature doesn't affect their blogs. If you use Blogger and dislike the Auto Pagination feature, be sure to contact Blogger support and voice your concerns.

Has the new Blogger Auto Pagination function affected your blog or any of the blogs that you read? Leave a comment and share your experiences.

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Another disaster

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press | Wed, 02/24/2010 4:20 PM

Another disaster: Rescuers evacuate the body of a landslide victim from the ruins of buildings in Ciwidey district, West Java, Indonesia, Wednesday. Days of heavy rain prompted the landslide Tuesday afternoon at the mountainous tea plantation, killing over a dozen people and destroying scores of homes. AP/Irwin Fedriansyah

News focus: many RI regions on dengue alert, death toll reaches tens

Antara News, by Andi Abdussalam, Wednesday, February 24, 2010 16:12 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Health authorities in many parts of Indonesia have alerted their respective communities to the threat of dengue fever in the current monsoon season (January-March) with the disease having already killed tens of people and infected hundreds of others, mostly in East and West Nusa Tenggara provinces.

According to ANTARA reports, at least eight people had succumbed to the disease in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and over 570 sufferers had to be hospitalized in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) while in West Java`s Taskimalaya, local health officials have declared dengue outbreaks a pandemic.

Dengue fever cases have also been reported happening in other provinces such as East Java, North Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

The most affected province is West Nusa Tenggara. Since January, a total of 571 people had contracted the disease. Luckily however, no death has been registered in the province.

"The 571 patients are recorded in 10 districts," said Dr Ida Bagus Jelantik, head of West Nusa Tenggara Disease and Environmental Control Office said.

NTB`s provincial capital of Mataram saw the biggest number of patients reaching 368, followed by West Lombok 52, East Lombok 46 and West Sumbawa 31 cases. Other cases were found in Central Lombok, Bima City, Sumbawa, Dompu, North Lombok and Bima.

In East Nusa Tenggara province, dengue fever has killed at least eight patients. The number of people who died of dengue fever, rose from five in January to eight.

The latest two deaths this weekend were Maria Tiara (9 months old), and another infant at Kobatoma village, Titehena sub district, East Flores District, NTT, Dr Stefanus Bria Seran, head of the NTT provincial health service, said. The seven fatalities were all children, he said.

Dengue fever has affected eight districts in NTT, including East Flores, Sikka, Kupang, Belu, Ende, Alor, and Nagekeo districts. In Sikka, there have been 251 cases of dengue fever, Kupang 279 cases, Belu 32 cases, Ende six cases, Alor eight cases, and Nagekeo six cases with two children had died.

The East Nusa Tenggara authorities have declared the dengue fever outbreak in Kupang city and Sikka District as extraordinary happening.

In East Java, dengue fever has claimed the lives of at least 9 patients in Mojokero, Madiun and Kediri.

In Mojokerto district alone, dengue fever killed four resident. The dengue virus has also infected 125 other residents, Head of Mojokerto`s Disease Prevention and Surveillance, dr.Benhardy, said. "The only sub-districts which have remained free from the dengue fever attacks are Pacet and Trawas," he said.

The number of cases tended to keep increasing during the rainy season. Last week, victims were recorded at 110 patients but this week the number had increased to 125, he said.

"Learning from last year`s experience, despite the end of rainy season (in April), the dengue fever will remain possible until May or June," he said.

In Kediri, the dengue fever had also killed at least two people last week. The victims were identified as Lorde Bintang S. and Anggoro. While in another East Java`s town Madiun , dengue spread had also killed three people.

"Over the past two months, dengue has infected 66 residents, three of them had died," Head of Madiun`s Disease Prevention and Surveillance office, Sulistyo Widyantono, said.

Dengue fever last year killed only two victims in the January-February period. But last year, the number of dengue patient in the same period in this city reached 193.

In the meantime, the West Java district of Tasikmalaya`s health authorities have declared dengue fever cases a pandemic in three subdistricts during the ongoing rainy season.

The dengue fever-affected subdistricts were Tawang, Cihideung and Cipedes, Head of Tasikmalaya`s disease surveillance and environmental health, Hasni Mukti, said here Tuesday.

"Most of the dengue fever patients were found in the three subdistricts," he said. In January 2010, there were 97 dengue fever cases in the three subdistricts. The number was higher than that of the same period in 2009, which was recorded at 93, he said.

Mukti said the health authorities found 1,100 dengue fever cases in the regency last year. January, February and March were the peak months of this Aedes mosquitoes-caused disease.

The subdistricts of Tawang, Cihideung and Cipedes had been the dengue fever endemics since 1997 because majority of the patients were from there out of 10 subdistricts in Tasikmalaya, he said.

In other West Java town of Cimahi, residents were warned of the danger of dengue fever out break, pending the peak of the rainy season in February and March 2010.

"The peak of the rainy season may occur in January, February to March this year, during which dengue cases may increase during that time, and the general public had been urged to watch it out," Deputy Director of Cibabat general hospital Huzen Rachman said.

According to the Cibabat hospital, in mid-December 2009 there were 45 cases per day, which in mid-January 2010 increased to 60 per day. Cases in Cimahi in 2009 reached 2,026, with seven deaths, while in 2008 the cases reached only 1,250 with six deaths.

Death cases in dengue outbreak in the current rainy season are also found in Kalimantan.

In South Kalimantan provincial capital Banjarmasin, four people died of dengue infection since January this year. All of the death victims were infants or children under five years old, according to the head of South Kaliantan Health Service, Diah R P.

In Central Kalimantan, five have died of dengue fever. "The death cases happened after the extraordinary happening was declared early last month," Wineini Marhaeni Rubay of the Central Kalimantan Health Service said.

In the meantime, in Manado, North Sulawesi, a total of 40 patients have been affected by the spread of dengue fever while in Ambon, Maluku Province, a five year old child has also died of the disease.

Poorest Donate Most To Red Cross Efforts

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, February 23, 2010

Indonesian Red Cross members conducting an information campaign against flu. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

According to the Jakarta Red Cross’s fundraising figures, the capital’s less-affluent residents are more charitable than the moneyed.

Rini Sutiyoso, general secretary for the aid organization, said on Tuesday that of the more than Rp 12 billion ($1.3 million) it collected in 2009, about three-quarters came from low- to middle-income donors.

“I am very happy to announce that the total funds raised for 2009 have increased 13.8 percent from the previous year to Rp 12.43 billion,” Rini said, adding that the fact that 73 percent of the amount they raised in 2009 came from the lower-income brackets marked a new development for the organization.

Economically challenged East Jakarta raised the most for the Red Cross, contributing Rp 2.97 billion, while the Thousand Islands pitched in the least with Rp 34.3 million.

East Jakarta raised 18.6 percent more than last year, said Fajar Panjaitan, chairman of the Red Cross 2009 Fundraising Committee.

The Red Cross’ fundraising is usually through purchase-points, where people can buy donation coupons for Rp 500, Rp 1,000, Rp 2,000 and Rp 5,000. To be fair, this year they are planning to give the wealthy more opportunities to show their generous side.

“For our 2010 annual fundraising, which will start in September, we are going to target high schools, shopping centers, malls and universities with more than 20,000 students,” she said.

“For next year the Red Cross is going to increase the coupon value, and we are going to open 10 outlets at malls and shopping centers,” she said, adding that the Indonesian Red Cross was planning to open another 100 separate outlets throughout the country.

Governor Fauzi Bowo, who said he was pleased with the results of the fundraising, suggested a review and consultation with professionals in order to increase the Jakarta Red Cross’ appeal to other economic groups.

“We should also think about signing a memorandum of understanding with broadcast companies, such as private television and radio companies, to extend our reach, and also with the Jakarta chapter of the Moslem Charitable Donation Board [Bazis] to increase the effectiveness of the synergy in channeling the funds to those who need them most,” he added.

PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol was the highest contributor among state-owned enterprises, while the top donor among government institutions was the Basic Education Unit at the Jakarta Education Office. The Indonesian Association of Movie Entrepreneurs (GPBSI) was the largest private donor.

Drug smuggler arrested at Jakarta airport

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 02/23/2010 11:30 AM | Jakarta

Customs office at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta announced Tuesday that they had arrested an Indian national for allegedly smuggling seven kilograms of ketamine into the country.

Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, the Customs office chief of investigations, said Tuesday that the suspect, identified as Najamudeen Kamaludeen, had been arrested on arrival on a Singapore Airline flight on Monday afternoon.

X-ray scanning found that the suspect had hidden the drug under 10 wooden picture frames and six leather bags.

Earlier this month, customs officer at Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali, arrested a 35-year-old Indian national for allegedly carrying 9.8 kilogram of ketamine inside a water heater.

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

Court Approves Extradition of Australian Wanted on Drugs Charges

Jakarta Globe, February 22, 2010

An Indonesian court on Monday approved the extradition to Australia of a man wanted on drugs charges there.

Timothy Geoffrey Lee, 45, was arrested on the resort island of Bali last month at the request of Australian police, officials said.

“We accept the request from the Australian government... to extradite Australian citizen Timothy Geoffrey Lee,” judge Daniel Palitin told Denpasar district court.

Lee, who also holds a British passport, is wanted over the alleged possession of chemicals used to make methamphetamines linked to a multi-million-dollar drugs bust in New South Wales in 2006.

The suspect will be held in Bali’s Kerobokan prison until President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signs off on the extradition request and a date is fixed, prosecutors said.

AFP

Researchers Say Toxic Pesticides Poisoning Indonesia's Farmers

Jakarta Globe, Fidelis E Satriastanti, February 21, 2010

Farmers spreading fertilizer on a rice field in Kediri, East Java.

Nusa Dua. As Indonesia hosts an international meeting on toxic and hazardous chemicals here, a nongovernmental organization said on Sunday that an increase in the country’s pesticide use had resulted in the poisoning of farmers.

That claim was made by Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) in its latest report, “Asian Regional Report on Community Monitoring of Highly Hazardous Pesticide Use.” The report was released before the 11th Simultaneous Extraordinary Meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, which opens today and runs through Wednesday.

The study was conducted in 2008 in collaboration with local partner organizations from eight countries — Indonesia, Cambodia, China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam — with 1,304 farmers as respondents. It found that 66 percent of the active ingredients in pesticides used on vegetables, cotton, paddy rice and other crops were highly hazardous, according to PAN International classification criteria.

In Indonesia, the study was conducted by Gita Pertiwi, a green group focusing on pesticide issues. The group interviewed 100 farmers in Wonosobo, Central Java, in 2008.

Rosanna Dewi, executive director of Gita Pertiwi, said all of the respondents said they had suffered health problems, ranging from mild headaches to fainting and diabetes.

“All of the respondents, 39 females and 61 males, have found themselves manifesting symptoms caused by pesticides, from nausea and headaches to more serious problems like diabetes and cancer,” Rosanna said.

She said blood tests performed by health agencies had confirmed that 90 percent of the farmers had been poisoned by pesticides. She added that the problem was exacerbated by the rise in the different types of pesticides used in the country.

“In 2008, there were 1,702 kinds of pesticides [in Indonesia] coming from 353 companies. But now we have 1,822 from 273 companies,” Rosanna said. “The reason the numbers keep increasing is that [farmers] are tempted by rewards for buying certain products, for example, offers of a hajj trip.”

She added that farmers received little information on how to safely use of the pesticides.

“Based on FAO [UN Food and Agriculture Organization] standards, [farmers] should wear gloves, long sleeves, plastic coveralls and a hat, but they’ve always said it was too hot,” she said, adding that women should not be allowed to spray pesticides because it put them at risk of reproductive health problems.

Rosanna said the herbicide Paraquat continued to be used in the country, mostly on palm oil plantations.

“The substance is already banned based on the Rotterdam [Convention], but unfortunately we have not ratified it yet. It is very effective in killing weeds, but it can cause cancer much more quickly than other substances,” she said, adding that the Agriculture Ministry issued a ministerial regulation in 2007 that said only certified farmers could spray Paraquat.

PAN AP executive director Sarojeni Rengam said governments should phase out hazardous pesticides and phase-in non-chemical pest management approaches.

“Support needs to focus on the investigation, education and promotion of agro-ecological practices, biodiversity-based ecological agriculture and integrated pest management,” Rengam said.

Soekarno-Hatta Airport Reports Biggest Drug Catch

Tempo Interactive, Friday, 19 February, 2010 | 20:25 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: About 9,5 kilograms of methamphetamine had been seized by customs officials at Soekarno Hatta Airport and one Iranian arrested in the biggest drug bust at the airport to date, authorities said on Friday (19/2).

The drug came in on February 12th through Etihad Airways' EY 472 flight cargo from Teheran, packed in about eight packages of marble home decorations. But the bust was not made until an Iranian picked up the packages at the airport on on February 18th.

A local aviation company PT JAS according to authorities handled the ground and cargo service for the packages.

Head of the Enforcement and Investigation Section of the Customs Office Gatot Sugeng Wibowo said 9,56 kilograms of methamphetamine found stuffed inside the marble decorations with a total weight of 1,200 kilograms.

Baduri Wijayanta Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Customs Office said it was the biggest drug smuggling scheme through cargo in the history of the Customs Office, estimated to worth around Rp20 billion.

Authorities have detected the drugs since its arrival and began to watch closely on every Iranian arriving at the airport. Five days after the packages arrived an Iranian arrived on a Qatar Airways and came to claim the package on February 17th.

The suspect identified as Mehdi Tajbakhsh Valadi could not complete the pick up on the same day as he was in short of cash, and returned on Freburay 18th to complete the pick up.

Methamphetamine is a category I drug under Indonesian law which bears a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison or death penalty for cases involving more than five grams of the drug.

JONIANSYAH | AYU CIPTA

Four American dentists deported

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 02/18/2010 4:54 PM

Meulaboh Immigration Office in the Aceh regency of West Aceh has deported four US dentists for misusing their tourist visas.

Immigration officer Suryo Santoso said Thursday the four dentists arrived in West Aceh on Thursday last week. Instead of enjoying their holiday, the dentists opened free medical services for about a week in the Buddha Tzu Chi housing complex in Meureubo district, he added.

The four dentists are identified as Steven Kyle Cromwell, 50, of Missisippi, William Clinton Sasser, 67, of Alabama, John Zechariah Thobaben, 30, of Connecticut and Michael Lee Fredman, 44, of Missouri.

“They will be banned from visiting Indonesia for a year in accordance with the immigration law,” said Suryo as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Cromwell had several time visited Aceh for humanitarian missions with an international non-governmental organization, he added.

Jakarta police bust drugs factory in apartment

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 02/18/2010 3:09 PM | Jakarta

The Jakarta Police raided an alleged drugs factory at an apartment in Sunter Agung Podomoro, North Jakarta, arresting one suspect.

Sr. Comr. Anjan P Putra, chief of the police drugs unit, told Antara news agency that during the raid they arrested a man, identified as Jansen, who allegedly produced drugs at the apartment.

The police confiscated 67 ecstasy pills, 25,000 nimetazepam pills (also known as Happy Five pills), two kilograms of powdered ketamin and five kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

Anjan said the raid was a result of an investigation into another drugs case in which a drug dealer, Dedi (27), was arrested in Mangga Dua, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Police had earlier confiscated 55,000 ecstasy pills, 15,050 Happy Five pills, 230 grams of ketamine and 13o grams of crystal meth from Dedi.

917m Asians Now Live in Extreme Poverty: Report

Jakarta Globe, February 17, 2010

A woman cleaning her child in a North Jakarta slum. According to the city’s Public Works Office data, 70 percent of the country is forced to wash in contaminated water. (Photo: Afriadi Hikmal, JG)

Manila. Seventeen million Asians have fallen into extreme poverty due to the global financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations said on Wednesday.

And another 4 million could this year slip into the same situation due to the effects of the slump, officials from the two organizations said launching a joint report on poverty alleviation here.

This is on top of the 900 million people in Asia who are already living in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.25 a day.

Asia had shown great progress in bringing people out of poverty in recent years, ADB vice president Ursula Schaefer-Preuss said. “But gains are being reversed due to the economic crisis,” she said.

UN Under-Secretary General Noeleen Heyzer said that people in the export and tourism sectors in Asia had lost and were still losing their jobs due to the crisis, which swept across the globe in late 2008.

Less foreign investment, aid and remittances from overseas workers were further hurting Asia’s poor, Heyzer said.

The report said more women, who form the majority of Asia’s low-skilled and temporary workforce, than men had been forced back into extreme poverty due to the crisis.

UN Assistant Secretary General Ajay Chhibber said the Asia-Pacific was doing quite well in areas such as infrastructure in achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals that are aimed at bringing people out of poverty.

“But it lags woefully behind in social issues,” he said.

Even Latin America and Eastern Europe had better “social protections” than Asia such as pensions and unemployment insurance, Chhibber said.

Only 2 percent to 3 percent of gross domestic product in Asia goes to such social protections, he said, adding that this figure should ideally be 4 percent to 6 percent.

This meant large numbers of Asians could fall back into poverty during the crisis or even during natural disasters, he said.

The report said the could protect itself from future crises though regional cooperation. “Regional cooperation would also be particularly valuable for the trade in food, and could include grain banks that are maintained in each country but readily accessible to others.”

Expanding Asian “monetary and financial coordination would be particularly useful to reduce external shocks such as with the global financial crisis.

Asian nations could consider diversifying their export markets to become less dependent on demand from the West, the joint report advised.

“By lowering trade barriers and creating more opportunity for the Asia-Pacific region to invest within itself, there can be a greater insulation against such crisis in the future.”

JG, AFP

Asia-Pacific MDG progress under threat from global economic crisis

Asian Development Bank

ESCAP, ADB and UNDP joint Report calls for strengthening social protection

MANILA (UN ESCAP Information Services) – A joint report by the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns that the global economic crisis could trap an additional 21 million people in the Asia-Pacific region in extreme poverty, living on less than $1.25 a day.

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10, launched today in Manila, examines the toll that the global economic crisis has taken on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Asia-Pacific region. Produced by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), ADB and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the report identifies opportunities for action – showing how countries of Asia and the Pacific can better protect themselves from this and future crises.

“This report shows that, while we are at a moment of crisis for the MDGs we also have an opportunity,” says Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP at the report launch. “As this crisis has exposed many vulnerabilities in the region – we can now address them and direct this recovery towards a stronger sustainable development path for the Asia-Pacific region.”

"Most stimulus measures have focused on areas other than social expenditures," says Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB Vice President. "If we are to address the human impacts of the economic slowdown and achieve the MDGs, then social spending needs to be stepped up substantially."

"Asia has much weaker social protection compared to other regions such as Latin America and Eastern Europe,” says Ajay Chhibber, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific and UN Assistant Secretary-General. “Without better protection people fall back into poverty with economic crisis, health pandemics and natural disasters and cannot recover easily, making the achievement of MDGs more difficult."

The report notes that long-term social protection can actually strengthen Asia’s resilience against future shocks. Yet the report finds that across the region, only 20 per cent of the unemployed and underemployed have access to labour market programmes such as unemployment benefits, and only 30 per cent of older people receive pensions.

If fiscal stimulus packages have a strong component of social expenditures, notes the report, this is likely to produce a double dividend – not only boosting growth more rapidly but also accelerating progress towards the MDGs.

Prior to the economic crisis, the region as a whole had been making notable gains, including being on track to achieve three important targets: gender parity in secondary education, ensuring universal access of children to primary school, and halving the proportion of people living below the $1.25-a-day poverty line. However, the economic crisis undermined the momentum.

Asia and the Pacific is still the home to the largest number – more than 50 per cent – of people, both rural and urban, without basic sanitation, of under-5 children who are underweight, of people infected with TB, of people living on less than $1.25 a day, and of rural people without access to clean water, according to the report.

It notes that in 2009 the crisis trapped up to an additional 17 million people in extreme poverty, and in 2010, another 4 million, giving a total of 21 million or roughly the equivalent to the population of Australia.

The most adversely affected segment of the population is women, who constitute the majority of Asia’s low-skilled, low-salaried, and temporary workforce that can easily be laid off during economic downturns. Moreover the crisis has reduced the demand for migrant labour – and women form nearly two-thirds of the total Asian migrant population.

The report points to opportunities for the region to protect itself and the MDG progress from future crisis though regional cooperation. Regional cooperation would also be particularly valuable for the trade in food, and could include grain banks that are maintained in each country but readily accessible to others, notes the report.

Expanding Asian monetary and financial coordination would be particularly useful to reduce external shocks such as with the global financial crisis. While fiscal stimulus is the most practical way of filling the gap left by declining exports, in the medium and long term, countries will need to generate domestic demand in a more sustainable way.

Countries can consider diversifying their export markets to become less dependent on demand in the West, suggests the report. They can boost trade within the region by liberalizing trade regimes and improving transport links, simplifying customs and inspection procedures.

By lowering trade barriers and creating more opportunity for the Asia-Pacific region to invest within itself, there can be a greater insulation against such crisis in the future.

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10 is the fourth regional MDG report for Asia and the Pacific produced by the three agencies.

For more information please go to: http://www.mdgasiapacific.org/.

Tangerang Hospital Receives Warning For Hiring Unlicensed Foreign Doctors

Jakarta Globe, February 17, 2010

The Health Ministry has issued a warning to Mayapada Hospital in Tangerang, Banten, for hiring foreign unregistered oncology consultants who did not have a practice license.

“The doctors at Mayapada Hospital did not have any permits. We don’t forbid people from working in Indonesia, but they must follow the rules, so we gave them a warning,” Farid W Husein, the director general of the ministry’s Medical Service Department, told Metro TV on Wednesday.

Farid said that the government had also asked the hospital to announce to the public that they had terminated the service. Previously, Mayapada had placed an advertisement in a national newspaper about the foreign oncologists. The hospital had confirmed they would remove the advertisement and publish an apology.

Farid said the government prevents health institutions from hiring foreign medical workers without official permission from the Health Ministry and Director General of Medical Service. Permission is given based on a recommendation from the local health office and professional organizations.

The Ministry’s legal adviser Faiq Bahfen said that the government would apply penalties to foreign doctors who practiced in Indonesia without registration and a practice permit. The penalty would also apply to the institution that hired them.

“We will look at the regulation and determine the proper penalties,” he said.

Crimes are Not All Equal: SBY

Jakarta Globe, February 17, 2010

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono talking to boys at a juvenile detention center in Tangerang on Tuesday. He called for a more rehabilitative approach in dealing with young offenders. (Rumgapres Photo)

Banten. Indonesia needs a more compassionate justice system that takes into account the circumstances of the poor, children and the elderly who are forced into breaking the law, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday.

“I’ve said that we need to present a form of justice that does not necessarily go along with the law,” he said during an impromptu visit to a juvenile detention center. “Though the law is supposed to embrace justice, there’s always a gap between the two and we need to improve it.”

His high-profile visit with ministers to the Tangerang Juvenile Boys Penitentiary comes amid rising political heat in the run-up to an expected conclusion of the probe into the bailout of Bank Century in 2008. The House of Representatives’ special committee report on the bailout was due on Monday but has been postponed until today.

Yudhoyono said treatment of juvenile prisoners should be different, and called for a more rehabilitative approach. “For example, the violation might be the same, such as stealing,” he said. “But we should consider whether stealing that is carried out by an adult and by a 12-year-old child is the same. The concept of justice should be different.

“We need to review the regulation that says prisoners have to serve half of their punishment before they can apply for probation and remission,” he said.

“Should this be the same for children and adults? I’m not deciding now, but I think it should be different.”

He cited the fact that as many as 70 percent of the more than 100 juvenile inmates in the Tangerang prison were sorry for what they had done and did not want to repeat their crimes.

The president said that especially for those under 15 years old, the concept of correction should be changed into special guidance and education to help them return to the right path.

He also cited people who steal to survive amid abject poverty, as opposed to thieves who steal for profit.

A light violation by an elderly person should be dealt with differently than a violation by a healthy adult, Yudhoyono said, in an apparent reference to the recent case of Minah, a 55-year-old illiterate grandmother arrested for stealing three cocoa pods.

“There should be fair sanction, justice for the weak and the marginalized who commit crimes.”

Yudhoyono said he would carry out a concrete effort to improve regulations, especially regarding juvenile prisoners. “Police, prosecutors and judges should have one mind in bringing justice for these children,” he said.

However, Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist at the University of Indonesia, said the president’s call was a political statement that was unlikely to result in change.

“The president has good rhetoric in his speech, but he has not had a strong willingness to turn it into reality,” Adrianus said.

He said that if Yudhoyono really wanted to introduce changes, he should revise the Criminal Code as well as laws and regulations related to the judicial system.

Seto Mulyadi, the chairman of the National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas Anak), said attention must be paid to the poor condition of children in most juvenile penitentiaries.

“I am very concerned with the condition of our children in juvenile penitentiaries as they are ill-treated by the system as well as their friends,” Seto said. “They are living in inhumane conditions as most of them have to share a cramped room with 20 other prisoners.”

He added that the children bullied each other because they were under stress from being incarcerated.

“They need to express themselves, they need education, and punishing them in jail is not the answer.”

Although he acknowledged that the Tangerang facility was better than other similar institutions, “jails are not the answer to juvenile crimes. The best place for children is in their home with their family.”

According to the State Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, there are 5,760 children currently in jail.

Indonesia threatened by highly pathogenic Avian Influenza

Antara News, Wednesday, February 17, 2010 04:49 WIB

Garut, W Java (ANTARA News) - The bird flu viruses attacking Indonesia have been classified as "highly pathogenic avian influenza" (HPAI), a veterinarian said here Tuesday.

In the West Java district of Garut alone, there were at least 75 cases of HPAI between 2006 and 2010 in which more than 2,893 chickens suddenly died, Dida K.Endang said.

The attacks of bird flu viruses in 48 villages of Garut district over the past four years had sparked fears of human infection, said the head of Garut`s veterinary office.

To protect local residents from the worst possibilities, a total of 7,000 infected chickens were culled.

Local authorities paid the owners a compensation of Rp12,500 (US$1,4) for every culled chicken, Endang said.

However, not all people welcomed the amount of compensation. Instead of giving the positively infected chickens for culling, they hid the poultry and just handed over small chickens, he said.

As a result, the efforts to control and halt the spread of bird flu viruses in Garut district were not so successful. This condition was worsened by the lack of locals` health awareness, he said.

Instead of burning the infected chickens, many Garut residents throw them into rivers, creeks, or ponds. Worse, some even consumed the infected chickens, he said.

In curbing the spread of the dangerous viruses, he urged the people to report any suspicious bird flu cases immediately to 12 bird flu surveillance teams.

The team members would have gone to the suspicious spots within 24 hours. The people could also report the condition to the heads of neighborhoods or villages, he said.

The West Java provincial government had targeted that by 2014 the province would have been free from bird flu viruses, Endang said.

The habit of throwing the bird flu-infected chickens into the river was not only found in Garut but also in such other West Java towns as Bogor.

This situation had also made Head of Bogor City`s Health Office Triawan Elan deeply concerned.

"We have asked local residents, who find chickens suddenly die not to throw them into the rivers but to burn them," Triawan Elan said recently.

He warned that the threats of bird flu viruses remained real after tens of chickens in Caparigi suburb suddenly died.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), avian influenza or "bird flu" is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs.

The WHO has warned that the infection with avian influenza viruses could spread very rapidly through poultry flocks.

Indonesia has 33 provinces. Only three have been confirmed free from the threat of bird flu viruses.

Indonesia has been dealing with bird flu since 2005. However, the H5N1 type influenza is also known to have attacked chicken and birds in other Asian countries, such as Thailand, Cambodia, China, and Vietnam.

Presidential Instruction on child protection soon : minister

Antara News, Tuesday, February 16, 2010 22:56 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is soon to issue a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) as the legal basis for concrete action to protect children in the country, a social services official said.

The government`s plan to issue the Inpres was mentioned by Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf al Jufri in a dialogue with participants of a workshop on child welfare here Tuesday, according to Saoto Waluyo, a senior adviser to the minister.

The Inpres would be the legal basis for the launching of national child protection movement, he said.

The minister on the occasion cited official statistical data showing there were 230,000 street children and 5.4 million abandoned ones in Indonensia in 2006. But now the figures had dropped to 147,000 and 4.8 million respectively.

Bigwigs’ visit

The Jakarta Post, Antara | Tue, 02/16/2010 2:11 PM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (left) accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono (fourth left) talk to offenders at a male juvenile detention center in Tangerang, Banten on Tuesday. The President also was accompanied by Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar; Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono; Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto; and Social Services Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri. Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf

SBY tells regions to look up to Tangerang

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Tue, 02/16/2010 6:59 PM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono praised the Tangerang municipality on Tuesday for its development programs that focused on education and health.

The President also asked other regional administrations to learn from Tangerang.

“This is a big achievement that I have to appreciate,” Yudhoyono said during a visit to SMK 3 state public vocational school on Jl. M. Yamin.

Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim told the President that his administration had provided free education to children of 92,000 poor families. Each family receives a multi-purpose card that ensures its members will receive free access to education and healthcare.

Accompanying the President were First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, nine Cabinet ministers and Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiah.

The President also visited a special detention center for juveniles.

Hospital Says It Did Not Deny Treatment to Baby With Swollen Head

Jakarta Globe, February 16, 2010

A newborn baby suffering from hydrocephalus, a potentially deadly condition where excess fluid forms in the brain causing the head to swell, in Banda Aceh. A Jakarta hospital has denied allegations that it refused to treat a baby boy with the condition. (Antara Photo)

The management of a Jakarta hospital has denied allegations that staff refused to treat a two-month old baby suffering from hydrocephalus, a potentially deadly condition where excess fluid forms in the brain.

The marketing head at Central Jakarta’s Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Dr Abdullah Antaria, said that the baby boy, whose name is Muhammad Toriq, had received several treatments from the hospital, including special medication that must be taken before undergoing a head scan on February 24.

However, Toriq was not considered to be an urgent patient, therefore staff did not recommend him to be hospitalized, the doctor told Metro TV.

Meanwhile, the hospital’s director Akmal Taher said staff decided not to hospitalize the baby because his condition was stable and he only required minor treatment.

“We will only treat him if within 48 hours he needs to be operated on or if his condition is very weak,” Akmal told detik.com.

He said that rooms for hydrocephalus patients are limited.

“Our beds are always 80 percent full so the priority is for patients who need urgent treatment or immediate action,” he added.

Toriq is the son of Romi Dona and Fitriani from Cilegon, Banten. Toriq and his parents are currently staying in a mosque on Jalan Kimia in the Menteng area. Toriq’s head is swelling rapidly and now has a diameter of 50 cm, they said.

Hi father Romi Dona said the hospital only gave the infant head ointment and that the parents’ request for hospitalization and immediate action were not heeded. The low-income family is covered by public health insurance, or Jamkesmas.

Size Does Matter For Condom Users: Researchers

Jakarta Globe, February 16, 2010

An Indonesian health officer shows a range of condoms during an anti-HIV/AIDS campaign in Jakarta. (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

A large minority of male condom users complain that ill-fitting prophylactics are liable to split and break during intercourse and be a sexual turnoff, researchers said on Tuesday.

US investigators analysed questionnaires completed by 436 men between the ages of 18 and 67 who had been recruited via ads in newspapers and a blog on the website of a condom sales company.

The volunteers had used condoms for vaginal intercourse in the previous three months.

A remarkable 44.7 percent of the respondents said they had experiences of condoms that were ill-fitting, the doctors found.

Poorly-fitting condoms more than doubled the risk of breakage, slippage, erection loss and difficulty in reaching an orgasm, either by the user or his partner. They were also five times likelier to cause irritation of the penis.

Such problems prompted many users to remove the condom before intercourse ended — a worrying phenomenon in the fight against unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted disease.

The work is reported online by the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, published by the British Medical Association (BMA).

The researchers, led by Richard Crosby and Bill Yarber at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Indiana, acknowledge that the study may have been limited by self-reported data.

Even so, the evidence highlights some worrying problems about the use of condoms, especially as a barrier to sexual pleasure, which made using it a real deterrent for some.

It also shows the need for “public health messages” to enjoin men to get the right size of condom, they said.

On this point, men — and condom manufacturers — will have to deal with the delicate question of penis size, say the authors.

For one thing, widespread pornography may have distorted the male self-image, making it harder for some men to accept that they have a less than gigantic member.

“The old saying is, women don’t have penis envy, men do,” Yarber said.

Condom makers would be advised to start calling their smallest size “large”, and then move on to “extra large” for medium size and so on, he suggested in a podcast (http://podcast.bmj.com/sti).

“Certainly, don’t label them as large, medium or extra small,” he said wryly.

AFP

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