SCAM artists from Nigeria are continuing to pester an increasing number of individuals

in Cambodia with their hocus-pocus, multi-million dollar offers of free money. All

one has to do is give over one's bank account number so these guys can gut your funds

first. After exhaustive discussions by a Special Task Force set up to examine the

problem, if you receive an email inquiry from anyone offering $30,000,000 or whatever

here's the suggested course of action. Send back a reply as follows: "Dear Sir,

Your message has been forwarded to the InterPol office in Lagos. They should be visiting

you shortly to discuss your business proposal in greater detail."

Barnaby Jones, who first gained international fame when the poem "The Ballad

of Barnaby Jones" (PPP, April 19-May 2, 1996) saluted his exploits, is now the

proud father of an eight-pound baby boy named Jamie Bitenyo-Jones, born in Rwanda

(or maybe Kenya-it was unclear from the exuberant dad's message).

In response to the regular stream of requests that come to this newspaper on the

whereabouts and welfare of Nate Thayer, here's the latest. Nate is in good health,

living on his farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. With a USG subsidy, he has just

finished planting 18,000 trees, thereby converting cropland to more environmentally-friendly

woodlands. His long-awaited book, documenting the search for and interview with Pol

Pot, among other Cambodia-related tales, is expected out in December this year. Carol

and Nate are kept in good company by two dogs ('Sport' and 'Scoop'), two cats, one

cow, some goats, and a bunch of ducks and chickens.

A fond farewell from friends and relatives of Charly Maurer, the gentleman Swiss

proprietor of La Paillote. Charly set the standards for fine cuisine in Phnom Penh

back in 1992 when his establishment caught the round eyes of heaps of UNTACers yearning

for a square meal. Charly, suffering from a prolonged illness, died on May 3 in Ho

Chi Minh City. A friend, Peter Fassler, wrote: "Charly was no stranger to a

good glass of wine and puffed away quite a lot. When addressing the problem he replied

that he preferred to be 50 years a part of the action rather than 70 years a by-stander.

Well, this morning he left for good in his last year of his 50s..."