The games men play!

World Cup fever has come and gone and, now that temperatures have dropped, cooler

heads are looking at ways to improve the quality and integrity of the planet's most

popular sport.

The Gecko has learned from sources deep inside football officialdom that a new penalty

card may be announced soon which is designed to keep players from faking injuries

and whining so gratuitously before millions of unimpressed fans and TV viewers.

Called the "cry-baby card", any player deemed over-acting in the hopes

of tricking referees into believing that some serious injury has actually been sustained

will be forced to put on a pair of diapers over his shorts and continue playing.

For a second violation, the nappied player will be suspended for five minutes and

sent to sit in a playpen on the sidelines.

** Journalists are unbiased, right? And they always try and cover all sides of the

issue in question, right?

The Post received an email from a reporter based in Europe who will arrive in a few

days and needs some help. The request was: "....right now I need to get hold

of some kind of diplomatic sources who off the record will say that the current political

climate in Cambodia will not result in a free and fair election. So if you can think

of any good names of persons to call at the Phnom Penh embassies - British, American,

Canadian, Australian or whatever - I would be very grateful if you would email them

to me."

** The CamNet Community Bulletin Board has some interesting opportunities on it.

When you click on "Cambodian People's Party (CPP)" the next page that comes

up reads: "Earn Extra Income. $100,000 Guaranteed! Click Here". Further

on, net surfers are introduced to William G. Fisher, authorized agent Allegro global

marketing Inc. and the Super Power Income 100% Turn Key Business with a Lifetime

Royalty!

Heaps of details follow on how the plan works including: "Don't sign up before

you see our members commission checks and bank deposits and then call their bank

for information."

** The monkeys at Angkor Wat are not very happy. They tore down the campaign posters

put up on trees by the Ung Huot's party.

However, the view from Phnom Penh is different. Said one voter: "The man who

protects trees the most is Ung Huot because his picture is on every one in town."