Watch out for the two meter high sand piles along Mao Tse Tung Boulevard. On several

occasions they have run into autos causing severe damage to both vehicles and passengers.

One motorist was hit by one of the mounds after an extended cocktail hour; apparently

the heap of dirt leapt out viciously at the unsuspecting traveler. Another swerved

to avoid a moto, only to hit a pile and have his car flipped over. Luckily, the driver

survived the accident, just barely. His car was less fortunate: bad guys with guns

gutted it - tires and all - inspite of the cops best efforts to protect the vehicle.

** Reliable sources say Ta Mok has fled Anlong Veng and may be...er...um...somewhere

in Thailand?

** The American-Cambodian Business Council made recent guest speaker Cham Prasidh

an honorary member of the prestigious organization, but was unable to present him

with his membership certificate as key executives were out of town and the document

could not be signed in time for the luncheon. Quick witted Prasidh, one of the Kingdom's

more astute ministers, noted that if the Americans could invite him to join their

club without a signature, he was sure the Kingdom could also join ASEAN now and pass

the 19 laws required to do so at some point down the road.

** BELIEVE IT, OR NOT. Bert Hoak, of the world famous Bert's Books & Guest

House, reports that his 18-month-old son Jimmie could just well be the next Albert

Einstein. The young tyke had a toy taken away from him for unclear reasons and put

on one of the book shelves out of reach of the rambunctous lad.

The kid's parents thought they could take a breather. Wrong!

Little Jimmie isn't in school yet but he does know his books. He put together a pile

of 15 so he could stand on them to get the toy back. And the genius of his ploy,

as Bert found out, was that the books were stacked in perfect alphabetical order.

Bert is reported to have told his wife: "See! He got his intelligence from me."

His everloving bride, reflecting on the enormous financial success of their business

enterprise, is reported to have muttered under her breath: "Indeed, I guess

that's why you don't have any."

** It seems that some of the Kingdom's embassies abroad are having trouble

getting their paychecks, with perhaps one exception which has lead some diplomats

to dub the well-funded embassy in France "MFP" - Most Favored Posting.

** A government official recently asked Agriculture Minister Tao Seng Huor

a good question: Why are we exporting timber and importing toothpicks? Allegedly,

the Minister was not amused.

** The Irish Rover is no longer Irish. Publican Jimmy, who hails from county

Corked, has sold out to Ozzie Peewee. The name will stay and Peewee plans to add

a kitchen so he can start serving food real soon.

** You can't have it both ways. The rains have started with a gush and everyone

is sighing with relief that the heat may be behind us for a spell. But now the mosquitos

are back, refreshed by the splash and hungry for some of that red stuff.

** A debate was underway on whether or not the death penalty was justifiable.

One very caring soul who works for an NGO - whose acronym rhymes with wetroubleyou

- was arguing vehemently against executing criminals on moral grounds. When asked

what a more humanitarian approach would be to deal with mass murderers, he replied

tenderly: "Toss them in a cell, throw away the key and put them on bread and

water."