UK sports scientist professional development

Interns required for Fast-track Practitioner Programme@UK SportEach intern will be based at one of the Home Country Sports Institute sites, receiving an overall package worth over £20,000, inclusive of salary and personal development allowance, professional development workshops and mentoring support. Successful interns will undertake a sustained learning experience under the guidance of an

The Thai government have rushed through a "cyber crime" act. The "crimes" in question though don't concern fraud, predators or discrimination, they concern people using 'tricks' to get around the MICT censorship. So for looking at a web forum critical of the junta via a proxy server, you could to jail.

The act was rushed through with votes of 119 to 1. Nobody has raised objections to the dubious speed of the act, the total lack of opposition or the idea of the junta enacting a law forbidding criticism of the junta's self appointed censorship duty that was voted through by errrr, the junta.

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A Buddhist woman was shot and burned alive in the south of Thailand, shortly before the idea of amnesty for terrorists was propagated.
My heart goes out to the deceased and her family.


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On a more positive note, the student newspaper that printed a story about the police extorting money from students has been cleared of police complaints. The police suggested the student paper was not registered under the 1941 publications act, surprisingly this warning came after the aforementioned article concerning police extortion. The National Press Council cleared the newspaper yet the fear of further police action remains.

UK ‘MISSION 2012’

UK SPORT LAUNCHES ‘MISSION 2012’@UK SportBritish sport’s progress towards its Olympic and Paralympic ambitions for 2012 will be more effectively monitored and evaluated than ever before thanks to a major new project announced today by UK Sport, the nation’s high performance sports agency.‘Mission 2012’ has been developed to help each Summer Olympic and Paralympic sport understand how it is

visit

jiss Originally uploaded by Tai Kinu. I went to Korea Institute of Sport Science (KISS) and Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS) in March-April to understand what they are doing in terms of sprorts information database.It was a good experience to meet new people and look facilities.

British talent ID

The 2012 X Factor@BBCBack in February, British Olympic legend Sir Steven Redgrave launched an appeal for tall, sporty types with a hankering for Olympic glory in 2012.It was not an open-ended appeal - the glory on offer was in handball, rowing and volleyball, and you had to be between 16 and 25 years old, 6ft 3in or taller for a man and 5ft 11in or taller for a woman.

The battle of wills between Thai government and Google Youtube stepped up a level this week when the MICT (Ministry for Information Communications Technology) announced it will/want/might/shall sue Youtube.

Rather than repeat an entire story, I will - as a one off - copy the style of other bloggers by copying over the entire Bangkok Post article and offering my own comments on the way.




Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Ministry will sue YouTube.com for running a video clip offending the monarchy, and accused the Internet operator of lying when it claimed it could not remove the clip.

This is the same Sittichi who admits the Internet for him is "not exciting" and confesses he is not "tech savvy" telling the fastest growing internet firm about their own technology.




ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom told a meeting of Webmasters yesterday that he would proceed with court action as suggested by the forum.

He said Google, which owns YouTube, had agreed to China's request that some clips be censored. He said he could not see why YouTube could not do the same for Thailand.
"This YouTube issue is about a private firm in the U.S. trying to bully a small country like Thailand," Mr Sitthichai said.


Yes you got that right. Make no mistake, the MICT are part of the junta. The military coup faction - who took power through tanks, guns and soldiers and then displayed utter incompetence at their job have accused Google You Tube - who have recently spent substantial sums to setting up a charity arm of the company to help impoverished countries - of being "bullies" for not obeying Thailand's lese majeste laws over in America.





The government's decision to block access to the clips was not politically motivated as it was done to prevent public anger from watching them.

Paiboon Amornpinyokiat, consultant of the Thai Webmasters Association, recommended the government secure a court order in the United States to coax YouTube into cooperation. He said the government's approach to the issue may be construed ("construed" as in "clearly was") as an order, to which the Web site may be reluctant to respond.

No mention so far as to what act or law will be used to enforce this. I'm no legal expert, but I fail to see how a law broken in Thailand can be used to sue an American business.


Lese majeste is illegal (in Thailand not in the US!!!!!!) and so it was reasonable for the government to seek a court order (in the US?) to ban the Web site, he said.






The minister and representatives of the association joined a discussion on freedom of expression in the digital age at the Thai Journalists Association on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day yesterday.

Mr Sitthichai, meanwhile, denied the government had violated media freedom, saying it blocked only 16 Web sites as opposed to 9,000 Web sites banned by the previous government.

This is a either an out and out lie, a mistranslation or spin. There are just as many sites blocked now and in fact, I think what Sitthichai means is that they have only blocked sixteen more since he came in. I also view this statistic with great scepticism.


Though non-elected, the government was more democratic, he said. (I'm lost for words here)
Paiboon proposed the government promote self-censorship among Webmasters.
Pantip.com founder Wanchat Padungrat said that instead of blocking Web sites, the government should encourage constructive ways of expression, for the sake of reconciliation. He said a clear and specific law was needed to combat cybercrimes.
Also Thursday, YouTube's owner Google opened an office in Singapore, in a move thought to be unrelated to the Thailand dispute.
The search juggernaut said it wanted to be closer to its customers and advertisers in Southeast Asia, a market of half a billion people.




In addition to the above, the Radio Thailand news bulletin yesterday quoted the MICT as saying( and I quote this carefully) :

"The MICT said the government should look into enforcing its Lese Majeste laws throughout the world"

If you didn't know they mean it, you'd laugh your head off.

HM The King has already said in his birthday speech that he welcomes criticism. However, Lese Majeste laws deter this.

Imagine, you are sitting in a bar in Australia, your home in the States or a library in England. You see a documentary or read a book and you make a comment concerning sufficiency economy or voice concern over certain other issues I dare not mention. If these Junta had their way, you'd be whisked off to a court house. It's bad enough they restrict freedom to their own nation.

To believe they should do it "throughout the world" shows not only how outmoded they are, but just how insecure and out of touch with reality they are to think they have the means, right, respect, or ability to do so.

The good people of Thailand are more than capable of making up their own minds without thought control from the antiqauted junta.

More potshots

Thank goodness April is over. The hottest month of the year is oppressive. It's not just the heat but the accompanying humidity that can be very difficult to live with. Bizarrely, we have since been bestowed with four days of almost endless rain, something unknown to many locals.


The junta continue to establish their legacy as a real life version of Dad's Army. Sections of the US media have attacked Thailand on intellectual property violations and compulsory licensing. The hidden agenda here related to the fact that Abbott Pharmaceuticals have been antagonised by compulsory licensing to their AIDS drug in Thailand. The fact that CL has lowered the price for HIV afflicted consumers is not of their concern. Abbot, along with a US lobbying firm that includes ousted PM Thaksin amongst their clientele, have launched media tirades from across the pond at the Thai government.

The junta have not responded well. As ever, they project their bungling , nepotism gifted and outmoded image by threatening to take the action Thaksin took moths ago - hiring a PR firm. Other PR tactics include loans to the poor and censoring all marches , rallies and websites that oppose them. Surprise , surprise, these were also Thaksin maneuvers. Every time the junta seem to make fools of themselves, they compound it by taking retaliatory measures identical to those of the man they ousted because he was "bad".

Given Thaksin's recent bid to purchase Manchester City we can only wonder - will the junta respond by sending him to jail for corruption of making a desperate bid for a football club themselves? It may sound pathetic but don't rule it out.


In a related move, PM Surayud - one of the few in charge who still has the respect of most people, has taken the incredibly dangerous move of suggesting amnesty for terrorists and rebels in the south. His exact quote was "amnesty provided they have not broken a criminal law of Thailand" which begs the question: what self respecting terrorist does not break the law? It seems that we have not yet learnt that offering peace to the bloodthirsty is perceived as a sign of weakness. Offering amnesty to killers as far as I am concerned is a sign of surrender.

One reader Abdel sent some very interesting comments on one of my recent blogs concerning Islam. I contacted him and he very kindly agreed to let me blog his comments and respond to them. I also promised Abdel a chance to reply to my own comments. Stay tuned.