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Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) , is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early South Indian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs and for the numerous devatas (guardian spirits) adorning its walls.

The modern name, Angkor Wat, in use by the 16th century,means "City Temple": Angkor is a vernacular form of the word nokor which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (capital), while wat is the Khmer word for temple. Prior to this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of its founder, Suryavarman II.

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The vice presidentiables

We admire young politicians who show great promise but have modest ambitions. One of them is Sen. Francis Pangilinan, an opposition leader belonging to the Liberal Party who announced on Wednesday that he will seek the vice presidency in 2010.

Pangilinan, who was elected as an independent in the 2007 Senate races, has a better record as legislator than many of the other politicians hungering to become president. A declaration for the presidency would not surprise many Filipinos.

Why he chose to run for Veep and not for Chief may reflect either modesty, good political sense, a recognition of political reality, or all of the above. He does not have the P-billion campaign chest that Sen. Manny Villar said a “presidentiable” must put up to wage a winning bid. Lowering his sights may have endeared him to the front-runners looking for a good runningmate. Or Kiko may have realized he is not ready to lead 85 million Filipinos out of their Second World status to the G-9 Club.

Filipinos do not think highly of presidents or candidates running for No. 2. The focus in each election is on the standard bearer, the man who could deliver the first honest election in history or could return decency to public service. The main qualification for the vice president is that he brings “balance”—regional balance—to the ticket. Our system, of course, makes possible the election of a president and a vice president from two contending parties. This isolates the vice president, coming from the minority, from the presidential palace and policy-making.

For the most part, presidents are happy to see their “vice” doing their errands, such as delivering a trite speech at a nondescript ribbon cutting or representing the country at the funeral of a foreign despot. Vice presidents are not considered important enough to be named acting president when the Boss travels overseas. Vice President Diosdado Macapagal was largely ignored by the incumbent so the self-made astute leader used his time quietly campaigning for president—and won handsomely.

The conventional wisdom is that the “Bise” is a heartbeat away from the throne, a spare tire that becomes indispensable at a crucial time. This, fortunate or unfortunately, seldom happens in Philippine politics. The Veep may only wish his superior dire things or try to make them happen by, for example, sending the sybaritic president “lechon” at every opportunity.

Pangilinan may have given high-profile politicians a reason to temper their ambitions. Speaking at a commencement in Sorsogon City, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said he was happy to retrace his father’s steps by running for vice president in 2010, before seeking higher office. Gov. Grace Padaca allowed she might accept a second slot in an Among Panlilio ticket, and Gov. Panlilio hinted he may drop to No. 2 for Sen. Mar Roxas.

We need more self-effacing leaders to remind us that there is no deficit in public modesty and to reassure us there are men and women who will shun the starting gate for ethical reasons. In this country, every candidate who loses swears he was cheated and every Juan who has had his face published in the papers thinks he can become president. Few are those who will say a high public office is not their cup or that they are not qualified for a higher calling, except perhaps for chief Justice Reynato Puno or the immensely popular comedian Dolphy.

When urged to run for president, Puno said he would follow the counsel of his trusted advisers, his grandchildren, to retire after his term. Dolphy, when egged to run for senator, deadpanned: “E kung manalo ako [what if I win]?”

Gun ban excludes toy guns

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday the gun-control bill it has asked Congress to enact does not cover imitation weapons.

PNP chief Jesus Verzosa had asked the House to pass a bill that would make the illegal possession of handguns a non-bailable offense owing to arising crime abetted by unlicensed firearms. Toy guns, which criminals have used for robbery, are not covered by the measure, the police announced.

The PNP was criticized this week for threatening to investigate former President Joseph Estrada and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay who rode a military jeep with a mounted machinegun. They were guests of the mayor of Carmen, Cebu, who loaned the jeep for a parade.

The police invoked a Marcos letter of instruction (LOI) that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile—who should know—said no longer exists. The LOI made possession and display of mock weapons, but not military decorations, a crime. The authenticity of Marcos’ war medals had been questioned by his critics.

Estrada loyalists said he was not guilty of gun-toting but of toy-toting, a harmless prank that appeared timely because of the approaching April Fools Day. A friend who claimed to know said Erap originally wanted to ride a rusty miniature tank for his tour, but was asked to desist because it would look more threatening. The mayor’s late husband collected guns and World War Two relics.

Besides, the friend said, Estrada would appear like he was aping Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president, who rode a tank for a photo-op to show he was not soft on foreign policy, as his Republican opponents had charged. Dukakis received a volley of catcalls for his showmanship.

On the other fronts, the PNP has secured patents on police uniforms to discourage impostors and has asked politicians to hire private bodyguards instead of using cops as security escorts. It is also working out an agreement with TV and movie producers to improve its image and to put an end to sitcoms and comedy pictures that project lawmen as “Pulis Patola” and “Bobo-cop.”

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/march/29/yehey/opinion/20090329opi1.html

Breach sends water onto school campus in Fargo

By NATE JENKINS and JIM SUHR, Associated Press Writers Nate Jenkins And Jim Suhr, Associated Press Writers – 43 mins ago

FARGO, N.D. – The slowly receding Red River breached a dike on the city's north side early Sunday, sending water flowing into buildings at a school campus before it could be contained, city and school officials said.

The extent of the damage at Oak Grove Lutheran School wasn't immediately known. The surrounding neighborhood was not evacuated, but residents in some areas were told to plug their sewers and monitor basements.

Principal Morgan Forness said city officials, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Guard unsuccessfully tried to contain the water to one building after a permanent flood wall panel at the school buckled around 1:30 a.m.

"They made a gallant effort ... but the power of the river is just too much," he told KFGO radio. "They gave it everything they had, and it just — we couldn't contain it. It came center of campus, and now, it's inundating all of the buildings."

The city said the flooding was caused by erosion and began when water came up through the floor of one building and infiltrated the rest of campus.

"I think there's a little bit of divine intervention here — in the sense that we built a secondary dike to help protect the school, and that's gonna probably end up helping to protect the neighborhood," school President Bruce Messelt told KFGO.

After cresting around midnight Friday at 40.82 feet, the Red River had dropped to 40.25 feet by early Sunday — still more than 22 feet above flood stage. Fargo fears that more water could burst past the levees and submerge parts of the city.

The river may fluctuate up to a foot and remain at dangerous levels for a week, meaning people will have to endure an agonizing several days before they reach the point they can relax.

The city was to resume sandbagging Sunday morning and was requesting more volunteers. Many were expected to turn out after church services that are staple of life on Sunday mornings in Fargo, a heavily Lutheran town of more than 90,000.

"I just hope that everybody doesn't let up. We can't let our guard down," said Al Erickson, a 47-year-old banker whose two-story home is across the street from a golf course that is now a giant water hazard. "The city as a whole will be OK, but there may be neighborhoods that still may have some trouble."

Forecasters say the river is retreating because cold temperatures have been freezing water that normally would be flowing into the river. By the time that water thaws, the biggest flooding threat should have passed, Hudson said.

Officials in charge of the flood-response effort deployed high-tech Predator drone aircraft, called up more National Guard troops and brought in hundreds of bags that each hold a ton of sand and could be dropped by helicopter into breaks in the levees.

The National Guard has been dispatching inspection teams to the levees, joining a cadre of volunteers who are being asked to do the same. The task is monumental, with more than 35 miles of levees around Fargo.

"I don't think there's an inch of riverfront on the Fargo side that doesn't have some kind of levee," said city engineer Mark Bittner. "We encourage neighborhoods to get together and have their own dike patrols and assist us."

Bruce Boelter walked the entire length of a roughly mile-long stretch of sandbag dike to eyeball the manmade wall separating his subdivision and the Red River. Neighbor Tony Guck joined him halfway. Each felt a special stake in the dike they helped build.

"If we don't protect this, it's gonna get us. It's basically for our own security," said Guck, 42. "I'm just planning on coming out every six hours and walking it."

Water has forced hundreds of residents in the Fargo area from their homes and submerged basements and yards in an untold number of houses along the river. Emergency crews in boats had to rescue about 150 people from their homes in neighboring communities in Minnesota, while about 20 percent of households in Moorhead have been urged to leave.

The flooding was brought on by heavier-than-average winter snows, spring rains and a rapid thaw of the snowpack that sent the Red River to record-high levels in Fargo, North Dakota's largest city.

A winter storm was predicted to hit North Dakota early next week, although the snow isn't expected to affect the flooding in Fargo. Still, wind from the storm could cause 2-foot waves that could send some water over the top of dikes, said Dave Kellenbenz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"That's something we're going to have to watch closely as we move into next week," he said.

The variation in flood forecasts was a roller coaster throughout the week for Fargo, with the projection edging upward twice before being lowered Saturday. Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker opened a briefing earlier in the day by apologizing for criticizing the weather service.

Greg Gust, a warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service, said the predictions are complex. They come from round-the-clock work by hundreds of scientists, engineers and other experts. Some of those people brave the river for measurements of volume, flow and temperatures. They also use computer models for mathematical and statistical analyses.

But even with improved forecasting methods, the river's record levels and the volatile temperatures don't allow anyone to be certain, and the weather service continued to hedge its prediction Saturday.

The main focus for the Fargo area will be on whether the long line of levees will be able to hold up against the floodwaters — regardless of their level. Engineers say that anytime water is pressed up against a levee for a considerable period of time, there is a risk of catastrophic flooding.

"The saturation usually becomes the enemy of a levee over time," Jud Kneuvean, chief of emergency management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kansas City. "It can cause the embankment to be less stable and slide."

Word of the river's possible retreat couldn't come at a better time for 91-year-old Jim Sundahl, whose Moorhead yard has already been swallowed up by floodwaters. He has been waging a furious battle to keep the waters from his home, where he was born.

"I'm happy about it, I'll tell you that," Sundahl said. "But it won't do us any good for four or five days."

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On the Net:

Red River at Fargo water levels: http://sn.im/enwgc