Hisfault

More Aruba…

Ξ July 17th, 2005 | → 3 Comments | ∇ Whatever |

I received a comment this AM on my Aruba rant… Lily comments, “Do you really think a judge in training has so much power? GIVE ME A BREAK, don’t let fox think for you my friend.”

Well if you think I allow anyone to think for me… it is pretty clear you haven’t read too many posts. Also, I have never heard Fox voice this opinion. I own this, and I base it on the fact that I have lived long enough to know exactly how the system works, especially in small countries.

While this guy is a “judge in training”, he is a hugely powerful man in Aruba. Hugely powerful men (or I guess women as well) wield hugely powerful influence in any country, but more so in island Carribean nations. They have the ability to make problems “go away”.. for themselves or for their children. This is true in any country of course, including the USA. Remember Bill Clinton, Mayor Richard J Daley (the father, not the son),or less successfully, Richard Nixon? I mean really… can you imagine how different our government in the US would be if the Kennedy boys (most specifically Teddy) were made to actually be responsible for their actions?

In small countries as Aruba (or Costa Rica), these families are interconnected in business, society, the works. They strive to cover each others backs at all cost. I am of the opinion that this is exactly what happened in Aruba.

Baring the incredibly remote possibility that this girl met the love of her life that night and eloped (and is now to scared or ashamed to surface), I believe the more likely scenario is that she likely hooked up with these boys, tried or was given a bit of ecstasy and had a bad reaction or perhaps was slipped a roofie, or maybe forced to do something against her will, resisted and was killed.

Stop and think for a moment how hard it is to make a body disappear, especially given the (now) huge number of people searching with dogs and sophisticated equipment on a very small island.

I doubt her remains are still on the island. I think she was taken out to sea, and that her remains will not be found. I hope I am wrong. I also think her remains were on the island the day after her disappearance. Someone made them go away.

Questions I have:

1. If the body was placed in the ocean, how did the body get out there? It is my understanding that tides were incoming, so just dumping her would not be a safe option that night… had to be done later.
2. Who took the body out to sea?
3. When?
4. Who would have the resources to get a boat to do it?
5. Who would have the resources cover up using a boat to do this?

The authorities incredibly arrested and released these boys after but a cursory interview. Why? While the laws of countries vary tremendously, basic law enforcement and investigation do not. Naw… I don’t buy it.

I believe the Aruban government made, at best, a lackluster attempt to find both her and those connected to her disappearance. I believe they made the decision to show the world an all out effort to find out what happened to her in order to save their tourist trade. I believe they made a big show of trying to find her body, but did little. I am suspicious of arresting and releasing these boys. In general, I believe they stalled the process until the media (Fox excepted as they seem fixated on this) lost interest or until other news items (i.e. London or Karl Rove) became the top stories.

I believe they were 100% successful.

Now… after all this… I also believe there has been simply too much coverage on this whole thing. Too much commentary (including mine). Too much Natalee. There are other things more important going on in the world, and Natalee has received way more than her 15 minutes of fame. I am still not going to Aruba for the honeymoon as I really do believe what I wrote above and I refuse to support a system like that.

And if ever so remotely, Natalee is sitting on a beach somewhere knocking back some tropical drink with a little umbrella on top and dreaming of the time when she and her lover can re-surface… I say to you… “You go girl! You got us all”.

I am also done with Natalee postings. Two were probably two too many.

With some real justification… there are of course anti Natalee blogs. Here are one or two that I liked. One is a bit brutal, but makes his point.

Tags: Aruba
Natalee Holloway

Just don’t breath…

Ξ July 17th, 2005 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Costa Rica |

The contamination in San José is double of what is breathed in most cities in Europe.

ML and I have talked about this so many times. In my years of living in the USA, I believe I knew maybe 2-3 people who died from cancer, including my mother who was in her 70’s. Since I have been in Costa Rica (4 years), I have met 5-6 people who died, and all were under 40. I know 4 or 5 more who currently have cancer… one is a teenager. Just yesterday, ML had some friends over, one of whom was a twenty something young man recovering from cancer surgery. ML husband died from brain cancer in his 30s and he is one of three others I know here, all in their 30s, also suffering from the same thing!

The air, especially in San José, is incredibly bad… yet nobody seems to care.

Maybe they will now… but given the astounishingly poor leadership here under this administration, I have doubts.

Using data from 2001, during a 365 day period, they found that 475 people died of the effects of contamination in the air in Costa Rica.

The study took into account all areas of the country and experts say that the numbers in following years, including 2005, won’t vary much. (Bullshit alert)

The study took into account 1,617,459 people. The study reports that 31,000 case of bronchitis in children and 13,000 case of chronic bronchitis were reported. The report also cited 19,000 cases of asthma, 550 cases of respiratory disease, 266 cases of cardiovascular damage, all as a direct result of contaminated air.

Authorities say that the cost of the illness and deaths reported are around ¢9 billion colones (us$192 million dollars). For a country like Costa Rica, this is an astonishing amount of money.

(Duh alert) The solution, according to the study is for the government to continually monitor the contamination in the air, at a cost that would be around us$1.5 million dollars and approve laws that would reduce the contamination.

Sadly, I believe there are three chances that this will happen here… slim, fat and none!

Tag: Costa Rica

Oh Granny!

Ξ July 17th, 2005 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Ewwwwww!, Humor |

A Berlin grandmother who has worked the city’s red light district as a prostitute for the last 49 years plans to retire when she turns 64 next year. She said she charges 30 euros ($36) and on good nights she has four to five clients.

She said her husband drops her off for work each night after watching the evening news. Now THIS guy must just be a gem! How thoughtful he doesn’t make her take the bus!

by Lance Armstrong

Ξ July 17th, 2005 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Quotes |

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?” Lance Armstrong – Six time (and maybe seven time) winner of the Tour de France.