michaelz has left 128 comments

michaelz comments on Recommend English/Spanish Software or Online Program....

PC or TV Question on Rosetta stone - do you have to be at a computer to use the CD's or will they work on a DVD player hooked up to a TV?

michaelz comments on La Semana Santa in Cali

vacations I was in Cali a few years ago during semana santa. A lot of people complained non-stop because they couldn't go to San Andres or some other beach. Apparently, anyone who is anyone tries to leave town for the coast that week, if they can.

michaelz comments on Getting to Santa Marta (prices?)

prices In February, I did a "walk-up" same-day ticket purchase at El Dorado airport in Bogota. The price for an Aero Republica round trip ticket from Bogota to Cartegena was 405,000 pesos (around $190). The fare to Santa Marta should be similar.

The airline indicated that the price may have been lower for an advance purchase. Find the websites for Aero Repubica and Avica and try to reserve a ticket (without actually buying it). If you can, you might be able to save some coin.

michaelz comments on

mv and wages You mentioned paying wages and benefits by the law. A gringo with a business in Cartagena told me that, under law, workers in Colombia work under a contract, with the shortest duration being monthly. He used to give workers 3 month contracts until he caught one stealing. When he fired the worker, he was liable for the final 2 months wages on the contract. He could have sued for the money the worker stole, but the process was so time consuming and rigged that he just gave up. Now he only gives monthly contracts to his employees.

I am only reporting what was told to me. Is it accurate in your experience?

michaelz comments on Bogota this weekend

taxi and exchange rates When you clear customs, turn right and follow the signs to the taxi window. Give the girl a piece of paper with the name of your hotel and the address. She will give you piece of paper with the approved price that you should pay the cabbie when you arrive. The price to the zona rosa is about 17 or 18 thousand pesos, about 8 dollars. They started this because so many cabbies were ripping off grigos.

Don NOT bring money to change. There are ATMs all over that accept American debit cards, and you will be charged the bank exchange rate, with a 1 or 1.5 fee for a foreign transaction. It is much better than paying money changers.

michaelz comments on

local reaction I am in Cartagena right now, and the locals are really taking this situation hard. They know that it could hurt tourism and they are as anxious as anyone that the justice system burn the perpetrators. Apparently, there were 5 or 6 of more of them, and they are rating each other out. Last night, the local news showed 5 of them in handcuffs, like trophies, surrounded by police.

Of course, the recent corrupt11ion arrests of politicians are getting equal play in the national news. I think that one of the arrestees was the son of Botero, the noted artist.

michaelz comments on Dorado airport will be demolished

where? It would appear that they can't demolish the old terminal until the new one is ready. Where will the new terminal be located? How bad can we expect the chaos to be in getting in and out during construction?

michaelz comments on Los turistas Colombianos

jay1234 I think our positions are closer than you think. The problem is not immigration - it is ILLEGAL immigration. Clearly, this country needs immigration, but where is it written that we must, or should, accept anyone who can wade across the Rio Grande? Why is it wrong to choose who to admit, just like we choose who gets a visa? Is it a good thing that any member of MS-13 who can swim across the river is pretty much immune from deportation, as is the present reality?

How does this relate to Colombia? Easily. If we can improve control of our borders (total control is impossible), and greatly reduce the rate of illegal immigration, quotas for legal immigration could be raised for all countries. Why is it fair that Colombians must wait for years (if at all) to gain access to the USA, when so many Mexicans, due to their proximity, simply walk across the border?

How many ways is the following assertion wrong? "All things being equal, more foreigners and indeed more people of any stripe do not mean either lower wages or higher unemployment. If they did, every time a baby was born, every time a newly minted graduate entered the work force, it would be bad news for the labor market."

All things are never equal. The assertion that the admission of millions of new, unskilled workers will not tend increase competition for unskilled jobs and reduce wages for the existing pool of native unskilled workers betrays a shocking ignorance of Economics 101. It is simply false. Look at the recent raids at the Swift meatpacking plants. Wages in this industry were forced down from $18/hour in the 19080's to $10/per hour now, mainly because of union busting and competition from illegal immigrant labor. Yet, the day after the illegals were rounded up, natives were lining up for the newly vacant jobs.

Statistics in my previous posts showed that the addition of a new baby to an educated, two-parent family tends to have vastly different consequences than a new baby born to an unwed high-school dropout. As you noted in one of your own posts, poverty begets poverty. Poor uneducated Mexicans with high illegitimacy rates tend to produce poor, uneducated children with high illegitimacy rates. Of course each new baby consumes good, but what about the other side of the equation? What will the new baby produce? If the new baby merely swells the welfare rolls, drops out of high-school and then ends up incarcerated, is this helping the economy? (Of course, not all do, but the rates are much higher - your own post indicates incarceration rates are 8 times higher for 2nd generation than for first.)

You seem to miss the inescapable conclusion of your own post. The problem is not that many 2nd generation immigrants are trying to assimilate to mainstream USA society and failing. The problem is that they are trying to assimilate into the gangsta, underclass society and succeeding.

michaelz comments on Los turistas Colombianos

Rubito - the nuclear family may be dead in your barrio, but it's not in mine.

Let's hope you are wrong that the trend toward single-mother families is irreversible. The data is frightening. Single-mother households (especially never-married mothers) are highly correlated with poverty, and with failure to complete high school, which are in turn highly correlated with delinquency and incarceration rates.
The following stats were taken from reliably liberal sources, and thus should not be overstating the problem.
Cornell University reports the following:
Percentage of children in the following groups that lived in poverty in 2000:
Married parents 9%
Previously married mother 32%
Never married mother 54%
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov05/child.poverty.ssl.html
Ohio State University reports that:
Poverty in Ohio related to female heads of households mirrors the national trends. Ohio's poorest residents live in female headed households. The poverty rate of female headed households is almost seven times higher than the poverty rate of Ohio's married couples.
When poverty rates are related to levels of educational attainment, one is made aware of some interesting information. Most obvious is the fact that the poverty rates of high school dropouts is three times higher than the poverty rate among high school graduates.

The US Department of Education reports that:
Parents play a crucial role in keeping young people in school. The degree and nature of family support are determined by such factors as a stressful/unstable home life, socioeconomic status, minority membership, siblings' completion of high school, single-parent households, poor education of parents, and primary language other than English (Horn 1992).
Lest these correlations be misunderstood, it is also important to point out that, of the community-related factors, it is poverty that is the strongest predictor of dropping out.
National Public Radio reports that:

- 75 percent of state prison inmates and 59 percent of federal inmates are high-school dropouts.
- High-school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than graduates to be incarcerated.
- Dropouts contribute disproportionately to the unemployment rate. In 2001, 55 percent of young adult dropouts were employed, compared to 74 percent of high-school graduates and 87 percent of college graduates.
- Dropouts contribute to state and federal tax coffers at about one-half the rate of high-school graduates. Over a working lifetime, a dropout will contribute about $60,000 less.
- If 33 percent of dropouts graduated from high school, the federal government would save $10.8 billion each year in food stamps, housing assistance, and temporary assistance for needy families.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5300726

I highly encourage you to read the following for a perspective different from the usual propaganda on the social pathology of the "underclass".

http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_1_marriage_gap.html

http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_3_immigrants_economy.html

http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_3_immigration_reform.html

http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_3_black_family.html

michaelz comments on Los turistas Colombianos

jay1234 and assimilation Yet again the old chestnut - all difference in social outcomes are the result of racism.

In a different post, I noted that one need do only 3 things to ensure a 95% chance that your children will not be raised in poverty. 1 - graduate from high school. 2 - don't get married until you've graduated. 3 - don't have kids unless you are married.

See this article:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_4_hispanic_family_values.html

Some exerpts show that there may be cultural explanations for the growing latin underclass:

Unless the life chances of children raised by single mothers suddenly improve, the explosive growth of the U.S. Hispanic population over the next couple of decades does not bode well for American social stability.
Nearly half of the children born to Hispanic mothers in the U.S. are born out of wedlock, a proportion that has been increasing rapidly with no signs of slowing down. Given what psychologists and sociologists now know about the much higher likelihood of social pathology among those who grow up in single-mother households, the Hispanic baby boom is certain to produce more juvenile delinquents, more school failure, more welfare use, and more teen pregnancy in the future.
The dimensions of the Hispanic baby boom are startling. The Hispanic birthrate is twice as high as that of the rest of the American population. That high fertility rate—even more than unbounded levels of immigration—will fuel the rapid Hispanic population boom in the coming decades.
Hispanic women have the highest unmarried birthrate in the country—over three times that of whites and Asians, and nearly one and a half times that of black women, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Every 1,000 unmarried Hispanic women bore 92 children in 2003 (the latest year for which data exist), compared with 28 children for every 1,000 unmarried white women, 22 for every 1,000 unmarried Asian women, and 66 for every 1,000 unmarried black women. Forty-five percent of all Hispanic births occur outside of marriage, compared with 24 percent of white births and 15 percent of Asian births. Only the percentage of black out-of-wedlock births—68 percent—exceeds the Hispanic rate. But the black population is not going to triple over the next few decades.
As if the unmarried Hispanic birthrate weren’t worrisome enough, it is increasing faster than among other groups. It jumped 5 percent from 2002 to 2003, whereas the rate for other unmarried women remained flat. Couple the high and increasing illegitimacy rate of Hispanics with their higher overall fertility rate, and you have a recipe for unstoppable family breakdown.
Social workers in Southern California, the national epicenter for illegal Hispanic immigrants and their progeny, are in despair over the epidemic of single parenting. Not only has illegitimacy become perfectly acceptable, they say, but so has the resort to welfare and social services to cope with it.
Dr. Ana Sanchez delivers babies at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the city of Orange, California, many of them to Hispanic teenagers. To her dismay, they view having a child at their age as normal. A recent patient just had her second baby at age 17; the baby’s father is in jail. But what is “most alarming,” Sanchez says, is that the “teens’ parents view having babies outside of marriage as normal, too. Sanchez feels almost personally involved in the problem: “I’m Hispanic myself. I wish I could find out what the Asians are doing right.” She guesses that Asian parents’ passion for education inoculates their children against teen pregnancy and the underclass trap. “Hispanics are not picking that up like the Asian kids,” she sighs.
Despite the strong family support, the prevalence of single parenting among Hispanics is producing the inevitable slide into the welfare system. “The girls aren’t marrying the guys, so they are married to the state,” Dr. Sanchez observes. Hispanics now dominate the federal Women, Infants, and Children free food program; Hispanic enrollment grew over 25 percent from 1996 to 2002, while black enrollment dropped 12 percent and white enrollment dropped 6.5 percent. Illegal immigrants can get WIC and other welfare programs for their American-born children. If Congress follows President Bush’s urging and grants amnesty to most of the 11 million illegal aliens in the country today, expect the welfare rolls to skyrocket as the parents themselves become eligible.
The consequences of family breakdown are now being passed down from one generation to the next, in an echo of the black underclass. “The problems are deeper and wider,” says Berry. “Now you’re getting the second generation of foster care and group home residents. The dysfunction is multigenerational.”

michaelz comments on Dial 911, Colombian Chicas are disappearing at an alarming rate.

great society Strober - How did the Great Society destroy the black family? What a silly question.

Open-ended welfare was the worst thing to happen to the underclass in the history of the USA. In general it encouraged parasitism and discouraged work (why get a job when it will just reduce your welfare check and foodstamp). The way it was implemented was even worse. Welfare benefits were higher for single mothers than for intact families, and the wages of the father, if any, were deducted from benfits. It enabled, even encouraged single motherhood.

The old bromide is still true. Want to ensure that your children are not poor? No problem. Just do the following 3 things, and odds are around 95% that your children will not be poor.

1. Graduate from high school
2. Do not have children unless you are married.
3. Do not have children until you are 20 or more years old.

That doesn't appear too difficult to me, but apparently, these rules unduly restrict the "self expression" of the underclass.

Giving people money to sit on their ass and do nothing just encourages them to sit on their ass and do nothing. The arguement that people on welfare cannot find work is ludicrous. Welfare reform proved this wrong. Millions of lantinos, both legal and illegal, can find work even though they cannot speak english. Black immigrants have higher wages and much lower jobless rates than native members of the underclass. The difference is that immigrants haven't yet caught the "you are a victim and you are entitled" virus that the far left inculcates.

michaelz comments on Where are women best treated?? What about Colombia?

juance gomez Thank you for a thoughtful, well-reasoned reply. I was half expecting to get flamed. Several points:

On the issue of statistics, during the last census in the USA, there was considerable complaining over the fact that the cities were undercounted. Poor people were less likely to mail in their census forms, the very poor may not even have had a permanent address at which to receive a form, and census-takers were, shall we say, less than enthusiastic and tracking down people in poor, high-crime areas. The same would apply to Colombia, only more so, since the poverty rate is higher. To the extent that the poor were undercounted, the study would tend to overestimate labor force participation because it would fail to count many poor women who want to work, but can't find jobs.

Depending on methodology, the issue of labor market participation is also distorted in many of these kinds of studies. Suppose that, in both country A and country B, 60% of the adult women have jobs. Is their labor market participation rate equal? Not necessarily. Many women I know have left the labor market in order to stay home and raise their children as a matter of voluntary choice. Contrary to feminist propaganda that says women can only be "fulfilled" in the workplace, they prefer to stay home with the kids rather than park their ass in an office all day, and their husbands earn enough to allow it`. What really matters is choice, that a woman who wants to work can find a decent job, and one who wants to be a "stay-at-home-mom" can afford to. None of this can be measured by a simple "labor market participation rate".

Finally, at least in the United States, the much trumpeted wage gap is mostly an illusion. If you conduct an honest study, with controls for age, seniority, and experience, most or all of the "wage gap" disappears. Women tend to leave the workforce sooner than men, work shorter hours than men, and take large blocks of time off for child rearing. If the average man in a given job is older and has more experience than the average woman in the same job, is it a surprise that he would tend to earn more? Does it mean that there is "discrimination"? No.

michaelz comments on Where are women best treated?? What about Colombia?

lies, black lies, and statistics It would be interesting to know how these statistics were derived. Certainly, some data from some areas is more reliable and complete than data from other areas. For example, in Colombia, who obtained data from Farclandia? Census takers?

Two other issues come to mind.

1. Who cares about percentages? For the sake of argument, suppose that women in the USA only earn 65% of what men earn in the same job, but women in Colombia earn 80% of what Colombian men make. Does that make the Colombian woman better off?
From what I could find on the web, the per capita income in the USA was about $42,000 in 2005, while it was about $8,000 in Colombia. Would you rather earn 65% of $42,000, or 80% of $8,000? The Colombians I know say that it is VERY difficult to find a job in Colombia, and most of the jobs, (in the mall, service industry etc) pay shit - maybe $200 per month. Equal pay doesn't mean so much if you are earning jack shit, or don't have a job at all.

2. I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every chica I know who was is a single parent, trying to get support from a deadbeat dad. In far too many cases, Colombian fathers split and pay little or no child support. True, single motherhood is increasing all too rapidly in the states, but at least the child support system is better here.

A more "equitable" pay system does not make a woman better off, if she is earning 80% of nothing, especially if she is raising the children of a deadbeat dad.

michaelz comments on Planning on budget-retirement in Bogota

why bogota Strobers made an interesting point. "Bogota is the most expensive city in Colombia except for Cartegena". Bogota also has the worst weather of anyplace I have seen in Colombia (cool and rainy most of the time).

Why pick the most expensive, stressful, drearist city in Colombia, when there are so many prettier, warmer, and friendlier places choose from?

michaelz comments on Opinion about neighborhoods in Cali

cali south The other posts are accurate. The north and northwest are some of the better areas. There is a lot of nightlife near ave sexta and granada, if that is what you are looking for. However, the extreme south, near the Unicentro mall also has some nice, safe, quiet areas. The problem is that there are not many hotels.

michaelz comments on Bringing a little puppy to Cali?

puppy On my last flight from Bogota to Newark (on Continental), a girl had a small puppy in a soft-sided carrier. She was allowed to take the puppy along with her, in the main cabin, as long as the carrier remained on the floor, in front of her seat during take-off and landing. Continental could probably give you more information.

michaelz comments on Best way to book Hotel Sheraton Four Points Bogota?

4 points Where did you find the $85 American price? In years past, I booked the Sheraton 4 points (the one near the airport, the U.S. Embassy and the salitre plaza mall) for around $80 a night on Orbitz. I didn't have any problems and there were no outrageous taxes or fees.

When I have checked priced lately, all prices (including Orbitz) were ridiculous - $160, or higher per night. I like the Hotel and the area, but the new prices are ridiculous.

michaelz comments on scumbag of the year

support It is hard to know what is going on, but Carlina said that he "seems to be hiding something". Not hard to figure out what that is. I'd bet he has a girlfriend in the USA. By keeping the status quo he can have a girlfriend in one country and a wife in the other. Best of both worlds.

If she gets paperwork from DAS, how can she enforce it in the USA?

michaelz comments on scumbag of the year

Rubiazo There may be more than one side to the story, sure. Carolina said that he told her he tried for citizenship, but apparently he failed. She says the government told him he must wait another year for his next interview.

michaelz comments on Strange Case in Cali

thanks desi I do read spanish. In fact, I found out about this case from El-pais. I bought a copy my last time in Cali (to practice reading espanol) and I ran across an article about this case. I have tried to keep up via the internet, but it takes me a LONG time to translate a complicated article in spanish.

It is good to know that the prosecution is moving forward, but there seems to be only 2 possible interpretations:

1. The soldiers were in the pay of the narcotraficantes, and they killed the drug agents for the narcos.

2. The soldiers were honest, and they believed that the drug agents were narcos. In that case, the army has an SOS (shoot on sight) order, so they killed them because they were narcos.

Either way, an army unit that kills 11 people without so much as a "halt, who goes there" is a little much.

michaelz comments on I can't read this website any more.

agree totally I remember a lot of regular, interesting posters but they all get driven out by skanks. I still check in whenever I need information but the discussions have gone downhill.

michaelz comments on Hotels in Nortern Bogota

layover Thanks gentleman. I was just about to ask about a place to stay in Bogota. Next trip, I've got an overnight layover and will need a place to stay.

Are you sure the bogotalodging site is legit? Would they have any qualms about one-night rentals? Any other suggestions?

michaelz comments on My Novia

meaning While we are on the subject, how exactly does "novia" translate? Is it girlfriend, fiancee, somewhere in between? On latin TV I also hear the phrase "muy grande amigo", which seems to mean "amigo con derecho".

What do you native Spanish speakers have to say?

michaelz comments on Colombian Transexual Discriminated at Work

discrimination From what I understand, jobs are a bit scarce in Colombia. Could it be possible that

Before everyone starts yelling "discrimination", some questions may be in order:

How many people applied for the same job?
Of these, what percentage were hired?
Were the people who were hired more or less qualified than she?
Were the people who were hired friends/family/accociates of the person who did the hiring? (meaning that she may have been a victim of nepotism, rather than gender bias)

I've seen this at my own job. Someone is turned down for a job yells "discrimination", when there are other more obvious reasons.

I'm not saying she in definately wrong, just that there is not enought info to tell.

michaelz comments on

new accounts Getting a credit card is one thing. Opening a bank account is another.

When mi novia was visiting me in the states last year, she opened a Wachovia checking account in 5 minutes. She showed a picture ID from Colombia, and a US Social Security Card (not for employment purposes) That is all the bank required.

She got her debit card in 10 days and is still using it.

michaelz comments on Happy May, Communist, Solidarity, and whatever else day.

Daver - Ottawa Are you an Ottawa native? That's one of my favorite cities in Canada - the Byward Market, the clubs, the museams, Hull etc. But I don't get up their so often now that my fishing buddies are old and married.

michaelz comments on Jewelry store in ChipiChapi robbed yesterday in the afternoon

thanks... keep me posted. The store I'm thinking of would be perfect for that kind of robbery. Its in the back, away from the main entrance, and can be accessed via a short passageway where only a few stores are located.

michaelz comments on Jewelry store in ChipiChapi robbed yesterday in the afternoon

which store Do you know which jewelry store was robbed? Is it the one in the back of the mall, in a small hallway around the corner from the record shop?

Was anyone hurt? (I'm curious because I know a girl who works in a jewelry store in chicichapi.)

michaelz comments on

farc What planet do you live on? You say:

"From my personal experience of being kidnapped I can tell you the guerrillas certainly do care about public opinion, since they depend upon support (political and financial) of people outside Colombia"

What outside financial and political support do the FARC rely on? They control a big part of Colombia, because Gaviria gave them farclandia in a stupid attempt at negotiation. With all of that land and the people on it, the FARC is making millions from the drug trade trade. What do they care about foreign opinion. Gee, if they are really bad the United Nations might pass a resolution CONDEMING them. How unfortunate. How embarrising. Even so, the millions they are making in the drug trade just might compansate.

michaelz comments on

PBI In your thread "Quotes from GIB" you seem to take great delight in mocking GIB's comments on the potential dangers in Colombia. You clearly imply that this gringo arriviste doesn’t know what he is talking about, and that you think he is over the top.

But then, in reply to my last posting in this thread you tell me to:

"ask yourself this. what do i know about horror? have you ever pissed yourself from fear, gone hungry enough to eat from garbage, been told as a nine your old boy that your brother is not family because your mother was raped, been forced from your house, beaten until you fall unconscious"

Which of your positions is true? They can’t both be. If these bad things have happened to you (and I see no reason to doubt it), you have my condolences. But your brief retelling of these experiences is far worse than anything GIB has described. If your life has been as bad as you say how can GIB’s warnings be off-base? His postings are far less dire than what you yourself have described as life in Colombia.

As for PBI, I have no quarrel at with them if they are an aid organization working to give material assistance to the Colombian people. God knows the Colombians need all the help they can get with food, shelter, water, jobs, etc. However, these types of activities were not mentioned prominently in the website that I saw.

The items on the PBI website consisted mainly of political posturing of the worst type, as in their mission statement:
“Our work takes three main forms:
· Protective Accompaniment,
· Peace Education: training in nonviolence, conflict transformation and human rights, and
· Documenting Conflicts and Peace Initiatives and distributing this information world-wide.”
The narcos and the FARC don’t give a shit about world opinion, just about money and power. Thus, the efforts of this group sound nice in theory, but they are misdirected and of virtually useless. If the people in this group, and the money they are spending, were helping to feed, clothe and house the Colombian people, they might make a difference. But their efforts in “documenting conflicts and peace initiatives and distributing this information world-wide” isn’t worth a warm bucket of spit in combating the FARC. Gangsters don’t care about international opinon.

michaelz comments on

FARC Sure. Negotiating worked great with Pablo Escobar, didn't it?

In fact, a strategy of talk and negotiation was repeatedly tried with Pablo, and it was a total failure. Talk lead to La Cathedral, a palatial prison where he was free to plot murders in peace and rule his drug empire. Progress was only made when talking ceased. Los Pepes, with their strategy of extermination without quarter, was the thing that won in the end.

Similarly, negotiations were tried repeatedly by Gaviria, and it only made the FARC stronger. (Does Farclandia ring a bell?) At least Uribe is making some progress by fighting back. The only way to beat the FARC is to make them an offer - surrender or die, and then back it up by extermination. Unfortunately, I fear that Colombia's armed forces are not numerous enough or armed well enough for the task.

The template that was used to eliminate Pablo is the only one that will work against the FARC. SOS - "shoot on sight".

michaelz comments on

gib v. "el rectum total" Los Estadounidense have many misconceptions about the dangers of Colombia. Many people in the USA seem to think that visiting Colombia is reckless at best, and suicidal at worst. This view, of course, is overkill.

On the other hand, many PBH posters present an overly rosy picture of Colombia. I have been robbed at knifepoint there, and know other gringos who have been robbed as well. I’ve been threatened by homeys who don’t like gringos, even though I’m careful about where I go. Several Colombians I know have been victims of violence, including one whose twin brother was murdered over a girl. Reportedly, her family and the police both know who did it, but the authorities have done nothing. (Yes, I know, parts of the USA are dangerous too, but that is another discussion.)

Sometimes, I bring Colombian newspapers home for practice reading Spanish. From the “Justice” page of El Pais (Cali), September 23, 2005:

· In Popayan, a 13 year old was shot to death for stealing a “mango biche” from an orchard. The news account mentioned a similar case from May, 2005, when a 7 year old was strangled to death for stealing a flower from a garden in the north of Popoyan. In that case, the assailant was freed after several hours in custody.
· In Buenaventura, 8 murders in the last 72 hours left police searching for assailants
· In Jamundi, 2 murdered in the country, just outside town
· In Petecuy, taxi driver murdered during a robbery
· In barrio Los Olmos, 1 murdered over drugs
· Husband detained for murdering wife

I do not cite these issues to condemn Colombia. If I didn’t like the country, I wouldn’t visit so often. Rather, these points are meant as a corroboration of GIB’s “security alerts”. GIB states things a bit forcefully at time, but his advice to newbies who wish to visit Colombia is right on the mark. Go, but be careful.

Another poster seems to have a different view than GIB, one totally divorced from reality. If you doubt this, visit the website he highly recommends in one of his posts, from which the following is taken.

“ Peace Brigades International (PBI) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which protects human rights and promotes nonviolent transformation of conflicts.

When invited, we send teams of volunteers into areas of repression and conflict. The volunteers accompany human rights defenders, their organizations and others threatened by political violence. Perpetrators of human rights abuses usually do not want the world to witness their actions. The presence of volunteers backed by a support network helps to deter violence.”

Anyone who believes the presence of “observers” will deter violence is living in a leftist, politically-correct, feel-good fantasyland. If I’m not mistaken, the Narcos and the FARC have done things like:

· Invade the supreme court building and murder many justices
· Blow up an airline flight simply to assassinate one man
· Murder presidential candidates
· Explode numerous car bombs in large cities
· Massacre entire villages
· Murder police indiscriminately.

Does anyone with any sense really think that the narcos or the FARC would hesitate to kill some clueless do-gooders from PBI? Perhaps one of PBI’s mission reports can provide an answer:

“One reason for the organizer's visit is to ask the women to participate in a march in Barrancabermeja...The women discuss the march and exchange opinions about how to make a light for the night watch. They comment on another dead body that has been found (Paramilitary? Guerrilla? Neither?) and that another 30 men will arrive to bolster police numbers in Puerto Wilches.
At 4 p.m. we leave Puerto Wilches so that we arrive at Barranca before dark - for security reasons.” (emphasis added)
Gee, the protectors are so effective that they have to run away before dark for their own safety. My guess is that the 30 new police might help the situation, but the PBI never will. If the FARC is ever defeated, it will be at the point of a gun, not by a bunch of clueless tree-huggers. Anyone who thinks otherwise is truly “el rectum total”.

michaelz comments on San Andres!!

san andres I took a side trip to San Andres from Cali last month, staying at the Decameron Aquarium. For 2 people, 5 nights the cost was nder $500 per person.

Decameron has a website at http://www.decameron.com

You may wish to try the Decameron Mar Azul as well as the Aquarium.

michaelz comments on miami layover

Thanks all.. for the info. Guess I'll try South Beach, just to see what I can see. I'll look for the Starlight and the Bayside Mall.

michaelz comments on Houston to Cali

airfares Thanks for the timely notice gentlemen.

AA has now matched the continental fares. I just bought a ticket for May, Philly to Cali for a base price of $444, and a total of $546, all taxes and fees included.

I was thinking of buying a ticket last month, and it was $100 higher than this one

Remember, when comparing prices, AA includes the exit tax in their fares, but Continental does not. When I flew continental in November, I was surprised to learn that the tax went up to over 60,000 pesos, and Continental collected it.

michaelz comments on My Wife Says Goodbye

spanish You don't mention her english proficiency. The better she speaks it and the sooner she learns it, the happier she will be. Suggestions:

1. Sign her up for English Classes. Many schools and churches offer english as a second language classes. She will also meet other Latins who are relatively new to the country and this will help.

2. Sign up for latin cable. Both dish network and direct tv offer packages with a number of latin channels (english ones too). With the right package, you will even get colombian channels. (Careful though, this can slow her progress in learning english.)

3. If possible, get her a gym membership close to home, and make arrangements for her to visit without the children. This will be a good break for her and exercise will help her work off any anxiety.

4. Find the spanish language newspaper in your area and look for events, restaurants and other ways to keep a latin connection.

5. Find a good, spanish speaking church and take her there.

michaelz comments on pablo escobar

mataba pablo Some comments on the above, based on "Killing Pablo", both the book and the movie:

According to the book, Pablo was only hit 3 or 4 times when he was killed, in the leg, the torso and a coup-de-grace into the ear.

As to Delta Force pulling the trigger on the coup-de-grace, that was mentioned as a possibility, but conclusion was that the most likely trigger puller was a cop, while he was already down on the roof. (They had the opportunity and was no way they wanted to take him alive.)

Pablo wasn't caught "soon after Delta Force became involved". They tracked him for something like a year before he made his "surrender" deal and went to his personal prison "la Catedral". When he left the prison, it took them months and months to actually kill him.

Another conclusion was that "Las Pepes" was the most crucial part of the effort to take down him and his organization. Without them, they might not have gotten him at all. Of course, Delta force may have supported the Pepes, but most of them seem to have been Colombians.

I can't follow the day-to-day news in Colombia as closely as I'd like. But based on the book and what I can see now, the level and scope of the indiscriminate bombings, plane downings and assasinations by the FARC seems to be less that than under Pablo.

For example, did the FARC ever capture and kill most of the Supreme Court, as Pablo arrainged?

michaelz comments on

bus anything on the web yet? where?

michaelz comments on Cali bus ride

gib Your thoughts about gringos needing to see some pueblos for themselves are right on the money. My friend lives in a little brick house where a small living room and kitchen are separated by a 4-foot wall. Water spots and fallen plaster mark the places where water leaks into the ceilings. There are three tiny bedrooms. Though the parents are divorced, they still live in the same house. The father has the back bedroom. The 2 boys share the middle (smallest) bedroom, and the mother, daughter, and her baby all sleep in the same bed in the largest bedroom.

On one side of the house, a wall encloses a small, below street-level courtyard, which is open to the basement via an 8-by-8 foot cutout in the side wall. The bathroom, such as it is, is in the basement and is unenclosed, except for a 3-foot barrier. As the house is in the mountains, the entire basement is cool and drafty.

At the rear of the kitchen, there is a stairway to the roof, which has a wall only the street side, and no roof. The stairway is totally open to the elements. It appears as thought if there were originally plans to construct a third floor and additional rooms on the courtyard side, but work was never completed.

The scary thing is, their house is one of the nicer places in town. Many others were one or two room shacks, where random boards were nailed over some rough timbers, and a slanting tin roof thrown on top. The conditional of the school, I don’t even want to get into.

On the plane on the way home, I read some magazine articles where rich gringa bitches were complaining about: how difficult it is to find houses under $1 million in LA, finding the right preschool for less than $20,000 a year, how hard it is keep up with one’s career while being on the “mommy track”. The mother in the Colombian house works 12-14 hours a day in a tienda, comes home exhausted to tiny place housing her ex-husband, three offspring and a grandchild, and then sleeps three to a bed. I wonder how much she complains about not “having it all”, like the rich gringas.

michaelz comments on Harley Davidson motorcycles in Colombia

Cali Harleys In Cali, there is a Harley shop on Ave 6A Norte near clle 24. I passed by it 2 days ago, and there were 5 or more harleys in front of it, along with other bikes of different makes. They sell harley gear, but it is expensive. I was going to buy a "Harley Davidson - Cali, Colombia" t-shirt one time, but it was outrageously expensive.

There are also motorcycle clubs of some sort in Cali. Aout 2 years ago, I saw a group of about 25 or 30 bikes leaving that same store all at one time. The group looked more like rich kids trying to act cool though, than like real bikers.

michaelz comments on Colombia in the news

tinto I agree about the couple. How many years in a colombian jail would they get for attempting to smuggle 29 pounds? Would anyone recognize them when they got out?

michaelz comments on GringodeLouisiana

Poco I cannot BELIEVE that Poco still has the balls to pontificate on this subject. Given the STUPIDITY of his origial comments, why should anyone even bother to read his bullsit. I quote:

"People Dying waiting for rescue? Not one has been reported. There is a better possibility someone many blow themselves up or drown trying to set fire to their flooded house to collect insurance."

Well Poco, I think there has now been confirmation of more than a few dying while waiting for rescue. Wouldn't you agree?

NEXT POCO SAID:

"Sure this is bad, but doubt it will be much over 100 people (dead)in Louisiana. We’ll see and I may regret this post, but the mayor talked out THOUSANDS of dead bodies floating in the flood waters. Reminds me of the two passenger Cessna that crashed in a French cemetery, report was they had found hundreds of bodies and were still digging."

STILL THINK THAT THERE WILL ONLY BE 100 DEAD IN LOUISIANA, YOU WETBACK ASSHOLE?

michaelz comments on GringodeLouisiana

poco You are so full of shit, it is a miracle you don't explode.

You are right. Colombia is the model of a well administered state. On the whole, the people there are much better off than the people in the USA. That is why no Colombian wants to move to the USA. It is also Americans are standing in line to emigrate to Colombia. Perhaps the USA should just abrogate the constitution and adopt the Colombian constitution.

Some questions for you: How long have you been in the USA? Is your back still wet? Are you legal? From what banana republic did you sneak across the border?

michaelz comments on GringodeLouisiana

Lucia and Mario You are right. My comments were excessive and I apologize. No rational person wants more Iraqis to die.

After seeing the suffering going on in New Orleans, and then reading Poco's asinine, junenile and idiotic comments, I overreacted. Such stupidity seemed to deserve something equally stupid in return.

One point remains true. No real American would try to minimize what is going on in New Orleans right now and then try to contrast it with the Iraqi's self inflicted wounds. Perhaps Poco needs to look for an apartment in Bagdad.

michaelz comments on what is Cali like?

daytrip caslug's comments were on the mainly on the money. I come from the northern USA so, for me, the nights in Cali were warm, but by no means oppressive. At night you can usually wear long pants, but in the day it is too hot for that.

Do not walk around alone at night unless you are with people and you are sure it is safe. I have been hasseled several times, and once, a kid pulled a knife and tried to rob me. Generally it is safe if you are careful, but don't be overconfident until you learn the city.

michaelz comments on Did you know

toneloc The "coalition of the willing" was always really "the coalition of the willing TO BE BOUGHT". That would mean that this news is no change at all.

michaelz comments on what is Cali like?

answers 1. Cali is hot and humid, but not as hot and humid as Cartegena.

2. a. Yes, Cali has hot women. b. Depends...

3. If you prefer mulatos, you are better off in Cartegena. There are a lot more there than in Cali.

michaelz comments on GringodeLouisiana

poco I'm guessing poco is "estadounidoense", (sic) because he seems to have a passable command of the language, but with a handle like poco, who knows? If so, he has a strange perspective. The suffering in New Orleans seems to bother him less than the news of a bunch of crazy, uulating towel-heads trampling themselves to death. My reaction to the news from Iraq would be: "only 800? - they should keep trying till they get it right". Next time, maybe the Marines should fire into the crowd. That should generate a much more effective stampede.

michaelz comments on Colombia's Place in the World: The Economist Rankings

women stop being women when they become femi-nazi bull dykes (an area in which the USA is certainly #1 per capita)

michaelz comments on Fishing in the Rodadero/Santa Marta area

fishing I charted a small boat on one trip to Santa Marta. Set it up on the beach in front of the Irotama Hotel, west of Rodedero.

We fished near a offshore buoy at first and caught a few there. Then the captain headed toward Santa Marta and started trolling just offshore, by all of rocks and rocky points. He didn't even have rods, but set up handlines instead.

We caught about a dozen fish in about 3 hours of real fishing, mostly by the small islands near Rodedero. Nothing was real big, but they were big enough to take ashore on one of the private beaches for lunch.