Saturday, June 30, 2012

THE RECREATIONAL HOBBY GAMBLER AGAINST HIS GOVERNMENT.


 
THE GOVERNMENT, WHERE EVER IT IS AND THE RIGHT TO GAMBLE! ( news from the USA )
 
 
Defendants Sentenced on Racketeering Charges in Connection with Offshore Gambling Business Targeted News Service June 28, 2012 Thursday 11:05 PM EST
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts issued the following news release:

Two men were sentenced today on charges of racketeering and related offenses as a result of their participation in a large scale offshore gambling business which utilized an Antiguan Internet site and employed gambling agents in Mass. and Fla. 

In December 2011, following a five week trial, Daniel Eremian, of Boca Raton, Fla. and Todd Lyons, of Beverly, Mass., were convicted of racketeering (RICO), racketeering conspiracy, operating an illegal gambling business and wire act offenses. Lyons was also convicted of money laundering, filing false tax returns and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Both were found not guilty on several other charges related to their gambling business. Co-defendants Robert Eremian and Richard Sullivan remain fugitives in this case.

U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris sentenced Eremian to 36 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release and $7.7 million in forfeiture. Lyons was sentenced to 48 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $24.5 million in forfeiture. Both men were ordered to surrender to the U.S. Marshal's tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.

Lyons was the first defendant in the U.S. to be charged and convicted of violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The statute was enacted by Congress in 2006 to deter the use of the U.S. banking system to pay Internet gambling debts incurred by U.S. citizens.

Daniel Eremian and Robert Eremian built a massive online gambling ring called "Sports Offshore," based in Antigua. The ring employed approximately 50 gambling agents in the United States, who had hundreds of customers. The government presented evidence that this gambling business laundered more than $10 million in checks and wire transfers. Daniel Eremian and Lyons helped run "Sports Offshore" from at least 1997 to 2010. Daniel Eremian originally solicited gambling customers from a Peabody bar and eventually moved to Fla. where he continued to collect money from other gambling agents. Lyons acted as an agent in Mass., driving throughout the state to collect millions of dollars lost by gamblers. The defendants often used FEDEX to ship cash and checks back and forth to Antigua and also utilized a mail drop in Belize to receive proceeds of illegal gambling activities.

BELIZEAN CITIZENS STUDY EFFECT OF PRE-DEFAULT AND POST DEFAULT OF BAD DEBT FROM OTHER COUNTRIES


We are still slaves in Belize!

We are still slaves in Belize. Tyrants, elected or not, still rule us here.
                  ____________________________________________

  I love Jefferson -- "Let your gun be your...constant companion..."
    And Patrick Henry, of "Give me liberty or give me death," fame in a a great quote tailored for Belize:  "Suspect everyone that approaches that jewel....nothing will preserve it but downright force.....the great object is that every man be armed..."

    The founding fathers expected people to be armed unlike most other countries to keep the government in check. There can be no other way to construe their huge catalog of commentary:




"A free people ought to be armed."
- George Washington
"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
- George Washington
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin
"The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
- Thomas Jefferson
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
- Thomas Jefferson (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria)
"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks." - Thomas Jefferson  
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785 
"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion of your walks."

-- --Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1785. ME 5:85, Papers 8:407
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/...s/jeff1500.htm
"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."
- Thomas Jefferson
"On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
- Thomas Jefferson
"I enclose you a list of the killed, wounded, and captives of the enemy from the commencement of hostilities at Lexington in April, 1775, until November, 1777, since which there has been no event of any consequence ... I think that upon the whole it has been about one half the number lost by them, in some instances more, but in others less. This difference is ascribed to our superiority in taking aim when we fire; every soldier in our army having been intimate with his gun from his infancy."
- Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778
"Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense."
- John Adams
"To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them.- George Mason

"I ask sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few politicians."
- George Mason (father of the Bill of Rights and The Virginia Declaration of Rights)
          This is an old classic everyone knows....


"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe."
- Noah Webster
"The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops."
- Noah Webster
"A government resting on the minority is an aristocracy, not a Republic, and could not be safe with a numerical and physical force against it, without a standing army, an enslaved press and a disarmed populace."
- James Madison
"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms."
- James Madison
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country."
- James Madison
"The ultimate authority resides in the people alone."
- James Madison
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
- William Pitt
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
- Richard Henry Lee
"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms."
- Richard Henry Lee

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.... The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun."
- Patrick Henry

"This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty.... The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction."
- St. George Tucker
"... arms ... discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property.... Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them."
- Thomas Paine
"The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
- Samuel Adams
"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."
- Joseph Story
"What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty .... Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins."
- Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts
" ... for it is a truth, which the experience of all ages has attested, that the people are commonly most in danger when the means of insuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion."
- Alexander Hamilton

BELIZE GOSSIP ON PREDATORY LENDERS SUPERBOND BACKGROUND

 
 Gossip on the superbond predatory lenders, snare trappers, of the economy of Belize; made with corrupt government politicians of yesteryear.  FROM THE BELIZE CULTURE LISTSERVE DEBATES.
 
 
The fact that the current superbond trades at such depressed levels suggests that, at least theoretically, there is room for mutually beneficial gains for both bondholders and the government. 

Options:

1. Considering the low prices of the superbonds, Central Bank can use its reserves, which were around 4 months of imports at the end of 2011, in order to secretly repurchase 8.5% notes at 50 cents on the dollar and then refinanced the amount with a multilateral at an interest rate of perhaps 3%.(insert Vice President Joe Biden comment about Obamacare here ) 


2. Elimination of the bond amortization which is supposed to start in 2019 would create a win-win situation Since Belize would have difficulty making such amortization payments anyway.


3.The GOB could sell "carbon stocks" to foreign governments of industrialized countries wishing
to comply with international efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
from deforestation and forest degradation (known as REDD or REDD+). As an example, Norway’s $1 billion USD REDD+ investment in Indonesia. 

4. The alternative approach would be to follow Ecuador’s example and default on moral grounds and attacked the legitimacy of the debt.
Notes:
Why Belize "Creditors Committee" who owns over $300m of the $547m bond wants all investors to be treated equally.

1. Reconciliation between Prime Minister Barrow and Lord Michael Ashcroft is
notable because Ashcroft used to be a significant holder of Belize debt when holdings were made public during
the 2007 exchange; wonder if Ashcroft continues to hold large amounts of debt and if he is one of the
bondholders with whom the government wants to negotiate.

2 notices were sent through Clearstream to bondholders asking them to voluntarily reveal their identities to the government of Belize 
 in late April

Thursday, June 28, 2012

BELIZE CITRUS MUTUAL PRODUCERS AND CITRUS EXPORTERS HAILS NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BELIZE CITRUS MUTAL HELD IT'S FIRST ANNUAL MEETING THIS YEAR.

The Board of Directors, was; Mr. Ernest Raymond as Chairman, Mr. William Bowman and Mr. Michael Duncker as Exectuvie Directors, Ms Sue Hufford, Mr. Jorge Rosado, Mr. Trevor Roe, Mr. Daniel Bolon Mr. Mario Sho and Mr. Gerry Sharp as directors.

CHINA BUYING UP AGRICULTURE LAND IN LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA BIG TIME.

CHINA EXPANDING IN A BIG WAY INTO LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA, BUYING UP LAND FOR AGRICULTURE.

  China's population continues to grow, and as they urbanize in cities devoted to manufacturing for export, the larger growing population needs to start importing food more and more.  They are now as a government program going full tilt in establishing food plantations in Latin America and Africa, where land is relatively cheap and labor is cheap, and regulations are minimal.

JATROPHA OIL PELLETS FOR OORJA STOVE COOKING CUTS BUTANE STOVE COOKING IN HALF.

GRAHAM HERBET has been planting trees, and selling seedlings for the JATROPHA tree.  He has developed pellets of Jatropha, an oil tree.  Now Graham has expanded his operation and is now importing into Belize from India, the stainless steel biomass cooking stove used in villages in India, that normally over there, use cow patties and wood to cook with.  With his oil pellets, he says trials show that his new stainless steel cooking stove ( selling for about $60 usa ) runs cheaper than the more common BUTANE STOVES with gas, used for cooking everywhere in Belize.  The Butane is imported from Mexico and Guatemala  into Belize.
  As a new cooking stove distributor, he plans to distribute his stoves in 200 villages in rural Belize.  Jatropha oil pellets for cooking fuel are $10 Bz ( $5 us ) per 30 lb bag.  There is no smoke.  This kind of stove was developed in India by their Institute of Science, in Bangalore.  The stove is called the Oorja stove and comes in three sizes.  Graham claims that you can cook twice as long with his Jatropha pellets for the same price as Butane gas.  So he is competitive with fuel at half the cost.

SOL FARMS LTD. Teakettle village, BELIZE, offers packaged with your label organic vegetables for resorts and restaurants.

SOL FARMS LTD.  located at 52. mile the Western Highway in Belize is supplying the restaurant trade organically produced herbs and vegetables.
   They go one better, they are offering private labelling, and bulk packaging for resorts.  The place is TEAKETTLE village.

BELIZE USES BREWERS YEAST TO GET RID OF DOG FLEAS

BREWERS YEAST,  spoonful a day in the food of your pets, will keep the fleas away.  Lots of B+ vitamins and a strong flavor.

ORGANIC FARMER ESTABLISHES NURSERY AT MILE 56 in Western Belize

IN ONTARIO VILLAGE, WESTERN BELIZE, AN ORGANIC NURSERY using organic compost is producing seedlings for planting of the following fruit trees.  Moringa, Chaya, Leucaena, Surinam, hibiscus, Guava, Passion, Papaya, Soursop, Avocado, Pitaya, different herbs, ornamentals and breadnut.

Check Mile 56 on the Western highway.  Tel:  600 2853

DOGS IN BELIZE IDENTIFY CITRUS TREES WITH CANKER FASTER THAN HUMANS

DOGS ARE BEING USED IN BELIZE TO IDENTIFY CITRUS TREES WITH CANKER DISEASE.

  Canines are more sensitive to canker than the human eye.  They can detect canker on citrus trees in orchards, long before it is obvious to the human eye.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

NATIVE BELIZEAN GIANT DELICIOUS PAPAYA GOING EXTINCT

FAMOUS BELIZEAN GIANT, DELICIOUS PAPAYA ARE EXTINCT IN THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS OF BELIZE.

  Farmers are lamenting the loss of the native GIANT DELICIOUS PAPAYA, native to Belize.  There just MIGHT be some still in the Southern District of Toledo.  But in Central and Northern Belize, the introduction of small CHINESE varities, grown on plantations with irrigation for EXPORT seem to have replaced, for so long now.   NOBODY ANY LONGER HAS THE NATIVE SEEDS.  The Agriculture Department of the Ministry of Resources, has no SEED BANK to preserve such things.
  The markets are inundated with the REJECTS from the EXPORT PLANTATIONS, and since they are cheap, these small papaya have replaced the famous GIANT DELICIOUS NATIVE BELIZEAN PAPAYA.

  Can't even find a photograph of a native Belizean Giant papaya now.  All the papaya are Chinese, small papaya, for export in boxes.

BELIZE CATTLE INDUSTRY LEADERS

THE BELIZE CATTLE INDUSTRY COMMITTEE OF THE NORTH OF BELIZE.

  John Carr is the Chairman, John Dyck is Vice Chairman, Fred Hunter Sr. is treasurer and John Plett is the secretary.

  About five years into the future the cattle registration for diseases might be finished and then would be cattle producers will be able to EXPORT LIVE CATTLE to the Yucatan Peninsular.  At the moment the export trade of cattle is illegal.  Live cattle locally are getting about .82 cents a pound Bz.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Venezuelan assistance to socialism in Belize is much appreciated.

COMPLIMENTS OF CHANNEL 7 TV NEWS PROGRAM


The Venezuelan government is determined to eradicate cataracts and pterygium in Belize.
Over the past five years, they have flown hundreds of Belizeans to Venezuela to receive free surgeries.

On Saturday another 80 left and they spoke to us at the airport:..
Gabriel Sanchez - Charge D'Affairs, Venezuelan Embassy
"Today we are taking 80 patients, we were supposed to take 90, but we are taking 80 patients to Venezuela, they are going to be there for 15 days. Everything is fully paid by the government of Venezuela."
Arcadia Carillo, Cataract - 45 years old
"For me I appreciate it very much because it's something that not everybody can do for example and on the economic side, sometimes you just can't get the funds to get the treatment or the surgery."
Enrique Salazar, pterygium - 44 years old
"I think my eyes can come back 100% good."
Patient
"I am very grateful for the Venezuelan government for providing this opportunity for Belize people to have a free surgery."
Gabriel Sanchez - Charge D'Affairs, Venezuelan Embassy
"Mission Milagro is an ongoing program. It's going to be here until we eradicate cataracts and pterygium. So far we have already 568 patients in two years."
The patients are FROM Punta Gorda, Dangriga, Belize City, and Orange Walk. They return in 15 days. This is the ninth Mission Milagro trip.



Sunday, June 24, 2012

Toledo district student in remote Belize, wins 18th annual COCA COLA spelling bee.

 

COURTESY OF THE REPORTER NEWSPAPER.

       __________________________

 

Toledo student wins 18th annual Coca Cola Spelling Bee

Dayne Guy, an 11-year-old Std V student of St. Benedict Roman Catholic School in the Toledo District, won the 18th annual Coca-Cola Spelling Bee hosted by Bowen & Bowen Ltd at the Countryside Park in Spanish Lookout, Cayo district last Friday, June 8.
It was the first time that a student from Toledo won, and Dayne took home as his prizes a brand new Dell laptop computer, with a Hewlett Packard printer, and many accessories including headphones, a 64 Gigabyte flash drive, external speakers, a multi-port USB hub and a power-supply voltage regulator – surge protector.
He also won a full tuition and book scholarship to the high school of his choice, and a desktop computer and large capacity printer for his school.
Dayne Guy, 11-year-old Karyn Cornejo of Std VI  Kids First Child Development School in the Stann Creek district and third place winner Samuel Koop of the Shepherd’s Academy in the Cayo district, were the only three students to survive the third round, when the judges went to the reserved list of words.
Koop spelt one word right to score 10pts, but amazingly stumbled on the name of a popular German dish, sauerkraut, and so claimed third prize, which included many research resource books and school supplies. Karyn and Dayne had each ranked second in their district finals, but each scored 20 pts in the third round.
In the spell-off to decide the winner, Karyn spelt “enswathe” correctly, but stumbled on another word, while Dayne lucked out with “erythrocyte” and “beryllium”. For her second prize Karyn also took home a brand new Dell laptop computer, printer, and accessories.
Six others had made it through to the third round with 30pts each at the end of the second round. They were Mara Maheia of Horizon Academy in Belize City, Randell Pate of Our Lady of Guadalupe RC School in Corozal, Angela Trujillo of Louisiana Government School in Orange Walk Town, Wilber Ibañez of St. John’s School in Cotton Tree Village, Cayo District, Mario Tiul of the Red Bank Christian School and Clementina Ojo of St. Peter Claver RC School of Punta Gorda Town, Toledo.
But they scored zero when confronted with words like gnamma, chasse, notaphily, cheongson, brachiate, eurothermal, kaiseki, cappelletti, iconnue and fiqh. If you too are mystified by these words, you’re in good company.
It’s a very esoteric list of words to be sure, as the Belize district’s top speller, Rhiki Alegria of Hummingbird Elementary, found out to his cost. He stumbled on the spelling of “esoteric”, and was eliminated at the end of the second round, along with Jadira Chacon of Libertad Methodist School, Corozal district and Jason Fortik of San Jose School, Orange Walk district.
All 12 spellers had been winners at their separate district finals, and all took home prizes. Lousiana Government School won a $1,000 first prize for the banner contest.


We can't pay, says Central Bank of Belize.

We can’t pay, GOB tells creditors

Rating: 3 / 5 (2 votes)   Printable version Discuss this article

Posted: 22/06/2012 - 09:39 AM
Author: Adele Ramos

The Government of Belize is in a two-billion-dollar debt predication—that is according to the report, Belize 2012 – Economic and Financial Update, released on the website of the Central Bank of Belize today, Wednesday, June 20.
  
“The Government’s latest projections indicate that the country is facing sizeable financing gaps from 2013 onwards; the authorities are in active discussions with multilateral partners, but it is clear that multilateral funds alone will not close these expected shortfalls,” said the report.
  
The debt review had been commissioned by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dean Barrow soon after his return to office in March, when he put together a team led by former Minister of Economic Development Mark Espat, to undertake a comprehensive debt review—a review which now makes the point that the country cannot afford its existing debts, and it is now trying to find a sustainable way forward.
  
The document sets out a profile of exactly what Belize owes, and the debts include nearly half-a-billion dollars ($456.5 million) to the Michael Ashcroft group. Estimated compensation to the former owners of the Belize Telemedia Limited and the Belize Electricity Limited are together estimated at BZ$540 million.
  
The gloomy news is about the proceeds of oil exploration, which the report said peaked in 2009, and continues to decline with no immediate prospect of a boost in revenues. The report makes the point that, “...no new commercially-viable oil finds have been made in Belize since 2005 – contrary to the hopes of Belize and its creditors at the time of the 2007 restructuring.”
  
On top of the expected claims for BTL and BEL, Government has listed $47 million in debts to NEWCO, a $4 million arbitration award won over an airport concession cancelled under the Musa administration, as well as $43 million for land claims.
  
There is BZ$116.5 million in awards to the Ashcroft group, which the Barrow administration continues to resist. They are (1) the 2009 London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award for BZ$43.8 million (plus accrued interest) for BCB Holdings and the Belize Bank; (2) BZ$33.5 million (plus accrued interest) for the Belize Bank; and (3) a 2009 LCIA arbitration award for BZ$39.2 million (plus accrued interest), which has been assigned by the former BTL shareholders to the Belize Social Development Ltd (BSDL).
  
Belize’s overall direct public debt is listed at US$1.182 billion, with US$554 million of that being external commercial debt, essentially the super bond. This is the portion that the Barrow administration is now attempting to renegotiate.
  
“Belize is now moving to address its additional liabilities and determine appropriate strategies for dealing with the forecast collapse in oil revenue; this notwithstanding, overall obligations look certain to exceed the country’s capacity to pay, even when conservative assumptions are used,” said the report.
  
We understand that with the conclusion of the review, the Government team will next move into negotiations with creditors and bondholders who had subscribed to the super bond, through which the national commercial debt was largely restructured back in 2007.
  
Among those who the government would engage is the Committee of Creditors, recently formed by a group of foreign bondholders to protect their interests in the negotiations.
  
According to the debt review, the critical year seems to be 2013, when the budget deficit would record huge and unsustainable spreads of nearly 8%.
  
“The Government is facing sizeable financing gaps from 2013 onwards; using the Mid-Point for the nationalization compensation amounts that the Government must pay, these gaps reach 8.0% of GDP in 2014 and decline gradually to reach 7.3% of GDP in 2017,” said the report.

I HOPE OUR NEW PRIME MINISTER HAS THE BALLS TO DEFAULT IN BELIZE!

PREDATORY LENDERS TO BELIZE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BITE THE BULLET !

  While the portion of the Belize National Debt under much discussion lately, both at home and abroad.  Nobody is describing what was alleged by citizens of Belize, a criminal act by SUPERBOND HOLDERS ( lenders ) back when these debts were incurred by the lenders of THAT DEBT, to what was THEN a corrupt Belize government of politicians.
  You cannot say they didn't know.  It was on this BLOG, in the NATIONAL newspapers of the time.  Our media discussed the crime while it was happening. The FACTS are; for the most part, the owners of the SUPERBOND being restructured today, were part of what we citizens in Belize regard as a criminal conspiracy to make an immediate profit, by lending money to a country that was at the time flat broke.  We could no more pay back those loans back then, and PREDATORY LENDERS only saw the immediate FEES, interest payments and SLAVERY of the future population of Belize, done in collusion for their immediate enrichment to corrupt politicians and the predatory lenders.  Those lenders were in my opinion, part of a criminal conspiracy, along with the corrupt politicians of that time.  I said so on this BLOG at the time. They KNEW back then, the debt they were saddling the country of Belize with, was UNSUSTAINABLE, from day ONE.
  Since then, they have gained a lot of interest payments.  They probably have earned back all their original loan capital. 
  In the opinion of most citizens of Belize, the corrupt politicians of that time, deliberately colluded, with callous, EVIL predatory lenders, to put the population of BELIZE, into long term financial SLAVERY.
  When the bleating and gnashing of teeth from the Bond Holders of bad debt, gets louder, I for one, will totally IGNORE them and their cries for more PAYMENTS, threats of this and that, intimidation and bad press.  GO TO HELL FELLAS!   I just hope that THIS Prime Minister has the BALLS to DEFAULT.  You deserve it.
                           ___________________________________________________

  Some of the stuff they are doing with indebted European countries is utter economic nonsense, in my opinion.   You do not borrow more debt money to pay interest on loans you cannot pay.  How stupid can you get?  That's a reverse PONZI SCHEME.

Friday, June 22, 2012

BELIZE OWES IT'S FREE HEALTHCARE TO CUBA. NOT THE U.K, OR CANADA, OR THE USA. BUT CUBA and don't forget it.

INTERESTING MOVIE ON KREM LAST NIGHT, ON THE LIFE AND TIMES OF FIDEL CASTRO.  I enjoyed seeing it.

  While Castro was and is a SOCIALIST.  Socialism has it's drawbacks, as you have to pay for the benefits. Most countries in the world are struggling with those hard financial choices.  From a majority African descendant population, under CASTRO, Cuba went through various socialist campaigns.  One was literacy and everybody in Cuba now reads and writes.  A magnificent undertaking.  Another was education for ALL.  Something even the USA cannot produce yet. The most important from our viewpoint in tiny Belize, is their healthcare for ALL people, rich and poor.  We in Belize are enjoying the benefits of CUBAN HEALTHCARE.  Without the Cuban health system here we would hardly have anything at all.  Our current miracle of FREE HEALTH CARE for everybody in Belize, RICH OR POOR, comes from Cuba.  Certainly the USA is a dismal failure in that regard, with over 55% of the population unable to get healthcare.  They must rely on drugstores, over the counter medicine.  In the 21 st century that is an atrocious stigma for a record.
  When it comes to HEALTHCARE in Belize, what we do enjoy is better by far for over 70% of USA citizens.  In comparison, what we have in Belize for HEALTHCARE is so superior to the USA, you cannot even compare the two countries.  WE IN BELIZE OWE CUBA A LOT!  WE DO NOT TELL THEM ENOUGH OVER THERE IN CUBA, HOW MUCH WE NEED AND APPRECIATE THEIR SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.  WE SHOULD SHOW OUR APPRECIATION MUCH MORE!

BELIZE UNSUSTAINABLE DEBT REVIEW - 2012

BELIZE GOVERNMENT INCOME REVENUE RUNS ABOUT $800 MILLION  A YEAR IN BZ CURRENCY, OR $400 USA MILLION A YEAR.  THE CURRENT DEBT SERVICE IS ABOUT ONE THIRD OF THE GOVERNMENT'S ANNUAL REVENUE.  OIL EXPORTS FROM TWO SMALL UNDERGROUND PONDS CONTRIBUTE, ONE THIRD OF ANNUAL GOVERNMENT REVENUES.  THE TWO OIL PONDS HAVE PASSED PEAK OIL, AND EXPECTED TO DECLINE TO NEAR ZERO OVER NEXT FIVE YEARS. WITH A POPULATION OF 300,000 PEOPLE, THE COUNTRY WOULD BE MODERATELY WELL OFF ECONOMICALLY AND ARE CURRENTLY SELF SUSTAINABLE IN FOOD PRODUCTION, IF IT WAS NOT FOR PAST POLITICAL MISTAKES, WHICH LED TO THE COUNTRY ACCUMULATING TOO MUCH INTERNATIONAL DEBT.  THE CURRENT PRIME MINISTER ON HIS SECOND TERM, HAS SHOWN HIMSELF STERN WHEN FACED WITH A DISTASTEFUL COURSE OF ACTION. IT WOULD NOT SURPRISE ANY OF THE POPULATION OF BELIZE, TO SEE HIM DEFAULT ON THE INTERNATIONAL DEBT.  IN FACT, LOCALLY, MOST BETS ARE BEING PLACED ON THIS HAPPENING! HE IS BEING ENCOURAGED TO DO SO, BY THE POPULATION; AS EVEN THE MOST SIMPLE MINDED CAN SEE ANNUAL GOVERNMENT REVENUES DECLINING TO AROUND $230 USA MILLION, ONCE THE OIL EXPORTS ARE GONE. LOCAL ECONOMIC EXPERTS PUT THE ABILITY OF BELIZE TO SERVICE DEBT IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WHILE EXPERIENCING LOWER ANNUAL REVENUES, AT AROUND A TOTAL OF $15 USA MILLION PER ANNUM.  THE E.U. RECOMMENDED STANDARD IS 3% OF GDP.  IF BELIZE WERE TO ADOPT THAT MAXIMUM DEBT SERVICE FORMULA, IT WOULD BE ABOUT $10 USA MILLION PER YEAR.



Bloomberg:

Belize’s vow to restructure more than $500 million of dollar debt for the second time in five years has stoked the biggest bond decline in emerging markets. TCW Group Inc. is betting the rout has gone too far.
The yield on the Central American country’s $544 million of notes due in 2029 has surged 235 basis points to 19.4 percent since Jan. 31, when Prime Minister Dean Barrow said he would restructure the securities, without giving more details. The yields have climbed 872 basis points from a year ago and are the highest among 50 nations tracked by JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBIG index. Notes sold by Argentina and Pakistan yield 12.6 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively.
Barrow said he would pursue more lenient terms for the government after the interest rate on the notes rose to 8.5 percent this year from 6 percent as part of an accord reached with bondholders in 2007. TCW says investors are overestimating the losses the country will seek to impose in any new agreement.
“What I think is likely is that they will propose a return to lower coupons and perhaps some maturity extension,” said Marcela Meirelles, a Latin America strategist in Los Angeles for TCW, which oversees $128 billion of assets and bought Belize bonds after the sell-off. “They can engineer a situation in which the debt service is once again manageable.”

Rating Cut

Moody’s Investors Service cut Belize’s credit rating for a second time this year on June 1 to Ca, 10 levels below investment grade, citing weak growth in the $1.4 billion tourism-based economy. Moody’s first cut the rating in February, prompting Barrow to say he “doesn’t give a damn” about ratings companies.
AJ Mediratta, a partner at Greylock Capital Management, is leading a group of inve points, the most in a month, to 18.68 percent at 8:50 a.m. New York time.
Roberto Sanchez-Dahl, who oversees $1.3 billion of emerging-market debt at Federated Investment Management Co., said he sold his Belize debt after the election-season comments because a lack of information led him to prepare for the worst.
“We decided there was not that much upside from there, given the very large political pressure for them to do something about it,” Sanchez-Dahl said in a telephone interview from Pittsburgh. “It looked like it could turn into a very complicated situation there, and under the current market environment, we just didn’t want to have any loose cannons there.”

Growth Forecast

The International Monetary Fund forecasts Belize’s economy will expand 2.8 percent this year after growing 2 percent in 2011, compared with 4 percent growth for the entire Central America region. About 35 percent of the country’s population lived in a dwelling without a flush toilet or refrigerator, according to a 2010 census.
The restructuring is Belize’s latest effort to control debt-servicing costs. The Central American country consolidated its debt into a so-called superbond in 2007 following higher spending related to tropical storms and hurricanes over the previous decade. At the time, the government said its recovery from storms left it with “heavy external debt obligations.”

‘Deal Breaker’

In 2007, Belize was spending a quarter of its revenue on interest payments. Public debt outlays equaled 13.6 percent of revenue from April 2011 to March 2012, according to the central bank. The jump in the superbond’s coupon ahead of the elections probably made continued payments a “deal breaker” for the government, said Franco Uccelli, senior economist for Central America and the Caribbean at JPMorgan in Miami.
Belize, which is wedged between Mexico and Guatemala on the Yucatan Peninsula, could expect yields on restructured debt to fall as low as 10 percent, Uccelli said. The country cut its debt-to-GDP ratio to about 84 percent last year from 100 percent in 2005, he said.
“They got a big relief in terms of their debt service burden” in the earlier debt restructuring, Meirelles said. “They don’t need a big haircut.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Williams in San Jose, Costa Rica at awilliams111@bloomberg.net; Jonathan J. Levin in Mexico City at jlevin20@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoul

Thursday, June 21, 2012

BELIZE GOVERNMENT PLANS TO DEFAULT IN AUGUST WITH SUPERBOND INTERNATIONAL DEBT

BELIZE GOVERNMENT LAYING PLANS AND SUBSEQUENT FALLOUT, FROM DEFAULT OF SUPERBOND PAYMENT IN AUGUST.  THE DEBT OF BELIZE IS UNSUSTAINABLE AND UNLIKE GREECE, WE DON'T HAVE THE European Union. TO BAIL US OUT.

  The numbers have been around for two years.  But declining oil revenues, expected to become serious in two to three years, are expected to lop off, about 25% of the current available revenue to government this year.  We are past peak oil, and the exports of oil will decline fast from here on out, over the next five years.

  The Superbond debt totals are put about $1.3 billion.  Factor in repayment at $200 million Bz each, to the previous owners of BEL and BTL, the water and telecommunications giant in Belize.  THE NATIONAL DEBT OF BELIZE IS RUNNING AROUND ABOUT $1.5 BILLION USA.  We have a population of 300,000.  The numbers indicate we are going to lose between 1/3 rd and 1/2 of our current government revenues over the next three years. 

  If Belize is going to default on the SUPERBOND, it behooves us to do so, this AUGUST.  Pro-crastination will solve nothing and simply make the overall picture worse. Other government operations from GRANTS for infra-structure, are expected to continue and payments on loans from regional banking services to continue as usual.  With a default, we will be something of a temporary pariah in international commercial circles, but that is not expected to last more than three years.  When you buy HIGH RISK BONDS, you accept the risk, and none of the holders have more than a token small percentage of their portfolios in Belize Securities.  If they are smart they will write them off before the end of this fiscal year.  If they get traded over here within Belize, might even buy some of those bad bonds myself, at 3 cents on the dollar thereabouts.  Haven't been able to trade Belize Bonds because they are on the European Exchanges, notably LUXEMBURG.  Get them over here and we could develop a penny market trading in them, if the government would occasionally pay the odd interest payment.

CENTRAL AMERICAN TRADE WITH OUR NEIGHBORS AND BELIZE, FAR OUTPACES ANYTHING WITH CARICOM.

OUR CARICOM NEIGHBOR ST. KITTS, AND NEVIS, two small islands between the Atlantic ocean and Caribbean sea, are reporting STAGNANT GROWTH.  ZERO change to their economy.  If anything, things are going backwards. They have no harbors, exposed shore for yachts, small islands, with expensive land and no discernible tourist development.  They do have a good international airstrip though.

  While at home here in Belize, the majority of our trade and commerce with Central American neighbors is far outpacing anything we can do with CARICOM small island countries.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

PARACHUTE JUMPERS DO BLUE HOLE AGAIN !

BLUE HOLE OF BELIZE, PARACHUTE JUMPERS DO THE BLUE HOLE, OF LIGHTHOUSE REEF ATOLL AGAIN!  Welcome guys and girls.

ONION CROP FOR DOMESTIC BELIZE MARKET BETTER ORGANIZED THIS YEAR 2012

This year the ONION FARMERS, organized themselves better.  Last year they overproduced and badly got hurt financially. Onion farming is a new thing in Belize. They farm onions with black plastic irrigation lines down the rows, using a pump, to pump water from the Northern districts acquifer.  It's shallow about 35 feet.  There is no limit to their capability for production in the practical sense.  Irrigated farming is something new, and with a small population it is easy to over produce for the domestic market. Talks between the onion producers and the agriculture department, resulted this year in the producers assigning themselves a quota to produce onions.  They were also shown how to built storage bins for onions, to preserve them from rotting.  Thus enabling them to space out their sales on the domestic market over a six months period.  They can grow two or three crops a year in onions.  They have the water and soil, just need the sunshine.
  Production of onions should and could lead to an export market.  One thinks of Guatemala and Salvador.  The onion growers haven't got that far along in experience with this import substitution crop yet.  It is believed Mexicans can produce onions that are bigger, at higher elevations and ship them to Belize cheaper than we can grow them here.  But growing onions here, makes us self sufficient in food.  Also saves foreign exchange.

  The leeks,a small bulb onion, could be pickled in plastic food jars, similar to peanut butter imported jars and exported by the container load.  I've grown them successfully in my hydroponics nursery.  They grow easily.  The green tops could be fed to  rabbit farm, as rabbits produce meat faster than chickens and we could export rabbit meat.  What is lacking is the agro-processing technical knowledge, markets and the abillity to produce the containers here locally.


Monday, June 18, 2012

BELIZE MAYA CHILDREN'S SPELLING BEE.



MAYA SPELLING BEE, IN THE TOLEDO RURAL DISTRICT.

Map of North America BEFORE the EUROPEAN INVASION



MAP OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN DOMAINS, BEFORE THE INVASION OF EUROPEANS AND SUBSEQUENT GENOCIDE AND CONQUEST.

There is always a way to make money in Belize.


THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY TO MAKE MONEY IN BELIZE!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

3 SUGAR VENTURES IN BELIZE NOW?

Seems we have three sugar ventures in Belize now, for the future, from the newspapers?   We have BSI sugar factory supplied by local sugar cane farmers.  Now majority owned by USA investment, after Belizean ownership ran it into bankruptcy, or just about on the verge. We HAD Mexicans buying out the abandoned rusted sugar factory by Corozal.  Though we haven't heard BOO about that for the longest while.  Deal must have collapsed?  Then we have what seems to be a Spanish Holding Company investment in sugar for the Belize River Valley area, which has bought the land.
  Latest blurb and gossip on that was; they had applied for all the environmental permits, licenses and other stuff, but apparently didn't pay the Cabinet Minister a BRIBE?  Being a $100 million dollar investment that is a NO NO!  Bribes must be paid for permits, environmental stuff, licenses and so forth in Belize.  That is how our British inherited pirate political party CABINET system works.  Bribes are one of the political perks. Whether in the U.K or in African commonwealth countries.  It has gotten more sophisticated nowadays, from 20 years ago.  No longer does the Political Cabinet Minister's CHAUFFER, work as a bribe cutout.  Nowadays, you get shares to own a television station, or a radio station, or ( remember the Radisson Hotel and Esuivel? ) Or Musa with his government printers privatization, or the private hospital scam with $20 million USA of Venezuela's housing grant money newspaper stories on scandals?
  Anyway, the foolish Spanish ( real Spanish from Spain ), apparently thought they had complied with the law, until somebody notified the Cabinet Minister they had, or were digging an irrigation ditch and then the bull feces hit the fan, and the project was stopped.  With a schedule to develop, rainy seasons and all that, bank loan interest payments to meet monthly, back in Spain, they were stopped COLD. More investment projects in Belize have been broken using that local political gambit. Stalled projects by political maneuvering for bribes cannot tolerate artificial delays, with interest payments running. Works the same in Miami Dade County in Florida, or in the U.K.
  Anyway, the Spanish Holding Company investment according to the weekend newspapers is stalled right now, until the pressure of interest payments cost, back in Spain and the EU, force somebody to bribe the Cabinet Minister, is the common assumption here by the Belizean voting public.  The only curiousity here, is in what form of disguise will a bribe be disguised?  That's the scandal and SOAP OPERA part of Belize. Our entertainment in this country of Belize.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

NUMBER OF FLORA AND FAUNA SPECIES FOUND IN TROPICAL BELIZE.

Biodiversity:  Number of Flora and Fauna Species Found in Belize
(Estimates vary depending on the source and date1)

Birds                                       575-625
Amphibians                            36-37
Reptiles                                   106-110
Snakes                                     59-60
Turtles                                     13
Mammals                                145-152
Butterflies                               1,000
Moths                                     900-1,000
Fish (Salt & Freshwater)        630-640
Sharks                                     22
Vascular Plants                       3,750-4,000
Native Trees                           700

1 Perhaps the best overall source on Belize’s biodiversity is the report Compilation of Information on Biodiversity in Belize by Jan C. Meerman, 2005.

EXPERTS IN MICROPROPOGATION CROP TECHNIQUES HAVE FAILED TO SHOW A PROFIT COMMERCIALLY.

MICROPROPAGATION SCIENCE TECHNIQUES HAS BEEN AROUND ABOUT 3OR 4 YEARS NOW.  FUNDED BY TAIWAN.

  The science and technique has a lot of things going for it.  Originally devised by Taiwanese experts to produce by mass production, orchids for export to the USA.  The project fell flat on it's face.  The last 18 months we hear a lot about supplying local farmers with latest varieties of bananas and sugar cane.

  So far, I can't see any PROFIT, coming out of this technology YET.  Without a profit, the technology is just an interesting science.  I presume TAIWAN continues to finance the new technoogy of plant propogation?  At some point they have to create an export industry of plants and turn the project into a commercial viable profit making business.  Otherwise, SAYONARA baby.

SUGAR CANE BOOM PRODUCTION TIME, A COMING TO BELIZE

SUGAR CANE PRODUCTION IN BELIZE HIT RECORD OF 114 TONNES THIS YEAR 2012.\


One Mexican sugar producer has bought several thousand acres.  Also bought an old disused sugar factory site.  So there is going to be sugar producing competition in the North of Belize.  A USA company has supposedly now bought the majority stock holding, in the one and only existing sugar factory.

  Looks like bumper times ahead for sugar producers.  Not enough to take care of a growing government we cannot afford, with our debts, so we need other agriculture processed food exports.  Government politicians are struggling to find leadership types to jump start agro-processing, but apparently an academic degree, and education is not proving that the holders are intelligent self starters.  Salaried types in the bureaucracy have consistantly been inadequate leaders and pioneers.

BELIZE BONDS RAISE IRE OF CREDITORS.


5 year AUSTERITY BUDGET ANNOUNCED BY PRIME MINISTER.

 

$30 MILLION SHORT ON BALANCING THE BUDGET FOR 2012, SAYS THE PRIME MINISTER.

 

OBSERVERS SAY OIL EXPORTS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DECLINE OVER NEXT FIVE YEARS, TO A TRICKLE, HAVING PAST PEAK OIL PRODUCTION IN BELIZE. 

 

 

 

Bond Holders Not Too Happy With Restructuring Of Superbond

Screen_shot_2012-06-15_at_10.51.52_AMA few weeks ago Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Belize’s credit rating sending it deeper into junk territory as it went from C-A-A-1 to C-A. It is the second time this year that Moody’s has cut Belize’s debt rating, citing a probable restriction of government’s $547 million bond and “weak economic growth”. When the downgrade was announced Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow was in Miami with his ailing wife. Upon his arrival in Belize last week Barrow was interviewed by the media and questioned about the downgrade and the superbond. During the interview Barrow mentioned that government could amend certain terms of the bond. Following that announcement Belize’s bondholders formed a creditors committee out of concern that the country could become the next sovereign to default on its debts, according to the Financial Times.

The ad hoc committee represents holders of more than $200 million of the $547 million bond due in 2029. In the release creditors indicate that while they are sympathetic to the challenges facing Belize, any proposed amendment that results in a net present value or principal loss to creditors would not, based on the committee’s current understanding of the situation in Belize, be considered acceptable or, for that matter, necessary. How the recently formed committee will impact the present negotiations of the superbond is left to be seen. But the news forthcoming doesn’t seem to be all that good.

Belize’s creditors committee is advised by BroadSpan Capital, a Latin America-focused investment banking boutique that also advised international creditors to Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Caribbean island federation, in debt restructuring this year.

QUESTIONS FROM PROSPECTIVE RETIREES TO BELIZE

I have no idea.  We get a lot of retiree Americans who are runaway criminals with warrants outstanding, who the US Marshals eventually come and get.  The expat population of all nationalities is probably in access of 20% of the population.  Belize is a rural country.  Government services don't work that well.  99% of the roads are dirt, rural.  It is a pioneer country for pioneer types.  It is not a typical USA city environment with those kinds of infra structure and access to things.  If you need the opera, museums, and other things, the place is not for you.  This is a frontier and whatever you choose to do, is going to be challenging and often pioneering.  I run the one and only HIGH RISK HEDGE FUND in the country. ( 2 years old and not profitable yet )  I pioneered tourism here back in the 1960's. Now I pioneer International Financial Trading. Now a big tourist industry worth 25% of government revenue.  Everybody and all the local tv and radio talk shows are filled daily with opinions on how to make the country better.  The country is always broke.  It is an elected dictatorship, politically mismanaged according to Warren Buffet. ( He suggests that any political people who fail to control public debt below 3% of GDP be banned from running for office. ) ( Fat chance! ) If you don't like challenges and the aspect of pioneering without any government assistance, then you probably should go to a big Latin city with a population in the millions.  This place attracts investors on the small scale mostly.  Lots of people are into eco friendly ventures, meaning they are pioneers of some kind.  Myself I like an atmosphere of NO GOVERNMENT interference.  You want to build then build. You want to do something new, do it.  Ask permission later.  There is a sense of patriotism and everybody being in the same boat, building a new nation out of nothing. If you like that sort of thing, then you will like it.


From: jerry nicholls <jnicksocal2007@yahoo.com>
To: Ray Auxillou <hillviewhacienda@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 2:00 PM
Subject: Re: residency

Hi Ray;
Thanks for the reply, and I was also woundering, and I hope you will share with me the answer to this question. Why are there so few americans living in Belize? Belize is so beatiful from the pictures I have seen that I'm woundering why more americans have not retired there. I'm thinking that there must be a problem with the goverment or conditions of living there or even something else, like the money problems the goverment has that I have read about.
Hope to hear back from you,
Jerry

From: Ray Auxillou
To: jerry nicholls
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 5:28 AM
Subject: Re: residency

Try Lans Sluder a travel writer on Belize.   He has oodles of that kind of information on his websites.  Far as I know, you would have to have a police certificate from the USA up to the time you left.  You get another one in Belize for the time you have here.  Everything else seems normal.


From: jerry nicholls
To: "hillviewhacienda@yahoo.com"
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 5:02 PM
Subject: residency

Hi Ray;
I read your story and got your email address from the bottom of the page. Iam planning on going to Belize this August and hope to find it to be what I have been looking for, for the past few years. Iam retired, sold my house in California, have my money in a bank in Panama.
I have looked into Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador and have not found what I'm looking for, I have read about Belize and it sounds like what I want. If Belize is where I want to live out my life, I want to be prepared, meaning, I want to be ready to apply for residency.
 
The problem I'm faceing is that I don't really understand the process of getting residency there. I understand that I need to live there for one year and renew my visa every 30 days for 12 months then I can apply for residency, is this correct? If so, how do I get my papers ready for residency? Do I go back to the states and get them, [which will take some time] or do I bring them with me, but I understand that they can only be 30 days old, is this true?
 
I guess what I need to know is how do I prepare for my residency there? Can you tell me the stepts I need to take, from first landing in Belize and what I should have with me, to obtaining residency there? This may be alot to ask someone I don't even know, but from all the information I have read, I'm really confused.
 
Thank you Ray for your time,
Jerry Nicholls


Friday, June 15, 2012

UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE GOES COMMERCIAL WITH MICROPROPOGATION SCIENCE.

UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE HAS STARTED A MICROPROPOGATED FACTORY FOR THE MASS PRODUCTION OF PLANTS FOR NEW LARGE AGRICULTURE ENTERPRISES.

  The initial thrust is to be providing sugar cane plants and bananas.  At first this airconditioned industry started off with producing orchids for export.  But lacked the marketing and specie choices to become a success.  The Cubans who use the technology have stepped in and are going to show us how to boost sugar cane types and yields.  This is a fancy science way of mass producing plants for putting into newly cleared and prepared large scale farms.  Bananas and Sugar are the main goals at present.  They use bathing with culture media, in special vessels.  Even growth hormones are used.  UB is looking for a 25 day cycle in production.  An artificial environment is used, and the young cuttings are carefully tended through four phases, before they are suitable to be planted in the fields.  New superior varities can be introduced this way.  The UB camps is at Central Farm for this new venture.

80 year old self sustainable model farm, in BELIZE now run by the third generation.

HANNA'S ECO FARM IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU CAN DO IN AGRICULTURE IN BELIZE.   THIS FARM IS OVER 80 YEARS OLD.


 The farm found on the bank of the Mopan river near the Xununantanich Mayan temple ruins on the high hill.  Implementing Vertical farming instead of horizontal increased land area, a lot of so called modern ideas, were used here 80 years ago.  They do tree cropping and leguminous trees typically are concentrated proteins with minerals and vitamins for animal feed.  The science behind this farm can be found in the BELIZE AG REPORT MAGAZINE  March / April 2012, Issue 15.  The farm now is maintained by three grandsons.  This is a successful model of a sustainable, integrated farm that is also ecological.  Soils are rebuilt regularly, nature pathways for wildlife are enabled, crop rotation, vegetable production for market gardening, cattle, milk and egg production.  You want to be self sustaining, this is a model you can follow.

NEVER CONFUSE EDUCATION WITH INTELLIGENCE


BELIZE- Anytime government debt exceeds 3% of GDP, the elected politicians are fired and banned from running for office again.

NEW LAW PROPOSED FOR BELIZE:
ANYTIME THE TOTAL DEBT OF BELIZE RISES ABOVE 3% OF GDP, all elected politicians must be fired.  They are then BANNED FOR LIFE from holding elective office in government management, ever again. 
As anyone will tell you that public transportation and public infrastructure is an essential component for the growth of any economy. Weak economies have poor public transportation and the strong economies have subways, metros, greyhounds, turnpikes, bridges, etc. There is no disputing the fact that small population is a hindrance to large growth, but the upside is that a small population should breath manageability. Take Haiti for instance with near ten million people, the large population was a hindrance to them. They have depleted there natural resources such as trees, water, etc. to the point that there lands are barren and the people are living in deep poverty.
I will not be one to be proverbial and say we need to "count our blessings in Belize", because I know as a nation we can do better, if the motives are genuine.
A good transportation system requires substantial capital for it to be viable. The present structure in Belize is a case of getting what you paid for and even then in comparison with other countries what Belizean pay is high. For example to travel 50 miles on a paved road one will pay US$3.50 for a non-stop trip. That trip is still considered cheap by the existing bus company because of the rising cost of fuel and the high bank charges.
But bear in mind that a bus permit for any of the bus lines have a one year life span, which does not allow for any major investment to be made because there is no way a one year contract will allow to pay off a large 10 to 15 year loan. Yet the policy makers refuse to be practical and increase the permit period. It they do however then they can force bus operators to improve on their equipment and service.
ADO in Mexico has been there for donkeys years because they have been given time to recoup their investment and make a profit. No one invest to lose money or because they are in love with Belize. We must get real. The population has nothing to do with Belize's backwardness, it is the backwardness in thinking that have Belize where it is today.
Some will argue that it is still a better place than most, but those in the diaspora see Belize as their pet project, but they will remain in their bigger economy with better public transportation and infrasture.
Life is real, Belize is where it is economically and socially becaue its citizens appreciate it as is. How is that to stir up the minds. Whenever they want the change they will do so, don't worry about their noise.
There you have it my two cents to stir the thought.

Now that we are beyond the political campaigning, how about discussing what in your experience are some of the solutions to force changes in the Belize City society. Regardless of political affiliations, all elected officials must be made to represent the people who voted for them and there should be a demand placed on then to define what will be done (real programs) to instill civil pride, fix the playgrounds for the kids, institute sports into the elementary schools and most important their program to help reduce the level of crime. You now have Merida, Caymans and I am sure many others where they have done something about the crime rate. Maybe somebody should consider getting help from Singapore where you will pay dearly if you commit a crime (any crime) . Time to make all politicians be held accountable or else force a referendum to recall them from their seats. Warren Buffet suggested he can fix the US deficit and it include passing a law that says anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting member of Congress are ineligible for re-election. Similar laws can be proposed to ensure that those who ask for the job of governing, will be held accountable to govern.
I don’t live in Belize so I must respectfully defer to those who live there to implement the solutions they deem appropriate. Let me know your thoughts.

Great discussion - on my way out the door now but I'd like to continue the interesting dialog. One point about Haiti, too many people, not enough land and no natural resources; also sits on an island. One major drawback in Belize, bureaucratic laws. Try to open a bank account as one who lives abroad and you'll fond out. Also, the article that Michael Lindo referred to was in the NY times and I believe I saved a copy . It talked about the bureaucracy and corruption in Belize as compared to Cayman.
--
G. Michael Reid
Citizen of the world

Thursday, June 14, 2012

BELIZE GOVERNMENT ON OFFICIAL 5 YEAR AUSTERITY PROGRAM.

BELIZE OFFICIALLY ON 5 YEAR AUSTERITY SPENDING PROGRAM.
       _________________________________________________________________________

  Belize has an unsustainable debt.  Nowadays any infra-structure programs are done either by LOANS, spending future possible earnings, or through GRANTS, the more favored method. 
The only way Belize can get out of this unfavorable financial situation is by GROWTH.
  Growth must come from new export businesses.  Mostly these are envisioned as by agro-processing finished processed food products, or through light manufacturing.  Light manufacturing has it's adherents and some people are interested in export solar panels to Guatemala and Salvador.  Cheap cardboard telescopes have also been mentioned for an internet world market of about 20,000 per month.  Sources of materials, tools and other necessities are the major obstacles. There is no government funding available to bootstrap, jump start, such enterprises.  One such suggestion was made, to hire two Bachelor Degree guys and have them do all the research for Business Plans, Feasability Studies, material sources, equipment sources, Market studies, etc.  Print same in a booklet and distribute quarterly around the nation.
               _____________________________________________________________

  We know of THREE ELECTION SUBJECTS WERE A FRAUD, TO GAIN VOTES.  One was the use of the DREDGE at Caye Caulker to fill about 200 yards of beach reclamation, where actually there is six months work is needed.  Soon as the election was over, the dredge disappeared and was recalled.  Another was the idea of a SURVEY of Rosewood forest resources, which has also been cancelled now the election is over, for lack of money they say in GOB.  At the time ROSEWOOD EXPLOITATION in a raw state was sanctioned by the government against public outcry.
Can't remember the third item.  But AUSTERITY and LACK OF MONEY is hampering the functioning of government.
            ______________________________________________________

  The OPPOSITION PUP are claiming there is no BUDGET for this year yet.  Also that the government has a $15 million shortfall from over spending.