ICJ DEBATE - VOTE NO IN BELIZE REFERENDUM

ICJ PROCESS IS GOING TO BE WORTHLESS TO BELIZE !
    Will cause much more trouble down the road than it is worth.

  Any ICJ process will exacerbate current good feelings between Guatemala and Belize as economic partners, and what is already an independent nation of Belize by United Nations vote.

  VOTE NO IN A REFERENDUM
                      -_________________________________________

   Ray - Colombia and Nicaragua are the countries you have in mind. Colombia didn't like the ICJ ruling on their land and sea dispute with Nicaragua so they have decided not to accept it and have now withdrawn from ever participating in the ICJ again.
   There are a number of lessons out of the mess as you call it (which is quite accurate) for Belize and the ICJ. The most obvious is that an ICJ ruling will not solve the problem and, in fact, increase the stress and tension levels for all involved. 
   There is a Facebook page dealing with the Belize/Guatemala issue called "Belize, Sovereign And Free - No ICJ!" should you be interested. There are some links to the Colombia/Nicaragua issue there in addition to the regular material....
   This particular page was set up by Mr. Paco Smith of Belize City. There was some interesting discussion and debate recently with a Guatemalan chap. He held up their side of the argument quite well and kept it all civilized despite several highly informed Belizeans like Paco, Wil Maheia, and others taking him on.
  His remarks convinced me more than ever that unless Guatemala were to agree to a total "de-Beliceization" campaign if they lose there is no point in carrying out this exercise. Their kids are taught in school from the get-go about the issue and it will take years for them to be de-programmed. All their textbooks will have to be changed, official maps in public facilities replaced, etc. It would cost a fortune and they will certainly never do it anyway. So the issue will never go away and a ruling in favor of Belize will likely change nothing. 
   I keep trying to find some merit in this ICJ process. I have followed Lisa Shoman's comments on this for quite some time. Certainly she is as informed on the issue as much as any Belizean out there. She is even part of the process. But every time I follow the process to the possible outcomes and look at the risk/reward ratio I see a bet I would not place. Too much risk for very little reward with a high financial cost on top of it.....no thanks...

BELIZE CREDITORS JUMP THE GUN ON SUPERBOND GDP RATE.

7.4% GDP growth for first six months of 2012 really got the SUPERBOND CREDITORS HOPPING !

  It will be interesting to see what the calendar year GDP number is for 2012?  Most government revenues are earned in the first six months.  Tourism is dead in the last half of the year.  Sugar does not start until the last month of the year, and tourism does not start until last two weeks of the year.  The first half figure of 7.4% Gdp is interesting, but unlikely to be high at the end of 2012 for the 12 months of 2012.
  Guess estimates run between 2.0 % and 3.5 % Gdp growth for 2012 overall. The IMF is guessing for Belize in 2012 a gdp rate of 3.5%  It takes a growth rate of 3.5% to breakeven with the growth of population.  With an annual growth rate of 3.5% GDP you could say the economy is stagnant.  Neither losing or gaining ground. Below 3.5% Gdp and Belize would be losing ground economically speaking.  Over that magic number, you could say our economy is growing.

BELIZE P0KER DEBT DEFAULT NEGOTIATIONS Nov. 2012

MORE ON THE DEBT DEFAULT AND RESTRUCTURING.  CREDITORS AND GOVERNMENT STARE EACH OTHER IN THE POKER EYES, AS THEY PLAY FOR HIGH STAKES !

 No matter what happens BTL/BEL will be the winners .

GOB agreed to a ring-fence around the dividend flows from BTL and BEL.

Not  sure investors will go for the 33% haircut (To pay off BTL/BEL lol ) and a 4.5% coupon for 5 years and a cap at 6.5%.  I suspect they will say pay the other 11 million that we missed and lets keep talking. Belize prob say well you gave me 60 days i did not ask for it  and you did accept a partial payment  and worst you applied it  so the law is all over the place when it comes to partial payments so you can't be sure that i technically missed the payment.  

On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 4:08 PM, innovate belize <innovatebelize@gmail.com> wrote:

Belize's government released two new proposals Thursday detailing how it could restructure the country's debt.

Belize and its creditors have been negotiating a debt restructuring ever since the Central American country defaulted in September, a month after it failed to make a payment on its $548.3 million debt.

Thursday's statement was the first public restructuring proposal since the default.

The new restructuring scenario asks creditors to forgive 33% of what they are owed, or allow the country to delay debt payments for 10 years. The terms are more favorable to creditors than the previous restructuring proposal, in which Belize asked bondholders to forgive 45% of what they are owed, or allow the country to delay any debt payments for 15 years.

"They're pushing for a pretty aggressive haircut" in the latest proposal, Moody's Investors Services analyst Edward Al-Hussainy said.

Belize has argued it needs the debt restructuring to close financing gaps from payments for company nationalizations, decreased tourism and declining oil revenues.

But the country's recent economic improvement could jeopardize its case for such a large debt reduction. In November, the International Monetary Fund said it expects Belize's economy to grow 3.5% in 2012, from 2.5% in 2011.

In the statement, the government said it will seek feedback from bondholders and will remain open to discussing alternative structures that yield comparable levels of debt relief.

On Nov. 21, Belize received a counterproposal from the creditors' committee. The three scenarios all proposed temporarily reducing the bond's current coupon rate while extending the life of the bond, and eventually returning to the current 8.5% coupon, according to the statement.

However, Belize said the creditors' proposal doesn't provide enough debt relief.

Belize Financial Secretary Joseph Waight couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

The negotiations could be affected by the Argentina debt restructuring case currently in New York courts. If New York law equalizes the rights of holdouts to those of restructured bondholders, Belize may find it more difficult to reach the 75% participation rate necessary to invoke the collective action clause embedded in the bond.

"The prospect of holdouts may, in turn, force the government to moderate its position from the indicative restructuring terms proposed in August," Mr. Al-Hussainy said.

BELIZE OFFICIALLY DEFAULTS ON COMMERCIAL FOREIGN BOND DEBTS

BELIZE OFFICIALLY DEFAULTS ON SUPERBOND GROUP OF DEBTS WITH COMMERCIAL PREDATORY LENDERS.

  

Belize Rejects Restructuring Offer on $544 Million Superbond

Belize rejected a debt restructuring proposal by creditors holding more than half of a $544 million defaulted bond three months after the government missed a coupon payment.

Belize rejected the bondholders’ Nov. 21 restructuring proposal, which is “wholly incompatible” with the country’s objective to make its debt sustainable, according to a statement posted on the central bank’s website today. The Central American country paid creditors $11.7 million on Sept. 20, about half of the $23 million coupon payment it failed to make Aug. 20.

“The government views the recently-submitted scenarios as unsustainable, and is disappointed that a counter-proposal of this nature has come five months after discussions with the Committee began,” according to the statement.

In response to the bondholders’ proposal, Belize countered with two debt restructuring scenarios. Belize’s counter proposals would reduce the coupon rate payment on the so-called superbond and provide a grace period of five to 10 years. The government said it will seek feedback from bondholders’ on the presented scenarios and “remain open to discussing alternative structures.”

“It seems like bondholders and the government still remain far apart with regards to acceptable terms,” said Joe Kogan, head of emerging-market strategy at Scotia Capital Markets. “The government has revised some assumptions and improved on its previous offer. That previous offer was very aggressive, however, and Belize’s growth of 7.4 percent in the first half of 2012 makes it even harder for Belize to justify the haircut they were requesting.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Williams in San Jose, Costa Rica at awilliams111@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net

BELIZE ECONOMY GROWS 7.4% EARLY HALF OF 2012

Good news for the Belize economy and Belizean consumers, from the Statistical Institute. GDP grew at a whopping 7.4% rate in first half of 2012. Inflation is a mild 1.8%. Far better numbers than in the USA, EU or Canada.

Lans Sluder

SUGAR FACTORY TO OPEN FOR NEW CROP NOV. 27TH IN ORANGE WALK

After consultations were held between all stakeholders, the Sugar Industry Control Board (SICB) has set Tuesday, November 27th to commence the 2013 sugar cane crop. The Tower Hill Sugar Factory will open its gates for cane delivery at 10:00 am on that date. The SICB has estimated cane production to be at 1,100,000 tons this crop, as compared to 1,070,000 tons in 2012. This should translate in increased sugar production once the cane quality meets or exceeds the levels of 2012.

Return

SPANISH LOOKOUT SMALL GROUP want GMO corn seeds legal.

Grain growers meet, Biotech presented

On the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 7, the first public meeting of the newly-formed Belize Grain Growers Association was held in Spanish Lookout. The group was formed to promote the introduction of genetically-modified (GM) corn into Belize.
GM seed is prohibited by BAHA from being introduced into Belize because of the growing list of problems with genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and the attractive though unqualified claims made about GM crops.
                      ______________________________________________

  A half dozen or so, larger acreage corn growers want to bring in GMO corn to Belize. They have been thwarted by those majority of public opposed to bringing GMO agriculture to Belize, because of the dangers involved.  None of which have been yet proven to be false dangers, but are considered around the world to be dangerous to local agriculture.  They claim a 15% possible production gain, but online statistics and research can find no statistical evidence this is true and solely advertising hype.  Nor can any evidence scientifically speaking prove that any gain would be temporary, IF IT EXISTS at all, other than in the imagination of those proposing the change.  To the contrary, ALL those in the business around the world are talking about the disasters that are occuring from new types of GMO weeds, lower production, lawsuits and spillovers of wind blown GMO corn.

Portable dehydrator for Belize tropical fruit slices!

Retiring in Belize.

Hi there, just read your 2008 article  - Retiring to Belize. I fell in love with Caye Caulker 4 yrs ago & can't keep away!
I'm an RN currently working for a school district in Oregon - originally from the UK.
Just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoyed your story and hope you are both well and living life to the fullest.
Property prices are soaring down there so I feel I may have missed the growing old in Belize boat!
Oh well, there's always a beach hut on C Caulker for rent!
I spent a month down there 2 yrs ago and bawled the day I flew home.
I'm more than happy with beans and fish , a hammock, great book and a G&T.....in Belize that's my Paradise.
Be healthy!
Roz RN

 ***** Try the West of Belize Rose.  Prices still affordable and living even half as cheap as Caye Caulker.

Forbes picks Belize as TOP RETIREMENT SPOT

Forbes Picks Belize as Top Retirement Spot
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Forbes Magazine's choice of Belize as a top retirement spot confirms the tiny Caribbean country's reputation as not only a desirable place to visit, but as a great place to live, Chaa Creek's business manager Peter Tonti said. (PRWEB) November 21, 2012 ...

Doctors die painless and peacefully, the rest of us get tortured to death.

How Doctors Die

It’s Not Like the Rest of Us, But It Should Be

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by Ken Murray|November 30, 2011

Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. He had a surgeon explore the area, and the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer. This surgeon was one of the best in the country. He had even invented a new procedure for this exact cancer that could triple a patient’s five-year-survival odds–from 5 percent to 15 percent–albeit with a poor quality of life. Charlie was uninterested. He went home the next day, closed his practice, and never set foot in a hospital again. He focused on spending time with family and feeling as good as possible. Several months later, he died at home. He got no chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical treatment. Medicare didn’t spend much on him.
It’s not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care they could want. But they go gently.
Of course, doctors don’t want to die; they want to live. But they know enough about modern medicine to know its limits. And they know enough about death to know what all people fear most: dying in pain, and dying alone. They’ve talked about this with their families. They want to be sure, when the time comes, that no heroic measures will happen–that they will never experience, during their last moments on earth, someone breaking their ribs in an attempt to resuscitate them with CPR (that’s what happens if CPR is done right).
Almost all medical professionals have seen what we call “futile care” being performed on people. That’s when doctors bring the cutting edge of technology to bear on a grievously ill person near the end of life. The patient will get cut open, perforated with tubes, hooked up to machines, and assaulted with drugs. All of this occurs in the Intensive Care Unit at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars a day. What it buys is misery we would not inflict on a terrorist. I cannot count the number of times fellow physicians have told me, in words that vary only slightly, “Promise me if you find me like this that you’ll kill me.” They mean it. Some medical personnel wear medallions stamped “NO CODE” to tell physicians not to perform CPR on them. I have even seen it as a tattoo.
To administer medical care that makes people suffer is anguishing. Physicians are trained to gather information without revealing any of their own feelings, but in private, among fellow doctors, they’ll vent. “How can anyone do that to their family members?” they’ll ask. I suspect it’s one reason physicians have higher rates of alcohol abuse and depression than professionals in most other fields. I know it’s one reason I stopped participating in hospital care for the last 10 years of my practice.
How has it come to this–that doctors administer so much care that they wouldn’t want for themselves? The simple, or not-so-simple, answer is this: patients, doctors, and the system.
To see how patients play a role, imagine a scenario in which someone has lost consciousness and been admitted to an emergency room. As is so often the case, no one has made a plan for this situation, and shocked and scared family members find themselves caught up in a maze of choices. They’re overwhelmed. When doctors ask if they want “everything” done, they answer yes. Then the nightmare begins. Sometimes, a family really means “do everything,” but often they just mean “do everything that’s reasonable.” The problem is that they may not know what’s reasonable, nor, in their confusion and sorrow, will they ask about it or hear what a physician may be telling them. For their part, doctors told to do “everything” will do it, whether it is reasonable or not.
The above scenario is a common one. Feeding into the problem are unrealistic expectations of what doctors can accomplish. Many people think of CPR as a reliable lifesaver when, in fact, the results are usually poor. I’ve had hundreds of people brought to me in the emergency room after getting CPR. Exactly one, a healthy man who’d had no heart troubles (for those who want specifics, he had a “tension pneumothorax”), walked out of the hospital. If a patient suffers from severe illness, old age, or a terminal disease, the odds of a good outcome from CPR are infinitesimal, while the odds of suffering are overwhelming. Poor knowledge and misguided expectations lead to a lot of bad decisions.
But of course it’s not just patients making these things happen. Doctors play an enabling role, too. The trouble is that even doctors who hate to administer futile care must find a way to address the wishes of patients and families. Imagine, once again, the emergency room with those grieving, possibly hysterical, family members. They do not know the doctor. Establishing trust and confidence under such circumstances is a very delicate thing. People are prepared to think the doctor is acting out of base motives, trying to save time, or money, or effort, especially if the doctor is advising against further treatment.
Some doctors are stronger communicators than others, and some doctors are more adamant, but the pressures they all face are similar. When I faced circumstances involving end-of-life choices, I adopted the approach of laying out only the options that I thought were reasonable (as I would in any situation) as early in the process as possible. When patients or families brought up unreasonable choices, I would discuss the issue in layman’s terms that portrayed the downsides clearly. If patients or families still insisted on treatments I considered pointless or harmful, I would offer to transfer their care to another doctor or hospital.
Should I have been more forceful at times? I know that some of those transfers still haunt me. One of the patients of whom I was most fond was an attorney from a famous political family. She had severe diabetes and terrible circulation, and, at one point, she developed a painful sore on her foot. Knowing the hazards of hospitals, I did everything I could to keep her from resorting to surgery. Still, she sought out outside experts with whom I had no relationship. Not knowing as much about her as I did, they decided to perform bypass surgery on her chronically clogged blood vessels in both legs. This didn’t restore her circulation, and the surgical wounds wouldn’t heal. Her feet became gangrenous, and she endured bilateral leg amputations. Two weeks later, in the famous medical center in which all this had occurred, she died.
It’s easy to find fault with both doctors and patients in such stories, but in many ways all the parties are simply victims of a larger system that encourages excessive treatment. In some unfortunate cases, doctors use the fee-for-service model to do everything they can, no matter how pointless, to make money. More commonly, though, doctors are fearful of litigation and do whatever they’re asked, with little feedback, to avoid getting in trouble.
Even when the right preparations have been made, the system can still swallow people up. One of my patients was a man named Jack, a 78-year-old who had been ill for years and undergone about 15 major surgical procedures. He explained to me that he never, under any circumstances, wanted to be placed on life support machines again. One Saturday, however, Jack suffered a massive stroke and got admitted to the emergency room unconscious, without his wife. Doctors did everything possible to resuscitate him and put him on life support in the ICU. This was Jack’s worst nightmare. When I arrived at the hospital and took over Jack’s care, I spoke to his wife and to hospital staff, bringing in my office notes with his care preferences. Then I turned off the life support machines and sat with him. He died two hours later.
Even with all his wishes documented, Jack hadn’t died as he’d hoped. The system had intervened. One of the nurses, I later found out, even reported my unplugging of Jack to the authorities as a possible homicide. Nothing came of it, of course; Jack’s wishes had been spelled out explicitly, and he’d left the paperwork to prove it. But the prospect of a police investigation is terrifying for any physician. I could far more easily have left Jack on life support against his stated wishes, prolonging his life, and his suffering, a few more weeks. I would even have made a little more money, and Medicare would have ended up with an additional $500,000 bill. It’s no wonder many doctors err on the side of overtreatment.
But doctors still don’t over-treat themselves. They see the consequences of this constantly. Almost anyone can find a way to die in peace at home, and pain can be managed better than ever. Hospice care, which focuses on providing terminally ill patients with comfort and dignity rather than on futile cures, provides most people with much better final days. Amazingly, studies have found that people placed in hospice care often live longer than people with the same disease who are seeking active cures. I was struck to hear on the radio recently that the famous reporter Tom Wicker had “died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family.” Such stories are, thankfully, increasingly common.
Several years ago, my older cousin Torch (born at home by the light of a flashlight–or torch) had a seizure that turned out to be the result of lung cancer that had gone to his brain. I arranged for him to see various specialists, and we learned that with aggressive treatment of his condition, including three to five hospital visits a week for chemotherapy, he would live perhaps four months. Ultimately, Torch decided against any treatment and simply took pills for brain swelling. He moved in with me.
We spent the next eight months doing a bunch of things that he enjoyed, having fun together like we hadn’t had in decades. We went to Disneyland, his first time. We’d hang out at home. Torch was a sports nut, and he was very happy to watch sports and eat my cooking. He even gained a bit of weight, eating his favorite foods rather than hospital foods. He had no serious pain, and he remained high-spirited. One day, he didn’t wake up. He spent the next three days in a coma-like sleep and then died. The cost of his medical care for those eight months, for the one drug he was taking, was about $20.
Torch was no doctor, but he knew he wanted a life of quality, not just quantity. Don’t most of us? If there is a state of the art of end-of-life care, it is this: death with dignity. As for me, my physician has my choices. They were easy to make, as they are for most physicians. There will be no heroics, and I will go gentle into that good night. Like my mentor Charlie. Like my cousin Torch. Like my fellow doctors.
Ken Murray, MD, is Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at USC.
                                                __________________________________

SO WHAT ARE THE PAINLESS PEACEFUL WAYS TO DIE IN BELIZE?  NEMBUTAL?  MUST YOU HANG YOURSELF?  WHAT ARE THE CHOICES?  HOW DO YOU GET A DOCTOR TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH OF THE TYPE OF LIFE EXPECTANCY AND QUALITY OF THAT TIME LEFT TO YOU?  So far in my own quest for these simple truths, I have found no doctors willing to give the answers.

THE MYTH OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE IN THE BELIZE GOVERNMENT - the enabling license to steal from tax revenues in Belize-

This message sent to the Bz-Culture Mailing List from "G. Michael Reid" <gmikereid@gmail.com>:
The hullabaloo surrounding the Public Accounts Committee has died down
some but it is in the interest of all Belizeans to revive this and
keep it going.  While many have, as is the case with just about every
subject in Belize, pigeonholed this issue as just another red and blue
rift, it is far from being that and is a matter that should be in
everyone’s interest to pursue further.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is one of six House Committees but
the only one that is chaired by a member of the opposition.  There is,
without doubt, a very good reason why the framers of our Constitution
decided to implement this safeguard as it is designed to hold our
elected officials accountable.  For the most part, everything else
gives the majority members in the House a free run of things and it is
utterly ridiculous to run a government without some sort of checks and
balances in place.

What the people of Belize should realize, is that what Julius Espat is
trying to do, will not just work to hold this current government in
check, but any subsequent government that comes into office.  Once the
PAC becomes active and functional, it will not be easy to break the
fetters that we so desperately need to bind these politicians to the
order of good governance.

A main function of the PAC is to examine the report of the Auditor
General.  Unfortunately, the Public Accounts Committee has been
practically dormant for many, many years.  As a result, it matters not
what type of damning evidence is produced in the Auditor General’s
Report or even if there is any report at all.  Without a functional
Public Accounts Committee, the government of the day can do whatever
it wants to with taxpayer’s money and has no one to answer to.

Honorable Julius Espat should be considered heroic for what he is
trying to do.  It will not be popular in Belmopan and already the
smear campaign is in full effect.  Last week, the UDP’s El Guardian
dedicated its entire front page to the disparaging of Espat and the
UDP radio station has been constantly ridiculing and deriding this
honorable member of the House. The fact is that never has a head of
this committee, neither blue nor red, stood so resolute to demand
performance by the committee.

In an interview on Love FM, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, among other
things, discussed the controversy surrounding the PAC.  Unfortunately,
instead of looking into the matter with a fair mind and with an end
toward finding the truth about what was happening, the Prime Minister
immediately took up the defense of his Ministers. It is obvious that
the Prime Minister and his ministers, who sit on the committee, met
and got their stories together.  They all seemed to be singing from
the same song sheet.

Mr. Barrow had just returned from one of his many and extended trips
abroad and would obviously have had no firsthand knowledge of what was
going on.  Yet, he professed to know word for word what had transpired
in the meeting and who said what and when and even what the agenda was
supposed to have and not have.  When asked about a very current
situation however, that being the McAfee affair, the Prime Minister
denied knowing the man or anything about the man.  “If you show me his
picture”, said the Prime Minister, “I would not be able to recognize
him”.  This after McAfee’s picture had been plastered all over the
news for several days and after the same McAfee had donated on several
occasions to the Police Department. The Prime Minister also seemed to
know very little about anything else that had been happening in the
country.  It seems that all Mr. Barrow’s attention had been focused
entirely on matters connected to or coincidental with the Public
Affairs Committee.

The truth of the matter is that had not the President of the Chamber
of Commerce taken the time to write a letter to both the Prime
Minister and the Leader of the Opposition demanding action, there
probably would not have been a quorum for that meeting; which has been
the case for just about every meeting of this committee since
Independence.  The Chamber of Commerce, the Opposition and indeed the
people of Belize need to continue to demand that this Public Accounts
Committee get busy and get on with the work that it was established to
do.

The Prime Minister and his ministers have all stated that they are
anxious to see this committee work.  Why then do they continue their
attempt to frustrate the process?  Instead of attacking Julius Espat
and using the standing orders as an obstacle, the members of the
committee should get on with the task of dissecting the Auditor
General’s Reporting and questioning the Auditor General herself.  This
is not about Julius Espat, it is about the good governance which was
the very platform upon which this party ran and which was prominently
promised in the manisfesto of the United Democratic Party.

The Prime Minister also stated that once the committee gets active, he
does not want the committee to review anything current.  He wants the
committee to start back as early as 1999, which was the beginning of
the first term of the last administration.  This is an entirely
arrogant and ridiculous suggestion.  Let the committee start current
and then work its way back as it finds the time.  If that’s the case,
we can work back as far as Independence but to ignore what is
happening now and concentrate instead on what has happened then is
ludicrous.  That was the job for committees back then which were in
fact, chaired of members of this government which was then in
opposition. Obviously, none of them had the will or integrity of a
Julius Espat.  Let us all stand behind Julius and insist that the
Public Accounts Committee perform its function and hold this runaway
government in check.  Big respect to Julius Espat for his bold
intiative!
                     _________________________________________

The Public Accounts Committee is a check and balance on the political party in power spending and embezzling.  So far, in the short history of Belize, BOTH the major winning parties have succeeded in denying this committee the ability to form and operate. Thus they steal and embezzle with impunity.

GREED FLAWS CARICOM AND BELIZE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - oil drilling approved in Southern National Park.

OIL DRILLING APPROVED BY CABINET FOR SOUTHERN BELIZE NATIONAL PARK AREA.

   This was a foregone conclusion.  A BANKRUPT GOVERNMENT  cannot ignore potential money from an oil find, no matter how many wildlife, environmental protected areas, or indigineous villages of Mayan natives might be using the same territory in a more SUSTAINABLE SUBSISTANCE MANNER.

  Most CARICOM countries are bankrupt states. They lack the leadership to change their small population and small area status.  Simply don't want to make the sacrifices necessary, as the leadership system is flawed and consumed by personal greed and self enrichment plans at the expense of the public and nation's at large.

IDB SURRENDERS INDEPENDENCE OVER BELIZE TO USA TREASURY DICTATES?

IDB hiccups and surrenders INDEPENDENCE to USA TREASURY?

 
PM On IDB President Moreno; "A Crass Act Of Cowardice"
posted (November 21, 2012)

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Superbond 2.0 - it's still in the air and Belize is about to enter what might be called the red zone. That's the expiration of the 60 day grace period that was given when a half the overdue bond payment was made in September. Negotiations with the bondholders are still underway - but the hand that Belize had hoped to play is not as strong as it would have hoped. And that's because the Inter-American Development Bank has pulled its support for a partial guarantee of the restructuring with a policy based loan.
It happened because the US Treasury Department insisted that instead of going to the IDB, the Government of Belize had to first go to the IMF. The government of Belize flatly refused - and the IDB, feeling pressured by the USA, pulled out. This morning on KREM WUB Prime Minister Dean Barrow called it a "crass act of cowardice" by the IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. He told us as much after that show:..
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"I had met with Moreno and I understood from then that he was not as committed as his staffers seem to be but I thought that we had been able to persuade him. Ultimately it was that the US Treasury indicated clearly to Moreno and directly that it would not support the IDB agreeing to the guarantee. It then became a matter of us saying to Moreno to take it to the board nonetheless. I understand that the IDB a branch of the US Treasury. Moreno, for his own reasons ultimately did not do that. He called me to say that because of the US Treasury opposition it was off. That's where things stood."
Jules Vasquez
"How would you characterize the conservative decision that he made?"
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"I told him that I thought that it amounted to a failure of nerve on his part. I was very clear; I said that Belize is not disappointed with the decision, it is disgusted and that the responsibility was his and his alone. I am not saying anything behind his back; I have said this to him directly on the phone. He made the ultimate decision and he must bear the ultimate brunt of Belize's ire. I don't know that that will put us anywhere, but it's good to have these things on record and I sure as hell placed it on record - he had I thought the support at his board to push this thing through notwithstanding US Treasury's objection. Even though it is what it is, I am not going to say the bank of Belize will withdraw from the IDB - we have to be mature, it's not in our interest not to continue our relationship with the IDB. Having said what I have said, having made plain that Belize has the dignity and the sovereign courage to speak truth to power, we move on. We can't throw out the baby with bath water although Moreno is no baby. I having placed on record our disgust, I intend to move on. I would be sharing any podium with Moreno anytime soon, but Lord, institutionally the relations can should and will continue."
And so while Belize soldiers on without that guarantee, there is also the matter of what are the called the conditionalities of the policy based loan.
That's a lot of big words for pieces of legislation such as the Banking and Financial Institutions Act and the conversion of the hotel tax into the GST.
Today the PM said the BFIA is going to be slightly adjusted but the change in the hotel tax is going to be scrapped completely:..
Jules Vasquez
"From the part is that we have already done our legislative part of earning a policy base loan from the IDB in terms of re-configuring the hotel tax - you passed the law."
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"We didn't pass that law."
Jules Vasquez
"You present it in the House."
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Yes but we never pass that law - Ain't going to be done. One of the things we did pass is the BFIA; I can tell you that we are going to look again at that. There is going to be a House meeting on the 30th November, but not in any fundamental way because these were reforms and advances that needed to be made in any event - the hotel tax. The stakeholders were of the view that to switch from the hotel tax to GST would have created a great deal of problems and that the government would not have gotten the kind of revenue that is now to be had which goes to funding the BTB's marketing program and so on - would not have gotten the kind of revenue from the GST that is now being had from the hotel tax. Given that the IDB has worsened us - that's dead, dead, dead."

The Path to riches, building businesses - outside the box thinking -

THE ENTREPRENEURAL SUCCESSFUL MANTRA !

by famous and infamous, John McFee, a successful millionaire business builder and then seller.

John D. McAfee's Roanoke College commencement address

John McAfee speaks at Roanoke College.

SALEM, Va.-John D. McAfee, the founder of McAfee, Inc. which developed the world's first computer virus scanner, was the keynote speaker at Roanoke College's commencement ceremony where a record 421 graduates received degrees.
Following is a transcript of McAfee's speech.

Thank you, Dr. Maxey, for that optimistic description of myself.

Congratulations, Class of 2008. Congratulations, Jake. Congratulations, Megan.

I watched your faces as you walked in and you were 100 percent glowing with anticipation, relief. I saw a few doubts, and maybe some of you did not finish your term paper, and you're afraid they may find out before you actually get up here, but beyond that, this is a marvelous time in your life.

I came prepared with an address. I thought it was marvelous, and yesterday I tore it up. I tore it up because my good friend Richard Cornett listened to me as I read it to him. I was convinced that 100 years from now they would be circulating this address as the premier example of the perfect public address. Richard's comment was, "well … impersonal, abstract and boring." And indeed it was. He told me that I needed to relate it to my own experience. And that's quite true. I knew that … any good public speaker knows that.

Yet my personal experience, from a standpoint of giving direction to a college graduating class, seemed like a radical guideline to me.

We could begin with my work ethic. Work has never appealed to me, and the bulk of my career was spent avoiding it. My rhythm was working until I had saved enough money to travel the world for a year or two. Then I would quit and travel the world. Wherever I ended up, when I ran out of money, I would get another job. As a consequence, the longest I ever held a position was three years, and that was while I was at McAfee. And my average position lasted about 18 months.

It would be nice to say that after I achieved a degree of financial success, that my habits changed, but that was not the case. After three years at McAfee, I had had enough. I hired an executive to replace me, resigned, spent two years on the road, and never went back.

Later I become frustrated with e-mail's lack of flexibility so I developed instant messaging. Tribal Voice was the result. Two years later, I sold that company and hit the road yet one more time.

So, my work ethic is not something a sane person could use as a sound basis for advice.

My persona as it relates to the business world fares no better. Today, for the first time in 23 years, I am wearing a suit. I am doing this not so I can fit in but so that I do not cause embarrassment to my host. Since I graduated from this school 41 years ago, I can count on my fingers the number of times I have worn a suit.

My business attire is a T-shirt and blue jeans. If I am in warmer climates, it's tank tops and shorts. I favor sandals for footwear. I am tattooed from my shoulder to my waist and down both of my arms-and it's not the happy Mom-type of tattoos. I have, more than once, been denied entrance by security people to affairs at which I was the keynote speaker. Had Dr. Maxey known this prior to my invitation, someone else might be speaking to you today.

So I would have difficulty finding some aspect of my business persona that might in any way benefit you. And my business methodology is, sadly to say, nothing to recommend. I have never developed a business plan. I have never created a sales forecast, a competitive analysis, a marketing analysis or a product development schedule. It's not that I don't know how to do these things; it's just that they seem to me to be superfluous to the process of building a product and making money from it. I never had a staff meeting or formed a committee. In my companies' structures, I have never had a marketing division or a sales division, or a single marketing or sales employee.

When I left McAfee, the company was valued at half a billion dollars, and it didn't have a single salesman or marketeer or a secretary for that matter. I have a number of times spoken to Stanford's business school students, and while the students seemed somewhat interested in my ramblings, the professors generally appeared to be in shock. So I suspect that my business methodology is something that I should not advise you to follow. But if I am honest, I do have to say the following.

The success of my anti-virus venture rested solely on my abandoning the norms of the accepted business practices of the time. If any of you have studied the history of software development, you will have discovered that in the mid-1980s every software company was obsessed with how to prevent users from copying their software and using it without paying for it.

That seemed like an absurd occupation to me. So I came up with a new idea and decided to distribute my software for free. And even added a headline in the opening page that read: Please, steal this software.

The software became a world standard overnight. The money came by charging for upgrades to an existing user base of 30 million, who paid nothing to become users, but who paid yearly fees ever after to remain users. This distribution practice was later called freeware, and it became an integral part of the software world's business model.

My other ventures all shared some departure from the norm. This doesn't mean that if you develop a cavalier attitude toward work, tattoo yourself from head-to-toe and abandon all accepted business practices, you will be successful in business or in any other aspect of your life. I would not, in fact, recommend any of the above.

But, questioning the authority of accepted ideas is not always a bad thing-whether these ideas relate to business, culture, relationships or even religious beliefs. I might go further and say that questioning all authority might not be a bad thing. You may not be aware that you submit to authority, but you do. You submit to the authority of fashion, the authority of your cultural icons and the authority of your religion. The authority of your own knowledge-an authority, by the way, that has been greatly increased during these past few years-is probably your greatest authority.

Even if you are a rebel, and I hope, by the way, there are many of you that meet that classification, see that your rebellion is merely a quest for a new authority. The old authority has lost its ability to compel your obedience, so you seek one that can. And please, I'm not suggesting you run out and thumb your noses at the police. Authority that is accompanied by physical force should, in most circumstances, be meticulously obeyed.

But the remaining authorities, the truly important authorities, only have the power that you choose to give them. I ask you to question your authorities because there is a burdensome cost to authority. The authority of the ideal, for example, creates conflict between yourself and the imperfect world around you, and it causes a struggle between who you are and who you believe you should be. The authority of tradition restricts your ability to think and act freely in changing circumstances. And the authority of your value system may cause you to shun priceless gems of experience.

So if you make an authority of this knowledge that you have spent the last few years cultivating, then you create a flawed master for yourself-flawed because personal knowledge is memory, and memory responds with predictability. So there is no freedom in it.

The knowledge that composes memories' contents is likewise flawed. Historical knowledge is a mere shadow of a past reality. Scientific knowledge is obliterated or transformed with each new discovery. So it is ephemeral, transitory, fleeting. It is merely the anticipation of what might come next. All types of knowledge are similarly flawed. And in spite of its flaws, the authority that accompanies knowledge has an inherent arrogance-a sense of conceit that is truly incongruous with its limitations. It is the entity that makes you right and others wrong.

Knowing the precepts of your own religion, for example, allows you to see the errors in the religions of others. And it allows you to stroll blindly down paths that it has no real power to illuminate. As such, I would suggest that authority of knowledge is the source of absurdity. And lest I be forcibly removed from the stage, I'm not suggesting that you abandon knowledge, merely its authority.

You will want to solve problems as you go out into the world and encounter its tragedies and cruelties. But no problem can be addressed until it is first seen in its purest form. And if you see the world through an authority which, at best, is a coarse approximation of reality, then how will you see the pure form of anything? Many of you are yearning for truth, for what's really happening. This is a natural expression of a youthful and inquisitive mind, which I hope you all have. And you may wonder how truth is possible without authority.

But authority is finite, rigid and narrow. Truth is the actuality of what is happening. It is infinite. It is too grand to be contained within authority.

So, question every idea that begs to be obeyed. Resist accepted patterns. Be skeptical of the majority. Meet every event fresh, unencumbered by presuppositions. And see that if we all walk the same road, there could be no discoveries, no mysteries, no new things. So make your own path.

Strike out in the heart of the wilderness and claim everything that presents itself as your own-no matter how contradictory or strange it may seem to the rest of the world. And don't be afraid. The least trodden path is always the sweetest.

Thank you.

Released: May 14, 2008
Contact Name: Public Relations
Contact Phone: (540) 375-2282
Contact Email: gereaux@roanoke.edu

QUALITY OF LIFE, AND END OF LIFE LAWS, OR LACK THEREOF IN BELIZE

END OF LIFE METHODS?

  I'm 75 years, got cancer with a lot of pain, so started researching end of life methods.  In Belize, hanging yourself, seems the least painless and comfortable.,  Cheap too!  Buy a rope, tie to overhead tree branch, stand on chair with slipknot in place and kick the chair away.  Time to death, 4 seconds.

  There is the gun method, but it seems kind of uncertain?  Probably not painful.

  The best I came across was from Australia. Which says drink two bottles of NEMBUTAL, along with alchohol of your choice.  The claim is; it is peaceful and painless.

  Now why do all these religious based laws, give you shit about talking about subjects like this?  Why can't you go to the vet and get an injection?  Peaceful and takes a second for other animals?

BELIZE CHOCOLATE BECOMING VERY FAMOUS.

BELIZE IN CHOCOLATE NEWS!

Chocolatier finds sweet spot in Belize
Chicago Tribune Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST
Vosges Haut-Chocolat founder Katrina Markoff to open education center on cacao plantation Katrina Markoff , the founder of Chicago chocolatier Vosges Haut-Chocolat, is nearing completion on two projects: a winery-style chocolate facility in Logan Square and an education center at a cacao plantation and eco-lodge in Belize.

CHAGAS insect found in Northern Corozal school

Deadly insect found in Corozal school area.  Only DDT kills of the Chagas insect that I know of.

Chagas Insects Discovered in Corozal Nov 15, 2012

Health officials have confirmed that there is not an outbreak of chagas at San Antonio Government School in Corozal.
Earlier today health officials went to the school after the insects were detected by teachers who were at the school lunch shed yesterday morning.  The teachers detected a couple hundred insects on a nearby tree that is very close to the shed.
After analyzing the situation, teachers and parents decided to send the children home and alert the public health authorities.
We will have more on this story in our newscast on Friday.
<< Read other news

DEFAULTING SUPERBOND, will increase revenue take for government to do infra structure- REPLACING DECLINING REVENUE LOSSES?

Home » Economy, Featured, Regional / International » IMF mission reports good news for Belize’s economy Nov 17, 2012  From the Reporter newspaper.

IMF mission reports good news for Belize’s economy

An International Monetary Fund team has concluded a visit to Belize. It has issued a good report that we note is in contrast to forecasts in the Economic and Financial Update of June 2012.The IMF statement points out that output rebound is expected despite a decline in oil production. The June report, however, states that declining oil revenue places a heavy strain on public finances and the economy in general. The IMF also expects Gross domestic product to grow optimistically between three point five percent and four percent in 2012 while the June report says that growth is expected to be two percent. Another difference we note was in inflation figures. The IMF puts inflation at one point five percent in January to August but the most recent report from the Statistical Institute of Belize shows that inflation is surging and increased to one point seven percent in August.  According to the IMF, the current account deficit is expected to narrow to two point three percent of GDP, down from two point five percent in 2011, and this is despite the widening of the trade deficit.  In summary, the statement points out that the government’s primary surplus target of two percent of GDP is within reach, but will require close monitoring of spending for the remainder of this fiscal year. This again is in contrast to the June report which states that the effects of the negative external climate and an increase in debt levels are set to combine with declining oil revenue to place a heavy strain on public finances and the economy in general. Generally, the IMF’s report is good news and as such multilateral funds are not expected to meet any shortfalls.
                           ________________________________________________

  I have no idea HOW the business and economic newspaper of Belize can title the IMF report on the Belize Economy GOOD NEWS?

" This again is in contrast to the June report which states that the effects of the negative external climate and an increase in debt levels are set to combine with declining oil revenue to place a heavy strain on public finances and the economy in general. Generally, the IMF’s report is good news and as such multilateral funds are not expected to meet any shortfalls."

  Mystery indeed?  While the impact on government revenues are negative, the only GAIN I can see is in not paying anything to SUPERBOND HOLDERS?  Which is a positive for enhancing existing smaller revenues in doing more infra structure work than would otherwise be possible.
                ________________________________________________________

From Love FM on subject of IMF results:

  Friday, November 16 ------ IMF Concludes Yearly Review in Belize Nov 17, 2012
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Gerardo Peraza wrapped up its yearly review of Belize’s economy in the context of the IMF’s Article four consultations on Thursday.
In a statement issued yesterday Peraza reported that Belize is experiencing an output rebound despite the decline in oil production. In 2012, real Gross Domestic Product growth is expected at three point five to four percent, led by a recovery from last year’s effects of weather-related damages in commodity exports as well as a recovery in tourism, and electricity generation. Inflation, which stood at one point five percent in January to August, has been easing as commodity prices pressures abate.
The current account deficit is expected to narrow to two point three percent of GDP down from two point five percent of GDP in 2011.  This is attributed to higher inflows from tourism, lower repatriation of dividends by foreign companies operating in Belize, and higher remittances, despite a moderate widening of the trade deficit in goods. The report goes on to say preliminary fiscal data suggest that the government’s primary surplus target of two percent of GDP is within reach but will require a close monitoring of spending for the remainder of this fiscal year. In light of ongoing negotiations with bondholders on the restructuring of the “super-bond”, further discussions with the authorities are required to complete this year’s Article IV consultations.
Talks are expected to resume in the near future. Discussions so far have been focused on fiscal sustainability, external stability, and policies to enhance the financial sector resilience. In parallel with the Article IV consultations, a technical assistance mission assessed the current framework for debt management and helped the authorities build relevant institutional capacity. The IMF team was in Belize from November 1 to 15.

Ray's CANCER BIOPSY RESULT? SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA, MALIGNANT.

For those cancer survivors and friends.  The biopsy is in. ( Miami, not Belize )    POSITIVE FOR MALIGNANT CELLS; POORLY DIFFERENTIATED CARCINOMA CONSISTENT WITH SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA.

  I spent 5 days in the hospital, admitting through Emergency Room in Homestead, Fl. .  Ran a battery of tests, got a thick file. Staying with Sharon, my daughter.  Lost all my documentation, so waiting now for all my paper I.D.'s, to be replaced by mail.  Looks like the next move will be AFTER thanksgiving?  Whatever is decided to try.  Have no Medicare B.  Got Medicare A.  Perhaps State of Florida Medicaid?  Got to give bureaucracy and postal service time to work.  No word yet on biopsys in KMH? Or through Belize Cancer Clinic in Dangriga.  Can't move anywhere right now, am a non person.

YOU WANNA BE A BILLIONAIRE? GO RETAIL!

RETAIL OR MERCHANDISING PRODUCES MOST BILLIONAIRES.  SELLING STUFF IN OTHER WORDS.

New Bloomberg survey reveals most billionaires started out with retail stores and built outlet chains.

 
Between January and October of 2012, Ortega earned more than $18 billion -- that's around $66 million a day. During this short period he usurped Warren Buffett to become the third wealthiest person in the world with a net worth valued at $53.6 billion.
Ortega was born to a impoverished railway worker and had to drop out of school at 13 to work. He began as a delivery boy for a clothing shop and worked his way up to become a salesperson. While working retail Ortega had the idea to sell inexpensive versions of quilted bathrobes, claiming it was unfair that only wealthy woman could afford to dress well. He used this as the founding principle behind the rest of his retail ventures and built his empire on top of it.

VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA, OR ASSISTED SUICIDE, DEBATED IN BELIZE

The ABSENCE IN BELIZE of the right to die painless and free.

  There is an underground debate in Belize on the right to die, for older people in unremitting pain..

  No legal solution yet for Belizean citizens.  Many of which, must tolerate a SLOW LINGERING PAINFUL DEATH PROCEDURE.  The LAW needs to face this issue.
                         _____________________________________________

LUXEMBOURG, BELGIAN, THE NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND,  OREGON,, WASHINGTON have solved their RIGHT TO DIE LAW STATUES.

Thirdly, a doctor can help a terminally-ill patient, or someone suffering unbearably from a severe chronic illness, with an ASSISTED SUICIDE. The doctor can either write a prescription for a lethal substance or perhaps even provide the actual drug. The patient can take this whenever he or she wishes to do so. This possibility is illegal in the UK. But, it is legal in the American states of Oregon and Washington, and also in Luxembourg, and The Netherlands, and is decriminalized in Switzerland. In these places, there are strict guidelines, and the system works well, without any abuse, supported by the local populations and a majority of doctors. Also, it is generally agreed that doctor-assisted suicide legislation does not compromise the development or easy access to palliative care, or the important patient-doctor relationship.
Finally, the fourth way for a doctor to end a patient’s life is by EUTHANASIA when a lethal drug is injected: this can be either non-voluntary or voluntary (in the latter situation, the patient has given permission for this procedure to happen). This is illegal in the UK. The best example of non-voluntary euthanasia in this country is the death of King George V in 1936. The king was dying slowly and he was semi-conscious on his last day. Without his knowledge, his doctor, Lord Dawson, consulted Queen Mary and her sons before he injected morphine and cocaine into the royal jugular vein. Later that year, in a debate in the House of Lords regarding a possible bill to legalize euthanasia, Lord Dawson stated that there was “no need to change the law as all good doctors do it”. Voluntary euthanasia today is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. As with doctor-assisted suicide, there are strict guidelines to be followed. Governmental reports on what is happening are regularly issued. About three per cent of all deaths in The Netherlands (where voluntary euthanasia has been possible since 1981) occur this way.
                                  _____________________________________________

  It just seems so wrong in Belize!  I can take my aging pet in pain, to the vet and pay $50 Bz and stroke my pets head, while the vet injects a solution into the vein and seconds later the pet passes away peacefully with affection and caring.,  While we humans are forced to run the gauntlet of weeks and months sometimes pain of miserable deaths.  I'm 75 years old.  I would like the same courtesy, not drawing it out for a year or so. I feel like the government has failed me terribly.

Ray Auxillou, Nov. 2012.
                              ____________________________________________________

GSU takes the political high ground away from the CABINET.

INDEPENDENT POLICE UNIT THE GSU, are apparently in conflict with the PRIME MINISTER Barrow.  So he says!  The PM makes a press release contrary to that of Marc Vidal, the GSU officer of the unit formed to go after gang members and drug dealers.  According to internet news, this unit operates outside the parameters of the regular police force and under polititical control. The recent contrarian press releases, over MacFee a rich USA resident in Belize apparently are resounding along the corridors of international news media with a big bang.  ALL IS NOT FINE FOR USA RETIREES IN BELIZE APPARENTLY?
  McFee is charging conspiracy, intimidation, etc by the GSU thugs under this Marc Vidal.  The local announcements by the Prime Minister show, he is either lying, or totally out of control of the GSU.
  If the idea is to intimidate and create a climate of fear in the hearts and minds, of wealthy USA retirees settled in the big town of San Pedro a tourist island, the process has certainly galvanized a response and it looks like those that can afford it will do their best to FLEE the political repression in Belize.  Arguments have been made both for and against the GSU actions, but the only thing clear, is that the Prime Minister might have a RIVAL for political power with the GSU. From what he said in a press release it would seem so?

OFF TO MIAMI TO SEEK CANCER TREATMENT

For my family and friends who are enquiring by emails.  I fly out today Thursday, to Miami in the care of my wife Silvia and my daughter Sharon, to seek CANCER TREATMENT.  Probably tomorrow going to the hospital in Homestead, Florida?  I've been in growing PAIN, which is recurring more and more frequently. Sharon flew into Belize, to carry me back to Miami and get treatment.  I had been waiting on Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital to process the results of my new biopsy samples, done two weeks ago.  But they say, the bottleneck is the PATHOLOGY LAB, under Dr. Sanchez, with a two month waiting period for processing.  I can't stand the PAIN anymore, been planning different ways of ending it all, by suicide. ( I'm 75 years, so a painful miserable end, in pain from advanced cancer is not my idea of the way to end it all. ) We don't have a Dr. Kevorkian in Belize unfortunately. At any rate, without pathology results, giving the TYPE OF CANCER, no public health,  medical professional will treat me and I literally have run out of time.  My pain thresh hold has been breached.  Hearing my plans, my daughters got together and Sharon, ACTED, and are carrying me literally kicking and screaming to Miami to see what can be done.  I give my chances of being alive in 3 months, at 40%.  I was supposed to fly out last Sunday, but lost my passport and $800 USA travel money,  on the bus and taxi's going to the airport. Was unable to fly, due to lack of documentation, and last Monday, the US EMBASSY issued me a 90 day EMERGENCY PASSPORT, to travel with.  Time at the Embassy was about 2 hours.  They were very kind, helpful and understanding.  Other circumstances, reservations and such, with tickets already paid for ( Sharon paid for them ) delayed my departure.  Will be at the hospital tomorrow morning and see what can be done.
  I'm terribly sorry and disappointed that the local public health service in Belize, were not able to accommodate me.  They lack surgical  expertise apparently and what the problem might be in the pathology lab, I don't know?  Either way, I just ran out of stamina to take increasing levels of cyclical pain on a daily basis.

Question of GOOD STEWARDSHIP BY UDP GOVERNMENT, RE SUPERBOND EXPECTED DEFAULT

SINCE BELIZE WILL BE IN DEFAULT ON OVER $500 MILLION IN BONDS, THROUGH INABILITY TO NEGOTIATE A RE-STRUCTURING with Bond Holders.  This DEFAULT is to occur shortly?  One can only hope, the UDP government have removed any RESERVES, or other assets OUTSIDE OF THE USA, to a different legal jurisdiction? That would only be good stewardship, should the DEFAULT occur.

OIL EXPLORATION DRILLING COMPANY IN BELIZE, PENNY STOCK STUCK AT .17 CENTS.

NEW OIL WELL DRILLING COMPANY PENNY STOCK, STUCK AT .17 CENTS RIGHT NOW.  MARKET CAP OF $40 MILLION. More than one way, to make money off drilling for oil.  You don't actually have to find oil to do so. 



  Ok, Innovate, I am not so sure about the oil billions at Blue Creek. So I am not sure it can have any real affect on the Superbond situation.
    I just did some checking and New World Oil & Gas still sits as a penny stock at the low end of it's 52 week trading range at .17 cents a share. With a market cap of $40 million. Right now the market does not think that there is billions worth of oil at Blue Creek.
    I also hear from a usually reliable source that the oil production at Spanish Lookout is dropping like a stone. Maybe it's like half of it's peak right now.
    So I hope they find some oil soon. They (GOB) need the money.

    According to the New World chief in one of their paid news releases:

    "New World CEO William Kelleher said, "Having reduced the geologic risk of our Belizean prospects by 60 percent through a successful multi stage seismic program and now commenced drilling, we will be in a position to judge whether we have made an oil discovery by mid November 2012."


     Ok. well mid-November is in one week.
     Let's hope it's a gusher....

I have NEVER seen a more criminal ORGANIZATION, than the CGA in Belize.

WHAT PUZZLES ME ABOUT THE SMALL CITRUS GROWERS ASSOCIATION?

  They have about 400 members; while over in Spanish Lookout, the members of Mennonites also have 400 members.  NOW I am presuming there are no CREDIT UNIONS among the small CITRUS GROWERS.  The MENNONITE GROUP, finance all their investments through their CREDIT UNION.  If the Citrus
Growers do not have a CREDIT UNION, why don't they start one, to get the financing they need?  Seems elementary to me!  Could it be because they have bad elected administrators, killing off ideas, in order to feather their nests?  One gets that impression, from the outside looking in; from all the deceitful lies being bandied about by the CGA executive.  I have NEVER seen a more criminal organization in the country of Belize, the way they operate.  Well maybe?  The PUP political party, the last time, they owned the Government in Belize!

PRIME MINISTER OF BELIZE HANGS TOUGH. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY TERMS THAT ARE UNSUSTAINABLE ON SUPERBOND RESTRUCTURING

 Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize.

SUPERBOND RE-STRUCTURING TIME PERIOD WILL SOON EXPIRE AND WE WILL BE IN DEFAULT.


Three factors affecting restructuring.

1. New World CEO is projecting US$8.2 billion at Blue Creek 

within the next year. This of course is just HYPE at this point, to reassure investors in the drilling rigs.

2. A Court in New York on October 26 ruled that you cannot discriminate against 

different  creditors by making payments on restructured debt while refusing to pay holders of its defaulted bonds.

Now the IDB and the IMF is taking a hard look at what this means because by them offering a guarantee for the Belize debt

they assumed that by  convention they are “senior” in any loan now the court seem to be saying ‘preferential payments’ is a no no ..

3. BTL nationalization.

The investors strategy is to buy time and they only have one way to do that  and time is our enemy. 

In less than 2 weeks the 60 day window will come to a close  and we expect Belize to announce a default or that we have successfully restructured the superbond.

We also have another possible outcome and if that is the case we might as well call it a day.

SAILWINDS CONDO'S CAYE CAULKER, BELIZE

SAILWINDS FOUR CONDO'S, will finish refurbishing for coming 7 month tourist season, starting Dec. 15th. 2012 - 2013.  This is the view from these beach front condo's looking out toward the barrier reef 3/4 mile away on the horizon. About a hundred yards from the water taxi dock when you arrive.

Belize CGA, CEO Henry Anderson wins ACADEMY AWARD over Honest Bob's used pickup lot sales pitches.

Henry Anderson,  CEO of Citrus Growers Association.

The recent Pomona Valley, meeting of small growers of the CGA, intended to disrupt, the business of the Citrus Factory, in the ongoing WAR, between CGA executive and Banks Holdings Ltd., reached a point of intimidation and noise, for political advantage, by the 300 voting members of the CGA.  Parades and fiery speeches.  Professional agitators, who were speakers, who sent out their poisoned view of the industry.  ( It's NEVER ever been better in ALL history of the decades of the citrus industry, as in profit making Banks Holdings Ltd. running the factory for the industry, as far as I can observe?
  At any rate,  I have had a hard time, deciding who should win the ACADEMY AWARD for selling DREAMS, HOPES and castles in the sky, made of pink and white fluffy climbing turrets of cumulus clouds, as they move swiftly over Western Belize, as Henry Anderson was quoted in the local newspapers and television news.
  Apparently, this past week's argument, and strike on grapefruit deliveries, was about Banks Holdings Ltd. ostensibly going ahead without consulting the CGA acording to the rules in the Citrus Act, about setting prices and opening dates of the factory. Apulche, CEO of the government Agriculture Department put paid to that bit of mischief making on TV, as he said the meeting was held and he was present.  This was promptly followed by intimidation and bullying by the CGA executive and demands that he be fired from Government, for doing his job properly.
  The clincher for me, was reading someplace in the media, that Henry Anderson, Union Leader, or Citrus Growers Association, CEO or some position, was quoted as saying;  the furor and meeting was because they were wanting to demand a price of $12 and change, for a box of fruit.  While the other Association BMC had already accepted the $8 and change price per box of fruit delivered to the factory for processing.  I laughed and laughed and laughed over that remark attributed to Henry Anderson.  The man sure can shoot a line of blarney.
  I think the closest thing to competition in that line Henry Anderson has; is HONEST BOB'S used pickup lot.  Now there is a famous sales pitch.  You know the standard. The pickup truck was left to the poor widow Mayan woman, who has no drivers license and her husband died two weeks ago, after just buying the new pickup truck and he only had put 5000 miles on it.
 When it comes to the ACADEMY AWARD for blarney, selling dreams, hopes and wishful thinking, I do believe Honest Bob's used pickup lot, will have some very serious competition, if Henry Anderson ever leaves his executive position in the CGA and opens a Pomona Valley, used pickup lot, down there in the Pomona Valley, citrus area.
  

PRICE CUTS IN INTERNET IN BELIZE, PLUS INCREASE IN BANDWIDTH ANNOUNCED FOR END OF MONTH

Bandwidth Breakthrough: BTL Doubles Up Internet Speeds

November 3rd, 2012 Posted in News | No Comments » News Source: 7News Belize
A recent survey of the Caribbean showed that Belize’s internet rates were the among the highest and its bandwidth among the lowest. Telemedia, the nationally owned phone company has been roundly criticized and condemned for it. ,p> And now, the company is doing something about it: they’re doubling the speed again, but halving the price at the same time. The Prime Minister broke the news at his Business Forum this morning. Here’s how he explained it:..
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize
“Now comes what I consider to be a seminal new development; icing on the cake, with whip cream and cherry on top. Yesterday the BTL boards of directors agree that the company will once more give its internet customers increased bandwidth at reduce prices. According the 128k internet speed will go from $49 per month to $25 per month. All other DSL internet speeds will double but for less than the current price. As examples: one megabit which currently cost $300 will now sell for $140 per month, and two megabits sold now for $500 will cost only $240. So that going to back to the one megabit example; the customer currently pays $300 per month but that customer can now go up to two megabits for $240 for less than $300 that he currently pays for one megabit he can go up to two megabits. I really think ladies and gentlemen this is something.”
“These reductions will take place later this month so that our people can make their new arrangements and enjoy the reductions on the December bill. I want to make the point that these developments are happening against the backdrop of the 4G roll out which will be fully operational next month – by the end of December. Ladies and gentlemen, how about that for helping the business climate.”
As the PM noted, the speed increase and price decrease should go into effect at the end of this month.

CGA SUCCEEDS IN BLACKMAILING, OR EXTORTION ATTEMPT ON UDP GOVERNMENT.

GOVERNMENT OF BELIZE CAVES IN APPARENTLY, TO BLACKMAIL, OR EXTORTION BY SMALL BAND ( 300 VOTERS ) OF THE CGA?  ( Citrus Growers Association number 1,  but not by  Citrus Growers No.2 being Belize Citrus Mutual, producing the majority of the citrus fruit )

  Weekend newspaper the Guardian, for the UDP political party in power, says they will FACILITATE, the CGA private for profit association of small citrus growers, in buying back Banks Holdings Ltd. SHARES of the FACTORY COMPANY.  Banks HOLDINGS LTD apparently has agreed and the CGA for profit group, are claiming to have a couple of financiers willing to finance the re-purchase of the shares, rumored NOW to be worth about $50 million Bz. in the citrus FACTORY?  ( I don't believe them? ) The CGA have plenty of assets and collateral to offer for the loan, in the form of 51% of the existing outstanding shares in the private public shareholding of the FACTORY company.  They also can use their lands for collateral.  So there is probably no reason, why they cannot get financed the $50 million to buy Bank Holdings Ltd. shares? The citrus industry is trending to consolidating small holdings into more efficient larger orchard plantations, where costs can be better be found to be controlled.  So far, the professional agitators are against the cooperative idea, in which the same result can be made by pooling small growers, like the producers of the fishing industry.  I applaud their intention in rhetoric anyway, of standing on their own TWO FEET, as private for profit shareholders, to finance their own mess, and rescue themselves from what they claim to be decades of past mistakes.
     Excuses and lies and distortions notwithstanding, in the CGA meeting at Pomona last weekend by PROFESSIONAL AGITATORS, with their own agenda; intending to work the turmoil they create, I presume, to get senior administrative positions in any new setup, as the agitators, are not deemed competent enough to make a living, at farming on their own, and looking for every advantage within the CGA, to get a salaried job, with expenses, which can be parlied into a better life style, for lousy farmers ( agitators and administrators ), presumably who cannot make enough at farming, but have a lying, deceitful gift of the tongue;  they have to distort the workings of the small grower group and take advantage of them. ( that's my reading of this furor anyway? )  I don't know any of them, other than casually anyway.  Just going by my experience with producers in the fishing cooperative history of 50 years or so.

  At any rate, the GOVERNMENT has to listen somewhat to 300 voters and FACILITATE their bootstrap efforts of being tens of decades in the citrus industry, with umpteen loans, grants and loans over the years.  Still unable to help themselves, due to infighting over administrative salaried positions in the CGA.  The one factor is:  the REST OF THE VOTERS in the country in these difficult financial times for infrastructure and development, want our UDP government NOT to give any LOANS, GRANTS, GUARANTEES, CO-SIGNING, or anything else to do with money, to the CGA.  They must DIG THEIR OWN WAY out of these constantly recurring messes and learn to manage themselves properly. FACILITATE can mean many things, and good will in legislation, or that sort of thing is fine, by our government.  BUT THE REST OF US VOTERS DO NOT WANT ANY MONEY SPENT ON THE CGA, WHO HAVE ASSETS OF THEIR OWN TO USE. Current leader of the CGA is Henry Anderson, a smooth speaker with a tongue of blarney, on which butter would not even melt in his mouth.  Reading his speeches to the CGA membership, one gets the impression of a smooth CON MAN at work.  His excuses and promises of building castles in the sky, made of clouds that drift away, are legendary.

  I interpret the latest blarney about the CGA self financing, as being so much hot air, and the prelude to pressuring the government to spend OUR TAX MONEY on buying out, or guaranteeing, a buy out of Banks Holdings Ltd shares,  will quickly follow; as the CGA PROFESSIONAL AGITATORS work their way into next; pleading that we other voters NEED to guarantee their financing.  Which CGA history shows will leave a big HOLE in our taxpayers pockets of other nation building efforts.  Not going to happen, as other fields of endeavors in industry building, need ALL the money we can get, to build this nation.  Citrus is a well established industry, been around for decades and under the recent stewardship of Banks Holdings and the efforts of Belize Citrus Mutual, the other group of citrus producers, is now at it's best peak of growth in many decades.  ( I'm an outsider taxpayer, not involved with any group in the citrus industry )  The CGA membership need to learn how to finance themselves, they have the assets to do so.

BELIZE - CANCER DIAGNOSIS IN BELIZE MAKES FOR A DEATH SENTENCE, WITH SOCIALIZED MEDICINE.

The diagnosis of CANCER in Belize, or expectation of CANCER makes such a diagnosis a DEATH SENTENCE in Belize.  Neither the Public Health Service, or PRIVATE HOSPITALS have the capability of dealing with CANCER.  At any given week, CANCER patient estimates for the 350,000 population occur about seven per week, or one per day.
  The socialized medicine system, concentrates the services for serious illnesses, at KHMH down in the port town on the coast, the old colonial capital.  The system does well with ordinary run of the mill and accidents.  When it comes to CANCER, the delays and tests can run so far behind, that in the case of CANCER. The waits are longer than the patient can wait. Currently the PUBLIC HOSPITAL is running about two months for the reading of CANCER pathology slides.  This may be true for socialized medicine around the world?
  You can take several weeks, to be able to get the necessary tests, in this case BIOPSY, at the Public Hospital the KHMH.  When you get the BIOPSY, the story is not yet over.  The backlog of in house, PATHOLOGY LABS to read the slides is TWO MONTHS.  Cancer patients are either dead, or so far advanced, they cannot be saved anyway by then.  In cancer, the slow service times on critical CANCER diagnosis is the major bottleneck, in good service in the Belize Public Health system.
  The public health doctors refer you to private CLINICS or HOSPITALS.  For the most part, THESE must waste ten days, while they send out the BIOPSY slides for reading by a PATHOLOGIST abroad.  While expensive, some places have charged between $550 for a biopsy and $8000, with the money medical goal of fleecing people. ( a 5 minute procedure done by hand )  TESTS SENT ABROAD MOST OFTEN COME BACK INCONCLUSIVE, meaning the doctors do not have the training, equipment, or capability of finding the source of the cancer to take samples. ( I recently have had to take 3 different biopsies over a month and a half delays ) for a growing tumor ) Even then, these private health services are basically MONEY MILLS, giving patients pills, and running lots of tests, to skim them of their savings.  Should you have CANCER, they will promise you the moon, but often lack the advanced tests they want capacity, and the doctors ACTUALLY with successful experience and capability do not exist, except in the occasional case, that turns out to be a LUCKY FLUKE.  Private clinics excel in rapid service for ordinary ailments, but fall short, based on the diagnostic ability of the particular private doctor. Some are experienced and good, but most are bad.
  Poor people cannot even afford the private services to diagnose the sort of cancer necessary to treat, which is the majority of the population, as just the diagnosis money skimming routine, will run anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in a land where salaries are usually $150 to $300 a week.

BELIZE IS NOT A BUSINESS FRIENDLY COUNTRY BY RED TAPE.

 The job of the bureaucrats in the Belize government, is to make business and startups easier.  Particularly for export.  There are only FOUR countries in the Caribbean regarded as business friendly.  Belize is NOT one of them!  Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, also more business friendly are Antigua, Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica. leading the Caribbean pack of countries and are among the 50 top countries in the world, out of 185 surveyed.
  Belize is VERY SLOWLY making reforms to how businesses do reporting, licensing and paying  taxes.  More changes are in the works.  Speeding up clearance certificates is one area needed.  The TIME needed to go through red tape and the expense of traveling back and forth to government offices is another. Belize has disadvantages, as it is bigger than most island countries and lacks the infra structure, due to size and low population density.  This latter also has other advantages in quality of life and persuit of happiness.
  SINGAPORE enjoys top position in the world.  But then, it is also a tight small island country.  So size and population concentration play a role here. Also the infra structure for computer aided effort is top notch in the world.  In Belize, less than 10% of the population have internet for example.  The top TEN countries are:  Hong Kong, China, New Zealand, USA, Denmark, Norway, the UK, South Korea, Georgia and Australia.
  Belize is not even considered a business friendly country, even among  fellow Caribbean partners..