And other South American stories:
"Md. man had insurance on missing woman" August 19, 2011|Associated Press
SAN JUAN - A Maryland man detained in Aruba in the presumed death of his travel partner had an accidental-death insurance policy on her and sought to claim the money two days after reporting her missing, said a person who provided information to the investigation.
The details of the policy obtained by Gary V. Giordano before his trip to Aruba may help explain why he has been detained on suspicion of involvement in the death of Robyn Gardner during their getaway to the Dutch Caribbean island....
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Related: US man a suspect in Aruba disappearance
Great, another van der Sloot story.
Maybe we would be better off swimming somewhere else:
"Shark bites tourist in Puerto Rico bay" August 19, 2011|Associated Press
SAN JUAN - A shark estimated at 6 feet long bit a tourist earlier this week while she swam in a popular bioluminescent bay at night, doctors in Puerto Rico said yesterday.
I guess we won't being going into the water there.
The woman, identified as Lydia Strunk of Idaho, 27, faces several months of physical therapy and will remain hospitalized until the weekend, said Dr. Ernesto Torres....
Strunk is expected to make a full recovery but will likely have some nerve damage and limited movement in her right foot. Doctors repaired four tendons that are used for flexing the foot, and it will take up to five months for Strunk’s damaged nerves to grow back, he said.
The shark bite was confirmed by a marine biologist, but he could not identify the type of shark because no teeth were recovered, Torres said.
Strunk has declined to speak to the news media and does not want photos of her injury released, doctors said....
I respect that.
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Any more beaches to hit?
"Panel unveils Haiti rebuilding project" August 19, 2011|Associated Press
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The Haiti reconstruction panel cochaired by Bill Clinton announced a major new project yesterday to rebuild part of the capital damaged by last year’s earthquake.
The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission said it plans to spend $78 million to revitalize 16 neighborhoods and remove 30,000 people from six major settlement camps that formed after the January 2010 disaster....
International donors pledged a total of $5.5 billion....
Who stole all that money?
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Time to cast a vote:
"Argentine president vows growth after vote" August 16, 2011|Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES - President Cristina Fernandez said yesterday that keeping Argentina’s economy growing despite the global consumption slowdown is her top priority as she looks forward to what seems like a certain reelection in October....
Fernandez said her government is concerned that budget cuts being made in the United States and Europe will depress economic activity around the globe, hitting the poor the hardest. Argentina will keep spending revenues and reserves to create jobs and build a more egalitarian society, she said.
Something we lack in AmeriKa.
Boosted by rising commodity prices and insulated somewhat from world debt markets, the country’s GDP is growing about 6.5 percent this year.
That's because they told the banks to shove off years ago.
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Also see: Mexican party offers discount cards
No thanks.
"Crushing dissent in Cuba" August 19, 2011
WHILE THE Syrian government’s savage attacks on anti-government protesters have rightly drawn the world’s attention, it isn’t only on the other side of the world that dictatorial rulers have been bloodying their critics.
In Cuba in recent weeks, pro-government goons have been attacking members of Ladies in White, a nonviolent protest group made up of women whose husbands, brothers, and fathers are dissidents imprisoned by the Castro regime.
The CIA's girls?
In one attack, the Miami Herald reported last week, the women were assaulted with “steel bars, rocks, and fists’’ as they left Mass in the cathedral of Santiago, the island’s second-largest city.
How come the Globe didn't pick that up and is only now telling me in an editorial?
Related: Quick Swim to Cuba
I guess some things are more important than others.
At least eight of the women ended up in the hospital, where they required stitches and other treatment for their wounds.
Good thing Cuba has a great single-payer health system.
According to Elizardo Sanchez, one of Cuba’s leading human-rights activists, the attacks have left dissidents deeply alarmed; they know that no one “would dare order such beatings and so much violence without the approval of the central government.’’
Unlike Syria, Cuba has not seen massive street demonstrations, nor have there been public demands for the overthrow of the government. The Ladies in White, who received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament in 2005, are few and vulnerable; Cuban ruler Raul Castro has nothing to fear from them but their integrity and moral authority.
My agenda-pushing war daily is carrying a torch for the Ladies in White?
That, however, they have in abundance, while the ruthless regime over which Castro and his brother Fidel have presided for more than half a century has long since lost any claim to the respect or admiration of the free world.
At least you ain't alone in the boat, AmeriKa.
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Also see: The CIA's Cuban Cigars
Friendly Fire on a False Flag
CIA in Cuba
Globe's Cuba Coverage is Gross
Swimming for home, readers. Maybe I can make where Nyad didn't.
