Daddy-YO
Viejo del Foro

And Nicaragua is NOT on it, thanks to ...(tell us why you think that is)? Nor is Costa Rica, nor Ecuador, nor Canada (of course), ... however 45 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are found on the American continent. 40 of those top 50 are in Latin America, 4 are in the USA. Here's the article from Foreign Policy that begins:
"Living in Latin America, it seems, can be hazardous to your health. A combination of drugs, organized crime, and governments that are, at times,

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That is to say, our querida, jodida León, 'the cat' in a manner of speaking, is on display to the world. Today's TRN Daily News (Thanks Tom!) links to an item in the US News & World Report (April 11, 2011) titled, "5 Places to Retire for Under $500 per Month" by Kathleen Peddicord. Here's what she writes about our winter home,

"Nicaragua has suffered serious bad press as a result of its troubled past and current President. Those unfortunate realities aside, this

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Corruption Perceptions Index 2009
The CPI table shows a country's ranking. I've abstracted a few of interest. (see link for score, the number of surveys used to determine the score, and the confidence range of the scoring.)
The rank shows how one country compares to others included in the index.
The CPI score indicates the perceived level of public-sector corruption in a country.
The numbers in parentheses are the 2008 rankings. Least corrupt to most (perceived):

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Re: cookshow´s The Rockman Cometh

My apologies for not posting in the proper thread, but I´m here, unwired as it were, on Nica time, visiting a neighborhood cyber, and got thinking on what cookshow wrote, in particular, "The thiefing problem here is difficult to explain, it is a bigger issue than just the theft." This is my mental distillate after a few Victorias (clasicas, claro ... mas Victorias!)


Dear Cookshow, you have my sympathy, but when I

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Ten days ago I flew into Atlantic City from Managua on Spirit. It seems to me the airline could have picked a better name - Spirit suggests an afterlife state of being, a visitation, or the Looney: fly with Casper. But what's in a name, a rose by any other ... , so I bought a ticket. It cost me U$231 (all fees included) one way, booking 5 weeks in advance. [Checking AA at the same time, it'd have cost me $540 ($404 before fees; one must take a few steps into the reservation process on the internet

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