Campanastan

Glad I Took the Last Plane Out: Military Coup in Honduras

Honduras President Manuel Zelaya has been ousted in a military coup, the first such coup in Central America since the end of the cold war.

Mr. Zelaya, who has the support of labor unions and the poor, is an ally of President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. However, the middle class and the wealthy have not been especially supportive, fearing that Zelaya would institute the same kind of socialism Venezuela now has. Zelaya was apparently trying to change the constitution to permit him to succeed himself.

Chávez has provided cheap oil and gasoline to Honduras, which, aside from hydropower, has no energy resources to speak of.

From the NYT story:

Mr. Chávez was quick to react to the events unfolding in Honduras. In comments to Telesur, the regional news network backed by Venezuela’s government, he said: “Behind these soldiers is the Honduran bourgeoisie, the rich who converted Honduras into a banana republic, a military and political base for the North American empire.”

Looks like the Honduran military, which has been farting for some time, finally took a dump. Puzzled? See the Honduran proverb at the end of previous post.

"Cuando menos se espera, salta la liebre." -- Honduran proverb [Translation: "The hare jumps when you least expect it."]

Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis: Do Real Estate Sales Professionals Deserve Some Blame?

John Fleck alerted me to this item from Cocopost. It's related to something about which I've thought for some time now, ever since the sub-prime mortgage crisis hit the fan: the role of real estate sales professionals (RESPs) in the fiasco.

Coco says:

New Mexico Business Journal Weekly story reads as a press release from the ever-cheery National Association of Realtors who say Home Sales Rise Again.  This part is interesting:

The numbers could be even better, if it weren’t for poor appraisals, says the Realtors association. While pending sales of existing homes - those with signed contracts but not closed - indicate stronger activity, some contracts are falling through from faulty valuations that keep buyers from getting a loan, said Yun.

The NAR calls the appraisal problem serious, and says complaints about faulty appraisals have been snowballing across the country.

She continues, citing Floyd Norris's NYT blog:

Given that a significant part of the housing problem was caused by appraisers who signed off on exaggerated home values, it takes a lot of nerve for the realtors to demand that appraisers now ignore market prices in order to let them sell houses. “Distressed and discounted” sales are real, even if they are inconvenient.

So what's my interest in all this? Do you remember when the sub-prime mortgage crisis first hit? We were all busy pointing fingers at those we thought bore some responsibility. Banks and bankers. Mortgage companies. Appraisers. Financial firms who bundled all those crappy mortgages into toxic assets. The ratings firms who held their noses when rating those assets. Speculators. Naive/stupid homeowners. Feckless regulators. Venal politicians. Reporters who missed the story. Financial advisors who always saw the up side. The rest of us.

But what about real estate sales professionals? I've never heard anyone suggest that some of these folks - the unscrupulous ones - might share deserve of the blame. I think they do,and here's why.

A lot of RESPs want to sell you the most expensive house you can afford because they stand to make more money. Hey, you can afford that house, just get an ARM! It's also instructive to realize that RESPs get their money up front; once the deal closes, they get a check. If you default on your mortgage a few months later, it's no skin off their nose; they''ve got the money - no worries about investing in some mortgage-based security and losing it all. So they have less incentive than others to try to get you in a house whose mortgage you can affrod.

The RESPs rode the wave just like many others.

Obviously, not all RESPs deserve blame, just like all bankers and loan officers weren't to blame. But the RESPs have been getting a free pass.   

“At every step of the way, somebody got a fee and then figured they would be able to pass the risk on to someone else.” -- Jonathan Tiemann, on the route of subprime mortgages through the system

Enter the Mark Sanford Limerick Contest!

Some time ago friend Michael Dale and I proposed the Eliot Spitzer limerick contest.

It failed miserably.

Well, the intrepid Mr. Dale, a former long-time resident of the Palmetto State, has proposed that, at the risk of being accused of piling on but in the interests of bipartisanship, we try again.

Here are six to start you off (Michael write the first, fourth, and fifth ones):

Mark Sanford - the archetypical sandlapper
Starched shirts, always quite dapper
Hiked a really long trail
For some hot Latin tail
But his career, it's now in the crapper

There once was a Sanford named Mark
Who said he'd go hike in the park
But to his honey down yonder
His thoughts did wander
Now he's paying the price for his lark

The Guv, he was lookin' to hike
Or ride his ol' mountain bike
But he grabbed a quick flight
Saw his sweetie that night
Now isn't that so Spitzer-like

Sanford's supporters are low
Why? As if they didn't know
He's more loony than Nixon
With his Argentine vixen
Hubris deep fried - tastes like crow

In the South we always say grace
For gifts seemingly straight out of space
Sanford is blessed - I dare say
For all the bad press went away
When the King of Pop dropped dead on his face

To visit his Argentine honey
He spent Carolina's own money
But since he got caught
With guilt he is fraught
Now his future is not quite so sunny

Submit your entry as a comment and we'll award some sort of prize to the winner.

"This does have, for me, a particular emotional experience.” -- Eliot Spitzer 

How I Wound Up in Argentina: Sanford's Simple Mistake

Hey! What's with all this piling on poor Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)? The guy made an honest mistake, and there's a simple, reasonable explanation for his so-called 'erratic' behavior.

So what really happened?

Well, he did not begin his odyssey intending to go to Argentina and get involved with a woman. He really did intend to hike the Appalachian Trail. But  just plain old bad luck intervened.

Here's the full story.

Understand that The Guv is a guy who likes to begin at the beginning. So he headed south on Interstate 85 towards Georgia, where the trail begins (or ends) at Springer Mountain.

But since he's not used to driving himself, the former Eagle Scout got confused and wound up on I-85 all the way to Atlanta. There he became even more flummoxed and got on I-285, aka The Perimeter, trying to pick up the route to north Georgia. 

Problem was, he couldn't figure out how to get off I-285; he just kept going round and round and round. Now this may sound pretty far-fetched, but it has actually happened to people. The best example of this is former Atlanta Braves pitcher Pascual 'I-285' Perez, who got stuck on the Perimeter for five hours and missed his pitching start in 1982. 

Finally, The Guv recognized an exit to Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport.At last, something he knew!

By this time he'd given up on the Appalachian Trail and decided he needed a real vacation. He decided to fly somewhere, but wanted a place that began with 'A' so that he could claim to his staff (whom he had told he was going hiking on the trail) that he got the names confused.

So he started going through place names beginning with A. 

"Atlanta. No, I'm already here."

"Alabama. No, too much like South Carolina."

"Asheville. No, that's North Carolina."

"Albuquerque. No, I don't know Spanish."

"Armenia. Hmmm. Don't know where that is."

"Aghanistan. Ugh - too many Muslims."

"Austria. No - a second-string Germany."

"Azerbaijan. Nah, too weird."

"Albania. Ditto."

"Dadgummit!"

"Argentina! Yeah, that's the one!"

So he booked a flight to Argentina. Fortunately, he had his passport, because all South Carolinians need a passport to enter Georgia.

Off he went!

When he landed in Buenos Aires, he realized he didn't know anyone except a woman he'd been emailing. So he emailed her from his BlackBerry and she came to pick him up. Well, they had some good conversations, great food, visited a few landmarks,etc.

But pretty soon, one thing led to another, and the two wound up in bed. But there is a good reason for this. His friend had only one bedroom, and The Guv's bad back precluded his sleeping on the sofa. And being a good Christian gentleman, he could not ask his friend to sleep on the sofa. So they had to share the bed.

The Guv knew that something untoward might happen. He prayed but could not resist temptation. Even thinking of his beautiful wife, Joanie...ooops, Jenny...could not prevent him from jumping his friend's bones.

Then he remembered he had to return home. And so he hurried to the airport, flew back to Atlanta and drove home.

And that's the truth - Scout's honor.

Anyone remember Gov. David Beasley?

Come back tomorrow for our Mark Sanford Limerick Contest!

“Absence makes the man a quitter.” -- Unknown

Water Tank Identifies Virginia, MN, as Capital of Queer Nation

From Citypages and Gayle Leonard comes this picture of the Virginia, MN, water tank, recently defaced by changing the "N" to "R" to read as shown.

Seems that the city was not amused by this prank. It is treating it as a criminal offense.

"One good thing about a gay marriage - you only have to hire one stripper."  – Carlos Mencia

Kodachrome Fades Away, 1935-2009

I'm not a photography buff but I can't help feel a little bit of sadness now that Kodak has announced Kodachrome will be relegated to the annals of photographic history. It was the inspiration behind one of my all-time favorite songs, Paul Simon's Kodachrome:

They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So Mama don't take my Kodachorme away.

Mama didn't take it, but Kodak finally took Paul Simon's Kodachrome away.

"When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all. And though my lack of education hasn't hurt me none I can read the writing on the wall." -- Paul Simon, Kodachrome (1973)

Bristol's Excellent Retirement Plan

From the 15 May 2009 London Times:

Outside the Bristol Zoo in the UK is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars about $1.40/day and buses $7/day. The parking attendant worked there for 25 years.

Then one day, he didn't show up for work.

"Oh, well," said the zoo's management, "we'd better phone the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant."

"Err...no," said the City Council, "that parking lot is your responsibility."

"Err...no,"said the Bristol Zoo's management, "the attendant was the City Council's, wasn't he?"

"Err...NO!" insisted the City Council.

Siitng in a villa somewhere on the coast of Spain is a bloke who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at $560 per day, at the Bristol Zoo for 25 years. Assuming 7 days per week, this amounts to about $7M.

And no one knows his full name.

"Chutzpah: that quality which enables a man who has murdered his mother and father to throw himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan."  -- Oscar Levant

The Central America Report 5: Assessing Honduran Water Projects and Back in the USA

I had an uneventful return trip from San Pedro Sula to Houston to Portland, OR. No pilots died en route.

We were delayed departing from SPS because of air show at the airport, which obviously had precedence over commerical aviation.

Breezed through immigration and customs enforcement at IAH's Terminal E. Had not been through there in over four years.

Here are some photos from our 19 June trip along the coast highway west of Omoa, towards the Guatemala border. This one to the left shows an unhappy camper in a 'ecological park' at which we stopped. The one to the right - well, an interloper.

Above right is amigo Rolando López, on the hike down from the village of Brisas de Cuyamel. We visited that impoverished village of 20 families, none of whom has clean drinking water.

Alex del Cid, shown here at an intake point/tank for a large gravity-flow system that serves three villages, will conduct a study on the water supply potential for Brisas de Cuyamel and provide a report to the Ann Campana Judge Foundation. One issue is the land ownership one; the water source (la fuente) is on someone else's land.We told the villagers they would have to secure written permission from the landowner before a study could begin.

Alex, Evan, and Rolando are shown discussing water issues with a member of the junta de agua for the aformentioned water system. The system was damaged in the recent earthquake and the locals are seeking help to rebuild parts of it. Since the three villlages are considerably better off than Brisas de Cuyamel, I'm inclined not to support their request. They have a large enough base (a few hundred families) to generate enough funds to effect repairs. 

"Un indio menos, una tortilla más." -- Honduran proverb [Translation: "One Indian less, one tortilla more."]

The Central America Report 4: Dinner at Centro Social Hondureño Arabe

Last night my friend Rolando López suggested we have our last dinner in San Pedro Sula at the Centro Social Hondureño Arabe (Honduran Arab Social Club). He said it was reasonable, although when we pulled in and saw all the SUVs, Olympic-sized swimming pool, and elegant dining room, I wondered about what 'reasonable' meant. 

But he was right. Dinner for three (no alcohol, but with appetizers and one desert) cost us about $70 (tip included) for three. The food and service were excellent.

Although Rolando is not a member, he was admitted with us. He explained that foreigners are admitted for free to the grounds simply by showing a passport.

He related that San Pedro Sula's Arab community founded the club when they were denied membership in a downtown casino. So they created their own club. And did they ever!

I'll remember this the next time I visit San Pedro Sula.

"Hunger has no law; it's just hungry." -- Honduran proverb

The Central America Report 3: Signs of a Honduran Middle Class

I've been coming here since 2001 and have made something like 13 trips. It's amazing to see the rise of the middle class in Honduras. To be sure there is still a tremendous amount of poverty here; Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere. But with each visit I see more and more signs of the middle class. I've not been here since June 2005 so the change is quite remarkable.

Keep in mind that I am staying in San Pedro Sula, the country's economic, industrial, and financial hub so there are a lot of wealthy people here. The city's population is about 1 million.

So what's changed since 2005? Here is my unscientific assessment.

1) More fast food restaurants and other food shops (Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, etc.), mostly American, but also some home-grown ones and from other Central American countries. Pollo Campero, a Guatemalan firm, even has locations in the USA.

2) Fast food restaurants in the smaller cities.

3) More malls and strip malls. San Pedro Sula has 3 malls and a number of strip malls, even in the outlying areas (Choloma).

4) TV ads for exercise and household gizmos and apparel/stuff to make you look slimmer/better/sexier

5) Better, newer automobiles

6) Pet shops and health-food stores

7) Home Depot-type stores, 'big-box' stores, and more supermercados

8) 24-hour stores and drive-throughs

9) Fat people

10) Really fat people

I suspect outlet malls can't be far behind.

And how about this proverb? Right from my sophomore year in high school! Must say something about the Honduran psyche.

"Andas tirándote pedos, pero nunca cagas." -- Honduran proverb (Translation: "You fart, but you never take a dump." - all talk, no action)

The Central America Report 2: El Porvenir, Bombas de Mecate y Mas

I've been tardy posting about my trip through several Central American countries so I will try to give a brief update before hitting the sack to arise early for a 12-hour bus trip from Managua to San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Evan Miles and I spent the last several days traveling about with Rob Bell, Executive Director of El Porvenir and his new summer intern, Michigan State University civil engineering student Erik Zucker, shown above with El Porvenir's Suzuki 4WD. Rob gave us all a grand tour of some El Porvenir projects in the El Sauce - Dario area of Nicaragua, some funded by the Ann Campana Judge Foundation, which I founded.

In this picture we are looking at a bomba de mecate or simply bomba mecate (aka rope pump) being modified to pump the water up to a tank for delivery to a nearby school.

A German group installed this particular pump.

These rope pumps are all over Nicaragua. I don't recall ever seeing one in Honduras, although I've worked mostly on gravity-flow projects there. They are easy to work on and locally made. They are normally used in hand-dug wells. Below is a close-up photo, and to the left, a little guy gets into the act.

Below, Rob inspects one that has seen its better days. Although it still pumps water, it is on its last legs.

El Porvenir also supports sanitation and reforestation projects.They also sell locally-made efficient cooking stoves. These support forest preservation because they use 60% less wood. They also lead to less watershed degradation, better water quality, and more consistent streamflow.

Here are the folks who work out of the Dario and Terrabona offices. Evan Miles is on the left, then Marlon, David, Jose Mercedes, and Lester.

 Some gorgeous scenery outside Matagalpa.

Oh, yeah - the rainy season had started. Rob did a great job keeping us on the road in our little Suzuki 4WD.

 

More coming later.

"Eyes that see do not grow old." -- Nicaraguan proverb

Campanastan Ventures South: The Central America Report 1

 So did I drive to Reno or someplace?

No, I'm writing this from a Holiday Inn just a stone's throw from the Miraflores Locks on the banks of the Panama Canal.

My graduate student Evan Miles and I arrived yesterday after a trip through Houston on Continental Airlines.

We're both here to present papers at NGWA's Groundwater for the Americas conference. Here is a PDF of the program.

Evan and I are here until 10 June, when we will head to Managua to check on some water projects  by El Porvenir and Agua Para La Vida that were funded by the Ann Campana Judge Foundation (ACJF). We will also assess some potential projects.

After Nicaragua we will travel to Honduras to visit friends and explore some potential projects there as well. We'll fly home from San Pedro Sula on 20 June.

Below is a photo I took of Lago Alajuela (I'm pretty sure), the artificial lake that supplies fresh water for the locks of the Panama Canal. Madden Dam is visible.  

I am sure I don't need to tell you what an amazing feat the construction of the Panama Canal was. The engineering feat alone was remarkable, as was the health feat (yellow fever, malaria). Now consider all that was done 100 years ago! The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 by David McCullough is an exceptional book about all the difficulties faced by the Americans and the earlier French attempt. Something like 27,500 people died in the two efforts. I highly recommend the book.

Here are a few pictures of a Panama City suburb as we approached Tocumen International Airport and the main terminal itself. The Panamanian immigration, customs, and baggage handling operations were extremely efficient. But we had to fill out four forms: immigration,customs, tourist card ($5), and an affidavit regarding swine flu exposure (which no one collected from me).

It's been over 9 years since I visited here. Panama City was impressive then, what with all the big bank buildings and high-rise luxury condos and apartments. "Drogas," said my driver then, and he elaborated on how the high rises and office buildings were paid for by drug money and assorted money-laundering operations. If he was correct, then it looks like those businesses have boomed since 2000.  

And AT&T was right - my iPhone does work! 

I'll try to keep you updated as best I can.

"I don't want to go into history; I want to go into the Canal Zone." -- Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera, former Panamanian president who got the canal from the USA

'Burn Notice' is Back!

Burn Notice is back! Michael, Fiona, Madeline, Carla, and Sam return tonight! Mary Frances and I will recover from 24 deprivation quickly.

Maybe Madeline will get burned herself this season. One can always hope.

"Spies don't get fired, they get burned." -- Michael Westen

 

 

The Guv Gets Snubbed

Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV), often honored as America's Worst Governor, is miffed because President Barack Obama declined to meet with him on his recent trip to Las Vegas.

If you were the POTUS would you meet with a man who looks like this?

Would Dick Cheney?

If you were George W. Bush would you meet with Guv Jim?

Forget that last question.

"There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn."
-- Albert Camus

A Bird in the Hand...Here, Kitty, Kitty

 

"The term 'domestic cat' is an oxymoron." -- George Will