Efforts are therefore under way to ponder the matter deeply. Experts suggest that new, more modern potholes may have to be tested in residential areas such as King’s Park, where “the residents all have SUVs anyway,” and “it’ll distract them from this whole Wagons business.” Potholes will be tested for depth, width, sharpness of gradient, and ’splashiness.’

Civic-minded residents are encouraged to call the City Council and report if they feel their potholes would be suitable for testing.

I just had to reprint this it was sooo funny. Subscribe to their feed for more Political Satire.
Taken from the Habanero Press http://habaneronews.wordpress.com

According to the history I learnt when I was a student at Sacred Heart School in Dangriga Town, that it was on the 7, 8, 9 and 10 September in 1798, that the British and the Baymen defeated the Spaniards at Saint Georges Caye forcing them to flee and never to launch a major attack on the British settlers again. This is why all Belizeans celebrated the 10th September as our National Heroes Day prior to Belize becoming an independent country when they were growing up.

During those celebrations, there were men dressed like Baymen with their poko no boy sticks parading on the streets of Belize merrily. After this battle, the Spanish Crown started to enter into agreements with the British to grant them permission on this disputed territory to continue cutting logwood and mahogany, which led to several treaties and the major one with Guatemala in 1859. The British government was thinking about giving up the settlement in Belize on several occasions but the settlers who were living in Belize persuaded the monarchy to refrain from doing so.

Belize became a Crown Colony in 1862 and a self-governed country in 1964, which subsequently led to our independence on September 21, 1981. The most important event was the Battle of Saint Georges Caye on September 10, 1798, because if the British had lost that battle, the Spanish forces would have removed the British and their settlement from Belize permanently and there would be no Belize today.

The birth of our nation is a historic event and there is a cemetery in Belize City where some of our heroes were buried who fought in the Battle of Saint Georges Caye in the Yarborough Green area off Cemetery Lane. The remains of our heroes should be taken from that cemetery and Belize should establish a National Cemetery where all those heroes’ remains should be interred to give them respect and a permanent resting place.

Since the independence of Belize, I have observed a change in attitude between the People’s United Party and the United Democratic Party towards the Battle of Saint Georges Caye Celebrations and the Independence Day Celebrations. The People’s United Party behaves as if the Battle of Saint Georges Caye Celebration is insignificant and there were times when their leader George Cadle Price and his followers said that the battle was a myth and did not occur. How come all of a sudden it was myth when PUP and UDP alike were both celebrating that day prior to our independence when they were growing up?

The People’s United Party spends more time promoting the Independence Day Celebrations and less time on the Battle of Saint Georges Caye Celebrations. The United Democratic Party on the other hand, spends a lot of time on both celebrations. It has gotten to the point where some Belizeans are beginning to think that the 10th September is only a UDP celebration.

Before Belize became independent, the People’s United Party had this golden opportunity to make the 10th September Belize’s Independence Day, which was a wise thing to do. Instead, they decided to make our Independence Day on September 21. In my opinion that was an unwise decision for any leader or leaders to make with vision because there was no day that meant a lot more to Belizeans than September 10, which demonstrated our heroism and nationalism.

We need to ask our former Prime Minister, the Honorable George Cadle Price, why did he choose that day to be our Independence Day because our people deserve an answer to this very important question. Today, we find ourselves celebrating two national holidays in one month which is costly to the government and the people in taking vacation time to celebrate. I do not know what the major significance is behind the date of September 21.

I have said on many occasions, that Belizeans are not as nationalistic as they should be. This is due to the fact that many of our people were not exposed to a nationalism program that was put in place by our government. Belizeans who were born before independence were taught to be loyal British citizens. They adored the King and Queen of England. Some Belizeans felt that they were more British than the people who were born in Great Britain. You will even hear some of them say at times, that things were a lot better when the British were running the country.

Well, to those Belizeans I must tell them to be real because those days have gone and never to return again. We have been promoted from British subjects to Belizean citizens and we should be proud of our new identity. Until we accept this reality, our struggle towards nation building and nationalism will be a difficult hill to climb. I hope and pray that we celebrate this year’s celebrations with these words in our thoughts to better our country as one people.

Wellington Ramos

Copyright� 2007-2008 Caribbean Net News at www.caribbeannetnews.com
Article link back: http://caribbeannetnews.com/news-18639–6-6–.html
All Rights Reserved
Used by permission from: editor@caribbeannetnews.com

Wellington C. Ramos  BIO:  Born in Dangriga Town, the cultural capital of Belize, Wellington Ramos has an M.A. in Urban Studies from Long Island University

27 million people are enslaved today

http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

No slavery, no exceptions

http://www.antislaveryinternational.org/

New post coming soon! Is it true? What are the Facts? What can I do to help? Where do I report suspected slavery activity? All the answers coming soon!

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
-Abraham Lincoln

The Flag of Honduras

This article and these emails were posted on a public list not a blog, the article was posted by the author and the email was posted by the reciepent to that email with the knowledge that it would be viewed by others. I thought this was the best way to really hear what is going on so I give credit to the authors as these are quotes unless marked my comments.

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¨LEFTIST COUP BY HONDURAN PRESIDENT THWARTED!

-PRESIDENT NOW EX-PRESIDENT SENDS LETTER OF RESIGNATION TO HONDURAN CONGRESS-

( Ray Auxillou , Belize Falconview News, June, 2009 )

It is strange to hear that the unilateral Coup d’etat in Honduras being created by ex-President Zelaya was thwarted by the judicial branch and the military, which acts as the Federal Police Force in that country.  According to the stories on the news and interviews.   President Zalaya was attempting a constitutional coup in Honduras , by circumventing the Congress, Executive and Legislative branches in regards to an on going program, allegedly devised and formented by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela .

A judge of the judicial branch was being interviewed on Honduras television and confirmed that President Zelaya was arrested and deported by the military, according to an arrest order issued by the Supreme Court,  judicial branch.  President Zelaya was deported by military aircraft to Costa Rica , which has accepted his entry into exile.

Zelaya was attempting a similar take over coup of the Honduras government, similar to what Chavez has done in Venezuela .  The current step that roused the fury of the legislative and judicial branch in Honduras was that he unilaterally was holding a referendum to change the constitution of Honduras without approval of Congress.  The referendum was thwarted by the military, on orders of the judiciary.  The straw that broke the camels back, so to speak was that President Zalaya appointed a Coordinator Popular, or a popular coordinator in the middle of Friday night, after midnight, to circumvent the prerogatives of elected government, as in a democracy.  This is in line with the current leftist Presidents in the Americas, forming totalitarian states, using the elected party political process to get into office and then subverting the government by steady political incremental changes in a slow coup  d’etat to become lifetime TYRANTS.

There was no military coup d’etat said the Judge or female spokesperson this Sunday morning in a television interview, but only the rest of the pillars of government protecting Congress and the Constitution.  President Zelaya wanted to change the Constitution so that he could run for more than one term of office.  The Supreme  Court acted to arrest Zelaya, since he committed the crimes of violating the Honduras Constitution in his ambition to become TYRANT( President for life ) of Honduras .

Zelaya led Honduras into strong ties with the leftist IRON CURTAIN of newly minted seven, PRESIDENTS FOR LIFE descending over Latin American , TYRANTS club, for totalitarian states in the Americas .  The  so called ALBA BLOCK of countries.  Zelaya was attempting to consolidate rapidly his hold on the organs of government and the Judge of the judicial branch, or Vice President of Congress, Maria Villedi said; there were contingents of Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Cuban agent provocateurs inside Honduras , trying to destabilize the democratic functioning of the government of Honduras .

The female Vice President of the Honduras Congress said:  that the world should know, that in Honduras there was no Military Coup d’etat and even as we speak, the Honduras Congress has been recalled into session on this Sunday. Democracy is well in hand.  She also said that the President of the Senate also becomes now the President of Honduras, by constitutional law.  Zelaya had submitted a letter of resignation to the Congress signed in front of the media as witnesses.   Congress and Zelaya had been at odds for a month in dialogues refusing him permission to take the unilateral actions he wanted to take, which his Honduras Congress told him were in violation of the Honduras Constitution.  He refused to obey Congress  and committed illegal acts.  When the media interviewed his wife, Mrs. Zelaya  admitted her husband wanted to be PRESIDENT FOR LIFE, or a TYRANT on the model of Fidel Castro, or Hugo Chavez.

This was a legal arrest and deportation and the military acted on the arrest order of the judicial branch ( Supreme Court ) of the Honduran government.  Ex-President Zalaya was guilty of circumventing the lawful rights of the elected representatives in Congress, in his own ongoing coup attempt.  In the REPUBLICAN system of governing, a sitting President has a lot of power, but in this case, the military and the legislative branch refused to obey his constitutionally  illegal actions.  They would not agree as a Congress in what he wanted to do, to change the Constitution of Honduras permitting him to be President for Life.

In Belize here, we do not have the Constitutional  law that one political Prime Minister of one party, cannot be re-elected to continuous terms.  This can prove disastrous as many African countries have shown, that once belonged to the British Commonwealth .  Perhaps we should have it, that a political party cannot go more than one term in office in Belize , and that term reduced to three years and campaigning for office not be allowed for more than three months, instead of the full year currently in practice in Belize ?  There is too much wastage in our own Belize political system.¨ –End of Post–Thank you Ray!

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And this is a copy of an email from a woman living in Roatan, Honduras:

¨Just wanted you to know that things are quite and peaceful here, regardless of what you see on the TV. The government asked people to stay at home today, and so did the Peace Corps, so I – along with most of Honduras -, have stayed at home. We expect the banks to be open tomorrow, and business as usual.
Around noon the electricity came back on and just now, my internet came back. I’ve been watching CNN en Espanol and working on a quilt square.
The airport is expected to remain open, there have really been no demonstrations in this part of the country. I’m told the ones you saw on TV were paid demonstrators. Mel Zelaya has not been a popular president; the country does not like his leftist leanings, the congress asked him to step down yesterday and he refused, so….
People around here are delighted that he has been deposed and Micheletti has been voted in – and the congressional vote was UNANIMOUS. Both parties voted to dump him.
So that’s all the news here. We’re just waiting for international recognition.¨ -End of email-

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My Comment: Now these people are both closer to what is going on and are not the biased press that exists in the USA, Europe, Canada and government owned tv and radio in Venzuela. So now we know what is really going on!

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UPDATE by me:

The O.A.S. met in Washington to condemn the ¨coup¨ against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Foreign ministers from all (O.A.S.) states were represented. A similar meeting was also held at the United Nations. Former President Zelaya intends to return to Honduras this week (Thurs. or Fri.?) and the plan is to return with the Presidents of Argentina and Ecuador and the U.N. General. TemporaryActing President Roberto Micheletti appointed by the Honduran National Assembly, has warned that only an armed invasion could restore President Manuel Zelaya. Pres. Micheletti noted also the possibility of invasion from other Latin American countries (Venezuela), but vowed that Honduras was ready to fight. He also said that if Manuel Zelaya entered the country he would be arrested. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez responded by saying that any aggression toward Zelaya from Micheletti’s government ¨should prompt a military intervention by the United Nations¨. The surrounding Central American countries of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador which had placed embargos on Honduras lifted that embargo today and resumed trade with Honduras.

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Comment by me:

What was the legal reason for kicking Zelaya out?

Ousted president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya was in violation of Honduras constitution and was dismissed for that by the nations Supreme Court. The Honduran Constitution states a president can only hold office for one term. Mr. Zelaya was going to hold a national referendum which if passed would have required the National Assembly to meet and discuss repealing the one-term provision in their constitution. The problem is in their constitution it states if an official presents such a referendum, that person must resign so not to gain personally, but allowing future office holders to benefit. When the disposed President Manual Zelaya refused to resign this put him in violation of the constitution. The Supreme Court ordered him out of office and ordered the military to escort him. The military followed the constitutional orders from the Supreme Court, and they disposed the communist president, and turned the government back over to the National Assembly. There was no coup or over throw of the Honduran government. It was a Constitutional process which was followed with the knowledge that he would not leave voluntarily. His term would have been up in Jan. 2010, presidential elections were to be held in Nov. 2009. It has not been decided if the presidential election might be scheduled earlier as of yet. Mr. Zelaya had meetings with Cháves and Raul Castro on June 29, 2009. (Pic below)

June 29, 2009

Communist Dictators Hugo Chaves from Venezuela, Fidel and Raul Castro from Cuba, Communist President Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua and communist leaning Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all support the ousted president and label what happened in Honduras as illegal. Then leftist President Barack Obama agreed with these Marxist.

Shameful.
The US co-sponsored legislation with Marxist regimes Venezuela and Bolivia in support of Leftist dictator wannabe Manuel Zelaya of Honduras. U.N. General Assembly had a unanimous vote on the resolution sponsored in part by Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States. Ecudaor, Cuba and Colombia agreed.

President Obama has given “a slap in the face to the people” of Honduras. Why?

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UPDATE: This is a post from the list again and this one is from a Honduran Lawyer living in Honduras. He is retired from government, credentials at end.