Let Maduro run 

The justice system in this country is nothing more than a cheap copy of imported antiquated law.  For example, the two traditional political parties recently have had to call a Portuguese jurist to settle the conflict over the nationality of one of the political candidates.  Does that mean for every conflict of this sort we have it is better to call an international jurist to fix things in our country?  Only as long as our country lacks a competent justice system.

We haven't worried about defining our position on Maduro, an exceptional candidate of the conservative party, or his nationality.  This is because we believe that the responsibility of national interests will be handled as cleanly as possible by the political parties.  Accordingly, we have assumed that the conservative party, in proposing Maduro as its candidate, has no doubts about Maduro's Honduran nationality.

Unfortunately, the opposing party has launched a political campaign of doubtful disposition against the conservative party.  Of course, they are only doing so because they realize that Maduro is a contender with enough capability and image to defeat the Liberal Party in elections.  We understand, nonetheless, why they may have such a fear.  After all, the Liberal Party has only been in power for two consecutive terms thanks to the fact that the past political campaigns were so badly structured.  Add to this, there wasn't a national candidate with enough credibility to compete --unlike Maduro.

The bottom-line is that both political parties don't believe in Honduran Justice.  Yet, to our understanding Ricardo Maduro should be registered as a presidential candidate, under the moral and penal responsibility of the conservative party.

HONDURANS FIND QUESO TASTY 

Dear HTW: 

Melanie Wetzel pointed out how her husband likes the Honduran cheese.  The Hondurans like it too.

When my wife visits her family in Honduras, she stuffs her bags with as much cheese, beans and coffee that she can carry on the way back to the U.S.  When the word gets out that someone in the area has cheese, my wife won't hesitate to locate that person.  Hondurans and Salvadorans come from near and far to pay $5 for a half-pound block of what some of us might consider a slovenly mess.

I asked my wife if a Wisconsin-style cheese factory would be successful in Honduras.  Would the Hondurans be likely to buy cheddar cheese?  She laughed in my face.

I can't say whether I like it or not.  I've never tried it and don't intend to.  But there is no doubt that the Hondurans have somehow developed a great appreciation for that queso seco de choluteca.

Ralph Nelson
via Internet

TRASHY ARTICLE 

Dear HTW: 

I have recently been sent a copy of an article apparently published in your Sept. 30 issue, entitled "Lethal yellowing disease of coconuts proving hard to control" by Wendy Griffin.

It is so superficial and poorly or not at all researched that I trust it was located only in the gossip section of your social news and did not make any pretence of being serious or scientific.

As the only producer of hybrid coconut seed in Costa Rica, and the only producer of the same in commercial quantities anywhere in the region in a country free from lethal yellowing (LY), I must protest the trashy nature of the article, because of the damage it does us in the eyes of your readers, but would dignify it with a full and reasoned response only should you so request.

However, kindly note the following:

1. We have never sold to an "American businessman in Trujillo."

2. We first sold to any Garifuna community only in August 2000, financed by CARITAS.

3. Both might have acquired our hybrids second-hand, in which case there is no guarantee that the plants were not of other varieties.

4. No hybrid or variety is immune to LY, though the MAPAN has demonstrated better than 85 percent resistance over 25 years.

5. We have supplied a significant quantity of MAREN and MAPAN hybrid seed to private and public sector in Honduras since 1992, with ample resistance displayed on Roatan but, in fairness, some losses at Salado Lis Lis on the North Coast.  The latter, beginning six months after Hurricane Mitch, are likely to have been amplified by or largely due to a combination of adverse agro-climatic circumstances or "abiotic stress."  Our MAPAN's have demonstrated the expected resistance in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico since 1994.

6. Even if the 100 seeds, plants or palms bought by the American businessman which "died the first year" were our hybrids, when did the 9 percent loss occur, what age were the palms, who established scientifically (by PCR analysis) that they indeed died from LY, what happened in subsequent years to the remaining 91, and what level of inputs of fertilizer, maintenance and pest and disease control did they receive?

7. There is no yellow Philipino in Honduras.  There is a green Philipino variety which seems by most accounts to be susceptible: there is a Malayan Red Dwarf type (fruit is actually orange) sometimes known as Golden or Dorado, which has always been thought to be highly resistant, but seems to be displaying susceptibility in Honduras.

8. LY has been a problem in Jamaica for more than 100 years, not as you published, "since the 1970s."

9. From your comment about "several organizations have bought many hybrid coconuts to start nurseries..." perhaps the alleged Costa Rican hybrids were F2, which risk segregating out LY resistance.

10. It is generally accepted that the phytoplasma, transmitted by the planthopper Myndus crudus van Duzee is the cause of LY.  Your retailing of other theories is frivolous and attempts at chemical vector control would be hugely expensive, probably ineffective and ecologically unacceptable.  Indeed, your article implies little or no serious research or reaction to the LY problem has taken place, which is totally wrong.

11. Our seed garden project was established in 1985 to produce resistant hybrids and has cost over US$2 million, research on LY has been conducted by the Coconut Industry Board in Jamaica, since the 1960s, by the University of Florida in Fort Lauderdale, since the 1970s, by CICY (Centro de Investigacion Cientifica) in Merida, Yucatan since the 1980s, and globally by NRI (British), CIRAD (French), APPC, Burotrop, CICLY, COGENT and MPIZ for years.  In Honduras, Zamorano, FHIA and DICTA are making concerted efforts to contain and relieve the disaster, actively since 1998.

The Coconut Telegraph published articles and promoted hybrid plantings from 1995 to present.  Standard Fruit has had a replanting program for 10 years.  Two former secretaries of Natural Resources, Mario Nufio Gamero (30/06/92) and Ramon Villeda Bermudez (13/02/1996), accepted my reasoned and documented pleas in person for a National Coconut (replanting) Program ahead of the inevitable arrival of LY.  OIRSA followed up on the latter presentation (Ante-Proyecto) by financing the purchase of our hybrids and works at the Central American regional level, as do IICA, CARITAS and other Garifuna organizations in the National Network, Save the Coconut (Red Nacional Salvemos el Coco) or WAFAILUMA.

About the only accurate statement in your otherwise shallow "article" was the title. 

Richard Illingworth
President
Hacienda Victoria, S.A.
San Jose, Costa Rica

UPLIFTING SOUL 

Dear HTW: 

It was with great sadness and deep sympathy for his family that I received word of Erling Duus's death.

I first met Erling 16 years ago on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, where he was serving as a Methodist minister.  Back then I was an itinerant poet teaching in the schools, and had just begun to find an ideological direction for my work.  Erling entered my life at just the right time, and his philosophy -- well grounded in the folk spirit -- would influence me more deeply perhaps than that of any other human being.  His abiding love for the Black Hills and the surrounding prairie was visionary and profound, and he shared this exuberance with nearly everyone.

Later, I was given the opportunity to be an instructor at a Danish-style folk school in Hot Springs, South Dakota while he was its director.  Although we had our differences on the relatively unsuccessful outcome of this endeavor, we remained friends and corresponded frequently during his teaching stints in Belize, Peru, Los Angeles and, finally, Honduras.

After he returned from Central America, I saw him one last time.  When he came to visit in August at my home in Flagstaff, Arizona, he clearly was not feeling well.  Ironically, I too was ill, and was even hospitalized during his stay.  We had planned to hike the holy Kachina (San Francisco) Peaks, but that was not to be.  Before he left here for his brother's home in New Mexico, he seemed optimistic about his prognosis.  He was even making plans

for a trip to India to investigate (and no doubt invigorate) the ashram Santiniketan, which the Bengali poet Tagore had founded. Erling talked as well of returning to Honduras in order to start a learning center where spirited discussion together with praise of the Sacred Earth and her peoples would help to counteract the current cultural paradigm of cynicism, alienation, and despair.  So many dreams unfulfilled!

And yet in his three score years Erling lived both more fully and more intensively than most, and for that we can be grateful.  Those fortunate enough to experience his personality found it by turns dynamic, erudite, provocative, intuitive, incisive, prophetic, rooted, and compassionate, though mere adjectives fail to embody his unique energy.  Paramount, I believe, was his innate ability to uplift the soul, inspiring one to walk the road to ever grander vistas and keener hopes.  I am sure he is walking that road right now.

I have never traveled to Honduras, but when I do, I shall have in hand a copy of Jesus Walks In the Garden of the Parque Central as a guidebook to the country Erling came late in life to love. 

Gary A. David
via Internet 

PS: A brief quotation of Erling's work can be found at my web site, Island Hills Books: <http://www.home.earthlink.net/~islandhills>

FAIRY TALES OR BLINKERS 

Dear HTW: 

If HTW had published photos of the scenes and incidents I describe, would the likes of Daniel Graham, et al., have cried foul?  Or is it the use of words they find intolerable?

    "Mean-spirited," they say?  Reality often is.

I, a masochist?  Far from it.  A masochist does not take such sheer pleasure at undressing the emperor and keeping him naked and trembling for all to see.

I stand by every single solipsism, every syllable honed to bring the obvious into sharper focus.  The alternative, for those who would rather not know, is fairy tales or blinkers. 

W. E. Gutman
via Internet

WAKE UP! 

Dear HTW: 

I read with much surprise and disappointment your editorial "House Cleaning needed for Tourism to improve."  I agree that much improvement needs to take place in order to make Honduras ready to greet foreign tourists, but let's be clear on some facts:

1. AIDS is a big problem in this country and rising.  It's rising because of a lack of awareness by Hondurans.  Responsible journalists need to promote this fact, not only to educate and make Hondurans more aware but visitors as well.  The responsible tourist will not use this as a sole criteria for choosing a vacation site.

I applaud the Honduran media for taking a responsible and critical role in educating their people.  Tourism among Honduran nationals is on the rise and they should be made aware of the results of unprotected casual sex while on vacation and let's not forget the recently publicized problems of the "sex tourism" trade that is infiltrating not only the North Coast of Honduras but other poor Latin American countries.

2. The crime rate in Honduras is up.  This is a complicated issue encompassing many socio‑economic factors.  In the same issue (Nov. 4) under the "Week In Review" column you highlight from La Tribuna the article "Troops fight drug trafficking."  Yet in paragraph eight of your editorial you're encouraging leniency among marijuana smoking tourists?  What makes you feel that it's all right for foreign tourist to come here and break the law?  In order to smoke it, they have to buy it, which means participating in a law breaking activity.  If a national is caught smoking or selling marijuana they are sent to jail, why should it be any different for a tourist?  Regardless of personal beliefs on the legalization of marijuana, it is against the law.  If a tourist can't go on a vacation to a foreign country without adhering to its laws, they should just stay home.

You also mention in paragraph four that "tourists should be treated as nationals," that goes for the law as well.  What type of message is this sending Hondurans... it's OK for foreigners to break the law in our own country?  This type of activity adds to the growing crime rate, and this type of tourist we don't need!

3. One price for national tourists and one for foreign tourists...when was the last time you visited Europe or the US?  This is a common practice meant to stimulate tourism by nationals.  Let's take our beloved Disneyland or our National Park System as an example:  If you live in Orange County you pay one price, if you belong to the Teachers Association you pay another, if you are

a member of the Automobile Club another, and let's not forget our ARP (Association of Retired People) members.  But, if you are a foreign tourist you pay full price.

Promoting national tourism is the key for continued growth of the tourism industry, and price structuring is a proven, effective method; any well‑traveled person knows this and is aware of it.  Tourism tax is world‑wide, why should Honduras be any different.  The problem is that Honduras has yet to understand the importance of advertising their prices in a professional way so as not to give the appearance of random pricing.  If a dual pricing structure is discriminatory, then the whole world is guilty.

If you want to encourage tourism in this country focus on better roads so tourists don't have to rely on flying everywhere and can safely drive their rented vehicles; focus on the development of a higher quality artisan industry so tourists have something to take home with them besides photos, while at the

same time stimulating the economy; focus on cleaning up the trash in and around tourist locations,who wants to travel among the trash (yes, even Roatan is guilty of this); focus on better client service so tourists don't leave feeling frustrated; and finally focus on a non-corrupt police force who continually look the other way when it comes to problems with tourists.  Education of elements that comprise a successful tourism market is what will make the difference.

I am a Peace Corps Volunteer working hard in my community, Cantarranas.  Many volunteers are here working to teach the people to give service with a smile and forget the phrase, "No hay" or at least add "I'm sorry, can I get you anything else;" to pick up the trash; to make their hotel and restaurants interesting and hygienic; to take pride in their country and their communities; that quality does matter, people don't want to buy junk; and to treat competition as a good thing.  We're focusing on national tourism first....word of mouth will bring the foreign tourists.

INFOP teaches a week long tourism class for business owners and colegio students helping them to understand the needs of tourists and more importantly exposes them to the tourist destinations of Honduras through video.  Many Hondurans who are expected to understand the needs and wants of tourists have never been tourists themselves.  Maybe you should be encouraging your Honduras living readers to work with their communities in teaching them the economic merits of tourism.

Wake up, HTW: hiding the AIDS problem, encouraging lenient laws for marijuana smoking tourists and the discouragement of tourism by Honduran nationals will not bring foreign tourism to this country.  You need a better understanding of the real issues that must to be changed in order for Honduras to gain its rightful place on the tourist destination map. 

Michaela M. Brehm
Peace Corps Volunteer
Cantarranas, FM

Work harder, aim higher 

We find it very difficult to accept the government's evolution within Honduran society in its economic aspect.  Grain by grain, our agricultural economy is shrinking.  The creativity of the state to create means of profit is simply non-existent.  We consider that it is a duty of the public administration to insure the generation of exports and income within a country.

So, with this in mind, how can our economy be shrinking?  We have a plethora of unemployed manual labor.  We have thousands of acres of land rich in nutrients and ready to grow coffee bushes, banana trees, melons, rice, and beans that can feed our people and still have enough left over to export to our neighbors and the world.  We have many, many small businesses scattered across our landscape, struggling to make an honest living and improve people's standard of living.  All these things need to reach the potential they have is a helping hand from a bigger brother.

Nevertheless, the current structure of the State is not designed to be that helping hand, or that big brother.  The government here works only out of necessity.  In other words, it works on improving and bringing in new income only when it absolutely has to.  The bureaucracy that runs Honduras is too concerned in its endless political skirmishes to respond to the country's economic needs.  The Honduran Private Enterprise Council (COHEP) has stated that political troubles reduce productivity and discourage national as well as international investors.

Furthermore, the government has no sense of savings.  It has no way to provide emergency funds, or mechanisms, for future obstacles that this modern world might hurl in our path.  Worse yet, even if it did organize itself and make plans for the future, odds are that the next government will tear those plans to shreds.  Laws must be made to prepare and be ready for the future.  More laws should be written to guarantee these preparations do not fail because of the biased shortsightedness of a politician painted of a different color from his or her predecessor.

The situation of our economy is a source of sadness and, sometimes even despair.  The government bears a large amount of responsibility for that, especially considering that it is the largest employer in the country.  Hondurans have to own up to their responsibility, too.

Whatever it is that we are doing is not enough.  As a people we need to work harder, study longer and aim higher than we are used to doing.  We must dedicate ourselves to our endeavors not only with our success in mind, but the security of our children's future.  We must guarantee that those who will inherit this land will have the best opportunities it has to offer, the way our president must guarantee handing over an improved government to whomever we elect next.

U.S. Republican candidate George W. Bush won the simulated presidential elections that took place last Tuesday (Nov. 8) in Tegucigalpa with the participation of Honduran functionnaires, politicians, representatives of the private sector, the diplomatic corps and the local press.

During the event hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Frank Almaguer (looking at the computer screen), guests gave Bush a total of 167 votes, against 144 for his Democrat rival, Al Gore, while Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received just 11 votes.  (Photo by Mario Gutierrez Minera.)

Eyes turned on U.S. 

The U.S. elections have ridiculed American efficiency in making accurate estimates.  Those most mistaken were the members of the media.  Honduras' communications enterprises also fell into the same trap.

On various occasions, victory was announced for Republican candidate George W. Bush.  These announcements were inaccurately made by those who insist that the news has become an omniscient organization of knowledge.  The fault lies in the country's media, not in the U.S. electoral college, which prefers to count votes rather than hypothesizing illusions.

In our country, many speculations circled about who won.  Newspapers printed headlines on Wednesday giving Bush the White House without the Florida votes even having been fully counted.  Much confusion arose from this.  Frequently, the United States has sent delegates to other countries to observe their elections.  It seems like, eventually, that the United States is going to need some international observers of their own.

Given the stress that such a political situation has caused in other countries, the world has now turned its eyes toward the States and its democracy, said to be the strongest on the planet.

Democracy is a human system.  It depends on those who partake in an election system that strives to maintain its purity and privacy.

A good lesson learned from this experience is that our individual vote does make a difference.  We ended up learning, late into the night, that even the votes of those vacationing and doing military service away from home was of the most vital importance in choosing between both glamorous sons of our northern neighbor.

Speaking of differences and importance, many politicians in our arena felt the two candidates were of the same cloth.  They fretted and worried over whether Democrats or Republicans would win.  The politicians up north, on the other hand, considered this purely a national issue, not one of international proportions.  U.S. foreign policy toward Honduras will not change much, regardless of the victor.

We cannot deny, though, that our country has enjoyed these elections.  We trust democracy and have the same trust in the competence of the process that chose the leader of our great ally.

A poll was taken during the U.S. Embassy's election night party.  Bush would have won the elections there; and, while we have not forgotten that Tipper Gore came to sweep the streets of Tegucigalpa after Hurricane Mitch, we still remember the help George Bush, Sr. brought along with him after the tragedy.

The election night party was hosted by Ambassador Frank Almager in the Hotel Honduras Maya.  We sincerely enjoyed spending some time with him, as he fretted over the latest results presented over the Internet.

The 2000 Elections of the United States of America were too close.  We suspect that the next four years will see a lot of negotiations going on between both major parties.  Both sides of the discussion table will have to reach many agreements.  Otherwise, the running of government will be blocked with red tape, and this is not a good way for the next president to surpass the economic goals achieved by the Clinton administration.

House cleaning needed for tourism to improve 

Last Thursday and Friday, Tegucigalpa hosted the III National Congress of Tourism.  Many renowned international specialists attended the meeting, whose goal was the improvement of Honduras's tourism and its possibilities.

We still maintain that Honduras has much to offer in the way of tourism.  In other words, we live in an exceptional environment, with amazing opportunities.  Still, there are some aspects, which we have mentioned before, that have been neglected.

For example, our country's media has publicized our AIDS problems excessively, with the end product being only the defamation of Honduras.  True tourists are not in search of that type of adventures.

We have to make note of the constant articles signalling a high criminal rate.  Unfortunately, it is the tourism sector that suffers the consequences of these publications.  Instead, we should reinforce our police in the tourism sectors of the nation.  The press should congratulate and encourage their achievements and efforts.  The police, in turn, should not walk around packing imposing weapons and intimidating tourists.  Rather, they should dress in civilian clothing and capture criminals without encumbering tourists.

Tourists are like friends that have visited our house and would like to know it better.  They will want to return if their stay has been safe and comfortable.  They should be treated as nationals, and in that sense, be treated as such.  Therefore, the tourism sectors of the country should abandon the idea of double pricing -- one price for nationals and another for tourists.

This last injustice occurs, for example, in Guatemala, where the policy is almost discriminatory.  On top of charging tourists more than citizens, the former have to pay an extra "tourism" tax.

The thought that a foreigner should never feel as such in our house is one we must keep high on our priorities.  This should be the spirit of our legislators as they revise laws that will promote a very near future.

The most important test a tourist should pass is entering the country, or while soliciting a visa at one of our consulates; past that, this should not be questioned again constantly by harassing authorities.

Modernization should be included in these well-intentioned tourist plans.  Like we said a few months back, possession of one marijuana joint should not be considered an intent crime.  If an officer should find a tourist smoking one, he then should recommend that they not consume it in public, on top of suggesting that they not use narcotics in general.  Further the officer should warn the tourist that such habits might provide difficulty in terms of gaining residence or reentry into the country.  Nevertheless, the point is the officer should suggest and warn only; unless the person caught is intent on corrupting other people or youths.  Then the situation would be different.

Of course, the fact does not escape us that our external and internal tourism need to have specialized offices.  These should constantly use the media to promote tourism indiscriminately, the way we do in our video "Music and Tourism of Honduras."  Our country is beautiful, but we cannot convince foreigners of it if we have not seen its beauty, too.

We congratulate the tourism authorities for the desire to expand our national tourism community.  We expect the best results and strategies come from its efforts.  We do not want a tourism hosted by clowns; we urgently need to attend to our complaints so that we may feel proud to host, in our clean house, the tourism of the world.

Honduras gives many reasons for thanks on Thanksgiving 

By WENDY GRIFFIN 

Sometimes it seems that there are many things to get annoyed about in Honduras.  One way of countering anger is to try to find things to be thankful for.  Living in Honduras for 15 years has made it easy for me to find things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and every day.

I am thankful that the electricity is on and my refrigerator and fans are working.  I was here when there was only 12 hours a day of electricity due to rationing and I stay in villages with three or less hours of electricity per day.  So, I am thankful when the lights go on and stay on.

I am thankful for running water, especially hot water if I can get it.  There are villages here that depend on water so disgusting that I refuse to let it touch my hair.  People put buckets in wells saying we get one bucket, but with the water shortage who knows if we will get another.  In Trujillo, they turn the water off when it rains so we do not get mud in the water.  So, running water is a treat to be enjoyed.

I am thankful for two hands and two feet.  As I meet the newspaper salesman who sells periodicals with no hands and the chica salesman who sells lottery tickets with no legs, I have to be thankful for mine that work.

I am thankful for my beautiful apartment.  Walking toward Comida Rapida Mazapan, I see children sleeping on sidewalks and on wooden stalls in the market.  In Tegucigalpa, the resistoleros (glue sniffers) lay down on the less than soft sidewalks in front of the Congress and the San Miguel market.  When it is raining, I have something more substantial than a piece of plastic to protect me, and I am thankful.

I thankful for my interesting work, when there are so many people without steady work.  I am thankful for the inexpensive buses and their usually pleasant drivers who permit me to do my job.

I am thankful for my family.  After hearing stories like "My brother taught to shine shoes.  Then they brought me to Trujillo at age 9 from Olancho and left me here to earn my living by myself," most of us would have to admit our family life was better than that.

I am thankful for my education.  Parents, grandparents, and students tell me and my students they had to decide, "Do we eat or do we pay for school supplies?"  People understand an education is important, but eating is something people would like to do every day.  As I look at my mostly full refrigerator, I have to be thankful that I have enough to eat while many people here do not.

Particularly when I go through San Pedro, I am thankful for all the hardworking Hondurans.  Although Honduras This Week carries stories on corruption and maras, in fact the people who choose to do honest work are the majority.  I am especially thankful for hotel staff who are polite, friendly and helpful, even though they barely make enough to keep themselves and their family in less than ideal housing.

I am thankful when the roads are open and the trucks with orange juice and milk can get through, because sometimes when the roads are closed there is no milk or juice.  I am thankful for the truck drivers and importers.  By what miracle Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies end up in the middle of nowhere like Santa Rita, Yoro, I do not know.  But I am thankful when something like peanut butter can be bought 3,000 miles from where it was produced.

I am thankful for warm weather and beautiful beaches and mountains, when I know any day now it could be 30 degrees and a foot of snow in my hometown.  Watching the weather channel is usually good for raising your spirits here.

I am thankful for my friends here who have helped me when I was sick and kept me company when I was well.  Good friends are blessings wherever you find them.  I am thankful for Honduran churches who bring me music, art and encouragement when times are rough and the reminder that they will not always be this way.

I once read that if you cannot be satisfied with what you have, learn to be satisfied for all the things that you do not have and do not want.  Instead of griping about all the things that are not quite right this Thanksgiving, try giving thanks for all the things that are going well for you on that day and many other days of the year.  Many others are not so fortunate.  

CONDOLENCES 

Dear HTW: 

We came back from Europe today, first thing we got HTW and we are shocked from the sad news about Erling Duus' death.

He was such a great man and we loved his articles and book.  Please accept our sincere condolences, it is a loss to us and we are very saddened since we were already looking forward to his return to Honduras.

With our best wishes to his family and HTW.

Malvina, Baroness von Bree
Gottfried, Baron von Bree
Siguatepeque

FRIEND OF HONDURAS LOST 

Dear HTW: 

On Oct. 20, 2000, Honduras lost a good friend and supporter of this country's natural beauty.  Ivor Fulcher was an underwater photographer of great skill and creativity.  His images of  the plants and animals that inhabit the clear waters of the Bay Islands were seen and admired by people all over the world.  Ivor had that special ability to capture on film the wonder and grace that Honduras is blessed with in a way that made people want to come and experience the islands for themselves.

Ivor passed away on his 41st birthday from a brain aneurysm.  His wife, Lynne, was with him as were many friends in spirit and prayers.

There are millions of people that love to take photographs.  There are many thousands of people that dream of becoming professional photographers, but only a small number actually see their images appear in major publications.  It is indeed the rare artist who is recognized internationally for the quality of their work.

Ivor was one of those gifted few.  He had entered several important photo competitions in the past year and had in fact been

awarded in each contest at least honorable mention for his efforts.  His most recent awards included publication in "Ocean Realm", the most respected magazine in the dive industry and recognized for the highest quality underwater photographs in the world.  His work was also shown in the most recent issue of "Nature's Best," the Collector's Edition, for winners of the annual international photography contest.

His articles and images appeared in magazines as far away as Great Britain and as close to home as the beautiful December 1999 cover and story in TACA airlines Aboard magazine about the wonderful seahorses of Honduras.

The list could go on and on, to include a major dive publication that has several of Ivor's images of Roatan in their October 2000 issue and will no doubt bring many new dive tourists to Honduras.

Ivor Fulcher had many friends in the dive and photography industry and was a good friend of Honduras as well.  I will miss him a great deal.  All his friends will miss him.  And Honduras has lost one of her most valuable assets: a man that shared the beauty that is here for others to enjoy.

Tim Blanton
Roatan, Honduras

TRY ZAMORANO CHEESE 

Dear HTW: 

Regarding Cheesegate, the cheese-slander piece by Melanie Wetzel and the storm of protest it touched off: The readers who complained about her column should be hired by the folks who are trying to improve the image of Honduran coffee.  Anyone who can defend local cheese should be able to knock that one out of the park.

Having said that, I wonder if Ms. Wetzel has tried cheese from Zamorano.  One bite of that stuff and I'm back in Wisconsin, cheese wedge on my head, rooting for the Packers in all their socialist glory...

But I think Ms. Wetzel does keep in mind the famous teaching of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.: While we may hate the cheese, we do love the cheese-makers.  

Eric Timar
Tegucigalpa

QUIT THINKING OUT LOUD 

Dear HTW: 

I have for several years been a frequent reader of your paper in either print or electronic form.  I generally enjoy the publication and appreciate its reporting and opinion pieces.  That said, I have to cry foul at W.E. Gutman's appallingly mean-spirited column this week ("Thinking out loud: Personal reflections on the link between cause and effect," Oct. 23, 2000).

In the space of a few scant paragraphs, Mr. Gutman succeeds in barraging Honduran capitalinos with literally dozens of denigrating little epithets: for him they are gremlin-like, ogre-like, sheepish, tawdry, unconscious, bewildered, suspicious, toothless, furtive, bird-of-prey-like, nameless, deformed, ghoulish, illegitimate, bored, tasteless, aimless, lost, insane, shameless, clueless, wallowing, crippled beggars who detract from his enjoyment of the malodorous, miasmatic, noxious, filthy, cheesy, Boschian, and distinctly unparisian milieu.

Apparently, Mr. Gutman is a masochist.  I will posit that the majority of us, the readers of Honduras This Week, are not.  Please don't punish us with such solipsistic trash.

Daniel A. Graham
Berkeley, Calif.

Republican presidential intellect and wit 

Complied by W.E. Gutman 

From the intellect and wit of Texas Governor George W. Bush:

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."

"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."

"Welcome to Mrs. Bush and my fellow astronauts."

"Mars is essentially in the same orbit, Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important.  We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water.  If there is water, that means there is oxygen.  If oxygen, that means we can breathe." (8/11/1994)

"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history.  I mean in this century's history.  But we all lived in this century.  I didn't live in this century. (9/15/1995)

"I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy -- but that could change." (5/22/1998)

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any governor, and that word is 'to be prepared'." (12/6/1993)

"Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things." (11/30/1996)

"I have made good judgments in the past.  I have made good judgments in the future."

"The future will be better tomorrow."

"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world." (9/21/1997)

"People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history."

"I stand by all the misstatements I've made." (8/17/1993, to Sam Donaldson).

"We have a firm commitment to NATO.  We are a part of NATO.  We have a firm commitment to Europe.  We are part of Europe."

"Public speaking is very easy." (10/1999, to reporters)

"I am not part of the problem.  I'm a Republican."

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

"When I have been asked who caused the riots and the killings in Los Angeles, my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame for the riots?  The rioters are to blame.  Who is to blame for the killings?  The killers are to blame."

"Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it." (5/20/1996)

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur." (9/22/1997)

"For NASA, space is still a high priority." (9/5/1993)

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children." (9/18/1995)

"The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that George Bush may or may not make."

"We are all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistake we may or may not have maken."

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment.  It's the impurities in our air and water that is doing it."

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."

The next president of the United States?  May God have mercy on us.