Who is Online

We have 204 guests and no members online

 

Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic was our last port before returning to Fort Lauderdale.  The port has been setup as a mini-resort, with bars, water sports and retail outlets, designed to separate cruise-ship passengers from their money. 

There is a local fort, Fortaleza de San Felipe, that we though might be worth a look, perhaps of historical interest and more than twenty years old.  But alas, as it was nearly 2 kilometres (an almost 5 minute drive) away, it would cost us $120, each, to be taken there. 

We considered walking but the cocktail bars beaconed. Wi-Fi again.


The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with the country of Haiti. On the UN's Human Development Index, Haiti ranked 163 out of 191 countries in 2021, one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on earth. At the eastern end the Dominican Republic, while almost as corrupt as Mexico, has one of the highest development rankings in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Same island, different cultures. So, not all cultures are equally beneficial to their possessors.  Religion is obviously a factor here.

***

And so it was another relaxing sea day - back to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale 

 

Our next stop would be Boston



No comments

Travel

Laos

 

 

The Lao People's Democratic Republic is a communist country, like China to the North and Vietnam with which it shares its Eastern border. 

And like the bordering communist countries, the government has embraced limited private ownership and free market capitalism, in theory.  But there remain powerful vested interests, and residual pockets of political power, particularly in the agricultural sector, and corruption is a significant issue. 

During the past decade tourism has become an important source of income and is now generating around a third of the Nation's domestic product.  Tourism is centred on Luang Prabang and to a lesser extent the Plane of Jars and the capital, Vientiane.

Read more: Laos

Fiction, Recollections & News

Dune: Part Two

Back in 2021 I went to see the first installment of ‘DUNE’ and was slightly 'put out' to discover that it ended half way through the (first) book.

It was the second big-screen attempt to make a movie of the book, if you don’t count the first ‘Star Wars’, that borrows shamelessly from Frank Herbert’s Si-Fi classic, and I thought it a lot better.

Now the long-awaited second part has been released.

 

Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Screenplay by Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts
Based on Dune by Frank Herbert
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler' Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista
Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem
Cinematography Greig Fraser, Edited by Joe Walker
Music by Hans Zimmer
Running time 165 minutes

 

 

Read more: Dune: Part Two

Opinions and Philosophy

Issues Arising from the Greenhouse Hypothesis

This paper was first written in 1990 - nearly 30 years ago - yet little has changed.

Except of course, that a lot of politicians and bureaucrats have put in a lot of air miles and stayed in some excellent hotels in interesting places around the world like Kyoto, Amsterdam and Cancun. 

In the interim technology has come to our aid.  Wind turbines, dismissed here, have become larger and much more economic as have PV solar panels.  Renewable energy options are discussed in more detail elsewhere on this website.

 


 

Climate Change

Issues Arising from the Greenhouse Hypothesis

 

Climate change has wide ranging implications for the World, ranging from its impacts on agriculture (through drought, floods, water availability, land degradation and carbon credits) mining (by limiting markets for coal and minerals processing) manufacturing and transport (through energy costs) to property damage resulting from storms.  The issues are complex, ranging from disputes about the impact of human activities on global warming, to arguments about what should be done and the consequences of the various actions proposed.  The following paper explores some of the issues and their potential impact.

 

Read more: Issues Arising from the Greenhouse Hypothesis

Terms of Use

Terms of Use                                                                    Copyright