On the Front Lines in Nicaragua, By
RANCHO SANTANA, NICARAGUA –
We got here yesterday, after the usual travel indignities.
What we like about Ol’ Billy, our daughter’s blind dog,
is the way he bears his afflictions with grace, which is the best any of us can
do.
He asks for no special
treatment. He doesn’t expect to board the aircraft first or find a special
parking place waiting for him outside the terminal. Nor has he let himself get
so fat he can’t walk through the terminal on his own legs.
Instead, he does his best,
and counts on the kindness of friends and strangers when he needs it. This not
only helps him get where he is going, it also gives his human friends a chance
to show a genuine and decent emotion towards him.
He also offers some comfort
to those of us forced to suffer the usual indignities of modern air travel…
Among the indignities
visited on a weary traveler in the USA is the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA). The presumption is that an airline passenger who has not
been properly inspected by the TSA is more likely to blow up a plane than one
who has been given a good once over.
But where is the
evidence? There is none.
Speaking for ourself, we
rarely cause mayhem on a commercial flight. It is only after a good pat-down
that we even bother to think about it.
As for the statistics,
the rate of violent incidents involving airplanes was tiny before the TSA. It
is tiny still. And at least one test suggests that the TSA doesn’t make any
difference anyway; people can still get weapons past the “security” team… and
could still wreak havoc in the air if they wanted to. But wait… the TSA
apologist will say… “if we save even one life, that will be worth it.” But will
it?
Life is time. The
average one lasts about 613,000 hours, including time spent sleeping. That’s
the same as 2.5 million people, spending 15 minutes each, waiting to get
approved by the TSA.
And since the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) claims there are about 2.6 million people taking
to the skies every day, the total time wasted must be equal to about 380 whole lifetimes
each year.
We don’t know if the TSA
saved a single life – ever.
But we know, grosso
modo, that it has deadened about 6,800 travelers over the last 18 years.
And that doesn’t count the 57,000 TSA employees whose careers are wasted doing
something badly that is probably not worth doing at all.
But let’s move on… with
a quick update about what is going on here.
As you know, Nicaragua,
like Venezuela, is in the middle of a power struggle. The proximate cause is a
tax increase. But the trouble runs much deeper…
When we arrived at the
airport yesterday afternoon, there were very few people there. And out on the
street, it was calm… with little traffic.
Trash lined the streets.
Rusting rebar stuck up on the job sites. Teams of oxen pulled their carts, just
as they always did. A shack beside the road advertised itself as a “beauty
room.”
Drivers slept on
hammocks slung under their trucks, just as they always did. “You wouldn’t think
the country was on the verge of a civil war,” we said to the driver. “No… but
it is.”
With hardly any coaxing,
he opened up. “The problem is political. The current government is corrupt.
Everyone knows it. But there’s no way to express ourselves through our
[congress]. It is dominated by the Sandinistas [the political party in control
of the government].
“So far, about 300
people have been killed in protests and nobody knows how many have been picked
up and ‘disappeared’ by the government. That’s the thing, you don’t know
anything. We don’t know what’s happening.
“It looks like Ortega
[Daniel Ortega, the president] is trying to calm things down, by adjusting his
tax proposal so it hits the rich more than the average guy.
“And there was a group
of Europeans who came to Managua this week. They told Ortega that they wouldn’t
give him any more money unless the government opened a dialog with the people
and tried to re-establish its legitimacy. But that’s clearly going to be a
sham…”
Later, we got the
low-down from an old friend: “Nobody knows anything,” he began. “Rumors are going
around like crazy. We hear that Ortega is in the illegal drug business along
with the Venezuelan generals. Then, we hear that he’s ready to call it quits.
You hear things. You don’t know what to believe.
“But here’s the bottom
line as far as I’m concerned. Sooner or later, this government is going away.
And Nicaragua will still be here. And then, this whole area is going to take
off… partly because of the work you’ve done.
“Anyone who comes here
sees that it is a paradise. And down here, [we are down on the south coast, far
from Managua] it has always been very peaceful. We haven’t had any problem. So,
I’m betting that when Ortega leaves, the tourists will come back and the place
will boom.”
The waves crashed on the
rocks last night, as the red sun sank into the sea, as it always does. A few
surfers continued riding the waves until after dark.
There aren’t many
norteamericanos here now. They’ve been scared away by the bad press. But one
stopped by to say hello. Dressed in shorts and sandals, he began: “I’ve been
reading you for years.” “Well, I apologize…” “No, no… no need to apologize. You’re responsible for getting me here. And I
love it. I’ve been coming here since 2004.
“I bought a place down
the beach. I’m retired so I can spend the winters down here. I sent photos of
myself on the beach to my son in Michigan. He sent me a photo… dressed up like
Nanook of the North. “Poor guy.”
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment