www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Yeah, rumor has it the U.S. has placed these strings into lots of their foriegn aid to countries that are sexual tourism hot spotslike Thailand, Brazil, Costa Rica. My theory is lots of women's groups are pressuring the U.S. government to crack down countries like this because it devalues what they see as their would be monopoly of tail.

Tim,
I think its more than just a rumor that the US has been putting strings on their foreign aid to many countries not just those that are sex tourism destinations. However, as much as you might like to blame this on those damn gringas, it has much more to do with the influence of the religious right in the current administration than that of women's rights groups. Lets face it, which group do you really think has more clout with Bush.

In fact, there's nothing to suggest this has anything at all to do with sex tourism and everything to do with religious fundamentalist objections to prostitution in general. Maybe they should reread that portion of the bible about casting the first stone or remember who Jesus's best woman friend was. Everything that I've read on the subject would suggest that women's groups would be the last ones to complain about the programs that money would have been earmarked for in Brazil. Those programs have been cited as among the most effective AIDS program in the developing world, by recognizing that prostitution (as well as same-sex coupling and IV drug usage) exists like it or not, that abstinence is not a solution that can reasonably be expected and seeing to it that any women, including or even especially prostitutes, has access to condoms. In order to take the money, Brazilian government would have had to make a public statement against prostitution and prevent prostitutes from participating in the program. Women's rights groups may hate us, but I seriously doubt they would want to see female prostitutes denied essential health services. In fact here is a link to an article about a women's rights group in Cambodia that applauded Brazil's actions http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/magazine/24ENCOUNTER.html?ex=1279857600&en=d46b2a8b465f47b9&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

All the comments I've seen quoted by Brazilian officials suggested that in their view it was US religious fundamentalism that was the culprit behind US policy and not women's rights. "Our feeling was that the manner in which the Usaid funds were consigned would bring harm to our program from the point of view of its scientific credibility, its ethical values and its social commitment," Pedro Chequer, director of the Brazilian government's AIDS program, said in an interview in Brasilía. "We must remain faithful to the established principles of the scientific method and not allow theological beliefs and dogma to interfere." He was also quoted as saying “fundamentalism and Manichaeism [a form of fundamentalism] do not control AIDS.”
sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/international/americas/24brazil.html?ex=1130212800&en=f6bdc8ee3a4f2c59&ei=5070
http://www.ceehrn.org/index.php?ItemId=15030

Incidentally, this is all closely related to the infamous "Global Gag Rule" (first passed in 1984 under Reagan, repealed by Clinton in 1992 right after he took office and re-imposed by Bush on his very first day in office in 2001) which prohibits family planning assistance to any NGO that performs or offers counselling on abortion. Ironically, in their usual cynical attempt to obfuscate the truth and shift blame the Bush administration cited this as a reason that their hands were tied by law when the Brazil thing blew up in their faces.
http://www.globalgagrule.org/
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=20696
http://www.crlp.org/hill_int_ggr.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3139120.stm

When adults do adult approved agreed upon things for their own pleasure in good fun, where is the problem?

I understand and agree that the kind of people traveling to impoverished countries to sexually exploit Ch*ldren should be exposed and sent to jail for a long time. They should be exposed and booked for it.

CR is different and that is why I go there. The food, the golf, the rivers, jungles and beaches are amazing. They also have some of the most beautiful women in the world that are available for a price and I like that too. I also like the fact that they have ID's and are of legal age, regulated and controlled by the establishments they work in and are not forced into doing anything they don't want to do, especially from a gentleman like me.

If I see the sneaky bastards from HBO or wherever they are from I will certainly send them down a path they will never forget.

I have a problem with the way they twist stories and situations that have legalized government approval to conduct business and yet HBO and the other so called investigative reporters make it look scummy and undignified. They do more damage to the women than I ever could.

I don't think Bush needs the religious right's influence on this one. This position is automatic for Bush. What I mean is it isn't to appease any group more than it appeases Bush himself. It isn’t as if any group would have to threaten to break an arm to get him to change this policy. If so, he wouldn’t have done it on the first day of office, but would have waited until election time and used it to score points.

Bush’s action regarding this is no surprise. The same goes for Reagan.

Clinton’s action regarding this is no surprise.

I doubt it will change under own next president, you know, Condelisa Rice! Our first chance to have a "first gentleman," however she isn't married.

Now we all know a Clinton is going to return to the White house. With a landslide vote.
Were going to have a former Pres, as first gentleman. Yep she is the next pres. So things might go a little more quiet. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

As long as we're going further down the political path, I'll put down my political bets and hope I won't offend anyone.

a) I'd hate to see Condi or any other Neo-Con become president. They're the ones that got us into Iraq and seem to think we can force our way of life down anyone else's throat whether they like it or not. Plus there's that annoying gap in her teeth and her freaky hairstyle. Why doesn't she just get those fixed? She'd be a pretty decent looking woman if she did (it looks like Dwayne would marry her). She seems pretty insistent that she won't run. I find that intelligence to be very attractive.

b) Hillary is certainly not perfect but I think she gets a bad rap. IMHO, she's not nearly as liberal as most Republicans make out and most of the anger at her is just misdirected anger at her husband (who also got a bad rap). But then I'm a Democrat. While I personally think she would make a good president, she scares the hell out of me as a potential representative of my party in the next election because of all the hatred of her on the other side. Again this is just my humble opinion. I don't expect everyone to agree so don't flame me.

c) The problem for the Democrats at this point is they don't have a lot of other likely candidates. They could go with Kerry again and risk repeating the disaster of 2004 or a moderate like Lieberman who failed to spark any excitement last time, but I think picking from the NE or any other blue state is a recipe for disaster, as would any choice from the left wing of their party. Edwards might be a good choice from the south, but he's still green. Even with all the Republican mis-steps there aren't a lot of Democratic alternatives and they need to come up with some solutions not just complaints about Bush if they want to win.

d) If the Republicans get another rightwinger or evangelistic born-again candidate for President, like Bill Frist or Sam Brownback, they will go down in flames and moderates will have nowhere else to turn even if Hillary is the only other choice. I've always liked McCain but he is too much of a maverick to get past the conservative base in the primaries.

e) So what is my prediction for 2008? Who else but Rudy Guiliani. He could take a major blue state away from the Dems. He's moderate and could get swing voters. He's got a strong national security image from 9/11 and a strong domestic image from his can-do experience cleaning up NY. And he's Hillary's worst nightmare. I might even vote for him.

BTW, Vegas, excellent points and I agree with you completely, but I think you missed Brazil's point. It isn't a matter of whether prostitution is right or wrong. Prostitution exists and will exist no matter what some people may want to do about it. They'd rather see that prostitutes got condoms and counselling on how important it is to use them than just have them be ignored and practice unsafe sex in the underground market. How many guys, particularly uneducated 3rd world johns, but even many of us, push those girls to take us bareback (or BBBJCWS)? The same reasoning applies to the Gag Rule. One may not be crazy about supporting abortions, but they happen whether we like it or not. And in the 3rd world especially a humongous number of women die either during pregnancy, childbirth or as a result of back-alley abortions.

Uh oh, the political monster is trying to creep in again.

My real take is anti-political. Kick out all the U.S. Reps and Senators. They are all political whores and like our working girls to the south.....these so-called elected officials only see "GREEN." It's not a reality for sure but I would love to see us clean house and start over again along with educating any replacements with an accurate knowledge of our Constitution.

Another major problem group and perhaps the most dangerous is a number of our judges who want to legislate from the bench. Just consider the citizen voted legislation (i.e. Referendums) that are thrown out by them. It causes many voters to elect not to vote the next time.

Prolijo: Condi is a very intelligent woman with many other talents. Sorry you hate the gap in her teeth. I would not vote for her to be President. Hillary is indeed a far left political person....do not let her going moderate for votes lately fool you. I would not vote for her either. " Neo Cons", that's funy. Rudi, maybe a viable condidate but not with my vote. McCain, No. "Sue them" Edwards, yea, like we need another attorney. As for a female President, I have an uneasy feeling with their emotinal strength although there have been some strong females heading up coutries. Since watching Gov. "Boo hoo" Blanco loose it in the Big Easy it leaves me somewhat concerned.

I have been a member of both major parties and have been embarrassed and dissapointed with both. Last minor party was Libertarian.....again dissapointed and disgusted. Currently the one that feels okay so far is "Npa", no party affiliation. I am very fortunate to have been born in this country but I just despise politicians and their phucking us. At least I get pleasure from the chicas after being phucked.

I'm also tired of politics popping up on here but I suppose it's impossible to ignore it completely as it effects what we do in other places.

Did I mention that I despise politicians?

You're absolutely right. It is not exactly the best assortment of candidates at this point in either party. Now that is something I think those on both the right and left can agree on - ALL of our political leaders have been letting us down lately. (though I guess someone out there will disagree with that too).

BTW, I've noticed you've been posting a lot lately as Circus the Younger. What's up with that? I haven't seen your old man around. I hope "you and him" are doing okay.

He is still in Jail for choking a Parrot at PetSmart. The Pits of Jax is a safer place now.

I think Condi will run. She has to say no for now to keep the media's focus on her current position. She doesn’t want focus to be directed at her future just yet. She and I will marry after the election.

I wouldn't count McCain out - maverick or no maverick.

I don't think Hillary will run. I think the mere mention of her name as a candidate is purely media hype.

Guiliani is a good choice.

I'm a repub, but I see the value that the dems offer. The dems are a good counter balance to the repubs and the same goes vice versa. I actually wish we had more parties and then had run-off elections. I don't think it is a good idea to have anyone in any office that didn't receive at least 50% of the popular vote.

The dems - their biggest problem is that they are viewed as supporting anyone/anything. They support homosexuals, drunks, druggies, criminals, total deadbeats, welfare recipients and anyone in any kind of 12 step program so I call them Vote Whores meaning they'll support anything that votes. They seem to be calling all weirdoes to the party - no moral standards - this is the perception. When I say “they,” I don’t mean your everyday dem, but instead the party’s leadership.

The dems need to move passed their historic civil rights agenda, because many people, especially Latinos and Asians, feel that they have all the rights they need to survive in America. As terrible as it may seem, they do need to exclude some people from the party. Maybe the people they excluded should create their own party?

I wish I was politically brain-dead actually.

Circus the younger - Our political system and our politicians aren't really that bad. Cheer up! Look around the world at the rest of the political systems and the rest of the politicians and you'll find that although ours aren't perfect, they are about as near perfect as you'll find. The same goes with our judges. You can't look at our system, our judges and our politicians without comparing them to other countries. If you take an honest look, you'll be a lot more grateful (honestly). I don't get the "GREEN" part of your post. Politicians in America can get rich after they leave office or arrive in office rich, but while they are in office they are watched very carefully for lining their own pockets and their campaign funds with corruption money. But, this isn't true in a lot of countries, in many countries a new politician comes to office with nothing and leaves with millions and no one ever says a thing. In the Philippines, they have army generals whose pay is very little yet lives in a palace of his own! This isn't true for just 1 general, but all the generals and colonels for that matter. No one speaks a word about this in the Philippines and many other countries.

Perception - Transparency Index (very interesting)
www.transparency.org

For more parties ... look north to Canada

We have the Conservatives (well the old Conservatives who just merged with the far right Reform party)

We have the Left of center Liberals

We have the Parti Quebecois (only in Quebec and want to separate)

And the far left New Democrats

Challege for Canada is that most of the pop is in Ontario and Quebec. That basically helped give rise to the reform party that basically swept the west.

My point for this here ... well dont have one

Hi Dwayne:

Interesting and well written post of yours as was that of Prolijo.

The Term "GREEN" basically represented the money that politicians vote to spend on PORK such as the Highway Bill. I should have more clearly defined my use of the word. Another part of "GREEN" is the continuous hand out for campaign donations, legal and illegal, while they promise everything under the moon and deliver very little. They're whores.

I concur as to the corrupt political systems, lawyers and judges in other countries you write about. That is, if they even have one. Yes, this country has the best system of government but it has been damaged from power struggles and blame games over many years. Political correctness is another culprit. I've just had it and will no longer be monetarily active or supportive in politics. Let the bastards annihilate each other until they realize they were put there to represent the people.....by then it may be too late.

The only time I feel good about Congress is when they are not in session and making up new laws. I sleep better then.

Yo CtY

Quote
"He is still in Jail for choking a Parrot at PetSmart."

At least he wasn't Spanking his Monkey at Petsmart.

_________________
Y.N.W.A.

CTY...Amen! My feelings exactly!

PS...I hope your old man gets out of 'stir' pretty soon.
Such a shame.

_________________
"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)