John & Sherry

Here are three pictures of my son John and his fiancée Sherry. John is finishing his 5th semester at Ross University School of Medicine in Miami, FL. He will take his Final Examination Friday the 4th of August.

Following the completion of his semester, John will remain in Miami for two weeks to take another required examination and then will drive back to Missouri. (Don’t forget to bring my television John!)

John will spend some time here in Missouri before driving to Edmonton, Alberta to be with Sherry. While in Edmonton, John will be studying for the next step in his medical school experience, taking his Step One Boards.

Cardinal Update

The Cardinals completed a big trade this afternoon. Dominican utility infielder Hector Luna was traded to Cleveland for Dominican second baseman Ronnie Belliard. Though I will hate not seeing Hector Luna in a Cardinals uniform, I am quite familiar with watching Belliard play in the winter in the Dominican Republic and he is really good.

Belliard is a 31-year old veteran with 8 years Major League Baseball experience. His 2006 salary is $4,000,000. He has played with the Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians and now the St. Louis Cardinals.

Belliard is 5’8 and weighs 197. He has played in 93 games this year with 350 at bats, 43 runs, 102 hits, 21 doubles, 8 home runs, 44 runs batted in and 147 total bases. He is currently hitting .291.

Belliard was a member of the 2004 All-Star Team.

Belliard resides in Santo Domingo. I watch Belliard play a lot in the Dominican Winter League where is the Captain of the defending champion Licey Tigres. The Tigres defeated my favorite team, Aquilas de Cibao (Cibao Eagles), in their best of 9 Championship Series last February. Following the Dominican Championship Series, Belliard represented his country in the Caribbean World Series eventually won by the Caracas Tigres (Venezuela).

In addition Belliard played for la Republica Dominicana in this years World Baseball Classic.

Comparing the Countries
Sosua Beach, Dominican Republic

I moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico in January of 2004 and lived there for one year. Puerto Rico is not a foreign country. Though different in about every way from the United States, Puerto Rico is a United States Territory.

In January 2005 I moved far to the south in the Caribbean to the tiny country of Dominica. Dominica is one of the Lesser Antilles islands and is about 4 times the size of Washington, D.C.

In April of 2005 I moved to Sosua on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. Except for the time I spend here in Missouri, I have lived in la Republica Dominicana for the past 15 months.

Each of these places have been very special to me. In some ways they are all somewhat alike and in other ways very different. I thought it might be fun to compare the three of them in different ways.

Prettiest Beaches: Puerto Rico

I know that the Dominican Republic has many beautiful beaches, I just haven’t seen very many of them. Puerto Rico’s beaches are white sand, usually ringed with palms and just beautiful. Dominica’s beaches are few because the island is so rugged and the beaches are black sand.

Prettiest Women: Puerto Rico

Beautiful but unavailable. The Dominican Republic is a close second and the beauties there are available. Dominica has lots of pretty girls also.

Craziest Driving: Dominican Republic

No rules, no regulations, no cops on the road, no lines on the road, wild and crazy. Puerto Rico is bad also. There are so few roads in Dominica, there just isn’t much traffic.

Most 3rd World: Dominica

The Dominican Republic is also a 3rd World country but more advanced than Dominica. Urban Puerto Rico is 1st World and rural Puerto Rico I would classify as 2nd World.

Friendliest People: Dominica

They are just awesome people. I enjoyed them so much. But, I have met many beautiful people in each of the three places I have lived.

Best Place To Learn Spanish: Dominican Republic

In Dominica they speak English. In Puerto Rico the language is Spanish, but everyone can also speak English so conversations with English speakers usually are in English. In the Dominican Republic less than 1 out of 10 people speak any English so you are forced to learn the language.

Most Corrupt: Dominican Republic

The military, the police, the government is incredibly corrupt and dangerous.

Cheapest Place To Live: Dominican Republic

It was expensive to live in Puerto Rico, but we lived in San Juan and it was also expensive to live in Dominica, but we lived near the medical school that John attended.

Worst Violent Crime: Puerto Rico

It is very dangerous in San Juan mostly due to the incredible amount of drugs.

Most Mountainous: Dominica

Called the Rock, Dominica is basically one huge volcano and the mountains extend right out to the edge of the ocean. It is a very rugged country.

Most Beautiful: Dominica

Dominica is incredibly beautiful. The Nature Isle. The mountains are rugged and covered with forest. The rivers flow down and are clear and pure. The sea is incredibly beautiful. The palm trees and natural tropical flowers are just breathtaking.

Link of the Day
http://www.antiwar.com

The Human Cost of Occupation
American Military Casualties in Iraq

American Deaths

Since War Began (3/19/03) ..... 2577 Total ... 2086 in Combat
Since 'Mission Accomplished' Speech (5/1/03) ..... 2440 Total ... 1987 in Combat
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03) ..... 2112 Total ... 1780 in Combat
Since Handover (6/29/04) ..... 1711 Total ... 1454 in Combat
Since Election (1/31/05) ..... 1141 Total ... 969 in Combat

American Wounded

Total Wounded ..... 18988 Official Count ... 20000-48100 Estimated Count

Last Fatality ..... July 30, 2006

July 30, 2006
Baghdad: Iraqi insurgents killed four US Marines in the restive eastern province of Anbar, the US Military said on Sunday as the violence raging around the country claimed a dozen civilian lives.

The marines were assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7, which is based in the Western Euphrates River Valley and they were killed on Saturday "due to enemy action," a statement from US Command said.

The military has not released anymore details of the incident, which followed two attacks on Thursday in Anbar in which four more marines were killed. While mainly Sunni, Anbar has been spared the sectarian violence wracking the neighboring province of Bahgdad, it is home to a fierce anti-US insurgency that accounts for most US casulties in Iraq.

Big News from la Republica Dominicana
Leonel's (President Leonel Fernandez) New Law

Last week brought a sweeping change in the hours of operation of bars, discos and restaurants in the Dominican Republic. In an attempt to reduce crime President Leonel Fernandez has ordered that all establishments selling liquor must close at midnight on weeknights and 2 am on weekends.

Needless to say, this has been the topic of all the Sosua and Dominican Republic talk forums on the internet the past few days. Some of my friends currently in Sosua tell me that this has created quite a 'stir.' In the past the discos did not really get going until after midnight and people party through the night.

Despite all the protests and meetings it seems to me that things will settle down and everything will be the same, people will just start and finish earlier or go from the bar to their apartments for late night socializing. For me, I like the law. I go to bed early and consequently rarely went to the disco simply because I do not like staying up all night. So, when I return to Sosua, I will be able to go to Classico much more often and listen to the music and watch people dance.

Below is the article that appeared in Sosua-News late last week.

In Sosúa, Punta Cana and other tourist locations you don't really notice it much, but according to the government and church leaders, the levels of criminality have risen considerably in the Dominican Republic. The drugs trade and its associated problems seem to be the main cause.

The President of the Republic, Leonel Fernandez has therefore decided to take drastic measures in order to solve these problems

Firstly an extra 10,000 police officers and military have been put on the streets to reduce crime levels. Secondly, a new law has been passed changing the closing times for bars and discos. From Tuesday 25 July, all establishments selling alcoholic beverages, i.e. the bars, discos and restaurants, must close at midnight. At the weekends they may stay open until 2am.

Yesterday evening the entire main street of Sosúa (Pedro Clisante) was in chaos. Lots of tourists were disappointed to find that the Merengue Bar and D'Classico were forced to switch off the music and close the bars at midnight. There were plenty of police officers around to ensure that this new law was applied correctly.

A protest meeting has been organised for Wednesday morning in Casa Marina Resort, to which every entrepreneur in Sosúa is invited. Plans will be drawn up to try and persuade the President that this law should be more flexible in the tourist resort towns.

Dominican Culture Lesson
The Car Wash

In Republica Dominicana the local car wash has a much larger function than just washing vehicles. At the car wash there is usually a small bar where people gather to sit and drink and socialize. Best of all, the car wash is a place where concerts are held. Some of the country's most famous Bachata and Reggaeton entertainers perform for the people at the local car wash.

The sign above says that on Saturday the 22nd of July Zacarias Ferreira will be having a concert at the Sosua Car Wash. If you do not appreciate the music Bachata you would not recognize the name of Zacarias Ferreira, but he is one of the most popular Bachata singers in the Dominican Republic.

Some Common Scenes in the Dominican Republic

These are pictures that I found on the web. I took none of these pictures. However, they are very common scenes you encounter daily when you live en la Republica Dominicana. These girls are selling fruit on the beach. They are probably haitian since they are carrying their wares on their head.

Cockfighting is huge in the Dominican Republic and it is quite common to see men and boys carrying their best bird around.

This is a truckfull of Haitain workers either going to the cane field (sugar cane) early in the morning or returning late in the evening. This is something you see every day. Hundreds of thousands of Haitianos live in the Dominican Republic and perform the most menial tasks in society.

You are liable to see just about anything traveling around on the back of a motoconcho.

This is a Haitian lady selling zapatos (shoes). They walk around on the beach and in town selling their wares.

Why Not Adopt-A-Soldier
http://www.soldiersangels.org/

This is a very special website devoted to supporting the soldiers who are serving around the world. The organization was founded by the mother of Sgt. Brandon Varn during the time he was serving in Iraq.

In the summer of 2003, Sgt. Varn wrote home expressing concern for the many soldiers in Iraq who never received any mail or support from home. Ms. Varn decided not to allow a situation like that to continue. She contacted a few neighbors, friends and extended family and encouraged them to write to a soldier to two.

This organization has since grown to a point where thousands of volunteers write to soldiers in foreign lands, send 'care packages' and give their love and support for the men and women who serve their country.

I encourage you to get to know this website and get involved.