We took the day to make a scenic hike with our buddies, Robert and Palma, around the Coyote Buttes South, which are just south of the “Wave” (formally Coyote Buttes North) in the Paria Canyon, in the Vermillion Cliffs wilderness area in Northern Arizona, between Kanab, Utah, and Page, Arizona. The hike requires tickets, which are hard to come by, but which limited the visitors to just ourselves that day. It was a long-ish rough drive, but a fairly easy walk around with wonderful scenery (let me know if you want to see pictures - see sample above.) I highly recommend this hike if you’re ever in the area.
And for those of you still interested, Bolivia has gone from bad to worse: their new socialist president, Evo Morales, signed a law confiscating 77,000 square miles of private property (an area the size of Nebraska) down in the lowlands of Bolivia to give to the poor Indians from the highlands. The vast majority of Congress had walked out of the legislative session to protest the ramrodding of the bill, but the remaining minority “passed” it anyway (without a quorum), and the president signed it. In doing this Evo has ignored the disastrous results of every other government land redistribution program in the history of the world (including Bolivia’s own debacle back when.) The landowners from the lowlands have vowed to protect their lands with arms and violence and are appealing to Brazil to annex them. I foresee a bloody civil war in Bolivia’s near future. And Bolivia’s master, Venezuela, is faring little better. Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, is up for a mock election this coming Sunday and has openly stated that it’s impossible for him to lose – well of course it is – Venezuelans can only vote (or use the national banking system) if they’re a card-carrying member of Chavez’s party. Look for Bolivia to implement those same party restrictions in their upcoming new constitution.
And for those of you still interested, Bolivia has gone from bad to worse: their new socialist president, Evo Morales, signed a law confiscating 77,000 square miles of private property (an area the size of Nebraska) down in the lowlands of Bolivia to give to the poor Indians from the highlands. The vast majority of Congress had walked out of the legislative session to protest the ramrodding of the bill, but the remaining minority “passed” it anyway (without a quorum), and the president signed it. In doing this Evo has ignored the disastrous results of every other government land redistribution program in the history of the world (including Bolivia’s own debacle back when.) The landowners from the lowlands have vowed to protect their lands with arms and violence and are appealing to Brazil to annex them. I foresee a bloody civil war in Bolivia’s near future. And Bolivia’s master, Venezuela, is faring little better. Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, is up for a mock election this coming Sunday and has openly stated that it’s impossible for him to lose – well of course it is – Venezuelans can only vote (or use the national banking system) if they’re a card-carrying member of Chavez’s party. Look for Bolivia to implement those same party restrictions in their upcoming new constitution.
