1)To protect us from the increase in bread from $1 to $2 pesos, Hippo orders everyone to replace bread with platanos, yuca and cassava(cazabe). Hippo, not a thinker himself, forgot that platanos are $4 each and it takes 15 minutes to boil them or fry them, cooking gas, softeners such as butter or oil for mangu, salt, drinkable water, dishes, soap, rinsing water, garbage bags for peels, a table to eat it and personal time for preparing, sometimes a paid maid to do it. Yuca($2 to $4 lb) likewise requires onions and vinegar in addition. Besides, unlike bread that can be eaten by itself, you need meat, eggs, fried cheese, salami and other company to make them palatable. Has anyone eaten a platano or yuca by itself? As to Cassava, it is more of a snack than a meal. It is so hard it can damage your gums. It is simply pre-historic or Mayan indian food. Just as pre-historic as Hippo himself. $2 peso bread is still the best bargain in town, plus it will be bigger.
2)El Malecon to become a pedestrian mall on Sundays? An outrage!! What happens to all the drivers who paid excessive license plate fees to have streets to drive? Dont they have enough with the Malecon sidewalks? The Malecon sidewalks are emptier of pedestrians than the Miami Causeway. When was the last time other than the Carnival that you ran into somebody walking in the Malecon sidewalks? Where are pedestrians going to park their cars? Another stupid idea. The hell with the businesses that pay their taxes too.
3)The Port Authority of DR(Aduanas) has given an ultimatum to owners of imported salvage cars to return the vehicles to the country of origin due to the new law prohibiting salvage cars. They have until the end of 2002 to do it. My advice to the customs people...dont hold your breath waiting for them. If the cars were salvage when they brought them into DR, by now they are just skeletons of body frames after the customs thieves got done with them!!!
4)In the recent kidnapping of the Polanco heir a ransom of $1,400,000 pesos was paid to the kidnappers. All the kidnappers are now either dead or captured, but only $900,000 was recovered. Where is the other $500,000? The family of the dead kidnapper says the police stole the money. Can anyone here suggest how $500,000 can be spent in a matter of hours while you have the entire police, army and the special anti-terrorist unit chasing you all over the country? Did the dead kidnapper have enough time to leave a $500,000 down payment on a Ferrari maybe?
5)The government, believe it or not, is celebrating the actual value of the dollar vs the peso at about $21. They call this a victory of sound economic policy. The victory appears to be reducing it from almost $26 to $1, but after increasing it from $16 to $21 in less than two years. Understand that?
6)The government promised paved streets for Christmas in many barrios including Herrera, Las Caobas, Los Alcarrizos, etc. They started and destroyed the sidewalks, opened giant ditches for plumming, etc. Now the streets are impossible to drive and even walk. The western zone of Santo Domingo is a dust bowl for Christmas. Reason to celebrate with platano and yuca.
7)Hippo held up paying the governments Christmas bonus in two parts, the last part by the end of the year so that Dominicans have some money to eat and dont spend it before the end of the year. Now Hippo has become our granddaddy who tells us what to eat and how and when to spend our money.
8)Mayor Roberto Salcedo wants to control "policias acostados" or street barriers to slow down cars. It is too little too late. The city is at a standstill in every neighborhood with these damaging bumps, which in some cases look like ancient castles with rock boulders embedded in them, such as the ones in Piantini and the entire Jose Contreras project.
9)Hippo stupid idea #1000. He designated the "National Day for Motoconchistas". In other words he will celebrate an illegal practice(taxiing in motorcycles) which causes the majority of accidental deaths in this country. An idea for Hippo. Celebrate it at the Moscoso Puello Hospital where 90% of the victims daily happen to be motoconcho related. Hippo had a parade of thousands of motoconchistas bribed by food, alcohol and money to drive to the celebration rally. The majority of the motoconchos drove without a helmet escorted by none other than AMET!!! and violated the laws by riding inside the tunnels(illegal) and passing all the red lights on the way to the rally. By the way, I did not observe a single license plate on the mottos. ATTABOY HIPPO!
10)The government just exported rice to Venezuela and the production of rice is supposed to be the best ever. A question I need answered by somebody....Why do we have rice smuggling from Haiti? Just an innocent question.
TW
2)El Malecon to become a pedestrian mall on Sundays? An outrage!! What happens to all the drivers who paid excessive license plate fees to have streets to drive? Dont they have enough with the Malecon sidewalks? The Malecon sidewalks are emptier of pedestrians than the Miami Causeway. When was the last time other than the Carnival that you ran into somebody walking in the Malecon sidewalks? Where are pedestrians going to park their cars? Another stupid idea. The hell with the businesses that pay their taxes too.
3)The Port Authority of DR(Aduanas) has given an ultimatum to owners of imported salvage cars to return the vehicles to the country of origin due to the new law prohibiting salvage cars. They have until the end of 2002 to do it. My advice to the customs people...dont hold your breath waiting for them. If the cars were salvage when they brought them into DR, by now they are just skeletons of body frames after the customs thieves got done with them!!!
4)In the recent kidnapping of the Polanco heir a ransom of $1,400,000 pesos was paid to the kidnappers. All the kidnappers are now either dead or captured, but only $900,000 was recovered. Where is the other $500,000? The family of the dead kidnapper says the police stole the money. Can anyone here suggest how $500,000 can be spent in a matter of hours while you have the entire police, army and the special anti-terrorist unit chasing you all over the country? Did the dead kidnapper have enough time to leave a $500,000 down payment on a Ferrari maybe?
5)The government, believe it or not, is celebrating the actual value of the dollar vs the peso at about $21. They call this a victory of sound economic policy. The victory appears to be reducing it from almost $26 to $1, but after increasing it from $16 to $21 in less than two years. Understand that?
6)The government promised paved streets for Christmas in many barrios including Herrera, Las Caobas, Los Alcarrizos, etc. They started and destroyed the sidewalks, opened giant ditches for plumming, etc. Now the streets are impossible to drive and even walk. The western zone of Santo Domingo is a dust bowl for Christmas. Reason to celebrate with platano and yuca.
7)Hippo held up paying the governments Christmas bonus in two parts, the last part by the end of the year so that Dominicans have some money to eat and dont spend it before the end of the year. Now Hippo has become our granddaddy who tells us what to eat and how and when to spend our money.
8)Mayor Roberto Salcedo wants to control "policias acostados" or street barriers to slow down cars. It is too little too late. The city is at a standstill in every neighborhood with these damaging bumps, which in some cases look like ancient castles with rock boulders embedded in them, such as the ones in Piantini and the entire Jose Contreras project.
9)Hippo stupid idea #1000. He designated the "National Day for Motoconchistas". In other words he will celebrate an illegal practice(taxiing in motorcycles) which causes the majority of accidental deaths in this country. An idea for Hippo. Celebrate it at the Moscoso Puello Hospital where 90% of the victims daily happen to be motoconcho related. Hippo had a parade of thousands of motoconchistas bribed by food, alcohol and money to drive to the celebration rally. The majority of the motoconchos drove without a helmet escorted by none other than AMET!!! and violated the laws by riding inside the tunnels(illegal) and passing all the red lights on the way to the rally. By the way, I did not observe a single license plate on the mottos. ATTABOY HIPPO!
10)The government just exported rice to Venezuela and the production of rice is supposed to be the best ever. A question I need answered by somebody....Why do we have rice smuggling from Haiti? Just an innocent question.
TW