Bimethyls

Once upon a time, a clever guy named, Matt came up with this simply brilliant idea for an app called Meteorologist, that allows you to choose several cities and display their current weather conditions on your menu bar or dock or both. He began working on it and it became a very solid and strong program, but he soon realized he could no longer go further with it as his life was getting in the way of its completion and maintenance. Fortunately, the project didn’t die there. He threw it up for grabs in the Open Source community at Source Forge and it landed in the hands of a small group of compassionate developers that came to his rescue and teamed up to continue his legacy–in all of its glory as well as its trials and tribulations.

This group called themselves, “The M Team.” You know, sort of like, “The A Team. “Okay, I lied. They actually called themselves, “The Meteorologist Group.”

Back to Meteorologist! Meteorologist is a free weather program for OS X. It allows Mac users total control over their weather viewing enjoyment, including simultaneous interlaced weather reports from multiple weather servers worldwide. In other words, this program is cool.

So you say weather is too boring? Think again, my friend. There’s a reason why weather.com is among the top 100 sites (out of 4 BILLION sites, give or take a few thousand): inquiring minds wanna know the weather!

Meteorologist allows you to see the weather of cities of your choice directly on your menu bar or dock, and you can name them whatever you want. I prefer the menu bar because my dock has gotten too cluttered lately. It’s so easy to find Meteorologist and it’s so accessible. For example, I’ve chosen Nice, France because it’s near to where I live, Culver City, California where most of my family is, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey where my sister lives and Lille, France where most of my in-laws live. I just look up at my menu bar and it has the outside temperature with a cute matching icon. (Right now “chez me” it’s 57F at nearly 8 PM, showing an icon with little gray clouds. I could change it to Celsius if I wanted too.) This is utterly helpful to me because it helps me decide things such as how long of a walk I can take with my dog, or, in case of rain, that I shouldn’t really go out at all.

For some reason, it’s also comforting to know the weather conditions of my loved ones. It’s sort of like your Buddy List on iChat or whatever chat program you use. You see buds and family online and chat sometimes but it’s just reassuring to know that they’re there whether you chat with them or not. You know what I mean? Knowing their climate somehow let’s me take part in their lives (somehow in my crazy way) even though I can’t be there in-person.

You can see a 3-day forecast of these places too, great for planning part of your week. All of this information is current and changes accordingly if necessary by accessing the closest weather server. For instance, I can see that it might actually snow in Upper Saddle River on Tuesday! I know now I can plan to tease my sister about it because she hates cold weather. See, how indispensable Meteorologist is?! Don’t even ask why she lives in New Jersey.

Meteorologist doesn’t stop at the temperature; it also gives a current account of wind, humidity, dew point, pressure, clouds, forecast and the last time information was updated. However, the pice de résistance has yet to be announced in this review!

Yes, the most innovative and clever characteristic about Meteorologist, and my personal favourite feature, is its ability to alert you in cases of severe weather conditions! How does it do this you ask? I’m glad you asked because here is the answer: You can choose how you’d like to be alerted with the following options (and you can select as many as you’d like): 1) via email; 2) a Beep; 3) Play a song that you can select from iTunes; or, 4) have the Meteorologist icon bounce violently in the dock.

Of course, having said that, I’ve yet to receive an alert, which is probably a good thingbecause receiving an alert could mean, for example, that there’s an imminent tsunami ready to inundate this area in 30 minutes with millions of tons of the Mediterranean crushing everything in its path.

Despite this gloomy scenario, I still think this app is awesome, and so the story and review shall end happily ever after.

Meteorologist is a freeware and work-in-progress by The Meteorologist Team (as well as the Open Source community) at Source Forge Note: You must have internet access to use Meteorologist.

Rated 4.5 out of 5

Cate Defrise is a journalist and Mac fan based in the South of France.

If you, or someone that you know, suffers from snoring, then you are probably looking for a way to cure it. While the actual causes of snoring vary from obesity, sleeping on the back, allergies and more, the majority of sufferers simply want to know how to correct the problem rather than what caused it.

Many anti-snoring devices are designed to help sufferers stop snoring and start resting.

Natural snoring remedies including sleeping on your side, ridding your home of allergens, losing weight if recommended, etc. If none of these remedies seem to work, many sufferers immediately turn to a variety of surgical procedures for their snoring solution.

However, these types of procedures are invasive, uncomfortable and may not be necessary in all cases. Before turning to surgery, consider the use of anti-snoring devices.

With the retail market being what it is, there are many anti-snoring devices that claim to solve this problem or cure that one but, when looking for legitimate anti-snoring devices, always look for something that has either been directly recommended by your doctor or is labeled as being doctor recommended.

This is very important in identifying the quality anti-snoring devices from the rest of the pack so to speak. One anti-snoring device, which is currently available, is known as the Sleep Genie. This product, as it is fittingly titled, typically works it’s magic during the first use.

The product provides a comfortable support for the jaw while allowing the mouth to remain closed through the night. Have you ever tried to snore with your mouth closed? Exactly. No luck, right? That is why the Sleep Genie has been identified as being doctor recommended. It provides a medicine-free, non surgical way to end snoring.

If the sufferer continues to have problems even after using quality anti-snoring devices, a physician may need to look for the possibility of sleep apnea. This is a very serious medical condition which, if left untreated, can lead to other health problems.

With sleep apnea, the snoring sufferer often stops breathing completely throughout the night and is therefore at risk for various health problems. A proper diagnosis for sleep apnea can only be made by a physician.

This article is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be used as, or in place of, professional medical advice. Before beginning any treatment for snoring, please consult a doctor for a proper diagnosis and remedy.

A new anti-snoring scientific breakthrough is rapidly changing the lives of ex-snorers… because the first night you use it, it stops snoring! Visit SleepGenie.com for more information!

Texas caught USC in the latest BCS standings but it’s highly unlikely that Texas QB Vince Young will be able to catch USC’s Reggie Bush or Matt Leinart among Heisman-voters. USC has dominated the LA-scene for quite awhile now but UCLA is also off to a 7-0 start this year and ranked SIXTH in the latest BCS standings. Could the teams December 3 showdown really mean something? Is it possible UCLA’s “two Drews”, RB Maurice and QB Olson, could actually be Bush or Leinart’s greatest threat? Remember Beban-Simpson in 1967 and Aikman-Peete in 1988? My latest Heisman update follows.

1)REGGIE BUSH (USC) Last Week: 1. Bush’s 84-yard punt return for a TD at Washington, once again left all observers shaking their collective heads. However, his streak of five consecutive 100-yard games came to an end, as he totaled just 51 yards rushing on eight carries (one TD) in USC’s 51-24 win over the Huskies (he added two catches for 18 yards). I’m leaving Bush at No. 1 but his hold on the top spot is shaky, at best. I know he’s the “people’s choice” but he can’t afford any more 51-yard games and stay ahead of Leinart in my rankings. Bush had SEVEN games of 55 yards rushing or less in 2004 and finished with “just” 908 yards on the season, the reason he finished a distant 5th in the voting in 2004. He’s already got 812 yards rushing this year plus five 100-yards games but his receptions are down (19 through seven games with two TDs), after catching 43 last year with seven TDs. Bush does lead the nation in all-purpose yards (203.1 YPG) and is still college football’s most exciting player. Can he get more votes than team-leader and defending Heisman-winner Matt Leinart by year’s end? We’ll see. His season stats are: 94 carries 812 yards 8.6 YPC 10 TDs / 19 catches 244 yards 12.8 YPC 2 TDs.

2) MATT LEINART (USC) Last Week: 2. Leinart wasted little time getting back on track after failing to throw a TD pass in two of his last three games. USC fell behind Washington 10-7 but took advantage of Husky miscues and capitalized quickly, jumping out to a 37-17 halftime lead. Leinart finished the first half 14-of-17 for 145 yards with three TD passes. USC barely seemed interested in the second half, winning 51-24. Leinart finished with “just” 201 yards in the air but completed 20-of 26 passes with four TDs and no interceptions. He’s now led the Trojans to 29 straight wins and is 32-1 as a starter. In those games, his TD-to-interception ratio is an mind-numbing 87-20. His 87 TD passes moves him into first place all-time in the Pac-10, passing Andrew Walter of Arizona State, who had previously held the career TD record with 85 TD passes. A quick comparison shows that Leinart had completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 1628 yards with 16 TDs and just four interceptions through last year’s first seven games. His overall numbers are pretty much the same through seven games this year, although his passing yards are up by over 500 yards, as he’s already had as many 300-yard games this year (five) as he had in his two previous seasons combined. His season stats are: 145-of-224 64.7 2148 16 TDs 5 INTs / 3 rush TDs.

3) VINCE YOUNG (Texas) Last Week: 3. Young got off to a bad start versus Texas Tech last Saturday with two early interceptions but quickly turned things around. The Longhorns scored three times in the final 8 1/2-minutes of the second quarter, taking a 31-10 halftime lead over the Red Raiders. When Young hit Pittman for a 75-yard TD pass on the Longhorns’ first possession of the third quarter, Texas cruised to a 52-17 win. Young finished 12-of-22 for 239 yards with two TDs and two interceptions,. He added 45 yards rushing, including a 10-yard TD run on seven carries. Texas has now won 14 straight games since losing to Oklahoma last year and Young is 24-2 as a starter in his career. He’s DRAMATICALLY improved his passing this year, as his completion percentage is up to 65.6 percent (from 59.2 ), he’s already thrown more TD passes (14) than he did all of last season (12), he’s at almost 1600 passing yards in seven games (had just 1849 in 12 games last year) and his QB rating is 109.3, up from 79.9 last year. While Texas caught USC in the most recent BCS standings, it’s highly unlikely Young can catch either Leinart or Bush in the Heisman race. His season stats are: 105-of-160 65.6 1596 yards 14 TDs 7 INTs / 82 carries 458 yards 5.6 YPC 6 TDs.

4) BRADY QUINN (Notre Dame) Last Week: 5. Do you think Charlie Weis has helped Brady Quinn? In two previous years as Notre Dame’s starting QB, Quinn completed 50.8 percent of his passes with 26 TDs and 25 INTs. After seven games of the Weis-era, he’s completing 65.8 percent, averaging 336 YPG passing, has 20 TDs and just four INTs and is setting Notre Dame passing records right and left! His most recent assault on the Notre Dame record-book came this past Saturday, in ND’s 49-23 win over BYU. Quinn completed 25-of-30 for 287 yards with three TDs passes, in the first half alone! He finished the game 32-of-41 for 467 yards with six TDs and no interceptions. The 467 yards was his fourth 400-yard game of his career and his THIRD just this year. The six TD passes set a new Notre Dame single-game record (he owned the previous record of five set earlier this year vs Michigan St) and his 20 TD passes on the year, set a new single-season mark. He extended his school records for consecutive games with at least one TD pass and consecutive games of at least 250 passing yards to 12 and is now 2nd all-time with 6,769 passing yards. Ron Powlus is the leader at 7,602 yards, a figure Quinn will easily surpass this year, barring injury (five games left, including a bowl appearance). His season stats are: 175-of-266 65.8 2352 yards 20 TDs 4 INTs / 1 rush TD.

5) LAURENCE MARONEY (Minnesota) Last Week: 4. What a brutal loss for Minnesota (38-34) two Saturdays ago vs Wisconsin. However, how can one penalize Gopher RB Laurence Maroney? Minnesota was forced to start redshirt freshman Tony Mortenson at QB and turned to its running game (threw just four passes in the second half). However, Maroney and Co. came through, rushing for 411 yards! Maroney topped the 200-yard mark for the THIRD time this season, gaining a career-high 258 yards (43 attempts) that included a 93-yard TD run (had a 14-yard TD called back!). Leading 34-24 with about 3 1/2 minutes left, the Gophers allowed a 71-yard TD drive by Wisconsin and then failing to run out the clock, watched in horror as their punter dropped the snap and had his kick blocked. The Badgers recovered it in the end zone for the game-winning TD with 30 seconds left! Maroney went over 1000 yards for the season and became just the third Big-10 player-ever, to top 1000 yards in each of his first three years (MSU’s Sedrick Irvin and Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne are the others). His 161.9 YPG average ranks him third in the nation in rushing this season. He’s topped 100 yards in five of his six games this year and has 19 in his career (team is 16-3). Maroney’s got a lot of competition for this fifth-spot, so he’ll need a HUGE game versus Ohio St this Saturday. A win would be nice, too.His season stats are: 208 carries 1133 yards 5.4 YPC 8 TDs / 11 catches 131 yards 11.9 YPC 1 TD.

6) MAURICE DREW (UCLA) Last Week: 9. I moved Drew into my top-10 last week for the first time and he’s now knocking on the door of my top-five. Similar to USC’s Bush, he’s one of those do-everything guys. Also like Bush, he tends to make you hold your breath every time he touches the ball. Drew wasn’t the star of UCLA’s 51-28 win over Oregon State last week (see teammate Drew Olson at No. but he did top 100 yards for the second straight week (third time this year) by gaining 120 yards in 21 carries. He didn’t score a rushing TD but he did catch TD passes of 43 and 20 yards, totaling 67 yards on three catches for the game. Drew’s 100-yard game was just the eighth of his career but UCLA is a perfect 8-0 in those games, making you wonder why he doesn’t get more carries. He finished with 250 total yards in the game and now ranks fourth in the nation in all-purpose yards with an average of 185.6 YPG. His 16 TDs (three on kick returns) are second to only Louisville’s Michael Bush, as Drew ranks second to Bush in scoring, at 13.7 PPG. His season stats are: 116 carries 605 yards 5.2 YPC 9 TDs / 17 catches 273 yards 16.1 YPC 4 TDs.

7) DeANGELO WILLIAMS (Memphis) Last Week: 10. Williams won’t win this award in 2005 and may not even be invited to New York but how can anyone NOT include him in their top-10? After opening with an 85-yard effort in Memphis’ season-opening loss to Ole Miss, Williams has ripped off SIX consecutive 100 yard games, four of which have topped 200 yards. His latest exploits came in last Saturday’s 27-24 win over East Carolina, a game in which Williams carried a career-high 39 times, scoring two first quarter TDs (which gave Memphis a 17-0 lead!) and finishing with 226 yards. He now has 30 career 100-yard games (eight of 200-plus) and is moving up the list of all-time career rushers in NCAA history. Saturday’s effort saw him pass two-time Heisman-winner Archie Griffin! His 187 YPG average, leads the nation. His season stats are: 195 carries 1309 yards 6.7 YPC 12 TDs / 10 catches 51 yards 5.1 YPC 0 TDs.

DREW OLSON (UCLA) Last Week: NR. Olson wasn’t even supposed to be UCLA’s Olson of choice this year, as Ben Olson was. However, Ben broke his throwing hand and the rest is history. Drew Olson had been UCLA’s main QB the last two years, leading the Bruins to a 12-13 record, while tossing 29 TDs with 21 interceptions. However, he’s been a completely different QB in 2005 and the Bruins are 7-0 and ranked SIXTH in the latest BCS standings. Two weeks ago, Olson tied a school-record with five TD passes in the team’s 44-41 OT win at Washington State (UCLA trailed 28-7!) but broke the single-game record by tossing SIX TD passes this past Saturday! In UCLA’s 51-28 win over Oregon State, Olson completed 16-of-24 passes for 262 yards and didn’t throw an interception. Olson was instrumental in three straight comeback wins for the Bruins (Wash, Cal and Wash St) and now has a legitimate chance to keep the Bruins undefeated until their showdown with USC on December 3. His season stats are: 149-of-222 67.1 1874 yards 21 TDs 3 INTs / 1 rush TD.

9) CODY HODGES (Texas Tech) Last Week: 7. Two special teams mistakes in the second quarter put Texas Tech down 24-10 against Texas. Then, Hodges threw his only interception in 64 attempts on Saturday, but it came with the Red Raiders poised at the Texas goal line and ready to get back in the game at 24-17. So it went for the 5th-year senior, as despite 42 completions, 369 passing yards and two TD passes, the Red Raiders were outclassed by the Longhorns, losing 52-17. Should Hodges still be in the top-10? Maybe not but he has, after just 12 career attempts prior to this year, topped 300 yards passing in SIX of his seven games in 2005, including a 643-yard effort versus Kansas State two weeks ago. I’ll leave him at nine for now. His season stats are: 234-of-332 70.5 2830 yards 24 TDs 6 INTs / 2 rush TDs.

10) BRETT BASANEZ (Northwestern) Last Week: NR. My last spot is always reserved for a great storyline and Basanez sure fills the bill. He’s been around for four years with little fanfare prior to this year and really not much since the last three weeks. However, over the last three games, Basanez has led the Wildcats to wins over Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State. He completed 24-of-30 in Saturday’s 49-14 win at Michigan State, passing for 331 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. He also added two rushing TDs. While true freshman RB Tyrell Sutton has gotten most of the attention (well-deserved with 970 yards rushing and 15 TDs!), let’s hear it for the senior. In the team’s three-game winning streak, Basanez has completed 71.9 percent of his passes, averaged 385 YPG passing and led the Wildcats to an average of 44.7 PPG! The wins have moved the Wildcats into the AP top-25 (No. 21), for the first time since 2001. He’s the perfect choice to claim my last spot. His season stats are: 179-of-265 67.5 2181 yards 12 TDs 1 INT / 5 rush TDs.

DROPPED OUT:

6) Drew Stanton (Michigan State)

Brian Calhoun (Wisconsin)

Larry Ness is a documented member of The Professional Handicappers League. Read more of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Larry_Ness.htm

Why are Baby Boomers Important?

81 million US Baby Boomers* (born between 1946-64) began to
reach retirement age (59 ) in 2004. 28% of the US population is
a Baby Boomer. 2016 is the peak year, with 4.3 million 59 year
old birthdays. A Boomer turns 50 every 7.4 seconds this 2005!

*Many non-US Boomers will choose to retire in the USA to be
closer to the world’s best health care system. per year:
4,000,000 per day (4.0 mil / 365): 10,958 per hour (10.6 k /
24): 456 per minute (456 / 60): 7.1

Boomers have just begun buying their second/retirement homes.

Michigan has 234,000 second homes, California has 237,000 and
Florida has 483,000. 6.4 million people own a second home, up
over 40% since 1995. By 2010, an estimated 10 million people are
expected to own a second home, despite 9/11, this is a 56%
increase in just 5 more years and could be considered a boom
market by any measure. More people will buy in the next 5 years
than have purchased in the last 10 years, competition for
desirable retirement residences will only intensify, appreciate
in values will follow suit. Low rates have helped fuel this real
estate market, but they are a smaller part of the equation than
is commonly believed. Currency exchange rates have a much more
dramatic inflationary effect on resort area real estate.

The trend began in 2001, and intensified as interest rates fell
in 2002-03, causing some boomers to “buy early”. Real estate
further became the investment “du jour” as it became clear in
2001-02 that the stock market was ‘not returning the level of
investment returns’ that many boomers had built retirement
savings expectations around.

This lack of security and control in the stock market, and its
positive effect on real estate investment, will be discussed
further in this report. In addition, tax ramifications for
second home ownership has helped encouraged second home
ownership says the Wall Street Journal “In addition to low
interest rates and demographics, the second-home market has been
helped by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which established new
rules for the treatment of a capital gain on a principal
residence. Under the old law, taxes on gains were deferred if
the seller bought a new home of equal or greater value up to two
years before or after the sale of the primary home. In addition,
sellers over age 55 could claim a one-time exclusion of
$125,000.” New rules repealed the mandatory gain-deferral and
increased the exclusion to $500,000, as long as a taxpayer owned
and used the principal residence for two of the five years
preceding the sale date of the home. Plus, the exclusion now can
be claimed every other year. These tax changes “liberated”
sellers from the pressure to trade up to avoid a tax hit.
Instead, says an NAR spokesman, it has encouraged many sellers
to trade down to more modest digs, while using the remaining
proceeds to purchase second and third homes. Tax changes have
created a whole new form of property ‘trading’, where there is a
tax advantage to buy a new home every 24 months, allowing a
capital gain profit with zero tax cost. For many savvy
investors, this has created a true ‘cottage industry’ in home
flipping. “The second-home market can accommodate 100,000 to
150,000 new housing starts a year over the next 10 years”,
estimates David Hehman, CEO of EscapeHomes. But why second
homes? As many professional people have discovered, as
technology allows us to ‘work from anywhere’; why not work from
someplace beautiful, someplace ‘vacation-like’, from the
cottage? The evolution of the home office has turned to the
cottage office. The typical vacation-home buyer is 55 years old
and earned $71,000 in 2003, while investment-property buyers had
a median age of 47 and earned $85,700.

For properties purchased between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the
median price of a vacation home was $190,000 compared with
$148,000 for investment homes. In contrast with the last
available full-year price data in 2001, vacation homes have
appreciated 12.8 percent from $168,500, and investment homes
have risen 25.4 percent from $118,000.

Nearly one out of five second homes will become primary
residences after retirement – 27 percent of vacation homes and
14 percent of investment property. “In addition, buyers were
looking to diversify portfolio investments,” Mansell said. “This
is now the most frequently cited motivation for purchasing a
second home.” In listing the reasons why they bought second
homes, respondents said there were some differences depending on
the type of home. Overall, 30 percent of buyers wanted to
diversify investments, 28 percent sought rental income (37
percent investment vs. 7 percent vacation homes), 14 percent
wanted a personal or family retreat (29 percent vacation vs. 8
percent investment), 6 percent planned to use for vacations (16
percent vacation vs. 2 percent investment), and 5 percent had
extra money to spend.

“Because the typical second-home buyer is a baby boomer, it’s
likely over the next decade that second-home sales will remain
historically high,” Lereah said. “The boomers are still in their
peak earning years and have both the wherewithal and the desire
to purchase vacation homes and investment properties.”
Ninety-two percent of all second-home buyers see their property
as a good investment. In addition, 38 percent said it was very
likely they’d purchase another home within two years, breaking
down to 47 percent of investment buyers and 16 percent of
vacation-home buyers. The 9/11 effect, and family values is
another unpredicted phenomenon that many experts sight when
discussing the second home market. The theory says that as
Americans were shocked by the events of 9/11, they wanted to
create more ‘family together time’ and come together in vacation
destinations where far-flung family members could rejoin as a
whole unit. Drive-to destinations were first to experience the
effects on family-tourism from 9/11, these resort locations
within a 2-5 hour drive from metro areas actually saw increases
in occupancy immediately following 9/11. The theory is still
evolving, but through my own surveys of boomers, this effect has
merit on cottage demand. Drive-to vacation cottages is still the
fastest growing market. Can the demand for second home, resort
properties and retirement residences be truly measured or is it
just another version of real estate investment hype? A new study
by NAR, shows that 23 percent of all homes purchased in 2004
were for investment, while another 13 percent were vacation
homes. In addition, there was a record of 2.82 million second
home sales in 2004, up 16.3 percent from 2.42 million 2003. The
investment-home component rose 14.4 percent to 1.80 million
sales in 2004 from 1.57 million in 2003, while vacation-home
sales rose 19.8 percent to 1.02 million in 2004 from 850,000 in
2003. The figures have merit and factual measurement. Real
estate values in nearly all ‘vacation, resort, and retirement’
areas have out paced the overall market by double digit
(alarming) rates. The working communities of America are not
only lagging, but in many cases falling in real value (when
adjusted for CPI inflation).

(A note about inflation & currency: All too often we read
reports about the increasing value of assets like real estate
without any discussion of the cost of inflation in these
increases or the exchange value of the currency being used to
value the asset. If the dollar falls in purchasing value by 30%
against other currencies, the value of real fixed assets should
correspondingly rise by 30% (if they are desirable for purchase
by foreigners). Real estate markets that have a high level of
foreign investment will appreciate quickly as the dollar falls,
and fall if the dollar strengthens (Hawaii circa 1990s). If the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) rises by 3%, then the value of a home
that rises by 5% has truly only increased by 2%. It is
disturbing to this author that this is not more openly discussed
by our mainstream press, who by profession are journalists with
liberal arts degrees, not MBAs. Watch the true
inflation-adjusted appreciation rate, no the media hype.) Can
these high rates of appreciation in second home markets really
continue? Many experts believe, “Yes!”, it can sustain for a
long run (not months, but years). The fundamentals of rapid
appreciation equate to supply growing slower than demand. Supply
in areas such as South Florida have been rapid (78,000 new or
planned condo units entering the Broward/Dade county market by
2007), but material shortages and hurricanes have slowed the
ramp-up and created a large amount of pent up demand chasing
reduced supply. Also, the foreign buyer demand in the Miami area
is extremely high, this means these buyers are using currency
that is 20-30% strong than last year. A 30% rise in property
values is easily absorbed in this environment.) In areas such as
Arizona and Las Vegas, water concerns and lack of infrastructure
and skilled laborers have slowed the rapid pace, but the grow
rate is still staggering. Other scenic second home destinations,
like the mountain states, Pacific Northwest and Florida Keys
have environmental hurdles which raise the barriers to entry for
developers and restrict supply. A restricted supply in the face
of demographically empowered demand is always a formula for
rapid price appreciation (CA in 1970’s). What goes up must come
down? Yes. But a 20% per annuim rise for 5 years, followed by 5
years of stagnation or a 10% loss, is still 5%+ annual growth
rate (worse case). If leveraged at 90%, the return on initial
investment is still 44% per year. The hard part is making sure
the best years are in the beginning… even hard is selling at a
peak. www.vacation-finance.com

Mario Uribe Escobar, the president of Colombia’s cousin and leader of the Colombia Democratica political party, announced the removal of two Congressional candidates, Roco Arias and Eleonora Pineda, from his party on 2 February for their outward support of paramilitary organizations. His announcement comes on the tail of a purge of a limited number of political candidates known to be supportive of Colombia’s paramilitary organizations.

These two candidates belong to a long list of politicians that in private will admit to close contact with paramilitary chieftains. Arias and Pineda are considered the most public faces of a wide-reaching and deep-pocketed effort to increase paramilitary political control on the national level through the upcoming congressional elections to be held on Sunday, 12 March.

A much smaller, more organized, and influential group of former paramilitary war lords has emerged. As a group, they began to exercise power within the realms of politics on a municipal and state level years ago. Their efforts were first recorded in the 2002 congressional elections. In these elections, paramilitary-supported candidates won with over 90 per cent of the vote in many cases because there was no opposition candidate on the ticket and voters were scared to abstain.

Through these strong arm tactics, paramilitary organizations have begun to increase the number of politicians they control in the Colombian congress. This time around, they look set to further increase that power. If they succeed, they will work to ban extradition, eradicating their worst fear, while solidifying their positions of power across numerous Colombian departments. It is a reality that severely hinders democracy and sets Colombia and the region on a path to less stability into the foreseeable future.

Paramilitary politics
Colombia’s departments, stretching from Panama to Venezuela along the country’s northern coast, have long been held by paramilitary commanders who act both publicly and behind the scenes to control political candidates on the municipal, gubernatorial, and national levels. Their heavy handed political influence in coastal departments such as Cesar, Guajira, Atlantico, Magdalena, and Cordoba, is most evident, according to German Espejo, an analyst with the Bogota-based Security and Democracy Foundation.

Espejo agrees that the paramilitaries fund and support congressional elections. “In addition to financial support, it is possible that the paramilitaries use their influence to obstruct the campaigns of candidates that do not support them,” Espejo told ISN Security Watch.

Claudia Lopez, Colombian journalist and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) consultant, completed a study published in December 2005 that took a close look at the intersection between paramilitary control in Colombia’s northern departments and the indices of landslide victories of political candidates from those areas. Her conclusions revealed atypical electoral behaviors in the 2002 Congressional elections where areas that had experienced high levels of paramilitary-related massacres, and thus presumed under paramilitary control, had produced unopposed political candidates who were elected with over 90 per cent of votes.

The Colombian daily El Tiempo has reported that in the paramilitary-dominated department of Magdalena, mayoral candidates ran unopposed in 14 of the department’s 30 municipalities. The tendency for candidates to run without opposition, winning with inflated percentages of the vote, has been repeated in numerous Colombian departments. The trend, referred to as “paramilitarization”, has been documented in the Colombian press and noted on the floor of the Colombian congress.

Alvaro Sierra published a column in El Tiempo on 25 September 2004 in which he stated that Colombia was becoming aware of the fact that “a substantial portion of national territory, of the daily lives of millions of people, of politics, of the economy, and local-government budgets, and an unknown amount of power and influence at the level of central-government institutions like the congress, is in paramilitary hands”.

Colombian Senator Carlos Moreno de Caro, vice-chairman of the Senate’s Peace Committee, was highlighted in the Colombian press in March 2005 when he defended the a move to give paramilitaries lenient treatment in the disarmament negotiations, arguing “the thing is, half the country is theirs”.

Adam Isacson, director of programs with the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, said Senator Moreno de Caro’s statement was an exaggeration but not a wild one.

“Salvatore Mancuso’s statement that the paramilitaries control over 30 per cent of the Colombian Congress was probably inflated,” Isacson said. “But after the upcoming elections, it’s possible to be closer to the truth,” he told ISN Security Watch.

Ineffective pre-election purge
Relatively few candidates will publicly admit to their alliances with the paramilitaries, yet many will admit such ties in private. This has created a “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation that has made it difficult for President Uribe to act on the opposition’s claims. Many fingers are pointed in public but little evidence substantiates claims.

Paramilitary control of politics is a reality that some can stomach and others cannot. In the lead up to the 12 March elections, many opposition candidates publicly demanded that President Uribe do something to purge the lists of political candidates, removing those individuals thought to be in close cooperation with paramilitary leaders.

A great purge of political candidates suspected of paramilitary ties was most likely on US ambassador William Wood’s mind when in December 2005 he publicly stated: “Corrupt electoral practices may occur in the elections of 2006, notably by paramilitaries.” Uribe told him to stop “meddling” in Colombian affairs.

Weeks later, at a meeting in Cordoba on 9 January, Uribe found himself audience to a very heated discussion between two senatorial candidates in the paramilitary-controlled department. Each claimed the other to have made political pacts with paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso. Days later, Uribe asked the Colombian attorney general to investigate the senators’ ties to the paramilitaries.

That same week, Gina Parody, a Bogota congresswoman, declined invitations to run as a candidate for one of the two largest pro-Uribe political parties, Partido de la U and Cambio Radical. She explained that her decision not to run with either party was based on the fact that both parties include candidates “with paramilitary links”.

She named Dieb Maloof and Habib Merheg, both running for re-election as candidates of the Partido de la U. Maloof is believed to be an associate of Jorge 40, leader of the Northern Bloc, one of the largest and most powerful paramilitary organizations. Merheg has been suspected of paramilitary ties since 2003. Both were elected to Congress in 2002 as members of the Colombia Viva party, a political organization thought to be close to the paramilitaries.

On 18 January, the tide of accusations and investigations came to a head. Both Partido de la U and Cambio Radical expelled a total of five candidates from their ranks. But these candidates were quickly absorbed by smaller, pro-Uribe political parties, much to the disappointment of opposition candidates who supported the purges. Even after the very public removal of Roco Arias and Eleonora Pineda, both candidates were absorbed into smaller, pro-Uribe political organizations.

Power over extradition
What has US ambassador Wood – and many others in Colombia – worried is not just pre-election purging and increased paramilitarization. The 2006 Congressional elections may place in power enough pro-paramilitary politicians to make extradition unlawful.

A law that bans extradition represents a de facto victory for Colombia’s paramilitary organizations. The US has made nine extradition requests for paramilitary leaders. All are immune to extradition while under the protection of the disarmament process, but currently have no definitive guarantee that they will not be extradited.

Banning extradition is the focus of every paramilitary leader’s political power play.

If the Colombian government were left without the negotiating leverage of extradition, the matter of ultimate justice for human rights atrocities, drug trafficking, and other criminal acts would be left in the sole jurisdiction of the Colombian justice system, one not known to have much success with Colombian criminals in the past. It is a system that would certainly be manipulated again in the future and one paramilitary leaders are willing to take on.

Paramilitary influence in Colombia’s congress ultimately goes beyond extradition. It places Colombian organized crime one step closer to the ultimate tool to protect itself – control over the legislative process.

With control over the legislative process, legally protected paramilitary leaders will contribute to massacres and escalated conflict with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Their positions as regional warlords will be solidified.

Increases in drug and gun trafficking are ensured. Exploitation of Colombia’s rural poor in the name of making the landed elite class more wealthy and powerful will grow.

Such a reality concentrates wealth in power in the hands of a few, exploiting the rest. It would consolidate many more years of insecurity for both Colombia and the region. And it promises a future where security – Uribe’s number one goal – in Colombia becomes a mirage. Paramilitary “king makers” will rule from regional outposts contributing to a de facto “Balkanization” of the country and a weakening of state sovereignty and democracy. If the paramilitaries come to control the legislative process in the Colombian Congress, a country ruled by warlords is a reality that may come to pass, and there is little the Colombian government, or any other government, can do to prevent it.

Sam Logan (http://www.samuellogan.com) is an investigative journalist who has covered business, security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism, and black markets in Latin America since July 1999. He has reported from Caracas, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. He currently reports from Rio de Janeiro.

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