news and notes

I suppose you could encounter most of this with a thorough google news search, but here's a little of what's happening around the nation...

***The penal code was just approved by the National Assembly, which included provisions outlawing sodomy and therapeutic abortion, as well as some addiction-inducing drugs. Oh yeah, and it lowered the money-laundering sentence to 7 years, while drug dealers get 10. There's a whole lot more that could be said about that, but, well, I can't really write about it. Let's just say the country's most famous money-launderer is benefiting big time from this legal change.

***Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez had a rhetorical showdown with the Spaniards at a recent regional conference in Chile.

***While I am personally blessed to live in area of town not affected by power outages, they continue in many areas of Managua and across the country (2-6 hours daily)--but there is word that December may bring an end to all of that.

***The other day I went to visit some schools in Chinandega with representatives of the public health department to witness the distribution of some donated medicine, and learned that many private Christian schools have not received this medicine (anti-parasite), which was sufficient for all 6-12 year old children in the country.

***Speaking of showdowns, closer to home, President Ortega has been in a verbal tit-for-tat with the Mayor of Managua for his (Ortega's) supposed interference in the election of the new vice-mayor. What is interesting is that this represents a rare open air intra-party conflict.

***The price of everything from beans to milk to tomatoes to gasoline is going up, up, up. I'm still eating, obviously, but thank God I don't have a car--I would be broke.