RSSAruban Tourism … Different Month … Same Results … Tourism Down Again for 2006 … When will it End?
Try as they might, Aruba has spent millions on tourism marketing, lowered rates, and 
provided other incentives to have tourists come to Aruba. All to no avail, its just not working. The Central Bank of Aruba is reporting that tourism is at best stagnant and at worst, still in decline for October and November, 2006.
Aruba’s efforts are not working because they are attempting to put a Band-Aid on a broken leg. They refuse to deal with the underlying issue. Until they do, Aruba can expect for increases of 0.9 and decreases of 5 to 6% per month. Aruba may never learn; however, eventually they are going to have to do something.
Watch the Video of Aruban Tourism.
The number of sojourns and their number of nights spent dropped with respectively 7.7 and 5.7 percent in the first 10 months of 2006, while the numbers for September of that same year increased with respectively 0.9 and 0.1 percent, and dropped in October with respectively 3.1 and 4.4 percent.
Compare the tourism rates over the past 2 years since Natalee Holloway has gone missing and Aruba officials took part in a concerted effort to obstruct an investigation. See if an increase of 0.9% means anything after the losses that have already been experienced.
(Vanderbilt – ‘06)
September 2004 (Pre-Natalee Holloway): The number of stay-over visitors and their nights spent on the island went up, respectively, by 15.7 percent and 12.7 percent during the month of September 2004 compared to September 2003. Stay-over visitors from the United States and Venezuela rose by 18.8 percent and 14.5 percent, respectively. In contrast, the Dutch market fell by 3.3 percent. The average hotel occupancy rate registered a 6.5 percentage points increase to 73 percent. On a year-to-date basis, stay-over visitors surged by 14.6 percent against a 2.3 percent decline a year earlier, while visitor nights increased by 11.4 percent compared to a 3.9 percent increase in the corresponding period in 2003.
Sept 2005: The Aruba Tourism Authority has not yet published information on stay-over visitors and their nights spent for July, August, and September 2005. Data on the average occupancy rate of the hotels for September 2005 show a decrease of 6.2 percentage points to 69.3 percent, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. In September 2005, cruise passenger arrivals fell by 35.4 percent, despite a 16.7 percent increase in the number of ship calls.
October 2005: The Aruba Tourism Authority has not yet published information on stay-over visitors and their nights spent on the island for July, August, September and October 2005. Data on the average occupancy rate of the hotels for October 2005 show a decrease of 4.9 percentage points to 77.8 percent, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. In October 2005, the number of cruise passenger arrivals and ship calls both fell sharply by 38.9 percent.
Another interesting development is the decrease in cruise line passengers to Aruba. Although there have been more ships docked in Aruba, the end result is a decline in cruise passengers to Aruba.
Data on the occupancy rate for November 2006 has also not yet been published. In the month under review, the number of cruise passenger arrivals decreased by 1.8 percent, despite a 28.6 percent increase in the number of ship calls.
A drop in cruise line passengers and it doesn’t even count the loss of the ones from the Carnival Cruise ship Destiny that docked for the last time in Aruba in December 2006.
“Cruise passengers on ships of the caliber of Carnival Destiny spend an average of one-hundred dollars when they are in Aruba. This cruise ship accommodates an average of 2000 passengers, which means a source of income of about 200.000 dollars per week years after years.”
Amigoe, January 30, 2007: Port of Oranjestad very busy, but fewer passengers that visit Aruba. Central Bank: ‘More cruise ships; fewer cruise tourists’
ORANJESTAD – Despite the fact that in November of 2006, almost 30 percent more cruise ships call in at the port of Aruba, the cruise passengers dropped with 1.8 percent, stated the Central Bank of Aruba (CBA) in her monthly report on November.
The number of sojourns and their number of nights spent dropped with respectively 7.7 and 5.7 percent in the first 10 months of 2006, while the numbers for September of that same year increased with respectively 0.9 and 0.1 percent, and dropped in October with respectively 3.1 and 4.4 percent.
The figures for November 2006 were not available yet when CBA’s monthly report was drawn up, neither were the average room occupancy of the hotels.
The price index for the family consumption was 1.9 percent higher in November than same month in 2005. The average inflation tempo was 3.7 percent on a yearly basis.
The money quantity increased with 17 million florins (0.7 percent) in November 2006. This is attributed to an increase in foreign exchange of 100.5 million florins and a decrease of the net domestic active of 83.5 million florins.
The returns on the issuing of bond on the international capital market, 91.4 million florins, and the Dutch development aid of 29.3 million florins. The net foreign active was 718 million florins, 13.5 percent higher that in November of 2005.
The decrease of the net domestic active was caused by a 91.6 million florins drop in the progresses of the banking sector on the public sector. Banking transactions not related to credit loans decreased with 9.8 million florins. The company loans increased with 1.3 percent, consumer credits with 0.5 percent, and mortgages with 0.3 percent.
Posted January 30, 2007 by Scared Monkeys Amigoe, Aruba, boycott, Natalee Holloway, Travel | 52 comments |
If you liked this post, you may also like these:
Comments
52 Responses to “Aruban Tourism … Different Month … Same Results … Tourism Down Again for 2006 … When will it End?”
Leave a Reply
“When Will It End”?
It will end just as soon as Aruba admits to the cover up its government and law enforcement participated in; when Natalee’s family has the answers they need and deserve; and when ALL the criminals who participated in Natalee’s demise – along with ALL the criminals who participated in the cover up are arrested, charged, and convicted!
BOYCOTT ARUBA!!!
Jen..
But if they arrest everyone involved in the coverup—
who with any experience will be left to run the government?
Message to Rudy: Justice for Natalee
Message to Queen: Justice for Natalee
plus
Hire a New Stylist
Large floral prints can be so unflattering!
when the answers are given and the guilty are punished.
Jen, at this point I think even if all of that is done, the moral stench emanating from Aruba is so great that the damage won’t be reversed for quite some time.
And until we do get answers, I’m going to do my damndest to make the impact get more severe, not less. This shows we’re doing something right!
Hey, just wondering … how come Aruba’s little glamour boy Steve Cohen isn’t speaking up anymore? Wasn’t he the token WASP they picked to wave before the media, thinking we’d be readier to accept Aruba’s lies from a Caucasian spokesman?
Guess again, Aruban scumbags in your government ….
NO JUSTICE FOR NATALEE, NO TOURISTS FOR ARUBA.
I recently read an article in the newspaper that since 9/11 there has been a 17% drop in overseas travellers..$15 billion in lost taxes..and 200,000 lost jobs…and last year was voted most unfriendly to visitors. hmmmm looks like you have your own problems but as they say misery loves company so if it makes you feel happy to berate Aruba to make you feel better thats just sad.
Sounds good to me. Sounds like SM and friends are doing a good job. Keep up the boycott until one of the pigs squeals.
Justice for Natalee and nothing else.
molly (in Houston)
Paul – I was about to say “good point”…….but then I stopped myself. Since when is experience a pre-requisite for running the Aruban government or the judiciary?
Don’t they just adapt new interpretations of Dutch law as they go along? Selecting whichever definition best suits the day?
“You just don’t understand our system”
“The Central Bank of Aruba is reporting that tourism is at best stagnant and at worst, still in decline for October and November, 2006.”
STAGNANT: WOW, New catch word.
Lieruba, welcome to our stagnant island. This is more than just the description of the economy, it pretty much sums up the whole cast of players and their co-snorts.
Pigs on a stagnant island. You asked for it you got it, Aruba.
“no body no case”
“No Natalee no tourism”
Justice for Natalee Holloway.
Richard, I agree. Aruba has dug itsself one heckuva hole, and they just can’t seem to grasp what it will take to get themselves out of it.
It just keeps getting deeper and deeper.
More and more of their dirty laundry is being aired, and the longer they leave this case unresolved, the more filth people are going to find.
It does seem to be a losing battle – interesting part is, they don’t seem to realize they’re in the middle of one.
I don’t know if the government of Aruba realize how dire the circumstances are to have such instability in their economical growth. They have been shrinking, economically, as other islands in the region have been expanding.
Considering that Aruba is still holding out after close to two years in regards to affording justice to Natalee Holloway and …. providing an end to the ongoing nightmare that her family is foced to endure …. tells this wannabe detective that the hit to the Aruban economy does not compare to the fallout which the truth encompassing the events of that fateful morning would expose regarding the corruption that exists at all levels of the Aruban/Dutch Administrations. The implications reach far beyond the Natalee Holloway case.
.
GERALDO AT LARGE
November 14, 2005
.
Beth: Well Greta, somebody is lobbying for Joran in the Hague in order to protect him ….. it has to be.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=entertainment&id=4984903
Regarding Dr Phil lawsuit
1- one person seen on the webcam in Aruba. Another sunny day on Aruba’s beaches, lots of sun, sand, and beautiful blue water, the only thing missing is tourists spending money…
Boycott the
oops – I had a premature e-mouse-ulation. sorry,
I have been working on that.
Boycott The Nasty Island
of Murdering Raping
Van der Sloots & Kalpoes!!!
NO REST UNTIL THIS CRIME IS SOLVED.
THEY WILL NEVER BE ALLOWED TO REST
UNTIL THE CRIME IS SOLVED.
-J4N
#2, imo, the citizens of aruba would be better off without a govt., than with the one they have.
Janet (#12) … as I’ve been saying all along, an accidental death, even a murder, could be understood and explained away as an individual act once the perpetrators were tried, convicted, and sentenced.
How would you feel about this, then?
“Yes, we believe an American girl, visiting our island on a group trip, has been kidnapped, sold or given to the control of others, and taken off Aruba.
“We don’t know where she is for sure, we don’t know how or where to look, we don’t know who to contact.
“We don’t have any idea what to do, but this is what we understand what happened.
“Oh, by the way … don’t stop sending your young people here. Our bars and drug dealers need their tourist dollars.
“Visit Aruba, the happy island.”
What could be more catastrophic to their tourist economy than that?
5. Richard
Maybe the deafening silence of Steve Cohen could be attributed to statements akin to the following …. obviously he is not conforming to the Aruban agenda.
.
TRAVEL & TOURISM
Caribbeam Voice
January 18, 2006
.
Closure on the case of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance seems imminent. The timeline drawn is about six to seven months from yesterday’s announcement. This, according to SMDG Consulting Team chairman Stephen Cohen, adviser to the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association (AHATA) and the Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force who spoke at the Caribbean Marketplace being held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
.
“Aruba believes it is most important to get a hold of her mental state and most importantly, Natalee’s physical state at the time of disappearance. Two of the boys said they had consensual sex with her. Whether consensual or not, depends on her ability to be conscious and make a choice,” said Cohen.
.
BBC Caribbean
January 6, 2005
.
Aruban authorities believe they are close to making a breakthrough in the case of missing American teenager Natalee Holloway.
.
Spokesman for the Aruban government, former CBS journalist Steve Cohen, is predicting a closure to the case in the next six months.
.
He says investigators are focusing on proving the case against three young men who had been held as suspects, and who are known to have interacted with the US student.
Mr Cohen expects one or all three suspects – Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe – to be charged for rape and murder.
Wasn’t he the token WASP they picked to wave before the media, thinking we’d be readier to accept Aruba’s lies from a Caucasian spokesman?
Guess again, Aruban scumbags in your government ….
NO JUSTICE FOR NATALEE, NO TOURISTS FOR ARUBA.
Comment by Richard | January 30, 2007, 1:11 pm
Cohen is a jew. the son of a us jew who started the us financed aruban tourist business.
Janet and Richard, I gotta tell you. I think arubasteve is pushing up daisys in the cave they found pitbull…If these idiots had more than a pea for a brain they would see that nothing can be worsr than not knowing. Beth and Dave both said..”we dont care what happened anymore, just let us take our baby home and we will leave you alone”[my words] but nooooo the PM and the powers that be[hague] decided whatever it was it was to horrific for anyone to know..hence the lack of ppl visiting. Richard, I wish I was closer also. Do you need money for some flyers to hand out or a banner to hold. I will help. I wish Beth or Dave would be there…maybe Dave could pass out his book, and Beth can hand out the HOPE FOR NATALEE bracelets. Please let me know if I can do anything. I also wrote to the NYTimes and weight watchers.
How ironic, sending a weight watcher to LIERUBA. There isnt to much to eat on that Island anyway.hahahahahahaha
i have to agree with Richard. aruba has done the damage and rubbed salt in the wound. their livelyhood is over!
even if the truth came out tomorrow, it would not matter for their prescious tourism.
as more and more tourists realize the danger of going there it is only going to get worse. it will not get any better ! enjoy your empty beaches and hotels. maybe deepcrack and $hitass kalpoe and the sweaty sloots will give you some business. in the long run , you will hate the sight of them too. they are the reason for your plight but you are not smart enough to admit this so have fun !
Rudy Croes’ Pussy.
http://tinyurl.com/32woa9
-J4N
Carpe
LOL I laughed so much I gave myself a headache.
LOL I agree #21.
However, I think if they tried for a change
doing the right thing, fixing wrongs,
and making some much needed apologies…
They could start on a path to reverse all the
hideous damage they have brought on themselves
in just the last two years. When you come clean
with people and just be honest, you’d be amazed
at how many people forgive & try to forget your
wrongs.
To stay on the track they are on now though,
things are gonna get much worse. Everyday they
let these things slide the damage gets amplified
times 10. -JN4
Richard and Janet
” When they find all the sh*t on the girl”
What does that mean? Something horrific happened, something so vile that they had to make sure Natalee was never found.
Joran will laugh if they find the girl alive. He knew dam well Natalee would never be found. What made Joran so sure that Natalee would never be found? Who took care of diposing of Natalee and why, if it was a simple murder or accident?
Hey Satishi something bad happened….
And they Authorities let the cover up begin and continue.
Steve Cohen’s role as the spokesperson for the investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway had nothing to do with revealing the truth …. it was all about the media’s perception of Aruba.
.
DIARIO
November 3, 2005
.
Court TV creator becomes spokesperson for the Strategic Communications Task Force of Aruba
.
According to Steve Cohen, we have to straighten out Aruba’s image
.
DIARIO
December 3, 2005
.
According to Cohen, he will try to go on talk shows to try to relay his message to Americans. SC also will work closely with the Public Ministry and the investigators of this case, where they will try to let representatives of the Public Ministry or the group of investigators go on one of these programs, after they have had good coaching.
.
DR. PHIL SHOW/BETH TWITTY/JOHN KELLY/STEVE COHEN
.
Steve Cohen, special advisor to Aruba, came on the show hoping for a chance to talk to Beth about where the investigation stands today. Dr. Phil turns to Steve. “So, you’re a paid consultant?” he asks.
.
“That’s correct,” Steve replies.
.
“And, who pays you?” Dr. Phil probes.
.
“I’m actually paid by the tourism industry, which is the Aruban Tourism Authority, and also a group called AHACA, which is an association of hotel owners on the island.”
Go to arubatoday.com and click on Monday, January 29 and read what Ms. Renfro has to write about the Dr. Phil tapes in the beginning of the article about the unexpected death of Jamie Skeeters.
I could not in good conscience refer to Aruba Today as a newspaper because it is thoroughly disgusting as is its editor. I know too much about her – I cannot be objective.
news@arubatoday.com
In case you want to write to Julia Renfro/Glenda.
I already have!
Abbey, the US is not an island of less than 100,000 that depends on tourism mostly for his lifeline. Please tell us when the US went to such lengths to smear and cover up something done to a ,presumed dead citizen from Aruba visiting here? It has been done to Natalee and her family since the first night Natalee went missing in Aruba, by Aruba. Why would anyone else want to walk a mile in Natalee or Beth’s shoes if they can prevent it? We didn’t go to great lengths to call citizens from other countries who were harmed in 9/11 names and make up big lies about them. We mourned for them too and still do. In Aruba they act like the suspects are rock stars.
31
Richard,
Do you prefer to keep the “event” lowkey with just a few people?
Do you want other monkeys to help in some way?
Let us know.
18. Richard
I do not adhere to the theory that Natalee Holloway was taken away …. the implication would be that she was alive. If that were the case, there is no way that Paulus Van der Sloot could assure Joran, Deepak and Satish that they had nothing to fear …. No Body; No Case. There was always the chance that Natalee would return and refute the Holiday Inn acount and implicate them. In my opinion, Paulus, Joran, Deepak and Satish all knew that Natalee was not in a position to do that.
.
THE JUNE 10, 2005 ADMISSION
.
Spokesperson for the Aruban Minister of Justice
June 11, 2005
.
David Cruz, a spokesman for the Aruban Minister of Justice (search) told FOX News Natalee Holloway (search), who was on vacation with friends with a graduation trip when she disappeared, was confirmed dead and that authorities knew the location of her body. However, Cruz later retracted the statement, saying he was a victim of a “misinformation campaign.”
.
Deputy Police Commissioner
June 12, 2005
.
Deputy Police Commissioner, Gerold Dompig, told The Associated Press that one of three young men arrested in the case admitted “something bad happened” to Holloway and was leading police to the scene. Prosecutors refused to comment on Dompig’s statement, and Dompig himself refused to identify which of the three young men who took Holloway to the Northern beach the night she went missing made the statement.
However, Cruz later retracted the statement, saying he was a victim of a “misinformation campaign.”
—–
He was the victim of a misinformation campaign! One that was
about to be unleashed by the murdering raping Van der Sloots,
and the soul-less, fat, sweaty pig #2, Jan Van der Straaten.
Hey Van der Straaten, where are you now? Jerk. -J4N
Janet I agree with you, I don’t believe Natalee ever left Aruba alive, not with all the statements and what all of them engaged in afterwards.
Joran is Innocent! Paulus is Innocent!
Got you’re attention didn’t I! Do I believe they are innocent? Sure, as much as I believe O.J. Simpson is innocent. Actually, I know a guy named O.J. Simpson; and he is innocent; but I’m talking about the real O.J. Simpson or better put, the notorious or infamous O.J. Simpson.
I’ll take it a step further. Put yourself in Infamous Joran’s shoes (no pun intended). Say you picked this really knock-out of a girl up, rode around the island of Aruba, or Manhattan, took her to her hotel, said good night, and then left.
The next day, her parents show up at your house wanting to know where their daughter is. Are you going to say, “I don’t know who you are talking about.”? Are you going to take some of the group apart and tell them an X-rated version of your night before? Are you going to lie about where you went, where you let her out, who you saw her with? Are you going to brag at school about your conquest of “the American Girl. ‘
Before you answer any of the above questions, remember you are innocent or are you? Are you sure you didn’t rape the girl, beat, strangle, and suffocate her, and then hide her body in your back yard, because that is the only way your lies make any sense.
Confess Infamous Joran, maybe you can sleep again. It won’t be in your own bed, but maybe Tattoo or Spider will share his with you.
Aruba and Dutch just don’t seem like they want to prosecute and looks like they will blow smoke forever. I feel sorry for Natalee having to have gone through that to death. It was probably worse than I could imagine, horrible. I feel sorry for Beth and kin having to put up with Aruba and Dutch on the island plus souless people trying to add to their pain.. For me their is contempt for Aruba in which their is no return. Where is Mr. Pink gone to if he was innocent of any wrongdoing? I have heard that Oduber likes to go for xxx adult parties, has any one else heard this? Also have heard for a while now they were winding down.
In re the questions about the Boston event, I don’t want Aruba to smear me or anyone else as “paid agitators for the family”; for this reason, though Dave, Beth et al will be told that I and some others are going, I want it to be clear that it’s not being done “at their bidding,” so to speak. Will post more on this later, as events develop.
In re Natalee being taken off the island … I know it’s a minority viewpoint. But “no body no crime” can mean they can’t find her body … because she is no longer on Aruba.
And I also think Joran’s remark “I’ll laugh if they find her alive” means it is POSSIBLE that they COULD find her alive … but Aruba police won’t look for her and have no authority outside of Aruba.
Remember, some say that he was told by his father that the police car was bugged.
I personally think Joran might be so psychotic that anything he says might be unreliable. However, I acknowledge that there’s no evidence that Natalee is still alive.
I’m wondering if, perhaps, she was held by some of the Pimps while they tried to move her off the island. Finding that nobody would cooperate, fearing the risk, they then … you know. A forcibly administered overdose of heroin couldn’t be distinguished from an accidental overdose, could it?
Could needle marks be “all that shit”? I don’t know.
Anyway, it’s a theory that I’m not yet prepared to abandon, but for which I have no proof or even evidence. But if you believe in a cover-up on Aruba, as most of us do … it seems hard to think that it would be carried on so long for a few punk kids and a failed judge. Something bigger must be involved, I would think.
#27, notice how aruba steve and all the other spokesmen say they have to straighten out the image of aruba. they never, ever say they’re going to correct the things responsible for their image. that would scare the people they are afraid of.
dennisintn
34. Maggie
37. Richard
.
It is my opinion if Natalee Holloway had been taken off the Island of Aruba that fateful morning … the gardener’s observation as well as his testimony before an Aruban judge would have to be discounted. Also, the FBI report obtain from the girl who Deepak attempted to contact for an alibi would also have to count for naught.
.
CNN LARRY KING LIVE
February 23, 2006
.
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY: I know one thing that Deepak Kalpoe did in August was, when the gardener came before the judge of instruction to give sworn testimony of witnessing those three suspects together in the Kalpoe brothers’ car that night at the pond, across the street from the Marriott, it was in front of the prosecutor, in front of the defense, the judge of instruction, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, Joran Van Der Sloot.
.
Deepak panicked. He panicked when the gardener gave that testimony. That very afternoon, he called an Aruban girl to help him establish an alibi. She, in turn, panicked. She called FBI. She dialed the 1-877-NATALEE number and told them that she did not want to be involved in this.
.
NANCY GRACE
August 17, 2005
.
JOSSY MANSUR, MANAGING EDITOR, “DIARIO”: I don`t know what`s happening, but the gardener, the witness, did stand by his story. He did confirm in front of the judge, in front of the defense attorneys, in front of the suspects, that he recognized, and he even recognized two of the three suspects that were there. He hasn`t changed his story one bit.
.
NANCY GRACE
July 26, 2005
,
MANSUR: Because they were trying to hide their faces at that the hour, because we have to remember that the two Kalpoe brothers and Joran held on to the statement that they dropped Joran off at the beach and then went home. But here we have someone that says categorically that they did not go home, they were in the car with Joran. Joran was sitting in the driver`s seat.
Janet -
Wonder What Happened to That Gardener ?
Was His Name Ever Known ?
They Grilled Him In Court For Hours -
Which of The Witnesses Was Deported ?
Thanks For Posting All Of Those Media Clips
They Really Make You Remember The Real Crap That Went On
You would think that after all these confessions that J2K would be ‘cold busted’. But not so on Aruba. I still think that there will be a cold day in hell, and there will be Justice for Natalee and hell for pay for J2K.
molly (in Houston)
ahhh i’d forgotton he saw Jipshit in the drivers seat.
Nychic was looking for this one earlier.
Here ya go-
Satish & AR @ Bahia
http://tinyurl.com/292n84
—
Here is a bonus shot of that
walloping full-on f-tard
Jerry-Jerry Dingleberry
http://tinyurl.com/2hugye
Now tell me…
How twisted can your
family tree be,
that this shmo
falls out of it? -J4N
P.S.
His T-Shirt reads:
PARENTAL ADVISORY
Lock Up Your
Daughter
Up above, objection was taken to my calling Steve Cohen a WASP. And I’m sure it’s correct that he’s not a Protestant.
But my true point was, he was Caucasian and looked like a typical media whore. That’s why Aruba picked him to start with, I think … they thought we would be gullible enough to believe Aruban lies from a Caucasian spokesman. You know, focus on how the representative looks, not what he is.
We weren’t that dumb. The facts of Natalee’s disappearance are glaring, and no media whore will distract us from the essential facts. The case remains unsolved, and the cover-up remains in place.
Nobody believes Aruba will solve the case, or wants to, or dares to (at least, nobody with whom I’ve spoken). Some of us are giving the Dutch the benefit of the doubt, but that is fast running out.
And maybe Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, one of the three governors who endorsed the boycott, and who is now a presidential candidate, can be persuaded that making demands on Aruba … “or else” … is indeed a good thing to do and a politically astute thing to do as well.
Let’s not forget Joel Gove, missing on the island of Saba for over a month now. No sign of him; and they refused to post missing-person posters because they thought it would hurt tourism. Saba is part of the Netherlands Antilles.
And let’s never forget Amy Bradley, of whom we all know.
Beth originally called for a boycott of ALL the Netherlands Antilles. It sounds better and better every day.
Janet (#39), why do we have to conclude that Natalee was taken off the island the day she disappeared? I know there’s no evidence to support the theory (there’s also no evidence of a crime scene, and no searches have turned up anything … though that is debated, of course), but I think she could have been held somewhere, in a building or on a boat, for a while.
My idea is that the taking of Natalee was planned for some time and that other “Pimps” were involved. I still don’t see why the Kalpoes, who didn’t belong in Joran’s elite circle, were brought along to begin with unless it was some sort of a challenge or test; if they accomplished their role as “muscle,” they would be admitted into the group.
Or so they may have been told.
Likewise with stopping at the bar down the street, just after they took off in the car with Natalee. I think they did that to give someone the signal that the “operation” succeeded. Just a sign was all that was necessary, and then that person or persons could tell the others.
That would ensure that, up to that time, no phone calls or whatever could be traced back.
Anyway, I won’t inflict all of this on you. But remember the article I posted a while back … trafficking in girls and women is a $26 billion business in Latin America. That was an estimate by an informed local. And drug dealers usually are heavily involved.
I think they called themselves the Pimps for a reason….
One more thing I wish to say about the “taken off Aruba” idea (which doesn’t necessarily mean that Natalee is still alive, even if the hypothesis is true).
A lot of people have pointed out that we heard reports, early on, that Joran nearly cracked while under arrest and interrogation, and that he said Natalee was dead. And I believe this coincided with the bizarre activity at the rocks, though I don’t think the latter became known until much later.
I readily agree that this report of a near confession is a powerful argument against my theory.
Question: is this report true? We heard it from Aruba police, from Dompig, and we can’t imagine that they would be less than truthful. But the sudden retraction of the report as “not official” seems just too clumsy … it’s hard to think that any group so dedicated to perpetrating a conspiracy could let such a bone-headed blunder happen.
Early in the case we were treated to the ideas of “Shango.” I’ve never been much inclined to take that too seriously; it always seemed that if someone wanted to point the way to what happened, he’d be less elliptical than Shango was. My own idea is that he had overdosed on the Da Vinci code stuff, and even that he was doing some macabre thing for his own amusement.
But one thing Shango kept saying: Joran was the sacrificial lamb, and was taking responsibility for someone else. None of us will believe that he didn’t commit the sexual assault on Natalee, but after that?
I don’t know the answer … as I said, the Shango thing seems just too far out for me. But I also believe that this is no ordinary case. Can we think that the “Joran confessed” story was meant to be circulated to take the heat off, and then something went wrong?
It’s hard to imagine. But so is everything about what seems to be a simple case … which none of us believes is so simple.
From this morning’s news … food for thought ….
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=2834852&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
Sexual Predators Are Selling Young American Women Into Prostitution
Jan. 30, 2007 – It sounds like something from a movie – teens targeted and lured from malls and streets into prostitution.
Sadly, it’s a reality for an increasing number of young women not just in foreign countries but in the United States as well. Those who end up trapped in modern-day sexual slavery call it “the life.”
Mistreated, alone and living in a foster home, one young girl told ABC News her story. Sara, who asked that her named be changed to protect her identity, said she was seduced into “the life” by a man who claimed to love her when she was only 13-years-old.
“He told me things like nobody had ever told me. So I felt like a $100 million,” Sara said.
After professing his love, Sara’s new friend sold her to a pimp for a mere $100.
“I got sold. That’s horrible. Like I was an animal,” Sara said.
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that between 100,000 and 3 million American kids under age 18 are involved in prostitution and they’re often targeted by sexual predators.
“There are sexual predators… We call them pimps, traffickers,” said Rachel Lloyd, director of GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, an advocacy group that helps girls who have been sexually exploited. “Ultimately, they’re predators who are out there specifically looking for vulnerable kids so that they can sell them,”
Lured by Big Promises
“Good Morning America” parenting contributor Anne Pleshette Murphy said the victims of teen trafficking aren’t confined to any one demographic.
“These girls come from every walk of life, rich or poor, of all races,” she said. “The common denominator is that they are vulnerable to these predators. An estimated 80 to 95 percent of children selling sex have a history of sexual abuse.”
Often predators pose as legitimate professionals to capture their victims.
“There are girls that are literally kidnapped off the street, are thrown into a car,” Lloyd said. “There are pimps who pose as model agency scouts.”
Another woman, Miya, said the promise of a glamorous modeling career enticed her to leave her job at a mall when she was 18-years-old and run off with a couple who would end up exploiting her.
“He asked if it would be out of place if he said I was pretty. And I… was like, no,” she said. “And he said that he was a model agent. He was looking for new models in the area. It seemed interesting.”
According to Miya, the couple took her from Arizona to California, where she spent a week in the brutal world of sexual exploitation.
Ernie Allen of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said constant moves – a vagabond lifestyle – is fairly common for recently abducted teens.
“They [kidnappers] move them to evade detection,” he said. “The fact that they may be identified on the streets of one city, they certainly minimize, lessen the risk if they move them to another city.”
Pop Culture Masks Horror of ‘The Life’
While music videos, movies and magazines sometimes glorify the lifestyle of pimps and prostitutes, in reality, “the life” is far from glamorous.
“What you see in the movies…it’s not like that,” Sara said. “They don’t tell you the part about the rapes. They don’t tell you about getting beat up. They don’t tell you that you might die, like, every day.”
Popular culture also doesn’t reveal how hard it is to escape.
“The kids are not involved in this terrible crime as a result of choice,” Allen explained. “They are involved because of fear, because of force and because of actual physical and psychological harm.”
According to Sara, even law enforcement officials let her down.
“I never got arrested because my pimp used to pay off cops, or I would end up having sex with the cops so that I wouldn’t get locked up,” she said.
Steps are being taken to protect girls from a fate similar to Sara’s. President Bush recently re-authorized the trafficking victims protection law, strengthening the campaign against worldwide trafficking in people, especially the effort to combat the sex trade in the United States.
But for Sara, it took four years and numerous attempts before she finally escaped and got help. Today, she remains terrified of being discovered and dragged back into “the life.” Still, she’s moving ahead, one step at a time.
“I’m proud of myself because, like, at least I can go to sleep every night,” she said. “At least I don’t have to worry about being raped or … being killed. I actually can go through a normal life without fear.”
40. nychic
nychic, you are welcome.
I do not know if the gardener is still in Aruba. Dave Holloway feared that he would be deported once he give his testimony to the Aruban judge in regards to his observation on the mornng of May 30, 2005 …. the morning Natalee Holloway went missing.
.
GARDENER – OFFICIAL WITNESS STATEMENT
.
http://www.scaredmonkeys.net/viewforum.php?f=6
CARLOS RAMOS (gardener witness) Statements 7/26 – 8/16/2005
.
HANNITY & COLMES
August 10, 2005
.
ALAN: The question is cover up or incompetence? Is the person working with you getting to the bottom of it?
.
DAVE: I spoke to him today, he is as perplexed about all of this as we are. Seems like every time someone speaks out or comes forward. Just like the gardener, he is supposed to appear in court Thursday then be immediately deported. That is the work of the defence of course. Some witnesses may be scared to come forward for fear of repercussions.
Up above, objection was taken to my calling Steve Cohen a WASP. And I’m sure it’s correct that he’s not a Protestant
I just had to let the Jews in the US Senate and Congress get a look at this antisemitic BS.
#49-jewboy, as you call yourself, what the ????more idle threats???GO AWAY TROLL. whatever arubasteve is, he definitly is a dope.and a creep and a liar. more names???? he is cruel and has no morals and he probably DEAD….
Being Caucasian does not make a person a WASP. Chechens are Caucasian, yet they are not WASPs. Catholic Irish are not WASPs. Being Caucasian and Protestant, does not make a person a WASP. Being White, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant is not the only condition required to be a WASP. A WASP also has a background of old money, so a blue-collar White Anglo-Saxon who happens to be Protestant is not a WASP either.
Richard calling COHEN a WASP is actually funny… and indicative of a lack of knowledge and cultivation. So even if Vicki does not like J{{edit}}s reaction to Richard’s post, J{{edit}}y is doing a service to this message board because he is contributing to the collective enlightenment and wisdom of the SM crowd.
____________
SM: Edited out a nickname that some may feel is offensive (klaasend)
I’m all for enlightenment and wisdom, collective or otherwise.
Of course, the generic term WASP can also be applied to someone in a position of power. One might, for example, think that John F Kennedy qualified to be called a WASP, especially in retrospect, though clearly he didn’t meet the ‘P’ matter.
Mr Cohen, despite his lies and never-fulfilled promises on behalf of the Aruban government. would seem to fit the definition of a WASP as symbolizing someone in a position of authority.
Still, if you derive amusement from what I have posted, I’m pleased to have provided such gratification.