Caymans hit by 6.1 earthquake one day ahead of Ivan

[Xithras]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usnebd.htm

No news reports yet, but this is the last thing they needed...having their houses and buildings weakened right before a hurricane hits. Those poor people...

[commander bunnypants]

1. Freaky ass weather

DDQM

[Catherine Vincent]

2. I love the Caymans!

[mitchtv]

8. let them sink into the ocean

anti gay ,crook haven

[Catherine Vincent]

16. Oh, I didn't know they were anti Gay but I did know they try to be

conservative..like no nudes on their beaches and stuff like that. I love it because of their nice beaches though.

[samtob]

18. Where is the reasoning

I may change my signature line, when I first found this site I was delighted, finally a place of reason, good sense, common thoughts and goals.

Geez, "let them sink into the ocean" because the govt and some of the population are anti gay??

That is the same thought process in the Bin Laden letter to America. Civilians are not innocent of the actions by our govt since we elect our leaders, therefore we are all to be punished.

You are proposing the same ideal

[BeFree]

24. The reason is

What you read in #8 was just someone puking. It happens. But thanks for pointing that out...

Welcome to DU...welcome home!

[catzies]

3. 500+ miles away from Miami...wonder if Florida felt it (bet Cuba did)

:scared:

[dbackjon]

4. But they are among the most homophobic places on earth.

God couldn't let bad things happen to those who protest gay cruises, could He?

[MuseRider]

5. I did not know about this!

I love the Cayman Islands. Not Grand Cayman but Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Damn, I was hoping to get back there to dive again. I think now I will go elsewhere.

[donco6]

15. Stay away from the western Caribbean

Eastern end is OK, but Jamaica, Cayman, etc. are getting even scarier for gay folk. Murders, threats, harrassment, etc.

[dbackjon]

21. Yup - a few years back they refused to let a gay cruise dock there

[Xithras]

12. When did that happen?

I never heard about that.

[JoFerret]

25. Yep The islands of the ex-British empire are often backward

and homophobic. (Look at the Beeny Man and Jamaica J-FLAG issue for example. the smaller islands in particular are even more dependent. Read Jamaica Kincaid "A small place" for some insight. They inherited a terrible legacy of homophobic penal system and "Christian" colonial attitudes.

This too can change.

I know that Bush is the cause of all this freaky weather so let's put the responsibility where it belongs.

[alittlelark]

6. Isn't the Caymans where the richest

of the rich and corporations stash their looting $$$ to avoid being taxed?

[elehhhhna]

7. Yes but BA gave Individuals 2 Year Amnesty to re-file!

That's another story you won't see on Mainstream Media.

Lots of people in Cayman are NOT wealthy at all.
And the islands are flat flat flat...this is gonna be bad. They haven't been hit hard since like the 1920's...

[DaveSZ]

9. Oh great

It's the rapture.

:P

[mitchtv]

10. Maybe Falwell and Robertson will say a prayer for them

or are they praying that god will turn it away from Baptist land, to the Caymans

[Xithras]

11. It's the only area in North America with a 0% poverty rate

Keep in mind though that your average Cayman Islander isn't rich. They just happen to have tons of tourism jobs...making beds in hotels, cooking food in restaraunts, selling trinkets in kitchy shops, and since most Cayman tourists are rich, they can afford to pay reasonable wages.

As to their banking practices, the Caymans have a 0% tax rate on income and assetts because they make more than enough money via customs on tourists (as I understand it). That 0% tax rate makes it an appealing place for rich people to stash their money.

[elehhhhna]

13. That Zero-percent poverty rate is phoney.

[Xithras]

17. You think they lie about that?

I have no way of knowing myself, I'm just looking at the published sources. They pretty consistently show that the population is a little over 40,000, that the poverty rate is either 0% or not available, and that the average income is about $20,000 per year (an enormous sum when compared to the rest of the Carribbean).

You think they're fudging the numbers?

[elehhhhna]

20. Yes. Go there. Look around. They also fudge the crime #'s.

[LiberalEsto]

22. I think a Halliburton subsidiary

has some kind of fake office in the Caymans, where they forward the mail to Halliburton in Saudi Arabia.

[JoFerret]

26. Maybe. And yes. Tax shelter etc

...but the people of CI do not need this. They are the people who change the sheets, serve the coffee, sweep the beaches etc of their own land.

[Rockholm]

14. They Openly Despise Gay People.

Blow away.

[Bluebear]

19. Cayman refused to let a gay cruise dock there

Just a point of information, although I don't advocate any harm to the populace for their government's decision....

In January 1998, the Cayman Islands Government refused to allow the Norwegian Cruise Line ship, the Leeward, permission to dock, saying it could not expect "appropriate behavior" from the 900 mostly gay male passengers booked on the cruise. The announcement by the Cayman Islands government sent shockwaves through the $1 billion-a-year gay tourism industry, and sparked a regional backlash in the Caribbean against organized gay tours. Despite the best efforts of Government officials in the region to assure gay and lesbian tourists they were welcome, church-led anti-gay protests in the Bahamas and Jamaica swelled in the wake of the Cayman's decision.

http://www.datalounge.com/datalounge/issues?storyline=237

[JoFerret]

23. Geez. Terrible. Freaky weather at its worst.

May the worst only hit the offshore tax dodge offices and not the people of the CI and their homes and businesses.