Tourism Instead of Diamonds?

In Botswana, Africa, diamonds have been almost everything in the economy; but that may someday change.

(BBC) Botswana (southern Africa) is the world’s biggest producer of diamonds and an economic success story in Africa – but some experts fear that in 20 years time its reserves may be exhausted. Tourism is now becoming increasingly important as the country anticipates a time when diamonds can no longer provide 50% of its annual revenue.

Less than two million humans inhabit Botswana, but animals are numerous. Indeed, this country could become an ideal tourist attraction someday. The government has devised a plan to expand and develop tourism, hoping to attract a wide range of foreign visitors.

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Indonesia Tsunami and Volcanic Eruptions

(The Wall Street Journal – Oct 29, 2010) JAKARTA—The combined death toll from a tsunami and volcanic eruptions in Indonesia climbed to 449, as aid workers shifted their focus to prevent outbreaks of disease among survivors of the twin disasters earlier this week.

. . .  there were still some areas where aid wasn’t getting through because of shortages of boats or inadequate or damaged infrastructure, raising fears of possible outbreaks of malaria and other diseases.

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American Baseball Championship

The San Franciso Giants won the first game of the World Series of baseball, 11-7, against the Texas Rangers.

(NYTimes) “The Texas Rangers’ Cliff Lee, one of the most dominant postseason pitchers in recent memory, faced Tim Lincecum, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, in the most-hyped playoff pitching matchup . . . But this pitchers’ duel fizzled as Lee was knocked out in the fifth inning after giving up seven runs . . .”

If the Giants win this series, it will be the first time they have ever won a World Series. (What other major league baseball team has that distinction?)

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Philippines Agriculture Damaged by Typhoon

(abs-cbn NEWS) The damage caused to the agriculture sector by typhoon Juan have reached P8.49 billion as of Friday, the Department of Agriculture said. . . .  P8.49 billion worth of crops, livestock and poultry, fisheries and agriculture infrastructure, according to the department’s Situationer Report No. 175.

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Unknown Flying Creature in Texas

(ksn) A new theory to explain the mysterious dancing lights of Marfa, Texas, has been suggested by a cryptozoologist in California. Jonathan Whitcomb, of Long Beach, compares the Marfa Lights, sometimes called “ghost lights,” of southwest Texas to flying lights, in the southwest Pacific, called “ropen” in Papua New Guinea. According to natives of those tropical islands, the ropen is a large flying creature. Those few eyewitnesses who have seen it describe a giant pterosaur-like animal, with no feathers and a long tail. In Texas, some eyewitnesses have described a long-tailed “pterodactyl.”

Whitcomb says, “It may not be a coincidence that a few Texans have seen apparent living pterosaurs and many Texans have seen flying lights that seem to move intelligently; in some remote tropical islands, a few natives have seen similar large featherless flying creatures and many natives have seen similar lights.” The cryptozoology author believes that bioluminescent flying creatures in Texas may be hunting and eating the Big Brown Bat, in addition to other small animals of southwest Texas; in Papua New Guinea, the ropen may feed mostly on reef fish or clams. Whitcomb had explored Umboi Island in 2004, interviewing natives.

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