Gulfstream

Entry Posted April 25, 2006

http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=884045 The sad story of Nauru: in the 1970s, the people of Nauru were amongst the richest in the world (the whole island is basically phosphate); now the government is forced to ration electricity and water, 50% of the population has diabetes, and a big money-earner is housing would-be Australian refugees. “… Nauru's government (like most others) would rather do almost anything than cut its own budget. So it has resorted to several desperate money-raising ventures, including that old stand-by of cash-strapped third-world governments, befriending Taiwan. A sun-bleached Taiwanese flag flaps wanly outside the run-down colonial villa that serves as the island's only embassy. In return for this dubious honour, Taiwan has lent Nauru money at bargain rates.” 11:36

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Wtf (wtf-place.blogspot.com):
… Nothing lasts forever and sure enough, Nauru’s phosphate reserves soon dried up and left 90% of the island as a barren, jagged mining wasteland. Wasteful investments (like buying hotels only to leave them to rot) andgross incompetenceby the government (former presidents used to commandeer Air Nauru’s planes for holidays, leaving paying customers stranded on the tarmac!) didn’t help either. As if that’s not bad enough, Nauru is also beset by obesity problem. Decades of …

Professor Marvel's Workshop (professormarvelsworkshop.blogspot.com):
… Pitcairn Island !! Tongan King remembered on You Tube Oceania Map Tuvalu is source of .tv domain Solomon Islands - JFK swims amongst them The Sound of Papua New Guinea Vanuatu Underwater Post OfficeNauru - quite a storycrab migration details …

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