Why the State Department Needs an RSS Feed

The tragedy which is Colombia continues. Although the sorry oozing
sores of humanity spot the globe in the pestilent puss of poverty and
warfare, the Colombian situation hits close to home as this is one of
the most beautiful places the Dowbrigade has ever been fortunate enough
to visit, live and work in.

Among other groups, the Dowbrigade spent time with the Guambiano Indians
in southern Colombia, high in the mountains behind the town of Silvia,
renowned for its magic mushrooms and weekly market, where the Guambianos
descend, sometimes walking for days, from the tiny towns and farms to
trade and drink.

Nature is abundant in Colombia, and much less tamed than in North America,
bursting forth in awesome splendor and variety, dominating the landscape.
The land itself is rich and fertile; anything will grow. For better or
worse that includes coca, poppies, pot, and a wider cornucopia of indigenous
botanical intoxicants than found anywhere else on the planet, with the
possible exception of a few isolated and largely unexplored river basins
in the Amazon region.

The fresh fruit and vegetables are incredible.  The culture is
a fascinating mix of Native American roots overlain with Latin Catholicism
and Caribbean Reggae. The people are friendly and engaging, and in general,
like Americans. These days, as hostages.

All of these factors make the Dowbrigade very sad that he can’t
go back to some of his favorite haunts in Colombia.  Tourism used to be
their second largest source of income, wedged between Cocaine and Coffee. Now
you’ve got to be suicidal to go there.

The last time the Dowbrigade was
in Colombia, 23 years ago, he was assaulted and shaken down twice in
one day, and was forced to ingest 10 grams of gooey Colombian hashish
before barely escaping with his passport and the emergency $100 bill
stashed in his secret compartment on the last Dog out of Town (the last
bus -grayhound- out of Popillon, known as the White City, in Southern
Colombia) for the Ecuadorian border. We
don’t remember much of the trip after that, but we somehow ended up on
a beach
in Northern
Peru
three days
later.

So it was with sadness if not surprise that we read the following:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 The State Department issued a new warning on Friday
against travel to Colombia, saying Americans and other foreigners faced
an increased threat of being killed or kidnapped in major urban areas.

Twenty-seven Americans have been abducted in various parts of Colombia
since 2000, most of them by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
and the National Liberation Army, two Marxist rebel groups, the State
Department said.

Which brings up another thought. Wouldn’t it be nice if the State
Department had an RSS feed for all of its travel and terrorism advisories,
so they
could pop up in our aggregators mere minutes after they are issued? These
days, with frequent travel and quick changes in security status, this
would be a very useful service. To whom do you suppose such a suggestion
should be addressed?

from the
New York Times