monday, december 24, 2012

Recently Aruba Birdlife Con-servation’s bird calendar 2013was launched. This marks thefifth year of Aruba’s birdwildlife calendars in a row.Every year, the foundation pro-poses a year’s motto. 2012 wasproclaimed “the year of theShoco, the year of Wisdom.”And according to the founda-tion’s president, Greg Peterson,it was. After running a cam-paign for a year, the foundationwas very happy to learn that theMinister responsible for Cul-ture, Mrs. Michelle Hooyboer-Winklaar, had proclaimed theShoco an endemic subspeciesof the Burrowing Owl to be anational symbol of Aruba. tage of the birds during the

past years. By turning itaround into a high quality birdreserve, it could become ajewel of a green area where ourguests from abroad can take astroll and enjoy some of thenature Aruba has to offer.

In a petition submitted tothe Parliament of Aruba, be-sides the Bubaliplas, another16 areas of the island, all veryspecial bird micro-habitats, arerequested to be saved for fu-ture generations.

Continued on page 2

Many good things are comingabout, the reason why the foun-dation proclaims 2013 to be“the year of Going Green, theyear of Nature Conservation.”

Several petitions were sub-mitted to the government in2012. One of the projects en-tails rescuing the bird sanc -tuary Bubaliplas adjacent tothe High-rise hotel area. Thisis one of four of Aruba’s inter-nationally recognized Impor-tant Bird Areas. The quality ofthis bird sanctuary has droppedsignificantly to the disadvan-

Aruba Birdlife Conservati on launches

its Aruba Bird Calendar 2013

view with executive director ofGun Owners of America LarryPratt, appearing to become in-censed and incredulous whenPratt suggested more, notfewer, weapons as the solution.

Continued on page 2

British tabloid editor haslaunched something of a per-sonal crusade for greater guncontrol measures in the wakeof the December 14 massacreat Sandy Hook elementary inNewtown, Connecticut.

On Tuesday, Morgan heldan especially contentious inter-

WASHINGTON (AFP) - USgun rights advocates havesigned a White House petitioncalling for British CNN hostPiers Morgan to be deportedfor allegedly attacking the Se -cond Amendment rights of or-dinary Americans.

The outspoken former

Monday, December 24, 2012

US gun advocates seek deportation

of Piers Morgan

arms" in the US constitution.Morgan insists America can

outlaw military-style assaultweapons and high-capacitymagazines without infringingon people's constitutionalrights and says he has no quar-rel with the Second Amend-ment.

Two days after the petitioncalling for Morgan's deporta-tion was posted, it had alreadygarnered more than 19,000 sig-natures, closing in quickly onthe 25,000 required to get a re-sponse from the White House.

A defiant Morgan refusedto back down from his posi-tion.

"Ironic U.S. gun rightscampaign to deport me for 'at-tacking 2nd Amendmentrights' - is my opinion not pro-tected under 1st Amendmentrights?," he posted on his Twit-ter feed Saturday, referring tofreedom of speech provisions.

"You're an unbelievably stupidman, aren't you?" Morgan saidat one point during the heateddebate. "You have absolutelyno coherent argument. Youdon't actually give a damnabout the gun murder rate inAmerica."

Following the interview, aTexas journalist posted a peti-tion on the White House web-site alleging Morgan "isengaged in a hostile attackagainst the US Constitution bytargeting the Second Amend-ment."

"We demand that Mr. Mor-gan be deported immediatelyfor his effort to undermine theBill of Rights and for exploit-ing his position as a nationalnetwork television host tostage attacks against the rightsof American citizens," it says.

Many Americans believe inthe literal interpretation of theSecond Amendment, whichenshrines the "right to bear

Nicolas (5840888/5940404)and Envogue Coiffures, Es-ther Melenhorst, Noord CuraCabai (5840397/5927778).

They cost Afls. 12,50 apiece. All funds go to theAruba Birdlife Conservationfoundation.

dars can be purchased atHuchada at the Certified MegaMall on the Boulevard, Hucha -da Santa Cruz, Checkpoint-color at the end of our main -street in Oranjestad, K & G –Guisseppe Alders, PastoorHendrikstraat 100-A in San

hopes for 2013. “Preservingthese areas is not only very im-portant for the locals but willalso enhance the quality ofAruba for our visiting guests,among which many bird andnature lovers.

The Aruba Birdlife Calen-

Important Bird Areas and oneRamsar recognized wetlandarea. To date, neighter birds inAruba, nor such areas are pro-tected. Aruba is on the verylate side compared to othercountries when it comes to na-ture protection. But ArubaBirdlife Conservation has high

The petition entails that theseareas be added to Aruba’s Na-tional Park Arikok and throughsuch attain the status of na-tional park, the only protectedarea in Aruba.

Among the 17 areas men-tioned in the petition, there are4 internationally recognized

2 Monday, December 24, 2012

Aruba Birdlife Conservati on launches its Aruba Bird Calendar 2013

Continued from page 1

US gun advocates seek...Continued from page 1

selves and invite Jesus intotheir lives and allow him totransform our lives. We are ona slow downward trend interms of our morals and law-lessness, and if we don’t wakeup and let Jesus into our lives,the slide downward will con-tinue and Aruba will no longerbe the welcome place that it istoday!

We want a better Aruba;this is very possible if we focuson Jesus. Celebrate the reasonfor the season, Jesus, and let’smake him supreme this Christ-mas. He came to bring uspeace and joy. May His peaceand joy reign in your heart thisChristmas...Merry Christmasfrom all of us at The MorningNews!

Some 2000 years ago a multi-tude of angels and a few shep-herds in an open field inancient Jerusalem rejoiced glo-riously when the angelsbrought the good news of thebirth of Jesus. That angelic hostsang praises because Jesus wasborn and would bring us salva-tion and peace. Later a group ofwise men saddled their animalsand made the long and dange -rous journey to Bethlehem tosee this newborn Jesus andbring him precious gifts.

Today, friends, we celebratebecause we know what Christ-mas means. It is not simply atime to give and receive gifts,a time to party and get drunk,no...We celebrate Jesus! ThisJesus came to change ourworld. He changed how wethink about each other; he gaveus new dignity and meaning inlife. He has given mankind thepower to become whatever wewant to be.

Aruba is celebrating today,because we know the meaningof the season. Jesus came toforgive sins and to give usnewness of life. Aruba can bea much better place to live ifeveryone would humble them-

Another Christmas celebrationis here again! We still remem-ber the 2011 celebration as if itwere yesterday! We have allgotten a year older, and per-haps even wiser. The world haschanged considerably in thisone year. In some ways thechange was for the better andin other ways it was for theworst. The past year was filledwith gloom and sadness hereand in other countries aroundthe world.

This Christmas in manyways is no different from allthe other Christmases. ThisChristmas too is celebratedaround the world because ofJesus, it is His birthday. Some-body put it very nicely andmeaningfully when they saidthat...“Jesus is the reason forthe season.”

He is, indeed the only rea-son for our celebration. With-out Jesus we have an emptyand meaningless Christmas!

Jesus decided to come toearth to show us God and to re-veal God’s great love formankind, yes for YOU. Themusic, the singing and rejoic-ing today is because Jesuscame to bring us salvation!

Monday, December 24, 2012 3

For info call: 5875010 Email:

[email protected]:

www.laquintaaruba.net

Time Sharefor SALE

EDITORIAL

Christmas can change Aruba!

clusive and private affair, sa-voring the restaurant’s best

and most juicy steaksand seafood. DirectorErin Croes thanked hercrew for their creativityand dedication, praisingher staff for their per-formance this year, asthey each contributedgene rously to the suc-cess of the station.

The party went onafter-hours, at GarufaUltra Lounge, with livemusic by Gibison, andlead singer Ana Para.

gated in the restaurant’s pri-vate room and enjoyed an ex-

El Gaucho Argentine Grillhosted a group of radio perso -nalities for dinner and drinks,celebrating the successfulconclusion of 2012. The partywas given by Magic 96.5FMdirector Erin Croes, betterknown as the queen of the air-ways, and her business asso-ciate Jacky Erasmus.

Invitees included all DJsand news reporters, attestingto the station’s exception col-lection of media stars andcommunication power, in-cluding George Winterdaal,Yeimy Yepes, David Wing,Elsa Krosendijk, and Gio-vanni Muller, all popularhousehold names here, be-sides the equally fa-mous Kenny Kool -man, Reno Irausquin,Tendo Boekhoudt andIrving de Cuba. Alsoon hand to join in thefun the recently re-cruited talk showhosts Jacky Suttle,Tabitha Fecunda andRona Coster, of96.5% Pica, in addi-tion to special invi-tees, family membersand close friends.

The group congre-


El Gaucho entertains Magic at a

fantastic Holiday party

There were an estimated310 million non-military fire -arms in the United States in2009, roughly one per citizen,and people in America are 20times more likely to be killedby a gun than someone in an-other developed country.

The NRA has been in thecrosshairs since the SandyHook massacre and took theunusual step on Friday of hold-ing a press conference andspeaking out on the tragedy.

But rather than come out insupport of limited gun controlmeasures, the lobby -- whichretains a powerful influenceover politicians, especiallyfrom rural districts where gunowners are the norm -- de-manded that armed police bedeployed to every school in thecountry.

LaPierre reaffirmed that po-sition yesterday and launched afierce defense of gun owners'rights, which he portrayed asbeing imperiled by rich folk incities, elite politicians and ahysterical media.

"The average guy in thecountry values his freedom,doesn't believe the fact that hecan own a gun is part of theproblem and doesn't like themedia and all these high-profilepoliticians blaming him," hesaid.

President Barack Obamasaid he would support a newbill to ban assault rifles and putVice President Joe Biden incharge of a panel looking at awide range of other measures,from school security to mentalhealth.

Democratic Senator DianeFeinstein has pledged to table abill on January 3 that wouldban at least 100 military-stylesemi-automatic assault wea -pons, and would curb the trans-fer, importation and thepossession of such arms.

"I think that is a phony pieceof legislation, and I do not be-lieve it will pass for this rea-son," LaPierre told NBC's"Meet the Press." "It is all builton lies that have been foundout. We don't think it works andwe're not going to support it."

The NRA points to the factthat the 1999 shooting atColumbine High School, when12 kids and a teacher weregunned down by two seniorstudents, occurred despite si -milar legislation being in forceat the time.

"I don't think it will work. Ikeep saying it, and you justwon't accept it: it's not going towork, it hasn't worked. DianneFeinstein had her previous banand Columbine occurred,"LaPierre said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - TheNRA, the most powerful gunlobby in the United States,ruled out any support yesterdayfor greater regulation offirearms or ammunition maga-zines after the Sandy Hook el-ementary school massacre.

Wayne LaPierre, the execu-tive vice president of the Na-tional Rifle Association, saidplanned legislation to outlawmilitary-style assault weaponsand large-capacity magazineswas "phony" and would notwork.

He repeated the NRA's callto place an armed guard inevery school and argued thatprosecuting criminals and fix-ing the mental health system,rather than gun control, werethe solutions to America's massshooting epidemic.

On December 14, a dis-turbed local man, 20-year-oldAdam Lanza, killed his motherin their Newtown, Connecticuthome before embarking on ahorrific spree at a local elemen-tary school. He burst into SandyHook elementary and shot dead20 six- and seven-year old chil-dren and six adults with a mi -litary-style assault rifle beforetaking his own life with a hand-gun as police closed in.

The bloodshed reopened anational debate on gun laws.

US lobby issues point-blank 'no'on gun control

An official with Moscow'seducation department said thatyounger children could stayhome today.

Russia has been in the gripsof an intense and unseasonablechill for the past 10 days or so.Temperatures have fallen tobelow minus 50 Celsius ineastern Siberia, and minus 20in Moscow. The temperaturesare 12 degrees lower than sea-sonal norms, with such chillsnot normally arriving until Jan-uary or February.

The vicious cold snap hasalso claimed lives across east-ern Europe.

MOSCOW (AFP) - A deadlycold snap has claimed 88 livesacross Russia, officials saidyesterday, as Moscow authori-ties told schoolchildren theycould stay home to avoid thefrigid temperatures.

Temperatures across thecapital region dropped to al-most minus 30 degrees Celsius(minus 22 Fahrenheit)overnight.

Aside from the 88 peoplewho have perished, another538 people needed hospitaltreatment, Russian newsagency Ria Novosti said, citinga medical source.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Cold snap claims 88 lives

in Russia

"Puntland government for -ces conducting a humanitarianrescue operation have safelyrescued 22 hostages on boardthe MV Iceberg 1 vessel," ac-cording to the statement fromthe semi-autonomous northernstate.

Government forces firstsurrounded the vessel on De-cember 10 near the coastal vil-lage of Garaad in the Mudugregion, which lies along the In-dian Ocean. The 4,000-tonship was seized in the Gulf ofAden in March 2010 with acrew of 24 people.

through a humanitarian crisiswith food shortages becauseof the regime's siege of thearea.

The LCC said dozens ofpeople had been queueingoutside the bakery after notha ving had any bread for sev-eral days.

earlier reported "dozens"killed, said the death tollcould rise as at least 50 peo-ple had also been criticallywounded.

The Local CoordinationCommittees activist groupdenounced "the massacrecommitted by regime forces,"and said Halfaya was going

BEIRUT (AFP) - More than60 civilians were killedyesteray in a strike by Syrianregime warplanes on peoplequeueing outside a bakery inthe rebel-held town of Hal-faya in the central province ofHama, a watchdog said.

The Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights, which had

woman who was clinging to atree by a flooded river.

She had been swept awaywhile trying to climb onto theroof of her car. Passers-by res-cued her husband and son, whohad been in the car with her.

In the county of Cornwall,next to Devon, local authori-ties said at least 170 homes hadbeen affected by floods.

"We certainly haven't heardthe last of the flooding stories,"said Tony Conlan, a forecasterwith Meteogroup. "There is nosign of settled weather on theway for at least the next week."

The bad weather disruptedrail services across Britain,with trains in Devon and Corn-wall especially affected.

Floo ding on roads causedaddi tional head aches forChristmas commuters.

LONDON (AFP) - Heavyflooding across parts of Britaincaused widespread road andrail disruption yesterday, wrea -king havoc on Christmas travelplans while rescuers worked toevacuate people from the har -dest-hit communities.

Torrential rains lashed partsof Britain last week, causingproblems especially in southWales, southwest England andnear Aberdeen in Scotland.

The Environment Agencysaid rescuers helped residentsof 25 flooded homes evacuateafter the River Exe burst itsbanks in Stoke Canon in theEnglish county of Devon.Homes were also floo ded inStonehaven, near Aberdeen.

In Umberleigh, near Barn-staple in Devon, rescue wor -kers in a lifeboat saved a


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Travel misery as floods hit

Britain

More than 60 dead in air strike on Syria

bakery, says watchdog

MOGADISHU (AFP) -Troops from the Somali regionof Puntland yesterday rescued22 hostages held by pirates foralmost three years after theirship was seized off the Yemenicoast, the authorities said,adding that the men bore signsof torture.

The crew, from the Dubai-owned and Panamanian-flagged MV Iceberg 1 werefreed after two weeks of fight-ing and a siege of the vessel offthe coast of Somalia, the Punt-land authorities said in a state-ment.

Somali troops free 22 hostagesheld almost three years


doors of their sales office on-site at Eagle Beach, in a spa-cious plot right next to thegourmet Screaming Eaglerestaurant. The project is di-rected towards discerningclients seeking a top qualityproperty on Aruba in an ideal,tranquil, beachfront location.Prospective property ownerswill find the Cas Bon peopleenjoy an exceptional reputa-tion on Aruba for excellenceand reliability. Contact thesales office at 587-5300 or732-0000.or visit their web-site: http:// www.o-eagle-beacharuba.com.

Rosalie Klein

ing, which is integrated intoconstruction. Homeownerswill have input into the finish-ing they prefer in the kitchenand other rooms, to customizeyour condominium to yourtaste. Public amenities will in-clude an elegant pool deck,concierge services, loungearea, BBQ station, fitnessroom, assigned parking, addi-tional outside storage for bicy-cles and personal items, and24-hour security. A quiet, se-cluded section of Eagle beachis only a few steps from thefront door.

Today at 10:00 AM, O Con-dominiums officially opens the

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Each apartment sports anextremely spacious 35 squaremeter covered terrace over-looking the sea. Windows willbe double-paned and doors

Aruba’s most successful deve -lopers of secure, superior com-munities for both the local andvisitor market, will soon breakground on what they considertheir most exclusive project in16 years of unmatched qualityand service. O Condominiumsis the new pet project of CasBon, the same people who de-veloped the innovative GoldCoast Villas community inMalmok.

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had found no indication topUBS executives were aware ofthe misconduct.

But Weber acknowledgedthat responsibility for the Liborscandal lay "not only with thepeople who committed crimes,but also with those who weretasked with supervising them,"noting that people not directlyinvolved in manipulating rateshad also been fired.

The French-language dailyLe Matin meanwhile reportedin its Sunday edition that UBShad not only contributed tomanipulating global interestrates on the dollar, the Britishpound and the yen.

It also "systematicallyplayed with interest rates onthe Swiss franc. And that formore than 10 years," Le Matinreported.

Quoting findings in a USjustice department probe, thepaper said there was evidencethat UBS traders had manipu-lated the rates from 2001.

The paper criticised Swit -zerland's financial regulatorFINMA for not looking furtherback than 2007 when it calcu-lated UBS's misdeeds inSwitzerland, and also lam-basted the Swiss national bankfor not releasing numbers onhow much the bank had costthe Swiss economy.

The Swiss portion of thebank's massive fine amountedto just 59 million Swiss francs($64 million).

GENEVA (AFP) - Swiss bank-ing giant UBS, hit with mas-sive fines for manipulatingglobal interest rates, haslearned its lesson and is im-proving its control mecha-nisms, its chairman AxelWeber insisted in an interviewpublished yesterday.

"We must learn from thiscrisis and avoid further da -mage to the bank," Weber toldthe Blick in a joint interviewwith UBS chief executive Ser-gio Ermotti. "We are in theprocess of improving the con-trol systems."

His comments came as aseparate report charged thatUBS had not only manipulatedglobal interest rates, but hadalso tampered with Swiss francinterest rates for more than adecade.

UBS did not immediatelyrespond to requests for com-ment.

US, British and Swiss au-thorities last week hit Switzer-land's largest bank with $1.5billion in fines -- the second-largest banking penalty ever --for massive misconduct in thesetting of the Libor rate.

That rate is used as a bench-mark for global financial con-tracts worth about $300 trillionand affects financial productsworldwide such as studentloans and mortgages.

Both Weber and Ermottistressed in yesterday's inter-view that Swiss investigators

Americans and hundreds ofbillions of dollars in automaticgovernment spending cutswould kick in next month -actions that could plunge theU.S. economy back into re-cession.

Before his defeat in Con-gress, Boehner had extracteda compromise from Obama toraise taxes on Americans ma -king more than $400,000 ayear, instead of the president'spreference of those with in-come of $250,000 a year.

But with talks stalled onthe level of spending cuts towhich Obama would agree,Boehner attempted a backupplan to raise taxes only onthose making more than $1million a year - amounting tojust 0.18 percent of Ameri-cans.

Obama said he wanted tosign legislation extendingBush-era tax cuts for 98 per-cent of Americans in the com-ing days.

The Democrat appeared tobe offering bickering lawma -kers a way to fix the mostpressing challenge - tax cutsthat expire soon - while leav-ing thorny topics such as au-tomatic spending cuts orex ten- ding the debt ceilingfor later.

Obama called on lawmak-ers to use the holiday break tocool off frayed nerves, "drinksome eggnog, have someChristmas cookies, sing someChristmas carols," and comeback next week ready to makea deal.

If there is no agreement,taxes would go up on all

WASHINGTON - The WhiteHouse on Friday tried to res-cue stalled talks on a fiscalcrisis after a Republican planimploded in Congress, butthere was little headway aslawmakers and PresidentBarack Obama abandonedWashington for Christmas.

In remarks before flying toHawaii for a break, Obamasuggested reaching a short- term deal on taxes and exten -ding unemployment insuranceto avoid the worst effects ofthe "fiscal cliff" on ordinaryAmericans at the start of theNew Year.

"We've only got 10 days todo it. So I hope that everymember of Congress is think-ing about that. Nobody canget 100 percent of what theywant," said Obama.

Monday, december 24, 2012 11

Thursday’s

Crossword answer

FINANCE

Obama tries to rescue fiscal talks for

post-Christmas deal

Chairman: UBS tighteningcontrols after Libor scandal

Dock workers prepare for strikeSAVANNAH -- U.S. dockworkers at ports along the East andGulf Coast will likely go on strike next weekend as contract ne-gotiations have deteriorated, officials say.

Contract negotiations between the International Longshore-men's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which rep-resents shipping interests and management at 14 ports fromBoston to Houston, broke down Tuesday, the Savannah (Ga.)Morning News reported.

With no meetings between the two parties scheduled beforeSaturday, when current contracts expire, a dockworkers strikelooks likely, officials say.

Astrike would disrupt the delivery of everything from retailgoods and food items to manufacturing parts.


LOS ANGELES (AFP) -Hordes of North Americanmoviegoers flocked to the-aters to watch "The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey,"launching the "Lord of theRings" prequel to box officegold for the second weekendin a row.

Industry estimates said"The Hobbit" earned $36.7million Friday to Sunday.

In its opening weekend,the film scored $84.6 millionin the US and Canada, and$138.2 million internation-ally, for an estimated globaltotal of $223 million, accord-ing to New Line Cinema,which said it was the biggestopening for any "Lord of theRings" film.

Box office watchers said itwas the biggest December open-ing in motion picture history.

The epic stars MartinFreeman of British TV's"Sherlock" fame and IanMcKellen, reprising his roleas Gandalf the Grey. It wasdirected by Peter Jacksonbased on the classic fantasy

novels by J.R.R. Tolkien.Well behind in second

place was newcomer "JackReacher," a crime drama fea-turing Tom Cruise investigat-ing fictional shootings by atrained military sniper.

The film opened with a$15.6 million take at the boxoffice, according to industrytracker Exhibitor Relations.

Judd Apataw's comedy"This is 40," billed as "a sort-ofsequel" to the 2007 film"Knocked Up," debuted in thirdposition, taking in $12 million.

That pushed "Rise of theGuardians," a Dreamworksholiday confection featuringJack Frost, the Tooth Fairy,the Sandman and a tattooedRussian Santa Claus, intofourth place with $5.9 million.

"Lincoln" -- starringDaniel Day-Lewis as the16th US president -- pickedup $5.6 million, good forfifth place. The film got abump after earning sevenGolden Globe nominationsearlier this month, the mostof any film this year.

'Hobbit' slays competitionfor second weekend in a

PARIS (AFP) - Scientist inthe United States on Sundayoffered a molecular-level ex-planation for how a Chineseherbal medicine used formore than 2,000 years tacklesfever and eases malaria.

The herb is an extract ofthe root of a flowering plantcalled blue evergreen hy-drangea, known in Chineseas chang shan and in Latin asDichroa febrifuga Lour.

Chang shan's use datesback to the Han dynasty of206 BC to 220 AD, accordingto ancient documents record-ing Chinese oral traditions.

In 2009, researchers madeinsights into its active ingre-dient, febrifuginone, whichcan be pharmaceuticallymade as a molecule calledhalofuginone.

They found that halofugi-none prevented production ofrogue Th17 immune cellswhich attack healthy cells,causing inflammation thatleads to fever.

A study published in thejournal Nature on Sundayfound halofuginone works byhampering production of pro-

teins for making "bad" Th17cells, but not the "good"ones.

Specifically, it blocksmolecules called transferRNA (tRNA), whose job is to

assemble a protein bit by bit,in line with the DNA codewritten in the gene.

As for malaria, halofugi-none appears to interfere withthe same protein-assemblyprocess that enables malariaparasites to live in the blood,the study said.

"Our new results solved amystery that has puzzled peo-ple about the mechanism thathas been used to treat feverfrom a malaria infectiongoing back probably 2,000years or more," said PaulSchimmel, who headed theteam at the Scripps ResearchInstitute in California.

Halofuginone has beentested in small-scale humantrials to treat cancer and mus-cular dystrophy. Drug engi-neers also eye it as a potentialtool for combatting inflam-matory bowel disease andrheumatoid arthritis, whichare also autoimmune dis-eases.

Revealed: secrets of ancient Chinesemedicinal herb

Blue Evergreen Hydrangea


Arubianas represents Aru-bian culture in a line ofunique “ One Happy flipflops “ paired with a collec-tion of Chiffon and Silk re-sort-wear tunics, kaftans andsarong skirts printed with thesame flip flops images.

The arubianas flip flopshave the flags and images ofdifferent countries on, so ourtourists may buy them as sou-venirs, expressing their indi-vidual identity,making themhappy and comfortable.

Arubianas flip flops aredesigned with original au-thentic of Aruba’s fauna and

flora- showing off our ownlocal Shoco (Owl ), iguanas,

and snakes, then animalprints such as zebra withturquoise, army print andtribal images. The arubianauthentic images weretaken around our beauti-ful island, at special spotslike Bushiribana, Arashi,Fontein, Dos Playa,Colony, Lago Heights,Ayo Rock Formations, inSta Cruz…and manymore..

Simultaneously, theArubianas flip flops is re-vealing the line of USA,Canada, Brazil, Colom-bia, Venezuela, theNetherlands and ofcourse, the Arubian flag!!

Arubianas Flip Flopsare Available at:

Wine & Spirit, TheJuggling Fish at PlayaLinda Resort, San MarinaPalm Beach Plaza &Oranjestad, Dshop (Dian-leri), La Boutique PaseoHerencia, De Wit Stores,arubianas kiosk at RoyalPlaza, Larimar Spa, Trop-ical Breeze Radisson,Tradewinds Westin andTropical Market Marriott

Ocean Club....more soon!

You can't leave Aruba without yourarubianas ” One Happy Flip Flops ”

LONDON (AFP) - PrinceWilliam and his pregnantwife Catherine will spendChristmas Day at her parents'family house, instead of withQueen Elizabeth II, Britishroyal officials said Saturday.

The second-in-line to thethrone and the former KateMiddleton will be at the Mid-dleton residence in Buckle-bury, a village west ofLondon, a spokesman for StJames's Palace said.

"The Duke and Duchessof Cambridge will spendChristmas Day privately withthe Middleton family," thespokesman said, using the of-ficial titles given to the cou-ple after they married in April2011.

They plan to visit thequeen's Sandringham Estatein Norfolk, eastern England,later in the festive season, thepalace said. The monarch andher husband Prince Philip

were understood to have ap-proved the couple's decision.

The Cambridges spentChristmas at Sandringhamlast year, at a time whenPhilip was in hospital afterundergoing a heart proce-dure.

It will be the first Christ-mas since William andCatherine, both 30, an-nounced that they are expect-ing their first child together.

Catherine spent severaldays in hospital in Londonearlier this month with severemorning sickness.

Her father Michael andmother Carole, who run aparty supplies business, andher sister Pippa and brotherJames are all expected to bespending Christmas withCatherine and William.

Pippa -- who became fa-mous for the figure-huggingdress she wore at the royalwedding -- said recently thather father Michael oftendonned fancy dress forChristmas.

William and Kate snub queenfor Middletons at Christmas

LONDON (AFP) - TheRolling Stones' guitarist Ron-nie Wood has married his

girlfriend of eight months, atheatre producer 31 years hisjunior, newspapers said Sat-

urday.Wood, 65, married 34-

year-old Sally Humphreys atLondon's Dorchester Hotel,in a low-key ceremony Fri-day attended by best manRod Stewart, plus Paul Mc-Cartney.

"I'm feeling great," TheSun quoted Wood as saying.

Pictures showedHumphreys in a white wed-ding dress with Wood dressedin a dark suit and tie withpink socks, a packet of ciga-rettes in his hand.

"It was excellent, so great.Brilliant," he said.

The Daily Mirror quotedHumphreys as saying: "I'mreally excited. And for any-one interested, I'm wearingmy mum's wedding dress."

In its editorial, The Sun

said: "The old rocker mayneed all his famous energy.At 34, his bride is half hisage. Let's hope she showssome sympathy for the olddevil."

Wood, who has playedwith the Stones since 1975and has publicly battledagainst drug and alcohol ad-diction, left his second wifeJo in 2008 for a 21-year-oldformer cocktail waitress,Ekaterina Ivanova.

His divorce from Jo, hiswife for more than 20 yearsand the mother of two of hischildren, was finalised lastyear.

He had previously beenmarried to Krissy Findlay,with whom he had a son,from 1971 to 1978.

Rolling Stone Wood weds for third time


An elegant décor with abreezy terrace overlookingPalm Beach welcomes gueststo Varella Innocencia’s verypopular restaurant showcas-ing authentic local cuisine:The Queen’s.

They may havemoved from Oranjestad tohipper new digs in PalmBeach Plaza, but the food andprices are strictly native,

which is what first won thischarming eatery their loyalclientele. Varella’s mom,Luisa, is still in the kitchen,conjuring up the deliciousdishes that have been in herfamily for generations, ac-knowledged on the menuwith items such as “CarniStoba di Mamachi”-“Grandma’s Beef Stew,” andtheir Arawak Steak, alongwith local delicacies likeKeshi Yena -“Full Cheese.”This is a tasty, filling stew ofchicken, with other ingredi-ents that are handy that day,all incased in a thick skin ofmelted Gouda. It was verysatisfying and particularlymemorable paired with TheQueen’s garlic bread andvery special Pica, a mix ofchopped onions and the fa-mous local hot pepper,Madame Janette. Not overlyspicy, it lends that perfect bitof tang to this deliciously pic-turesque meal.

One of the distinctions ofAruban cuisine is incorporat-ing unique indigenous ingre-dients such as in WildCucumber Stew and a partic-ular light fish chowder ac-companied by the localspecialties pan bati (cornmeal pancake) and funchi(the local version of polenta.)

. Seafood main coursesrange from $14 for Catch of

the Day Aruban Style to $18for shrimp and $20 for amixed seafood platter withshrimp, fish, squid, scallopsand mussels. Meat dishessuch as BBQ Chicken andRibs or Grilled Tenderloinrange from $12 to $16, eachincluding a choice of 2 sidedishes; all quite yummy andbargain-priced to boot!

The Queen’s is located onthe second level of PalmBeach Plaza, tucked into acozy corner at the front of themall. If you have a mind totry the real deal in Arubanfood, without a doubt, this isthe way to truly eat like alocal. They are open from11:00 AM to 11:00 PM, daily,offering indoor and outdoordining. Aside from an exten-sive menu they also havedaily specials made fromwhatever is in season andMama Luisa is in the moodto prepare, so don’t forget toask about what isn’t on themenu!

Eat like a local at TheQueen’s restaurant at

Palm Beach Plaza

Varella, Mama Luisa and the next generation of chefs

The delicious Keeshi YenaBy Nancy B. Gibbs

While Christmas shopping ina jewelry store, I discovered aclearance table of gilded orna-ments. Detailed and delicatein design, each had a person-ality all its own. I sortedamong the hundreds of fili-greed masterpieces, pickedout a few and took themhome.

Deciding they were muchtoo pretty to disappear amongthe clutter of a Christmas tree,I used them instead to deco-rate small eight-inch wreaths.When I stood back to admiremy handiwork, a thoughtcrossed my mind: Wouldn'tsome of our family andfriends like these, too?

I raced back to the jewelrystore to discover that the stackof ornaments had been re-duced even further. This timeI bought dozens as I thoughtof the many people whomight enjoy one for the holi-days.

Armed with a glue gun and

bright ribbons of every color,I eagerly began my creativeproject. The wreaths multi-plied like measles and dottedevery flat surface in ourhouse. For days, my familytiptoed around, elbowed theirway through and slept among

the miniature masterpieces.While I tied dainty bows

and glued golden ornaments,my mind wandered to Christ-mases past, and I ponderedhow special each had been. Ithought about others perhapsnot so fortunate. Some peoplein our community didn't havea family to share the joy ofChristmas. Some didn'tbother with holiday decora-

tions. Some never left theirhomes to celebrate the season.

I nodded my head in deter-mined satisfaction. Theywould be at the top of my listto receive a little wreath. Myhusband joined me in the plan,and we set out together to putit into action.

We visited the aged. Wevisited the widowed. We vis-ited the lonely. Each one wasthrilled with our cheery stopsand immediately hung oursmall gifts - often the onlysigns of celebration in theirhomes.

After several days, I real-ized we had made and givenalmost two hundred wreaths.Decorated with love and de-livered with delight, theyfilled many homes and heartswith the joy of Christmas.

And I came to the simplerealization that we were actu-ally the ones who received thegreatest blessing that year.We had found our Christmasspirit in the doing.

With Gladness and Glue


LOS ANGELES(AFP) -Steve Nash made a tri-umphant NBA return for the

Los Angeles Lakers and nowthe perennial contendershope they can finally live upto pre-season expectations asa championship threat.

Nash scored 12 points andpassed out nine assists in 41minutes on the court as theLakers defeated host GoldenState 118-115 in over-time onSaturday. He had missed theprevious 24 games with abroken left leg.

"To play 40 minutes afterseven weeks was more than Icould ask for," Nash said. "I'llhave to keep working on it. Iknow it will be sore andpainful but I'm used to that."

Kobe Bryant scored 34points to lead the Lakers,who improved to 13-14 withtheir fourth victory in a row.It was Bryant's eight game ina row with at least 30 pointsand the 400th such game ofhis career.

"Steve likes to pass. I liketo shoot," Bryant said.

The Lakers have also wel-comed back Spanish powerforward Pau Gasol, whomissed eight games with ten-dinitis in his knees.

Nash's triumphant returnbrings hope for Lakers

LONDON (AFP) - Britishnewspaper The SundayTimes said on Sunday that itis suing Lance Armstrong forover £1 million ($1.6 million,1.2 million euros) over a libelpayment made to the dis-

graced cyclist in 2006.The newspaper paid Arm-

strong £300,000 to settle a libelcase after previously suggest-ing that he may have cheated.

But the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)

subsequently found that hehad led the "most sophisti-cated" doping programme insporting history, leading to alife ban for the Texan, whowas also stripped of his sevenTour de France wins.

British paper sues Armstrong over libel payment

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) is sacked by Cincinnati Bengalsdefensive tackle Geno Atkins in the first quarter of their NFL football game on Sunday,Dec. 23, 2012, in Pittsburgh. Bengals went on to win the match 13-10.

Bengals clinch playoff spot, edge Steelers 13-10


LONDON (AFP) - Manches-ter United manager Alex Fer-guson fumed that SwanseaCity defender AshleyWilliams could have killedRobin van Persie on Sunday,on a day that saw Chelseacrush Aston Villa 8-0 toclimb to third.

Williams struck the pronevan Persie in the back of thehead with the ball during thesecond half of a 1-1 draw atthe Liberty Stadium, spark-ing a furious reaction fromthe Dutchman that culmi-nated in bookings for bothplayers.

Swansea top scorer Michuhad earlier cancelled outPatrice Evra's opener for

United to prevent Ferguson'smen from restoring their six-point advantage over second-place Manchester City at thePremier League summit.

"Robin van Persie is luckyto be alive," said Ferguson.

"It was a disgraceful actfrom their player today andhe should be banned by theFA (Football Association).Robin could have had a bro-ken neck.

"It was one of the mostdangerous things I've seen ona football pitch in many,many years. It was absolutelydeliberate, and right in frontof the referee."

Williams claimed it hadbeen an accident, telling Sky

Sports: "I just cleared the ballwith frustration and unfortu-nately it hit him in the head andhe got a bit angry about it."

Swansea threatened firstin the match, Michu firingoff-target after out-pacing thereturning Nemanja Vidic, be-fore Wayne Rooney and Ash-ley Young tested fit-againSwansea goalkeeper MichelVorm at the other end.

United took the lead in the16th minute, with Evra get-ting in front of his marker todispatch van Persie's cornerand claim his third goal -- allheaders -- of the season.

Michu headed over fromNathan Dyer's cross, but itdid not take long for the

Spaniard to find the net.In the 29th minute, Wayne

Routledge's cute pass freedJonathan de Guzman andwhen his shot was parried byDavid de Gea, Michu fol-lowed up from close range toclaim his 13th league goal ofthe campaign.

It was United's first drawof the season in all competi-tions and leaves them fourpoints above City ahead ofthe home game with Newcas-tle United on Wednesday.

Later in the day, FrankLampard marked his 500thPremier League start with asweetly struck goal asChelsea annihilated Villa 8-0at Stamford Bridge.

Ferguson rages, while eight-goal Chelsea go third

MADRID(AFP) - RealMadrid captain Iker Casillasvowed Sunday to proveJose Mourinho was wrongto drop him from the RealMadrid starting line-up forthe first time in 10 years.

World Cup winner Casil-las was benched for Satur-day's 3-2 defeat at Malagawith 25-year-old under-study Antonio Adan step-ping into the breach.

"I'm not used to being abackup, but above all I am ateam player. The thing to dois to keep training and try toregain my place," Casillastold La Sexta television.

"Mourinho didn't sayanything during the week,but we abide by the decisionof the coach. I am feelinggood, but the one who de-cides is the coach and I haveto keep training to regainhis confidence. We have ahealthy competition for allthe places."

Mourinho, whose cham-pions are 16 points behindleaders Barcelona, contin-ued to insist on Sunday thathe had been right to dropCasillas.

"I have a clear con-science. I try to have thebest team for each match,"said the coach on arriving inLisbon where he will spendthe Christmas vacation.

Axed Casillasvows to prove

Mourinhowrong

monday, december 24, 2012

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