Venda Locação Rentab. Venda Locação Rentab.
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Rentab.
(00-08) - p.p
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Barra/Recreio 138.800 680 0,49% 232.875 1.264 0,54% 67,78% 85,88% 0,05 -14,01% -4,73%
Botafogo/Humaitá 85.571 498 0,58% 229.973 707 0,31% 168,75% 41,97% -0,27 37,74% -27,24%
Copacabana/Leme 82.760 488 0,59% 196.416 986 0,50% 137,33% 102,05% -0,09 21,64% 3,55%
Leblon 171.875 713 0,41% 325.428 1.785 0,55% 89,34% 150,35% 0,13 -2,96% 28,31%
Méier/Lins 54.769 368 0,67% 113.700 523 0,46% 107,60% 42,12% -0,21 6,40% -27,16%
Fonte: Secovi Rio
Out/2000 Out/2008
Bairros
Rentabilidade dos Imóveis de 1 Quarto - (2000 X 2008)
Var. sobre o rendi/o.
acum. da Poupança
(95,11%)
VAR. (%)
Venda Locação Rentab. Venda Locação Rentab.
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Rentab.
(00-08) - p.p
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Barra/Recreio 199.904 961 0,48% 343.727 1.854 0,54% 71,95% 92,92% 0,06 -11,87% -1,12%
Botafogo/Humaitá 130.350 666 0,51% 338.805 1.167 0,34% 159,92% 75,23% -0,17 33,21% -10,19%
Copacabana/Leme 163.457 773 0,47% 344.642 1.765 0,51% 110,85% 128,33% 0,04 8,06% 17,02%
Leblon 247.352 1.241 0,50% 557.105 2.346 0,42% 125,23% 89,04% -0,08 15,43% -3,11%
Méier/Lins 65.951 460 0,70% 144.333 579 0,40% 118,85% 25,87% -0,30 12,16% -35,49%
Rentabilidade dos Imóveis de 2 Quartos - (2000 X 2008)
Bairros
Out/2000 Out/2008 VAR. (%)
Var. sobre o rendi/o.
acum. da Poupança
(95,11%)
Fonte: Secovi Rio
Venda Locação Rentab. Venda Locação Rentab.
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Rentab.
(00-08) - p.p
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Barra/Recreio 301.583 1.317 0,44% 457.936 2.235 0,49% 51,84% 69,70% 0,05 -22,18% -13,02%
Botafogo/Humaitá 198.590 962 0,48% 454.071 1.537 0,34% 128,65% 59,77% -0,15 17,19% -18,11%
Copacabana/Leme 245.325 1.008 0,41% 501.205 2.390 0,48% 104,30% 137,10% 0,07 4,71% 21,52%
Leblon 359.909 1.827 0,51% 699.187 3.008 0,43% 94,27% 64,64% -0,08 -0,43% -15,62%
Méier/Lins 84.363 575 0,68% 192.378 685 0,36% 128,04% 19,13% -0,33 16,87% -38,94%
Fonte: Secovi Rio
Rentabilidade dos Imóveis de 3 Quartos - (2000 X 2008)
Bairros
Out/2000 Out/2008 VAR. (%)
Var. sobre o rendi/o.
acum. da Poupança
(95,11%)
Venda Locação Rentab. Venda Locação Rentab.
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Rentab.
(00-08) - p.p
Venda
(00-08)
Locação
(00-08)
Barra/Recreio 454.545 2.616 0,58% 701.433 3.192 0,46% 54,32% 22,02% -0,12 -20,91% -37,46%
Botafogo/Humaitá 251.923 1.242 0,49% 563.137 1.968 0,35% 123,54% 58,45% -0,14 14,57% -18,79%
Copacabana/Leme 356.037 1.905 0,54% 608.609 2.953 0,49% 70,94% 55,01% -0,05 -12,39% -20,55%
Leblon 519.761 2.859 0,55% 937.435 3.687 0,39% 80,36% 28,96% -0,16 -7,56% -33,90%
Méier/Lins 136.416 761 0,56% 236.687 795 0,34% 73,50% 4,47% -0,22 -11,08% -46,46%
Rentabilidade dos Imóveis de 4 Quartos - (2000 X 2008)
Bairros
Out/2000 Out/2008 VAR. (%)
Var. sobre o rendi/o.
acum. da Poupança
(95,11%)
Fonte: Secovi Rio
Até 50 m² 51 a 100 m² 101 a 150 m² 151 a 200 m² 201 a 250 m² Mais de 250 m² Média TOTAL
Valor Total Médio R$ 188.232 R$ 278.829 - - - - R$ 258.048
Tamanho Médio 44 69 - - - - 63
Valor Médio do m² R$ 4.278 R$ 4.041 - - - - R$ 4.096
Valor Médio - R$ 289.600 - - - - R$ 298.972
Tamanho Médio - 80 - - - - 82
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 3.620 - - - - R$ 3.646
Valor Médio - R$ 324.075 R$ 510.570 R$ 647.459 - - R$ 483.840
Tamanho Médio - 87 122 167 - - 120
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 3.725 R$ 4.185 R$ 3.877 - - R$ 4.032
Valor Médio - - R$ 513.480 R$ 782.772 R$ 985.812 R$ 1.560.429 R$ 798.645
Imóveis Ofertados para VENDA - BARRA (Jul/09)
1 Quarto
2 Quartos
3 Quartos
Tamanho Médio - - 132 172 226 318 185
Valor Médio do m² - - R$ 3.890 R$ 4.551 R$ 4.362 R$ 4.907 R$ 4.317
Valor Médio Geral R$ 478.142
Tamanho Médio Geral 119
Valor Médio do m² Geral R$ 4.018
Itens Condomínio (Qt) Quartos (%) Suítes (%) Vagas (%)
1 R$ 635,00 5,0% 48,0% 24,0%
2 R$ 655,00 35,0% 16,0% 28,0%
3 R$ 828,00 32,0% 6,0% 15,0%
4 R$ 1.159,00 28,0% 7,0% 5,0% jun/09 jul/09 Variação (%)
Ñ. Informado - 0,0% 23,0% 28,0% Ofertas 3.806 4.044 6,25%
Número de Ofertas - Jun X Jul
Fonte: Secovi Rio
4 Quartos
Perfil dos Imóveis Ofertados - BARRA
Até 50 m² 51 a 100 m² 101 a 150 m² 151 a 200 m² 201 a 250 m² Mais de 250 m² Média TOTAL
Valor Total Médio R$ 199.178 R$ 256.896 - - - - R$ 231.336
Tamanho Médio 41 64 - - - - 54
Valor Médio do m² R$ 4.858 R$ 4.014 - - - - R$ 4.284
Valor Médio - R$ 312.546 - - - - R$ 311.497
Tamanho Médio - 78 - - - - 79
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 4.007 - - - - R$ 3.943
Valor Médio - R$ 371.553 R$ 540.749 R$ 643.825 - - R$ 504.714
Tamanho Médio - 91 121 175 - - 122
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 4.083 R$ 4.469 R$ 3.679 - - R$ 4.137
Imóveis Ofertados para VENDA - BOTAFOGO (Jul/09)
1 Quarto
2 Quartos
3 Quartos
Valor Médio - - R$ 716.032 R$ 809.100 R$ 822.042 R$ 1.099.964 R$ 879.308
Tamanho Médio - - 128 186 234 292 193
Valor Médio do m² - - R$ 5.594 R$ 4.350 R$ 3.513 R$ 3.767 R$ 4.556
Valor Médio Geral R$ 480.624
Tamanho Médio Geral 114
Valor Médio do m² Geral R$ 4.216
Itens Condomínio (Qt) Quartos (%) Suítes (%) Vagas (%)
1 R$ 268,00 7,0% 40,0% 26,0%
2 R$ 430,00 33,0% 7,0% 18,0%
3 R$ 588,00 44,0% 1,0% 3,0%
4 R$ 858,00 15,0% 0,0% 1,0% jun/09 jul/09 Variação (%)
Ñ. Informado - 1,0% 52,0% 52,0% Ofertas 762 747 -1,97%
4 Quartos
Perfil dos Imóveis Ofertados - BOTAFOGO
Número de Ofertas - Jun X Jul
Fonte: Secovi Rio
Até 50 m² 51 a 100 m² 101 a 150 m² 151 a 200 m² 201 a 250 m² Mais de 250 m² Média TOTAL
Valor Total Médio R$ 195.000 R$ 288.000 - - - - R$ 222.000
Tamanho Médio 40 61 - - - - 46
Valor Médio do m² R$ 4.875 R$ 4.721 - - - - R$ 4.826
Valor Médio - R$ 384.000 R$ 449.000 - - - R$ 398.000
Tamanho Médio - 82 113 - - - 90
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 4.683 R$ 3.973 - - - R$ 4.422
Valor Médio - R$ 417.000 R$ 548.000 R$ 732.000 R$ 868.000 - R$ 614.000
Tamanho Médio - 92 123 171 221 - 142
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 4.533 R$ 4.455 R$ 4.281 R$ 3.928 - R$ 4.324
2 Quartos
3 Quartos
Imóveis Ofertados para VENDA - COPACABANA (Jul/09)
1 Quarto
Valor Médio - - - R$ 660.000 R$ 1.256.000 R$ 1.405.000 R$ 1.152.000
Tamanho Médio - - - 182 231 328 270
Valor Médio do m² - - - R$ 3.626 R$ 5.437 R$ 4.284 R$ 4.267
Valor Médio Geral R$ 583.000
Tamanho Médio Geral 134
Valor Médio do m² Geral R$ 4.351
Itens Condomínio (Qt) Quartos (%) Suítes (%) Vagas (%)
1 R$ 255,00 15,6% 31,7% 32,0%
2 R$ 415,00 23,7% 7,5% 7,4%
3 R$ 563,00 39,8% 1,7% 1,9%
4 R$ 869,00 20,6% 1,0% 0,9% jun/09 jul/09 Variação (%)
Ñ. Informado - 0,3% 58,1% 57,7% Ofertas 2.490 2.322 -6,75%
4 Quartos
Perfil dos Imóveis Ofertados - COPACABANA
Número de Ofertas - Jun X Jul
Fonte: Secovi Rio
Até 50 m² 51 a 100 m² 101 a 150 m² 151 a 200 m² 201 a 250 m² Mais de 250 m² Média TOTAL
Valor Total Médio R$ 285.474 R$ 549.668 - - - - R$ 370.566
Tamanho Médio 42 67 - - - - 51
Valor Médio do m² R$ 6.797 R$ 8.204 - - - - R$ 7.266
Valor Médio - R$ 595.280 R$ 646.836 - - - R$ 601.828
Tamanho Médio - 80 114 - - - 86
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 7.441 R$ 5.674 - - - R$ 6.998
Valor Médio - R$ 667.008 R$ 888.921 R$ 1.309.574 - - R$ 928.070
Tamanho Médio - 96 123 166 - - 130
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 6.948 R$ 7.227 R$ 7.889 - - R$ 7.139
Imóveis Ofertados para VENDA - LEBLON (Jul/09)
1 Quarto
2 Quartos
3 Quartos
Valor Médio - - R$ 1.051.008 R$ 1.352.208 R$ 1.912.021 - R$ 1.433.520
Tamanho Médio - - 136 176 227 - 180
Valor Médio do m² - - R$ 7.728 R$ 7.683 R$ 8.423 - R$ 7.964
Valor Médio Geral R$ 899.018
Tamanho Médio Geral 122
Valor Médio do m² Geral R$ 7.369
Itens Condomínio (Qt) Quartos (%) Suítes (%) Vagas (%)
1 R$ 315,00 3,0% 45,0% 23,0%
2 R$ 546,00 20,0% 13,0% 28,0%
3 R$ 688,00 39,0% 8,0% 14,0%
4 R$ 998,00 37,0% 4,0% 4,0% jun/09 jul/09 Variação (%)
Ñ. Informado - 1,0% 31,0% 31,0% Ofertas 715 741 3,64%
Número de Ofertas - Jun X Jul
Fonte: Secovi Rio
4 Quartos
Perfil dos Imóveis Ofertados - LEBLON
Até 50 m² 51 a 100 m² 101 a 150 m² 151 a 200 m² 201 a 250 m² Mais de 250 m² Média TOTAL
Valor Total Médio R$ 67.848 R$ 91.161 - - - - R$ 77.376
Tamanho Médio 44 63 - - - - 52
Valor Médio do m² R$ 1.542 R$ 1.447 - - - - R$ 1.488
Valor Médio - R$ 121.978 R$ 177.320 - - - R$ 122.184
Tamanho Médio - 71 110 - - - 72
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 1.718 R$ 1.612 - - - R$ 1.697
Valor Médio - R$ 160.686 R$ 212.980 - - - R$ 177.744
Tamanho Médio - 79 115 - - - 92
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 2.034 R$ 1.852 - - - R$ 1.932
Imóveis Ofertados para VENDA - MEIER (Jul/09)
1 Quarto
2 Quartos
3 Quartos
Valor Médio - R$ 180.630 R$ 265.998 R$ 332.224 - - R$ 262.661
Tamanho Médio - 90 129 179 - - 157
Valor Médio do m² - R$ 2.007 R$ 2.062 R$ 1.856 - - R$ 1.673
Valor Médio Geral R$ 125.475
Tamanho Médio Geral 75
Valor Médio do m² Geral R$ 1.673
Itens Condomínio (Qt) Quartos (%) Suítes (%) Vagas (%)
1 R$ 153,00 5,9% 15,7% 12,4%
2 R$ 255,00 57,5% 1,4% 2,6%
3 R$ 369,00 33,5% 0,2% 0,5%
4 R$ 580,00 2,9% 0,0% 0,0% jun/09 jul/09 Variação (%)
Ñ. Informado - 0,2% 82,7% 84,5% Ofertas 612 579 -5,39%
4 Quartos
Perfil dos Imóveis Ofertados - MEIER
Número de Ofertas - Jun X Jul
Fonte: Secovi Rio
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Pesquisa mostra que preços no Rio subiram, em média, 100% na década
Pesquisa mostra que preços no Rio subiram, em média, 100% na década
Publicada em 05/09/2009 às 16h55m
O GloboRIO - Dobraram. Em média, os preços dos imóveis no Rio subiram 100% em oito anos, segundo levantamento inédito do Sindicato da Habitação (Secovi Rio). A alta é um reflexo do comportamento do mercado imobiliário do país na década, quando houve uma explosão de crédito associada à progressiva queda dos juros. O Morar Bem apresenta, em reportagem de Luciana Calaza deste domingo, o resultado desta pesquisa para os apartamentos de três quartos de cinco bairros - Leblon, Copacabana, Botafogo, Barra da Tijuca e Méier. Barra da Tijuca apresenta uma das maiores taxas condominiais do Rio, indica pesquisa do Secovi Veja pesquisa completa de rentabilidade e preço em cinco bairros do Rio
Botafogo teve o maior aumento, de 128,65% - taxa bem acima da variação da poupança, de 95% no mesmo período -, enquanto a Barra fica na lanterna, com 51,84%. O cálculo compara preços de anúncios de casas e apartamentos à venda entre outubro de 2000 e outubro de 2008.
A pesquisa do Secovi aponta também a variação dos preços de aluguéis no período. De acordo com especialistas, com a taxa Selic na casa de um dígito (8,75%) e tendendo a $ainda mais, os ganhos com o aluguel podem ultrapassar os lucros de fundos de renda fixa. Outro relatório do sindicato, que acaba de ser lançado, informa ainda o valor do metro quadrado, da taxa de condomínio, o tamanho médio dos imóveis e o número de vagas de garagem, segundo o bairro e o número de quartos, entre outros dados.
Leia a íntegra desta reportagem no Globo Digital (só para assinantes)
Barra da Tijuca apresenta uma das maiores taxas condominiais, indica pesquisa de julho do Secovi
Publicada em 04/09/2009 às 10h09m
O GloboRIO - O valor do condomínio é algo que, muitas vezes, causa a impressão de ser um custo excessivo. Esta cobrança pode gerar um certo incômodo no morador ao se deparar com valores diferentes cobrados em outros edifícios, principalmente, quando não se tem conhecimento dos itens considerados no cálculo. As diferenças existem mesmo, principalmente entre bairros, como comprova o relatório do Sindicado de Habitação do Rio de Janeiro (Secovi) sobre rentabilidade e preço dos imóveis. A pesquisa foi feita em cadernos classificados nos meses de junho e julho em 14 bairros da cidade metropolitana com imóveis de 1, 2, 3 e 4 quartos. O Morar Bem fez um recorte de cinco bairros para análise: Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Botafogo, Méier e Leblon para mostrar as diferenças de valor dsa taxas de condomínio. No total, foram 8.433 unidades pesquisadas nos bairros da Barra da Tijuca, Leblon, Copacabana, Botafogo e Méier. No estudo comparativo, a Barra apresenta os maiores valores. Na checagem entre imóveis de um quarto, o valor médio do condomínio no bairro, de R$ 635,00, chega ser o dobro do encontrado no Leblon, de R$ 315,00 e quatro vezes mais o situado no Méier, com R$ 153,00. Em comparação a Copacabana e Botafogo o valor é aproximadamente 2,4 vezes superior.
Segundo o vice-presidente do Secovi, Leonardo Schneider, os motivos para estas diferenças estão na presença de maior número e extensão de áreas comuns nos empreendimentos da Barra que por conseqüência consomem mais água, energia e pessoal. Em prédios de luxo e localizados em bairros de maior poder aquisitivo exige-se maior qualificação por parte dos empregados de portaria levando a maiores salários. Ainda de acordo com Leonardo Schneider, as despesas com pessoal têm maior participação na planilha de custos dos condomínios, chegando a atingir de 30% a 50% do total. Por outro lado, empreendimentos com áreas comerciais pertencentes ao condomínio podem gerar receitas que colaborem para abater as despesas do prédio.
- Amadeu Bueno
07/09/2009 - 21h 19m
FJose, voce e' muito esperto...aposto que e' economista ...inteligente... sabe tudo de financas ....mas mora em um 2 quartos financiado, paga condominio caro, e comprou o carro em 72 meses! ... Vida dura de gente inteligente! Respeite os outros!
- Roger Gonçalves
06/09/2009 - 15h 40m
Acho um absurdo pagar condomínio. O que deveria ser feito é uma reunião de condôminos, apresentar as despesas e dividir em igual por todos, sem a necessidade de ter uma administração pra isso, pois é exatamente isso que eleva os custos.
- FJosé
06/09/2009 - 11h 24m
"Seu topeira", não foram incluídos outros bairros, pois foi feita uma amostragem e não um Censo.
- Jose Mario - e-mail
04/09/2009 - 19h 04m
por que não incluiram outros bairros da zona norte?
- Sosigenes Rocha de Almeida
04/09/2009 - 17h 58m
A análise está coerente. Os imóveis da Barra normalmente têm piscina, sauna, salões de jogos, grandes áreas de play-ground, o que encarece o condomínio. Os imóveis de Botafogo são mais modernos que os de Copacabana, e alguns têm também a infraestrutura da Barra, o que também eleva o valor médio dos condomínios de Botafogo em relação ao de Copacabana.
- CN_RJ
08/09/2009 - 15h 40m
Analisando a tabela fiquei surpreso com o desempenho de Copacabana. Tomando por base o valor geral médio do m2 no bairro (R$ 4.351), Copa perde feio do Leblon (mais que esperado, já que esse é o melhor bairro do Rio), mas ganha de Botafogo (R$ 4.216) e, pasmem, da Barra (R$ 4.018), apesar desses dois últimos terem lançamentos constantes. Nada mau para um bairro considerado decadente e xingado por todos, incluindo os próprios moradores.
- quemundoestranho
08/09/2009 - 12h 22m
MadameBovary, 9,05% ao mês? Por favor, preciso saber que índice financeiro é este e, caso possível, aplicarei nele.
- MadameBovary
08/09/2009 - 12h 09m
100% em 8 anos, a juros compostos, dá uma valoriação equivalente a 9,05% ao mês.
É mais ou menos o que bate os indices financeiros na média. Não vejo nenhum "ganho real" nisso.
Se for isso mesmo, não tem nenhum motivo para ser absurdo. Duvido que em outras praças o resultado nao seja parecido.
Apesar da violencia e etc, o carioca continua migrando de bairro e tb conhece correção monetária. - moon odd
08/09/2009 - 12h 00m
Pra quem tem, tá tudo ótimo. Eu considero o melhor investimento pra quem tem capital pra investir . Agora, vendo o lado social da coisa, fica impraticável se morar no RJ. Alugado, que se dirá em casa própria. Até barraco no morro, que nem propriedade tem, custa dinheiro e custa caro!
- Adriano Val
08/09/2009 - 11h 33m
Caros, não acho q a matéria seja paga. O pessoal q perdeu a noção de preços mesmo.. e o problema é q sempre tem alguém q pague. Um amigo comprou um ap em Vila da Penha, 1a locação, em um ponto relativamente nobre, em 2000, a R$ 80 mil. Hj, não se acha nada parecido a este preço (a menos q seja na boca da favela) na ZNorte. Na Freg, JPA, ap novo? Com menos de R$ 180 mil vc não consegue. E cada vez o tamanho diminui. Tá ficando impossível o sonho da casa própria para classe mais baixa.
- pedrinhorj
08/09/2009 - 11h 05m
Tem que se usar o aumento real e não o nominal. Ao clicar no link da pesquisa pode-se ver que na última coluna há a comparação entre o aumento do preço de venda x o rendimento acumulado da poupança entre 2000 e 2008, que pode servir como uma aproximação da inflação e o que é de fato a forma correta de se comparar.
Lendo a pesquisa vê-se que houveram algumas valorizações, sendo a máxima de 37,74% para um quarto em Botafogo, mas também vários aptos perderam - e feio - para a poupança. - kjungle
08/09/2009 - 10h 38m
Conheço uma senhora que pagou 450.000 em um dois quartos mal localizado em Copacabana. Poderia, entretanto, ter pago 350.000 em um 2 quartos em Ipanema a uma quadra da praia, que foi o que uma tia minha pagou.
Moral da história: "enquanto houver trouxas no mundo os espertos não passarão fome."
O vendedor anuncia ao preço que quiser. O comprador só compra se quiser... - Felipe Oliveira
08/09/2009 - 10h 15m
Não sei se é matéria paga pois tem lançamento em copacabana próximo ao metrô da Arco Verde sendo vendido por 800 mil um dois quartos com 80m2...isso na planta...imagina quando subir. Perderam a noção de dinheiro...o imóvel muito melhor na Barra ou em qq outro lugar custaria a metade no máximo. Mas enfim...se tem trouxa que paga....valoriza os demais...mercado imobiliário é pura especulação..se um vende caro..o seu nunca vai valer menos..e assim vai..
- carlos antonio mendonça santana - e-mail
08/09/2009 - 00h 42m
Isso so pode ser brincadeira, esta me cheirando materia paga, os apartamentos no meier e na tijuca est'ao sendo vendidos a pre;o de banana, so em jacarepagua que os apartamentos est'ao se valorisando,
- Amadeu Bueno
07/09/2009 - 21h 05m
Que babozeira! So O Globo mesmo para vir com um preciosidade desta ... materia paga sem duvida... uma cidade mal cuidada como o Rio de Janeiro, criminalidade e milicia mandam, violencia sem controle, transporte ruim, etc... como pode valorizar? Pedir um determinado preco e' uma coisa, mas sera que vende? E por quanto? Nao vale os precos que as construtoras pedem. Tem que ver o preco de revenda...ai quem tenta vender perde muito... comprar apartamento e' furada! Condominio so' aumenta!.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Norman Borlaug, Nobel laureate for fighting famine, dies
Norman Borlaug, Nobel laureate for fighting famine, dies
04:24 PM CDT on Sunday, September 13, 2009
Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist and father of the "green revolution" who was credited with saving 1 billion lives from famine, died in Dallas at age 95.
Dr. Borlaug died late Saturday night at his home from complications of cancer, said Kathleen Phillips, a Texas A&M University spokeswoman.
Julie Borlaug said her grandfather had time in recent weeks to say goodbye to his children, grandchildren and close friends. One of his last visitors was former Texas A&M president Elsa Murano, who assured him that his colleagues would continue his efforts to combat world hunger. 
FILE/AP Norman Borlaug looked over some sorghum tests in one of Texas A&M University's teaching greenhouses in October 1996.
"And he said 'What about Africa?'" his granddaughter recalled. "And I think that's a testament to the kind of person he was – concerned right to the end."
Dr. Borlaug had been a distinguished professor at Texas A&M in College Station since 1984. He taught during the fall semester and worked the rest of the year on projects to combat world hunger.
"We have lost our strongest champion for reducing hunger worldwide," Dr. Mark Hussey, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences at Texas A&M University, said in a statement issued Sunday. "We must now recommit ourselves to educating and training the next generation of agricultural scientists who will continue Dr. Borlaug's work to reduce world hunger and eliminate famine."
The Nobel committee honored Dr. Borlaug in 1970 for his contributions to high-yield crop varieties and bringing agricultural innovations to the developing world. Many experts credit the green revolution with averting global famine during the second half of the 20th century and saving perhaps 1 billion lives.
"More than any other single person of his age, he has helped to provide bread for a hungry world," Nobel Peace Prize committee chairman Aase Lionaes said in presenting the award to Dr. Borlaug. "We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace."
His roots were in rural America and the Great Depression had a profound influence on his life.
Born March 25, 1914, on his grandparents' farm in Iowa, he attended grade school in a one-room schoolhouse. He played football and baseball, but credited wrestling for teaching him to persevere and give "105 percent."
During the Depression, Dr. Borlaug saw many malnourished men. Their plight stayed with him, he told The Dallas Morning News in a 2007 interview.
"You'd see young people asking for a nickel to buy bread and older people sleeping in the park," he said. "We were a pretty sick nation at that time. It made me tough. I was angry that this kind of condition could exist and persist in our own society."
After World War II, he joined a new program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation to assist poor farmers in Mexico. With a team of young scientists from all over the world, he developed the disease-resistant wheat distinguished by their higher yields and greater adaptability.
In the mid-'60s, doomsayers predicted that war and overpopulation would produce mass starvation in India and Pakistan - and nothing could be done about it. Dr. Borlaug thought his new wheat seeds could help prevent the looming catastrophe.
Bureaucrats initially thwarted him. But as the famine grew worse, he was permitted to move forward. Within a year, wheat yields more than doubled. Over the next eight years, the two countries became self-sufficient in wheat production. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Dr. Borlaug quoted the prize's creator, Alfred Nobel: "I would rather take care of the stomachs of the living than the glory of the departed in the form of monuments."
In July 2007, Dr. Borlaug received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor given by Congress.
Though fame eluded him, he had probably done more than anyone else in history to make the world a better place, said Dr. Ed Runge, retired head of Texas A&M's Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and a close friend who recruited Dr. Borlaug to teach at the university.
Dr. Runge said the two had met in Dallas last week. "I felt he would rank up there with President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. I told him: 'They won the war, but you won the food war.' "
In recent years, Dr. Borlaug had been battling lymphoma. Margaret, the wife of 69 years whom he met in college, died in 2007. She was 95.
He is survived by daughter Jeanie Borlaug Laube and her husband Rex; son William Gibson Borlaug and his wife Barbie; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Julie Borlaug said her grandfather will be cremated, and that plans are being made to hold a memorial service at Texas A&M on Oct. 6. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush are tentatively scheduled to speak.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Autônomo que vira microempreendedor individual economiza em impostos e garante benefícios
Seu negócio
Autônomo que vira microempreendedor individual economiza em impostos e garante benefícios
Publicada em 11/09/2009 às 17h05m
Vivian Pereira Nunes
RIO - O autônomo que tem faturamento de até R$ 36 mil por ano pode economizar no pagamento de impostos e garantir ao mesmo tempo acesso a benefícios como auxílio-doença, licença-maternidade e aposentadoria, ao se tornar um microempreendedor individual (MEI). O custo mensal disso é de R$ 51,15 (INSS), mais R$ 5 no caso de prestadores de serviço ou R$ 1 para quem tem atividades ligadas ao comércio e à indústria.
O MEI é dispensado ainda de emitir nota fiscal para consumidores finais, mas pode fornecer o documento para órgãos que o exigem para comprovar a realização dos serviços. Uma vez por ano, até o final do mês de janeiro, é necessário fazer a declaração anual de faturamento à Receita Federal, embora a categoria seja isenta de pagar Imposto de Renda (IR).
Entretanto, para se tornar um microempreendedor individual, é preciso desempenhar uma atividade que esteja na lista do programa lançado em julho pelo Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria e Comércio Exterior (MDIC), com o objetivo de incentivar a formalização de 10 milhões de profissionais. Entre as funções listadas estão as de pintor, cabeleireiro, manicure, sapateiro, pipoqueiro, entre outros.
Atualmente, é possível fazer a adesão ao programa em nove estados - Ceará, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina e São Paulo - e no Distrito Federal. As demais unidades da federação devem ser incluídas até o fim do ano.
Além de preencher os requisitos de renda e atividade, o interessado não pode ter sócio, participar de outra empresa e contratar mais de um empregado. Para dar início ao processo de se tornar um microempreendedor individual fazendo sua inscrição gratuita no Portal do Empreendedor. Ele pode contar ainda com a ajuda gratuita do Sebrae e de uma empresa de contabilidade que tenha sido beneficiada pelo Simples Nacional (há uma lista disponível no mesmo site.
Graças a um convênio com a Federação Nacional das Empresas de Serviços Contábeis (Fenacon), o microempreendedor individual pode ser atendido gratuitamente por um contador, que fica responsável por todo o processo de inscrição e pela prestação de contas do primeiro ano. Em troca, as empresas de contabilidade se beneficiarem de taxações menores,
Como é o processo
O primeiro passo do processo para virar microempreendedor individual é escolher o nome da empresa e verificar se ele já não existe, o que pode ser feito no próprio site portal do empreendor. Depois, deve-se preencher a ficha de inscrição, informando os dados pessoais e os da empresa a ser aberta, junto com uma declaração de ciência e cumprimento da legislação. Feito isso, segundo o MDIC, o empreendedor recebe automaticamente os registros no CNPJ, na Junta Comercial e na Previdência Social, além de um documento com valor de alvará de funcionamento.
Para concluir o processo, será gerado um documento, que deverá ser impresso, assinado, anexado a uma cópia do RG e enviado à Junta Comercial num prazo de até 60 dias. O envio do requerimento à Junta é necessário porque a lei exige assinatura do interessado. O interessado pode contar com a ajuda de um contador para agilizar esta última etapa.
Facilidade para pagar impostos
Concluída a inscrição na Junta Comercial, o empreendedor deverá solicitar no site a emissão do Documento de Arrecadação Simplificada (DAS), por meio do qual fará o pagamento do imposto único mensal. Como esse valor é fixo, ele poderá solicitar o DAS para o ano inteiro e pagar mês a mês.
O microempreendedor individual também tem benefícios na hora de contratar um empregado. Enquanto, para um empresário normal, o custo de um funcionário pode chegar a 20% do salário do profissional, este paga apenas 3% do valor bruto à Previdência Social e 8% para o Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Serviço (FGTS).
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Church Gunman Left Online Rant Between Shootings - New Life Church, Bill Gothard, Jeanne Assam
Church Gunman Left Online Rant Between Shootings
Murray's Writings Echo Columbine Gunman's Manifesto
POSTED: 10:20 am MST December 11, 2007
UPDATED: 6:04 pm MST December 11, 2007
DENVER -- Web site postings that authorities believe were the work of shooter Matthew Murray paint a picture of a young man angry at his religious home-schooling, enraged with organized religion and furious with Youth With A Mission.His rage explodes in a posting that appeared to have been made between the shootings in Arvada and Colorado Springs on Sunday, saying, "You christians brought this on yourselves ... I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. .... God, I can't wait till I can kill you people."Murray, who police said shot and killed two people at the missionary center and two people at the megachurch, copied from the manifesto of Columbine High School shooter Eric Harris in his post on a site for ex-Pentecostals.
"Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."The rant was posted at 11:03 a.m. -- about 10 hours after the first shooting at the Youth With A Mission and two hours before the shooting at New Life Church. It was posted by "nghtmrchld26, " whom authorities believe was Murray.The only change of substance Murray made to Harris's writings was to replace the name of Harris target, classmate and neighbor Brooks Brown, with "Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."This is the rest of that posting from Sunday afternoon:
A picture of Murray, obtained by CNN, shows a pale, scrawny young man, wearing thick glasses and skull cap. The picture was taken by Richard Werner, who was working at the missionary center in Arvada in 2002, when Murray was going through the discipleship program.
- "Well all you people out there can just kiss my a** and die. From now on I don't give a @#%$ about what you mutha f____ have to say, unless I respect you which is highly unlikely, but for those of you who do happen to know me and know that I respect you, may peace be with you and don't be in my line of fire, for the rest of you, you all better @#%$ hide in your houses because I'm coming for EVERYONE soon."No I am not crazy, crazy is just a word, to me it has no meaning, everyone is different, but most of you @#%$ heads there in society, going to your everyday @#%$ jobs and doing everyday routine shi____y things, I say @#%$ you and die ...."DEAD PEOPLE DON'T ARGUE. My belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law ... Dead people can't do many things like argue, whine, @#%$, complain, name, rat out, criticize, or even @#%$ talk. So that's the only way to solve argument with all you f__heads out there, I just kill. God, I can't wait till I can kill you people, I'll just go to some downtown area in some big city and blow up and shoot everything I can."You break my back but you won't break me ... all is black but I still see...shut me down, knock me to the floor... shoot me up, @#%$ me like a whore, trapped under ice, comfortably cold, I've gone as low as you can go ... feel no remorse, no sorrow or shame .... time's gonna wash away all pain I made a God out of blood not superiority I killed the king of deceit and now I sleep in anarchy."
Posts Show Murray's Anger At Christianity, Homeschooling
In the weeks before the shooting, nghtmrchld26 posted a number of messages about his own pain, despair and fury toward Christianity.In another posting on Dec. 1, on the expentacostal.org Web site, nghtmrchld26 posted wrote about the "insane things" he went through in Christian homeschool.- "I remember the beatings and the fighting and yelling and insane rules and the Bill Gothard bull**** and then trancing out ... I remember how it was like every day was Mission Impossible trying to keep the rules or not get caught. My mother's a f***ing psycho too, her and her whole church and Christian family."We both went through some insane stuff growing up in The Nightmare that outsiders just do not understand."Of course people will say the usual fake answers 'just stop being this way and be happy from now on ...' 'We don't have the time and the energy to give a s*** about you ...''You're not the only one who has it bad' 'I had it a lot worse than you and I'm happy and doing great' 'You're not popular you know ... no one likes you very much.'"'It's almost like you've come back from a war and are having flashbacks.'" ONE MORE, just ONE MORE bit of psychological abuse from your mother and you WALK, you are OUT THAT DOOR saying,'I won't live like this anymore EVER.'"I'm not getting any younger and it's time for the abuse to stop. Just because I'm no one of the "Beautiful People" just because other people don't understand or because I'm not popular does not mean I need to take any more s*** from anyone."
The YWAM Connection
One post, called "My YWAM Horror Story," complained about being removed from the Arvada youth mission program. "Why was I told that I couldn't be a missionary because I wasn't 'social enough'? I was told that I was 'an introvert,"' nghtmrchld26 wrote. "Everyone else got to go on their outreaches except for a few who lied about smoking (cigarettes). The authoritarianism and hypocrisy is outrageous."People on the discussion board tried to help Murray, but Murray appeared to reject offers of psychological help. "I've already been working with counselors," he wrote. He added: "I have a point to make with all this talk about psychologists and counselors 'helping people with their pain.' It's so funny how many people want to help you and love you and counsel you and `work with you through your pain' when there's money involved."Murray also writes that he is deeply moved by rock music from Madonna to Marilyn Manson, calling it his "drug addiction.""Well, one of the main persons who has helped make this drug a powerful force in my life has been Marilyn Manson," he writes in a Nov. 11 post titled "Secret Addiction."
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Murray Was Thrown Out Of Youth With A Mission
Police said in 2002, Murray had been thrown out of Youth With A Mission, the site of the first shooting where staff members Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24, were killed.Colorado Springs police said the "common denominator in both locations" was Youth With a Mission. The training center maintains an office at the 10,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, the site of the second shooting.The victims at New Life Church -- sisters Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachel Works, 16 -- were involved with a summer outreach organized by New Life Church and a ministry of YWAM, according to a statement released by Youth With A Mission.The statement said that Murray was "briefly a student at the YWAM Arvada training centre in 2002."Murray was enrolled in a Discipleship Training School but did not complete the program, which is a 12-week classroom course followed by a 12-week field assignment."Murray did not complete the lecture phase of his Discipleship Training School, nor did he participate in the field assignment," the statement said. "The program directors felt that issues with his health made it inappropriate for him to do so. Murray left the Arvada training center and no one at the facility recalls that he has made any other visits or had any communication with the center since that time."Several agencies searched Murray's home in unincorporated Arapahoe County, where he lived with his parents, looking for additional weapons and his computer.In a search warrant affidavit, investigators said Murray attended a home-based computer school and worked at his computer for three to five hours a day for the past two years. Police said Murray's only previous brush with the law was a traffic ticket earlier this year.Murray died at New Life Church after an exchange of gunfire with volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam.Assam wounded him with several shots and forced him on the ground. According to the report of the El Paso County coroner, Murray died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though police and church leaders credited Assam's bravery with averting a greater tragedy.Assam, an ex-Minneapolis police officer, said her faith allowed her to remain steady under pressure."It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said, her hands trembling as she recounted the shooting during a news conference.Sarah Palin, faith-based mayor
Sarah Palin, faith-based mayor
How the vice-presidential nominee brought fringe biblical teachings to her work as the chief of Wasilla, Alaska.
Editor's note: You can find Salon's complete coverage of Sarah Palin here.
By Sarah Posner
AP Photo/Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman
Mayor Sarah Palin in her office in Wasilla, Alaska, in October 1996.
Sept. 18, 2008 | In April 2000, under the direction of then-Mayor Sarah Palin, the Wasilla City Council passed a resolution declaring itself a "City of Character." Adopted unanimously, the resolution pledged that the city would "do all in its power" to promote "positive and constructive character qualities which distinguish between right and wrong," which the resolution predicted could work a range of wonders, from reducing juvenile delinquency to increasing corporate profits.
Thanks to Palin's efforts, Wasilla is now among roughly 200 cities nationwide (and others in 27 countries around the world) that have committed themselves -- in name, at least -- to following the teachings of the International Association of Character Cities (IACC), an organization that purports to be secular but is modeled on the evangelical teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
Palin's personal connection to IACC, and her efforts to bring its agenda to Wasilla as mayor, sheds new light on her connections to the Christian far right, as well as her willingness to infuse government with its ideals rooted in religion. Her championing of IACC principles raises further questions about Palin's views on running government, including the hiring and firing of government employees, an area in which she has come under intense scrutiny in part due to her involvement in "trooper gate."
By becoming a City of Character, Wasilla under Palin committed to adhering to 49 "character qualities" as outlined by the IACC, which are secularized versions of IBLP's 49 "character qualities" derived from the Bible. Critics have charged that the organization and its affiliated Character Training Institute are for all intents and purposes a front group for the evangelical IBLP.
IBLP was founded in 1974 by evangelist Bill Gothard "for the purpose of introducing people to the Lord Jesus Christ," and is "dedicated to giving individuals, families, churches, schools, communities, governments, and businesses clear instruction and training on how to find success by following God's principles found in Scripture." IBLP claims to have taught over 2.5 million people its Basic Life Principles seminar, and boasts assets exceeding $100 million, an affiliated correspondence college course program and an unaccredited law school.
The IACC, says its director, Steven Menzel, is not a religious organization. Instead, he points to its practical effects. When IACC's founder, Oklahoma City businessman Thomas Hill, was having difficulties with the workforce of his company, Kimray, in the 1990s, IACC legend has it that his adoption of Gothard's "character approach" led to a 90 percent drop in workers' compensation claims and a 60 to 70 percent drop in turnover. "The change in that company was so profound," said Menzel, that local companies asked Hill to teach "character" to them as well, leading to the Character First program that is the backbone of IACC and CTI.
Palin, Menzel confirmed, learned how Wasilla could become a City of Character at an IACC conference held at IBLP's International Training Center in Indianapolis in April 2000. A conference brochure shows that Gothard and other speakers affiliated with IBLP taught several of the sessions. The conference included a videotape presentation on the separation of church and state by David Barton, a regular on the Christian right speaking circuit who argues that the separation of church and state is a "myth."
Although Menzel and the IACC's materials insist that the program Hill launched at his company is secular, IBLP's Web site boasts that as a result of Hill's efforts, Kimray "benefited from the application of Biblical principles." Menzel admitted to the Texas Observer two years ago that "these are biblical principles." Hill has ties to Gothard dating back to 1974; he served on IBLP's board of directors from 1993 to 2005, and is currently on its "board of reference."
Gothard's teachings, and his implementation of them, are highly controversial even among evangelical Christians. Based on seven "non-optional" biblical principles, Gothard demands obedience to "God-ordained authorities, such as parents, government, and the church."
In 2003, the flagship evangelical magazine Christianity Today observed, "an important issue to consider regarding Gothard's influence is that it is directed to the core leadership of our nation's conservative Christian churches. Gothard has largely succeeded in reaching that audience. While many have winked at Gothard's teachings on authority, what's more alarming is how readily his supporters accept his interpretation of Scripture," which he reads "through an authoritarian lens."
The teachings have bubbled beneath some disturbing events. Matthew Murray, who shot two people at a Colorado church last December, blamed his troubles on his authoritarian home-school curriculum from IBLP. Gothard denied that his curriculum played any role in Murray's dysfunction.
In Indianapolis, a City of Character, an IBLP-run juvenile center -- housed in the same building where Palin attended the April 2000 conference -- was embroiled in an investigation of child abuse, including spanking and restraining children and committing them for days to the solitary confinement of a "prayer room" without food. The center was cleared after a state investigation in 2004, although it did abandon the practice of spanking while under scrutiny, according to news reports.
Through its Character First training seminars, IACC has spread its gospel of character to local government officials like Palin as well as to Fortune 500 companies, law enforcement agencies, federal government agencies, and the private prison giant Corrections Corporation of America, which uses the character training in its prisons. Character First principles are taught in hundreds of public schools across the country.
Each of the 49 character qualities, as outlined by Gothard, have a biblical basis and are therefore required for believers to fulfill God's goal "to transform them into the image of His Son so that they may be a reflection of the character of Christ." The character quality of diligence, for example, is rooted in Colossians 3:23 ("Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,") meaning, for Gothard, that one should "visualiz[e] each task as a special assignment from the Lord and us[e] all my energies to accomplish it."
IACC's secularized version requires one to "invest my time and energy to complete each task assigned to me," and is compared, like Gothard's version, to the diligence of a beaver. (Each character quality is linked to an animal, although apparently none to the barracuda.)
The desired implementation of a City of Character's mission is somewhat murky. Menzel advocates using the character qualities as a guide for hiring or promoting employees, and suggested advertising the "character quality of the month" through posters and billboards. He could not point to a policy initiative Palin undertook as mayor to advance the character initiative, and he expressed disappointment that Wasilla, Alaska's only City of Character, had not done more to advance the cause.
But Sandy Holladay, who heads the Alaska Councils of Character, which works with the IACC to encourage more municipalities to become Cities of Character, notes ways in which the teachings permeated the town government under Palin. Holladay, who said she met Palin once, in 2001, said she recalled that Wasilla put the teachings' "character quality of the month" on city employee paychecks and utility bills, and displayed posters provided by the CTI. (Utility bills in Wasilla began bearing the words, "Wasilla: A City of Character! Help us promote good character in our community!" shortly after the resolution passed.)
Mary Bixby, executive assistant to Wasilla's current mayor, Dianne Keller, said that the city no longer sends a representative to the CTI conferences, but it still receives materials from the organization. The city gives out certificates of good character to citizens who do "heroic deeds," she said, like turning in a lost wallet to the police department, and recognizes employees of "good character" in the employee newsletter. She said she admires the book outlining all the character traits, which she did not view as religious in nature, and added she would like to do more to study and promote it.
Menzel maintains that Palin exhibited the character quality of discernment, because after she took in the program at the Indianapolis conference in 2000 "she immediately returned to Wasilla and implemented it." Menzel described discernment as "understanding the deeper reason of why things happen." (Gothard describes it as "the God-given ability to understand why things happen.")
But perhaps above all, Menzel said, Palin exhibits boldness -- "a confidence in what I have to say or do is true, right, and just." (Gothard's definition, citing Acts 4:29, is "confidence that what I have to say or do is true and just and right in the sight of God.") Menzel added, "I think that really epitomizes her character, that boldness."
Monday, July 13, 2009
Kidnapped oil rig worker in Nigeria
Kidnapped McKinney Man Gets an Up-Close Look Into Nigeria's Oily Heart of Darkness
By Chris Vogel
published: July 09, 2009
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Allison V. Smith
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Courtesy of Larry Plake
Plake (seated far right) talks to A Russian reporter who stumbled upon the hostages while writing a story about the Niger Delta region.
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Courtesy of Larry Plake
Members of the Niger-Delta Freedom Fighters held Plake hostage at their camp for three weeks.
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Courtesy of Larry Plake
These guards working aboard Plake’s oil barge were wounded defending the ship against attackers. The other guards, Plake says, ditched their weapons and hid in the bottom of the boat.
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Courtesy of Larry Plake
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Allison V. Smith
Larry Plake and his wife, Collette, are still trying to work through his recovery after he was taken hostage two years ago.
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Courtesy of Larry Plake
Bullets tore holes in the side of the oil barge and Plake’s bedroom door, while gunmen took him hostage in the control tower.
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Courtesy of Larry Plake
Bullets tore holes in the side of the oil barge and Plake’s bedroom door, while gunmen took him hostage in the control tower.
Subject(s):
Oil, Nigeria, kidnappingPlake entered the control room to find barge foreman Kevin Faller and fellow crewmembers Mike Roussel and Chris Gay crouched below the windows. They seemed paralyzed, so Plake grabbed the CB radio and began calling for help. He had memorized the security protocol checklist and began going through the steps.
"We're taking hits," he radioed a nearby support vessel, there to help Plake and the crew build pipelines for Chevron. "Cut and run! Cut and run!"
Plake couldn't see a thing outside the tower. No one had seen the three speedboats approach in the night or the armed men climb aboard. He could barely make out the sound of footsteps heading toward him over the blare of machine-gun fire and explosions throughout the barge. Plake wanted to send out a flare, but was afraid he'd be shot if he opened a window.
Step two, thought Plake, as he radioed out to the armed security boat. Just as someone answered, a crowd of Nigerians with assault rifles kicked down the door and rushed into the control room.
The gunmen, dressed in red, white and black masks and camouflage pants, with chains of ammo draped across their bare chests, surrounded the four Americans. Someone jammed the point of a gun into the back of Plake's head, forcing his face into the floor. One of the men cracked Faller across the cheek with his fist.
"Stay down, stay down," Plake heard a man say in a deep voice. "We want your captain. Where is your captain?"
Refusing to give anyone up, Plake told the men that the captain should be waiting on the ship's deck. They shoved him and the others down a series of ladders and stairs toward the lifeboats as bullets whizzed by. No other crewmembers were in sight.
Of the Cheyenne's 11 armed guards, three had initially fought back but were wounded. The others, crewmembers later told Plake, tossed their guns overboard, tore off their security uniforms and scrambled to the belly of the ship to join the roughly 240 other crewmembers on board who had barricaded themselves inside their rooms. Only Plake, Roussel, Faller and Gay remained topside.
Minutes ticked by, and the gunmen were getting edgy. "Where is the captain?" they demanded over and over.
"Where is that damned security boat?" thought Plake.
Stalling for time, Plake insisted the captain should be there any moment. They waited as some of the attackers scavenged the ship for whatever they could snatch: cigarettes, ammo and binoculars. Plake didn't know that the security ship was anchored a mile and a half away and wouldn't get there for nearly another two hours.
"We can't find the captain," said a thick voice. "We're taking you."
They pushed the Americans toward the stern and then shoved them off the barge down into their speedboats. Plake and Faller were in one boat, Roussel and Gay in another. The speedboats peeled away from the barge, circling it while the kidnappers pumped more ammo into its sides. Then they raced after the ship that Plake had been able to warn over the radio.
Plake prayed that the guards aboard the support vessel wouldn't open fire on them. The chase, however, didn't last long, and Plake felt a moment of relief when the kidnappers stopped shooting and steered back toward shore.
The boats skimmed along the ocean's surface toward the mouth of a river heading inland. Fifteen Nigerians were piled onto three 18-foot-long fiberglass speedboats with V-shaped hulls. Giant twin 275-horsepower engines hung off the back of each boat.
"Maybe I should jump," thought Plake. But he couldn't bring himself to abandon his companions. Instead, he sat silently, wondering where they were going and what was going to happen once they got there.
The boats wound along the oil-slicked waterways deep into the jungle. The jostling vibration of the motors roaring at top speed through narrow creeks nearly drowned out all other sounds. Plake could barely hear the man holding a flashlight in the bow who barked directions to the driver.
One of the men offered Plake a pack of the stolen cigarettes. Another cleaned his rifle, tossing empty shells into a bucket of diesel. Occasionally they would stop so the driver could replace an empty gas tank. Sometimes the boats broke down, and they'd float in silence as the men made repairs. Then it was full-throttle again until one of the drivers would inevitably ram into a log or run aground, nearly tossing everyone from the boat.
Just before dawn, the boats pulled up to a makeshift dock along the riverbank. For the first time, Plake could hear the sounds of the jungle, all the birds, lizards and insects surrounding him. Then Plake heard drumming. "It's just like a King Kong movie," he thought, as he watched villagers dancing, shouting and shooting their guns in the air.
They marched Plake and the others at gunpoint up a path into the camp. A medicine man splashed water on their faces, a blessing, they were told, allowing them to enter. The kidnappers forced their captives onto a hand-carved wooden bench and began interrogating them. "Name? Rank? Why are you in Nigeria taking all of the jobs?"
From the moment he was captured on May 7, 2007, Plake both hoped and feared that his kidnappers were members of a well-known insurgency group called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND. For years, MEND had been kidnapping foreigners who worked for oil companies to use as leverage against Nigeria's corrupt government officials, who reputedly have been hoarding the billions of dollars the country makes from selling its crude instead of investing the profits in roads, schools or clean drinking water for its people. MEND was known as a ruthless, professional outfit, but most of its hostages eventually made it out alive.
As the interrogation continued, it became clear that Plake's kidnappers did not belong to MEND. These men said they belonged to the Niger-Delta Freedom Fighters, led by a rebel named Egbema One. They didn't necessarily want to make a political statement. They wanted money—more than $1 million per hostage.
Convinced that his company would never pay such a steep price, Plake closed his eyes and breathed deeply, thinking, "This is where I'm probably going to die."
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Oil's been pumping through Plake's veins since the day he was born.He grew up in Baytown, home to the largest refinery in the country, owned by ExxonMobil. His grandfather was an offshore legend, and his father rolled up his sleeves on some of the toughest jobs in the business in the North Sea. So it was pretty much expected that after Plake graduated from Ross S. Sterling High School, he would enter the family trade.
He worked offshore from ages 19 to 25, in seas all around the globe, off the coasts of India, South America and Malaysia. He worked for four years in Nigeria. One day in 1995, his back went out, and he had to come ashore.
By that point Plake had married 19-year-old Collette, whom he'd met in a local bar one night while he was home on leave. Collette, who the following year would give birth to their first daughter, Alyssa, was relieved to see her husband sidelined with a bad back. She missed him terribly on those long three-month stints and, much like a policeman's wife, lived in constant fear of that phone call at 3 in the morning.
Unlike many offshore oilmen who get itchy and long for the sea every time they touch land, Plake was OK with finding a new life. He had always been good with all things mechanical, earning him the nickname "MacGyver" among his friends, and enrolled in Baytown's Lee College, where he earned a degree in electronics. Plake next went to a specialty trade school in Watertown, Massachusetts, called the Ritop School for Mobile Electronics, where he learned to wire radios in exotic cars like Ferraris and Bentleys. With all his training, it didn't take Plake long to get a job in Deer Park, Texas, and start a new chapter.
But it wasn't easy. After 9/11, the economy seized up, and no one was spending money on luxury car radios. Plake bounced around for a while, eventually taking a job in Addison. But when the company hired too many radio installers, there wasn't enough work to go around, and Plake's paycheck once again nosedived. To support his family, which now included a second daughter, Jadyn, he delivered pizzas for Domino's, working for tips.
Late in 2006, the idea of again going offshore took hold of Plake. He was one week away from having his new home in McKinney put up for auction because he couldn't pay the mortgage, was working two jobs, never saw his wife and kids, and still couldn't make ends meet. He needed money, and fast.
"He came home one day," Collette says, "and said to me, 'Honey, I have no choice; I don't want to go back, but I have to.' He was crying for the first time in years."
(While giving interviews for this story, Plake and his wife were careful never to mention the name of the company he worked for, as per a legal agreement. The Houston Press, the Observer's sister paper, confirmed through news accounts and public records that Plake was working for Global Industries, which was doing contract work for Chevron. Global Industries did not return phone calls seeking comment.)
When Plake set off in March 2007 for the Cheyenne, both he and Collette went in with open eyes; they knew about the many assaults and kidnappings in the region where Plake was headed. For decades, as they understood it, corrupt Nigerian government officials had been pocketing more than their share of the country's oil revenues instead of investing them in developing the nation and helping their people.
According to University of Houston associate professor of history Kairn Klieman, who teaches classes about Africa including "Africa and the Oil Industry," the Nigerian government took control of the country's oil revenues following a civil war in the late 1960s. The government then purposefully left the Niger Delta region massively underdeveloped—no roads, electricity, clean water or jobs—hoping this would stave off any further attempts at revolution. Instead, people living there have suffered terribly, and vigilantism has become a way of life.
"Because the government was so greedy for oil revenues," Klieman says, "they let the oil companies work without following any kind of environmental regulations. So the land, the water, the air is all devastated, and the people there can't even live in the normal, old-fashioned way, which was to grow food. It's not even possible to live in the 19th-century model there anymore."
Nigeria ranks as the 121st most corrupt country in the world and is ranked No. 22 in Africa, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog group. The country's score of 2.7 out of 10 in 2008 was an improvement over its score of 2.2 in 2007, the year Plake was taken hostage. By comparison, Somalia, which has made headlines this year for acts of piracy off its shores, was ranked as the 180th most corrupt country in the world in 2008 and came in at No. 47 in Africa.
According to Oyibos Online, a Web site that tracks security incidents in Nigeria, 62 foreigners have been kidnapped so far this year. In 2008, 81 were taken. In 2007, the year Plake was captured, 172 people were abducted. That's not to mention the hundreds of maritime assaults, hijackings and pipeline bombings over the same time span.
"You've heard of 'blood diamonds'?" Plake says. "In Nigeria they call it 'blood oil' because of all the deaths and kidnappings over it. They'll steal and kill their own brother because they're such a depressed people. Life is cheap."
Tribes and insurgency groups take hostages who work for the very oil companies that the government relies on to extract and move the country's vast reserves. Their stated political goal is to stop the country's ability to export oil and thus end the corruption, as well as to pressure the government to develop the region.
But nothing is ever so cut-and-dried. Motivations range from obtaining basic necessities to pure greed. Much of the environmental devastation is the result of insurgents blowing up pipelines to make their point and then attacking crews sent in to repair the damage. Many times the men will "bunker," or tap into, a pipeline to steal the oil—which they sell on the black market to pay for weapons and provisions—leaving a busted pipe spitting oil into the ground.
A central problem, Klieman says, is that the oil companies simply factor the cost of ransoms and hostage-rescue missions into the price of doing business, making the insurgents' efforts effectively moot.
Moot, that is, to everyone except the men who are taken hostage and their families.
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Exhausted and in shock after being kidnapped and interrogated for most of the day, Plake, Roussel, Faller and Gay were searched and stripped of their wallets, watches, necklaces and cell phones. One of the militants demanded Plake give up his wedding ring, but Plake refused, insisting that his wife had put it on his finger and he'd be damned if it was coming off while he was still alive. Another villager stepped forward, telling Plake he could keep it because Plake was a Christian. By some miracle, they didn't find Plake's pocketknife, which he hid in his shoe.That first night, the men were locked in a crudely fashioned thatched-roof hut with screen windows and walls made out of pegboard. Inside there was a table, a bench and a fan connected to a small generator stashed in the corner. A naked light bulb swinging from the ceiling burned brightly all night.
When the men were finally alone, panic set in. They knew the Nigerian military was afraid of venturing this deep into the jungle and that they might as well be trapped on an island. A thousand thoughts raced through Plake's mind, always ending with, "I think we're pretty much fucked."
Plake slept less than an hour that first night, next to Faller on one of two thin foam mattresses in the room.
The next day, on Tuesday, May 8, Plake woke up at 5 a.m. to beating drums and gunfire—a ritual that would continue throughout their captivity. A man unlocked the door and led the hostages to the side of the building, where each was given a plastic lawn chair to sit in all day. This became the daily routine.
That night, in McKinney, Collette was feeling anxious as she rushed through the front door of her suburban home. She had just picked up her daughters from gymnastics and had to get them fed, but all she could think about was that her husband was going to be mad at her. They had a standing appointment every night to talk on Skype, an Internet telephone service, and she was late. She tried to get online, but the connection wasn't working, so Collette walked upstairs to her bedroom to cool off. The phone rang.
Thinking it must be her husband, she headed back downstairs to pick up the main phone in the kitchen, but the answering machine beat her to it.
"I never caught their name," Collette says. "He just said, 'This is so-and-so from Larry's company,' and my heart sank because I knew."
Collette picked up the phone and listened as the man told her that Plake's barge had been attacked. No one knew if he'd been kidnapped, only that he was missing.
"I got so angry right there on the phone," Collette says. "I blamed them and said, 'You better find him and get him back! So help me God, if he dies over there, I'll own your company!'"
When she hung up, she turned and saw her two daughters staring at her. They had heard every word.
"Is Daddy dead?" asked 5-year-old Jadyn.
"No, baby," Collette answered, hugging them tight. "Right now the bad men with guns have Daddy. But we're going to get him back."
Collette is a no-nonsense woman with a sharp voice that could split a diamond. Furious at what had happened, she called everyone she knew—family, neighbors—telling them the news. Yet she was just as angry at herself for letting Plake go. Down deep she knew this would happen. It had only been a matter of time. She and Plake had been talking on Skype for weeks about how an increasing number of hostages were being taken. There had been several recent kidnappings in the same area where Plake was captured.
Collette did not sleep that night. Her sister drove up from Baytown and arrived around 4 a.m.
Amazingly enough, Plake called the house that afternoon, saying he was alive and in the middle of nowhere. He sounded frantic, but said he'd call again and then hung up. Collette felt relieved, but knew the hard part was still to come. She had to get him home.
That night, agents from the FBI showed up at her door. They tapped her phone, put a tracking device on it in case Plake called again and told her that if he did call, to let the FBI know before she told anyone else.
Collette says that when Global Industries found out about the FBI's request, they got upset. She says a company representative told her that if Plake or his captors contacted her again, she should call Global Industries first and the FBI after that. Collette says company officials told her that they didn't want anyone to interfere with their rescue efforts.
"I felt so stressed-out and conflicted," Collette says. "But the FBI explained to me that my husband was now a U.S. hostage because of the company, and there went my loyalty. Every time Larry called, I'd call the FBI first."
Global Industries officials also discouraged Collette from talking to the other three crewmembers' wives, threatened to cut off her home phone line if they thought she was trying to negotiate with the militants and forbade her to talk to the media, Collette says. The only news item she saw was on a CNN ticker that said four Americans had been taken off the Nigerian coast.
All of the additional pressure helped push Collette into a deep depression. Her mother and sister cared for the kids while Collette spent day and night in her living room. She didn't eat, losing 20 pounds. Plake would occasionally call, but as the days rolled by it felt like no one was making any progress. On Mother's Day, she received a bouquet of flowers from Plake that he had ordered online the day before he was kidnapped.
----
From the moment they arose each morning, Plake's kidnappers, wearing nothing but boxer shorts, started drinking, smoking dope, shooting their guns straight up in the air and arguing. They kept their marijuana in 50-pound rice sacks and would put what they didn't smoke into jars of moonshine made out of palm tree sap to ferment. Invariably drunk by noon, they'd gulp down this potent mix until they passed out at night, but not before a couple of the militants would typically get into a fight and go after each other with machetes or clubs.In the humid afternoons, while Plake sat bored in his chair, many of his captors would play cards or huddle around a small television and watch the same five Rambo and Jean-Claude Van Damme films over and over.
Then it dawned on Plake, This isn't enjoyment for them, it's training. They think it's real. The men asked Plake how many people had died in the movies. He had to explain that it was just Hollywood.
There was bottled water to drink, but not much in the way of food. One morning the villagers tossed a chicken in a pot of water and boiled it all day. When it came time to eat, the meat was so rubbery and overcooked that Plake couldn't pull it off the bone. Another time they dug a trench and slaughtered a sickly goat. There was a cache of potted meat and canned tuna fish, which became Plake's meal, mixed with a sweet blend of rice and corn served daily at 4 p.m. After several weeks, Plake convinced his captives to push dinnertime back so that he could avoid the hordes of flies that would swarm around his plate, preferring to eat amid the mosquitoes that came out at night.
Before bed, Plake stripped off his filthy jeans down to his boxers to stay cool. His fair-skinned body, peppered with swollen red bug bites, became a testament to jungle living.
Some of the villagers bathed in the polluted river; Plake did not. He had a spider bite on his left ankle that was oozing pus and he wasn't about to dip it in the same water that the entire village used as a toilet. Instead, he just rubbed soap under his arms and apologized for his stench. Nor would Plake shave with the razors used by the militants for fear of getting AIDS. At one point, his white moustache flopped down over his bottom lip.
At night, the Americans would stay up late plotting their escape, hatching scenario after scenario. One had Plake taking out a guard with his pocketknife while the other men grabbed his gun. "But what then?" Plake thought. "What if we do take the camp over? We've got to motor out. But what if we run into them on the river? We don't know where to go anyway. Plus they have lookouts along the creek in crow's nests with machine guns. We'd be sitting ducks."
Plake started giving his kidnappers nicknames such as "Mike the Administrator," "Ben the Weapons Expert" and "Bubba the Explosives Guy." Many of them told Plake they dreamed of one day going to the United States to be criminals there. They wanted to rob banks and get rich, and they all seemed to admire Osama bin Laden. When Plake told them that the al-Qaida leader had killed innocent people during 9/11, they didn't seem to care. They felt he was a hero for standing up against America.
Over time, Plake got to know "Sonny the Cook," who was in charge of making sure the hostages had food, bottled water and cigarettes. Sonny told Plake that all he really wanted was to open a restaurant in the United States. Plake began to sympathize with his captors. While taking hostages wasn't the way to go about it, he understood why they were fighting their government for basic rights. All this oil money was pouring into the country, yet their government treated them like animals.
The leader of the Niger-Delta Freedom Fighters was called Egbema One. He told Plake he was a prince and had once worked offshore as a ballast control engineer. He wanted to use the hostages as political leverage, but it soon became clear to Plake that Egbema One was in the minority. Everyone else just wanted cash. And when Egbema One left the camp to get supplies, tensions would rise. The militants would force Plake to use a prepaid cell phone with a bamboo-and-wire antenna to phone Global Industries, his wife or Nigerian politicians, demanding the ransom.
"Tell them to send the money now!" the militants shouted in Plake's face. "We're gonna kill you tomorrow if we don't get the money!"
The men cracked the side of their rifles against the back of Plake's neck and threatened him constantly. One of the larger men repeatedly said he was going to cut off Plake's pinky finger and send it to Plake's employer to prove he wasn't playing around. Then he'd laugh in Plake's face. The bomb-maker told Plake he'd never get out alive, and that he'd made a special explosive for Plake if it ever looked like the Texan was going to be released.
The kidnappers set up a bench about 50 yards into the jungle, hidden from the camp. Every time they heard a noise, be it a voice, a boat or the snap of a twig, they'd grab the hostages and hurriedly beat them like horses toward the clearing, where they'd wait until whatever it was had passed. After just a few times, the men learned to race over to the spot themselves whenever they heard something, day or night. The kidnappers told Plake that if anyone tried to rescue them, they'd execute the hostages before returning to defend the village. This happened as many as 10 times a day.
----
Hostage negotiations seemed to be going nowhere.One of the phone numbers Plake had to contact Global Industries had been disconnected. When he dialed the company's main switchboard, Plake says, a company operator couldn't hear him, cursed at Plake and refused to patch him through. The kidnappers had Plake call the president of Nigeria, but his secretary would have nothing to do with them. The prepaid phone credits would always run out in the middle of conversations. The militants, just for the hell of it, once set off a bomb behind Plake while he was on the phone, knocking down the bamboo antenna. Disgusted, Plake stormed back toward his plastic chair, knocking over a table of automatic rifles.
"This is like working with children," Plake thought.
At home in McKinney, Collette was just as frustrated.
"I got so that I was losing my mind because it kept dragging on and on," she says. "I kept thinking, 'I can't bear to wake up another day and sit in my house all day long'...I felt so helpless. It was like I was a hostage in my own prison camp."
As the days slogged on, Plake suffered mood swings. There were moments of peacefulness, when Plake would sit in his plastic chair twisting his wedding ring around his finger for hours at a time, picturing taking his wife and daughters bowling. He took comfort knowing he had a will, and they would be taken care of if he died. The hostages relied heavily on each other. When Plake lost it, they'd calm him down. When one of the others cried, prompting the militants to laugh, Plake would stand up and say, "Just because he's crying doesn't mean he's not a man."
There were also days when Plake felt resigned and became aggressive. If the kidnappers didn't kill him, he thought, then someone or something else would. He was sick of the abuse and the false threats to blow him up or slice off his finger.
"There's no way I'm spending six months here," he told his captors. "You'll have to kill me."
He clutched his knife like a security blanket. He knew he'd never get out alive, but thought, "God, give me a sign to let me know it's go time. I'll send a few of these guys to hell before they send me to heaven."
But he never got the chance. "Gunboat Sunday" intervened.
During the weeks of negotiations, members of MEND had discovered that the Niger-Delta Freedom Fighters had kidnapped the Americans and were demanding a huge ransom. This rubbed them the wrong way. MEND believed hostages were to be used to achieve political leverage against the corrupt government, not for individual gain. They decided to teach this small band of extortionists a lesson.
On Sunday, May 27, 2007, MEND staged a rescue mission. As MEND's boats neared the shore, Plake's kidnappers started whooping, shrieking and firing their guns. Someone grabbed the hostages and pushed them toward the river, telling them they were being placed in the middle of the battle. That way, the man said, bullets from MEND would kill them and their deaths would not be the kidnappers' fault.
As Plake ducked and tried to crawl out of the way, the MEND boats retreated. They saw what was happening with the hostages and never fired a shot, disappearing as abruptly as they had arrived.
Plake and the other three hostages ran back to their room and locked the door. A moment later, a muscular, 6-foot-tall man named Jean-Paul kicked it down and pointed a gun at them. Plake thought he was dead for sure, but suddenly a group of villagers tackled Jean-Paul and wrestled the weapon away from him. With MEND closing down on the camp, the hostages were now more of a liability than ever. Many villagers, like Jean-Paul, simply wanted to get rid of them to save their own hides.
After the commotion died down, the insurgents let the hostages use the phone. Plake called his parents and then Collette to say his final goodbyes.
"There are some things going down over here, and it doesn't look good," he calmly told his wife, who was crying on the other end. "The chances of me coming home are pretty slim. Take good care of the kids. I've always loved you."
The next morning, members of MEND and tribal elders from a nearby village visited the camp and met with Egbema One all day. At one point, Sonny said to Plake in pidgin English, "Maybe you go home today. They talking serious." Plake refused to believe it. He didn't trust anyone. But that evening, the hostages were told to pack up; they were heading out.
Egbema One escorted the hostages by boat to the nearby village. There, Plake saw a sack of money change hands. Egbema One then took Plake's wrist and placed it in the hand of an elderly man named Good Luck, who walked with a cane and wore flowing white clothes.
"You belong to me now," Good Luck said. "You'll be leaving soon."
Leaving Egbema One and the Freedom Fighters behind, the hostages and members of MEND piled into another boat and began motoring toward the MEND camp. Plake wasn't convinced he'd be set free, but was hoping the new camp would at least be a little better. They snaked along the river for more than six hours. Occasionally the driver would tell Plake not to smoke because there was so much oil in the water. The members of MEND ridiculed the Freedom Fighters, calling them "little boys" and "dogs."
Finally, the boat pulled up to the MEND village. Just as when he first arrived at the Freedom Fighters' camp 21 days earlier, medicine men splashed water on Plake, blessing him as he entered. He was marched into a concrete building with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s stacked against the wall and told that a helicopter would get him in the morning. It was like entering a military barracks after spending weeks at a Boy Scout camp.
Plake didn't sleep much that night. The morning came and went. No chopper. "Maybe at noon," a MEND soldier said. Still no helicopter. Plake just figured this was yet another lie and he was screwed. Then, at about 6 p.m. Plake and the other hostages were loaded onto a boat.
They cruised along the water in silence. The canal was getting wider and wider, spanning more than 100 feet across. In the middle of the river, the driver suddenly cut the engine. Plake looked around, thinking: "This is it. They're going to kill us now and dump the bodies."
Plake watched as the driver's hand slowly disappeared into his coat pocket. Plake reached for his knife. Then he saw the man's hand emerge; he was holding a cell phone.
"We've got them," the man said into the speaker.
Before he knew it, Plake was stepping out of the boat and onto a dock near Warri, a major city in the Niger Delta, where a car whisked him off to the governor's house to meet up with Global executives and FBI agents who were waiting. From there, he flew to Lagos and then to London to see a tropical disease expert.
After 22 days, Plake, Faller, Roussel and Gay were finally free.
----
Collette had just returned home from a rare trip to McDonald's with the kids when the phone rang. It was someone from Global Industries."We've got him," said the voice.
The next day she was on a flight to London.
Because of convoluted English insurance laws, Plake and the other men were not allowed into the tropical disease center. Instead, they went to an urgent-care clinic. Other than the nasty spider bite, Plake checked out OK. Two of the other men had intestinal parasites and had to remain there a little longer that day. But not Plake; he was ready to go. For the past 48 hours, he'd been shuttled across two continents, poked and prodded by doctors, forced to do press interviews with the African media and listen to Global Industries officials tell him to keep quiet about everything that had happened. All he wanted to do was to see his wife.
Collette was sleeping when Plake finally made it back to the couple's London hotel room. His electronic key, though, had been accidentally knocked offline when Collette checked in earlier that day. He couldn't unlock the door. He started banging and hollering, but Collette didn't answer. Finally, Collette heard the knocking and ran to the door. When it swung open, she leapt into Plake's arms.
"You couldn't peel me off of him," she says.
That night, the four men and their wives celebrated, getting drunk at a nearby pub. They laughed and kidded each other about which movie stars would play them if their story ever made it to the big screen. Plake claimed fellow East Texan Matthew McConaughey. But the smiles wouldn't last long.
Back in McKinney, Plake was not readjusting well to normal life. For months he didn't want to talk about being kidnapped. He had nightmares. Sometimes he thought he'd heard footsteps and was ready to run over to the clearing in the jungle to hide. Other times he dreamed of being under attack on the barge, but this time he had a gun and fought back. He'd wake up lathered in sweat.
Plake saw a couple psychologists, but they didn't seem to help. He even checked himself into a mental hospital for a week. Time seemed to be the only cure. Plake had surgery on his spine in late 2008 to repair two discs that had been ruptured by repeated blows to the neck with rifles.
He now suffers migraines so bad that his vision is blurred and he throws up. He takes a long list of medications, including pills to fight depression, anxiety and pain.
Plake says he doesn't trust anyone anymore, no longer has a short-term memory and has developed a dangerously short fuse. He's caught himself yelling at his kids over dumb stuff such as eating an ice cream cone that he'd forgotten he himself had given them. He refuses to sit in plastic chairs and doesn't shave. It's taken him two years to start working again. He recently bought a property nearby that he's renovating and hoping to flip for a profit.
"Larry never regretted going back offshore," Collette says, "because he saved our home from being sold out from under us. But it's something he'll never get over. He just has to learn to live with it. It redefines who you are."
Plake still keeps up with Faller, Roussel and Gay. Scattered across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, they couldn't get together for a second anniversary at the end of May. When they talk on the phone, they almost never mention what happened. They stick to what's going on now in their lives, their jobs and their kids. Plake says he's never going back offshore. Some of the others are considering it, he says, but no farther away than the Gulf of Mexico. The money is still as good as it's ever been.
For a long time, Plake would search the Internet every morning for news of Egbema One or MEND. Not anymore.
Earlier this year, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua granted amnesty to a host of militants in the Niger Delta. According to Vanguard, a news publication covering the country, Egbema One was on the amnesty list. Yar'Adua has also reportedly directed his government to step up its efforts to rebuild and develop the region. But still, the violence only seems to increase. MEND has recently taken credit for a rash of pipeline bombings against Shell and Chevron, propelling Chevron to evacuate hundreds of employees from the area, according to The Christian Science Monitor. The group continues to wage attacks against the oil companies, claiming that amnesty is not enough to solve the long-standing problems.
The irony of it all is not lost on Plake.
"The group I had heard about and was most afraid of, MEND, were the ones who ended up rescuing us," he says. "I've been told it never happened before or ever since. I understand their plight more now and the reason why they do all this. I'm very appreciative because no one else was coming to get us. But the bottom line is that I got out. I'm here now, and I'm staying put."
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