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MyBelize.Net to Cover 2015 General Elections

As we near the 2015 General Elections, MyBelize.Net would like to inform it’s loyal readers that we will once again be hosting the results of the elections on our website.  Results will be posted as soon as the ballots have all been counted on November 4, 2015.

In light of this, we’d like to enlighten our readers with some invaluable information regarding elections in Belize courtesy of the Elections and Boundaries Department:

  1. Why register to vote?
    There are 31 electoral divisions, 7 towns, 2 cities, 191 villages and communities.
    Only registered voters have the right to elect Political Leaders at the National and Municipal level.
  2. What are the laws pertaining to voter registration? The Representation of the People Registration Rules, Chapter 9.
  3. Who is eligible to register to vote?
    Every person who is:

    • 18 years or over
    • A citizen of:
      – Belize
      – Any Commonwealth Country who has resided in Belize for not less than 12 months
      – Any Commonwealth Country who is domiciled in Belize, AND
    • Resident in the electoral division not less than 2 months
  4. Where to register?
    Visit the Registration Office of Elections and Boundaries Department in your Area. Thirteen District Offices countrywide are manned by Registration Officers.
  5. How do you become registered?
    • Make a personal application
      • Take proof of eligibility to the Registration Office in your area-
        – Birth Certificate
        – Passport
        – Naturalization Certificate
      • Fill out and sign Application Form and Record Card
      • Take a photograph for the ID Card and the Record Card
    • An Investigation is carried out by Registration Officers to verify residence and other particulars.
    • A temporary list of applicants called “Supplementary List” is prepared by the Registering Officer for public scrutiny from 15th to the 25th of the month. These are posted at all Registration Offices.
    • If there are objections during the 15th to the 25th, the following is completed before proceeding to Revision Court:
      – The persons objected to, are informed by registered mail
      – The names of the persons objected to, are published in one newspaper and the Gazette
    • The Revising Officer in a Revision Court approves the Supplementary List at the end of each month.
    • A Revised List is prepared. Only those on the Revised List become Registered Electors. The Revision Court is the sole authority to decide who will remain on the monthly Revised List.
    • ID Cards are issued to those on the Revised List approximately one week after the Revision Court.
  6. What is the Cycle for Voter Registration?
    The process of registration is continuous and it is conducted every working day. The process for a month is closed on the 10th in order to prepare the Temporary or Supplementary List for the 15th as required by law.The Monthly Cycle is from the 11th of one month to the 10th of the other, for example:August – 11th of July to the 10th of August
    July – 11th of June to the 10th of July- If a person applies on or before the 10th June, the process will be completed with June’s Revision Court at the end of June.
    – If a person applies on the 11th of June or later, the process will be completed with July’s Revision Court at the end of July.A Revised List is posted in all Registration Offices on or before the 5th of the month or immediately after Revision Court. Copies of all monthly transactions are shared with the two major Political Parties.
  7. What is a rejected ballot?
    A rejected ballot is a void vote, or a bad vote. It is declared void by the Returning Officer in the Counting Station. A rejected vote is not a part of the votes counted for each candidate.
  8. What reasons are there to reject a ballot?
    There are five (5) reasons as follows:- The ballot paper does not have the Presiding Officer’s initials on the back of it
    – The elector votes for more candidates than seats
    – The ballot paper is not marked for any candidate
    – The ballot paper contains any mark or writing that can identify the elector
    – The ballot paper is unmarked or void for uncertainty
  9. What is a Spoilt Ballot?
    A spoilt ballot is a cancelled ballot. The cancellation is done by the Presiding Officer in the Polling Station. A spoilt ballot does not make it into the ballot box and does not become a vote.
  10. What are electoral offenses?
    Under the Representation of the People Act, the following are considered offenses:

    • Alternation of Voter ID Card: Any person, who without lawful authority forges, destroys, mutilates, defaces, removes or make alternation on a Voter Identification Card is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or to imprisonment not exceeding one year or both.
    • Double Registration or Seeking Registration More Than Once: Any registered elector who applies for registration in any division and fails to disclose the fact of being already registered as an elector shall be guilty of an offense and on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or to imprisonment not exceeding six months or both.
    • False Statement: Any person knowingly makes false statement to register as an elector shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or to imprisonment not exceeding two (2) years.
  11. What are the rules on a change/transfer period of Electoral Division?
    Two months are set aside each year by Law for the transfer of electors from one Electoral Division to another. These two months are JULY AND AUGUST. Application for a change of Electoral Division from one Electoral Division to another are done using Form No. 17. These applications are processed during normal working hours at any of the District Offices during the Period: JULY 1 TO AUGUST 31 OF EACH YEAR.Requirements to change from one electoral division to another are:
    – Be a Registered voter
    – Reside at the new address for not less than two (2) months
    – Present your Voters ID at the time of application or any other picture Identification;   e.g. Passport, Social Security or Driver’s License
    – And “a utility bill” in the elector’s name to assist the officers in the verification of the address given.

Feel free to review the entire Election Process courtesy the Election and Boundaries Department.

PLEASE REMEMBER: WHEN HEADING TO THE POLLS ON NOVEMBER 4, 2015, REMEMBER TO TAKE ALONG YOUR VOTER’S ID CARD!

Stay in touch with MyBelize.Net for full details of Belize’s 2015 General Elections.

Sea Front Home in Sittee Point, Belize

This custom executive concrete home, built by a local builder to North American standards, is located phase 1 of Sittee Point Estates on the Caribbean Sea.

The first floor has a one bedroom apartment /guest suite with kitchen, living/dining, a full bath, a garage and storage/mini garage area. There is also a large covered deck off the guest suite leading to the Caribbean Sea.

The second floor has a large stone deck, a large master bedroom with a sitting area, cane ceilings and master bath, a guest bedroom, a guest bathroom, a laundry room, and a great room with a large kitchen with granite counter tops. All rooms have ceiling fans and split A/C units. All the doors, cabinets and trim are exotic solid mahogany hardwood and are exquisite.

The third floor with vaulted exotic hardwood ceiling, has a large sitting/office area, a second master bedroom with ensuite bathroom over looking the Caribbean Sea, a guest bedroom and bathroom.

Beyond the obvious .. nice floors .. nice hardwood..great patio.. best beach around!

There are a couple of items worth noting about the home

  • all glass is laminated- hurricane resistant, all double hung windows are excellent quality, thermo pane and laminated..hurricane resistance.
  • ALL door hardware, knobs, hinges, and lock set are solid brass with a black coating that wears off to provide an excellent worn brass patina.
  • ALL window blinds are imported and the horizontal slats are wood.
  • Kitchens are fully equipped with a great variety of utensils.
  • The house is built on 24 deep piles and heavy pile caps.. it went through the “earthquake” a few years ago without a crack.
  • Has a 600 gallon water storage capacity.
  • The ground floor has never been flooded, and we have had some high water recently.
  • There are two sets of linens for each bed and back up in the owners closet.
  • History of good vacation rental income

This very well priced custom home, is in brand new condition.  

Click here for full details and to view/purchase.

New breast cancer guidelines: screen later, less often

In a move sure to befuddle women — and anger some breast cancer survivors — the American Cancer Society has issued new guidelines saying less screening for breast cancer is better than more.

The venerated cancer organization says women should start getting mammograms at 45 instead of 40, and that everyone can skip the routine manual breast checks by doctors.

An exhaustive review of the medical literature shows these measures just aren’t very effective, according to the group. “The chance that you’re going to find a cancer and save a life is actually very small,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, the society’s chief medical officer.

Now three key groups — the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Cancer Society, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — recommend different ages for starting regular mammograms: 40, 45 and 50 respectively.

While mammograms save lives, they can also cause harm, and each group does a different job of balancing the pros and cons.

Earlier testing is not necessarily better

The problem with mammograms is that they have a relatively high false positive rate, which means women sometimes have to undergo painful and time-consuming tests only to find out they never had cancer in the first place.

The chances of false positives are especially high for women under 45, as they have denser breasts and tumors are harder to spot on an image. “If she starts screening at age 40, she increases the risk that she’ll need a breast cancer biopsy that turns out with the doctor saying ‘You don’t have cancer, so sorry we put you through all this,'” Brawley said.

He said he knows women who’ve had false positives year after year. “False positives are a huge deal,” he said. “These women are so frightened and inconvenienced they swear off mammography for the rest of their lives.”

Six years ago, the federal government’s Preventive Services Task Force caused a furor when it declared that women in their 40s didn’t need to get routine mammograms. Younger women whose breast cancers were caught by mammograms angrily responded that they would have been dead if they’d followed that guideline.

They said they’d gladly risk a false positive, with all the inconvenient and sometimes painful followup, for the chance of finding a cancer.

Learning from that experience, the American Cancer Society has sought to soften its message, emphasizing that women in their early 40s should still be able to get mammograms if they want them, as long as they understand the risks.

There’s the risk of a false positive, plus the risk that a mammogram could catch a very small breast cancer that will go away on its own, or never progress to the point that it hurts a woman. In other words, a mammogram could catch a tumor that isn’t really worth catching.

But since doctors can’t reliably discern the harmful from the harmless cancers, they treat them all. This means some women are getting potentially harmful treatments, such as radiation, chemotherapy and surgery, when their tumor would never have caused a problem, Brawley says.

A Canadian study looked at 44,925 women who were screened for breast cancer, and 106 of them fell into this category and were treated for breast cancer “unnecessarily,” according to a review in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Read the full article here on CNN.

By Elizabeth Cohen, Senior Medical Correspondent

2 Bedroom Beach Villa with Pool in Placencia, Belize

Comfortable and Very Easy on the Eyes
These 2 bedroom Beach Villas take the Caribbean living experience to a new level. Located on the beach in the lush, yet wildly civilized Cocoplum Residential Community, the 2 bedroom Beach Villa offers you a truly unique locale to call home while in Belize.

A folding glass door offers unparalleled views of the beach and nearby cayes (islands), and opens onto a very large deck that surrounds the pool. The spacious living room is the perfect place to spend an evening having drinks around the granite topped bar while deciding whether to eat dinner inside, or out on the deck.

Toes in the Sand and not a Care in the World
The Beach Villa is located on a mile of secluded Caribbean beach, the only thing between you and the sea are a few swaying palms and assorted local trees, . . . . and a little over 100 feet of sandy beach. So break out a kayak, go for a swim, stroll the beach, or just relax with something cold in your hand.

Location, location, location
Cocoplum is a ten minute drive from the Placencia airstrip, and is conveniently positioned between the laid back bustle of the village and the more upscale eateries of the northern peninsula. This is a master planned community, spread over 224 acres, along nine thousand feet of beach and lagoon front on the Placencia Peninsula.  It consists of 110 single family home sites, a twenty acre boutique resort site with planned marina, and a 12 acre parcel set aside for condominium development.

Property Management
The principals of this master planned community live on-site and offer hands-on property management and concierge service. So you have the choice of living here year round or taking advantage of their full service rental program. Owner’s participating in the rental program enjoy a profitable 60-40 split in their favor.

Click here for more details and to view/purchase.

Guest Hotel & Cabanas Hopkins Village, Belize

This Hopkins Village, Four Room Guest House with Owner’s Suite & Three Seperate Self Contained Cabanas is an Ideal Caribben Turn Key Business.

This “Turn Key” business, with a great track record is ideally located on the main Hopkins Village road towards the Hotel Zone just 1/2 mile south. Very popular with the tourists. Hopkins Village is a very friendly, safe Garifuna fishing village, with lots of local culture and activities.

 

for sale3

for sale4

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Across the road and only 400 feet away is the best 3 1/2 miles of Caribbean beach in Belize.

Close to many local restaurants, grocery stores and shops.

Dangriga Town and the municipal airport is only 1/2 hr drive away.

Click here for more details and how to view/purchase.

Tanya Carter – Pretty Face

Let us know what you think of Tanya Carter’s new hit single “Pretty Face”.  This video was shot at local Cafe, Spoonaz!

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Nail polish and Bikinis Capitalizing on the Belize Name

I was in Wisconsin visiting a friend for the Thanksgiving holidays when she pulled out a bottle of O.P.I. nail polish called “Belize It or Not” out of her cosmetics bag. So cool. I couldn’t wait to use it and flaunt it ’bout dih place.

The O.P.I. "Belize It or Not" color was released in the company's 2011 fall collection.
The O.P.I. “Belize It or Not” color was released in the company’s 2011 fall collection.

That was 10 years ago, and it wasn’t until just this past month that the “Belize” name popped up again somewhere unexpected.

This time — on a sizzling hot Beach Bunny. The high end women’s swimwear brand launched their new “Belize Beauty” bikini this year for their 2015 summer collection, and it’s already been spotted on a couple celebrities. (I know this because I follow their Instagram page. Don’t ask me why I like to torture myself watching slender women in bikinis.) Like O.P.I., Beach Bunny also gets a kick out of using the names of different destinations for their products. There’s Panama Animal, Damascus Seas, Montego Moment and Bahama Mama among other itty bitty scanty pieces. (I’ve got to tell you. Panama Animal is beating us as a bestseller this summer. Not cool.)

Luxury swimwear brand Beach Bunny unveiled the Belize Beauty this summer.
Luxury swimwear brand Beach Bunny unveiled the Belize Beauty this summer.

The names, however, just don’t come out of some marketing team’s imagination. Apparently Beach Bunny founder and former swimsuit model Angela Chittenden finds inspiration during her personal travels for her racy pieces, and she was quoted on the About Us page of her bikini empire saying she used the colors of a tree bark she saw during her visit here for the “Belize Beauty.”  And actually, the first time I ever heard of the brand was when Chittenden’s team visited the Placencia Peninsula along with Kate Upton to shoot their 2012 collection at Robert’s Grove Resort. On that same trip they also shot at Sanctuary Belize — a mysterious real estate development not too far away from the Peninsula.

Just last year the Bunnies were back again in Southern Belize shooting model Irina Shayk’s swimwear collaboration with Beach Bunny at Sanctuary Belize, as well model Chrissy Teigen’s bridal wear collaboration. Yeah. I think it’s safe to say Beach Bunny loves Belize and our gorgeous tropical backdrops.

Danish model Nina Agdal strikes a sexy pose in the Belize Beauty. (beachbunny.com)

But I’m not sure how much you can love Beach Bunny. The “Belize Beauty” in white, yellow or black can be yours for just US$275 or to bloat it up even more, that’s BZ$550. When I lose 30 pounds, I might consider treating myself to a “Belize Beauty” and skipping on my month’s rent. I kid, landlord, I kid!(But really, Angela, can you send one down to me please when I lose 30 pounds and begin looking something like Chrissy Teigen? I’ll pair it with my special O.P.I. color.)

Source: Jolie Pollard

Belize: I Live Where You Escape

#ILiveYouWhereYouEscape — that was the clever hashtag I saw on a friend’s post in my Facebook newsfeed commenting on a “Belize” mention in a recent episode of “Ray Donovan.” Billionaire Andrew Finney had just murdered Varick Strauss in a strange lover’s quarrel and as a part of the clean up under Donovan’s direction, it was decided that the public would learn that Strauss had stolen Finney’s money and escaped to Belize.

Criminal savior Ray Donovan on clean-up duty with Andrew Finney. Belize is part of the solution.
Criminal savior Ray Donovan on clean-up duty with Andrew Finney. Belize is part of the solution. (Ray Donovan: “Tulip” Episode 8-Season 3-2015)

The hit Showtime series isn’t the first Hollywood production to use Belize as a getaway destination when things go awry. The highly successful “Breaking Bad” that aired on AMC, even got a carefully crafted PR response from the Belize Tourism Board when Saul, the sleazy attorney of Walter White, a chemistry professor-turned-meth dealer, suggested Belize as the place for White’s brother-in-law and local Drug Enforcement Agency official to be assassinated. The “send him to Belize” line in the 2013 episode, “Buried”,  became so popular that it has even secured its place in the Urban Dictionary as a “euphemism for “whacking” or “liquidating” a problematic individual or rival.”

Send him to Belize has become one of Breaking Bad's most popular memes.
Send him to Belize has become one of Breaking Bad’s most popular memes.

But prior to my home country getting its notorious moments of glory in these Emmy-award winning American TV thrillers, Belize also got its seconds of fame on the big screen.

In the 2011 smash hit “Ocean’s 11,” Rusty Ryan played by Hollywood mega star Brad Pitt tells Danny Ocean played by George Clooney, “I’d never been to Belize.” Pitt rolled out the line just as he and Clooney left lunch with their wealthy friend and former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff who gave them some advice and caution with robbing Las Vegas casinos. Even though it just lasted for a blip, it immediately caught the attention of Belizean fans everywhere. Catch Pitt’s line two minutes into this fun clip.

And in what is my first recollection of Belize making it in a big Hollywood script, Christian Slater’s character Tom, an armoured truck guard in “Hard Rain (1998)” who tries to safeguard a few million dollars from robber Morgan Freeman, tells his nemesis as they battled in the well, hard rain, that if he were the bad guy and took a million dollars, he would escape to Belize. Slater even continues to give audiences a little education about Belize highlighting the two to one ratio of the Belize dollar to the U.S. dollar.

Christian Slater's character in 1998's Hard Rain talks about Belize's currency ratio with the U.S. dollar.
Christian Slater’s character in 1998’s Hard Rain talks about Belize’s currency ratio with the U.S. dollar.

But aside from stretching a dollar for an American bad guy, Hollywood’s fixation with Belize could also be our country’s close proximity to the United States, English being a widely spoken language and our sparse and small population allowing bad guys some time to hide and create new identities or a good guy getting a hit without a hitch. One thing for certain, however, is that Breaking Bad has made Belize part of the American cultural lexicon, and you can be sure we’ll be popping up in more scripts continuing with this season of Ray Donovan.

Stay tuned.

Source: Jolie Pollard

Casinos and Economic Stability in Belize

Belize (and other South American countries like Panama and Nicaragua) is gaining recognition as excellent expatriation zones — a few thousand American citizens enjoy living in Belize, in addition to people from around the world who go for better quality of life.

It may be less known that Belize is gambling-friendly. This is not really apparent in the top tourism sites, or even Wikipedia’s material about countries with online gambling. This fact contributes to its desirability as a place to live because the country’s economy is strengthened by tax revenues from its licensing of online casinos. For some who like playing casino games, it is also a lifestyle-oriented draw.

Betting on Fun

Belize’s economy is based upon some key exports like sugar and bananas, as well as tourism. There are several world-class resort casinos, some with spa facilities. These properties happen to be some of the most upscale available in the nation. They are part of country’s income, as is revenue from the online casinos that it allows to operate.

The country has a progressive attitude towards its relationship with gambling entertainment, judging from the fact that its newest casinos (announced by press releases to open in 2014) offer full integration between land-based gaming and its online games available throughout the resort complex. The design of the casino — this is a first — facilitates and highlights access to the online gaming resources.

Investments in Belize

The nation is also a haven for all sorts of offshore businesses. This means that it is an economy, and a society, that seeks to maintain stability essential for the smooth operation of its foreign investors, which include the top brands and companies in the world. Individuals who retire in Belize or who simply seek to decrease their expenses and increase personal enjoyment of life are interested in the same stability as big corporations looking to do business, invest, build factories and units.

The fact that some of the newest online casino brands of the highest quality are choosing Belize for licensing and the operation of their gaming servers, with the associated customer service personnel, in a real sense verifies the country as politically and economically safe for investments. When a nation’s foreign investors are diverse it adds credence to its reputation for stable, business-friendly conditions.

Because Belize already has stakes in offering high-quality, fully regulated online gaming entertainment and services, it is poised to take full advantage of the boom in online gaming. The popularity of these games has skyrocketed since the introduction of many safe ways to play including PayPal casinos. The newest Web-powered financial tools that progressive casinos embrace make funding a player’s bankroll as easy and private as handing over money to the cashier at a land-based casino.

Top online casino guides including http://www.paypal-casinos.co/ are helping players find the best sites and games, many of which are made possible by Belizean laws toward gambling — a global extension of its tourism industry. Each country that hosts these games does it in their own way; Belize has a relatively quiet, discreet relationship with gambling and this undoubtedly is a plus for many who love the country.

After all, statistics say that most people play casino bonus, first of all for their own pleasure, and then for the sake of winning.

*See our Disclaimer for release information.

Using a Belize Trust to Protect Your Assets in the Event of Divorce

Nobody wants to think about a marriage not working out before the ceremony even takes place. But one must consider the real possibility that all marriages are not a “together forever” bond. This is especially important if the individuals in the relationship have significantly high wealth or net worth individually. Often times this wealth comes, in large part, from the individual’s family fortune which is at risk should the marriage end in divorce.

You may be wondering why a regular prenup isn’t as good as an offshore trust since the legal agreement has long been used to protect assets acquired by individuals before entering into a marriage. But a prenuptial agreement has many drawbacks that can make it loose its validity in court.

Your prenup can lose validity in a legal battle if your spouse claims any of the following:

  • the agreement was signed under duress;
  • the agreement was unreasonable;
  • there wasn’t full disclosure provided by the other spouse;
  • he/she was not given independent legal counsel.

Any one of these claims can make a costly and lengthy divorce process which does no good for either party involved.

Additionally, assets protected in a prenuptial agreement may be protected against any legal action taken against you by your spouse; but the prenup does not protect you against government imposed appropriation. Should there be any legal action taken against you by any other person or entity, all your assets are at risk.

By moving your assets to a Belize offshore trust, the assets will then be guarded by the rules set out in the trust agreement and would only be disbursed to the beneficiary named in said agreement. Should there be any legal action taken against you in your home country, the assets in the offshore trust will remain unaffected as the trust is governed by the laws of the country it was established. Therefore, your local government would have no say over the administration of those assets once they were placed in the offshore trust before any legal proceedings began.

If you feel that an offshore trust in Belize would be beneficial to you, contact the Belize offshore financial experts at ICS.

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