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Title: You Really Have No Idea
Source:
Raconteur Report
URL Source: http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com ... u-really-have-no-idea.html?m=1
Published: Mar 17, 2020
Author: Aesop
Post Date: 2020-03-17 18:01:35 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 9834
Comments: 66
This isn't a ramble. I have a number of lines of thought I've been stewing over at work all weekend, and I'll be going down each one until I'm done. Let's begin. 4000 is the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. now. (That we know about. Reality could be 100,000 or more.) If that original number doubles seventeen more times, the product is a number larger than the populations of the U.S. (330M), Mexico(137M), and Canada(37M), combined. IOW, it's virtually everywhere in North America at that point. (No, I'm not particularly concerned about the banana republics between Mexico and South America in this regard. They can lump it.) What I've read is that the outbreak is doubling every 4-6 days. So somewhere between 68 and 102 days from today, the shit sandwich on this continent reaches full maturity. If the spread of the disease is moving at that rate. If the current voluntary measures don't halt that growth, or even slow that pace. If it doesn't run out of people stupid enough to keep doing things to spread it. With the above caveats: May 22nd, to June 26th, give or take. It crests 100M cases a week to two earlier. Long before then, we'll have a great view of how lethal it is, and how many cases are serious. So by somewhere between mid-May and Mid-June, we'll either have metric f**ktons of people requiring hospitalization, and dead, or not. How much better or worse it is then will be a foolproof look at whether this is a nothingburger, or Spanish Flu. Oh, and if there are really 100,000 cases now, we get there a full month earlier. Now maybe you can figure out why POTUS said this will last through July or August, at minimum. And remember, the 85% (or more, or less) of all infected people who have symptoms ranging from none, to moderate flu, aren't the problem. They never were. They'll be just fine. It's the hordes dying in droves, and crashing the entire U.S. medical system that could put a kink in this country that'll last for decades. And crashing the stock market. And everyone going broke. And crashing the economy even after this passes. And so on. And so on. And so on. That's 5 1/2 months from now. How much food do you have? That little thought exercise should concentrate your minds wonderfully. ---------- Now, a reminder about some other numbers. 900,000 staffed hospital beds. And when I say staffed beds, I don't just mean doctors, nurses, and RTs. I also mean D.Os, PAs, EMTs, CNAs, pharmacists, radiology techs, facilities engineers, clean-up crew, supply workers, registration clerks, administration people, IT geeks, and hundreds of other clerks and jerks, without whose constant efforts and hard work, plus medical supplies in small mountains every single day, Dr. Hero and Nurse Awesome are just a couple of people in funny pajamas, and with about as much lifesaving ability on their own as there is actual magical ability in Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis. If it was just beds we needed, we could take all the surplus army cots from the 2M guys RIFFed from Uncle Sam in the 1990s, unfold them, and Presto!, have another 2M spots to dump patients. It doesn't work like that. I bring this up because if "only" 10% of Kung Flu victims require a hospital bed, because they're really that sick, then long about the time we hit 16,000,000 victims, in (44 to 66 days, so let's average it to) 55 days, we have more patients than we have beds for them. At that point, we're Italy. Say about May the 12th or so. (We may also have up to 480,000 dead, which if it happens would have crushed every ICU in the country 5 times over long before that point.) We've covered this before, but it bears keeping in mind. Keep your thumb in this spot, as we move along. ---------- This weekend, all considered, from purely a Kung Flu cases standpoint, was just ducky. Scenario One: You're in the military. In a combat zone. The enemy is known to have chemical weapons. One day, a shell whistles over from the enemy side of things, and goes off with a less than enthusiastic bang. Then another, and another. You see a hazy white cloud forming at each impact site, coalescing into a large white cloud, now drifting lazily towards your position. Do you Scenario Two: You're working in a hospital. An ambulance arrives, and unloads a patient spurting blood everywhere, who tells you he just arrived from the Congo, where he runs an HIV and Ebola Survivors Clinic, and tripped on the jetway and cut his leg open. Do you In case you were wondering, the correct answer to both scenarios is "d". You always assume the worst, from common sense, and institutional policy, and over-prepare, so you can deal with it easily if it turns out to be less-than. You don't grab your .22 to go take on that African Cape Buffalo, and then find out you needed a bit more to get it done. Unless you're a farking moron. I told you that story so I could tell you this one: ---------- Some days back, I stated that I didn't think we'd bring Kung Flu patients into the hospital, but instead, triage them in tents outside, then send the ones meeting criteria to some FEMA-set-up Kung Flu Treatment Center, staffed as possible, and serviced by dedicated Hazmat 9-1-1 ambulances, whisking members of the community there as appropriate, in full protective gear, 24/7/365. Because, as I argued with flawless logic, to do otherwise would be to a) risk our entire healthcare system being overwhelmed and destroyed, a la Italy, and b) make every other medical emergency impossible to deal with, thus doubling casualties from every other treatable and preventable cause of death, from heart attacks and strokes to appendicitis, because the entirety of any and every hospital would be filled with Kung Flu-infected plague petri dishes, in every nook and cranny. Turns out, TPTB, top to bottom, make the Italians look like Leonardo da Vinci. 1) We're not putting tents up everywhere. THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GETTING. Instead of learning from Italy's mistakes, and trying to save people and the overall healthcare system, we're going to keep on half-assing this until we're in it over our heads, and then drown. Instead of making the hard call early, and working the kinks out now, when it would have been easy, when it's five patients a week, we'll wait until it's 500 patients an hour, and then crash and burn in a glorious orgy of stupidity. I expect people to hit the wall. That last expectation was misguided, being most clearly irrational hubris overcoming a solid and well-founded pessimism about people in general, the universality of the Peter Principle, and the inevitability of people, left to their own devices, shooting themselves in the feet until they run out of feet, or ammunition. And then, reloading. Take care of yourselves. No one is coming to save you. Poster Comment: Author works in an ER on the West Coast
4000
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1000000
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How much cash on hand do you have?
How much of each of those does Gilligan's family have, and how far are they from you?
So, how much ammo do you have??
93,000 staffed ICU beds.
60,000 ventilators.
1,000,000 medical doctors.
2,800,000 registered nurses.
106,000 respiratory therapists.
That is the army you're going to war with, in this pandemic.
We had maybe half a dozen to ten "rule-outs" (meaning "maybe it is, maybe it isn't; look for other things that rule out Kung Flu. Like actual influenza flu.) Given the abysmally slow return time, I believe at least one was positive for Kung Flu.
"Ten patients? Is that all?!? Aesop is fulla sh*t! This is a big conjob nothingburger!" - every two-digit IQ soopergenius who ever read a word I wrote on this topic.
And herewith, we digress for a bit.
a) send the company dumbass Gilligan over there to have a sniff for you, and report back
b) send the whole company of men over, and see what happens
c) put Gilligan in temporary command, and have him lead the whole company over there
d) Yell "GAS! GAS! GAS!", while clanging metal-on-metal, and then rapidly don your MOPP gear and gas mask, before the cloud blows into your position, and prepare to treat anyone nearby who was slower on the uptake.
a) run over and apply direct pressure with your bare hands, while fountaining blood cascades into your eyes, nose, and mouth, and lick yourself clean afterwards
b) yell at all your other co-workers to join you in performing "a"
c) Both "a" and "b"
d) put on appropriate gown, gloves, and mask with splatter shield, and apply an emergency tourniquet
2) We're not segregating people out of the hospital.
3) We'll do a half-assed triage assessment outside the building somewhere (fill in the blank where___________)
4) Using screening criteria overtaken by reality a month ago, because the CDC, no matter how asinine, is always the CDC
4a) to wit, asking about foreign travel, even though homegrown community-acquired cases outstrip foreign travel candidates, and have for two weeks
4b) ask about exposure to known Kung Flu patients, even though the CDC and local public health departments refused to test for Kung Flu until four days ago, in most cases, (due to jackassery, fuckwittery, and a dearth of functional kits for two months) thus insuring via Catch-22, that if you never test for King Flu, nobody anyone was in contact with ever officially has Kung Flu
5) then bring the infected into an appropriate sealed negative airflow room
5a) which cleverly has no patient monitoring equipment
5b) will not allow you to get portable chest x-ray equipment into the room with the patient with respiratory problems (which, cleverly, no one thought about prior to then)
5c) which would contaminate said portable x-ray equipment every time you got it into the quarantine room
5d) which would require an extensive, nigh impossible decontamination of said X-ray equipment for each and every subsequent patient
5e) thus leading to shooting x-rays outside the building, or in other places that probably violate 27 hospital safety policies, local health and safety codes, and probably eleventy Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations regarding radiological safety of patients, staff, and bystanders, in a slow-rolling Chernobyl sort of way
5f) and taking them to CT scanners which are then contaminated, and failing to do a full terminal clean of said rooms and equipment each and every time, which would take them offline for hours each shift, and necessitate closing the hospital to ambulance traffic, so why bother cleaning?
6)unless you're fresh out of negative airflow rooms, in which case you
7) put them into open rooms with no protection or containment
8) thus insuring that all staff members and other patients are exposed over and over again
9) to cases which will not be tested for Kung Flu unless they're first proven negative for the flu
10) Or not
11) All such "policies" being rather more like the Pirates Code ("just guidelines, really"), purely at the whimsy and caprice of whatever doctor(s), charge nurses, or cranky old bat nurse has phone duty that day at the Public Health office, and their personal and capricious interpretation of the current (of four or five or six, so far) CDC guidelines
12) which apparently are changed every hour, if not more frequently
13) while the managers, and senior management, who should be living in the same shoes and underpants 24/7/365 until they sort this shit out, weekend or no, but whom are instead nowhere to be seen, heard from, or in any wise directly involved, until the total colossal clusterfuck falls over from its own weight seven or eight times over, between Friday afternoon and the middle of the following week.
14) while staff and patients having to deal with the results of people with Acute-on-Chronic Head-Up-The-Ass-Syndrome are repeatedly subjected to potential pandemic exposure, leading to sickness, preventative quarantine, lawsuits, and death
15) as the Low IQ staff members, who still think this is no big deal, continue to half-ass every bit of their response, 24/7/365, because half of them were below the upper/lower cut in their graduating classes as well.
The CDC (as per usual, going back years decades) has no f**king idea that it doesn't even know what it doesn't even know, including how to find its own ass with both hands, a map, a compass, and a rearview mirror.
ManageManglement has no idea the CDC can't find its own ass either, and is looking for their own as well.
Supervisory staff puts on its Lemming Suicide Squad Crash Helmet and blinders, and announces that the Light Brigade will smartly charge right over the cliff.
Grunt-level staff, doctors, nurses, ancillary members, etc. will continue to work until
a) they can't take the bullshit
b) they get sick
c) they realize their own family's safety trumps a paycheck.
This is all new to everyone.
There hasn't been a pandemic like this in 100 years.
BUT I ALSO EXPECTED THEM NOT TO BE SO GODDAMN STUPID AFTER THEY HIT THE WALL AS TO NOT RUN HEADFIRST INTO IT TEN OR TWENTY MORE TIMES, IN RAPID SUCCESSION, SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY CAN.
Take care of your families.
Take care of your friends.
Take care of Your People.
Not me.
Not the government.
Not. Any. One.
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#27. To: X-15 (#0)
When three bus loads of us went to Woodstock 94 to work Security, we slept in big circus tents. They put up a divider in them with men on one side and women on the other. One company came from Atlanta. They did not like the accommodations so they left after the first night. What a bunch of woosies. We were lean and mean after we got out of there. I saw a guy at local Wal Mart wearing a Poison T-shirt. It turned out his brother worked for Upstaging. They are the people that ship stages around the country. When we worked Pearl Jam in Soldier Field in Chicago in 1996, it was the same stage as the main stage at Woodstock 94. I could tell by the hardware we had been walking over for three days straight. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
In case you didn't know, B -- Ecuador means equator in Mexican. That reminds me of when Jim Stafford used to say "Now, 'guitar' means 'guitar' in Spanish." And he could sure play one.
In case you didn't know, B -- Ecuador means equator in Yes I am well aware of that. I did not know that Neil was an ex-pat. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
I asked my twin sister if she wanted to buy a rifle. So I grabbed a box from storage locker. When I got to the bar she worked in, she came out to look at it. It was the stainless Ruger 10-22. When she saw what it was she ran back in the bar and locked me out. What in hell did she think I was going to sell her, the .308 battle rifle? :-/ When I lived in her attic flat, I went downstairs to visit. I asked to see the pistol she carried at work. It was a .38 snub nose. I tired to cock it and it was rusted. So I asked her, "When is the last time you cleaned this?" She said, "About a month ago." I told her, "If you are going to carry this, you need to clean it once or twice a week or THIS is what happens to it." :-/ "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Did you ask her HOW she cleaned it? Maybe her idea of cleaning a gun is to soak it in hot soapy water in the sink?
So rusty it wouldn't cock -- sounds extreme for just a month later?
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Where I am, the biggest racial difference is between the indigenous and European descent. Very different cultures and the 2 groups don't really mix socially. There's no animosity at all, but just no social mixing to any real extent. Indigenous villages often carry out their own form of criminal punishment without sanction from the formal gov. I've never been to Belize but would like to go sometime. So I can't speak for it. One person who had a bad experience was John McCafee. It didn't end well as he refused to be extorted for normal protection by the local police. His dog was killed and then his neighbor was murdered. John was a suspect and fled the country as he refused to submit to what he claimed was complete corruption. So Belize is not for celebrities. Only works for people who are not known to be millionaires. But yes, it's low altitude tropics so lots of bugs are to be expected. At least on the coast. Big bugs too, like roaches almost 2 inches in length and 3/4s of an inch wide. Those are here too but only at lower altitudes. There are some higher altitude areas in the south of Belize that would probably take the edge off the heat that might be tolerable. But either there or right on the coast is best as the ocean effect should keep things cooler. I know a bunch of gringos here. But apart from them, I have few friends, and all I do speak English. Because of the language barrier, socializing is a challenge. That's why I've eyed Belize as it's officially English country. The language barrier is a negative for me here. But as I'm kind of introverted, that's not so bad. But I've been here long enough to get done what I need with day to day things, and I got my 3 small dogs to keep me company. But the USA has about nothing to attract me. Expensive, lots of bureaucracy and taxes, GMO foods run amuck, police that might shoot you and funding of the war machine. I've even thought about renouncing as it's one way to remove big brother concerns, but the current price tag on that is about $4000. A financial version of former East Germany's barbed wire fences and minefields.
Retirees also. Once they get a pension coming it, if it's a weak amount to live on in the states, expating to a Latin country where money goes 3x further makes a lot of financial sense. For younger people, expatting to places like Australia & New Zealand makes more sense as they can work there. A college grad wouldn't do well here, especially if he comes with a big college loan debt as he'd never make enough to pay that down. While cost of living is quite low, salaries here match it.
Poignant.
You need a hot senorita to teach you her native tongue, you'll prolly catch right on...
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
New Zealand turns out to be a terrible destination and losing lots of young people to other countries. Housing costs are beyond shocking, even in my pipe dream area -- Waipu https://www.realestate.co.nz/residential/sale? by=featured&lct=s2171&ql=20 Houses are cheaply built, poorly insulated and lacking central heat half the time. There's no really good climate unless you want to live in the isolated extreme north, hours from miserable Auckland. Form your own opinions, but request my NEW ZEALAND TOTAL FAILURE and FORGET AUSTRALIA batches of notes ;) _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
So you're not all that happy with Ecuador and that's only natural. Please consider Boquete, Panama -- you can pick your climate (e.g. perpetual springtime) by your altitude up the slope from David (the nearest city in the flatlands). There's a thriving expat community there and friends of mine to welcome you, possibly to offer you rental space while you're getting your feet on the ground. The town's getting all the amenities like big American-style grocery stores. A couple we know in Chile (he's from here in SC) is considering escaping the mess there for "BQ". _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
I have assumed that pets would be impossible to relocate. I have two dogs that I would hate to part with. Belize is a no-go for me. I know people who have been there, and others in Honduras, and the are both too Caribbean and too socialista for my taste. Equador or Chile. PS Renunciation looks easy and cheap here travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal- considerations/us-citizenship/Renunciation-US-Nationality-Abroad.html _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
There was a guy posting at the-boondocks that lived in Panama, an ex Texan. Isn't it getting expensive there?
Tasmania remains semi-undiscovered, fwiw.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Proper motivation is key to any schooling activity!
Well, I can't speak for the economics of the place, but NZ is unique for having a very diverse habitat. About any type setting in the world can be found there from jungle to desert to snow covered mountains. That's why Lord of the Rings was filmed there.
Oh, and Australia is unique for having wilderness. A lot of desert, yes, but the place is huge for the number of people living there. If you like space, Australia doesn't disappoint. Though I've never been there either. At least not this lifetime.
Thank you. I'll will seriously keep that in mind. I've heard good things about Panama, though it being hot is one of the not-so-good things. Maybe that's just in the city though. Chile is, I understand, more first world than most Latin countries. A bit more regulated but safer.
I don't think so. Cost money to xport on the airline, of course, but it should generally be no problem, so far as I know. The Ecuador Sierra is quite good. Altitude is high at about 8200-9000 feet but that offsets the tropic heat that would be here otherwise. If you ever want to visit, let me know. I can give you a good introduction. But socialism is here for sure. I remember once seeing a formal parade on the street of one of the cities here. Communist. They even had banners of Che Guevera. It's not a universal sentiment by any means but it here. Like the virus, but will stay longer.
That may be, but I failed to find a nice mild climate for older humans like meself. The South Island has earthquakes of course.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
I'll never deny it has its points -- great ones. But it's also the skin cancer capitol of the world, etc etc etc. Famously gunless too.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Didn't see any mention of costs at that link, but it otherwise seems reasonably accurate.
You've been there 14 years and yu no speekee the lingo? Shame on you.
Safe would not be the word for the desirable parts of Chile. It's having a socialist counter-revolution of sorts, and the great Dr. John Cobin is in prison for defending himself against wild antifa mobs who attacked him in his car. Friends A and B just confirmed that friends C and D are definitely leaving it for BQ. Panama is hot as the hinges of hell -- but in BQ that's only part of the year. Ppl (e.g. A and B) say to build a house so it catches the summer breezes -- few prolly have central heat or air. A and B just wrote me "Right now is a bad time for me to try to cultivate new contacts. We're so busy with our projects that we dont do any socializing." But I wrote back that none of us is getting any younger and everybody needs a support system. Last we discussed their situation they were having no success getting tenants after going to great lengths to prepare cottages on their property for the purpose -- something the promoters assure people is easier than A-B-C. Feel obliged to add that after years of research and visiting two main expat countries I found none remotely acceptable, and have been sitting pretty in good ole Dixie ever since. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
I've heard this simple version over and over and would put confidence in it -- figure the $4K has to be just another degrading attempt by the govt to cash in on something free by nature.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
What or where is BQ?
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Boquete, Panama -- see above.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
By ameriKans, perhaps -- but I'd never move there.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Thanks.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
It's a spite tax. The gov takes renunciation as a slap in the face because the USA is the greatest country in the world and when one leaves, it's a sworn declaration that such a notion is a lie. Could also call it a "How DARE You!" tax.
She carried it in and inside the waistband holster. It was soft leather like I had when I owned that stainless Sterling .22 pistol. The cops caught me with it and I got it back too. LOL "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Exactly -- we're the new USSR! And I do believe it can be gotten around.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
ME ;-) I believe I was absent from FR during a stretch of 2000 (probably my last truly peaceful, blissful year of life, uncluttered by politics.) WAS there actually a degree of Hoopla over NESARA? Well, my regard for Freepers being waaaay ahead of the curve back then is even more respected and noted. Two decades have blown by in the twinkling of an eye...cheers. Amazing, ain't it? In someways it seems like an eternity ago; In others, yup, that "twinkling of an eye" -- as though it were just a few years ago. +100 I've really enjoyed your overview and perspective of Ecuador etal on this thread. Fascinating....
Glad to hear that. One thing I've learned is when someone expats into a new culture, it really provides a new perspective on life. So much of what we consider to be normal and basic to all people while living in the US suddenly become distinctly American customs. You learn what is human, and what is only American.
Exactly. Back then, I thought that my life was on cruise control until the end, but 9.11 a year later changed all that thinking forever. “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
Yeah, me too, my old friend(s). When I posted that BS tongue-in-cheek article a week or so ago about the end of the World, I thought this would pass soon. Sorry, I was wrong. Never even saw this one coming. This one's different. Everyone's so stupid and self-aware now that there may be no coming back. Been wrong before... Sure as hell hope I am this time. I normally thrive on some disorder, that's why I was hired years ago by a company, they needed someone smart and level headed, with the ability to handle any situation. I did that until I was almost killed. Ancient history. I'm not trying to be a doom-and-gloomer, just be smart, be safe and be careful. Loddy, sorry about my English, punctuation and grammar. That's one thing I was never interested in or good at. I'll always be a Slavic gopnik, an old one, but once a gopnik, always a gopnik. Was born in the US of US parents, but just recently learned of my real roots. Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner.We're not putting tents up everywhere.
#28. To: BTP Holdings (#18)
Ecuador
#29. To: StraitGate (#28)
MexicanSpanish.
#30. To: Lod (#2)
#31. To: BTP Holdings (#30)
I tired to cock it and it was rusted. So I asked her, "When is the last time you cleaned this?" She said, "About a month ago."
#32. To: BTP Holdings, Pinguinite (#30)
#33. To: NeoconsNailed (#21)
My friends and I studied Belize -- some visited it and were initially enthused. They all ended up in (Boquete, Panama) or Chile. Belize is a negro country with lots of bugs to deal with, but the natives are a totally different story than blax in white countries - - mild and benign, never been radicalized. (Yet.)
Belize cities are mostly slum, correct? Still lots of people like Belize, especially if they've got a little money. I'd love to leave the US but it's far from simple. The USG has destroyed offshore financial privacy and now double-taxes expats -- does everything it can to stop Americans from leaving. My Panama friends still come back to SC for dental appts ;)
You Neil are the only American I've ever personally known or been aware of that's glad he chose Ecuador. If you really are, I'm very happy for you. Do you have friends there -- anybody to advise you on how to get things done, etc.?
#34. To: Lod (#22)
Expatriating is generally for young, single people and I am neither. But thanks for keeping us updated on your life in the Republic of the Equator.
#35. To: Pinguinite (#33)
A financial version of former East Germany's barbed wire fences and minefields.
#36. To: Pinguinite (#34)
(Edited)
#37. To: Lod, Pinguinite (#34)
#38. To: Pinguinite (#33)
#39. To: Pinguinite (#33)
I got my 3 small dogs to keep me company.
Freedom is a social skill.
#40. To: Pinguinite (#38)
#41. To: NeoconsNailed (#38)
Freedom is a social skill.
#42. To: NeoconsNailed (#37)
#43. To: Lod (#36)
You need a hot senorita to teach you her native tongue, you'll prolly catch right on...
#44. To: NeoconsNailed (#37)
Form your own opinions, but request my NEW ZEALAND TOTAL FAILURE and FORGET AUSTRALIA batches of notes ;)
#45. To: NeoconsNailed (#37)
#46. To: NeoconsNailed (#38)
There's a thriving expat community there and friends of mine to welcome you, possibly to offer you rental space while you're getting your feet on the ground.
#47. To: Anthem (#39)
I have assumed that pets would be impossible to relocate. I have two dogs that I would hate to part with.
Belize is a no-go for me. I know people who have been there, and others in Honduras, and the are both too Caribbean and too socialista for my taste. Equador or Chile.
#48. To: Pinguinite (#44)
#49. To: Pinguinite (#45)
#50. To: NeoconsNailed (#40)
#51. To: Pinguinite (#47)
#52. To: Pinguinite (#46)
#53. To: Pinguinite (#50)
#54. To: NeoconsNailed (#52)
#55. To: Lod (#54)
#56. To: Lod (#42)
#57. To: NeoconsNailed (#55)
#58. To: NeoconsNailed (#53)
I've heard this simple version over and over and would put confidence in it -- figure the $4K has to be just another degrading attempt by the govt to cash in on something free by nature.
#59. To: NeoconsNailed, Pinguinite (#32)
So rusty it wouldn't cock -- sounds extreme for just a month later?
#60. To: Pinguinite (#58)
#61. To: Lod (#24)
Who can forget the hoopla that NESARA NOW! created on FR back in 2000?
#62. To: Pinguinite, NeoconsNailed (#58)
It's a spite tax....Could also call it a "How DARE You!" tax.
#63. To: Pinguinite (#33)
#64. To: Liberator (#63)
I've really enjoyed your overview and perspective of Ecuador etal on this thread. Fascinating....
#65. To: Liberator (#61)
...2000 (probably my last truly peaceful, blissful year of life, uncluttered by politics.)
#66. To: Lod, Cynicom, 4um (#65)
Back then, I thought that my life was on cruise control until the end...
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
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