Chinese Virus statistics week number 27 as at 19/02/21 (plus political comment and personal news) since August 21st. 2020 (189 days)

Hi again to all,

Once again, our weekly homily -  we hope you are all in the pink. 

A milestone week, this week. We are both now at the start of our 75th. year on this Godforsaken planet. Jim 3 weeks ago and now Jean. A sobering milestone indeed, but we don't feel a day over 90!! Only joking - we still feel as though we are at least 35 years younger. Mentally perhaps, but at times the physical side makes itself felt! 

But having said all that, we feel very lucky to be in this country. Colombia, like NZ, it is a land of plenty - not without some huge problems, but with lovely people and a cost of living roughly 30% of that of NZ. 

MUNDO - World

Total cases - 111,040,682 - (21,168,111) - up 89,872,571 or 424.6%

Deaths - 2,457,011 - 2.2% - (759,328 - 3.6%) - up 1,697,683 or 223.6%

Recoveries - 85,941,244 - 77.4% - (13,984,843 - 66.1%) - up 71,956,401 or 514.5%

Therefore active cases - 22,639,873 - 20.4% - (6,425,939 - 30.3%) - up 16,213,934 or 252.3%. Of the total population (which is estimated to be increasing by 1,557,692 per week) of 7,846,976,603 (7,804,380,455), the percentage of active cases is 0.289% (0.082%) of the total world population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,885 - (1,437)

Compared to last week, active cases are down 2,780,305 or 10.9%

At last some very encouraging figures. Recoveries as a percentage of total cases are up and active cases are down. The percentage of active cases to total population is down, and total active cases per 1 million of population are down by 355 or 11.0%.Too early for the vaccinations to be having an effect - maybe some more honest reporting is starting to happen and we'll see increases in ordinary 'flu and other causes of illness, such as gunshot wounds and heart attacks!!

ESTADOS UNIDOS - United States

Total cases - 28,543,751 - (5,429,115) - up 23,114,636 or 425.8%

Deaths - 505,944 - 1.8% - (170,781 - 3.2%) - up 335,163 or 196.3%

Recoveries - 18,707,002 - 65.5% - (2,844,535 - 52.4%) - up 15,862,467 or 557.7%

Therefore active cases - 9,330,805 - 32.7% - (2,413,829 - 44.6%) - up 6,916,976 or 286.6%. Of the total population of 332,235,623 (331,236,184), the percentage of active cases is 2.809% (0.729%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 28,085 - (9,043)

Compared to last week, the comparative figures are:

Total cases up 541,511 or 1.9%

Deaths up 19,022 or 3.9%

Recoveries up 776,183 or 4.3%

Active cases down 253,694 or 2.7%

Again some heartening statistics.

Compared to last week, active cases as a percentage of total cases are down. Percentage of active cases as a percentage of total population is down. And active cases per 1 million of population are down 767 or 2.7%. Small movements perhaps and who knows the reason for the changes, but maybe now that the Dims are in power, the reporting is becoming more honest?

A Newsmax report just to hand deals with the situation of the Republican Party's appeals lodged with the US Supreme Court in October last year, BEFORE the presidential election on November 3rd., in respect of claimed illegal changes to mail-in ballot deadlines. The Supreme Court decided not to hear the appeals. These appeals were based on the same arguments, among others, used by President Trump's legal team after the election, which were again refused hearings.

Justice Clarence Thomas delivered a blistering attack on the SCOTUS decision not to hear the appeals. He said, "we failed to settle this dispute before the election and thus provide clear rules. Now again we fail to provide clear rules for future elections".

Justices Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch sought to hear the cases but Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal justices in turning them away. Justice Amy Barrett did not take part in the decision as it preceded her swearing-in. 

It is clear from the above sad recitation of events BEFORE THE ELECTION, and after, that the whole system was rigged from the start against Trump within the legal system at the highest level, together with criminal election officials in vital swing states colluding to ensure that Biden "won" the battleground states of Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia. These states were in truth won by Trump and if that result had prevailed without the criminal election fraud perpetrated by the Dims, then Trump would still be the president and the extreme leftist actions we are seeing now would never have happened. The potential consequences are enormous.

A ray of light is that an Arizona Congressman has launched legal action to force the forensic examination in Maricopa County, Phoenix. This has been blocked for so long and in so many ways - WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO HIDE? ONE GUESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is now looking like the Maricopa County Electoral Board may have destroyed evidence, in addition to all their other criminal actions. If that is so, then very definitely people will be going to jail because destroying electoral evidence which is required to be kept for 22 months is a serious crime and in itself should be enough to demand a re-evaluation of the slate of votes sent by Arizona to the Electoral College. Other "battleground" states are very likely to follow Arizona's lead, and then what? Biden & Co. get kicked out of the White House!!

Quite apart from the egregious electoral fraud as above, which has resulted in an illegitimate president, and the disenfranchisement of 75 million voters, we have a continuing litany of absolutely disgraceful leftist incompetence and straight-out crookedness masquerading as news emanating from the United States these days. From a 240 year old democracy which every free citizen of the world once looked up to, it is profoundly disturbing. Not only for all freedom loving citizens of the US, but also for all the world. It is so bad that it is difficult to write about - so here are just a few examples of the latest gems -

The Secretary of Defense has ordered an inquiry into ALL members of the various branches of the US military to establish whether they might be too right wing in their political views to continue their hitherto unblemished military service. This is insulting in the worst possible way and must be affecting morale to a hitherto unplumbed low. It could also contribute to any possibility of secession or even armed rebellion when it is finally realised just how low the Dims are prepared to go.

In addition it is suggested that "white" military members are probably racially right wing and therefore constitute a threat to the on-going stability of the military and no doubt their increasing unwillingness to support the increasingly destructive and unconstitutional policies of Biden & Co.

And note - the military swears allegiance to the Constitution. How does all this sit with that oath of allegiance?  

There are still 5,000 National Guard troops (mostly now from the "blue" states) "guarding" the Capitol in DC. From what?? No-one will say, but probably Pelosi and Co. have concerns that their political agenda may well spark some sort of uprising. In that assessment they are probably right. The troops were to have been withdrawn by next month, but now it is being not so subtlety suggested that they will remain until September. You can draw your own conclusions concerning the Dims' reasoning - if indeed it can be described as that. There is razor-wire fencing not just around the Capitol, but also completely around the White House.

Before the Jan. 6th. riot at the Capitol, the Capitol Police Chief requested permission to re-activate the National Guard because they had intelligence that there was going to be some sort of disturbance. The Sergeant-at-Arms denied the request - was he in turn directed by the Speaker and what did she know? Was the motivation to "frame" Trump supporters and lay the groundwork for his 2nd. fraudulent impeachment? We heard his speech and there was most definitely NO incitement to riot. This is all bound up in the Dims finally abandoning their insistence to call witnesses at the kangaroo impeachment trial, because the Republicans threatened to call over 100 witnesses, including Madam Speaker herself, which would have been unacceptably embarrassing to the Dims to say the least. She would have been grilled on her involvement in inciting the riot herself using BLM and Antifa thugs who actually spearheaded the assault.

All of this coupled with trying to re-establish the Iran Nuclear Deal - which will probably cause Israel to again mount a serious attack on Iranian nuclear assets - plus a much softer approach to China which in turn may encourage them to invade Taiwan. The CCP are just biding their time as they assess the weakness and incompetence of the Biden Administration. 

And the dire financial straits that the US is in, the seeds of which were laid over Democrat and Republican administrations for many years. Many predictions for runaway inflation, stock market crash and massive devaluation of the USD. All are quite plausible given the level of debt (govt. and private) and continued counterfeit money printing by the US Fed. The Fed is now completely out of ammunition with interest rates at zero. And Bitcoin at over USD50,000!! 

And the latest so-called COVID stimulus package for 1.9 trillion USD - only 9% is actually for COVID related relief. The rest of it is just an appalling list of Dim socialist giveaways and paybacks. And all this at a time when US Government debt is headed well over 30 trillion dollars. Look out for some massive tax hikes, inflation and devaluation of the US dollar.

All we can say is that we are very thankful that we no longer own any international shares anywhere. All our fiscal assets are in Colombia where we can earn a comfortable living from reasonable interest and property capital growth. Colombia has, since we've been here, had a very conservatively run financial system. No real property bubbles as a result. 1st. mortgage interest rates are around 10% p.a. and inflation 2-3%. We can only hope that as financial turmoil develops in the US, we are not too badly affected.  

Finally, we think the following article from American Retirement Insider dated Feb. 23rd. is entirely apposite:

Heading: "IS JOE BIDEN AN AGENT OF COMMUNIST CHINA?

Is President Joe Biden a Chinese Communist party agent? More and more evidence is surfacing that is leaning towards an answer of "yes".

There are a few plausible scenarios we must consider.

One: President Biden is simply a useful idiot, in the familiar mold of the Cold War American Liberals who championed the Soviet Union and made excuses for its famines and campaigns of oppression and mass murder.

Forget the mass graves, behold the glories of Communism!

In this scenario, President Biden is either thoroughly deceived by the Chinese and/or he is too senile and mentally vacant to know the difference. During presidential briefings on China, Biden plays with a Chinese finger trap in the Oval Office while the Leftists in the Biden Administration sell the United States down the river for a quick Red Buck.

This leads us to our second scenario.......

Two: President Biden is bought and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party. We sure know that President Biden's dropout, drug-addled son has been the beneficiary of Chinese corruption. How did a failed son with no business experience ink a $1.5 billion dollar deal with a subsidiary of the Communist Chinese Government's Bank of China?

Such a question the Mainstream Media refuses to ask, but the dots are obvious enough for a toddler to connect: In 2013, then Vice-President Joe Biden and his druggie son Hunter Biden flew aboard Air Force Two to China. A mere ten days later, Hunter Biden's company landed a 1.5 billion dollar deal.

For all of the Radical Left's talk of "intersectionality", the bright bulbs in the media establishments of America fail to see the intersection between Hunter Biden's ballooning bank account and President Joe Biden's political weakness towards China.

The answer as to whether or not President Biden is an agent of the Communist Chinese government is likely a mixture of the two above scenarios.

It's entirely possible that the Chinese Communist Party has Joe Biden by the balls AND he is too dumb to know. China is playing him like a fiddle.

As former Trump Administration Secretary of State Pompeo stated this week, "China is attempting to influence American foreign policy" at every level; meanwhile, President Biden is echoing "Chinese propaganda" on matters such as the Coronavirus, trade and Uighur persecution.

For those unfamiliar with China's ongoing genocide of their ethnic minorities and the Uighur population, the tale is truly horrific and violates every sort of international human rights law and norm that supposed liberals in the Democrat Party support. In fact, instead it is the Republican Party which is standing up for the Uighurs and their essential human rights.

Behind President Biden's blank smile is nothing but hypocrisy and an emptied-out mind.

President Biden recently excused China's genocide of its minorities in a CNN town hall forum held in Wisconsin, claiming that the Chinese Communists simply operate by a "different set of norms". Such a statement is frankly, anti-American in its bottomless depravity.

"That language that it's just a different set of norms, that's the Chinese propaganda line, they want you to think this is just a quiet nation that may have a little bit of a different system, but goodness gracious, what's all the fuss about?" said Secretary Pompeo in response. 

"The truth of the matter is they are trying to wipe out an entire people," Pompeo continued. "Maybe Xi Jingping gets the fact that now the administration is only going to talk about this and raise it 'because I have to talk about this', rather than take action".

President Joe Biden? Useful idiot? Senile? Bought and paid for? Corrupt? Or too weak to make a difference? You decide.

How about all of the above?

Either way, the Chinese Communists are laughing - because they have their pet in the Oval Office, and they're holding the leash.

Joe Biden is a Manchurian President, whether he knows it or not. American patriots and members of Congress need to stand up to President Biden and his Communist Chinese masters before Biden surrenders the future of the United States and enslaves the American people to a world dictated by Beijing."  

Biden's cognitive decline is becoming more and more pronounced whenever you listen to him on one of his rare public appearances. Then the 25th will be invoked and it will be President Harris. If you thought that Biden was the pits, you know nothing yet!!

      

 COLOMBIA

Total cases - 2,212,525 - (433,805) - up 1,778,720 or 410.0%

Deaths - 58,334 - 2.6% - (14,145 - 3.3%) - up 44,189 or 312.4%

Recoveries - 2,105,455 - 95.2% - (250,494 - 57.7%) - up 1,854,961 or 740.5%

Therefore total active cases - 48,746 - 2.2% - (169,196 - 39.0%) - down 120,450 or 71.2%. Of the total population of 51, 226,527 (50,948,628), the percentage of active cases is 0.095% (0.332%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 952 - (1,367)

Active cases compared to last week are down 8,703 or 15.2%

Some massive declines in cases - active cases are down 8,703. Not sure whether these figures are believable or not, but we must remain positive and accept it for what it may be. These figures now mean that Colombia has the best figures in S America!! 

Following are this week's headlines from www.colombiareports.com:

Feb. 14th. Colombia to receive first 50K COVID-19 vaccines this week: report

Feb. 14th. Native Colombia in mourning over loss of leader to COVID-19

Feb. 15th. How long can Colombia's ranchers chief stay out of prison?

Feb. 15th. Colombia's failing state Part 3: the generation with no future

Feb. 15th. Colombia bungles conspiracy to meddle in Ecuador's election

Feb. 15th. Colombia recommends stricter COVID-19 measures for air travellers

Feb. 16th. Colombia receives 50K COVID shots as vaccination drive slowly takes shape 

Feb. 17th. Colombia's COVID vaccination drive kicks off with controversies

Feb. 17th. CUTE: Colombia's defense minister believes in "victory against drug trafficking"

Feb. 17th. Journalist resigns after pulling editorial punch at Colombia's richest man

Feb. 17th. Will Colombia's 2022 elections be free and fair?

Feb. 17th. Colombia's military suspected of tampering war crimes witnesses

Feb. 17th. Colombia registers 12th. massacre so far this year

Feb. 18th. Colombia's prosecution destroys credibility in absurd Uribe investigation

Feb. 18th. The President's bosses Part 1: Colombia's business associations

Feb. 18th. Don't let some puppet president turn Colombia into a mafia state

Feb 19th. The President's bosses Part 2: Colombia's clans 

For Jean's birthday on the 18th., we decided to again go "up the hill". It was a mixed bag. We went to Los Torritos at La Fe where we had the usual Punta de Anca and a bottle of our favourite Agentinian Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot. All very pleasant and decadent as usual!!

Then we went on to the MG Hotel at Casa Grande where we had stayed many times before. But, although very comfortable, we had the distinct impression that things were deteriorating. The atmosphere was changed in only 3 weeks and there were a few small things that were irritating. The main one was that we had booked the pool for the next morning but when we arrived it was unacceptably cold. The air temperature is around 5 degrees C colder up there than in Envigado so the pool heating should be adjusted upwards. If we had bought an apartment (still to be built) there, a main reason would have been the pool - as it was here in Envigado - so we would not have been pleased.

On the subject of the pool, the booking process which has always been a total mess, has been relaxed to allow up to 8 people in the pool at once. That won't help our exercise swimming but the last time it was only us. We still can't book 2 or 3 days in advance so Jean keeps having to go to the Porteros early in the morning to book for the next day. The concept of having regular days and times for a whole week appears to be absolutely beyond them!!

Otherwise things remain much the same. Except that on one of our recent peregrinations to our favourite Papa Rellena cafe the other day we met our usual friend (who has since bought one of our beds) and a couple of other Americans who live nearby. Not all Americans live in Poblado!! We all agree on the awful things happening in America since Donald Trump lost the fraudulent election and one of them said simply that "America is finished". That comment absolutely shocked us because we still believe that the situation is retrievable - either by Secession or Civil War or (much better) by proving the fraud and by legal means forcing another election, either nation-wide or just in the worst affected states. So difficult to predict because of course there is no precedent for this situation, but something will happen, of that we are sure. Things are moving at long last in Arizona and we are hopeful, as are millions of others, that the result will prove that the election was stolen. If that happens, the other "battleground" states are likely to follow suit and then, if it shows that Trump should have received the majority of Electoral College votes, what happens then? No-one knows, but it all provides a fascinating topic of conversation.    

MEXICO, COSTA RICA, PANAMA, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, BOLIVIA, PARAGUAY, BRAZIL, CHILE, ARGENTINA, URUGUAY

Following are the "active cases per 1 million of total population" for each country nominated above. 12 South American countries in total. Figures in parenthesis are for the previous week:

We have also decided to include 3 more countries - the United Kingdom, as that is of interest to many New Zealanders, and also Thailand and Malaysia for nostalgic reasons, as we spent just over 4 years living alternately in both between 2014 and 2018 as we sailed the 120 miles between the 2. Lots of memories. We cannot show the weekly comparative figures for these latest additions but from next week we will be able to.

Mexico - 2.055 - (2,073) - down 18 or 0.9% - 7th. Same placing as last week with a minor improvement

Costa Rica - 5,890 - (6,946) - down 1,056 or 15.2% - still WORST!! 1st. But much improvement in numbers

Panama - 2,602 - (4,796) - down 2,194 or 45.8% - 6th. A further unbelievable improvement!! 2nd. to 6th.

Colombia - 952 - (1,122) - down 170 or 15.2% - BEST! 12th. Another almost unbelievable improvement - long may it continue!!

Ecuador - 1,427 - (1,496) - down 69 or 4.6% - 10th. Improving all round - last week 9th.

Peru - 1,628 - (1,354) - up 274 or 20.2% - 8th. A decline from 10th. to 8th. and a large numbers decline too.

Bolivia - 3,876 - (4,118) - down 242 or 5.9%  - 2nd. A good numbers improvement but now 2nd. after Costa Rica - 3rd last week

Paraguay - 2,992 - (2,926) - up 66 or 2.3% - 5th. A slight decline since last week. Now 5th. from 6th. last week

Brazil - 3,708 - (3,917) - down 209 or 5.3% - 3rd. A numbers improvement but gone from 4th. last week to 3rd after Bolivia

Chile - 1,203 - (1,122) - up 81 or 7.2% - 11th. An increase in numbers and now behind Colombia

Argentina - 3,222 - (3,349) - down 127 or 3.8% - 4th. Improvement in numbers but down one place from 5th. to 4th.

Uruguay - 1,499 - (1,524) - down 25 or 1.6% - 9th. Slight improvement in numbers, and now 9th. from 8th. 

United Kingdom - 24,142 - (N/A)

Thailand - 16 - (N/A)

Malaysia - 1,128 - (N/A)

AUSTRALIA

Total cases - 28,918 - (23,035) - up 5,883 or 25.5%

Deaths - 909 - 3.1% - (370 - 1.7%) - up 539 or 145.7%

Recoveries - 26,138 - 90.4% - (13,634 - 59.2%) - up 12,504 or 91.7%. 

Therefore active cases - 1,871 - 6.5% - (9,022 - 39.2%) - down 7,151 or 79.3%. Of the total population of 25,687,252 (25,538,969), the percentage of active cases is 0.007% (0.035%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 73 - (56)

Compared to last week, active cases are up 4 or 0.2%

Slight decline in numbers due to some community infection, but negligible movements. As usual totally out of proportion to containment measures.

NUEVA ZELANDA - New Zealand

Total cases - 2,348 - (1,714) - up 634 or 37.0%

Deaths - 26 - 1.1% - (25 - 1.4%) - up 1 or 4% 

Recoveries - 2,272 - 96.8% - (1,531 - 95.5%) - up 741 or 48.4%

Therefore active cases - 50 - 2.1% - (49 - 3.0%) - up 1 or 2.0%. Of the total population of 5,002,100 (5,002,100), the percentage of active cases is 0.001% (0.001%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population  - 10 - (14)

Compared to last week, active cases are up 6 or 13.6%.

Some hysterical panic at a minute increase in community infections which apparently still cannot be traced despite having spent over NZD6 million on a contact tracing app!! And at some point NZ has to realise that, even with the vaccines, the Chinese Virus with all its mutations is here to stay, just as with the common cold and various strains of 'flu. Elimination is not realistic. 

NZ is a wonderful country with great friendly people, but our great concern is the national tendency to pay no attention to international events (in the mistaken belief that they cannot affect NZ), and then possibly be unpleasantly surprised when an adverse event comes to pass. Right now we can use the example of New Zealand's relationship with China. This has for the past 13 years been represented by a Free Trade Agreement where NZ's exports to China now annually total USD14 billion and imports from China total USD9.4 billion. These are substantial figures which have grown over the years and now total USD23.4 billion p.a. Sometime during the past months, although the actual date is not clear, NZ has also signed the Belt and Road Initiative which has been promoted by the CCP of China around the world, and in particular with countries of limited economic means, which means that China can dominate the relationship to their advantage. An example includes that of Sri Lanka where a joint venture port development went sour with SL owing the CCP an amount that they couldn't possibly repay. So, in return for forgiveness of the debt, China now owns a brand new Naval Base right on the doorstep of India - a country that China has already attacked on the Himalayan border in recent months.

In NZ's case, the B&RI is seen by China as a means of obtaining a stronger foothold in NZ with the endgame of a geographical faster track towards South America. As residents of Colombia, that does not please us at all!!

China has a history in many countries of becoming more and more aggressive, particularly where they have entered into a B & R I with a particular country such as NZ. Maybe this is already making itself felt with an inexplicable difficulty which has suddenly arisen with NZ seafood exports to China? This would be typical dominant and threatening behaviour as already exhibited with Australia in recent months.

Is this the tip of the iceberg? We fear that it could well be. 

Well, that's it for another week - albeit somewhat delayed this week. We hope that life continues to treat you as kindly as possible 

With lotsaluv from us in Medellin - la Cuidad de la Primavera Eterna.

Jim and Jean

  

Chinese Virus statistics week number 26 as at 12/02/21 (plus political comment and personal news) since August 21st. 2020 (182 days)

Hi once more to everyone,

Here's hoping everyone is in the pink. We hope that our weekly C Virus newsletters continue to be of interest and that our other comments provoke much thought. We doubt that there has ever been a time in history (excluding wartime of course) where the world has been at a comparable turning point - and make no mistake - we are ALL at war with Socialist/Communist forces of darkness whose only interest is domination of the world, and by extension OF YOU. Their plans included the C Virus and are well advanced. They absolutely had to get rid of Donald Trump, who constituted a temporary block to their plans, and they are attempting to even prevent his political comeback. This will blow up in their faces. They have at least partially succeeded with the C Virus to date, but they are absolutely not concerned that they have directly caused the deaths of almost 2.5 million people so far. If you cannot believe that, you just need to be aware that Mao T'se Tung's evil regime killed 70 million of his own people on-going since 1949.. And the Uighurs in Xinjiang are heading towards genocide at least on a scale rivalling the Jewish Holocaust in WW2. It is said that Socialism never sleeps and how right that is. It is relentless in its evil quest to dominate every country and ultimately the world, and this quest has been helped massively by the C Virus - which of course was all part of the plan.

Here we go again (figures in parenthesis relate to 21/08/20) - 

MUNDO - World

Total cases - 108,380,779 - (21,168,111) - up 87,212,668 or 412.0%

Deaths - 2,380,746 - 2.1% - (759,328 - 3.6%) - up 1,621,418 or 213.5%

Recoveries - 80,579,855 - 74.4% - (13,984,843 - 66.1%) - up 66,595,012 or 476.2%

Therefore active cases - 25,420,178 - 23.5% - (6,425,939 - 30.3%) - up 18,994,239 or 295.6%. Of the total population (which is estimated to be increasing by 1,557,692 per week) of 7,845,418,911 (7,804,380,455), the percentage of active cases is 0.324% (0.082%) of the total world population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 3,240 - (1,437)

Compared to last week, active cases are down 445,331 or 1.7%

Figures seem to be all slowly headed in the right direction, if you compare last weeks' figures. But exactly why is no doubt anyone's guess, especially as so much of this reporting is fraudulent.

ESTADOS UNIDOS - United States

Total cases - 28,002,240 - (5,429,115) - up 22,573,125 or 415.8%

Deaths - 486,922 - 1.7% - (170,781 - 3.2%) - up 316,141 or 185.1%

Recoveries - 17,930,819 - 64.1% - (2,844,535 - 52.4%) - up 15,086,284 or 530.4%

Therefore active cases - 9,584,499 - 34.2% - (2,413,829 - 44.6%) - up 7,170,670 or 297.1%. Of the total population of 332,198,570 (331,236,184), the percentage of active cases is 2.885% (0,729%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 28,852 - (9,043)

Compared to last week, the comparative figures are:

Total cases up 727,457 or 2.7%

Deaths up 19,919 or 4.3%

Recoveries up 897,471 or 5.3%

Active cases down 189,933 or 1.9%.

Compared with last week, recoveries are running ahead of new cases, and total active cases per 1 million are down 2%. Active cases themselves are down 1.9% as well, so let's hope that these trends continue.

There is a right of centre Newsmax commentator - Michael Savage - who has delivered some comments on the latest Trump Impeachment which we feel are worthy of quoting. He summarises his political philosophy in 3 words - borders, language and culture. He characterises his views as conservative nationalism. The commentary is as follows:

"True History will see the impeachment charade being staged against former President Donald Trump as the greatest political blunder of history, said Michael Savage, host of the Michael Savage Show Podcast on Newsmax TV, while lambasting the House impeachment managers.

'I'm antagonised more than I've ever been in my life', Savage told Newsmax TV's Grant Stichfield Thursday night. 'I will tell you right now, I'm angrier now than I've ever been in my whole life watching these vermin. I have no other word for these garbage people. I'm so angry'.

'The impeachment trial is damaging the Republic', said Savage, 'and the impeachment managers remind me of the vermin prosecutors who take innocent men and try them without a trial. It's something that was done in the Soviet Union'.

Savage also said the trial is coming at a time when the nation is divided, and he wonders why the Democrats would want to antagonise half the nation with lies. But the good news is here for all of us who see the truth.

Savage added that he doesn't think the "Average American" believes much of what the Democrats are selling with their push this week to convict Trump of inciting the Jan. 6th. riot at the Capitol. He also accused House impeachment managers of presenting a propaganda film that used selectively edited clips to tie the violence to Donald Trump.

It would make Leni Riefenstahl proud to see what they did, he said while referring to the late German filmmaker often cited for her role in producing Nazi propaganda films.

'There was no direct connection. It was ludicrous. What the Democrats are doing to Donald Trump rivals what the Romans did to Tiberius Gracchus, a populist Roman politician who dared to stand up to the Swamp of his time. The Dems are no different than the demagogues of ancient Rome or the demagogues of the Soviet Union'.

Savage also said the sham trial will backfire on the Democrats, because voters will remember it and then "they are gonna vote the Democrat bums out", and dismissed claims made during the Senate testimony that the rioters were inside the Capitol with the intent of killing lawmakers."  

Since then we watched some of the proceedings in the Senate and frankly the garbage being spouted by the Dims made our stomachs churn. They fabricated evidence and selectively edited parts of it. They ignored the fact that there were many already primed Antifa/BLM activists ready to go once they received the go-ahead to invade the Capitol. When that happened the genuine Trump supporters were just leaving the site of the President's address to march PEACEFULLY to the Capitol. And another curious fact - Capitol Police who were to have started their shift at 11 am, were stood down and told to go home. Fortunately Trump's lawyers were onto them and countered with proper unvarnished versions. It was all further evidence of the "stop at nothing" efforts of the Dims to pervert justice by whatever means. If the Dims had done this in a real court of law they would be charged with perjury at least with their lawyers disbarred and probably in the slammer!

One consequence of the Impeachment hearing is that the "never Trumper" Republicans (including the Senate minority leader - Mitch McConnell) are now well exposed and will be "primaried" in 2022 and 2024 to ensure that in future only Republicans true to the party principles are elected in those Senate and House seats. Otherwise there is a strong possibility that Trump and his supporters will form a breakaway party called America First, or somesuch. It will be the end of the GOP, and will be the inevitable final outcome of their continuing efforts to sabotage President Trump and all that he stands for. 

We can highly recommend listening on Youtube to Candace Owens, a young black woman in her early thirties, who speaks eminent sense. She is a slightly right of centre commentator who is married to an Englishman whose father is a member of the House of Lords in England. She often refers to the Democrat Party's treatment of the black people - the Democrats were the party of slavery and they fired the first shots in the Civil War with Washington in 1861, simply to protect their inhuman, privileged and flawed way of life. They also spawned the Ku Klux Klan and violently opposed desegregation in the 60's and 70's. Biden himself was against desegregating schools and is a closet racist. The Dims have perpetrated a huge con job on mainly urban black populations where they have kept the blacks in poverty and denied them proper health and education, so their future remains bleakly the same. The City of Baltimore in Maryland is a very good example, as is the Southside of Chicago where homicides have risen to an alarming degree over recent months, thanks to the wokeish, black, LGBT mayor who should be guilty of criminal negligence. As should many other Dim wokeish mayors and governors. Listen to Candace and be reliably informed.     

On that subject, the Democrat Governor Newsom of California is on the skids as there are now sufficient petition signatures for him to be sacked (recalled). They have the required 1.5 million signatures already, but the organisers are continuing to a further final target of 2 million so that there can be no chance of the crooked governor evading at least some justice. He should then be prosecuted for the damage that he has caused to his state's economy and the destruction of citizens' livelihoods. 

Governor Cuomo of New York has been proved to have falsified the statistics of the extent of the rest home deaths caused by his murderous order to move infected patients back into nursing homes where the C Virus spread like a wildfire. It is now estimated that at least 15,000 elderly residents were killed as a direct result of that inexplicable order, which was completely unnecessary because at the time, there was an Army field hospital in Central Park and a USN hospital ship moored in NY. Both of these facilities which had been provided by Donald Trump, were hardly used, but nevertheless they had the specialised facilities to take these infected people. With any luck Cuomo will be prosecuted for negligent culpable homicide, but with the corrupt Dims in the White House, don't hold your breath.

We've mentioned Sleezy Joe's executive orders before, but the ones affecting release of illegal immigrants and the opening of borders, as well as destroying the oil and gas industry, are already being legally challenged by the states involved because the orders are actually unconstitutional. If that doesn't work in the corrupt US legal system, we have no doubt that the governors will not countenance the resultant damage to their states and the country as a whole, and will therefore openly defy the presidential orders. 

There is widespread fury rapidly gaining ground throughout mainly the "red" states affected by these orders, and is not helped by the Dim's impeachment criminal shenanigans as well as Biden's latest move to threaten Florida by preventing all travel in or out of the state by whatever means. The excuse is that one of these so-called new strains of the Chinese Virus has established itself in the state, but the real reason is that Governor de Santis has introduced state legislation to rein in the flagrantly mis-used censorship and surveillance powers of the big tech companies, at least in his state. Other states will probably follow. It is straight out Federal revenge, no doubt at the behest of big tech, for an action that the Federal Government itself should be carrying out in the best interests of its citizens. But they will never do that because widespread censorship and surveillance is definitely in the interests of the Socialists.

And, since President Trump's acquittal in the Senate on bogus incitement to riot charges, the Dims are wasting no time in continuing to pursue him by any means possible. Apparently Georgia, DC and Washington State are leading the legal charge to try by whatever illegal means they can dig up, to continue their vendetta against Trump and try and hobble any chance that he might have of running for public office again.

We don't know at which point the 75 million plus Trump voters and supporters might say enough is enough, but we suspect it is rapidly approaching that point. Probably the Southern Border will be the catalyst, but this flashpoint will cause Secession because the alternative is destruction of the states themselves and the country as a whole, which is something that true patriots will never accept. By our reckoning there are over 30 states which would, either immediately or over a period of time, join such a Secession.

No-one can predict the outcome of this, but it would certainly not mirror the events of 1861 where the opposing factions formed standing armies and fought each other to a standstill over 3 years or so. It is inconceivable that the US armed forces would today fire on their own people, so there would no doubt be a division of loyalties which would be solved by units moving and joining the new country or staying with whatever remained of the US. 

It is worth noting here that the US armed forces swear loyalty to the US Constitution - not the Commander in Chief who also happens to be the president. If the CinC is perceived to be acting unlawfully, and in particular against the Constitution itself (which is held dear), then their loyalties would remain with the Constitution. The Dims in their ongoing lack of awareness and wisdom, almost certainly fail to completely realise the significance of this.    

Of course another logical development of these thought processes could be an armed revolt and takeover of the Federal Government, pending LEGAL elections to be held in the future once the corrupt states' vote counting machinations could be cleaned up. In that way the armed forces' loyalty to the Constitution would be maintained, although the new seceded country could also offer exactly the same constitutional provisions. Therefore the military would maintain their sworn oath of loyalty in either of these situations.

It should also be noted here that in Arizona the Senate held a final vote on proceeding with the forensic audit of vote counting that we have talked about before. However, the Republicans have only a 1 vote majority and a RINO Republican voted with the Democrats to stop the investigation. The matter is now the subject of further legal action. We don't know what this means in respect of the timing but under federal electoral law, the states are required to keep ALL electoral records for 22 months after an election, so if it was found later that this material was missing or machines wiped, then that would constitute destruction of evidence which is a serious crime in itself. We have to say that we believe, as do millions of Americans, that there was fraud committed in order for Biden to win the vital states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin where Biden's margin is razor thin. If these states were proved to have been won by Trump, then there would definitely be an illegitimate "president" in the White House. God knows what would happen then. 

Watch this space.

         

COLOMBIA 

Total cases - 2,179,641 - (433,805) - up 1,745,836 or 402.5%

Deaths - 56,983 - 2.6% - (14,145 - 3.3%) - up 42,838 or 302.9%

Recoveries - 2,065,209 - 94.8% - (250,494 - 57.7%) - up 1,814,715 or 724.5%

Therefore active cases - 57,449 - 2.6% - (169,196 - 39.0%) - down 111,747 or 66.1%. Of the total population of 51, 216,160 (50,948,628), the percentage of active cases is 0.112% (0.332%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,122 - (1,367)

Active cases since last week are down 21,697 or 27.4%

Once again the improvement in active cases in a week (27.4%) is almost beyond belief, but slightly more believable than last week's number of 34%. As a matter of interest, the figure in just 2 days is now at the time of writing 6% better again. We can only hope that the figures are true because they offer some hope for the future.

Following are this week's headlines from www.colombiareports.com:

Feb. 7th. How terrorism works Part 1: Colombia's ELN guerillas

Feb. 8th. Colombia's president spins growing number of lies and conspiracy theories

Feb. 8th. Colombia's new Defence Minister kicks off first day negating political violence

Feb. 9th. Colombia to legalise migrant status of all undocumented Venezuelans

Feb. 10th. Duque's fear for Colombia's migrant votes 

Feb. 10th. HRW slams Colombia over failure to curb violence against human rights defenders

Feb. 10th. How terrorism works Part 2: Colombia's mafia president

Feb. 10th. The tragicomic ineptitude of Colombia's peace commissioner

Feb. 11th. Colombia's Defence Minister asks mayors for money to recruit police

Feb. 11th. Duque reverting freedom of the press to Colombia's "darkest days"

Life carries on in the City of Eternal Spring.  Not as much rain as we have had over previous months, which with heightened economic activity, is starting to cause pollution in the city again. There have as a result been sporadic attempts to reinstitute the Pico y Placa system where vehicles are restricted from commuter times depending on the last digit of their number plates. No doubt it will happen properly soon.There are also many major roadworks happening near us which make the choice of a route to anywhere fairly difficult if you want to avoid long delays.

And there is an apartment building being constructed a block away from us which reared its head into our view just pre-pandemic, but then all work stopped for at least 9 months. But it is good to see that work has now resumed and there is another floor in the last 10 days. It looks as though there is one more to go and then it will be about 17 floors altogether. Quite fascinating to see how the construction is done with all the concrete for floors and pillars poured on-site with timber boxing in the old-fashioned way. No precast slabs here.

MEXICO, COSTA RICA, PANAMA, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, BOLIVIA, PARAGUAY, BRAZIL, CHILE, ARGENTINA, URUGUAY

Following are the "active cases per 1 million of of total population" for each country nominated above. 12 South American countries in total. Figures in parenthesis are for the previous week:

Mexico - 2,073 - (2,126) - down 53 or 2.5% - 7th. - same placing

Costa Rica - 6,946 - (7,370) - down 424 or 5.8% - WORST - taken unenviable top place from Panama

Panama - 4,796 - (7,717) - down 2,921 or 37.9% - 2nd. - an improvement from worst to 2nd. An unbelievable improvement in 7 days of 38% 

Colombia - 1,122 - (1,545) - down 423 or 27.4% - BEST equal with Chile. Again an unbelievable improvement by 27% from 10th. last week 

Ecuador - 1,496 - (1,604) - down 108 or 6.7% - 9th. Same placing as last week.

Peru - 1,354 - (1,409) - down 55 or 3.9% -  10th. 11th. last week but still a 4% improvement.

Bolivia - 4,118 - (4,139) - down 21 or 0.5% - 3rd. Same placing as last week, but a slight improvement of 0.5%

Paraguay - 2,926 - (3,000) - down 74 or 2.5% - 6th. Same placing as last week but a reasonable improvement of 2.5%

Brazil - 3,917 - (4,109) - down 192 or 4.7% - 4th. Same placing as last week but a reasonable improvement of 4.7%

Chile - 1,122 - (1,210) - down 88 or 7.3% - BEST equal with Colombia. Good improvement of 7.3%

Argentina - 3,349 - (3,482) - down 133 or 3.8% - 5th. Same placing as last week. Reasonable improvement of nearly 4%. 

Uruguay - 1,524 - (1,700) - down 176 or 10.4% - 8th. Same placing as last week. Good improvement of 10.4%

AUSTRALIA

Total cases - 28,880 - (23,035) - up 5,845 or 25.4%

Deaths - 909 - 3.2% - (370 - 1.7%) - up 539 or 145.7%

Recoveries - 26,111 - 90.4% - (13,634 - 59.2%) - up 12,477 or 91.5%

Therefore active cases - 1,867 - 6.5% - (9,022 - 39.2%) - down 7,155 or 79.3%. Of the total population of 25,675,939 (25,536,969), the percentage of active cases is 0.007% (0.035%) of the total population. 

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 72 - (56)

Compared to last week, active cases are up 14 or 0.8%

There seems to have developed C Virus hysteria  - again. In W Australia where there was only ONE supposed case of the Chinese Virus,  a couple were threatened first with a $A20,000 fine each if they did not submit to a C Virus test and then when they didn't budge, the threat was escalated to $A50,000 - each. Shades of Melbourne a few months ago where police were smashing car windscreens with their truncheons if vehicles did not stop at roadblocks.

Typical of how many governments are now fraudulently using their C Virus draconian powers (largely self-awarded) to control and coerce their populations.  

NUEVA ZELANDA - New Zealand 

Total cases - 2,326 - (1,714) - up 612 or 35.7%

Deaths  - 25 - 1.1% - (25 - 1.4%) - no change

Recoveries - 2,257 - 97.0% - (1,531 - 95.5%) - up 726 or 47.4%

Therefore active cases - 44 - 1.9% - (49 - 3.0%) - down 5 or 10.2%. Of the total population of 5,002,100 (5,002,100), the percentage of active cases is 0.001% (0.001%) of the total population. 

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 9  - (14)

Compared to last week, active cases are down 18 or 29.0%.

To put things in perspective, although it is strictly outside the scope of this week's reporting, we have learnt that there have been 3 new community cases all in one family which have broken out in South Auckland. As a result, Auckland is at the moment in a Level 2 lockdown and the rest of the country at Level 3. Level 1 is the most severe and restrictive and has already been threatened. Shades again of Australia.

The Socialist toothy grin is at it again and many people cry out - "Oh Jacinda, please save us all from this dreadful viral scourge". Try coming and living in Colombia - or anywhere else for that matter!!!!!

And, we have been very pleased to hear the radio personality, Leighton Smith, back on his weekly podcast after a month's holiday. One of his interviewees was a Senior Economist at The NZ Initiative - Matt Burgess. There has very recently been released an over 800 page report from the Climate Commission with regard to  achieving the draconian reduction in emissions that NZ has set itself in just a few years. According to the Climate Commission, these reductions will only be achieved by severe and difficult to attain methods. However, Mr. Burgess claims that the opposite is true and that the same emissions targets can actually be achieved fairly easily without drastic changes to peoples' lives. 

The inference seems to be that the findings of organisations like the Climate Commission are initially set up and driven by their Socialist masters in order to impose the most draconian and controlling measures possible in order to further control the population. Exactly what is being seriously attempted in the US.   

On that contentious note we will love you and leave you but we will continue to be fans of Leighton Smith on Newstalk ZB in Auckland.

Lotsaluv from us in the City of Eternal Spring..............

Jim and Jean

Chinese Virus statistics week number 25 as at 05/02/21 since August 21st. 2020 (175 days)

Hi again to all,

We hope that you have had a good week and that everyone is in the pink. Here are this week's Chinese Virus figures which we just know you have been waiting for with bated breath!!

MUNDO - World

Total cases - 105,517,582 - (21,168,111) - up 84,349,471 or 398.5%

Deaths - 2,296,803 - 2.2% - (759,328 - 3.6%) - up 1,537,475 or 202.5%

Recoveries - 77,210,665 - 73.3% - (13,984,843 - 66.1%) - up 63,225,822 or 452.1%

Therefore active cases - 25,865,509 - 24.5% - (6,425,939 - 30.3%) - up 19,439,570 or 302.5%. Of the total population (which is estimated to be increasing by 1,557,692) of 7,843,861,219 (7,804,380,455), the percentage of active cases is 0.330% (0.082%) of the total world population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 3,298  - (1,437)

Compared to last week, active cases are down 77,521 or 0.3%

Some encouraging signs here. Since last week the number of active cases is down by 77,521. And active cases per 1 million population is also down by 10 which is 0.302%. Small movements but maybe sustaining longer term movements. Usual disclaimers concerning the accuracy of these figures. At least we are comparing apples with apples!

ESTADOS UNIDOS - United States

Total cases - 27,274,783 -  (5,429,115) - up 21,845,668 or 402.4%

Deaths - 467,003 - 1.7% - (170,781 - 3.2%) - up 296,222 or 173.5%

Recoveries - 17,033,348 - 62.5% - (2,844,535 - 52.4%) - up 14,188,813 or 498.8%

Therefore active cases - 9,774,432 - 35.8% - (2,413,829 - 44.6%) - up 7,360,603 or 304.9%. Of the total population of 332,161,557 (331,236,184), the percentage of active cases is 2.943% (0.729%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 29,427 - (9,043)

Compared to last week, the comparative figures are:

Total cases up 934,152 or 3.6%

Deaths up 23,209 or 5.2%

Recoveries up 961,600 or 6.0%  

Active cases down 50,657 or 0.5%

There are several trending figures which need commenting on. Notwithstanding that there is no doubt that there has been deliberate misreporting and recording cases and deaths as Covid related when in fact they were due to other causes.

Compared to last week, the percentage of active cases to total population is down, total active cases per 1 million of population is down, and active cases are down by 50,657. Small movements but all in the right direction. Maybe partly due to the effect of vaccines so far (notwithstanding our reservations on that subject), but also may be due to overall trends with more and more states belatedly opening up their economies. More than anything it could be due to an overdue movement to more accurate reporting, entirely due to there being a new administration in Washington!! We'll keep an open mind. And it should also be pointed out that if it hadn't been for President Trump, there would be NO vaccine to even discuss. Think on.     

First of all we thought that the following very apt comments from Clint Eastwood might be of interest. Says it all -

"I voted against that incompetent, lying, flip-flopping, insincere, double-talking, radical socialist, terrorist excusing, bleeding heart, narcissistic, scientific and economic moron currently in the White House!!" 

And another one - "I approve of gun control, as long as I'm in control of the gun"!!

Now a few political comments - 

Firstly a comment on the sham and unconstitutional Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. There is no doubt that these make-believe proceedings will fail because of the unconstitutionality (he is no longer in office and therefore cannot be "removed"), and the total lack of proof of any guilt - i.e. of incitement to riot. This is just commonsense but such is the Dims desperation, they cannot help themselves it seems, in their rabid quest to completely destroy the legacy of President Trump, and to prevent him from ever running for office again. They are scared witless of him, and with good reason. 

A fascinating story with some similarities to this utter nonsense is that of Pope Stephen VI who was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 896 - 897 AD when he died by strangulation. If you just go to Wikipedia and read his gruesome story you will see the farcical similarities with the actions now proposed against President Trump by the US Senate. It doesn't say whether he strangled himself or someone else was the perpetrator - shades of Jeffrey Epstein!!  

Apart from all this, as if that wasn't enough Dim shenanigans, we see the hysterical and politically driven Dims trying to perpetuate the nonsense that the seat of government of the United States is under threat of attack from extreme right-wing racists!! They have surrounded the Capitol with fences and razor wire and have instituted metal detectors so that Congressmen and Senators cannot smuggle arms into the Chambers to assassinate God knows who. It is political grandstanding on a massive scale costing tens of millions of dollars that they don't have but will create out of thin air by the Federal Reserve's counterfeiting money machine.

Then there are the many Executive Orders signed by the reclusive President Biden which are unconstitutional and therefore illegal. These include most if not all of his decrees concerning illegal immigration and his arbitrary cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline. Already Texas and Arizona have filed urgent lawsuits against the Administration in respect of these orders. And it is certain that as border states, they will never allow detrimental situations to develop which will cause direct damage to their states from the Dims' crazy immigration reforms. And we use the word "reforms" lightly!.

We also believe that right now there are contingency plans being drawn up by key states to deal with inevitable Secession from the Union if the Administration does not back down from many of their most destructive Socialist schemes. There is actually as we write, a referendum circulating in Texas which would authorise the state government to advance planning for Secession, which as you can imagine is a far more complicated matter than it was in 1861.

The Dims are putting the US and its people in danger with the caravans of illegals now nearing the Mexico - US border and at the same time putting tens of thousands of skilled workers out of work in the vital oil and gas industries. Under President Trump, the US achieved energy self-sufficiency, but Biden is going hell for leather to undo all of that - simply to satisfy the lunatic extreme left of the Democrat Party. And all this at a time when the US is struggling to pay its massive debt - 30 trillion dollars of government debt, but an eye-watering 80 trillion when taking into account private and corporate debt. We've said this before, but how can this debt ever be repaid? Maybe one way - massive inflation and associated devaluation of the currency. This will cause a decline in the US economy to match that of Venezuela and will also have severe repercussions word-wide, but the debt might get repaid!!

However, Secession would see the financially stable Republican (Red) states in a relatively good position due to their prudent financial management over the years, whereas the Democrat states would sink even further into the morass that they have created through crazy Socialist spending schemes together with ever higher state taxes including property taxes which are right now causing a large exodus of people from those states. Florida for example is experiencing an influx of 1,500 people per day from the bankrupt Democrat states. Texas is in a similar position.

And then there is the increasing surveillance and censorship issues with many electronic platforms such as Twitter and Facebook cancelling customers accounts (including President Trump's)  simply because they are deemed in these IT companies' biased political judgement to be expressing conservative political views. WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE? But there are moves afoot to counter this anti-democratic stifling of the 1st Amendment and already there is another platform called Gab to counter Twitter. Twitter is losing customers in droves, and rightly so. Trump already has almost 2 million followers on Gab, so it is happening.

The forensic examination of Maricopa County vote counting in Phoenix, Arizona is underway at last, but has suffered further delays due to the County's efforts to thwart the process at every turn. But it will happen - maybe with results in about 2 week's time. This is the FIRST TIME that there has been a proper forensic examination of vote counting in ANY state in relation to the 2020 Presidential Election. The effect on the election as a whole once other states have come on board will be significant and it's anyone's guess just what will happen then. But if justice is finally denied, then we fear that Secession will be inevitable.  

Finally there are reports and indications that the CCP of China is testing Biden and his minions just to see how much they can get away with. This is likely a prelude to invasion of Taiwan and further pressuring and bullying of Australia and NZ.  The US must stand as firm as it did under Trump, but there are worrying signs.

The world is increasingly a fraught place with countries like China always doing their utmost to advance their own plans for world domination.

COLOMBIA

Total cases - 2,135,412 - (433,805) - up 1,701,607 or 392.3%

Deaths - 56,131 - 2.6% - (14,145 - 3.3%) - up 41,986 or 296.8%

Recoveries - 2,001,135 - 93.7% - (250,494 - 57.7%) - up 1,750,641 or 698.9%

Therefore active cases - 79,146  - 3.7% - (169,196 - 39.0%) - down 90,050 or 53.2%. Of the total population of 51,205,793 (50,948,628), the percentage of active cases is 0.155% (0.332%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,545 - (1,367)

Active cases since last week are down 41,132 or 34.2%

These figures are quite literally unbelievable. How does the number of active cases reduce by 41,000 (34%) in 7 days? Either the previous high figures were "manufactured" to scare the population, or the present low figures are simply not correct. And the active cases percentage of total cases is at a level which lies somewhere between Australia and NZ!!! Really!!? Either way, it inspires absolutely NO confidence in the management of Colombia's health system. Like everything else here, it's as corrupt as hell. Although the actual care and operational expertise if required is world-class, and we suppose that's what we need to be most concerned about.

Speaking of that, the finale of our car emissions debacle with the Alcadia de Envigado played out last week. It turned out actually that we had received 2 tickets, but the 1st one was now out of the discount period because we were absolutely ignorant of the fact that it existed. Sometimes they send you a notice and sometimes they don't. You need to check their website fairly often!!

Anyway, to get the discount, it is necessary to sit a punitive refresher course. So, on Thursday last week we duly presented ourselves for said course - just up the road - an easy 10 minute walk. They were all very cheerful and we had a hilarious time with Google Translate and our limited Spanish. We also met a Venezuelan who works for an oil company in the Middle East and spoke excellent English, so that was certainly helpful. But then they realised that the course would be an absolute waste of time because of course it would be all in Spanish, and they also hid behind the excuse that we were "of a certain age"!!  So, they got us to sign a form saying that we had attended and we paid their fee, which was then deducted from the fine which we had to go upstairs in the same building to pay. One of the staff members accompanied us there and was very helpful showing us where to go. So, we are now legal again. What a performance and not exactly cheap - COP 655,000 (NZD 262). Now we understand another aspect of the car-owning bureaucracy - it was just unfortunate that in the first instance the car was in the workshop when the old certificate expired and the first ticket was the day after we collected the car. 

Once again we owe Clara a debt of gratitude for helping to steer us through this aspect of Colombian bureaucracy! 

Following are this week's headlines from www.colombiareports.com:

Jan. 30th. Colombia tries to recover loss of formal jobs with informal labour

Jan. 30th. Colombia's COVID vaccination drive to kick off "on February 20"

Jan. 30th. Duque isolated as US vows "strong support for peace in Colombia" 

Jan. 31st. Colombia's war crimes tribunal exposes former guerillas' sinister kidnapping practices

Feb. 1st. Colombia's top bankers could face 4 years in prison, but evidence of tax evasion ignored

Feb. 1st. Native Colombia's fighting COVID without government

Feb. 1st. Medellin business elite endorses fraud to obtain poor children's lunch money

Feb. 2nd. Colombia's failing state Part 1: Antioquia and the art of decapitation

Feb. 3rd. Duque's former chief of staff replaces Colombia's late defense minister

Feb. 3rd. Foreigners kidnapped, held hostage in southwest Colombia

Feb. 3rd. Colombia's ex-president asks Biden to remove Cuba from terror list

Feb. 3rd. Colombia's failing state Part 2: who is the boss in Buenaventura?

Feb. 4th. Terrorist attacks in Colombia almost doubled in 2020: Defense Ministry

Feb. 4th. Court revokes detention of cops who discovered Colombia's 2018 election fraud plot

Feb. 5th. Glencore to abandon mining in Colombia amid growing woes

MEXICO, COSTA RICA, PANAMA, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, BOLIVIA, PARAGUAY, BRAZIL, CHILE, ARGENTINA, URUGUAY

Following are the "active cases per 1 million of total population" for each country nominated above. We have included 2 further countries - Bolivia and Paraguay for which there are no comparative figures until next week. Now 12 South American countries in total. Figures in parenthesis are for the previous week:

Mexico - 2,126 - (2,268) - down 142 or 6.3% - 7th.

Costa Rica - 7,370 - (7,549) - down 179 or 2.4% - 2nd

Panama - 7,717 - (9,641) - down 1,924 or 20.0% - WORST

Colombia - 1,545 - (2,349) - down 804 or 34.2% - 10th.

Ecuador - 1,604 - (1,526) - up 78 or 5.1% - 9th.

Peru - 1,409 - (1,379) - up 30 or 2.2% - 11th.

Bolivia - 4,139 - (N/A) - 3rd

Paraguay - 3,000 - (N/A) - 6th.

Brazil - 4,109 - (4,289) - down 180 or 4.2% - 4th.

Chile - 1,210 -  (1.334) - down 124 or 9.3% - BEST

Argentina - 3,482 - (3,627) - down 145 or 4.0% - 5th.

Uruguay - 1,700 - (2,059) - down 359 or 17.4% - 8th.

Apart from Colombia's unbelievable improvement referred to above, the figures are generally going in the right direction, except for 2, but even those figures have not deteriorated greatly

AUSTRALIA

Total cases - 28,842 - (23,035) - up 5,807 or 25.2 %

Deaths - 909 - 3.2% - (370 - 1.7%) - up 539 or 145.7%

Recoveries - 26,080 - 90.4% - (13,634 - 59.2%) - up 12,446 or 91.3%

Therefore active cases - 1,853 - 6.4% - (9,022 - 39.2%) - down 7,169 or 79.5%. Of the total population of 25,675,939 (25,536,969), the percentage of active cases is 0.007% (0.035%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 72 - (56)

Compared to last week, active cases are down 3 or 0.2%

NUEVA ZELANDA - New Zealand

Total cases - 2,315 -  (1,714) - up 601 or 35.1%

Deaths - 25 - 1.1% - (25 - 1.4%) - same

Recoveries - 2,228 - 96.2% - (1,531 - 95.5%) - up 697 or 45.5%

Therefore active cases - 62 - 2.7% - (49 - 3.0%) - up 13 or 26.5%. Of the total population of 5,002,100 (5,002,100), the percentage of active cases is 0.001% (0.001%) of the total population.

Total active cases per 1 million of total population - 12 - (14)

Compared to last week, active cases are down 10 or 13.9%.

If you do nothing else, unless you've already done so as a result of our last post, please go to www.thebfd.co.nz/2021/02/06/labour-are-selling-nzs-soul/?

This will give you an understanding of just where NZ's Socialist government is taking the country in respect of the CCP of China. A very dangerous and shameful path which will end in tears.

A quote from the article - "Fools deal with the Devil at their peril. No matter how glittering the prize the Prince of Liars dangles before the naive and greedy, the Devil always wins and cheats his dupes".

That is all we will say on the matter.

Hope you have had a good week and that the next one lives up to your expectations.

Cheers and lotsaluv from the City of Eternal Spring

Jim and Jean