Posts
Hola a todos nuestros amigos y familiares,
We have recently had quite a bit to say about the so-called Chinese Virus "vaccinations" - which will be familiar to all of you who read our blogs. We have always said that whether one accepts the "vaccine" or not is entirely a personal decision - hopefully made in the possession of all relevant information which must surely be carefully considered. However, we will now not be commenting on this subject again. We hope that everyone stays well.
The following are individual countries' basic Chinese Virus statistics (figures in parenthesis relate to the previous week):
MUNDO - World
Active cases - 18,509,989 - (18,864,177) - down 354,188 or 1.9%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,354 - (2,400) - down 46 or 1.9%
Figures still reducing and at a higher rate than last week
ARGENTINA
Active cases - 272,089 - (283,358) - down 11,269 or 4.0%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 5,974 - (6,223) - down 249 or 4.0%
A further increase and at a greater rate than last week
AUSTRALIA
Active cases - 271 - (293) - down 22 or 7.5%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 11 - (11) - same
A more believable rate of reduction than occurred last week
BOLIVIA
Active cases - 42,971 - (39,808) - up 3,163 or 8.0%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 3,639 - (3,372) - up 267 or 7.9%
Disappointing to see a further increase and at double the rate of last week
BRAZIL
Active cases - 1,000,512 - (1,039,351) - down 38,839 or 3.7%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 4,679 - (4,861) - down 182 or 3.7%
Still heading in the right direction, but at a slower rate than last week
CHILE
Active cases - 36,126 - (38,983) - down 2,857 or 7.3%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,876 - (2,025) - down 149 or 7.4%
Continuing weekly reduction and at a slightly higher rate than last week
COLOMBIA
Active cases - 101,467 - (118,061) - down 16,584 or 14.0%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,976 - (2,300) - down 324 or 14.1%
At last a reversal downwards and at a solid rate after the increases of recent weeks
COSTA RICA
Active cases - 48,710 - (42,572) - up 6,138 or 14.4%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 9,489 - (8,295) - up 1,194 or 14.4%
Still going up but at least the weekly rate increase is down from last week. Maybe they are turning the corner?
ECUADOR
Active cases - 46,727 - (43,539) - up 3,188 or 7.3%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,615 - (2,437) - up 178 or 7.3%
Another increase, but at half the weekly rate of last week. Maybe Ecuador is turning the corner as well?
JAPAN
Active cases - 63,037 - (57,541) - up 5,496 or 9.6%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 500 - (456) - up 44 or 9.7%
Another increase, but at half of last week's rate of increase. Maybe another turning of the corner?
MALAYSIA
Active cases - 34,789 - (29,227) - up 5,562 or 19.0%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,063 - (894) - up 169 or 18.9%
Another increase, but again at a much lower rate than last week.
MEXICO
Active cases - 260,945 - (262,626) - down 1,681 or 0.6%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 2,006 - (2,019) - down 13 or 0.6%
Another slight decrease - similar to last week's
NEW ZEALAND - Nueva Zelanda
Active cases - 26 - (23) - up 3 or 13.0%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 5 - (5) - no change
Another miniscule change and all in managed isolation
PANAMA
Active cases - 3,965 - (3,897) - up 98 or 2.5%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 907 - (892) - up 15 or 1.7%
Another small increase - same as last week, but comes after substantial reductions prior to that. We hope that the trend downwards resumes.
PARAGUAY
Active cases - 43,617 - (43,023) - up 594 or 1.4%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 6,053 - (5,972) - up 81 or 1.4%
A slower rate of increase than last week's.
PERU
Active cases - 48,783 - (42,806) - up 5,977 or 14.0%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 1,462 - (1,284) - up 178 or 13.9%
A way smaller rate of increase than last week's. Let's hope we see a trend downwards starting again soon.
TAIWAN
Active cases - 89 - (63) - up 26 or 41.3%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 4 - (3) - up 1 or 33.3%
Still by far the lowest figures on a population basis of countries we monitor. Let's hope that they can start bringing the figures down again.
THAILAND
Active cases - 29,320 - (28,696) - up 624 or 2.2%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 419 - (410) - up 9 or 2.2%
A far lower rate of increase than that of last week. Let's hope that it can start trending down again soon.
UNITED KINGDOM
Active cases - 60,495 - (76,397) - down 15,902 or 20.8%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 887 - (1,121) - down 234 or 20.9%
Another substantial decrease, slightly less than last week's but still very encouraging
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Estados Unidos
Active cases - 6,669,775 - (6,813,287) - down 143,512 or 2.1%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 20,051 - (20,485) - down 434 or 2.1%
Coming down and at a bit better rate than last week.
URUGUAY
Active cases - 25,971 - (28,206) - down 2,235 or 7.9%
Active cases per 1 million of total population - 7,455 - (8,097) - down 642 or 7.9%
An increasing weekly rate of reduction again, so a heartening trend, but still a very long way to go.
UNITED STATES -
We don't know where to start with the USA. Things are just rapidly going from bad to worse.
The equity markets continue to rise but there are signs of resistance to the high prices which are well outside all historical norms when comparing P/E ratios etc. Then there is the threat of inflation entirely due to the crazy irresponsible policy of counterfeit money printing in the trillions of dollars. Investors in the market now are exhibiting more and more irrational behaviour, which has always been a historical precursor of a crash. And the mad rise in cryptos - just speculative mania for something with no basic value (just like fiat currency), and there is nothing new under the sun. The same thing happened in Holland with the Tulip bubble in the 17th. century - the first financial bubble in human history. That was 380 years ago and the same thing is happening now in the 21st. century.
There is no question that the Socialist Democrats are doing their utmost to destroy the USA and the way of life that we all have known, whether we are in the US or elsewhere. Apart from financial sabotage courtesy of the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve, the other means of destruction that are being employed are:
* destruction of police forces by disempowering and defunding, which of course encourages rioting and anarchy on the streets. This destroys peoples' lives and their businesses.
* dismantling the key border which needs to be defended properly - the Mexico/US border. There are now over 25,000 unaccompanied minors in makeshift holding facilities where sexual abuse is rife as is disease with many infected with the Chinese Virus. In addition, all of this is a cover for the cartels' drug smuggling with Fentanyl and Methamphetamine the main commodities - all produced in China. Fentanyl in particular is lethal and has the potential to kill more Americans than the dreaded Chinese Virus. All of these things are incapacitating the states' ability to adequately police their borders and protect their citizens.
* weakening the armed forces by concentrating on purging the forces of conservative Trump supporters and also giving ridiculous attention to LGBT matters with counseling for sexual problems including possible sex changes. It's a pity the senior officers didn't concentrate on what they're supposed to do - protect the Republic and its citizens from armed aggression from regimes that wish the US harm. On top of that, we have the retired 4 star general Jack Keane, who regularly appears on Fox, giving his opinions on US readiness to fight a naval and aerial battle with China over Taiwan for example. His assessment is very sobering; in his opinion the US would LOSE a conventional war fought with China. This fact would in all likelihood lead to a nuclear war in a very short time. As a result of all this, morale in the forces must be at an all-time low, which is another Socialist aim in reducing military effectiveness. One example of this approach is that the Veterans' March on Memorial Day involving hundreds of motorcycles out in the open air has been arbitrarily cancelled by the Biden crooks on account of Chinese Virus concerns. These guys risked being killed for their country (and many of their comrades were in fact killed or badly injured) and they aren't allowed to take the remote risk of catching some nasty Covids that could be floating about. They should ride their Harleys and Indians into Washington regardless.
* infiltrating schools and universities with socialist woke lies. And the teaching of "critical race theory" to students as young as 5. The purpose is twofold - water down education with bogus racial claptrap, such as the claim that advanced mathematics for those students capable of it is somehow white supremacist and racist. As a result of this racial nonsense, educational institutions will be churning out undereducated graduates who actually hate each other. So, they achieve their aims - woefully badly educated and racially prejudiced kids who are exactly what the Socialist elite want - and divide and rule. In the meantime Chinese students are leaving their American counterparts in the dust. The teachers' unions which are all powerful, are refusing to go back to in person school teaching when all the research shows that there is negligible risk because kids don't spread the dreaded lurgi. This is another Socialist/Union attempt to destroy American society by destroying education. Their actions are beneath contemptible because they are effectively denying all students who would normally attend the US Public School System, 2 years of education. How is this going to work with later generations coming on all the time? There will either be a Godawful logjam, or 2 years of students at critical ages will never be educated properly. Some might be able to access some form of on-line learning but probably not many have access to a computer, nor will they have parents at home who can leave their jobs to teach them. This is an appalling situation and shows the depths that the Dims are prepared to sink to. They deliberately seriously prejudice their students' future opportunities, all to further deteriorate the US school system. That is certainly the endgame.
* using "Climate" as a ploy to shut down vital energy projects costing tens of thousands of skilled jobs and destroying the USA's achievement under Donald Trump of becoming energy independent for the first time in decades. Under Trump, steelmaking and coal mining started again in the US as well, but all that is now under considerable threat. And for those who say that coal as a fuel is a declining industry, be aware that just since the beginning of this year the price of coal has increased from $US69 to $US81 per ton - an increase of $US12 or almost 17.5% in just over 4 months. China of course is not required to abide by any of the rules of the Paris Climate Accords and is buying coal flat out from Australia and building coal-fired power stations like they were going out of fashion. The US and all "western" industrial economies are hobbled by the destructive rules of the PCA's while China forges full steam ahead.
* causing the health system to be compromised by the excessive and slavish adherence to Chinese Virus "rules" which have been responsible for wholesale cancellation of elective surgery and specialist visits and the fraudulent reporting of excessive figures in respect of Chinese Virus "deaths and active cases". Of course this was useful to discredit Trump during the last year of his presidency, and to frighten populations half to death with mask mandates and draconian lockdowns. The whole Chinese Virus matter with its denial of obvious origen from the Wuhan lab., the deliberate spread world-wide, all the while encouraging flights out of China, and the resultant wholesale destruction of business, including peoples' entrepreneurial spirit, has been a godsend to the woke Socialists. Nothing could have played into their hands better, with the willing collaboration of woke and ignorant accomplices. Never mind the 3 million unfortunates who died.
* and the latest example of unbelievable nonsensical wokeness of referring to mothers and giving birth as "birthing persons". And breast feeding is no longer allowed - it's "chest feeding".
* the determined efforts by the Dim crooks to pass election control legislation which would absolutely allow legal election fraud. They illegally perfected the techniques in the 2020 election which undoubtedly they stole, and now the final act is to codify these criminal practices as law. Not to mention the attempts to award statehood to DC and Puerto Rico for the sole reason of installing 4 more Senators who would be reliably Democrat.
* the refusal of the Biden crooks to allow the traditional 4th. of July fireworks at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota using the spurious excuse of fire risks. There was no fire risk last year. Anything which boosts the Trump conservatives has to be resisted at all costs. S Dakota is suing the Feds on this issue.
But, there are many encouraging signs that the Conservatives are striking back hard at the Biden crooks. The Maricopa (Phoenix, Arizona) election tabulation audit is well underway, albeit with the crooked Dims still throwing up any and all roadblocks that they can dredge out of their disgusting minds.
And multiple lawsuits from many states challenging the Biden actions that have affected their states so badly. If there are too many legal shenanigans to attempt to stop these actions, then it is certain that the conservative states will simply ignore and defy Washington and do what they must - including the 4th. of July celebrations at Mt. Rushmore.
We could list many more negative and destructive actions by the Biden Cabal, but we'd be writing forever and it would take you a week to read it all.We'll spare you all that!!
COLOMBIA -
Following are this week's headlines from the English language www.colombiareports.com:
May 1st. Protests in Colombia turn deadly: police massacres "at least 8" in Cali
May 1st. Colombia's former president "glorifying violence": Twitter
May 1st. How a tax reform and state terrorism triggered Colombia's revolt
May 2nd. Colombia's mayors dismiss Duque's attempt to militarise cities
May 2nd. Colombia fighting violent repression of anti- government protests
May 3rd. Colombia celebrates after Duque withdraws loathed tax reform plans
May 3rd. Colombia's loathed finance minister to resign after deadly protests: reports
May 3rd. Colombia's anti-government protests continue amid increasingly chaotic violence
May 4th. Colombia begs for help as Duque embarks on indescribable terror campaign
May 4th. The return of narcoterrorism in Colombia
May 5th. Colombia Reports' Facebook page taken down in apparent cyber war
It is encouraging to see finally a reduction of active Chinese Virus cases in Colombia. 14% in fact from the previous week. But we still have senseless restrictions on shopping days and certain mobility, as well as masks even outside in the fresh air and sunlight which kills the Chinese Virus very quickly in any case.
In addition at the moment we have rowdy street protests in all the major cities against the Duque government - which always seem to occur in the afternoons. There has been some violence with windows being smashed and at least in one case a vehicle was set ablaze.
There are persistent stories that the police were using deadly force against protesters in some places and that seems to have been confirmed by the fact that they killed at least 10 people in Cali, Colombia's 3rd. largest city. There are also reports that they are reverting to old tactics of using special forces to rev up the protestors by inciting further destruction and violence which then gives the police more incentive to attack the protestors. The police and the government on the other hand claim that the protest movement is in cahoots with the Maduro government in Venezuela which is helping to fund them. Either way it is a sad indictment of the present government.
From all the recent polling, it would seem that the right-wing President Duque will lose power in a landslide in the next presidential election due next year. There is major dissatisfaction with him and his government due to ineptitude, corruption and refusal to follow the Peace Accords which were negotiated under UN auspices in Cuba between the previous President Santos and the former guerilla/narcotic organisation - FARC in 2016. In addition there are on-going disputes concerning land that has been stolen from poor people in the fairly recent past and lack of real action to help the disadvantaged people in poor areas to escape their poverty, make something of their lives through education, and contribute positively to Colombian society.
All of the above is contributing to the rise in popularity of Gustavo Petro who is extremely left-wing and is known to have links to the Communist Venezuelan Government. If he gained absolute power it would spell disaster for Colombia and for us with all of our financial assets invested here. This is our biggest concern for the future. Never mind the Chinese Virus!!
There is one hope however. Sergio Fajardo, a former mayor of Medellin, is a moderate centrist and it is possible that he may gain enough electoral support to perhaps form a coalition with Petro and thus keep matters under reasonable control. That's if he doesn't win outright.
But in the meantime, along with all the Virus, political uncertainty and economic decline, the Colombian Peso (COP) is declining in value. Doesn't bother us too much as we live here and the cost of living is still only about 30% of NZ's. And when the inflation which the Biden Socialists are causing really takes hold, the cost of living in the US and NZ will really take off. Colombia on the other hand, is more stable in that bank 1st. mortgage rates are at 10-12% p.a. with a minimum LVR of 30% The inflation rate generally is around 3%, and has been for some time. So Colombia is devoid of property bubbles as a result and is probably better equipped to weather an international inflationary storm which is coming without a doubt. And there is plenty of food here. Fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, seafood, coffee and dark Colombian chocolate are all produced locally at excellent prices as well as some clothing and footwear. Colombia also makes toilet paper so there will be no shortages of basic items!!
If only the country had a competent and honest government which cared about its people and was more or less devoid of corruption - this country would boom.
We are in the process of renewing our 3 year Colombian visas and the process is nearly complete. We have decided to ask our lawyer to handle it all for us and the process is seamless. Mostly done on-line now, which is one good consequence of the Chinese Virus! Except for a couple of visits to the Notaria which is mandatory here; everything legal, even including issuing drivers' licences, must be notarised.
Otherwise life carries on as normal.
AUSTRALIA -
We watched earlier in the week a SkyNews.com.au news item which deals with Chinese "investment" in Australian ports, in addition to 2 minor airfields in Western Australia. The Chinese (CCP) have significant investments in Australian ports as follows:
DARWIN - leased to a Chinese operating company with very strong links to the People's Liberation Army. This deal was signed in 2015 and is for 99 years. Darwin is Australia's ONLY deep water port on its northern coast. The lack of strategic thinking behind this deal is unfathomable.
NEWCASTLE - the world's LARGEST coal exporting port. The CCP is building coal-fired power stations in China like they were going out of fashion. And all when the Paris Climate Accords are all the rage. The CCP isn't required to comply with this "agreement" as is the US and most other countries. The US should never have re-joined. Suppose we will have to wait for Trump's next presidency for that disgraceful move to be reversed. Can't come soon enough.
MELBOURNE - just recently a CCP associated company - China Sovereign Wealth Fund (CIC) - bought a 20% stake in the Port of Melbourne for AUD9.7 billion.
The Australian PM says he sees no problem with any of these deals affecting Australia's basic security. What planet is he on? The best thing that Australia could do right now is ban all further exports of iron ore and coal to the CCP. But that will never happen because the financial consequences would be massive. In the meantime the CCP is busily importing Australian iron ore which is then turned into steel which is in turn used for military assets to be used against Australia, and other allies, in the event that Australia and its allies resist a CCP invasion of Taiwan.
NEW ZEALAND - Some of you may even have read in a previous blog of our disappointment at NZ's thumbing its nose at the 5 Eyes intelligence sharing partnership, together with NZ's woke attitude generally to the CCP, and not supporting Australia in its courageous stand against the CCP. We spoke of removing the NZ flag from our apartment balcony which, as any of you who know yours truly's attitude to flag etiquette, would represent a major sadness. We flew the flag, as a legal requirement, with pride from "Tiare Taporo III" in all countries that we visited - New Caledonia, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey. In addition we always flew the courtesy flag of those countries while we were in their territorial waters. For example, when crossing the border between Malaysia and Thailand just north of Langkawi, we always changed the courtesy flag as appropriate. And it may also be said that even when Jim owned the retail liquor franchise of Super Liquor Waiheke (aka Waiheke Wines and Spirits) with his former wife, Beverley, we always flew the flag there, raising it in the morning and lowering it again at night. And half mast on Anzac Day - mainly because the RSA was only 100 meters along the road!! That last is not true; we would have done it anyway!
And then there was Jim's time in the RNZNVR in the late 60's.
So, this flag business is a big deal. But we have decided that our and most other NZer's association with the flag and its history through wars, etc. is too strong to allow a petty Socialist and woke government - like that of the toothy grin - to cause us to abandon our flag and so it will continue to fly proudly from our balcony here in Medellin, and anywhere else we may live in the future.
We stay in touch with a NZ boat that we had met in Malaysia during our travels and have received a worrying message from them. They were in Malaysia and had been there for well over a year waiting for a relaxation of the Chinese Virus rules. Suddenly Malaysia has ordered all foreign flagged boats out of the country and apparently there was also a reference to getting all Europeans out regardless. Malaysia has had an expat residency scheme called Malaysia my 2nd Home (MM2H), where if you meet certain financial requirements, you can buy property and obtain permanent residence. Don't know how all that is going with this current draconian move. Anyway, on a boat nothing is ever simple. The SW Monsoon is just starting and blows hard with a "fetch" all the way from the Indian subcontinent and beyond. So, it's no time to be sailing the west coast of peninsula Malaysia. But the clueless authorities either have no clue about all this, or they simply don't care. It reduces any boat's options from leaving Langkawi - going south would be more difficult than going north so our friends opted for the northern option but that takes them to Thailand where they are currently being held in an unsafe exposed anchorage at the southern end of Koh Yao Yai. We went in there once but didn't stay - it's shallow further in so it's not possible to go further in to get out of the swell. But they are there not knowing when or whether they will be granted entry into Thailand and enduring unsafe and very uncomfortable conditions. Our hearts go out to them and we hope that sanity will return and that they will be allowed entry - albeit maybe with extensive testing and quarantine. At least crews of boats have usually self-quarantined anyway.
And, if you do nothing else, please read Muriel Newman's latest weekly newsletter (www.nzcpr.com), where she details the well advanced plans for dual government with Maori in many areas of local and national government. Disunity has plagued NZ for many years and these lunatic Socialist plans will exacerbate all this and ruin the country. This is similar to the seeds of racial disharmony being effectively sown in the US as well with the same aim - ruination of otherwise racially harmonious societies.
We trust that the past week has treated you well and that the new week coming does the same.
Cheers and lotsaluv from the City of Eternal Spring,
Jim and Jean
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.