Fwd: Colombian doings and the fraught world we live in - thanks to lying politicians

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: James Donald <tiare.taporo3@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 May 2024 at 16:01
Subject: Fwd: Colombian doings and the fraught world we live in - thanks to lying politicians
To: <admin@sellarbone.co.nz>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: James Donald <tiare.taporo3@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 5 May 2024 at 08:24
Subject: Colombian doings and the fraught world we live in - thanks to lying politicians

Hi to all our friends and families,

These blogs seem to be few and far between these days (the last one was early November last year) - , but there is so much happening in the world, and with us here⁷ in Colombia as well, that these matters constitute our excuse. We'd also have to say that the lack of response to these blogs remains an inhibiting factor, in spite of the few hardy souls who put up with our irrational rants - and make comments! But we will continue to persevere. Oh God, we can hear the chorus of woke folks around the place!

First our doings over the last 6 months or so - 

** We first applied for our 5 year Permanent Residency visas (a misnomer if ever there was one, unless it is expected that we would expire from this mortal coil in 5 year's time!) in October 2023. Jim's went through with no issues, although we had to put up with the usual Migracion Colombia's unaccountable delays. However, it is now in hand, so no worries. That sounds like an Aussie - God forbid!! 

But Jean's was another historia. Not to labour the story, she went to Miami in April 2022 and in order to qualify for a new long-term visa, you cannot be out of Colombia for more than 6 consecutive months during the preceding visa period. However, this is where the nonsensical story starts. Her Spirit Airlines flight on 22/04 was cancelled after she had been processed through Immigration. So she did the correct thing and was processed back into Colombia. She flew out the following day and returned in about 10 days. However, this is where the problems started.  Migracion did not process the cancelled flight at all, but entered the re-entry as an entry from Panama City. She has never been to PC and without a recorded  exit from Colombia, how could that have happened? Through some sort of twisted logic, they then deduced that all that meant that she had been out of Colombia for more than the statutory 6 months! However, the stamps in her passport are correct, inasmuch as they record the correct situation. In our innocence, we simply thought that a reasonable discussion and explanation with Migracion would solve the issue, which was their error anyway!! But NO - for some inexplicable reason they insisted on a confirmation letter from the airline that the flight on 22/04/22 had actually been cancelled. Our existing lawyer (who is not a specialist immigration lawyer) was unable to obtain this letter - and in fact Spirit initially denied that the flight had been cancelled!  At this stage things were getting a bit desperate and we were recommended to a specialist immigration lawyer. This is in no way a criticism of our original lawyer who is our friend and was up against a situation she had no experience of.

However, to cut a long story short, our new lawyer obtained the airline letter, and when we asked how - she said "don't ask"!! Then after many visits to Migracion in Belen, Medellin, we now have the correctly modified Movements Certificate and the 3rd visa application is underway. Jean's existing visa expires on June 5th. so after thinking we had plenty of time, that commodity is now in somewhat short supply, but we have been assured that her new visa will be ready before the expiry date. All in all, this farcical process will have cost us in total 8 million Colombian Pesos (NZD 3,500) since October last year. But cheaper than having to move to Argentina!!

We jokingly said to Perry that he dodged a bullet because if her visa was expiring before the issuance of the new one, he might have had Jean descending on him for an indefinite period of time! Anyway, she could have slept on the boat which is on davits on the jetty in front of the house!!

The lesson that we have learnt is don't try and argue with Migracion from a logical point of view because there is NO logic.You just go with the flow and provide whatever they ask for and maintain some sort of civility. They are quite literally a law unto themselves.

But now SUCCESS!! On 04/05 we were advised by our immigration lawyer that Jean's 5 year visa had been approved. We were expecting this, but nevertheless it is a huge relief. We have since been back to Migracion to confirm that the details on the new visa are correct - why they can't simply do all that by email is beyond us. Now on or about May 30th. we will have to go back to Migracion to collect Jean's cedula - a plastic card with all the visa details, about the size of a credit card which is actually the ID we always carry. But we will get copies made and laminated and carry those, keeping the originals here out of harm's way. 

Before we can get a Colombian passport, we will need another 5 year visa, by which time we will be 87! Whether it will be worth obtaining a passport at that stage is a moot point - it will depend on whether we will have popped our clogs or not!! We've increased our whisky intake to preserve ourselves into the future - only joking!! 

** Last December we flew to Miami to be with Perry and his family for Christmas and New Year. They had been in New Zealand before that and we actually arrived in Miami 3 days before they got back. While in NZ, they saw Perry's father who lives in Riverton at the bottom of the South Island and caught up with friends and family, as you do. Thinking of Riverton, puts us in mind of the time before we sailed from NZ in July 2011 on "Tiare Taporo III" when we would listen on the SSB to weather reports on Bluff Fisherman's Radio for the Puysegur marine area. A woman called Mere called the weather in a monotonous tone and typically it would go something like this - "SW 25 knots this morning turning NW gusting 40 in the afternoon. Overnight and in the morning gusting NW 55 then turning SW gusting 50 then reducing to 30 overnight". We had harboured thoughts of circumnavigating NZ before leaving for warmer climes but after a few of those we were glad events had conspired against us!!

We had a great time in Miami, although we have to say that the atmosphere generally had deteriorated since our previous visit. People were distant and unsmiling and it was just different. Still, when you consider what Biden has done to the country with unbridled immigration and inflation, perhaps it was unsurprising.

We had a restful time during our Miami sojourn and found a Colombian cafe with very good coffee and food around the next block - but SO expensive compared with El Retiro. Whole Foods Supermarket - owned now by Jeff Bezos - was also a frequent destination. We bought some clothes and Jim a hat from West Marine, which was good, but a visit to Target was disappointing and a great waste of time. Ross Dress for Less even more so. But speaking of spending money in the US, it really isn't much fun for us as recently the NZD/USD exchange rate has hovered around NZD 1.00 = USD 0.60, so we're losing around 40% of a NZ dollar's purchasing power. We use our NZ credit card whenever in the US as we don't have any USD bank account. But soon many reports have the USD crashing as their national debt level right now is approaching 35 Trillion US dollars - an unsustainable amount. One consequence of this debt level is that the annual interest cost is now exceeding the annual defence budget. And this level of debt could well (probably) see the USD lose its World Reserve Currency status - a position they have held since the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944.

There was a New Year party at Perry's and that was a great success. All no doubt drank far too much, but a good time was had by all and the food was great on Perry's new outdoor built-in BBQ. At Christmas we had all been to their Argentinian friends' place and had a very pleasant hospitable time. Their grandfather, Santiago, was visiting from Buenos Aires and they also came to Perry's for New Year. Jim and Santiago had a very long talk about the geopolitical situation! He is in his 80's and still does financial consulting work.  

A highlight was being taken one evening up to Fort Lauderdale where we went to a live theater performance of the Shen Yun touring troupe, which is based in NY City. They were performing Chinese folk songs and stories from 5,000 years ago and it was spectacular. The movements and costumes were mesmerising. Thank you to Perry and Tracie for enabling this as our Christmas present. Sadly the CCP of China doesn't like any Chinese history which isn't part of the CCP and so has been lobbying the US Government to have them shut down, especially as they were publicising Falung Gong which is anathema to the CCP. All in all, an unforgettable night.

The weather in Florida was of course winter, but unseasonably cold and swimming in the pool was impossible without running the heater and heating the whole pool from cold. At $10 per hour for gas and the need for at least 12 hours to get it up to a reasonable temperature, that was hardly a cost effective operation! 

Then towards the end of our stay, Perry hired a Jeep Wagoneer with 9 seats and we all went up to the Sebring area where they have an older house on one of the lakes - Lake Josephine, which is joined by narrow shallow channels to two other lakes. It was all fascinating to see as we had been keen to see the Florida lakes area north of Okeechobee, but a little disappointing as all the lakes are fairly shallow sink holes on peat bottoms, so the water is black! We had a good look around the area - there are some very palatial homes on some of the lake shores and of course Sebring is the home to a very famous motor racing track.

Then it was back to Miami and very soon on Jan. 9th. we were winging our way back to Medellin - Aeropuerto Jose Maria Cordova. Good to be home again after living out of suitcases which contained some more spare parts for our old German chariot! Much more on that subject further on!!

** In March this year we had a friend of Jean's, Catherine, come to stay. Jean had first met Catherine during their GE Free protest days in NZ around 20 years ago. Catherine had organised a  visit to Jamaica before flying to Medellin for a month's stay. Jim had met her back in NZ before our nautical adventures and so it was good to see her again. We collected her from Jose Maria Cordova and brought her back to our house. 

Catherine has since travelled on to a few of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean which she has been enjoying.

We spent time in Medellin and all 3 went up to Parque Arvi on the cable car - 2,000 feet above Medellin. We also saw again the Botero Museum which has a great collection of Botero's works - paintings and sculptors which are unmistakable in style and entertaining to see. We visited Astrid, our lawyer, in her apartment and then had a look at Parque Luces and the surrounding extensive very cheap market-like shops selling all manner of things. We showed her all around Oriente which comprises the area where we live and also went to El Carmen de Viboral where the world-famous hand painted crockery is made. 

** Then on the return from there the car started to miss so we changed course and went to the workshop of Juvenal in Rio Negro, to whom we had been introduced by Juan - the owner  of a 1981 W123 250 which he had bought new in Germany back then. Jim also had had a 1977 W123 250 in NZ some years before. Anyway, the problem appeared somewhat more serious than just a coil. A transistor on the Engine Control Module had blown and was irreparable in Colombia. So, we tracked down another unit from a "totalled" car in Miami and had that sent to Colombia along with 3 replacement coils of a much better German brand than could be obtained in Colombia - and at about one third of the price. Now we have the car back and it is running perfectly, but we would like to get the spare damaged Module repaired back in the US. However, the problem is finding someone who repairs ancient electronic items! 

We are changing the existing 16" wheels back to the original 15" ones, which the previous owner still had, and replacing a thermal switch which controls the electric auxiliary cooling fans as well as brake pad wear sensors. The brake pad warning light stays on and we know the pads are ok because we replaced them last year.

The joys of owning a 31 yr old classic MB, especially in Colombia, where almost all the problem is finding a workshop which has an empathy with and knowledge of older cars. Juvenal (fingers crossed) seems to have the necessary credentials. His workshop in a bus park in Rio Negro is hardly impressive but he is prepared to enlist the help of particular experts in various areas, which was certainly the case with our electronic issue. At one stage he even gave us a ride in an almost 60 year old Renault R12 - same type which Jim's family through Etablissements Donald-Tahiti used to sell in French Polynesia all those years ago. As an aside, the first car that Jim ever drove on the right was a Renault R16 on Tahiti in 1968!!! He's since driven on the right in New Caledonia, Turkey and Florida - and now in Colombia.

Since then though, after a chance conversation with another expat we met recently here, we have been introduced to another workshop which specialises in classic car restoration. The big problem with Juvenal was that the car was filthy when we collected it and it took us 5 hours collectively to clean it up - particularly the inside. It reminded Jim of the bad old days in NZ where after even just a lube and oil change, it was necessary to wipe the grease off the steering wheel! We've even given the seats some leather preservative and the Colombian leather looks a million dollars - well, not quite!!

But we always get pleasure from driving the old girl, which in our experience is incomparable to cars costing 5 or 6 times more to buy. And if we have to be without her for a week or so now and again, it's not of any consequence as we have no urgent need to go anywhere. Shops are within walking distance, which we became well used to during our sojourn on the yacht!! And the bus service here is without peer - to Medellin or Rio Negro and the bus stops on demand, whether getting on or off. The drivers are the most obliging we have EVER met anywhere. And the 30 km trip from here to Medellin for instance is only 19,000 Pesos for both of us - NZD8.30. A trip from here to Medellin and then to Migracion by 35 minute taxi ride and return to El Retiro is typically COP 80,000 (NZD 35) in total for both of us.

We have had quite a change in the weather in the last 2 weeks or so. Previously we and most of the western S American continent as well as Panama, had been in the grip of an El Nino induced drought. Panama has been in a bad way with diminishing water supplies from the Gatun Lake which has forced the reduction in the number of ships transiting the Canal. However, La Nina seems to have made a comeback as forecast and typical rains have resumed. There have been severe water shortages in Colombia with the capital, Bogota having complete water shut-downs by suburb on a daily basis. There was even a last minute panic here and in Medellin (which gets all of its water from this area) to save water, but in reality the shortage, which is now over, is being caused by extensive residential apartment building without corresponding infrastructure enhancements. However, the realisation seems to have now hit home and necessary works to capture more water from the rivers that tumble down from the hills above us, is underway. And the drought has now broken with a vengeance as a few nights ago (03/05) it poured all night and the lower part of Retiro was flooded again, although not as badly as in October 2022 just before we moved up here. Our house is elevated so no risk of flooding here, unless the flood was of biblical proportions a la Noah!! At 7,000 feet altitude not too much chance of that. But we are not as high as the top of Mt. Ararat here!! Ararat in Turkey/Armenia is over 5,000 metres (approx. 17,000 feet), so maybe we will need to build an ark. We'll be very choosy as to who is allowed on board!!!  

And now for the meaty part of the blog where weighty matters of the day are discussed - and there is no shortage of those!! They are in no particular order of importance.

** To start with, we have been trying to make sense of all the geopolitical events of late. And it seems to us that in trying to understand things completely, you can boil the whole ghastly mess down to just one issue - GLOBALISM versus NATIONALISM. We have to say that we are very much in the latter camp as this is the ONLY way in which countries can maintain their culture, character, control of their own currency and economic and political affairs, and basically their FREEDOM. 

Globalism a la the WEF is an extremely destructive philosophy as it requires countries to abrogate all those matters as above and which have been established over centuries with corresponding extreme hardship and sacrifice - all to be thrown away on the altar of Globalism. This is just another word for another more truthful description - that of traitorousness and sedition. 

Trade agreements are another issue  - perfectly natural and desirable to protect individual countries' rights to trade expeditiously with one another, but NOT as the EU has developed from the original European Economic Community in 1973 into an almost fully fledged United States of Europe.

** We have the on-going Ukraine War which has been slowly building since 2014. Then in 2022 of course Russia invaded Ukraine due to the lies and deception of the US and its NATO allies, where in the Minsk Accords of 2015 they promised that Ukraine would never join NATO and would remain neutral. But then they immediately began building the Ukrainian military into an efficient and credible fighting force to impose US will on Russia a la the Russian effort in Cuba in 1961. But Russia was quite understandably not having any of that, since a red line had most definitely been crossed. So, they invaded - intially with a small force, as they believed that at that point the US would finally take them seriously. In fact at that point Ukraine and Russia had an agreement for a cease-fire, but NO - the US and NATO in the form of the British P.M., Boris Johnson at the behest of his US masters, told Ukraine in no uncertain terms that the cease-fire would cease immediately and that the war would continue. Part of their twisted thinking was that by continuing, they would force regime change in Russia, but that was a massive miscalculation. President Putin is now more popular than ever and the bulk of the Russian population is solidly behind him. In the meantime Russia has exerted more and more pressure on Ukraine because really they have had no alternative. 

Now we have the appalling spectacle of the warmongers in the US Congress, aided and abetted by the Republican RINO Speaker, passing another ludicrous spending bill to throw another 60 odd BILLION dollars down the Ukraine toilet to enrich all the members of Congress as well as the military/industrial cabal. Then a small proportion actually goes to Ukraine to grease the palms of the crooks who purport to run the country. Ukrainian military casualties already total over 600,000 DEAD and at least 100,000 wounded with most of those AMPUTEES. Biden and Zelensky and their hangers-on are the real war criminals and at some point they must be held to account. 

Russia will advance over the whole front to the Dnieper River and they will take the Russian cities of Karkhov and Odessa. Then, thanks to the ludicrous US foreign policy a la Biden, all that will be left of Ukraine will be a land-locked mountainous rump of a country with very little wealth. It may in fact, along with Moldova, be subsumed into Romania, which would make sense, except that Romania is part of NATO and that would put another NATO country on the Russian border. Hmmmmm.

The Russian Federation will hold onto the traditional Russian areas already conquered and Russia will no longer face the cold prospect of NATO missiles aimed at Moscow. Russia will not be disposed to ANY concessions when it comes to "negotiations", given the outright deceit with which they have been treated over many years by the US and NATO. They will understandably be extremely hard-nosed.

GAME OVER!!!!!! 

As a footnote - it is just very fortunate for humanity as a whole that President Putin is a very clever strategist who is not given to impulsive or emotional decisions. His actions to date have been admirably restrained. By contrast, the clowns/lunatics in the White House - and some European "leaders" - notably Macron - are simply deluded opportunists who seem to think that a "limited" nuclear war, which they continue to try to goad Russia into, is somehow acceptable. What planet do these people come from? Let's hope that they somehow learn that a "limited" nuclear war is just a fantasy which exists only in their fevered phsycopathic imaginations. Quite simply, nuclear war means Armageddon. 

The other factor which must be weighing heavily among Washington "minds" is that the USD is now under unprecedented attack from BRICS and the many nations who are now members. It seems to us that this attack, along with other issues affecting the future of the World Reserve Status of the USD, will eventually succeed as the world as a whole is now finished with American financial hegemony and will embrace almost any alternative. 

But the danger now is that, with desperation setting in, the US and NATO will probably be inclined to resort to any action that they perceive as possibly effective in propping up the USD. The possible consequences of this thinking, when you consider all the angles, are hardly re-assuring. 

** Israel and Gaza - here we are torn between understanding the horrific attack that took place against Israel on October 7th. 2023 and the need for Israel to destroy the people that initiated the attack which saw almost 1,500 Israeli civilians lose their lives in the most horrific circumstances.

But in destroying Hamas, tens of thousands of mostly innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed and Hamas is still far from exterminated. In fact it is not possible to exterminate Hamas, because it is simply an idea or movement, and there will always be more religious fanatics to fill the shoes of those "exterminated".

In all of this, it is necessary to also consider the escalating risk of regional war with Iran, Turkey, Egypt and even Russia, unless Israel reigns in its continued policy of destroying Gaza with no thought of collateral civilian casualties. In considering this, it also needs to be well understood that the US is not the military power that it once was in the 1990's. In fact Russia right now has a modern mechanised army of in excess of one million under arms and Turkey could muster over two million. And their military is modern and well equipped as well. 

By contrast the US would be lucky to muster much more than maybe 250.000 combat ready troops - and they are scattered in many places, thanks to the lunatic US policy of creating war wherever the opportunity presents itself. These wars have been a big contributor to the current US Federal debt of 35 TRILLION US dollars, but of course they have been massively profitable for the Military/Industrial Complex! In addition to all that, the US does not any longer have the financial or physical wherewithal to produce weapons on the scale that would be required - unlike Russia with China's help. Their munitions factories are working 24/7.

Probably the only workable solution right now is what has been postulated on numerous occasions, and that is the continuation of Gaza in a two-state solution with Israel. A strong and policed security fence along the Gaza/Israel border should hold the situation in the immediate term.

Otherwise continued slaughter of Palestinians with all the human cost, will achieve nothing except an unacceptable increased risk of nuclear war which could easily and very quickly escalate into a global conflict.   

However, it's all very well to be idealistic about the possibility of Israel finally accepting the notion of a two state solution. But there are oil deposites off the Gazan coast and Israel, which is devoid of natural resources, no doubt has its eye firmly on those, which would be unattainable unless Gaza and its inhabitants are removed from the map. Already some 300 million USD has been spent on creating on-shore docking facilities so the intentions of Israel seem clear. 

Palestine is NOT at this stage a sovereign state and so the oil deposits fall within Israel's EEZ and therefore legally belong to Israel. 

The only impediment to exploiting the oil is the pesky population of Palestinian Arabs and the terrorist organisation of Hamas. So it seems likely that the continued GENOCIDE of Palestine will continue with all the geopolitical consequences that are entailed. As this is written, Israel is already conducting "operations" in Rafah in southern Gaza on the Egyptian border.  

** We can only hope that the US, and by extension the world, can survive the next 6 months until President Trump is re-elected President of the United States of America. The scale of the immense damage that has been deliberately wrought by the Democrats is daunting to say the least. Apart from the geopolitical issues detailed above there are inflation which will be largely brought under control by freeing up oil and gas production in the US, and the southern border, where it is estimated that up to 40 million illegals (12% of the whole population) have been released with no recognisance whatsoever into the continental US. The number of bad actors and where they may currently be is absolutely unknown. President Trump has said that he will deport ALL the illegals,but if the total of 40 million is correct, that would amount to 27,000 per day for the next 4 years. An impossible goal in our opinion. Then there is the matter of the Federal debt approaching 35 TRILLION dollars. The interest on this alone is now more than the entire military budget.

These matters are enormous hurdles, but with single-minded determination and a Congress willing to disassociate itself from the bribery of big Pharma and the Military/Industrial Complex, they can possibly be achieved, although it will probably take more than the 4 years of the next presidential term.

** The other pressing matter directly involved with the US debt is the effort being made by the BRICS countries to establish their own gold-backed currency which they will use for international trade, and particularly for petroleum. This effort has been well referred to above. It is now well advanced and looks like being successful in the medium term. The US has enjoyed financial dominance over world trade for the last 80 years, but stupidly they have used this privileged position to constantly bully other countries to follow their own agenda, including sanctions and the like - which have really blown up in their faces where Russia is concerned. Russia's financial position has gone from strength to strength since Russia invaded Ukraine. The total US debt combined with the BRICS movement could well see the US dollar lose its coveted World Reserve Currency status and if that happens, the consequencs with the US debt in the mix as well can only be imagined. But it won't be pretty, and that's putting it mildly.

** And finally this matter that we wanted to discuss is the latest development as regards the Covid mRNA "vaccines" - which are not vaccines at all. They're actually GMO's - Genetically Modified Organisms. This is now legally well proven and it is legally established that the pharmaceutical companies concerned were well aware that the product they were pushing was in fact a GMO - well capable of changing an individual's DNA. They wilfully withheld this fact from various regulatory agencies in all countries in order to get fraudulent approval for "THE JAB" from which they have made billions of dollars. If they had been upfront and declared the JAB as a GMO from the outset, the approval time would have been far longer, and there would have been much more extensive testing which would have exposed the harmful effects of the JAB. If this delay had occurred, approval would at the least have been considerably delayed, or withheld altogether. Then all the excess deaths which have appallingly occurred would not have happened. Having said that, it seems anecdotally that MOST of the harmful effects have only occurred after the third jab. 

Far fewer people would have died with effective Covid medication such as Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine, and Covid would have simply faded into the background. Instead we had all the fear-mongering and social pressure combined with mandates for the "vaccine".and people still got the Covid and in many cases died because their immune systems had been so badly compromised due to the deleterious genetic effects on the human system from the "vaccine". These events briefly outlined here constitute the greatest medical scandal ever to have seriously harmed the human race. There is a very informative conversation between Dr. John Campbell of the UK and Mr. Julian Gillespie - an Australian lawyer who is closely involved in bringing an action against the Australian Government for damages caused to the people whose welfare they are supposed to defend. A very interesting point - as the JAB is now a legally proven GMO, the indemnity which various governments around the world gave to companies like Pfizer have NO LEGAL EFFECT. This is because the various indemnities given covered vaccines - NOT GMO's. This development now leaves the way wide open for multi-billion dollar lawsuits which are only now just beginning. If you have any shares in Pfizer, we'd sell them NOW!! It is noteworthy that AstraZeneca have now withdrawn their JAB from the market and stopped any further "vaccinations". Perhaps they are trying to circumvent legal actions which they are possibly anticipating?

The Campbell/Gillespie conversation, which lasts for an hour and a half, was recorded on Youtube on April 22nd. We have listened to the podcast and, although we were aware of many of the issues discussed, we were nevertheless mesmerised and we have sent it on to National, ACT and NZ First to use in the current NZ Royal Commission of Inquiry into the mishandling of the so-called Covid "pandemic" in NZ. We hope that at least someone listens. If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of the podcast, just let us know and we can email it to you along with a copy of our informal submission via the Coalition members to the Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Finally, don't dare accuse us of being conspiracy theorists - the conspiracists are the pharmaceutical companies who outrageously deceived sovereign governments by claiming their product was a "vaccine", whereas THAT WAS A LIE; THE "VACCINE" WAS/IS A GMO - GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM with all the ramifications flowing from that causing death and injury which governments the world over are now shamefully and wilfully ignoring in a criminal cowardly attempt to evade proper responsibility.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is now pressuring all countries to sign an agreement which would give the WHO unbridled control of individual countries' health systems in the event of another "pandemic". From what we hear, Bird Flu is the next one and "gain of function" scientific endeavours are well underway to create a highly transmissable and lethal virus upon the world - again. These people are evil and no doubt Fauci et al are financially involved as it is now well proven that they had this involvement with Covid-19. trump will undoubtedly take the US out of the WHO and in view of the harm they have caused to date, NZ should do the same.

For further education, we suggest you read/listen to Naiomi Wolf who is an investigative journalist and who has many Youtube interviews which further expose these crimes against humanity - and we are all victims, directly or indirectly - "vaccinated" or not, and whether at this stage we know it or not.

Our references for all of the above, who we mostly listen to on Youtube (sometimes on Rumble when the Youtube censorship gets too much!) are:
Colonel Douglas Macgregor - former decorated officer of the US Army. advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the Trump Administration, consulting expert in strategy, policy and defence and complex geopolitics of Ukraine and European history in general.

Scott Ritter - former US Marine and US nuclear weapons inspector - expert commentator on current events in Ukraine

Judge Andrew Napolitano - former New Jersey Superior Court Judge

Gerald Celente - known for his irreverent use of language and publication of the weekly Trends Journal, which covers financial and geopolitical matters. He often appears with Judge Napolitano.

Redacted - Clayton and Natalie Morris - investigative journalists

Dr. John Campbell of the UK - exposing current world-wide "excess deaths" situation

Michael Bordenaro re the real estate situation in the US - and especially in Florida

Professor Jeffrey Sachs - Professor of political economics at Columbia University - specialising in public policy analysis, sustainable and economic development

Lena Petrova CPA - for analysis of the world financial situation

Victor Davis Hanson - classicist and military historian 

President Trump's lawyers who are steadily taking the Deep State's efforts to legally discredit him to pieces

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana

Jesse Waters and the rest of "The Five" team incl. Judge Jeanine Pirro, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld

Mark Levin

Nigel Farage - of Brexit fame and currently presenter on GB News. Possible future British PM!!

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri 

Steve Forbes - editor in chief of "Forbes" - an American business magazine

Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

Tucker Carlson - independent US investigative journalist - recent interviewer of President Putin

John Mearsheimer - political commentator - war and international politics

Whitney Webb - American author living in Chile, commenting on world finance and associated political trends

NZ Doctors Speaking out About Science

Keri Molloy - NZ investigative journalist

Well, that's the end of another blog. Sorry we have had to cover some geopolitical and health news which make less than pleasant reading.

We hope that everyone is well and that life is treating you all tolerably well........

Cheers and lotsaluv from us in El Retiro, Colombia.

Jim and Jean

https://youtu.be/q_f6YxzDvag?si=lNruauP6S-gZa3M7 

This is an excellent interview which throws well researched arguments against the last 80 years of attempted American world domination - often with disastrous consequences.

Just imagine if all the money that has been swallowed up by endless wars, had not been, how much better the world would be now. Think of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq as three very well-known needless examples.

And a very good argument could be made that without constant American regime change aggression, the Cold War with the USSR might never have happened.

If countries had been engaged in peaceful trade and development, instead of armed aggression, what a different world we would have had.

Of course there has always been a need for well equipped and organised military forces which could be used on a co-operative basis to quell armed aggression wherever it may have erupted, but apart from legitimate defense of one's own homeland security, that should be the limit.

Peaceful, co-operative and competitive trade would have created international attitudes and conditions unimaginable today.

There is US debt (34 trillion USD right now) - none of which can ever be repaid. And much more around the world. All this debt is inevitably going to cause an economic implosion as has never been seen and with consequences that can only be imagined. The weaponisation of the US dollar over the last 80 years is now directly responsible for the growth of the BRICS trading and currency bloc, which may well succeed in its aim of overthrowing USD dominance. The existing US debt  growth has only been possible with the USD dollar as the World Reserve Currency. If that status disappears, the resultant collapse will be even more catastrophic.

To embrace, or perhaps even consider these arguments, certainly needs a substantial mind shift among most, if not all of us, as our lives have been conditioned by the last 80 years in which we have lived, to a greater or lesser extent.

Maybe all, or some of the above, could be said to be wishful idealism, but one can always strive to look beyond the current extremely dangerous world state - and hope.

As always, your thoughts and opinions will be appreciated here in El Retiro.........

We hope all is well in your lives....

Fwd: [NZCPR-Newsletter] The Radicalisation of Parliament

Hi again to all,

We trust you found our recent blog (04/11) interesting and thought provoking - even if you didn't agree with aspects of it!!

We are now forwarding the latest newsletter from NZCPR (The New Zealand Centre for .Political Research - Dr. Muriel Newman). We think it is essential reading as it amplifies the concerns we raised indirectly in our blog - specifically the fundamental disagreement between certain possible coalition partners as regards the proposed Referendum on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. ACT in particular, and we suspect with NZF coming a close second, favours this referendum, whereas National does not. In our opinion this simply illustrates the wokeness of National and Luxon in particular. Remember that it was the Key National government that signed NZ up to the UN doctrine as regards indigenous peoples. 

In NZ's case, Maori are no more "indigenous" than Europeans, but that's a debate for another day. Suffice it to say that Maori were in NZ first, but that gives them no more "rights" than Europeans who brought many innovations to NZ's shores and prevented vicious inter-tribal wars which in the few years preceding the 1840 Treaty, killed more Maoris than the total NZ loss of life in two World Wars!! This awful situation was enabled by certain Kerikeri missionaries who were no more than arms dealers. This little historical snippet is now well and truly written out of contemporary historical accounts of that troubled period.

NZ is a country of less than 5 million citizens and cannot afford the disunifying nonsense that has been spouted in recent times as regards "co-governance" - and not to mention the accompanying "He Puapua". The proposed referendum will once and for all deal with this spurious nonsense and, given that whatever government NZ finishes up with, the correct and historically verified Treaty translation will be legally upheld in perpetuity. Note that the Treaty Principles were correctly set out by no less a person than Sir Apirana Ngata - that great Maori leader in the 1920's.

The issues of the disunifying evil of co-governance and Treaty principles which include equality for ALL NZ citizens, must be legally upheld. If National in its wokeness and desire to "not rock the boat" refuses to support a citizens' referendum, then ACT and NZF must stand true to their principles and refuse to coalesce with National - thus possibly forcing a National ĺcoalition with Labour - which would be the ultimate betrayal - but not beyond the bounds of possibility.

The better alternative would be another election where voters could truly express their preferences, finally knowing the relative parties' degrees of (racial) 

 wokeness.

Cheers from Colombia.......

Jim and Jean

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Muriel Newman <muriel@nzcpr.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2023 at 05:49
Subject: [NZCPR-Newsletter] The Radicalisation of Parliament
To: <newsletter@nzcpr.com>

NOTE: If the articles don't display properly, please view them on our website by clicking HERE 

Dear NZCPR Reader, This week… In this NZCPR newsletter, we examine the radicalisation of opposition parties in Parliament and uncover the driving forces, our NZCPR Guest Commentator the former Labour Cabinet Minister Dr Michael Bassett shares his insight into Labour's election defeat, and our poll asks, whether the new Prime Minister should stand up to bullies threatening social unrest in order to govern in the interests of all New Zealanders, or back down to keep the peace. Last week… In case you missed it, last week we outlined how Labour's historic defeat represents a mass rejection of the radical woke agenda that former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had imposed onto the country and we suggested some important lessons for the new government HERE, and our NZCPR Guest Commentator Chris Trotter explained how Labour's divisive focus on race led to the loss of their working-class voter base and was a key factor in their downfall HERE. *A podcast of last week's feature article "A Rejection of Woke" can be found on our Podcast page HERE. Ensuring our newsletters can continue … To maintain our independence and keep our information freely available, the NZCPR does not seek State assistance, run ads, have paywalls, or ask for subscriptions. Instead, the significant role we play in informing public opinion and influencing decision-makers is only possible through the wonderful support of newsletter readers like you - please click HERE to help. And, if you don't like website forms, you can donate directly via Internet Banking to NZCPR Account 12-3099-0833814-00 – but please include your first name as well as surname in the reference area … and email receipt@nzcpr.com for a receipt. As always, thank you so much for your on-going interest and support – and please feel free to share these newsletters as widely as you can. Warmest regards, Dr Muriel Newman NZCPR Founding Director
NZCPR WEEKLY: THE RADICALISATION OF PARLIAMENT By Dr Muriel Newman Parliament has not even been sworn in, but already the Greens, the Maori Party, and Labour, are demonstrating levels of radicalism and hate not seen in our House of Representatives before. Their target is the new government – and their supporters. Is this extremism going to be their modus operandi for the next three years? When Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick chanted "From the river to the sea" at a recent rally for Gaza, the crowd responded, "Palestine will be free". The words of this battle cry can be found in the constitution of Hamas - the terrorist group that controls Gaza and which launched the attack on Israel killing more than 1000 civilians and capturing hundreds of hostages: "Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea." The expression from the river to the sea refers to the land between the Jordan River bordering the east of Israel and the Mediterranean Sea to the west - and is commonly understood to stand for the complete annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people. In Britain, when a Labour MP used a similar expression at a pro-Palestine rally, the Labour Party leader condemned the comments as "deeply offensive" and suspended him. In contrast, not only was Chloe Swarbrick not suspended, but a Green Party co-leader, Marama Davidson, was egging her on! This incident is indicative of the radicalisation of the Greens. They have morphed from a Party of environmentalism to one of extremism. Even the other co-leader James Shaw, who has long cultivated an image of moderation and reasonableness, has now revealed he's just as radical as the rest by promising "violence" and "wide scale social disruption" if the new government goes ahead with the ACT Party's proposed referendum on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Marama Davidson elevated the rhetoric by threatening the new government: "Just try and come for the Treaty, just try". She warned the Greens will do everything they can to incite public opposition and resistance: "There is going to be community-led resistance and movement that the Greens will absolutely amplify." Not to be outdone, the Maori Party president John Tamihere claimed, "all hell would break loose" if the government tries to introduce the referendum with "well-organised" protest action: "That protest will be significant... there will be days of national Maori action and they'll close down Whangarei, Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington." He described the referendum as a 'clarion call' for protest action around the country: "Even conservative Maori who voted for National would come out with us." The  rhetoric from the Labour Party was even more menacing, with former Minister Willie Jackson making inflammatory threats that Maori would 'go to war' over the referendum: "If there's a referendum I'll stay around for as long as it takes to fight that, and to stop that. I'm amongst people who will go to war for this, war against Seymour and his mates". And on TVNZ's Q&A, he warned, "Let me tell you now, if they try and push that through it'll be 81 Springbok Tour, civil unrest times five, times ten." Prior to being repealed in 2007 by the then Labour Government, such comments would likely have qualified as sedition under Section 81 of the Crimes Act 1961: "A seditious intention is an intention to bring into hatred or contempt, or to excite disaffection against, the Government of New Zealand; or to incite, procure, or encourage violence, lawlessness, or disorder; or to incite, procure, or encourage the commission of any offence that is prejudicial to the public safety or to the maintenance of public order; or or to excite such hostility or ill will between different classes of persons as may endanger the public safety." Isn't all of this exactly what Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party are doing? So, what is it that's giving rise to such orchestrated fearmongering? The ACT Party has proposed a referendum to clarify the meaning of the "principles" of the Treaty of Waitangi. Even though the Treaty of Waitangi doesn't actually have any principles, dozens have been invented by the judiciary, the Waitangi Tribunal, academia, and the civil service to embed a wide variety of race-based privileges into our legislative and regulatory framework. This week's NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Michael Bassett, former Labour Government Minister outlines the process: "Over the last twenty years the tribal elites began inventing arguments that under the Treaty of Waitangi Maori were entitled to more and more from the taxpayer. A growth industry in Treaty fiction emerged. Before long, a 1987 Court declaration that the Treaty of Waitangi was 'something akin to a partnership' between Maori and the Crown developed into a call for a 50-50 split in governance over all resources, despite Maori numbering barely 17% of the population. "The Ardern-Hipkins government with its big numbers of Maori in the Labour caucus bought into the tribal elites' argument that special assistance, to be enjoyed by no other ethnicity, should be delivered to Maori." We all know what happened next - using the invented 'partnership' principle as justification, Labour's secretive He Puapua plan for tribal control was steamrolled across the country.  If the Treaty principles currently in place were replaced with ones based on equal rights and the Rule of Law, Maori privilege, and the various income streams that flow from it, would be threatened. That's why opposition party rhetoric is so explosive - they want to prevent the new government from taking away the lucrative arrangements that have been put in place. ACT's proposed referendum would define three principles - based on the original three articles of the Treaty - in a Treaty Principles Act, with the public then asked to support or oppose the law change. The first principles would be along the lines of, "The New Zealand Government has the right to govern New Zealand". The second, "The New Zealand Government will protect all New Zealanders' authority over their land and other property". And the third, "All New Zealanders are equal under the law, with the same rights and duties". The original three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi are eloquently described by Sir Apirana Ngata in his 1922 explanation of the Maori version of the Treaty - copies available from the NZCPR HERE. So, the battle to regain democratic control of our country has now begun. Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party are determined to prevent the new National-led government from even considering a referendum since it would not only jeopardise the privileges secured for the tribal elite, but it would also undermine their own power-base, which depends on the continued categorisation of Maori as victims of a tyrannical majority. Fortunately, most Maori do not buy into the agenda of these radical separatists. Most Maori have the same aspirations as everyone else. They want to build a better life and a brighter future for themselves and their families. And its long past time that we stopped isolating them through separate race-based laws and practices and began treating them as the equals they are. That was a recommendation made back in 1960 when Sir Jack Hunn, the Deputy Chaiman of the Public Service, published his landmark report into Maori Affairs which recommended the phasing out of separate statutes for Maori: "Differentiation between Maoris and Europeans in statute law should be reviewed at intervals and gradually eliminated". The report also noted that Maori disadvantage was socio-economic, not race-based: "Such discrimination as may exist is obviously not racial but social and applies between different groups of society, whether Maori or European". Equality was also the recommendation made by the 1986 Royal Commission into the electoral system, which suggested that if MMP was introduced, there should be a common electoral roll and no race-based differentiation. They argued that Maori would receive more effective government if they were part of the mainstream of society. They also warned the Maori seats would create a disproportionate over-representation of Maori in Parliament if they were not removed, and they were clearly worried about the consequences: "Nor do we think it appropriate that any minority group should have the power of veto in the legislation of a democratic nation." They would no doubt have been horrified to witness the introduction of a new Apartheid-style health system that prioritises patients on the basis of race instead of clinical need, which is clearly the result of a minority group holding disproportionate power and a right of veto. Given successive governments have lacked the courage to do what's right for the country and remove the Maori seats, has MMP delivered the over-representation of Maori in this 10th Parliament that the Royal Commission warned about? The unequivocal answer is "yes". David Farrar of Curia Market Research has done the analysis. Of the 122 MPs elected to Parliament, 33 are Maori. While Maori make up only 13.7 percent of the adult population, their representation in Parliament is almost double at 27 percent (more than half-way towards their 50:50 He Puapua goal). With non-Maori significantly underrepresented in Parliament, it is now time our electoral law was reformed to rectify this imbalance. If the Maori seats were removed, Maori would still make up more than 20 percent of Parliament, so claims there would be an underrepresentation if the reserved seats were abolished are unwarranted. Furthermore, while 18 of the Maori MPs are list Members, the fact that 8 won general seats while 7 won Maori seats invalidates claims that the 'system' is hostile to Maori.   Of the six parties in Parliament, five have a greater proportion of Maori MPs than the adult population. Labour has nine Maori MPs out of 34 (26 percent), with seven from the list, one from a general seat, and one from a Maori seat. The Greens have six Maori MPs out of 15 (40 percent), with five from the list, and one from a general seat. And the Maori Party has six Maori MPs out of six (100 percent), with all six from Maori seats. National has five Maori MPs out of 48 (10 percent), with all five from general seats. New Zealand First has four Maori MPs out of eight (50 percent), all list MPs. And ACT has three Maori MPs out of 11 (27 percent) with two from the list, and one from a general seat. Opposition parties aren't just threatening to incite violence over the referendum either, but over any law change that would undermine the iwi power base.  The co-leader of the Maori Party Debbie Ngarewa-Packer claimed there would an "uprising of the hikoi of all hikois", if National attempts to fix their Marine and Coastal Area Act, even though it has now been re-engineered by the Court of Appeal to ensure that virtually the entire coastline and Territorial Sea end up under tribal control. Given the law will now deliver the exact opposite of what Parliament intended when it was passed in 2011, the new government must, as a matter of urgency, restore a law that upholds the public interest and the birthright of every New Zealander to enjoy free and unfettered access to our coast. In reality, the threats of violence and civil unrest that are being issued by MPs are a last-ditch attempt to protect the separatist power-base that's been established over the last six years within the public service and the private sector. They are desperate to prevent the new government from exercising the mandate they have been given by voters to restore democracy and remove all traces of tribal rule and He Puapua from our statutes. Attempting to intimidate and bully the new Prime Minister – and the public - into submission is their strategy. Let's hope democracy and our right to live in a country where the big issues can be tackled through the ballot box prevails. THIS WEEK'S POLL ASKS:  * As a matter of principle, should the new Prime Minister stand up to bullies threatening social unrest in order to govern in the interests of all New Zealanders, or back down to keep the peace? *All poll comments will be posted on our NZCPR.com website during the week. *In last week's poll 100% of NZCPR readers believe Labour's woke agenda has damaged our country. *Feedback can be viewed on the NZCPR.com website.
NZCPR GUEST COMMENTARY: THE 2023 ELECTION IN RETROSPECT By Dr Michael Bassett "Between 2017 and 2023 Labour's caucus failed to realise that privileges for Maori were seen by the newer immigrants to New Zealand as penalising them. The same for fourth and fifth generation Pakeha. "As more and more of the tribal elites strutted around with tattoos and moko, demanding additional Treaty 'entitlements', and Labour tried to find ways to satisfy them, first the Chinese, then the others, and finally the Indians, all of whom who had come to New Zealand to work, and to get ahead, joined other Kiwis resenting this racially-charged largesse to the many who were work shy. "When Kelvin Davis set about emptying large numbers (disproportionately Maori) out of prisons, and Chris Hipkins presided over an educational system where on any school day six out of ten Maori kids were truanting, an underclass of out-of-control Maori youngsters joined gangs, converted cars, and ram-raided shops, many owned by Indians. "It's all been out there for everyone to see. Not surprisingly, the new immigrants who dominate in many of Auckland's formerly hard-core Labour seats turned against Labour. The only people who couldn't work this out were Labour's MPs! When will some kind of awakening take place? Until it does, Labour is doomed to remain in opposition..."  *To read the full article please visit the NZCPR.com website:
WHAT'S NEW ON OUR BREAKING VIEWS BLOG… Breaking Views is administered by the NZCPR - the views are those of the authors. Here's a small selection of the dozens of the latest articles published on the blog… Peter Williams: The Return of the Rant What Willie Jackson, Marama Davidson, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer et al have been spouting about civil unrest, mass demonstrations and even "going to war" is at best irresponsible and at worst, dismissive of the concept of democracy… Helen Mandeno: Current Concerns down on the Farm My family has a problem. We have sheep and cattle on our farm that emit methane. We are told regularly we will have to cut our emissions. If we don't, the bill will be bigger than we can afford… Mike Butler: A vote on the treaty? Would a referendum on the treaty of Waitangi be corrosive and unfair? Anthropologist Dame Anne Salmond dashed off a column to explain why she felt giving everyone the opportunity to vote on the issue was mean and unfair… Graham Adams: Wakey, wakey, mainstream media! Newsroom's political editor seemed surprised to discover that co-governance and its various policy manifestations aren't popular. On X she wrote: " more people surveyed opposed Māori wards, co-governance than supported them"… Karl du Fresne: The Christchurch mosques inquest: what we know so far The inquest into the Christchurch mosque massacres has unexpectedly become a source of national shame and embarrassment. New Zealand has no reason to feel guilty about the atrocity itself, but the failings of the first responders have come as a shock… Caleb Anderson: Simply Unfit for Office We should be concerned about the increasing propensity of political figures to make public comments intended to incite a reaction. The media have published laments of Green and Maori politicians at the number of "white" faces in our parliament… Chris Trotter: Threatening "Consequences" "CONSEQUENCES" – it's a word that acquires an ominous quality in the mouths of political radicals... as Te Pāti Māori's Debbie Ngarewa Packer expressed it, when asked about referendum on Te Tiriti: "We have always said there will be consequences"… Derek Mackie: The NZ Far Left Grows Two parties in Parliament meet the definition of neo-Marxist Hard-Left. I'm not talking Labour - they just don't possess the complete set of unhinged, off the planet, obnoxious, morally corrupt and frankly, moronic policies embodied by my nominations… Ross Meurant: Evolution of MMP Evolution of MMP confirms that separate List & Constituency parties is henceforth the key to power in parliament. General Election 2020 saw plus 400,000 Blue voters abandon the National party… Barrie Davis: Stuff, the Media Council and the HRC In the lead-up to the election, Stuff went quiet on the issue of Maori co-governance but after voting closed 14 October Stuff published a number of articles against the incoming government's co-governance pre-election statements…  Ian Bradford - The Wind Farm situation: It's not getting any better Does the Green Party care about the health of people? Do they care about landfills full of toxic blades? Do they care about destruction of the countryside and the displacement of animals from the sites… Clive Bibby: Fighting for our survival as a free society It must be obvious to anybody watching the Middle East conflict and the reaction to it from nations throughout the world that this war is not just about whether a peaceful solution can be found… Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 6/11/23 While Māori account for 26 per cent of our MPs, but only 13.7 per cent of the voting population, non-Māori have cause to complain that they are under-represented and to campaign for electoral reforms to rectify the imbalance… Mike Hosking: How democracy can thrive Willie Jackson, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer of Maori Party and Marama Davidson of the Greens are people to be feared. Not because they may hit the streets, but because they don't want the rest of us to have a say and they hope to scare us into submission… Matt Ridley: Why won't Greenpeace admit that offshore wind turbines may be killing whales? So far last year, 71 whales have washed up dead on the shores of New England and neighbouring states. The rate seems to have risen in recent years along with a growth in the number of offshore wind turbines…
SPREADING THE MESSAGE Register for our newsletters… Anyone who would like to receive our free NZCPR Weekly newsletter is more than welcome to register for the mailing list HERE. Please help us spread the message by sharing our newsletters… Please help us spread our message by sharing our newsletters as widely as possible. This can be done by forwarding the newsletter itself, or by copying content from the newsletter into your own email. To share individual articles on social media, please visit the website and click on the article in question – the Facebook and Twitter "share" buttons can be found on the top right, along with buttons to share by email, and "Print".   *Please note that if you have an "@xtra.co.nz" email address and the newsletter you are trying to forward is rejected "due to spam", please contact admin@nzcpr.com for other options. Have Your Say… Speaking out in a democracy is crucial – please find all MP email addresses, local body councillor email addresses, contact details for newspaper letters to the editor, links to our Breaking Views blog, NZCPR Facebook page, and NZCPR Twitter feed, along with other useful contacts on our Have Your Say page HERE. Ensuring you receive our newsletter… To ensure you receive our newsletters, please whitelist our newsletter mailing address - or add it to your 'safe senders' list: newsletter-bounces@nzcpr.com. If your newsletter fails to arrive, the articles can be viewed on the homepage of our NZCPR.com website.
New Zealand Centre for Political Research PO Box 984 WHANGAREI Ph: 09-434-3836, Mob: 021-800-111 muriel@nzcpr.com www.nzcpr.com *To unsubscribe from the NZCPR mailing list, send this email - don't forget to reply to the confirmation message.  *If you are having problems unsubscribing, please email admin@nzcpr.com with "REMOVE" in the subject line. Please note it's important that you contact us over unsubscribing problems because it's often caused by the fact that it was an older address that was registered, not your current one, and we will need to search for that.  *To change your address please email admin@nzcpr.com with "ADDRESS CHANGE" in the subject line – don't forget to advise the new address to be added and the old one to be removed. *PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL

 

The business of America and the West is WAR; the business of China is BUSINESS and the business of Russia is PEACE. A world-wide collective of USA driven Socialist madness.

Dear friends and family,

We hope all is well with you - wherever you are - and that life is treating you tolerably well. We came across the following quote from Mark Twain which we found thought provoking and apt in the present climate of people being frightened half to death by governments hell-bent on achieving absolute control. There are two main avenues that have been and are being used to achieve this control. The first of course was Covid and the various draconian methods used by governments to mandate their agendas - whether by lockdowns, and/or travel restrictions and the jabs themselves - in some cases compulsory upon threat of loss of jobs. The health effects of all this are becoming very apparent - just listen to Dr. John Campbell on Youtube for compelling evidence of the vaccine's less than beneficial consequences. That's a euphemism!!

The other main avenue is of course "CLIMATE CHANGE", which is also outright BS. So much false "science" being used in conjunction with the World Economic Forum to advance its evil agenda which in a nutshell is destruction of the way of life we have all been fortunate enough to enjoy for all of our lives so far. Compulsory taking of farmland (already underway in the Netherlands) and forced acquisition of all private property generally, mainly through economic means. Just consider compulsory insulation of homes in the UK - many of which cannot be insulated effectively because of their age, So these houses will be demolished. And if you don't get rid of your old gas boiler, you'll be fined 15,000 pounds (COP 74 million!) under the new Energy Act. This legislation is already in place - and received Royal Assent from the traitor king. And in case anyone thinks we are just talking through holes in our heads, think again and read the many authoritative books and articles on the subject. More on all that later............

Anyway, here is Mark Twain's famous quote - "IN THE BEGINNING OF A CHANGE THE PATRIOT IS A SCARCE MAN, AND BRAVE, AND HATED AND SCORNED. WHEN HIS CAUSE SUCCEEDS, THE TIMID JOIN HIM, FOR THEN IT COSTS NOTHING TO BE A PATRIOT". This is as apt today as it was when Twain wrote it - perhaps more so today, given the outrageous threats, blackmail and censorship commonly directed at those who speak out against these spurious narratives.

Before we get into all this meaty stuff, here is our personal news since we last communicated on December 13th. last year. That's a record - over 10 months ago. One reason for this uncharacteristic lack of communication is that we have become somewhat discouraged by what has seemed to us over some time to be a complete disinterest in what we are doing and our experiences. Except for a very few hardy souls who usually make some comment or other!! We certainly don't expect all our readers to hang on every word, but it would be nice occasionally to have some reply with others' news, or even a disagreement with our political views!!! However, the other overriding reason for the blogs has always been as a personal record for us as the old memory is not improving with age!! So, as time goes on, they will continue. The following will not be in any particular order - 

Between early June and the end of July this year we had Jean's old friend, Sara, who now lives in Murwillumbah, Australia staying with us. And Perry and family came and stayed just before Sara went back to Australia. They were here for a week.

We took Sara down to Medellin early on and Jean took her on the cable-car to Parque Arvi while Jim had a business meeting with Alianza Valores S.A. with whom we have some investments. We all stayed at the Refugio del Jaguar in Poblado which had a very quirky interior designed to give the impression of being lost in the Amazon jungle. No snakes or Piranhas though - thank God. We had left the car with our mechanic - Alejandro of Greiautos - and after 2 days we collected the car and returned to Retiro. Sara stayed on for a few more days and explored Medellin on her own.

As a result of talking to the owner of Refugio del Jaguar, Sara decided to spend some time at a jungle resort not too far from Medellin just off the Medellin-Bogota road. She was very enthusiastic about the experience at a remote resort. It had a river running through it and lots of hiking.

We have to say that Medellin for us does not have the same cachet as before. The leftist mayor that was has let a once beautiful city to go to wrack and ruin with rubbish everywhere and cleanliness generally neglected. There is still some artistic graffiti, but also some of the other sort as well. So sad. We well remember on our first visit to Medellin back in 2016 we loved the place - so leafy and clean. And we even saw someone cleaning the outside of a stainless-steel bus stop! Couldn't believe our eyes, but we don't think that happens any more. But the example of leftist city administrations destroying their cities everywhere is well-known - just look at New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and many others. 

However, there have now been local body elections on the 29th of October, and there has been a definite change for the better in Medellin. It certainly seemed likely because Medellin (and Antioquia Province of which Medellin is the capital) is overall right wing, and everyone we talked to had no time for the incumbent. In the meantime a few weeks ago the leftist mayor suddenly resigned for reasons not clear - much like Jacinda Ardern in NZ after coming very close to completely destroying NZ's economy and democratic freedoms.

The local body elections here have now been held and it looks like a clean sweep to the right for Governors, Mayors and Councillors right across Colombia. This is a great slap in the face for the leftist president, which will definitely cramp his style. He has 3 years of his term to go, but fortunately will be something of a lame duck President. The right candidate for El Retiro, which extensively encompasses much of the rural communities around here as well, has also been elected. It's difficult for us to talk in detail about local politics, except in broad terms, because all the news is in Spanish and we just know what we glean from locals from time to time, but it's all very much more encouraging than previously when President Petro was elected last year.

Jean and Sara went to Santa Marta and Cartagena together. SM is about an hour's flight from Medellin. Totally different there on the Caribbean coast from being at 7,000 feet altitude in El Retiro!. MUCH HOTTER!!! Santa Marta is the oldest surviving European city in S. America and was founded in 1525 - nearly 500 years ago. They stayed in a hotel near the marina on the waterfront. Lots of history there. Santa Marta is where Simon Bolivar, the liberator from Spain of Gran Colombia which encompassed present-day Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, died in 1830 at the age of 47. He is buried in Caracas. On an earlier visit we saw the bed that he died in!! He is still very much revered in Colombia as he was mainly responsible for finally kicking the Spanish out of S America after all the depredations that they caused. Many statues of him on horseback and many notable landmarks named after him in various cities.. Even a whole country - Bolivia!!

Santa Marta is also a port city, like Cartagena and the city in between - Baranquilla - reputedly owned 100% by the mafia who control Colombia's northern coast. Jean and Sara travelled by bus from SM to Cartagena and stayed in a hotel in the Old Town where we had spent a night back in November 2021 before the vagabonds from Miami arrived! Again very historic with the fort being the main attraction. This fort was subjected to many attempted attacks, but always repelled them. However, later in the many tumultuous battles between the English and Spanish, the English finally dealt Spain a serious blow when the Royal Navy sank a Spanish galleon loaded with gold, silver and emeralds which had just sailed from Cartagena bound for Spain. The proceeds of this booty were to be used to fund King Philip's wars in Europe, and of course the loss was a serious blow to Spain. The wreck has only recently been located in very deep water and there is an on-going argument between Colombia and Spain as regards ownership. Not sure of the latest development in that saga! 

Anyway, Sara enjoyed her sojourn in Colombia and is keen to return for some more exploring. She walked every day around El Retiro soaking up the genuine Colombiana of this delightful town. People often ride horses around the town and one needs to be aware of horse deposits on the roadways. It washes away in the rain eventually! 

Travelling to any of the other towns and municipalities involves driving through countryside which reminds us so much of rural NZ. The roads are good, but in places somewhat windy and it is not possible to safely get much above 70 kms per hour, but everything is quite close so that is not an issue. Of course everyone drives (mostly!) on the right, but we are well used to that now. We have also become quite expert at catching local buses - particularly going to Medellin if we don't need to take the car. The trip down to the city is about 45 minutes and then it is a matter of using one of hundreds of local taxis which are still relatively cheap. Average cost of travelling around the city is 10-15,000 Pesos (NZD 4 - 6).

We never tire of the El Retiro old town and also of outlying areas such as La Ceja, La Union, where there is a cheese factory and an associated restaurant where we took Sara for lunch one day, and El Carmen de Viboral where exquisite hand painted crockery and dinner sets are manufactured. In addition other towns and areas are La Fe, Fizebad, Llanogrande and Rio Negro. The latter is a small city where anything can be found if it cannot be found locally. RN is only 30 kms from El Retiro. Food shopping in El Retiro is reasonably catered for with 3 moderate sized supermarkets, but if it is necessary for more extensive food shopping, then Llanogrande has 2 larger supermarkets and RN more than that. In between there are specialist shops - many butchers and a specialist fish shop, although being so far from the coast here, everything is frozen. Not what we were used to back in the Bay of Islands - in another life!  

Perry, Tracie, Carter and Nash arrived for a week at the end of July and it was good for Perry and Sara to meet again because it had been many years since they had last seen each other. Roughly about 40 years!

We have just recently joined a local country club - Hacienda Fizebad - which is about 10 kms from Retiro. Mainly for the reason that they have a heated pool, a necessary feature at this altitude of 7,000 feet! The old estate house, which is now used as an office, was built in 1825. Apart from the pool, they have 3 restaurants, tennis courts, a chapel mainly used for country weddings, accommodation for conference attendees and other guests, a conference centre and very extensive stables, as well as a 9-hole "chipping" golf course. Beautiful horses and lovely old stone stables. We organised some horse riding lessons for the nietos (Carter and Nash) and in all they had 3 lessons on separate days. All very well done and attention to detail impressive. They took careful note of the ages of the nietos and provided suitable horses accordingly.

The Club is also very family orientated with many children-related functions when schools are in recess.

We also went to a miniature motorbike circuit in Llanogrande where the nietos chased each other around the track. Then we went into the mall to a 10 pin bowling alley - way cheaper than in Miami apparently. We all enjoyed the bowling and, as yours truly had NEVER bowled in his life, he managed a creditable score.  

The saga with our old German chariot continues - nothing serious, but a series of frustrating outcomes as the typical Colombian attitude is - "if it still works why fix it"? No idea of preventative maintenance. Unfortunately we had a parting of the ways from our earlier workshop as we met the scion of a very well-known local Medellin family who are involved in many commercial enterprises, at a lunch and classic car meet at Hacienda Fizebad. He directed us to another workshop who he said would be better at diagnosing issues with non computerised cars - and Mercedes especially. We met Juan through Andy, our fellow New Zealander and renowned orchid breeder friend, who we had invited to the function with us and he effected the introduction. Andy had had an E-type In the US many years ago. He'd also had a 1930's Chevrolet back in Hastings in NZ in his younger days, so no stranger to classic cars.

There were some great cars there - a trio of Model A Fords which appealed to Jean as her father had had one in Wellsford many years ago (he also had a Humber Super Snipe), a 1960's Chevrolet Corvette which was gorgeous in red, another Chevrolet - 1957 Bel Air convertible - gorgeous also. There was a 1960 Buick Invicta and a couple of Mercedes among many others. And a Pontiac GTO as well as 2 Ford Mustangs from the 60's, and a number of others.  A great day out. The Club has many weekend functions - all sorts of concerts among many other things. The GM cars of that era bring back memories for Jim with the Canadian built Pontiacs and Chevrolets that we had in NZ from the mid fifties to the late 60's. And earlier than that the Armstrong Siddeleys for which we had the NZ agency until they stopped making them in 1959 with the Star Sapphire.  

Anyway, back to the 124 - we have been going to the new workshop now for a bit over a month and the first thing we discovered was that the main cooling fan had been installed back to front which of course meant that the air was being blown out in front of the car instead of back over the engine. No wonder we had cooling issues. The electric fans had been working overtime to keep the old girl cool, and largely succeeding. We also changed the timing chain - our guru in the US said that these M104 engines never had timing chain issues, but yours truly was very mindful of the experience with the 420 V8 back in NZ when a chain guide broke on start up and caused the bending of some valve stems in one cylinder bank. And our new mechanic said that at 105,000 miles we should definitely change it. We had already bought the parts from the US some time ago, so we had it changed - good for peace of mind. There have been some other issues as well - alternator which had been supposed to have been rebuilt at the previous workshop, but which packed up again resulting in a third trip on the back of a tow wagon down to Medellin. However, the car is now back again (we picked her up the other day) and it's never been better, so it seems that we are after almost 2 years finally getting on top of historical 30 year old issues! And 2 new Michelin tyres on the front; the old girl won't know herself!

We have also by default discovered that the model is an E320 (straight six), rather than the 300E which is on the original documents. We think that the capacity was entered on the documents when it was imported from the US to save tax based on engine capacity. Another example of Colombian corruption!  Although apparently in 1993, 320's sold in the US were badged and documented as 300's. And also confusingly, our car had been delivered without any badging on the boot lid, and they could be specified in that manner if ordering a new car. This was all discovered through a careful check of the VIN number. But fascinating to find all this stuff out. 

One more comment on the Colombian cost of living. Our living costs have risen during 2023 mainly due to local inflation which has been as high as 10%, but also the decline of the NZD and USD against the Colombian Peso (COP). Since the beginning of the year, the NZD is down 23% against the COP and the USD down 20%.    

WE are also in the process of joining an informal Spanish-English-Spanish language group. Mostly made up of locals wanting to either learn or brush up their English (and we can help with that), but also there should be a spin off for us to learn more Spanish.

One more item of personal news - arguably the most important. We have in the last month or so, commenced our applications for Permanent Residency of Colombia. Our lawyer friend, Astrid Melendez, is assisting us in this process which will take us to the next level before citizenship. These things are usually fairly long-winded, but we have the time as our present visas don't expire until early June next year. So far we have been here on 3 year migrant visas - 2 so far. 

And now to the inevitable geopolitical comments, which we cannot ignore, particularly as the world is in such turmoil. We'll try and keep them as brief as possible - 

** Ukraine - we have already commented extensively on this subject. Suffice it to say that if anyone had taken the trouble to research recent history, particularly from the 2015 Minsk Accords onwards, they would conclude that Russia was entirely justified in invading Ukraine in early 2022. The Minsk Accords, which provided for Ukrainian neutrality as a buffer state between the Russian Federation and the US and its NATO allies, were cynically and deliberately broken by the US and its NATO allies in its continued efforts to promote war with Russia over Ukraine. These people are MAD - don't they understand what nuclear warfare means? This of course is to benefit the military/industrial complex in the US. Congress authorises the taxpayer funds which then enable the production of the lethal weapons, and they get sent to Ukraine from where there is a clandestine export trade to anyone who wants them and can pay exorbitantly for them. Many US weapons originally sent to Ukraine have now been found in Lebanon and Gaza in the hands of Iran-backed anti Israel terrorists. How ironic is that!! And never mind the 88 billion USD worth left in Afghanistan when the crooked Biden cabal withdrew. In addition, Congress authorises cash payments to Ukraine from where most is pocketed in back-handers to senior Ukrainian politicians. How else does Vladimir Zelensky come to own a very expensive estate in Florida? And of course the Bidens, whose corruption is being continually exposed by the Republican House on a daily basis. Impeachment soon, we earnestly hope. The guy is a traitor.

Russia can no more tolerate missiles installed in Ukraine aimed at Russia than the US could tolerate Russian (USSR) missiles in Cuba in 1961 and aimed at the US mainland. Or the possibility of Chinese missiles in Mexico aimed in the same direction. So Russia had to deal with the problem. Russia has now effectively and deservedly invaded Ukraine and won the war against the NATO-backed Ukraine with commendable restraint. 

But Ukrainian casualties amount to in excess of 500,000 DEAD and at least 50,000 wounded - mostly AMPUTEES. This horrific consequence can be laid directly at the doors of Zelensky and Biden & Co. They have cynically continued to hurl ineffective "counter-offensives" at the Russians in order to justify more weapons' shipments from the US, thus further lining their own pockets and increasing the Ukrainian casualty count. The Ukrainian secret police have been press-ganging anyone remotely capable of holding a rifle and sending them into the meat-grinder against the Russian defensive positions which have no hope of being breached. The leadership of the US, NATO and Ukraine are thus continuing to commit war crimes on a massive scale. They might be diminishing now, but that's only because there are hardly any men, or women of military age left in Ukraine.  

Russia is now almost certain to keep all of what was eastern Ukraine and Crimea and Odessa on the Black Sea. All of these areas are traditionally Russian anyway. Ukraine has effectively been destroyed with horrific population loss due to massive refugee migration to neighbouring countries and of course the wartime losses as detailed.

We rely for our Ukrainian news on the decorated U.S. Col. Douglas Macgregor who often has a Youtube slot with Judge Andrew Napolitano. 

** The US/Mexico border - the Biden Administration has continually done their best to actively allow massive increases in illegal immigrants into the US heartland and no-one has any idea of where these people are now, or whether some of them may be potential terrorists. And of course Chinese Fentanyl continues to pour over the border into the US where it is causing at least 100,000 deaths per annum of mostly young Americans. Just lately some Border Patrol people were caught cutting razor wire on the border which the state of Texas had installed in an attempt to stem some of the immigration. This is criminal sabotage on the part of the Federal Government and, along with all the other administrative border crimes, will certainly result in prosecutions when the Republicans re-take the White House in early 2025. And Trump has said that he will immediately institute mass deportations of illegals back into Mexico. But it will take many years to undo the damage that Biden & Co. have caused. 

** And now we have the horrific murderous attack by the Palestinian Hamas from Gaza against the state of Israel on Oct. 7th.. Some 1,500 Israelis Including over 200 at a music festival were murdered in the most unimaginably awful fashion. In all the emotion it is difficult to talk about this but it does seem that babies were decapitated in front of their mothers before or after the mothers were raped.

We try and leave the emotion out of these comments, but it is difficult. Israel is thankfully ignoring the feeble and deranged pronouncements of Biden and have gone into Gaza and apparently have largely succeeded in destroying some 300 miles of Hamas tunnels under Gaza - and particularly under hospitals and schools - which is Hamas' cowardly MO. Israel's aim is the total destruction of Hamas, their infrastructure and their evil leadership - an aim in which we wholeheartedly concur. Otherwise the  75 year old state of Israel will be itself destroyed

There seems to be a great deal of historical ignorance of the Jewish entitlement to occupy what is now largely the state of Israel. One thing that needs to be understood is that the Judeo-Christian religion and history in the region goes back centuries before the time of Christ. On the other hand the rise of Islam did not occur until approximately 400 years after Christ (AD). And Muslims have ever since promulgated death and destruction against not only Jews, but also against Christians. They cannot be allowed to prevail in their evil agenda. Israel is one of the most capable military states in the world with a string of impressive victories behind them. They will prevail against Hamas, Hezbollah and the terrorist enablers - Iran. In spite of the Biden liars.

We can only hope that the war does not spill over into a wider regional conflict and, God forbid a World War from which there will be no survival for any of us.  Along with Ukraine, the Biden criminals have really steered the world close to the abyss. If President Trump had not experienced the blatant cheating which deprived him of a continuance of his first four years - NONE OF THE ABOVE WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.

** The UK deserves a mention with their mindless obsession with "net zero" Now they have the Energy Act which has just received Royal Assent from King Charlie Boy - that paragon founder of the World Economic Forum. This means that local authorities can break into peoples' homes and if they discover that the occupier is still using a perfectly good gas boiler, they can slap a 15,000 pound fine on the hapless occupants. Along with 15 minute cities, the UK is sliding into the ignorant pursuit of "CLIMATE CHANGE" - and to hell with the consequences. And Hell is where the UK is heading, along with the pursuit of fraudulent "climate" money!! Watch Richard Vobes and/or Nigel Farage for verification of the above.

** And now political events in NZ. We were very encouraged to view the final election result - after the specials had been counted. The fact that National and ACT are now totally dependent on NZ First to govern at all, raises a great cheer in our hearts and minds. In particular, we hope that NZF will succeed in demanding a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the Covid "pandemic" and the way in which that was dealt with in such a draconian manner. We don't trust National - and Luxon - any further than we could kick them. Mainly because Luxon has been in bed with the WEF from way back and needs some strong restraint and oversight. The immediate concern is that no later than Dec.1st., the draft WHO agreement whereby the WHO would totally take over NZ's health system in the event of another "pandemic" - which is already in the planning stage - would take effect. This is another avenue the World Economic Forum (WEF) can use to control the NZ population. NZ First will almost certainly oppose ratifying that obnoxious agreement, but we wouldn't put it past Luxon to request sufficient votes from Labour (with whom they have not coalesced - YET!) to pass the necessary legislation. It's even possible that National and Labour will formally coalesce together, in the event that NZ First might not accept their possibly half-baked coalition agreement. This would give National/Labour over 80 seats in the Parliament - don't worry NZ - this was suggested long before the election. It would be a powerful argument against Winston getting too uppity - the election, and its consequences, is a long way from being over yet. NZ could finish up with a National/Labour coalition well and truly aligned with the WEF. Unlikely, but a possibility and horrific to contemplate.

In summary, the world is a chaotic place and has never been more dangerous since the 2nd World War - especially since a number of countries now possess nuclear weapons. And all thanks to those ideological traitorous clowns in the White House. If we all survive, their comeuppance will be swift and severe.

On that sober note we must leave you. We would very much appreciate hearing from you with your news and even severely opposing comments relating to our steadfastly held views!! The essence of democracy is the free and frank exchange of views as long as they are expressed respectfully.

With lots of  love from us in El Retiro, Antioquia, Colombia,

Jim and Jean  

  

 8