PEOPLE CAN’T BE THAT DUMB CAN THEY?
January 31, 2014
I write this blog in the hope that there is intelligent life out there somewhere but every time Jeff goes on line and I see what constitutes news headlines I want to throw up. I don’t know the statistics on what is a neighborhood but I do know no one care what happens outside it unless it concerns an entertainment celeb or a sports one. Take Jeff’s wife for instance if he asks a question during the news about something in Bogota she’ll say she wasn’t paying attention but if it concerns Medellin no talking during the story. And it breaks down even further if it’s from an area not close to where we live. This is not just about Colombia in the US even though they have national news casts people aren’t that concerned with what happens in Utah if they live in New York. In New York City people don’t really worry about what’s going on I Buffalo unless it will interfere with vacation plans. The same philosophy applies to presidential elections. The US uses a system where the popular vote only means something in certain states because they all don’t have the same number of Electoral votes. So candidates don’t spend time or energy in small states. And then because people don’t think it matters they will elect a candidate based on his personality rather than his ability to lead. In other countries it’s about influence and money you promise poor people just about anything then do nothing and blame it on the opposition. Someday, not in my lifetime, maybe the human race will be able to find leadership that is hones and will improve the world but I Doubt it. This is Flounder (glad I’m a cat) saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia.
IGNORANCE
January 30, 2014
Ignorance is alive and well at the meeting of South American leaders in Venezuela this week. I find it amazing that the leaders with the most influence come from countries whose economy is weak. Santos of Colombia might think he hot shit but Maduro and others have more power. Why because they have more control of their countries. They all complain about American spying well let’s take a look at this. Did America spy on them probably have they used the same technology to spy on their own people? Oh yes and it goes back a long time there just jealous that they don’t have access to the technology the NSA does. In Colombia if it hadn’t been for the use of available phone taping knowledge Pablo Escobar would still be running his drug empire. Maduro isn’t the first Venezuelan to spy on his people Chavez was an expert at it. Richard Nixon in the US listen to everybody as did J Edgar Hoover the cross dressing head of the FBI. No, eavesdropping or spying on our neighbor is not new it’s been around as long as man has and will continue to be so. The objections come when one is dumb enough to get caught doing it. Some of the leaders of these countries actually believe the US is the only one spying on them. Hello you’re in Cuba aren’t you? Don’t you think old Fidel is listening to you have sex with you wife. Well maybe it is true what you don’t know can’t hurt you or ignorance is bliss whatever this is Flounder saying CIAO from Colombia
THE NEED TO THINK AHEAD.
January 24, 2014
OK for those that don’t know we live as residents in Medellin Colombia and the country issues to all foreign and its own citizens a Id card called a Cedula. It is essentially a national photo ID. You need it to use a credit card rent an apartment or just about any legal document you might sign. Well Jeff’s is set to expire in March as is his Visa and they will have to travel to Bogota to renew. Now Jeff wanted to go at the end of Dec or the Beginning of Jan. his wife says no we’ll go in February. Which of course is typical of Colombians they wait until the last possible moment to do anything they hate making plans for next week. Which brings me to the point of this post Colombians lack of a since of urgency or advance planning is what is holding this country back. They let a few wealthy individuals tell what they need and when they need it. The two more successful countries in South America Brazil and Argentina have that since of urgency about them and forward thinking. That doesn’t mean there isn’t still a ruling calls of people in those countries it just means that there thinking has allowed for more progress. Colombia is needs the anti drug money the US sends and is deeply concerned that if the peace process is successful the money will stop. All this brings us back to the point that the people aren’t planning ahead. The rich are only thinking about themselves and the poor are just getting along and are in no hurry to improve the life. Now I’m not saying that’s a really bad thing because progress is not always great. But without some forward thinking on the part of the poor this country will eventually become a fiefdom for a small percentage of rich people and then all hope could be lost. But as I say what the hell do I know I’m just a cat this is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia.
NEW YEAR SAME OLD BS
January 2, 2014
Just in time for the presidential elections Colombia is raising its minimum wage by 27,000 pesos or 13 to 14 dollars month. That brings the minimum wage to about 657,000 pesos a month or at the present rate of exchange 338 dollars US. Now besides sounding ridiculously low it’s not going to make things better and here why. Colombia like most countries that say they are Democratic are more capitalistic meaning that if you raise the wages of the employees in order for the company to maintain its profit level they will raise the price of their products whether they be manufactured or grown. This in turn raises the cost of living for everybody and by the end of the year the wage increase will have disappeared and you’ll have an increase in inflation which means possibly higher interest rates decrease in available consumer credit and tax increases. So after all is said and done minimum wage earners will be just as bad of if not worse than before. Which of course means the cycle will start again until the economy adjusts itself. That and greed and corruption are what happened to the American economy. Of course it’s a little more complicated that what I’ve stated but you can get the jest of it. Its times like these that I’m really glad I’m a cat this is Flounder saying CIAO from Colombia.
HERE WE GO
November 29, 2013
Ok today is Friday in the US it’s called black Friday because it’s the day stores try to get back in the black to end their year. In Colombia it’s just another Friday, but tomorrow Nov. 30 at Midnight or 1 second into Dec 1st the sky will light up with illegal fireworks as the holiday season officially arrives down here. Now you have until I think February 7th to celebrate and of course down here that means a party almost every night drunks everywhere and fireworks culminating with a Christmas Eve party that will in a lot of case run all night. Then you have New Years Eve another all-nighter followed the next day by what is called Pot Day where the cook outside over wood fire and proceed to drink some more. Things tend to quiet down a little after that and everybody goes back to normal. Now for those that don’t want to party there is always the River lights one of the best lighting displays in the world and you have the little historical villages with their own spectacular lights. I found it surprising that the churches, this being a Catholic country, don’t do more processions and such at this time but they make up for it at Easter. Well I need to get some rest because tomorrow night will very noisy and I doubt that any of us will get any sleep until maybe Sunday so this is Flounder saying CIAO from Colombia
THE HOLIDAYS BEGIN
November 25, 2013
I don’t know when today this will get to the net the internet down here is experiencing some problem or maybe it’s just me. Anyhow this Thursday is Thanksgiving in America a holiday which is not celebrated in Colombia since they didn’t kick the Indians out. Although they are still around the government has found other ways to screw them, just keep them poor. The politicians can’t trace the history back as far as the Indigenous people, as they are referred too, can sort of reminds of us doesn’t it. Most of them are farmers and if you’ve ever seen pictures of farming down here you won’t see all the expensive equipment you on a US farm. What you will see are hard working people you also won’t see the environment being used up by over cultivation of the land. The destruction of the land is handled by the oil and mining interests that are not from Colombia or are owned by the few rich people in the country. Getting back to Thanksgiving I’m really surprised that Colombians haven’t picked up on the idea in some way since they love any excuse to take a day off and party. I’ll be back later in the week to talk about this more for now this is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin.
AND NOTHING HAS IMPROVED
November 19, 2013
As you can see from the photo above we’re going to talk about the farmers of Colombia and what has happened since their protests in August. The answer to that is nothing. The Government has successfully ignored them and according to a professor in Bogota the country is headed for a social revolution. I hadn’t realized that one of the provisions of the trade agreement with the US was that the farmers had to use genetically altered seeds from Monsanto to plant their crops. Part of the protest was about this and the adverse effect it would have on environment of Colombia. This harkens back to a statement we made when the trade agreement went into effect and that was the US doesn’t make deals unless it can screw the little guy. As far as I can see there is no reason to use Monsanto’s seeds at this time other than to make money for them. Colombia has enough diseases to cope with without the increased risk of Cancer that comes from what is called GMAs by Monsanto. If the Government continues on this path it will accomplish what 50 years of fighting by the Farc and other rebel groups has not. And that is a complete social revolution that will remove the Elite of Colombia from power. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia.
DOESN’T LOOK GOOD FOR PEACE
November 14, 2013
Just read some articles about the Colombia rebels (FARC) wanting to kill ex President Uribe and the Attorney General. Now if the Farc really wants peace how is that there negotiators in Cuba have no clue about this? I always thought that the negotiators never represented the people living and fighting in the Jungle but instead were just looking out for themselves. There were a bunch of recent photos showing them parting on a yacht while the people they supposedly represent were living the jungle and attacking oil and power lines in the Colombian country side. If the story about the planned assassination is true then the peace talks should stop and International warrants should be issued for the arrest of members of the FARC and Colombia should step up military operations against them. Now you know I like to think outside the box so here we go. Suppose the Santos people released this story or maybe the Uribe people did to garner support in the coming election. If Santos is responsible it gives him an excuse to stop peace talks temporally to investigate the story. That way he doesn’t have to worry about the FARC propaganda machine trying to get more than he wants to give and possibly affect the outcome of the election. If Uribe did it, it helps him in his desire to see the Peace talks scrapped and the FARC destroyed militarily. But as everyone seems to think the plan is real then the talks are a joke because obviously where the FARC are concerned the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing. In this scenario the loser will be the people the winner will be the politicians. This Flounder saying CIAO from Colombia.
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