WTF

[cookshow]

I have some big, serious Sandanista friends. We had other things like rum we always shared, we tried not to talk politics much but I knew theirs, they knew mine. Is so scary to hear their view on this, just talking to 1 and her take on things made me puke a little in my mouth..

They got believers, and the hardcore are drinking the punch. Some of these people are incredibly smart, so I feel the populace may be buying this sack of stinking shit.

Is scary. Maybe can sell it here, but no outside investment will kill him eventually.


Not off the street people, these people got juice. I am constantly in awe of the spin, is working, doubt they convince me but few are trying, I keep asking why....

[Little Corn Tom]

I guess they feel that if they can convince you, they can convince themselves.

It is all about a belief in upward mobility and work ethic.

Believe in it and the USA is the place to be.

Don't believe in it and most anywhere is adequate.

[cookshow]

Afraid the masses are buying it.

[bill_bly_ca]

Moodys is planning to drop the (Double B-) rating in Nov - This would null loans and in 2019 and make 2020 loans nonexstant even if approved...

The better have the warm and fuzzy to null out the cold and lonely... Maybe they (FSLN types) woefully long for the destitute days of the late 80's all of this bothersome constitutional democracy stuff...

[Jonh]

It is said that 1% of the population are sociopaths. In a population of 5 million, that's 50,000 of them.

Jim Jones got 900 people to kill themselves in Guyana. This stuff happens all the time. We're blind to it because we want to believe people are good. They're not.

[Little Corn Tom]

I wonder what percentage of the population work for the government?

[cookshow]

I wonder what percentage of the population work for the government?

Last time I saw they % here was higher than in States, is a mystery to many how he keeps making payroll.

I figured he would run out of money long time ago, then you would see who the true believers are but somehow he keeps paying the people.

[Jonh]

I wonder what percentage of the population work for the government?

Are you sure you want to know? https://www.sott.net/article/243304-...-US-Governance

[bill_bly_ca]

I wonder what percentage of the population work for the government?

I had seen numbers in the high 20's % with just ENICAL, TELECOR, MINAB, MIT blah blah blah - Jumping to the high 30's% if you include ProNicaragua, Canal 2,4,8,13 et al, and all the other sundry DOS inc holdings..

[el duende grande]

I keep thinking of the quote attributed to trotsky in the Netflix movie -- "The 20 to 30 % who support us are the important ones, the rest can die or go abroad". And what happens when "abroad" doesn't want you?

As far as the sott post above, the phrase "draining the swamp" is more profound than ever. Just a few years ago, who would have thought the swamp had that many bad players? It reminds me of the "reengineering" project of the public utility I worked at before retiring. It was worse than the blind leading the blind, it was more like the evil posturing to be good while securing their bonuses and supersizing their pensions at the ratepayers expense.

Pikers like the Clintons and the Obamas (and ex senator Flake) must be so envious of the machine Ortega has build here.

[cookshow]

Pikers like the Clintons and the Obamas (and ex senator Flake) must be so envious of the machine Ortega has build here.

Yep.

I think lack of investment and loss of jobs will eventually finish him, but looks like he has staying power and enough believers to keep him in power.

[bill_bly_ca]

Using the historical president (85 to 90) there was 5yrs of misery and an few 10's of thousands of casualties in the country side

The difference in the equation today is the difference between the Soviet sugar daddy vs the current Cuban, Bolivar and Chinese sugar daddies...

Pre-requisite - A strong stomach.. Its going to be a wild ride indeed.

[el duende grande]

and the chicom sugar daddy does not forgive those who support Taiwan. Recently a few micro countries less important than Nic have dumped Taiwan and jumped on the Peking bandwagon. One only has to imagine the payola.
Peking wants results, not ideological warm fuzzies.

[Daddy-YO]

Moodys is planning to drop the (Double B-) rating in Nov - This would null loans in 2019 and make 2020 loans nonexistant even if approved...

Another sign of desperation: micro-loans have been used with much success in LAm. The wife tells me (from FB) that, now in Nicaragua, mom & pop pulperias and other small businesses in arrears on loans are being raided and their goods (& other assets) confiscated. The taxman cometh.

The Cordova remains pegged to the US dollar with a steady 5% annual depreciation.

China announced, like FB, that they'll offer crypto-currency. Global financial 'cold' war could soon be a very interesting reality. Exciting times, no?

[KeyWestPirate]

I have some big, serious Sandanista friends. We had other things like rum we always shared, we tried not to talk politics much but I knew theirs, they knew mine. Is so scary to hear their view on this, just talking to 1 and her take on things made me puke a little in my mouth..

They got believers, and the hardcore are drinking the punch. Some of these people are incredibly smart, so I feel the populace may be buying this sack of stinking shit.

Is scary. Maybe can sell it here, but no outside investment will kill him eventually.


Not off the street people, these people got juice. I am constantly in awe of the spin, is working, doubt they convince me but few are trying, I keep asking why....

It's a little like us,, I'm ashamed to say.
I believe that the situation will not affect me,, I'll always have dollars to buy Cordobas.
It things continue,, I may have to drive to Honduras to buy gas, but I like Honduras.

It's quiet in the northern mountains where I live, the campesinos are happy with the high commodity prices.
Do they worry about the mothers in Managua struggling to buy their over priced beans for their kids?
I think not.

So,, that's probably what the Sandi's think: I'll always have the cream, just like Somoza and his cronies did. The rest of the country can pound sand.
My observation that, with the decreased traffic, driving is so much easier, and also,, it's so much more pleasant shopping in PriceSmart because there are fewer people,, is part of this rationale.

I used to be a Kennedy democrat, I would have been embarrassed by these thoughts.
No longer.

[cookshow]

Differences in Somoza and Ortega are immense. Nicaragua used to import labor from Honduras and Costa Rica. He started the 3 strike rule against thieves, unfortunatefuly for them it did not mean 3 hots and a cot for life.

Yes Somoza, Like Ortega, and likely the next Leader, dictators.

Nicaragua was the Bread Basket of Central America, not eating Ramen Noodles 3 meals a day, which believe it or not is the staple of many households here.

Now Nicaragua sends their rice off to be "cleaned" only to buy it back at a premium.

Campesinos will be happy with the prices until they get a real good offer, and the price is their crops or their lives, then the sentiment may change a bit. Life in the campo has always been good, like here on Island, even in bad economy I can eat Lobster till I puke, but that is unsustainable.

[cookshow]

He will have to feed the hungry to stay in power and with no money to buy food, not a lot of other options than to take it as he pleases. The Job Losses only make a broke INSS more problematic, every day more people are retiring, and every day more people are being laid off, do not need to be an economist to find the issues with this, it was broke to begin with.

This deal is going to get ugly. He wrecked the Country's agriculture once already, why not again on the way out.

[Little Corn Tom]

Kevin (as usual) is absolutely correct.
Nicaragua (under Samoza) used to even make cars....I forget the name.....Pinolero!

https://www.google.com/search?q=pino...xQHpG-l9f1n6M:


Now they don't even make their own machetes.
The people on the Caribbean coast loved Samoza.
Commerce flourished. People had jobs.
Villages on the coast caught shrimp and traders came and bought. Not so any more. Still plenty of shrimp, but no infrastructure to deliver.
Ain't nothin wrong with a benevolent dictator.


Expulsis Piratis – Restituta Commercia (Pirates Expelled – Commerce Restored).

[cookshow]

You drive a car all your life, but only an automatic, you can't just jump in a standard and make it all work. You know how to drive, just not like that, is how I compare this, people know how to live but have only lived under Dictators, takes adjusting to learn new way to live.

No ones fault, is all they have ever known.

[cookshow]

Kevin (as usual) is absolutely correct.
Nicaragua (under Samoza) used to even make cars....I forget the name.....Pinolero!

https://www.google.com/search?q=pino...xQHpG-l9f1n6M:


Now they don't even make their own machetes.
The people on the Caribbean coast loved Samoza.
Commerce flourished. People had jobs.
Villages on the coast caught shrimp and traders came and bought. Not so any more. Still plenty of shrimp, but no infrastructure to deliver.
Ain't nothin wrong with a benevolent dictator.


Expulsis Piratis – Restituta Commercia (Pirates Expelled – Commerce Restored).

Set to start building Hatteras Yachts on Bluff, the building is still there.

[Jonh]

You drive a car all your life, but only an automatic, you can't just jump in a standard and make it all work. You know how to drive, just not like that, is how I compare this, people know how to live but have only lived under Dictators, takes adjusting to learn new way to live.

No ones fault, is all they have ever known.

Good analogy.

[el duende grande]

The natural form of government in Latin America is oligarchy. The only thing new under the sun is traditional Criollo oligarchies are being replaced by Marxist/nationalist/bandit ones. Onward to more victories.

Meanwhile, Singapore has bumped itself up to the best business country in the world, bypassing yesterday's winner, the US of A.

Look at poor Chile, killing people in the streets over a usd 0.04 rise in bus fare superimposed on an underlying complaint of "inequality". Didn't know Chileans were as dumb as ghetto blacks in the 60s. And if the richest country in S.America is destroying itself, what is the future for the little never-ran countries in the tropics?

[cookshow]

This Chile thing is confusing to me and to be honest I am ignorant on it but been reading what I can.

I may have the honor of having the craziest (kinda) Nica friend out of all TRN. She is Cuban, came here at 19 to fight, has gunshot wound through the chest to prove it, she is cool, and we mostly only argue. Few days ago she messaged me to say she may go to Chile, I say WTF, she said Kevin I am a revolutionary, and I guess she is. So I been reading a bit on it.

This woman is older than me so closer to 60 than 50, she is a hoot to talk to, she talks about Papa Fidel, and all sort of Commie shit. Really smart and funny, so when I throw in something about DOS & CO she has a fast answer.

I busted her balls the other day and she must still be swole. She is always talking capitolista this and that, other day she says she is going to get supplies by Pali. Ask her if she likes Pali, does she shop there often, on and on, then I drop a bomb on her commie head. Explain to her who owns Pali (Walmart), she went black for a few days trying to find a response, when I told her she was supporting the biggest capitolista in the World it turned her upside down.

[cookshow]

It's a little like us,, I'm ashamed to say.
I believe that the situation will not affect me,, I'll always have dollars to buy Cordobas.
It things continue,, I may have to drive to Honduras to buy gas, but I like Honduras.

Is Nieve to think this will not touch the campo, you better look at history and who suffered last time. Yes if you are a 1 day ride in you will probably be fine, if there is a road to your place, maybe not so fine. As money becomes a problem, food will become a problem, he can not stay in power with hungry people, he hass to feed his masses. Then there is thieving issue with no law to stand behind you, shooting and burying people gets old quick.

The Gringos In Granada and SJDS will still be saying all is normal, al the while you are tasting the tip of a machine gun, they got not shit anyone wants, property is not going to mean anything.

[Daddy-YO]

This Chile thing ... (my) Cuban (friend) messaged me to say she may go to Chile, I say WTF, she said Kevin I am a revolutionary, ....

As was mentioned http://www.therealnicaragua.com/Foru...971#post157971 it may be that the FSP is directing her & other sympathizers to go help stir things up for their cause.

Ditto with the hike in the gas price in Ecuador - dropping gas subsidies as a condition to landing a IMF loan - caused a political shite storm paralyzing the country. All too well politically coordinated not to have been organized.

And ditto for Nicaragua's own recent mini-revolution. The proposed changes in INSS as recommended by outside economists hurt older workers & retirees, not the young. But it was young students who paralyzed commerce and died on the barricades. Sympathy is an insufficient explanation. Hate for dictator Ortega seems insufficient too, IMO, tho it served parallel with the commies' desire to bring DOS back into line. Little Nicaragua was doing too damned well economically, thriving even, listening to the neocons. So they stirred the shite pot and blamed it on yanqui imperialist agitation. Now it's on the Venezuelan path to hell, albeit more & more strongly aligned with Cuba and their ilk.