Cali Reports

I am an American living in Europe for almost 30 years. I left because of my European marriage.

I have seen the dollar fall during Reagan's and Bush's years, increase during the Clinton years because of economic advancement and ellimination of the national debt.

GW Bush and the previous treasury secretary, John Snow are TOTALLY RESPONSIBLE for the weak dollar. They believed American industry could through exports of US goods abroad improve the US economy out of a major unemployment problem by deliberately allowing the dollar to fall, thus industry would hire through improved sales.

Well, it has backfired. WHY? The dollar is now over 30% weaker since its high about 3-4 years ago. Yet, most US products still cost the same as it did earlier. The importers are maintaining the high prices without reducing them in injunction with the falling dollar. Someone is reaping windfall profits. I can name many US products still costing the same price. Europeans are not buying.

The dollar is weak and will weaken until Bush raises taxes or reduces the deficit substantially. The deficit will increase because of an uncontrolable war and not finding the terrorists. Congress and the President MUST RAISE TAXES in 2005 or the dollar is going lower. Only an incompetent leader gives tax cuts in times of war or military conflicts. If FDR did, we'd all be speaking Deutsch today.

It will take 6-8 years from now to rectify "GW's" (Wrong) disasterous domestic policies.

Even a slight increase in interest rates has shown to be a negative effect on the currency. The dollar should have increased.

Yes, a majority of Americans are worried both at home and abroad but what does it help when a small majority of the population chooses a man because he is likeable, family oriented and church going. The president has to show results of his policies both domestic and intern'l. There are no long term results.

Now lets get back to the theme of this board.

Freeze, I don't know if you are aware, but the nation was split 50-50 down the middle, with few people having lukewarm feelings about the prez. Many people were passionate in their dislike of this president and his policies, myself being one of them.

So when you refer to 'you Americans' and when you write it is YOUR president, I wonder who do you mean by 'you'?

Surely one would not expect global statements from such a discriminate thinker such as yourself?

It's a little irritating to have members from other countries 'tut-tutting' about the poor Americans. I think there were plenty of us that understood the issues pretty well, but thanks for the feedback! I will be lecturing here on French and German foreign policy next week.

I can't imagine how we re-elected this guy either. It's seductive to think of Bushies as unenlightened sheep but I think that's lazy thinking. These people who 'voted Red' are a huge swath of this country and not just fringe loonies. They had their reasons voting for this dude and not addressing it may bring us more of the same *shudder*.

I think that there's something worthwhile, because the left were more vocal (Moore, MoveOn.org, etc) in this election than in the past and the voting went worse for the Dems.

Personally I agree we are in financial trouble. With the huge cost of war, raiding of Social Security as well as privitization of the fund, the disasterous give-away to the pharmaceutical companies in the Medicare 'Reform' bill, etc etc. it is no wonder the dollar is slipping. It's the whole reason I voted Democrat this election.

Gotta hand it to Rove. That guy really is a master of the political game.

Not to turn this into a polical discussion, but since I was one of the people that voted in this freakin' election I figure I oughtta have a say.

all. my venture into the political arena on this forum is a lose-lose situation. nothing positive could have come from that. thanks for letting me vent a bit. i did not intend to harm anyone anywhere.

enough political talk. back to the ladies.

i moved my office recently in order to get a t1 line in cali. a buddy of mine from delaware has a porn shop here in cali (offering chat services from cali to people), and got a t1 line. he's a pretty nice guy. so i offered to fill the empty office in his building and use his high speed internet and he agreed. now, not only do i have a t1 line, but i also have a bunch of pretty looking women running around all day. all that for $120/month. ain't that a miserable life???

i'll take my afternoon wlak to go and see my med student now. i'm sorry that i don't have more specific to say on that board (addresses of new places for example), but i am staying into a fine-tunned routine that involves only few places and preferred service providers taht doesn't allow for much new over time. if you guys have any specific question, i'll be happy to even get out of my way to find an answer for you.

take care. peace and love.

freeze

No worries dude. I am heading out now for your neck of the woods. I'll be in Cartagena in 2 days.

Not sure if I'll make it to Cali. Getting a last minute ticket there is expensive even if you buy it over there.

Hey Antifreeze,

Go to Forum Logoff at the bottom of The Forum heading, you'll be taken to another screen and select Logout on the lower right of that message. When you bring up WGS again in the upper right of the screen where you log in again, uncheck remember me.

Cheers,

Rufus

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I went to see my med student in the afternoon. Good session of 1/2 hour. Then, back at work, a girl working in the building stopped by my office and asked howcome I didn't look at her more. After a 20 minute chat I told her that we'd be better to go and talk about that at the hotel. Another hour session there that was pretty good.

Back at home around 7PM, I did my 3 miles run with floor exercise, took a shower and started relaxing a bit. But then, my wife wanted some... Another 30 minute there.

I slept well yesterday. Viva Colombia. Do you now wonder why the name antifreeze? Who could freeze with a schedule like that?

Freeze

been to thailand 5 times, indonesia 5 times and the philippines almost 20 times but none have stolen my heart like colombia. for pure sexual debauchery, colombia is no match for los (land of smiles=thailand). pi is perhaps most similar in that there is more romancing and "love". thais are more detached yet the sex can be very hot (eyes rolled up in the back of the head etc). for watching sex, los is way ahead of the others (though only in pattaya and still nothing like 10 years ago when live sex shows were all over the place). thailand has a president who would be called a bible thumper if he was not buddhist. he really has been cracking down on sex, drugs and rock and roll. imagine an intelligent version of bush. kinda like uribe. yet many thais would ask me about bush with thinly disguised contempt. virtually the whole world dislikes him (and, by extension, us).

thailand is certainly much safer than colombia, but it is also overrun with sex tourists, backpackers and tourist couples (unlike colombia). if you like hanging out with drunken euros and americans, you'll love it. relatively speaking, even cartagena has very few foreigners.

i love colombia for the country, the people and the romanticism of the girls. i like thailand for the gogo bars, blowjob bars and easy availability of every type of sexual activity you could imagine. everybody who enjoys the hobby must try both (or they are a very incomplete hobbyiest).

peso under 2200, yen at 100, thai baht under 40, canadian dollar at 85 cents etc etc etc.. like aids, osama bin laden and every other evil, the right wingers will blame clinton but they cannot deny the chronological correlation between the decline of the dollar and the idiot moving in the white house (and the economic policies of the current us government.)

now as to "bj clinton"; i see you have a grand total of 5 posts, at least one of which is the typical verbal diarhea spilling forth from the mouths of the rightwingers. so why associate with us sinners here on wsg? go hang out with your own kind of people like jerry falwell, jimmy swaggert and the **** priests, ok?

plenty of americans (like 49.8%) agree with the rest of the world that dumbo is a disaster.

[quote=surfer]been to thailand 5 times, indonesia 5 times and the philippines almost 20 times but none have stolen my heart like colombia. for pure sexual debauchery, colombia is no match for los (land of smiles=thailand). pi is perhaps most similar in that there is more romancing and "love". thais are more detached yet the sex can be very hot (eyes rolled up in the back of the head etc). for watching sex, los is way ahead of the others (though only in pattaya and still nothing like 10 years ago when live sex shows were all over the place). thailand has a president who would be called a bible thumper if he was not buddhist. he really has been cracking down on sex, drugs and rock and roll. imagine an intelligent version of bush. kinda like uribe. yet many thais would ask me about bush with thinly disguised contempt. virtually the whole world dislikes him (and, by extension, us).

thailand is certainly much safer than colombia, but it is also overrun with sex tourists, backpackers and tourist couples (unlike colombia). if you like hanging out with drunken euros and americans, you'll love it. relatively speaking, even cartagena has very few foreigners.

i love colombia for the country, the people and the romanticism of the girls. i like thailand for the gogo bars, blowjob bars and easy availability of every type of sexual activity you could imagine. everybody who enjoys the hobby must try both (or they are a very incomplete hobbyiest).

peso under 2200, yen at 100, thai baht under 40, canadian dollar at 85 cents etc etc etc.. like aids, osama bin laden and every other evil, the right wingers will blame clinton but they cannot deny the chronological correlation between the decline of the dollar and the idiot moving in the white house (and the economic policies of the current us government.)

now as to "bj clinton"; i see you have a grand total of 5 posts, at least one of which is the typical verbal diarhea spilling forth from the mouths of the rightwingers. so why associate with us sinners here on wsg? go hang out with your own kind of people like jerry falwell, jimmy swaggert and the **** priests, ok?

plenty of americans (like 49.8%) agree with the rest of the world that dumbo is a disaster.[/quote]


so well said, surfer.

Aren't you the same petulent know-it-all that flamed Master Monger recently? Were you jealous of the way he clearly tore it up in Columbia or did his many awesome photos make you feel inadequate? What, you spotted your wife or sister in one of his photos? Why do you continually start fights?

Don't kid yourself, no one reads this thread to hear your political opinions and I for one am not impressed (or convinced) that the whole world hates Bush and by extension, US. So your guy lost---get over it. In fact, I got a feeling that losing is not all that unusual for you anyway.

You know, this constant Bush-bashing at every available opportunity, regardless of context is what got your side punked in the election in the first place.

But hey, what do I know? I've only got 5 posts!

Anyone have the address for JC Lubricantes?

Elver,

I live in Cartagena. It is more safe than many US cities the same size(about 1 million). I have been to Medellin. It is safe if you stay out of the poorer barrios and stay in the city. The trip from the airport is safe.

I have heard that Cali, Bogota, Barranquilla, and Bucaramanga are relatively safe. Travel between cities by air. I am sure that many smaller cities are safe. But, unless you know that for sure, stay away.

Next month I am taking a three-day bus trip from Medellin to Cali with overnights in two smaller cities. I am travelling with an older, educated chica who was born and raised in Medellin.

Also, land transport between Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta is generally safe.

Well this is not the place to discuss this crap but I would just like to explain where I stand.

I like providing definitions because it is difficult to refute them.

re·pub·lic n.
A political order whose head of state is not a monarch and in modern times is usually a president.
A nation that has such a political order.

A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.
A nation that has such a political order.


de·moc·ra·cy n. pl. de·moc·ra·cies
Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
A political or social unit that has such a government.
The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
Majority rule.
The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.


Ok, so, obviously Republicans are based off of a "Republic" standpoint and Democrats are based off of a "Democracy" standpoint.


Now before I say anything Else I would like to clarify that I really don't care who is President because I do not plan on living in the US for much longer. I am leaving for many reasons and some do include the political future of America which I feel may be a hopeless runaway train.


Back to the facts:

Republicans are usually, about 99%, very wealthy and powerful people in which about 50% have come from wealthy families. It is not a secret how Republicans feel about Rich and Powerful people and businesses. QUOTE: (George W. Bush at a fund raising dinner) "Quite an interesting group of people we have gathered here this evening, alot of have's and have mores, some people would call you my constituants, I like to call you my BASE. It is a FACT, Republicans focus on the views of the upper and the FOR THE TIME BEING upper middle class.

Democrats (the lesser of two evils IMHO) are also very wealthy people generally. One of the differences is they USUALLY made their money and are interested in politics for Fame, Power more money but sometimes maybe 20% of them actually want to help America as a whole with no reguard to furthering themselves in any way. Now democrats usaully look at society as a whole but because the Poor and Middle Class make up the majority of America it would seem that Democrats base off of them in there political views.


The problems and the conclusion:

Republicans want to enivitably control the people rather than the people control the government, because they are the rich and powerful and that has always been the way it is. Contrary to idiotic belief, Republicans, allow to be spent, and spend more money than Democrats, but shade it better especially with the words Defense, Infastructure, then as of recently Terrorism and Homeland security, and then to worsen the matter they cut taxes for the wealthy and BIG business. That is why we always have a deficit when a Republican is President...GO FIGURE.

Democrats on the other hand come up with programs that may, and I repeat "may" have been started to help the society as a whole but often have flaws that enable it to be taken advantage of, such as: Welfare. It is very easy, especially for narrow minded people, to jump on a band wagon of hate to hang the Liberal Democrats, when it is really the Republicans who spend the most money.

In political conclusion if you don't realize politicians are bad on a whole, then you come from the wrong position when addressing politics.

The best political setup for me is a house and senate slighty controlled by the Republicans with a Democrat President to veto all the bullshit spending and the tax cuts for the wealthy. My dream would be a organization that closely monitors government spending HONESTLY to seriously quell overspending and slush funds.

LEO ---- just go to Farahon on Ave 2 in the night, every taxi knows where it is, get out and stand in front and wait for the guys with the cards to come to you. They will give you all kinds of business cards for places in the area and the cards usually have special deals on them. Lubricantes JC is on Ave 2EN it is a little hard to find but there is a map on the back and it is right across from the train tracks. Good Luck!

Happy Mongering,

Master Monger

Great analysis master Monger.

Here's a quick question for you:

Where do you intend to live when you'll leave the US?

It's too bad the US is losing the best of its society, but it's great that the rest of the world will start enjoying the American crème de la crème.

Freeze

Can we can this political crap? I don't really care about the policitcal opinions of anyone on this board. If it doesn't relate to Colombia or Cali for this thread, keep it to yourself.