The Rise of Bitcoin

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

Though both the traditional stock market and Bitcoin are down these days many financiers and investors are of the opinion that some crypto currencies and in particular Bitcoin are the future. So-called hard money like the U.S. dollar has existed in digital form for some time and this is used to transfer upwards of $5 trillion dollars every day rather than transport actual Greenbacks. Even the U.S. Treasury has acknowledged that a significant percentage of dollars put to use are never actually printed. Though the government denies this is in fact digital money that is what it really is as it only exists in electronic form.

Almost everyone buys things or makes payments electronically on the Internet or by swiping a credit or debit card. Those under 40 today routine make day to day purchases from their cellphone using an App. The step to cutting out the dollar involved in such transactions and replacing it with a digital currency isn’t much and scarcely noticable.

Bitcoin, the granddaddy of all crypto coins, is a digital store of value and is emerging as the backbone of all cypto transactions. It will be ever more the case as country after country adopts or accepts the use of crypto in its economy. Individuals increasingly see the wisdom in untethering their finances from a national fiat currency that constantly devalues and is subject to government control. Many governments desire to be free of the U.S. dollar the Swift system for transactions with its expense and transparency to the U.S. government.

Crypto, especially Bitcoing, is the future, not so much to completely replace the dollar and other fiat currencies but provide a safe harbor for individuals and freedom from the U.S. government control of nations.

Read here the Rise of Bitcoin. Whether you plan to use crypto or not you should understand it.

One Doctor Saw This Coming

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

When the Covid pandemic first struck a very good friend retired here in Cuenca, Ecuador, told me his concerns and fears at what was about to happen. A former Naval Officer and medical doctor who specialized in holistic medicine before retiring to Ecuador, he published an article of concern and prediction in our leading expat website, Cuenca Highlife. He was vilified by many for what he wrote. It turns out that this article, published in May, 2020, was prophetic. Read it and remember this was in the early weeks of the pandemic.

My dear friend was in Mexico the following December, contracted Covid, was hospitalized in San Diego where his wife was refused permission to see him and died of pneumonia at age 90.

https://cuencahighlife.com/covid-19-questions-and-answers/

Cuenca, EC at Christmas

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

I’ve not written for some time. I can only blame laziness. But it has also been a very, very busy time. I have said from time to time that I never needed a social calendar until I retired. Just wait, you’ll see.

Christmas here in Cuenca, Ecuador comes at the peak of summer. A bit more sunshine, warmer days, so more outdoor activities. Many expats have trouble adjusting to the summer atmosphere but as I’m from Arizona I’m used to a sunny Christmas. The first week in November started the holiday season here with the huge celebration of Ecuadorian independence from the hated Spanish. It continues into December with various religious celebrations culminating in the Parade of the Children on Christmas Eve, one of the great events of South America. Some eight hours in duration with thousands of participants, costumes, dance, floats; first class and truly wonderful. The city fathers tried to cancel it again this year but under protest are allowing a severely restricted version. Hope it will be back in all its glory next year.

Then we have New Year’s Eve. Let’s be candid, Ecuadorians like to drink so put it together. The unique aspect is the burning of the Viejos. These are two-third human size dummies, many based on political figures, sold on the streets. Around midnight you stuff a note listing what you’d like to bury from the outgoing year, then you toss the thing in the street and burn it at midnight. Really. The first New Year’s Eve here we drove into the city from the foothills and it looked like Cuenca was aflame. The city government keeps trying to put a stop to the practice [it is prohibited this year but the Viejo sales are allowed so there’s no doubt what will happen] but they’ve had little success.

In January we have the celebration of the Three Kings visiting Jesus which is a huge celebration here and, if memory serves, is the occasion of a massive secular parade, all done in jest, in which everything, and every politician, is mocked. Great fun.

This is the start of the height of the tourist season and no wonder. A joy to live here.

EXPAT LIFE IN CUENCA, ECUADOR #4

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

Time for some Pros and Cons on moving to and living in Cuenca, Ecuador where I’ve lived these past eight years. I’ve told friends for some months now that once the worse restrictions of this so-called pandemic have passed there will be a surge of expats into Cuenca. My reasons for thinking this is that many Americans will find they are no longer employable for any number of reasons. They will be faced with a retirement earlier than they expected and when they run the numbers they will see they cannot afford to live in the U.S. except as a pauper. So here are the Pros and Cons of Cuenca.

Pros – 1. This is a traditional society. It’s known as the Bible belt of Ecuador. Frankly, men are men, women are women. Sunday is family day as it used to be in the U.S. Courtesy and respect towards strangers is the norm. Vulgarity is unknown in my experience. 2. Cuenca is cheap. The cost of living here is roughly one third of what it is in the U.S., perhaps now with runaway inflation there it could be one quarter. You will live an upper middle class or upper class lifestyle here. Two friends of mine lived her five years or so, never had to touch their money in the U.S. and recovered from their losses in 2008, something that would never have happened had they stayed in the U.S. 3. Medical care is excellent, especially basic care. You will experience what it’s like to have a doctor be concerned only for you, not influenced by government rules, insurance restrictions or fear of a lawsuit. It is an eye-opening experience. Nearly every drug you’ll want is available without prescription, and cheap. 4. GMOs and antibiotics are not used in growing or raising food. They are prohibited by the constitution. Vegetables are wonderful. They are grown within five miles of Cuenca. There are no feed lots in the country. Chickens are not crammed into cages and live in the dark. The difference in taste, and in your weight, are amazing. 5. Speaking of weight. Because the city is over 8,000 feet above sea level which increases metabolism, because there is about one-third less oxygen digestion is less efficient and because you will walk so much more, you will lose weight. Typically, men lose 15 pounds in the first months. Now if you insist on eating out every day and persist in guzzling beer and wine and take a taxi every 15 feet you won’t drop a pound. But with little effort you can drop 30 to 40 pounds. I’ve noticed this doesn’t seem to happen so much with women. 6. Cuenca is the right size. It’s reportedly at half a million but that includes a vast area around the city. The heart of the city has about 100,000. 7. You don’t need a car. Few expats have them as they are such a hazzle. Taxis are cheap and plentiful, the bus system has its challenges so most expats don’t use it but I do and have no problems, we have a state-of-the-art light rail system, there is just no reason to own a car and it is liberating. There’s more Pros but those are likely the high points.

Cons – Keep in mind that more than half of expats who retire here move within two years. They just don’t find what they want here. Remember, no matter where you live you take yourself and your marriage. I’ve seen more than one 50 marriage fall apart under the pressure of constant contact and a few others that should fall apart. 1. There is more pollution in the very center of the city than I like which is one reason we live on the edge of the center by the river with its steady breeze. Pollution has improved enormously in recent years and its likely you’ll not notice it at all. The city is committed to reducing it even more. 2. There are too many cars on the streets. Ecuadorians love their cars. You won’t. 3. Cuenca is hard to get to and from. There are no direct flights here from the U.S. and won’t be for the foreseeable future. The advantage here is that we aren’t overwhelmed with expats. 4. You need at least some Spanish to get along. With smart phones this isn’t the challenge it once was but the more Spanish you speak and understand the more you’ll enjoy living here. 5. Specialty healthcare is suspect. I don’t know what to make of it as I’ve never needed it. I know one man who had a hip replaced here and is thrilled. Most expats return to the U.S. for such a procedure. The same for bypass heart surgery. There is a state-of-the-art cancer treatment hospital here. I knew one woman who moved here to take advantage of it. Most people I know return to the U.S. for treatment. 6. It can be boring. You need to be self-contained. You will have full access to all the U.S. media and entertainment but that may not be enough. It’s all but impossible to do charity work here and it is impossible to run a company. They don’t permit competition. There’s only one golf course and you have to pay $22,000 to join the country club where it’s at and recently they don’t seem to want to let expats join.

Finally, even though sixty percent of expats intending to stay here for life leave within two years, ninety percent are gone within six years. There are reasons. I’ve listed a few. But for myself and my wife it’s been paradise and having traveled the world there is nowhere else I’d like to live.

Natural Immunity is 700 Times More Effective than Vaccines.

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

The agenda to drive universal vaccinations of the populace has forced the medical community and politicians into a corner when it comes to the question of natural immunity. They can’t say it’s not a reasonable question, nor can they say it’s already been answered properly. They just say this organization or that doctor or some study shows that even those with natural immunity must still get vaccinated. When pressed, they invoke the logical fallacy known as begging the question; they use the affirmative answer to the question of whether people who have recovered from Covid-19 should get vaccinated as the evidence that they should. The numbers don’t back up this claim. In fact, those who have recovered from Covid have far greater immunity than those who are simply vaccinated. Perhaps a quarter of the U.S. population has already had Covid and doesn’t require the jab. So the logical question is: Why insist on it? The answer, of course, is population control and maintaining a perceived state of fear to advance a political agenda. Read it all here. https://conservativeplaylist.com/2021/07/27/delta-variant-natural-immunity-700-better-than-the-vaccine/

EXPAT LIFE IN CUENCA, ECUADOR #3

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

With my third entry in this ongoing series let me go to the beginning. Why become an expat? Why leave the country of your birth and nationality to live among strangers in a very different culture, perhaps one with earthquakes and volcanoes? My primary reason for moving abroad was that I always wanted to. I grew up reading Burroughs, Doyle [his lost world stories, not Sherlock Holmes], and later Graham Greene whose books were largely about expats getting into trouble. My goal almost from the first was to retire to another country. As I grew older and saw how narrow the lives of most of the elderly were, primarily from lack of money, I became convinced I didn’t want that for myself.

Being from Arizona I frequently vacationed in Mexico where I met a number of expats. They seemed to be fleeing marriages and/or debts. Later, I made a number of trips to Costa Rica before it was discovered and destroyed by expats and had any number of fascinating conversations with fugitive expats taking advantage of the lack of extradition. Later I had some good fortune. I lived most of year in Portugal working on a book and there got to know a number of British expats. Over a pint I often discussed their reasons for living in Portugal. Most were fleeing what they saw as the decline in British society and its economy. Others had married Portuguese women. Many lived there because it was cheaper and the quality of life was quite high with what fixed income they had.

Later I traveled for work in Vietnam and Thailand. Again, mostly in bars, I meant a wide range of expats, in this case from the U.K. but also from Australia and Europe. Two men I talked to told the same story. One was from Belgium, they other from The Netherlands. They were unhappily married with children. Their company sent them to Vietnam or Thailand. They acquired a local, very accommodating girlfriend who soon had a baby, asked for a work extension, then asked for another which was refused. In both cases they quit their job, found a local one managing in one of the new Western companies opening up and just stayed. They both told me they never told their wives what they were doing, never contacted their families and had no regrets. Well, maybe. I also met a U.S. graduate student supposedly writing his dissertation. He said his adviser cautioned him to come back, that the last candidate who had gone to Asia never returned. This guy had been there six years and was teaching at a regional college. He said he was going back and I pretended to believe him.

Here in Ecuador your average expat is retired from the U.S. or Canada, is married and here with his wife. A surprising number have minority spouses or, as I do, a wife originally from another country who immigrated to the U.S. They say the primary reason they live here is economics. They can simply live a much better life here on a retirement income that would only keep them alive in North America. Some want a foreign experience and always plan to go back home.

I have to agree on quality of life for your income. We live in a penthouse with commanding views of the Andes and Tomabamba River, belong to the country club, travel whenever we want and have absolutely no money concerns. We’re not alone. I know two couples who had serious financial reverses n 2008, moved here, rebuilt their fortune as they didn’t need it to live, then returned to the states.

There’s a lot more to my story: the poor quality of American food, lack of control of medical care, taxes and insurance costs, the increasing leftward movement of all social institutions, lack of tolerance for those not conforming, many more, but I’ll write about those later. Be well, be happy. Life is too short to be miserable.

WHAT THE MOTHERS OF ARGENTINA DID, WE CAN DO

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

On April 30, 1977, 14 courageous women set aside fear and their families’ warning to leave their homes and confront the military dictatorship that had stolen and murdered their children. The went to the rotary outside the Presidential Palace and with signs and photos began a procession of protest. That day marked the first weekly march by the mothers of Argentina’s “disappeared” against the dictatorship that had carried out the systematic murder of thousands including their children. This simply action, repeated again and again, led to the collapse of the government and the restoration of democratic rule. Since then more than 1,000 torturers and killers have been tried and 700 sentenced. The fate of most, though not all, of the “disappeared” has been established.

Opposition to the coup that has taken place in the United States will not take place on social media, nor in the courts, nor through audits or new laws. Opposition and change will only begin when we take to the streets and exercise are right to peaceably assemble. The left will infiltrate and seek to turn these assemblies to violence. The MSM will play up every act of misconduct. But the power of the people in their anger if they persist will will out. It can begin in a single town at a single place. Against the government, against the newspaper or television station, against the police who have misbehaved. It will then spread to thousands of places across the country. We can again protest in our nation’s capitol and we cannot be ignored. Every action they take against us will only make us stronger.

We will will out; they will be defeated. But only if we act, then keep acting and never stop. They fear the majority, they fear us. But as long as we are silent, as long as we are docile, as long as take it, they will continue to dominate us.

Act!  Stop talking, stop complaining, stop whining.

What 14 women in Buenas Aires did, we millions can do. But we must take the first step, then the one after that, and all the rest until justice and democracy is restored.

The End of Experts

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

One of the lessons we’ve all learned this year is that ‘experts’ have been utterly politicized. And if you aren’t one of the experts who go along with the PC ones you are deleted from Social Media, denigrated by MSM or professionally destroyed. I no longer believe anything I read that conforms to the PC take on events. But worse, I can no longer trust those in opposition as they seem to have their own agenda. We are cast adrift in world determined to make us all victims living in a perpetual state of panic and fear. Read more here. the-pandemic-has-revealed-a-darkly-authoritarian-side-to-expertise

THE STEEL LADY [1953] – A review with spoilers

RONALD J. WATKINS Posted on by

In the 1950’s I owned our black and white television set late night Friday and Saturdays after my folks went to bed. Whatever movie was showing, I watched. In those patriotic days the set was full of movies made during or about the Second World War. Heady stuff for one so young. A few of those movies have stuck with me over the years, Thirty Seconds of Tokyo, for one where the director had to good sense to create tension by omitting the nearly obligatory music for the run to Japan. All you hear are the clipped voices of the crew and the relentless drone of the airplane engines. Then there was The Steel Lady with Rod Cameron. It’s a B movie and until last night I was at a loss to understand the hold it had on me. Without exaggeration I’ve chased this move for 40 years, first on late night television [again], then on cable, then on VHS, then DVD, finally on the Internet. No luck. Until…. last night. I searched the title as I have every few months and there it was, in full and in surprising clarity, on YouTube. And I was not disappointed.

Okay, the plot is hokey but no less compelling for that. Rod Cameron with the lady obsessed mechanic side kick, drunken prospector and a really, really good looking 21 year old Tab Hunter as the radio nerd. Their plane forced down in the Sahara desert, cut off from communication, with little water, they find the storm that forced them down uncovered, are you ready?…. a German tank, complete with mummified crew. Realizing their situation is hopeless they repair the tank, fill its radiator with nearly all of their precious water and proceed to drive a hundred odd miles to a French Foreign Legion outpost. Sounds easy, right? Well, you don’t know Hollywood in the ’50s.

Searching for a place to hid his last bottle of booze the drunk finds a concealed compartment [every German tank came with one during the war] and voila! hidden in it is a sack full of precious gems. He decides to keep the information for himself. The tank crossing sand dunes is the best part of the movie, filmed I suspect just outside Yuma, Arizona. The tank then encounters an Arab settlement which is the most embarrassing part of the movie. The painted backdrops aren’t even close to realistic and the white men with darkened faces playing Arabs had to be embarrassed to deliver their lines but there you are. Seems during the war a tank came out of nowhere and stole their treasure. They’ve been looking for it ever since and now miraculously here it is.

One thing leads to another, we have treachery, fistfights, a running gunfight of natives who can’t shoot straight against a machine gun, then finally selfless sacrifice and rescue as the Arabs close in. Great stuff.

Tab Hunter, who worked hard at it but was never much of an actor, is much better than you’d expect in a limited role. But it’s Rod Cameron who carries the whole thing off, no matter how absurd the lines he has to deliver.

My father, a combat veteran of the Pacific, was appalled at the patriotic warlike enthusiasm I got from these movies. He sat me down when I was 12 and for the only time told me what combat was really like, the insanity of it, friends blown into pieces, the carnage of young men against bullets and shells. It made no difference. How could reality compete with the story line Hollywood was feeding my young mind?