sherpa

Again Tibs, I am pleased you found it worthwhile. But.....You asserted that there was something in there that there wasn't, and you did that to inject some political thing that was not in that interview. They never said a thing related to politics. They mentioned how the weapons supply would have helped them more if it came earlier. That has been a most obvious point of this whole situation, but they always avoid politics, something you can't do and cheapens the discussion. It is frustrating to bring interesting, well thought out and expressed views into this and many other subjects, and have someone absolutely determine to sully the conversation with an attempt at blatant political nonsense. The reasons the aid was not provided at the earliest time was because of US politics involving far more that aid to Ukraine. It involved border issues and aid to Israel. That is how US politics works.

Simply an idiotic view. Thousands of Americans and Europeans visit South America every day, safely, enjoyably and in confident comfort. Thousands of Americans work there, and have thousands of locals who work for their companies every day. Great place. Glad to have had the experience, myself and my family, including kids, which with friends still goes on. To each his own.,

Great, 'cause I don't give advice, and couldn't care less, so no offense taken. I will make one point though regarding the State Dept's "advice." Companies who operate in that realm have their own security information which is light years ahead of the State Department. My son in law is a State Department Officer with an area of responsibility in this part of the world and shares my view. Regarding things that happen to Americans there, our union website, which is a very active forum gets this stuff from first hand knowledge in hours, and anything that happens is posted and discussed. Again, I have no interest in given anyone here advice about anything.

I'm glad you found it worthwhile. Ward Carroll is excellent and gets excellent guests. He is an ex F-14 RIO, (backseater), Naval Academy Professor and ex editor of Military.com. He gets the real guys, like both Commanders Naval Forces Pacific and Atlantic, Commander Naval Air and a host of others who are front line operators, not media pukes. He gets information on what is going on, ie Houthi missile firings and how they were defended way before the news media, because he "know guys." This guest, Dr. Justin Bronk is, in my view, the most knowledgeable and informative source on NATO air forces and the Ukraine conflict. He was a pilot wannabe, but has a physical issue that disqualified him, so he got into the intel world and now works in the Royal United Services Institute. No bs, just realistic appraisals from guys who know the business and its' challenges.

I have never been a part of any "shady" dealings. There are issues that must be overcome conducting business there, but just as challenging and frustrating is getting goods through customs in Miami. Calling the continent a "no fly zone" is just a gross judgement. There are many wonderful places to visit, and I have been enriched by having friends in those areas, Think what you want.

I simply don't care. I have done what I have done. Been there a billion times, ran a business constructing a 66' custom catamaran yacht and providing all the flooring and cabinets for a 36 unit condo building here, all from Paraguay. I have a view, and I have no interest in changing anyone else's view. Again, no need to convince anyone of anything. Never have.

I didn't say there weren't common sense, practical considerations. I commented because of your claim that this was a "no fly" zone, which is, in my view, a gross exaggeration, and not at all what I experienced over the years. If the discussion ever comes around to doing business in many of those countries, I would have a completely different take, based on personal experience and those of friends. In thirty two years of doing this, I've been the target of pickpocket attempt three times, none successful. Once in Milan, once in Barcelona, (my wife was with me and she had no idea, thus was shocked when I physically responded to end it, until I explained it to her). The other time was in Sao Paulo after coming out of an ATM, but the body language gave it away at about ten feet, and the pickpocket knew I was on to him and turned away. Far worse was Moscow. I was supposed to fly four trips there one month, but after the first two, when my hotel room had been sloppily gone through in my absence, with no serious attempt to hide the action, I traded the last two trips for other ones. Russian visa applications are extremely detailed, and both of us who had answered yes to military service had our rooms gone through. I've taken my wife to Colombia, Montevideo, Uruguay, Santiago Chile, and many times to Buenos Aires. Never worried about it.

For an insightful, realistic appraisal of the F-16 issue, after initial introductions, go to the 14 min mark. The discussion goes on for about ten minutes and points out the reality of the issue,

Sorry if you're offended. I mentioned things you have to watch out for, as you would in any big city and ae an obvious non resident who probably doesn't speak the language. There are probably over a thousand US airline crews in South/Central America every night, and very few troubles, and those have obvious characteristics. Again, just my view.

No fly zones? I been to every country south of the border except Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname. The only place I would never leave the airport since about 2013 is anywhere in Venezuela. Caracas was horrible so we stopped laying over there, and most companies stopped all service. The rest of them are fine if you know what you're doing. The cartel thing is a mostly Mexico thing. There's still a bit of it in Colombia, but they don't bother tourists for the most part I really like Colombia. Took my wife there a few times. If you do stupid things, like wear expensive jewelry, flash money, go to bars alone or be obviously loud and stay late, you're asking for trouble. I would never use an ATM unless it was indoors. Ten years of doing it and never had a problem. Whenever we had a new person, I would tell them that unlike the NFL, there is no "incidental contact." If someone is in your "space," you are either being robbed, have been robbed or will be shortly. Again, never had a problem, but we never left the hotel compound in Caracas, and then they ended all layovers. The other thing about an NFL game is that the Brazilians know it is extremely high vis and they will aggressively police the area to make it safe. They pulled off the Olympics in Rio, which with there favelas, is far more dangerous than the nice areas of Sau Paulo. Just my view.

I've spent hundreds of days in Sau Paulo, though not in the area of that stadium. It's like lots of very big cities. If you're careful and don't do stupid things, it isn't that big of a worry.

We bombed command and control, communication facilities and other military targets in Baghdad.

For accuracy, the opinion was from a guest. Guests on all financial media have their own views, disparate and unique to them alone. That's how, and why, markets work.

I believe Paul Ryan in infinitely more intelligent, skilled, reasonable and capable than either candidate.

This forum has lost any interest. It is simply not worth a second of time, and that is from someone who despises Trump and Biden. Oh well.

Adjusted for inflation? Are you using inflation over the past two years, which was unusually higher in the past ten?

No matter what anybody does, the issue remains the same, as I mentioned months ago. There is no government in place or imagined that could run a Palestinian state that does not advocate the elimination of Israel. That is what is commonly known as a serious problem.

Some think the following strategy makes sense: Dems figure Joe hasn't a chance. Adults with mental acuity tell him he has to give it up. He takes his name off the ballot just prior to the convention. Knowing that Harris has zero chance, these now uncommitted delegates, with no allegiance, to Harris, advance another name as candidate.

Yes he did. Not sure of your issue.

So the regime that says Israel should be wiped off the map gets its President and Foreign Minister wiped on the map, Looks Kobe Bryant-ish to me.

Short apolitical comment, from a guy with an aeronautical engineering degree and almost 30,000 hours of flight time, including about one or two hours of time in helicopters during rescue training, and being transported on and off a carrier a couple of times. Helicopters........Don't.

I don't post about a lot of things that "concern me." I do post when someone states something clearly false, and claiming Britain was a "foreign country," at the time of the Declaration of Independence is ignorance. The very first sentence acknowledges that: "When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another,...." Absolutely not a foreign country at that time.

I am extremely familiar with the Declaration of Independence. It had a good deal to do with me living where we now live. Anyway, my post claimed that the Declaration was not against a "foreign power," as you claimed, while you humorously calling someone in moron in the same sentence. That is why the founding fathers knew they were guilty of treason, and why it was called the Revolutionary War and the War of Independence. I have no interest in discussing Jan 6. In addition, "my guy" didn't lose the election. I didn't have "a guy."

For historical accuracy purposes, it was not a "foreign" power at the time' Thus, our forefathers realized that they were committing treason.

Men simply give up. Seriously, the difference is reflected in long term health care coverage. More expensive for women, as they are far more like to need it, and for longer duration. My wife's policy is $400/year more than mine.