From RY: “What are you hearing from Nicaragua?”

“I’m hearing some bad news about what’s happening in Nicaragua. At one time, I was even considering being an expat there with my wife. Are you hearing anything of value from the people you work with there?”

My Response: There has been a lot of political and social turmoil in Nicaragua in the last several years, including protests and government reprisals that got some publicity in the US before they were quashed by the government. But when I’m there (as I am right now in my second home on the Pacific coast of the country), I don’t feel in any way endangered. In fact, I feel safer and often happier than I do in the States.

Ortega’s government is in theory a democracy, but there is no denying that he wants to rule the country for a good while longer. So, he treats elections pretty much like the Democrats are doing in the US today – by putting (or trying to put) his major political opponents in jail.

His administration has recently done a few things – like taking over foreign gas stations and replacing them with ones that presumably he or his friends have an interest in – that are concerning. But he did that quasi-legally, by raising taxes and regulations. Again, the way the US does when it exerts eminent domain laws: carefully, quietly, and legally.

Since he was elected in 2007, he hasn’t done what he did when he was a revolutionary conqueror, seizing property and redistributing wealth and thus turning the country from one of the richest in Central America to one of the poorest.

The local population is divided between those that support him and those that don’t. But those that don’t generally keep their opinions to themselves. And I believe that’s largely because Ortega is no longer a Communist ideologue testing out a failed theory. He’s a pragmatist hoping to make Nicaragua a wealthier and more successful country, while taking care of himself and those loyal to him.

As a foreigner in Nicaragua, I don’t have the feeling I have as a US citizen in the US. In Nicaragua, I feel like things are getting better despite the sometimes questionable actions Ortega and his administration take.

Nicaragua, under his one-man control, is still beautiful, largely peaceful, and welcoming to foreigners who are there to help build the country, rather than work to undermine his plans and his authority in any significant way. Our resort community here is thriving, as is the non-profit community center my family has established across the road.

If you are interested in Nicaragua as a possible retirement destination or second home, or even as a regular place to visit, come down here for a week or two and decide for yourself.

Click here to see what it’s really like.

From JM re Tucker Carlson: 

“I have not looked at Tucker Carlson in years. I find him to be too snarky, and his ridiculous giggle… ugh! But in this interview with Xi Van Fleet, she relates an interesting story.”

My Response: I had the strongest negative reaction to Carlson when I began to watch him many years ago – for the same reasons you state. He comes across as a smart-ass frat boy, with a handful of cheap debate tactics that allowed him to spar effectively with his intellectual superiors.

My instinct was to dismiss him as such. But what kept me coming back was that he was so often touching directly on news events, social movements, and political topics that were culturally off limits. They were more than politically incorrect. They were unthinkable.

And yet, many of them were questions and speculations that were floating through my head.

And so I started listening to his show, or clips of his show, more regularly. Some of them – for example, the ones where he interviews some totally nutty Woke person – are, admittedly, B-level entertainment. But as time went by, I noticed that he was asking questions and hinting at allegations that the rest of the conservative media wasn’t willing to touch.

And several times – such as when he immediately challenged the US position on backing Ukraine – I was astonished by his bravery. Who else at his level of celebrity was saying what he was saying, which to me was the obvious truth… that Russia was responding to yet another attempt by the US to ignite another fire in our Cold War with them, which has never ended? And, of course, almost everyone hectored him for interviewing Putin. Even those that have no idea why NATO was created, what it is, and what it does. I could give you other examples… but I can’t think of another newsperson at his level that has the balls he has. There is a reason he got kicked off Fox. And that reason is what explains why the conservative movement in the US has been so self-destructive for so many years.

That said (as they say)…

I still cringe when he employs his cheapest debate tactics. And I suffer endlessly when watching his never-ceasing and never-ending facial gestures – those weird, almost perverse, child-like faces. And, as you say, his cackling, demented laugh. But it’s a price I’m willing to pay to be able to see someone – someone with a large commercial platform – ask the questions and make the suggestions that nobody else is willing even to talk about.

Here’s one more thought: The immediate impression I had of Carlson allowed me to put him in a mental box I reserved for right-wing whackos who seemed to be willing to say anything to get ratings, and who then did say many, many things that were proven to be obviously and patently false. But he doesn’t do that. If you listen to him, you will notice that he is very careful to use the right nouns and adjectives when he is pushing up against a major, politically sensitive issue.