11/2012 - One reason the DR is so Fucked-Up

[DASBOOTY]

The Yankees, Rays, O's and Red Sox are fucked up too. LOL

A Toronto Blue Jays fan in Westchester, NY...........................now that is fucked up.

[Leche]

A Toronto Blue Jays fan in Westchester, NY...........................now that is fucked up.

My friend is a season ticket holder to Blue Jays games and I think they will win the AL East in 2013. LOL

But you are right. Being a Blue Jays fan in Westchester is fucked-up. LOL

[camaro1257]

...I see the US has more in common with DR than we realize hunh?

[uncle ruckus]

Your comparing apples with oranges. The economy of a country as it now stands and its rate of improvement. Haiti is the most fucked-up country in the Americas but it is forecast to have the greatest improvement in GDP in the Americas over the next two years, mainly because it is starting from a very low base.

Any apparent improvement in the DR comes from borrowed money and laundered money, both of which could dry up at fairly short notice. The projects in which they have chosen to invest are ones in which money can be siphoned off as commissions, such as buying fighter aircraft and the metro. They have not invested in things where it is harder to embezzle money (although I am sure they would have a damn good try) such as education, but which would sustain steady economic growth in the future.

Am I really about to correct Sir Weyland on a grammar mistake? Maybe the Mayans were right after all!

My second highlight is the main problem with the DR. The main motivation for any project is not "How is this going to help the country in the long run?" but "How can I make some money off this project right now?" If the project helps the country is a secondary concern. Also, under the PLD, almost all the investment goes into Santo Domingo. If you go to Santo Domingo, the city looks like a major, 1st world city while the rest of the country is in shambles.

[Westy]

On a side-note: I got my January 2013 International Living yesterday, with their annual Retirement Index.

The Dominican Republic is #24 on their list of 'best retirement destinations.'

Top ten were (in order) Ecuador, Panama, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Colombia, Spain, Thailand and Malta.

USA, Canada, Great Britain ... didn't even make the list.

So as fucked-up as the DR might be, it's still a pretty damn decent place to retire, or to vacation (but I'd be leery of buying there!)

[JDR]

On a side-note: I got my January 2013 International Living yesterday, with their annual Retirement Index.

The Dominican Republic is #24 on their list of 'best retirement destinations.'

Top ten were (in order) Mexico, .

USA, Canada, Great Britain ... didn't even make the list.

Bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!

[JDR]

So as fucked-up as the DR might be, it's still a pretty damn decent place to retire, or to vacation (but I'd be leery of buying there!)

I bet they weren't talking about Sosua.

DR is a great place to retire. You get a maid for about $120 a month.

[Westy]

Bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!

QED. This is what they printed.

The fact that they printed it, of course, doesn't mean it isn't bullshit ...

And, oh yeah, I doubt if IL was talking about Sosua, but it is Robert13213's #1 retirement destination ...

(Might not be after he gets to Thailand, of course.)

[JDR]

Click to see pic

QED.

Did you know that Mexico is far more dangerous than Colombia was?

[Westy]

Mexico ​is more dangerous than Colombia was? Yes, I know. I wasn't too 'Fast and Furious' to let that fact escape me.

It might not be so bad down in Merida, where IL bases most of their Mexico stories. But I see plenty of places I'd prefer to Mexico.

FOR INSTANCE ... your stories of Medellin are quite enticing, except that I want to live on the water when I do move offshore. Cartagena, the little bit I saw of it, is enticing, too ... although there are other coastal cities that might be less busy, less bustling, and more comfortable for me.

And I've heard a good bit about Luperon, up west of Sosua and all ... or there's Ocean World up past Blackbeard's; I've gotten their price for a slip, and it's really not too bad at all. Just sayin'.

[uncle ruckus]

Click to see pic

The fact that they printed it, of course, doesn't mean it isn't bullshit ...

Seems like their methodology might be slightly flawed. Just looking at the temperature score for Panama (88), Costa Rica (71), Nicaragua (73), Honduras (62), and Belize (64). So you're going to tell me that the variation in temperature between these 5 countries, all of which are literally next to each other in Central America, range from 88 to 64? If there were any objectivity in this, at least this score would be somewhat similar since the differences in climate between countries in Central America are non-existent (minimal at best). That's like saying the weather in Connecticut is fantastic, but I hate the weather in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Also, what the hell does "Special Benefits" means? The special benefits I get in DR are probably more special to me than those available in any other country.

Not saying it's right or wrong, just saying that I see a flaw in methodology.

[weyland]

Seems like their methodology might be slightly flawed. Just looking at the temperature score for Panama (88), Costa Rica (71), Nicaragua (73), Honduras (62), and Belize (64). So you're going to tell me that the variation in temperature between these 5 countries, all of which are literally next to each other in Central America, range from 88 to 64?

You misunderstood that. They are not temperatures but marks out of 100. How they arrive at those I don't know. Perhaps they explain how but I cannot be bothered to read. Makes more sense because I know Belize is infamous for its humidity and everyone says Ecuador has a great climate.

[uncle ruckus]

You misunderstood that. They are not temperatures but marks out of 100. How they arrive at those I don't know. Perhaps they explain how but I cannot be bothered to read. Makes more sense because I know Belize is infamous for its humidity and everyone says Ecuador has a great climate.

Understood it perfectly fine.

I know they're marks out of a hundred. As an example, the average annual temperature in Panama is 82F and it got a very high score. The average temperature in Belize is 80F and it got a very low score. My question is what possible methodology can have such a huge variation in ranking score when the underlying raw data is almost exactly the same.

Here's the data

Panama - http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...nama%2C+Panama
Belize - http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...-Belize-Belize

Almost exact temperatures. Belize is very slightly more humid. Yet the scores for each on the ranking are wildly divergent.

Just to be clear, the point isn't the temperature. My point is that something is screwy with the methodology they use to get the final scores.

[princepointe]

Seems like their methodology might be slightly flawed. Just looking at the temperature score for Panama (88), Costa Rica (71), Nicaragua (73), Honduras (62), and Belize (64). So you're going to tell me that the variation in temperature between these 5 countries, all of which are literally next to each other in Central America, range from 88 to 64? If there were any objectivity in this, at least this score would be somewhat similar since the differences in climate between countries in Central America are non-existent (minimal at best). That's like saying the weather in Connecticut is fantastic, but I hate the weather in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Also, what the hell does "Special Benefits" means? The special benefits I get in DR are probably more special to me than those available in any other country.

Not saying it's right or wrong, just saying that I see a flaw in methodology.

Have you ever been to North Texas and South Texas during the same time in winter? BIG difference. lol. As we all know this shit is nothing but an opinion. Some people HATE DR and some don't. Same thing.

[Mr. Smooth]

Have you ever been to North Texas and South Texas during the same time in winter? BIG difference. lol. As we all know this shit is nothing but an opinion. Some people HATE DR and some don't. Same thing.

It wasn't in winter, but I rode my motorcycle through both Amarillo and Corpus Christi and I could FEEL the difference.

These retirement comparisons never factor in the subject I beleive most of us would be interested in. I could read about IL's view on Colombia for instance, but would put much more credence in what JimmyDR has to say or Blue Devil. Similairly, with the DR, just some of the guys on this board, Robert, yayow, Happy, WW, weyland, to name a few, I would trust their judgment more than some writer who only has spent a few days gathering info about a place before writing an article about it and giving it a particular ranking.

Myself....I like Thailand and the DR for the same reasons. Cost of living, nightlife, beach, enough english being spoke to get around without having to be an expert in the native language, climate, inexpensive transport, availability of companionship, and the company of fellow travelers and expats. I think I can work around any other problems and/or shortcomings.

[fastfood98]

Am I really about to correct Sir Weyland on a grammar mistake? Maybe the Mayans were right after all!

My second highlight is the main problem with the DR. The main motivation for any project is not "How is this going to help the country in the long run?" but "How can I make some money off this project right now?" If the project helps the country is a secondary concern. Also, under the PLD, almost all the investment goes into Santo Domingo. If you go to Santo Domingo, the city looks like a major, 1st world city while the rest of the country is in shambles.

That is the way they do everything...all of them...that's why they are fucked up, they only consider what they are going to do today and maybe fifteen to twenty minutes into the future...

[Señor JDR of Medellin]

It wasn't in winter, but I rode my motorcycle through both Amarillo and Corpus Christi and I could FEEL the difference.

These retirement comparisons never factor in the subject I beleive most of us would be interested in. I could read about IL's view on Colombia for instance, but would put much more credence in what JimmyDR has to say or Blue Devil. Similairly, with the DR, just some of the guys on this board, Robert, yayow, Happy, WW, weyland, to name a few, I would trust their judgment more than some writer who only has spent a few days gathering info about a place before writing an article about it and giving it a particular ranking.

This has been discussed many times over the years, by many of the guys you meantioned.

[questner]

Totally f-up index. France and Philippines have got the same score Where is the line for France's social benefits?

[Westy]

It wasn't in winter, but I rode my motorcycle through both Amarillo and Corpus Christi and I could FEEL the difference.

These retirement comparisons never factor in the subject I beleive most of us would be interested in. I could read about IL's view on Colombia for instance, but would put much more credence in what JimmyDR has to say or Blue Devil. Similairly, with the DR, just some of the guys on this board, Robert, yayow, Happy, WW, weyland, to name a few, I would trust their judgment more than some writer who only has spent a few days gathering info about a place before writing an article about it and giving it a particular ranking.

Myself....I like Thailand and the DR for the same reasons. Cost of living, nightlife, beach, enough english being spoke to get around without having to be an expert in the native language, climate, inexpensive transport, availability of companionship, and the company of fellow travelers and expats. I think I can work around any other problems and/or shortcomings.

Absolutely, Mr. Smooth! And everyone else who is picking holes in this 'Retirement Index.' I didn't put it up because I believe in it, I put it up because I thought you'd be entertained by it.

An article like this, a list like this, is a starting place for comparisons. Some of this stuff can be based on fact - property prices or the cost of living - but a lot of it is based on opinion, and some of it isn't too clear. (Ease of integration? Does that mean 'the natives are friendly,' or 'it's easy to find a gated community full of like-minded gringos?' Entertainment and amenities? Does that mean like opera, or fine arts, or beaches, or casinos, or Classico's?)

We can't quite expect these retirement comparisons to address our special interests ...

And we can get a lot better, more reliable, and more accountable information from our friends on the scene!

[Señor JDR of Medellin]

Absolutely, Mr. Smooth! And everyone else who is picking holes in this 'Retirement Index.' I didn't put it up because I believe in it, I put it up because I thought you'd be entertained by it.

An article like this, a list like this, is a starting place for comparisons. Some of this stuff can be based on fact - property prices or the cost of living - but a lot of it is based on opinion, and some of it isn't too clear. (Ease of integration? Does that mean 'the natives are friendly,' or 'it's easy to find a gated community full of like-minded gringos?' Entertainment and amenities? Does that mean like opera, or fine arts, or beaches, or casinos, or Classico's?)

We can't quite expect these retirement comparisons to address our special interests ...

And we can get a lot better, more reliable, and more accountable information from our friends on the scene!

Well step one is to join a board, which you did

Step two, check out ten countries

step three, meet with board members that live there

step four, figure out which place fits best