A light rain is falling so I am sitting on my balcony basically waiting for my ride to the airport. It is only 9:00 AM so I have a few hours before that happens.  So, for the first time since leaving the United States eleven days ago, I logged onto www.foxnews.com to see what has happened since I left.  It looks like not much.

The liberal media is still taking President Trump’s words out of context to cast him in the most unflattering light possible.  The Mueller probe is still ongoing.  Stormy’s lawyer is still racking up screen time, especially on CNN, while apparently ignoring his estranged wife’s pleas for a divorce.  More revelations have come out about the Dem’s abuse of power in spying on the Trump campaign.  The Inspector General’s report has still not been released.  Oh well, politics as usual.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to take a look at the countries I have just visited and found that both are democratic republics, each having three separate branches—executive, legislature, and judiciary, same as the US.  In Panama City, the average monthly net salary (after tax) is $780 yet a one bedroom apartment in city center costs $950/month.  The cost of living in Panama City ranks 313^th out of 538 cities worldwide.  Contrast that with Lima, Peru where the average monthly net salary is $469 with a one bedroom apartment in city center costing $500/month.  Lima ranks 395^th for the cost of living.

For comparative purposes, I checked St. Petersburg, FL where the average monthly net income is $3,237 with the center city one bedroom apartment costing $1,129.  St. Petersburg ranks 163^rd on that cost of living index.

Also, interesting to note that the cost of a domestic beer is $4.00 in St. Petersburg, $1.83 in Lima, and $1.75 in Panama City.

You have to wonder how many people in these countries survive.