tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post448083556099647932..comments2024-03-26T00:37:34.943+01:00Comments on Venezuela News And Views: To understand how degraded Venezuela is, travel by plane.... Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12128609182544333477noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-47768948207246894632017-10-18T14:05:22.273+02:002017-10-18T14:05:22.273+02:00We hiked Mt. Roraima that year and a woman from Be...We hiked Mt. Roraima that year and a woman from Belgium in our group was detained at the airport for for 2 hours, searched (even the pages of her books) and suspected because she was traveling alone. Beautiful country, tragic government. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15641861249971489966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-39916538832005635412013-11-09T19:30:21.174+01:002013-11-09T19:30:21.174+01:00I was considering travelling to Caracas this summe...I was considering travelling to Caracas this summer from London to do some primary on-the-ground research for my thesis on Bolivarian democracy and also for tourist-like reasons, but my partner warned against it for some of the exact same reasons you pointed out.. I'm kind of glad now but still would be nice to see what i'm writing about up close and personal!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17406899364390830960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-49105506060187112162013-10-30T13:38:33.483+01:002013-10-30T13:38:33.483+01:00"Jolopier" could easily be the name of a..."Jolopier" could easily be the name of a Hugo Blanco song. I can almost hear it now, with percussion on hubcaps instead of drums.Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04198810866232200453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-62045931827116834492013-10-26T21:26:36.957+02:002013-10-26T21:26:36.957+02:00Firepig....Did you ever see the small planes to Lo...Firepig....Did you ever see the small planes to Los Roques that use bungy cords on the doors !!! I believe that VNZAn planes can not fly into cities in the US because their safety and maintenance logs are not up to standards. I know it was so a few years ago and I imagine it is worse now...Things will change when the Socialist model is chucked, It never works...Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03480413143262518693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-39935159511995917562013-10-25T15:10:03.624+02:002013-10-25T15:10:03.624+02:00Even back in the 90's I had a pilot friend who...Even back in the 90's I had a pilot friend who worked for Aeropostal who told me that they held plane doors shut with Duck tape.No maintenance in paradise.<br /><br />firepigettefirepighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158275219887987252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-54597785359574747682013-10-24T18:29:42.313+02:002013-10-24T18:29:42.313+02:00You are still brave flying Venezuela airplanes. :)...You are still brave flying Venezuela airplanes. :)<br /><br />May be these old air planes still safer than the new coming Russia's air planes.1979 Boat Peoplenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-61266054794673184022013-10-24T13:48:59.052+02:002013-10-24T13:48:59.052+02:00Be thankful that the French invaded Britain and re...Be thankful that the French invaded Britain and revolutionized the English tongue. Otherwise, English would sound very much like German sounds right now...even worse: like Saxon German with a Danish twang. Keplerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11125538872924743270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-35707294286658650852013-10-24T08:17:52.286+02:002013-10-24T08:17:52.286+02:00Being a regular reader of your blog, Daniel, very ...Being a regular reader of your blog, Daniel, very little of what you describe here comes as a surprise. What does surprise me is that you guys put up with it and don't see emigration as a real option. Of course there is a cost but what is the price of life free of control freaks?Ross11https://www.blogger.com/profile/00042514465092675618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-84187788858367745742013-10-24T00:22:29.834+02:002013-10-24T00:22:29.834+02:00The term is definitely american.[Or as Kepler woul...The term is definitely american.[Or as Kepler would say, US American.] "Jalopy" is probably used less these days than in days bygone. From my childhood days, because the people I knew who used the word were good mechanics, I associate a jalopy with having an owner who performs weekly [?] miracles on the engine and body to keep the car going. From my associations with the word jalopy, if you have to pay a mechanic to keep the car going, you don't own a jalopy. But I don't know if others have the same point of view. There are quite a few car owners in Venezuela who by that definition own jalopies, as they maintain the vehicles themselves. And because they perform mechanical miracles to keep the vehicles operating.<br /><br />The online dictionaries I consulted said the word was of unknown origin, with the exception of the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jalopy" rel="nofollow">Urban Dictionary:</a> <i>Derived from the misspelling of the word "Jalapa", which is the name of some town in Mexico that is famous for the Jalapeno pepper, and its former junk-car-scrapping industry. </i><br /><br />I don't know how reliable the Urban Dictionary is for etymology, but it was the only example I could find.<br /><br />Boludo Tejanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-79699830168717562722013-10-23T23:44:24.357+02:002013-10-23T23:44:24.357+02:00Try to enjoy the rest of your time on the island. ...Try to enjoy the rest of your time on the island. We were over there about six months ago, and it had deteriorated so much that we said we would never go back. Complete with blackouts, and the worst food and service possible. The only decent meal we had was some nice pargo cooked on the beach apart from the all inclusive. Truly sad as we used to enjoy frequent visits over before chavez set his sights on it after the event that led to him taking over the Hilton and systematically destroying the infrastructure that supported tourism. <br /><br />concernedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-47784249398269702742013-10-23T23:34:26.958+02:002013-10-23T23:34:26.958+02:00Ah ah... No, for once it is from good american st...Ah ah... No, for once it is from good american stock. I was struck long ago when learning English by a sentence "jaunting jalopy" from some US writer whose name escapes me right now (Faulkner?) . not that I do not adapt words from French, Spanish or Italian but for once, it is not the case.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12128609182544333477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-10909787147396314662013-10-23T23:32:07.114+02:002013-10-23T23:32:07.114+02:00Oh dear! I could never have imagined that there w...Oh dear! I could never have imagined that there would be a word for that!!! Tells you how mainstream porn has become.... Maybe I should spell it jalopyer?<br /><br />And thank you for the compliment. We try.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12128609182544333477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-18032212581440424412013-10-23T21:11:13.497+02:002013-10-23T21:11:13.497+02:00"Inventive: as far as I can tell, you are the..."Inventive: as far as I can tell, you are the first person to use jalopier on the Internet as an adjective. Or is that an adverb?"<br /><br />Knowing Daniel, it is probably a French derived verb.<br /><br />Oh those French, corrupting the English Language!!!<br /><br />Anon 242Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-69100169736851861532013-10-23T18:37:41.281+02:002013-10-23T18:37:41.281+02:00Never mind that in Caracas airport it is not that ...<i> Never mind that in Caracas airport it is not that difficult to hide 1.3 tons of cocaine in regular scheduled international flights.</i><br /><br />Oh, that dry humor. LOL.<br /><br /><i>I confirmed my observations from my last visits: taxis are getting jalopier by the day.</i><br /><br />Inventive: as far as I can tell, you are the first person to use <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=jalopier&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a" rel="nofollow">jalopier</a> on the Internet as an adjective. Or is that an adverb?<br /><br />The Chavismo-induced decline of Venezuela will not be accompanied by a decline in writing quality at VN&VBoludo Tejanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-5800646178747940422013-10-23T16:23:54.418+02:002013-10-23T16:23:54.418+02:00Chavismo's goal is to impoverish Venezuela in ...Chavismo's goal is to impoverish Venezuela in order to control it. This is called Cubanization. People will have no choice but to go to the government to get anything. <br /><br />Is Margarita still a staging area for Iranian and Hamas agents?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com