The Prince of Death has arrived

Yup, MBS is here, the evil murdering psychopath, forted up in his embassy behind a massive wall of security. He arrived in the wee hours of the morning, according to the news.

As of this afternoon, the whole city of Buenos Aires will begin to shut down for this orgy of elitist ostentation. No trains, no subway, limited buses, the whole city center locked down like a maximum security prison, and no real provision made for those of us who actually live in the downtown area. The federal Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, actually suggested that we should all leave the city for the G-20. And go where, Patricia? With what funds?

So basically we're stocking up at the grocery store today, and planning to stay at home for the 29th and 30th, for fear that if we step outside we will wind up beaten, tazered, teargassed, shot with rubber bullets, and handcuffed face-down on the sidewalk of our own city.

And yet, the Argentinos, bless their souls, are still displaying their usual cynical, jaded good humor about it all. Gods, but I love these people. I sincerely respect and admire the Argentinos, more than words can say. They have endured so much, and yet they still have a smile, a cynical chuckle, a pointedly sarcastic observation to share.

I changed a 100 dollar bill this morning, down on Calle Florida, and received 3,650 pesos in exchange. When our current government came to power in December of 2015, that would have been only 1200 pesos. That's right, the peso has been devalued to one-third of its value three years ago. But that's only one jaw of the beartrap that has us by the leg; at the same time, prices have more than doubled for everything. Some items cost more than triple or quadruple what they did three years ago. The price of electricity has increased by 1700% and gas about the same. No, that's not a typo, we are paying 17 times what we did under the previous government.

Half an hour ago I paid 84 pesos, almost three US dollars, for three medium potatoes, two onions, two green apples, and 6 medium-small eggs of the cheapest variety, the kind that come wrapped in newspaper rather than in a carton. Eight liters (call it two US gallons) of bottled water of the least expensive variety cost me 75 pesos, roughly two USD.

There is a reason I used that tag you see down below, the one that starts with W...