Here in the Philippines, I am living a life wherein I exercise my OWN will and judgment, and I can watch my 4 grown sons and their wives building lives based on THEIR wills and judgments. I can be confident that my grandchildren will live lives in which they will have the opportunity to exercise THEIR wills and judgment, long after I'm gone. My Social Security and investment income couldn't a minimally decent life in New Jersey, but I have a life of modest comfort here in the Philippines. And I like the weather. As to the "real men" criteria -- what standard of being a "real man" do you want to use? The number of men I've killed with my own hands? The number whose deaths I've authorized? The death threats I've received for what I've expressed in my writing? The number of people who've threatened me that I've paid to put in wheelchairs in retaliation? I don't believe in political assassination, or symbolic gestures, but I sure do believe in personal retaliation. There's a lot more of Cuffy Meigs in me than you might expect, but that's last resort capacity. If you want to discuss what level of violence constitutes a "real man", feel free to contact me directly at "davidlaibow1215[at]yahoo.com" ... if you, David Kachel, are man enough to do so.

The primary reason we are in the Philippines is that my wife wanted to be closer to her grown sons as they married and formed their families. I've got 3 marvelous grandchildren (one of whom lives in our house with his parents -- at age 74, I'm getting an advanced course in early childhood development.
Real men stay and fight? Tell that to Ellis Wyatt, Richard Halley, John Galt, etc. Visit my website, "3w.caballahouse.myshopify.com" and take a look at my products, "Materni-t-Shirt" and "Modes-t-Gown". Those products will NEVER be on sale at Wal-Mart or Target, because I won't do business with those companies.
Most of the governments in Asia are so right-wing they'd consider Ayn Rand a redistributionist Bolshevik. Mainland China is abandoning Marxism in favor of a crudely thought out, inefficient mercantilism that is so dependent on consumer-goods export that the economic decline in the U.S. will sink its economy. The two most productive economies here are Thailand followed by the Philippines. The spirit of free enterprise definitely prevails in the Philippines.
As for running off and hiding: we didn't come here to "hide". We sold our house in New Jersey at the top of the market in late 2008, and came here for FAMILY reasons. All the bad things in the U.S. began happening after we got here. But I'll say it again: I'm a Jew, and I've read "Mein Kampf" from cover to cover. If I had been a German Jewish family head in 1926, I would have had my family and my money out of Germany by the end of 1927 -- five full years before the Nazi takeover. I may be more familiar with the nuts and bolts of a totalitarian takeover than you are -- and when the gates close, you won't have anything left to fight with. Feel free to contact me directly at any time at "davidlaibow1215[at]yahoo.com". Sincerely, Dave Laibow

It depends where you are. This is a country of 7,107 islands and about 50 different dialects. We are in Pampanga Province, in Central Luzon, which is as "first-world" as you can want (I know headhunters with cell phones in their loincloths), but there are parts of Mindanao where I can't go, because my wife is afraid I'll be kidnapped and/or murdered because I'm white. Communications infrastructure is world-class and improving all the time, because the returns on investment are so good for the major tech and com companies. Terrorism does exist, but mainly in western Mindanao. As for anti-American sentiment, that's not the government or the majority of people in Luzon, but Filipinos are passionately independent and nationalistic. As I've said, unless you want to work for someone else, this is the greatest country for retirement and small business I can imagine. It also had a 2012 GDP growth rate of over 6%, because of all the international capital coming in. Feel free to contact me at "davidlaibow1215[at]yahoo.com" for more information.

The breadbox exists only in your own mind. I'm a Jew and I've read Adolf Hitler's "My Struggle" (Mein Kampf" from cover to cover (which brought me 3 serious death threats). That's the playbook Obama and Company are following. My advice: get yourself, your family, and your money to a country that believes in free enterprise -- Australia and Asis. This part of the world is, in the real sense, the "developing" world. Warning: if you have to work for someone else, as opposed to starting your own business, you do NOT want to look for work in the Philippines. The deck is stacked in favor of citizens from the beginning, and there are no laws prohibiting discrimination. Let me give an extreme example. I look for a job as an accountant, and the prospective employer tells me he hates Jews and won't hire me. There isn't a thing I can do -- NOTHING.
If he says "I'll hire you", he reports his intention to hire me to the government, who runs a notice of his intention in one of the national newspapers. If a Filipino with equal qualifications applies, I'm toast -- he's REQUIRED to hire the Filipino.
This is a WONDERFUL country for retirement, or retirement and starting a small business (and if you can start a business that will give full-time employment to 10 Philippine citizens (minimum wage or better, plus all payroll deductions and employer contributions), you will get full and enthusiastic cooperation from the government (contact the Economic Counselor at the nearest Philippine Consulate General), but it ISN'T a good place to come to and seek employment. 90% of the population speaks English, the people are friendly, and both major political parties are enthusiastically right-wing free enterprisers! "Mabuhay!" means "welcome!", and when they say it, they MEAN it!!!

See my commentary above.

See my commentary below.

I certainly agree; we've left notes slipped under the door, and I've mentioned it (discreetly) to Johnnie Galt when I've seen him outdoors. He says that Dagny is in need of therapy but the closest person they have to a therapist is Ellis Wyatt, who practiced psychiatry in Vermont until he lost his license and went into the oil business. Speaking of shale oil, I have a DVD of a 1930s "Olsen and Johnson" movie, in which they find a pioneering shale oil business. If the Democrats take control of the House in 2014 (as I expect them to) that's the end of the shale oil business as private enterprise.

My wife is Filipina, and gave the world 4 sons before coming to the U.S. to pursue advanced studies in global finance. When we first married, the plan was to spend 6 months in the U.S. and 6 months here, but when we moved back in the summer of 2009, I liked it so much that we live here full time.
Unless you have to find employment working for someone else, I recommend retiring and/or retiring and starting a small business here to anyone. There are no US-style protections against employment discrimination, and the deck is stacked in favor of Filipinos from the get-go. On the other hand, most of the foreign capital is coming into Thailand and the Philippines from North America and Western Europe.
You can communicate directly with me at "davidlaibow1215[at]yahoo.com" and I'll tell you more about relocation. I'm not running a business and I don't take fees or commissions from people I recommend contacting -- I just believe that Ayn Rand's prophecy is coming true, and Asia is the place to head for. Sincerely, Dave Laibow

See my commentary above.

See my commentary above.

I don't know what the symbol means, unless it's the crossed eyes and downturned mouth of someone lying on her side (Betty Pope after getting tangled up in her harlequin negligee; Cheryl Taggart after hearing her husband calling her "Betty!" after a moment of passion; Frisco D'Anconia after a moment of passion with any one of half the female population of Latin America; Hank Rearden after learning that Gwen Ives is a lesbian; Floyd Ferris after learning that Gwen Ives is a nymphomaniac; Jim Taggart after learning that Betty Pope is an upwardly mobile Jewish gold-digger from New York's Upper East Side?)

I didn't know about this website until I received my DVD of Part II, and saw the insert describing the site. I currently post blog articles under the title "Requiem For An Empire" under the name "davidlaibow1215" at "3w.rtr.org", and I intend (if given permission) to post them on this site. My advice to you is that unless you're a moocher or a looter, to leave the United States and relocate yourself, your money, and your family to a country of your choice where the spirit of free enterprise still prevails. One of the reasons for the economic malaise gripping Western Europe and North America is the flow of capital investment to Asia (Thailand is the number 1 recipient, followed by the Philippines, where I live).
As far as love in the gulch, my beautiful and charming Filipina wife and I are having a great time, and my kids are adding to the crop of grandchildren. I don't know what Dagny what's-her-name and John Galt are involved in down the road from us, but I wish they'd either close their windows at night, or that she's stop calling him "Hank! Hank!" during moments of what I presume are moments of extreme passion.