After descending into Stumptown Coffee’s Seattle roastery, where bags of beans from different countries wait for their turn in the WWII-era roasting machine, we gather for the daily cupping: a sampling, by smell and taste, of coffee from five different farms. Today’s cupping features beans from farms in Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, and Ethiopia. The production roaster, Jesse Hughey, describes the …
Forest Bathing Increases Immunity
Anyone who has walked in a forest knows by common sense the beauty of it. It’s why some people choose to live in forests, or next to them, and why other people travel thousands of miles to stand in Redwood forests, or the rain forests of Costa Rica or Ecuador. But researchers in Japan, where the tradition called shinri-yoku, or …
Expat Files – 03.22.15
-Just like in the US, Latin governments are terribly corrupt… so the next duly (or unduly) elected chief thief nearly always finds the coffers empty. But no matter…. the next scumbag party chief thief in power does as every careless spendthrift government does and floats a new bond issue to cover the debt of the previous bond issue. Meanwhile, the …
Expat Files – 03.15.15
-Expat Eddie checks out the proposed Nicaraguan Canal Zone himself- looking for new business opportunities. Being Eddie, along the way he strayed into a few bars and casinos (both legal and dodgy) and finally ended up getting scammed by a brand new gringo acquaintance and two young female con artists in Costa Rica. Â -Another example of why in Latin …
My libertarian vacation nightmare: How Ayn Rand, Ron Paul & their groupies were all debunked
Last month, I spent my final vacation night in Honduras in San Pedro Sula, considered the most dangerous city outside of the war-torn Middle East. I would not have been scared, except that I traveled with my wife and our four children, aged 5, 7, 14 and 18.  On our last taxi ride, we could not find a van to fit us …