Expat Files – 12.20.15

– Which Latin currencies are the strongest and most stable? Which are apparently good risks to hold, and why?

-More news on the very high interest rates Latin banks are offering in both US dollar funny money and local funny money accounts too.

-What Latin banks are conservative, strong and worth dealing with? How do clueless gringos search them out?

-How to take advantage of subtle local variations in currency exchange rates.

-Which Latin countries have the fastest growing fat-ass government bureaucracies, and why?

-A sad but true Latin holiday story..

Interview with Robert Clancy – Author, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Soul – 12.17.15

Robert Clancy is a gifted entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, author and minister. At 19, Robert had a divine spiritual experience that greatly altered his life. In 2012 he started “Robert Clancy – Guide to the Soul” Facebook fan page where he shares his divinely inspired thoughts, now followed by over 250,000 people worldwide. Robert is the author of the acclaimed book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Soul. Robert supports ongoing volunteerism within his business and everyday life, he inspires his team and encourages professional leaders to step up and give back.

CORY DOCTOROW – America’s permanent, ubiquitous tent-cities

Homelessness in America dwindled away after WWII, when the GI Bill and generous social programs seemed to finally get on top of a problem that had been with the country since its inception; but starting with Reagan’s mass de-institutionalizations and cuts to social services, homelessness has only grown, a phenomenon America answered by criminalizing being alive, and pretending not to …

Leid Stories – 12.16.15

Charades: What the Republican ‘Debate’ Proved About the Media
Leid Stories predicted that yesterday’s heavily marketed Republican Q&A, cohosted by CNN and Facebook, would focus on “terrorism and related issues—immigration, homeland security, ISIS and, of course, the “good” Muslims/”bad” Muslims racist canard.” And so it did. Today, Leid Stories expands on yesterday’s theme—the why of it all, and the media’s role in helping to create and propagate an alternate reality and narrative.

Kali Holloway – Where Does Your City Rank? The Most Liberal—and Conservative—Cities Around the Country

Remember when Sarah Palin said she [3] loved to visit “the real America”—as if there are parts of the country that are less authentically American than others? A more articulate person might’ve said she preferred visiting the more conservative swaths of the country to the liberal ones. It’s still a politically unwise admission, but unwise is pretty much Palin’s middle name. In any …

Peter Symonds – Weakening currency and economic slowdown in China

Amid a continuing weakening of the Chinese currency, the People’s Bank of China (PoBC) has signalled new moves that could accelerate the slide in the renminbi’s value and trigger a currency war among export-dependent countries in Asia and internationally. Last Friday, as the renminbi hit its weakest level against the US dollar in more than four years, the PoBC announced …

Nancy Hanover – Mark Zuckerberg, philanthrocapitalism and parasitism

Last Tuesday Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and the 16th richest man in America, and his wife Priscilla Chan announced they would be donating 99 percent of their Facebook shares, currently valued at $45 billion, to charity during their lifetime. The gift was announced in the form of a letter to their newborn child announcing the formation of the Chan …

Graham Vanburen – Dead, Disabled, Displaced or Destroyed – Democracy Delivered

Six months ago, the Washington DC-based Physicians for Social Responsibility (PRS) released a landmark study over the death toll from 10 years of the “War on Terror” since the 9/11 attacks. It was largely ignored by the world’s press. The 97-page report accompanied by hundreds of studies, reports and investigations by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning doctors’ group is the first …