Detroit’s Home County Accepts State’s Plan to Avoid Bankruptcy Horace Julian Bond: Remembering A Stalwart Soldier Last Thursday (Aug. 13), Wayne County, the home county of the City of Detroit, avoided declaring bankruptcy. But just like once-vibrant Motor City, the county’s fiscal future is far from sound or settled. Eight months after a federal judge approved a contentious, state-imposed bankruptcy …
Chris Hedges – Evoking the Wrath of Nature
MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H.—The wind on the peak of Mount Washington—the East Coast’s highest point, where some of the most erratic and treacherous weather in the world occurs—reached 60 miles an hour the day I was there with my family. Backpackers huddled in the biting chill next to large boulders or congregated in the lobby of a snack bar and gift …
Richard Eskow – The GOP Debate is What Oligarchy Looks Like
In the run-up to the first Republican presidential debate, a flurry of news stories about the candidates offered glimpses of oligarchy in action. Consider: Jeb Bush’s largest Super PAC has already raised $103 million, most of it collected before he even officially declared that he was running for president. (That may explain the exclamation point in his “Jeb!” logo.) …
Expat Files – 08.07.15
-What’s the story on childhood vaccinations in Latin America?
How many shots are required and at what intervals? Are all kids required to get them? Can parents opt their kids out or otherwise get around it? Is 3rd world lax about it or is there 1st world Nazi-style enforcement? Do Latins even understand the controversy around vaccines, their adjutants and toxic additives?
-A Latin American real estate update:
The real estate bubble seems to creeping all over Latin America. Its settling in while simultaneously straining and cracking around the edges. Meanwhile, since no one’s got the money or credit to buy (except certain gringos and Europeans) it’s turning into an unbelievable renter’s market. There are great deals for those with patience, a good eye and adequate “boots on the ground”. However, don’t expect to get any great deals surfing the net in Cleveland whist sitting on the sofa eating bon-bons. Note that what rents for $1000 a month on the net you can usually negotiate in person down to $600.
-Beware of glossy ads with happy gringo faces selling and promoting real estate projects and developments. When the gringos are in the sales and promo end you can predict just one thing- a top of the local Latin land and housing market is near.
-More solid proof that the gringo advantage is alive and well (when off the gringo tourist trail). Today we have more expat stories proving a 1st world type Big Brother state Latin style is far, far off in the future.
-CONSULT WITH JOHNNY- SCHEDULE A CELL OR SKYPE CALL:
Follow the consult link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com and Johnny will help you sort out your Latin American plans.
Henry A. Giroux – Schools as Punishing Factories: The Handcuffing of Public Education
The Nobel Prize-winning author Ngugi wa Thiong’o has insisted rightfully that “Children are the future of any society,” adding, “If you want to maim the future of any society, you simply maim the children.” (1) If one important measure of a democracy is how a society treats its children – especially children of color, poor and working-class youth, and those …
Leid Stories – 08.03.15
Powerful Symbols, But Symbolism Isn’t Power On Aug. 1, in Selma, Ala., the NAACP launched its “America’s Journey for Justice March”—a 40-day, 860-mile trek to the nation’s capital. The civil-rights organization’s president and CEO, Cornell William Brooks, said the march is meant to dramatize America’s persistent, race-based inequities That same day in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the National Urban League wrapped …
Sarah Lazare – For-Profit Prison Accused of Subjecting Juveniles to ‘Disgraceful’ Conditions
A for-profit British private security firm whose human rights abuses have been documented around the world, from Israel to South Africa to the United Kingdom, stands accused by a grand jury of operating a horrific juvenile detention center in Florida where conditions are so poor, and hygiene so bad, that the prison “should cease to exist.” The firm G4S operates …
America’s Lockup Complex – Robert Hunziker
Year-over-year, America sets new prison records. No other nation on Earth comes close to America’s “lock’em up” ethos. Therefore, assuming that imprisonment records are accurate, the U.S. is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. How else explain the enormous “lock’em up” numbers? What’s going on? Is America riddled with criminals? Jeez, it’s a wonder that tourists come …
The US presidency for sale – Patrick Martin
The 2016 US presidential election will be the most expensive in history, costing an estimated $10 billion, when all spending by candidates, the Democratic and Republican parties, super PACs and other corporate lobbies and trade unions is tabulated. The vast sums being raised and spent by the Democratic and Republican candidates make a mockery of the claims that the United …
The Bush Family Goes for Number Three (With the Help of Its Bankers) By Nomi Prins
[This piece has been adapted and updated by Nomi Prins from her book All the Presidents’ Bankers: The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power, recently out in paperback (Nation Books).] It’s happening. As expected, dynastic politics is prevailing in campaign 2016. After a tease about as long as Hillary’s, Jeb Bush (aka Jeb!) officially announced his presidential bid last week. Ultimately, the two of …