Expat Files – 03.25.16

-Business Banking in Latin America-and how to protect your assets once you get started:
However bad your Spanish is, once in Latin America you will soon start seeing all kinds of business opportunities. Once you’ve found your business “niche” (to me that means no GRINGO competition) you’ll need to have an internet presence and a bank account. That said, how do you select a solid offshore bank for your business accounts(s) that won’t be sucking up to the US govt. and the 1st world legal system?

-Chinese food lovers? You’ve got a big problem if you live in Latin America:

-What will happen to small businesses in Latin America after the US and the rest of the 1st world outlaw the use of CASH?

-The trouble with Pay Pal In Latin America:
Yes they have PP in Latin American, but it’s not such a great deal for businesses and retail providers. Sure, consumers like it but sellers hate it and here’s why…

-Text message overload (in Spanish): If you’ve got a cheap cellphone, get ready for some constant text message aggravation- in Spanish. What’s that all about?

– Naked Sim Cards: Millions of Latins use them… and so do smart Expat Gringos

-The proliferating Latin American cell phone extortion racket: Though this stuff rarely happens to gringos(except in Mexico) here’s a dirty little secret you’ve just got to hear…

– Latin TV, in a word, simply SUCKS!!!:
Yes, Latins love everything gringo and 1st world, even if it’s useless over-hyped Ron Popeil junk like Ginzu Knives, Ab Crunchers, Chia-pets and Buns of Steel. That said, slick Latin TV ad people have discovered the “Gringo Advantage”. As long as anything is promoted on TV as a genuine US product, it undoubtedly becomes a hit. So what’s the latest “As Seen on TV” mega-fad gimmick? …..well, it’s a thick Velcro corset that promises to suck in tummy flab and promote an instant hourglass shape. They’re so popular they can’t keep those stupid things in stock! What’s that say about the overweight and obesity problem in Latin America? (sound familiar?)

Near extinction possible for monarch butterflies

A new study (abstract below) has found that the monarch butterfly population in the US has “a substantial probability of quasi-extinction, from 11–57% over 20 years”. The study repeats the well-documented fact that a major factor in the decline of the monarch is the adoption of herbicide-tolerant GM corn and soybeans. The herbicide spraying has killed off the monarch larvae’s only food, …

Couple Buys Destroyed Farmlands In India And Naturally Transforms Them Into Wildlife Sanctuaries

A passionate couple moved to India to save the nation from complete deforestation by rescuing and rehabilitating barren farmland. For those seeking inspiration even though they have been told that one person can’t make a difference, look no further. This is actually a story about a couple who followed their passion for rehabilitating land, wildlife, and the fresh water supply …

Expat Files – 03.13.16

-Today we discuss cases where Gringos have been tapped for extortion and kidnapping.

It’s not a matter of bad luck but more a matter of location, location, location.

-“HOOTERS” closes its doors in El Salvador… you’ll never guess why

-What places in Mexico, South America and Central America are most safe for gringos and expats wishing to start up a “brick and mortar” business?

-Tips on how to scout out the best locations for your “brick and mortar” business.

-Going “off the grid” in Latin America. More and more gringos and expats are doing it!

-It can be difficult for gringos and expats to blend in and be accepted by the locals. But when it does happen, sometimes it can be downright unsettling… maybe even frightening.

-The amazing “pizza test” and the extent of Latin classism at every level

RAMZY BAROUD – Politics Not As Usual: Is This the Age of American Fascism?

Regardless of the outcome of the American presidential primaries, or even the result of the general elections next November, a frightening phenomenon is under way. The US has decidedly moved to the Right, in fact the Ultra-Right; class differences are more pronounced than ever before, thanks to decades of neoliberal policies, the kind of capitalism that has concentrated the wealth …

It’s All About Food – Manuel Gonzalez and Stephanie Bogdanich – 03.08.16

Part I: Manuel Gonzalez, FoodBytes!

Manuel Gonzalez was born in Mexico, is Managing Director, Head of the Western Region Corporate Clients for Rabobank and founder of FoodBytes! Formerly he was Country head of Rabobank Mexico and holds an MBA from Georgetown University.

Part II: Stephanie Bogdanich, The Taco Cleanse

Wes Allison, Stephanie Bogdanich, Molly R. Frisinger, and Jessica Morris live in Tacotopia (Austin, TX). They introduced the Taco Cleanse at the 2013 Vegan Month of Food by eating tacos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 30 days. Veganmofo.com said, “It should come as no surprise that the newsworthy, tortilla-stockpiling Taco Cleanse . . . not only tops my own list of memories, but everyone else’s.”

Fuel or food? Study sees increasing competition for land, water resources

About 4 percent of the world’s agricultural land and 3 to 4 percent of its fresh water are now used for growing biofuels, according to a new study published March 3, 2016 in the Nature journal Scientific Reports. About one-third of the malnourished people in the world, the findings suggest, could be fed by using these resources for food production. With …

The Gary Null Show – 03.04.16

Dr. Jim Garrison is the founding President of Ubiquity University and the Wisdom School of Graduate Studies, an international school of higher education built upon innovative principles of whole brain and whole system learning. The university operates on four continents with partners in the EU, India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia, Vietnam and others. As the co-founder and President of the Gorbachev Foundation, Jim was instrumental in the founding of the State of the World Forum to lay a template for a more sustainable global civilization. In the late 80s he served as the executive director of the Esalen Institute Soviet-American Exchange, and founded the International Foreign Policy Association in collaboration with Secretary of State George Schultz and Georgian President Edward Shevardnadze to provide humanitarian relief to children in former Soviet republics. Jim has graduate degrees in religion and theology from Harvard and Cambridge universities. His websites are WisdomUniversity.org and UbiquityUniversity.org

John Perkins, primarily through the 1970s and 1980s, was an economic hit man (EHM), a job to convince leaders of developing nations to accept economic conditions that benefit US private and government interests. He was a direct participant or witness to such dramatic modern events as the Saudi Arabian Money Laundering scandal, the fall of the Shah of Iran, the assassinations of Eucador’s and Panama’s democratically elected presidents, and other government and corporate intrigues. John was a chief economist for a large international consulting firm advising the World Bank and IMF, the UN, Fortune 500 companies and many national governments. Since leaving his covert activities, John been a champion of indigenous spiritual cultures and environmental movements through his non profit projects Dream Change and the Pachamama Alliance. After 911, John broke his silence with the publication of his international best seller that has just been fully revised and published as “The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”, to explain that rather than a corrupt specialized activity among select consulting and international construction firms in the past, the system of economic hit men has rather become more sophisticated, more devious, and more widespread, even through the halls of government, and is now intentionally bankrupting the US as it has done in the past with developing nations. His website is JohnPerkins.org where people can receive his newsletter.

DANIEL DENVIR – DONALD TRUMP’S REMEDIAL GUIDE TO FOREIGN POLICY: THE GOP FRONTRUNNER HAS NO IDEA HOW STATECRAFT ACTUALLY WORKS

Over the past several months, Donald Trump has famously said a lot of nasty things about Mexican immigrants. What’s less often noted is that he thinks the Mexican government is run by the world’s most hyper-competent  supervillains. The upshot is that only Trump has the wherewithal to beat them.  “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he said …