The host Cliff Stewart, Lisa Stewart and Lamont Banks talks to Our Special Guest Congressman Hank Johnson, who is in his fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District in the eastern suburbs of Atlanta, Congressman Hank Johnson has distinguished himself as a substantive, effective lawmaker and a leading national progressive voice.
Lisa Schlein – UN: Record-breaking 60 Million Forcibly Displaced Worldwide
GENEVA— The U.N. refugee agency warns the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes is likely to exceed 60 million in 2015. The UNHCR has released its Mid-Year Trends 2015 report covering global forced displacement during the first six months of this year. The UNHCR report does not include the hundreds of thousands of refugees who made the perilous …
Graham Peebles – Market Driven Homelessness in London
As a world community we have agreed that everyone has a right to a home, (article 25 of the UNDHR makes this clear), however, like many such ‘rights’ – food, adequate health care, good education for example, the ‘right’ to a home is dependent upon your ability to pay for that right. Having spent almost two years sleeping on sofas, …
Expat Files – 12.11.15
– When a few Latins have small casual business meetings they often meet up in the local greasy spoon or McDonalds. However, when a first-world person is involved in a meeting suddenly the climate changes. The Latin contingent will do a ridiculous “upscale” shift to Starbucks or the I-Hop. Why might that be? Could it be the “gringo advantage” or I-Hop disadvantage?
– Authorities might close down an airport for a few hours during a crisis or emergency. Last week such a shutdown happened at Tucuman airport in Panama (Central America’s busiest airport). You’ll never guess why, not in a million years…
-More on the teetering Latin real estate house of cards. Concerning Central America: it looks like the coming collapse will start with Panama…
-Argentina’s got a new President, and the old thieving one (Kirchner) is being a very bad sport about turning over the reins. Meanwhile the currency is collapsing and many Airlines are no longer accepting their steadily devaluing peso.
-There are 100 reasons why Chicken bus drivers have the most dangerous jobs in Latin America.
-What happens to gringos and expats when they get issued parking tickets and/or moving violations? Naturally the transit fine system is on manana time too, even so, should you be worried?
-What happens when Latin businesses try to copy first world businesses?
Turkey’s Push to Create New Ottoman Empire ‘Blowing Up in its Own Face’
Turkey is taking advantage of neighbors’ crises to loot resources from them, and the government’s ‘neo-Ottomanism’ policy has led to the brink of civil war, geopolitical analyst Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya told Sputnik. The Turkish government’s links with Daesh, and looting of oil from Syria and Iraq has been an open secret in the Middle East for years, voiced by Turkish citizens living on the border, the Turkish …
Expat Files – 11.13.15
-Thinking of exploring or travelling long-term through Latin America? If you’re moving around, how can you get your snail- mail and packages from friends, family delivered as well as stuff from outfits like Amazon.com? Can you get that stuff shipped from up north? Yes, and it’s easy secure and inexpensive, that is, if you know the ropes ahead of time.
-Coming down to Latin America affords you a second lease on life in more ways than you can imagine. For one, if you plan correctly (and from the beginning) you can start your life in your new Latin country with a very small, nearly anonymous, footprint as well as a clean slate. Yes, you do have a chance to start fresh, so don’t blow it…
-With regular gasoline prices in the states averaging about $2.30 a gallon, how does that translate to local gas prices in Latin America?
-More about the most recent barrage of hotel-salon, one-day seminars promising slick diplomas, guaranteed to make attendees experts in something or other: though really designed to part gullible Latins from their hard-earned pesos.
-Today an email from a former Mormon asking for a few of my own weird Latin American Mormon tales. Of course I will oblige…
Expat Files – 10.30.15
-Today we discuss a very special place called the Lake Atitlan district in Guatemala. No one who stays there more than a few days is unaffected by it. Now I’m certainly no romantic sentimentalist, but I have to admit it really does leave an indelible memory.
-Some more talk about how illegals send “remisas” ($) back to their Latin countries of origin in a variety of ways. Because these guys are illegals, under the radar, and don’t want to get caught and deported, they do try to use anonymous ways of sending cash home as much as possible. That said, expats and gringos who might (and should) want to keep a low profile can use many of these same (quite legal) methods to move small amounts of $ around themselves. People are always finding new ways and the possibilities seem to be endless.
-Some tips on different cellphone service providers and the general use of cell phones in Latin America
-Hi tech drones (not those hobby toys) have arrived in Latin America
-The state of consumer product recalls in Latin America and the true meaning of, ”Buyer Beware”.
-A thoughtful Canadian reveals the truth about living with “Big Brother” up in the Great White North. He tells us how Canada is slowly becoming unbearable and how he and his wife hope to make their escape to Latin America soon.
Pam Bailey – Deprived of Right to Work, Refugees Struggle to Subsist Outside Syria
As masses of Syrian refugees continue to flood Europe, paranoia is running high.Hungary built a fence designed to repel the newcomers, and a transnational brawl has ensued over how many of these forced migrants should be accepted by whom. Even in the United States, just how much of a welcome the refugees should receive is hotly contested. Leading Republican presidential candidate …
Harmeet Sooden – The US-led Coalition’s Human Rights Record in Iraq
Human rights violations committed by ISIS are condemned the world over – rightly so – whereas those committed by the US-led coalition fighting ISIS are under-reported, particularly in the West. What follows is a selection of the latter – a selection that strongly suggests the coalition’s military strategy is compounding the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. 13 September 2010 – Amnesty International …
Michaela Whitton – 11,000 Icelanders Offer To House Syrian Refugees
United Kingdom — The Icelandic government is reconsidering its national refugee quota after a social media campaign resulted in over 11,000 Icelanders offering up a room in their homes to refugees. As Europe struggles to cope with unprecedented levels of those seeking shelter, residents of the sparsely populated Nordic island country resorted to direct action to pressure their leaders. Iceland was …