Category: Trends & News

SEARCH

US Justice Department logic: Bernanke is a domestic terrorist

March 21, 2011 Denver, Colorado, USA The United States Department of Justice delivered a very clear and unfortunate message on Friday: “Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism.  While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as

Read More

Inexpensive second passport in Paraguay

March 18, 2011 Denver, Colorado, USA There are a few rules that I rarely break. One rule is that once I travel to the United States and go through the pain and scare tactics of US Border Protection, I stick around for a couple of weeks visiting family and friends in order to

Read More

The biggest bubble on the planet

Given that the entire planet is fixated on a nuclear disaster in the world’s 3rd largest economy, or the goings-on in Muslim nations yearning to breathe free, it seems logical that Miniplenty’s latest newspeak releases went largely unnoticed. According to Miniplenty, the all item inflation index for consumers rose at a 0.5% monthly

Read More

5 countries with the lowest risk of disaster

March 11, 2011 Denver, Colorado, USA Watching the events unfold in Japan and Libya has probably given a lot of people reason to consider their own safety, wherever they live. “What if that happened where I live?” is a perfectly natural question to ask when faced with wall-to-wall coverage of horrible devastation. It’s

Read More

Possibly the Last Time to Get Out of the Dollar

March 15, 2011 Dallas, Texas, USA It’s no secret that the United States government owes a pretty penny to foreigners. Certainly, what America owes to foreigners pales in comparison to what it owes to Ben Bernanke… but still, $4.45 trillion is no small number, even in these crazy times when terms like “kajillion

Read More

The silver lining in Japan

March 14, 2011 Dallas, Texas, USA It’s often said that in times of crisis, there is tremendous opportunity.  This is true… especially for a nation in turmoil.  Sometimes leaders capitalize on the opportunity to make difficult decisions that put their country on a path to long-term success. Other times, they rely on the

Read More

Lessons from Argentina’s crash

March 10, 2011 New York City There aren’t too many things in this world that I worry about– the way I have my life structured makes me feel confident and prepared to deal with whatever might come my way. Of the few things on my list, however, traveling to the United States is

Read More

Insight from Japan: When Deflation is a GOOD Thing

Tim Staermose here. Simon asked me to fill in today as he’s presently en route to New York City. I’m sure at this point, he’s probably trying to remember all the countries that he’s been to since his last trip to the US six months ago– it’s required that you list all of

Read More

Mexico’s biggest problem is the US government

Reporting from Merida, Mexico I’m leaving Mexico. No, it’s not because I’ve been robbed, beaten, or kidnapped by the drug cartels. And it’s not because some corrupt policias tried to shake me down, because I contracted swine flu, or that beheaded bodies were left in the street outside of my hotel. Honestly, I’m

Read More

A boiling frog no more…

March 7, 2011 Progreso, Mexico I’ve seen a lot of bizarre things in my travels. ‘Toro Piscine‘ in France comes to mind. A host of unmentionables in Southeast Asia. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ style rituals at a Spanish monastery sponsored by a government in exile. Buzkashi (polo with a dead animal). This past Friday

Read More

Do you know someone who has broken free?

March 4, 2011 Merida, Mexico While Mexican President Felipe Calderon debates strategy over transnational crime and narcotrafficking with Barack Obama in Washington, waves of North American college students are beginning to descend upon the Yucatan peninsula for Spring Break ’11. They must have missed the memo from their home governments warning them that

Read More

The ultimate self-reliance manual

March 3, 2011 Cancun, Mexico We talk a lot about self-reliance in our daily conversations, as well as in our premium service. It’s an incredibly important concept– our civilization is based on an array of complex systems upon which just about everyone depends, yet only a few men control. Our money system, for

Read More

Stay in Texas… and die?

March 2, 2011 Tulum, Mexico Albert Einstein is frequently credited with saying, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”  It’s true. People do some really dumb things, often to their own detriment. We engage in reckless activities, participate in dangerous sports, remain in

Read More

The market is telling us that the dollar is finished

February 28, 2011 Tulum, Mexico There’s major shift occurring right now in financial markets. Sure, the food and freedom riots that are spreading across the globe are a major indicator that civil unrest follows very closely behind resource shortages and economic turmoil… but there’s something else that I’ve noticed recently– it’s a sea

Read More