By Jamie Douglas
I and my editor Julie R Butler have been producing content for Expat Daily News and Expat Daily News Latin America, while trying to fulfill other commitments such as book writing and photography, visiting with friends, and all the normal things people do.
I really appreciate the many messages I have received from so many of you, mostly sharing my viewpoints, while some of you disagreed with what I have to say. That tells me that I have succeeded. It is the free interchange of diverse ideas that makes up the vibrant social fabric and a successful society.
But not to fear, we will go back to posting daily articles on Expat Daily News Latin America, while my articles will appear with less frequency on Voices From Exile, where I invite all of you to visit every now and then, and participate in the forum I am interested in developing there.
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By Jamie Douglas
We have now had three presidents in the Unites States who, admit it or not, have partaken in the consumption of various illegal drugs.
Bill Clinton would have never been elected had it not been for the fact that compassionate medical marijuana use was on several state ballots, getting the youth vote out and giving him the winning edge in California. Most of us probably remember his infamous declaration that he tried cannabis, but didn’t inhale. Once elected, he did nothing to stop Reagan’s misguided War on Drugs; if anything he made it worse. Then came Bush the Younger, who was a confirmed alcoholic and mass consumer of cocaine as well as abusing prescription pills. But he prayed himself well and went on to start two disastrous wars that have cost untold lives and misery. He further increased spending for the War on Drugs, while the Afghani poppy fields yielded the highest production on record. (We’ve got to be kind to those warlords that are helping us, you know, that Northern Alliance.) read the full article

“What the British can’t see won’t bother them” was the response from the British Ambassador to Spain when asked about the recent news of the authorisation of an oil company to explore for oil off the Canary Islands. Although mindful of the creed of most Ambassadors to be “All things to all men” (such is the world of diplomacy), it is understandable that the Ambassador was not in a position to criticise the decision of the Spanish Government. However, to many Islanders, as well as environmentalists in Spain, his inappropriate and ill timed comment at the time of the announcement was regarded as unhelpful at best, and insensitive at worst. 


The islanders are bothered. 

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By Jamie Douglas
The French republic is in for a possible change in direction, after all the €uro crisis management was abdicated by Nicolas Sarkozy to the new Iron Lady, Angela Thatcher, sorry I mean Merkel, of Germany. His administration is facing serious and legitimate challenges in three weeks, on April 22, when the first round of elections is scheduled to be held.
As is usual before any election, mudslinging ensues, but there seem to be some problems haunting Sarkozy this time around that he is not really addressing.
One of those issues is the fifty million €uro election financing he received from Muammar Ghadaffi to finance his last election. It could very well be the reason behind those ferocious attacks launched by the French Air Force in order to destroy any and all homes and offices once occupied by the Ghadaffi clan. That plan of course did not work, and there are now documents and deposit slips in the public domain. So his best weapon at the moment is to not even lower himself to address these ludicrous accusations. Très bien Monsieur Presidente! read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
Life as an expat invariably involves communicating your love, thoughts, and rants utilizing the internet. Most of us have become so used to using it for talking to our families, banking, getting the news, and so much more. But almost every computer is vulnerable to being hacked in one way or another. Every website you want to access will leave a cookie, most of the time benign, so it can recognize your computer when you return to their site.
While Apple users live in a world of their own, as Apple’s operating system is more immune to attacks than Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, since the beginning of personal computing, Windows-based computers have been successfully attacked, hijacked, and infected with viruses and worms to no end. Every day brings new problems mostly from the former Soviet Union, and there are dozens of firms out there wanting to sell you bullet proof vests for your machine. read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
About every two to four years, a lot of people in the USA get the big itch to leave the country. The four year cycle being the more prevalent one because it coincides with the presidential elections, when every one of those bastards promises a chicken in every pot, whether you are vegan or not, no tax increases, massive job creations, ...and by golly, by the end of my second term we will have a manned lunar base so we can go forth where no man has ever gone nor should ever go: Mars, the desiccated hematite planet. (I have to say that while I have always been a great advocate for the advancement of science, I have yet to find a practical use for the Red Planet. Any science experiments that require low gravity or no gravity can be safely carried out on the international space station.)
Back in a country called the United States of America on Planet Earth, by this time of the year, the incumbent is sitting pretty while, in this particular election cycle, the wannabees are busy tearing each other to shreds, looking for dirt in every nook and cranny that the other candidates have ever traversed, no matter how trivial. It is mandatory that every candidate wear his religion and unwavering support for Israel on their sleeve, making sure to attend every AIPAC-sponsored event, along with holding press conferences in front of temples they don’t belong to while continuously assuring the voters that they are more Christian than all others combined, especially that cultist, what is his name? read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
There is a new standard for when Irish eyes are smiling. After suffering bravely through being one of the PIIGS, being the first one of them to grab the steer by the horns, and doing what was necessary to work toward an honorable recovery, the country just won the Irish Sweepstakes, literally.
The Providence Resources Exploration Company announced almost in conjunction with the Patron Saint’s Day, that they found a massive oilfield off the coast of Cork on March 15, 2012. This is the first time that any sort of commercial oil and gas discovery has been made off the Emerald Isle.
The Barryroe, as she has been named, is a mere 300ft deep and has already started to produce 3,514 barrels of Norwegian quality sweet Brent crude per day (over a million US$ every 3 days), and as a by the way, it is also gifting the Irish with almost 3 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. Come next winter, the Irish should stay warm and toasty.
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Akaisha Kaderli with her global family “Here, try this.”
“Oh, no thanks. That’s ok. I'm good.”
It’s so easy to say “No” to new things. We get comfortable in our lifestyle, our viewpoints, and in our expectations. Trying something new just upsets the applecart. And who wants to do that?
We have our favorite hangouts, the foods we like the most, TV shows we prefer, and our cherished ideas of how our future should be playing out… But meanwhile, Life continues to offer us alternatives that don’t fit into our plans, so we say “No.”
Being afraid of the new It can be frightening to place ourselves in novel situations, meeting someone out of our social circle, or even trying out a new menu item.  And it sounds so silly or even annoying to suggest “Just say Yes to Life!” read the full article

by Julie R Butler
There is a new novel on the bookshelves called “The Expats,” by Chris Pavone. It’s billed as a mystery thriller.
Of course, a story about an ex-CIA agent turned stay-at-home expat mom could not possibly represent the normal experience of most expats. However, the themes will be recognizable to many expats, particularly the “trailing spouses” who have been there and felt much like Kate Moore, the protagonist, regardless of where in the world their expat experiences have taken place.
Janet Maslin of the New York Times uses the word “mundanity” to describe the ennui that has enveloped Kate. A sense of creeping malaise is not uncommon for spouses who leave behind a network of friends and/or careers of their own in order to accompany the working spouse to their overseas assignments. The transition from a stimulating work environment to the humdrum routine of domesticity can be difficult enough for many people in their home countries; but add the element of isolation that being in a foreign culture often inflicts, and the effects can become stifling. It takes a great amount of effort to make meaningful connections in the community when there are language and cultural barriers, while less challenging options are limited to a circle of other expat moms and couples. What is meant to be a move to expand one’s world can end up shrinking it, unless until one is able to reach out to the broader community. read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
Well, it had to happen! Just as sure as fall fell upon the southern hemisphere on March 20, Europe’s lovely springtime has arrived; along with the rest of the northern hemisphere’s, I should add. While it is grape harvest time in the latitudes where I am, Washington D.C. is enjoying the wonders of the Cherry Blossoms, which arrived a little early this year, while in Europe, after having suffered from a very schizophrenic winter, the little Marguerites and crocus flowers are pushing the loose dirt out of their way to turn the formerly bland wintery fields into a polychromatic wonderland.
For those of you with a cultural hunger, there is also an abundance of polyphonic offerings to be had in cities and towns across the continent. The concert and theatrical season is now entering the spring season as well, with most of those wonderful old buildings offering a second or third set of performances.
Museums are also joining in, offering amazing exhibitions that are traveling through their cities. read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
At this very moment I am writing this, one of my favorite nations is under siege from a lone lunatic gunman while the elections are turning out to be quite a spectacle. So I opened my fan mail today, and found this very polite letter from a woman who lives a mere nine km from France.
Hello Jamie,
I have recently been given the access details to The Expatriate News and there have been fairly numerous articles from your good self about France, their upcoming elections, Airbus, the random shootings in Toulouse, adjusting to living in France, etc. Living in the Mendoza area in Argentina I am not exactly sure what your background and experience is relative to France because you are somewhat off base in some of your pronouncements which are covered quite nicely in the general press in France and Europe.
Are you French, have you ever lived in France, do you speak French? As one who grew up in French Canada speaking both French and English and has lived within 9 kilometres of France for the last 25 years, it seems odd that you focus many of your articles (at least the ones I have seen so far) on France when you live in South America.
Why not tell us more about the delights of Argentina in particular and South America in general rather than trying to "teach grandma how to suck eggs" when it comes to France? Incidentally, and despite your advice to the contrary, Sarkosy will retain his Presidency and the problems of Airbus are not like you represent at all!
Bonne journée!
Dear Reader,
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by Julie R Butler
It can happen to anyone traveling or living in a foreign culture, even those who are the most enthusiastic about exploring some of the different ideas and ways of doing things that are out there in the big wide world. Of course, each individual deals with the experience of navigating the unfamiliar differently, so the duration and force of the waves of disorientation vary greatly. In general, culture shock is broken down into four stages. One of the most important ways of dealing with it is to recognize it when it is happening to you.
Like so many other aspects of life, first, there is the honeymoon phase. This is a time that is filled with fascination with the newness, excitement, and wonder. You rejoice in the exotic and the romantic. The act of discovery is a thrill. Enjoy the exhilarating ride, because honeymoons don’t last forever.
The next phase has many names, but I like the title “settling in” best. As the thrill of the new begins to wear off, anxiety seeps in. Feeling disoriented is not fun anymore, only frustrating. You are finding that connecting with others is not easy, making you feel lonely and a little homesick for the comfort of the familiar. As the reality of your situation replaces the rosy romantic sheen that colored your new world at first, understanding that this is merely a difficult phase of the settling in process will go a long way toward helping you direct your attitude in a more positive direction rather than allowing yourself to become disillusioned or letting anger toward others build up inside you. read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
Sarkozy and the Elevated Terror Threat
France has been hit by thee back to back mysterious “terrorist attacks” out of the blue, all having been carried out by gunmen on a scooter with faces darkened out by helmets.
On March 15, three soldiers were attacked, two of them killed while the third one expired of his head wound later. This comes on top of the murder of an officer the week before. Then on Monday, there followed an attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse, when again, it was gunmen on a motorcycle who opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah secondary college, killing a Rabbi along with three children and severely wounding another. Now it must be made clear to my readers that two of the soldiers killed in the second attack were Muslims, and that the first headlines released by several French as well as British news outlets immediately claimed it was a racist killer at work. French prosecutors have now confirmed that the killers in the third incident used the same bike as in the other two attacks and the guns used are also allegedly the same. read the full article

The unexpected phone call from the mortuary in Las Palmas immediately took my attention. Was I in a position to pay the outstanding account at the mortuary?  This really was not the kind of call that anyone would wish to receive first thing in the morning, and particularly when one is struggling to make sense of the world before coffee.
I assured the very pleasant lady at the other end of the line that I had no previous knowledge of their service and that, no, I did not have any kind of account with them, nor did I have one that was due for payment. However, I assured her, that I would keep her number on file - just in case I needed a spot of embalming in the future. One just never knows when such services might be required. The very nice lady even offered to send me a brochure about their range of services...
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By Jamie Douglas
Many of us living in faraway lands miss the banal fare that our homeland’s networks are offering on a daily basis. Whether it is soap operas from Venezuela, BBC dramas, or any other feel good, connecting-you-to-home show, the ubiquitous Simpsons or South Park dubbed in a foreign language just doesn’t quite cut it.
We have a TV. It is resting comfortably, screen down in our storage room. But for many, being hooked up to the satellite means being connected to the world. No matter where in the world you are, satellite dishes are everywhere. They are on the balconies of exclusive high rises as well as appearing as permanent garden fixtures from Amazonia to the Sahara Desert.
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By Jamie Douglas
Woke up, Got out bed, had no need to drag a comb across my head (lack of substantial mass), but I opened my mail and went to my usual sites, and I’ll be damned, there was a banker at Goldman Sachs and Co. who has a conscience! His name is Greg Smith and he was the executive director of Goldman Sachs’ US equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Greg has been with the firm for many years, having started there as an unpaid intern over 12 years ago. One could safely surmise that Mr. Smith has some insights into how these evil greedy firms work. While the US Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations are people, a decision that will forever taint the legacy of the Roberts Court, corporations are people without a conscience, without allegiance to anyone except the mighty buck.
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By Jamie Douglas
Just in time for the coming first round of the French elections, which pit Angela Merkel’s lapdog, Nicolas Sarkozy, against his socialist opponent, François Hollande, a juicy scandal that has been making the rounds for several years is resurfacing. According to usually unreliable sources, ranging from the U.S. Department of State (no comment) to the Pakistani Intelligence service known as SIS, to the Hindustan Times, The Malawi Voice (Madonna’s favorite place to buy babies), and the regular news outlets of the world, Sarkozy’s election win in 2007 was financed by the very man who Sarkozy successfully led the effort to dethrone and assassinate.
It is being alleged that the money was funneled to him through Panama, which of course would make a lot of sense, what with one of the most corrupt regimes in power there and more per capita banks than is really necessary. It should be noted however that most of those banks are not doing business with ordinary people; rather they are a conduit that holds secret accounts in their computers.
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By Jamie Douglas
Here we are, in central Argentina, anxiously waiting for cooler days and even cooler nights, just about a week away from the autumnal equinox, but still suffering from daytime highs hovering close to 100° F on many days. Meanwhile, the axis of the earth has shifted imperceptibly to bring the northern hemisphere closer to the life giving sunlight and longer daylight. This can only mean one thing: Springtime is coming!
Particularly after the Siberian Express that clobbered Europe, which was so devastating for so many, the thawing of the soil, the gradual recovery of the grass and the occasional daisy’s popping up, the crocuses neck’s unfolding out of the gardens, and the little buds starting to reveal themselves on the branches of the trees signal that the migratory birds will soon enough bring their songs back into your hearts.
Down here, we had a magnificent summer, with a bountiful harvest of fine fruits, fortunately without the devastating hailstorms that accompany the hot season here at times. The peaches are full of nectar, the plums a lovely dark purple, with apples and apricots complementing all of the melons and fine vegetables still growing in the fields. And best of all, they taste like the fruits they resemble instead of the plastic you get in US supermarket! read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
Last Friday, March 9 2012, I wrote a piece that touched on the French elections and in small part the Schengen accord. For any prospective migrant to Europe from countries outside of the Schengen Zone, life and obtaining residency has been made much more difficult. The signatories to that treaty include virtually all of Western Europe, with the exception of the British Isles, which for the nomadic expat, or even expats wanting to settle anywhere in the zone or even in the UK, create, at times, insurmountable difficulties.
Now enter the coming French elections, where outgoing President (my prediction) Sarkozy is flailing at straws, just like many politicians in the USA, by blaming the downhill slide of the economy and the country’s general well being on those evil immigrants, but this time from within the Schengen Zone. read the full article

By Jamie Douglas
French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel’s favorite lap dog, is running for his life. His lack of backbone in dealing with the Euro crisis has left the door wide open for the socialist candidate François Hollande to spank him severely in the coming April 22 elections with a runoff on May 6.
With his almost certain defeat looming at the hands of the French electorate, he, a descendant of Hungarian immigrants himself, has suddenly declared that France must close its borders to all the immigrants who are causing all the hardships being suffered. (Mostly by the immigrants) read the full article