Podcasts about Central America

On this edition of Parallax Views, we are hot off the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference aka COP25. Joining us in light of this is Prof. Anatol Lieven, a Senior Fellow at the Quincy Institute and a former academic at King's College in London. According to Lieven, in a new report he authored, climate change is our greatest national security threat. We discuss this and his book Climate Change and the Nation State: The Case for Nationalism (which, as you'll hear in the conversation in this episode I prefer the alternative British title of Climate Change and the Nation State: The Realist Case). In this conversation we discuss how Lieven became interested in climate change as someone who came out of security studies; civic nationalism and/or patriotism vs. ethno-nationalism, legitimate concerns over the concept and idea of nationalism, the need to reject ethno-nationalism, Lieven's critique of cultural individualism and Reagan/Thatcher-style politics, Lieven's criticism of power elites and especially Pentagon/military elites, Lieven's criticisms of how the Left approaches climate change and politics, unifying people in the fight against climate change, misconceptions about the Realist School of Foreign Policy in relation to issues like human rights and ethics, the potential of climate chaos to cause a refugee crisis, the need for international cooperation, the anarchic world system, migration and climate change, migration and radicalization of the right, the need to make individual sacrifices to combat climate crisis, why climate change is a bigger national security threat to the U.S. (and the world) than China, Teddy Roosevelt, the fossilization and atrophying of thought within the U.S. foreign policy "Blob" due to generational strangleholds, Lieven's support for the Green New Deal, mentioning the failings of the previous New Deal of FDR in terms of how it didn't necessarily help marginalized people in society enough, conservatism and environmentalism, why conservatives should be concerned about climate change and why it would fit within a broad definition of conservative thought and its intellectual tradition (also how supporting reform could fit into that tradition), the effect of climate change on the U.S. and Western nations already, how technological fixes are not enough in the near-term future, climate change as a threat multiplier, fights over water in places like Darfur, the capacity of climate change to cause food shortages (which in turn have historically caused revolutions, public unrest, and civil war), the need for a "new dispensation" as we saw under FDR, the need for social solidarity, the strains of American nationalism, at this current point only states can be pushed to introduce policies that will address climate change, the United Nations as a body of states, John Mearsheimer's The Great Tragedy of Power Politics, climate change may bring about the collapse of the nation state system, Lieven's belief that we cannot wait till the end of capitalism to deal with climate change, the need to reform capitalism at the very least, heatwaves and forest fires in the U.S., sea level rise and intensified storm and storm surged having the potential to causing damaging floods, comparing the U.S. national security elites of today to those of the Confucian elites in imperial China, the need to assess new threats rather than being unadopted to and blindsided by them, the problem of "residual elites" and their concern with "Great Power" threats, the worst offender in the world of climate change other than the Gulf states, the Glasgow summit and what it demonstrates, currently existing technological fixes for climate change aren't radical enough, the lessons of COP26 and the need for investments into new technologies, the need to invest in storage in relation to alternative energy, the need to research nuclear and fusion energy, carbon capture, tech is not a miracle cure, Biden's military spending and why Lieven views it as grotesque, America's radical individualism and the need for a renewal of civic duty, embittered cultural divisions and polarization being whipped up across the political spectrum, the U.S. neglect of Central America, Trump's hollowing out of the EPA and the threat of Trumpism to the American struggle against climate change, and much, much more. "Climate Change: The Greatest National Security Threat to the United States" by Anatol Lieven - Quincy Brief No. 18 10/25/21 "THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS OUR REAL CHALLENGE, NOT CHINA" by Anatol Lieven - InkStick 11/04/21 "Climate chaos: the global threat multiplier of our time" by Anatol Lieven - Responsible Statecraft 10/26/21 "Here's what world leaders agreed to — and what they didn't — at the U.N. climate summit" by Lauren Sommer - NPR 11/13/21 "Interview: Lawrence Wilkerson - A discussion of tensions in East Asia, and some possible solutions" by Emanuel Pastreich - The Diplomat 12/03/21 Anatol Lieven Discusses America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism on C-Span "What do realists think about climate change?" by The Centre for Geopolitics & Security in Realism Studies (CGSRS) 11/13/21 "Abby Martin Confronts Nancy Pelosi Over Pentagon Spending at COP26" - Yoube 11/09/21 "We Can't Confront Climate Change While Lavishly Funding the Pentagon" by JP Sottile - Truthout 08/18/21 "The Realist Guide to Solving Climate Change" by Stephen M. Walt - The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs 08/13/21

— Dear Son, Please stay here with me, knowing the one and only truth within. We are infinite beings of love, light, and warmth, that nothing can change or hide. It is here where your true self remains the same, no matter what anyone says or does. It is here where your life's challenges hold purpose and beautiful rhythm. And it is here, dear son, where we first met, and will forever hold hands in time.  Valeria Teles interviews Nadia Davis — the author of “Home Is Within You: A Memoir.” Nadia Davis has a lifetime record of passionate work improving the lives of others. The youngest of seven children to ethnically mixed parents of Native American, Mexican, and German descent, her father was her inspiration. Wallace Davis - an orphaned field worker who later became one of the first Spanish speaking attorneys in California whose successful lawsuit brought an end to “discriminatory ability grouping” of non-English speaking children. Nadia received her B.A. in Sociology with a specialization in Juvenile Justice from the University of California Los Angeles in 1993, her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School in 1996, and was admitted to the State Bar in 1997. At U.C.L.A. Nadia led numerous efforts to empower and at FOX Television Show “In Living Color,” and studying better ways to assist paroled youth at the David Kenyon Juvenile Justice Center in South Central LA. In law school, she chaired the Public Interest Law Foundation, studied Human Rights and Environmental Law in Central America, and transcribed law books for a blind student. Following law school, she independently authored a handbook and conducted seminars throughout the state for immigrant youth seeking a higher education, protected the rights of new citizens against unfounded accusations, and spearheaded efforts to unite political parties in the County. Nadia has overcome multiple challenges. She is a survivor of child and adult trauma. As an adult, she abruptly lost her father, a child in utero, and best friend in just a year. In July of 1999, she suffered a near fatal car accident. After months of rehabilitation, she returned to work in her wheelchair and eventually walked again. Nadia's work focus shifted to assisting victims of interpersonal violence. As Executive Director of the Alameda County Family Justice Center, she led collaboration efforts of multiple co-located public, non-profit, and government agencies in an effort to provide more easily accessible and efficient services to victims of domestic violence, rape, sexual exploitation, and child abuse. To learn more about Nadia Davis and her work, please visit: nadia-davis.com       — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well. 

With migration a dynamic phenomenon in the Americas—with significant Central American flows to the U.S. border, and much smaller but growing numbers of South Americans and others traveling north—the U.S. government increasingly is realizing that migration management cannot occur only at the U.S.-Mexico border and must include cooperation with Mexico, Central America, and other countries in the hemisphere such as Canada, Costa Rica, and Panama. This recognition of migration as a regional system requires a new set of policies and ways of engagement with countries across the Americas, as Migration Policy Institute (MPI) President Andrew Selee discusses with colleague Andrea Tanco. The conversation also turns to the evolution of the immigration debate over the past two decades and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

So we're gonna get into something a bit different this week. Not really truecrime, not unsolved, but definitely crazy. This is another one we got from a listener that we had no clue ever happened. While the official death toll of this incident is usually put at around 45, some estimates say it could be up to 2000. Those bodies are said to either have been dumped in the sea or buried in mass graves. So what was the incident about you ask? Well, long story very short… Bananas. We're gonna dive into what is simply known as the Banana massacre,  a crazy tale of a government squashing a banana strike with excessive force and what came after. Buckle up guys, here we go!   Before we start, I want to acknowledge the great sources of info for this episode. 90% of the information on this week's episode came from two amazing sources that had tons of info that we couldn't find anywhere else. First a paper by Jorge Enrique Elias Caro and Antonino Vidal Ortega on the website scielo.org was our source for the actual massacre info while an article called Rotten Fruit by Peter Chapman on the Financial Times website was our source for the company history.  So, let's start by talking about a fruit company. United Fruit company to be exact. United Fruit began life in the 1870s when Minor Cooper Keith, a wealthy young New Yorker, started growing bananas as a business sideline, alongside a railway line he was building in Costa Rica. Both ventures took off, and by 1890 he was married to the daughter of a former president of Costa Rica and owned vast banana plantations on land given to him by the state. The bananas were shipped to New Orleans and Boston, where demand soon began to outstrip supply.Keith teamed up with Andrew Preston, a Boston importer, and in 1899 they formed United Fruit. Bananas sold well for their tropical cachet: they were exotic, a luxury only affordable to the rich. But the rapidly rising output of United Fruit's plantations brought down prices. The company created a mass market in the industrial cities of the US north-east and Midwest. The once bourgeois banana became positively proletarian.   By the 1920s, United Fruit's empire had spread across Central America. It also included Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. In South America the company owned chunks of Colombia and Ecuador. It came to dominate the European as well as the US banana markets with the help of its Great White Fleet of 100 refrigerated ships, the largest private navy in the world.   There are more than 300 varieties of banana, but United Fruit grew only one: the Gros Michel or ”Big Mike”. This variety suited most tastes; it was not too big or too small, too yellow or too sweet - if anything, it was a little bland. This was the forerunner of the transnational products we have today.           But mass production took its toll. In 1903, disease hit United Fruit's plantations in Panama. An array of pathogens kept up the attack, and the banana was discovered to have a genetic weakness. Its seeds are ill equipped for reproduction, so growers take cuttings from one plant to create another. The banana is a clone, with each inbred generation less resilient.    Although the banana was diseased, United Fruit marketed it as a product that exemplified good health. Banana diseases did not affect humans, and the fruit was said to be the cure for many ills: obesity, blood pressure, constipation - even depression. In 1929, United Fruit set up its own ”education department”, which supplied US schools with teaching kits extolling the benefits of the banana and the good works of the company. Meanwhile, United Fruit's ”home economics” department showered housewives with banana recipes.   One of United Fruit's most successful advertising campaigns began in 1944, designed to boost the banana's profile after its scarcity during the war. It featured Senorita Chiquita Banana, a cartoon banana who danced and sang in an exuberant Latin style. Senorita Chiquita bore a close resemblance to Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian entertainer who, in her ”tutti-frutti” hat, wowed Hollywood at the time. Sales soon regained prewar levels.   By the 1960s, the banana had become an inseparable accompaniment to the morning cereal of most American children. And today, in countries such as the US and Britain, it has ousted the apple as the most popular fruit. In the UK, figures indicate that more than 95 per cent of households buy bananas each week, and that more money is spent on them than on any other supermarket item, apart from petrol and lottery tickets.    Soooo sounds like a pretty typical big business rise to power by providing a wholesome treat to the people right? Wrong… There was more going on than almost everybody knew.    Over the years, United Fruit fought hard for low taxes and light regulation. By the beginning of the 20th century, troublesome anti-trust laws had been passed in the US to crack down on business behaviour such as price-fixing and other monopolistic practices. Taxes on large corporations were increased to fund welfare benefits in the US and fully fledged welfare states in Europe. But, with a centre of operations far from the lawmakers of Washington DC, United Fruit largely avoided all this.   The company also gained a reputation as being ruthless when crossed, and acted to remove governments that did not comply with its wishes. United Fruit had first shown its tough nature in the invasion of Honduras in 1911, which was planned by Sam ”The Banana Man” Zemurray, a business partner of United Fruit who later headed the company. Efforts by Zemurray and United Fruit to set up production in Honduras had been blocked by the Honduran government, which was fearful of the power it might wield. United Fruit was not so easily deterred. Zemurray financed an invasion, led by such enterprising types as ”General” (self-appointed) Lee Christmas and freelance trouble-shooter Guy ”Machine Gun” Molony. Thanks to United Fruit, many more exercises in ”regime change” were carried out in the name of the banana.   In 1941, the company hired a new consultant, Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, who had adapted the early disciplines of psychoanalysis to the marketplace. Bernays is known as the ”father of public relations” following his seminal 1928 book, Propaganda, in which he argued that it was the duty of the ”intelligent minority” of society to manipulate the unthinking ”group mind”. This, Bernays asserted, was for the sake of freedom and democracy.   United Fruit had become concerned about its image. In Central America, it was commonly known as el pulpo (the octopus) - its tentacles everywhere. In the US, United Fruit's territories were seen as troubled and forbidding. Under Bernays' guidance, the company began issuing a steady flow of information to the media about its work, rebranding the region as ”Middle America”.   America”.   In 1954, Bernays exercised his manipulative powers to get rid of the Guatemalan government. Democratically elected, it had taken some of United Fruit's large areas of unused land to give to peasant farmers. Bernays' response was to call newspaper contacts who might be amenable to the company view. Journalists were sent on ”fact finding” missions to Central America and, in particular, Guatemala, where they chased false stories of gunfire and bombs. In dispatches home, Guatemala became a place gripped by ”communist terror”.   The company looked, too, to friends in high places, both in the corridors of power and in the offices where the big decisions were made. During the Guatemalan crisis, John Foster Dulles, one of the world's most esteemed statesmen, was secretary of state. His brother, Allen Dulles, was head of the CIA. Both were former legal advisers to United Fruit. Together, the Dulles brothers orchestrated the coup that overthrew Guatemala's government in 1954.   Despite its ugly reputation, United Fruit often made philanthropic gestures.  Eli Black, chief executive of the United Fruit Company, played a part in coining the term ”corporate social responsibility” when, in reference to earthquake relief sent to Nicaragua in 1972, he extolled the company's deeds as ”our social responsibility”.  And in the 1930s, Sam Zemurray donated part of his fortune to a children's clinic in New Orleans. He later gave $1m to the city's Tulane University to finance ”Middle American'' research; he also funded a Harvard professorship for women. Philanthropy, however, did not prevent United Fruit's abuses, and, in the 1950s, the US government decided it had to act. The company's activities had caused such anti-US feeling in Latin America that leftwing revolutionaries such as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara had prospered. And so Washington began to take away some of United Fruit's land.   Ironically, Castro had benefited from the presence of United Fruit in Cuba. His father, a sugar planter, leased land from the company, and had made enough money to afford a good upbringing for his children. Guevara had fought both United Fruit and the CIA during the Guatemalan coup; he maintained thereafter that Latin America had no choice but ”armed struggle”. At New Year 1959, Castro and Guevara seized power in Cuba and kicked out the US-supported regime of Fulgencio Batista.   Like an ailing dictator, United Fruit lashed out - and nearly took the world with it. In 1961, it lent part of its Great White Fleet to the CIA and Cuban exiles in the US who were plotting to overthrow Castro. When the Bay of Pigs invasion failed, Castro, fearing another attack, ushered in armaments from the Soviet Union, prompting the missile crisis of 1962.   United Fruit battled on through the 1960s, its product ever more the victim of disease. Big Mike flagged, died and gave way to the dessert banana most of the developed world eats today, the Cavendish. It was said to be ”disease resistant”. Now that's dying, too.   Eli Black took over the company in 1970, imagining he could turn it back into the colossus it once was. The early 1970s, however, were a terrible period for the image of multinational corporations. Chief among them, oil companies made huge profits from the crisis after the 1973 Middle East war, to the inflationary ruin of rich and poor countries alike. United Fruit became an embarrassment. It was weak where others, such as the oil moguls, remained strong. When its stock market value crashed and regulators moved in, it looked like natural selection.   Early on Monday February 3 1975, a man threw himself out of his office window, 44 floors above Park Avenue, New York. He had used his briefcase to smash the window, and then thrown it out before he leapt, scattering papers for blocks around. Glass fell on to the rush-hour traffic, but amazingly no one else was hurt. The body landed away from the road, near a postal service office. Postmen helped emergency workers clear up the mess so the day's business could carry on.    This jumper was quickly identified as Eli Black, chief executive of the United Fruit Company.   It emerged that Black, a devout family man, had bribed the Honduran president, Oswaldo Lopez Arellano, with $1.25m to encourage him to pull out of a banana cartel which opposed United Fruit. The story was about to come out in the US press. United Fruit's Central American plantations were also struggling with hurricane damage and a new banana disease. Facing disgrace and failure, Black took his own life. His death was shocking, not least because he had the reputation of a highly moral man. Wall Street was outraged, the company's shares crashed and regulators seized its books to prevent ”its further violation of the law”. The company subsequently disappeared from public view and was seemingly erased from the collective mind.   After the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989, in a born-again spirit of globalisation, the world's main banana companies picked up the free-market banner once carried by United Fruit. The companies - Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole from the US, and Noboa from Ecuador - did not have anything like the force of United Fruit individually, but they were still a formidable presence. Together they were known to their critics, if not to themselves, as the ”Wild Bunch”.   In the 1990s, the US took its case to the World Trade Organisation, the new high court of globalisation. The companies protested that west European countries unfairly protected the producers of so-called ”Fairtrade” bananas in former European colonies through a complex system of quotas and licences. The Wild Bunch characterised this as revamped colonialism and outmoded welfare state-ism and, instead, promoted their own ”Free Trade” bananas.   In the new millennium, after what had become a general trade war, the Europeans backed down and agreed to concessions. They did so with some rancour, protesting that Washington had again allowed itself to be manipulated by narrow interests. Some spoke of a return of the ”old and dark forces”. They were thinking of United Fruit.   Ok so that's kind of a basic history of United Fruit company to get us going in the right direction to talk about one of the most brutal things they carried out on their workers. You've seen the connection they had and the power they had.. Pretty nuts for a fucking banana company.    On the evening of October 5, 1928, the delegates for Colombia's banana workers in Magdalena gathered to discuss their grievances. Among their concerns were their long hours and low pay; one worker, Aristides López Rojano, remembered: “We worked from six in the morning until eleven and then from one in the afternoon until six.... The contractor paid the salary and reserved up to thirty percent for himself.” Erasmo Coronel (the one wearing the bowtie in the group portrait) spoke in favor of a strike, and the others agreed. At around five in the morning on October 6, 1928, the workers issued the United Fruit Company a list of nine demands.   Stop their practice of hiring through sub-contractors   Mandatory collective insurance   Compensation for work accidents   Hygienic dormitories and 6 day work weeks   Increase in daily pay for workers who earned less than 100 pesos per month   Weekly wage   Abolition of office stores   Abolition of payment through coupons rather than money   Improvement of hospital services   The strike turned into the largest labor movement ever witnessed in the country until then. Radical members of the Liberal Party, as well as members of the Socialist and Communist Parties, participated.   The workers wanted to be recognized as employees, and demanded the implementation of the Colombian legal framework of the 1920s.   After U.S. officials in Colombia and United Fruit representatives portrayed the workers' strike as "communist" with a "subversive tendency" in telegrams to Frank B. Kellogg, the United States Secretary of State, the United States government threatened to invade with the U.S. Marine Corps if the Colombian government did not act to protect United Fruit's interests. The Colombian government was also compelled to work for the interests of the company, considering they could cut off trade of Colombian bananas with significant markets such as the United States and Europe.   As there was no agreement the Government militarized the zone. The newspaper "La Prensa" published the following:   "MORE TROOPS FOR THE BANANERA REGION. We have been informed that the leaving of the Commissioner sent by the Industry Ministry due to the existing conflict between the workers and the company has turned the situation critical. For this reason, the War Ministry ordered the concentration of more troops in Ciénaga. Therefore, yesterday night, a numerous contingent was dispatched from here on a special ship"   By the end of November the Magdalena Agriculture Society tried to find a solution to the situation. They named a Commission and along with the Chief of the Work Office and the workers' delegates would have a meeting with the UFC since the conflict was affecting everyone's interests. The multinational rejected meeting the Commission stating that the workers were out of the law. The representatives of the workers left for Ciénaga with the aim of convincing their fellow workers to abandon the region. They also demanded the arbitration as a last legal resort.   Social Party (PSR) founded in 1927 in Bogotá. The strike was also supported by the national and departmental union leaders ascribed to the Magdalena Workers Federation, the Magdalena Worker Union and the General Union of Workers of the Union Society (popularly known as the Yellow Union which integrated railway, port and construction workers of Santa Marta).   The first week of December everything was at a standstill, without a solution. The company hired a steamboat and brought 200 military men and took over the town hall without the mayor's authorization. To this respect the Ciénaga newspaper "Diario del Córdoba" noted:   "We do not know who ordered changing the town house into a campsite of troops, but we are certain that the municipality spokesman was not consulted for this illegal occupation. He would have certainly opposed it since there was no alteration of public order according to the norms in force. We see that the procedures here are "manu militari", without any consideration under the obvious alarm of these peoples, panic in society and business."   Military roadblocks were displayed. Trains were searched and the army prevented strikers from using them33. Tension increased and temporary workers started to return to their hometowns. Military pressure blocked the communication systems and the mail, telephones, telegraph and even the press stopped working. The strikers seized the train from Ciénaga to the plantations and they prevented its exit during the day.   On December 3rd, the press was conscious of the extreme situation: The situation of the Banana Strike is worse than ever. Especially because of the uneasiness caused by the Governor's Office for having called the Army. Any kind of meeting was banned, as it was assumed that they questioned the state legitimacy and stability and the government decisions. This measure outraged workers, because some detentions took place in Ciénaga and they were justified by the police since some documents of an apparently communist campaign were confiscated.   From this moment on, American Diplomats started to worry for the security of the American employees up to the point that the Government of the United States sent a ship to Santa Marta for the protection of their citizens as was stated by the US ambassador in Bogotá. He made clear that it was not a war cruise. Anyhow, it was possible to confirm that in the ports of Ciénaga and Santa Marta war ships docked with the aim of reinforcing troops.    To break the strike, on December 2nd, a military contingent of 300 men arrived in Ciénaga from the interior of the country. The major of the zone considered that these soldiers would be better at facing the situation than those native of the region. At the same time that same day some municipalities protested against the disposition of the governor's office. The workers exodus continued, the general situation of commerce aggravated, many commercial houses closed and some of them stopped paying their debts alleging the scarce security conditions and low sales. Similarly occurred with the stores of the UFC which closed due to lack of business activity. There was a total lack of supplies of basic products in the banana zone.   With the excuse that in Ciénaga the strikers were committing all kinds of outrages, the army seized the train to mobilize troops to the different towns, preventing normal circulation; this information proved false and the train returned to Cienaga during the first hours of the next day. The community remained isolated and without the possibility to use the train as a transportation means. The train was used by the militaries for the surveillance of plantations.   A State of Siege declaration was expected and this increased tension among strikers who organized collective bodies in different locations to prevent the work of producers. Detentions continued. The train detention by the military and the impossibility to take bananas out due to the positions of the strikers and small landowners, the harvested fruit began to rot.   The Workers Union used the newspaper Vanguardia Obrera and other pasquinades to inform about their position and to keep public opinion updated. On December 5th, alleging that the strikers had managed to get weapons, the government decreed the State of Siege. This was not made public to the workers and for this reason they became more exacerbated.   A pressure mechanism used to obtain the support of merchants was the fact of creating solidarity to boycott the public market stores and other commercial firms if the transaction was not authorized by the Workers Union. This way, merchants could not sell if they did not have the "permission". To accomplish this policy the union had 5.000 workers acting as vigilantes. This situation led the UFC to ask the government if the State was in condition to protect its interests. The State response was dubious. In its effort to reach an equilibrium between the pressure of the company and that of the workers, it submitted a communication where it stated that it would analyse the situation and would take the corresponding steps.   The workers' unrest for not feeling the State support led them to radicalization of their protest and since that moment, seizures of banana farms took place in different municipalities. There were confrontations between land owners, the military and the workers. It is worth mentioning the events in Sevilla, where workers detained a group of soldiers.   As the tension increased with this last event the Ministry Council declared general alteration of public order on December 5th, and gave special faculties to Minister Arrazola to act as a mediator between the parties and positioned General Cortés Vargas as Civil and Military Chief. This intervention was justified by the economic losses of the socio-economic and political system of the nation because it had been estimated that up to that moment the losses exceeded one million dollars and given the fact that the fierce position of the workers had stopped communications and transportations and even there had been seizures in several localities and there was fear concerning the situation of Santa Marta.   The government sent information to the United Press as follows: "The government has decreed the State of Siege in the Province of Santa Marta where the workers of the United Fruit Company maintain a strike lasting several days. General Carlos Cortés Vargas has been appointed Civil and Military Chief". On the other hand, the national press and especially that of the capital announced: " there has never been a longer and more numerous strike in the country than this of the workers of Magdalena. Thirty-two thousand workers have been in total inactivity for more than thirty days in the banana region, there are no signs that this situation will have a favourable solution"   Events reached their peak in Ciénaga. The workers had concentrated for a pacific demonstration in the evening of the 5th of December. The Governor Nuñez Roca decreed the dispersion of the demonstration. The workers did not receive this well; they declared that authorities had taken this decision with the support of the UFC and the militaries without the presence of workers' representatives. This made clear to them that authorities were defending the interests of the Company and the local "bananacracy"and not theirs as Colombian workers. The concentration ended in a protest.   The militaries obeyed the orders of the Governor and it was authorized to follow orders and demand the workers to dissolve the demonstration as it was not authorized.   The text was read in the square and at the same time the troop took positions. There were approximately 1.500 strikers in the square.   The army gave the strikers 15 minutes to disperse and the workers' answer was a the massive agitation of the Colombian flags and shouts related to the workers movement. The army responded with drumbeats and the menace to repel the strikers. Three bugle warnings were given, but nevertheless the strikers remained in their positions. A deep silence reigned in the square and the menace of the army became an unfortunate reality when the shout "Shoot" was uttered. Rifles and machine guns were discharged against the defenceless and unarmed demonstrators. In minutes the ground of the square was tinted with blood.   Once the attack of the army against their own fellow citizens ended, the sight was dantesque. The cadavers, the wounded and their relatives were troubling scenes. These events took place at the dawn of December 6th: a brutal aggression against a workers' demonstration.   The news invaded the media and the first chronicles appeared with living information about the tragic balance of the events. The first report on the newspaper "La Prensa" from Barranquilla informed of 8 people killed and 20 wounded. After a week, the same newspaper mentioned 100 dead and 238 wounded. Meanwhile official sources and diplomatic communications signalled the number of people killed as being 1.000. This number, and along with other kind of testimonies collected, agree that the number of killings was over a thousand and that the militaries loaded the trains with the corpses and buried them in mass graves in inaccessible areas and up to the present times they have not been localized.   This repression caused a massive exodus of the terrified population. They abandoned the zone and migrated to different parts of the country for fear of military persecution and arrestment. Many of them left their scarce possessions behind.   National and international media widely covered this event. Both the UFC and the government tried to manipulate the information to protect their image. The press echoed and broadcasted the sometimes biased news, informing about "combats" between the army troops and the "revolutionaries" and that as a result of these combats, 8 "bandits" were killed and 20 were wounded. The War Ministry insisted that "in Magdalena there was no strike, but a revolution".   Other newspapers such as "La Prensa" from Barranquilla, issued their edition of December 8th in red characters as a reference to this event that brought mourning to the entire country and as a symbolic commemorative act.   Referring to a communication sent to the United Press, the War Ministry informed officially that in the attack of the strikers against the troops there had been 8 dead and 20 wounded and that in order to control the revolutionary outbreaks against state order, the immediate mobilization of more troops had been ordered. They would arrive from cities of the interior of the country. It also emphasised the position of the government that the workers' situation in Magdalena was delicate and that vigorous decisions had to be taken in order to solve this issue. It also informed that beside Ciénaga, other localities had to be intervened.   The Times from New York informed in a biased and extended way that the turmoil in the Colombian Banana Region was provoked by Mexican incendiaries, who had led the process of the Mexican Revolution, two decades earlier. It also gave details about the aspects of the banana strike that were consequences of the expiration of the Barco Concession .   At the same time the UFC issued a press communication to the New York agencies and the worldwide correspondents declaring: "the difficult situation experienced during the past days in the Colombian banana region, where the company has valuable interests, has quite improved in the last 24 hours and the dispatches sent from the scene, give rise to expectations for a prompt solution of the conflict surged between the workers and the company which ended in an extended strike of revolutionary nature".   While the American press provided biased information, trying to defend the multinational interests and that of their government, the national press analysed the situation with greater objectivity. The daily newspaper "El Tiempo" from Bogotá commented in an extended note that most of the claims of the strikers were righteous improvement of working conditions. Nevertheless, due to its conservative position, the editorial stated that they did not agree with the strike since they considered that the workers had a bad leadership and they made the leaders responsible for what had happened. They reminded the authorities that force is not the supreme reason as the only system to solve a conflict since violence is not a valid option to impose certain vindications.   In response to these events and as a protest for the massacre, several offices of the United Fruit and the railway were set on fire and destroyed. The hard situation caused by the army repression and the lack of jobs led to the assault of the company's stores where people seized food.    "It is not about fixing anyhow a difficult situation, it is about avoiding more critical events in the immediate future. Therefore we need a wise, prudent, political Colombian, who does not forget the circumstances regarding the conflict. Someone who does not forget how the United Fruit Company manipulates the political and civil life of Magdalena and who does not think it indispensable to send troops for hunting workers as animals. Someone who will not be hard and inflexible with them and subordinated and honey mouthed with the company agents"   After the massacre, the workers who managed to escape emigrated to other areas of the region and new versions of the events started to become public. It was the version of the defeated. This version informed the public opinion about the concentration in the Ciénaga square and not in farms as had been informed by authorities to justify the fact of not being able to notify the exact number of deaths.   On December 10th after a convulsed weekend, the headings announced "the revolutionaries' flee in stampede to the Sierra Nevada," "government troops completely defeated the strikers "; the War Minister informs that there were more deaths during the last combats". In general, the press informed about a revolutionary movement which confronted the military forces and that the army was responding with rigor, but that there had not been any excess on their part. The banana zone was returning to normal, as well as the train service between Ciénaga and Santa Marta and the steam boat service between Ciénaga and Barranquilla. They also informed that since public order had been reestablished, businesses had already opened and that the exodus of the population had ended.   General Cortés Vargas issued a decree through which the revolutionaries of Magdalena were declared a gang of outlaws. The decree consisted of three articles and in one section, as a justification, it was stated that the rebel strikers committed all kinds of outrages: arson in public and private property, pillage, interruption of telegraphic and telephonic communications, destruction of railways, assault of citizens who did not agree with their communist and anarchist doctrine. This was the justification for decreeing martial law to give security to citizens and to re-establish public order. On the other hand the workers' leaders and accessories should be prosecuted to face their responsibilities. And to finish, the public force was authorized to use their guns.   At the same time troops were sent to avoid the surviving strikers' flee to the Sierra Nevada and the Departament of Atlántico. To accomplish this all the towns neighbouring the banana zone were alerted. Numerous detentions occurred and the prisoners were sent to Ciénaga to be judged by a Martial Court.   Wow…. Fucking bananas caused all this shit… Well obviously not than JUST bananas but holy shit man.    So the crazy thing is United Fruit company continued to operate did so long after this incident until eventually after the the suicide of Eli Black things unraveled and the company went away. Or did it? Well it did not. In fact the company is now still a huge banana company called… Chiquita! But at least all that bullshit is on the past… Oh wait wait… No it's not!    While Chiquita is not actively massacring people, in 2007, it admitted to paying $1.7 million to the United Self-Defense Forces of Columbia (A.U.C.), a far-right paramilitary group responsible for thousands of killings and some of the worst massacres in Colombia. The A.U.C. was designated by the United States as a terrorist group at the time and Chiquita was forced to pay $25 million for violating counterterrorism laws. In particular, the A.U.C. targeted labor leaders, liquidated problem employees, and removed people from lands needed for cultivation.   “They are so bad that in 2001, even the Bush administration was forced to designate them as a terrorist organization,” said Terry Collingsworth, a Labor and Human Rights Attorney. He proceeds to say that multinational corporations had automatically aligned with the A.U.C. “They've made it safe for business here. That's what they do.” Collingsworth states, from his and his associates' reporting, that Chiquita likely paid much more than $1.7 million to the A.U.C.   Over much of the 20th century, banana companies like United Fruit effectively took over governments in countries like Guatemala and Honduras, leading to the countries' model being known as “banana republics”. A banana republic would describe politically unstable countries economically dependent on bananas as a sole export and product, and it has been diversified to include other limited-resource products. The CIA would strong-arm these governments to protect the business interests of banana companies at the expense of workers and people who lived in those countries, often propping up repressive regimes. With a historic priority of keeping the costs of bananas low, banana companies were willing to do whatever it took to keep prices low, from stifling labor movements, keeping wages low, and strong-arming governments. The United Fruit Company did it then, and Chiquita Brands does it now.   In 1999, President Clinton apologized to Guatemala, saying that “support for military forces and intelligence units which engaged in violence and widespread repression was wrong, and the United States must not repeat that mistake.” Movies:   Horror movies about killer food   https://screenrant.com/funniest-horror-b-movies-murderous-food/

Guests: Dr. Jordan Gebhardt, Kansas State University and Dr. Chad Paulk, Kansas State University Co-host: Dr. Zack Lowman, BalchemTonight we are talking feed supply biosecurity and the many challenges we face as we try to keep various animal diseases at bay. In late July, the USDA announced that African Swine Fever was detected in the Dominican Republic, inching dangerously close to the U.S. swine herd.Dr. Jordan Gebhardt explained that African Swine Fever (ASF) is caused by a virus. He discussed the history of the virus and the impact that a disease like this can have on the animals, the producer and the industry. He also expressed his concern of the virus spreading to South America or Central America from its current location in the Dominican Republic. (7:26)Dr. Chad Paulk discussed the potential contamination of the feed supply if or when the virus reaches the United States and how the feed supply chain can be changed to help reduce the spread of the virus. (16:36)Dr. Jordan Gebhardt explains that African Swine Fever can only infect swine - domesticated pigs or wild boar. If a human were to consume a contaminated product, there would be no threat to them whatsoever. (24:03)Dr. Chad Paulk discusses prevention of the virus and steps to take in order to reduce the risk. He gave the example of a feed mill processing a potential contaminated product and producing particles in the air that could contaminate the airspace of a road that has a lot of swine in transit. The steps will have to be used by everyone involved in production to help eliminate the spread of the virus so it needs to be built into the industry culture if that time comes. (40:00)Dr. Jordan Gebhardt discusses the importance of making biosecurity practices convenient for the producer and their employees. If it is convenient for employees, they will be more likely to stick with the biosecurity measures to go about their daily routine. (51:43)Dr. Chad Paulk and Dr. Jordan Gebhardt both discuss the importance of working together as an industry to prevent this disease from making it to the United States as well as working together with biosecurity as an industry if/when it does get here. (1:01:05)To find Dr. Jordan Gebhardt's presentation from the K-State Swine Day, visit Latest findings from the K-State-Vietnam partnership – Jordan Gebhardt If you like what you heard, please remember to hit the 5-star rating on your way out. Don't forget to request your Real Science Exchange t-shirt. You just need to like or subscribe to the Real Science Exchange and send us a screenshot along with your address and size to ANH.marketing@balchem.com. Please subscribe and share with your industry friends to bring more people to join us around the Real Science Exchange virtual pub table. This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health. 

As something of a follow-up to some of my previous posts about life in Latin America - well, Guatemala was not much different or better in 1975. Some months after this clip was recorded in October of 1975, there was a devastating earthquake in Guatemala claiming over 25,000 lives. Government inaction lead to more civic unrest fuelling more resistance to the government of the day. Interestingly, the mission behind TGNA dates back to the late 1800's and exists to this day - their network of radio stations in Central America play a valuable role in spreading news of the World (from a biblical and Christian perspective I guess as well…) to the rural areas of Guatemala.The station TGNA was a regular visitor to the West Coast at my Canadian listening perch - most commonly on 3300 khz - and I have an original QSL card. It was, by some comparison, a “mini-HCJB…” - and regular DXers from that time period will know exactly what I am talking about!

More than 20,000 Maya immigrants from Central America call the D.C. region home, including around 5,000 Maya Ixil who live in Centreville, Virginia.

"When you move to a foreign country, you do feel lonely sometimes. Trading texts, emails, and Facebook messages sometimes isn't enough." - Greg Gordon Thinking of moving to Costa Rica to live the pura vida lifestyle? Today's guest, Greg Gordon, is an expert in expat living. He's been living in Costa Rica since the 1990's as the founder of the country's first online surf report, CRSurf.com. In Episode 135 of Badass Digital Nomads, Greg and Kristin discuss how Costa Rica has changed over the years. They both witnessed the tourism and real estate boom firsthand. Greg shares how he taught himself to blog and code during the early internet days. He then offers tips on how to grow an online business with no experience, achieve work-life balance, and run his company from anywhere. Kristin and Greg also share their favorite places to visit in Costa Rica and explain how to stay safe and avoid common scams. Even though Costa Rica has a higher-than-average crime rate and cost of living, it's still a magical place to live or travel (if you know what you're doing). Tune in now to learn some of Costa Rica's best-kept tips secrets from two of its most experienced expats! "If you want to make a million dollars in Costa Rica, bring two million dollars." - Unknown EPISODE 135 TOPICS DISCUSSED: How Greg ended up living abroad in Costa Rica and how he taught himself Spanish. The reality of living in Costa Rica (pros and cons). Overcoming loneliness while living abroad.  Crime, cost of living, and infrastructure in Costa Rica. Tips to stay safe and avoid getting your stuff stolen. Greg's various income streams as an expat over the years.  Burning out in corporate America then moving to Costa Rica.  Meeting your significant other abroad.  Finding work-life balance as an expat or retiree versus making a lot of money. Living a vacation lifestyle with a low budget.  Splitting your time 50/50 between the USA and foreign countries. Driving from California through Mexico to Costa Rica. Buying or shipping your car to Costa Rica.  Crossing borders and dealing with police in Central America. Greg and Kristin's favorite Costa Rican foods and restaurants.   QUESTIONS ANSWERED: How has Costa Rica changed since the 1990s? Was there less crime before the tourism boom?  Is it dangerous to drive from San Diego through Mexico and Central America? How did you learn SEO by yourself? How did you teach yourself how to build a website with no experience? How do you avoid theft in Costa Rica?  Do you own a house or rent your house in Dominical? What is your favorite surf spot in Costa Rica besides Dominical? What underrated destinations do you recommend in Costa Rica? Costa Rica Lightning Round   RESOURCES Join the waiting list for Kristin's relocation coaching program, Ready To Relocate. Videos: 8 Reasons Why People LEAVE Costa Rica [Why I Left] Articles: 10 Ways Not to Get Your Stuff Stolen on a Surf Trip Podcasts: Shark Attacks, Surf Photography, and World Travel with Surfing Magazine's Jimmy Wilson The Dark Side of Costa Rica - Why Expats Leave How to Move From England to Costa Rica + UK and Europe Lockdowns Eco-Friendly Travel:  How to Travel Sustainably Surfing: Surfline CR Surf Places to Visit and Surf in Costa Rica: Dominical Nosara Pavones Osa Peninsula Pan Dulce Isla Uvita Nauyaca Waterfalls  San Isidro del General Best Restaurants in Costa Rica: Bar Jolly Roger Taj Mahal Escazu Lubnan San Jose Jaco Walk Caliche's Wishbone Fuego Brewery Trits Ice Cream Sandwiches by Dos Pinos Connect with Greg Gordon & CR Surf: Learn more about CR Surf Follow CR Surf on Instagram Connect with Greg on Facebook ........................................................................................... Connect with Kristin:  Follow on Instagram Subscribe to Traveling with Kristin on YouTube  Subscribe to Digital Nomad TV on YouTube Follow on Medium Follow on Clubhouse @KristinWilson Join the Badass Digital Nomads Facebook Group ........................................................................................... Support the Badass Digital Nomads Podcast: Buy Me a Coffee Become a Patron Leave a 5* Review: https://lovethepodcast.com/digitalnomad  Buy Official Merch  Search All Episodes: www.badassdigitalnomads.com ........................................................................................... Thank you to Margit for the coffee! ☕️ A special thank you to Kristin's 2021 Patrons: Teklordz, Walt, Shawn, Richard Y, Heather, Karen, Kiran, Scott, Michael J, Issac, Mike M, Yasmine, Erick M, Yohji, Gary R , Ron, Gary, Ray, Henry L, Kelly, Alejandra, Keith, Stephen, Warren, James, Daniel, Gary B, Emily, Rich, Aisha, Phil, Anthony, Jennifer, Kathleen, Natalie, Dave B, Brian, Christopher, CJ, David G, Mike R, Chip, Shelly, Ron, Paul, Andy, Jeffrey, Paulo, Stephen, and Michelle.  Special welcome to our newest Patrons from October 2021: Jeffrey, Paulo, Stephen, and Michelle! Become a Patron for $5/month at Patreon.com/travelingwithkristin ........................................................................................... Podcast descriptions may contain affiliate links of products and services we use and recommend at no additional cost to you. 

Kate Curran's mother's last words to her were, "I've had a good life". After a successful corporate career at GE, and year-long sabbatical, Kate Curran decided she wanted to wanted to make a difference and so founded Schooltheworld.org in 2009. Since founding the organization she has helped transform education for children in rural Central America by building 106 schools. Her program involving U.S. high school students helps them see the benefit of giving back to those less fortunate surely influencing them for future philanthropy. A born entrepreneur, Kate's enthusiasm and heart are infectious. LeadingShe.com Instagram.com/LeadingShe Facebook.com/LeadingShe https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadingshe/

Bobby reveals that he is currently doing the show from Central America and all the details he can share why. Phone Screener Abby brings us her performance of the National Anthem from over the weekend. She sang in front of a big crowd before a race. And also brings us audio that makes Lunchbox very angry! We get an update on Caller Josh and his missed connection from last week. We think we found her…but is he convinced???? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

I had the pleasure of Volunteering with FundaMaya Guatemala in Feb-March of 2020, which changed my life. The people in this organization and selfless, tireless and full of passion for helping in every way they can. If you are looking to help an organization and choose FundaMaya but don't know where to start, please reach out to me, and I can help connect you with them or visit their website. In this episode, Lois tells us about the Programs offered through FundaMaya Canada. The Educational Scholarship Program makes it possible for children to get an education.The Elderly Care Lunch Program provides one hot meal a day.The Emergency Food Fund feeds those who have NO food to feed their families. Emergency Medical Fund that allows for doctor's visits, hospital visits and medication. FundaMaya Guatemala also has An Animal Shelter Program as well and a MicroLoans Program.  Meet LoisLois B. Reimer, President and Board Chair, joined the board of FundaMaya Canada in early 2019 taking on the day-to-day management activities. Lois has worked closely with Fundación Familia Maya since joining the board. Lois is a Certified Management Account and has a Master's Degree in Business Administration She is retired and has 40+ years experience in financial management, human resources, and operations principally in non-profit. She has 15 years board experience, 11 of which she served as Board Chair for the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Society for BC and 1 as Board Chair for FundaMaya Canada.Being involved with Fundamaya and the Mayan people really brings home the strength and resilience of these people. She transitioned from volunteer to operating the charity because as a personal witness to that and the odds these people face. Taking on the charity came about at a time when she was also looking for a sense of purpose after being retired for several years.www.fundamayacanada.cawww.fundamaya.orgThe Mayan people of Guatemala are beautiful, dignified, and loving people who work extremely hard, but most of them live in poverty despite their efforts. 46% of children are malnourished.  Please share this episode with your family and friends to raise awareness and help as best we can. Thank You. Learn more about your host, Nelia Hutt at https://neliahutt.comhttps://www.travellivegive.com. Helping you discover Inner Peace through Giving!Email your comments, show ideas or connect at info@travellivegive.comSubscribe to the Podcast YouTube Channel to  watch the videos of the episodes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClc6cfjxUxZ16QBtL87M14wBuy Her book Giving My Heart Room to Breathe - A journey through Grief, Healing and Giving https://www.amazon.com/GIVING-MY-HEART-ROOM-BREATHE/dp/1777670608/ref=sr_1_1?crid=C8STS22F31RT&dchild=1&keywords=giving+my+heart+room+to+breathe&qid=1625183016&sprefix=giving+my+heart%2Caps%2C387&sr=8-1Merchandise now available  https://www.redbubble.com/people/NeliaHutt/shop?asc=u 

This week Ben checks in from Guatemala. He updates us on his travels through Central America and we talk about the perspective he's gained. @sundayconversation

Digital Nomad Monthly Recap in October 2021 in Honduras in Central America - FIT Life Creation: Lifestyle Brand: Health, Wealth, Biz in 1 - Think Amazon Meets Airbnb for Transformation with Influencer Marketing (Revolve / Like it to Knowit) and Fundraising Twist. http://bit.ly/createwhatyoulove - Let's CREATE! Tag us on social media for a chance to win one of our giveaways: a month in the mastermind, a course, and/or event ticket! @katrinajuliafit @fitlifecreation #createitgiveaway #createit #fitlifecreation - CREATE IN OUR COMMUNITY 1 LIFESTYLE TRANSFORMATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP FREEBIES LIBRARY 2 LIFESTYLE TRANSFORMATION LIVE EVENTS AND RETREATS 3 CONNECT AND CREATE COMMUNITY IN OUR LIFESTYLE ENTREPRENEUR COLLABS 4 INFLUENCER MANAGEMENT for INFLUENCERS & BRANDS 5 WELLNESS, MEDIA, LIFESTYLE & TRAVEL FOR BRANDS https://www.fitlifecreation.com/post/digital-nomad-monthly-recap-in-october-2021-in-honduras-in-central-america --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/create-with-katrina-julia/support

Study: Sustainable eating is cheaper and healthier Oxford University, November 11, 2021 Oxford University research has today revealed that, in countries such as the US, the UK, Australia and across Western Europe, adopting a vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian diet could slash your food bill by up to one-third. The study, which compared the cost of seven sustainable diets to the current typical diet in 150 countries, using food prices from the World Bank's International Comparison Program, was published in The Lancet Planetary Health. (next) Meta-analysis concludes resveratrol beneficially modulates glycemic control in diabetics Zagazig University and Suez Canal University (Egypt), October 29 2021.  Findings from a meta-analysis of clinical trials published in Medicina Clinica (Barcelona) revealed an association between supplementing with resveratrol and improvements in glycemic control. “This systematic review and meta-analysis is the first to consider resveratrol's efficacy on glycemic and cardiometabolic parameters in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).” (next) Exercise linked to better mental health Kaiser Permanente Research, November 11, 2021 Kaiser Permanente research published in Preventive Medicine showed people who exercised more during the initial lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced less anxiety and depression than those who didn't exercise. It also showed that people who spent more time outdoors typically experienced lower levels of anxiety and depression than those who stayed inside. (next) Bedtime linked with heart health University of Exeter (UK), November 9, 2021 Going to sleep between 10:00 and 11:00 pm is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease compared to earlier or later bedtimes, according to a study published today in European Heart Journal—Digital Health, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). "While we cannot conclude causation from our study, the results suggest that early or late bedtimes may be more likely to disrupt the body clock, with adverse consequences for cardiovascular health." (NEXT) Garlic compounds may boost cardio health indirectly via gut microbiota National Taiwan University, November 6 2021 Allicin from garlic may prevent the metabolism of unabsorbed L-carnitine or choline into TMAO, a compound linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, says a new study. TMAO – or trimethylamine N-oxide – has been known to be generated from dietary carnitine through metabolism of gut microbiota, and was recently reported to be an “important gut microbiota-dependent metabolite to cause cardiovascular diseases.”  New data indicated that carnitine-fed lab mice showed a “remarkable increase in plasma TMAO levels”, compared with lab mice fed a control (no carnitine). However, when allicin supplements were provided with the carnitine diet, TMAO levels were significantly reduced.   (NEXT) Drug used to prevent miscarriage increases risk of cancer in offspring University of Texas Health Science Center, November 9, 2021 Exposure in utero to a drug used to prevent miscarriage can lead to an increased risk of developing cancer, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston  The drug, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17-OHPC), is a synthetic progestogen that was frequently used by women in the 1950s and 1960s, and is still prescribed to women today to help prevent preterm birth.  (OTHER NEWS NEXT) 2,433 Dead Babies in VAERS as Another Study Shows mRNA Shots Not Safe for Pregnant Women by Brian Shilhavy Editor, Health Impact News, November 7, 2021 There have now been 2,433 fetal deaths recorded in VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) from pregnant women who have been injected with one of the COVID-19 shots. The vast majority of these have been from the Pfizer shot (1,862 deaths) and the Moderna shot (656 deaths.) There have been more fetal deaths in the past 11 months following COVID-19 shots than there have been for the past 30+ years following ALL vaccines (2,198 – Source.) Last month (October, 2021) the New England Journal of Medicine admitted that the original study used to justify the CDC and the FDA in recommending the shots to pregnant women was flawed. (Source.) Since then, researchers in New Zealand have conducted a new study on the original data, and concluded: A re-analysis of these figures indicates a cumulative incidence of spontaneous abortion ranging from 82% (104/127) to 91% (104/114), 7–8 times higher than the original authors' results. (Source.) And yet, the CDC and FDA still continue to recommend the shots for pregnant women, even though a correct analysis on the original data shows that 82% to 91% of pregnant women will suffer miscarriages if their unborn child is less than 20 weeks old. (Source.) VAERS is a passive system that is severely under reported. The CDC and FDA have never conducted a study to determine what this under-reported factor is, but independent scientists have, and we have previously published the analysis conducted by Dr. Jessica Rose, who has determined that a conservative under-reported factor would be X41. See: STUDY: Government's Own Data Reveals that at Least 150,000 Probably DEAD in U.S. Following COVID-19 Vaccines This means that there have probably been at least 99,753 fetal deaths following COVID-19 injections so far. Here is a video report we made on this last month with some very unfortunate gruesome examples of what these shots are doing to unborn babies. 1,969 Fetal Deaths Recorded Following COVID-19 Shots but Criminal CDC Recommends Pregnant Women Get the Shot UPDATE – November 7, 2021 PM A couple of hours after publishing this article, a video that has been circulating on the Internet of an interview with a Funeral Director in the UK became known to me. He has been in practice for over 3 years and is identified as “Wesley,” and was interviewed by a group called “Resistance GB.” He claims that last fall was one the slowest periods of seeing deaths for all funeral directors, but when the COVID-19 shots were introduced, deaths started dramatically increasing. It started with the elderly, but then by April they were seeing large numbers of people in their 30s and 40s. Many of them were dying of myocarditis. Now, they are seeing unprecedented numbers of newborn babies, and they are piling up in hospital refrigerators. Some are full term, some are pre-term, he claims. The UK originally recommended that pregnant women and nursing mothers should NOT get the experimental COVID shots, but like the CDC in the U.S., they eventually changed their recommendation to encourage pregnant women to get the shots. (NEXT) An ethical analysis of vaccinating children against COVID-19: benefits, risks, and issues of global health equity Johns Hopkins University, Oxford-Johns Hopkins Global Infectious Disease Ethics Collaborative, Wageningen University - The Netherlands, University of Oxford, Abstract We argue that it is currently unclear whether routine COVID-19 vaccination of healthy children is ethically justified in most contexts, given the minimal direct benefit that COVID-19 vaccination provides to children, the potential for rare risks to outweigh these benefits and undermine vaccine confidence, and substantial evidence that COVID-19 vaccination confers adequate protection to risk groups, such as older adults, without the need to vaccinate children. We conclude that child COVID-19 vaccination in wealthy communities before adults in poor communities worldwide is ethically unacceptable and consider how policy deliberations might evolve in light of future developments. (NEXT) What's Driving Global Deforestation? Organized Crime, Beef, Soy, Palm Oil and Wood Products Jennifer Devine,  Counterpunch, November 17, 2021 Every year the world loses an estimated 25 million acres (10 million hectares) of forest, an area larger than the state of Indiana. Nearly all of it is in the tropics. From my research on social and environmental issues in Latin America, I know that four consumer goods are responsible for the majority of global deforestation: beef, soy, palm oil, and wood pulp and paper products. Together these commodities are responsible for the loss of nearly 12 million acres (5 million hectares) annually. There's also a fifth, less publicized key driver: organized crime, including illegal drug trafficking. The dominant role of beef Among major products that promote deforestation, beef is in a class by itself. Beef production is now estimated to be the biggest driver of deforestation worldwide, accounting for 41% of global forest losses. In the Amazon alone, cattle ranching accounts for 80% of deforestation. From 2000 to 2011, beef production emitted nearly 200 times more greenhouse gases than soy, and 60 times more than oil palm in tropical countries with high deforestation rates. Soy and palm oil: Ubiquitous ingredients Together, soy and palm oil drive nearly 10% of deforestation annually – almost 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares). Clearing land for palm oil plantations fuels large-scale rainforest destruction in Indonesia and Malaysia, where most of the world's palm oil is produced. Palm oil is the most commonly produced, consumed and traded vegetable oil. Some 60% of the 66 million tons produced globally every year is used to produce energy in the form of biofuel, power and heat. About 40% is used for food, animal feed and chemical products. Palm oil is an ingredient in half of all products found at the supermarket, including margarine, shampoos, frozen pizza and detergents. Soy production has doubled globally in the past 20 years. Nearly 80% of global soy is fed to cows, chickens, pigs and farmed fish. This demand reflects the tripling of global meat production over the past 50 years. Wood products Wood products are responsible for about 5% of annual global deforestation, or about 1.2 million acres (500,000 hectares) yearly. Wood is widely used for home construction and furniture, and also as a pulp source for paper and fabric. And in low-income nations and rural areas, it's an important fuel source for heating and cooking. The three largest paper-producing countries are the U.S., Canada and China. Illegal deforestation and organized crime Another industry plays an important role, especially in tropical forests: organized crime. Large, lucrative industries offer opportunities to move and launder money; as a result, in many parts of the world, deforestation is driven by the drug trade. In South America and Central America, drug trafficking organizations are the vanguard of deforestation. Drug traffickers are illegally logging forests in the Amazon and hiding cocaine in timber shipments to Europe. In my research, I have analyzed how traffickers illegally log and raise cattle in protected areas in Central America to launder money and claim drug smuggling territory. Other scholars estimate that 30% to 60% of deforestation in the region is “narco-deforestation.” Forest Trends analysis, exports tied to illegal deforestation are worth US$61 billion annually and are responsible for 25% of total global tropical deforestation. (NEXT) ‘This Must Not Happen': If Unhalted, Permian Basin Fracking Will Unleash 40 Billion Tons of CO2 by 2050 As activists at the COP26 summit continue to denounce the “massive” gap between wealthy governments' lofty rhetoric and their woefully inadequate plans for addressing the climate emergency, a new analysis of projected extraction in the Permian Basin in the U.S. Southwest exposes the extent to which oil and gas executives' refusal to keep fossil fuels in the ground puts humanity's future in jeopardy. “While climate science tells us that we must consume 40% less oil in 2030, Permian producers plan to grow production more than 50%.” Released Tuesday by Oil Change International, Earthworks, and the Center for International Environmental Law, the second chapter of The Permian Basin Climate Bomb warns that if the drilling and fracking boom that has turned the Permian Basin into “the world's single most prolific oil and gas field” over the past decade is allowed to persist unabated for the next three decades, it will generate nearly 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide by mid-century. “With global markets flush with Permian oil and gas, it can only be harder to steer the world's economy toward clean energy.” “While climate science tells us that we must consume 40% less oil in 2030, Permian producers plan to grow production more than 50%” from 2021 to 2030, said Stockman. “This must not happen.” “If left unchecked,” the report notes, “the Permian could continue to produce huge amounts of oil, gas, and gas liquids for decades to come. With global markets flush with Permian oil and gas, it can only be harder to steer the world's economy toward clean energy.” (NEXT) Wall Street's Takeover of Nature Advances with Launch of New Asset Class By Whitney Webb A project of the multilateral development banking system, the Rockefeller Foundation and the New York Stock Exchange recently created a new asset class that will put, not just the natural world, but the processes underpinning all life, up for sale under the guise of promoting “sustainability.” Last month, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced it had developed a new asset class and accompanying listing vehicle meant “to preserve and restore the natural assets that ultimately underpin the ability for there to be life on Earth.” Called a natural asset company, or NAC, the vehicle will allow for the formation of specialized corporations “that hold the rights to the ecosystem services produced on a given chunk of land, services like carbon sequestration or clean water.” These NACs will then maintain, manage and grow the natural assets they commodify, with the end of goal of maximizing the aspects of that natural asset that are deemed by the company to be profitable. Though described as acting like “any other entity” on the NYSE, it is alleged that NACs “will use the funds to help preserve a rain forest or undertake other conservation efforts, like changing a farm's conventional agricultural production practices.” Yet, as explained towards the end of this article, even the creators of NACs admit that the ultimate goal is to extract near-infinite profits from the natural processes they seek to quantify and then monetize. NYSE COO Michael Blaugrund alluded to this when he said the following regarding the launch of NACs: “Our hope is that owning a natural asset company is going to be a way that an increasingly broad range of investors have the ability to invest in something that's intrinsically valuable, but, up to this point, was really excluded from the financial markets.” Framed with the lofty talk of “sustainability” and “conservation”, media reports on the move in outlets like Fortune couldn't avoid noting that NACs open the doors to “a new form of sustainable investment” which “has enthralled the likes of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink over the past several years even though there remain big, unanswered questions about it.” Fink, one of the world's most powerful financial oligarchs, is and has long been a corporate raider, not an environmentalist, and his excitement about NACs should give even its most enthusiastic proponents pause if this endeavor was really about advancing conservation, as is being claimed. How to Create a NAC The creation and launch of NACs has been two years in the making and saw the NYSE team up with the Intrinsic Exchange Group (IEG), in which the NYSE itself holds a minority stake. IEG's three investors are the Inter-American Development Bank, the Latin America-focused branch of the multilateral development banking system that imposes neoliberal and neo-colonalist agendas through debt entrapment; the Rockefeller Foundation, the foundation of the American oligarch dynasty whose activities have long been tightly enmeshed with Wall Street; and Aberdare Ventures, a venture capital firm chiefly focused on the digital healthcare space. Notably, the IADB and the Rockefeller Foundation are closely tied to the related pushes for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and biometric Digital IDs. The IEG's mission focuses on “pioneering a new asset class based on natural assets and the mechanism to convert them to financial capital.” “These assets,” IEG states, make “life on Earth possible and enjoyable…They include biological systems that provide clean air, water, foods, medicines, a stable climate, human health and societal potential.” Put differently, NACs will not only allow ecosystems to become financial assets, but the rights to “ecosystem services”, or the benefits people receive from nature as well. These include food production, tourism, clean water, biodiversity, pollination, carbon sequestration and much more. IEG is currently partnering with Costa Rica's government to pilot its NAC efforts within that country. Costa Rica's Minister of Environment and Energy, Andrea Meza Murillo, has claimed that the pilot project with IEG “will deepen the economic analysis of giving nature its economic value, as well as to continue mobilizing financial flows to conservation.” With NACs, the NYSE and IEG are now putting the totality of nature up for sale. While they assert that doing so will “transform our economy to one that is more equitable, resilient and sustainable”, it's clear that the coming “owners” of nature and natural processes will be the only real beneficiaries. Per the IEG, NACs first begin with the identification of a natural asset, such as a forest or lake, which is then quantified using specific protocols. Such protocols have already been developed by related groups like the Capitals Coalition, which is partnered with several of IEG's partners as well as the World Economic Forum and various coalitions of multinational corporations. Then, a NAC is created and the structure of the company decides who has the rights to that natural asset's productivity as well as the rights to decide how that natural asset is managed and governed. Lastly, a NAC is “converted” into financial capital by launching an initial public offering on a stock exchange, like the NYSE. This last stage “generates capital to manage the natural asset” and the fluctuation of its price on the stock exchange “signals the value of its natural capital.” However, the NAC and its employees, directors and owners are not necessarily the owners of the natural asset itself following this final step. Instead, as IEG notes, the NAC is merely the issuer while the potential buyers of the natural asset the NAC represents can include: institutional investors, private investors, individuals and institutions, corporations, sovereign wealth funds and multilateral development banks. Thus, asset management firms that essentially already own much of the world, like Blackrock, could thus become owners of soon-to-be monetized natural processes, natural resources and the very foundations of natural life itself. Both the NYSE and IEG have marketed this new investment vehicle as being aimed at generating funds that will go back to conservation or sustainability efforts. However, on the IEG's website, it notes that the goal is really endless profit from natural processes and ecosystems that were previously deemed to be part of “the commons”, i.e. the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth. Per the IEG, “as the natural asset prospers, providing a steady or increasing flow of ecosystem services, the company's equity should appreciate accordingly providing investment returns. Shareholders and investors in the company through secondary offers, can take profit by selling shares. These sales can be gauged to reflect the increase in capital value of the stock, roughly in-line with its profitability, creating cashflow based on the health of the company and its assets.” Researcher and journalist Cory Morningstar has strongly disagreed with the approach being taken by NYSE/IEG and views NACs as a system that will only exacerbate the corporate predation of nature, despite claims to the contrary. Morningstar has described NACs as “Rockefeller et al. letting the markets dictate what in nature has value – and what does not. Yet, it's not for capitalist institutions and global finance to decide what life has value. Ecosystems are not ‘assets.' Biological communities exist for their own purposes, not ours.” A New Way to Loot The ultimate goal of NACs is not sustainability or conservation – it is the financialization of nature, i.e. turning nature into a commodity that can be used to keep the current, corrupt Wall Street economy booming under the guise of protecting the environment and preventing its further degradation. Indeed, IEG makes this clear when they note that “the opportunity” of NACs lies not in their potential to improve environmental well-being or sustainability, but in the size of this new asset class, which they term “Nature's Economy.” Indeed, while the asset classes of the current economy are value at approximately $512 trillion, the asset classes unlocked by NACs are significantly larger at $4,000 trillion (i.e. $4 quadrillion). Thus, NACs open up a new feeding ground for predatory Wall Street banks and financial institutions that will allow them to not just dominate the human economy, but the entire natural world. In the world currently being constructed by these and related entities, where even freedom is being re-framed not as a right but “a service,” the natural processes on which life depends are similarly being re-framed as assets, which will have owners. Those “owners” will ultimately have the right, in this system, to dictate who gets access to clean water, to clean air, to nature itself and at what cost. According to Cory Morningstar, one of the other aims of creating “Nature's Economy” and neatly packaging it for Wall Street via NACs is to drastically advance massive land grab efforts made by Wall Street and the oligarch class in recent years. This includes the recent land grabs made by Wall Street firms as well as billionaire “philanthropists” like Bill Gates during the COVID crisis. However, the land grabs facilitated through the development of NACs will largely target indigenous communities in the developing world. As Morningstar notes: “The public launch of NACs strategically preceded the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the biggest biodiversity conference in a decade. Under the pretext of turning 30% of the globe into “protected areas”, the largest global land grab in history is underway. Built on a foundation of white supremacy, this proposal will displace hundreds of millions, furthering the ongoing genocide of Indigenous peoples. The tragic irony is this: while Indigenous peoples represent less than 5% of the global population, they support approximately 80% of all biodiversity.“ IEG, in discussing NACs, tellingly notes that proceeds from a NAC's IPO can be used for the acquisition of more land by its controlling entities or used to boost the budgets or funds of those who receive the capital from the IPO. This is a far cry from the NYSE/IEG sales pitch that NACs are “different” because their IPOs will be used to “preserve and protect” natural areas. The climate change panic that is now rising to the take the place of COVID-19 panic will surely be used to savvily market NACs and similar tactics as necessary to save the planet, but – rest assured – NACs are not a move to save the planet, but a move to enable the same interests responsible for the current environmental crises to usher in a new era where their predatory exploitation reaches new heights that were previously unimaginable.

Josephine Wentzel is joining me on the show today. On June 10, 2016, Josephine's daughter, Krystal Jaye Mitchell, was brutally murdered in San Diego, California. Her murderer then fled to Mexico and onto Central America. Josephine is a warrior for justice and HOPE. Listen in! ***Do you need some redirection right now? Feeling overwhelmed? Join us this Christmas for a study about HOPE.

Rev. David Schwarz, Regional Director to South and Central America joined us for Missions Conference where he preached this fantastic message, "Heed the Call," in which he emphasized the essentiality of a call. He preached through the story of Bro. Bennie DeMerchant and in his closing remarks, the presence of God settled in the room and began to draw people to surrender to His calling on their lives.Bro. Schwarz also joined us for a panel published on the Calvary Tabernacle Podcast which you can find wherever you enjoy podcasts or by clicking this link for Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/calvary-tabernacle-podcast/id1523933062 

Sign up for our mailing list! We also have t-shirts and mugs with our logo! This week let's look at a scientific mystery: what caused the golden toad to go extinct, and is it still alive after all? Further reading: A deadly fungus is killing frogs, but the bacteria on their skin could protect them The male golden toad: The female golden toad (photo by Mary Crump): Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is gorgeous and hopefully still hides some golden toads: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I'm your host, Kate Shaw. This is our 250th episode, not counting the various bonus episodes, and I should have prepared a special show as a result but I didn't notice until just now. But let's pretend this is a special episode 250 show. It's all about the golden toad. The golden toad is from a tiny area of Costa Rica in Central America. I really do mean a tiny area. North of the city of Monteverde is the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, and the toad was only known from one small part of the reserve that was less than two square miles in size, or about four square kilometers. Specifically, it's from a single ridge in the nature reserve. A cloud forest is a type of high altitude rainforest. Because temperatures tend to be much cooler than in an ordinary rainforest, a cloud forest can look very different and sometimes wonderfully strange. Cloud forests are foggy a lot of the time and the trees are often covered in thick mosses. In some cloud forests the trees are quite small while ferns and other plants can grow extremely large. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is home to thousands of plant and animal species, many of them found nowhere else in the world. That includes the golden toad. The golden toad gets its name from the male's coloring. The males are a beautiful golden orange while the females are mostly gray or black with yellow, red, or green markings. As in many frogs and toads, females are larger than males, with a big female growing over two inches long from nose to butt, or about 5.5 centimeters. The golden toad was only discovered by scientists in 1964 and described in 1966. The last golden toad was a male observed in May of 1989 during what should have been the mating season, but he was all alone. The golden toad was declared extinct in 2004 after repeated searches turned up no toads at all. It's easy to think that because the golden toad was restricted to such a small area, it was inevitable that it would go extinct, but the toads were actually common throughout their range until suddenly they weren't. We're not sure what happened. Here's the story. When the toad was first discovered, researchers estimated that there were around 1,500 adult toads living on the ridge. Most of the time the toads were hard to find, since during the dry season, or when they weren't actively hunting the insects they ate, they'd stay in underground burrows where it was always nice and damp. But when the spring rains started, the males would hop out and gather around shallow puddles at the base of trees. Females would join the males, and because there were always more males than females, they'd all try to be the one to fertilize her eggs. During this time researchers were able to observe and count the toads, which they described as looking like living jewels. The female golden toad laid her eggs in the pools of rainwater. The eggs hatched quickly but the tadpoles needed to live in their pool for at least four more weeks until they metamorphosed into toadlets that lived on land. If there was too much rain, the pools would overflow and the tadpoles were in danger of being washed out to die. If there wasn't enough rain, the pools would dry out and the tadpoles would also die. But most years conditions were pretty good and lots of tadpoles lived to grow up. Until 1987. A behavioral ecologist who specializes in amphibians, Martha Crump, was studying the golden toads in 1987.

Michael Cobb is a real estate expert and international developer. After success in the computer industry, Michael formed ECI Development in 1996. This residential resort development company builds communities in Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, and Mexico. Tropical neighborhoods include homes, condominiums, golf courses, and hotels in beach, agricultural, and mountain locations. Michael serves on the board of several multinational companies, charitable foundations, holds a CIPS certification, is a past International Director for NAR, and heads the International Referral Network (IRN) for Realtors. Michael and his wife, Carol, lived as expats, raising two daughters overseas, from 2002 through 2016. Quote: “We started a mortgage company to provide financing to North Americans.. and that business ultimately grew into a bank, but we are still largely a mortgage company.” “Understanding that thin slicing of the marketplace is really important but also [is] understanding your goals and objectives.” “To me, the biggest form of asset protection is diversification, and not just in terms of asset classes.” Highlights: 02:00 - Michael tells listeners more about life with his family in Nicaragua, culture shock, and raising children outside of him and his wife's native country. 07:24  - Michael discusses his shift from the technology industry into the real estate world and how ECI Development came to be. 12:54 - Michael tells us the reasons why his company doesn't have many competitors. 15:23 - Michael lists some reasons why Central American real estate is so appealing. 28:50  - Michael talks about asset protection when owning real estate in Central America. 34:21 -  Michael touches on ECI's current real estate developments. 40:23 - Michael describes the process of someone touring properties. Guest Website: https://www.ecidevelopment.com/ Recommended Resources:  Check out our company and our investment opportunity by visiting www.SunriseCapitalInvestors.com  Self Directed IRA Investment Opportunity –  Click Here To Learn More About How You Can Invest With Us Through Your SDIRA  Accredited Investors  Click Here  to learn more about partnering with me and my team on Mobile Home Park deals!  Grab a free copy of my latest book “The 21 Biggest Mistakes Investors Make When Purchasing their First Mobile Home Park…and how to avoid them MobileHomeParkAcademy.com  Schedule your free 30 minute "no obligation" call directly with Kevin by clicking this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/KV2D2  

On today's Breitbart News Daily podcast - Alex again dives into the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, the rise is COVID rates in certain U.S. states, Pres. Joe Biden talking Satchel Paige and taking advice from his son, Hunter, Vice Pres. Kamala Harris' new accent, border crossers caught who are not from Mexico or Central America, and a miracle story - a 21-week newborn survives! Then, two guests today, author and columnist Ann Coulter and former Navy SEAL and author, Jocko Willink, both join Alex on the podcast covering Rittenhouse trial, big tech, illegal immigration, Afghanistan and what it means to be a leader.

Follow Captain Liz Clark on the Voyage of the Swell, a surfer's journey in search of a life of exploration, adventure and the perfect wave. After college, instead of getting a job and starting a career, as her peers were, Liz bought a boat. She had always loved the ocean and felt a calling to follow her dreams, and try and make her passions her life, instead of just something crammed in between all the things she was supposed to do. So she decided to do something crazy. At age 22, with no real experience of sailing alone, she set sail from San Diego and simply headed south. No fixed plan in mind, just sailing the coast at the pace of a slow jog, searching out the best surf breaks in the world, places where no one else had ever ridden waves before.This is a story for ocean lovers, it's a story for sailors and surfers, but it's also a story for anyone out there dreaming of escape. For Liz following your dreams and pursuing a life built around your passions isn't frivolous or selfish. It's the door to discovering your life purpose. She says: “Your passions are the compass by which your steer your life”. If you dream of a life of exploration and adventure too, this story is for you. Highlights include:·       Surfing some of the best breaks in the world along the coast of Central America and in remote atolls in the South Pacific·       Discovering the beauty and incredible Polynesian culture of the Marquesas islands, one of the most remote archipelagos in the world·       Free diving with Hammerhead Sharks in the Cocos Islands, an under-water paradise 300 miles off the coast of Costa Rica·       Exploring the Galapagos Islands and find out what a world untouched by human hands would be likeThe book of this journey is called Swell: a Sailing Surfer's Voyage of Awakening. it's out now on Patagonia Books. Instagram and Facebook @captainlizclark, YouTube @captainlizzy and her website and blog is www.swellvoyage.com If you enjoy this show please consider supporting it by becoming a patron. For $5 a month you will get ad-free episodes; $10 a month will also get you access to our exclusive Explorer's Club, monthly travel vouchers and more. www.patreon.com/armchairexplorerpodcastFollow @armchairexplorerpodcast on Instagram and Facebook 

Two amazing Conversations on thier own come together in this hundredth and first episode of My Family Thinks I'm Crazy, First I speak with Juan, on the Juan on Juan podcast, we discussed humanity, books, history, podcasting, ley lines, freedom of information, Tartaria, the occult, magic, Aleister Crowley and more!www.thejuanonjuanpodcast.comIG: @thejuanonjuanpodcastTwitter: @thejuanonjuanpdPart 2: After that is a Fun filled Jam packed episode of Tartaria fun on The Big Dumb Podcast, Kyle, Pudz, and I discussed The Tartarian Mystery. This included making the connections to Indigenous tribes from all over the world, including Native Americans, Mongolians, tribes in Europe, Asia, South and Central America, and even Africa. We also looked at ancient monolithic structures as well as more modern architecture and how those are connected to the alleged Tartarian Empire. I went into this show thinking I'd get some answers on Tartaria, but I left with more questions than when I started. Mark brought up many connections and avenues that I had never heard before, so it was wonderful to look at this topic through a different perspective. This topic really serves as an opportunity for us to reexamine our history and question the narratives of how we got to where we are today. Go into this with an open mind, and do your own research! The Big Dumb Podcast Links:LinktreeEmail: thebigdumbpod@gmail.comIG: @thebigdumb_podcastTwatter: @TheBigDumbPodJoin us on TelegramLeave me a message at https://podinbox.com/MFTIC:For Exclusive My Family Thinks I'm Crazy Content: Only 3$ get 50+ Bonus Episodes, Sign up on our Patreon For Exclusive Episodes. Check out the S.E.E.E.N.or on Rokfin@MFTICPodcast on Twitter@myfamilythinksimcrazy on Instagram, Follow, Subscribe, Rate, and Review we appreciate you!https://www.myfamilythinksimcrazy.comIntro Song by Destiny Lab Intro Music 1: Way Back WhenInterlude Music: Moon TravelingBy Neon BeachReleased under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License Thanks To Soundstripe★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Photo: One dollar, Bank of Poyais, Republic of Poyais (1820s). After fighting in South and Central America, the Scottish soldier Gregor MacGregor created an elaborate scam claiming to have been made a Cacique of the entirely fictitious Cazique of Poyais, all in an effort to defraud land investors. Nearly 200 died in 1822–23 in connection with MacGregor's deception. Ransomware; & What is to be done?  Georgianna Shea @FDD https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/11/08/how-to-free-business-ransomware-dystopia/  

In this week's episode, we sit down with Duane Forrest singer-songwriter and multimedia artist on the Paris leg of his current European tour. We talk very vivid dreams of ivory coast, live dock shows in cottage country, heartbreak, chopped salad, Tuscany, all the coasts and all the black communities, Duane's decision to have a vinyl offering for his latest album #LeSol and much, much more! Sol e Sol builds on themes of love, heartbreak, and self-discovery, reflecting musically Duane's growth as an artist and a human being.  Please make sure you comment, rate and subscribe. Send us your feedback at contact@youngeastafricangirl.com Recommendations from this episode: In 2011 Duane founded Genesis Community of the Arts, a registered Canadian charity offering music and arts education to marginalized children and youth in Toronto and Central America. To find out more about Genesis please visit www.genesisartschool.com and donate if you can! Marvin Gaye on Vinyl  Joni Mitchell on Vinyl Mother Cocktail Bar

Photo:   Tegucigalpa, Honduras, from Notes on Central America, particularly the States of Honduras and San Salvador ... and the proposed Honduras inter-oceanic railway. With original maps and illustrations #NewWorldReport: Honduras narco-terrorist leadership. Latin American Research Professor Evan Ellis, @revanellis U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.  https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/honduras-presidential-candidate-arrested-80978366

Quick, switch over to Vodacast to see the pictures I talk about in the episode! We all lose things -- keys, wallets, patience -- but how do you lose an entire city?  Hear the stories of three American towns built in a hurry but kept off the map, secure Soviet enclaves known by their post codes, ancient cities found by modern technology, and the ingenious engineering of underground dwellings. YBOF Book; Audiobook (basically everywhere but Audible); Merch Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter,  or Instagram. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs. Support the show Music by Kevin MacLeod, .   Links to all the research resources are on our website.    In the opal-mining region of South Australia, lies the town of Coober Peedy.  You're welcome to visit, but don't expect to see much.  There aren't many buildings, though the landscape is dotted with ventilation shafts.  There's almost no movement at all.  So if the town is here, where are its 3500 residents?  Look down.  My name's Moxie and this is your brain on facts.   In 1943, three ordinary-looking US cities were constructed at record speed, but left off all maps.  Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Richland, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico held laboratories and sprawling industrial plants, as well as residential neighborhoods, schools, churches, and stores.  The three cities had a combined population of more than 125,000 and one extraordinary purpose: to create nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan project, the U.S. military's initiative to develop nuclear weapons.     Their design was driven by unique considerations, such as including buffer zones for radiation leaks or explosions. In each case, there were natural features, topographical features, that were considered to be favorable. In all three cases, they were somewhat remote—in the case of Richland and Los Alamos, very remote—which offered a more secure environment, of course. But also, in the event of a disaster, an explosion or a radiation leak, that would also minimize the potential exposure of people outside the project to any sort of radiation danger.  The sites were  selected far from one another in case German or Japanese bombers somehow managed to penetrate that far into the United States, it would be harder for them in a single bombing run to take out more than one facility.  K-25 plant at Oak Ridge, which was where they enriched uranium using the gaseous diffusion method, was the largest building in the world under a single roof, spanning more than 40 acres.    Before you being any building project, you have to clear the site of things like trees, high spots, people. In 1942, the government approached the families that lived near the Clinch river in Tennessee, some of whom had farmed there for generations, and kicked them out, telling them the land was needed for a “demolition range,” so as to scare off hold-outs with the threat of adjacent explosions.  The town scaled up fast.   Oak Ridge was initially conceived as a town for 13,000 people but grew to 75,000 by the end of the war, the biggest of the secret cities. The laboratories took up most of the space, but rather than constructing basic dormitories for employees, the architects and designers settled on a suburban vision.  To pull this off quickly and secretly, the architects relied on prefabricated housing, in some cases, a house might come in two halves on the back of a truck to be assembled on-site. These were called “alphabet houses;” A houses were the most modest (read: tiny), while D houses included dining rooms.  Housing was assigned based on seniority, though allowances were sometimes made for large families.     And race.  This was the early 40's, after all.  The secret suburbs for factories manufacturing megadeaths were segregated by design.  Their houses were called “hutments,” little more than plywood frames without indoor plumbing, insulation or glass in the windows.  Though two of the first public schools in the south to be desegregated were in Oak Ridge. They even threatened to secede from Tennessee in order to desegregate, so at least there's that.  There were white families in the hutments as well and all of the residents of that lower-class neighborhood were under more surveillance and stricter rules than the families in better housing.  Married couples may be forbidden to live together.  By the end of the war, most of the white families had been moved out of the hutments and but many of the African American families continued to live in the basic dwellings until the early 1950s.    These towns didn't appear on any official maps, and visitors were screened by guards posted at the entrances.  Anyone over 12 had to have official ID.  Firearms, cameras, and even binoculars were prohibited.  Billboards were installed all over town to remind workers to keep their mouths shut about their work, even though most workers knew very little about the project's true scope.  For example, you job may be to watch a gauge for eight hours and flip a switch if it goes to high.  You don't know what you're measuring or what the machine is doing.  All you've been told is to flip the switch when the needle hits a certain number.  In Los Alamos and Richland, the entire neighborhood may have the same mailing address.  At Oak Ridge, street addresses were designed to be confusing to outsiders. Bus routes might be called X-10 or K-25 while dorms had simple names such as M1.  There were no signs on buildings. The town was full of such ciphers, and even employees didn't know how to decode them all.  The use of words such as “atomic” or “uranium” was taboo lest it tip off the enemy.   When the US dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, the city's secret was out. Many residents celebrated at this turning point in the war, but not all.  Mary Lowe Michel, a typist in Oak Ridge, is quoted in an exhibit on display now at the National Building Museum in DC: “The night that the news broke that the bombs had been dropped, there was joyous occasions in the streets, hugging and kissing and dancing and live music and singing that went on for hours and hours. But it bothered me to know that I, in my very small way, had participated in such a thing, and I sat in my dorm room and cried.”  All three cities remained part of the military industrial complex, continuing to work on nuclear weapons during the cold war as well as broader scientific research.  Today Oak Ridge is heavily involved in renewable energy, minus the barbed wire fence.   For most of the twentieth century, if the US was doing it, so was the USSR.  We had closed cities to build nuclear weapons, and so did the Soviet Union.  We had three, they had….lots. Like, a lot a lot.  Like, multiple screens on the Wikipedia list.  Where the US began to open its closed cities after the war, the USSR was building more and more, and not just for nuclear weapons.  These closed cities were nicknamed “post boxes,” because they would be named for the nearest non-secret city and the end of their post code; or simply “boxes” for their closed nature. During the two decades following World War II, dozens of closed cities were built around the country. Some were naukogradi (“science cities”) or akademgorodoki (“academic cities”), while others developed military technology and later spacecraft.  The official name was closed administrative-territorial formations or zakrytye administrativno-territorial'nye obrazovaniya, or ZATOs.    The cities were largely built by slave labor from the Gulag prison camps, which at the time accounted for 23% of the non-agricultural labor force in the Soviet Union.  They were guarded like gulags, too - surrounded by barbed wire and guards, with no one was allowed to enter or leave without official authorization.  Many residents did not leave the city once between their arrival and their death.  That being said, the captive residents enjoyed access to housing, food, and health care better than Soviet citizens elsewhere.  While most towns in the Soviet Union were run by local communist party committees, military officials oversaw the secret cities that would eventually be home to over 100,000 people.  Even during construction, officials were ordered to use trusted prisoners only, meaning no Germans, POWs, hard criminals, political prisoners.  Nevertheless, even living alongside Gulag prisoners, residents believed they were making a valuable contribution to their country. Nikolai Rabotnov, a resident of Chelyabinsk-65, remembered, “I was sure that within our barbed labyrinth, I inhaled the air of freedom!”   Arzamas-16, today known by its original name Sarov, was one of the most important sites in the early development of the first Soviet atomic bomb and hydrogen and was roughly the Soviet equivalent of Los Alamos.  Scientists, workers, and their families enjoyed privileged living conditions and were sheltered from difficulties like military service and economic crisis.  Leading researchers were paid a very large salary for those times.  Chelyabinsk-65 or Ozersk was home to a plutonium production plant similar to the American facilities built at Richland.  Located near a collective farm in the southern Ural Mountains, Chelyabinsk-65 was more or less built from nothing, where Arzamas-16 was an existing town that was taken over.  After the basics of the city were completed, early years were very difficult for the residents. The cities lacked basic infrastructure and suffered from high rates of alcoholism and poor living conditions. The Mayak Plutonium Plant dumped nuclear waste in the nearby Techa River, causing a health crisis not only for the residents of Chelyabinsk-65 but for all the villages which ran along it.   Conditions at Chelyabinsk-65/Ozersk would not improve until after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953.  You remember that story, it was in our episode For Want of a Nail.  Owing to the plutonium plant, Chelyabinsk-65 is still one of the most polluted places in the world. Some residents refer to it as the “graveyard of the Earth.”  Somehow, though, it's considered a prestigious place to live where.  When the government polled residents after the Cold War had thawed over whether to open the city, they voted to keep it closed.  In fact, half of the nuclear scientists said they would refuse to stay if it was opened.  As one resident explained, “We take pride in the fact that the state trusts us enough to live and work in Ozersk.”   In 1991, the Soviet Union officially disbanded and its fifteen republics became independent, four of which had nuclear weapons deployed on their territories. This was of great concern to the West, as these newly formed nations did not have the financial or technological means to properly store and safeguard these weapons.  With budgets a fraction of what they were in the decades before, the standard of living in the ZATOs quickly declined.  Security went with it, as the soldiers who guarded the ZATOs also saw their wages slashed.   With little prospect of employment and limited security, scientists suddenly had the freedom not only to leave their cities but to leave the country.  Fear quickly spread in the United States that they could help develop nuclear programs in other countries, such as Iran.  In 1991, the Nunn-Lugar Act financed the transportation and dismantlement of the scattered nukes to not only reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world but to provide the scientists with proper employment.  One result of this effort was the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow, which employed many former atomic scientists on non-weapons programs and still exists today.      If you need to hide a city from your enemies, you'd do well to move it underground.  Built in the late 50s in Wiltshire, England, the massive complex, codename Burlington was designed to safely house up to 4,000 central government personnel in the event of a nuclear strike.  In a former Bath stone quarry the city was to be the site of the main Emergency Government War Headquarters, the country's alternative seat of power if the worst happened.  Over 2/3mi/1km in length, and boasting over 60mi/97km  of roads, the underground site was designed to accommodate the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Office, civil servants and an army of domestic support staff.   Blast proof and completely self-sufficient the secret underground site could accommodate up to 4,000 people  in complete isolation from the outside world  for up to three months.  Though it was fortunately never used, the grid of roads and avenues ran between underground hospitals, canteens, kitchens, warehouses of supplies, dormitories, and offices.  The city was also equipped with the second largest telephone exchange in Britain, a BBC studio from which the PM could address the nation and a pneumatic tube system that could relay messages, using compressed air, throughout the complex.  An underground lake and treatment plant could provide all the drinking water needed.  A dozen huge tanks could store the fuel required to keep the generators in the underground power station running for up to three months.  The air within the complex could also be kept at a constant humidity and heated to around 68F/20C degrees.   The complex was kept on standby in case of future nuclear threats to the UK, until 2005, when the underground reservoir was drained, the supplies removed, the fuel tanks were emptied and the skeleton staff of four were dismissed. Some cities were not secret in their heyday, but were lost to time until recently.  In what's being hailed as a “major breakthrough” for Maya archaeology in February 2018, researchers have identified the ruins of more than 60,000 buildings hidden for centuries under the jungles of Guatemala.  Using LiDAR, or Light Detection And Ranging, scholars digitally removed the tree canopy from aerial images of the area, revealing the ruins of a sprawling pre-Columbian civilization that was far more complex and interconnected than most Maya specialists had supposed.   Mounted on a helicopter, the laser continually aims pulses toward the ground below, so many that a large number streak through the spaces between the leaves and branches, and are reflected back to the aircraft and registered by a GPS unit. By calculating the precise distances between the airborne laser and myriad points on the earth's surface, computer software can generate a three-dimensional digital image of what lies below.  To put the density of this jungle into perspective, archaeologists have been searching the area on foot for years, but did not find a single man-made feature.   “LiDAR is revolutionizing archaeology the way the Hubble Space Telescope revolutionized astronomy,” said Francisco Estrada-Belli, a Tulane University archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer. “We'll need 100 years to go through all [the data] and really understand what we're seeing.”  The project mapped more than 800 sq mi/2,100 sq km of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the Petén region of northern Guatemala, producing the largest LiDAR data set ever obtained for archaeological research.  The old school of that held that Mayan civilization existed as scattered city-states, but these findings suggest that Central America supported an advanced civilization that was, with as many as 14 million people at its peak around 1,200 years ago, comparable to sophisticated cultures like ancient Greece or China.  The LiDAR even revealed raised highways connecting urban centers and complex irrigation and agricultural terracing systems.  And that was without the use of the wheel or beasts of burden   Despite standing for millennia, these sites are in danger from looting and environmental degradation.  Guatemala is losing more than 10 percent of its forests annually, and habitat loss has accelerated along its border with Mexico as trespassers burn and clear land for agriculture and human settlement.  “By identifying these sites and helping to understand who these ancient people were, we hope to raise awareness of the value of protecting these places,” Marianne Hernandez, president of the Foundation for Maya Cultural and Natural Heritage.   Lidar has also helped scientists to redraw a settlement located on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, and it tells the beginnings of a fascinating story.  Scientists from the University of Witwatersrand believe the newly discovered city was occupied in the 15th century by Tswana-speaking people who lived in the northern parts of South Africa.  Many similar Tswana city-states fell during regional wars and forced migration in the 1820s, and there was little oral or physical evidence to prove their existence.  Though archaeologists excavated some ancient ruins in the area in the 1960s, they couldn't comprehend the full extent of the settlement. By using LiDAR technology, the team was able to virtually remove vegetation and recreate images of the surrounding landscape, allowing them to produce aerial views of the monuments and buildings in a way that could not have been imagined a generation ago.    Using these new aerial photographs, they can now estimate that as many as 850 homesteads had once existed in and around the city they've given the temporary designation of SKBR.  It's likely that most homesteads housed several family members, meaning this was a city with a large population.  There are also stone towers outside some homesteads, as high as 8ft2.5m high with bases 16ft/5m wide.  The academics believe these may have been bases for grain bins or even burial markers for important people.  Though the team estimates they are still another decade or two away from fully understanding the city's inhabitants and how the city came to be, and ceased to exist.   Modern technology has also helped us find an ancient city in Cambodia.  Constructed around 1150, the palaces and temples of Angkor Wat were, and still are, the biggest religious complex on Earth, covering an area four times larger than Vatican City.   In the 15th Century, the Khmer kings abandoned their city and moved to the coast.  They built a new city, Phnom Penh, the present-day capital of Cambodia.  Life in Angkor slowly ebbed away.  Everything made of wood rotted away; everything made of stone was reclaimed by the jungle.   An international team, led by the University of Sydney's Dr Damian Evans, was able to map out /370 sq km around Angkor in unprecedented detail in less than two weeks - no mean feat given the density of the jungle.  Rampant illegal logging of valuable hardwoods had stripped away much of the primary forest, allowing dense new undergrowth to fill in the gaps. It was unclear whether the lasers could locate enough holes in the canopy to penetrate to the forest floor.  The prevalence of landmines from Cambodia's civil war are another area where shooting Lidar from a helicopter really shines. The findings were staggering.  The archaeologists found undocumented cityscapes etched on to the forest floor, with remnants of boulevards, reservoirs, ponds, dams, dikes, irrigation canals, agricultural plots, low-density settlement complexes and orderly rows of temples. They were all clustered around what the archaeologists realized must be a royal palace, a vast structure surrounded by a network of earthen dikes—the ninth-century fortress of King Jayavarman II. “To suspect that a city is there, somewhere underneath the forest, and then to see the entire structure revealed with such clarity and precision was extraordinary,” Evans told me. “It was amazing.”     These new discoveries have profoundly transformed our understanding of Angkor, the greatest medieval city on Earth.  Most striking of all was evidence of large-scale hydraulic engineering, the defining signature of the Khmer empire, used to store and distribute seasonal monsoon water using a complex network of huge canals and reservoirs.  Harnessing the monsoon provided food security - and made the ruling elite fantastically rich. For the next three centuries they channelled their wealth into the greatest concentration of temples on Earth.  Angkor was a bustling metropolis at its peak, covering /1,000 sq km; It would be another 700 years before London reached a similar size.     Bonus fact: and not to be a pedant, but “monsoon” refers no to the heavy rains in the rainy season from May to September, but to the strong, sustained winds that bring them.   And that's where we run out of ideas, at least for today.  Some cities are hidden, not for reasons of subterfuge or dereliction, but by necessity.  80% of the world's opal comes from the area of Coober Peedy, but that wealth is nothing to the sun it's going to continue with the Mad Max motif.  It may be 115 degrees F/47C outside, but it's only 74F/23C underground.  When heavy mining equipment was introduced a century ago, people took advantage of it to dug themselves homes, a church, hotels and B&Bs, a museum, casino, a gift shop, and, of course, a pub.  Remember...thanks... Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/laser-scans-reveal-maya-megalopolis-below-guatemalan-jungle.aspx https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lost-city-cambodia-180958508/ https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29245289 https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/05/inside-the-secret-cities-that-created-the-atomic-bomb/559601/ https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-build-secret-nuclear-city https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/may/03/off-the-map-the-secret-cities-behind-the-atom-bomb-manhattan-project https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/soviet-closed-cities https://metro.co.uk/2015/05/28/theres-a-whole-town-in-australia-that-lives-underground-5219091/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2016/09/coober-pedy-opal-mining/ https://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/coober-pedy-underground-homes.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2005/12/14/burlington_nuclear_bunker_feature.shtml https://theculturetrip.com/africa/south-africa/articles/a-lost-african-city-has-just-been-discovered-by-scientists/ https://www.historicmysteries.com/derinkuyu-underground-city-cappadocia/

Erythrina herbacea, commonly known as the coral bean, Cherokee bean, Mamou plant in South Louisiana, red cardinal or cardinal spear, is a flowering shrub or small tree found throughout the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico; it has also been reported from parts of Central America and, as an introduced species, from Pakistan. Various other systematic names have been used for this plant in the past, including Erythrina arborea, Erythrina hederifolia, Erythrina humilis, Erythrina rubicunda, Corallodendron herbaceum and Xyphanthus hederifolius.

Dumitru Duduman was a Romanian Pastor, sent to warn America with a Warning from God. The Angel Gabriel told him, “War in America will start with an internal revolution in America, started by the communists. Some of the people will start fighting against the government. The government will be busy with internal problems. Then, from the oceans, Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Central America, Mexico, and two other nations which I cannot remember, will attack! The Russians will bombard the nuclear missile silos and America will burn.” The nuclear missiles will land in California, Las Vegas, New York, and Florida.

Dumitru Duduman was a Romanian Pastor, sent to warn America with a Warning from God. The Angel Gabriel told him, “War in America will start with an internal revolution in America, started by the communists. Some of the people will start fighting against the government. The government will be busy with internal problems. Then, from the oceans, Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Central America, Mexico, and two other nations which I cannot remember, will attack! The Russians will bombard the nuclear missile silos and America will burn.” The nuclear missiles will land in California, Las Vegas, New York, and Florida.

With few exceptions, traditional accounts of the development of the modern world put European history at the center of everything, often focusing on the “Age of Discovery” and global expansion, the Enlightenment, and so on. “The history of Africa, by contrast, has long been relegated to the remote outskirts of our global story,” as Howard W. French asserts in his critically acclaimed and game-changing new book. “What if, instead, we put Africa and Africans at the very center of our thinking about the origins of modernity?”In this segment of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc talks with French about his new book, Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War, and about the forcibly forgotten history of Africa's central place in the making of the modern world. Howard W. French is a professor of journalism at Columbia University and former New York Times bureau chief in the Caribbean and Central America, West and Central Africa, Tokyo, and Shanghai. He is the author of numerous books, including A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa and China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa.Tune in for new episodes of The Marc Steiner Show every Tuesday and Friday on TRNN.Pre-Production/Studio/Post Production: Stephen FrankHelp us continue producing The Marc Steiner Show by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-mssSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-stGet The Marc Steiner Show updates: https://therealnews.com/up-pod-stLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Steven flies all over the country and to Mexico or Central America upon occasion. When his time is up, he flies back to wherever his family is parked at the moment. His wife is involved in roadschooling their three kids – ages 10, 8 and 6 – as well as planning all the family excursions when they arrive at a new destination. The children have acquired 92 Junior Ranger badges from the parks they have visited in the past year alone.

This week we interviewed Sara Nathan, President & CEO of Amigos de las Americas, the 55-year-old nonprofit that organizes gap year and cultural immersion trips to South and Central America for teens/young adults, with a focus on cultural competency, global citizenship, climate change & conservation, and ethical community service. Listen to learn about their various programs and financial aid opportunities for students and recent graduates.

In Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict Over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America (Cornell UP, 2020), Theresa Keeley analyzes the role of intra-Catholic conflict within the framework of U.S. foreign policy formulation and execution during the Reagan administration. She challenges the preponderance of scholarship on the administration that stresses the influence of evangelical Protestants on foreign policy toward Latin America. Especially in the case of U.S. engagement in El Salvador and Nicaragua, Keeley argues, the bitter debate between the U.S. and Central American Catholics over the direction of the Catholic Church shaped President Reagan's foreign policy. The flashpoint for these intra-Catholic disputes was the December 1980 political murder of four American Catholic missionaries in El Salvador. Liberal Catholics described nuns and priests in Central America who worked to combat structural inequality as human rights advocates living out the Gospel's spirit. Conservative Catholics saw them as agents of class conflict who furthered the so-called Gospel, according to Karl Marx. The debate was an old one among Catholics, but, as Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns contends, it intensified as conservative, anticommunist Catholics played instrumental roles in crafting U.S. policy to fund the Salvadoran government and the Nicaraguan Contras. Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns describes the religious actors as human rights advocates and, against prevailing understandings of the fundamentally secular activism related to human rights, highlights religion-inspired activism during the Cold War. In charting the rightward development of American Catholicism, Keeley provides a new chapter in the history of U.S. diplomacy. She shows how domestic issues such as contraception and abortion joined with foreign policy matters to shift Catholic laity toward Republican principles at home and abroad. Allison Isidore is a graduate of the Religion in Culture Masters program at the University of Alabama. Her research interest is focused on the twentieth-century American Civil Rights Movement and the Catholic Church's response to racism and the participation of Catholic clergy, nuns, and laypeople in marches, sit-ins, and kneel-ins during the 1950s and 1960s. Allison is also a Video Editor for The Religious Studies Project, producing videos for the podcast and marketing team. She tweets from @AllisonIsidore1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict Over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America (Cornell UP, 2020), Theresa Keeley analyzes the role of intra-Catholic conflict within the framework of U.S. foreign policy formulation and execution during the Reagan administration. She challenges the preponderance of scholarship on the administration that stresses the influence of evangelical Protestants on foreign policy toward Latin America. Especially in the case of U.S. engagement in El Salvador and Nicaragua, Keeley argues, the bitter debate between the U.S. and Central American Catholics over the direction of the Catholic Church shaped President Reagan's foreign policy. The flashpoint for these intra-Catholic disputes was the December 1980 political murder of four American Catholic missionaries in El Salvador. Liberal Catholics described nuns and priests in Central America who worked to combat structural inequality as human rights advocates living out the Gospel's spirit. Conservative Catholics saw them as agents of class conflict who furthered the so-called Gospel, according to Karl Marx. The debate was an old one among Catholics, but, as Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns contends, it intensified as conservative, anticommunist Catholics played instrumental roles in crafting U.S. policy to fund the Salvadoran government and the Nicaraguan Contras. Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns describes the religious actors as human rights advocates and, against prevailing understandings of the fundamentally secular activism related to human rights, highlights religion-inspired activism during the Cold War. In charting the rightward development of American Catholicism, Keeley provides a new chapter in the history of U.S. diplomacy. She shows how domestic issues such as contraception and abortion joined with foreign policy matters to shift Catholic laity toward Republican principles at home and abroad. Allison Isidore is a graduate of the Religion in Culture Masters program at the University of Alabama. Her research interest is focused on the twentieth-century American Civil Rights Movement and the Catholic Church's response to racism and the participation of Catholic clergy, nuns, and laypeople in marches, sit-ins, and kneel-ins during the 1950s and 1960s. Allison is also a Video Editor for The Religious Studies Project, producing videos for the podcast and marketing team. She tweets from @AllisonIsidore1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict Over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America (Cornell UP, 2020), Theresa Keeley analyzes the role of intra-Catholic conflict within the framework of U.S. foreign policy formulation and execution during the Reagan administration. She challenges the preponderance of scholarship on the administration that stresses the influence of evangelical Protestants on foreign policy toward Latin America. Especially in the case of U.S. engagement in El Salvador and Nicaragua, Keeley argues, the bitter debate between the U.S. and Central American Catholics over the direction of the Catholic Church shaped President Reagan's foreign policy. The flashpoint for these intra-Catholic disputes was the December 1980 political murder of four American Catholic missionaries in El Salvador. Liberal Catholics described nuns and priests in Central America who worked to combat structural inequality as human rights advocates living out the Gospel's spirit. Conservative Catholics saw them as agents of class conflict who furthered the so-called Gospel, according to Karl Marx. The debate was an old one among Catholics, but, as Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns contends, it intensified as conservative, anticommunist Catholics played instrumental roles in crafting U.S. policy to fund the Salvadoran government and the Nicaraguan Contras. Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns describes the religious actors as human rights advocates and, against prevailing understandings of the fundamentally secular activism related to human rights, highlights religion-inspired activism during the Cold War. In charting the rightward development of American Catholicism, Keeley provides a new chapter in the history of U.S. diplomacy. She shows how domestic issues such as contraception and abortion joined with foreign policy matters to shift Catholic laity toward Republican principles at home and abroad. Allison Isidore is a graduate of the Religion in Culture Masters program at the University of Alabama. Her research interest is focused on the twentieth-century American Civil Rights Movement and the Catholic Church's response to racism and the participation of Catholic clergy, nuns, and laypeople in marches, sit-ins, and kneel-ins during the 1950s and 1960s. Allison is also a Video Editor for The Religious Studies Project, producing videos for the podcast and marketing team. She tweets from @AllisonIsidore1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/latin-american-studies

In Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict Over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America (Cornell UP, 2020), Theresa Keeley analyzes the role of intra-Catholic conflict within the framework of U.S. foreign policy formulation and execution during the Reagan administration. She challenges the preponderance of scholarship on the administration that stresses the influence of evangelical Protestants on foreign policy toward Latin America. Especially in the case of U.S. engagement in El Salvador and Nicaragua, Keeley argues, the bitter debate between the U.S. and Central American Catholics over the direction of the Catholic Church shaped President Reagan's foreign policy. The flashpoint for these intra-Catholic disputes was the December 1980 political murder of four American Catholic missionaries in El Salvador. Liberal Catholics described nuns and priests in Central America who worked to combat structural inequality as human rights advocates living out the Gospel's spirit. Conservative Catholics saw them as agents of class conflict who furthered the so-called Gospel, according to Karl Marx. The debate was an old one among Catholics, but, as Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns contends, it intensified as conservative, anticommunist Catholics played instrumental roles in crafting U.S. policy to fund the Salvadoran government and the Nicaraguan Contras. Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns describes the religious actors as human rights advocates and, against prevailing understandings of the fundamentally secular activism related to human rights, highlights religion-inspired activism during the Cold War. In charting the rightward development of American Catholicism, Keeley provides a new chapter in the history of U.S. diplomacy. She shows how domestic issues such as contraception and abortion joined with foreign policy matters to shift Catholic laity toward Republican principles at home and abroad. Allison Isidore is a graduate of the Religion in Culture Masters program at the University of Alabama. Her research interest is focused on the twentieth-century American Civil Rights Movement and the Catholic Church's response to racism and the participation of Catholic clergy, nuns, and laypeople in marches, sit-ins, and kneel-ins during the 1950s and 1960s. Allison is also a Video Editor for The Religious Studies Project, producing videos for the podcast and marketing team. She tweets from @AllisonIsidore1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

In Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict Over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America (Cornell UP, 2020), Theresa Keeley analyzes the role of intra-Catholic conflict within the framework of U.S. foreign policy formulation and execution during the Reagan administration. She challenges the preponderance of scholarship on the administration that stresses the influence of evangelical Protestants on foreign policy toward Latin America. Especially in the case of U.S. engagement in El Salvador and Nicaragua, Keeley argues, the bitter debate between the U.S. and Central American Catholics over the direction of the Catholic Church shaped President Reagan's foreign policy. The flashpoint for these intra-Catholic disputes was the December 1980 political murder of four American Catholic missionaries in El Salvador. Liberal Catholics described nuns and priests in Central America who worked to combat structural inequality as human rights advocates living out the Gospel's spirit. Conservative Catholics saw them as agents of class conflict who furthered the so-called Gospel, according to Karl Marx. The debate was an old one among Catholics, but, as Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns contends, it intensified as conservative, anticommunist Catholics played instrumental roles in crafting U.S. policy to fund the Salvadoran government and the Nicaraguan Contras. Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns describes the religious actors as human rights advocates and, against prevailing understandings of the fundamentally secular activism related to human rights, highlights religion-inspired activism during the Cold War. In charting the rightward development of American Catholicism, Keeley provides a new chapter in the history of U.S. diplomacy. She shows how domestic issues such as contraception and abortion joined with foreign policy matters to shift Catholic laity toward Republican principles at home and abroad. Allison Isidore is a graduate of the Religion in Culture Masters program at the University of Alabama. Her research interest is focused on the twentieth-century American Civil Rights Movement and the Catholic Church's response to racism and the participation of Catholic clergy, nuns, and laypeople in marches, sit-ins, and kneel-ins during the 1950s and 1960s. Allison is also a Video Editor for The Religious Studies Project, producing videos for the podcast and marketing team. She tweets from @AllisonIsidore1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Many of us have experienced the damaging effects of religious indoctrination, and hearing the stories of others help us feel less alone and heal just a little bit more. In this episode, Amanda Rose shares how a cult forced her into intense modesty and purity culture as a child, how this has effected her sexuality as a woman, and how she is healing. May this sweet soul be a mirror revealing that you too have the power to love your body, feel safe in your sexuality, and feel whole, regardless how  traumatic, sheltered, or confining the past may have been. Amanda spent her childhood on a family farm in Florida, where she was raised by a very loving and dysfunctional family. Think... "The Yearling" meets "The Waltons" meets "Cheaper By The Dozen" meets "Duck Dynasty"...and you've basically got it! When she was 12 years old, her family moved to Central America. That's where this hillbilly of a gal was plunged deep into a cult and was subjected to rigorous religious brainwashing. Psychological, spiritual, physical, and emotional abuse...she knows it all too well. Amanda sunk into a dark well of patriarchal purity culture and oppressive submission dogma to put it mildly.  Her adolescent experiences in Central America and in the religious cult spun the narrative that women were not to be trusted, especially with men or in relationships. A woman's body was dangerous at best and property at worst, and sex was just to meet a mans "needs."  Her journey out of that cult and through her healing path has been wild and crazy, but it's led her to where she is now.  Today Amanda works with women who are ready for the initiation into their feminine radiance, and sovereign, embodied self leadership in the three arenas of:  - sexuality and embodied sensuality  - healing from trauma on a somatic and quantum level  - rewilding your soul and reconnecting you to your wombspace This episode covers topics like: -saving sex until AFTER marriage -going from modesty culture being covered from head to toe to loving her body fully  -what's it like to be indoctrinated into a cult in your teenage years -"safe sex" is more than just about physical protection, but emotional connection  -spiritual abuse and oppression over women  -the harmfulness of purity culture and conservative Christianity -how purity culture and submission teachings/dogma affects your marriages, honeymoons, and sex  -what is sexual embodiment?  -how can sexual embodiment help women heal that are coming out of purity culture?  -the common thread between orgasm and worship Stay in touch with Amanda: Follow on IG: https://www.instagram.com/amandaarlenerose  Join her group coaching container: https://www.mywombspace.com Learn more about Amanda's work: https://www.wholenessmirroring.com   I hope you benefit from ENLIGHTENED, the podcast by me, Sophia Spallino, an audible experience that leaves you feeling at peace, encouraged, and in touch with your soul. If you feel comfortable to share how the show is touching your heart, please leave a rating and review on iTunes or the Apple Podcast App. It will only take a minute, but genuine reviews are vital to the success of my show, so please review by tapping here. Thank you for supporting my labor of love by sharing screenshots of the podcast, subscribing, and by pledging to contribute. Because creating inspiring content demands my time, creativity, resources, and talent, I depend on generous listeners like you to support the production of my show. Kindly support Enlightened for as little as $0.99/mo by tapping here. *you may cancel at anytime. With infinite love and gratitude, I pray that peace be with you. xo Sophia (@SophiaSpallino on Instagram) Listen to MY HEALING: a forgiveness anthem that I wrote and recorded: https://sophiaspallino.trac.co/sophiaspallinomyhealing Watch the Lyric Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da4M2KKGbF0 Learn more about me and what I do: https://www.SophiaSpallino.com Follow me on Instagram for inspiring real-life stories everyday: https://www.instagram.com/sophiaspallino/ Pledge to support my show: http://bit.ly/SupportEnlightened Shop my merch: https://www.SophiaSpallino.com/shop Shop my favorite books and card decks here: http://bit.ly/SoulBooks If you would like to download my TikTok/Reels or Podcast Start Up class, here is the link: https://sophiaspallino.com/mentorship/ If you are seeking wisdom & guidance, branding/social media tips, dating advice, a breakup breakthrough session, or a card reading, schedule a one-on-one virtual meeting with me: https://sophiaspallino.com/mentorship

Your confusion is over! I am sure, many of you have been baffled and confused as to what is the difference between these two long nosed, and long tongued creatures. In this weird animal facts episode we learn that the aardvark is a naked African mammal and the giant anteater is a fluffy American mammal (no relation) as well as many, many, many more facts that may or may not heal your confusing mind. Scientific NamesAardvark: Orycteropus aferGiant Anteater: Myrmecophaga tridactylaTo help save the anteaters, sloths and armadillos who are near extinction consider learning and even donating to this link below.https://www.xenarthrans.org/Instagram @wafpodcasttiktok @wafpodcastEmail: wafpodcastexplicit@gmail.comFacebook: "Weird Animal Facts: Explicit"Support the show (https://www.ko-fi.com/wafpodcast)

Photo:  Map of the Republic of Nicragua #NewWorldReport:   The North Korea of Central America. Senadora Maria Fernanda Cabal. @MariaFdaCabal (on leave) Joseph Humire @JMHumire @SecureFreeSoc https://www.securefreesociety.org https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ortega-and-murillo-the-power-couple-with-an-iron-grip-on-nicaragua/ar-AAQsHkO

Raymond "RJ" McLeod is one of the U.S. Marshal's Top 15 Most Wanted Fugitives. This week I am bringing you an active hunt for a real life killer (“alleged killer”).  38-year old Raymond Samuel “RJ” McLeod has been on the run since 2016 – he is wanted in connection to the murder of 30-year old Krystal Mitchell. Raymond fled to Central America and has been seen in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. He is currently still on the run. Krystal's mother, Josephine Wentzel, has been actively looking for RJ and she has come very close to finding him…but she now needs our help! Let's amplify her voice.  Share RJ's WANTED poster on all of your social media accounts. And if you know someone in Central or South America – even better – share the poster with them as well. McLeod is a 5-foot-11 white male with brown hair and hazel eyes. At the time he fled, McLeod weighed 245 pounds and had a tattooed muscular physique. There is a $50k Reward for his capture. If you have any information, contact the U.S. Marshals at 1-877-WANTED-2 / 1-877-926-8332 or leave a tip online at https://www.usmarshals.gov/tips/. Here is a link to Josephine's Book About her Hunt for RJ. The Book is Titled – “The Chase; In Hot Pursuit of My Daughter's Killer.” All proceeds go to her continued chase.  ----- Thanks to Today's Sponsors: Prose! Visit prose.com/militarymama for your FREE in-depth hair consultation and 15% off your first order!  Talkspace! Visit talkspace.com and use code “militarymama” to get $100 off your first month. ---- Join the Fan Club Today for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, challenge coins, and more! https://Patreon.com/militarymurder ----- Military Murder is a military true crime podcast that focuses on murders committed by military members, veterans, and sometimes their family members. ---- Follow on social: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@militarymargot Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/militarymurderpodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/@militarymurder Facebook: https://facebook.com/militarytruecrime Discussion Group: https://facebook.com/groups/militarytruecrime Email: militarymurderpodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Abiola Abrams has made her way to our show and we couldn't be more excited. Her spectacular African Goddess Rising Oracle Cards sold out in pre-sale so they were actually released a month earlier! Ash Brown got the cards the same week as the release and LOVES THEM! Abiola is a bright light that continues to enlighten on her beautiful journey. These cards are an amazing tool for the African Goddess within us all. She opens up about the inspiration behind this deck, why each goddess was picked and how it can enhance your life. She even did an impromptu reading on Ash. Wow! Get your African Goddess Rising Oracle Cards before they sell out…again! Web: https://womanifesting.com Follow: @abiolaTV This oracle system reaches from the continent of Africa deep throughout her diaspora. Africa is made up of over 54 diverse countries. This feminine energy deck not only includes deities, spirits, and ancestors from continental Africa, but also from diasporic countries and cultures with African retention, such as Haiti, Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica in the Caribbean, Guyana and Brazil in South America, the Garifuna communities of Central America, Louisiana and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor in the United States, and more. About: Self-Worth Midwife Abiola Abrams is a Spiritpreneur® Transformation Coach, speaker, writer and media personality and who empowers Big Vision Women find freedom from their personal fears, manifest authentic power and align with purpose. Abiola is the author of the Hay House book "African Goddess Initiation: Sacred Rituals for Self-Love, Prosperity and Joy. Her newest meditation program is called, "Enter the Goddess Temple." In addition to her online group coaching programs and courses, Abiola has given motivational advice on networks from the CW, BET and Discovery Channel to MTV and the BBC and sites and publications from the DailyOm and Match.com to Essence Magazine. Abiola also leads transformational workshops from London to the Bahamas, speaks at organizations and schools from Dropbox to Cornell University, and creates spiritual wellness retreats from Bali to Belize. The award-winning motivational speaker, transformational author, and advice columnist is passionate about midwifing conscious women leaders to breakthrough. Abiola's empowerment books include The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love. Her inspirational affirmation decks include the Sacred Self-Love Journal Cards, African Goddess Affirmation Cards and the Womanifesting Fertility Goddess Cards. With a BA in sociology and creative writing from Sarah Lawrence, MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in women's media and storytelling, Abiola's coaching certifications include neuro-linguistic programming from American Union of NLP. Her practice includes teachings in mindfulness, emotional freedom technique and intuitive mindset reprogramming . As the first person in her family born in America, Abiola is committed to using her gifts to inspire, uplift, transform and inspire. About the show: ► Website: http://www.ashsaidit.com ► Need Goli Gummies? https://go.goli.com/1loveash5 ► For $5 in ride credit, download the Lyft app using my referral link: https://www.lyft.com/ici/ASH584216 ► Want the ‘coldest' water? https://thecoldestwater.com/?ref=ashleybrown12 ► Become A Podcast Legend: http://ashsaidit.podcastersmastery.zaxaa.com/s/6543767021305 ► Review Us: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ash-said-it/id1144197789 ► SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/c/AshSaidItSuwanee ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1loveash ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/1loveAsh ► Blog: http://www.ashsaidit.com/blog ► Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/1LoveAsh/ #atlanta #ashsaidit #ashsaidthat #ashblogsit #ashsaidit® Ash Brown is a gifted American producer, blogger, speaker, media personality and event emcee. The blog on AshSaidit.com showcases exclusive event invites, product reviews and so much more. Her motivational podcast "Ash Said It Daily" is available on major media platforms such as iTunes, iHeart Radio & Google Play. This program has over half a million streams worldwide. She uses these mediums to motivate & encourage her audience in the most powerful way. She keeps it real!

Henry Cuellar discusses the Cattle Contract Library Act. As federal environmental policy evolves, a Texas panhandle producer is in a special position to advise EPA on how to treat agriculture. US red meat exports to Central America have reached new heights. We'll have those stories and more on this episode of Texas Ag Today.

“Sometimes, God gives us glimpses into the enormity of the work at hand, not to increase our capacity to do a larger work or more work but so that the work we can do becomes more vital and less optional. We are compelled to do the work we can do because we cannot do all we want.”I wrote that on the way home from a 10 day trip to India with Compassion international. It was, to be entirely honest, a life-altering trip for several reasons, including a very humbling breakdown I had on day 9 of that trip. Guided by our hosts, a small group of us got to visit several church communities who were helping to feed, educate and provide medical care for kids who, without the open door of the Commission program, would most likely live without those necessities. Of course, I'd been on trips like that before. I'd seen extreme poverty in Central America, South America, Kenya, Uganda… and yes, it was always heartbreaking. But (and I know I sound distant, privileged, and desensitized) I was never entirely overwhelmed. I pretty much always felt like I had a grasp on things, philosophically, anthropologically, politically, and even theologically. But that 9th day in India… I fell to pieces. We'd gathered toward the end of the evening with Compassion staff and partners from all over the world. Several groups were visiting Kolkata at the same time. I remember starting to feel something like dizzy listening to German staff talk about the former prostitute who walked into the middle of the street in one of Kolkata's red-light districts, only to be surrounded and mobbed by dozens of current prostitutes who consider her a mother-figure and care-giver. In the van on the way to that gathering, I remarked to my friend Bob that, on that drive, like all our others, every mile was covered by people.  It was wearing on me that, for over a week, there were crowds of human lives extending as far as I could see and beyond… there was no break. No open space.. just sea after sea of humanity… So. Many. People. And earlier that day, we'd visited the convent where sick and destitute people received care from Catholic sisters; sisters who walked the block around their building, sometimes daily, to see if anyone had left children there to be picked up (or… in other cases, trampled). And before that, across town, we were invited to witness a religious ceremony at the temple to the god Kali. Around the temple were hundreds of women and children (and a few men), holding animals in their arms or on leashes, waiting in line to sacrifice that animal to Kali. There were animal screams inside the walls and the iron smell of blood got thicker the deeper into the temple we walked. The sacrifice, we were told, was to appease Kali so that Kali would not wreak havoc on peoples' lives. Some of those sacrifices, we were also told, were of animals the family would much more greatly benefit from if kept alive; for milk and meat or farmland grazing. “Religion,” I thought to myself “can be so utterly detestable.” And got to thinking about the thousands or even millions of tiny gods, including diminished and manipulated forms of Jesus, that folks like myself made sacrifices to regularly; sacrifices of time and money and friendship and mental health and dreams and on and on… and that's when the unraveling began… It's. All. So. Much.  There. Is. So. Much. Wrong. So that, by the time I stepped off our shuttle at the end of that 9th night and walked past the armed guard who held the line between the slum next door to our hotel and the crisp, clean hotel itself … I was dizzy and nauseous and couldn't tell as clearly where the line was between real and imaginary, between what I knew of the world and what I projected onto it or between what I believed about goodness itself and what I simply hoped was true so I could feel better about the way I lived. There's a fair bit of the rest of that night I don't recall. I know there were tears and some pacing and some attempts at coherent prayer. Eventually, I found myself in the bathroom mirror, working away to remove my beard. I had flashed back to a moment several months before when a friend's Rabi had pulled me aside at a party to tell me I needed to cut off my facial hair; that a beard was a sign of wisdom and I was far too young to have earned it. My buddy was embarrassed for me and apologized. But something about the moment stuck with me, apparently. Because here I was scraping away at my face feeling very much like I didn't deserve to wear a beard. I'd been confronted by realities in my world I could make no sense of and that shook me pretty bad. I needed a way to show my contrition; a way to make clear I knew I had been wrong about how smart or understanding or how powerful I was. But even that thought, as right it might be, felt like it missed. If the cumulative effect of this moment was only that I felt bad,… that didn't seem right. So, as I washed off my face, I felt my mind settle a bit and, in what little bit of peace and clarity I was gaining, turned my attention back toward the reasons I was in the country, to begin with. Compassion International had invited me to India because I was one of their speakers; I was and an advocate for children growing up in extreme poverty. And no, right there and then, the job I was doing on the scale I was able to do it flat out didn't seem like it was big enough … And if my personal goal was to eradicate poverty entirely that week (or maybe even in my lifetime), then .. no.. nothing I do is enough. Not on that level.But maybe the point of this didn't have to be that I felt bad about how little I had to offer. Maybe what I could do instead of simply give in to my circumstances and say “it is what it is” and “I am what I am,” is learn to soberly take my life more seriously in light of how very serious things are in the world I am choosing to love. Because things are VERY serious. And that should be overwhelming. But if I am to think of myself as more than a tool in the Divine tool belt whose value is determined by its usefulness and effectiveness, then just experiencing guilt at that moment was too small a thing. To be humbled? Yes? To be demoralized? No. See, this is the thing I find in my friends and sisters and brothers who are neck deep working in areas like hunger or extreme poverty or even human trafficking and slavery… The “wins” and victories are few and sometimes small and infrequent. The depth of the darkness is… pervasive and seemingly relentless. It can be overwhelming. And it should be. But what if that means I can offer my time and talents and efforts and energies, NOT because I'm effective and powerful, but because the people I'm offering myself to are worth it. Maybe that makes it a work of love And maybe that's the key, long term; maybe that's why awareness of the 40 million people living in slavery waxes and wanes and oscillates as wildly as it does; our effectiveness can be called into question, sidelining our efforts and sometimes crushing them, altogether. But if we are committed to loving people, the effectiveness of our plans has a much broader context and, when things seem dark and heavy, the love we are committed to says “do what you can with all your heart. You aren't here to win. You're here to love.”

What You Need to Know about climate change hysteria. President Biden is at the Climate Change Summit this week, and so far the only thing he is proving is that he can give away American jobs and money to other countries. And they are happy to take them! Also, it's interesting that China didn't even show up. This won't turn out well. Todd Bensman, author of America's Covert Border War, & Senior National Security Fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies, talks about How to Stop the Entire World from Marching Across the U.S. Border.  The problem isn't Central America or Mexico, the fault goes to Columbia, Panama, and Costa Rica. Those 3 countries are supposedly our allies but what they are doing is facilitating migrants getting into our country.  Patrick Courrielche, co-founder of the podcast Red Pilled America, shares a great segment on China! AWOKEN: What should America learn from Chinese Capitalism? Patrick explains how China controls the film industry and how they dictate what can and cannot be put in films. The reason China has this control is because they have so much money in the film industry.  Wrap up: Robots! Robots hit the streets as demand for food delivery grows. What will robots take over in the next 20 years?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Central America has been a star performer for U.S. beef and pork exports in 2021. Through August, beef exports to the region were nearly 60% above last year, while pork exports were up 46% from the record pace of 2020. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Dr. Stevens interviews Moshe Segebre, President and Founder of Estetique Inc. USA, a provider of non-invasive medical aesthetic equipment present in over 1,000 centers in 25 countries. With the goal of "reinventing the non-invasive market in the USA and Latin America alike", Moshe was one of the first in the aesthetic space to focus on servicing clients across South America, Central America and the Caribbean with personalized attention in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Mexican piercer living in Germany, Beto Rea, comes on the show this week. Beto is a long time piercer, suspension facilitator, and scarification artist. We talk about his history of learning to pierce in late 1990's Mexico, his travels across Central America, and his current life in Germany. You can find more of Beto's work online at kukulcanrituals.com. After my talk with Beto stay tuned for news about a disturbing CNN investigation into the importation of tens of millions of used nitrile gloves from Thailand. Read the article here: https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/24/health/medical-gloves-us-thailand-investigation-cmd-intl/index.html. New narrated and subtitled videos on surface piercings and bridge piercings available on-demand at www.patreon.com/ryanpba along with hours of other educational content.

Today on TruNews, Just when you thought America's ruling class could not gaslight the American middle class anymore, they outdid themselves yesterday when the Wall Street Journal reported that Washington wants to give $450,000 to illegal immigrants. Each eligible family of migrants could collect up to one million dollars for illegally crossing the US border. The USA has been subjected for decades to an invasion from Mexico and Central America.The lawless Biden Administration has taken the mass migration invasion to another level. They fully opened the border to allow hundreds of thousands of people to illegally enter America. And now they want you and me to enrich the illegals for their criminal behavior. Today we show videos of heavily armed drug cartel thugs in Mexico wearing military uniforms and driving armored vehicles, and videos of American patriots warning that the drug cartel thugs are preparing to invade Texas and Arizona. Rick Wiles, Doc Burkhart. Airdate 10/29/21

This episode of Living Myth offers a reflection on time and timelessness and the deep understandings behind ancient rituals that marked the beginning of the dark season of the year. To be modern means to be lost and running out of time; to be careening towards an uncertain future and increasingly dislodged from the past. Originally, time was not simply linear, but an alteration of darkness and light, of night and day, like ocean tides that swing to and fro over the body of the earth. Once separated from the tides and lunar cycles, time began to march on rather than flow. Having lost any connection to the eternal, time becomes a process of loss, a losing proposition, wherein each passing moment simply disappears, lost forever, dismissed by the next moment as time floods faster and faster, with no hint, much less a promise of any redemption. As we approach the time of turning the clock back a single hour, what we really need is to turn back far enough to touch timeless things again. That's what ancient people used to do at the beginning of the dark time of the year. Since darkness was there at the very beginning, turning to darkness meant returning to the moment when light appeared and time began. Between the light half the year and the beginning of the dark half, there fell a timeless moment, a little drop of eternity that could begin the next cycle of life. That's what was hidden in the darkness, an unlimited space, a moment of dark gestation that was able to renew time and revitalize life again. So, people would turn to the mystery of darkness and to timeless rituals whenever the earth grew dark again. Not turning the clock back an hour, but turning people's imagination all the way back to the beginning of time to touch the mystery of darkness turning into light and of death turning back into life. The dark season was when the spiritual world became more visible to humans. Darkness shaped the doorway to the Otherworld which opened wide as the spirits and the soul of the dead mingled with the presence of the living. That was the origin of Samhain (sawain), the remains of which people now call Halloween. We see wispy remnants of the ancient connections between the dead and the living in the costumes of children dressed as ghosts or skeletons or even the Walking Dead on Halloween night. We can see it with greater clarity in the bone memories and intense creations of Dia de los Muertos. Celebrations of the Day of the Dead go back over 3000 years in Mexico and Central America and now appear, seemingly revitalized, in North America. As if some ancient understanding is trying to catch up to us and reconnect us to the mysteries of darkness and light, to a deeper sense of life and death and timelessness.   Ancient peoples from around the world saw death, not simply as a dead end, but also as part of the continuous, indelible cycle of the renewal of life. Even now, the sense of the light hidden in darkness remains so close that it takes but a moment to connect to the ancient mysteries. Simply allowing the movement of sorrow in the heart and in the body can open the doorway between the worlds. The simple act of accepting loss can connect us to the “dark interval” where light and shadow, life and death become reconciled as the song goes on, resonant in us, beautiful in the earth, tender in the sorrow of songs and in the dreams that keep pouring timelessness into each moment of life on earth.   You can hear Michael Meade live by joining his new online workshop “Healer, Mentor, Elder, Guide” on Saturday, November 13.  Register and learn more at mosaicvoices.org/events.  You can save 30% on this workshop and further support this podcast by becoming a member of Living Myth Premium.   Learn more and join this community of listeners at patreon.com/livingmyth.   We'd love to hear your feedback on the podcast.  You can leave a review wherever you listen or send a question or comment to info@mosaicvoices.org. On behalf of Michael Meade and the whole Mosaic staff, we wish you continued well-being and deep community connection during this period of great uncertainty and transformation.

In this News Brief, we recap the recap of Powell's life, from the handwringing over his Iraq War UN speech to the erasure of his role in covering up My Lai massacre to training rightwing death squads in Central America and the central importance of "Good Intentions" when venerating our beloved, bipartisan war-makers.