A month ago it was revealed that U.S. citizens have been smuggling prescription drugs into Mexico. Arrests have included doctors!
Now, Mexican army officials say U.S. citizens are smuggling marijuana out of Mexico into the U.S.
They say U.S. citizens are bringing Meth into Mexico, and on their return trip they take out marijuana. Captured drug lords say U.S. border patrol agents don’t suspect U.S. citizens, and many people in the U.S. are desperate to make extra money!
In order to fight illegal immigration Japanese police decided to check out all those free classified ads newspapers. They should’ve looked sooner!
40% of free newspaper ads, in Japan, are geared towards inciting illegal immigration. The number one type of add offers illegal employment, while the number two type of add offered illegal marriage as a way to stay in Japan.
The search of free newspapers involved just 58 publications, not really a lot when you think about it.
So which nationality was the most sought after? Not people from the United States, that’s for sure, they’re looking for people with money. The top four requested illegal immigrants in Japan are Chinese, South Koreans, Brazilians and Filipinos.
There’s been a lot of news about a possible break up of the merger between German VolksWagen and Japanese Suzuki. Last week Suzuki demanded an end to the deal, but VW officials say there’s no way they’re gonna sell their stake in Suzuki.
Now, Der Spiegel says not only is VW not gonna sell it’s Suzuki stocks, but it’s looking like they’re going for a hostile takeover!
Currently VW holds 19.9% stake in Suzuki, and under current contract could acquire a majority holding. But, under the current contact the same could be true for Suzuki taking over VW.
Such takeovers would require the consent of whoever is being taken over. Right now Suzuki wants out. Also, in the recent past VW officials say it’s become obvious that something was lost in translation concerning the partnership.
Originally VW officials thought Suzuki wanted German hybrid technology. VW thought it was a good opportunity to get into the booming Indian car market, because Suzuki already had a strong presence in India. Apparently that’s not what Suzuki had in mind.
“If we empower the economically marginalized grassroots network and build social capital, poor people will leave poverty.”-Paul Singer, Brazil’s National Secretary of the Solidarity Economy
In the impoverished Brazilian suburb of Rio de Janeiro, known as the City of God, the residents are taking economic measures into their own hands.
On September 15, they opened their own community bank called, City of God Communitarian Bank. Not only do they have their own bank, but they’re issuing their own money.
The new bank is part of the Brazilian Network of Communitarian Banks, which was started by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2003. It’s based on a growing international form of banking for lower income people.
One of the radical ideas of this new international bank, is that local banks issue their own local currency, to be used only for locally enrolled businesses. The idea is to develop strong local economies, to counter the destructive power of U.S. led multi-national corporations.
September 18, several thousand of Germans hit the streets of Berlin, protesting the lowering of wages: “Higher wages lead to more purchasing power. This would strengthen the economy. The government’s policies are counterproductive.”-German protestor
Germany is supposed to be doing well economically, but tell that to the average German worker: “My husband was a coal miner for 38 years. Now he is at home and seriously ill, but of his pension there is hardly anything left after paying the rent, electricity, water and the medicine he needs.”-German protestor
At least one third of Germans are threatened by old-age poverty as unemployment, part-time or mini-jobs in a growing low-wage sector will lead to lower pensions in the future. This is a trend that’s happening all around the world.
There’s even a new political party gaining strength in Germany; the Pirate Party: “This is a situation in all countries. The gap between rich and poor becomes greater and otherwise we are in a critical situation of finance and economic system in the world. Therefore we need new ideas to solve these problems.”– Alexander Spiess, Pirate Party candidate
September 17, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Israeli banks, for helping wealthy U.S. citizens avoid paying their fair share in taxes.
At least three of Israel’s largest banks, Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi le-Israel BM and Mizrahi-Tefahot, are being investigated. The have accounts in Switzerland.
It’s estimated that thousands of wealthy U.S. citizens are using such accounts to hide their incomes from the Internal Revenue Service.
In a 2009 settlement, UBS, paid a U.S.$780 million fine, after admitting to helping U.S. tax evaders.
September 17, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a warning for all the United States: “We have a lot of kids graduating college, can’t find jobs. That’s what happened in Cairo. That’s what happened in Madrid. You don’t want those kinds of riots here.”
Also, “The damage to a generation that can’t find jobs will go on for many, many years.”
Bloomberg said Democrats and Republicans need to act now: “Now everybody’s got to sit down and say we’re actually gonna do something and you have to do something on both the revenue and the expense side.”
“The educational pathway is in decline, and I don’t see anything in the near future that sounds like it’s on a positive upswing.”-Stephanie Olsen, leaving the U.S.
While there’s always plenty of reports about students leaving school without getting a high school diploma, you rarely hear about the fact that thousands of good teachers are leaving the U.S., for jobs overseas.
According to one teacher employment agency, TeachAway, the number of U.S. teachers applying with them for foreign jobs is up 50% from last year. TeachAway has also placed 3,000 U.S. teachers with overseas jobs. And that just one teacher employment agency, there are dozens!
In the past all you needed to get a foreign teaching job was an TESOL certificate, but now teachers with just the TESOL are competing against teachers with Masters degrees.
Marie Constant has a Masters degree and could not get a job state side, now she’s moving overseas after getting a job through TeachAway: “Here’s an opportunity for me to not only go to another country where they will pay for me to go, they will pay for me to have living quarters…and I get to practice what I know.”
Stephanie Olsen has two Masters degrees, she’s leaving her teaching job in Arizona for a teaching job in the Middle East: “This is such an opportunity to take, where your employer is helping you get over there. They’re providing everything that is necessary for you to make a life there. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
And how are U.S. school districts dealing with the brain drain of good U.S. teachers? They’re either pushing for online schools, or hiring foreign teachers! PBS POV will air a documentary about the Baltimore, Maryland, schools bringing in teachers from the Philippines.
On September 16, in a scene reminiscent of what sparked the recent Tunisian Revolution, a Greek man who lost his business set himself on fire. Police put out the fire and the man is in the hospital.
On September 17, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, suddenly canceled his trip to the United States. He claims it’s to ensure that all of Greece’s bailout loan commitments are fulfilled. That doesn’t make sense because those loans just didn’t suddenly materialize, they’ve been in the works for awhile now. So why the sudden cancellation of his trip to the U.S.?
Some analysts think it’s because Greece is too close to default now: “It’s a sign that things are very tight. Papandreou’s presence is crucial to make sure there are no setbacks with issues that need to be resolved.”-Theodore Krintas, Attica Bank.
“You need a scorecard to keep track of all the things that corporations have done that are bad for this country.”-Bill Steyert, 68, Queens, New York
New York Times reporting that Day of Action Against Global Capital (aka Occupy Wall Street) demonstrators are finding some of the routes blocked.
New York City officials decided to block off sections of Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall.
“When you idealize financial markets as salvific you embrace the idea that profit is all that matters. You start thinking only as yourself.”-Dave Woessner, 31, Harvard Divinity School
Protestors are being threatened with arrest, simply because no permits to hold a public demonstration were acquired.
“If you look at history and you look at recent history, ancient history, even the middle road, this is what creates revolution and this is what causes everything.”-Anna Lekas Miller, freelance writer
September 17 was supposed to be marked by protests in the United States and Europe. Some foreign media are reporting thousands of people across the U.S. are protesting, but most U.S. media is reporting only hundreds (Business Week claims at least 1,000 people around Wall Street).
The people of Poland are putting to shame any U.S. protests; the Washington Post reports that 50,000 people are peacefully protesting in the streets of Wrocław.