Expat Daily News - We will be back in the New Year

We are taking a short break for the holiday season.  We will be back in the New Year to bring  you more news and views from around the world that we think will be of interest to expats or those who are thinking of becoming an expat.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for visiting our site and we hope you enjoy our posts.  

We are always open to suggestions for topics you would like us to cover as well as kudos and insults as you see fit.  Although we do read all of your emails, we cannot respond to each and everyone individually but we do take your comments on board.

Finally, if you received too many pairs of socks for your Christmas gifts and you are thinking of selling them on eBay, maybe you would consider donating some of the proceeds to us here at Exapt Daily News to help us keep going.  Every little really does help, thank you.

Wishing you and yours all the best for the New Year.


Your Expat Daily News team


Susan Beverley  susan@expatdailynews.com
Jamie Douglas    jamie@expatdailynews.com
Julie R Butler      julie@expatdailynews.com

Boxing Day Blues

By Jamie Douglas

Happy post digestive to all of you! To those of you who read my article on Friday December 23 about The Grinch, this is a follow up, thanks to an observant reader:

Hi Jamie,

I love your article 'Holiday Greetings from the Grinch'.  Thank you!

The only exception being the phrase, “in looking back over the last 235 plus years, they never did declare war on Christmas."

It's a minor point, but ... You might be interested in this article:

http://theweek.com/article/index/222676/when-americans-banned-christmas

I hope you have a lovely holiday!  And please keep up the great work!

This certainly educated me about this all-important subject. So until next year, let there be a truce in this deadly conflict. Peace on Earth, please!

Holiday Greetings from the Grinch

By Jamie “The Grinch” Douglas

A Very Happy Holy Day Season to all my readers. (Please note the spelling in that sincere wish.) The word Christmas is nothing more than a modern day adaptation of the words, Christ’s Mass. Now about the “Happy Holidays” phrase. Lately, a bunch of fanatics have totally misconstrued that phrase to be part of their fictitious “War on Christmas,” which was recently invented by some folks with an agenda, such as Fox News. The last time I paid any attention to matters of war, it was only Congress that had the power to make war, and in looking back over the last 235 plus years, they never did declare war on Christmas.

The Swiss Mouse v. The U.S. Donkephant

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Jamie Douglas and Julie R Butler

By Jamie Douglas

U.S. diplomats, long famous for their lack of diplomacy, are once again putting pressure on the Swiss financial authorities to put pressure on 11 major banks in Switzerland to release the names of and all clients that may have even remote connections to the IRS fiefdom. In addition to a complete client list, they also want access to all the names of employees who may have had dealings with said customers. The price for non-compliance: The U.S. wants to impose a fine of $10 billion on the financial institutions.

One thing that should be brought to the forefront here is the fact that the crumbling Corporate States of America is only going after individuals, completely ignoring the huge corporate tax cheats operating out of P.O. boxes in Panama, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Singapore, and Belize, to mention just some of the top offenders. The amount of tax dollars that could be harvested from closing the insane loopholes that allow corporations to game the system into a zero tax liability is absolutely insane. Would it not be an interesting research project to assign some MBA candidates or political science majors to find all the loopholes created, who created them, and what type of bill they were surreptitiously added to at 4:00 AM by the likes of Senator Ted Stevens † or West Virginia’s Senator Robert Byrd †, the two undisputed kings of pork barrel spending.

Today's Expat Daily News Headlines - Thursday December 22nd 2011

Investing Offshore: Why Brits Invest in the Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are well-known as a place where individuals and companies from Britain often choose to invest their hard-earned cash. They are an example of an offshore financial centre; but what exactly is an offshore financial centre and what are the benefits of placing your money there? Are there any pitfalls to watch out for? Link to the full article

Visa policy insults American workers

If you think we need immigration reform because too many illegal aliens have sneaked in through the back door, then you will be surprised to hear that our system that admits foreigners through the front door -- i.e., legal aliens -- is not much more competent than the watch at the back door.

Our legal immigration system is much like an airplane running on autopilot in bad weather with no one in the cockpit to make course corrections. With some 15 million Americans out of work, you would think the government would throttle back on visas to foreign workers. Think again. Uncle Sam keeps giving visas to millions of foreign workers, regardless of the economic turbulence.  Link to the full article

Lonely Expats In Australia

We recently ran an online poll asking for the challenges experienced by those looking to move to a new homeland and unfortunately loneliness seems to be a major problem for many in the expat community. As with a number of countries which we covered, the issue was number one for those who moved to Australia but why is loneliness such problem?  Link to the full article

Employers 'failing to protect' staff abroad

A survey has revealed a serious lack of awareness among companies of their duties towards staff on international assignments. Link to full article

Food For Thought: After The Fall of the Communist System

Prague

Dear Readers,

In response to my article on Monday, Dec 19 2011, I received a reply from a distinguished gentleman from Denmark, now residing and working in Cyprus, that I would like to share. The following is the reply in its entirety, unedited, other than to facilitate the sentence structures... Food for thought!

To Jamie Douglas

Yes, that is all true what you write about Vaclav Havel. And I still have due to read his “Power of the Powerless.”

BUT there is something strange about the whole thing, because everything Havel was standing up for during the times of his struggle somehow EVAPORATED INTO… NOTHING…

I was first time in Czechoslovakia in 1967. I was medical student and supposed to study anatomy by dissection. Corpses where hard to come by in my home country Denmark but more easily available in Czechoslovakia. I did NOT study much because I crisscrossed the country hiking, totally fascinated to witness the harsh realities of this very Stalinist country. In West Europe most young people were socialist or even communists and I was at home  living as a lonely person  in my rejection of that. And NOW could witness that all I had been able to deduct about communist dictatorship was TRUE. But as I recall it also, very beautiful… and UNSPOILED by greedy materialism. I did not realize that then, but by now I KNOW such was the case.

Today's Expat Daily News Headlines - Wednesday 21st December 2011

 Learn from Recent Global Financial Issues Before Moving Abroad

Anyone looking for a new nation to call home needs to look beyond potentially positive economic indicators as nowhere has really been immune from the global financial fallout, rather expats are urged to bank on themselves when dreaming of a successful new life abroad.

Just four short years ago the global fiscal landscape was very different to that which we gaze upon today!  Banks were apparently booming, they were still happy to lend, the pound was still relatively strong, and people’s dreams of owning investment property abroad and of retiring in style to the sun were apparently eminently achievable. Link to the full article

Christina Fernandez’ Break with Organized Labor

As was to be expected, now that the elections are over, the leader of the powerful, pro-Peronist labor union organization in Argentina, the CGT, has divorced himself from all his duties (which were many) within the ruling Peronist movement this past Saturday, December 17, 2011.   Link to the full article

Thailand named best place for retirement

Thailand has been listed at the best place for retirement by the 2011 HSBC Expat Explorer Survey.

82% of those surveyed said that it was a great place for retirement compared with 78% of those who had relocated to France and 62% of those who had made the move to Spain. Thailand rated highly with expats for the ease with which they were able to integrate into the community, establish a local support network and maintain a positive life/work balance. Link to the full article

Shanghai haven for foreigners

Shanghai has the largest population of foreign nationals among all domestic cities and provinces in China, with about 143,200 expat residents living in the city, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau announced recently.  Nearly one in every four foreign residents in the country lives in Shanghai, according to the sisth national census conducted in November 2010. Shanghai is home to a total of 208,300 overseas residents, which adds people from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to the foreign nationals population. Link to the full article

A Mince Pie for Christmas

It is strange how expats suddenly develop a craving for something that reminds them of life in their countries of origin. I guess it is not that surprising really, as Christmas is a time of the year when our memories, particularly as we get older, recall times gone by, both happy and sad. Many of those special times have occurred, of course, over the Christmas and New Year period; many of us will have fond memories of families and friends, of precious times spent together, unique family traditions, gifts and special food that appeared at this time of the year.

Since moving to Spain, I seem to have developed a craving for mince pies. When we lived in the UK I would not give a mince pie the time of day; similarly Christmas puddings, which I always used to consider to be a total waste of space and time. Why one would consume a hearty Christmas dinner, only to be followed by a plateful of thick brown stodge and custard was beyond me. I would only ever eat a spoonful of pudding to please my mother, who had made several during the summer months. You see, mother’s Christmas pudding making was a family tradition, a legend, and I can still see the huge copper boiler steaming away for what seemed like hours as she prepared puddings for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and for each of my brother’s and my own birthdays. This activity took place each summer; she did not freeze them and, I am told, they became even more delicious as the months went by. I have since learned that this was due to my mother’s generosity in a liberal application from the newly opened bottle of brandy that was part of the creation of this annual treat. I guess it was a form of embalming!

Today's Expat Daily News Headlines - Tuesday December 20th 2012

A financial Dunkirk: Britain draws up plans to rescue expats if Spain and Portugal are hit by financial oblivion

Evacuation plans are being drawn up by the Foreign Office for British expats stranded in Spain and Portugal if their banking systems collapse.

The contingency plans are being put in place to help thousands of Britons if they were unable to get to their money in the event of a catastrophic banking collapse in two of the most vulnerable eurozone economies.

Around one million British expats live in Spain, particularly around Marbella and Malaga, and some 50,000 in Portugal. Link to the full article

Winter fuel payment folly: As UK shivers, benefits for expats in warmer climes double in five years

Winter fuel payments to British expatriates in Europe’s hottest countries have almost doubled in five years. Pensioners in sun spots including Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, Greece and Gibraltar receive £13.4million a year to help with the cost of heating, compared with £6.9million in 2006. The payments are vital to the elderly in Britain, where energy bills have reached an all-time high and the cold weather contributes to 26,000 deaths a year. Link to the full article

EU demands £25bn lifeline from the UK

European finance ministers will aim to agree a new €200 billion (£167.7 billion) loan to the International Monetary Fund as part of a deal to save the single currency. Three quarters of the money is expected to come from eurozone members, but Britain will also be asked to provide funds.


Figures suggest European Union officials expect British taxpayers to be the second largest contributor. The Prime Minister has repeatedly promised not to provide any extra funding for the IMF for the specific purpose of saving the euro and Britain is already liable for £12 billion of loans and guarantees to Ireland, Greece and Portugal.Link to the full article

Overstuffed bags get more scrutiny from airlines

NEW YORK -- Before you board a flight this holiday season, think twice about stuffing that carry-on full of gifts to avoid a checked bag fee. You might get charged anyway.

Already armed with an exhaustive list of checked bag fees, some airlines are stepping up their enforcement of weight limits for carry-ons. This may lead to aggravation if an airline agent weighs your bag at the gate and then charges you. Link to the full article

Expat Tax a Worry for Foreign Companies: Survey

A new social security tax on expatriate workers in China that came into effect in October is a major concern for foreign companies operating in the country, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce.

"It has aroused significant concern among our member companies due to the substantial cost to both employers and employees and the difficulty, or impossibility, of foreigners actually receiving benefits under existing regulations," Amcham said in a statement. Link to the full article

A Moment of Silence for Václav Havel – Sponsored by Frank Zappa



Václav Havel



By Jamie Douglas

Before 1990, very few expats were able to enjoy Prague and the former country of Czechoslovakia. A short-lived uprising had been brutally crushed earlier with the might of the Red Army during what was then called the Prague Spring, a desperate attempt at freedom.

Then, 22 years ago, a new movement called the Velvet Revolution began in Czechoslovakia. Between November 17 and December 29 of 1989, the beginning of the end came to the Stalinist regime that had imposed its will on the nation with totalitarian rule. And in the end, it was not Ronald Reagan who brought down the hard line Marxist regimes of Eastern Europe, it was Rock and Roll: Frank Zappa, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the whole wave of new revolutionary sounds and liberating ideas that were entering the ears and minds of the youths behind the The Wall.

Today's Expat Daily News Headlines - Monday December 19th 2011

ID card requirements to be introduced for expats in Dubai in April 2012 -From April next year expats in Dubai will need to register for an identification card before they can renew their residency visas, officials have confirmed.

The cards will be needed before they can complete the medical tests needed for visa applications.

Dubai is the last of the United Arab Emirates to impose the new rules. From 01 April all emirates will require expats to produce a valid identity card before beginning visa applications. read the full article

Robbed Phuket Tourist Calls for Arrest of Bus Scam Thieves - A tourist robbed of about $300 in cash on his way to Phuket believes hundreds of other expat visitors to Thailand have probably been victims of an ''inside scam'' on VIP buses.

Irishman Kieran Moloney knows of at least one other tourist - a woman from Estonia heading for Australia, where she now lives - who was robbed of about $600 on the same bus trip south from Bangkok. He speculates that it happens ''all the time.''

Phuket Deputy Transport chief Wanta Pumararoskon yesterday confirmed Mr Moloney's fears, saying that the night bus route from Bangkok to Surat Thani was a source of growing concern. read the full article

To Be or Not to Be a Tax Resident in Spain - Foreigners living in Spain are often uncertain as to what constitutes being a tax resident in Spain and whether or not they should change their tax status.

Following changes to the NIE/ Residencia / Foreigners Registration Certificate regulations over the past few years, many expats in Spain have become daunted with the current situation and are unsure about current regulations.

In this post, we will highlight some important factors that will clarify the current law and help you to make decisions about your own tax position.

Spanish fiscal laws and tax treaties state that if your “habitual residence” is in Spain then you should be registered as a fiscal resident in Spain. read the full article

Financial Cycles and the Fed

By Rainer Moehring

[Editor’s note: Yesterday, Rainer Moehring gave us some great insight into the recent history of the aircraft industry. In today's post, he lays out his understanding of the current economic situation.]

I have been looking at things financial and economic since the mid-1970's. I did so part-time until I got laid off from Boeing, then decided not to continue in the workaday world (it was getting too extreme, in my opinion, at least in America) and have been watching markets and the world economy full-time ever since.

How have things transpired? When I left Boeing in 1999, I thought the world economy was going to collapse soon because the stock market was going exponential. That was another reason why I did not look for another job.

About the Aircraft Industry

By Rainer Moehring

[Editor’s note: Today’s article is compiled from correspondences by a very astute reader in response to the mention in the Euroblivion article of the slowdown in the travel industry and losses in market share of airlines. This article not only offers some great insight into how the aircraft industry, one of the Big Players in the economy, has been functioning, but speaks for so many of our readers who have faced difficulties and hardships in the past few years due to the excesses of corporate greed, who are now trying to make sense of world events while seeking a different way of life abroad.]

You may find this a bit amazing, but I know all about the aircraft industry. I worked for Boeing in Seattle for 15 years, the last 9 of which were for the commercial aircraft division. I was one of the principal engineers (just outside the core group of a few engineers) of some of the most important electronics that went into the 777 jetliner. The design group I was in consisted of about 40 electronics and software engineers. I left Boeing in early 1999 in a big layoff.

To All Expatriates in the Making: Part II

Appeal to our readers: If you enjoy our writing, we ask that you donate a little to help us defray some of our costs. If you can, please donate through PayPal by clicking here.

You can also support us at no extra cost to you by clicking on the Amazon.com button at the bottom of the post to launch all of your online shopping.

Thank you!

Jamie Douglas and Julie R Butler

By Jamie Douglas

Thanks to all the nice comments I received from so many of you. Surprisingly all of the respondents guessed all the participants correctly, some of you even adding a few new names. I was extremely careful to not mention any names or organizations to avoid getting sued and falsely accused of everything from extortion to murder, as has happened to others already.

In this installment, I will solely act as a guide for those of you wanting to leave the home country to settle in an unfamiliar environment where you will need to learn a new language and customs.

To All Expatriates in the Making: Watch Out Who You Trust!

By Jamie Douglas

From your comfortable home in your civilized first world country, exposed to the daily barrage of bad news followed by even worse news, things might look mighty scary for many of you. Your house is worth less than what you paid for it; credit card interest is out of this world, legalized usury actually. The country you live in is broke or going broker by the minute, infrastructure is crumbling. Your leaders are nothing but a bunch of corporate lackeys unable to come together to heal the nation’s ills. Your president is a nice guy, but after almost 3 years in office, he still has not acquired the necessary leadership skills to lead “The World’s Greatest Nation” back to greatness after a lengthy self destructive streak. Yes United States of America, I am talking about you!

So what are your options if you want to really and truly bail out?

Euroblivion Avoided or Coming Soon?



Eurozone



By Jamie Douglas

The circus came to town, but they held a private performance to avoid the embarrassment of having almost 500 million European citizens hear all the bickering that went on and on until after 5:00 in the morning Central European Time. This was probably not the best way to reach an agreement or even discuss something that had such immense geopolitical consequences. And what was accomplished you might ask? Well, for one they agreed to agree to show an agreeable public face, with the notable exception of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who threatened a veto if things were going the “Merkozy Way.” And he ended up doing just that, but not before all other nations came together on an agreement to renegotiate the previous treaty.

The UK now stands as the pariah of Europe, and it would quite possibly be of mutual benefit if the British withdrew from the union, as things stand now. The future of the common currency has now been postponed until March of next year. It was quite predictable that when push came to shove, Europe had to act together to save not just the Euro, but to save face. To allow their common dream to deteriorate into a nightmare on the 13th anniversary of its introduction would have meant conceding defeat to the Americans who have been gloating on the sidelines now for months, having their deteriorating currency halted in its downward slide, at least for the moment.

Europe, the Child Sick with the Fiscal Flu

By Jamie Douglas

I sincerely hope I am not boring my dear readers with my continuing coverage of the incredible incompetence and lack of foresight on the part of those who brought that once promising baby into being on the European continent on a lovely spring day, March 25, 1957, when the original 6 countries of the Coal and Steel Treaty from 6 years prior, signed the Treaty of Rome.

The original 6 are Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Since those heady days, the Union has expanded to include a total of 27. Since January 1 of 1999, many of the member nations adopted the new common currency, the Euro, abbreviated €, with a total of 17 EU member states now using it as their only legal tender. So far the great experiment has had massive growing pains, because the integration of wildly varying economies has proven to be beyond the realm of possibilities. Take Germany, sporting a 2009 GDP of US$3.330 trillion with a very healthy industrial output, great exports, and a very high standard of living afforded by the high wages; and now look at Malta, with a GDP of 7.449 billion dollars at the other end. There is nothing wrong yet with Malta. Popeye and Olive Oyl are still grooving there. 

Expats and the European Union Crisis

By Jamie Douglas

If you are one of the numerous foreigners living and working in the European Union, it is a good time to consider your options for the immediate future. The economic chaos that is today’s Euro Zone is almost complete.  If you are an expat in the Zone, may I humbly suggest that for the time being, you turn your Euro’s into Norwegian Kronas or (drum roll please) U.S. dollars. No my friends and former friends, I have not lost my mind. With the growing instability of the European currency and the two incompetent leaders (Merkel and Sarkozy) trying their best to screw it all up by forcing rapid revisions to the treaties, chances are that Europe once again will be what it once was: Some very wealthy nations, some wealthy ones, many poor ones and then there will be your Slovak Republic, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria as well as a host of the Balkan nations which were never absorbed into the “Zone!”

Vietnam Has Possibilities for Expats

By Jamie Douglas

I am sure that most of my readers are familiar with the stunningly beautiful country occupying the easternmost portion of the Indochina peninsula, Vietnam. Geographically, it somewhat resembles Chile in that it is a long and narrow nation. On its entire eastern side, it borders the South China Sea. The northern border is shared with China, while Laos takes up about two thirds of the western border and Cambodia rounds out the southern portion of the frontier. It ranges in latitude from 8° N to 24°N and longitude 102°E to 110°E. It has a coastline of 2142 miles, much of it still pristine, with a large amount of the country being covered in tropical forest. It is the 65th largest country in the world and the 13th most populated, with a population density of 670 people per sq mile. That figure sounds pretty high, yet it is really much denser, as 20 million people live in the 10 largest cities.

Vietnam has recovered nicely from the dual wars against France and the U.S., and now many thriving hi-tech industries are flourishing there. The educational standards are very high, as is the medical care, and tourism has become one of the main industries, opening the door to enterprising anglophiles to open English schools. German and French are in demand as well. But be prepared; while settling in the country is quite possible, you have to jump through a lot of hurdles to get there.

Genetically Modified Seeds are Amusing Themselves to Death

By Jamie Douglas

There exist in our Mother Nature, uncounted species, from bacillus to elephants, all of them having evolved in one form or another to serve their unique purpose on the planet, whether it be by pollinating plants or serving as a food source for other species. It is all a very delicate balance, which has been tampered with by man more indiscreetly with every advance in his technological wizardry. Humanity, indisputably the ruling species on the planet, has found many ways to feed itself, one of which is by selectively planting the seeds of what appeared to be the most prolific producers of the previous season.

Since farming began, probably in the Fertile Crescent of Western Asia, it has been a challenge with most crops to be able to harvest more of the bounty than was going to various insects and diseases. Not exactly wild about the idea of sharing their crops with the many hungry competitors farmers faced, there were few choices but to manually eradicate those that could be seen. At the dawn of agriculture 10,000 years ago, when the practice of planting seeds and harvesting food became popular, the population of the world was a mere five million people. This coincided with the end of the last glacial period, which had freed up vast amounts of new lands to be explored by the nomadic tribes, many of whom decided to settle in newfound places where food and game were plentiful.

Fast forward to the year 1800, 211 years ago, when it is estimated that the world had about one billion passengers. In the early 1920’s, it doubled to two billion, and a few weeks ago, the seven billionth baby was born to a big hoopla. Prognosticators say that by the end of this century, that number will double again to 14 billion souls.

An Explosive Island

The Canary Islands have a history that is, quite literally, littered with explosions. Each of the seven main islands was created by hot volcanic lava pushing through the cold Atlantic Ocean in the last million years or so. It therefore does not seem surprising that an occasional ‘belch’ can be heard, and seen, every few hundred years or so.  One of our islands has been in a bit of trouble over recent weeks, but first, a little background.

The Canary Islands are home to the third largest volcano in the world, Mount Teide, on the island of Tenerife, which is also the highest mountain in Spain. Interestingly, all the islands, except La Gomera, have seen volcanic activity in the last million years or so. The island of El Hierro was formed over one million years ago. After three successive eruptions, the island emerged from the ocean as a triangle topped with a volcanic cone more than 2,000 metres high. Continued volcanic activity resulted in the island expanding and boasting the largest number of volcanoes in the Canary Islands, together with a multitude of caves and volcanic galleries. 

Smartphone Users; Get a Tinfoil Hat, But Quickly!

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Thank you!

Jamie Douglas and Julie R Butler

By Jamie Douglas

If you have a “smartphone,” or maybe just a regular late model wireless handset, you have to read this story, and send it to all the people in your life that you care about. This may turn out to be the electronic frontier’s scandal of the decade.

You would never suspect that your service provider will sell you a phone that has a rootkit (please look at this) preinstalled, a spy in your device which will keep complete track of everything you do, all your calls and locations, including a high tech version of a stealthy keystroke logger. So every single thing you do in your life is electronically recorded, with the information continuously transmitted to your device’s carrier.

Switzerland the Beautiful Enigma

By Jamie Douglas

Europe has many stunningly beautiful places, but few can rival Switzerland with its diversity concentrated in such a small space. The Swiss confederacy is easily traversed by a commercial airplane while you have a cocktail. North to south it measures a mere 137 miles, a distance covered by a passenger aircraft in less than 15 minutes, while the east to west distance is a whopping 216 miles, taking about 22 minutes air travel time.

But what is below is what makes the nation such a jewel. There are 13 large lakes located in various parts of the country, along with uncounted smaller ones, all suitable for water sports, numerous large and small rivers dot the landscape, and there are over 3000 sq kilometers of glaciers. The highest peaks in the Swiss Alps reach to over 15,000 feet, with climbs of great difficulty attracting mountaineers from all over the world.