#1023 – The Expat Files: Legal, Health, and Cultural Insights in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Hey who says miracles don't happen just yesterday I was standing in a checkout line at a supermarket and of course everyone in line except me is jabbing away on their what's up Then this 30 year old guy in front of me talking on his phone gets all upset because apparently his battery went dead

[00:47] Which means of course he lost his connection to the universe and now he's all bored and fidgeting Hitting the buttons on his phone a few more futile times trying to eke out another half percentage of battery Which got him even more pissed off that didn't work and his face had that look of a person Completely lost then suddenly with a blank stare He dug into his pocket and pulled out a toothpick stuck it in his mouth rolled it around a bit which reminds me Why is it a okay to pull out a toothpick practically anywhere, especially in a restaurant? But if you were to dare to start flossing in public man People would look at you like you'd stepped in dog poop or something By the way, did you know that technically once you flossed or finished using your toothpick those two implements are considered Biohazards hazardous waste and by law must be deposited in a proper red

[01:37] Container or bag with a hazardous waste symbol on it. So then why am I bringing up this particular digression? Well, because you longtime listeners have heard me talk about that book It's called three felonies a day written by a pretty famous. I think California judge, by the way I have it as an e-book So if you wanted send me an email the expert files at gmail.com and I'll ship it off to you Anyway, every time I mention that book I get some emails from people saying Johnny It's hard to believe three felonies a day seems like extreme hyperbole. How could that be? Well, guess what? I just gave you a nice example of a felony. You didn't even know you committed that you didn't even know existed that would be Improper disposal of hazardous waste which you do every time you toss a toothpick or floss or even a cigarette butt in a garbage That goes for ladies who wipe their lipstick off with a napkin, too

[02:26] technically by law Hazardous waste because according to the FDA and CDC Anything contaminated with saliva or blood or human body parts, which includes hair and nails, too Is hazardous waste that means every single beauty shop in the world is committing three felonies a day And when you clip your nails and let them fly outside of your own home Unless you dispose of them properly you're breaking the law by the way Did you know every time you use a toothpick floss or even brush your teeth you break a few blood vessels no matter how small So there's blood mixed in with that saliva So even if your cough sneezers spit on the ground you're dispelling hazardous waste red blood cells Yep, if that stuff's not disposed of correctly you're committing a crime of course. It's all beyond ridiculous I mean look every time you go into a bathroom or public restroom. What are you doing in there?

[03:15] You're depositing hazardous waste so then where are the red containers and hazardous waste symbols then? I know I know you get the point just want to point out. There's so many ridiculous laws You're breaking them all the time remember the US tax law alone is 70 plus Thousand pages so anyway this fidgeting Latino in front of me whose cell phone had died He'd gone through his pockets pulled out a toothpick got tired of chewing on that tossed it on the ground And then here comes that miracle. I was talking about he picked up a bottle of cranberry juice and Started to read the label. I almost had a heart attack I know I know it wasn't his first choice priorities right first and foremost. It's that cell phone second It's picking your teeth and thirdly Let's read the labels But still it was a minor miracle because that's the first time in my 30 plus years here in Latin America that I ever

[04:05] Saw a Latino or Latina Intentionally read a food label sure they'll read the label to check the price But to actually read it and see how much crap it contains that's just not on the radar So then what's that got to do it anything well speaking of food labels have you gotten the latest email blast concerning a class action suit? Against Bayer producer of that infamous roundup weed killer well I just got that blurb promulgated by a bunch of ambulance chasing lawyers So here's the thing you run into people all the time saying if the food or whatever is FDA approved It's absolutely safe because they test those things. They wouldn't let any bad crap out on the market now, would they that's one way You know how big brother has brainwashed us the FDA is supposed to be the watchdog healthcare agency The good housekeeping seal of approval for food and drugs the last word in health and fitness

[04:53] And so if you've been shopping at farmers markets eating organic avoiding foods sprayed with herbicides Pesticides and Roundup well the average public that'd be 90 to 95 percent of people think you're wasting your dough Because organic food at the farmers markets always way more expensive than buying it at Walmart I'm sure you've run into people who thought you were a little bit nuts on the eccentric side or just maybe a Trendy kind of person hey, you know I'm not a strict vegetarian or vegan But I've been eating really healthy for at least 30 years now ever since my dad who was a sportsman in a perfect physical specimen died of a heart attack at age 54 His arteries were all clogged up because he loved junk food yet He was slim not overweight at all and was on only one med for high blood pressure

[05:39] Anyway, when Latin Americans find out that I haven't eaten a fast food hamburger hotdog or anything like that for at least 30 years nope not one bite out of a Big Mac whopper Predigested synthetic taco at Taco Bell well You can't believe the looks I get because remember there's big lag time here in Latin America And what you've heard about the dangers of junk food and high fructose corn syrup well a certain small percentage of the population up by you In the states have heeded that advice along with a lot of you listeners, too Whereas here in Latin America almost no one has in fact I've never yet met a latino or latina who wouldn't chow down at a fast food joint especially if you were paying Obviously they haven't a clue about GMOs or Roundup either now

[06:25] I'm sure you have friends family and even enemies who've heard you maybe talk about the dangers of things like Roundup and again They give you that line that you're an alarmist because it's FDA approved But then how do you think they're gonna react when they find out that in June of 2020 just a couple of months ago? Bayer maker of Roundup announced a black buster ten billion dollar settlement to resolve Cancer lawsuits connected to its weed killer Roundup and according to the court documents that ten billion covers something like 95,000 cancer cases attributed to Roundup, but that's not the end Bayer still faces 30,000 plus cases from plaintiffs who have not agreed to a participate in this settlement now as much as I hate lawyers Especially ambulance chasing lawyers. I gotta say I'm rooting for this one

[07:12] By the way, the details of this lawsuit state you might be eligible for a part of that ten billion dollar settlement if you've received a diagnosis of leukemia or lymphoma between 2001 2019 an 18 year period and had been using one or more of these Glyphosate based weed killers with the brand names aqua master Bronco campaign expedite fallow master honcho Landmaster pond master protocol Ranger Roundup and RT3 all previously 100% approved by the FDA as Well as the EPA and a number of other corrupt alphabet agencies So anyway, if I got this email asking me to complete a one-minute form on the page to see if I'm eligible Which I'm not by the way, but it does show me in an age of hopelessness that maybe just maybe there is some karma in the

[08:01] Universe, but then generally as it goes with these huge multinational corporations They're primed and ready with dozens of scumbag lawyers to fight this stuff So in the end if you're one of the unfortunate victims, you might get some dough But who's really gonna make out are the lawyers, but you knew that already, right? The good news is I watched a real live Latino read a food label. So we've got that going for us in 2021 All right, speaking of emails Even if we weren't speaking of emails Just when I thought that Nigerian prince who's been emailing me about that five million dollars He wants to share with me locked up in his bank account because you know All he needs is a foreigner like me with a bank account to deposit it needs willing to split it with me Well, just when I thought he disappeared off the face of the earth. I received an email from another Upright and honorable Nigerian banker that shocked the hell out of me funny

[08:51] But my mom and dad never mentioned this maybe because they were embarrassed till I got this email I didn't know I had a half-black Nigerian illegitimate uncle who just died in Lagos and named me as his sole heir to his 15 million dollar fortune Man, life keeps getting better all the time, huh? How amazing is that? Hey, I'm ecstatic though I don't exactly know how I happen to have a half-black Nigerian illegitimate uncle I guess it's the family's dirty little secret Hey But who am I to laugh at 15 million bucks and all I have to do is wear the lawyer to measly five grand for legal Fees god. I'm the luckiest in the world, huh? You know what I'm gonna do when I get that dough buy some Bitcoin which brings us to this email from expat insider seminar alumnus

[09:37] Michael he says Johnny Seems like the US government could make the crypto and Bitcoin markets come crashing down Hey, you got thoughts on this then he sends me a link to this article that from December 15th The US government wants to ruin Bitcoin over Christmas and the highlights of the article It says the financial crimes enforcement network. That's FinCEN Proposes a new Bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation just as Bitcoin goes to all-time highs They're proposing a law that says private digital wallet holders must identify themselves to exchanges That's know your customer and all that when making transactions with Bitcoin and other digital currencies. All right, then So what's that mean and will it kill Bitcoin and other cryptos? Well, you know right now you can make your crypto currencies almost completely anonymous by buying a hard wallet like a nano or a

[10:28] Trezor and storing your crypto there So it's completely anonymous if you want it to be as long as you're holding it in one of those hard wallets When you buy it and load it up, no one asks for your name or debts Here's the kicker you could have millions of dollars worth of crypto and one of those little wallets But how are you gonna turn that into paper funny money? That is for example, if you want to cash out and buy a house or a car, whatever Well, the new rule says that if you move your currency from one of those hard wallets Which like I said can be anonymous as long as you don't put your name on it Well to turn some of that crypto into cash You have to move or send some of your cryptocurrency Bitcoin, whatever to a coin exchange like coinbase There's dozens of other ones, but coinbase is the most well-known Although their fees are very high and people really don't like them that much but they were first on the scene so they got some name fame and

[11:17] The proposed law says that in order for you to send your crypto to the exchange and of course the exchange then will turn it Into dollars and send it to the bank account of your choice Well, the rule says you'll have to tell coinbase your identity and you'll have to prove it with a scan of your passport so in effect what the new regs are hoping to do is Identify everyone who's got crypto currencies in anonymous wallets with exchanges like coinbase Forced to report all your holdings to the IRS and the Treasury Department so they can tax them What else because you know, it doesn't matter if you've got billions in crypto in a hard wallet if it's anonymous You can't get taxed but you can get taxed if and when you switch your crypto to US dollars So then again, the question is will it kill Bitcoin in crypto?

[12:04] Absolutely not. In fact, it's been estimated at probably 95% of the crypto out there was bought directly from exchanges like coinbase and in order to buy you have to give them your credit card Or bank transfer data So they already know who 95% of their customers are and those exchanges based in the states like coinbase Report back to the Treasury Department in the IRS. So people do pay taxes on their crypto Transactions just as they would if they were in and out of the stock market and for that small 5% who Probably don't want anybody to know how much crypto they have if they want to cash out in dollars or euros Whatever, they'll always find a bank somewhere in another country. Maybe the Cayman Islands Bahamas, whatever that'll do anonymous business with them Oh another thing people don't realize more and more businesses are accepting crypto directly

[12:54] In other words a year or so ago if you wanted to buy anything online you did it with a credit card or PayPal Whatever, but now more and more in fact thousands of companies are accepting crypto directly So that not only completely bypasses the banking system It completely bypasses the crypto exchanges like coinbase too. An example of that is the travel consolidator travelod.com you've heard of Priceline and Expedia, Obits, Cheapair and a lot of the travel consolidators, right? Well travelod.com just started accepting crypto currencies So for example, if you wanted to book a resort or a cruise or a flight you can pay directly in cryptocurrency Again bypassing PayPal, credit cards, banks, and that's the beauty of crypto And in doing that it puts a nice buffer layer between you and the asswipes in government trying to collect your data

[13:43] So just know there are ways to remain completely anonymous no matter what Regulations come down from the US or even internationally Oh, and if you're coming to my Expat Insider seminar You'll find out all about this in great detail You'll hear it from me and our crypto experts who talked at the seminar That'd be Captain Mango who offers that very excellent crypto for beginners course Bitcoin Dan who is absolutely one of the top 10 crypto experts in the world In fact, he was the very first person in the world to teach an accredited university cryptocurrency course And we've got Oscar the miner too and he was one of the very first people to mine Crypto currencies way back when something like 10 or 12 years ago So if you're coming down to my Expat Insider seminar You'll be learning about crypto and the secrets of crypto from the very best

[14:31] So bottom line as to Mike's question will crypto be destroyed by the government and banks Well, they'd sure like to kill it because for one it eliminates the middleman and that's the banks And that's how they make their dough being the intermediary for all those financial transactions So in a way Bitcoin and cryptos are a mortal threat to banks So they're gonna do everything in their power to get their lobbyists to bribe Congress to try to strangle crypto with heavy legislation Though the problem for them is crypto is International and when one country's government comes down hard on crypto like Britain is right now Others see an opportunity and pick up the slack now in Britain right now. They're making certain Bitcoin and crypto transactions illegal I don't know if you heard that or not Restrictive legislation for crypto just came through in the UK last week

[15:16] And you know what that did not dent the going price of crypto at all because everybody said the same thing We'll just skip doing crypto business in the UK and do it in any of a number of crypto friendly countries I mean look after this video thing almost every country's bottom line is hurting Industries shot tourism shot buyers and restaurants shot So any country that tries to throttle the Bitcoin and crypto business is shooting themselves in the foot Because if you've been following the trends Bitcoin and crypto just happened to be the fastest growing financial and investment strategy on the planet And only countries that are trying to hold on to the past are trying to regulate it But then again governments are mostly staffed with bureaucrats who graduate in the bottom 10 of their classes So you can expect them to do a lot of very stupid things

[16:04] But governments in general like any metastatic cancer They're very good at growing and expanding until they kill off the host Isn't that the history of every government that was ever in existence? But you knew that already, right? All right. Then comes this email from fred. He says johnny I'm trying to figure out how to pull the plug on what's up But it's hard because so many people use it much more so where you are in latin america But with what's ups recent move to let their parent company fake book have access to all your email addresses And who knows what else i'm really trying to figure it out Seems like you should try to get the most important people you contact like your lawyer To get signal or telegram accounts. They're just like what's up, but very secure

[16:51] And then get them out of your what's up contact list Then you could just use what's up for more casual fluffy conversations like replying to ads or Calling a restaurant. All right, fred. Let me throw in my two cents here. That's exactly what i've been doing I keep the what's up accounts for you know plumbers and the cleaning lady and stuff and for the essential private stuff I've hooked up with that signal app and you know when you're looking at it It seems almost exactly like what's up except instead of being green. It's all blue Oh and when you first sign up for signal or telegram It'll ask you if you want to merge your contact list and I say do it and that doesn't damage your anonymity or privacy Either because you won't be able to talk or communicate with anyone on that contact list unless they download the signal or telegram app And then and only then will those people show up when you hit the signal or if you use a telegram icon

[17:41] You see merging your contact list Is a great time saver because then you won't have to retype the name and phone numbers at everyone You want to include the new signal or telegram app? All right, then fred says by the way johnny Here's a little something I researched about the covid it stuff In south dakota, which has never lacked down anything at all as far as I can see It suffered a bunch of deaths in recent months, but now it's way down from their all-time high daily deaths Their total deaths per capita have never reached as high as new york state and are about 2.6 per 10 000 people Which is more than california and california, you know has gone through some horrendous social contortions Closing of most everything including schools businesses social events, etc

[18:27] And we know also statistically those 2.6 for 10 000 affected are likely to be very much older folks with serious health problems, etc As for me i'm 78 and generally healthy if you don't count the prostate cancer and a couple of vertebral fractures i've had But i'm not prejudice against the elderly But still I think one needs to make some sort of balance between a few people dying and shutting down the whole society in general Funny how when we're not talking about covid the society makes some very logical decisions, too For example, we allow automobiles to operate They kill many more people than covid ever will and think about it with all lockdowns in california Those geniuses have only been able to shave 0.26 That's about a quarter of a person per 1000 off of the death rate that it would have happened without their interfering

[19:16] Just saying johnny sign fred from northern california. Hey fred. You're right And think about this. They won't let you on a plane even if you're completely Asymptomatic and you test positive which could be up to a 40 percent error We know but you can go on a plane if you've got tuberculosis AIDS intestinal parasites, you know half of the third world has parasites They don't bar you from flying if you've got epilepsy or organ transplants. Those are people on heavy immunosuppressant drugs, right? Which makes you very susceptible to bacterial and viral infection The fact is airlines let people with a thousand and one different diseases fly every day people with contagious diseases, too They even let schizophrenics psychotics and sociopaths fly daily

[20:03] Just look at all the politicians flying first class on your dime talk about adding insult to injury Yeah, how about that the sociopaths fly first class by the way as for tuberculosis tb according to the who the world health organization 1.21 million people die of tb every year by the way tb is contagious yet. There are no airline flight restrictions Oh, and by the way, did you know that 1.8 million people a year die from diarrhea related diseases? And they still let those people on airlines. I mean have you checked your in-flight bathroom lately? Oh and respiratory tract infections in general kill four million people a year and they're contagious They're still allowed to fly Want proof?

[20:49] Well next time you're at an airport or flying check out how many people are hacking into a snot rag even before the covidia thing Every plane has had its annoying chronic hacker and the death rate for respiratory infections is something like five times the covid death rate But they're flying around in planes all the time. You ever sit next to one of them, man You just want to slap them, but they've got their rights, huh? But somehow you and I even if we've got zero symptoms and test pcr positive We automatically get the scarlet letter and we're booted by the way I'm looking at the stats today. They say that something like almost two million people have died from covid 19 bs Eventually when they tell the truth you'll find it's more like half that amount mostly the over 70 crowd Turns out more than a million of those have died from compromising chronic illnesses

[21:34] And incidentally were also found to have tested positive for covid. So obviously covid killed him, right? And now for the capper did you know that the latest statistics show that in the uk the united kingdom The average life expectancy for males is 79.5 years and for females in the uk 83.1 years according to a site called world data info You got that right 79.5 years for men 83.1 for women and with all the gobbledygook fake news out there You'd think covid was decimating the world. Well get this according to bbc news the average age of those who died with covid 19 in the uk is 79 for men and 84 for women

[22:19] Yep, according to these stats if you have covid and die in the uk You actually live just as long as the average person does in the uk Hmm. What the f**k? I repeat the average male brit dies at age 79.5 The average age of death for males who died with covid in the uk is 79 And for women in the uk average lifespan 83.1 years However, if you're a woman in the uk and you die of covid your average age is 84 I say double what the f**k now if you want to look at these stats yourself Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and i'll send you the links But you do see what's happening here, right? If you die of covid in the uk, you don't die younger than the average life expectancy

[23:05] Meanwhile, they've got some of the strictest lockdowns in the world. All i've got to say is I mean really what else can you say? Except that the year 2020 has been an iq test for the public and 95 percent of years failed Seems the definition of average 100 iq that would be Has dropped down a notch to 70 or 80 By the way, I just looked up the definition of a moron It says here it was once applied to people with an iq of between 51 and 70 being superior in one degree or another To imbecile whose iq is between 26 and 50 which is superior in some degree to the term idiot Whose iq is between zero and 25 then it shows a photo of a convention of morons

[23:53] It's a photo of congress. All right, so I made the photo part up The shoe certainly fits there'd certainly be no way to disprove it Meanwhile comes this news from el solvador dated january 5th It says a court in el solvador found ex-president tony saka guilty along with his wife Angela liga la saka of illegal enrichment to the tune of 4.4 million dollars The court found that saka could not explain the origin of another 6.5 million in income he made while president Hmm sounds like he's taken a pace from ovamitz playbook Then it says this comes in addition to a 10-year prison sentence for corruption having been ordered to return some 260 million dollars

[24:40] To the nation. I know I know it's hard to believe that a tiny country like el solvador with a population of six and a half million That's not even as big as chicago That a president could steal 350 million dollars Though as mentioned in the previous show that kind of money does not come from the public coffers from the taxes It's money that idiot moron first world countries donate and gift To these dickheads in order to get them to play ball with first world countries like the us During u.n imf and world bank votes and such Oh, and you might be interested to note that two other el solvadorian presidents are under investigation for corruption francisco flores Who recently died but was living under house arrest for years in his million dollar beach house compound?

[25:27] Then there's ex-president mario funes who held the top office from 2009 to 2014 Who fled to nicaragua after he was caught red-handed stealing in upwards of 10 million bucks So he's living like a sultan of swing in nicaragua now where he was granted asylum allowing him to avoid facing trial back home Yep, that's how malignant pustulant latin american political douchebags make their side deals It's funny too because the average latin american even the lower class sweaty masses don't seem to take it personally Those elected thieves are sort of local heroes And when you see one in cosco with his fleet of suvs and potbellied bodyguards people don't get disgusted and shout insults at him Well, I do but instead they go up and shake his hand and ask for his autograph

[26:15] I'm not kidding. I've seen it a number of times and I suppose it's because political corruption is so well entrenched People just expect it though. You've heard me say this before there's a kind of a round number 20 percent That people sort of expect is a politician's usual skim Any more than that the people get pissed a new administration comes in they go after the old guy They confiscate all his properties and by then he's usually out of the country in nicaragua Panama a place nearby where he's transferred his millions After all he's got to grease the skids for a soft landing after he's become persona non grata in his own country Oh and just one more thing you long-time listeners might remember me saying more than a few times that becoming a politician in latin america Is actually a full employment plan for all their friends cronies and relatives

[27:01] And there's no better proof of that than what they nailed this ex-president of salvador for according to legal documents It says he pled guilty to charges that connected him with a diversion of more than 300 million dollars from government coffers to the benefit of his own businesses Along with government contracts and freebies to friends relatives and cronies His problem being he didn't obey the unofficial rules of skim. He took way more than 20 He was a glutton You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in central america

[27:50] Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com nos vemos