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SINGAPORE — U.S. President Donald Trump says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's assertion that Canada "will not be pushed around" will end up costing Canadians "a lot of money."
Trump gave a wide−ranging news conference in Singapore on Tuesday following his landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in which the two leaders spoke for several hours.
Among the many topics the president addressed with reporters afterward was his recent Twitter campaign against Trudeau, whom he has called "dishonest" and "weak."
Those comments came after Trudeau's closing news conference at the G7 summit in Quebec on Saturday, when the prime minister said he had pushed back against the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Trump says he watched that news conference on his way to Singapore, and was upset because he thought he and Trudeau had had a positive meeting in Charlevoix.
Trump says Trudeau "probably didn't know that Air Force One has about 20 televisions.
"I see the television and he's giving a news conference about how he 'will not be pushed around' by the United States. And I say, 'Push him around? We just shook hands!'" Trump said Tuesday.
"We finished the (G7) meeting and really everybody was happy."
Trump has consistently railed against what he claims are unfair trade practices by some of America's biggest trade partners, including Canada.
One particular source of his ire recently has been Canada's supply management system, which levels tariffs of up to 300 per cent on imported dairy products.
"It's very unfair to our farmers, and it's very unfair to the people of our country," Trump said Tuesday in Singapore.
"It's very unfair, and it's very unfair to our workers, and I'm gonna straighten it out. And it won't even be tough."
The Canadian Press


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There are too few salmon right now in Alaska's Yukon River. That's making it hard for Indigenous residents to feed their families. And it's all made worse by skyrocketing prices at the grocery store. From member station KYUK, Olivia Ebertz reports.
OLIVIA EBERTZ, BYLINE: Maggie Westlock is in a grocery store in Emmonak, a small village near the mouth of the Yukon River in western Alaska. She's picking up a few things for dinner.
MAGGIE WESTLOCK: Grapes. Coleslaw. Sandwich.
EBERTZ: These are not the foods she and her family of eight prefer to eat. Normally, she'd be filling her freezer with wild salmon, the same staple food her Yup'ik ancestors ate for thousands of years. Now, because of a sudden and severe salmon crash, her family is forced to rely on store-bought food. Westlock picks up a small pack of ribs.
WESTLOCK: Thirty-seven dollars and 10 cents.
EBERTZ: In the diaper aisle, things are even more dire.
WESTLOCK: And look at these Pampers - Huggies, 84.99, one box. Expensive, I tell you.
EBERTZ: She doesn't end up buying the diapers or the ribs. Still, the final damage is more than $80 for just five items. Westlock is spending a lot more on food than back when she was fishing. The salmon crash has touched every indigenous village from the Yukon River's mouth on the Bering Sea to its headwaters in British Columbia nearly 2,000 river miles away.
SOPHIE BEANS: Smokehouse.
EBERTZ: A hundred miles upriver in the village of St. Mary's, elder Sophie Beans is peering into her smokehouse with her daughter, Deedee (ph). It's empty now, but her whole street used to be filled with the sweet aroma of smoking fish.
What would it normally be like a lot - like, in this neighborhood when people were fishing?
DEEDEE: Orange and smoky.
BEANS: Yeah. Orange, full of kings and fish.
EBERTZ: And now what does it look like?
BEANS: Nothing.
EBERTZ: The Yukon's two most important salmon species are crashing. The most prized species is the big and fatty king salmon. Those have been running in low numbers for years. The other main species, chum salmon, was super abundant until just last year.
BEANS: My son, Matty (ph), one time, he caught 700 chums.
EBERTZ: Wow.
DEEDEE: And that's not even the kings before that.
BEANS: Yeah.
EBERTZ: Wow.
Scientists have been scrambling to figure out why western Alaska wild salmon stocks are crashing.
KATIE HOWARD: That has been tied to a changing climate.
EBERTZ: That's Katie Howard, a fish biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. She says marine heatwaves have intensified in recent years. That's what's likely driving the chum crash.
HOWARD: They were just bigger. They were geographically larger. And they lasted over a much, much longer period of time than is typical. It's more extreme when it happens. And the other expectation is that they may occur more often.
NICOLE THOMPSON: We cut it here, then cut at the head.
EBERTZ: Back in the village of St. Mary's, 11-year-old Nicole Thompson (ph) is practicing cutting fish with her mom for the first time in years. Most tribal members in the village have just received a couple of donated salmon from the state. For most, it's the only taste they'll get all year. Nicole is struggling to remember exactly how to cut the fish. Her dad, Troy, says when he was his daughter's age, he already knew how because fish were so abundant and he got more practice.
TROY THOMPSON: Pretty sad, though. We have to wait for fish one or two at a time. If we had a lot more I'm pretty sure she'd have it down a little quicker.
EBERTZ: The salmon crash is about more than food. It's making it harder for parents to pass on Yup'ik culture to their kids.
For NPR News, I'm Olivia Ebertz in St. Marys, Alaska.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Both movies are wonderful. Both have scenes that show daily acitities, so I prepared this fun activity to make students practice the simple present tense in a challenging and exciting manner.
I. Watch the segments below only once. Then work in groups and decide who performs the following activities every morning. Write R if it is Rapunzel (Tangled) or L if it is Linda (Rio).
( ) Sweep the floor at 7 a.m
( ) Read a book
( ) Paint
( ) Play the guitar
( ) Wake up at 7:15 am
( ) Brush her teeth
( ) Have breakfast
( ) Knit
( ) Bake a pie
( ) Solve a puzzle
( ) Play chess
( ) Feed her pet
( ) Open the store
( ) Make candles
( ) Brush her hair
II. Now rewrite the sentences above in the simple present tense:
Ex: Rapunzel sweeps the floor at 7:00 am.
1. .................................................................................
2. ................................................................................
3. ................................................................................
III. Now write down two sentences that Rapunzel doesn't do in the morning and two sentences about what Linda does not do in her typical morning.
Ex: Rapunzel does not swim.
1. ................................................................................
2. ...............................................................................
3. ..............................................................................
4. ...............................................................................
III. Divide the class into pairs. Give Student 1a list with Rapunzel's activities. Give the other student a list with Linda's activities. Each student mimes their main character's activities and his/her partner has to say the correct sentences.
Answer key:
R - Rapunzel - Tangled
She sweeps the floor at 7 a.m.
She reads a book.
She paints
She plays the guitar
She knits
She bakes a pie
She solves a puzzle
She plays chess
She makes candles
She brushes her hair
She sings
L - Linda -Rio
She wakes up at 7:15 am
She brushes her teeth
She has breakfast
She feeds her pet
She opens the store


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Venezuela's Political Situation Discussed at U.S. Senate Hearing
Washington, D.C. June 25 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- The State of Democracy in Venezuela was the subject of a hearing at the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held Thursday in Washington, DC. Venezuela has attracted interest from U.S. politicians as numerous allegations have been made against President Hugo Chavez and as a recall referendum on his mandate approaches.
Panelists during a hearing at the U.S. Senate on June 24th answered questions about Venezuela's current political situation. Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
The meeting was convened and chaired by Senator Norm Coleman (Democrat, Minnesota), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics. Senator Coleman had expressed an interest to "hear from the experts about the unfolding situation in Venezuela" and intended to "get to the bottom" of various allegations about Venezuela recently floating around in the international media at Thursday's hearing.
The list of witnesses who testified at the hearing included many names familiar to those following the developments in Venezuela: Roger Noriega, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, John Maisto, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, Miguel Diaz, Director, Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Dr. Jennifer McCoy, Director of the Americas Program at the Carter Center, Jose Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director, Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, Roger Tissot, Director of Markets and Countries Group, Latin America, PFC Energy and Dr. Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The hearing opened with commentary by Chairman Coleman, who declared that the political situation in Venezuela represents "the single most important test of democracy in the America." He further reinforced that the United States has a "tremendous interest" in what happens in Venezuela and asserted that the presence of international observers during the August 15th Recall Referendum process will play a key role in ensuring credibility and transparency and respect for the results. Following Coleman's opening comments, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who recently has made very critical and severe statements against the Chavez Administration, once again accused the Venezuelan government of supporting and harboring Colombian guerrilla groups. Senator Nelson additionally charged President Chavez with making statements "praising Iraqi insurgents that attack American soldiers" and "using his oil as leverage against small nations in the Caribbean" to encourage them to "oppose U.S. policies." Senator Nelson did not present any evidence to support these allegations.
Noriega concerned over opposition mayor and Sumate indictments
The first of the witnesses to testify to this Committee, which also counted on the presence of Senator Christopher Dodd (Democrat, Connecticut), was Sub-Secretary Roger Noriega, a former aide to ultra-conservative Senator Jesse Helms and an outspoken critic of President Chavez. Noriega expressed his concern over alleged politically motivated detentions that have occurred in Venezuela during the past month, which include Henrique Capriles Radonsky, a Caracas municipal mayor charged with aiding the violent attack on the Cuban Embassy during the coup d'etat against President Chavez in April 2002.
Sub-Secretary Roger Noriega waived a little blue book as President Chavez usually does. Instead of Venezuela's constitution, he holds the OAS Democratic Charter. Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
Noriega also stated that the recent indictment of two directors of the organization Sumate, who are charged with conspiracy and treason for accepting funding from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in violation of Venezuelan law, and for utilizing these funds to conspire to overthrow the government, demands international attention. Noriega reinforced the U.S. government's view that the National Endowment for Democracy is an independent organization that promotes democracy around the world. A closer examination of the NED, however, shows that it is funded entirely by the U.S. Congress and was created by congressional legislation in 1983. The NED has given more than $4 million to anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela since President Bush came to office.
Ambassador John Maisto plugged the importance of the Organization of American States and the Carter Center in Venezuela in the peaceful and transparent solution to Venezuela's current political crisis. In an odd political maneuver, Maisto compared President Chavez's rejection of the NED's funding of anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela to General Agustin Pinochet's outrage at the NED funding organizations opposing his dictatorship at the end of the 1980s, after Pinochet had become discredited and no longer useful to advance U.S. interests.
Ambassador John Maisto said that Chilean Dictator Pinochet also opposed the National Endowment for Democracy as Chavez currently does. Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
U.S.'s "dark shadow"
A brief intervention by Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd pointed out that the Bush Administration's tacit support of the coup against President Chavez in April 2002 cast a "very dark shadow" over the U.S.'s ability to act as an honest broker in helping to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela. Dodd, along with almost all those speaking at Thursday's hearing emphasized the 'make or break' role of international observers in the recall referendum process, particularly the OAS and Carter Center, and some even went so far as to state that the international observers, and not the Venezuelan electoral council, will be the ones bringing validity and credibility to the vote.
Noriega under fire
Senator Dodd also called into question Noriega's actions preceding the recent signature repair process in Venezuela last May. Specifically, Dodd asked Noriega why he published an opinion article in several U.S. and Latin American newspapers just one day before the repair process began, which stated that the "signatures had already been obtained for the recall referendum" and that the Chavez administration would face "dire consequences" if it didn't respect this conclusion. Noriega shrugged off the issue as a "misinterpretation" of his statement and stated that he "did not understand" the Senator's point.
In another strange intervention, Senator Nelson questioned Ambassador Maisto on the credibility of a recent article by writer Heinz Dietrich, whom he referred to as a "Chavista political leader", which allegedly stated that the referendum is an "all or none" proposition that must be won by any means. Nelson further said that the article in question declared that, "Chavez must defeat the enemies" and listed the Democratic Charter of the OAS as an "enemy." Maisto, the US Ambassador to the OAS dismissed the allegations as "preposterous."
Dr. Jennifer McCoy, who has been the leading Carter Center representative in Venezuela during the past year, pointed out that after a recent presentation from Smartmatic, the company contracted to provide electronic voting machines for the upcoming referendum, she and her colleagues were "very impressed" with the security measures and the functioning of the machines. She additionally disputed Senator's Nelson's comments about reports of identification cards belonging to opposition members being confiscated by military forces in Venezuela to prevent them from voting, and stated that the Carter Center has not had any reports at all about such confiscations.
Carter Center's Jennifer McCoy said that she and her colleagues were "very impressed" with the security measures and the functioning of Venezuela's new voting machines. Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
Venezuela could teach Florida a lesson about transparent voting
Despite Senator Nelson's adversary tone towards the Venezuelan government, after McCoy's convincing testimony, he declared that if the Smartmatic machines, which provide paper receipts, are successful in the referendum vote, "maybe Venezuela will teach Florida something." In the last presidential elections in the U.S., that State of Florida came under heavy fire for badly functioning election equipment, disenfranchisement of blacks, and widespread fraud in electoral registries and polls across the state.
Human Rights Watch's Jose Vivanco said that Venezuela's press "has been able to express its strong views without restriction," but criticized a new law that allow the Venezuelan National Assembly to appoint new Supreme Court justices. Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
The U.S. has no moral authority to promote the rule of law
Human Rights Watch Director for the Americas, Jose Miguel Vivanco, who has been in the public spotlight over the past week in Venezuela due to his harsh criticism of a new judicial reform law in Venezuela, stressed that "Venezuela is a Democracy, although a fragile one." Vivanco further proclaimed that the press in Venezuela "has been able to express its strong views without restriction." Finally, Vivanco boldly stated that "the ability of the U.S. to advocate for democracy in Venezuela was severely hurt in 2002 when the Bush Administration chose to blame Chavez for his own ouster rather than unequivocally denouncing the coup. In addition, the Abu Grahib scandal has undermined the administration's moral authority when it comes to promoting the rule of law abroad."
With regard to Vivanco's statements on the Venezuelan National Assembly's possible appointment of Supreme Court justices who are friendly to the government, Senator Dood pointed out that the Constitution of the United States instructs that it is up to the Congress to determine the size of the court. "This is not unprecedented", he said adding that he agreed with Vivanco with the inconvenience of the timing of such appointments.
Former CIA employee Miguel Diaz said that not all who come to power through elections are democrats. He added that the eyes of the world are on Venezuelan electoral authorities, and that "any perception of wrongdoing would result in bloodshed." Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
By far the most critical testimony came from Miguel Diaz, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, who alleged that the Chavez administration is "selectively arresting opposition leaders, torturing some members of the opposition and encouraging, if not directing, Bolivarian Circles to beat up members of congress and voters with impunity." The ex-CIA employee also avowed that the "Chavez government lies shamelessly" and that "not all who come to power through elections are democrats." Without producing any evidence to support these unsubstantiated allegations, Diaz went on to state that that he believes that Chavez "poses a great threat, now more than ever, and the community of democracy should take him seriously." Diaz clamored for the U.S. to take a more proactive role in Latin America and to let Venezuelan electoral authorities know that "the eyes of the world are on them" and that "any perception of wrongdoing will result in bloodshed." He further referred to those supporting Chavez as "desperate."
"Venezuela is the Saudi Arabia of Latin America"
The hearing on Venezuela concluded with Roger Tissot, an expert on the oil industry, and economist Mark Weisbrot. Tisso pointed out that Venezuela is the "Saudi Arabia of Latin America" and that the major oil-producing nation would like to become the energy supplier of choice for the Western Hemisphere. In that sense, Tissot foresaw no threat to oil supply from Venezuela and in fact reinforced that the Venezuelan government depends on its oil revenue to advance its political project. He highlighted Venezuela's strategic geographical location by pointing out that it takes only four days for a Venezuelan oil tanker to reach the U.S. coast off the Gulf of Mexico. He mentioned Venezuelan owned Citgo Petroleum's important role in the distribution on gasoline and oil derivatives in the U.S.
Oil expert Roger Tissot said that Venezuela would like to become the energy supplier of choice for the Western Hemisphere. Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
Mark Weisbrot wrapped up Thursday's hearing by asserting that Venezuela is a democracy, despite attempts to frame it otherwise, and he emphasized the U.S. government's ongoing support of an anti-democratic opposition movement that led a coup d'etat in 2002. "Our government also undermines democracy in Venezuela by disregarding the rule of law in that country, and encouraging the opposition to do the same. It must be recalled that the Bush Administration, alone in this hemisphere, initially endorsed the military coup in April 2002," Weisbrot said.
The Washington, DC-based economist underlined the fact that the Bush administration made no attempt to repair relations with the Chavez government after it was restored following the 2002 coup. "Rather it went on to tacitly endorse the oil strike — in spite of the fact that it was preparing for a war in the Middle East, likely to reduce oil supplies, at the time. In December 2002 the White House supported the opposition's unconstitutional demand for early elections," Weisbrot said.
CEPR economist Mark Weisbrot said that U.S. financing of Venezuelan opposition groups violates the law. He urged for normalization of relations with Venezuela. Credit: Jeremy Bigwood |
U.S. financing of opposition groups violates law
Weisbrot highlighted the critical role that U.S. financing of anti-Chávez groups has played in the ongoing political crisis and called for the Congress to investigate the issue further.
Referring to the NED's financing of groups such as Sumate, which violate Venezuelan law, Weisbrot clarified, "we do not allow foreign financing of electoral campaigns in the United States. Clearly we should not insist on violating the laws of other countries, and their sovereignty and democracy, in ways that we would not permit here."
Noriega encouraged disrespect for constitutional processes
Echoing Senator Dodd's comments to Secretary Noriega, the economist criticized the Bush administration's alleged encouragement of the opposition not to respect constitutional processes. "Before the results of the signature gathering process were decided last month, Roger Noriega, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, declared that 'the requisite number of people supported the petition' and warned of 'dire consequences' if Venezuela's National Electoral Council did not arrive at the same conclusion."
Weisbrot reminded the senators thatthe Venezuelan opposition only agreed in May of 2003 to pursue an electoral strategy "after all extra-legal means of overthrowing the government — including a military coup and several oil strikes — had been exhausted."
Undemocratic Venezuelan media
Weisbrot additionally called attention to the role of the media in Venezuela as the "most fiercely partisan opponents of the government" pointing out that even so, the media has never been censored by the Chávez government.
"A Los Angeles Times reporter interviewed one of the country's most respected pollsters, from the firm Datanalisis, Jose Antonio Gil. The firm's polls are often cited in the US press. According to the L.A. Times, he could see only one way out of the political crisis surrounding President Hugo Chavez. 'He has to be killed,' he said, using his finger to stab the table in his office… 'He has to be killed'… It is hard to imagine an opposition of this type in the United States — they would probably be labeled as terrorists here"
The economist charged the Venezuelan media with abandoning the norms of modern journalism, and of becoming organs of a movement to de-legitimize the government. "Two months ago one of Venezuela's most influential newspapers actually used a doctored version of a New York Times article to allege that the Chavez government was implicated in the Madrid terrorist bombing."
Unlike Castro
Weisbrot criticized efforts to portray the Chavez government as anti-democratic. He pointed out that although Chavez has friendly relations with Fidel Castro, "clearly Venezuela is nothing like Cuba." He reminded that the Brazilian government of Lula da Silva, and his party have deeper and longer-standing relations with Castro and Cuba, but it is not a reason for major controversy. "The Bush Administration and Brazil have agreed to disagree on this issue, and that seems to be the end of this dispute," he added.
"Anyone who calls the Venezuelan government 'authoritarian' is in need of a dictionary, or perhaps needs to see the place. I was there during the oil strike in December 2002 and witnessed the government's response to the destruction of its economy by less than one percent of the labor force; the management and some of the workers in the oil industry. They were not striking for better wages or benefits, but to overthrow the government. Even in the United States, a strike of this nature would be illegal."
Human Rights
Weisbrot acknowledged human rights violations in Venezuela, although he said that the situation has not gotten any worse during the Chavez presidency. "It is true that there are human rights abuses in Venezuela, but these are not different from those in the rest of Latin America, and I have not heard any reputable human rights organization argue that they have worsened under the five years of Chavez' government. Nor have they argued that the government has engaged in any systematic repression of political dissent," he said.
Judiciary has never been independent in Venezuela
The economist also spoke on Venezuela's National Assembly's approval of a law allowing the government to add 12 new judges to the Supreme Court. He said that although this would certainly alter the balance of the court in favor of the government, that Supreme Court is the same one that decided that the people who carried out the military coup of 2002 could not be prosecuted. "In the United States, I am pretty sure that our Congress would use its power to impeach a Supreme Court that made such a ruling," he said. Weisbrot added that as long as the country remains deeply polarized, it will be very difficult to achieve a truly independent judiciary.
Normalize relations with Venezuela
Weisbrot further stated that the polarization in Venezuela is a very serious problem, and that Chavez is a polarizing figure who has contributed to the problem. But he urged the U.S. Congress not make it worse by allowing the U.S. government to take sides. "We should normalize our relations with Venezuela, which is a democracy and has never posed any threat to US security; it has reached out several times to our government since the coup — only to be rebuffed."
The economist concluded by saying that the first step towards normalizing relations would be to stop funding the recall effort and people who have participated in a military coup against Venezuela's elected government.
The written testimony from the U.S. Senate hearing can been read at:
www.senate.gov/~foreign/ hearings/2004/hrg040624p.html
This report was prepared by Eva Golinger, Martin Sanchez and Gregory Wilpert.
See also:
- Evidence of U.S. financing of opposition groups www.venezuelafoia.info
- Media Falls Short on Iraq, Venezuela by Mark Weisbrot
- Venezuela Asks U.S. to Stop Funding Opposition and Coup Supporters


text:
Interdisciplinary. Community. Advocacy. Humor.
September 15, 2014 to January 17, 2015 – Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma http://museum.okstate.edu/exhibitions/chris-ramsay-meditations-stillwater Organized by Chris Ramsay | Type: exhibiton
October 5, 2014 at 2pm to January 11, 2015 at 5pm – Museum of Wisconsin Art Tom Loeser Retrospective, "It Could Have Been Kindling" at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, Wisconsin. Exhibition runs from October 5, 2014 - January 11, 2015. Opening reception: Sunday, Oct… Organized by Museum of Wisconsin Art | Type: exhibition
December 5, 2014 at 9am to January 31, 2015 at 5pm – Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA Craft Forms, an international juried exhibition of contemporary craft, is open to all professional artists working in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and/or mixed media crafts. Collaborative work is… Organized by Karen Louise Fay | Type: exhibition
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text:
The Food Hoarding House Of Horrors
Typically, the hoarders featured on Hoarders will keep expired, rotten food in their homes as part of their mental illness, but have the ability to recognize that they should not actually eat it. However, Lisa, a food hoarder featured on last night's episode—whose house was likened by several people as something out The Texas Chainsaw Massacre because of the bones and gore and stench—was a different story entirely. She actually re-purposes the bugs and worms that her old food attracts and uses them as ingredients. She doesn't have a working refrigerator so she hangs newer food from chandeliers in plastic bags so the rats can't get at it. And that means that the rats are stuck eating older food, and are dying from it. The cleanup crew found several carcasses, some of which were fossilized. The head of the cleanup crew actually described one of the smells in Lisa's kitchen as a mixture of "sugar and butt."
Lisa's interest in food began after her husband—whom her daughter described as an "abusive sociopath"—wouldn't let her engage in crafting or her other interests and cut her off from the outside world, so she channeled her creativity into cooking. However, over the years her passion for food took a dark turn and she began cooking things with raw chicken hearts and telling people it was apple pie. Eventually, her husband gave her HPV, but wouldn't allow her to see a doctor, so it progressed into cervical cancer, which is when all the junk really started piling up. Still, Lisa doesn't see a problem with it, and actually ate something unidentifiable out of a 25-year-old jar to prove a point to the hoarding specialists, who eventually called Adult Protective Services on her.


text:
The economic crisis that has been affecting the global economy for the last two and a half years started in East Asia. We've heard story after story about the problems in Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and even Japan—but we've heard almost nothing about the situation in the Philippines. Is there something that the U.S. government, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank don't want us to know about the situation there?
The IMF has acted as the mean cop for the global financial system for a long time, but its role in this crisis has brought it new notoriety. In every case in which it has gotten involved, its prescription has been the same: reduce or end any restrictions on global flow of capital; don't defend the domestic currency by purchasing it with foreign reserves—let it fall until it stabilizes in the market; and raise interest rates as high as necessary to keep capital in or attract capital to invest. (These prescriptions benefit multinational corporations and foreign investors, who are largely—but not exclusively—based in the United States.) And do not worry about the social consequences of adopting such an economic program.
In every case, the result has been the same: each economy that has followed IMF prescriptions has seen widespread social dislocation. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost, and standards of living have plunged drastically, even for those who still have jobs. The cost of internationally traded goods and services has increased, due to local currency devaluation against the U.S. dollar (the denomination in which most goods are traded on global markets). Poverty and malnutrition have increased, as have the number of related deaths. However, foreign investors have been able to purchase goods and services, raw materials, and even entire corporations more cheaply since the onset of the crisis than before.
The crisis has spread beyond East Asia. It has hit Russia hard—and a bunch of hedge funds in the so-called developed countries—and its latest major victim has been Brazil. The shock to Brazil has already spread to Argentina. And while it appears that many of the worst economic effects have attenuated in the last few months, the global economy is still being rocked.
The global crisis has also hit the U.S. economy in some sectors, although the impact has been masked overall by strong stock markets, low inflation, and low unemployment rates. Tourism in Hawaii, on which the state is largely dependent, has been devastated; agriculture (particularly corn) and agricultural machinery manufacturing have been hit hard in the Midwest; and so much steel has been dumped in the United States that the United Steel Workers have joined the steel companies in demanding import protection. In addition, the U.S. balance of trade—which measures the difference between exports of goods and services and imports of goods and services—was -118.1 billion dollars between January and June 1999; this exceeds all of 1997 (-104.7 billion dollars—itself a record at the time), and will certainly exceed the 164.3 billion dollar deficit of 1998.
Yet, as bad as all of this has been—the United States and Western Europe have largely been sheltered because of the way their officials have set up the global system—the countries that have garnered the most attention have a considerable amount of industrial development. What about the economies that don't have this industrial development, but are trying to industrialize on the basis of their cheap labor? What has the crisis meant to them?
I want to address the situation of these countries, but instead of perhaps another litany of the horror of the crisis—by the summer of 1998, Business Week was already referring to the situation on the ground in Asia as a "depression"—I want to focus on the general solution as proposed by the IMF. To do this, it is necessary to look at the situation in the Philippines.
The Philippines is, in some ways, a special case: while its economic development program has been based on neoliberal principles promoted by the IMF and the World Bank, it did not begin as a response to the recent crisis; the Philippines has been carrying out a neoliberal development program since 1962. An examination of these experiences, therefore, should give some idea of the quality of "advice" being given to economically less-developed countries by the global watchdogs. And while I don't excuse the Philippine elite for their role in this, I want to focus on what a neoliberal program has meant to a country that has been following its prescriptions for the past thirty-seven years.
Like any country that had been colonized, the Philippine social order was organized to benefit people in the colonizing country and not Filipinos. An extractive agricultural economy (sugar, tobacco, hemp, coconuts) and a political system dominated by members of the various regional elites were the product of 381 years of Spanish, and then U.S., colonization.
When the Philippines was granted "independence" by the United States in 1946, it had been devastated by the Second World War; the United States used this to set up a neocolonial relationship with the now-ruling elites. Economic relief was made dependent on political and economic concessions to U.S. investors, establishment of U.S. military bases across the country, and a currency whose value in relationship to the U.S. dollar could not be changed without the explicit permission of the U.S. President. These impositions, in addition to the extractive economy and corrupt political system, were all "grants" to the newly freed nation.
An economic crisis in the late 1940s, when luxury imports by the elites threatened to bankrupt the country (in addition to a peasant revolt in Central Luzon and a newly emerging radical labor movement), forced the ruling elites to try a new economic program, with U.S. permission. Unwilling to implement a genuine land reform program, the elites tried industrializing as a way of restoring the economy, pacifying the peasants and workers, and maintaining their land-based power. Although I don't want to ignore the repression directed against peasants and workers (or the direct involvement of the CIA), I'm going to limit my focus here to the economic policies implemented.
To implement their new industrialization program, the Philippine government initiated foreign exchange and import controls. The controls provided multiple economic benefits to the state: they limited both general imports (such as consumer goods for the rich) and repatriation of capital outside the country, and allowed the state to select imports to assist the industrialization process and to protect industry established in the country. This import substitution industrialization (ISI) program was a serious effort to industrialize.
While this program did not benefit the majority of the population at the time, it was a success as an industrialization program by 1960. A moderate industrial base had been established: the country had food, wood, pharmaceutical, cement, flour, textile, paint, pulp, paper, glass, chemical, fertilizer, telecommunications, appliance, electronic, plastic, refined fuel, intermediate steel, shipbuilding, motor vehicle, machine parts, engineering, and other industries. From 3 percent in 1949, almost 18 percent of the total national income was derived from manufacturing in 1960. And it was largely built by Filipinos: from 1949 to 1961, Filipinos had invested fourteen hundred million pesos in new activities, as compared to 425 million by the Chinese (mostly Chinese-Filipinos) and only thirty-one million by U.S. investors. The Philippines was then considered to be the next Japan of Asia.
But this industrial progress came at a cost: the state maintained the peso at the incredibly overvalued rate of two pesos to the U.S. dollar (established by the U.S. government before "independence,") and this made it increasingly difficult for agricultural exporters to find markets for their products, though it aided the industrialization program. (To make it easier to follow below, one dollar would buy 2 pesos, or U.S. one dollar: P2). Since the agricultural elites were funding much of the industrialization program, they were in the driver's seat when they pressed the state to agree to end controls and effectively devalue the peso. Ultimately, in 1959, an agreement was made that the foreign exchange and export controls would be ended in 1964, and it was these controls that had kept the peso so strong. This five-year interval was intended to make the transition less painful than an immediate termination of controls.
Implementing Deregulation
However, Diosdado Macapagal was elected President of the country, and one of his first acts after assuming the presidency in January 1962 was to terminate all controls immediately. This was supported by U.S. President Kennedy, who arranged for the Philippines to receive an immediate three hundred million dollar loan from the IMF to cover the repatriation of three hundred million dollars of U.S. corporate profits. This was the beginning of the Philippines' debt dependence.
Ending these controls—deregulation in today's terminology, and a major component of the neoliberal program—devastated the Philippine economy. The peso began weakening immediately, and was formally devalued from U.S. one dollar: P2.00 to U.S. one dollar: P3.9 in 1965. (A simple example: if you borrowed one million dollars at the old rate, you had to repay it with two million pesos before devaluation, and 3.9 million pesos at the new rate.) This resulted in the bankruptcy and collapse of many businesses. The balance of payments situation worsened: imports increased 68 percent between 1963 and 1967, while exports only increased seven percent. The foreign debt doubled from 275 million dollars in 1962 to approximately six hundred million dollars in 1965. And the manufacturing share of Gross National Product (GNP) decreased from 17.9 percent in 1962 to 7.1 percent in 1965.
So, by the mid-1960s, the economy that had looked so promising going into the decade was a shambles. Different forces with a belief in neoliberal economics—including Filipino economists like Gerardo Sicat, and the IMF and World Bank—encouraged the government to launch an export-oriented industrialization program to solve the crisis, which was caused by neoliberal deregulation in the first place. Their argument was that by using low Filipino wage rates to attract foreign capital, and then basing manufacturing operations on cheap and controlled labor, the Philippines could export enough manufactured products (such as garments and electronic components) into the world economy to improve its balance of payments and employment opportunities. Consequently, poverty and income inequality would be reduced, ultimately enabling the state to "modernize" Philippine society.
Ferdinand Marcos, who was elected to the presidency as a "reformer" in 1965, decided to begin focusing the economy along such lines. Marcos was able to lay some important groundwork in that direction in the late 1960s but because of substantial opposition—both within Congress and larger society—he was unable to operationalize it at that time.
Martial Law
It was only when Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, that the export-oriented industrialization strategy (EOI) could be implemented. Key to the EOI strategy was the establishment of the export processing zone at Mariveles, Bataan. Two months after the implementation of martial law, Marcos issued Presidential Decree 66 (PD 66) to facilitate the development of the Bataan Export Processing Zone (BEPZ), providing incentives specifically for export production. According to Walden Bello, David Kinley, and Elaine Elinson, PD 66 gave firms that exported at least 70 percent of their products "permission for 100 percent foreign ownership; permission to impose a lower minimum wage than in Manila; tax exemption privileges, including tax credits on domestic capital equipment, tax exemptions on imported raw materials and equipment, exemption from the export tax and from municipal and provincial taxes; priority to Central Bank foreign exchange allocations for exports; low rents for land and water; government financing of infrastructure and factory buildings, which could then be rented out or purchased by companies at a low price; and accelerated depreciation of fixed assets." The incentives worked: "By 1980, the Bataan EPZ had attracted 57 enterprises, the great majority foreign owned, employing some 28,000 workers."
By the early 1970s, the World Bank's role in the industrialization strategy had become crucial. While it had provided the Philippines with only 326 million dollars in loans between 1950 and 1972, it gave the Philippines more than 2.6 billion dollars between 1973 and 1981. In addition to the money provided, the Bank legitimized the country's economic plan to international financial institutions. Not coincidentally, the Marcos government decided to follow Bank strategy for development, focusing on "industrializing efforts emphasizing the manufacture of labor-intensive exports with the strong participation of foreign capital," again according to Bello, Kinley, and Elinson.
Export production in BEPZ grew steadily for the first ten years, but then significantly declined throughout the rest of the dictatorship. Researcher Peter Warr presents data that shows huge increases in non-traditional exports: from .4 million dollars in 1972 to 73.1 million dollars in 1978 to 159.6 million dollars in 1982. However, exports from BEPZ decreased after 1982, falling to a low point of 57.6 million dollars in 1986, according to a 1994 report from the International Labor Organization.
But are there other indicators of the EOI program's success or failure? James Boyce provides considerable data that covers the years 1962 to 1986—the period after controls were ended until the end of the Marcos dictatorship. During this period, Philippine external debt grew from 275 million dollars in 1962 to 27.2 billion dollars in 1986. At the end of 1986, the country had a debt-to-GNP ratio of .90, and a debt per capita of 485 dollars.
The impact on wages for urban workers for the period 1962 to 1986 was disastrous. Boyce computed the impact of changes in wages in metropolitan Manila over this period: "In real (1986) U.S. dollars, the daily wage of an unskilled worker fell from $4.37 in 1962 to $1.12 in 1986, while that of a skilled worker fell from $6.18 to $1.72." In other words, daily wage rates for a unskilled worker in 1986 were 74.3 percent less than in 1962, while daily wages rates for a skilled worker in 1986 were 72.2 percent less! In fact, in 1986, the daily wage of an unskilled urban worker was substantially below that of an agricultural worker. Boyce concludes: "wage laborers in Metro Manila experienced a collapse in real wages in the 1970s and 1980s on a magnitude with few precedents in modern economic history."
A key to this deterioration of workers' salaries was the drastic cheapening of the Philippine peso. In January 1962, before foreign exchange and import controls were lifted, one U.S. dollar bought two pesos; in February 1986, just before Marcos was driven out of the country, one dollar could buy 19 pesos. Thus, imported goods—especially oil, which is sold internationally in dollars, and which is used for everything from powering automobiles to transporting rice, the staple food—became much more expensive to Filipino consumers.
There is another indicator that can be used to evaluate Philippine development: GNP per capita, one of the World Bank's favorite comparative statistics. In 1962, the Philippines GNP per capita (measured in 1986 U.S. dollars) was 495 dollars, and the only country with a higher GNP per capita in Southeast Asia that year was Malaysia (820 dollars). By 1986, Philippine GNP per capita was 540 dollars—barely above Indonesia (490 dollars), and falling increasingly behind the other economically significant countries in the region. The gap in GNP per capita between the Philippines and Japan had widened from 1510 dollars in 1962 to 15,660 dollars in 1986. In fact, between 1962 and 1986, the annual average growth rate of Philippine GNP (of 3.1 percent) and the GNP per capita (.4 percent) were each behind those of China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
To give one more specific example: South Korea had a GNP per capita of 330 dollars in 1962, which was 165 dollars per person behind the Philippines; by 1986, South Korea had a GNP per capita of 2345 dollars, or 1805 dollars per person ahead of the Philippines! The neoliberal program of the Philippines compared poorly to state-led industrial development of South Korea (and both countries were ruled by dictators over most of this period).
But what has happened since the overthrow of the dictator? Marcos' successors—Corazon Aquino (1986-1992), Fidel Ramos (1992-1998), and Joseph Estrada (1998-2004)—have continued to follow an EOI strategy. Aquino committed her government to repaying all foreign debts, including the ones that only benefited Marcos and/or his "cronies," and Ramos and Estrada have followed suit.
One Filipino researcher, Pedro Salgado, put the debt into perspective early in Aquino's administration. He pointed out that the 28.2 billion dollar debt in 1987 was equal to about P564 billion, 4.4 times the national budget (or 81 percent of the projected GNP for the entire year). He then goes on to say, "If a person were to drop a P100 bill into a pit every second, it will take 179 years to drop P564 billion worth of bills into the pit!"
Researchers have detailed how recent presidents have gone along with the World Bank and the IMF machinations in exchange for loans. This was true under Marcos, and it has remained true since. Why? I think Temario Rivera is correct when he suggests that there is a larger reason: the ability to obtain foreign loans, no matter how bad for the country, allows political "leaders" to ignore the key issue in the country—political power based on land ownership. And, courtesy of the World Bank and the IMF, foreign loans have been available. Philippine national debt (which was 275 million dollars in 1962 and was approximately 27.2 billion dollars in 1986), was 35.5 billion dollars in 1993, and 45.5 billion dollars in 1997, according to data from the Central Bank of the Philippines.
At the same time, the shift from traditional agricultural exports to nontraditional, labor-intensive manufacturing exports, particularly in garments and electronics, has continued. By the early 1990s, over 70 percent of total exports were in these nontraditional manufacturers. However, despite this shift (supposedly the key to Philippine economic development), the balance of trade worsened between 1987 and 1996. The trade balance in goods was -1.017 billion dollars in 1987, -8.160 billion dollars in November 1995, and -11.342 billion dollars at the end of 1996. Note that these figures are all from before the crisis.
The GNP of the country has generally grown, albeit unevenly: it grew 5.9 percent in 1987, 6.6 percent in 1988, 5.7 percent in 1989, and 3.0 percent in 1990. It declined .05 percent in 1991. The GNP increased 1.56 percent in 1992, 2.02 percent in 1993, 5.1 percent in 1994, 5.7 percent in 1995, 5.8 percent in 1996, and 5.2 percent in 1997.
The neoliberal economic program has made things worse for the large majority of Filipinos. By November 1992, while evaluating President Ramos' first one hundred days in office, IBON Databank, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that focuses on the economy, estimated that the number of Filipinos living under the Filipino poverty line had increased from 70 percent to 75 percent, and noted that a peso in 1992 "could only buy 60 centavos of what it could have bought in 1988." The numbers in poverty are likely to have been somewhat reduced between 1994 and 1997, when the GNP of the country grew over 5 percent each year.
Roger Daenekindt, using Department of Labor and Employment figures from September 1995, reported that 62 percent of the 29.2-million-member labor force was either unemployed or underemployed. Furthermore, only 10 percent of the labor force received at least the minimum wage, but even this was insufficient, as the minimum wage itself resulted in income below the poverty line. In 1994, according to the government, the daily cost of living was P237.57 (approximately 9.50 U.S. dollars), while the mandated daily minimum wage was only P145 (approximately 5.80 U.S. dollars). Additionally, while nominal wages increased by more than two hundred percent between 1983 and 1993, real wages for all workers (based on 1978 prices) actually decreased by 14 percent, and despite nominal wages increasing 32 percent between 1990 and 1993, real wages fell 4 percent.
Daenekindt further noted definite changes in the workplace, toward a more flexible labor regime. And "flexibility" of the labor market means that workers have even fewer chances for regular employment, as workers are forced to compete at an even greater rate than before for the relatively small number of available jobs. This also makes it much more difficult to organize and maintain unions, which means that workers will have even less power in workplaces where they do obtain employment, and that their working conditions will get worse. And that is for those lucky enough to have regular jobs!
At the same time that the economy is not providing a sufficient number of jobs for people, and their wages are already horribly insufficient, inflation is eating at the value of the money they do earn. As mentioned above, the real value of wages for urban workers decreased by about 75 percent between 1962 and 1986. But between 1988 and 1994, the purchasing power of the peso declined another 49 percent. The inflation rate was 7.6 percent in 1993, and 9.0 percent in 1994.
But the Philippine State has never failed to keep coming up with grand plans designed to solve all of the country's problems in one fell swoop: the latest, initiated under President Fidel Ramos, was "Philippines 2000." Key to Ramos' vision was the Medium Term Development Plan for 1993 to 1998. Ramos stated his goals for the end of his presidency in June 1998: to raise per capita income to 1000 U.S. dollars; for the economy to grow by at least 6 to 8 percent, and for the poverty rate to decline to at least 50 percent. He missed all three.
Ramos' larger goal was to make the Philippines a Newly Industrializing Country (NIC) by the year 2000. And was this to be accomplished? In January 1995, at President Ramos' urging, the Philippines joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), which meant it had to open its borders to even more international trade. Roger Daenekindt commented: "We are…told to be outward-looking and accept liberalization. But…in the case of textile and garments, we enter in a stiff world of competition of cheap labor. Chinese labor is at 25 cents an hour, Vietnamese at 15 cents an hour, Philippines [at] 90 cents an hour, and there are still the countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc." Additionally, according to former president Ramos, "Export orientation shall 'enlarge the pie.'"
And then the global economic crisis hit.
The Philippines was hit by the global crisis, becoming one of the Asian Development Bank's "Crisis-Affected Countries." Philippine GDP, which grew 5.2 percent in 1997, fell 0.5 percent in 1998, according to the IMF. The peso, which had been trading at approximately U.S. 1.00 dollar: P25 throughout most of the 1990s, lost over 40 percent of its value, falling to a rate of 1.00 dollar: P45, although by the spring of 1999, had recovered somewhat to trade around 1.00 dollar: P40.
IBON Databank reports that official unemployment jumped from 10.4 percent in April 1997 to 13.3 percent in April 1998—and yet these figures severely undercount real unemployment and don't mention underemployment. However, a 1995 government report from the Department of Labor and Employment said that unemployment and underemployment affected 62 percent of the workforce, and this was when the economy was growing strongly. But IBON also reports that there was 128 percent increase in firms closing between January and May 1998, as compared to a year earlier, and an 88 percent increase in the number of workers being affected by these difficulties.
And yet, the Philippines has been hurt much less than Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, or Thailand. Stanley Fischer, first Deputy Director of the IMF, claimed in a June 1999 speech that, of the countries at the heart of the crisis, "the Philippines' economy performed exceptionally." He suggested that this was because the country was in an IMF program at the beginning of the crisis, and that the IMF increased financing for the country once trouble hit, enabling it to avoid the worst of the crisis.
However, if we consider that the country has been in a crisis since it began following a neoliberal program in 1962, it's clear that the global crisis has, for the Philippines, been simply a continuation of "business as usual." Since 1962, the Philippines has never achieved the advances won by these other countries, and so it was spared the intensity of the drastic fall that the others suffered. And yet, it still suffered more than a 40 percent fall in its currency exchange rates.
But while Fischer suggests that Philippine performance was not as bad as the rest because of IMF advice and money, he inadvertently let the cat out of the bag, especially in light of the overall performance of the U.S. economy during this time: "The country benefited from the composition of its trade, which is more heavily weighted towards the United States than of the more severely affected countries." The Philippines has done as well as it has not because of the IMF, but because its major trading partner has kept the door open to its further-devalued products despite a drastic reduction in the Philippine market for U.S. exports.
No Real Solution
An EOI program was begun in the late 1960s, designed to save a financial deregulation program that had devastated the economy. The EOI strategy was operationalized in 1972 after the declaration of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos; it continues today.
Because billions of dollars of economic and military aid have been provided to the Philippines by the U.S. government, the World Bank, the IMF, and commercial banks from around the world, the agrarian system and its accompanying political system has survived. In return, the Philippines has had its industry incorporated into global capitalist political-economic networks.
The neoliberal program has been a failure on its own terms, even before the onset of the global economic crisis. The peso's value fell from 1.00 dollar: P2 in 1962 to approximately 1.00 dollar: P25 in the mid-1990s. Although exports shifted from traditional ones to nontraditional manufacturers, the balance of trade had deteriorated to -11.3 billion dollars at the end of 1996. GNP has generally increased, albeit very erratically. However, foreign debt has exploded: from a national debt of 275 million dollars in 1962, it ballooned to 45.5 billion dollars in 1997. In short, this program has failed to provide any type of sustainable economic development for the country.
The cost to the people of the Philippines has been astronomical. Fourteen years of dictatorship was only the beginning. Neoliberalism has led to a social situation where approximately 75 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in the early 1990s and, while somewhat reduced since then, it is not known by how much. Urban workers had lost almost 75 percent of their 1962 wages by 1986, and things have only gotten worse since then. Conditions among the peasantry and agricultural workers have also deteriorated, to the extent that they have joined and maintained a revolutionary army for over thirty years (albeit considerably weakened since 1986—and particularly since 1993—by internal problems). Accordingly, this type of development, when viewed from the perspective of the large majority of the population, deserves to be called "detrimental development."
It is within this larger context of detrimental development—maintained at all times by armed force and a determination to use it to defeat any challenges—that Philippine economic development since 1962 has been evaluated.
A neoliberal approach to development, as advocated by the World Bank and the IMF, has only benefited the global capitalist political-economic networks (including certain Filipino partners), and the Philippine state; and these benefits all come at the direct cost of the large majority of Filipinos. This program has failed on its own terms and been a social disaster as well.


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There's a cute little park though where I like to go during my lunch breaks. For the first year of my present employment my trips there were blessedly uneventful. But recently...
One bright fall afternoon I was sniffing some late-blooming roses when who should be heading towards me but two blue shirts! Not from my office, but still, they were blue shirts all the same. I figured if I ignored them I would be safe. Not so:
How do they smell? (meaning the roses)
What about you? Do you smell good?
(pretending to misunderstand)
Uh, it must be the conditioner.
Gotta get back to the office. Bye.
(I beat a hasty retreat.)
"Do you smell good?" What kind of weird question is that? Lord what freaks these blue shirts be! And ruined a very nice lunch break in the park.
But the most memorable meeting in this park - all too memorable, horribly memorable - was a month later. I'm sitting on a bench, checking my Blackberry. This pudgy glasses-wearing middle-aged man approaches me.
Look at you, wearing black, checking your Blackberry. What are you doing here?
(I had the impression he was gay, although my daughter claims that my gay-dar is for shit, but in any case, I didn't think he was trying to pick me up.)
You know, had to get away from the office.
Need to get away from it all, huh?
(too polite to tell him to bug off, trying to make small talk - why did I do that?)
You know how it is. Office politics.
Oh tell me about it. I worked in an office, a government office and...
(he proceeds to tell me - I look at my Blackberry occasionally, hoping he'll get the hint I want to read my email, but then...)
Yeah, she slept all the time back there. But there was nothing we could do about it. Because she was black.
Oh yeah, didn't you know that? It's impossible to fire a black public employee. They get away with anything. She used to spend all day watching soap operas and sleeping.
Is that so?
Of course.
(He then goes on to give more examples of this woman's irrepressible sandbagging. I'm riveted - the circles I travel in, nobody ever says such blatantly racist things. I'm sure many blue shirts believe racist things but they don't say them aloud in the office - and I certainly don't socialize with them. Such naked racism was just so freaky coming out of nowhere from a stranger. I considered what to do next. Just let him ramble? Argue with him? But then my course of action became clear. As I watched him spout his offensive claptrap, the dappled afternoon sun falling on the sidewalk, the bench, his balding head, I saw something glint near his face. Then disappear. Then glint again. What WAS that thing? I waited and watched. And then. Oh dear God. It was a GIGANTIC NOSE HAIR jutting out of his left nostril, occasionally catching the golden autumnal light as he yammered on. I wrenched my head away, fighting the wave of nausea.
Gotta get back to the office. Bye.
(I beat a hasty retreat.)
Well, now that I've written it down... MAYBE THE HORRIBLE NIGHTMARES WILL STOP!


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First, thank you to everyone who commented on the quiz. I enjoyed reading your thoughts.
Is High LDL Something to Worry About?
Perhaps this ought to be the first question. Jack Kronk says "I don't believe that high LDL is necessarily a problem" and Poisonguy writes "Treat the symptoms, Larry, not the numbers." Poisonguy's comment assumes that the LDL number is not a symptom of trouble. Is it?
I think so. It helps to know a little about the biology of cholesterol and of blood vessels.
When cells in culture plates are separated from their neighbors and need to move, they make a lot of cholesterol and transport it to their membranes. When cells find good neighbors and settle down, they stop producing cholesterol.
The same thing happens in the body. Any time there is a wound or injury that needs to be healed, cholesterol production gets jacked up.
When people have widespread vascular injuries, cholesterol is produced in large quantities by cells lining blood vessels. Now, to repair injuries cells have to coordinate their functions. Endothelial cells are the coordinators of vascular repair: they direct other cell types, like smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts, in the healing of vascular injuries.
To heal vascular injuries, these cells not only need more cholesterol for movement; they also need to multiply. It turns out that LDL, which carries cholesterol, also causes vascular cells to reproduce ("mitogenesis"):
The best-characterized function of LDLs is to deliver cholesterol to cells. They may, however, have functions in addition to transporting cholesterol. For example, they seem to produce a mitogenic effect on endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts, and induce growth-factor production, chemotaxis, cell proliferation, and cytotoxicity (3). Moreover, an increase of LDL plasma concentration, which is observed during the development of atherosclerosis, can activate various mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways …
We also show … LDL-induced fibroblast spreading … [1]
If endothelial cells are the coordinators of vascular repair, and LDL particles their messengers to fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells, then ECs should be able to generate LDL particles locally. Guess what: ECs make a lipase whose main effect is to decrease HDL levels but can also convert VLDL and IDL particles into LDL particles and remove fat from LDL particles to make them into small, dense LDL:
Endothelial lipase (EL) has recently been identified as a new member of the triglyceride lipase gene family. EL shares a relatively high degree of homology with lipoprotein lipase and hepatic lipase …
In vitro, EL has hydrolyzed phospholipids in chylomicrons, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), intermediate density lipoprotein and LDL. [2]
Immune cells, of course, are essential for wound healing and they should be attracted to any site of vascular injury. It turns out that immune cells have LDL receptors and these receptors may help them congregate at sites of vascular injury. [3]
I don't want to exaggerate the state of the literature here: this is a surprisingly poorly investigated area. But I believe these things:
1. Cholesterol and LDL particles are part of the vascular wound repair process.
2. Very high LDL levels are a marker of widespread vascular injury.
Now this is not the "lipid hypothesis." Compare the two views:
- The lipid hypothesis: LDL cholesterol causes vascular injury.
- My view: LDL cholesterol is the ambulance crew that arrives at the scene of the crime to help the victims. The lipid hypothesis is the view that ambulance drivers should be arrested for homicide because they are commonly found at murder scenes.
So, to Poisonguy, on my view high LDL numbers are a symptom of vascular injury and are a cause for concern.
Big-Picture View of the Cause of High LDL
So, on a micro-level, I think vascular damage causes high LDL. But what causes vascular damage?
Here I notice a striking difference in commenters' perspectives and mine. I tend to take a big-picture, top-down view of biology. There are three basic causes of nearly all pathologies:
1. Toxins, usually food toxins.
2. Malnutrition.
3. Pathogens.
The whole organization of our book is dictated by this view. It is organized in four Steps. Step One is about re-orienting people's views of macronutrients away from high-grain, fat-phobic, vegetable-oil-rich diets toward diets rich in animal fats. The other steps are about removing the causes of disease:
1. Step Two is "Eat Paleo, Not Toxic" – remove food toxins.
2. Step Three is "Be Well Nourished" – eliminate malnutrition.
3. Step Four is "Heal and Prevent Disease" – address pathogens by enhancing immunity and, where appropriate, taking advantage of antibiotic therapies.
So when someone offers a pathology, any pathology, my first question is: Which cause is behind this, and which step do they need to focus on?
In Larry's case, he had been eating low-carb Paleo for years. So toxins were not a problem.
Pathogens might be a problem – after all, he's 64, and everybody collects chronic infections which tend to grow increasingly severe with age – but Larry hadn't reported any other symptoms. More to the point, low-carb Paleo diets typically enhance immunity, yet Larry had fine LDL numbers before adopting low-carb Paleo and then his LDL got worse. So it wouldn't be infectious in origin unless his diet had suppressed immunity through malnutrition – in which case the first step would be to address the malnutrition.
Step Three, malnutrition, was the only logical answer. The conversion to Paleo removes a lot of foods from the diet and could easily have removed the primary sources of some micronutrients.
So I was immediately convinced, just from the time-course of the pathology, that the cause was malnutrition.
Micronutrient Deficiencies are Very Common
In the book (Step Three) we explain why nearly everyone is deficient in micronutrients. The problems are most severe for minerals: water treatment removes minerals from water, and mineral depletion of soil by industrial agriculture leads to mineral deficiencies in farmed plants and grain-fed animals.
This is why our "essential supplements" include a multimineral supplement plus additional quantities of five minerals – magnesium, copper, chromium, iodine, and selenium. Vitamins get a lot of attention, but minerals are where the big health gains are.
Copper Deficiency and LDL
Some micronutrient deficiencies are known to cause elevated LDL.
Readers of our book know that copper causes vascular disease; blog readers may be more familiar with an excellent post by Stephan, "Copper and Cardiovascular Disease", discussing evidence that copper deficiency causes cardiovascular disease. As I've just argued that cardiovascular disease causes high LDL, it shouldn't be a surprise that copper deficiency also causes hypercholesterolemia:
Copper and iron are essential nutrients in human physiology as their importance is linked to their role as cofactors of many redox enzymes involved in a wide range of biological processes, as well as in oxygen and electron transport. Mild dietary deficiencies of both metals … may cause long-term deleterious effects in cardiovascular system and alterations in lipid metabolism (3)….
Several studies showed a clear correlation among copper deficiency and dyslipidemia. The main alterations concern higher plasma CL and triglyceride (TG) concentrations, increased VLDL-LDL to HDL lipoproteins ratio, and the shape alteration of HDL lipoproteins. [4]
The essentiality of copper (Cu) in humans is demonstrated by various clinical features associated with deficiency, such as anaemia, hypercholesterolaemia and bone malformations. [5]
Over the last couple of decades, dietary copper deficiency has been shown to cause a variety of metabolic changes, including hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, and glucose intolerance. [6]
Copper deficiency is, I believe, the single most likely cause of elevated LDL on low-carb Paleo diets. The solution is to eat beef liver or supplement.
So, was my advice to Larry to supplement copper? Yes, but that was not my only advice.
Other Micronutrient Deficiencies and Elevated LDL
Another common micronutrient deficiency that causes elevated LDL cholesterol is choline deficiency that is NOT accompanied by methionine deficiency. That is discussed in my post "Choline Deficiency and Plant Oil Induced Diabetes":
Choline deficiency (CD) by itself induces metabolic syndrome (indicated by insulin resistance and elevated serum triglycerides and cholesterol) and obesity.
A combined methionine and choline deficiency (MCD) actually causes weight loss and reduces serum triglycerides and cholesterol …
I quote both these effects because it illustrates the complexity of nutrition. A deficiency of a micronutrient can present with totally different symptoms depending on the status of other micronutrients.
Julianne had a really nice comment, unfortunately caught in the spam filter for a while, with a number of links. She mentions vitamin C deficiency and, with other commenters, noted the link between hypothyroidism and elevated LDL. As one cause of hypothyroidism is iodine or selenium deficiency, this is another pathway by which mineral deficiencies can elevate LDL.
UPDATE: Mike Gruber reduced his LDL by 200 mg/dl by supplementing iodine. Clearly iodine can have big effects!
Other commenters brought up fish oil. They may be interested to know that fish oil not only balances omega-6 to modulate inflammatory pathways, it also suppresses endothelial lipase and thus moderates the LDL-raising and HDL-lowering effect of vascular damage:
On the other hand, physical exercise and fish oil (a rich source of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) suppress the activity of EL and this, in turn, enhances the plasma concentrations of HDL cholesterol. [7]
Whether this effect is always desirable is a topic for another day.
My December Advice to Larry
So what was my December advice to Larry?
It was simple. In adopting a low-carb Paleo diet, he had implemented Steps One and Two of our book. My advice was to implement Step Three ("Be well nourished") by taking our recommended supplements. Eating egg yolks and beef liver for copper and choline is a good idea too.
Just to cover all bases, I advised to include most of our "therapeutic supplements" as well as all the "essential supplements."
Since December, Larry has been taking all the recommended supplements and eating 5 ounces per week of beef liver. As I noted yesterday, Larry's LDL decreased from 295 mg/dl to 213 mg/dl, HDL rose from 74 mg/dl to 92 mg/dl, and triglycerides fell from 102 to 76 mg/dl since he started Step Three. This is all consistent with a healthier vasculature and reduced production of endothelial lipase.
Some people think there is something wrong with a diet if supplements are recommended. They believe that a well-designed diet should provide sufficient nutrition from food alone, and that if supplements are advised then the diet must be flawed.
I think this is quite mistaken. The reality is that Paleolithic man was often mildly malnourished, and modern man – due to the absence of minerals from treated water and agriculturally produced food, and the reduced diversity and higher caloric density of our foods – is severely malnourished compared to Paleolithic man.
We recommend eating a micronutrient-rich diet, including nourishing foods like egg yolks, liver, bone broth soups, seaweed, fermented vegetables, and so forth. But I think it's only prudent to acknowledge and compensate for the widespread nutrient depletion that is so prevalent today. Even when nutrient-rich food is regularly eaten, micronutrient deficiencies are still possible.
Eating Paleo-style is not enough to guarantee perfect health. Luckily, supplementation of the key nutrients that we need for health and that are often missing from foods will often get us the rest of the way.
[1] Dobreva I et al. LDLs induce fibroblast spreading independently of the LDL receptor via activation of the p38 MAPK pathway. J Lipid Res. 2003 Dec;44(12):2382-90. http://pmid.us/12951358.
[2] Paradis ME, Lamarche B. Endothelial lipase: its role in cardiovascular disease. Can J Cardiol. 2006 Feb;22 Suppl B:31B-34B. http://pmid.us/16498510.
[3] Giulian D et al. The role of mononuclear phagocytes in wound healing after traumatic injury to adult mammalian brain. J Neurosci. 1989 Dec;9(12):4416-29. http://pmid.us/2480402.
[4] Tosco A et al. Molecular bases of copper and iron deficiency-associated dyslipidemia: a microarray analysis of the rat intestinal transcriptome. Genes Nutr. 2010 Mar;5(1):1-8. http://pmid.us/19821111.
[5] Harvey LJ, McArdle HJ. Biomarkers of copper status: a brief update. Br J Nutr. 2008 Jun;99 Suppl 3:S10-3. http://pmid.us/18598583.
[6] Aliabadi H. A deleterious interaction between copper deficiency and sugar ingestion may be the missing link in heart disease. Med Hypotheses. 2008;70(6):1163-6. http://pmid.us/18178013.
[7] Das UN. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, endothelial lipase and atherosclerosis. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2005 Mar;72(3):173-9. http://pmid.us/15664301.


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I have not been able to write for a week. I feel overwhelmed by all the violence, all the suffering and all the deaths. When critics sometimes remark that I don't know what I'm talking (writing) about, they are correct. I don't necessarily write about what I know. I write in order to try to create a semblance of order out of the chaos of the world. This week, the chaos is too large to be put into even the illusion of order.
The tragedy, beyond the immediate human tragedy, is the fierce and immoral logic of what is going on around our world. This beautiful "Blue Marble," as Archibald MacLeish called it, is indeed inspiring when viewed from high up. However, when we come down to the ground level, the fights, the feuds, the historic enmities rage and we senselessly challenge, provoke, taunt, attack and slaughter each other. We fight nation against nation, tribe against tribe and religion against religion (often within the same religion). Sometimes we forget why we hate each other, and sometimes we keep alive the record of past insults and deaths in order to keep our blood boiling and the enemy's blood pouring into the ground.
The sad truth is that violence is in our genes. Our DNA won the battle of survival and got itself (and us) out of the primordial soup, onto the dry land, across the African Veldt—all the way to this moment. We humans are the Uber Predators and the evolutionary winners—so far. However, the traits that got us here may not serve us well in going forward. The damage we could do to each other and our environment had certain limitations when we were fewer and our technologies less destructive.
There is a moving and disturbing scene in the play Becket, where King Henry II and Archbishop Becket understand where their conflict must end. Though they love each other deeply, their roles as king and bishop compel them towards the inevitable death or destruction of one of them. Becket reflects with great sadness at the terrible logic of being killed on orders of his friend, the king, and softly says there is nothing left to do but play out their roles "absurdly."
The chess game of Kings, Bishops, Queens, Rooks and Pawns is more tragic truth than mere metaphor. One country does this and the other must respond, which in turn brings the next predictable, and often absurd, counter move. I know how this game is played and how it inevitably and absurdly plays out. I have degrees in International Relations and Military Strategy. I did a Masters thesis in Sino-Soviet Nuclear Strategy. After that I switched to Religious Studies, hoping for some, well, hope. Ah well, I must learn to live with disappointment without abandoning hope.
In Israel, the full contact chess match goes on. Hamas fires rockets at civilians, stating that they don't recognize any Israeli Jew as a civilian. Israel must respond. Not to respond to violence is like spousal abuse—if not confronted, it is seen as weakness and escalates. Responding, of course, provokes an escalation from the other side. This is all predictable and justified within the amoral world of conflict among peoples and nations.
What gives me hope and drives me to despair is that one day this will end. It gives me hope because Jews and Muslims have not always been mortal foes—it just seems this way today because it's hard to remember a better past when trapped in a bitter present.
As Bob Dylan plaintively asked, "How many deaths will it take till we learn that too many people have died?" If it will stop, why not now? How much pain must we inflict on each other knowing that no military victory is possible? Since neither side can kill all of the other side, why the hell are we creating and sustaining this hell? Some day there will be an Israel, a Jewish state living in peace with a Palestinian state. Why not now?
Yes, there are irreconcilables, extremists who argue that God gave them the land and it's not theirs to give away. There are extremists who can't see the humanity in the other. The rhetoric of hate and fear has escalated along with the violence. And yet, it will, some day, some happy day, end. If Jews can forgive Germany after the Shoah, anything is possible. If Germany can forgive America after the firebombing of largely civilian Dresden, forgiveness is possible. If we get past Pearl Harbor and Japan reconciles with us after two nuclear bombs on cities, we must believe in eternal enmity. If John McCain can go back to Vietnam, where he was imprisoned and tortured, and embrace his former tormentors, we must be inspired by our amazing human capacity for forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the good part of the human genome. To forgive is not to say, "We don't remember," nor to say it was "ok." Forgiveness is the commitment not to be held captive by the pain of the past, not to drink the lethal poison of bitterness.
Every war is an atrocity. Every death is a tragedy. Jews and Muslims agree. Both the Talmud and the Quran state that to save a human life is to save a world. There are too many worlds being destroyed today. There are too many people caught up in living out the absurd chess match of remembered pain and projected fear and not nearly enough who remember Toledo and Grenada.
Yes, some day the guns will go silent, the canons will not roar, and as Isaac and Ishmael came together in peace to bury our father, Abraham, we will again embrace. Let us not have to wait for more deaths to bring us together.
©2014 Jonathan Dobrer
Follow me on Twitter @jondobrer


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Luczo Dragon Racing and Gil de Ferran Motorsports have merged. de Ferran is now co-owner, Managing partner and President of Luczo Dragon Racing/de Ferran Motorsports.
More info should surface later today.
"We have been talking to Gil about this for some time and we felt this was the perfect opportunity to combine our resources. Gil has the experience of working with major manufacturers and leading racing teams all over the world and we feel we can bring the essential business acumen and managerial expertise to the operation. Our skills are highly complementary and we all have the same vision and ambitions. We're very excited about the direction of our team." - Steve Luczo
"Gil and I have known each other for 10 years – when he started racing for my father. Gil has always had ambitions outside of the car and Steve and I have been talking to him about working together for some time. Luczo Dragon Racing and de Ferran Motorsports will live together. We all share the same vision for the future in this industry and with our combined skills we are confident that we can make a real success story of this new venture. We have the resources and the knowledge to build a great motorsport organization together." - Jay Penske
"This is a hugely exciting announcement. Our aim is to put together a state-of-the-art motorsports operation with a sharp focus in high technology and developing the science of performance. We have a very talented driver in Raphael Matos who has been a winner at every level he raced and showed great potential already last year, becoming rookie of the year. The foundation is set and with our collective resources and leadership we hope to break new ground and become one of the most competitive teams in the IZOD IndyCar series." -Gil de Ferran


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[manhattan map][limited edition print by seth b minkin]
[manhattan map][limited edition print by seth b minkin]
For a time, I called Manhattan my home and was always inspired by the energy and never ending activity of the city. I wanted to bring about a feeling of density in this painting and did so with sheer detail and adhering strictly to the correct scale so as not to distort, but rather, to accentuate its rhythm.
It made for a great painting and the print is also a beauty! For all fans of the city, both current and of eras past, this is a fun way to appreciate the intensity of the Big Apple without leaving your living room.
Available in limited editions of 75
[about fresh prints by seth b minkin]
Crafted with meticulous care, each print aims to preserve the beauty and high quality of the originals. The process begins with a precise and delicate digital capture, ensuring an accurate representation of Seth's artistic vision. Advanced Epson print technology and premium ultra chrome HD pigment inks are then employed to guarantee exceptional color reproduction and archival longevity.
We use Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Ultra Smooth 305gsm paper as the foundation for these prints. This archival-quality paper, made from 100% cotton, provides a stunning backdrop that will retain its beauty for generations to come. Its discreet, finely textured surface with a silky feel enhances the visual appeal of each print. The matt premium inkjet coating further ensures extraordinary print results, capturing the minutest details, vibrant colors, and deep blacks with impressive accuracy. The acid- and lignin-free composition of the paper guarantees age resistance, meeting the highest standards of quality for both fine art photography and art reproductions.
When you acquire a limited edition print, it arrives signed, numbered, and carefully rolled in a heavy-duty tube, ensuring its safety during transportation. You have the choice to frame it according to your personal style and decor, or opt for our "ready-to-hang" option. We have collaborated with a local Boston artisan to provide museum-grade framing that matches the exceptional quality of the prints themselves.
Our custom framing option offers a white, custom-order solid wood frame with a 1" profile and a depth of 2.25". This design closely resembles the thickness of the original oil on canvas pieces, maintaining their essence and grandeur. High-quality acrylic glazing ensures optimal protection, while a wire hanger allows for easy and secure installation, providing a museum-like experience in the comfort of your own space.
Technical Specifications
- Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Ultra Smooth
- 305 gsm, 100% cotton
- Discreet, very finely textured surface with a strikingly silky feel
- Matte premium inkjet coating for outstanding print results
- Acid- and lignin-free
- ISO 9706 conform / museum quality for highest age resistance
- Compatible with pigment and dye inkjet systems
- Epson UltraChrome HDX Pigment Ink
- Offers exceptional permanence for displayed prints
- Far exceeds the permanence of silver-halide color papers
- Sets a new benchmark for color print permanence
- Ideal for fine art, museum, documentary, portrait/wedding, and commercial photography
Invest in a fresh print by Seth B Minkin today, and let the timeless beauty and remarkable quality of these limited edition prints grace your living space for years to come.
[delivery & fulfillment]
When you acquire a limited edition print, your print will be signed, numbered, and carefully rolled in a heavy-duty tube, ensuring its safety during transportation. You can expect delivery of your print within 7 - 10 days.
For our "ready-to-hang" option, we offer a white solid wood frame with a 1" profile and a depth of 2.25". High-quality acrylic glazing ensures optimal protection, while a wire hanger allows for easy and secure installation, providing a museum-like experience in the comfort of your own space. Your framed print will arrive within 10 - 14 days.
Schedule a studio tour
Located in South Boston, just a stone's throw from the Boston Design Center and the Seaport District, Seth's studio is the perfect vantage point to see where the paint flies and view his incredible pieces.


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The ballgame in the Bronx was called tonight. They'll make like Ernie Banks and play two tomorrow (1 p.m. and 7 p.m.).
Meanwhile, there's Game 6 of the NBA Finals. These two teams have been trading bolo punches all series so logic would have the Heat winning tonight and forcing a deciding game. They'll put up a good fight but it says here that the Spurs win their 5th title. I'm rooting for them though part of me wants to see a Game 7 for the pure drama.
Anyhow, enjoy the evening you guys.
[Photo Credit: Greg Nelson/SI]


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TownRenowned's goal is to allow individuals and communities to collect, upkeep, rank and review local information. In order to achieve this goal TownRenowned makes heavy use of both dynamic and static maps.
Users can add locations to the site using the categories 'Food', 'Fun', 'Nightlife', 'Retail' and 'Service'. Other users can then vote on the submitted location and add comments.
Google Maps are used on the home page of each town and city. Alongside the map the most viewed and the highest rated locations are listed. Google Maps are also used on the individual listing pages. If your town or city is not already on TownRenowned it is possible to add it to the directory by completing a very short form.


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Preservation: Preserve or Forget
This show was at the Theater for the New City from December 2010 – January 2011 as part of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative.
5 of my paintings were selected for this show by its curator, Carolyn Ratcliffe.
These paintings were all fully "renovated" for this show. By that I mean I repainted them, creating very different paintings.
All 5 paintings are of landmark buildings in the East Village, NYC. 3 of them are on this blog. I'll try to post the other 2, but I get busy!
The street scene is Avenue B & 10th St, which includes the Charlie Parker House (white when i made the painting) and the Cristadora on the right.
Next is St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on 10th St and Avenue A, which is inspired by the sunset.
And there's the famous St Marks Church (located on 2nd Avenue & E 10th St, NYC), with a strong presence in any season, this is early fall as the leaves begin to change.
They are all here (in low res) so you can see them long after the show is over.
**these are low res versions. visit Lauren Edmond's online gallery or email firstname.lastname@example.com for prices and purchasing.


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Buying your first rental property in Metro Detroit might be easier than you think. People get involved in real estate every day, some without much knowledge or capital. The opportunities are there if you know where to look! Learn how to get started with Metro Detroit real estate investment in our latest post!
Set Your Goals
It is important to know what you are trying to achieve and what it will take to get there. Why are you investing in real estate and what are you hoping to achieve. You'll want to consider dollar amounts and timeframes. How much do you need to make and how quickly do you need to do it in order to feel successful? Set your goals and take the steps you need to make to get there. Make sure everything you are doing is in alignment with these goals and you will be well on your way.
Pay Off Your Debt
As a first time investor, you don't want to go into your investment career carrying any debt with you. While some more seasoned investors will use their debt as an asset, this isn't the way you want to begin. You'll need a clean slate, some money in the bank, and a solid credit score to get your foot in the door the traditional way.
Save For Your Down Payment
You'll want to save up at least 20% for your downpayment as well as six months of operating costs. While there are other financing options you can use to avoid the hefty down payment, but those are usually best for more experienced investors who will be able to pay back these high-interest loans more quickly.
Get Your Financing In Place
If you are financing a portion of the cost to purchase the property, make sure to have this in place before making offers on available properties. You will likely have competition from other investors who have cash in hand, with the ability to close quickly. Don't let your lack of funding cause you to miss out on a great deal.
Avoid Fixer-Uppers
A fixer-upper can be a great investment, but maybe not for your first go-around. Repair costs can snowball and unless you are working with a contractor you know, trust, and who does great work at a low price, buying a fixer-upper as your first rental property may get you in over your head. Fixer-upper properties are better left to people with investment experience or construction background.
Know The Costs
How much will owning the house cost you? Consider the property taxes, insurance, maintenance, and inevitable repairs. As the owner of a Metro Detroit rental property, you will find yourself paying for much more than just a mortgage. You'll face other costs that a regular homeowner wouldn't face. As a landlord, you will also have to think about things like tenant screening, eviction costs, and paying all the bills when you are in between tenants.
Choose The Right Location
Location, as they say, is everything. A house can be remodeled, repairs, or completely knocked down and rebuilt. However, your location is permanent. The area you choose for your rental property will have a massive impact on your profit potential. Look for houses priced under market value in up and coming areas. Look for places where there are new businesses and establishments popping up. When a Walmart, Costco, or Starbucks enters the neighborhood, it's a sure-fire way to know that an area is growing.
Pay The Right Amount
Nobody wants to find out they have overpaid for a property. Overspending on your rental property will end up costing you and will taint your view of real estate investment as a whole. While everyone makes mistakes, making a real estate mistake can be one of the worst. If you do your homework, have taken the time to learn from other investors, and have built a great team around you, you will feel confident that you are not overpaying. Preparation will help you to pay the right amount for your Metro Detroit real estate investments.
Find The Right Tenants
Once you have made your purchase, it is important to find the right tenants to get the returns you need. Having the wrong people in the house can make any profit you had expected to receive, vanish right before your eyes. Tenant turnover, repairs, evictions, and missed rent are all huge factors when calculating your overall profits. If you aren't having luck finding the right tenants on your own, consider hiring a property management company to help you. Many companies will offer different levels of service, helping you only with getting the tenants in the door if that is what you need. Of course, their additional services can come in handy as well.
When you decide to buy your first rental property in Metro Detroit, get in touch! We're ready to help you! (734) 245-9654


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The MR Series Multivoltage Control Relays offer SPDT or DPDT 10 Amp resistive contacts which may be operated by one of four input control voltages. A single relay may be energized from a voltage source of 24VDC, 24VAC, 120VAC or 230VAC by wiring to appropriate input terminals.
Each relay position contains a red LED which indicates the relay coil is energized. Relays may be "snapped apart" from a standard 4 module assembly and used independently. These Devices are Ideal for applications where local contacts are required for system status, remotecontacts for control of electrical loads and general purpose switching. They are suitable for use with HVAC, Temperature Control, Fire Alarm, Security, Energy Management and Lighting Control Systems.