Mexican Drug Trade Killers Trained In US - Report

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday October 24, 2010 · 2:03 AM PDT

2010/10/24 · 02:03

Yet again, breaking headlines announce another new mass killing in Mexico by heavily armed men, presumably narco-traffickers.

Yesterday, thirteen people were killed(including at least 1 minor) and 20 injured when gunmen began firing upon a party being thrown in two houses in a Ciudad Juarez suburb.

One of the characteristics of the explosion of organized violence in Mexico is not just its brazen, open nature, but so often its disciplined, planned, para-military approach, from targeted assassinations of the political and military and police leaderships of a town attempting a crackdown to open shootouts with police and military, the systematic use of mass graves, and its distribution throughout the country, rather than just border states.

A report by Al-Jazeera on the findings of a US military scholar discloses that a number of the leaders of one of the organized, murderous, and seemingly unstoppable cartels -- the infamous 'Zetas' -- were trained at Fort Bragg in the early 1990s by US Special Forces.

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 13, 2010 · 8:28 PM PDT

2010/09/13 · 20:28

This is clearly unpossible, but according to reports, the Treasury is saying that the deficit for August of this year is 13% lower than that of the August of last year, and 8% lower than the first 11 months of the current fiscal year over the prior matching period..

Suggested explanations are mainly based on increased tax receipts. Bizarrely, although US media and political discourse seems to never talk about the revenue side of deficit calculations, the US Treasury has stubbornly resisted abandoning math.

Keith Olbermann went into this on Countdown today, which prompted me to check into it.

The same report [apparently I missed this by hurrying too much] shows that for the first 11 months of the fiscal year, the deficit is 8% lower. [H/T DallasDoc.]

This might seem to be an important thing to talk about given how much time the fake deficit hawks and Teahadists scream about how all the bad things in the Universe are caused when Democratic Presidents have deficits. (Clinton's surpluses don't count because Newt Gingrich did that. No, really, that's what they say.)

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 03, 2009 · 10:08 AM PDT

2009/07/03 · 10:08

Edmundo Orellana was Honduras' Defense Minister (and thus in charge of the Army) up until June 26th and two days before the military coup, and he resigned in order to not personally be involved in provoking a legal crisis between the judicial branch of government (with whose anti-referendum decisions he disagreed) and the executive branch (his own President).

A trained attorney and former practicing magistrate and administrative law judge on an appellate court, having occupied a variety of high Honduran government positions for decades, he obviously was trying to maintain some degree of clean hands from clearly a messy and troubling dispute.

Now, however, Orellana Mercado has apparently tired of claims of legal Constitutional by his fellow Congress members (he's an elected deputy) and in a letter to the Honduran Congress he boldly denounces what he describes as an un-Constitutional and illegal military coup which the Honduran Congress 'perpetrated'.

Below the fold, a bit more background on Orellana Mercado, and the letter as published in the Honduran daily newspaper Tiempo, in the original Spanish and in my own English translation.

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 31, 2008 · 9:27 AM PDT

2008/07/31 · 09:27

Many of you no doubt saw earlier diaries (example) quoting Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, trying to immaturely insult Barack Obama as some la-di-da weirdo fancy pants elitist freak:

...Only a celebrity of Barack Obama's magnitude could attract 200,000 fans in Berlin who gathered for the mere opportunity to be in his presence. These are not supporters or even voters, but fans fawning over The One. Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand "MET-RX chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew -- Black Forest Berry Honest Tea" and worry about the price of arugula...

But look at that quote, and notice how the McCain Republicans are targeting the very entrepreneurs and successful businesses that you'd think they'd want to praise, and instead they mock them as elitist weirdos:

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday July 25, 2007 · 8:52 AM PDT

2007/07/25 · 08:52

The main newspaper of the Atlanta metropolitan area, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, led this morning with a huge, prominent, and lead editorial, signed by Jay Bookman for the editorial board.

Bush asserts a king's prerogative
With showdown over Iraq looming, president courts constitutional crisis
— Jay Bookman, for the editorial board

In theory, President Bush is sworn to faithfully execute the laws of the United States. In reality, he has treated federal law as a menu from which he picks and chooses those laws he likes, while ignoring those that do not suit his taste.

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday April 08, 2007 · 12:04 PM PDT

2007/04/08 · 12:04

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board today published a harsh condemnation of the policies which have led to the results first highlighted by the NYT in discussing the work of economic analysts that the top 300,000 wealthiest Americans had an income (in 2005) nearly equal to that of the bottom 150 MILLION AMERICANS.

You know, when you have Presidents of friggin' Federal Reserve Banks worried about the US' wealth concentration versus, oh, third world nations, Houston, you might have a problem.

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday October 15, 2006 · 9:23 AM PDT

2006/10/15 · 09:23

Many followers of recent Mexican news have followed closely the high levels of tension developed in the southwestern state of Oaxaca, where a protest movement APPO has demanded the removal of the Governor due to government repression of what began as a fairly common teachers' strike and barricade.

Below I have translated in its entirety an account from the liberal-left daily newspaper La Jornada which follows the account of the murder of a local barricade supporter by two apparently off-duty (and possibly drunken) soldiers, apparently because they didn't want their way blocked by a manned barricade, so they shot him twice in the head from both sides.

And then the victim, bleeding from the head, was taken to a nearby hospital where he was apparently left completely unattended for nine-hours, without even anesthetic.

The article is based on extensive interviews and eye-witness accounts, and the narrative tells you a lot about how tense this situation is. Read More

MexiKos 9/25: Secret Meeting Held by US-Mex-Can Officials, Business Exec's

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 25, 2006 · 11:14 AM PDT

2006/09/25 · 11:14

If you thought Dick Cheney's secret Energy Task Force meetings were fun, why not secret meetings between US, Mexican, and Canadian governmental, military, and business leaders -- especially oil company executives from 12-14 September in an isolated Canadian mountain resort?

..."among the list of attendees were prominent figures such as the US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld; Mexico's Secretary of Public Security, Eduardo Medina Mora; and General Rick Hilliers, Chief of Canadian Forces."..."High executives from the military- industrial complex and from oil companies were present in the forum, including executives of Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Petroleos Mexicanos, Suncor Energy" reported Michel Chossudovsky, a professor at the University of Ottawa..."There were no journalists, there were no press releases, nor bulletins to inform the public, and there in fact was an information shutdown on the part of the news media. The meeting program was as guarded as if it were a State secret."

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday September 24, 2006 · 11:53 AM PDT

2006/09/24 · 11:53

Irma Sandoval & John Ackerman, two academics working with the Institute for Social Research and the Institute for Legal Research (respectively) make an extreme longshot request that not only should Mexican authorities choose to save rather than destroy this past election's ballots (which is a normal outcome), it should permit a recount by non-governmental organizations:

...the electoral authorities have needlessly encouraged suspicions about Calderon's victory. The Federal Electoral Tribunal...failed to disclose details of its partial recount, which showed widespread irregularities in the computation of the votes. And even though it condemned illegal campaign advertisements and the intervention of President Vicente Fox, it failed to assess their overall impact. In an election decided by only 230,000 votes out of 41 million cast, even small discrepancies could have made a big difference... The Florida ballots from the 2000 U.S. presidential elections were not destroyed... Ohio delayed the destruction of its presidential ballots from 2004 to allow further study of irregularities... Mexicans deserve no less.

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday September 23, 2006 · 1:30 PM PDT

2006/09/23 · 13:30

Most of us here on MexiKos have had our attention riveted to what's been going on in Mexico since the presidential elections argued to have been tainted by fraud and manipulation -- most recently including a citizen's convention in the downtown which 'elected' the liberal-left opposition's candidate as the "Legitimate President". But some of you might assume that it's just a nutty few diarists like us malcontents. Believe it or not, a few genuine edumacated folks find something of value in these activities as well.

Laura Carlsen, Mexico City director of the International Relations Center's Americas Program:

...one has to have power to leverage power. Most of the millions who voted a second time for Lopez Obrador on September 16 have, for the most part, only the two feet they stand on for leveraging power. They believe that Calderon's PAN is the party of the rich and powerful. The government-in-resistance is their bid for a voice in a political system that has systematically excluded them.

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 22, 2006 · 6:17 AM PDT

2006/09/22 · 06:17

Forbes, in the guise of Forbes Conferences and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, invited specified Mexican CEO's to a closed conference in the luxurious Four Seasons hotel to celebrate the re-selection of a conservative, 'free market' politician to the Presidency and to plan a "new Mexico" more to their liking:

The Mexican energy sector, controlled by the government, is the object of desire of international capital. Embracing the end of the formal electoral process and "the reformist spirit of the incoming government", one of the subsidiaries of Forbes, the media consortium of U.S. magnate and politician Steve Forbes, brought together a tight group of businessmen to invite them to "design a new Mexico."... [The forum document] offers its [own] solution to the economic problems of Mexico: "The solution is to carry out structural reforms, specifically in matters relating to labor, government spending, and energy."..."

el cid

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 20, 2006 · 7:12 AM PDT

2006/09/20 · 07:12

It's 'Better Late Than Never' & Pedophilia Trial Day here at MexiKos! Believe it or not, there are two, count 'em, two separate pedophilia cases rocking the nation.
In Supreme Court 'Better Late Than Never' Day, the Court carefully ruled in the Presidential election and recount dispute that the solemn role of the Electoral Tribunal was sacred in having the final say in electoral matters, and the Supreme Court should not intervene in such affairs. Yet the Supreme Court will now intervene in one state's criminal case regarding an accused ring of pedophiles because the governor appears to have violated the rights of the journalist who published the story.
In the Catholic Church 'Better Late Than Never' Day, the same Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera which has been lecturing us on how all those pesky Lopez Obrador supporters need to pipe down and recognize conservative Felipe Calderon as President, has now been sued in Los Angeles for protecting a pedophile priest who is accused of molesting up to 50 children. Read More

Newer
Older

RSS

Mexican Drug Trade Killers Trained In US - Report

Treasury: Deficit 8% LOWER in 1st 11 Mo. Fiscal Yr

Honduran 'Unconstitutional Coup d'Etat' Says Zelaya's Then Defense Minister

Why Does McCain Campaign Hate Honest-Tea? (& Other Entrepreneurs?)

Atlanta Lead Editorial: Bush Asserts King's Prerogative, Risks Impeachment

Atlanta Journal Constitution Ed Board Slams US Wealth Divide

MexiKos 10/15/06: Off Duty Soldiers Assassinate Oaxacan Activist

MexiKos 9/25: Secret Meeting Held by US-Mex-Can Officials, Business Exec's

MexiKos 9/24: Save Ballots for Newspaper Recount, say Legal Scholars in LA Times

MexiKos 9/23: What Mexico Liberals' "Shadow" Gov't Means

MexiKos 9/22/06: Forbes Invites CEO's to Re-Design Mexico, Privatize Oil, Bust Labor

MexiKos 9/20/06: 'Better Late Than Never' Day + Pedophilia Trial Day