Category Archives: Politics
A Fresh Take on the Drug War
I had a crazy, out-of-the-box idea today while having lunch with my better half. We were discussing the perception potential tourists have of Mexico given the increase in violence along the border.
Since the drug business is based on the premise of overwhelming and incessant demand by a large percentage of the citizenry of the Somewhat United States of America, who WANT to get high and continue to delude themselves that they live in a democracy, why fight the drug business at all? Isn’t the idea behind the term democracy – so often touted as motivation behind screwing with other people’s freely elected governments and invading nations – being ‘rule by the people, for the people’? Well wake up, leaders of the world’s most hypocritical democracy – THE PEOPLE WANT THEIR DRUGS!!
Why does this country have to play the part of the US’s Mexican housekeeper or nanny? This is a third world country that has to do the dirty work for it’s neighbor in exchange for what?
As Tony Garza Jr., former U.S. ambassador to Mexico put it:
Mexico would not be the center of cartel activity or experience this level of violence were the United States not the largest consumer of illicit drugs and the main supplier of weapons to the cartels. We have a responsibility to fight this war together, or we fail together. (link)
Is it really necessary for Mexicans to be shooting each other because the bloated drug addict up north can’t get his act together? I mean really, what is the incentive? Keep fighting the drug cartels with all the spillover violence just so Mexico can get a condescending pat on the head from the US?
The admittedly crazy idea, is to sit down with the leaders of the drug cartels and offer them the de-criminalization of the whole drug business in exchange for them stopping the violence in Mexico, stopping distribution of drugs in the country and paying off any outstanding debt to the U.S.
If the U.S.A. want to wage a war on drugs, let them wage it on their turf. With their soldiers and their collateral damage. Or, and here’s a novel idea, take a look at the real problem: the depressed, deluded society they have created that cannot stand to look itself in the mirror and demands the drugs in the first place.
OK. I told you it was kind of out-of-the box idea.
Congratulations USA
No arrests yesterday in Washington D.C., with almost 2 million people struggling to be a part of Obama’s inauguration, so that says a lot about the atmosphere and goodwill present!
The official – and probably completely unread – NotTheNews position is one of relief that the Medieval era of Cheney/Bush is finally over. Time to reel in the world’s number one “rogue” nation.
All the best to the new president; there’s a LOT of work to be done, both at home and abroad.
Glad I am not the only one…and Mr. Bloomberg’s Comments
I am glad to not be the only person to be more than a little worried about Israel’s heavy handed, politically-motivated response to the cowardly Hamas idiots who insist on firing missiles at Israel and then hiding among women and children. They (Hamas) must be so proud of themselves now.
That said, it is a sad day for humanity when the elephant, finally tiring of the needle pricks constantly being inflicted on it’s backside by a a few rogue elements in the cage they have built for their neighbors, decide to run amok and destroy the entire contents of that cage. Imagine all the inhabitants, scurrying from one place to another within in that cage, with no place to hide, being systematically trampled by the enraged and completely deranged elephant.
New York City mayor (and aspiring presidential candidate, according to some rumors out there) Michael Bloomberg, in a statement that can only be described as sucking up to his considerable Jewish constituency, maintains that the Israeli offensive is justifiable (I would suggest understandable but not justifiable) and the international law that prohibits this kind of blanket violence, citing the vast disproportionality, is irrelevant, once again showing how obtuse some Americans are, thinking that they are somehow above any silly international law.
His analogy, delivered in a CNN interview after a visit to Israel, which he may have though of himself, goes like this (and I quote): “if you’re in your apartment and some emotionally disturbed person is banging on the door screaming ‘I’m gonna come through this door and kill you” do you want us to respond with one police officer which is proportional or with all the resources at our command?” If you can hear this, note how condescending the tone of his voice becomes as he says this, as if he is talking to some 4 years olds who up until that moment, could not possibly fathom the depth of his understanding of the problem.
Well Mr. Bloomberg, it’s a good analogy but a stupid conclusion. In a situation like that, I would hope you would send in as many police officers as you thought necessary to apprehend and detain this emotionally disturbed person, not sent in a a unit of the 21st Airborne to bomb the entire building and kill the emotionally disturbed person’s entire family, as well as a few neighbors and probably destroy the building, thereby also weakening the structure in which your apartment resides as well.
Maybe Mr. Bloomberg should concentrate on New York City’s more pressing problems as a city and not go around offering such idiotic opinions on international events.
I apologize to those looking for light-hearted comments on the sanitary installations of the local bus terminal here in Merida; I promise there will be more of that soon! I just couldn’t resist commenting when I heard this on the news. And be forewarned: there will be some upcoming criticism of Mr. Obama’s cabinet selections as well, so you might want to avoid coming around in the next few weeks.
🙂
Response to ADO and his Rude Remarks
In case you missed it, an even more neurotic reader of blogs than I visited this blog and commented on my ‘shout out to the Israelis’ post. His rant goes something like this:
I was going to respond to the post as a comment, but got carried away. Too much text for a simple ‘comment’ so here it is, in post form.
ADO
Hey, thanks for stopping by and insulting me! Always appreciate the right wing coming in, fist in the air, to invalidate anyone else’s opinion. I especially enjoyed the Dictator Carter remark – made me laugh out loud and that doesn’t happen often in these troubled times.
Thinking back, and now that you mention it, I distinctly remember his militant Carter Jugend, with peanuts embroidered on their short sleeved shirts as they tramped through the streets of Georgia, shouting “Down to the Cashew Eaters”.
It has not escaped my attention, as you suggest, that there are missiles being lobbed and Israelis being snatched.
Perhaps it has escaped YOUR attention that the retaliatory measures Israel has imposed are not limited to a blockade designed to magically starve out the bad guys, but has also included bombing on any and all possible targets, civilians be damned, as well as Palestinians being harassed, beaten and arrested. My point was that a people (Israelis) who had suffered so much, would perhaps have a bit more compassion than say, the USA which in the last few decades dumps bombs first and asks questions later.
Another interesting idea that just popped into my head is that the Mossad is one of the world’s best ‘intelligence’ and ‘covert ops’ outfits. Do you not think that they could perhaps do some infiltrating and bring the perps to justice, much like the USA could have done after 9/11 instead of randomly invading Afghanistan?
Back to the blockade – which is not on again, off again, but has been a continuous thing – and which is supposed to somehow make the Palestinians say “Oh, OK. Um, yeah. Let’s get those bad guys that are hiding among us and turn them over to the nice Israelis who have shown that they are more than willing to deal with us fairly”.
Let’s see. People are starving, they have no food, water, electricity. Medical supplies. Students accepted abroad cannot leave thank you very much. If this was happening in your redneck town, do you think you would get perhaps just a little pissed off and might consider JOINING those criminal elements in Redneckville instead of turning them in to the authorities that are starving your kids? Hmm. Tough one.
And, blockades work so well. Look at how effective the Cuban blockade has been. Thanks to the USA, we still have a communist country in this hemisphere!
And don’t take it from me – check out what’s in the news:
United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has accused Israel of “unprecedented and deeply regrettable” treatment of UN human rights investigator Richard Falk. Falk was deported from Israel Monday after being detained at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport for twenty hours. Falk’s detention and expulsion came days after he condemned Israel’s blockade of Gaza as a “flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law” and “Crime Against Humanity.”
I am by no means taking potshots at Jews. Where the hell does that idea come from? What hyper-sensitive part of your brain picked that up? In mentioning the holocaust, I merely imply that (I am repeating what I mentioned above, in case you didn’t get it) one would expect a little more maturity from a people that has been through so much.
And another thing.
Bite me.
A NotTheNews Shout Out to the Israelis!
Don’t know much about history, or so the song goes.
I don’t know much about the Gaza blockade, but it sounds like a real piece of work coming from a people who suffered a holocaust.
Also a great way to Win Friends and Influence People on the international stage.
Happy Hanukkah, people!
NotTheNews on Obama’s Win Last Night
I know, I know: this blog is supposed to be about life in Merida, but I don’t have enough political savvy or material to dedicate an entire blog to politics, so you will have to bear with me as I unburden myself – politically – here. And before you get your knickers in a twist, you should remember that this is my personal opinion and you have every right to go read something else, like the Fox News website if you are so inclined.
My Better Half and I watched the elections in the U.S. of A. last night and as the western states were announced as ‘blue’ we were overwhelmed with emotion. Seeing the Obama family on stage, the emotional crowds in Chicago and Times Square and even in Kenya brought a tear to this cynic’s eyes.
People I talked to here in Merida prior to the election said that Obama would never win, because the Americans would never elect a ‘black’ man as their president, which highlights not only how little they think of the U.S. but also how superficial their analysis was as well.
Personally, I have never considered Obama as the ‘black’ candidate, although to look at him, you could be convinced that it might be true; there is a hint of something African about him. To me, Obama was more about the man; an extremely smart, young, family man with an intelligent wife who projected to me a more international outlook on the world and seemed to have the desire and the ability to negotiate not only with political opponents but also with world leaders with whom he may or may not agree. A radical departure from the ‘shoot first’, ‘first strike’, ‘fuck the rest of the planet’ mentality of the last eight years.
McCain, upon conceding the election, made probably the best speech I have heard him make in this campaign. Passionate, articulate and not at all derogatory, the latter which I almost suspected after the B.S. that was thrown around in obvious desperation during the final months in the race for the presidency. I almost felt sorry for him, hopelessly trying to contend not only with the Bush doctrine legacy which effectively condemned anyone running under the Republican banner and campaigning with the albatross from Alaska that probably cost him a lot of electoral votes.
A few of my friends in the U.S. are alarmed by the election of Obama to be their president. They seem to think that some calamitous fate awaits them, as if it was the 1970’s, the country was Chile, they were Allende supporters and Pinochet had just been elected. For the life of me I can’t understand their fears. Is it their great egoistic fear that taxes will increase?
What could Obama possibly do that has these people so afraid? What could possibly be worse than assuring that your children will be in debt for decades to come? Worse than having your country despised and ridiculed around the world? Worse than sending your (poor neighbors) kids off to die in Iraq and Afghanistan all the while complacently destroying the planet? Or is it something deeper, dare I mention, racist?
Many Americans live in a make-believe world, where it is their god-given right to have everything they want whenever they want it, cost be damned. Massive environmental damage in “third world” countries? Who cares if it means cheap gas. Dictators torturing their citizens for demanding democracy? Hey as long as we get cheap toys at Walmart, who cares.
Time to wake up U.S.A. – and rejoin the global community! This is an important first step.
Enhorabuena!
Tomorrow is the big day! End of the Bush Doctrine and an Era? Continuation of the Bush Doctrine with McSame and the End of the Modern World?
Vote!
Here’s to all the Americans from the United States (as opposed to all of the rest of us Americans) who have this opportunity to change the ruinous path the U.S.A. is now on and bring some common sense and compassion back to the most powerful nation on this planet.
Vote!
Hysteria in the Yucatan?
Back in Merida from my travels, I can perceive the nervous tension in the city. The violence associated with more ‘macho’ states like Nuevo Leon and Sonora has made an appearance here at last, and it has shaken up the Yucatecans like nothing before. No hurricane has had the impact of the news that 12 headless bodies were found here.
Here! Where nothing ever happens!
There is a saying that says, cuando se acaba el mundo, me voy a Yucatan which roughly means when the world comes to an end, I’m moving to the Yucatan. Well, that feeling of ‘nothing bad ever happens here’ has been shaken out of many Yucatecans. The ambiente is tense:
- Around the city, there are police controls near every mall and wherever people might be congregating. Police controls funnel traffic from 2 or 3 lanes into one lane where machine gun armed police with bullet proof vests and dark sunglasses peer into your vehicle as you pass by. At night, these are lit up like Christmas trees and you have to squint as you pass under the bright 500,000 watt lights blast into your face.
- The newspapers are happy as pigs in poop because they have increased their sales to the point of salivation. They are even printing rumors that they pass off as stories ‘that have not been confirmed’, like a shooting here or there, a kidnapping that might or might not have happened, a bomb threat imagined or real who knows, that kind of thing. Very professional and a great example of journalism. The local papers, in an effort to ‘inform’ their readership, actually took the beheading video off YouTube and posted it directly on their site. Nothing morbid about that is there? Nahh.
- The people that put that polarizing film on vehicle windows are happy because now they can offer the service of removing that same film. You remember the Dr. Suess story of the Star Bellied Sneetches? With the man who brought a Star On and Star Off machine to the hapless Sneetches? It’s kind of like that. The state government has decreed that no vehicles shall have darkened windows and that any car that has it must have it removed. We all had until mid September, but of course, as is always the case in this lovely land, there has been an extension of the deadline. The traffic manual from the SPV says that cars shouldn’t have their windows polarized anyway, but only now it seems will anyone do anything about it.
- Store owners and merchants in the malls and in general are complaining that sales have fallen dramatically as people opt to stay home instead of going to the mall to enjoy free air conditioning. Better to be sweating on the sidewalk in front of your house than to be bleeding and cool in the air conditioned mall. The economy in general, has slowed to a crawl.
- Kids and their parents are deciding that discos and nightclubs are not great places to be, since the combination of macho-ness, alcohol and a possible hand gun are not a particularly attractive combination. Drugs are sold at clubs after all, and while this has been going on for a while, it took some beheadings to bring the message home.
- Police have raided a lot of houses, found clues here and there and seized a sizable number of vehicles. Not much in the way of arrests though. There is much speculation about who is involved. Anyone who looks foreign ie. not Yucatecan is suspect. Remember the Diario de Yucatan catchphrase ‘aspecto fuereño‘ and you get the picture.
That all said, I have not felt particularly unsafe in my daily activities. Business-wise I am hurting but I don’t feel physically threatened, yet. I guess if I was a clubber or involved in some illicit activity I would be worried, but for us normal folks trying to eke out a living, besides the traffic complications, armored machine gun vehicles on the periferico and the occasional military helicopter with armed soldiers sticking out overhead, nada grave.
NotTheNews on Drugs
Chris Rock and I have a lot in common it would seem. We are both in the same corner on the so-called ‘war on drugs’, which is really a load of crap and an excuse to dedicate money ‘stolen’ taxpayers to a ridiculous and wasteful campaign that does absolutely nothing more than fill the jails with regular people who just want to get high while the real power players remain out there.
Humans have been smoking, injecting, inhaling mind-altering substances ever since some caveman ripped up a pot plant and threw it on the fire, causing the entire tribe to erupt in a fit of giggles and then try to satisfy their munchies with some roasted squirrels or something. Why do governments (with the notable exception of the Dutch) not seem to understand this? People want to do drugs! So let them.
The existing laws are already enough. You want to get high, whether it’s alcohol or crack, fine. you break the law and you go to jail. Simple. Do you think that there would be all this violence between competing groups trying to dominate an illegal market if you could go to the tendejon at the corner and pick up a 100 gms bag of weed along with a six pack? I don’t think so.
Of course, any independent thought in this country (and most everywhere else) is completely dependent on what the giant Puritan hypocrisy thinks:
“Oh you want to legalize drugs? Well forget about getting your tomatoes to Pennsylvania then. You help us ‘fight’ this war and if you are good, you’ll get a pat on the head from us and some used Hummers from some war we are just finished with.”
Legalize drugs, stop the violence. Stop the madness.
As for Gaza, perhaps it has escaped your attention that the Hamas government,and its other terrorist friends, has been lobbing missiles at Israelis and snatching Israelis, and that the on-again, off-again blockade by Israel, at its checkpoints, is a direct response to terror attacks. As for the blockade, take a look at the map and discover that both Egypt and Israel blockade Gaza, with the ok of the Abbas PLA government of the so-called territories/”West Bank.”
Or do you just like to take potshots at Jews? There is NO valid comparison between the holocaust and the defensive measures taken by the State of Israel, except to a amoral lover of “progressive” dictators like ex-Pres. Jimmy Carter.