Labeling.

In addition to telling stories or as a part of telling stories, we also have a compulsion to label each other. The “politically correctness” crowd I believe has a point. Labels put others in boxes and with that, certain expectations or limitations. In grade school for example, what happens when a kid is labeled as “bad” or a “troublemaker” or even worse a “loser”? The label or role all too often becomes internalized and gets played out. The opposite can also hold true as well. “Honor Student” can keep expectations high. “Good student” same idea. “Student athlete” can go either way depending on how it is used. The words we use to describe others are important and it is not just in school. Let’s consider a few more labels.

“Felon” – somebody convicted of a serious crime. This is a label one can get and keep long after the jail time is done. Here in the USA, in my experience, we are pretty damn unforgiving. Getting this label can follow one to the grave. It translates into someone who is no longer trustworthy no matter how long it has been since the offence was committed or what they have done beneficial for others. This label often drives people back into the corrections system where they earn a new label, Repeat offender. The consequences are much the same and the cycle will often repeat itself. It is an extremely difficult stigma to overcome and right or wrong will likely never go away. I wish we would re-think this one. I agree with Jesus, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” I think we would do well to lighten up a little and give those who have made some poor decisions in the past a second chance. Here’s another ugly label.

“Illegals” – a person in the USA from another country (usually south of the border) without proper immigration paperwork. Somehow, without the right papers, they lack basic human rights. There are those who think they should be denied access to health care, education and protection under the law. NEWS FLASH it is only a misdemeanor to be here without documentation! They are often viewed as criminals involved in the drug trade or worse. With any large group of people, there are a small number doing bad things. People break laws but there is no such thing as an illegal human being. These people do some of the nastiest hardest work in the country often under slave-like conditions. They fear the police and have little recourse when crimes are committed against them. Solving the immigration problem will not be accomplished via labeling and stereotyping but rather clamping down on employers who routinely hire desperate people fleeing economic turmoil ad savage drug wars. We should be doing our part to help Mexico and other countries to our south end the ceaseless drug wars and build a viable economy. Here is another powerful label.

“Terrorists”- a person who employs terror or terrorism, esp as a political weapon. (From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorist). Being labeled this is a sure way to by pass any legal protections supposedly guaranteed under the Constitution! These are the true “Bad” guys and we all know there is only one way to deal with them- death! In movies, news, popular literature these are the psychopaths willing to kill innocents, blow up buildings and target baby seals. We relish our “Good” guys whack them in the end a la Bin Laden. The problem is we seldom look beyond the label and ask why there are terrorists in the first place. WARNING- understanding is not justification for cowardly acts like crashing planes into buildings or hosing down old handicapped people with an AK-47. Rather understanding is getting less and less people seeing these acts as a way of gaining justice. Dealing with root causes like supporting despotic regimes is a better way of solving the problem than hunting down individual “Bad” guys and in the process creating even more “Bad” guys. There is one more label I’d like to consider tonight. “The Bad Attitude.”

“Bad Attitude” – a person or people in the workplace who are seen as a troublemakers. This is the kiss of death for a career. He or she does not understand what we are trying to do or ‘see the big picture.” They often ask irrelevant questions about fairness, consistency and honesty. The “Bad Attitude” label is a quick trip to the ranks of the unemployed, especially in a tanking economy. Who needs people asking uncomfortable questions when the line to take his or her job is out the door and sown the street? Too many of us steer clear of this label at any cost, even if we have to sell our souls. What we get is a world run by fewer and fewer people and a quiet dread of Monday morning.

The Politically Correctness Crowd (there I go labeling) has a point, the terms we use to describe each other are important. Labeling is a way of taking away other people’s humanity. Dehumanization and objectification of other human beings contributes to very bad things like genocide, slavery and marginalization. Take away one’s humanity and suddenly anything can be done to them. We need to pick our terms carefully.

Story Time!

All the time is story time with us. The truth (that’s small t truth) is we don’t know for sure where we came from or why we are here much less where we are going. So being story tellers, we came up with gods, goddesses and all kinds of fun myths. Moma earth and papa sky got busy and here we are! We cannot stand ambiguity. There has to be a reason for everything or at least a good story. This is the whole point of religion. It gives some of us a workable story to explain life. Be good and go to heaven or be bad and go to hell, what could be more simple and easy to follow? We individually create our own versions of reality based on all the stories we learn. Christians are not taught the stories of Buddha or The Profit Mohamed. I think religion is largely dependant on geography. Where on earth are people taught about all the major religions and then choose which one they will follow? No, we learn based on where we are born. Sadly, we are also told ours is the one True (capital T) story! Anyone with a few brain cells and a reliable internet connection can plainly see the problems this has lead to. But stories (narratives) determine so much of our lives.

Here in the United States we are taught a national narrative (known as history classes). For most it is a series of events, people and dates. The details add up to we being a free people who are a shining example to all on how everyone should live. We like the story so much we share it with others (often at gun point) thinking they are really Americans just waiting to come out! Majeed would be much happier working in a factory or owning a small store than working his own land. We are sure of it! Perhaps if we blow up his house, he will see it our way. Yes, this is an absurdity but is this not the underlying narrative behind our wars in the Middle East? Be like us (and sell us your resources at rock bottom prices) and everything will be just great! Most people here are only taught the “good guy” narrative of the United States and that’s why we continue to wage wars around the world. In Iraq we had to take out an evil dictator who was a threat to the region (oil supplies) and the rest of the world. Afghanistan was crawling with terrorist types who wanted to do us harm. Call in the air strikes and send in the Army Rangers! The narrative is simplistic and easy to follow, kind of like religious stories. Anything that contradicts the narrative of the USA as the “good guy” is all too often swept under the rug or written off via the “few bad apples” story line. We use stories here at home as well.

The average narrative goes something like this, study hard in school, stay out of trouble, go to college, get a good job working for the man, get married, buy a nice house, have kids and live happily ever after. This story has a title. It is called The “American Dream”. For many, that’s all it is- a dream. Those who do not follow the plot to the letter are given labels (another entry for a later time), criminal, deviant, weirdo and so on. Those who want to live another storyline are cause for fear and dealt with accordingly. They are often excluded (poor minorities), have fewer rights (so called gay people) subject to harassment (both poor and gays) and muted (not allowed to tell stories, marginalized). To see this in action, all one needs to do is take a trip to their closest Department of Social Services or local unemployment office and simply sit in the drab lobby for an hour or two. Look at who goes in to use these services. Also, pay attention to where these services are rendered. Chances are they in out of the way places in areas far away from “The American Dream”.

DISCLAIMER!! I pretty much live the prescribed narrative. That said, I’ve come to realize there are other stories out there.

Where do we get the stories / narratives that guide us? I think the answer is simple. They come from the most powerful who want to maintain things as they are. A good example is our election process here in the United States. Three hundred plus people are allowed to “choose” between only two political parties, Democrats and Republicans. Stan Goff makes a good argument here this is not much of a choice. He argues that not voting in an alternative way of bring about real change. How could either party claim a mandate to rule if only a small percentage of us turn out to vote? I think of it as voting by other means, with our feet. Both parties do little if anything to change the dominant discourse of neo-liberalism. Free markets can solve all of our problems if allowed to run free from interference. There is overwhelming evidence to the contrary; global warming, resource wars, crushing poverty, environmental degradation, and modern slavery just to name a few. The information is out there but one has to look for it. It will not come from the powerful who control the vast majority of media outlets. Neither party questions the neo-liberal narrative. As a result, we get lip service from the Democrats on global warming and out right denial from the Republicans. Both parties use the same techniques to continue unwarranted and unjustifiable wars and have done so for decades. You can simply google the documentary “War Made Easy” for another narrative about war and judge for yourself. I’m interested in the super-rich vs. the rest of us narrative because it seems to explain much of what goes on. But there are other explanations as well and mine may NOT be right.

Look, I could patter on and on about how we use stories in almost every aspect of our lives and I think it will be a good topic for more writings later on. If you have read this far, my hope is you will start to see stories everywhere and think about whom the writer is and ask why is it written and who is it written for, figuratively speaking.

Thanks.

-Paul

Goals...

It is about the goal. For me anyway, having a goal I'm working toward is of utmost importance. Without one, life becomes the horror of getting up, going to work, coming home, eating ant watching a little tube and going to bed. Repeat. Repeat Repeat. It may be fun for a few days... I need to be doing something more. This is not to say "don't live in the moment". No, we are all only given so many moments and each one should be enjoyed. I enjoy each step of life and feel I can be future focused. I think it is safe to say we all need a reason to get up in the morning. I may not have the best job in the world, I can work toward something better.

Goals can be small, like a blog entry or major, getting a PhD for instance. A goal is striving to become something better than where I now find myself. I don't know anyone who is totally happy with all aspects of their lives. If I did, I'd probably be very worried about them! Accepting of where and who we are is critical for our well being. Do I have all I want and done all I wanted to do? Well no. But I feel I've done well and if you are reading this you most likely have also. You learned how to use a computer and read right? They may seem like very small accomplishments but there are tons of people who can do neither. Simply taking care of yourself and helping those around you are accomplishments. I'm digressing a bit here... Where was I? Goals, that's it! Once I'm good with where I am I can think about where I want to be and how to get there. It seems to me the biggest goals like getting the PhD are best broken down into smaller more bite sized goals. My first goal for the PhD could be as simple as find the universities I want to apply to. Later on it will be passing the so and so exam and finishing XYZ class.

I do better with deadlines. If I had not had due dates in college, I'd still be tweaking papers! It takes discipline to self-impose deadlines. It is an essential part of getting things done. Set a large goal and break it down into manageable parts and work through them. There is a final due Date. When you get fitted for a toe tag, it is too late! We are not given this date in advance so ya better get cracking!

The LaVack Group

Paul

I updated my business site.

Please have a look and send feedback. It is still a work in progress with some small bugs to be worked out!

www.lavackgroup.com

Thanks!

-Paul

Beating a dead horse...

http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/17/top-10-unhealthy-side-effects-of-the-war-on-drugs/

More reading on the failed War on Drugs...

Iraq... Colony of Armageddon

Wrote this awhile back. What has changed?

10/30/2007

Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it. Our leadership told us from the beginning how easy it would be to invade Iraq, turn it into a bright shining beacon of democracy for all those in the middle east and how it would all be paid for with a sea of Iraqi oil. It seems they did not look at their history books. War is always unpredictable and a high risk proposition. In the American Civil War, both sides thought it would be over after a few quick and relatively painless battles. Instead it took four years and over 600,000 dead. World War I was similar. Many thought it would be over quickly. By the time it was over 20 million were dead and the maps had been completely redrawn. France thought the next war would be a defensive struggle and built the Maginot Line. The Germans had other ideas. They used a highly developed mechanized offense called Blitzkrieg and bypassed it rolling up the French in six weeks. Who in 1964 could have foreseen the fall of our embassy Saigon (now called Ho Chi Min City) in 1975 complete with images of rooftop evacuations? The Gulf War in 1991 did go according to plan but few could have seen the post war troubles in Iraq. Our leadership failed to read their history books and took us in to the worst type of war, a war of choice. There has been volumes already written debunking the reasons they gave to invade Saddam’s Iraq. The real reasons fit nicely into the new colonization paradigm, Globalization.

Over the last 500 or so years the west has expanded into every region of the world forever changing indigenous cultures. In many cases the indigenous culture lost it’s way of life and sometimes were wiped out all together. The west tried to dominate those it came in contact with. They made those it came in contact with feel inferior, dependent and hate themselves. Colonization proved to be a good way to take advantage of natural resources, cheap labor and give western nations a sense of superiority above others. They built up stereo types of the colonized that portrayed them as lazy, dumb, ignorant and incapable of self rule. This is not some relic of the past. It is alive and well today. We now call this globalization. Instead of countries moving into poor regions; it is now large multi-national corporations taking advantage of those most unable to protect them selves. This is done with the blessing of many western nations and in some cases with the use of their militaries. The US invasion of Iraq is a prime example of globalization at it’s worse.

There is a no more clear example of subjugation and exploitation of a people than in Iraq today. As with colonization efforts of the past, we were given dubious reasons for interfering in the first place. The real reason has to be oil. It is the most important resource in the world and the industry that turns it into usable energy is the most politically powerful. Without such a valuable resource Saddam Hussein would still be in power. His army, weakened by years of war with Iran, US and economic sanctions was no match for the most powerful military machine in the world. Many thought we did a good thing by ridding Iraq and the world of Saddam and his infamous sons, Uday and Qusay. With no plan to keep the lights on, police the streets or take out the trash Baghdad quickly descended into chaos. However, we did secure the Oil Ministry. Almost overnight we went from liberators to occupiers. We quickly took on the role of colonizers deciding we knew what was best for Iraq. First we disbanded a great force for Iraqi unity, the Iraqi army. Second, we decided they needed a government like ours (complete with US advisors) and then we decided they needed to rewrite how they divide up revenue from oil for our benefit. Every aspect of Iraqi life had to be reeducated. Even traffic laws had to be rewritten! The police had to be retrained. This in a former police state! We gave them the opportunity to elect a government but once in place it little to no real authority. No truly independent state has it’s military command structure built into another countries like in Iraq. Nothing moves or happens in the Maliki government with out approval from the US. The on going situation with Blackwater USA is one of the latest examples of who really runs Iraq. The Iraqi government demanded them gone but they are still there with no indication they are leaving anytime soon. Even after years of reckless operations conducted by Blackwater and no telling how many Iraqi dead it is unlikely they will go. The company is too well connected to the current power structure in Washington to be tossed out. To the Iraqis it is easy to see what is going on.

It is well known that the peoples of Iraq are among the most educated in the Middle East. Still, we treat them as children or worse. We rewrite their laws for our own benefit. We play sides off of each other. We bring in even cheaper foreign labor to do “reconstruction”. We tell them they want to be free and democratic like us ignoring their long history and past occupation by the Ottomans and then the British. We dehumanize them with names like hagi and rag head. All of the negative things that come out of colonization we are doing today in Iraq. The State Department sends in reconstruction teams to advise on dispute resolution and reconciliation. There are some Iraqis who indeed want reconciliation but as long as we are there occupying the country this cannot happen. The government we have helped put in place and protect is not seen as legitimate by it’s own people, so when calling for reconciliation they have no authority or credibility. They also lack loyal military and police to enforce what they call for. Without US protection, the Maliki government would be pulled down in short order.

The Iraqis see the occupation for what it is and naturally resist it. We have gained nothing for the billions we have spent and all the lives lost. From the point of view as an empire the US is facing loss on a huge scale. The growing problem of Iraqi on Iraqi violence has not been solved by the “Surge” only postponed. We cannot sustain the “Surge” past next spring and nothing has been done to prevent the direct violence from returning. It is entirely possible President Bush knows how badly we have failed and wants to pass it on to who ever the next president is. The “Surge” is just a delaying tactic and with no addressing the underlying causes doomed to failure. In the mean time we are being attacked as well and the dip in US casualties is only temporary because we too are a big part of the problem. We the people of the US let this happen in our name.

The use of language is what makes continuing this war possible. Every speech on Iraq (and the larger “War on Terror”) President Bush calls those fighting us “terrorists”, “extremists” “Al Quad” “murders” etc. We on the other hand are on the side of “freedom” “liberty” and “democracy”. In the age of sound bite news with little to no in depth coverage or questioning of the facts many see the war in Iraq in these simplistic and black and white terms. Those who do question are called “unpatriotic”, “soft on terror” and worse. President Bush set the tone after the 9/11 attacks with his famous statement “You are with us or you are against us.” To be in the “with us” category people had to blindly accept whatever his administration put fourth without question. The media for the most part bought into the language set fourth. No one questioned how a war is fought against terror, a tactic or “embedding” reporters with the military which translates to be in bed with. Our opposition party, The Democrats, did not put fourth and alternative language or narrative of their own. Instead they became the “me too” party using the same language and same responses. It has gained them little. Despite winning both the house and senate on a clear antiwar mandate, they have done nothing effective to end the war in Iraq. They are still too afraid of being labeled “soft on terror” and continue to vote for funding the war indefinitely. Those who support the effort in it’s current form may be looking at it from beyond a rational point of view.

What should be a deep cause for concern is the Armageddon Syndrome. This is the idea we are in a great struggle of good versus evil that will end in a great final battle where good triumphs over evil once and for all. "We are in a conflict between good and evil. And America will call evil by its name," the president told West Point cadets in a speech in 2002. (Scott Ritter) 1. Bush has publicly stated that “God” talks to him. It is well known Christian Conservatives hold positions high up in the current administration. What may be less known is how much their notion of “end times” drives policy creation and execution. They may truly believe they are carrying our “God’s” will in Iraq and driving us to an expanded war in the region with Iran. In the mean time tax payer dollars keep filling the bank accounts of private security companies, weapons makers, oil companies, general contractors and a whole host of others at the expense of those we have ‘liberated”. The Iraqis gain nothing but assured misery, escalating violence, and the break up of their country. It will take decades to see the extent of the full damage we have done and begin to correct it.

1. “On the Eve of Destruction”

By Scott Ritter

www.truthdig.org

10.22.07

Fixing Problems...

A short entry. It is easy to point out problems but solutions are a bit more slippery. Waiting on Government or continuing to drink the Free Market cure all Koolaid is not going to get it done. We better start thinking for ourselves some and asking a lot more questions. It is not hopeless!

My goal writing about the failed Drug War in Mexico and other issues is basically to raise awareness. I'm not sure what else I can do and I find that sad. Why does something like the so called War on Drugs, an abysmal failure, continue year after year and decade after decade? I think we get into a kind of stasis. We simply accept things as they are, not the way we think they should be. Sure, I sign an occasional petition on line but feel that's weak. I could write for days about all of the challenges we face but choose not to at the moment. We hide in our day to day lives going through the unending routines ignoring (at our peril) important things like the reality the planet is getting warmer and all the bad that comes with higher temperatures. We watch TV news (infotainment) buying into the fantasy that the latest sex scandal, high profile murder case or little missing white girl are really newsworthy events requiring national attention. Nothing else is going on right? No, let's don't talk about both political parties on their knees servicing bankers with trillions of our tax dollars. Let's not think of the tens of thousands of unnamed dead civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. We better not look for connections between Depleted Uranium ammo Gulf War Syndrome and skyrocketing Iraqi deaths from cancer. Watch here for free. Little missing white girls are bad but what about the children sold as sex slaves or forced to serve as child soldiers? Read more please. Daunting problems for sure but not with out hope.

Now, I'll switch from We to I.

I CAN be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves, blog facebook and in person.

I CAN raise awareness.

I CAN take a few minutes to research what I buy. Where and how is it made? It is not perfect but a good place to start.

I CAN reach for solutions and not rely on Machiavelli Politicians who promise "change" year after year and really change little more than their underwear. Let Washington play games, fixing problems is up to us...

I CAN think locally. There are plenty of problems where I live and I can do more about them.

That's five things I thought of on the fly. Now... What will you do?

Mexico is at war with itself. Part II

There are problems on both sides of the border. Here in the US, we have untreated addictions dealt with through a deeply flawed criminal justice system. Those who wind up in jail simply have the least means to defend themselves in court. How many cocaine sniffing professionals do any hard time? There are also vested interests in keeping the unwinable war on drugs going. The DEA would likely no longer exist if we decriminalized drugs. What would happen to funding to the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, (you can blush, George Orwell) and even the military? That’s a lot of well paid federal employees out of work who do not want to join the ranks of the unemployed! Last there is the problem of apathy here in the USA. Who cares about the carnage in Mexico as long as it stays there? So what if they are corrupt to the core? What is it to us if the highways are like a real life Mad Max Movie? Murder will not apply for a green card. People are already being killed on this side of the border. In Mexico there is rampant corruption, poverty and a growing sense of hopelessness. Looking at illegal drugs through a class lens shows how unfair laws and enforcement are applied to our poor. How many doctors using cocaine got three strikes? The large banks that assist with the money laundering process are never even mentioned much less face any penalty. Prison or jail time for a bank executive is currently out of the question.

There’s no end in sight. How much will the so-called War on Drugs have to cost us before we realize it is not working? We pretty much know it but is there a single politician in Washington with the courage to say so? Anyone? Even if there is, in the current political climate, change we can believe in (for real) is far off. What we are seeing is social collapse- Mexican narco-state style. A complete breakdown of society from the national government to the street is taking place in far too many parts of Mexico. People's most basic needs of safety and security are not being met. The unwelcoming US with its ailing economy looks a whole lot better than being caught between waring cartels.

What are some alternatives? Legalization and demilitarization sound impossible given our current state of affairs in Washington DC. I think this is exactly what it will really take to slow the violence and recover our fellow human beings lost to drug addiction. The military (any military) is a poor law enforcement tool even for needed laws. The power balance is too great in favor of the army and accountability flies out the window. How could legalization and demilitarization occur? I think it would have to be a gradual process like what is going on with pot now. If we made drug addiction a medical problem, countless lives could be saved. It is better for society, I believe, to redeem an addict and not simply try to lock him up. The on going drug wars in Mexico are not their only problem. There is a small group of very wealthy running a country of dirt poor. This is a great recipe for worsening conflict drug wars or not.

What are some other good ideas and how can we impliment them?

Back to the drug war shortly...

North Carolina Governor renews State Unemployment Extension

So the governor restored the state unemployment extension here in North Carolina. Thats nice but does little to solve the much deeper problem of too few jobs for too many people out of work. Anyone on this extension has been on unemployment for well over a year. This can carry some people to the 99 week mark! Then what? To re-qualify for unemployment they have to return to work for at least 6 months and earn $4557 and that's only going to get 13 more weeks. The goal shouldn't be going back on Unemployment rather finding long lasting employment. All the state extension does is postpone the problems one will face with no income. The state (on both federal and state level) have failed to replace all the millions of jobs that have forever gone overseas thanks to so called "free trade". Capitalism has always been an ass-kicker of a system with both good and bad points but we do not really practice it here.

No, what we do is protect "profit". Anytime you hear it's good for business, business friendly or other similar sounding terms, replace these words with Profit! Regulation is not business friendly = Regulation cuts into profit. Why is the stock market doing so well but there is so little job creation? Lower labor costs overseas! Welfare for the most wealthy is almost never discussed. Exxon gets massive tax relief. Staggering bailouts for banks not afraid to fail! 14+ TRILLION. Google it yourself. Did they have to wait weeks for an executive order? No. Did we get any real reform? No, that would be bad for business er hurt profits or something... Will the jobs come back? No, that too is bad for business. Who's to blame?

The poor lazy jobless yahoo who is well into his second year on the dole some may say. With five qualified people out there for every opening who will hire the older worker, the minority or the disabled person? Capitalism is an ass-kicker and cares not for the powerless. So what if we are just another third world country in the next ten years with loads of dirt poor who no longer even know how to grow their own food and a handful living great in gated communities guarded by Blackwater / Xe goons we can all watch on TV? We may want to start listening to a different narrative/ story than the non-since and false dichotomy we're spoon fed on the nightly news by the two political parties. Make no mistake they work only to maintain the status quo and you and I as voters do not count. Hint- Follow the money...

Mexico is at war with itself. Part I

Just for a moment put your self in the place of a so-called “illegal immigrant”. What are you to do when all the options are bad? Stay, with no job, no prospects and an out of control war fueled by drugs is raging all around or try to go north where the job prospects are so so and you are pretty much unwelcome. I don’t know about you, but I would try to escape the crushing poverty and endless violence by going north. Yeah, the US economy is still in the tank and with no serious options for fixing being considered by either political party, it looks like things will get worse before they get better. But consider what is going on to our south.

Mexico is in a sort of civil war that has been raging off and on for decades. Drug traffickers tempted by astronomical amounts of money (39 BILLION anyone?) and all the perks that go with it, have been fighting the hapless Mexican Government. This undeclared war has been ebbing and flowing in its intensity until recently. Since 2006, it has taken a far darker turn and lives lost number in the tens of thousands. Exact figures are hard to come by and vary according to the source. There are parts of Mexico that have morphed into such a state of lawlessness; they effectively have no government at all. Many of us here take police for granted. We call them and help will come. A crime here will be investigated. (I know this is not ALWAYS true.) In many parts of Mexico, you are on your own if something bad is happening and nobody knows anything. Consider this exchange between the Mayor of Guadalupe and Roy Carroll, a reporter for the Guardian:

“What is going on in the valley?”

"I really don't know."

“Who is doing the killing?”

"I really don't know."

“Who is responsible for security?”

"I really don't know."

“How many people have fled?”

"I really don't know."

The mantra almost becomes a joke. The mayor shrugs, smiles. He knows this exchange is ridiculous. He floats a metaphor. The "situation", he says, is "a perfect storm".

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/03/mexico-drug-war-killing-fields)

The mayor before him was assinated. He is wise to choose his words sparingly and carefully. Mr. Carroll goes on to describe the small town turned into an utter wasteland of burnings, beheadings, murders, kidnappings and “disappearances”.

Consider the following:

More than 28,000 people have died in Mexico's drug wars since President Felipe Calderón launched a military-led offensive against the cartels upon taking office in December 2006, and there seems no end in sight.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/03/mexico-war-drugs-violence

What is certain is that kidnappings of desperate and vulnerable men and women seeking to scramble across the Mexico-US border are commonplace. Mexico's National Human Rights Commission estimated in a report presented last year that nearly 20,000 migrants are kidnapped annually, based on the number of reports it received between September 2008 and February 2009. The government disputes these figures.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/05/brazilian-immigrants-gunned-down-mexico

Yes, we have our share of random and senseless acts of violence here but nothing on the scale Mexico is experiencing. For the most part, gang bangers here are not as well armed or as well trained at the police, much less our military. In Mexico this is not the case. The Cartels are often better armed and have more training than the police. The Gulf Cartel for example, uses ex- military and police as enforcers. They are known as the Zetas. They know police and military tactics.(http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34215.pdf) The level of violence is extreme, with beheadings, running gun battles, child soldiers (acting as hit-men), mass graves and torture. All too often there is zero accountability.

Part II later this week...