Tag Archives: mexico

International

Dengue fever spreading around the world

Since my last posting about Dengue fever, in April 2011, the disease is infecting even more people in even more countries.

Asia is seeing the most increase in cases this year.

As of July 11, the Philippines has tens of thousands of cases, and almost 200 deaths.  Officials are warning that when the rainy season hits, they expect Dengue cases to jump.

In India, just one hospital treated 160 children with Dengue, 10 of which died.  Indian officials are also warning of a sharp increase in cases when the rainy season starts.

In Australia, health officials are reporting that many Australians, returning from vacations, are coming home infected with Dengue.  So far 354 cases have been confirmed.  Last year Australia had only 156 confirmed Dengue cases.

“I have to keep an Excel spreadsheet now to keep up to date with all the outbreaks that occur up here.”-John McBride, Cairns Base Hospital, Australia

In Saudi Arabia, just in the capital city of Jeddah, an average of 130 new cases are being reported every week.

In Mexico an experimental Dengue vaccine is being tried on 1,000 children in the towns of Valladolid and Tizimín.  The vaccine is in the third stage of study, before it can be approved for widespread use.

In Peru, the mayor of one city has ordered fumigation of the entire city, after 10 people became sick with the hemorrhagic fever.  Two of the infected have died.  As many as 150 Peruvians are sick with Dengue.

Brazil has been enjoying some success in fighting Dengue.  So far this year 340 cases have been confirmed, compared to last year’s 2589 cases (then again this year isn’t over).

Dengue is spread by mosquitoes. Travelers are being warned of vacation spots that have high risk of Dengue hemorrhagic fever:  Asia, Africa, Middle East and South America.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Mazda will stop U.S. production, moving to Japan & Mexico

Mazda announced that it will stop production of its Mazda6, at a Ford plant in Michigan.  Mazda will move production of the Mazda6 back to Japan.

The Michigan plant is a joint venture between Ford and Mazda, known as AutoAlliance International.  The joint venture has been losing money ever since the ‘credit crisis’.

Mazda also plans to build cars in Mexico, mainly for the booming Latin American car market.  Some Mexican built Mazdas will be sold in the United States.  Rumors are that Mazda wants out of its joint venture with Ford.

 

 

 

International, U.S.

Japanese to pay for part of BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil disaster

While British Petroleum fights to pin blame on others for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, they somehow have convinced one of its Japanese business partners to pay for part of it.

MOEX, a unit of Japanese trading firm Mitsui and Company, will pay just over $1 billion to cover damages and clean up.  MOEX is a 10% shareholder of BP.

British Petroleum is struggling to come up with an estimated $40 billion to pay for damages and clean up.

International

Drug War spills into Guatemala, State of Siege declared, once again migrant workers the targets, drug gangs are actually Mexican NAZIs

This past weekend at least 27 bodies were found in a mass grave along Guatemala’s border with Mexico.  Since then Guatemalan forces have battled with suspects, resulting in the capture of one, and killing two.

Now the President of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, has declared a State of Siege.  He says they’ve identified the bodies in the mass grave as migrant workers, who were trying to get into Mexico for jobs.  Colom says the migrants were killed by the Zetas Drug Gang.

I’ve asked this before: Why would drug dealers want to kill migrant workers?  This looks more like something that radical right wing nationalist would do, not purely drug dealers.

The majority of people killed in Mexico’s Drugs War have been migrant works from outside Mexico.  Don’t forget that many tourists from the United States have been killed, for no apparent reason.  I’m suspecting that what is happening is that a pro-Mexican NAZI like group (Zetas) has risen to power, through the sale of illegal drugs, and is carrying out their ultra-nationalist agenda of ridding Mexico of all foreigners.  The drug dealing was just to get enough money to wage their war.

International, Opinion

Tens of thousands of Mexicans continue to protest Drugs War

It’s interesting how the main stream U.S. media reported the number of Drugs War protesters, over the weekend, as in the “hundreds”.  It was tens of thousands!

Reports out of Mexico vary from 20,000 to 85,000.  The latest protests took place from May 5-8, in several Mexican cities.  The people were not only protesting drug gangs, but the police and military as well.

Most of the victims in the Drugs War have been innocent civilians, especially migrant workers from Central American countries.  Which, when you think about it, doesn’t make sense.  Why would drug dealers, police or military want to kill civilians and migrant workers?  So far many local police have been arrested in connection with the mass killings of migrant workers.  It makes you wounder if this is really a Drugs War.

Now the main stream U.S. media is running reports that Mexicans support their President’s Drugs War policy.  In actuality the percent of supporters is slightly down from 2010.  Makes you wonder why the U.S. media seems to be downplaying a war in Mexico that has killed more people than the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq combined, in the past few years.

 

Business/Economics, International

Germany to pump more money into Mexico

Despite the bloody Drugs War, German companies are about to invest more money into Mexico.

German President Christian Wulff wants to increase business relations with Mexico.  Already there are 1,200 German operations in Mexico, employing 130,000 people.  Wulff also implied that Germany will help the Mexican government in their Drugs War.

Germany has historically been interested in relations with Mexico, this could be a sign of the declining influence of the United States.

International, Opinion

Mexicans don’t trust their government, cops or religion

An annual Enadis 2010 survey, released on April 12, reveals Mexicans don’t trust the police or religion.

The survey asked what Mexicans fear most. Number one was violent robbery, followed by violent act by drug gang, and at number three; being a victim of the police or other government enforcement agencies.  Gee, the government is a criminal organization?

The survey also asked Mexicans who they thought were the most intolerant.  The police came in with the most votes, followed by religious organizations.  Wow, the two groups that’re supposed to be protective and supportive of human rights are actually the worst violators of human rights?

I wonder if this War on Drugs has anything to do with it?

 

International, Opinion

Want to know what’s really going on in Mexico’s Drug War, another front in the Control through Chaos war

Notice how little coverage of the Drug War in Mexico gets in the main stream media?  After all, more people have been killed in Mexico, in the last three years, than in Afghanistan or Iraq.  Mexico is just “south of the border” from the U.S.

If you don’t mind the Spanish language, or gory pictures and video, then go to Narco Blog.

This “war” in Mexico is not about drugs, but about controlling the people of Mexico through chaos.

One of the interesting things I’ve noticed is that most of the victims of mass killings are poor migrant workers, many not even from Mexico.  I often wondered at the logistics of some of the mass killings, because it would take a lot of personnel, and organization to pull it off, you know like a military or police force.

One mass killing involved hitting the people in the head with a sledge hammer!  How do you get 20-30 people to stand still while you hit them with a sledge hammer?  For one thing you’d need a lot of people of your own, with weapons, to intimidate the victims.  On top of that investigators say heavy equipment was used to bury many of the mass killing victims.  Sounds like an organized operation involving a lot of logistical planning. Well, several weeks ago a Police chief and at least 25 police officers were arrested in connection with one mass killing.  Mmmm

The “drug gangs” are blamed for the mass killings, but what about the continuing arrests of police and military personnel for their connection to many killings?  This could indicate that the “drug gangs” are so powerful that they’ve taken over government agencies.  Or it could be that this really isn’t about “drugs”.

Several survivors of kidnappings say they were being used as ransom to raise money for the gangs, or being forced to join them.  This goes against the idea that the drug gangs are making money from drug trafficking.  If they’re making billions every year from trafficking drugs into the United States, why do they need to hold poor people hostage for money?   One farmer could only pay half a ransom, so the gangs returned to him only half of his son.

Logic will tell you the main reason why people get involved in drug trafficking is to get lots of money.  It doesn’t make sense to waste that money going around killing a lot of poor people, and it makes even less sense to kidnap poor people for money they don’t have!

The other concern is why would gangs want to impress poor people into their ranks?  The more personnel you have in your illegal drug trafficking operation, the more you have to divide any profit from your sales.

This thing in Mexico is starting to look and sound like whats going on in parts of the Middle East and North Africa, only on a bigger scale.  In the predominantly Muslim world, so called al-Qaeda is kidnapping for ransom, forcing people to join them, and committing seemingly random and illogical attacks and bombings.  And by the way, notice that most of the “religious radical” attacks are against the very people of the region (mainly poor people), not the foreign occupiers?

Is the Mexican “Drug War” just another front in the sinister global “Control through Chaos” operation being run by the Elites?   If you’re a Christian you should remember the story of the statue with the feet of clay.  The leader of Babylon was concerned with taking on a certain enemy.  He had a dream about a statue.  The head was gold, and symbolized the elite.  The statue’s make up changed as you moved towards the feet.  The feet are made of clay, they represent the poor people of any society. Nebuchadnezzar was told in the dream that if he wanted to bring down his enemy, he had to attack the poor people of his enemy’s territory.

Notice that the majority of people being targeted, around the world in the “War on Terror” and in “Drug Wars”, by both the government forces and the terrorists/drug gangs, are poor people.

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

BP blames rig owner for Gulf of Mexico oil disaster

British Petroleum is suing Transocean for at least $40 billion in damages.  BP claims the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history was caused by the failure of every safety system on the Deepwater Horizon rig.

BP is also suing Cameron International, claiming they provided a faulty blowout preventer.

Transocean, and Cameron International are suing BP, saying British Petroleum caused the problems, by making decisions based on cost savings, not safety.

Transocean is also suing Cameron International, and Halliburton, as well.