Mexico candidate: Drug gangs contact all hopefuls
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO – Jun 12, 2009
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A ruling party mayoral candidate in Mexico's richest city told his supporters that drug traffickers have contacted all leading political contenders in the country seeking their loyalty ahead of elections next month.
Mauricio Fernandez's discussion with a group of supporters in a suburb of Monterrey — a leaked recording of which was broadcast throughout Mexico on Friday — is a remarkably frank description of how the brutal gangs try to control political leaders, which is a key concern of President Felipe Calderon in his fight against drug cartels.
The candidate also acknowledged that the Beltran Levya cartel controls drug smuggling in his city of San Pedro Garza and suggested that as mayor he would avoid confronting the gang to maintain peace, comments that undermined Calderon's drive to show that the government and his National Action Party, or PAN, are tough on organized crime.
Fernandez's campaign was thrown into turmoil by the recording, but he stood by the comments, saying he was merely telling the truth. He denied meeting with any traffickers during this campaign and said he rejected efforts by gangsters to buy his loyalty when he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Nuevo Leon state six years ago.
"I am stating the reality that my city is living," Fernandez told MVS Radio. "I don't have any reason to hide it."
PAN had no immediate comment on the recording, nor was it clear how the government would react.
Calderon has acknowledged that corrupt police and elected officials are a major obstacle in his fight with organized crime. Federal forces last month arrested 10 mayors in the president's home state of Michoacan for alleged drug gang ties. Calderon has held up the arrests as a demonstration that no politicians are immune to prosecution: two of the mayors belong to the PAN and a third is from a coalition including it.
The fear that cartels will buy off politicians is a constant theme as Mexicans prepare to vote July 5 for 500 congressional seats, six governors and 565 mayors nationwide.
Fernandez addressed that issue with his supporters.
"Drug trafficking is really endemic and they come in contact with all candidates, at least those who have a chance of winning," he says.
The leaked audiotape lays bare what few politicians have been willing to address publicly. Even Fernandez at one point pauses in his discussion, saying: "There are no journalists here, right?"
Fernandez then tells why his wealthy suburb is relatively peaceful, while killings have been much more frequent than elsewhere in the Monterrey region: The Beltran Leyva cartel has undisputed control of San Pedro Garza Garcia, unlike other areas where gangs weakened by the federal crackdown are engaged in bloody turf battles with rivals.
"Look, this is a scary thing, what I'm going to tell you," Fernandez says. "A lot of San Pedro is peaceful compared to how the metropolitan area is starting to deteriorate. It's because here, the Beltran Leyva are in control."
If elected, Fernandez implies he has no intention of challenging that control as long as the gang refrains from open drug dealing.
"They give a lot of importance to living in peace, that's what I understand," he says. "So that has to be seized upon — that they give a lot of importance to living in peace — and that they say: 'Well, OK, I will not sell or I'm not going to sell (here).' As long as the government doesn't confront them, they accept you."
Four top members of the Beltran Leyva cartel are on Mexico's most-wanted list, eluding capture for years despite the government's offer of more than $2 million each for information leading to their arrest.
On the tape, Fernandez says he knows that the cartel's top leader lived in his suburb for seven years and that several relatives still live in town today — "discreetly and hiding their identity, but they live here, make no doubt about it."
The Mexican government has sent more than 45,000 soldiers to drug hotspots to confront the violence that has killed more than 10,800 people since 2006. Officials attribute much of the violence to turf wars between cartels.
On Friday, police found the bodies of five men dumped beside on a highway in the sparsely populated northern state of Durango, all with signs of torture. Four more bodies were found in different parts of Ciudad Juarez, a city across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Mexico's navy, meanwhile, announced the discovery of a large methamphetamine lab in the northern state of Sinaloa. The navy said the 50,000 liters (about 13,200 gallons) of liquid ephedrine — one of the precursor chemicals for meth — in a record find for Mexico.
Mexican officials say they dealt a blow to the meth trade when they banned the import of precursor chemicals, but U.S. and Central American officials say drug cartels getting around the ban buying such materials in other Latin American countries and smuggling them into Mexico.
In the taped conversation at least, Fernandez suggests the federal government should pick other battles rather than come to his town. Even the cartel is on board with his campaign's plans to use local police to make the suburb safe, he says.
Fernandez adds that he doesn't consider the Beltran Leyva cartel members as bad as other Mexican criminals, saying that "they don't kidnap and do all those things."
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Here is something all America can support
Iran 2.0
The world of wired dissidents will grow.
By DANIEL HENNINGER
Mark down the Iranian people as an inconvenient truth.
Those who have become close followers of the Iranian nuclear-weapon program -- now approaching its fifth anniversary of Western wheel-spinning in the Persian sand -- know that the menu of options on the table has been limited.
One was bomb Iran. No need to rehearse the reasons given for not doing that, other than the clear understanding that the West simply won't do it.
Two was sanctions, mainly a gasoline embargo. Again, the main show-stopper is that the Western powers won't do it.
Thus, the default option -- talks. The talks began in September 2003, with the U.S. assenting to a "EU-3" negotiating team of Britain, France and Germany. These all-stars gave Iran until the end of the following month to tell all. Nearly five years later it's still just blah, blah, blah.
Bereft of ideas or will, the great powers have spent four years letting the world slide toward some sort of Armageddon in the Middle East -- either an Iranian nuclear launch or a pre-emptive strike by the Israelis.
Oh, and there was always a fourth option: Support the internal Iranian opposition. The argument against was: It's too small, unreachable, unknowable, will backfire.
As always, history has outmaneuvered the smart alecks in the world's foreign ministries. The Iranian opposition -- large, reachable, knowable, fired up -- has forced itself to the top of a reluctant president's to-do list.
What's really ironic about this is how history in the form of Iran's people got so far out ahead of Barack Obama, the most leading-edge figure in modern politics. A week into images of streets filled with people, blood and democratic aspiration, the world's man of the moment became a trailing indicator, only two days ago getting well behind the Iranian opposition movement. During last fall's campaign, he led a movement that swept all before it on a wave of what is known as Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 has become a metaphor. The communications technologies are important -- cell phones, social networks, messaging protocols -- but its more interesting attribute is that it enhances the role, and power, of individuals.
In the 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama brought onboard tech-savvy aides to build out his Web presence, among them Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Essentially what they did was to create innumerable electronic gateways for Obama supporters and volunteers. For example, they assembled 35,000 affinity groups linked by geography or cultural interests.
The people protesting Iran's election results have deployed many of the same tools. Much astonishing footage of the marches and pitched battles has been recorded as cellphone video and uploaded to sites like YouTube and then to cable TV.
However dramatic, all of this is quite normal. Web 2.0's individualizing power is being adopted as a competitive tool by every serious commercial enterprise in the world trading system. Why should we not expect the same tools to be used in a competition between upward-striving peoples and suppressive regimes?
Fighting back, Iran's authorities have jammed, blocked or shut down YouTube, text-messaging traffic, Twitter, cellphones, satellites and Web sites. In turn, supporters of the protests have attempted counter-strikes called "distributed denial-of-service attacks" against the government's Web sites.
This isn't just some fascinating sci-fi techie battle. Technology is unavoidably a major element now in the world of geopolitics. Iran can't grow economically, can't become "normal," without letting its people use Web 2.0. The same goes for Egypt, Syria and other politically significant players. Absent liberal use of Web 2.0, they will drop faster toward failure, which in our time infers a default to acquiring nuclear capability as a crude equalizer and then striking out at the winners.
This is a puzzle. Mr. Obama should task his smarter people -- for instance at the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment -- to find a path out of the State Department's standard model of our diplomats talking to their fake diplomats. That model made him look foolish this week. Nuance needs an upgrade. He should seek a new model that incorporates the wired dissidents not only because it is the right thing to do. But because it is unavoidable. Intelligent meddling.
Tehran the past week is not a one-off. The world of wired dissidents will grow at the same rate as communications technology. These dissidents and their overlords in Tehran and Beijing are the ones now shaping the rules and boundaries of the information-technology future -- what's allowable and what isn't.
A West led by passive leadership will find its commercial protocols written by mullahs and Chinese bureaucrats. (Though where centralizing Western governments think their interests lie in this competition between Web 2.0 and public authority is an interesting question.)
Some media has been spinning criticism of Mr. Obama's early passivity as "neoconservative opportunism." This is nonsense. The technology of Web 2.0 and beyond means no major power can hide from the forces in motion in Iran's streets today, and somewhere else tomorrow. Those who want to hide are the statist Left and the isolationist Right. This is old America. A new American foreign policy has to deal with the world as it exists. You have been watching it on screens large and small since last week.
The world of wired dissidents will grow.
By DANIEL HENNINGER
Mark down the Iranian people as an inconvenient truth.
Those who have become close followers of the Iranian nuclear-weapon program -- now approaching its fifth anniversary of Western wheel-spinning in the Persian sand -- know that the menu of options on the table has been limited.
One was bomb Iran. No need to rehearse the reasons given for not doing that, other than the clear understanding that the West simply won't do it.
Two was sanctions, mainly a gasoline embargo. Again, the main show-stopper is that the Western powers won't do it.
Thus, the default option -- talks. The talks began in September 2003, with the U.S. assenting to a "EU-3" negotiating team of Britain, France and Germany. These all-stars gave Iran until the end of the following month to tell all. Nearly five years later it's still just blah, blah, blah.
Bereft of ideas or will, the great powers have spent four years letting the world slide toward some sort of Armageddon in the Middle East -- either an Iranian nuclear launch or a pre-emptive strike by the Israelis.
Oh, and there was always a fourth option: Support the internal Iranian opposition. The argument against was: It's too small, unreachable, unknowable, will backfire.
As always, history has outmaneuvered the smart alecks in the world's foreign ministries. The Iranian opposition -- large, reachable, knowable, fired up -- has forced itself to the top of a reluctant president's to-do list.
What's really ironic about this is how history in the form of Iran's people got so far out ahead of Barack Obama, the most leading-edge figure in modern politics. A week into images of streets filled with people, blood and democratic aspiration, the world's man of the moment became a trailing indicator, only two days ago getting well behind the Iranian opposition movement. During last fall's campaign, he led a movement that swept all before it on a wave of what is known as Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 has become a metaphor. The communications technologies are important -- cell phones, social networks, messaging protocols -- but its more interesting attribute is that it enhances the role, and power, of individuals.
In the 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama brought onboard tech-savvy aides to build out his Web presence, among them Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Essentially what they did was to create innumerable electronic gateways for Obama supporters and volunteers. For example, they assembled 35,000 affinity groups linked by geography or cultural interests.
The people protesting Iran's election results have deployed many of the same tools. Much astonishing footage of the marches and pitched battles has been recorded as cellphone video and uploaded to sites like YouTube and then to cable TV.
However dramatic, all of this is quite normal. Web 2.0's individualizing power is being adopted as a competitive tool by every serious commercial enterprise in the world trading system. Why should we not expect the same tools to be used in a competition between upward-striving peoples and suppressive regimes?
Fighting back, Iran's authorities have jammed, blocked or shut down YouTube, text-messaging traffic, Twitter, cellphones, satellites and Web sites. In turn, supporters of the protests have attempted counter-strikes called "distributed denial-of-service attacks" against the government's Web sites.
This isn't just some fascinating sci-fi techie battle. Technology is unavoidably a major element now in the world of geopolitics. Iran can't grow economically, can't become "normal," without letting its people use Web 2.0. The same goes for Egypt, Syria and other politically significant players. Absent liberal use of Web 2.0, they will drop faster toward failure, which in our time infers a default to acquiring nuclear capability as a crude equalizer and then striking out at the winners.
This is a puzzle. Mr. Obama should task his smarter people -- for instance at the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment -- to find a path out of the State Department's standard model of our diplomats talking to their fake diplomats. That model made him look foolish this week. Nuance needs an upgrade. He should seek a new model that incorporates the wired dissidents not only because it is the right thing to do. But because it is unavoidable. Intelligent meddling.
Tehran the past week is not a one-off. The world of wired dissidents will grow at the same rate as communications technology. These dissidents and their overlords in Tehran and Beijing are the ones now shaping the rules and boundaries of the information-technology future -- what's allowable and what isn't.
A West led by passive leadership will find its commercial protocols written by mullahs and Chinese bureaucrats. (Though where centralizing Western governments think their interests lie in this competition between Web 2.0 and public authority is an interesting question.)
Some media has been spinning criticism of Mr. Obama's early passivity as "neoconservative opportunism." This is nonsense. The technology of Web 2.0 and beyond means no major power can hide from the forces in motion in Iran's streets today, and somewhere else tomorrow. Those who want to hide are the statist Left and the isolationist Right. This is old America. A new American foreign policy has to deal with the world as it exists. You have been watching it on screens large and small since last week.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
My new place
Seeing how the pool at my apartment, one of the prime reasons why I moved into the place, has been closed for 5 months now, and my lease is up, I'm looking for something new. I checked out this place today and like it alot. The rent is expensive (of course, I live in LA after all) but since parking is free it works out to about the same as what I pay now. Check it out if you're interested...
Reply to: hous-ftygg-1221027369@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-06-14, 9:39AM PDT
$1400 For Lease! Downtown Los Angeles - Savoy Loft - Available Now!!! (Downtown LA) (map)
Reply to: hous-ftygg-1221027369@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-06-14, 9:39AM PDT
For Lease! This unit available now!!! This is a fairly brand new, studio condo unit (built 2006) in the new 4-story SAVOY building at 100 South Alameda Street (southeast corner of 1st Street and Alameda Street) in Downtown Los Angeles. This new building contains 303 units, a large community swimming pool, a jacuzzi, a private sports bar, a conference center, a screening room, a fitness center, 24 hour security, and several elevators.
It is within walking distance of the financial district, the jewelry district, toy town, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Olvera Street, Union Station, the produce market, the flower market, USC, City Hall, the LA Times Building, the state and federal court buildings, Parker Center, LA DWP Building, Disney Music Hall, and others. Also, the new Gold Line train will now be running from Pasadena to Downtown LA's Union Station to Monterey Park, and will have a stop at 1st and Alameda, right across the street. This is set to open in late June/early July.
The unit is a studio unit on the 3rd floor, and approximately 504 square feet, with a closet, bathroom/shower, washer/dryer, refrigerator, range, microwave, dishwasher, a balcony with a view of the pool and courtyard.
This is perfect for a working professional or student who wants to maintain a residence close to work without the hassles of ownership, or for other who just want a nice and new place of their own right here in Downtown Los Angeles.
A credit check will be required, and a $20 credit check fee will be required as well. Minimum 6 months lease, and your option for a longer lease if desired.
NOTE: I will be availble to show the condo the following days: June 9 - Tuesday (11am to 8pm), and June 10 - Wednesday (11am to 8pm). If you want to see it, call me at 213-709-7147 and ask for Jay, or email me. Thanks for looking!!
100 South Alameda Street (google map) (yahoo map)
It is within walking distance of the financial district, the jewelry district, toy town, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Olvera Street, Union Station, the produce market, the flower market, USC, City Hall, the LA Times Building, the state and federal court buildings, Parker Center, LA DWP Building, Disney Music Hall, and others. Also, the new Gold Line train will now be running from Pasadena to Downtown LA's Union Station to Monterey Park, and will have a stop at 1st and Alameda, right across the street. This is set to open in late June/early July.
The unit is a studio unit on the 3rd floor, and approximately 504 square feet, with a closet, bathroom/shower, washer/dryer, refrigerator, range, microwave, dishwasher, a balcony with a view of the pool and courtyard.
This is perfect for a working professional or student who wants to maintain a residence close to work without the hassles of ownership, or for other who just want a nice and new place of their own right here in Downtown Los Angeles.
A credit check will be required, and a $20 credit check fee will be required as well. Minimum 6 months lease, and your option for a longer lease if desired.
NOTE: I will be availble to show the condo the following days: June 9 - Tuesday (11am to 8pm), and June 10 - Wednesday (11am to 8pm). If you want to see it, call me at 213-709-7147 and ask for Jay, or email me. Thanks for looking!!
100 South Alameda Street (google map) (yahoo map)
- Location: Downtown LA
- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
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Health Care speech in Chicago
Recently President Oboma gave a speech to the American Medical Association in Chicago (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-the-Annual-Conference-of-the-American-Medical-Association/). I agree with a lot of his points; implementing electronic medical records, reforming Medicaid payment and focusing on preventive medicine. However, are these items doable with a government takeover or public option (against-refrom vs. pro-reform)? I guess we'll have to see what happens and see if a public option is just a fancy term for Medicaid.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Welcome to the family blog!
The idea of this blog is to allow an environment where the family can converse and share photos on a variety of subjects. All topics are welcome from, shooting under 90 on 18 holes of golf, fighting over lost blackberries with your incompetent co-workers, line dancing technique/etiquette, or having pleasant family vacations which include multiple family members excreting gastric acid. Anyways, I hope all is well and keeps everyone connected!
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