Is Mexico slowing descending in chaos/lawlessness

[José]

The fact is Latin Americans, in general, can only dream of having anything remotely similar to New Zealand's crime rates.

People, Grump's homeland is so peaceful that besides the occasional drunken Maori, this guy is the only troublemaker you'll find on the entire island:

 

[José]

Kea

The Kea is a large species of parrot found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand.

 

[José]

The Kea's notorious urge to explore and manipulate, combined with strong neophilia, makes this bird a pest for residents and an attraction for tourists. Called "the clown of the mountains", it will investigate backpacks, boots or even cars, often causing damage or flying off with smaller items.

A Kea causing damage to a car by pulling the trim from around the windscreen of a car.

A kea investigates a carload of tourists.

Kea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Dr Grump]

Yeah, the kea is a little shit...a protected little shit.
That aside, you overstate our crime rate. It has its problems like any country, but nowhere near as big as Mexico's, or other parts of Latin America....

 

[José]

Sorry for (slightly) derailing your thread, Grump.

It goes without saying I'm a diehard fan of wildlife documentaries...

I was brought close to tears when David Attenborough said on one of his shows that the symphony of bird sounds that echoed throughout New Zealand's mountains and forests is now almost entirely gone due to introduced foreign species like dogs, cats and possums.

Thank God for New Zealand's tiny islands where the country's wonderful birds like Kakapo still have a fighting chance.

 

[Dr Grump]

Sorry for (slightly) derailing your thread, Grump.

It goes without saying I'm a diehard fan of wildlife documentaries...

I was brought close to tears when David Attenborough said on one of his shows that the symphony of bird sounds that echoed throughout New Zealand's mountains and forests is now almost entirely gone due to introduced foreign species like dogs, cats and possums.

Thank God for New Zealand's tiny islands where the country's wonderful birds like Kakapo still have a fighting chance.

I visited Waipoua Forest in Northland about 15 years ago. Saw Tane Mahuta (biggest kauri tree in the country). What struck me though, was the total lack of noise in the forest. Not a sound. There are supposed to be about 400 kiwi in there, but nada. Biggest problem by far are possums and ferral cats. However, a friend of mine visited the place about three years ago and said there were a lot of sounds in the forest these days. So maybe 1080 drops and the like are working....

 

[The Rabbi]

First we can put paid to the idea of solving the drug problem by legalizing marijuana. Mexico did this with the obvious effect.
Second, the problem is much worse because drug cartels are fighting for control of trade routes into the U.S. Yes, Mexico had a very corrupt system but you did not see the violence like today.
Finally the U.S. ought to consider simply annexing the northern part of Mexico and imposing our own law there. The population would welcome it, having been driven from the homes by the violence. How long until that violence spills over into the border areas of the U.S.?

 

[GHook93]

It depends on where you go. My Parents LIVE in Mexico for 3-4 months each year in Puerta Vallarta and they say its as safe as can be. My mom even walks alone.

But its dangerous now because Calderon the Hero has said enough is enough and its time to take on the drug cartels and gangs. In the end he will be viewed as the hero that brought Mexico out of the 3rd world to the 1st!

I don't know whether it has always been, or whether these drug cartels are just making more headlines than usual, but it seems to me that the Federal and state govts of Mexico are fucked.

Don't get me wrong, I am not that naive to realise that the police and politicians in Mexico have not always been corrupt, but it seems to have become totally out of control over the past 4-5 years.

Gunmen kill mother protesting over slain daughter

As a personal anecdote of sorts, my cousin played rugby in San Diego about 15-20 years ago and he popped over the border to Tijuana. He got pulled over by a Federale who tried the shakedown on him. Being from a country where corruption is negligible to say the least - and being a hot head to boot - he refused to cooperate. The federale started getting a bit pissed, but what the cop didn't realise that my cousin had four US marines in the car with him (well, he knew he had passengers, but didn't know what they did for a living). So a couple of them get out, tell them what they do, and the guy backed off big time. He ended up apologising, and they got talking to him, and it turned out he had to pay for his own uniform and gun and ammo. And his pay was negligible. Is this a case where strong central govt is important? That tax laws are enforced so govt workers can earn a decent salary and not have to rely on the blight of corruption to make ends meet? Because once corruption does take hold you end up with tinpot dictatorships that dot the globe like those in Africa, parts of Asia and South America?

 

[Samson]

We need to be more patient with the poor old drooling idiot.

In the second page of the thread, Grump has finally hit upon a rational thought without his customary rambling babble.

There are already a few US military bases along the border with Mexico.

Hey, the epitome of patience is that I even entertain your answers.

How many bases are there along the border.

Oh, and I am on my first page. See, I figured out that you can see 40 posts per page if you change the settings. I see you are still at the default settings, so doing something as remedial as changing the number of posts you can see per page is beyond your feeble mind. No surprises there....

Such a genius....yet you cannot google "US military bases"

Apparently you're some sort of idiot savant, specializing changing settings.

 

[José]

I admit I know nothing about US military bases along the US-Mexican border but I don't think their purpose has anything to do with border patrol.

You can have the entire US army stationed along the border. If they're not assigned the specific mission of patrolling/securing the border they'll be as effective as a tumbleweed or saguaro.

 

[José]

I used to oppose drastic measures like border militarisation in the past but now I'm willing to accept just about anything that'll stop Mexico-bashing in the US.

The whole world's fed up to his ass with all this whining!!!!

Either reduce the flow of illegal Mexicans to a trickle once and for all or just throw in the towel, raise the white flag and accept the american Southwest as a kind of no man's land OR a region under some kind of shared sovereignty between America and Mexico.

Shit or get off the pot!!!!

 

[José]

Why do you guys think afghan refugees and the Taliban have been crossing the "border" with Pakistan for the last 40 years (since the soviet invasion)?

Because both sides are almost exclusively inhabited by the Pashtun ethnicity. Because they know they won't find a different people, speaking a foreign language on the other side. They know when they get to the "pakistani" side they'll find their own people who'll help them find a home, a job or simply hide from NATO.

The Afghanistan/Pakistan border is a figment of British cartographers' imagination and the US/Mexican border is giving it a run for its money.

Either America get serious about border control/deportation or just sit back, relax and watch the American/Mexican border become nothing but an meaningless line drawn on a piece of paper.

Stop illegal immigration or "enjoy your tacos" as Geraldo would say.

 

[The Rabbi]

I admit I know nothing about US military bases along the US-Mexican border but I don't think their purpose has anything to do with border patrol.

You can have the entire US army stationed along the border. If they're not assigned the specific mission of patrolling/securing the border they'll be as effective as a tumbleweed or saguaro.

Using U.S. troops for that would run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act.

 

[José]

Originally posted by The Rabbi
Using U.S. troops for that would run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act.

As far as I know they can do everything (intelligence gathering, surveillance) except arrest and detain illegals.

 

[Samson]

I admit I know nothing about US military bases along the US-Mexican border but I don't think their purpose has anything to do with border patrol.

You can have the entire US army stationed along the border. If they're not assigned the specific mission of patrolling/securing the border they'll be as effective as a tumbleweed or saguaro.

Using U.S. troops for that would run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Meh...Adhereing to the tenents of the The Insurrection Act would allow deploying US Military forces to circumvent Posse Comitatus.

 

[José]

Originally posted by Samson
Meh...Adhereing to the tenents of the The Insurrection Act would allow deploying US Military forces to circumvent Posse Comitatus.

Code word for Martial Law.

 

[Samson]

Originally posted by Samson
Meh...Adhereing to the tenents of the The Insurrection Act would allow deploying US Military forces to circumvent Posse Comitatus.

Code word for Martial Law.

OK.

And your point is?

 

[José]

Originally posted by Samson
OK.

And your point is?

No point at all, sorry : )

As a sovereign nation America has every right to decide whether or not the seriousness of the border issue requires such drastic measures.

I personally don't think any of the conditions necessary to declare martial law are present now but it's up to the US government to make that judgement call.

I just said above that a strong case can be made that illegal mexican immigration represents a grave threat to America's territorial integrity not to mention the drug issue but a less authoritarian way to deal with this issue would be to simply treat illegal immigration as an overriding national priority.

 

[The Rabbi]

Martial law=bad ju-ju.

 

[editec]

Looks to me like certain parts of Mexico are going down the tubes.

Poor mexican citizens living there have my sympathy.

Small wonder so many of them flee to the USA.