Border Gangs and Infiltration in America

A few days ago I had read just enough to want to alert you to what I saw as a conspiracy. (I'm beginning to see one behind every tree.) The first piece was about the fact that the military in Mexico appear to be the only front against drug trafficking since so many officials from law enforcement to government and judicial arenas appear to be corrupted. I was going to just put in a hint that we might be looking at a military junta in Mexico in the near future and with the unrest in other places in South America we should just be aware.

Well, Friday evening we happened on a History Channel hour describing "Gangland-Phoenix, Zeta." One of the first descriptions was that the drug cartels are so strong and so wealthy that they have hired the best of the best of Mexican military (I guess like Black Ops or Green Beret types) which makes a killing machine look like child's play.

I googled "Gangland-Phoenix, Zeta" and there were pieces from newspapers in San Diego, Dallas and Phoenix which I would recommend, but first I do want to tell you that on the program some folks appeared to put their lives on the line by just being photographed-reporter from the Washington Times and a couple of law enforcement folks.

The most shocking that, in my limited Spanish, means little Zetas or Zetillas. They also used the term Locenta or Locetta-difficult to understand, but which only means that they recruit young boys around 13 who appear to be amoral and alone to train in violence. One of the first ways they are tested is to just go up to someone, put a gun to their head and kill them with no compunction whatsoever. These people kill by burning (alive or dead,) killing with acid or fed to animals. Unbelievable!
They are told they can make a choice-plata (silver) or plomo (lead)-- live or die.

The infiltration is taking place by working into the already existing gang structure in the U.S. and using it to their advantage. This is apparently a cost benefit, saving time and money by using the Crips, Bloods, etc., etc.

It isn't as though we don't have enough problems, but burying our heads in the sand will not make it go away and will only get worse. Just be aware.

Global warming had to wait--this is more important. Wherever you are reading this, it would be interesting to know whether the media in your area is reporting on it.

God bless-

A Gift from Planned Parenthood?

So, is this a tax deductible gift?

Seriously, the latest in weird is the Indiana Planned Parenthood initiating a new gift card which on the surface sounds like a good idea? Right! PAP smears, mammograms, copays on your insurace, etc. However, here's the kicker: Also good for the "birth control method of your choice." In Planned Parenthoodspeak that also encompasses abortion, doesn't it?

You can write the end of this column, but my comment: Only in Indiana, so far, and then it becomes "Only in America."

We need to talk about carbon tax vs cap and trade tomorrow.

See ya

Economy Puzzle

Having a little trouble figuring out just how a stimulus to the economy will work when it is comprised of road and bridge building? Are you thinking, as I am, that these are the kinds of jobs that Americans "won't" do so we need to let illegals cross the border to fill those jobs? How is that going to help the white collar folks who have lost jobs? And anyone else, for that matter.

Then again, younger folks need to be reminded of the definition of CCC camps, PWA and WPA. If memory serves, the Civil Service camps were for men only whose contributions consisted of chores such as the felling and planting of trees in public forest areas.

I admit I had to google Public Works Administration and Works Progress Administration because I get them mixed up, but I recommend it for fascinating reading in any case.

PWA - Created in June of 1933 by the National Industrial Recovery Act and was to spend "big bucks on big projects" and "prime the pump" to encourage economic growth. Some 34,000 projects included dams for electricity, airports, aircraft carriers and seventy percent of the new schools and one third of the hospitals built during that time. Apparently they considered affordable housing to be unsuccessful. It was disbanded in June of 1941 in favor of war production efforts.

WPA - Established in 1935 by executive order and in 1939 transferred to the Federal Works Agency. Projects included highways and building construction, slum clearance, reforestation and rural rehabilitation. (Its size made waste, and political favoritism inevitable.) Interestingly, it also included artists, actors, musicians and writers which brought art to small town America. It served 8,500,000 individuals and 1,410,000 projects before it was terminated in June of 1943. Some projects overlapped the PWA or perhaps continued when PWA was disbanded. Over 651,000 miles of highways, roads and streets were constructed or improved; 124,031 bridges, 125,110 public buildings 8,192 parks and 853 landing fields were added to the list.

So on this Thanksgiving Day our hearts and hands go out to those in need, but we are still thankful that we are blessed to live in the greatest country on earth.

See ya.....

Conspiracy, anyone?

I don't usually read the money pages in the Wall Street Journal--but you don't have to in order to recognize the name Cerberus, right? You know, the "investors" who have a stake in Chrysler and GMAC as we speak? Well, guess what! They also had/have their finger in the pie which contains the fruits of Mervyn's, Dayton-Hudson's and Target.

Turns out, to make a long story short, that Cerberus came into this picture and bought Mervyn's, but did it in a way that would be the equivalent of the golden parachute for the big boy players in the event of bad business. They split the purchase into the retail operations and also the real estate which made them landlords to the stores.

For the first year things were going along nicely enough for them to get a healthy dividend but as things went south (they have a disproportionate number of stores in California) they were at the forefront and Mervyn's was liquidated, all the employees lost their jobs receiving no severance pay or accrued vacation, etc. which is now in the hands of bankruptcy judges.

And, you guessed it!! The big boys (Cerberus) still have the real estate.

What does this have to do with a conspiracy? Well, it's a stretch, but isn't it interesting that many of their "investments" aren't faring so well? Perhaps if I were more of a student of the private equity news in the financial section I would have seen this coming. I just can't help thinking that there is probably someone on the staff of each and every Congressman/woman and maybe a couple for Senators whose job it is to follow this kind of reporting.

How can Washington be so surprised? And how can they be so indignant when questioning some of the participants? Seems to me that they are a part of the problem since they sure as heck are not part of the solution. This has got to be one of the worst kept secrets on the Hill.

God bless us all--we really need it when some really smart, sneaky people are in charge of areas that affect all of us.

See ya

Just Some Food for Thought

When I called it "Change Back" I didn't realize that someone had already coined the Obama administration the "Clinton Third Term." Seems much more appropriate.

No matter how you feel about the "assistance" to the Big Three you might be interested in the following:

#1 - The auto industry has been historically connected to Detroit. However, as an example Fairfax, Kansas assembles the Malibu and the Saturn Aura with 2500 workers plus collateral services in finance, education, healthcare, legal needs, retail, etc., etc.

#2 - U. S. based companies have 105 assembly and component plants in 30 states, including California, Texas, Louisiana and Maryland to name a few not generally considered to be dependent to any degree on the automotive field.

#3 - The Big 3 last year purchased $156 Billion in parts, materials and services which support jobs in all 50 states.

Let's just hope they do it right, whatever the action.

See ya--

Deal or No Deal????

Oh, for Pete's sake! I just can't figure this out any more. Another Clinton appointee, Larry Sommers.

What kind of deal have they struck? It's almost as though Obama is willing to settle for 4 years so Hillary can get ready for 2012. These kinds of deals don't cost anything monetarily, but somewhere along the line Hillary has to pay off her campaign debt and Bill has to open the books on his library donations, many of which were apparently from abroad. Does this make anyone else squirm just a little bit?

Just returned from a dinner with family and friends about an hour north of Lansing. On the way we stopped at an apple orchard which does a great business selling fun for kids, gift shop in one building, winery in another, snacks such as cider and donuts in another and farm produce in another. The sign on the highway advertised Honey Crisps at 30% off so we thought we'd buy a few because they're so expensive at the supermarket. Imagine our surprise when we were told they weren't sold by the pound or even per apple, but only by the peck or bushel starting at $14.

This is either a hobby for these folks or even people on unemployment still buy apples. I guess I'd be a terrible business person 'cuz I'd surely try to sell whatever a potential customer wanted. I always thought most businesses were concerned with service and repeat business. You learn something every day, right?

Romorrow is Sunday. Have a good day and God bless--

Leaks vs Intentional Leaks?

It's getting to the point where you can't tell which is subversive, intentional or acidental or who is playing whom without a program. We need an organizational chart!

One thing we know for sure: the market reacts to anticipation and the odds on the bets make the world go 'round and 'round. The futures markets are the casinos of Wall Street. It's just too bad these guys aren't clairvoyant or we'd all be rich.
Well, maybe not. The manipulation scares the heck out of me. There is still this nagging thought in the back of my mind: Is George Soros wealthy enough and smart enough to have brought the bad economic news that elected his guy? Or is there a group out there who don't leak their intentions/actions who really are capable of manipulating the economy of not only the country but the world? Um. Um. Um.

So the losses of the past few weeks have had many cause and effect scenarios, but the "leak" of the next Treasury Sec'y is enough for the Street to anticipate what should be good news and we watch the market ramp up. There's one thing for sure. We have nowhere to go but up and the scenario calls for all the credit to go to Sen. Obama. Is this that obvious or am I that naive? Doesn't everyone see it

God bless.