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Mexican City Outlaws Catcalls

17 Mar 2009

cat_calls Hot on the heels of Guanajuato, Mexico’s banning of public displays of affection comes another strange local law: the city of Culiacán has decided to fine anyone caught shouting “piropos” — catcalls — to women on the street. The anti-piropo law is just one in a series of measures designed to promote morality in the city:

The new law “Police and Good Government” that went into effect yesterday (Monday) in this city provides for economic sanctions for those who catcall, encourage or allow the viewing of pornographic websites in cybercafés and those who leave children under 12 years of age alone in parked vehicles. In addition, the law will also apply to those who do not paint the fronts of their homes and those who play live music loudly at house parties.

Some of these measures seem crazy, others sound about right, but the combination of all of these things is RANDOM. Was there suddenly an outbreak in Culiacán of catcalling, porno-looking, child-leaving and non-painting and the city council just had to put a stop to all of it? And why not fine those playing taped music loudly?

In any case, I wouldn’t worry so much about these social ills, since the first thing that comes to mind — at least to my mind — when I hear the name Culiacán is narcotráfico.

Via / El Universal

Massive Grave in Mexico Linked to Drug Cartels

6:40 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs| U.S.-Mexico Border| Violence| mexico| society · 2 Comments

15 Mar 2009

A grave containing 9 bodies was discovered over the weekend in Juarez, Mexico, and all signs point to the fact that this is yet another bloody chapter in Mexico’s on-going drug wars. CNN reports:

Investigators have yet to determine the identities of the seven men and two women found in the grave, Gonzalez said. They have not released information on how they were killed or how long they have been there.

Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight both each other and Mexican authorities. The conflict has made violence increasingly common in Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns.

The discovery coincides with the arrival of some 5,000 Mexican troops dispatched to Ciudad Juarez in an effort to put a stop the the heightening violence in the city.

To get a sense for what drug violence is doing to Ciudad Juarez (incidentally also infamous for the mysterious murders of hundreds of women over the past several years), have a look at the above video from the YouTube and Pulitzer Center “Project: Report” project.

Via / CNN

Website Makes Regular People Virtual Border Patrol Agents

13 Mar 2009

border When you think “stay-at-home-mom”, what comes to mind? I think diaper changing, grocery shopping and picking up kids from school. But at least one mom in Rochester, New York thinks “patrolling the U.S.- Mexico border via webcam”. Uhhhh…

When her baby girl takes an afternoon nap, or on those nights when she just can’t sleep, Sarah Andrews, 32, tosses off her identity as a suburban stay-at-home mom and becomes something more exotic: a “virtual deputy” patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border. From her house in a suburb of Rochester, New York, Andrews spends at least four hours a day watching a site called BlueServo.net.

There, because of a $2 million grant from the state of Texas, anyone in the world can watch grainy live video scenes of cactuses, desert mountains and the Rio Grande along Texas’ portion of the international border.

That’s right, Texas has people on the other side of the country virtually patrolling its borders in what they call “virtual stakeouts”. According to CNN, those who are participating are doing so out of a “sense of civic responsibility”.

The Texas Border Sherriff’s Coalition, the entity that runs the site, says that crime has decreased as a result of the cameras. They claim that multiple arrest have been made, all related to marijuana trafficking.

I tried to test the site out myself but the videos don’t load for me. Perhaps the site knows my politics? The sign-up form contains questions like “Do you think the border is adequately protected from crime and terrorism?” and “Do you think BlueServo’s Virtual Community Watch program will aid and improve Texas border security?” They give you the option of skipping those questions, which I did. I wonder if that’s why I can’t see the video…

What do you think of this initiative? Are the people watching these cameras from their homes couch potato versions of the Minutemen? Or just concerned citizens? Do you think this well help quell crime on the border? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Via / CNN

Mexico’s Narco Violence Continues: 5 Decapitated Heads Found

6:09 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs| Latin America| crime| mexico| society · 7 Comments

10 Mar 2009

narcoheads It seems that with each passing day, Mexico’s war on drug lords seems more and more hopeless, and the country is gripped with a seemingly endless chain of violent acts that have already left hundreds dead this year and nearly 6,000 deaths last year. The latest chapter in this bloody story is striking in its violence: this morning, 5 decapitated heads were found in an ice chests on the side of the road in rural Jalisco, Mexico. Mexico City’s La Jornada reports:

Inside styrofoam ice chests 5 male heads were found in the early morning on Tuesday in the town of fueron encontradas la madrugada de este martes cinco cabezas Ixtlahuacán del Río, some 50 kilometers north of Guadalajara, with a “narcomessage”. The macabre discovery coincides with today’s visit to Jalisco by president Felipe Calderón.

Reports we called in around 2:00 a.m. via an anonymous caller to the municipal police, who after corroborating the news alerted the state police and state judicial authorities.

Each head was found in an ice chest with packing tape wrapped around the eyes. The five containers were placed in a line alongside the the highway, very close to entrance into the town.

Heads in ice chests? Can it really get much worse than this? Savage.

Calderón had better act quickly before his country falls further into the hands of these assassins. This is not the Mexico I know and love.

Via / La Jornada

Imaga via El Informador

Olympic Athlete Phelps Caught with Bong

10:49 am By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities| Chismes| Controversia| Drugs| Sports · Comments Off

2 Feb 2009

Gold medalist and all-around sports hero Michael Phelps is in the midst of what might be a decisive moment in his career: a scandal, according to some. A photo of Phelps puffing on a bong has surfaced, and las malas lenguas are all about taking him down for it. As is to be expected, the U.S. Olympic Committee isn’t happy:

The United States Olympic Committee, which Jan.22 named Phelps its Male Athlete of the Year, issued a statement saying it was “disappointed” in Phelps’ behavior.

“Michael is a role model, and he is well aware of the responsibilities and accountability that come with setting a positive example for others, particularly young people. In this instance, regrettably, he failed to fulfill those responsibilities.

Brazillian Soccer Team to Go on Viagra

10:40 am By Maegan La Mala · Bizarro| Brazil| Drugs| Sports · Comments Off

14 Jan 2009

You’ve heard of athletes using steroids to soup up their game, but what about Viagra? Well one Brazilian soccer team is about to get a prescription for the wonder drug, allegedly to help them fight the effects of altitude sickness. Yeah…

The possibility was admitted by the club’s doctor in the city of Porto Alegre, Alarico Endres, who has been studying if the blue pill might help oxygenization of the blood in athletes and help reduce the effects of altitude.

According to Endres, some specialists believe that the remedy used by men with erectile problems can benefit athleses who need better blood oxygenization in adverse conditions.

“Based on assumptions we won’t do anything, but if research shows scientifically that Viagra improves performance in [high] altitude, we can offer it to players,” said Endres.

I don’t want to think about the atmosphere in the locker room after one of these “altitude” treatments. Look what happens in the commercial when only ONE person is on the stuff!

Via / 20 Minutos

Mexican Army Responds to Beheadings

9:43 am By Maegan La Mala · Drugs| crime| mexico| military · Comments Off

23 Dec 2008

070207_mexicoViolence_hmed3p.hmedium.jpg It was a bloody weekend in Guerrero, Mexico. As the country fights to come to terms with what occurred there on Sunday — the beheadings of 9 military men — the Mexican army is speaking up, and with a warning to the suspected culprits: los narcos.

The army’s commander in the state of Guerrero, Enrique Jorge Alonso, called the killings “a grave error” on the part of organized crime, and issued this warning:

There won’t be the slightest bit of consideration. There won’t be a concession of any sort, nor will we rest until we see these delinquents where they belong,” he said. “This is sick and despicable act of vengeance.”

2008 has shaped up to be Mexico’s bloodiest year yet with regards to narco-related killings. Back in July, the death count rose to 600 in one Mexican state alone. And with these killings, the death toll, according to the Mexican Secretary of State has doubled from last year, with 5,376 victims of drug-trafficking related murders.

Via / Diario de Yucatán

Colombia Attempting to Appeal to Green Guilt Side of Anglo Coke Users

9:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Drugs| Environment · Comments Off

20 Nov 2008

Since being green is in, the Colombian government is trying to appeal to the environmentalist side of the British cocaine users by telling them how bad the stuff is for the environment.

These people, who have good jobs and drive a hybrid car or cycle to work because they care about the environment, may go to party and do some lines of coke and they are thinking it is no problem,” Francisco Santos told The Associated Press Tuesday. “They are absolutely unaware of the ecological impact of their drug taking and we want to change that.”

Drug Related Violence in Mexico Continues

3:08 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs| mexico · 2 Comments

17 Nov 2008

tijuana%20drug%20war.jpg The BBC News is reporting that the drug related violence in Mexico was especially intense this weekend: Eleven were killed, including a young girl:

A teenage girl was among 11 people shot dead in suspected drug-related violence at the weekend in the northern city of Tijuana, authorities in Mexico say.

In one attack, masked gunmen opened fire in a pool hall, killing five people, while the girl, 14, and two men were killed in a shootout in a street.

This violence came shortly after at least one thousand people marched through Tijana demanding and end to the violence. Even worse, this violence comes after the brutal kidnapping/murder of a young boy earlier this month:

Kidnappers grabbed a 5-year-old boy from a gritty Mexico City street market, then killed him by injecting acid into his heart — a new low even for Mexico’s brutal kidnapping gangs.

The boy, Javier Morena, was the oldest son of a poor family that sold fruit at a market in the tough neighborhood of Iztapalapa, proof that the plague of kidnappings for ransom afflicts the working class as well as the wealthy.

So what is Mexican president, Felipe Calderon doing about all this? Congratulating himself on job well done. Of course.

Mexico has made “important achievements” in fighting drugs under the current administration, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Sunday.

Some 43 tons of cocaine have been seized in the littorals of the country since his government took office in December 2006, Calderon said at the welcoming ceremony in Acapulco Port for the arrival of School Vessel “Cuauhtemoc” after its international tour.

“The trafficking of that dangerous drug” was controlled, Calderon said.

For some reason, I’m thinking that concentrating on how great it is to find drugs is not quite what most Mexicans are hoping for when little boys are getting their hearts injected with acid. For some reason, I think those people might be hoping for a focus on human life and safety.

You can always count on the Mexican government to be in step with it’s people.

Immigrant Bodies as Guinea Pigs for Vaccines

11:40 am By Maegan La Mala · Drugs| Health| Immigration| Women · Comments Off

17 Sep 2008

Questioning what the U.S. government has deemed healthy and required labels many parents and women as dangerous, careless, negligent and even criminal. But given the history of the U.S. of using women’s bodies, especially the bodies of women of color, as test subjects,as part of racist policy, usually without consent, the latest move by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services should remind us the value placed on our physical health.

In July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services quietly amended its list of required vaccinations for immigrants applying to become citizens. One of the newest requirements? Gardasil, which vaccinates against the human papillomavirus (HPV). From the agency’s press release:

CDC’s revised Technical Instructions to Civil Surgeons for Vaccination Requirements require the following age-appropriate additional vaccinations to adjust status to legal permanent resident:

* Rotavirus
* Hepatitis A
* Meningococcal
* Human papillomavirus
* Zoster

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