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Politics : FREE AMERICA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (6232)	5/17/2006 1:44:38 AM
From: Father Terrence	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 14758

Soon, my friend. After the imminent collapse we will take a tall ship across the Caribbean. Free rum for everyone! (Except the Kennedys.)

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (6232)	5/17/2006 10:36:46 AM
From: Geoff Altman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

But I'm not responsible for the economic failings of Mexico; they and their gov't is. Straighten out that gov't and the economy will follow. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone that has a good idea about how Mexico can correct hundreds of years of nepotism and corruption. Once Mexico figures it out maybe that'll spread to the rest of Central/South America. Got to love those Spaniards, planted the same (rotten) system every place they ever conquered. Since we're dealing with Mexico's economic flotsam anyway why not just invade? After all Central America stole our name....

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (6232)	5/17/2006 11:10:23 AM
From: Geoff Altman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

We'll kill the "drug war" and use the saved money for our Mexican expedition.......... Mexico Voters Fear Nation on Edge of Chaos By JULIE WATSON Associated Press Writer MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Police enraged by the kidnapping of six officers club unarmed detainees. A bloody battle between steelworkers and police leaves two miners dead. Drug lords post the heads of decapitated police on a fence to show who's in charge. Less than two months before Mexicans elect their next president, many fear the country is teetering on the edge of chaos - a perception that could hurt the ruling National Action Party's chances of keeping the presidency and benefit Mexico's once-powerful Institutional Revolutionary Party, whose candidate has been trailing badly. Some blame President Vicente Fox for a weak government. Others say rivals are instigating the violence to create that impression, hoping to hurt National Action candidate Felipe Calderon, who has a slight lead in recent polls. A poll published Friday in Excelsior newspaper found 50 percent of respondents feared the government was on the brink of losing control. The polling company Parametria conducted face-to-face interviews at 1,000 homes across Mexico. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The conflicts are "a warning sign," said Yamel Nares, Parametria's research director. Security is the top concern for Mexicans, and Fox has struggled to reform Mexico's notoriously corrupt police. Meanwhile, drug-related bloodshed has accelerated, with some cities seeing killings almost daily. In April, suspected drug lords posted the heads of two police officers on a wall outside a government building where four drug traffickers died in a Jan. 27 shootout with officers in the Pacific resort of Acapulco. A sign nearby read: "So that you learn to respect." Last week, Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos said Mexico was in a "state of rage," and warned that tensions were similar to those that preceded the Zapatistas' brief armed uprising in January 1994 in the southern state of Chiapas. He said his group is committed to peace, but many fear his increased public profile - after years of hiding out in the jungle - could foreshadow greater polarization among Mexican voters. The masked leader said a May 3 clash that left a teenager dead and scores injured in San Salvador Atenco, 15 miles northeast of Mexico City, is an example of the growing tensions. Marcos has been leading nearly daily demonstrations in the town following the incident, which began when a radical group of townspeople kidnapped and beat six policemen in a dispute over unlicensed flower vendors. Police responded with rage the next day. Television crews captured officers repeatedly beating unarmed protesters, and several detained women alleged officers raped them. The clash followed another bloody battle between steelworkers and police trying to break up an illegal strike at a plant in Lazaro Cardenas last month. Unions later threatened to shut down the country. George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary, said the violence reflects Fox's lack of leadership. "The state has become much weaker under his watch," Grayson said. Recent polls show Calderon has overtaken longtime presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whom opponents have portrayed as a leftist demagogue similar to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. But that could change if PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo can convince voters that Mexico was more stable under his party's 71-year reign, which ended with Fox's victory in 2000. Mexican law bars presidents from seeking re-election. Madrazo has tried to paint himself as the law-and-order candidate - though so far his poll numbers have remained well behind those of Calderon and Lopez Obrador. "It's not going to help Lopez Obrador who has been associated with the rabble rousers, but Madrazo can come out and say with his party at least Mexico had continued stability," Grayson said. Gerardo Aranda, a tourism guide in Mexico City, said he won't go back to the PRI, but he doesn't know who he will vote for. "No one really knows now what could happen next," he said. "All the candidates are bad. ... There is so much anger toward the government, everyone is against everything."

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (6232)	5/23/2006 8:09:03 AM
From: goldworldnet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

Senators Back Plan to Send Guard to Border By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent Mon May 22, 11:01 PM ET news.yahoo.com The Senate, eager to stanch the flow of illegal immigrants, signaled overwhelming support Monday for President Bush's plan to dispatch National Guard troops to states along the Mexican border. No tour of duty could last longer than 21 days and troops would be excluded from "search, seizure, arrest or similar activity." They would support the Border Patrol, which has primary responsibility for intercepting illegal immigrants. The vote was 83-10 on an amendment by Sen. John Ensign (news, bio, voting record), R-Nev., to authorize governors to order their states' National Guard units to perform annual duty training in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California. Administration officials have said Bush has the authority needed to deploy the Guard, making the vote a largely symbolic show of support. The agreement came as the Senate debated the most far-reaching immigration bill in two decades. The measure would strengthen border enforcement, create a new guest worker program and provide an eventual opening for citizenship to many of the millions of men and women already in the country illegally. After more than a week of debate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., set the stage for a test vote on Wednesday, a move designed to bring the bill to a final vote by week's end. Supporters will need 60 votes to prevail, a level that appears likely given the ability of the legislation's supporters to control the proceedings on the Senate floor thus far. In contrast to the Guard-related provision, a proposal to assure identical wage floors for two groups of immigrant farm workers sparked a spirited debate. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (news, bio, voting record), R-Ga., said farm workers who hold temporary visas should be paid along the same lines as up to 1.5 million future agriculture laborers under a new program envisioned in the legislation. He said both groups should be paid whichever was higher, the minimum wage or the prevailing wage — a calculation that takes into account skill, experience and the geographical area where the job exists. "The workers (in the two groups) are mostly the same," Chambliss said, adding that most come from Mexico and are in the United States to earn money to support their families. "Should they not be treated the same? I believe they should," he said. Critics argued that Chambliss' proposal would result in a reduction in already low wages. "They'll be treated the same, but they'll be treated shabbily," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass. Other critics, including Sen. Larry Craig (news, bio, voting record), R-Idaho, said Chambliss' proposal would change a carefully negotiated compromise between farmers and groups advocating on behalf of migrant workers. But Chambliss, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, told Kennedy and others that when it came to 40,000 temporary workers already in the country, "you're reducing their wages immediately." The amendment was sidetracked on a vote of 50-43. * * *