Unity through Diversity?

In a country with over 400 languages overlaid with English as the official language, can a new invented common language catch on?

Reuters did a profile of Yaw, a Nigerian radio personality who speaks Pidgin English in his show and wants to promote the dialect to his listeners.

Below is the link to the rest of the Frontline video we watched in class on Monday. Please view the last five minutes and print out and bring the Nigeria notes on the Google Docs page in for class tomorrow.

Frontline Nigeria: The Road North

POTUS uses Bully Pulpit, Slow Jam, Political Positioning

President Obama used the Bully Pulpit to do some key political positioning to distinguish himself from Congressional Republicans and his general election opponent Mitt Romney on the policy issue of the interest rate on student loans. Did the POTUS motivate his rivals to move to his position by stops at UNC and Jimmy Fallon, or did he exploit his spot on late night TV for political points, when Romney had said he agreed at keeping student loans at 3.4 %.

On Friday, the House GOP voted to extend the 3.4 percent rate using power of the purse funding from "Obamacare" preventive health care funding. The passage was Congressional political positioning, as it has no chance of passing in the Senate.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=151475194

Cram for the Exam 2011

My friend and great teacher Andy Conneen (former WV teacher) and his Stevenson High School colleaque Dan Larsen have offered an AP US GOPP  review on C-SPAN for the last few years. Here is last year's broadcast. Stay tuned to the blog for the TBA broadcast of the 2012 version of "Cram for the Exam."

Moneyball

Your AP Government and Politics tests will likely overlap into some economic policy. So, as a source of review, consider the two sides of our current ongoing game of Moneyball.

Question: What is the difference between fiscal and monetary policy?


Answer: Fiscal = budgetary choices of taxing and spending

Monetary = federal reserve decisions on interest rates and monetary supply.

No Work Day Election Day, That's So French

(From APGov.org)

Former Comparative Country France held its runoff election on Sunday. Unlike in the U.S., U.K., Mexico and Nigeria which use a plurality, or First-past-the-Post, electoral system, in France a candidate must get a majority 50+ percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.  

Hollande (Socialist) - 28.6

Sarkozy (Incumbent, Union of a Popular Movement) - 27%

LePen (National Front) - 19%

On May 6, it will be Hollande vs. Sarkozy. Hollande will try to unify the lefties to support him. Sarkozy will try to unify the right behind him.

France uses the same system as Russia and Iran.
 
By the way, the Sunday vote had over 70% turnout. Which begs the question in the TED video above, why or why do we vote on Tuesday?

France Voter Turnout over 70%

Arab Spring? IMF urges Iranian sanctions to be lifted

Despite Western sanctions that have been leveled on Iran as far back as the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and increasingly due to the recent lack of transparency of its nuclear program, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank still subsidize the Iranian economy. And prior to the IMF's spring meetings in Washington, the head of the IMF praised Iranian economic reforms and expressed hope that Western sanctions would be lifted.

(From Press TV and The Economist)

Managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the economic reforms carried out by the Iranian government in recent years, especially the Subsidy Reform Plan, have been positive and constructive.


In a meeting with Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mahmoud Bahmani on the sidelines of semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, Christine Lagarde expressed hope that Western sanctions against Iran's central bank would be lifted.

Lagarde also indicated her concern about the fluctuations in global oil prices and their impact on the world economic growth, Fars News Agency reported on Sunday.

Bahmani, for his part, pointed to the most important economic developments resulting from fluctuation in oil prices which have affected oil consumer countries.

He also discussed the implementation of the Subsidy Reforms Plan in Iran, value-added tax, structural reforms in the banking system, and the impact of oil price fluctuations on global economy with Lagarde.

Bahmani said Iran, as a founding member of both the IMF and World Bank, has had good financial and monetary relations with these international bodies and expects IMF to continue its support for all member states, especially founding members.

Bahmani also pointed to the destructive impact of Iran oil sanctions on the world economy and explained its effect on global economic growth and inflation, especially in view of the ongoing financial crisis in Europe.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/237550.html

A bigger IMF war chest
(The Economist)
GIVEN the dismal weather reports from much of the world economy, and most notably the euro zone, the International Monetary Fund's stock of provisions has been looking a little thin. Yet it has not been easy to imagine a straightforward way to increase the funds available to the IMF. The rich countries that are typically the source of most of the Fund's resources are either racked by crisis, nervous about becoming racked by crisis at some not-too-distant future date, or in the midst of election season at a time when bail-out cash for profligate foreigners is not a very popular campaign pledge. Those that are a bit more fiscally hale, mostly emerging markets, are both much poorer than the euro countries at the heart of current crises (and therefore rightly miffed at the expectation that they should be the ones to come to the rescue) and unwilling to pour money into an important international organisation at which their voices remain relatively small.


Despite these challenges, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde managed to scrape together pledges for $430 billion in new funding for the organisation, which she announced at the spring meetings of the World Bank and IMF over the weekend in Washington. The new money includes secured commitments of more than $350 billion from mostly rich countries, alongside unspecified pledges from large emerging markets like Brazil, China, and India. America and Canada declined to chip in. Ms Lagarde estimates that the IMF now has close to $1 trillion in lending capacity.

Will it help? Given the many financial vulnerabilities across the world economy, a larger pot of IMF resources is no bad thing. It is difficult to feel too positively about this development, however. For one thing, it won't be easy to deploy the funds in support of Europe. A programme for Spain, for example, will only be negotiated by the so-called troika—the European Commission and the European Central Bank will be acting alongside the IMF. That's sure to be a difficult and painful process, and one which will only be initiated after clear deterioration in conditions in euro-zone markets. Moreover, it will be impossible to read euro-zone aid from the IMF as anything other than a significant failure on the part of euro-zone officials. Annie Lowrey of the New York Times writes:

Canada, for instance, declined to contribute new money to the fund, arguing that Europe had more than enough money to handle its own sovereign debt crisis. “They need to step up to the plate and overwhelm this issue with their own resources,” Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, told reporters.

That's absolutely right. It's right on purely fiscal terms. Taken as a whole, the debt load of the euro zone as a share of GDP isn't particularly high by rich world standards. And that scarcely matters since the ECB can create euros at will. It's telling that Japan's sizable contribution to Ms Lagarde's fund drive makes it the IMF's largest benefactor. Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio is miles worse than any country around the euro-zone periphery, and its bond yields are just a shade above zero. The euro zone's big problem—and, by extension, the world's big problem—is not a dearth of resources, at the IMF or anywhere else. Or not of financial resources at any rate.

What the euro zone lacks is the institutional wherewithal to break a deadly paralysis. Its key institutions are stuck. The ECB is stuck battling the illusory spectre of runaway inflation while growth fails. Finance ministers are stuck arguing for austerity everywhere all the time, even as it is clear that large-scale budget cuts are proving counterproductive. And key leaders, including Angela Merkel, are stuck resisting real debt mutualisation—eurobonds—that would break the link between local bank pressures and crumbling sovereign creditworthiness. There is little the world outside Europe can do to fix this mess. Indeed, apart from the funding pledge, the spring meetings broke up without much agreement on what to do about the euro zone. It's good to have help at hand given the decent odds that further euro-zone bail-outs will be necessary. It would be so much better to agree the measures that would prevent a slide into such bail-outs in the first place.
_______________

Sanctions Against Iran

Should the IMF and the World Bank be giving subsidies to Iran, if sovereign nations of the UN have sanctions against them?

Nigeria: Hot, Flat? and Crowded

Some troubling domestic numbers for Nigeria:

• Population: 167 million, 6th most populated nation in the world.
• Urban unemployment rate for those aged 15-24: 50%
• Lagos population: 21 million, up from 11 million in 1996
• Birth rate per woman: 5.5 (down from 6.8 in 1975).
• 17 of 20 countries with birth rates 5+ are in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria No. 15)
• 0 -- number of dollars it now costs in Nigeria to get contraception, but with deeply religious cultures, many Nigerians oppose contraception (WWJD, or RS do??)

 In a country where the government seems on the verge of being unable to deal with things as they are, changes will bring major new challenges.


Nigeria Tested by Rapid Rise in Population

In a quarter-century, at the rate Nigeria is growing, 300 million people — a population about as big as that of the present-day United States — will live in a country the size of Arizona and New Mexico…

As graduates pour out of high schools and universities, Nigeria’s unemployment rate is nearly 50 percent for people in urban areas ages 15 to 24 — driving crime and discontent.

The growing upper-middle class also feels the squeeze, as commutes from even nearby suburbs can run two to three hours…

Across sub-Saharan Africa, alarmed governments have begun to act, often reversing longstanding policies that encouraged or accepted large families. Nigeria made contraceptives free last year, and officials are promoting smaller families as a key to economic salvation, holding up the financial gains in nations like Thailand as inspiration…

“Population is key,” said Peter Ogunjuyigbe, a demographer at Obafemi Awolowo University in the small central city of Ile-Ife. “If you don’t take care of population, schools can’t cope, hospitals can’t cope, there’s not enough housing — there’s nothing you can do to have economic development.”

The Nigerian government is rapidly building infrastructure but cannot keep up, and some experts worry that it, and other African nations, will not act forcefully enough to rein in population growth. For two decades, the Nigerian government has recommended that families limit themselves to four children, with little effect…

In the ramshackle towns of the Oriade area near Ile-Ife, where streets are lined with stalls selling prepaid cellphone cards and food like pounded yam, Dr. Ogunjuyigbe’s team goes door to door studying attitudes toward family size and how it affects health and wealth. Many young adults, particularly educated women, now want two to four children. But the preferences of men, particularly older men, have been slower to change — crucial in a patriarchal culture where polygamy is widespread...

The One issue.....

Bono essay
(Sustainable development in Africa may be one major issues facing out global world today. Following the lead of my favorite rock star when he read the founding document of the EU, the Treaty of Rome, 2007, we will consider the EU's role in Africa here in this re-run post.)

In saying the West’s (particularly Europe’s) greatest depends on how it deals with Africa, Bono wrote in an essay in Time Magazine:

“Fast-forward 50 years. An Irish rock star reads the treaty with the enthusiasm a child has for cold peas but does uncover what I think technocrats might call poetry. Not much of it--just a turn of phrase here and there. Like Article 177, which summons the signatories to foster "the sustainable economic and social development of the developing countries and more particularly the most disadvantaged among them" and calls for a "campaign against poverty in the developing countries." Not exactly Thomas Jefferson but a glimpse of the kind of vision that might bind us.

Over the next 50 years, we might need a little more poetry. Europe is a thought that has to become a feeling--one based on the belief that Europe stands only if injustice falls and that we find our feet only when our neighbors stand with us in freedom and equality. Our humanity is diminished when we have no mission bigger than ourselves. And one way to define who we are might be to spend more time looking across the eight miles of Mediterranean Sea that separates Europe from Africa.

There's an Irish word, meitheal. It means that the people of the village help one another out most when the work is the hardest. Most Europeans are like that. As individual nations, we may argue over the garden fence, but when a neighbor's house goes up in flames, we pull together and put out the fire. History suggests it sometimes takes an emergency for us to draw closer. Looking inward won't cut it. As a professional navel gazer, I recommend against that form of therapy for anything other than songwriting. We discover who we are in service to one another, not the self.

Today many rooms in our neighbor's house, Africa, are in flames. From the genocide in Darfur to the deathbeds in Kigali, with six AIDS patients stacked onto one cot, from the child dying of malaria to the village without clean water, conditions in Africa are an affront to every value we Europeans have ever seen fit to put on paper. We see in Somalia and Sudan what happens if more militant forces fill the void and stir dissent within what is, for the most part, a pro-Western and moderate Muslim population. (Nearly half of Africa's people are devotees of Islam.) So whether as a moral or strategic imperative, it's folly to let this fire rage.”

The entire text of Bono’s essay is linked at the top. You, of course, can refer back to http://www.data.org/ for more information. The ONE Campaign is an example of a grassroots (really netroots) linkage institution.

As a group, the EU countries have committed 0.7% of GDP to help the poorest of the poor. So far, as the saying goes the check is, well, in the mail. At the end of the essay, the songwriter pens, “What will define Europe in this new era…..Part of the answer lines eight miles away.”
_____________________


If only it could become a hit.

Before Bono started the ONE campaign in the United States, the oranization formed was called DATA:

DD ebt
A ids/hiv
T rade
A id effectiveness, development assistance
 https://www.one.org/us/issues/
In your group, you will take ONE of these issues a prepare a short presentation on why this is the number ONE issue facing Sub-Saharan Africa.

Crumbs From Your Table -- Poverty Assignment Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqMxAw49-sc Poverty Message, One, at United Center 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6SSjAny7_M&feature=related

Nigeria at 50 (1960-2010)

Watch Part I above and Part II linked below and comment on your prediction of Nigeria's future.

Nigeria State of Independence Part 2 of 2

“Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you have not committed.”


~ Anthony Powell

Nigeria at 50: She's a bit too temperamental for me

The Home Stretch

As we hit the home stretch to the May 15 high stakes tests, the first one to answer in the comment section the answer to the question: "What is Horse Race Journalism?" will win a prize to be presented on Friday.

You will have either a group or a take-home exam on Iran, Nigeria and other second semester final  on Friday, 4/27. You may want to check out the College Board Briefing papers on Nigeria and Iran.

Briefing Paper - Iran PDF document

Briefing Paper - Nigeria PDF document


Practice Exams (10 EC points a piece) will be given on the following dates/times:
US #1 -- Tuesday, 5/1 -- 6 pm

Comp #1 -- Friday, 5/4 -- 2:45 pm

US #2 -- Tuesday, 5/8 -- 2:45 pm

Comp #2 -- Thursday, 5/10 -- 6 pm

AP Comparative Review Site (thank you Mr. Sergio Sanchez)

Young middle class life (and tragically sometimes) death in Tehran

Watch A Death in Tehran on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Watch A Death in Tehran on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

After you finish watching Neda's story and read the linked article on Iran's middle class today, blog your comments on the legitimacy of the Iranian regime and the current political culture in the theocratic republic.

Iran's middle class on edge

LDCs/NICs/Mexico Study Guide

The above video (2010) highlights the federal state, and judicial review in Mexico, upholding same-sex marriage in Mexico City. As in the US, in Mexico, the upper level courts are primarily appellette courts. The Supreme Court (11 justices) can declare laws and governmental actions unconstitutional by a vote of eight or more of the judges. The high court also upheld a state law (only seven rulled against) in the state of Baja California that says life begins at connception.

Mexico Upholds State Right to Life Law

Friday's multiple choice test will cover Ch.11 and 16 in Hauss, packet readings and power point notes (which can be accessed on the Google Docs page)

Terms to Know
Presidente Fox/President Bush on boarder policy

WTO/NAFTA effects on Mexico
Mexican independence
Constitution of 1917 – similarities differences with U.S. Constitution
Presidents and Generals of Mexico till mid-20th Century
Mexican legislature – format and characteristics
Political Parties – PAN, PRI, PRD place on political spectrum
Sexenio presidency
Federal Election Commission
Political Efficacy in Mexico
Technicos
Politicos
Mestizos
Maquiladoras
Patron-client relations (camarillas)
Corruption
Para-statal sector
compressed modernityPEMEX
Mexico’s policy of structural adjustment under Fox/Calderon
Economy/Immigration as a political issue
Narco War as a political issue
Mexican trade with U.S./U.S. Trade with Mexico
Mexican civil service
Mexican political culture (check out articles from LA Times on blog)
Mexico by comparative economic sectors
Camarillas
Politcal cleavages in Mexico
Judicial Review in Mexico?
Narco War and the legitimacy of the State
Mexicans living in the U.S. and the effects on both countries
Presidente Calderon on private investment of state oil/electricity
2012 Presidential candidate positions

Will Imperfect EU's debt crisis derail US economic rally?

Ten European countries are in recession and three have needed bailouts to avoid default. How could this impact the U.S. economy? (From CBS, 60 Minutes)

BTW, US stocks on Tuesday had its fifth straight losing day, marking the worst streak since last August.

AP American Gov't and Politics TERM-ament

(From CitizenU.org)

Welcome to the 2nd annual AP American Government and Politics TERM - ament. March into the madness with other students as we watch a 64 word TERM - ament play out until we crown our 2012 champion. Vote early and vote often. Each week the TERMs receiving the most votes will play through the brackets until the Final Four TERMs play in the championship round. Vote totals do not carry over. Each week the TERM with the most votes in each pair advance to the next round.

APGOPO TERM-ament

If you do not know the definition of the TERM post your question here....or better yet, look it up.....The idea of the TERM -ament Final Four would be the TERMs one would be most likely to see, and need to know on the AP Test.

White House Easter Egg Roll: Which Role is the Prez playing here?

WASHINGTON — A day after Americans said "Let's Eat," First Lady Michelle Obama promoted the theme of "Let's Go, Let's Play, Let's Move" today during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.


More than 30,000 people were expected in two-hour shifts during the 11-hour eggstravaganza. The entire first family attended: President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, grandmother Marian Robinson and the family dog, Bo, immortalized on one of this year's commemorative wooden eggs.

The Easter Bunny had quite the entourage, with musicians, sports stars, celebrity chefs and enough costumed characters — from Sponge Bob to Spiderman — to fill a Hollywood backlot. Olympian Michelle Kwan, tennis legend Chris Evert and the Harlem Globetrotters were among the athletes who put kids through their paces on a day the first lady strove to highlight her anti-obesity agenda. Also on the roster: Chicago's Ultimate Tumblers.

The president introduced his wife as "the powerhouse of the White House, the one truly in charge, as Malia, Sasha and Bo all know."


"It's a beautiful day. Perfect weather. We are so excited to have you all here," the first lady told those gathered for the big, backyard blowout on a breezy, sun-kissed morning. "Happy Easter and Happy Easter Egg Roll."

President Obama took part in shooting drills with the Globetrotters, missing seven shots at the hoop before hitting one, then moved on to push-ups and later, doubles tennis with Evert and two little ones.

Jennifer Luna, 32, from Chicago's Roseland neighborhood, brought daughter Madeline Valdez. "I'm excited to be here, sharing this moment with my 1-year-old," Luna said, "even though she's a bit cranky."

She's related to a key Obama backer — and scored tickets that way. The same for longtime Chicagoan Art Frigo, 70, of North Palm Beach, Fla., who brought his daughter and grandkids, ages 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 and 2.

"Closest I've ever been to the White House," Frigo said. "There's a lot of people, but I think opening up the White House for kids is special. It's beyond political. It's special."

Many attendees won tickets through an online lottery. Jay and Emily Jones of Ottawa, Ill., won the lottery to attend with their two sons — but had about eight different relatives in the hunt to increase their chances.

Which role is the President playing here as he and the first family kicked off 134 years of tradition at the White House on Monday?  The event dates back to 1878 when Rutherford B. Hayes was president and features egg-rolling races, obstacle courses, book-readings, musical performances, sports and yoga.


134 years of Easter Egg Rolls

Hunger Games an alegory against big government?

Much as been said and written about the book and now movie trilogy sweeping the nation. Some have said it is a warning against big, non-transparent government.

Fox News: Hunger Games Shoots at Big Government

Others have said it will be a way for young citizens to use the Youdia to fight World Hunger.

Take the Hunger Quiz

Have you seen the movie, read the books? What do they say about real governments and societies today around the world?

Schedule of next week's study of Mexico

To prepare for next week, you will need to use the Youdia.....But no "Mexting" as the Onion News Network satirically hightlighted above.

Here is next week's outline:

Monday -- Bring in notecards with researched talking points promoting your candidate/party. Quiz on Hauss, Ch.11 and packet readings, Mexico: Neighbor in Turmoil and Mexico at an Impasse. Also know terms on Mexico 2012 Power Point in Google Docs.

The Economist: The Man to Beat

Tuesday -- Group Presidential/Party debate

Wednesday -- Mexico Group Blog/Thought Hive presentation. Your Mexico quiz (BBC country profile linked below) due.

Thursday -- Computer lab Review/Study Day....Bring your Hauss book and all packets.

Friday 4/13 -- No "Mala Suerte."  Mexico MC test (Ch. 11 @ 12, plus packet readings)

It would be helpful to check out these supplementals.

Mexican Constitution of 1917
Note Constitutional Connections of US Principles

College Board Briefing Paper: Mexico
It's long but gives you more than enough info you need to know
BBC Country Profile
Your Mexico Quiz will be due on Wednesday

Mexican presidential campaign kicks off

There are a few ways the Mexican presidency is different, and maybe more powerful, than the checked-and-balanced POTUS. One difference among a growing similarities is the campaign itself, which officially kicked-off Friday, approximately just 3 months before the votes are cast for the sexano (one, 6-year-term) executive on July 1. We will take a candidate and a party and defend them and debate their opponents on Tuesday, 4/10.

(From the Associated Press)
The four candidates for Mexico's presidency officially launched their campaigns for the July 1 election last week, all of them promising change.


Enrique Pena Nieto, who is running for the Institutional Revolutionary Party that ruled Mexico from 1929 to 2000, used the word "change" 26 times in his first official campaign speech.

"Mexico is clear on what it wants, and it doesn't want more of the same," Pena Nieto declared in the western city of Guadalajara. "It wants to exit this stage of shadow and darkness and enter a new stage of light and hope."

Pena Nieto's focus on "a grand crusade for change" and "the change we want" echoed the 2008 campaign slogan of President Barack Obama, "change we can believe in." It was unclear whether that echo was intentional.

The Obama campaign's skillful use of social media in 2008, when it employed email, text messages and the Web to reach voters, appears to have made an impact on the Mexican political scene.

Josefina Vazquez Mota, whose pre-campaign appearances have been plagued by logistical difficulties and poor planning, told supporters Friday to use social media, "this new world that accompanies us," to attract potential voters.

Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, of the Revolutionary Institutional Party, PRI, reaches out to greet supporters as he is supported by a body guard, during his official campaign kickoff in Guadalajara, Mexico, early Friday March 30, 2012. Nieto starts the 90-day campaign, set by electoral law, with more than a 10-point lead in most polls over his closet opponent, Josefina Vazquez Mota of the now-governing National Action Party. Mexico will hold general elections on July 1. (AP Photo/Bruno Gonzalez) Close"It's going to be hard to reach every corner of the country," Vazquez Mota acknowledged. In fact, the first female candidate for a major Mexican party has had trouble making it on time to campaign events in Mexico City, let alone the often violent and isolated outlying regions of the country.

Though she is an incumbent-party candidate, Vazquez Mota is campaigning on the one-word slogan, "Different," perhaps an attempt to distance herself from President Felipe Calderon's six-year offensive against drug cartels. More than 47,000 lives have been lost to drug-related violence in that time.

All three major-party candidates said they want to bring peace to Mexico.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is making his second run for the presidency for the leftist Democratic Revolution Party after narrowly losing the 2006 election, said at his first campaign news conference Friday that he represents "true change."

Lopez Obrador led weeks of street blockades to protest what he claimed was fraud in the 2006 elections and later anointed himself as "legitimate president." He has since been seeking to change his angry, radical image for a softer one.

"Let all of us, from below, undertake a campaign to build a new, just, humane, dignified, free democratic and loving republic," he said.

Supporters such as 58-year-old schoolteacher Beatriz Lara Aguirre say Lopez Obrador has changed this time around: "He's more serene," she commented. But the leftist candidate complained as he did six years ago that "we are going to come up against money, government agencies and some news media who want to impose (the choice of) the next president on us."

A Failed State?

With a handicap of not reading Spanish, one might think it difficult to find news of government and politics in Mexico. However, when looking at recent headlines (2011) from reports in the Los Angeles Times, there's a pattern that does not bode well for either government or politics in Mexico. (Even with the media tendency to report on conflict and violence before other things.)


Mexico City an unlikely draw for those fleeing drug war violence


Calderon replaces Mexico attorney general

Ciudad Juarez's top police official accused of rights abuses

Thousands across Mexico protest drug violence

Mexican officials find 59 bodies in mass graves

13 more bodies found in Mexico mass graves

The BBC reports:


The discovery of at least 116 bodies in mass graves in the north-eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas has become the most gruesome incident in the country's four-year war against drug cartels.

The city of San Fernando, about 150km (93 miles) from the border with Texas, has previously been hit by drug-related violence on a massive scale and efforts to control the situation there appear futile.

Last August the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants were found on the outskirts of the city.

The migrants, making their way to the border, were killed by drug gang members after they refused to work for them.'Haven for traffickers'

The federal government deployed hundreds more troops in the area and promised to improve the security situation.

But less than eight months later an even deadlier massacre has taken place in the same spot, allegedly after passengers on long distance buses were kidnapped by the Zetas, one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels.

Criminal groups are more effective at collecting 'taxes' than Tamaulipas' own government”End Quote Alberto Islas Security analyst, Mexico City. These tragedies, along with the targeted killings of top officials and members of the security forces, are fuelling thoughts of Tamaulipas as a possible "failed state" within Mexico - a haven for drug traffickers, people smugglers and criminals of all kinds.

The federal government strongly rejects this view.

But state governor Egidio Torre Cantu recently said the violence was not only a threat to the people of Tamaulipas, but also "a situation that affects Mexico's internal security."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13061452

Corporate globalization's impact on Mexico's people and environment

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

(We will watch this film in class on Wednesday; access Google Docs to view the rest of Tuesday's Power Point notes)

Maquila: A Tale of Two Mexicos: Director: Saul Landau

Producer: Saul Landau

Genre: Documentary
Produced In: 2003
Story Teller's Country: United States

Tags: Politics, Human Rights, Globalization, Mexico, AmericasSEND MAILSynopsis: "Maquila: A Tale of Two Mexicos" is an exploration of corporate globalization's impact on Mexico's people and environment. The stirring documentary focuses on the quandary facing indigenous farmers in Mexico's underdeveloped, predominantly agricultural southern regions. Besieged by the army and hobbled by antiquated agricultural practices, many have no alternative but to flee the countryside to the industrial north for employment in maquiladoras, U.S.-owned factories. There, they endure long hours, low pay and dangerous working conditions, including exposure to toxic chemicals. Archival footage provides historical background and extensive interviews allow those at the heart of the issues to speak for themselves - army officers and indigenous peasants, workers and bosses, developers and city officials, victims of environmental disasters and the factory managers who allow the release of deadly pollutants. The film presents the roots of the violent confrontation between the Mexican Army and Mayan peasant farmers, and also reveals how young women maquila workers in Juarez are robbed of their dignity and sometimes subject to rape and murder. "Maquila" is a film by Saul Landau and Sonia Angulo. For further information on how to help maquila workers to improve their conditions and win a living wage, please visit the Maquila Solidarity Network site.

(From Stumbleupon.com)


A small fence separates densely populated Tijuana, Mexico, right, from the United States in the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector. Construction is underway to extend a secondary fence over the top of this hill and eventually to the Pacific Ocean.

Mexico-California cleavage? Absolut drinks to that!

Use these entries as a way to think and and preview about Mexico's past and future. As we begin our study of the United Mexican States, do not confuse the geography with the political culture divide illustrated in the above vodka marketing campaign from 2008:


The latest advertising campaign in Mexico from Swedish vodka maker Absolut promises to push all the right buttons south of the U.S. border, but it could ruffle a few feathers in El Norte.The billboard and press campaign, created by advertising agency Teran\TBWA and now running in Mexico, is a colorful map depicting what the Americas might look like in an "Absolut" -- i.e., perfect -- world.

The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California.

Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo saw the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México ceded to the United States to become modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.

The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S.

Ucedo, who is from Argentina, said: “Mexicans talk about how the Americans stole their land, so this is their way of reclaiming it. It’s very relevant and the Mexicans will love the idea.”

But he said that were the campaign to run in the United States, it might fall flat.

“Many people aren’t going to understand it here. Americans in the East and the North or in the center of the county -- I don’t know if they know much about the history.

“Probably Americans in Texas and California understand perfectly and I don’t know how they’d take it.”

Meanwhile, the campaign has been circulating on the blogs and generating strong responses from people north of the border.

“I find this ad deeply offensive, and needlessly divisive. I will now make a point of drinking other brands. And 'vodka and tonic' is my drink,” said one visitor, called New Yorker, on MexicoReporter.com.
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Enviromental rules waived for Mexican border fence

The LA Times reports this week that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to waive federal and state enviromental laws to finish more than 670 miles of barrier fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border.

The two waivers, which were approved by Congress, will allow Homeland Security to slash through a thicket of more than 30 environmental and cultural laws to speed construction.

Environmentalists and local officials have strenuously opposed some of the planned infrastructure projects, saying they will damage the land and disrupt wildlife.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-fence2apr02,0,876305.story

Consider the legitimacy of "Rule of Law" here. Once again, is this a theoretical, relative and conceptual term in today today's practice of politics/governing.
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The power of national symbols
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is an important bit of national pride and a symbol of Mexico's revolution and independence. However, like many parastatals and huge corporations, it's not as "agile" as smaller businesses in adapting to changing economic, technological, and environmental conditions.

Presidents Fox and Calderón have urged constitutional changes to allow private and even foreign companies to enter the oil industry in Mexico. Reactions of most Mexican politicians have not been kind to those proposals. (Tinkering with national symbols isn't easy. In the USA, think about reactions to proposals that the Star Spangled Banner be replaced with something less militaristic.) Besides there are all those jobs to "hand out."

In a politically controversial deal, in 2008 the Mexican Congress voted to open Pemex to private investors.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/10/28/mexico.oil/
"Mexico's ruling party wants to allow the state oil monopoly to contract with private and foreign companies to extract reserves from the Gulf of Mexico...

"The proposal comes amid a fierce debate over how to reform the country's energy sector and boost Pemex's production."Mexico's constitution bans most private and foreign involvement in the sector, but in practice, the government has eased the restrictions slightly in the past 15 years..."

Pemex lacks the equipment and expertise to develop deep-water oil fields..."Pemex's production has been steadily falling, dropping 5.3 percent to an average 3.1 million barrels a day in 2007 -- primarily due to plunging output at its biggest-yielding field, Cantarell.

"But opponents say the government is manipulating figures to create a false sense of crisis."

Former (and current) presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party has said that opening Pemex to private investment would threaten national sovereignty, and he has accused Calderón's administration of seeking to privatize the entire oil industry -- a charge the president denies..."

See also: Celebrations, protests and questions

What's a failed state?

Two articles in the Foreign Policy (2009) present the question for Tuesday: Are Russia and Mexico on the verge of becoming failed states?


Half the class will read the first article:

Reversal of Fortune

"Vladimir Putin’s social contract has been premised on an authoritarian state delivering rising incomes and resurgent power. But the economic crisis is unraveling all that. And what comes next in Russia might be even worse...

"Today’s Russia is not the Soviet Union, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is not Joseph Stalin. But just as historians view 1929 as the end of the revolutionary period of Soviet history, scholars will (and already do) define Putin’s rule as a restoration that followed a revolution. Restoration—of lost geopolitical influence, of Soviet symbols, of fear, of even Stalin’s reputation—has been the main narrative of the past decade. But as history shows, periods of restoration do not restore the old order; they create new threats. This is what Russia is today—a new, much more nationalistic and aggressive country that bears as much (or as little) resemblance to the Soviet Union as it does to the free and colorful, though poor and chaotic, Russia of the 1990s...

"Confidence in the rule of a wealthy, heavy-handed Russian state has been shaken, and it is now a real possibility that the global economic crisis, as it persists and even intensifies, could cause Putin’s social contract to unravel. What is not clear, however, is what would take its place—and whether it would be any improvement. The nationalist passions and paranoia that Putin has stirred up have poisoned Russian society in lasting ways. Now, 2009 could be a new “Great Break” [1929] for Russia, but the result might just be a country in upheaval—broken..."
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Half will read the second:

State of War

"Mexico’s hillbilly drug smugglers have morphed into a raging insurgency. Violence claimed more lives there last year alone than all the Americans killed in the war in Iraq. And there’s no end in sight...

"Mexico’s surge in gang violence has been accompanied by a similar spike in kidnapping...

"All of this is taking a toll on Mexicans who had been insulated from the country’s drug violence. Elites are retreating to bunkered lives behind video cameras and security gates. Others are fleeing for places like San Antonio and McAllen, Texas...

"Mexico’s gangs had the means and motive to create upheaval, and in Mexico’s failure to reform into a modern state, especially at local levels, the cartels found their opportunity. Mexico has traditionally starved its cities. They have weak taxing power. Their mayors can’t be reelected. Constant turnover breeds incompetence, improvisation, and corruption. Local cops are poorly paid, trained, and equipped...

"In addition to fighting each other, the cartels are now increasingly fighting the Mexican state as well, and the killing shows no sign of slowing. The Mexican Army is outgunned, even with U.S. support..."
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On Tuesday, get into groups to explain to their classmates what they've read. Defend or contradict the failed state prognosis. Ask them to come to some agreements.

Failed States Index 2011