Mexican Drug Cartels

Broder, Jonathan "Drugs and Violence Too Close to Home." CQ Weekly 67.10 (2009): 534-542. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.

Illegally imported drugs from Mexico into the States has been going on for a very long time, but that was back when the majority of drugs being smuggled was marijuana or heroin. Today, the Mexican drug cartels have increased in size and what they supply (now they supply Marijuana, South American Cocaine, Meth, and Heroin). The Mexican drug cartels are making more money then ever which has allowed them to purchase more weapons, better transportation (submarines, private jets, helicopters), and has given them more bribing/ authoritative power in Mexico. The Mexican Government has responded by sending in their military to areas that have been ravaged by the cartels, but the cartels are fighting back---and winning. This article focuses on how threatening these cartels could be to not only Mexico but also to the U.S.. Broder suggests that if extreme measures aren't taken to stop the drug cartels then Mexico could quite possibly become a, "narco-state", or in other words, a law-less country run by Mexican drug cartels. If this were to happen then, according to Broder, America will also be in great danger, most notably the Southern states such as California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

International Problem--North Korea

Kapp, Clare "South Africa failing people displaced by xenophobia riots." Lancet 371.9629 (2008): 1986-1987. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.

This article focuses on North Korea and what lies ahead of them in the future. For the past two decades North Korea has been conducting a nuclear weapons program which has forced the rest of the world to keep a watchful eye on Kim Jong II and North Korea. Just recently it was discovered that North Korea performed missile and nuclear tests within the past few months. Obviously action must be taken, but how America should go about it is, of course, up for debate. Clare Kapp categorizes the U.S. policy makers into two categories, "In considering the North Korean nuclear question, U.S. policymakers and experts typically fall into two camps. The optimists believe that negotiating with Pyongyang will set North Korea on the path of Chinese-style political and economic reforms, help it become a "normal state," and convince it to abandon its nuclear ambitions. The pessimists insist that only relentless pressure will cause Pyongyang to denuclearize. The optimists (such as Christopher Hill, who once led U.S. negotiations with North Korea and is now ambassador to Iraq) favor talks and compromise. The pessimists (such as John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations) prefer coercive sanctions."

But what is not as heavily reported is the fact that North Korea relies on its nuclear weapons program very heavily, "Pyongyang cannot do away with these programs. That would mean losing both a powerful military deterrent and a time-tested tool of extortion. It would also relegate North Korea to being a third-rate country, on a par with Mozambique or Uganda." The important point to note here is that if North Korea simply stopped their nuclear testing they would almost instantly become just another 3rd world country. An alternative approach would be to attempt to reform the North Korean economy, similar to what the Chinese did. The problem with this is that North Korea would have to ease up on their stranglehold of their own civilians (censorship, mainly) which would result in many citizens fleeing to their Southern counterpart (South Korea). Realistically, major reforms would probably cause North Korea to fall flat on its face, but after that initial fall things would begin to change for the better.

International Problem--South Africa

Dugger, Celia W., and Alan Cowell "South Africa Weighs Plan To Shelter Refugees." New York Times 29 May 2008: 12.Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.

This article discusses what the South African Government was planning on doing about the thousands of refugees who were fleeing from the mobs attacking foreigners. The South African Government was faced with two options; setup camps for the refugees, or do nothing. Obviously when the article was written the decision had not yet been made by the South African Government, but the author(s) still attempt to weigh the pros and cons of refugee camps in South Africa. The article cites a relief official, who chose to remain anonymous, fearing, "that the camps could become rife with conflicts and sexual violence." Another downside to the refugee camps, according to Ms. Cornelis, is the poor sanitation which will lead to sickness and disease, which could possibly spread very quickly in the temporary camps. The article also discusses how poorly these foreigners are treated by regular South Africans, "provoking the resentment of some South Africans who see the outsiders as threats to their own jobs and well-being.".

NBA preview- Bulls

Chicago Bulls- The Bulls are entering this season hoping to advance further in the playoffs after last year's heartbreaking loss to the Celtics in the first round. If the Bulls are planning on making it past the first round of the playoffs they are going to need answer some early question marks. Obviously Derrick Rose is going to get the job done at Point Guard and I believe John Salmons will replace the loss of Ben Gordon, but Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, Tyrus Thomas and Kirk Heinrick will have to have productive seasons. Deng needs to regain his touch that he had a few years ago, Gibson needs to prove he can play in the NBA, and Thomas and Heinrick just need to play efficiently. I think Deng and Heinrick will have good seasons, but I have doubts on whether Thomas and Gibson will be good enough for the Bulls to do any damage in this year's playoffs. Looking at the Bulls schedule and the strength of teams in their conference I think they are a lock to make the playoffs, but as far as being a real contender for the NBA title the season we'll just have to wait and see.

FIFA 2010

This past week FIFA 2010 was released, and not a moment too soon. Ever since I started playing FIFA 09 I have been hooked. In general, the FIFA soccer games are excellent; realistic graphics and game play, a deep season mode, intense PK's, and a variety of scoring celebrations, among many other things. FIFA 2010 takes what has made the series so successful and essentially just adds more detail to the game. FIFA 10 is better then the previous games in that the game play is faster yet flows much smoother. Some other new features in the 2010 game; updated jerseys, updated players and teams, new celebrations, different camera angles on corner kicks and goal kicks, and more team strategy options. I haven't tried the season mode yet, so I am not sure what new features have been added there, but after playing just a few exhibition games it is easy to say this is by far the best soccer game on the market.

International Problem

Evans, Ian "Refugees fight to stay in one of South Africa's last, battered camps." Christian Science Monitor 31 May 2009: 9.Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.

This article discusses a current refugee problem in South Africa. Approximately one year ago angry mobs targeted foreigners living in African townships and "brutally" attacked them for 2 weeks straight. Due to the attacks on the townships many foreigners fled their home and went to the safest place from possibly being attacked again; South Africa. Many of these immigrants are from neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique and have no where else to go. Unfortunately these immigrants quickly became hated because they were, "stealing" jobs from poor South Africans. To cope with this problem the government put the immigrants in temporary camps until the violence subsided. By now, most of the camps have been discontinued as much of the fighting has died down, but their is still one operating camp housing immigrants and the government wants them to be shut down. The problem is that it's still way too dangerous for the remaining immigrants (from Somali and Congolese) to return to their home country. The city council has gone to court in order to try and evict the remaining residents of the camp but lawyers for the local camps are trying to "stave" off these efforts. Immigrants living in the camps have been struggling to live peacefully as the locals have sent death threat, attacked, and even raped the refugees. But even with all of the adversity the immigrants are facing they still feel it is safer then going anywhere else, where the would probably be killed.

I hate Winter

The weather the past few weeks has been pretty miserable; rainy, cold and windy. I know it is still only Fall (I think) but this recent weather has reminded me just how much I hate Winter. Winter time means being cold all the time, and that is going to be a lot worse now that we have to walk to all of our classes (actually, walking in general is going to be unbearable). It means less sun. It means not being able to wear comfortable clothes (as in basketball shorts and a fresh white tee). It means no more outdoor sports, who wants to go outside and throw the football when your hands are too numb to catch it anyway? Winter is going to bring along even more sickness, which is about the last thing anyone wants to hear with the Swine Flu epidemic. And considering how modest Indiana's past Summer was, and how cold it is already, it seems like we might be in for a very nasty Winter. The only thing I like about Winter? Spring Break is right around the corner.