The US is funding a ‘drug war’ campaign by the Mexican military that has gotten increasingly every bit as abusive as the drug traffickers themselves, who often times are ex-Mexican military and police. As a result, the Mexican public is trading in their previous support for this campaign and is pushing for the Mexican military to get out of their towns and cities. The Associate Press reports Mexican military losing drug war support
Meanwhile, the US politicians and press continue their campaign against Mexican immigrant workers, who instead of trafficking drugs, just try to make a living off their own labor. The politicians and press do little talking about the violence that US drug laws and the US ‘drug war’ push of into other peoples’ lands though. That is a rather forbidden subject. Even more forbidden is to report on the US funding for these foreign military atrocities, whether it be in Colombia or Mexico, or points in between.
Instead of hearing about how Mexico is becoming militarized for the worse by US funds for such purpose, we, the American public, are fed disinformation that leads us to think that all is getting much better just South of our border. Actually, the scene so nearby makes Al Capone’s Chicago reign look like a tea party for old ladies.
We need to abolish this pseudo war against drugs just like we need to end all the other wars that are used to justify militarizing our own country even further than it already is. If not, more of this violence will eventually spill over to this side of The Border. We ened to stop our government from torturing Mexicans and from torturing Americans inside US prisons.
I’m not one to shy from self-expression online, but I draw the line at providing survey-question data, particularly psychological tests. They may plow up interesting stuff, but online, associating my IP and cookies, for harvesting by profile aggregators, I don’t think so. I’ve done the 6-question Which Book Are You, but I won’t do the List Your Favorite Books and I certainly won’t do a Myers-Briggs type analysis. For whom?
What could an online profiler deduce from such results? I’ve no idea. But that’s my lack of imagination. I’m not in the business of trading social profiles and profiting by it.
Handling internet sales at the Bookman, we use a rudimentary fashion of account profiling. Its efficacy is something we’ve wised up to over the years. Here’s how it works: if someone makes an inquiry about shipping details before they place an order, we reject their order. Period. They may be earnest, even upstanding, but our experience shows they’ll be trouble. Our actuarial table says basically, this customer is so likely to be a bother, let them go. So we pass.
Video game playing in my household has never been a sedentary activity. I think that my boys, all three of them, came hard-wired with a gene that had lain dormant in human DNA for millions of years, waiting for the Japanese to self actualize. They are video game phenoms. 
I too wonder if giving thanks for our abundance need be directed to God or divine provenance in appreciation of our predatory advantage, before a meal or after. For myself I have found a better occasion.
My resident bachelor and I decided recently to spice up our lives by adding some color to the house. We planned to paint three archways in the living and dining rooms in bold colors. After much cajoling by him (I tend to like beiges and grays) and many hours spent at Sherwin-Williams, we settled on Martha Stewart’s Old Copper Kettle (kind of a turquoisey thing) and Russet Rose. [A little background info….ever since I explained to the bachelor the ins and outs of “insider trading” and how rich people do it all the time and how retarded it is that it’s illegal, he’s been slightly obsessed with Martha. He understands the steep price she’s paid to appease the common man and is grateful for her selflessness.] 