Death, taxes and now yearly Red Sox ticket hikes may be the only certainties in life. Wall Street financier and chief Sox owner John Henry yesterday confirmed what many Sox fans already suspected - the price of admission to hallowed Fenway Park will go up again next season. Henry offered few details, other than acknowledging that any increase - in keeping with the new ownership group's emphasis on a fan-friendly approach - likely would be limited to the single digits. But with the team grappling with how to pay for all its stars, many now free agents, and in the wake of an historic World Series win, don't expect a price reduction, Henry said. ``They are not going down,'' Henry said. ``We had a big payroll last year. We will have a big payroll this year.'' Forced to make do operating out of baseball's smallest and oldest ballpark, Sox average ticket prices top the league at $40.77.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 4:56:40 AM ||
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#1
$40.77 = £21.92 at todays rates. You'll not be able to get into any of the premiership grounds for that much. Methinks the Sox fans doth protest too much! :)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/20/2004 5:42 Comments ||
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News today is that Steinbrenner's offered Pedro a 4-yr $50 Mil contract. Expect those prices to escalate if the BoSox have to get into a bidding war with the Yanks
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 10:01 Comments ||
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#3
I'm curious, regardless of price, isn't Fenway sold out all the time? For a causal visitor (me) paying 150 does not seem out of the question.
Live and learn macrkel snappers . We be on you soon.
#2
Since dragging Western men through the streets of Yanbu and Khobar did not cause the mass of exodus of Expats that they were aiming for,
maybe the "deviants'" think that kidnapping their(Westerner's) wives will.
This was in the same edition carrying the Locusts article.
"3 Arrested for Trying to Kidnap Expat Woman
Arab News
JEDDAH, 20 November 2004 â Police in Madinah have arrested three young Saudis for allegedly trying to kidnap an expatriate woman after beating up her husband, press reports said yesterday.
The incident took place at the Quba Street junction close to Adil Center in the holy city. Five youths in a Cressida sedan pulled over and approached the couple as they were coming out of a shopping center. They attempted to kidnap the woman after beating up her husband, according to Al-Madinah daily.
âThe youths tried to force the woman into their car but her husband put up strong resistance. This angered the youths who beat him up and hit him in the head with a stone,â the paper said.
Patrol police arrived at the scene and arrested two youths while they struggled with the woman trying to push her into the car. The police also caught up with the driver of the car who tried to escape. A search has been mounted for the other two suspects. The case has been transferred to the Investigation and Public Prosecution Commission.
Doctors said the expatriate man sustained deep injuries to his head. He will take at least one week to recover, they added."
A strong earthquake occurred at 08:07:23 (UTC) on Saturday, November 20, 2004. The magnitude 6.2 event has been located in COSTA RICA. Some coffee beans are on the ground now.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 4:38:24 AM ||
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These are the pink locusts. Hide the grasshoppers!
Swarms of locusts originating in North Africa invaded Israeli territory and on Friday afternoon crowded the skies of the southern city of Eilat. Later Friday evening, locusts were also spotted along the coast in Tel Aviv, Netanya and Ashdod, Army Radio reported. The swarms, which came from the Sinai peninsula and were heading further northwards, reached heights of two to three meters over Eilat and were estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Locusts are inactive during the night, which permits the delaying of the decision overnight. Weather forecasts indicate that winds will be blowing in from Cyprus toward Israel, raising concerns that more locusts may arrive over the weekend. The last locust plague to hit Israel was in 1959, followed by a smaller incident in 1961.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 4:30:17 AM ||
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Hey Fred, have you considered creating a catergory like "Signs and Portents"?
If these locusts turn out to be bridaled and saddled for war, and are headed for Har-Meggido...
Posted by: N Guard ||
11/20/2004 7:51 Comments ||
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Hey great idea N Guard!
Perhaps with a check list? And tallies.
Unlike Kerry, who cussed out one of his agents on the ski slope
President Bush stepped into the middle of a confrontation and pulled his lead Secret Service agent away from Chilean security officials who barred his bodyguards from entering an elegant dinner for 21 world leaders Saturday night. Several Chilean and American agents got into a pushing and shoving match outside the cultural center where the dinner was held. The incident happened after Bush and his wife, Laura, had just posed for pictures on a red carpet with the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and his wife, Luisa Duran. As Bush stepped inside, Chilean agents closed ranks at the door, blocking the president's agents from following. Stopping for more pictures, Bush noticed the fracas and turned back. He reached through the dispute and pulled his agent from the scrum and into the building.
The president, looking irritated, straightened his shirt cuffs as he went into the dinner. The incident was shown on APEC television. "Chilean security tried to stop the president's Secret Service from accompanying him," said White House deputy press secretary Claire Buchan. "He told them they were with him and the issue was resolved."
#4
I saw it on Fox, but never fear, The Daily Recycler has a still of Bush reaching over the Chilean security to his guy - and a request for the vid. If it shows up anywhere, it'll be here, so bookmark this site for future reference!
President Hugo Chavez vowed to track down the killers of a state attorney whose death in a car bomb has shaken the oil-rich South American nation and renewed the specter of violence. However he appeared to back away from a claim by his spokesman that "terrorists" training in Florida were responsible for the assassination of Danilo Anderson. Anderson, known to many Venezuelans as the "super prosecutor," was preparing a case against nearly 400 people who backed Venezuela's 2002 coup. He was killed when two explosions ripped through his SUV as he drove through the capital around midnight Thursday. "The attack against Danilo Anderson is an attack against all of us," Chavez said in a televised address to the nation late Friday, adding that it was also an attack on Venezuelans' dreams for democracy.
I don't like Hugo, but I like car boomers even less than I like Hugo. I hope they find the killers quickly and exterminate them.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 11:15:10 AM ||
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He as always used the occasion to blame the US. Is he mad because we pretty much ignore his oversized ego and him?
A remote controled bomb was used. This was not some amateur hit. I think he does protest to much.
#2
Fred,
They will never find the killers because they come from Chavez's rank.
He needed something big to keep the propaganda going: the Oligarchs aided by the US want to destroy our precious revolution. They want to shut the voices of the downtrodden and blah, blah, blah. With oil prices on the decline, he knows that very soon, Venezuelan will begin to question what he has done with the billions and billions of dollars from the recent oil bonanza. The funds for all his handouts, in the form of social programs, are drying up and the economy is in shambles. He had to create a major distraction!
This is one of the articles where he blames the US.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6874322&src=rss/worldNews
From Cuba's commie press, GRANMA.
THE Honorable Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, prime minister of Malaysia, is to make a three-day visit to the island starting Wednesday, November 24, in response to an invitation from President Fidel Castro Ruz. The prime minister's visit constitutes an indication of excellent bilateral relations between the two countries and the decision of the new government of that important Asian nation to continue and develop friendly ties. Malysia currently occupies the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement. The prime Minister of Malaysia will arrive in Cuba from Chile after participating in the 12the Informal Summit of Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers. Islamists and commies, what a team of losers
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 3:43:53 AM ||
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#1
The non-align movement is irrelevant for sometime already. Nothing to crow about just another inane money wasting club.
Posted by: Wo ||
11/20/2004 6:58 Comments ||
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A Russian seaman has died in an accident on board a Russian nuclear submarine at a Pacific base, a navy spokesman said on Friday. The sailor, Dmitry Koval, received fatal injuries when a pipe burst, the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Russian navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo as saying. Dygalo said that the submarine was docked at Vilyuchinsk base on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's far east when the accident occurred. Dygalo said the accident damaged one of the submarine's sections, but it has remained fully operable. He didn't say when the accident occurred or name the submarine.
Russia's NTV television quoted Koval's mother as saying that naval officials told her that her son was fatally injured in a gas explosion. Two other crewmen were injured, it said. Captain Andrei Berezin, a naval officer who came to Koval's native city of Krasnoyarsk to attend his burial, told NTV that Koval had "sacrificed himself to save the crew" but refused to name the submarine or give any details of the accident. Calls to the Russian navy's headquarters have gone unanswered
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 5:22:19 AM ||
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...Would this sub be from the same country that is going to build the supermissile capable of defeating our defense systems?...
Just checking.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/20/2004 13:11 Comments ||
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In other news, Russia announced today that it will be making yet another of its submarines available for purchase.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
11/20/2004 15:35 Comments ||
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That's about par for the course. I read a book about the Cold War subs and one of them had catastrophic (i.e. lots of people dead) failures in the nuke plant three times before they decommissioned it. Each time, they'd just patch it up and "You're good to go."
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said there is clear evidence that UN staff sexually abused refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
That'd be the Food for Nookie Program...
Allegations of abuse at UN camps surfaced last year, prompting the UN's internal watchdog to launch an inquiry. After being briefed on its progress, Mr Annan said a small number of civilian and military personnel had committed "shameful" acts of gross misconduct. He added that those involved must be held accountable.
"You people have been caught using the natives as semen receptacles. No teevee for a week!"
Two years ago, a UN investigation rejected similar allegations of sexual exploitation of refugees by UN staff in West Africa. In a statement released in Nairobi, Mr Annan said he had received a "detailed briefing... about the investigations which the UN initiated some time ago into allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by both civilian and military peacekeeping personnel in the DRC". He added: "I am afraid there is clear evidence that acts of gross misconduct have taken place. This is a shameful thing for the United Nations to have to say, and I am absolutely outraged by it.
"I'm working with incompetents here! Haven't they ever heard of disposing of the evidence?"
"Many of these allegations came to light last spring, and have since been looked into both by Monuc (the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) itself and by the Office of Internal Oversight Services. I am glad to say that the allegations concern only a small number of UN personnel.
"How small?"
"Under 100 percent."
"But it is vital that the investigations be speeded up. We cannot rest until we have rooted out all such practices from Monuc, from any other peacekeeping operation, and indeed anywhere in the organisation that they might occur. And we must make sure that those involved are held fully accountable." The UN mission in DRC now consists of about 10,000 troops and was first deployed in 2001, two years before a major war there ended.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/20/2004 8:01:07 AM ||
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A union representing United Nations staff has voted "no confidence" in the world body's senior management. It is the first time in the labor organization's history that it has cast such a vote, which is largely symbolic and has no effect over any U.N. officials' jobs. The vote was tallied behind closed doors Friday afternoon at U.N. headquarters in New York. The move was in response to a series of scandals plaguing the United Nations.
Posted by: Beau ||
11/20/2004 1:32:54 AM ||
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#1
which is largely symbolic and has no effect
UN employees you say?
BTW MS thanks for last yesterdays answer.
I won't say I doubt it.
#3
Remember these are the assholes who stole the silver from the dining room on 9/11. They're just PO'd that they didn't get a bigger cur from the oil for payoffs scam.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 8:33 Comments ||
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This could be used as an excuse to replace Kofi early. Well I can hope can't I?
Apollogies if this is not the right way to this, but this is a link that leads to a free republic thread that revolves around a 100 mb video-file of french soldiers apperantly opening fire on a larg crowd of african civilians.
Long download but some pretty distubing images, I personaly think that the french have a shitload of explaining to do.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 18:13 Comments ||
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Time to MSM pool, anyone?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 18:16 Comments ||
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I put $10 on "never".
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/20/2004 18:17 Comments ||
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I'll take that. Once it gets to Drudge, it gets to MSM. Matty looks like he's taking a day off, so some time tomorrow after the morning shows but in time for his radio show is my guess.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 18:20 Comments ||
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Lets hope the blogs can do the same thing to france, as they did to Dan Rather.
#12
I'll bet on Never. Not just because France is the global leader of the anti-Bush resistance, hence the logical ally of the MSM, but because hardly anyone gives a foutre what France does in Africa. Did Scott really mean to kill Amber next?
#14
Bloggers need to be all over this. Send the link to instapundit, Charles Johnson at littlegreenfootballs.com, maybe Sullivan as well (he's still British and thus has a large measure of hereditary frogophobia in his genes...)
#15
The MSM won't cover it because 1) The french are the ones committing the crime and 2) the victims are 'only blacks'. (in the view of the MSM -- not me!)
If it was 'arabs' or muslims I'm sure the MSM would be all over it in a heartbeat.
In the meantime Koffe will give Chirac all the cover he needs.
#17
The French have been periodically pulling this kind of shit across western and northern Africa for over half a century now, with nary a protest or denunciation from the pseudo-progressive left. Why would our parochial MSM bother noticing this time?
A celebration at the gates of Togo's presidential palace turned into a stampede Saturday, killing at least 13 people as excited crowds tried to surge onto palace grounds in the capital of the tiny West African nation. Officials warned that the death toll could climb, as hospitals treated scores of other victims. The celebration was called to mark the easing of 11 years of European Union sanctions against President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa's longest-ruling leader. Large crowds of Eyadema's party members and others marched through the capital Saturday to the palace. When the palace gates were thrown open to admit them, the crushing throngs of celebrants tried to push through at once. Men and women's shoes and flip-flops, torn off in the crush, lay abandoned at the gates Saturday after the stampede. A government statement put the death toll at 13. Aid workers still were treating at least 50 people trampled by the crowd.
The European Union announced Monday it would resume limited aid work with Togo, supporting humanitarian and human-rights projects only. The union suspended aid to Togo in 1993 after government forces allegedly killed hundreds during election violence. Most other international aid also has been suspended. EU officials said Monday they had noted initial moves toward democratic and human-rights reforms by Eyadema's regime but that full aid would resume only when Togo holds free and fair legislative elections. Government spokesman Pitang Tchalla said organizers of Saturday's celebration "underestimated the enthusiasm of participants who turned out in unexpected large numbers for today's event, meant to express thanks to the European Union and support for President Eyadema." Eyadema has ruled tiny Togo for 37 years. He assumed power in 1967, after leading Africa's first post-independence coup in 1963. Worldwide, only Fidel Castro has held power longer.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 10:46:49 AM ||
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US Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan has warned that the deficit in US trade with the rest of the world cannot be sustained indefinitely. But Mr Greenspan, in a speech in Germany, could not say when or how the adjustment would take place. The deficit in US international trade is large by any standards - more than $500bn over the last year, or more than 5% of the country's economy. Many economists say it is unsustainable and adjustment could be painful. But the deficit has been large for a decade and the adjustment has not happened.
Nonetheless, Mr Greenspan has joined the chorus of warnings. He is not predicting certain catastrophe now or indeed at any stage in the future. But the implication is clear, that the inevitable adjustment might come in a disruptive form. Cumulative deficits, which result in a marked decline of a country's net international investment position - as is occurring in the United States - raise more complex issues Alan Greenspan He focused on the financing of the deficit. In essence, a trade deficit needs to be supported by foreigners investing in the US. If they suddenly become reluctant to do so, the result in the financial markets could be either a sharp rise in interest rates or a fall in the dollar. There was also a call in Mr Greenspan's speech for the US government to tackle the deficit in its finances - or even move into surplus - as an effective way of tackling the trade gap. President Bush has said he plans to halve the deficit in the government's finances. But it is clear that the government will continue borrowing. On Friday, the president signed a new law that will allow the government to borrow further $800bn.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/20/2004 9:32:43 AM ||
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Greenspan is talking down the dollar. If you read other reports he essentially says. Paraphrasure - 'It's my job to tell you what will happen. It's up to you to act to protect your interests.'
Given this was said in Germany at the same time as the APEC summit it's clearly for international consumption. The message is - Sell your USD denominated assets. Very interesting!
#2
One interesting consequence of a declining dollar and with the Yuan pegged to the dollar, is Chinese exports will flood into Europe. Forcing China to recycle its surpluses by buyin Euro denominated assets and sending teh Euro even higher. Its going to be a very interesting couple of years.
The (Washington) state Supreme Court has ordered new trials for 13 men convicted of felony murder. Thursday's decision stems from a controversial 2002 ruling in which the high court declared that assaults resulting in death don't amount to murder. That ruling held that prosecutors can't charge someone with felony murder when an assault leads to death, unless the attacker intended to kill. Felony murder is the charge used when someone dies as a result of another crime, such as arson, rape or robbery. The state Legislature quickly changed the law to include assault as one of the crimes that can be used in felony murder charges, but the change in the law cannot apply retroactively, the court wrote...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
11/20/2004 9:17:55 AM ||
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In 1913 the Constitution was amended to make Senators subject to the consent of the governed. Its is long past due for this country to remain a republic, a democracy that the final branch of government also become subject to the direct consent of the govern. The arguement that this would politize the judiciary ignors what is happening today in the Senate to nominations by both major political parties. The arguement of independence ignors that Kings were independent of the people at one time too. The arguement that it would lead to mob rule is basically an arguement against democracy itself. Give them a 12 years term which should be long enough to grant them a degree of security but also give the people the means to revoke the most outrageous attempts to hijack the Consitution. Our Congress is too cowardly to remove those justices which have sought to impose their vision of this country without the consent of the govern. Too often the politicians use the judiciary to do its work that they, the politicians, know would get them thrown out in the next election. Give us the power. Give us back our republic.
Posted by: Don ||
11/20/2004 9:34 Comments ||
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Give us back our republic.
You never had that republic, Don. Study some history and you will find that the founders had a well founded fear of excessive democracy. As Franklin said, "A republic, if you can keep it."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 9:41 Comments ||
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The republic I'm referring to was the one we had prior to the 1960s before the court hijacked the 14th Admendment to expand their powers into the everyday lives of the citizens. While some will post that those powers where needed to protect the civil rights our some of our population, the key protection came through legislative works like the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of the 1960s. As it has evolved, the rights of even more citizens have been abridged by the fiats issued by the courts since then.
Posted by: Don ||
11/20/2004 10:37 Comments ||
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#4
Hmmmmm. I'm a big fan of law and order, but if the legislature didn't put what they did as a crime, then it's not a crime. Or, more exactly, wasn't that particular crime. From what little is in the article, I'd say the court was right.
You can still get them for assault and a lower-degree homicide, right? Since no one's ever executed and even a "life" sentence gets you out in 10 years, what's the difference?
Via Bros. Judd, maybe this partially explains why he just bought $10 mill worth of Chinese arms.
Zimbabwe has become al-Qaeda's newest hub amid reports that the embattled country has now become a sanctuary harboring militant Islamist groups and a territorial medium to smuggle people, arms, material and contraband, Zimdaily exclusively reveals today.
The quest continues to find a comfortably failed state to fester and grow in. You don't get much more failed than Zim, though Somalia's probably still in the running. Too much attention on Chad and Mali. The thing mitigating against it as a major hub is the fact that the Moose limb population is too small to allow significant rioting and bullying of the local populace...
The report stated that Zimbabwe was emerging as a relatively significant hub for more generalized organized crime, much of which is run by West African syndicates from Ghana and, especially, Nigeria. Law enforcement sources estimate that several thousand gang members may be present across southern Africa, engaging in everything from drugs smuggling and the trafficking of human beings to vehicle theft, poaching, counterfeiting and so-called 419 scams (advanced fee swindles).
The next "war" the civilized world's going to fight...
Big mistake on Bob's part -- hasn't he been paying attention to Afghanistan, Iraq and other quiet places?
Zimbabwe, itself, is known to have been exploited as a transshipment point for cross-continental consignments of cannabis, heroin and cocaine as well as blood diamonds derived from civil wars in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In addition, the country is believed to have served as an "off-shore" documentation forgery center, particularly for South Africa - the main destination for much of the illicit regional trade in people.
South Africa remains a state in transition — from First World to failed state...
Posted by: anonymous2u ||
11/20/2004 1:26:44 AM ||
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Boy, old Muggy Zimbob is gunning to hit for the cycle, eh?
What's left? Hosting the Miss World Contest, stoning half of the contestants, and selling the rest into slavery?
Let's start a fun rumor:
Chirac will plan a "State visit" to ZimBobLand just before his term runs out and will choose not to return - just "retire" there - avoiding those pesky legal entanglements awaiting his exit from office...
#3
You get entirely too much joy outta poppin my bubbles, Ship, lol! And here I was a thinkin' I had gotten me one them flashes of insight, a moment of the serendipity kind. Sigh.
#4
It's quite a good bet I'd say, as the money Chirac has scammed from French taxpayers and Arab benefactors will go a lot further in Zimbabwe than in a proper country.
#5
Any chance of a Cruise missile or two nipping this one in the bud, sooner rather than later? Someone should perhaps let Bob know the definition of Global, as in Global War on Terror.
#9
South African govt does not say much about Bob, do they?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 11:58 Comments ||
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Yeah, but you can tell that Thabo has a soft spot for Bob...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 12:23 Comments ||
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#11
Eventually once the trail of overthrown governments becomes clear to all those who may consider housing Al-Q they will have no where else to go. Now that its out in the open about the 419 scams supporting terrorist organizations you can do your part in the wot from the comfort of your own home.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
