News Shorts: Mexico

Illegal aliens may not be the only thing crossing our southern border.  Dengue fever, a viral illness transmitted by mosquitoes, is a growing problem, particularly in Latin America.

Overall dengue cases have increased by more than 600 percent in Mexico since 2001, and worried officials are sending special teams to tourist resorts to spray pesticides and remove garbage and standing water where mosquitoes breed ahead of the peak Easter Week vacation season.

...More alarming is that a deadly hemorrhagic form of the disease, which adds internal and external bleeding to the symptoms — is becoming more common. It accounts for one in four cases in Mexico, compared with one in 50 seven years ago, according to Mexico's Public Health Department.

There is no drug to cure the disease, but proper treatment, including lots of rest and fluids, reduces fatalities to less than 1%. (Link: Dengue surging in Mexico, Latin America, Associated Press)

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In Monterrey, Mexico, dueling drug cartels killed two police officers along with six other people in the ongoing war to control smuggling routes into the U.S.

The battle has led to beheadings, grenade attacks and execution-style killings across Mexico and the violence has taken a particularly heavy toll on police.

Mexican authorities think that the battle front may have moved into Monterrey from Nuevo Laredo, where hundreds have been murdered in battle for control of the lucrative, illegal drug market. (Link: 8 die in northern Mexico killing rampage, Houston Chronicle)

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In a plan that would make any U.S. liberal proud, authorities in Mexico City are offering to trade computers for large-caliber firearms.

In an ambitiously noble effort to cut down the enveloping surge of drugs-related violence running amok throughout the crime-addled streets of Mexico City, chief of police Joel Ortega has announced that anyone prepared to surrender a high-caliber weapon, such as a machine gun, will receive a free computer in exchange. And, perhaps in the interests of scale and fair play, anyone turning in a smaller calibre handgun will be presented with either cash remuneration or an Xbox videogame console.

Rather than point out just how absurd the plan is, I think I'll just say "good luck with that." (Link: Mexico City offering computer hardware for surrendered guns, Monsters and Critics)

Comments

[Ray]

Sounds like a great deal for the gun owner, trade your old gun in for a new computer and sell the computer to get a better gun.
Of course you've got to wonder why a drug gangster would be interested in this, I'm sure he already can afford a new computer and an XBOX.