Monday, October 28, 2013

Explosions shake up Mexico

(My new American Thinker post)


We've praised Mexican President Pena-Nieto's efforts to reform PEMEX and the out of control teachers' union. But President Pena-Nieto was reminded this weekend that criminal elements can punch and punch very hard.   

Mexico had a rather violent weekend in Michoacan, ground zero for cartel violence. We posted about Michoacan a few weeks ago.  Most Americans don't know much about Michoacan but it is where the action is in the war south of the border.   

This is from The LA Times:   

"Assailants early Sunday blew up at least nine electrical power plants in one of Mexico's largest states, triggering blackouts that gunmen then used as cover to torch gasoline stations, residents and authorities said.  
The attacks in Michoacan state, west of the capital, did not cause deaths or serious injuries, authorities said.  
But they served as a pointed reminder of the strength of drug gangs and other criminals.   
Shortly after midnight, attackers armed with Molotov cocktails almost simultaneously disabled electrical substations in at least nine cities and towns in Michoacan, plunging an estimated 1 million people into darkness. 
The power was out for 15 hours.  Gunmen then torched four gasoline stations, including two in the state capital of Morelia, a popular tourist destination.   
Michoacan for years has been controlled either by the Knights Templar or its predecessor La Familia, cartels that specialize in methamphetamine exported to the United States and that have controlled many city halls and police departments.  
More recently, groups of citizens have taken up weapons to form self-defense squads against the traffickers.   
It may have been one of these groups that briefly seized the city hall in the large town of Apatzingan, residents said.   
Federal authorities said they were sending hundreds of police and military troops to reinforce security in the region. The attacks came barely two days after the state's governor, Fausto Vallejo, resumed duties after a long illness.   
"The only thing we can conclude ... is that the organized criminals are winning the battle against federal and state authorities," Miguel Angel Chavez, head of the opposition National Action Party, told the Quadratin news agency, adding that the violence of the last 24 hours was a terrorist attack.   
Organized criminals were suspected of unleashing a series of attacks on government forces in Michoacan in July that resulted in the deaths of 20 criminals and two federal police officers, according to the federal government."   

I checked the Mexican press and found very extensive coverage of the bombs.  

President Pena-Nieto is apparently sending more military forces to tackle the deteriorating situation in Michoacan. 

A friend in Mexico City told me Sunday night that people are very concerned that Michoacan may require a major military intervention.  He told me that Michoacan is a lot worse than Juarez because the gangs are all spread out rather than in one city.    

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantoj

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Read my lips: You can keep your insurance

(My new American Thinker post)


At some point, people will discover two things:   

1) You can not keep your insurance;  and,

2) Your premiums will not be affordable.

So far, it does not look that the Affordable Health Care Act has a lot of affordable features.  The LA Times has a front page story of Californians getting a little bit of "premium shock":

"Thousands of Californians are discovering what Obamacare will cost them -- and many don't like what they see.   
These middle-class consumers are staring at hefty increases on their insurance bills as the overhaul remakes the healthcare market. Their rates are rising in large part to help offset the higher costs of covering sicker, poorer people who have been shut out of the system for years. 
Although recent criticism of the healthcare law has focused on website glitches and early enrollment snags, experts say sharp price increases for individual policies have the greatest potential to erode public support for President Obama's signature legislation."  

The front pages are full of similar stories in other states, like Florida.  

My message to the GOP is simple:  Get busy in a fantasy football league and make lots of trades, look for old high school buddies in Facebook and leave President Obama & Democrats all alone to explain ObamaCare.   

This is a good time for the GOP to go mute and let ObamaCare do all of the talking.   

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.


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The Spanish language version of healthcare.gov has a bad case of 'no se puede"!

(My new American Thinker post)

President Obama told us that the ObamaCare website, and call center, would service 150 languages.

Let's confirm right now that "la version en espanol no sirve."    This is from CBS Philly:

"An indefinite delay of the Spanish language version of the Affordablehttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png Care Act website threatens the viability of the program as a whole, according to area experts.  CuidadoSalud.gov was supposed to roll out this month, but although the website exists, the option to enroll electronically doesn't.   

That option does exist on Healthcare.gov, although the system has been plagues with problems."   

ObamaCare will need a lot of young people to sign up to fund the program. Hispanics will be a very big part of that younger population, as my good friend Israel Ortega of The Heritage Foundation reported a few weeks ago:  

"What's more, considering that 65 percent of Hispanics are millennials, they can expect to pay more to cover costs for wealthier Americans. Rates will likely increase by an average of 169 percent for the young, while older people will pay about 22 percent less, according to Generation Opportunity, a national organization committed to promoting liberty to young Americans."  

That does not sound like the 'affordable" insurance that we were promised at the "si se puede" rally!   

We can tell you again that English and Spanish are not working as planned  Wonder how the other 148 language interfaces are doing?

P.S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.


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