Sunday, October 20, 2019

The week in review with Bill Katz the Editor of Urgent Agenda


The week in review with Bill Katz the Editor of Urgent Agenda 10/20 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics:

Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda.....Syria and Trump....Will Bloomberg jump in? AOC and Sanders....Hillary Clinton vs DNC.....The G-7 will not meet in Doral.....A red wave in 2020? ...and other stories.......click to listen:




Cartels fight a round with Mexican army…and win

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For some time, I’ve been hearing about the cartels’ firepower.  It makes sense because they have millions of dollars and there are many high-powered rifles on the black market.
We saw it in the last 72 hours in Sinaloa, a Pacific coast state about 880 miles southwest of Dallas, Texas.
This is from news reports:
After being captured by Mexican forces, the Sinaloa cartel managed to wrest El Chappo’s [sic] son free from government control with a stunning show of force complete with machine guns and rocket launchers.
The events unfolded in the city of Culiacán on Thursday after troops captured the son of jailed drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo.  His son, Ovidio Guzmán Lopez, is one of many of the notorious kingpin’s children who live in the area. 
Another one of El Chapo’s sons called up cartel members to begin a siege on Culiacán, according to the New York Times.
Trucks with large mounted machine guns were spotted, as were videos showing rocket launchers and rocket-powered grenades. Many civilians in the city were able to capture the staccato of gunfire during the prolonged battle, which ended in the deaths of at least seven and injured more than a dozen.
The Mexican forces who arrested the younger Guzmán released him after eight of their members were taken hostage.  Part of the effort by the cartel to get Guzmán released reportedly included not only taking armed forces hostage, but also kidnapping their families.
Given that they were surrounded, the violence was continuing to rise, and there were hostages, the government surrendered and let Guzmán go.
President López-Obrador has been trying to put a happy face on the incident for a couple of days.
My Mexican friends are reacting to the whole thing according to their love or hatred of the Mexican president.  On one side, they repeat the president’s words that arresting one life was not worth risking many innocent ones.  On the other side, the president’s critics say you do not negotiate with terrorists.
So add another argument to a polarized nation arguing about everything.
My view is that the government made a mistake.  Officials were probably caught by surprise or without sufficient forces to fight the well armed cartels.
Nevertheless, it was horrible to hear cartels claiming a military victory against the Mexican army.
What does President López-Obrador do? I hope he unleashes lots of force and deals a major loss to the cartels, perhaps even capturing El Chapo’s son again.  If not, we will see more policemen ambushed and trucks set on fire.
The cartels crossed a line in Sinaloa.  Mexico must respond.
PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

Galbraith and Rukeyser died in 2006



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Like many college kids in the 1970's, I had to read J.K. Galbraith's long economic textbooks and watch "Wall Street Week" with Louis Rukeyser.  

Truthfully, it was a lot more fun watching the show than reading the books.

Besides, Galbraith was a liberal economist and I was more interested in reading Milton Friedman. Nevertheless, I always found Galbraith to be very interesting.

Both men died the same week in 2006.    Galbraith in the last week of April and Rukeyser a few days later.


As for Rukeyser, I did not know that PBS had fired him. Rukeyser's show focused on business. He actually made Wall Street interesting, which is why it lasted so long.

Rukeyser & Galbraith were good men who contributed a lot to the world.     


PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.



September 2005: Aikman, Smith and Irvin joined The Ring of Honor


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Many years ago, the '95 Cowboys were on their way to a 3rd Super Bowl title in 4 years.  They were the best team in the NFL.

The Cowboys' offense was built around QB Troy Aikman, RB Emmitt Smith and receiver Michael Irvin.  Their defense was excellent, too. They were a great team to watch and root for.

In 2005, the "triplets", as they were called, were added to the Ring of Honor, the team's highest recognition

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.







We remember Bum Phillips (1923-2013)

Bum Phillips was born in 1923 and died this week in 2013.  He was 90 and quite a character, a prototypical Texan.

Phillips was the very successful coach of The Houston Oilers and a great football personality.

As a coach, he made the Oilers a very good team.   Houston lost the AFL championship in 1978 and 1979 to Pittsburgh, the Super Bowl winner.

And let's not forget that he served as a Marine in World War II!
 



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