Several weeks back a few news stories popped up on my radar about drug/gang violence in Mexico but, frankly, didn’t pay that much attention to it. With 368 kidnappings for ransom in the country in 2008 the drug cartels shooting it out in a border town didn’t seem all that unrealistic.

Well, the violence in Ciudad Juarez is, apparently, getting so bad the 5,000 Mexican soldiers already in the city are not enough. Local business owners are calling for United Nations peacekeepers to stop the violence. What blows me away is Ciudad Juarez and the murder rate. Through mid-October there 1,986 homicides or roughly 7 per day.

I’m blow away.

Will the Mexican government ask the U.N. to step in?

This is sad news, and follow up from a previous post, but the young woman run over by her by her father has died.

Why did her father run her over – she became too westernized.

Peoria police said Faleh Hassan Almaleki believed his daughter had become “too Westernized” and had abandoned “traditional” Iraqi values. Peoria police spokesman Mike Tellef told CNN the family moved to the Phoenix area in the mid-1990s, and Almaleki was unhappy with his daughter’s style of dress and her resistance to his rules.

So for some odd reason, let us assume her father felt that he was acting within “traditional” Iraqi values and rights why would he do this?

After the incident, Almaleki’s father drove to Mexico, abandoning his vehicle in Nogales… He then made his way to Mexico City and boarded a plane to Britain…

He got his ass out of dodge because he knew he broke law and that his ass was in trouble.  Better said, he knew his actions were just wrong and had no intent on getting caught.

There is no punishment harsh enough for this man.

Either there is something large going on in Eastern Europe or someone is overreacting.

Two days ago we saw an unidentified flu strain showing up in the Ukraine, today we see Romania is placing all hospitals under quarantine.

Romania’s Health Ministry Monday decided to place under quarantine all hospitals in the country, announced State Secretary Adrian Streinu-Cercel.

According to him, separate emergency wards will be opened to exclusively treat people with flu symptoms.

Starting this week, antiviral medicines will be delivered to hospitals, which will also get additional funding for purchasing surgical masks and disinfectants.

I’m trying to find more information on this but have been unable to thus far.  I find it interesting that Eastern European countries are having such an extreme reaction to the swine flu.

The news in the U.S. still is trying to push the Swine Flu as the next huge threat to humanity (no, not buying it yet) but it seems where people need to be paying attention is the Ukraine. As a sudden flu outbreak has taken place so has a round of viral pneumonia.

How bad is it in the Ukraine?  Not sure exactly as I have no contacts there but it looks like the entire country is going to be quarantined. To me the numbers do not seem dire which would make me wonder what else is going on?  Is this the swine flu going around or is this a new mutant strain?

Also, the Ukrainian government is worried about national security:

“The threat weighing on Ukraine’s national security which we cannot fight alone forces me to ask our close friends and strategic partners for urgent help,” Yushchenko wrote.

I wonder if President Yushchenko worried that a massive, country wide, outbreak will lead to his country being militarily vulnerable to attack…

This is one of my favorite events of the year – rolling back the clock!

Nothing like obtaining an extra hour in your life for such wonderful activities like sleeping… or sleeping.  So, that said, don’t forget to roll back the clock before you call it an evening on 10/31. That is if your are in a region that observes daylight savings.

Here are a few things in the news that caught my eye over the last 24 hours:

• October surprise from bank earnings? Some experts worry results may be much more negative than investors expect

Bank stocks surged during the third quarter, but as companies prepare to report results from the period, several industry experts remain concerned.

• Toxic commercial loans plague small banks

Toxic commercial real estate assets held by small U.S. banks are threatening their survival and the broader economy, analysts say.

• Israel, US to simulate response to war

Israel and the United States, amid growing tensions with Iran, will simulate interoperability between missile defense systems this week during the biennial Juniper Cobra missile defense exercise.

With the market going into earnings season, it will be interesting to see how things play out.

Since the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, the White House has, on a yearly basis, extended the 9/11 National Emergency act. As each September rolled around the announcement was expected almost like clockwork. With out fail, last Thursday, President Obama notified congress of the extension:

NOTICE
- – - – - – -
CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT
TO CERTAIN TERRORIST ATTACKS

Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.

Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2009. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency the former President declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

The event has become so common place, the press does not even report on the extension any longer. However, this year people need to take notice… almost like the next bit of news. On Monday, 09/14/09, Osama bin Laden’s semi-annual audio warning was released on an Islamist website:

“A statement to the American people”

“The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby,”

“The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine.”

“If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups,” Bin Laden said.

“Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq — as Bush claimed — it (the White House) should have been liberated.”

“If you stop the war, then fine. Otherwise we will have no choice but to continue our war of attrition on every front… If you choose safety and stopping wars, as opinion polls show you do, then we are ready to respond to this.”

“You have only changed the faces in the White House,” he said, referring to Obama who took office this year. “Obama is a weakened man. He will not be able to stop the war.”

Also on Monday, 09/14/09, news leaked that U.S. Special Forces may have killed a wanted al Qaeda terrorist who was seeking safe harbor in Somalia:

Special Forces used a helicopter to fire on a car in southern Somalia, killing several people, including one the U.S. military believes was Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior al Qaeda operative. Nabhan has been tied to several attacks in East Africa, including the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, according to the sources.

However, the final and potentially worrying event, on 9/14/2009 was a joint operation by the FBI and the NYPD task force on terrorism raided three residences in New York City. The believed target was a person with connections to al-Qaida.

No arrests were announced Monday but the investigation was still under way.

Authorities have not found any weapons ready for use — such as a bomb — that would indicate an attack was imminent, they said. Nevertheless, one of the officials called the threat very real and emphasized the urgency of the threat.

Obviously, the world is large and at any time a wide rage of events may be taking place. Often times the events are unrelated and are purely coincidental; however, when a pattern appears in a very short period of time I tend to take notice.

That said I’m not naive enough to think law enforcement isn’t constantly working behind the scenes. I have no doubt arrests, raids, and actions take place all the time with little or no fanfare. I simply find all of the events taking place within such a short period of time a bit coincidental.

So what does this all mean? Frankly, I have no clue. I’m simply noticing a pattern that seems to have popped up.

Was this raid due to President Obama’s stop over in New Work? Don’t know. If I look at events taking place over the next several weeks, I would be more concerned with the G20 summit heading to Pittsburgh on 9/24 and 9/25.

The G20 Summit represents 19 major world economies, as well as the European Union, that meets on a semi-annual basis to discuss macro-economic trends and how member nations should operate to keep the global economy stable.

Who represents the G20 members, you ask – the Presidents, Chancellors, Prime Ministers and Kings of the representative countries. What better target exists at this very moment for someone who wants to make a statement?

With the above events in mind, I can see why roughly 2,000 Pennsylvania National Guard will be assisting Pittsburgh police in keeping the peace during the conference. It will be interesting to see if more events take place between now and the start of the summit.

UPDATE 9/15/2009

After posting the above article, more information became available.

Hundreds of FBI agents are on the ground in Colorado, conducting round-the-clock surveillance on five suspects – including a man who recently visited Queens, sources told The News.

New York authorities searched three Flushing apartments and detained several men – later released – after getting a warrant to look for bomb-making components, explosive powders and fuses.

“The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys planning another 9/11,” a former senior counterterrorism official told the News. “This is not some … FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing.”

Again, too many things going on all at the same time.  Someone in law enforcement is really worried.

Based on news reports I’ve seen over the last few days I was aware Ted Kennedy was facing deteriorating health due to his cancer.  Like most, I don’t think I was expecting his passing so soon.

The family of Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy announced Tuesday night that youngest brother of the dynastic political family has died at 77.

Kennedy, diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2008, had suffered deteriorating health in recent months.

“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” a family statement said. “We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all.”

With Ted’s passing the last “Camelot” brothers is gone. An era of historic U.S. politics has ended with his death. If you agreed with his positions or not, you have to give Mr. Kennedy his due respect.

Officials with the wisdom and glory far beyond any an other human have come to the conclusion that circumcision should be mandated to all new born boys in the US in the hopes of reducing the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. Apparently, this comes from some study out of the UK. (one I haven’t fully read yet)

Politically speaking, I have no desire for the government to tell me – or anyone – what to do with our bodies. When I read “Officials Weigh Circumcision to Fight H.I.V. Risk” I immediately think the government knows what to do with my body, regardless of the fact that I many not want it done.

Before I get up…in arms…about this topic, I would like to see a number of questions answered in order to draw up my own conclusion, and maybe help you draw your own conclusion as well.

Here are just a few that come to mind:

1) Are the sample groups used male/female partnerships?
2) Are the sample groups using same sex partnerships?
3) Are condoms utilized and is there a greater fail rate of the product with circumcision or with an uncircumcised individual?
4) Are the participants in the group also drug users – specifically Mainline drug users?’
5) Is the population in the trial a truly representative sample or are the participants all from backgrounds that would likely increase exposure to HIV through other means than sex (Drugs/nurse/working with blood and having an open cut).

Now it comes down to research…my research and not what the government wants me to believe to be the best source. Am I going overboard?  No, I just want to have a true understand of what this group of people is thinking, and that includes the good and the bad.

Yesterday we talked about the blog postings George Sodini had on his site (were they his, what have you) but today ABC news has links to videos Sodini made some time in the past.  Here we have him talking about women, and here we have him talking about his home.

There is a very important point to be made here, a point made by raincoaster in my comments section, regarding Sodini:

I think Sodini wrote it as a way of controlling the debate after the fact, and that it should be read as a heartfelt piece of fiction. Given that he’s a mass murderer, the idea that he’s also a manipulative liar shouldn’t be inconceivable.

Zeta males never accept the blame for the way their own lives turned out, and they don’t allow their victims to become the focus after their deaths. Kimveer Gill would have been furious that his victims survived to give interviews, crowding him out of the story, and in this case I’m pretty sure the blog was meant to crowd Sodini’s victims out and make sure they had no posthumous voice: the story would be all about HIM.

The least we can do under those circumstances is distrust the writings.

Raincoaster has a very good point – under these circumstances we need to question and distrust everything this man has said.  He may very well be trying to keep the focus on him and not the lives he damanged beyond repair.