Yes, Mexico Just Commissioned a Ship That Can Outfight Her American Counterpart

Did you miss what Mexico is building with the Dutch?

You'll want some, I'll guarantee it.

I outline why over at USNIBlog. 

Come on by!

Diversity Thursday

In a similar way the climate change fanatics think that little changes in what the USA does with its hyper-modern coal plants will somehow make up for the rest of the planet's dirty coal, wood, fuel oil, and animal dung burning billions - and in doing so just advertise their ignorance as to the nature and scale of the rest of the planet - so do we find such blinkered localism among the American diversity industry's cadres.

Yes, as we are told over and over again; our racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally evil culture needs to be destroyed so it can be like the unicorn riding tolerance of the rest of the world ...

Ummmm ... yea.

How about that Latin American multi-culti glory?

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera downplayed a homophobic chant that Mexican fans hurl at opposing goalkeepers during matches, arguing that it’s just a “folksy” part of the game, and is not being used in discriminatory fashion.

Herrera told Mexico’s Radio Red on Friday that fans who chant the word “puto” during Mexico games are not attempting to offend homosexuals.

“This is something that’s used to pressure the opposing team’s goalie…it’s something that we’re not really worried about,” Herrera said from Mexico’s training camp in Brazil.

... but wait, that other evil of Amerikkka is coming ... cultural imperialism!

However some soccer commentators in Mexico have argued that the chant reflects discriminatory attitudes towards homosexuals which are prevalent in Mexican society. They have suggested that the Mexican Soccer Federation launch a campaign that would encourage fans to stop using the homophobic slur.

Mexico’s National Commission to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) also weighed in on the debate earlier this week, issuing a scathing statement against the use of this chant, and urging FIFA to take actions to stop fans from using it.

OK, that machismo may be hard to work through - but it is good to see that nice Anglo-Saxon tradition of growing inclusiveness is getting some traction south of the border.

In living memory in my glorious South, we had a few not-so-nice "folksy" ways ... we modernized and made them no longer proper in polite company. I think this Latin "folksy" habit may need to go - though the 13-yr old Sal in my brain does think it is funny. 

At least they don't sound racist ... wait ...

When Sanchez started viewing the games on Univision he was surprised at what he heard from the Spanish-speaking commenters.

“Most recently was a characterization related to an Afro-Costa Rican player describing him not by his last name but by the color of skin, calling him ‘moreno,’” said Sanchez.

Sanchez noticed other charged words like "greña" being used by broadcasters.

“Greña really means messy hair but some individuals think of it as referring to African American hair and also describing it as ‘nappy’ hair,” said Sanchez.

Sanchez posted his linguistic concerns on Facebook and received many, many replies from other American Latinos like himself who were offended by the language being used by sportscasters.

“When English language leaning Latinos watch Spanish language programming there’s a culture clash that occurs because the kind of social progress that we live in, in our mainstream world doesn’t always seem to be reflected in programming that is not English language programming,” said Sanchez.

Outside of the US, these cultural slurs and epithets are not necessarily seen in the same light in other parts of the Spanish-speaking says Sanchez.

Yes, some heads are exploding. This is delicious to me;

That doesn’t mean that Sanchez wants to water down the commentary or make it bland. He tuned in to Univision for the Spanish language style of calling a game, a style that is evocative and full energy.

So, if I may roughly translate the Spanish in a rough way with words-that-should-not-be-put-down, any day now we can hear a shrug from the cultural commissariat as thousands of Philadelphia Eagle fans scream, "F@GGOT!" at every extra point,as the color commenters in the booth - no pun intended - talk about the nappy-haired darkies in the secondary? 

No.

Some in my ancestral lands in Mississippi had ways of speaking about their neighbors in, "... a style that is evocative and full energy." Would Sanchez defend them? I hope not.

Wrong is wrong. It doesn't matter if you roll your r's or not; its wrong.

Yea to USA - we have come a long way in the right direction. 

Of course, those who have travelled through the world with open ears and eyes have known for quite awhile what most of the world it like. Though we Americans still have work to do - next time some diversity bully starts to bleat about how difficult things are here - speak up for your nation. 

We're OK. They need to get out more.

Squirrels, Bears, and Golden Eagles

Study military history all day long if you wish, but if you ignore the signals of what is to come, economics & demographics, then you are going to miss what's next.

It is easy to be distracted by the comfortable, shiny now - while not looking far enough around the corner.

No one on our side has enjoyed watching Russia step in to the opening we gave them and spent this year giving the USA wedgies from Syria to China. Russia can make things difficult still for the short-term. Russia is not, in the medium-term, really a concern as many think it is. They are in a larger sense still living off what is left of the cache of the defunct Soviet Union and the wealth of their commodity driven extraction economy. Where we may think we have problems here - our issues are child's play.

Russia is dying. The once-mighty Russian state is undergoing a catastrophic post-Soviet societal decline. Health standards are abysmal, and life expectancy in Russia is nothing like it is in the West — just age 60 for men (less than in Botswana and Madagascar) and 73 for women, roughly the same as in Saudi Arabia. Alcoholism — the scourge of Soviet society — continues to ravage the country, with a death rate among Russia’s youth that is 35 times higher than among their counterparts in Europe. So does drug addiction. According to United Nations statistics, more than a fifth of all heroin consumed globally every year occurs in Russia. Prevalent, too, is a corrosive culture of abortion, with unofficial estimates placing the number of annual abortions at 2 million to 2.5 million — close to 2 percent of the Russian Federation’s potential population.

In all, the country is contracting by close to half-a-million souls every year owing to both death and the emigration of its citizens (to Europe and beyond). At this rate, according to the Kremlin’s own estimates, Russia could lose a quarter of its population by the middle of this century. It’s a phenomenon that demographers have described as “the emptying of Russia” — a wholesale implosion of Russia’s human capital, and a collapse of its prospects as a viable modern state.

Russia is also transforming. The country is experiencing a radical change in its ethnic and religious composition. Today, Russia’s roughly 21 million Muslims are still a distinct minority. Comparatively robust birthrates have put Muslims on track to account for a fifth of the country’s population by the end of this decade, and possibly a majority by midcentury.

Yes, Russia will soon have enough internal problems to keep itself busy - things that will make the Syrian government forces' TTP look like a game of freeze-tag.

While we have spent a fair bit of time picking our navel over the AFPAK border region - we should probably think about what is happening on the Mexican side of the El Norte border.

Those worried about tens of thousands of innocent civilian deaths in Syria might better focus their time, energy and resources on helping a nation where tens of thousands have also died, but whose fate directly and immediately affects U.S. and Canadian security.

That nation is Mexico.

Since 2008, the seven main drug cartels have emerged as an existential threat to Mexico’s future. Cartels like Los Zetas, which recruit members from Mexico’s Special Forces and federal police, behave like organized paramilitaries, not ordinary criminals. They generate perhaps $30 to $40 billion a year in illicit profits. And the price has been horrendous. Between 2007 and 2012, around 47,000 Mexicans were killed in the drug war. Some estimate that the true toll is over 60,000.

Though we have a habit of wanting to bump heads with the Russians - which nation is the medium-term, 2020-2050, is really going to have the greatest impact on the USA?

Ponder.

If Only She Were Colombian

As Howie said - Mexican Presidential Debates are just ... better. I think that is something Skippy and I can both agree with; if this is wrong, then I don't want to be right.



I do feel sorry for the VPL though. I had to watch over and over to make sure they were VPL before I posted about it though. I do have to watch my accuracy on the 'ole blog.

Well, I think they are VPL. Ya'll investigate and let me know what you think.

How serious is the threat from Mexico?

You can often judge the importance a nation sees things something in the world by who they send to keep an eye on it.

In that light - this announcement got my attention.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert announced today the following assignment:

Capt. Colin J. Kilrain, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as senior defense official and defense attache to Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico. Kilrain is currently serving as director, combating terrorism, National Security Council, Washington, D.C.

Shipmate - CAPT Kilrain (sorry, I don't believe in the whole (sel) thingy; nothing personal) ain't no intel weenie. No sir.

Three time All-American wrestler, Navy SEAL, and married to an astronaut with whom he has had four children.

Geezzz ... I feel like a lazy putz who wasted his life all of a sudden.

Ummmm, I don't know about you - but I think it is time to start a Mexico tag.

Hat tip Mike.