American blood on American Soil

Well maybe not blood - it was only some bits of stucco and brick, but you know. . .

President Barack Obama is "gambling with Human lives" says Texas Governor Rick Perry. I'm afraid he's not talking about any of our current foreign wars, and anyway, gambling with military lives is worth the patriotic fervor we need to keep the proles supporting Republicans.

He's not talking about the death cult that executes prisoners without much apparent concern for evidence of innocence. He's not talking about tossing out mining or oil drilling safety rules as "communism." He's talking about a stray bullet coming harmlessly across the border into El Paso from Juarez and hitting a wall, shedding American brick dust on American soil. It's happened once or twice before with no harm done to anyone, but it's Obama's fault according to the hysterical hyperbole of Rick because -- well just because.

Human Lives are being endangered because Obama is president and the failure of previous administrations to stem corruption in a country not our own is not worth discussing lest it place blame upon white shoulders, or heaven forfend; Texas gubernatorial shoulders and take all the fun out of our national game of "pin the blame on Obama." Yes, says Rick, we should amass troops on the border but to what effect he doesn't tell us. The drug lords we finance with our drug policies aren't going to notice or care. Perhaps they could form as a wall of human flesh to stop the spent bullet that strays over the border every few years? Or perhaps he'd like to invade Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales. After all we haven't stolen any property from Mexico for years and we really need another illegal invasion, don't we? We'd be protecting Amer4ican lives and we'd be welcomed as liberators and it would pay for itself and there are credible rumors of enchiladas of Mass Destruction. Remember the stray bullet! Never forget! wave more flags! Unhinged we stand!

One toke over the line

Porque no tiene,
Porque le falta,
Marijuana que fumar.

I wonder how long we'll be able to keep the US/Mexico border under control with the number of crossings sure to increase by a factor of a hundred at any moment now. I have a feeling millions of Americans will be on their way south now that Mexico has decriminalized Heroin, Cocaine, LSD, methamphetimines and Marijuana.

Andale! Arriba!

Raw Story reported this morning that small amounts of these drugs would now be tolerated.

"Prosecutors said the new law sets clear limits that keep Mexico's corruption-prone police from shaking down casual users and offers addicts free treatment to keep growing domestic drug use in check."

It won't do much to hurt tourism either. It remains to be seen whether they will see the same influx of foreign stoners that the Netherlands has had to deal with and the same problems with petty crime, but it is an indication that Mexico at least, is tired of doing the same thing that's been making the situation worse and worse for nearly a century and trying to do something that won't feed the plague of violence and corruption.

"The new law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution"

said Mexican attorney general Bernardo Espino del Castillo. Thanks Bernie and seeya all south of the border.
Down Mexico way.


*Disclaimer -- the above post does not necessarily reflect the views of Capt. Fogg or anyone in particular and is intended to be a farcical and sophomoric attempt to get some laughs -- and you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.

AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVELERS' CHEQUES: DON’T LAUNDER MONEY WITHOUT THEM

Our good friend Libby just posted an article, Laundering Drug Money, about the latest private equity scandal involving Texas billionaire Allen Stanford. These days, news of scandals flow from the spigot faster than tap water, and my interest is not a rehash. You can read more about this latest scandal here, here, and here.

Now, it seems, Sir Allen is suspected of laundering money for the notorious Gulf cartel. But my question is this:  Why just Sir Allen? Why not American Express? Or Bank of America? And every bank that sells travelers checks?

You see, your crafty Ocotpus has long known about the symbiosis between banking and money laundering, and the worst offender by far is American Express (Amex). This relationship between banking and money laundering is based on a concept known as "float." Here is how it works:

You buy American Express Travelers Cheques weeks in advance of a planned trip, and your trip lasts a few more weeks. Amex makes front-loaded income in the form of commissions from the sale of travelers' checks, but makes far more income on the delay between the time you purchased those checks and the time you spent them.

This delay between purchase and redemption is called "float" ... and Amex uses this "float" money to make more money. Float money is interest-free to Amex and other sellers of these instruments, but Amex can charge high interest rates to all sorts of borrowers for the use of float money. The longer the float, the more money Amex and others can make, and money-laundering has the longest, and most profitable, float of all.

What does every good drug or crime lord know about American Express Travelers Cheques? They are safe and can be redeemed anywhere in the world … just like the advertisement says.

The relationship between travelers’ checks and money laundering is one of Wall Street’s dirtiest, best kept secrets. Now you know.

Knock, knock. Someone at my door. Ooops! Gotta go …