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Puerto Vallarta News NetworkEditorials | At Issue

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Mexican Army Mistrusts Other Gov't Agencies
Associated Press

A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable published Saturday depicts the leader of Mexico's army "lamenting" its lengthy role in the anti-drug offensive, but expecting it to last between seven and 10 more years.

Empire - Hollywood: Chronicler of War
Al Jazeera

Is it a case of art imitating life, or a sinister force using art to influence life and death?

Ousted Gays Hope to Return to US Military Service
David Crary

Joseph Rocha reported being cruelly hazed by Navy colleagues. Katherine Miller resigned from West Point halfway through, weary of concealing her sexual orientation. David Hall was outed by a fellow Air Force cadet and booted from the career he loved. The exits from military service were wrenching consequences of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the policy prohibiting gay and lesbian personnel from being open about their sexuality.

$385 Million TSA Program Fails to Detect Terrorists: Behavioral Profiling Program Is Pseudoscience
Matthew Harwood

When the uproar over full-body scanners and enhanced pat-downs at airport checkpoints hit a crescendo around the Thanksgiving holiday and then quickly dissipated, many security professionals and journalists asked why the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not behaviorally profile passengers as Israel does.

Frost Over the World - Julian Assange
Al Jazeera

The WikiLeaks founder talks with David Frost about secrets, leaks and why he will not go back to Sweden.

Fake Terror and the War for Your Mind
TheSOTTReport

The FBI has set up then knocked down dozens of terrorist straw men in an effort to convince you that the 'war on terror' is real.

Wikileaks Cables Reveal Two-Faced Politics by US
Ángel Páez

"It’s not surprising for the United States to cooperate with military or government officials in Peru about which it has information linking them to serious crimes," said activist Ricardo Soberón, referring to contradictions revealed in cables released by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks.

Family's Triple Tragedy Highlights Mexico Impunity
Associated Press

A daughter is found dismembered. Her mother is shot dead trying to bring the killer to justice. Two days later, a brother-in-law's body is dumped on the street after his lumber business is torched. No one is under arrest for any of the crimes, and there is little hope the cases will be solved.

How Undocumented Youth Nearly Made Their DREAMs Real in 2010
Julianne Hing

That the DREAM Act made it as far as it did in 2010 is a testament to a national, youth-led grassroots movement that has waged a remarkable campaign on its behalf since Barack Obama’s election.

Mexico Battles ‘Sun, Sea and Severed Heads’ Image
Tavia Grant

Mexico wants to sharply boost tourism by luring Canadians to explore the country beyond its seaside resorts. First, though, it’s got an image problem to fix.

Armageddon in 2012? The Truth Behind the Doomsday Theories
Telegraph UK

The picturesque French village of Bugarach, southwestern France braces for invasion of UFO campaigners who believe it will be only place to survive Armageddon in 2012. Here we examine the fact and the fiction behind the most popular doomsday scenarios.

Homelessness Besets More US Women. How to Respond?
Daniel B. Wood

Women are the fastest-growing group of people facing homelessness. Organizations, such as one in Los Angeles' skid row, try a multipronged approach to helping homeless women, starting with housing.

Infertile Controversy Over Right to Form a Family
Daniel Zueras

Costa Rica is one of the few countries in the world where in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is illegal. And the Vatican wants it to stay that way: Pope Benedict XVI himself recently urged the government not to pass a law that would make it legal.

Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:’ A Civil Rights Milestone?
Associated Press

Allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as gay marriage still lies ahead.

As DREAM Act Fails, Graham Tells Undocumented Youth They Wasted Their Time
Andrea Nill

Last week, the US Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Fourty-one mostly Republican senators voted against a bill which would have provided young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents a path to legalization by pursuing a college education or serving in the military.

Deadly Chile Prison Fire Puts Heat on Latin America's Crowded Jails
Steven Bodzin & Sara Miller Llana

On the morning of Dec. 8, 81 inmates at the San Miguel prison in Santiago died when rioting prisoners set their overcrowded penitentiary ablaze. Among the victims: one young man serving a 61-day sentence for selling pirated CDs.

Mexico Touts Progress in Drug War, but Death Toll Rises to 30,197
Sara Miller Llana

Gunmen on Thursday killed a Mexican mother who was protesting in front of a governor's office for justice in her daughter's unsolved death, adding yet another reason why 2010 was the deadliest year in Mexico's four-year drug war.

Big Win for America's Super Rich
The Real News Network

Tom Ferguson: Obama-GOP bill a weak stimulus plan but a big give away to the super rich.

Direct Action from Brazil to Wisconsin
The Real News Network

People in the US are looking to South America for inspiration in occupying homes and factories. Featuring interviews with Monica Adams of Take Back the Land, and journalists Kari Lydersen and Ben Dangl.

Politics Enables Mexican Fugitive to Defang a Law
Randal C. Archibold

Despite being a federal fugitive, Julio César Godoy says he simply walked into the national legislature here unnoticed in September, raised his right arm, swore allegiance to the Mexican Constitution and, 15 months after disappearing from public view, finally claimed the congressional seat he won last year.

New Drug for US Executions Expected to Become Norm
Sean Murphy

A sedative Oklahoma used to execute a death row inmate that is commonly used to euthanize animals could become more popular because of a nationwide shortage of a key ingredient in several states’ lethal injection formulas, death penalty experts say.

A Growing Threat to Mexico's Crops
William Pack

The drug violence in Mexico has a new potential victim: the potent agricultural sector in that country and its multibillion-dollar ties to consumers, farmers and ranchers in the United States.

West Continues to Dodge Migrants' Rights Treaty
Thalif Deen

Against the backdrop of rising xenophobia and growing anti- immigrant trends in Western Europe, the United Nations will commemorate International Migrants Day next week calling on member states to ratify the 1990 international convention aimed at protecting the rights of migrants worldwide.

Wikileaks "Gossip" Merely Annoying in Latin America
Mario Osava

Although revelations by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks concerning Latin America have caused irritation in the region, they have not had any significant effects so far.

Foreign Policy: How Mexico Mastered Multilateralism
David Bosco

A number of observers are attributing the modest success of the Cancun climate change negotiations to the deftness of the Mexican leadership of the conference.

New Revelations Into Ike’s Farewell Address
John Milburn

For nearly two years, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his aides searched for the right words to describe at the end of his presidency his fear that the nation’s burgeoning military power was driving its foreign policy, newly released papers show.

Why Are Wars Not Being Reported Honestly?
John Pilger

Never has so much official energy been expended in ensuring journalists collude with the makers of rapacious wars which, say the media-friendly generals, are now "perpetual."

A Window Onto the Workings of Mexico's Judiciary System
Ken Ellingwood & Tracy Wilkinson

A high-profile collapse in the state of Michoacan underscores fundamental defects in the criminal justice system, including the country's ministerios publicos, who are a combination detective and prosecutor.

Towards a North American Security Perimeter
Dana Gabriel

There are numerous reports circulating that Canada and the U.S. are secretly negotiating a security and trade deal which could be signed as early as January 2011. The proposed agreement would establish a security perimeter as a means to better secure North America and stimulate trade.

Investigators are 'Weak Link' in Mexico
UPI

Mexican legal observers say the current unraveling of nationwide corruption case demonstrates a "weak link" in Mexico's justice system.

With Dream Act Shelved, Illegal Immigrants Look Beyond 2012
Laura Wides-Munoz

The illegal immigrants who more than a decade ago were just teens hoping to forge a legal path to citizenship are vowing to make the Dream Act a campaign issue come 2012, even though they’ll likely be too old to benefit if the law ever passes.

Wikileaks and Secrecy in US Foreign Policy
The Real News Network

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson: "Most Amerikans are utterly ignorant of how diplomacy is conducted and utterly ignorant of what the parameters and design factors are, if you will."

US Prepares for Ominous Expansion of "Anti-Terrorism" Law Targeting Activists
Michael Deutsch

It is ironic - and the height of hypocrisy - that Obama, who speaks with such reverence for Mr. Mandela and recalls his own support for the struggle against apartheid now allows the Justice Department under his command to criminalize similar First Amendment advocacy against Israeli apartheid and repressive foreign governments.

Obama the Butt of Jokes, Anger From His Own Party
Doug Thompson

Poor Barack Obama. His critics say he’s the new Ronald Reagan. They joke about him at caucus meetings and call him names openly in front of colleagues. They say he is an embarassment to liberals, a sell-out to his supporters and the biggest Democratic joke since Jimmy Carter.





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