Also,R E F E R E N C E S Look for Headline N1H1 SWINE FLU, Mexico Lacks a Plan to Correct Negative Media Perceptions; Up the skirt or in the till: TOP ten scandals in political history: 1. The Pacific Scandal, 2. The King-Byng Affair, 3. The Gerda Munsinger scandal, 4. The hospital document scandal, 5. Tunagate, 6. All the other Mulroney ministers, 7. The APEC Inquiry, 8. Airbus, 9. The billion-dollar boondoggle, 10. Shawinigate. More, HERE. 
An RCMP officer uses pepper-spray at an APEC protest Also, List of Canadian political scandals by Wikipedia. DRUG ADDICTION in Canada: September 1930, Canadians do not Believe their Foreign Service would Help if Arrested Abroad .... 
October 29, 2009, by Sandra Dibble 
San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Pre: Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman toured the border near San Ysidro yesterday. SAN YSIDRO — With the San Ysidro border fence as her backdrop, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman spoke out on immigration policy issues yesterday, saying it is “simply not practical” to deport the estimated 12.5 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States. The candidate, 53, said the solution is to find a mechanism that allows them to live here legally. “Can we get a fair program where people stand at the back of the line, they pay a fine, they do some things that would ultimately allow a path to legalization?” she asked. More, HERE. © Copyright 2009 The San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC 
Grisly Mexican Photos Raise Serious Questions... Canadians & VALLARTAOctober 2, 2009 Mexican newspapers ran graphic photographs of two Kamloops men shot dead outside a Puerto Vallarta condominium. Nothing was censured as the photographer covered the death scene. The pictures were close enough to the blood-splattered bodies of Jeffrey Ivans and Gordon Kendall to show the bullet wounds. It would have been an excruciatingly painful picture for any family to view. Those kinds of photos are simply not tolerated in Canada or even the United States. Providing even written descriptions with too much detail runs the risk of offending reader sensibilities. Canadians do not want to read, hear or, especially, see the nitty gritty details of violent attacks. We don't blame them. In fact, this newspaper, like most Canadian newspapers, has clear policies on just how far to go in covering upsetting stories. Even with those policies, readers who believe we have printed commentary or photos designed only to "sell newspapers" criticize us. While there should be nothing wrong with a newspaper operation wanting to sell newspapers since that is the business, news reporters think more about covering a story than selling the newspaper. News people who cover crime may argue in favour of taking a page from the Mexican newspapers in order to drive home the ugly world of drug trafficking. Some people may be able to glorify the crime world by dismissing the notion it could harm them. The photographs of Sunday's killings put to rest any idea there is any glory or excitement in running with criminals. While the two Kamloops men may not have been guilty of any crimes, they somehow came to the attention of killers either through mistaken identity or untoward activity. Other media have reported that Ivans and Kendall are known to the RCMP although Ivans' mother questioned that he was in Mexico for anything more than legitimate business. If we thought running photographs of what happens to people who get caught up in the underworld would help convince our youth that what may seem like a quick way to make money is too dangerous to risk, we might reconsider our policies. Unfortunately, it's only the innocent who get the message and the families of the victims who suffer from the exposure. Canadian newspapers can only continue to report the stories of gangland wars and hope the people who need to get the message will get it. No one should take for granted the serious risk of dealing in drugs whether it's marijuana or cocaine. The photos in the Mexican newspapers demonstrate a horrific lesson. --The Canadian Press Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 2, 2009 A13 © 2009 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved. 
© Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2009 Gallery: Gordon Douglas Kendall and Jeffrey Ronald Ivans in MexicoTwo B.C. men living in Mexico have been gunned down poolside in the resort town of Puerto Vallarta. Gordon Douglas Kendall and Jeffrey Ronald Ivans were executed at dawn Sunday. 
Gord Kendall, left, and Jeff Ivans are both former Kamloops residents now living in Puerto Vallarta who were gunned down Sunday. 
© 2009, CW Media Inc., All Rights Reserved Diario el Popular Dos canadienses ejecutados al estilo de la mafia 
Jeffery Ivans, uno de los canadienses ejecutados en México, visto en esta fotografía publicada en el portal de Facebook abierto en su memoria CANADIENSES/EJECUTADOS. Un par de canadienses originarios de la Columbia Británica fueron ejecutados el domingo pasado en la ciudad turística de Puerto Vallarta, en el Pacífico mexicano. La muerte de estos dos canadienses no parece ser un crimen cometido contra turistas inocentes, sino más bien un ajuste de cuentas entre mafiosos. Los cuerpos de las dos víctimas fueron encontrados en charcos de sangre con múltiples heridas de balas calibre .40 y .9 mm y con el tiro de gracia, típica firma de las ejecuciones de los cárteles mexicanos. A las afueras del lugar donde se hospedaban los canadienses se encontraron lujosos vehículos. En Canadá, aunque la noticia era difundida ya por la prensa ayer lunes, el gobierno federal continuaba sin confirmar las ejecuciones. Un reporte publicado ayer por un diario del Pacífico mexicano sugiere que dos canadienses han sido ejecutados en famoso destino turístico Puerto Vallarta. Sin embargo, este caso resalta de entre las demás muertes de canadienses en México debido a que no se trata de un simple homicidio, sino de ejecuciones al estilo de la mafia. Mas, AQUI. Copyright Diario El Popular Online 
Regarding Mexico: Biased News, Half-Truths Fuel Paranoia
Photo Courtesy: Joven_60 @ FlickrOriginal article, HERE.Not the Whole Story The U.S. media and federal government have stirred up a toxic cauldron media blitz that has been force-feeding U.S. citizenry only partial truths and irresponsible generalizations about the violence plaguing Mexico. If to be believed, the entire country of Mexico, some 109 million people, would be cowering in their homes fearful of venturing too far out lest they be caught up in random drug violence or kidnappings. Mexico is the 14th largest independent nation in the world with crime per capita (based on 2006 statistics) of 12 per 1,000 people, ranking 39 in a survey of 60 countries. If one took the time to do a bit of research instead of believing the selective, if not deceptive reporting and scare tactics that have become the norm in U.S. mainstream media, and of which few of us ever question, we might be surprised to learn that based on statistics of non-violent crimes and violent crimes such as homicide, the U.S., at times, ranks neck in neck based on demographics and location, and in some categories, surpasses Mexico. More, HERE.MEXIDATA. INFOLA PRENSA MEXICANA, SIN UN PLAN ESTRATEGICO PARA CORREGIR PERCEPCIONES DE LOS MEDIOS INTERNACIONALESLunes, 7 de septiembre 2009, Traducción no oficial de Mario González-RománPor Gregory PayneUn error básico en México para responder a la violencia asociada con la guerra contra las drogas y el frecuente enfoque en extremo sensacionalista de los medios de comunicación de los EUA es la falta de un plan de comunicaciones cuidadosamente elaborado para combatir la actual crisis de información. Sucintamente dicho, en general, no hay tan siquiera una respuesta oficial –gubernamental- a esta realidad.
En realidad, en lugar de definir el problema y sus causas, centrándose en los públicos afectados y definir posibles soluciones para remediar la situación - los requisitos fundamentales de cualquier estrategia de comunicación de crisis - el enfoque de México ha sido con demasiada frecuencia como la del avestruz. Es decir, clavan su sombrero en la arena de las playas Baja California y fingen que no pasa nada malo. Por ejemplo, los Californianos escuchan anuncios por radio diciéndoles que "la langosta es de buen gusto, deliciosa", y "para llegar a Baja California hay que llegar" Paseando por las calles de la Avenida Revolución en Tijuana ".¿PERDON? ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? ¿Quién está a cargo de tales anuncios? ¿A quien creen que están engañando? Los medios de comunicación estadounidenses con frecuencia optan por destacar en RATINGS –esto es, la nota sensacionalista- en lugar de los hechos. La "realidad mediatizada", presentada a los estadounidenses es que todo el país de México está plagado de violencia y de inseguridad haciéndolo no recomendable para visitar. Para esta prensa las Playas de Rosarito, Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo, todo se ha convertido en un gran barrio de triste, deplorable realidad unido a la delincuencia desatada.Con este contexto fraudulento, ¿Quién en su sano juicio vendría de los Estados Unidos para "pasear por la Avenida Revolución", en Tijuana, donde las cadenas ABC, AP y CNN relatan que hay que esquivar balas procedentes de la izquierda y la derecha? ¿A quién le importa si la "langosta es de buen gusto" si los medios de comunicación le han convencido de que podría ser su última cena?
DEA in CanadaPolice agent destroying God`s creation Administration (DEA) agents have illegally infiltrated Canada, set up reverse stings, dealt drugs, and manipulated the system to have Canadians tried and jailed on US soil, where they receive longer sentences. In 2002, 11 US federal departments, including the DEA, spent a total of $350 million US "to combat illicit drug use in Canada." According to the US government, their efforts led to the annihilation of over a million Canadian marijuana plants. September 29th, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director Just over four years ago, former U.S. DEA administrator Karen Tandy announced to the world that her agency had struck “ a significant blow … to the marijuana legalization movement” by indicting Canada’s so-called ‘Prince of Pot,’ Marc Emery. For nearly two decades Emery operated a successful marijuana seed bank operation in Vancouver, British Columbia — a venture which he used to directly fund cannabis law reform efforts around the globe, including the magazine Cannabis Culture, the internet site Pot TV, and the founding of the British Columbia Marijuana Party. More, HERE. © 2008-9 NORML  
http://www.cfdp.ca/index.htm DEA in Canada - Marijuana.com 
Preliminary 2008 availability and seizure data indicate a strengthening in domestic methamphetamine availability and domestic methamphetamine production, and an increase in the flow of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico--most likely attributable to the efforts of methamphetamine producers in both countries to reestablish the methamphetamine supply chain in the face of disruptions and shortages that began occurring in early 2007. Throughout 2007 methamphetamine availability decreased in U.S. drug markets, causing instability in the methamphetamine supply chain. Prior to 2007, U.S. drug markets relied on the strong flow of methamphetamine produced in Mexico, a supply system established in 2005 and strengthened in 2006. However, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine restrictions in Mexico resulted in a decrease in methamphetamine production in Mexico and reduced the flow of the drug from Mexico to the United States in 2007 and from January through June 2008. In fact, disruptions in methamphetamine supplies reported in some drug markets in the Pacific, Southwest, and West Central Regions during 2007 and early 2008 were most likely attributable to the decrease in methamphetamine production in Mexico during 2007. By mid-2008, in response to decreased availability of methamphetamine in many U.S. drug markets, small-scale methamphetamine producers began circumventing national retail pseudoephedrine sales restrictions to produce the drug in many areas of the United States. At the same time, some Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) shifted their production operations from Mexico to the United States, particularly to California. Moreover, after the enactment of import and sales restrictions on pseudoephedrine in Mexico, Mexican DTOs began adapting their operating procedures in several ways, including smuggling restricted chemicals through new routes, importing nonrestricted chemical derivatives instead of precursor chemicals, using alternative production methods, and diverting precursor chemicals from sources in Southeast Asia and South America. 
Drugs Enforcement AgencyWhen marijuana is smoked, its effects begin immediately after the drug enters the brain and last from 1 to 3 hours. If marijuana is consumed in food or drink, the short-term effects begin more slowly, usually in 1/2 to 1 hour, and last longer, for as long as 4 hours. Smoking marijuana deposits several times more THC into the blood than does eating or drinking the drug.(4) Within a few minutes after inhaling marijuana smoke, an individual’s heart begins beating more rapidly, the bronchial passages relax and become enlarged, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making the eyes look red. The heart rate, normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute or, in some cases, even double. This effect can be greater if other drugs are taken with marijuana.(5) As THC enters the brain, it causes a user to feel euphoric— or “high”—by acting in the brain’s reward system, areas of the brain that respond to stimuli such as food and drink as well as most drugs of abuse. THC activates the reward system in the same way that nearly all drugs of abuse do, by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopamine.(6) A marijuana user may experience pleasant sensations, colors and sounds may seem more intense, and time appears to pass very slowly. The user’s mouth feels dry, and he or she may suddenly become very hungry and thirsty. His or her hands may tremble and grow cold. The euphoria passes after awhile, and then the user may feel sleepy or depressed. Occasionally, marijuana use produces anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic.(7) Brenda Martin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 
Martin applied for a prisoner transfer to serve out her time in Canada. On May 1, 2008, Martin was transferred in a government-chartered jet from the Mexican prison she was held in, back to Canada. The flight cost Canadian taxpayers $82,727. Additionally, in order to expedite the transfer, the Canadian government paid the C$3,441 fine (35,850 pesos) imposed by the judge that presided over her case. MP Jason Kenney was quoted saying the fine was paid through a special fund the Foreign Affairs Department has for distressed Canadians abroad. Though initially she was remanded into custody at the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, Ontario, she was immediately eligible for parole as she had already served more than one third of her sentence in Mexico. On May 9, 2008, Ms. Martin was released on parole from the Canadian prison into her mother's custody. Canadian MP Bill Casey called for a boycott of Mexico in response to her treatment. Despite the predominantly partial media coverage of Martin's plight and sympathy from several high-ranking politicians, her story received much attention from the general Canadian public and other countries as well, including prestigious publications such as The Economist. Martin was convicted of driving under the influence about twenty years ago. She was also charged and convicted in the early seventies, when she attempted to pass a fraudulent cheque using stolen ID. Unfortunately she attempted to use the stolen ID on the very girl it had been stolen from, who was a clerk in a clothing store. It was the first time Brenda would get press coverage for her criminal activity in Canada. This was in the era before pictures were placed on Ontario licenses and also before Canada's Young Offenders Act was passed in 1982. More, HERE. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. 
Freed from prison, Brenda Martin wants to go back to Mexico.Dec. 30, 2008 
The Canadian woman who threatened suicide to get out of a Mexican jail says she misses the beach and would happily return to Mexico if she could. "I could say right now that if the Mexican government was to give me a pardon, I would go back," Brenda Martin wrote in an article titled I Languished in a Mexican Prison, published online at the social media website Orato. More, HERE. READERS' comments: I live in Mexico and I'm Canadian and I know Brenda well. I spent the last few months she was in prison visiting her. Until you've lived in Mexico it's hard to explain what this place can come to mean to you. It's a different way of life and expats band together. The feeling of community is incredible.
I also knew it would be hard for Brenda to go back to Canadian winters and I also knew she missed her friends that she had in Puerto Vallarta, both Canadian and American. She also gave a lot of her time to raising money for different Mexican charities. For 10 years she had a life here. It's not easy to give it up.
As for Canada bringing her home, Canada has a prisoner exchange policy with Mexico and all a Canadian has to do is apply to serve their time in Canada.
There's far more to the story that you will never know or understand, but I know it and I stand firmly on Brenda's side. More, HERE Copyright © CBC 2009 
The Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) is an independent research and media group of writers, scholars, journalists and activists. The CRG is based in Montreal. It is a registered non profit organization in the province of Quebec, Canada. ESPAÑOL, Português, Deutsch. "The Ugly Canadians": Ottawa imposes Visas on Mexicans travelling to Canada July 19, 2009 by Michael Werbowski On Bastille Day (July 14th), I went to see the pathetic situation at the Canadian embassy. Two weeks earlier on Canada day July 1st, all seemed quite normal, even though, I was not invited to indulge or partake on this festive occasion, in the succulently fresh Atlantic lobster flown in from Halifax, at a cost of about 50$ a piece to the taxpayer, as was the case during my more respectable reporter days in Prague during the 1990s. Yet in view of the current dreadful state of bilateral relations between Canada and Mexico , being invited to the “French house” in the Mexican capital, to celebrate their national day instead, was quite fine with me. Anyhow on Tuesday, the super scoop that Ottawa was going to slap visas on all Mexicans travelling as of Wednesday July 15th, to Canada eluded us all; even my very astute and well connected Mexican media colleagues were surprised by this shocker. When I arrived by taxi around 1 P.M local time this Tuesday, it was a dismal scene to be seen, which reminded me of similar situations which I had witnessed, when in post communist Europe, outside the Canadian embassy in Sophia or Bucharest. Outside the embassy gates leading to paradise were guarded by well dressed goons. There was absolute confusion and chaos or a mini sort of hell there. Angry, irate frustrated crowds unable to get their visas in time for their flights out, with looks of exasperation greeted me. “Are you Canadian?” one woman asked me anxiously. I replied positively with a hint of hesitation and quickly flashed my old press card, issued some time ago in the great white north by a “pure wool” semi sober Quebecer, who still runs the provincial journalists’ guild and who after years still can barley pronounce or even spell a foreign sounding name like my own. More, HERE. © Copyright Michael Werbowski, Global Research, 2009
© Copyright 2005-2009 GlobalResearch.ca Article by Wikipedia Mexican Migrant Workers and Lynch CultureMore than a million agricultural workers migrated to the United States in the early twentieth century. The majority of these persons found work on small family farms in California; the white owners of these farms welcomed cheap labor. Although most migrant workers in California today are of Mexican descent, they originally came from all over the world: East and West Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Latin America, along with Mexico. The shift to almost exclusively Mexican migrant workers in the early 1900s was intentional. Growers at this time anticipated racial conflicts between the immigrating workers and the “natives” of California. Growers minimized local opposition to Mexican immigration by promising that the Mexican would return to Mexico (only a short distance away) following picking season. This broken promise enabled the growth of systematic oppression toward the incoming Mexicans. More, HERE. © Copyright 2004 CU-Dillard Collaborative Curriculum Partnership Vigilantes Gather in ArizonaApril 7, 2005 The Minuteman Project, a month-long series of events, including armed vigilante border patrols, designed by anti-immigration extremists to draw attention to the issue of illegal immigration, began April 1 along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. Organized by Arizonan Chris Simcox, founder of the Civil Homeland Defense border vigilante group, and Jim Gilchrist of Orange County, California, the Minuteman Project claims that over 1,000 volunteers will gather in Arizona to watch for illegal border crossers. More, HERE. © 2005 Anti-Defamation League 
Pittsburgh Police Challenged over Use of Sound Cannons During G-20 and for Wrongfully Arresting Dozens of University of Pittsburgh Students FBI Statistics Show Anti-Latino Hate Crimes on the Rise
Dec, 5, 2007 New FBI statistics suggest anti-Latino hate crimes have risen by almost 35 percent since 2003. In California—the state with the largest number of Latinos—the number of hate crimes against Latinos have almost doubled. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the violence engulfing Latinos is part of a backlash over the immigration debate in this country. We speak with Mark Potok of the SPLC. More, HERE. 
Hate Makes a Comeback: Groups Like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis Target Mexican Immigrants May 1, 2007, By JIM AVILA, ELIZABETH TRIBOLET & CHRIS FRANCESCANI, ABC News Law & Justice Unit The roiling American border debate over immigration has revived one of the ugliest chapters in American history and become a vital recruiting tool for hate groups, experts say. The number of hate groups -- from the Ku Klux Klan to neo-Nazis and skinhead groups -- has risen by 40 percent since 2000, from 602 to 844, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks such groups. And they've turned their jaundiced eye toward Latin Americans, particularly Mexicans, in an alarming number of apparent hate crimes. More, HERE. Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures. Canada Take a Stand Against MEXICO | Facebook China denies flu discrimination against Mexicans | Reuters 
RECOMMENDED READING: Domestic Help And Residential Security 
© 2009 The Truth About Mexico. 
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