A nice double-stakked day...
Via TheRoot.com, the historical precedence for today's racial "crisis. As good a summary and analysis as I've yet seen.
On another note, Plan Colombia discusses an article detailing the changing (Mexican) face of Colombia's cocaine cartels.
I was watching an episode of The Shield last night and, in what I saw as an interesting break from usual police-procedural locality, the plot involved a financial takeover of the fictional Farmington District of Los Angeles by Mexican drug traffickers. Essentially, in the Shield-verse, international money laundering statutes had made it increasingly difficult for Mexican cartels to move their profit from Juarez or wherever they were based into US banks or even banks across the Atlantic. And rather than invest in their own relatively poor economic structure, they'd decided to invest farther north and essentially buy up assets in Los Angeles through an intermediary. But the genius of this move is that all those legitimate projects can front themselves as "community development" while they're being built. Then once construction is completed, the cartels can start operating out of those joints.
Building a hospital, then dealing illegal scripts through it, for instance. Local real estate can be turned into cocaine spots where the drugs are shipped and prepared for local distribution. Motels and other cheap lodging can be turned into brothels owned and operated by cartel interests.
Rather intriguing stuff. When the Blood & Honey saga makes its way farther west, I know I'll have plenty of material.
On another note, Plan Colombia discusses an article detailing the changing (Mexican) face of Colombia's cocaine cartels.
I was watching an episode of The Shield last night and, in what I saw as an interesting break from usual police-procedural locality, the plot involved a financial takeover of the fictional Farmington District of Los Angeles by Mexican drug traffickers. Essentially, in the Shield-verse, international money laundering statutes had made it increasingly difficult for Mexican cartels to move their profit from Juarez or wherever they were based into US banks or even banks across the Atlantic. And rather than invest in their own relatively poor economic structure, they'd decided to invest farther north and essentially buy up assets in Los Angeles through an intermediary. But the genius of this move is that all those legitimate projects can front themselves as "community development" while they're being built. Then once construction is completed, the cartels can start operating out of those joints.
Building a hospital, then dealing illegal scripts through it, for instance. Local real estate can be turned into cocaine spots where the drugs are shipped and prepared for local distribution. Motels and other cheap lodging can be turned into brothels owned and operated by cartel interests.
Rather intriguing stuff. When the Blood & Honey saga makes its way farther west, I know I'll have plenty of material.