<p>i know a few us citizens who have retired to Mexico.
they don’t speak Spanish even.</p>
<p>I’ve never been- but hoping to go someplace besides Vancouver BC soon.
I was thinking Goa.</p>
<p>The story of a local elderly man who ended up in a Mexican jail was all over the news a few weeks ago. The poor guy went to Mexico with his grandson for, I think, some dental work. The two stopped for lunch in a small town, took pictures of some local kids and were detained by the police “for child pornography”… Apparently, they were either out of money or did not know how to pay for their way out of jail.</p>
<p>I agree with zoosermom: there are many nice, sunny places in the good ol’ United States for fun beachfront vacations.</p>
<p>^^^ He’s still being held, it was one of the lead stories on the 11pm news tonight. I just hope his health holds up until he can get out.</p>
<p>[Arlington</a> men still jailed in Mexico | Local News | North Bureau | KING5.com | News for Seattle, Washington](<a href=“http://www.king5.com/localnews/north/stories/NW_012609WAB-arlington-man-mexico-jail-KC.9326d06.html]Arlington”>http://www.king5.com/localnews/north/stories/NW_012609WAB-arlington-man-mexico-jail-KC.9326d06.html)</p>
<p>We always go to Mexico for vacation (about 12 times or so). Last visit - Dec. 2008. Never had any problems. People are very friendly and definately want you to come back. 2 times offenders are getting deported from the city and never allowed to be back. Even Trump was not allowed to build casino there because of portential problem. Not planning to go this year, no plans for any vacation because of uncertain economy here.</p>
<p>Our local newspaper runs articles frequently about the horrific killings going on in Mexico, mainly along the border. A recent article stated that the Mexican government was on the verge of collapse due to the out-of-control violence. I still see people from Mexico coming here to shop but don’t know anyone who drives down to the border area to eat or shop as people used to do. However, I do have friends who go to the all-inclusive resorts on the coast and they haven’t had any problems with crime. In general US residents are being blamed for exascerbating the situation by selling guns to gangs in Mexico (through straw buyers) and for buying drugs from the gangs. Obama met with the president of Mexico either right before the inauguration or right after to talk about these problems but it didn’t seem that anything specific was worked out.</p>
<p>Legalize drugs.</p>
<p>one<em>of</em>the_40%, Do you have children? Guess how their allowances will be spent if drugs are cheap in a grocery store?</p>
<p>Hmmm … We have a language immersion elementary school in our district. For more than 20 years now, there has been a two-way student exchange program (plus some parent chaperones) for fifth grade students here and with two private schools Guadalajara. The exchange lasts for five weeks, each group.</p>
<p>It’s a wonderful opportunity for the kids. My S did this five years ago. If I recall at the time, my initial concern was, vaguely, over the as yet unknown family my S would be living with. Well, it turns out the father was an orthopedic surgeon and the mother a pharmacist. My only S got to experience life with a family of 4 kids including three triplet girls!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my S and his exchange student, a Mexican boy (same one he stayed with in Mexico) were of different personalities so never really hit it off as friends and so correspondence dried up pretty quickly. But I think the exchange program, overall, was good for him … including the necessity of ramping back up to the high level of work once he returned to the US. (Fifth grade is the end of elementary school here, so the teachers work hard at getting them ready for MS, and it shows. My S got a 5 in AP Spanish as a sophomore and is getting A’s with his AP English class this year.)</p>
<p>“Do you have children? Guess how their allowances will be spent if drugs are cheap in a grocery store?”</p>
<p>Were drugs cheap in a grocery store I suppose they would spend their allowance pretty much the way they do now. But of course the scenario you posit is absurd. Legalizing drugs requires a large commitment of thought, a MUCH MUCH MUCH lesser amount of taxpayer dollars to implement in a fairly well regulated environment, and an incredible reduction in the general paranoia and violence that inundates American society, up and down the ladder. It won’t do away with crime, but it will take a large measure of criminals off the street, release border tension, and create a situation where those who are now wasting theirs lives away will be the ones who pay for their loss–not you. I’m always amazed at those who complain (not that you are necessarily one of them) about the welfare system in America and how unfair it is that we should have to flip the bill for those who are unwilling to get a job, but are horrified by the notion that we should live in a society where drugs (the single most commodity (untaxed) contributing to crime in this country) should be left to the administration of criminals.</p>
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</p>
<p>BS. The taxpayer will continue paying their medical bills, feeding them and sheltering them as we do now. If you think legalization of drugs will greatly eliminate the need for police on the streets, you are mistaken.</p>
<p>Back on subject
**
Texas crafts plan for Mexico collapse**</p>
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<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11655113?source=most_viewed]Link[/url”>http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11655113?source=most_viewed]Link[/url</a>]</p>
<p>“BS. The taxpayer will continue paying their medical bills, feeding them and sheltering them as we do now. If you think legalization of drugs will greatly eliminate the need for police on the streets, you are mistaken.”</p>
<p>A MUCH SMALLER PERCENTAGE. The added benefits FAR outweigh the (continued) drawbacks. But rather than hurling meaningless expletives, I suggest you do some real hard work on investigating the possibilities, that is, if you really want to possess knowledge on the subject rather than an opinion.</p>
<p>And would you please be so kind and point to the data that clearly spells out the benefits to the society (savings in $$, health benefits, etc.) that will be brought by legalization of heroin, cocaine and other such drugs (I’m not talking about stupid 23-yr old kids taking a bong hit or two)? Should we abolish the FDA as well and let everyone knock themselves out with pharmaceuticals?</p>
<p>I could present statistics but, alas, they would be tainted. Websites abound with contrasting statistics that either support or declaim against the legalization of drugs–though usually this is centered on marijuana. It is probably an impossible task to work out statistically the extent to which drug trafficing touches our lives. I would guess that health services are probably the least impacted. The amount of tax dollars spent on drug enforcement, international and domestic, is probably not all that great either (relatively speaking, what’s 5 billion dollars here or there?–it fluctuates with each changing of the guard). But that’s not the real issue. Those are just the obvious areas, ones that you can point a stick at. I’m more concerned with cops on the beat, prison populations, street crime, and, most importantly, deception. Let’s get it all out in the open and see exactly what we’re dealing with here. It doesn’t take too much to follow the connections. I’ve done that work. You should try, too, it’s good for you.</p>
<p>As far as the FDA goes, it has its purpose but it needs revamping. And I don’t take pharmaceuticals so you will have to explain to me why people would willy-nilly want to knock themselves out with them.</p>
<p>I just returned last week from a wonderful motorcycle trip to the dirt roads through the 12000 foot Sierra Madre Oriental south of Monterrey with my 20 and 27 year old nephews. Pine trees, desert, cactus of enormous size, clear streams and rivers, a billion stars, views from Cerro Potosi that will boggle your mind and amazing hospitality from the rural folk. We stayed in Galeana , Montemorelos, and at the resort at Cola de Caballo outside Santiago (very nice). We had a ball. The folks were incredibly friendly, the food great , the scenery out-of-this world. And so close to Texas. </p>
<p>Avoid border towns of any size. Avoid cities. Be prepared for bureaucracy. Have fun. Or stay on the couch. Your choice. ;)</p>
<p>A-ha, no hard data with $$, but lots of fancy words. Case closed.</p>
<p>The air in Mexican border towns is very unhealthful – due to high lead content.</p>
<p>
Felipe Calderon’s reformist government? Preceded by Vicente Fox, who was of the same party and the same mind? A huge part of the violence problem right now is due to Calderon’s unrelenting insistence on breaking the drug cartels. Yes, there was corruption in the police departments and other government offices. But he is rooting that out. So… I have no idea what you mean.</p>
<p>We have a home in Mexico. Not far from the border, in fact. I never feel unsafe … even in Tijuana. You exercise common sense. You don’t deal in drugs. The murders are drug-on-drug with extremely few (almost zero) collateral damage victims. The kidnappings target people of known more-than-substantial wealth. Were I such a person, I might not want to be there. But I’m not.</p>
<p>NPR just did a story on an Emerson College professor whose students, along with him (a frequent Mexico visitor) are starting a fact-checking website re press reports of border area crime. He came up with the idea because his in-person experience near the border was so out of sync with horrific press reports. I haven’t visited the site yet (I believe it’s called rosaritofactcheck.org. The biggest problem in this area right now is the devastation to the economy caused in part by the global economic crisis, but moreso by the negative publicity… which is imo terribly exaggerated.</p>
<p>I beg your pardon, I didn’t realize that you are closed-minded. I’m still pulling for you though. Do the work, you’ll find the answers.</p>
<p>
Here’s a sound plan - until and unless the drugs are legalized, don’t buy or take them so as to avoid contributing to the violence, deaths, crime, corruption, and break-down of society and governments that result whether one agrees with their legal status or not. Unfortunately most people who take illegal drugs never give these negative aspects a single thought or simply don’t care enough to abstain since they’re so focused on their own indulgences.</p>