Cool Calderón Bags a Barbie (part 1)
Holy hot tamales my amigos! Mexico is on fire, and I’m not talking about jalapeños either! President Felipe Calderón and the Mexican government’s war against drug cartels has ramped up in violence and death count in a very big way in the last 4 years, impacting all levels of society both within Mexico but also neighboring countries/regions. Instead of delving in the dirty details of the daily violence, the Plaid Avenger explains the “Why here?” and “Why now?” behind the rise of these cartels in northern Mexico here in the 21st century.
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Mexico Madness: Cartels Crashing the Country
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Mexico fired 10 percent of federal police in 2010
Mexico rethinks drug strategy as death toll soars
U.S.-Mexico Cross-Border Marijuana Traffic
Gang violence in Central America
Who's responsible for US illegal drug traffic? (GREAT graphics!)
Keywords: Mexico, drug cartels, Felipe Calderón, US, Central America, Colombia, NAFTA
Yuan 元 Trumps Yen ¥
Move over Godzilla; the Dragon has risen! It is now official for the Plaid Avenger: China has just surpassed Japan to become the 2nd largest economy on the planet, with a GDP in excess of $5 trillion/year. They still have a ways to go to catch the $14 trillion US economy, but the writing is on the wall! Listen as the Avenger explains why it is obvious that the Chinese economy will continue to explode, and why there is no hope that Japan will ever regain its #2 position…its all about the consumers, baby! Bye-bye Japan….buy, buy, buy for China!
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China Overtakes Japan as World's Second-Biggest Economy
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Keywords: China, Japan, GDP, economy, Yuan, Yen
Nuke Group Review: part 2
Synopsis: On April 12th and 13th, US President Barack Obama hosted the first-ever ‘Nuclear Security Summit’ which was attended by leaders from 47 states plus a handful of international organizations. This summit mostly focused on getting a handle on loose nuclear material around the world in order to eliminate the threat of possible ‘nuclear terrorism.’ However, in the bigger picture this move is just a warm-up to a revamping of the all important NPT, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is coming up soon. In Part 2 of this plaidcast, the Avenger does a roll call of important cats at the convention (as well as those not invited), and what the hell they actually agreed on to limit those loose nukes.
Related Plaidcasts:
Proliferation Frustration
Mohamed ElBaradei: Call him ‘Cool Hand Nuke’
Nuke Deal for New Delhi kicks off New Age of US-India Relations
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Among leaders at summit, Hu's first
Netanyahu Cancels Trip to U.S. Nuclear Summit
Big Challenges Lie Ahead Before 2nd Nuclear Summit
Ukraine Agrees to Eliminate Highly Enriched Uranium Stock by 2012
Keywords: US, Obama, Russia, Medvedev, Sarkozy, Hu, Gordon Brown, P5, P5 +1, Merkel, Germany, Singh, India, Netanyahu, Israel, Calderon, Lula, Harper, Kirchner, Zuma, Erdogan, Yakunovich, Hatoyama, Lee Myung-Bak, Ban Ki Moon, UN, Yukio Amano, IAEA, Iran, North Korea
Nuke Group Review: part 1
Synopsis: On April 12th and 13th, US President Barack Obama hosted the first-ever ‘Nuclear Security Summit’ which was attended by leaders from 47 states plus a handful of international organizations. This summit mostly focused on getting a handle on loose nuclear material around the world in order to eliminate the threat of possible ‘nuclear terrorism.’ However, in the bigger picture this move is just a warm-up to a revamping of the all important NPT, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is coming up soon. In Part 1 of this plaidcast, the Avenger chats about what the hell this NPT thing is all about, how it came about, and how its working out…..so check check check it out!
Related Plaidcasts:
Proliferation Frustration
Mohamed ElBaradei: Call him ‘Cool Hand Nuke’
Nuke Deal for New Delhi kicks off New Age of US-India Relations
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The New Anti-Nuclear Movement
New Nuclear Threat Tops Summit's Agenda
A Good Start: 'Global Zero' reminds us that eradicating nuclear weapons should still be our ultimate goal.
Keywords: US, Obama, Russia, Medvedev, NPT, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Kyrg Corruption Chaos Causes Concern for US
Synopsis: Holy Kyrgyzstani coup crap cakes! All hell broke loose in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday April 7, as protestors demanding the resignation of their crooked-ass President took to the streets of the capital Bishkek….and then were gunned down by riot police! The protestors/mob then went apeshit and attacked the cops and pretty much burned the whole freakin’ place down. This uprising is based almost solely on the absolute disastrous rule of President Bakiyev (soon to be ex-President) of Kyrgyzstan, who robbed the place blind and then tried to double the taxes on the peeps to make even more money. But wait! Even though this sounds like a totally internal affair, there is much interest in this place from both Russia, who considers it a sphere of their influence, and the United States, who has a critical air base there. The Avenger explains all about this crazy, corrupt, chaotic Kyrg mess!
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Chaos in Kyrgyzstan
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Keywords: Kyrgyzstan, Bakiyev, Russia, Putin, US, Manas, Tulip Revolution, Afghanistan, Central Asia
