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spacemonkey77
Trad climber
Keller, TX
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Jan 24, 2018 - 04:53am PT
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There is a lot of anger, hatred and ignorance in this thread! Most of you could benefit by looking in the mirror with your ignorant, hypocritical posts!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Jan 24, 2018 - 05:33am PT
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spacechimp 77... Where's the fun in that...? Are you insane..?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 24, 2018 - 07:55am PT
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RJ, ya gotta admit, he types gud for a chimp!
But he might not be able to open a biner, huh?
Special Report: Mexico's drug cartels, now hooked on fuel, cripple nation's refineries
Reuters
By Gabriel Stargardter | SALAMANCA, MEXICO
The first call, from someone claiming to belong to the Michoacan Family drug cartel, came in February 2015.
"They said they knew who I was and where I lived," said Alberto Arredondo, who got the call at work as a pump technician at an oil refinery in the central Mexican city of Salamanca. "They wanted information."
At first, Arredondo hung up.
"But they were insistent," he said, calling back and demanding details of when fuels would be pumped and through which pipelines.
Over the next two years, Arredondo said, he would be hounded, kidnapped, pistol-whipped and stabbed so severely that surgeons removed his gall bladder. In December 2016, he fled to Canada, where he now seeks asylum from gangs that steal fuel from Salamanca and five other refineries operated by Pemex [PEMX.UL], the state-owned oil company.
Fuel theft is fast becoming one of Mexico's most pressing economic and security dilemmas, sapping more than $1 billion in annual revenue from state coffers, terrorizing workers and deterring private investment in aging refineries that the government, following a 2014 energy reform, hoped instead would be thriving with foreign capital.
Because of government offensives that toppled narco kingpins in recent years, Mexico's drug cartels have splintered and are eager for new sources of revenue. Now, their increasingly dominant role as fuel thieves pits two of the country's biggest industries - narcotics and oil - against one another.
The cash-rich cartels, believed by the Mexican government to generate well over $21 billion each year, are an increasing threat to Pemex, which in 2016 reported revenue of about $52 billion and generates about a fifth of government income.
"The business is more profitable than drug trafficking because it implies less risk," said Georgina Trujillo, a ruling party congresswoman who heads the lower house energy commission.
"You don't have to risk crossing the border to look for a market," she added. "We all consume gasoline. We don't all consume drugs."
Pemex did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters about the cartels and fuel theft. Among other questions, Reuters asked about the cartels' impact on the refineries, Pemex's security measures and how the company responds to extortion and violence against its employees.
One senior Pemex refining executive, who asked not to be identified, said, "We worry about the influence of organized crime," but would not discuss the issue further.
Fuel theft is not new or unique to Mexico. But cartels are taking it to calamitous new dimensions and, in the process, bolstering their bottom line.
"Fuel theft just makes these groups more powerful," according to one senior official from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, who asked not to be identified.
By targeting refineries, already suffering from a lack of investment, Mexico's most notorious criminals gain access to nerve centers for much of the country's fuel supply.
That threatens an oil industry that accounts for about 8 percent of Mexico's economy and creates yet more uncertainty for a country already reeling from U.S. threats to dismantle the North American Free Trade Agreement.
If you want to read the rest of the sordid details:
Special Report: Mexico's drug cartels, now hooked on fuel, cripple nation's refineries
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-violence-oil-special-report/special-report-mexicos-drug-cartels-now-hooked-on-fuel-cripple-nations-refineries-idUSKBN1FD1JG
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 24, 2018 - 10:49am PT
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Exclusive: Richardson quits Myanmar's 'whitewash' Rohingya crisis panel
By Bill Tarrant | YANGON
Veteran U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson has resigned from an international panel set up by Myanmar to advise on the Rohingya crisis, saying it was conducting a "whitewash" and accusing the country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi of lacking "moral leadership".
Richardson, a former Clinton administration cabinet member, quit as the 10-member advisory board was making its first visit to western Rakhine State, from where nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled in recent months.
"The main reason I am resigning is that this advisory board is a whitewash," Richardson told Reuters in an interview, adding he did not want to be part of "a cheerleading squad for the government".
Exclusive: Richardson quits Myanmar's 'whitewash' Rohingya crisis panel
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-richardson-exclusive/exclusive-richardson-quits-myanmars-whitewash-rohingya-crisis-panel-idUSKBN1FD2OJ
Aung San Suu Kyi, the former darling of Amnesty International, has turned into another demagogue now that she’s in power.
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Ballo
Trad climber
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Jan 24, 2018 - 03:27pm PT
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why would anyone care about the Clinton Foundation's tax returns?
because the UN put them in charge of rebuilding Haiti
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Ballo
Trad climber
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Jan 24, 2018 - 04:19pm PT
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So it turns out the whole H&M "Coolest Monkey in the Hood" controversy discussed earlier in the thread turned out to be a whole lot of nothing. Not even the kid's *very* black parents have a problem with it (which should have been obvious from the beginning since parents always have to be present for these things if not dressing the kids themselves). It was a photo shoot with a DIVERSE cast of children with jungle-themed clothing, including white kids. Haven't kids of all colors been called monkeys at some point?
Of course why not jump to conclusions and call out "unintentional racism" in order to rile up people trashing stores.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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monolith
climber
state of being
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Jan 24, 2018 - 04:45pm PT
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Ballo conveniently neglects to mention it was a Swedish photo shoot. Lollie already explained the cultural differences. The problem was with those who decided to run the pic in countries where there would be a problem with it.
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Ballo
Trad climber
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Jan 24, 2018 - 05:10pm PT
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Ballo conveniently neglects to mention it was a Swedish photo shoot.
My previous comments on the story said exactly this, but the bigger story is how the social justice brigade started howling racism and still are to this day.
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monolith
climber
state of being
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Jan 24, 2018 - 05:16pm PT
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The "very" black parents were Swedish citizens. You forgot to mention that as an explanation as to why they did not object.
Don't expect people in countries with a history of slavery or apartheid where they are called monkeys to suddenly be ok with black kids called little monkeys.
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Ballo
Trad climber
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Jan 24, 2018 - 05:54pm PT
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So monolith, what exactly should happen here, because apparently an apology isn't it.
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monolith
climber
state of being
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Jan 24, 2018 - 06:02pm PT
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Well it does seem you understand why people would object. You are making good progress.
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Ballo
Trad climber
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Jan 24, 2018 - 06:06pm PT
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Oh, I understand the offense industry. That doesn't mean I approve.
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Rudbud
Gym climber
Marathon, FL
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Jan 24, 2018 - 06:26pm PT
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Trump.
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Caveman
climber
Cumberland Plateau
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Jan 24, 2018 - 06:31pm PT
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"The "very" black parents were Swedish citizens. You forgot to mention that as an explanation as to why they did not object.
Don't expect people in countries with a history of slavery or apartheid where they are called monkeys to suddenly be ok with black kids called little monkeys."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_slave_trade
"The Swedish slave trade mainly occurred in the early history of Sweden when the trade of thralls (Old Norse: þræll) was one of the pillars of the Norse economy. During the raids, the Vikings often captured and enslaved militarily weaker peoples they encountered, but took the most slaves in raids of the British Isles and Slavs in Eastern Europe. This practice lasted in the 6th through 11th centuries until formally abolished in 1335. A smaller trade of African slaves happened during the 17th and 18th centuries[1], around the time Swedish overseas colonies were established in North America (1638) and in Africa (1650). It remained legal until 1813."
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Jan 24, 2018 - 06:37pm PT
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ballo? Are you making a "gud" living working for conservative foundations, that pay you to post on the internet?
Or have you run out of your meds?
Either way, you have certainly "spiced-up" this thread & others on ST with your volume of posts.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Jan 24, 2018 - 07:30pm PT
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Ballo
Trad climber
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Jan 24, 2018 - 07:34pm PT
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Fritz, what makes you think I'm conservative?
I still haven't heard anyone say how this should have played out. It's like we're all held hostage by a bunch of pimps demanding we all get offended....for nothing.
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Ballo
Trad climber
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Jan 24, 2018 - 07:38pm PT
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LOL, I'd buy that
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