Terror Groups and Crime? Or, The Border Patrol and Crime?

Developing nations are ripe for transnational crime?

What about the convergence of TOC (Transnational Organized Crime, not Table of Contents) with US finance, corporations, oil, and state security departments?

The US Border Patrol is part of  US Homeland Security. The Border Patrol's infiltration is already documented. There are multiple documented instances of US finance being infiltrated. If finance is infiltrated, corporate infiltration must be assumed. This allows crime dollars to flow straight into American politics and elections. Who's buying our elections? Can we begin to seriously worry about a judiciary that favors corporations and those promoting opaque campaign monies? Can we count inexplicable judicial and executive decisions as early red flags of criminal infiltration, and extortion?

The threats that comprise extortion need not be explicit, or even conscious, among those familiar with the cost.

How are we talking about developing nations, when our own financial institutions and state security organizations have already closed deals?

A Look at Why Organized Crime and Terror Groups are Converging


See the rest of my reading list, here:
A Cartel Reader for Democracies

The Smoke Makes Aliyah

Smoke makes aliya
these days
The heart descends

Innocents sprinkled on a beach
scribing impunity in blood
and broken bones

On balconies
the congregants are stunned
As the smoke goes up
they rend our screens
in mourning

___________________________________________
"It's a shame they didn't identify them as kids with all
of the advanced technology they claim they're using."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/16/witness-gaza-shelling-first-hand-account

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

I learned how to make jam in my late teens, from a woman whose mother and father were Polish immigrants. The tedious job of processing the fruit --washing, removing pits, slicing, mashing--fell to me.

I also poured the paraffin she used in addition to bands and seals. Since, I've learned how to process the jam, just as safely, without the wax.

I love the taste of fruit in midwinter that canning affords, but I've always disliked the amount of sugar necessary to set the pectin.

Too sweet!


However, tons of sugar isn't necessary with the new pectins. Both instant pectin and low-sugar pectin make an excellent, tasty product. At least one company also offers a "scalable" pectin. You measure the right amount of pectin for the job: you can use a smaller amount of fruit and an every-day pot, instead of being chained to making a big batch in a stock pot or dutch oven. And, it's quick.

I usually make some variety of apricot jam, however, this year a gift changed things. A family at the local farmers' market produces ripe juicy strawberries you can smell from half a block away. I always buy from them, for the last several years, however, at the first market, they had sold out by the time I got there! All that was left was a basket of culls...which they offered me, for free, saying it would make delicious jam. It did. This week, I went back for 9 baskets and tried low-sugar jam, hot water bath processed.

6 Cups Mashed  Strawberries
4 Cups Sugar
Pectin

It started to set, right away-- no strawberry syrup, here.


Only four cups of sugar, compared to the usual 6-8...and the fruit flavor is just amazing. It tastes fresh. This is the jam you want to use for cakes and fancy sandwich cookies.

Handmade Peg Loom and Woven Cuff

Spotted this lovely lightweight wood frame at the craft store. The depth suggested it might make a very nice base for a loom. I stopped by another shop and picked up plastic thumbtacks. The rest is history.

I left some room between the pins: I knew I wanted to do some warp experiments that included thicker material. (For a denser weave, not only could the thumbtacks be closer together, but it looks very possible to add another row of tacks--or map pins--on the outside edge, between those on top.)

For this quick cuff, I used two lengths of golden yellow and purple, on each side. I wanted a tighter weave there and I wanted the design's edge to be defined. The center two lengths are coarse ribbon, without finished edges. They folded as I worked...I rolled with it.

 The differing yarns are joined using a knitter's "secret knot." The weft is natural wool. All of the warp is silk. I have plans for a larger scarf and I wanted to test the weight and drape of this combination. I was really pleased with the result.

I really enjoy adding the color and texture in the warp,
and using a plain weft. I think it will look especially
nice in a narrow/long scarf. 

Wool Soap Sock

Large oblong bars of soap are my nemesis. They won't stay put in the shower. They pop out of my grasp and go flying. The deeper dish that finally captures them also turns them to mush, as they sit in the puddle, at the bottom. I like the felted soaps, but what I really wanted was an updated version of my loofa.

What if...

I've left two pegs out of the job.

I bought this little pocket loom, on a whim, a couple of months ago. It looked handy and easy to pack along. I also have some pure wool yarn I've been eager to play with. Well, actually, I had already played with it and created a mini-monstrosity that needed to be ripped out. Sometimes, stuff doesn't work.



So I ripped it out and doubled the yarn. By doubling the yarn and not using all of the pegs on the loom, I hoped to created a very tight tube for my soap. Why so tight and doubled? I hope that as the soap shrinks with use, there will be enough tension and enough fiber to allow the tube to remain fitted, and not sag around the soap.

The full picture.

I drawstring finished this end.

Binding off.
Waxy colored pencils
don't leave any marks.

This soap is bulky.
After drawing it closed,
I also added a finger-
crocheted loop.

My handspan (length) is about 7"

So far, so good. It's snug, it felts with use, I can hang it up so it dries out thoroughly, and it's just the right amount of rough. We'll see if my "shrink-to-fit" plan works out...

From Nail Buffer to Sanding Tool

Working in mixed media, I enjoy borrowing tools from other arts and trades, and using them in unconventional ways. Even more, I enjoy modifying and creating my own tools.

I was in a dollar store one day, when I realized a beautician's nail-buffing tools might also be excellent for finishing metals. They were! However, the sanding papers didn't hold up under water and the grits, intended for acrylic nails, were quickly depleted.

So, I combined the beauty shop and the auto shop to make a new tool.



Taking wet-dry sandpapers in very fine,1500, 600 and increasingly coarser fine grits, I cut strips of each in exactly the same size as those on my buffing bars.






Fine, wet-dry sanding papers can be found at OSH hardware stores, near the paint section. If you don't find them in your hardware store with the sandpapers, near the paint, or with wood finishing products, try an auto shop--they should be able to tell you where to acquire the product, locally.

.

Carefully peeling off the old strips, I discovered there was still quite a bit of adhesive left; they were ready to go (a thin layer of E6000 glue would have been my go-to, had that not been the case).If you find the padding has degraded, try craft foam with the adhesive backing, as a substitute.

I applied my wet-dry strips in order of fineness and now have an inexpensive, easily replenished sanding tool perfect for small work, that can be used with water--as a lubricant and to reduce fine dust.

As a bonus, I also discovered the end caps were removable and the interior is large enough to hold the fish-hook sharpener I use for making pins.

A Cartel Reader for Democracies

A democracy's control of its monetary system is fundamental to its autonomy and freedom. Opacity of banking and corporate transactions, as well as opacity of organized crime communications, is a threat to democracy. The compromise of a state's security organs by organized crime is frightening. The compromise of a nation's military veterans and (potentially) contractors should make a democratic people tremble.

It appears that the subversion and de facto acquisition of our banks, security organs and military might be well underway.

The cartels should be reckoned into any discussion of Manning, Snowden and the NSA. 
One may appeal to the Constitution over the NSA; to whom may we appeal when cartels have acquired Snowden's documents and advanced capabilities in infosec and surveillance?

Sampling from my personal reader/collected links on relevant topics.
Updated 12/15/2014
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Obama Declares War on Global Organized Crime 2011
US Imposes Sanctions on Four International Criminal Groups
Executive Order
Japan: US Declares War on the Yakuza

McCain Petitions to Add Russian Group, with Kremlin Contacts, to List
Senator McCain Calls Upon President Obama to Apply Aggressive New Sanctions Designed to Combat Terrorism to the Russian Organized Crime Group Who Murdered Sergei Magnitsky

The Opacity of Takeovers and The Danger of Whistleblowing

Infiltrated Corporations
Olympus: A Rotten Picture at Olympus
State Oil Company Infiltrated in Mexico: Los Zetas called Mexico's most dangerous drug cartel.
(I'll welcome additional links. Explains NSA interest in Brazilian oil auctions? Very attractive to organized crime.)
Brazil: Brazil Police Op Uncovers Organized Crime-Politics Link


Infiltrated Banks
Wachovia: How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico's murderous drug gangs
Wachovia and Others:    Wachovia's Drug Habit
Colombia: Western banks 'reaping billions from Colombian cocaine trade'
US and European Banks Hunger for Liquidity: American Narcos: The Real ‘Masters of Paradise’
If it waddles like a duck... The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia
*An attempt at Weaning? -- Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Undisclosed to Congress
Global: Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor
Germany: The Case Gustl Mollath – The Time of the Hyenas A critical media research by Ursula Prem
(The researcher for the article above implicates journalists in the crime. Free press, or infiltrated, too?)
Germany: Court Releases Whistleblower from Psychiatric Ward
Russia: Shadow of Magnitsky Case Reaches Switzerland
Switzerland: Switzerland Awash with Money Laundering Cases  

Anonymous Discovers Cartel's IT Quotient, Unbound by Any Constitution (Cartel Promises to Acquire Increased IT Capacities)

Cartels aren't as limited as governments; they promise to find what governments can't.
(Note that they are ruthless about secrecy. Makes NSA a worthy target, Snowden a desirable acquisition?)
Anonymous Retreats from Mexican Drug Cartel Confrontation
Dispatch: Anonymous' Online Tactics Against Mexican Cartels

Cartels Making Good on Comms Capacities
More on Los Zetas Radio Network
"the kingpins stay off the network — they use the internet to send messages"
Radio Tecnico: How The Zetas Cartel Took Over Mexico With Walkie-Talkies (added 12/15/2014)

Facebook Hitman Highlights Organized Crime's Online Presence

Latin America and Caribbean Cyber-Security Trends and Government Responses (Trend Micro) (PDF)

Raises serious questions re: Ecuadorean interest in hosting Assange, Snowden
Mexican cartels move into Ecuador

Brazil Investigating Hack of Military Police Data
Cartels are keeping up, but "law enforcement and governments were failing to keep up with advancing technology."

Complexity: Persian Gulf is Growing Drug Hub for LatAm Groups


State Security Subverted

ATF
Evidence Suggests Cover-Up in ATF Scandal, as More Guns Appear at Crime Scenes

Border Patrol
Mexican hitman claims cartels bought guns from US Border Patrol
(06/12/2014) Removal of border agency’s internal affairs chief raises alarms
"members of drug cartels and gangs have been applying for jobs in the U.S. government “for the purpose of corrupting the system by passing along intelligence, sharing intelligence gaps, showing vulnerabilities.”"
(08/19/2014) Ousted chief accuses border agency of shooting cover-ups, corruption

Secret Service
Secret service agents sent home after Colombia prostitution allegations
Inspector General's Report Contradicts Secret Service on Prostitution Scandal

Secret Service Back Story
Secret Service Agents in Colombia are Eavesdropping on Suspected Counterfeiters
(I am looking for another link--I lost it--Secret Service wrapped up a joint counterfeiting bust in Colombia not long before Obama's visit. The prostitution scandal reads like a "shot across the bow," from that vantage point.) Reference: Europol 13 April 2012

Military Veterans
Cartels are Recruiting US Soldiers as Hitmen, and The Pay is Good
(01/10/2013) Team of contract killers led by ex-soldier 'Rambo' busted, prosecutors say (I predicted this several years ago; it was obvious--veterans returning to a non-existent job market and Zetas expanding. I hope my other prediction doesn't come true: cartels with enough liquidity to hire US military contractors, subvert their employees, or  hire teams of their unemployed workers. --Unfortunately, it's possible (probable?) that's already happened. (24/9/2013) See text, re: US contractor, blue box, on this page: NarcoPetro Dollars – Zetas Inside Pemex)

NSA?

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If a post can be dedicated, I'd dedicate this one to the friends of Gustl Mollath, who stood by him for so many years, and to those still working for justice for Sergei Magnitsky.