Mexico and Latin American Links 3/16/2013

• Knights Templar Leader, El Tio, Reported Killed
• More must be done to arrest Caribbean drug trade says US

Balkanization of the Balkans 3/16/2013

• Wild Dogs Still Plague Romanian Capital

European Crisis 3/15/2013

• Spain a ‘major money laundering centre’
• Two guerrilla groups claim responsibility for Athens bomb attack
• Greek Long Term Jobless Rate at 60%
• Greece: Anarchists Target Judges, Cops, Witnesses

West African Links 3/15/2013

• Maghreb/Sahel nations join ‘Saharan Express’ exercise to combat terrorism, trafficking
• Africa Destined to Bleed Yet More! Any Remedy?
• Nigeria: Why Boko Haram Insurgency Escalates - Emir of Anka

  "The security agencies are to be blame for the escalation of the Boko Haram sect. Where were the security agencies when the sect members are importing guns? Where were they when they were training their members in Somalia? The security agencies should have pre-empted all these," he said.

• Mali's Bad Trip: Field notes from the West African drug trade.

Balkanization of the Balkans 3/15/2013

• New Bulgaria Govt Takes Office Amid Protests
• Kosovo Stages Mass Protest Over Corruption
• New Food Scandal Threatens Romania

Balkanization of the Balkans 3/14/2013

• Bulgaria’s Revolt Against Consensus
• A Balkan dysfunction: Politicians need to work together if Bosnia is to join the European Union
• Bulgaria’s caretaker promises spell of stability before uncertainty descends again

European Crisis 3/14/2013

• Greece, Troika Talks Break Down, Loan Put Off
• More Bombing Of Greek Political Offices
• Greek Unemployment Rate Hits 26.4 Percent
• EU Considers $13 Billion Bailout for Cyprus
• A flawed temple: The loss of legitimacy may now be the biggest threat to the European project
• "Abolish austerity" Brussels protesters tell EU leaders

West Africa Links 3/14/2013

• Insight: Islamist inroads in Mali may undo French war on al Qaeda – Reuters
• Christians in Libya being rounded up and beaten
• Who’s on First? Or Why Fences Matter More Than Al-Qaeda in Mali
• US: Nigeria Still a Drug Transshipment Point
• Jonathan Pardons Corruption

Latin American Links 3/14/2013

• Mexican Drugwar Ghost Pueblos

Latin American Links 3/13/2013

• Honduran Death Squads Murder Peasants in the Bajo Aguán Valley: Reflections on the Bird Report
• Neo-Paramilitary Groups Consolidating in Colombia: Report
• Following Arrests, Mexico Vigilantes Take Soldiers Hostage
• 'Gangs Unable to Enforce Truce in Eastern El Salvador'

West Africa Links 3/13/2013

• Mali: Stabilising northern Mali: different approaches to peace operations
• Mali: Tuareg rebels call for ICC war crimes probe
• Mali Islamists, Separatists Join Forces
• Chad’s Humanitarian Challenges
• Discordant Voices in the “New Nigeria” Trope

  But while the financial press continues to gush about the amount of money to be made in the country, a range of Nigerian voices are expressing fear and anger. Former World Bank official Oby Ezekwesili’s passionate convocation address at the University of Nigeria Nsukka in January criticized an “indulgent elite class” that had squandered $67 billion in reserves that the Obasanjo administration handed over to its successor government in 2007. Transparency and accountability, key to governance benefiting the general public, remain elusive.

• Nigeria's government has pardoned a key ally of President Goodluck Jonathan who was convicted of stealing millions of dollars
• Malian President Plays Down UN Atrocities Accusations
• Maiduguri: The Nigerian city gripped by insurgency

  Since 2009, northern Nigeria has been gripped by a bloody insurgency as militant group Boko Haram continues its quest to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. Visiting the Boko Haram stronghold Maiduguri is dangerous, so a BBC reporter filmed with a concealed camera to reveal what life is like for citizens caught in the crossfire. The journalist's identity has been concealed for security reasons.

Qatar Links 3/13/2013

• Qatari aid in support of the Egyptian economy, not the Muslim Brotherhood

Balkanization of the Balkans 3/13/2013

• Belgrade Denies Backing Bosnia Serb Opposition

  Aleksandar Vucic, Vice-President of the Serbian government, has dismissed reports in the Sarajevo media that Belgrade plans to help the opposition in Republika Srpska win the next general election in 2014.

Bankster Business 3/13/2013

• Bill Black: Which Aspect of the FDIC’s Litigation Failures is the Most Embarrassing and Damaging?

  The article contains four key facts we did not know about the FDIC’s leadership and its litigation director. ...The first fact is that the banks and bank officers can now cut deals with the FDIC designed to keep their settlements secret.....The second key fact that we learned from the article is that the size of the settlements, for some of the most culpable fraudulent mortgage lenders, is so embarrassingly low that the FDIC’s litigators and investigators have proven to be an embarrassing failure....The third fact that emerges is that the FDIC’s real purpose in entering into these settlements crafted to try to keep the public from learning about them is not to secure a higher settlement but to protect the FDIC leadership from embarrassment for their failures of nerve, competence....The fourth fact that emerges is that the FDIC does not understand how a banking regulator and its litigators must deal with control fraud.

European Crisis 3/4/2013

• Greece: Social explosion?

As the president of Greece becomes the latest person to predict a 'social explosion' in Greece it seems a good idea to ask the question: Are we likely to see an escalation of social unrest as the crisis continues?

• On the social conditions in Greece, now
• Portugal’s Left must respond to a rising tide of rebellion
• How Beppe Grillo and Italy’s Five Star Movement stole the election
• Stiglitz: What is Italy Saying?

Bankster Business 3/4/2013

• Argentine and British protesters resist 'vulture fund' debt claims

  British and Argentine campaigners have staged a noisy pots and pans protest outside the offices of Elliot Associates in London, in support of Argentina’s right not to pay the ‘vulture funds’ still chasing huge profits from its late-2001 debt default

• 12 Things That Just Happened That Show The Next Wave Of The Economic Collapse Is Almost Here

Qatar Links 3/4/2013

• A $1 billion bet on peace: Qatar funds huge Palestinian settlement in West Bank
• Iraq accuses Qatar of financing jihadi groups in Syria
• Western, Asian Arms Suppliers Target Cash-rich Qatar
• Facilitating Afghan peace: Pakistan mulls Taliban transfer to Qatar

West Africa Links 3/4/2013

• Africa and AFRICOM: Neo-Imperialism and the Arrogance of Ignorance
• Gambia to destroy 2 tonnes of cocaine worth US$1BN today
• Conflicting accounts emerge over AQIM leader's reported death
• Is the Polisario an ally of AQIM commander killed in Mali? – MedAfrica Times
• Following Mali, AQIM to Retreat to Algeria
• Shell Considers Shutting Nigerian Pipeline on Increased Oil Theft
• Shell decries unprecedented oil theft in Nigeria
• Boko Haram Leader Disowns Ceasefire
• Al Qaeda commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar may be 'alive’

Balkanizaton of the Balkans 3/4/2013

• Bulgaria’s acting PM fires corruption unit deputy director
• Germany may bloc Bulgaria, Romania accession to Schengen area - official

  The two nations have seen their accession repeatedly delayed due to concerns over their failure to contain corruption and organized crime.

Pearls of Wisdom 3/4/2013

• Realism about the prospects for reform in America

  I don't know of any reason why civil society of some sort should not persist on the North American continent more or less than anywhere else. However, this is a time when, so far as reform is concerned, that each and every one of us be more concerned with setting our own houses in order than in reforming the body politic. That would be a waste of time.

• Jury Nullification, Your Secret Civil Right