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Monthly Archives: January 2018

Big Banks Punish Savers With Pathetic Interest Rates Despite Fed Hikes

Big banks such as JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America have been shafting depositors with terrible interest rates – refusing to keep pace with the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes.

 

JPMorgan, for example, has only raised its average deposit rate by 0.21 of a percentage point, despite the Federal Reserve raising rates by 1.25% over the same period – effectively punishing customers by locking them into historically low rates required to bail out the same banks which caused the financial crisis a decade ago.

The trend is so remarkable that analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS – Get Report) , a rival Wall Street firm with a comparatively tiny banking franchise, published a report on the matter earlier this month, noting that rates on savings were “virtually untouched” in 2017, even as banks charged fatter payments on loans and other assets whose rates jumped along with the Fed’s increases.

Consequently, a decade after the 2008 crisis, retirees and others who shun stocks and choose less volatile, government-insured savings accounts at big banks are still getting meager returns. –TheStreet

“Some of the big banks literally have not moved deposit yields higher at any time during this cycle of Fed rate hikes,” said Greg McBride, the chief financial analyst at BankRate.com, which tracks the savings and lending industry.

In fact, none of the Fed’s three rate hikes noted by Goldman were passed on to savers at JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, with Citigroup passing along just 4% of the rate increases, or 0.03 of a percentage point.

Goldman’s takeaway? Shareholders in big U.S. banks are “not to worry,” Goldman wrote in the Jan. 8 reports. “Large banks are still raising cheap funds.”

To review; Home lenders and “too big to fail” banks conspired with lawmakers to remove the Glass Steagall act, allowing banks to commingle investment and retail banking operations and making them “too big to fail.” Said banks then went on a drunken lending spree as politicians like Barney Frank pushed affirmative-action lending practices, while insisting that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in great shape. This was very disrespectful to the stability of America’s financial institutions.

Of course, in order to keep banks alive, the Fed had to use trillions of taxpayer dollars  and drop it’s target rate to a historically low zero percent to avoid what Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson warned Congress was sure collapse were they not to act quickly.

And now – the same banks which created the crisis and then took taxpayer money during the crisis, refuses to reward savers now that the crisis is “over” (until it’s not) – driving up profits as they use the cheap deposits to fund loans written at the new, fed-hiked rates.

Partly as a result, JPMorgan’s net interest income – the difference between what it makes on loans and other interest-earning assets and what it pays out on deposits and other borrowings – jumped to $50.1 billion in 2017 or a 15% increase from 2015 levels.

For “retail, checking and core savings, there’s been little to no movement” on deposit rates, Marianne Lake, JPMorgan’s chief financial officer, confirmed to bank-stock analysts this month on a conference call.

She signaled that regular depositors might again see little improvement in 2018 on their savings rate, at least relative to the Fed’s expected rate increases of 0.5 percentage point to 1 percentage point.

“My expectation, just given where we are, in the absolute level of rates, is that on the retail space, we would still see a lot of discipline,” Lake told the analysts. –TheStreet

Smaller banks are the place to be

According to BankRate’s McBrde, higher deposit rates can be found at smaller banks and online financial institutions, which have been forced to pay higher rates to attract deposits. “They don’t have a branch on every corner, ATMs everywhere and their name on the stadium,” said McBride, adding “You’re not going to be able to out-market the big banks, so you pay a higher rate on deposits and compete that way.”

According to Bankrate, the top four savings rates can be found at CIT Bank, Goldman Sachs’ Marcus Bank (which wrote the analysis referenced in this article), American Express, and Synchrony Bank – the largest provider of private label credit cards in the US to brands such as Amazon, Walmart, Lowe’s.

 

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo and Bank of America clock in near the bottom of the list.

 

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan justifies his bank’s crappy deposit rates by pointing to all of the wonderful services and conveniences offered by their savings accounts, which apparently can’t be found elsewhere. Moynihan also points to an increase in average checking account balances – suggesting that savers are more interested in safety than return on capital.

Citigroup CFO John Gerspach said that the low deposit rates are a “reflection of the state of competition” between banks. “Given deposit rates have been largely unchanged following the December 2017 hike, strong industry deposit growth suggests larger banks continue to have little problem raising cheap funds,” wrote the Goldman analysts.

In previous periods, top-yielding savings accounts kept pace with the Fed’s increases, and would anticipate rate hikes by competitively raising their own payouts in advance according to McBride. Now, the top payers have a correlation with the fed of around 0.5, and the rates are dismal.

If and when the much talked about volatility rears its head in 2018, any hopes savers had of higher rates on their cash will be sadly disappointed.

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White CUNY Professor Almost Calls Blacks “Slaves” On Live TV

Whoops!

City University of New York (CUNY) professor of Urban Sociology, Andrew Beveridge, appeared on CNN Saturday to discuss the census when he nearly called black people slaves, a slip host Michael Smerconish pretends not to hear.

“You’re absolutely right, ever since the 14th Amendment, all people in the United States have to be counted; women, children, slaav…uh, blacks, non-citizens, etc.”

Twitter users responded accordingly:

 

Beveridge, who is also an advisor to the New York Times and ACLU, is rated as a 2.8 out of 5 on ratemyprofessors.com, with one former student noting: “Appears to be the dimwitted professor but do not let him fool you. Avoid this class at all costs. Not much is learnt there and you will regret it.” Another student said “Impossible to talk to this guy; his mind is elsewhere — he barely looks you in the eye.”

Other students had positive reviews for Beveridge, saying he’s a “Good professor but the class is a little disorganized,” and “Awesome A class, not really necessary to attend but class is very small so he knows everyone.”

Poor Andy’s never gonna live this down…

Full clip:

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House Intel Committee Votes To Make “Jaw-Dropping” FISA Memo Public

In a decision which should surprise nobody, the House Intelligence Committee voted to make the now-infamous four-page “FISA memo” public. The document, authored by GOP staffers for Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA), is said to contain “shocking” and “jaw dropping” evidence of surveillance abuses within the FBI and DOJ during the 2016 presidential election.

President Trump now has five days to review and reject the memo’s publication, however that’s unlikely as the White House signaled support for the memo’s release – sentiment President Trump is said to have personally conveyed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions through White House Chief-of-Staff, John Kelly.

Trump “is inclined to have that released just because it will shed light,” said a senior administration official who was speaking on the condition of anonymity to recount private conversations. “Apparently all the rumors are that it will shed light, it will help the investigators come to a conclusion.”

The contents of the memo are so explosive, says Journalist Sara Carter, that it could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and the Department of Justice and the end of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation.

These sources say the report is “explosive,” stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates. –Sara Carter

A source close to the matter told Fox News that “the memo details the Intelligence Committee’s oversight work for the FBI and Justice, including the controversy over unmasking and FISA surveillance.”

Top Democrat Adam Schiff (D-CA) responded to Monday’s vote, saying “we’ve crossed a deeply regrettable line”, adding that the “committee voted to put the president’s interest above the interest of the country.”

While the precise contents of the memo remain unknown, it’s believed to contain allegations that the FBI did not adequately explain to a clandestine court that some of the information it used in a surveillance warrant application for Trump adviser Carter Page came from opposition research funded by the Clinton campaign, now known as the “Steele dossier.”

Three House lawmakers who have read the memo told Bloomberg that, the memo claims FBI officials didn’t provide a complete set of facts in requests made to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court to obtain a warrant or warrants on Carter Page, a one-time advisor to the Trump campaign.

Furthermore, the memo is also said to claim that important details were left out that might have kept a judge from issuing a surveillance warrant, or possibly two, targeting Page. Those include its claims that investigators were relying partly on an unverified dossier put together by an opposition research firm that hired a former British spy, Christopher Steele — work that was funded by Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, and Democrats.

Furthermore, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein’s role in approving the warrant application comes under fire in the document, according to the New York Times. Rosenstein appointed Mueller and has become a recent target on the right — as well as reportedly garnering the frustration of the president.

The memo was released to the full House of Representatitves on January 18th.

Lawmakers who have seen the memo are calling for its immediate release, while the phrases “explosive,” “shocking,” “troubling,” and “alarming” have all been used in all sincerity. One congressman even likened the report’s details to KGB activity in Russia. “It is so alarming the American people have to see this,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News. “It’s troubling. It is shocking,” North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows said. “Part of me wishes that I didn’t read it because I don’t want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much.

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Trump Admin Considers Nationalizing 5G Mobile Network To Fight Chinese Hackers

  • A leaked presentation has revealed plans by the US Government to nationalize the upcoming 5G network in order to guard against Chinese hackers, reports Axios.
  • The presentation, provided by a senior National Security Council official also mentions an alternative plan to let wireless providers build their own 5G networks which compete with each other.
  • 5G will eat 4G’s dinner in terms of speed and latency – at around 10-20 gigabytes per second.

Axios is out with an exclusive report that Trump Admin national security officials are considering an unprecedented federal takeover of the upcoming 5G wireless network in order to protect against China and evil 400 lb hackers alike. The takeover has been likened to “the 21st century equivalent of the Eisenhower National Highway System,” which would create a “new paradigm” for the wireless industry by the end of Trump’s first term.

Via Axios:

The main points: The documents say America needs a centralized nationwide 5G network within three years. There’ll be a fierce debate inside the Trump administration — and an outcry from the industry — over the next 6-8 months over how such a network is built and paid for.

Two options laid out by the documents:

  1. The U.S. government pays for and builds the single network — which would be an unprecedented nationalization of a historically private infrastructure.
  2. An alternative plan where wireless providers build their own 5G networks that compete with one another — though the document says the downside is it could take longer and cost more. It argues that one of the “pros” of that plan is that it would cause “less commercial disruption” to the wireless industry than the government building a network.

An industry expert who spoke with Axios says the second option is not really an option – as a single centralized network is required to “protect America against China and other bad actors.”

The source said the internal White House debate will be over whether the U.S. government owns and builds the network or whether the carriers bind together in a consortium to build the network, an idea that would require them to put aside their business models to serve the country’s greater good,” according to Axios.

The document also points to an “AI Arms Race,” in which “China has assembled the basic components required for winning the AI arms race,” adding that “Data is the oil of the 21st century and China has built the world’s first strategic reserve.”

Complete elimination of privacy standards combined with a strong firewall has enabled China to transform its “great firewall” into a “great ocean” of data. The current algorithm battles are slowly drifting in China’s favor as companies like Google build AI research centers inside China’s information sphere and world class data scientists mine the data (ours and theirs) without restraint…

…Building a nationwide secure 5G network sets the condition for future success in the information domain. Not building the network puts us at a permanent disadvantage to China in the information domain.

Read the full leaked document HERE

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Gowdy “100 Percent” Confident In Mueller, Tells Lawmakers To “Leave Him The Hell Alone”

Trey Gowdy (R-SC) says he has “100 percent” confidence in Robert Mueller to conduct a fair investigation if he’s given the proper time and resources, and urged lawmakers criticizing the special counsel to “leave him the hell alone,” the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman told Fox News Sunday.

“I think he’s got a fair prosecutor in Bob Mueller, but I don’t think he’s got a fair jury,” Gowdy said, referring to President Trump. “Mueller didn’t raise his hand and say ‘pick me,’ ” Gowdy added. “We as a country asked him to do this.”

(Actually, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – who is apparently named in the FISA memo – asked Mueller to do it).

Mueller’s investigation has been widely criticised by Congressional GOP legislators, while president Trump has labeled the probe a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.” Trump reportedly ordered Mueller fired last June – only to back off when White House Counsel Don McGahn threatened to resign according to the WSJ, however Trump has denied the report as Fake News.

Several Republicans in Congress, including Gowdy, have called for the release of a classified memo that purports to show FBI officials abusing surveillance power.

Republicans have also fixated on text messages exchanged between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page that they argue show anti-Trump bias. Strzok was removed from Mueller’s investigation last year after the texts were discovered.

“Republicans would be well served, let the texts speak for themselves, let the jury make up their mind and quit engaging in hyperbole, which we seem to do a lot,” Gowdy said. –The Hill

That said – Gowdy notably did not join fellow House Republicans last month in their efforts to build a case against the FBI and DOJ for “improper” and perhaps criminal mishandling of the salacious and unproven 34-page “Trump-Russia” dossier.

As POLITICO reported at the time, “A congressional aide with knowledge of the meetings said Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) was not among the participants. ”While he does believe the FBI and DOJ have recently made decisions worth looking into, he [Gowdy] is and will always be a defender of the FBI, DOJ and the special counsel,” the aide said.

Of course, Gowdy having spearheaded the controversial Benghazi probe puts him on equal footing with the FBI when it comes to Hillary Clinton exonerations.

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Google Parent Alphabet Launches Cybersecurity Firm “Chronicle”

Google parent company, Alphabet, is launching a new cybersecurity firm out of its X-moonshot group called “Chronicle,” which will apply machine learning and its enormous cloud-based processing power to fighting hackers, by helping large corporations analyze attacks in minutes, as opposed to hours or days. The new company will operate under the Alphabet umbrella.

Add in some machine learning and better search capabilities, and we think we’ll be able to help organizations see their full security picture in much higher fidelity than they currently can. –Chronicle CEO Stephen Gillet

Former Symantec COO and board member, Stephen Gillet, will head the new venture after having joined the X-moonshot division in January, 2016. Gillet explained of X: “We want to 10x the speed and impact of security teams’ work by making it much easier, faster and more cost-effective for them to capture and analyze security signals that have previously been too difficult and expensive to find. We are building our intelligence and analytics platform to solve this problem.”

To accomplish this, Chronicle will be powered by Alphabet’s vast and powerful cloud computing infrastructure, which Gillett says will provide a massive speed advantage over traditional methods of analyzing attacks. Second, Google’s incredibly cheap storage will allow Chronicle customers to take advantage of machine learning to “see patterns that emerge from multiple data sources and over years.”

While Chronicle doesn’t exactly have a product yet – as they are in an “early alpha program” of its “cybersecurity intelligence platform,” the company’s website is up and running at https://chronicle.security/, and has made two introductory blog posts (here and here). The venture also has a twitter account which has made precisely one tweet as of this writing.

Gillet writes:

Today I’d like to introduce you to Chronicle, a new independent business within Alphabet that’s dedicated to helping companies find and stop cyber attacks before they cause harmX, the moonshot factory, has been our home for the last two years while we figured out where we had the potential to make the biggest impact on this enormous problem. Now we’re ready to unveil our new company, which will have two parts: a new cybersecurity intelligence and analytics platform that we hope can help enterprises better manage and understand their own security-related data; and VirusTotal, a malware intelligence service acquired by Google in 2012 which will continue to operate as it has for the last few years.

Today I’d like to introduce you to Chronicle, a new independent business within Alphabet that’s dedicated to helping companies find and stop cyber attacks before they cause harm. X, the moonshot factory, has been our home for the last two years while we figured out where we had the potential to make the biggest impact on this enormous problem. Now we’re ready to unveil our new company, which will have two parts: a new cybersecurity intelligence and analytics platform that we hope can help enterprises better manage and understand their own security-related data; and VirusTotal, a malware intelligence service acquired by Google in 2012 which will continue to operate as it has for the last few years.

Chronicle was originally launched in February 2016 as an “X” division collaboration between Gillet, Google security experts Mike Wiacek and Shapor Naghibzadeh, and Bernardo Quintero – who built malware intelligence service VirusTotal that alerts businesses and anti-virus providers about new malware threats.

While Chronicle has said it’s databases will be kelt separate from Alphabet and adhering to “our own contracts and data policies with our customers,” it will be interesting to see if Google’s new sibling will eventually be able to tap into other data sets in hot pursuit of hackers.

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CNN Extols The Virtues Of Being An Actual Cuck, Gets Mocked Into Oblivion

In a superb example of knowing one’s audience, CNN has published an article on how great it is to be a literal cuckold – a man who lets other men bang his significant other.

Written by American sex therapist and author Ian Kerner, the article starts off noting that despite “so-called alt-right” meanies using the phrase to make fun of emasculated (typically Democrat) males, being a cuck can be fun! 

Ian Kerner, cuck advocate

In our current political climate, the term “cuck” — short for “cuckservative” — has become an insult of the so-called alt-right, aimed at men they view as spineless and emasculated. The slur has its roots in the concept of cuckolding, or having an adulterous partner.

But, according to a recent study by David Ley, Justin Lehmiller and the writer Dan Savage, acting on cuckolding fantasies can be a largely positive experience for many couples, and hardly a sign of weakness.
typical “cuck”

Citing a study which focuses on “cuckolding fantasies and experiences in 580 gay men,” CNN says “Their findings suggest that there are similarities between the way gay and straight men view cuckolding.” only to note the exact opposite. While heterosexual men are often turned on due to cuckolding being a taboo act, gays are into cucking for a whole bunch of reasons not necessarily having to do with taboo because “monogamy isn’t so strong in the LGBT community.”  Therefore, to gays cucking is “a sexual desire that can be easily customized to meet a wide range of sexual needs and desires, whether it’s taboo sex, novelty, voyeurism or something else.”

Their findings suggest that there are similarities between the way gay and straight men view cuckolding, but clear differences, too. Most notably, interracial and BDSM themes don’t appear to be as common in gay men’s cuckolding fantasies as they are among heterosexual men. The motivations behind these fantasies may also be different.

Part of what makes cuckolding arousing for heterosexual men is that they tend to view it as a taboo act. “In a society or culture that idealizes monogamy, the cuckold fantasy is a current narrative that is available to people to conceptualize their sexual fantasies,” said Ley.-CNN

In other words, motivation behind becoming a cuck is completely different between gay and straight men – 100% opposite of what CNN said.

For CNN’s brilliant parody of itself, Twitter users responded accordingly:

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Florida May Let Felons Vote In 2020 Presidential Election Following Ballot Initiative

Florida felons may regain their voting rights just in time for the 2020 presidential election, after activist group Floridians for Fair Democracy, led by Desmond Meade of Orlando, gathered nearly 800,000 certified signatures for the upcoming November 6 ballot, with over 1.1 million total signatures collected.

Desmond Meade

As it stands now, restoration of voting rights requires a full pardon, conditional pardon, or clemency granted by the Governor – after a 5- or 7-year waiting period, depending on the seriousness of the offense.

If the new amendment approved by at least 60 percent of voters, voting rights would be fully restored to Florida felons who have completed their sentences – including parole or probation, however the legislation would continue to bar those convicted of murder or sexual offenses from voting.

If the amendment becomes law, it could have a huge effect on elections in a state as evenly split politically as Florida. Gov. Rick Scott was elected and re-elected by margins of fewer than 65,000 votes, while President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the state by fewer than 120,000 votes.Orlando Sentinel

Meade’s effort began in 2015, with volunteers crisscrossing Florida to collect signatures in all 27 congressional districts. Last April, the Florida Supreme Court approved the language contained within the proposed amendment after enough signatures were gathered to qualify for a review.

Two other proposals restoring voting rights to felons were approved last week by a committee of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission. One proposed by former state Sen. Chris Smith is similar to Meade’s amendment, while another by state Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, would exclude a larger number of felons, including those convicted of burglary and a dozen other crimes.

Neither of those, however, would appear on the ballot unless the full commission OKs them. –Orlando Sentinel

According to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), state approaches to felon disenfranchisement vary tremendously. “It has been common practice in the United States to make felons ineligible to vote, in some cases permanently. Over the last few decades, the general trend has been toward reinstating the right to vote at some point, although this is a state-by-state policy choice.”

In summary:

  • In Maine and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote, even while they are incarcerated.
  • In 14 states and the District of Columbia, felons lose their voting rights only while incarcerated, and receive automatic restoration upon release.
  • In 22 states, felons lose their voting rights during incarceration, and for a period of time after, typically while on parole and/or probation. Voting rights are automatically restored after this time period. Former felons may also have to pay any outstanding fines, fees or restitution before their rights are restored as well.
  • In 12 states felons lose their voting rights indefinitely for some crimes, or require a governor’s pardon in order for voting rights to be restored, or face an additional waiting period after completion of sentence (including parole and probation) before voting rights can be restored.

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Illegal Immigrant Arrested After 51 Lbs Of Heroin Worth $10,000,000 Discovered By Mississippi Police

Two women were arrested on drug trafficking charges in Mississippi after a routine traffic stop uncovered 51 pounds of heroin with a street value of approximately $10 million.

 

Mexican national Arlene Viridiana Moya, 23, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and her passenger Trisha Lynne Ibarra, 23, of Laredo Texas were placed under arrest and booked into Rankin County jail for aggravated trafficking of heroin.

During the stop, the deputy suspected that the pair was transporting drugs. A consensual search revealed the heroin hidden inside of Moya’s SUV.

 

Ibarra’s three-month-old child was in the vehicle at the time, and was ordered to be taken into custody by Child Protective Services after by Rankin County Court Judge Tom Broome.

The arrests come two weeks after an illegal immigrant from Mexico was apprehended in Cullman county, Alabama for selling several pounds of methamphetaines to undercover agents with the Cullman Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Jimenez-Alcarez, 32, was arrested after a two-month investigation and charged with trafficking in methamphetamine – marking the second time Jimenez-Alcarez has been arrested in the United States, only to re-enter the country illegally (unhindered by a wall).

 

Agents seized 3.5 pounds of meth with a street value of $200,000, approximately $35,000 in cash, two semi-automatic firearms, a shotgun, and a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe.

Jimenez-Alcarez is currently being held in the Cullman, Alabama Detention Center with no bond on the order of the Department of Homeland Security, according to Cullmantoday.com

 

Cullman County sherriff Matt Gentry said in a statement:

“We are a very proactive sheriff’s office, and we are always trying to prevent these drug dealers from coming into our community to sell their drugs. I’m grateful that we intercepted this large amount of drugs before it was able to make it into our county. I also believe we are continuing to send the message if you come to Cullman County to sell your drugs you will be arrested and you will be held accountable for your crime.

I would also like to thank CNET and the DEA for the great job they did in this case.”

Perhaps Congressional Democrats will agree to fund Trump’s wall and Jimenez-Alcarez’s third time trying to enter the United States after his next deportation won’t be a charm.

 

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2017 Marked Mexico’s Deadliest Year In Recorded History; 2018 Off To Bloody Start

Mexico’s out-of-control drug war has resulted in the country’s deadliest year since they began keeping records in 1997 – the third consecutive year of increases under President Enrique Peña Nieto, and a 27 percent increase over 2016.

29,168 people, or 20.5 out of every 100,000 residents were murdered in the violent country which shares a porous border with the United States, according to figures by the Interior Ministry.

That said, the figures are likely much higher than that:

Mexico security analyst Alejandro Hope said Mexico’s murder rate is probably higher than the Interior Department statistics show, because the department does the per 100,000 count based on the number of murder investigations, not the number of victims, and a killing may result in more than one victim. Hope says the real homicide rate is probably around 24 per 100,000. –NY Post

Using Hope’s estimate, this would bring Mexico’s 2017 murder count to 34,148.

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens and U.S. government employees to exercise increased caution while traveling in Mexico, and even restricted some regions from access because of “violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery.”

Mexico has one of the highest murder rates in the world – though several Latin American nations still have higher rates despite an incorrect tweet from President Trump last week that Mexico is “now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world.”

According to a World Bank report, Brazil and Colombia had approxiamtely 27 murders per 100,000 residents, while Venezuela stands at 57 per 100,000 and El Salvador clocked in at 60.8 during 2017.

Relatives of Mexican journalist Carlos Dominguez Rodriguez –murdered on January 13 in the state of Tamaulipas — attend his funeral.

Meanwhile, 2018 is off to a bloody start, as nine people were killed, dismembered, and had their body parts stuffed into a van in the state capital of Xalpia during the first few days of the year, reports The Post. 

The grisly scene — literally a jumbled pile of human limbs and torsos topped by a threatening note apparently signed by the Zetas drug gang — was reminiscent of the mass dumping of bodies in the state in 2011.

Earlier in the new year, five severed heads were found arranged on the hood of a taxi in the tourist town of Tlacotalpan, Veracruz and four others found in another city in the same state. –NY Post

As Zerohedge reported last October, 73 percent of murders in Mexico committed in the first eight months of the 2017 were related to organized crime. In 2007, there were 2,828 executions. A decade later, 18,017 have been reported.

All high-impact crimes have increased during the current year, including abductions, homicides and grand theft auto at gunpoint. According to Roel, the main cause of violence and corruption is the “Mérida Plan,” which focuses on eradicating drug cartels. –PanAmPost

Moreover, some 85,000 insured vehicles were stolen between October 2016 and September 2017, with 60% being considered ‘violent’.

According to the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions, violent car robberies are at their highest point in the country’s history. Between October 2016 and September 2017, 85,943 insured cars have been stolen. Sixty percent of the robberies were violent.

Recaredo Arias, the association’s Director General, said that elements of organized crime have been identified in these cases, and that more urgent measures are needed to combat the problem.

The states of Guerrero, Sinaloa, Mexico City, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Michoacán, Zacatecas, Morelos, Tabasco and Tamaulipas, have the highest numbers of violent car thefts, he said.

As Fox News pointed out in October that the drug wars south of the border are seemingly on the precipice of becoming way more sophisticated, after 4 men were arrested by federal police carrying a drone equipped with an improvised explosive device wired for remote detonation.

The recent arrest in Mexico of four men carrying a drone equipped with an improvised explosive device “ready to be detonated” has stoked fears drug cartels could soon target the U.S. with bombs from above.

Mexican Federal Police arrested four men Oct. 20 in Guanajuanto who were driving a stolen vehicle equipped with a 3DR Solo Quadcopter drone attached to an IED, Small Wars Journal reported. The drone had a range of about half a mile, but modifications would have allowed it to fly farther.

State Attorney General Carlos Zamarripa Aguirre confirmed the arrests and the IED attached to the drone.

Aguirre said authorities investigated the drone, which contained a “significant amount of explosive and was ready to be detonated from a distance,” AM reported.

“It is a drone,” he said. “I have just confirmed that it is an explosive device, with a remote detonator and a large explosive charge.”

If only there were some type of physical barrier between the Unitd States and such violence.

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