Sunday, January 6, 2008

Blame the US first, and moral relativism

The Ap Headlines:

Tourists Shun Crime-Hit Mexico Beaches

Then , in the report, this excerpt:

"
Lori Hoffman, a San Diego-area emergency room nurse, said she was sexually assaulted Oct. 23 by two masked men in front of her boyfriend, San Diego Surfing Academy owner Pat Weber, who was forced to kneel at gunpoint for 45 minutes. They were at a campground with about 30 tents, some 200 miles south of the border."

"Sexually assaulted" for 45 minutes? What happened here? Did they pat her bum or touch her hair lewdly? I smell a "lets not report the details we have lest we make criminals look bad", type report here.

Lets move on!

"
In late November, as they returned from the Baja 1000 off-road race, a San Diego-area family was pulled over on the toll road by a car with flashing lights. Heavily armed men held the family hostage for two hours. They eventually released them but stole the family's truck."

It's all in how you say it. Lets try this! "was pulled over on the toll road by a car with flashing lights. They were forced from the car at gunpoint, held captive for 2 harrowing hours, after which the Hijackers took their truck, and left them stranded. they were no rescued until...."

Same information, but the AP version treats the hijackers as having some mercy by releasing them. It minimizes what the victims went through, and does not give enough information about the whole incident. What do the victims say? Did the Ap try to contact them? And what were the "heavily armed guys armed with? Illegal guns? Pointy sticks? Were the police called? What did the police do? How did the victims get home?

"
Aqua Adventures of San Diego scrapped its annual three-day kayak trip to scout for whales in January, ending a run of about 10 years. Customers had already been complaining about longer waits to return to the U.S.; crime gave them another reason to stay away."

Sooooo - the REAL reason they are staying away is that SOMEONE made some decisions that caused "longer waits to return to the US", but this pesky little crime thingy also plays a role? Because being forced at gunpoint to watch your girlfriend being "sexually assaulted" is just not enough to make you not return. there HAS to be some hassle at the border too, cause by... someone.


Another press technique revealed here - Name the thing you think is bad (the usa an their insane border procedures) first, then add what the article is really about as just "another" reason. Propaganda achieved! I think we should call this a clipon?

More!

"Mexican officials acknowledge crime has threatened a lifeblood of Baja's economy. In Playas de Rosarito, a city of 130,000, police were forced to surrender their weapons last month for testing to determine links to any crimes. Heavily armed men have patrolled City Hall since a failed assassination attempt on the new police chief left one officer dead. On Thursday the bullet-riddled bodies of a Tijuana police official and another man were found dumped near the beach."

I wonder how this compares to Baghdad, Iraq, in like, deaths per capita? Is the Quagmire that is Tijuana not lost? The Tourists are withdrawing!

The War on what you could know, vs what they think you should know, continues unabated.




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