While rumors of Mexican drug cartels taking over Texas ranches swirled across the internet last week, Laredo police reported that they had been deluged with calls from concerned citizens across the United States. Since then, the story has reportedly been completely debunked by those on the right and the left. The Laredo Morning Times reported that Officials know nothing of rumored Zeta standoff on Mines Road.
While there is no doubt that the immigration problem needs to be addressed, don't look for the criminal federal government to do anything about it anytime soon. Both parties are satisfied with the status quo; massive unchecked illegal immigration has gone on for years and despite all the rhetoric, little if anything ever changes. Add to this the loss of American jobs, aided and abbetted by NATFTA and GATT, and the economic downturn, which has been characterized as 'the greatest recession' and even a depression.
Much focus of the immigration issue is rife with emotionalism, claims of racism on both sides, and fantastic claims from all corners. Because of the relentless and dramatic coverage in the mainstream and alternative media, many Americans are scared witless at the prospect of daring to cross the 'scary' border. They imagine that as soon as they do, they are more than likely to be killed, maimed, kidnapped and robbed.
While there are plenty of battles, violence and deaths taking place between the drug cartels and law enforcement, the average citizen is not in a great deal of danger if they go for a tourist visit to Mexico. Having regularly travelled to Mexico for several years, to the north in Tijuana, central Mexicali, and south to the nation's capital of Mexico City, (District Federal), I can personally attest that the world will not end once you cross the border. (article with video of the trip continues here
There are 91 working locks on the Canal du Midi along its 240-kilometre (150 mi) course from the Bassin du Thau on the Mediterranean coast to the junction with the Canal lateral a la Garonne in Toulouse. There are a further 13 locks on the 37-kilometre (23 mi) La Nouvelle branch which runs through Narbonne to the Mediterranean at Port-la-Nouvelle.[1] The locks are all under the management of the French navigation authority, Voies navigables de France.