Justification for Vigilantism in Southwest Mexico: Cartel Organ Theft Uncovered

The civilian self-defense militias in Michoacan State in southwest Mexico that sprang up with unprecedented, heroic force earlier this year have been much documented on this blog, and in the mainstream press.  They have been described as folk heroes. They have been described by the Economist Magazine (here) as a threat to civil order with dire predictions and comparisons to the right-wing militias in Peru and Colombia that began as forces to fight traffickers and later misused their power.

Michoacan Self-Defense Forces

Less considered has been exactly what pushed them over the edge to take up arms against a cartel, the Knights Templar, which had near-total de facto control over most of the state apparatus.  The Knights Templar – before the self-defense forces went on the offensive – had control over the port, were drug trafficking, were extorting not only shop-keepers, but also farmers, ranchers and miners. (Background here)

News has just come out about a much darker, much more sinister form of crime that the Knights Templar were engaged in: kidnapping children, killing them and harvesting their organs. 

This is not science fiction. This is true.

The Mexican Attorney General’s office and the police in Michoacan, which has been fortified by the Mexican armed forces, have arrested the number-two of the Knights Templar, and the nephew of the head of the cartel, on suspiction of kidnapping children to harvest their organs. As reported by Al Jazeera   (and others): Manuel Plancarte Gaspar was accused by police on Monday of being part of the cartel’s organ-trafficking ring and the state attorney general's office said he was "under investigation for the death of minors, whose organs were extracted to be sold."  Michoacan's public safety secretary Castellanos Becerra said the ring would kidnap children and take them to homes fitted with medical equipment where they were killed and their organs removed.

The leader of a local self-defense group fighting against the cartel said that several children from Mexico City, who were on a beach outing, had been rescued in a refrigerated container inside a van, tightly wrapped in blankets.

When one wonders what sort of horrors would make ordinary people rise up against an organized, international drug cartel, having your children kidnapped and killed for their organs is the kind of horror that would do it.  That is the kind of evil which is nothing short of incomprehensible. If that is allowed to go, there is no point in living. There is every reason to fight, no matter what the cost, because, if you don’t fight, everything is lost.  That is the kind of total breakdown of the civil order which requires vigilantism.  It is the kind of evil for which the repercussions of having militias, and the long-term potential effects of them (as in Colombia or Peru) is worth the risk. Because the alternative, doing nothing, is impossible to comprehend.  It is almost as impossible to comprehend as the act itself.  Except that it has happened and the people have risen up to stomp it out.  Fortunately, too late, the government has reasserted itself to aid in the fight.

Staten Island Creepy Clown Begs to be Punched

Back in September, a clown dressed as Pennywise – the homicidal clown in Stephen King’s terrifying book It, showed up on the streets in England, staring at people, offering to paint houses (without a paint bucket) and generally scaring the crap out of everyone.  I said then that if someone tried that mess over here, they’d be punched.

Staten Island Clown

A jackass in Staten Island, New York, which, frankly, may as well be a redundant phrase, has taken up the challenge.  The New York Observer has pictures and video of a terrifying clown stalking the streets dressed as a modified Pennywise, carrying a balloon, glaring at people.  It’s time to punch him.  I would think of all the places in the United States most likely to punch a clown, Staten Island would be up to the task.

While I am an admitted sufferer of clourophobia (fear of clowns) and I tend to like to face my fears head-on, I am not about to go punch every clown I see.  I mean, I don’t show up at McDonald’s and start punching Ronald.  I’m not going to punch a clown at a kid’s birthday party unless he goes all Shakes-the-clown and shows up drunk. (see here for link to hilarity, probably on Netflix).   I don’t go to Ringling Brothers Circus.  It’s not that bad.  However, this comes at a time where hit-clowns are on the loose in Mexico taking out cartel bosses.  Clowns are not to be taken as jokes.  

And then this joker shows up.

I’m saying it now: you show up on my street corner, at night, dressed as Pennywise, or close to Pennywise, holding a balloon and glaring, I’m just going to assume you are the violent sort of crazy that needs a punching.  

Take a look at the pictures in the link.  Maybe I’m being overly prickly.  I don’t think so.  Looks like a direct attempt to intimidate those with Clourophobia and scare the crap out of people in general.  Your move Staten Island. 

Another Bootleg Big-Butt Injection Death: Stop the Fake Big Booty Madness

A couple of weeks ago, we posted on the manslaughter verdict of Pebbelz Da Model, who took an otherwise healthy butt and through bootleg injections made it freakish. Not freaky in the good sense, though there were plenty of modeling gigs for her supersized butt.  Other women, noting the attention from King Magazine and those men who read it sought out Pebbelz’s advice on how to get a freakish butt, too.  Pebbelz took the referral money to send women to an unlicensed big-butt injector, a woman in Mississippi died from getting unlicensed surgery in a motel room, and Pebblez stood tall before the Man and got time.  We called for the madness to stop.  It hasn’t.

 

Mobley (left), Blaine (right)

The madness had continued unabated in New York.  The New York Post reports that charges have been filed in a lethal butt-enhancing injection case up there.  Tamara Blaine, who probably had an otherwise healthy butt (I’m speculating, I’ve never seen her booty), died after getting bootleg silicone injected into her booty at the Liberty Inn hotel from an unlicensed beautician named Tamara Mobley.

Seriously, maybe I’m a stickler for things like formal education and licenses and permits, especially for things that can kill you or put you/keep you out of jail.  You don’t want an unlicensed lawyer, though plenty of people think they can read Wikipedia and represent themselves in court.  You don’t want an unlicensed doctor, but then plenty of people think that you can either disregard the AMA’s guidance on vaccines, or in the case of too many women, get plastic surgery. No one seems to go to unlicensed dentists, though.

But not only was Mobley not only an unlicensed plastic surgeon, she wasn’t even a licensed beautician. How hard is it to get a beauty license in New York?  Mobley allegedly injected Blaine’s booty with silicone, which got in her blood stream, and caused asphyxiation. Her throat closed and she suffocated.  Mobley stuck around to tell the EMT that Blaine had a seizure and vanished.  The Man caught up with her and she’s facing trial.

Let’s look at the societal issues here, though.  We have licenses for a reason. Some things require an advanced level of training and experience.  Law is one of them.  Performing electrical work for others is another. So is injecting foreign substances in people’s bodies.  This is not like a bootleg tape or DVD where it’s almost as good a quality and you can get past the copyright laws in your ethics.  It can kill you.  What booty is worth dying for?  And if you just need plastic surgery that bad, save up.  But you don’t need a freakishly huge booty. Seriously. You don’t.  And like the giant fake breast craze of the 80’s and 90’s, it goes away and leaves women with distorted bodies that no one wants and are a health risk that has to get fixed later. There’s plenty of room for plastic surgery.  I have no issue with this.  But hire a professional. You’d do the same with a dentist.

And to all those who continue to prey on women who think they need a huge booty to get what they need in life, stop the evil. Stop preying on these women who lack the self-confidence to say no the huge fake booty, or the money to pay a professional to do actual surgery, or both.