News Article for 4/29

At the beginning of the year, Mexico's schoolchildren were put on a diet.  But, there are many ways to cheat on the diets because of the New Year's resolutions.  Some of the food's that are allowed to be sold in the school's are: lollipops, potato and corn chips, and cookies.  The message is kind of going through, but the portions are smaller.  Soft drinks are banned in elementary schools, the chips are baked and not fried.

Mexico is one of the fattest countries in the world because the obesity starts really early.  The government says that one in three children are overweight or obese.  The education minister at one school said that the rules removed about 90% of fried foods from schools.  Children start heading home from school and there are vendors all over on a narrow street selling candy, chips, nachos and ice cream.  A lot of them bought a snack for the way home, but they haven't forgot the lessons from school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/americas/14mexico.html?ref=mexico

News Article for 4/21

There have been twenty-two Zetas drug gang members that have been held in the latest arrests over the killings of 145 people.  All of the arrests brought the total of detained to 55, which included 16 police officers for the involvement with the mass graves in San Fernando, Tampaulipas state.  Five women were accused of involvement in organized crime, murder, kidnapping and violating firearms laws by marines.

So far, a total of 145 bodies have been found from the mass graves.  Those graves lie on a path that used regularly by migrants heading for the U.S.  Authorities blame the Zetas for the massacre of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas because they have been blamed for other battles.  In 2006, more than 34,600 people were killed during the Mexican drug violence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110420/wl_afp/mexicocrimedrug_20110420011240

News Article Summary 4/15

In Morelia, Mexico, there were eight tortured bodies of young men found dumped on a roadside.  All of the men were found with a gunshot to the head.  The attorney general's office in Michoacan state said the bodies were found near the border of Jalisco state, where they were partly covered by bales of straw and some were half-clothed.  All of the victims were all between 22 and 25 years old.  Two of the men were wearing women's underwear and their fingernails were painted.  The meaning of that was unclear, but drug cartels are known to insult rivals by suggesting they are homosexuals.

On the same day, there was another body found in a pit in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa.  Now the number of corpses found there is up to the number 13.  Apparently some of the bodies had been in the pits for six months.  All of the bodies are going through DNA tests and police are searching for the property owners where they were found by a farmer.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42595319/ns/world_news-americas/42589638

Article Summary

In Wellford, South Carolina, Aaron Shawn Hill was killed in a car accident on Thursday.  The accident happened on Highway 129, which is named after Aaron's father who was killed in Afghanistan in 2008.  His father was killed when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb.  Aaron was a senior in high school and was pronounced dead at the scene.  The Highway Patrol said that Aaron was driving a Honda that was swerving when a Chevy pickup crossed the center line.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42491238/ns/us_news/

Blog Thoughts

I like using this blog better than the one on the server because this is our own personal blog and we can customize it the way we want it.  It allows us to express what we're doing in class and what's going on.