Don't Ask Don't Tell: That's a Wrap!

Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

President Obama has repealed the 17-year-old Don't Ask Don't Tell law that kept gays from revealing their identity in the military. Who will ultimately benefit from the repeal -- the Left, or the Right? Satan and Frank Faust discuss in a holiday-themed episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!

Palin's Next Stop: Harvard Square?

Palin Hong Kong Cartoon, originally uploaded by rbtenorio.

Sarah Palin impressed an audience of investors with her speech in Hong Kong last month. Now Mephistopheles suggests Palin take her oratorical gifts to the Hong Kong Restaurant in Harvard Square, in the latest episode of "The Devil Made Me Blog It"!
Merci to my muse on this one...

US Drug Craze to Blame for Mexico Unrest

Fourteen years ago, when I was a high school senior applying to college, I wrote an admissions essay to Harvard lamenting the popularity of American goods in my father's homeland, Mexico -- that, suffocated by American products, Mexicans had no chance to develop a national identity. Alas, it seems this is the least of Mexico's problems today.
The country is beset by drug cartels that terrorize government officials and the general public. Corruption prevents the government from combating the problem more effectively. The violence has unnerved the United States, whose military has discussed the possibility of the collapse of the Mexican state and whose government and universities warn students to stay away from Mexico on spring break.
Something tells me that yet another American import is creating the havoc in Mexico: The US yearning for illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana. The northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, site of much of the drug violence, "is the starting point for much of the drugs that pass through Mexico to the United States," the Washington Post reported last year.
The financial aspect of the drug trade seems to make the problem harder to solve. Sinaloa economist Guillermo Ibarra had some revealing words for The Post:

"If you took drug money out of Sinaloa, half the automobile dealerships would fail," Ibarra said. "Half the restaurants would fail, the real estate market would collapse. Even if you only reduced drug money by 9 percent, there would be an immediate recession, a crisis much like the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States."

I'm not sure how best the Mexican government could respond. Strengthening the economy might help, weakening the financial impact of the drug trade and making less people dependent on it. But these are dicey economic times across the globe, and it is hard to see either the Mexican economy, or the stability of the country, getting better any time soon.

Ruminations and reflections

Welcome to the first installment of my weekly R&R ... only this R&R stands for "Ruminations and Reflections." I'd like to make this a Wednesday feature. Here goes:
At sunset on Tuesday, my muse and I went to an interfaith event at Harvard University. Muslim students had an opportunity to hear the Iftar prayers recited during the month of Ramadan. About 50 students came to worship. After the service, everyone got to sample Middle Eastern cuisine. Members of student cultural groups performed in concert, and then the audience listened to an address from Sally Quinn, founder and co-moderator of the "On Faith" blog hosted by Newsweek and the Washington Post. Quinn reflected on the role of religion in contemporary culture, criticizing right-wing fundamentalism and encouraging students to learn more about religion in general.
I appreciated that Harvard made room for religion; it's a subject on which the United States needs to stay up-to-date.