4 ms·

Not sure what the significance of this observation is supposed to be.

by leokun 13y ago

ck2 13y ago
Pick up phone, call DHS - hey you know how you have a $100 billion budget and are supposed to monitor transportation security? We are about to transport something highly radioactive near your border, just thought you should know. It would be the most closely watched transport ever. In fact I am curious why the NSA didn't know about it and tell someone.
- seszett 13y ago
  The place where this happened it about a thousand kilometers from the US border. It is nowhere near the US, unless you somehow consider that all of Mexico should be monitored by DHS (and all of Canada too).
  - nkurz 13y ago
    I agree with your sentiment, but although it was hijacked near Mexico City, 'nowhere near' seems a bit overstated: "stolen earlier in the week in a carjacking as the material was being moved from a public hospital in the border town of Tijuana to a storage facility in central Mexico, news reports said."
  - tedunangst 13y ago
    Little known fact: The Constitution-free zone that extends 100 miles inside the border extends 1000 miles outside the border.
- brazzy 13y ago
  > It would be the most closely watched transport ever. No. It would be one of thousands of such transports ocurring every year. A routine operation, not worth anyone's attention until the unexpected happened.
pacofvf 13y ago
because of the condescending tone of "We are talking about México?", Mexico is the 2nd destination of US exports and the 3rd source of US imports, also is the 10th economy in the world by PPP GDP, also Mexico has facilities for enriching uranium, so I suppose that a Country like that must have regulations about radioactive material disposal.
- leokun 13y ago
  It's also an unstable country in the middle of a fight it's not winning with tens of thousands of casualties a year. Parts of the country are not really even under government control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War
  - swalkergibson 13y ago
    Driven in large part by an insatiable lust for the currently illegal substances in the US. The US War on Drugs has disrupted tens of thousands of lives in the states as well as abroad. Mexico is like any other country, there are places you feel perfectly safe at night, and there are places where you don't.
    - leokun 13y ago
      > Driven in large part by an insatiable lust for the currently illegal substances in the US. Totally irrelevant to the original point. This discussion isn't about blame, it's about why anyone is surprised at Mexico being dangerous. And Mexico is not like any other country. Journalists are regularly killed, people using Twitter to criticize drug cartels are killed and bodies are hung in public areas. Local governments and police live in fear. So no, it's not like any other country.
      - swalkergibson 13y ago
        Your original comment argued that because the country was embroiled in a drug war meant that they could not possibly have effective measures for protecting radioactive material shipments in place. Pointing to a violent drug war to prove why they cannot safely ship radioactive material is disingenuous because their drug war is deeply entangled with ours. Your comment came off to me as follows, "those Mexicans can't even keep control of their country, so who should be surprised that this happened." That is what I take issue with. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but just flippantly declaring that there is a drug war without additional discussion is intellectually lazy, in my opinion.

Not sure what the significance of this observation is supposed to be.

by leokun 13y ago

Not sure what the significance of this observation is supposed to be.

ck2 13y ago

Pick up phone, call DHS - hey you know how you have a $100 billion budget and are supposed to monitor transportation security? We are about to transport something highly radioactive near your border, just thought you should know. It would be the most closely watched transport ever. In fact I am curious why the NSA didn't know about it and tell someone.

seszett 13y ago
The place where this happened it about a thousand kilometers from the US border. It is nowhere near the US, unless you somehow consider that all of Mexico should be monitored by DHS (and all of Canada too).
- nkurz 13y ago
  I agree with your sentiment, but although it was hijacked near Mexico City, 'nowhere near' seems a bit overstated: "stolen earlier in the week in a carjacking as the material was being moved from a public hospital in the border town of Tijuana to a storage facility in central Mexico, news reports said."
- tedunangst 13y ago
  Little known fact: The Constitution-free zone that extends 100 miles inside the border extends 1000 miles outside the border.
brazzy 13y ago
> It would be the most closely watched transport ever. No. It would be one of thousands of such transports ocurring every year. A routine operation, not worth anyone's attention until the unexpected happened.

pacofvf 13y ago

because of the condescending tone of "We are talking about México?", Mexico is the 2nd destination of US exports and the 3rd source of US imports, also is the 10th economy in the world by PPP GDP, also Mexico has facilities for enriching uranium, so I suppose that a Country like that must have regulations about radioactive material disposal.

leokun 13y ago
It's also an unstable country in the middle of a fight it's not winning with tens of thousands of casualties a year. Parts of the country are not really even under government control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War
- swalkergibson 13y ago
  Driven in large part by an insatiable lust for the currently illegal substances in the US. The US War on Drugs has disrupted tens of thousands of lives in the states as well as abroad. Mexico is like any other country, there are places you feel perfectly safe at night, and there are places where you don't.
  - leokun 13y ago
    > Driven in large part by an insatiable lust for the currently illegal substances in the US. Totally irrelevant to the original point. This discussion isn't about blame, it's about why anyone is surprised at Mexico being dangerous. And Mexico is not like any other country. Journalists are regularly killed, people using Twitter to criticize drug cartels are killed and bodies are hung in public areas. Local governments and police live in fear. So no, it's not like any other country.
    - swalkergibson 13y ago
      Your original comment argued that because the country was embroiled in a drug war meant that they could not possibly have effective measures for protecting radioactive material shipments in place. Pointing to a violent drug war to prove why they cannot safely ship radioactive material is disingenuous because their drug war is deeply entangled with ours. Your comment came off to me as follows, "those Mexicans can't even keep control of their country, so who should be surprised that this happened." That is what I take issue with. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but just flippantly declaring that there is a drug war without additional discussion is intellectually lazy, in my opinion.