Hayley Burns

Mexican Bishops Urge Drug Traffickers to Give Up Crime for Lent

SUMMARY: MEXICO CITY — Mexican Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday urged drug traffickers to take advantage of Lent to give up crime and stop a wave of violence that has left thousands of people dead. "We invite all of those involved in these absurd situations of drug trafficking to take advantage of Lent and start on a sincere path of conversion toward God," the bishops said in a letter distributed to the media. The bishops called drug trafficking "a social sin" that results from "overvaluing material wealth." They also recognized government efforts to confront traffickers, and offered a prayer for victims of organized crime. More than 2,500 people were killed in drug-related violence in 2007. Lent, the period of penance between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday, is widely observed in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation. Since taking office in December 2006, President Felipe Calderon has used the military to battle drug trafficking, sending more than 24,000 soldiers and federal agents into drug strongholds across the country. The violence has continued. On Tuesday, authorities in the border city of Tijuana discovered the bodies of three men who had been strangled. The men, who have not been identified, were found on a street, with notes attached to their chests that threatened anyone who cooperates with soldiers or federal agents. Also Tuesday, a deputy city police chief in the border state of Chihuahua was killed inside his home.
OPINION: So I think this is an interesting idea. If the law doesn’t stop the drug traffickers, their guilt from the priests and bishops should. Well I think it was a good effort to try and stop the crime, I also don’t think it will be successful. The type of people that don’t obey the government’s laws, typically don’t obey the Lord’s commandments.


REPORT: EUROPE MAY BEGIN FINGERPRINTING FOREIGN TRAVELERS

SUMMARY: The European Commission is set to propose tomorrow that all foreign travelers entering and exiting Europe, including American citizens, should be fingerprinted, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. If approved by the European Parliament, the proposal would mean that precisely identifying information on tens of millions of citizens will be added in coming years to databases that could be shared by friendly governments around the world, the paper reported. The U.S. already requires foreigners be fingerprinted and photographed before they enter the country. Now top European security officials want to follow suit, with travelers being fingerprinted and some also having their facial images stored in a Europe-wide database, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Washington Post. The plan is part of a growing trend to collect and share data to identify and track people to combat illegal migration, terrorism and organized crime. "It's the only way to be really sure about identifying people," a European Commission official familiar with the fingerprinting plan told the newspaper.
OPINION: This sounds kind of creeping, everyone’s personal information being shared with “friendly” countries. What if they become unfriendly? They would have already been able to get the information. I could think of so many things that could go wrong, it seems like a good idea at first, but very time consuming and costly. If I had a vote it would be NO.