La Familia Michoacana

War has been an international example of continued policy failure. The complex conflict includes various actors, all of which play a different but important role. There are seven main drug cartels: Beltran-Leyva, Gulf, Juarez, La Familia Michoacana, Los Zetas, Sinaloa, and Tijuana/Arellano Felix. Each cartel maintains its own territory, and some areas are disputed among cartels. For example, Los Zetas controls the Central North and some of the Southeast coast, and the Gulf Cartel reins the Northeast coast. However, both cartels dispute over Zacatecas, a region in central Mexico. Although each cartel upholds its main territory, many have presences in other regions. For example, although the Beltran-Leyva…

With decades of living under the unrelenting and brutal control of a multitude of drug cartels, the people of Michoacan, a state in southwestern Mexico, enthusiastically welcomed the unlawful organization of the vigilante, self-defense group known as the Autodefensas. Founded in 2013 and headed by Dr. José Manuel Mireles, the Autodefensas were made up of local men in the rural state who shared one common goal: reclamation of the towns that were being run by the Knights Templar, a violent drug…

resulted in 5,300 deaths in 2008. The violence has continued to escalate, with an estimated of 70,000 to 130,000 deaths between December 2006 & December 2013. In 2012, Felipe Calderon was succeeded as president. In October 2012, the mexican military forces killed Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, the leader of Los Zetas Cartel. The death of Lazcano was the biggest victory in the war on drugs in over a decade. Further success came in 2013. In July, Lazcano successor, Miguel Treviño Morales, was…

the sirens to be unconscious. And for the siren queen, a diamond encrusted silver sword must be used to slay her for she is immortal. Markeus nods his head, gathers the elements given to him and is off to his journey. When Markeus reaches the rocky coasts of Athens, he spots the guardian siren named Mayia. Markeus quickly pulls out the shell from his satchel and throws it towards the siren. The shell then exposes an enchanted powder, that puts Mayia in a deep sleep. The waves crashed on top of…

Landing on the hard consonants and using them at the beginning of the word to propel the pitch forward worked perfectly. However, where there were any uncertain parts, prime example being the "Fa la la" section of “Fire”, our intonation, as well as all the other technical aspects declined rapidly in quality. As far as rhythmic accuracy goes, “Fire” may have lacked that quite a bit in the “Fa la la” section of the song, as well as small hiccups in some of the alleluia phrases of the Latin piece…

I could hear the water in the lake behind moving ever so slowly, but just enough for me to know that I wanted to stay forever. I felt like I was rich and had the biggest and most beautiful house on the entire planet. I remember dancing around with Hippo in the living room singing, “I am rich, la la la! I am rich la la la!” After I stopped dancing and singing, I then thought to myself “ This is paradise.” As I placed my placed my hand on the little statue next to me, I could feel my heart start…

respect (Ferranti). It is a whole culture unto itself, where if you buy into it, you have to buy in fully, because there is no room for error it in prison gangs (Ferranti). These gangs are in prisons all across American but in some areas these gang organizations are not as developed as they are in other areas. California has the highest number of known and well developed prison gangs, more than any other states. Although their numbers are small in Florida prisons, if left unmonitored they…

represent memento mori (skulls in particular) tattooed is fascinating. For example, in Latin American culture, skulls are tattooed following the loss of a loved one in association with Dia de los Muertos. In fact, sometimes people even get complete skeletons tattooed in order to commemorate lost loved ones, which is for many a way to accept that their lost loved ones are no longer corporeally with the living. Beyond skeletons, there are a specialized set of symbols associated with memorial…

Around 100km east of Seville in Spain lies a residential community of 2,700 individuals called Marinaleda. It's one of numerous farming based towns and towns in the area of Seville, encompassed by endless supply of level, horticultural fields. What makes Marinaleda diverse, undoubtedly from anyplace else in Spain and potentially Europe as well, is that for as far back as thirty years it has been a focal point of proceeding with work battle and a place where a living, creating and real type of…

Though The Pearl (by Steinbeck) is, on the surface, viewed as a prejudice and sexist book, there are different ways it can be read and interpreted. It is the story of a pear diver named Kino, and it demonstrates how mans’ nature can make him evil and greedy. The book sets general gender roles for the characters depicted. It also shows the function of the social class of the time. Even still, The Pearl shows that women are smart and strong when it comes to protecting the family. The Pearl is a…