In Mexico, Outgunned and Underpaid
For those of you who read the account of my trip to the Yucatan and my experiences with Mexico’s military checkpoints, I thought that you might find this op-ed column in the New York Times of related interest.
Written by Kelly M. Phillips, a petty officer third class in the United States Coast Guard, it tells a sorry tale of the state of economic support Mexico’s military personnel receive.
“In November 2005, we moved into a house on base infested with cockroaches. They spilled out of holes in the walls and watched us from the tops of the door frames. We paid for the fumigation ourselves and then for curtains for the bare windows. The kitchen had only a sink and one counter, so we bought our own stove and refrigerator. We paid for utilities — which included space heaters in the winter and gas tanks that lasted a month and ran out midshower, and we spent a fortune on phone cards for the pay phone down the street. In the summer, we just opened the windows for a breeze. A green mold grew all over our clothing in the closets, and a black mold grew on the concrete walls.
“Members of the Mexican military do not receive the housing allowance that troops get in the United States, where electricity, water and heating in military housing are also mostly paid for by the government.”
Interesting article. You make some good points. Thank you again.
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Ed, I will see my 76th New Years Day and I said 53 years ago that TV would spoil our lives as we knew them. Sure enough, people stopped visiting one another, they had to stay home to watch the next episode of Gunsmoke or whatever sitcom they were in to. Kids became couch potatoes instead of going outdoors to play. We resisted getting a TV for a long time, but finally gave in. Even so, time in front of it was limited. I will say its a blessing, if you can find something worth watching, for those who are handicapped or elderly who are limited in their activities. Newspapers are becoming passe as people are getting their sanitized, cryptic news from biased reporters on TV. and so forth and so forth. Technology is not all its cracker up to be. It has its down side.