More Good News - Additional rains

The Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre has received substantially beneficial rainfall.  The bulk of Central Texas and South Texas has also received anywhere from "some" to a "substantial" amount of rain.   Our place in Texas on the border had between 3 and 4 inches.    A station near Zapata, Texas had over 10 inches and the area around Harlingen, Texas had from 4 to 8 inches.   This will help.    Yahweh is greater than our problems.   He had better things to do for a while, and now he got back to us.
______________________________________________
    Now it's tomorrow, Thursday, later on in the afternoon and we have had a light to moderate rain most of the afternoon.   It seems to have been about an inch, according to the 24 hour cumulative sweep from the weather service.   The radar looks like a little depression was trying to form, but right over Brownsville, Texas.....no hope for any real development, but it is producing a goodly amount of much needed rain.    This second day of rain is slow enough that all the water will go into the subsoil.    There is a slight chance that the Highway between Matamoros and Cd. Victoria might be flooded over about 20 miles south of Matamoros.    A similar chance might occur later to-night along US 77 just north of Harlingen and then at another place just north of Raymondville.
       Who would have thought 10 days ago that we would ever see rain again?   In thanking Yahweh for getting back to us, the Old Gringo forgot to remember  the contribution Al Gore made to the issue, considering that he invented rain, while ploughing with mules on a rocky hillside not far from this father's mansion that was surrounded by tobacco barns and beautiful leafy fields of bright-leaf tobacco.
    You have to admire Al, the pride he has in his father who tried to keep him in school at Harvard and Yale....where he flunked out of the schools of divinity and law.    Al was probably proud of his dad's old Boss, Armand Hammer, whom he aided during those bonding moments with Uncle Joe Stalin.   It's enough to make a guy want to call the masseuse.
Later...and thanks for your time.   I'm out to play in the rain puddle for a bit.
El Gringo Viejo

Hooray! Hooray!! with additions (12:40 pm)

    This is a substantial piece of good news.   The nationwide dragnet by Mexican police and military,  looking for people with active warrants in Mexico and/or any other nation of the world (re: United States, France, Spain, UK Commonwealth) has resulted in the arrest and detention of 2,000 really bad actors.   There  are 250 who are destined for deportation because the pleasure of their company has been requested by the above-named countries.   This dragnet began, somewhat in co-ordination with the American effort to round up legal and illegal aliens who have wants and warrants in the United States and Mexico, and other countries around the world.

     The really big news, however is that the people in Tamaulipas State...where our little place is found....were surprized to see columns of heavy infantry coming into their communities throughout the State.   Especially in the cabeceras municipales (county seats),  folks having a barbeque at home or giving their children 'paletas' (ice creamy frozen treats) on the plaza, began to see on Sunday last, several thousand more new Army troops were being inserted.    They are building on the successes of the surge from two months ago, when President Calderon sent an additional 36,000 troops to the States of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.

      The 36,000 was added onto a previous 40,000 and has resulted, predictably, in pitched battles between different groupings of cartels.    The disorganization among the cartel people has caused a great increase in arrests and casualties in their ranks.    It has been noted on the Texas side of the Rio Grande that the efforts to smuggle marihuana and drugs to the "otro lado" have become increasingly comedic, hysterical, and farsical in their execution.    Each week for the past two months the cartel people have lost 40,000 pounds of marijuana or more and between 25 and 300 pounds of opiate-based material...(much greater value per pound).     These are apprehensions by the Mexican Armed Forces and the Texas and US authorities.

        These last 2,300 Army troopers are extemely important.   They are "urban rangers".  They have positive-result experience in taking over cabaceras municipales, de-commissioning the local constabulary,  and subsequently evaluating that local constabulary in terms of policing skills, alcohol and drug use, veracity by polygraph, firearms capability, heroic and/or over-and-above efforts records, first-aid knowledge, physical condition, intellectual ability, and so forth.

    ALL THE POLICE ARE BEING REMOVED FROM SERVICE IN ALL 43 COUNTIES OF THE STATE.   The ones who are evaluated and considered worth salvaging are to be sent to a special military training base in the State of Coahuila (adjacent to Nuevo Leon) for three months of intensive physical, intellectual, and police training.   Those who have some issue that would preclude reasonable inclusion in this new professionalisation effort will be removed from the constabulary.    Those who are removed but who have no legal or moral disqualifications will be sent for other training, perhaps forensic collections training.

     The biggest cities are first to go, so Reynosa for instance had 300 heavy infantry essentially take over the entire policing issue for that city as of yesterday.   They will be backed up in close support by one battalion of five "welded companies" of heavy infantry  (approximately 1,200 effectives) already in place, but having had slightly different duty assignments.     Now, they are all involved in assuring the domestic tranquillity of the entire County of and City of Reynosa.    And yes, that means traffic regulation and control.

     This also means that a community that has risen to the level in recent years to almost, kinda-like okay....will be fairly quickly transformed into something that might look like a military base in terms of order and presentation.

      The Municipios (counties) in order of size will all have their police units replaced totally.   In six fairly small outlier municipios there never was or, has ceased to be, a local police presence;  these will be staffed as well.    The occupation will be completed within 6 days of yesterday.    It started with the largest city first, Reynosa.   Then follows Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Tampico, Cd. Victoria, Cd. Mante, Cd. Madero, Cd. Altamira, and Cd. Rio Bravo, in that order.    These cities represent 90% of the population of the State' 3,000,000 people,   but all the cabaceras (country seats) will be occupied in force before the end of the month, including Abasolo, Aldama, Antiguo Morelos, Burgos, Bustamante, Camargo,  Casas, Cruillas, Gomez Farias, Gonzalez, Guemez, Guerrero, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Hidalgo, Juamave, Llera, Mainero, Manuel, Mier, Miquel Aleman, Miquihuana, Nuevo Morelos, Ocampo, Padilla, Palmillas, San Carlos, San Nicolas,  Santander de Jimenez,  Soto la Marina, Tula,  Valle Hermoso, Villagran, and Xicotencatl.    Whew!    (The hard part is the alphabetical disorder).


     As you all know, the Old Gringo is an inveterate State's Righter and it must cause a bit of a question in the minds of the normal OROGs about my celebration of the nationalization of the local police forces of a given State.  One of the problems with all of this is that the Constitution of Mexico requires  an authorization by the State's Governor, with the approval of the State's Congress,  at each level of insertion of national military authority.    This request by the present Governor, plus an additional 2,000 pesos per month hazardous duty pay from the State to the common soldier, per month, has all been authorized by the Tamaulipas State Congress about a week ago.   Very important stuff....to them and to us.    The first authorization for the general troop deployment came about six months later than it should have, according to many observers, including your humble correspondent.
More to follow...will not sign off quite yet.     This is a great day. 


     On the above map, my county is 16 and the State Capital is 41.  One can see that this deployment by the Army will be daunting.   There are several Municipios from the State of Nuevo Leon being trained at the Army facility in Coahuila.    As those cycle out, the Tamaulipas personnel will be cycled in for the next three months.    The Army intends to stay on the ground in their new capacity for at least one year.
      It is worth repeating that the advanced infantry combat training presently undergone by Army personnel is at times joined by participation from American, British, and Israeli training sergeants.            

                     

A Long Time Ago, and Things of that Nature

Several hundred years ago....it seems....the Old Gringo and his wife owned and operated  a nice little excursion company.   We took folks to all points throughout Mexico and a few other destinations.   An old competitor, also a rightwing curmudgeon, and the Old Gringo sit around at times, in a diner over lunch and iced tea (no "foggy  drift fueled by Bohemia down memory lane) talking about the glory days when we could count on taking several thousand "winter visitors" to various destinations in Mexico and Texas during the season.    We remember when we would put together complicated excursions for convention, trade, and industrial groups during the Summer months.
      We each re-enforce each other's life experiences and prejudices.     For instance, we both had the same impression about how the market changed and how quickly.     During the 1970's through the early 1990's, the average client was a medium to almost large scale farmer or rancher, a retired Sergeant Major to General in the military, a proprietor, an educator, a professional, or a high-skill blue collar type.   About three/fourths came from Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas.   Almost every other State was represented along with the majority of the Canadian provinces, and there was always a sprinkling of Brits of different types and stripes and other Europeans.    A point of particular pride is that every now and then, Mexicans from the interior would come up to take a tour to Mexico due to their having witnessed the method of our group actions.....and the comments from our clients.
      Anyway, a couple of old war horses now have nothing in particular to do in that arena because the arena was torn down, and somebody made a parking lot out of it.  They named it the Hiroshima Parking Lot.   The excursion business suffered and then died as the clients gradually became more Democrat, more union, and more anti-Mexican.   So much for the party of Kumbaya and Solidarity with Funny Looking Dark Coloured People.   The press and the recent conditions in Mexico pretty much poured cement over the grave.
     Since we are both official geezers, we figured that we would keep on doing some of the other things that were occupying our time, but the touring business is something else again.    It is chromosomal.   So now we are thinking about doing a bit of a revival....ploughing a bit deeper over what might seem to be very old ground.     We are giving consideration to setting up a few  late Winter - early Spring  trips in the southern half of Texas with a cultural, geographical, and historical theme.   As soon as we have a few ideas concreted, plastered, and painted the Old Gringo will post everything so that the OROGs will be the first to know.
More Later.   Thanks as always for your attention and time.
EL Gringo Viejo

Zetas leader 'El Lazca' killed in Matamoros | matamoros, sources, close - Brownsville Herald

Zetas leader 'El Lazca' killed in Matamoros | matamoros, sources, close - Brownsville Herald

© Copyright The Brownsville Herald 2011

Sources close to The Brownsville Herald have confirmed that Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano Lazcano, the leader of the Zetas, was killed today in Matamoros after a gruesome firefight with the Gulf Cartel.

Since shortly after 2 p.m., firefights broke out throughout the city as the two forces clashed. Sources claim Lazcano was killed near Avenida Del Niño and Lauro Villar.

This is the second firefight between the two cartels in as many days.

The following is commentary by El Gringo Viejo, and includes other information that has been garnered from other reliable sources.

      This is something of a bulletin and a matter with direct impact on the Gringo Viejo. This particular individual, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, has been associated with the turn to the macabre by the Zeta cartel.    He is, or was, noted to purposefully choose incompetent foot soldiers because of the enjoyment he received in learning about their deaths. It made him think of himself as someone very important because so many people would willingly die for him. He is, or was, associated with the leadership of the San Fernando cell of the ZETA group. The Army chased down El Lazca's immediate lieutenant, Raul Edwardo Martinez Lugo in Escobedo, Nuevo Leon yesterday....along with two 14 year old "boyfriends" and another ZETA veteran in a motel, The Sunset (actually a nice place) on the old Laredo Highway, but still well within the metropolitan area adjacent to the northern sections of Monterrey. Those four were taken alive. The lieutenant was the fellow in charge of warehousing and other initiatives of violence in the county where our little adobe house is located. He and his boss, La Lazca, are implicated with certainty in the assassination of the gubernatorial candidate of the PRI party last year....just days before the election which would have resulted, beyond any doubt, in the candidate's election. His brother served as a stand-in candidate, for instance, and won with 70% of the vote in a three-way race.

The lieutenant is also implicated in the assassination of the Presidente Municipal of the county where our place is.....and many other very serious crimes, both in Mexico and in Texas. La Lazca himself is, or was, wanted for questioning in various matters that have taken place in Texas over the past few months. These developments started with a tectonic rumble about five months ago, and with each passing day, the people have taken up the challenge and have begun to make more and more "anonymous denunciations" on the military's equivilant of the 911 emergency line.

Two weeks ago, the two cartels of interest began a firefight in Matamoros which proceeded up the Rio Grande to a place called Lucio Blanco. There the Gulf Cartel gunmen shredded up the bulk of a group of about 40 Zetas, while taking significant casualties at the same time.
     The Mexican Army had taken up positions near where they figured the two cartels would shoot it out, and towards the end of the engagement, the military came in and assaulted both bands of delinquents. According to the locals the number of dead and seriously wounded among the cartel people was "staggering"....perhaps as many as 60 dead with all engagements included. Most of the damage was inflicted by the Army.

Remnants re-initiated hostilities inside of Matamoros again yesterday, and the Army duplicated their tactic of moving in to engage both sets of gunmen and hit the jackpot with the killing of La Lazca and several of his closest buddies.

All of this has pretty much followed the time-line that the Old Gringo was anticipating. The effort is far from over, but the battle is well joined and the Mexican Armed Forces are excelling at every stage.


Thanks for your attention!   This story will be up-dated during the night as additional details become available.
El Gringo Viejo

Forwarded from a Combat Veteran/ Viet Nam to a non-combat Veteran/ Viet Nam Era

The Old Gringo's best friend, then as now, sent this screed from a soldier who must be some kind of grandson of Marquis de LaFayette.....a symbol of everything fine about French People.....who is serving and actually exposed to front-line combat situations in Afghanistan.    The Froggy watches the Yank and writes down his observations.    It becomes clear that Froggy is not Kermit, nor is he arrogant nor is he predictable in his views.    He is blunt.    For those with combat and/or close support experience, you will all know that Froggy is a true, professional soldier.   He is also a good and fair man.   See his words and share them....

       The Old Gringo runs this so that OROGs can show family members with frontliners and forward support people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

French view of American Military 
by Jean-Marc Liotier 
 
American troops in Afghanistan through the eyes of a French OMLT infantryman 
 
The US often hears echoes of worldwide hostility against the application of its foreign policy, but seldom are they reached by the voices of  people who experience first hand how close we are to the USA. 
 
In spite of contextual political differences and conflicting interests that generate friction, we do share the same fundamental values - and  when push comes to shove that is what really counts. 
 
Through the eyes of that French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman you can see how strong the bond is on the ground. In contrast with the Americans, the French soldiers don't seem to write much online - or maybe the proportion is the same but we just have fewer people deployed. Whatever the reason, this is a rare and moving testimony which is why I decided to translate it into English, so that American people can catch a glimpse of the way European soldiers see them. Not much high philosophy here, just the first hand impressions of a soldier in contact - but that only makes it more authentic. 
 
Here is link to the original French if you want to double check. Article,http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html_ <http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html_> 
(http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html <http://omlt3-kdk3.over-blog.com/article-22935665.html> ) and here is English translation : 
 
"We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. 
 
To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing "ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events". Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company. 
 
They have a very strong American accent - the language they speak seems to be not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they themselves admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other. 
 
Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins at places like Waffle House and McDonalds - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans. 
 
Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that: the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the postage parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the heart of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. 
 
Each man knows he can count on the support of their whole people who provide them through the mail all the things that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location: books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. 
 
Every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions: the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention. 
 
And they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seems to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. 
 
On the one square meter tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight focused in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump. 
 
And combat? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks: they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting: they just charge! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short. 
 
(This is the main area where I'd like to comment. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Kipling knows the lines from Chant Pagan: 'If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white/remember its ruin to run from a fight.  /So take open order, lie down, sit tight/And wait for supports like a soldier./ This, in fact, is the basic philosophy of both British and Continental soldiers. 'In the absence of orders, take a defensive position.' Indeed, virtually every army in the world. 
 
The American soldier and Marine, however, are imbued from early in their training with the ethos: In the Absence of Orders: Attack! Where other forces, for good or ill, will wait for precise orders and plans to respond to an attack or any other 'incident', the American force will simply go counting on firepower and SOP to carry the day. 
 
This is one of the great strengths of the American force in combat and it is something that even our closest allies, such as the Brits and Aussies (that latter being closer by the way) find repeatedly surprising. No wonder it surprises the hell out of our enemies!) 
 
We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe. 
 To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America's army's deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owed this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers". 
 

      We have to remember that, when the Old Timers would go back to Normandy and travel through the countryside and small towns of the province of Brittany it was difficult for them to receive and accept all the free beer, food, back-slapping, tears of gratitude, kisses, hugs, wine, stories about interaction between the French people of that area and the GI's, etc.      The response of those people to the American presence and contribution seems to be genetically imprinted in perpetuity.

      It's a good day to be the Old Gringo, honorably discharged, USArmy  (even if the Yankees think they won the war).
 Thank everyone for their time and attention.

Observations from OROGs

Every now and then we review comments, emails, and other communications from OROGs and others.   It helps keep the lid screwed on.   This time we ran across the letter of a left-handed, right-brained Ph.D. who is one of the "reasonable" people.  This individual was involved with the Old Gringo and with his family back in the days when he was a juvenile deliquent in training, mixed with a bit of a know-it-all preppy and all around "cool guy"  (read: arrogant, self-centered, spoiled, conceited narcissist).   The Old Gringo was...after all...the only "cool guy" in McAllen with a new Kharmann Ghia Volkswagen, and even Playboy Magazine declared that automobile to be the quintessential "Cool Guy" ride.

     In any regard, the comments sent by this individual, who is a tenured professor at Texas's premier public university....the one in College Station - Bryan.....confided some opinions about my political orientation.    The same individual also revealed (confessed) "extreme moderate" views guided that contributor's political leanings.     My response  (once again...everything is about the Old Gringo still) was telling and worth sharing with other OROGs so that you all will know how I try to divy-up the servings on this blog.   We try to keep it interesting and pointed without over-dosing on Lite-mayonaise and low cholesterol rice-cakes.    We recognize that many folks....some of our "followers"....review this screed to gain a bit of insight into a slightly pro-Mexican rightwing vintage.     So, the entry below is an only slightly redacted response to the OROG from the prestigious University.

• Thanks for your message,  You are a Trojan for putting up with my rightwing rants....I think you can see my softer edges even in the sputtering and spluttering ..but I appreciate your not jumping on what is left of my bones.   Your environment is a bit different and your point view is certainly filtered by great intelligence, so it is best that we leave political sleeping dogs lie between us as we drift on to the horizon.
• I normally try to do 1/3 rightwing meltdown, 1/3 Mexico geography, good, bad, history, politics, archeology, anthropology, sociology, demographics, weather & climate, business and commerce, and 1/3 personal history, activities, and life in a rural area in a homemade, handmade adobe home on a beautiful River in front of the beautiful mountains.
• Later
• Thanks for making the coffee
• The Old Gringo

       You all will notice my guiding formula.....rather much like mixing up the pitches in baseball.   Hope you all enjoy this "kinder and gentler" look at the Old Gringo.  Now, back to the Wars.....
El Viejo Gringo Vengador