Television Show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Drug trafficking in Mexico has been a political and social issue over the past 30 or so years. Narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, methanphetamines, marijuana, as well as firearms are all being moved across the border of Mexico into the United States. In response to the illegal activity, both Mexican and American governments have started a war on drugs. The war on drugs is considered a “killing machine” by the International Socialist Review (ISR). The ISR provides statistics that, since 2009 and up to 2013, there had been almost 70,000 confirmed deaths that are related

Chef John Folse was born on Cabanocey Plantation in St. James Parish, Louisiana in 1946. He was brought up in a huge family of five brothers and two sisters by his father, Royley Folse, and mother, Therese Zeringue Folse. His father was a plant manager of St. James Sugar Co-Op and the Zeringues, his mother’s family, were a long line of sugarcane farmers on Cabanocey Plantation. They were all great cooks. He attended St. James High School and later Nicholls State University. Being born in the Heart of Cajun country with the swamp floor pantry of the Gulf and Mississippi at his disposal, he went on to be “Louisiana’s Culinary Ambassador to the World.”

Mexico’s violence on drugs is constantly ongoing. Its imposes a security threat to the United States and threatens the stability of the Mexican state. Drug trafficking is not the only issue of mutual interest between the United States and Mexico but Mexico is the third most largest and important source of oil which has been dropping since 2005 (New York Times, Hanson, 2008). Violence is a major problem when it comes to its drug cartels. They have tried to double their police force to make sure military forces from involving themselves in the drug movement. Consumers have become very upset at the quality of the drugs they are receiving so that increases the violence. Due to the drug violence increasing so much that kids cannot play in their neighborhood due to fear and intimidation. It’s not a safe environment for their citizens

It is no secret that Mexico has become a dangerous place in the recent years. However, for many of us Mexican-Americans, it is still our beloved homeland. Whether or not we are forced to go by our elders, many of us visit yearly. Am I afraid for my life? Yes. Would I put my precious life on the line once more? Probably. The secret to not becoming the headline story in Mexico’s national newspaper is blending in.

December 2008 marks the initial start to the devastating and gruesome cartel drug war in Mexico that has led to the deaths of over 80,000 people. In the midst of this war, violence has surged dramatically in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, an area seen by many as a point of contention in the lucrative drug smuggling business that stems from Mexico and flows into the United States. As a result of the recent outbreak of violence, it has been difficult to accept the fact that my mother and sister cross the border every weekend from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez to go visit family knowing they are at risk of being taken hostage or even worse, getting killed by the cartel. My father has also experienced these life-threatening occurrences

A journal article written by Luis Astorga and David A. Shirk, dives head first into the Mexican

An author, Francisco E. Gonzalez, discussed one incident that took place, “A grenade attack on September 15, 2008, left eight dead and more than one hundred injured on the central square in Morelia (the capital of the state of Michoacán), on a night Mexicans were celebrating the 198th anniversary of their country’s independence.” (Gonzalez 72). This incident shows that safety is never guaranteed with the cartel’s violent and erratic behavior.

Everyone is aware of the ongoing drug war between American border patrol agents who wish to fulfil their duty which is to defend the border and Mexican cartels who seek only to expand their narcotic empire at the United States and Mexican border. The Mexican cartels are often times defined as ruthless outlaws who infiltrate and distribute narcotics into the United States in order to maintain high prices and eliminate competition. Their methods are immoral and executed with ease because of their access to heavy artillery. As a result, “Since 2006 more than 40,000 lives have been taken via mass graves, beheadings, and kidnappings” (Newsmax 2). Fear is at the core of the Mexican government leading to corruption installed by the cartels. The corruption is to a degree to which there is no help for the victims or the families that have been victimized unless America steps in to help end the cartel’s reign. Drug culture created by the cartels is increasingly polluting American citizens, especially those vulnerable to the influence in border cities. The cartels are expanding their power to a degree where it can be alarming to the national security of the U.S. Therefore, the U.S. will be able to decrease crime at the border by increasing its security, and by helping the Mexican government regain stability in the country which will ultimately minimize cartel expansion.

The War on Drugs has devastated Mexico’s socio-economic infrastructure while failing to stop the manufacturing and trafficking of drugs, both domestically and internationally.

Alton Brown is commonly known for being the host of the food network shows “Good Eats” and “cutthroat kitchen”. Born July 30th, 1962 in Los Angeles, California, Alton Brown has inspired a generation of young cooks, both professionally and household. As a young adult Brown spent most of his time working in cinematography but found that he spent a majority of his time between shoots watching cooking showed that he found boring and uninformed. Convinced he could do better, he graduates from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, and creates the show “Good Eats” and entertaining and informative cooking show for everyone from children helping mom and dad in the kitchen to individuals well into their 40s with absolutely no cooking

The growing brutality and oppression from Mexican drug cartels is apparent, especially in the documentary Cartel Land as the migration of the horrendous crimes from these organizations floods into the United States. Tim “Nailer” Foley, leader of the Arizona Border Recon indicated in the documentary, expresses “we’re David and they are Goliath” during his fight to ensure border security in Southern Arizona against the cartels (Heineman). The narrative Murder City, Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields provides an account of Bowden’s experiences in Juarez as he communicates “the people of the city keep killing each other (5).” These are clear indications that the American people residing along the Southern Texas-Mexico border need their own firearms because the violence in Juarez and the rest of the country is prominent to endanger American homes if left unmonitored. Along with the fact that the main consumers for cartels are in the United States, the high magnitude of these organizations threatens Americans as the desire for the continuation of the billion-dollar market of drugs is overwhelming. Therefore, residents must be prepared to defend their homes and properties from this onslaught. The National Institute of Justice

We’ve all had those days where we’re in a rush or simply just don’t feel like cooking, therefore we end up buying a juicy burger from the dollar menu at McDonalds, but have we ever wondered where our food comes from? What process did it have to go through to get where it is now? Food Inc. is a persuasive documentary showing you where your food comes from. Throughout the documentary a great deal of Ethos, Pathos and Logos are used while showing us the other side of the food industry. The purpose of this movie was to show America what they’re eating, where it comes from and how they it’s made. They go to factories where meat is not only produced, but other types of foods such as corn are produced. Multiple employees of the food industries are

Drug cartels, in reality, are just as bad as they appear on film. Authorities estimate that between eighteen and thirty-nine billion dollars are brought in from drug sales to the United States each year (Keefe). It is also estimated that the war on drugs has caused over 50,000 deaths in Mexico alone since 2006 (Keefe). Deaths are often overlooked because they are not compiled by thousands at once, but gradually over a large area. Other illegal activity such as kidnapping and oil theft have came about from the cartel (Mexico’s Drug Trafficking Organizations: Source and Scope of the Violence). All three films, Miss Bala, Maria Full of Grace, and Traffic give similar accounts to the way the cartel takes people’s lives, only in different areas of the drug moving process.

Violence takes many forms: it can be physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and even within families, or combinations of one or more of these. In most cases, the violence has been “acceptable” because of the cultural traditions that are largely respected. However, with the increasing emergence of the women’s movement internationally and even within Mexico itself, many Mexican males regard their roles as belittled. There has been a subtle and sometimes obvious backlash against the women’s movement, especially if women have independent living or income possibilities. In a culture in which violence is the norm, beatings, rape, torture, mutilation, and even murder are frequently overlooked. This has been painfully evident in the cases of mass murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez.

Haute Cuisine is a French film following the journey of the French president’s personal cook and the ups and downs she faces while working in the Élysée palace. The movie is every food lover’s dream and does a remarkable job at making viewers salivate just from the sight of the haute French cuisine. According to Hertweck (2014):