Here’s my story:

Marine spared from jail time in Iraq Killings

Jeffrey Gundlach — aka the King of Bonds, aka the $70 billion dollar man — is undoubtedly a prodigious bond fund manager.  He is also embroiled in a legal battle with his former employer, Trust Company of the West.  TCW fired Gundlach in late 2009, and sued him shortly thereafter.  They accused Gundlach of a laundry list of complaints, including theft of trade secrets, civil conspiracy, and creating unfair competition.  Gundlach fired back with a counter-suit, alleging breach of contract, nonpayment of wages, and unjust enrichment.

Needless to say, it’s been a little bit of a messy break-up.

Add to the mix some sex, drugs, and rock and roll (Gundlach was a rock and roll drummer for a handful of LA-based bands) aura that surrounds Gundlach, and you’ve got the makings of a celebrity trial in the financial world.

I’ll be covering the trial for Reuters, so keep an eye on our site or my Twitter feed for updates.

He sees his job as much more than just keeping the toilets clean, though.

“These people, most of them lack the know-how.  Most of them doesn’t know about the W.C. in the places where they come from.  ‘What is this?’  So I teach them.  I tell them how to use it.  They appreciate it.”

Chijioke says that a good life can be made anywhere, and no one country is best.  Life, he says, “is how you make it.”

There are some structural hindrances, however, according to Chijioke.  “Money rules the world.  With cash, one can start up something interesting.  Without cash, vision is nothing.  With cash, your vision is realized.”

Double Killing in Exposition Park Leaves Friends and Family Reeling

Silence, Fear after 15-year-old Girl is Shot to Death

‘I Turned Around and Had Two Guns Straight in my Face’

More slated to be published soon…

Also, I’ve been writing on Egypt recently; you can find my most recent stories here:

Egypt Vice President Omar Suleiman: Extraordinary Rendition Coordinator?
Israel Concerned Over Possible Fall Of Mubarak In Egypt

Cheers,
Mary

Mexico's War on Drugs Rages On

The drug war raging across Mexico has seen three deliberately public mass executions in the past week, the two most recent of which were clearly directed at drug rehabilitation center clients.

On Wednesday, gunmen opened fire at a car wash in the central Pacific coast state of Nayarit, killing 15 people. Thirteen of those killed were clients at a nearby drug rehab center.

Drug conflict also re-ignited on the streets of Tijuana, just across the U.S. border from San Diego. On Sunday, fourteen individuals were murdered in a drug rehabilitation center in apparent retribution for the seizure and burning of 134 tons of marijuana.

The rehab clients were ordered onto the floor, at which point they were murdered execution-style by men using automatic weapons.

Both attacks were apparently orchestrated by professionals, according to investigation officials.

President Felipe Calderon said that “these are acts perpetrated by unscrupulous criminals who snatch life from innocent people, most of them young people with life ahead of them, young people struggling to build a future, to overcome addictions, to study,” according to the LATimes.

The signal being sent by targeting drug rehab centers is clear: you cannot leave the system.

While some drug rehab centers are fronts for drug deals, others are legitimate, and dozens of innocent patients are getting caught in the crossfire.

Tijuana had avoided the type of rampant, drug-related public killings that taint other border towns, most notably Ciudad Juarez, which has gained an international reputation for indiscriminate drug murders.

The tactic of attacking rehabilitation clinics has been used in the epicenter of drug violence, Juarez, but has typically not been seen in Tijuana.

The murders bring the death toll for 2010 in drug-related violence in Mexico to over 7,000. Nearly 30,000 people have been killed since Calderon’s war on drugs began in 2007.

The third attack in the past week was in Ciudad Juarez, where 14 were gunned down at a birthday party on Oct. 22.

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This week has also brought news that the brother of the former Attorney General of the state of Chihuahua — home of Ciudad Juarez — was captured. His captors have so far released two videos of him being interrogated by five masked and heavily armed gunmen, in which he states that his sister, Patricia Gonzalez, was complicit in the cartel wars, taking bribes and even ordering killings.

Brother of former Chihuahua state AG

Patricia Gonzalez, who left her post a month ago, has denied the claims, saying that her brother was clearly being coerced to make the statements.

In a perfect example of the professionalism, rapidity, and deadliness of the war on drugs, some of those named in the video were killed within 24 hours of its release.

Fernando Ornelas, the former operations coordinator of CIPOL, was killed today along with his brother, a wrestler.

Much of the violence in Ciudad Juarez is the result of feuding between the Juarez cartel and the Sinaloa organization for control of the United States drug market.