Mexico Crime Survey Reveals Conflicting Trends

Mexico’s declining murder rate counts as a major accomplishment for President Enrique Peña Nieto, but the nation’s annual victimization survey indicates that the country remains beset by violent crime.

Mexico’s demographic and statistical agency recently published the results of its latest victimization survey, known as Envipe. The survey paints a picture of a population that has suffered at the hands of criminals at a steadily increasing rate: 22.4 million Mexicans told the Envipe pollsters that they had been victims of a crime in the past year, up from 21.6 million in 2012. This is the third straight year of increases. The total number of crimes has also spiked in recent years: Envipe registered 33.1 million total, a roughly 50 percent increase from the 22.4 million registered in 2011.

The most common crimes were robbery, extortion, and car theft, all of which increased significantly. The four states showing the highest rate of victimization were Mexico City, Mexico State, Baja California, and Jalisco. The states showing the largest increases — and thus those largely responsible for driving the national increase –were Coahuila, Chiapas, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Oaxaca.

Manufacturing Businesses’s Have Lost Intellectual Property

According to a survey of businesses IT managers worldwide, 21% of manufacturers suffered a loss of intellectual property (IP) within the past year. Malware was the most common cause of data loss incidents for manufactures, although other types of cyber-incidents – including software vulnerabilities, theft of mobile devices, network intrusion, etc. – were also cited as sources IP leakage.

In a highly competitive global economy, businesses rise to leadership or sink into bankruptcy on very slim profit margins. Most often, a business’s most decisive advantage comes in the form of Research & Development insight or a proprietary high-tech solution which, in the case of manufacturers, can help businesses produce items more efficiently than their competitors. If a competitor is able to obtain this insight, especially without incurring the initial R&D costs, then that competitor now has a significant business advantage.

The manufacturing industry clearly understands the importance of securing their intellectual property. The survey found that…

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Scam Warning – The IRS Scam You Need Watch For.

SCAM WARNING: A supposed IRS agent named “James Flores” with a Russian accent called me from (917) 300-3104 to let me know that if I didn’t wire them $5,000 within one hour, officers would arrive at my house and arrest me.

We had a great conversation re the IRS not soliciting money by phone or e-mail, the FTC, FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation, FCC, and how many folks I recommend they send prior to his screaming at me and hanging up.

He later called back from (609) 858-6398 and said his name was Tony Beck. Same guy… different state and phone number. I waited a few minutes before calling him “James” and asking him to spell his name. Sure enough J-A-M-E-S… but wait, I thought you were Tony this time? CLICK…
Useful information regarding IRS scams hitting our state in force right now:

To be clear… the IRS will never EVER solicit money by phone.
Oh, and don’t forget to report the attempt to the U.S. Department of the Treasury here: https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml

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The Bug Out Bag Checklist You Can Build

What Is a Bug-Out-Bag?

A bug-out-bag (or BOB) is a survival bag (usually a rucksack) that contains the most important items you will require to survive after a disaster. The idea is to have the bag packed and ready to go, so you can grab it quickly, get out the door and get long-gone should a disaster happen.

What Should Go In the Bug-Out-Bag?

When planning your bug-out-bag you need to consider the three things that are vital to survival: water, shelter, and fire (in that order). Food is important, but not vital. Remember the (simple) rule of three, you can survive: 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and three weeks without food. In an extreme survival situation, I would also add 3 hours without fire and shelter. Below is a list of items. (in no specific order) you should consider adding to your bug-out-bag. Where possible we have included direct links to high-quality recommended products. We either have experience with these products, or they come very highly recommended by others.

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