Mexicans can take their trash and shove it.

[DaShi]

Actually, I believe that Ben is a racist.

[Dinner]

Given his history I'd have to say he likely is. I won't say he is because he's just some guy on the internet and we all know the internet is meaningless. That said he is certainly a douche.

[SlowwHand]

The sewage problem is a big problem but it's only, honestly, a short term problem as sewage breaks down relatively quickly in the ocean. The bigger problem is industrial waste dumped directly into the river. Tijuana has a huge electronics industry based on American and east Asian companies setting up factories there to service the American market. Unfortunately, one of the biggest side products of electronics manufacturing is heavy metals and huge amounts of these are dumped by the Mexican factories into the rive ultimately ending up in the US or worse in the Pacific ocean where they poison fish and wild life. Ultimately this harms the health of people who eat seafood especially top predators like tuna or salmon as we end up with heavy metals in the fish we eat.

In the 1970's and 1980's San Diego was the country's largest center for the manufacturing of television sets but now virtually all of them (except for one Sony plant) have moved to Tijuana. TVs and computer monitors along with lots of other electronics are made there and all of these factories produce hazardous waste which Mexican law doesn't allow to be dumped into rivers but which no one in Mexico actually enforces. It's cowboy capitalism at its worst.

You leave out fresh water, of which they're running out. The attempted ban on dumping has more reasons than one.

[Dinner]

Hmm, while you are right about fresh water (Tijuana buys fresh water from San Diego even though we must import water from NorCal or the Colorado river) the truth is it doesn't take any fresh water to treat sewage nor does it take any extra water to treat industrial waste or build a city dump. It does take money, which is Tijuana's problem, but I do have to question how genuine they are when the US government spends hundreds of millions of dollars to build them a state of the art sewage treatment plant which Tijuana refuses to use unless the US gives them money to operate it. This is especially true because the original contract which the US government signed with the Mexican government agreed that if the US government paid for a state of the art sewage treatment plant then it would be Mexico's responsibility to operate and maintain that plant. We, the American people, gave these bastards a huge gift and signed an agreement with them before we did it and now they're trying to go back on their agreement. That's just not right.\

On a different note Baja could create as many reservoirs and aqueducts as California has but they choose not to. Mexico has the second lowest over all tax rate in the western hemisphere behind only Haiti. They have the second largest number of millionaires in the world but they choose not to tax them, sure, it is because the Mexican elite control the Mexican government so you end up with millionaires and tons of dirt poor people with few in between but the reality is they could if they wanted to. They have made a conscious choice not to serve the needs of 90% plus of their people and I have a problem with that when they demand money from the US.

[Provost Harrison]

I understand you have some issues with the Mexican authorities and how lax they are with enforcing the laws but this is not just isolated to Mexico, let us be fair. And before you start slagging off Mexico and the Mexicans, you should get to know some of them a bit better. Perhaps spend some time visiting

[Dinner]

Mexico has government by the rich, for the rich, and only for the rich. In terms of wealth the country is in the top 20 world wide but they refuse to even have standard k through 12 education for everyone, they refuse to pay for basic services like telephones or electricity or water for most of the people, they refuse to pay for basic things like sewage treatment or city dumps, and they do this because the wealthy elites (and they're spectacularly wealthy even by American standard) don't want to pay for anyone else. The result is a bifurcated society of 10% haves and 90% have nots and this is a massive problem which ends up having international impact as we can see in the OP.

[giblets]

The same gang of idiots who used to toss hypodermic needles in my backyard in Vancouver. You find them everywhere.

Some people treat the world as their personal dumpster. I saw a ton of em in Southern California, probably the worst place I had the misfortune of visiting in all of the USA.

It's a problem on both sides of the border.

Oh, so you think it's impossible for Mexicans to surpass the white man in anything. No matter how hard they try they'll never outcompete the Aryan race in worn out tire accumulation. RACIST.

[Dr Strangelove]

Which river empties near Tijuana? IIRC the US consumes virtually all of the Colorado river's water before it reaches Mexico.

The US government has decided that Hispanic is an ethnic group / culture, which after all is basically true.

[Provost Harrison]

Mexico has government by the rich, for the rich, and only for the rich. In terms of wealth the country is in the top 20 world wide but they refuse to even have standard k through 12 education for everyone, they refuse to pay for basic services like telephones or electricity or water for most of the people, they refuse to pay for basic things like sewage treatment or city dumps, and they do this because the wealthy elites (and they're spectacularly wealthy even by American standard) don't want to pay for anyone else. The result is a bifurcated society of 10% haves and 90% have nots and this is a massive problem which ends up having international impact as we can see in the OP.

Oh trust me, you tend to notice these things. I spent 6 months in Mexico City, and I did notice there is a lot of discontent with how their country is run when I got talking to people. And the divide between the rich and the poor is immense. A great shame really, I really enjoyed the people and the culture. They also work ridiculously long hours too.

[Dinner]

The truth is in the US, especially in California, we must pay a recycling fee when we dispose of old tires or buy new tires (you get hit twice). The truth is there is no way to recycle all of these tires so rather then recycle them or land fill them (which costs cities money they don't want to pay) they get sold to Mexico for pennies. The Mexicans agree to get rid of them but honestly millions end up getting illegally dumped or join Mexican tires which Mexican citizens don't want to pay to dispose of properly and so they dump them on public land or in rivers. Yes, lots of these tires came from the US but as the OP shows many end up coming back in the Tijuana river or in the Rio Grande where they befoul American land or they end up in our coastal water ways. It's a huge mess any way you look at it.

[Riesstiu IV]

Ben sent a pm calling me a ******.

[Dinner]

Which river empties near Tijuana? IIRC the US consumes virtually all of the Colorado river's water before it reaches Mexico.

The US government has decided that Hispanic is an ethnic group / culture, which after all is basically true.

The Tijuana river, like the San Diego river, is a year round river draining nearby mountains. As rivers go it is not long nor does it have an especially high average discharge rate however the rains tend to come seasonally so that you get a whole lot at once. This means that in places like the Tijuana river valley you can get 10 feet of rise on the river when there is a big rain event. The river's flow is increased by a constant addition of raw sewage and industrial waste.

[Provost Harrison]

Well are you?

[Dinner]

Ben sent a pm calling me a ******.

I get those all the time so don't feel special.

[giblets]

Ben sent a pm calling me a ******.

In other news, the pope is catholic and protects pedophiles.