The Real World Sucks

Yesterday I lectured in class about the role social media plays in today's world. In an unsettling coincidence, yesterday obama and his minions rolled out their 'Attack Watch' website, where all the good little snitches can go to rat out anyone who dares criticize Dear Leader.

That's bad enough, but in a truly disturbing and frightening coincidence, yesterday two bodies were discovered hanging from a bridge that spans the Texas-Mexico border.

Bodies hanging from bridge in Mexico are warning to social media users

It was a chilling message: two bodies with signs of torture found hanging from a pedestrian bridge in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

A man and a woman, both in their early 20s, were left hanging like cuts of meat. The woman was hogtied and disemboweled, her intestines protruding from three deep cuts on her abdomen. She was then hung from the bridge by her feet and hands, topless. The bloodied man was suspended next to her by his hands, his right shoulder severed so deeply you can see the bone. 

Two posters left near the bodies declared that the pair -- a young man and woman -- were killed for denouncing drug cartel activity on a social network.

Bloggers who specialize in sharing news about trafficking have been threatened in the past, but this could be the first time that users of such social networks have been targeted.

The effect of such threats could be chilling, as several areas in Mexico -- including Nuevo Laredo -- have media outlets that self-censor out of fear of retribution by the cartels. In light of this censorship, blogs and social networks such as Twitter have surged as alternatives to keep citizens informed of dangers in their community.

Now the users of those networks appear to be under threat.

What kind of animals do things like this? Sick, sick, sick...

Hidden below is a picture of the unfortunate pair (Warning - graphic image). Click on the button to Show/Hide the image.

That bridge is less than 10 miles from my university office. Tomorrow I have to go back in that same classroom and hope to God that all my students are still there. Then we will have to talk about the news, just like we talked about 9/11 yesterday.

I try to use real-world examples in my lectures, but this is not one I'm looking forward to...