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Going to the dentist is a necessity that most people dread.

But with all your dental horror stories, you can bet your dentist has seen worse.

Web heard from two dentists about the things their patients do that leave them horrified, and some will really make your skin crawl.

From licking the dentist’s fingers to leaving toenails in their mouths, here are the grossest things patients do.

Web heard from two dentists about the things their patients do that leave them horrified, and some will really make your skin crawl

Missing the bowl while spitting while the mouth is numb

Some procedures, such as tooth extraction or tooth fillings, require an anesthetic of the mouth.

But with the numbness comes a lack of control.

Cosmetic Dentist Sam Jethwa of Bespoke Smile in Marlow, Buckinghamshire says

One of his favorite haters is when patients miss the bowl while spitting up liquid.

He said: “Obviously losing control of the mouth means we may miss the bowl when rinsing and spitting.

“A lengthy cleaning process ensues for our assistants, but it is always a head-on-hand moment. For each.’

How your New Year’s health boost could ruin your TEETH: Juice cleanses, lemon water and oat milk can erode your enamel, trigger cavities and leave you with a yellow smile, dentists warn

Juice cleanses, lemon water and switching to non-dairy milk might be the health habits some want to adopt for the New Year. But experts told Web the trends could cause “long-term damage” to teeth and result in health fanatics needing the dentist

Licking the dentist’s fingers

That’s right, another disgusting thing patients do, according to Dr. Jethwa licking the dentist’s fingers.

The dentist, who is also vice-president of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, said: “The latex-free gloves we use are soft compared to traditional, old-fashioned ones, but they are not suitable for licking.

“It’s always funny when a patient has a curious tongue and wants their fingers licked.”

Shared toothbrushes with your partner

Have you ever forgotten your toothbrush and used your partner’s?

well dr Jethwa says that’s a big “No, no.”

He said: “Our gum specialist helps people with gum disease and tries to stop and save tooth loss.

“Of course, part of this is discussing existing cleaning habits.

“He recalled a couple of times patients mentioning that they share a toothbrush with their partner.

“As much as we love her — that’s a no, no.”

dr Ben Atkins, dentist and trustee of the Oral Health Foundation, previously said brushing your teeth can cause bleeding gums. So if you share a toothbrush, you could be sharing blood.

He added: “Brushing your teeth sometimes causes bleeding gums, which exposes anyone you share your toothbrush with to circulatory diseases.

“There are many hundreds of different bacteria and viruses in our mouths, and people sharing a toothbrush could be passing them on to others.

“While this can be something relatively harmless, like the common cold or a cold sore, if the person you’re sharing with has hepatitis B or HIV, they could also be transmitted through toothbrushing, with serious health consequences.”

With numbing of the mouth comes a lack of control, and Dr. Jethwa says one of his favorite haters is when patients miss the bowl while spitting up liquid (file photo).

Shake hands after putting them in your mouth

During the pandemic, shaking hands went out the window and was replaced with an elbow touch.

This was an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus.

But as with other parts of life before the pandemic, the practice is creeping back, and Dr. Jethwa says it gets worse when patients put their hands in their mouths first.

He said, “Let’s just try it with clean hands and not hands that have just been in our mouths.”

Slurping noise when removing retainers

If you’ve ever had retainers — as many people had as teenagers — you might recognize this next one.

dr Jethwa says the “slurping” sound some patients make when removing retainers is “disgusting.”

He said: “If you’ve had them, you know that slurping sound you naturally make when we do them in private.

“That sound, I think we can all agree, is pretty gross.”

dr Sam Jethwa said: “The non-latex gloves we use are soft compared to traditional, old-fashioned ones, but they are not lickable. It’s always funny when a patient has a curious tongue and licks their fingers!’ (file photo)

leaving things in the mouth (like toenails)

Another nuisance for dentists is when patients leave things in their mouths, such as B. Toenails.

dentist dr Alan Clarke, clinical director at Paste Dental in Belfast, said he also found pencil leads, plastic sleeves, a live spider, several flies and chewing gum hidden behind a back tooth.

He said, “We always encourage patients to take care of their teeth and gum health, which means regular cleaning and flossing (to get rid of those cobwebs).”

don’t brush your teeth

It may seem obvious, but another hate from Dr. Clarke is when patients never brush their teeth.

He said: “We’re not talking about missing the night brush if you go to bed late or are struggling to stay awake after a long day at the office.

“We’re talking 15 to 20 years of not cleaning or never cleaning – period. Yes, it’s a surprise to us too, but we find it quite often.

“There are many things we can do, advise and help to promote optimal dental health, but the journey begins with patients accepting the important role they personally play in maintaining their oral health.”

dr Jethwa says the “slurping” sound some patients make when removing retainers — which have gold teeth on them — is “disgusting” (file photo).

DIY dentistry

We’ve all seen tutorials on how to whiten your teeth at home, but “DIY dentistry” goes much further, says Dr. Clarke.

He says he’s seen teeth whitened with household bleach and broken crowns cemented in place with furniture glue, nail polish and chewing gum!

dr Clarke said: “It’s dangerous, potentially toxic and a significant risk to your health. Please consult a licensed professional for confident dental treatment planning and care.

“We hate to see the damage you can do with minimal knowledge and desperation.”

dr Clarke once had a patient with gum disease who was trying to get his tooth glued back in.

He said: “I don’t know whether to be shocked, freaked out or sad but I personally found large lumps of Pritt stick in a patient’s mouth when they thought (don’t try this at home) sure why not stick put my loose tooth back in – with a soft white glue.’

The maggot-like larvae of mealworms – a type of shiny black beetle – and house crickets will be the third and fourth insects that can be sold as food for humans in the European Union. Eight more applications are awaiting approval.

On Tuesday, the EU gave the go-ahead for the larvae to be sold in powder, frozen, paste and dried forms. The crickets can be sold as a partially defatted powder.

For many Europeans, the thought of eating creatures that wriggle or crawl in some form is unappealing. But insects, already a delicacy in top restaurants around the world, are a normal and healthy part of the diet in countries from Mexico to Thailand. They have also attracted the attention of scientists and companies trying to clean up agriculture and feed the planet’s growing population.

Insects are more commonly eaten in Asia, Africa, and South America than in Europe and North America. Image: AFLO/imago images

Reducing meat emissions a ‘huge challenge’

Most of the food pollution, which accounts for about a quarter of global warming, comes from meat and dairy. Cows and sheep emit methane, a potent but short-lived greenhouse gas, and farmers cut down forests to make pastures and grow soy, three-quarters of which is fed to livestock.

When fried crickets and mealworm salads replace some steaks and hamburgers, they can make a small contribution to halting biodiversity loss and climate change.

“It’s such a big challenge to cope with the increasing demand for livestock products,” said Tim Searchinger, technical director of the food program at the World Resources Institute, a US environmental research organization. “We have to pursue pretty much every solution.”

The meat and dairy industry is responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from foodImage: Mark Baker/AP/Picture Alliance

“Nobody is forced to eat insects”

The European Commission’s decision to approve two new insects as food does not appear to be part of a push to change diets, although it said eating insects “contributes positively to the environment, health and livelihoods”.

Instead, the new rules make it clear that mealworm larvae and house crickets are safe to eat for those with allergies. They also ruled that foods containing them must be labelled.

“No one is being forced to eat insects,” the European Commission said in a tweet last week.

Still, the move could accelerate the shift to less polluting diets. In Germany, for example, about half the population plans to eat less meat, while in the United States people are eating more meat but swapping beef for less polluting meats like chicken. Insect protein could be a cheap alternative, especially in processed foods.

Between 35% and 60% of the dry weight of insects consists of protein. The low end of the range is higher than most plant-based protein sources and the high end is higher than meat and eggs. Insects are better than cattle at converting calories in their food into calories for their bodies. They also multiply quickly and gain weight quickly.

Taking a bite of edible insects

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Only a handful of studies have attempted to establish the environmental damage caused by eating insects. A life cycle assessment published in 2021 found that protein from yellow mealworms uses 70% less land and pumps 23% fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the same amount of protein from broilers.

Previous studies have also found that insects are better for the environment than meat but worse than plants.

Disgust remains “biggest hurdle”

Still, it might be difficult to convince people in the EU and US to eat more insects.

According to a 2020 report by the European Consumers Organisation, an umbrella organization partly funded by the EU, three quarters of European consumers are unwilling to swap meat for insects and another 13% are unsure. According to a 2022 report by Germany’s Environment Agency UBA, 80% of people in Germany say they are disgusted by the idea of ​​eating insects.

“Disgust is considered the biggest barrier to introducing insects into the western food market,” the authors write.

Although the Western diet includes other foods associated with putrefaction, such as moldy cheese and mushrooms, research into whether these barriers can be overcome is still in its infancy.

A study published in December found that people were more willing to eat insects after being educated about the environmental benefits.

A separate 2020 study showed that social norms changed people’s openness to eating locusts.

“Because humans are a particularly social species, exploiting the social nature may prove particularly useful,” the authors write.

Insect feed as an alternative to grain for livestock

A more likely role for insect protein might be feeding to livestock. This would circumvent cultural norms that discourage some people from wanting to eat insects. If the insects were raised on organic waste — as some mealworms and fly larvae do well — the process could effectively recycle some of the vast amounts of food that is wasted each year.

But breeding insects to feed animals adds an extra step to the food production process that means more energy is wasted through inefficiencies. Only a portion of the calories the insect eats gets to the bug-fed chicken—and only a portion of those calories get to the person eating the chicken wing.

If the insects were fed crops like soy or corn, and then those insects were used to feed livestock, the planet could be worse off than if the animals ate the grain directly.

“The problem is that you have to go through two conversions,” Searchinger said. “There is some potential [for feeding insects manure] but it’s ultimately not as effective as making the feed directly.”

Edited by: Jennifer Collins

By Le Figaro with AFP

Posted 46 minutes ago, just updated

Police trucks leave the Ciutat de la Justicia courthouse in Barcelona, ​​​​​​20. January 2023. Pau BARRENA / AFP

The letters received last December had hurt the Ukrainian ambassador. A suspect has been arrested in northern Spain.

The “suspected author” of a letter bomb salvo addressed to the Ukrainian embassy in Spain or to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the end of last year was arrested on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.

“Members of the National Police arrested a man of Spanish nationality on Wednesday in Miranda de Ebro (North), who is believed to be the perpetrator of the sending of six letters containing explosive material, addressed in late November and early December (…) to the President of the Government , to the Embassy of Ukraine in Spain or to the Embassy of the United States in Spain,” a ministry spokesman said in a written statement.

accused pensioner

A police source told AFP it was a “74-year-old pensioner.” The security guard at the Embassy of Ukraine in Madrid was slightly injured in the right hand on November 30 while opening one of these letters intended for the Ambassador.

Also readRenaud Girard: “In Ukraine the interest of Chinese mediation”

Letters also went to the defense minister, to an arms company that made grenade launchers that Madrid had donated to Kyiv early in the Russian invasion, or to a key Spanish military base. The Spanish judiciary had opened an investigation into alleged “acts of terrorism”, while Kyiv had ordered increased security in all its representations.

According to the American daily newspaper The New York Times, American and European secret services suspect a Russian paramilitary group, the Imperial Russian Movement (MIR), to be behind this campaign to send out letter bombs.

This ultra-nationalist and white supremacist group, which was included in America’s list of terrorist organizations in 2020, was acting underhandedly for the Russian military intelligence service (GRU), the American daily said in an article published on Sunday. The Spanish Interior Ministry declined to comment on this information.

TO HAVEIN ADDITION – Spain: Tens of thousands mobilize against Pedro Sánchez’s government

On the brink of hypothermia, when Mario Alberto Céspedes thought his life was spinning on the frozen Kotra River dividing the territory of Belarus and Lithuania, Mario Alberto Céspedes thought only of his family there in Puerto Padre.

“I’ll tell you more, I cried for her, for my one-year-old boy who hardly knows me and my other two who couldn’t have anything in this life,” she says now in the Russian capital while recovering from injuries in the apartment of a Cuban-Russian citizen who welcomed him after learning about his odyssey.

But that’s a story that begins almost 10,000 kilometers away, in Las Tunas. A story that, in one way or another, may be that of many others who have risked their lives to emigrate, whether that be crossing frozen Belarusian forests, Nicaraguan volcanoes, or the Florida Straits on a precarious raft.

“We are two humble people, two more Cubans than the many who tried to find a better life and went out to try their luck,” says Mario, 40. “Michael and I work together at the Hygiene and Epidemiology Center in Puerto Padre. Although I have a degree in hygiene and epidemiology and am an average computer technician, I lived in precarious circumstances,” he says, while sending me a photo of his house via Whatsapp. “A total collapse since 2008,” he says.

Mario Alberto (left) with his friend and colleague Michael, with whom he made the trip. Photo: courtesy of Mario Alberto Céspedes.

With three children, a mother and a sick grandmother in his care, he made the decision to emigrate to Europe and the only option left to him was Russia “where we could go because no visa is needed”. Therefore, he and Michael, his colleague, were in the city of Kazan three months ago.

“My family needed me to come to Europe. The route was “sold” to us by someone who knew it. The first part worked. We jumped over the first border strip, but it took a long time and we got tired before we reached the Polish part.”

What happened next was made public through a Facebook post that Mario was able to share in the most tragic moments. In it he recounted the mistreatment of the Belarusian border guards, who repeatedly beat them and left them in inhospitable areas where the only option was to cross the river into Lithuania. “It was almost our will,” he says.

Now tell how the mishap ended. “Michael turned purple when we tried to cross the river. Desperate, he climbed a tree trunk and I tried to find a (telephone) signal. I called 911 and as my line is Russian they answered and told me they were not responsible for the area but they would be in touch with Lithuanian and Belarusian 911 to see what they could do.”

Crossing. Photo: courtesy of Mario Alberto Céspedes.

“Since Michael was in a very bad condition, we went to shore and the first people to meet us were the Lithuanians. We’re sorry, but you didn’t listen to us. A few hours later the Belarusians came and rudely told us to follow them. Although we could barely walk, we made it until they picked us up in a van. The only thing we have to thank them for is that they gave us hot tea. They released us on a street and called a taxi to take us to the train station.”

“It wasn’t a rescue,” he emphasizes, “because there was no medical help or halfway humane treatment. We had to crawl out of the swamp my friend who has heart problems on the brink of a heart attack and we never got a hand from a guard. Although at least they didn’t hit us.

Crossing. Photo: courtesy of Carlos Alberto Céspedes.

It is not clear to Mario why they were not allowed to translate to the Polish side and still tried to force them to cross to Lithuania, also EU territory. “It was impossible for us to enter Lithuania, even though we were trying to save our lives, and it cost us our feet,” he says, sending me a photo of his feet, which are almost deformed from an infection.

Photo: courtesy of Mario Alberto Céspedes.

“My feet are not good, Michael is worse. We both have edema, I can barely walk, but they didn’t give me medical care,” he explains. “Now we have to recover, then we’ll see.”

From the window of the Moscow apartment, the winter day and the future look rather dark.

“Unfortunately I don’t know how to get out of here or work, sick now, but I’ll manage. I can’t get tired for my family. I can’t disappoint them, even if I lose my life,” he assures.

***

Despite the crisis, many Cubans are currently coming to Russia. There is the conflict with Ukraine, which implies, among other things, the almost complete lack of flights. The tightening of immigration policies makes regularization almost impossible and life very difficult for those who decide to stay in this country irregularly.

The goal of others is to travel further, especially to other areas of the European Union. Although that is now much more complicated due to the geopolitical situation. It is hoped that the number of those trying will continue or even increase under the current circumstances. The Central American route has been closed and many emigrants do not have “sponsors” to go to the United States.

In the recent past, some Cubans even tried to reach US territory via Siberia, via the Chukotka Peninsula. It is a completely inhospitable region with extreme cold and heavily militarized. Not a single case is known to have succeeded, but the “Urban Legend” tried.

It can be just as difficult and dangerous to save the distances currently being attempted to irregularly cross borders from Russia to other European territories. Several migrants have found themselves in extremely dangerous situations and have even entered the war zone. But the truth is that one way or another it is a phenomenon that will occur as long as the circumstances on the island do not change and we Cubans do not feel that we have a prosperous future at home be able.

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Home › Science › The ‘Apocalypse Clock’ Says There’s 90 Seconds Until the End of the World

Image: Jamie Christiani/Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists/Reproduction

The doomsday clock, also known as the doomsday clock, has just reached its point closest to midnight. This Tuesday (24th), the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago, USA, announced that there were only 90 seconds left for total chaos.

Between 2019 and 2022 the clock hand stopped 100 seconds before midnight. The reason for the short distance was climate change, misinformation and, since 2020, the Covid 19 pandemic. Now he’s come a step further.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine added to the factors already mentioned, in addition to other possible biological threats that could trigger new pandemics. The decision to introduce the watch was made by the Science and Safety Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, with support from the Bulletin Board of Sponsors, which includes 10 Nobel Prize winners.

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 with the aim of raising public awareness of the growing nuclear threat that accompanies the increasing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The imminent atomic bomb brought the world 7 minutes from its end.

Now the hands are even closer to midnight than they were during the Cold War. In 1953, after the US successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb, the clock was set to two minutes to go.

We weren’t always that close to the end. The clock was turned back in 1991 when the US and EU signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. At that time we were 17 minutes away from the collapse.

Two contractors, including a former drug dealer, have allegedly threatened customers after charging them tens of thousands of dollars in extras to install their underground pool, our investigative agency has learned.

A dozen civil lawsuits, five complaints to the Consumer Protection Agency, police arrested: several customers who feel cheated have agreed to openly report the ordeal they experienced with the Quebec company Piscines Élégance and its subcontractor Excava-Plus.

Piscines Élégance is run by Dominic Flamand, an entrepreneur who has gone bankrupt three times. Excava-Plus is owned by Patrick Laurendeau, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2005 after a major police operation to dismantle a network of cocaine and ecstasy dealers linked to the Hell’s Angels.

Photos from the Facebook pages of Dominic Flamand and Patrick Laurendeau

Dominic Flamand (left) owns Piscines Élégance while Patrick Laurendeau (right) owns Excava-Plus.

The customers our research office spoke to all reported similar experiences: they bought a GRP swimming pool with Piscines Élégance installed. Excava-Plus took care of the excavation.

From the start of the work, Piscines Élégance mentioned complications, charging tens of thousands of additional dollars, and this without the prior consent of the buyers, who often did not have access to the details of these additional costs. Many are reluctant to pay for those extras that double, triple, or even eightfold the original bill.

Photo Didier Debusschere

A dozen customers who believe they have been scammed by Piscines Élégance have agreed to testify with their faces uncovered. Discover tomorrow the stories of Lucie Morin, Simon Comtois, Nathalie Levasseur, Bobby Hamel, Gabriel Marois and Hubert Brulotte.

threat

Then the nightmare begins, customers report in interviews (see further texts below):

• Roberto Murro of Longueuil claims he received death threats in front of his brother and son because he refused to pay the $74,000 in extras.
• Fearing for their safety, a Quebec couple who refused to pay the excess of $177,000 to install their swimming pool filed a police complaint.
• Police also intervened in Roberval over a couple refusing to pay extras charged by Dominic Flamand, who ended up going with the pool.

Those who don’t pay the bill usually face a lawsuit or a legal mortgage on their home taken as collateral against their will. You then have to defend yourself in court. Many also choose Piscines Élégance.

“We are not scammers”

In an interview, the owner of Piscines Élégance denies threatening customers.

“We are not stalkers, we are not crossers. We sell swimming pools to everyone, everyone is happy […] We’re not scammers,” commented Dominic Flamand, who says he installs “175 swimming pools a summer.”

He ensures that the additional costs charged were justified and that the additional costs were itemized.

“I have never forced anyone, I have always honored my guarantees, I have always made beautiful installations. I never have a problem with my pools,” he pleaded.

Patrick Laurendeau from Excava-Plus didn’t call us back.

LUCIE MORIN AND SIMON COMTOIS, QUEBEC

Original offer amount: $18,300

Extras total: $126,600

Total pool cost: $144,900

NATHALIE LEVASSEUR AND BOBBY HAMEL, LÉVIS

Original offer amount: $34,261

Extras total: $5659

Total pool cost: $39,920

GABRIEL MAROIS AND HUBERT BRULOTTE, LEVIS

Original offer amount: $28,160

Extras total: $72,960

Total pool cost: $101,120

– With Philippe Langlois

A couple complains to the police

Screenshot from a video by Emmanuelle Brousseau

Because a Quebec customer refused to pay the tens of thousands of dollars in extras being charged by Piscines Élégance, backhoe and former drug dealer Patrick Laurendeau — perched on the mechanical shovel — reportedly threatened to leave with the pool.

A Quebec couple have lodged a complaint with police after being threatened by Dominic Flamand and Patrick Laurendeau last summer.

Parents of four, Patrick Lachance and Emmanuelle Brousseau hired the services of Piscines Élégance for the installation of their underground pool and landscaping.

After more than two weeks of work, Dominic Flamand would have asked for $177,000 in extras to add to the $95,000 already paid by the couple. He would have asked for $40,000 on the spot or left the site without completing the work and threatened to pawn the house. Patrick Laurendeau, the owner of Excava-Plus, would have been carried away.

“I’ll get my shovel, get your pelvis out of the hole […] I have a strong back. I have money. That swimming pool there is mine! shouted Patrick Laurendeau, captured by a surveillance camera.

offended in front of their children

The couple first called the police. The two entrepreneurs left the scene, but would have returned a few days later with employees to film and verbally abuse their customers. “Criss de crosseur”, “unpaid swimming pool”, “asshole”: The couple claims to have screamed nonsense when they were with their children.

Patrick Lachance and Emmanuelle Brousseau called the police back. MM. Flamand and Patrick left the crime scene before they arrived. Piscines Élégance then sent them a formal notice for more than $165,000 and took steps to obtain a legal mortgage.

“We could lose everything because of a swimming pool,” regrets the family man.

Asked about that file, Dominic Flamand pointed out that the swimming pool had not been removed and that he had “given the builder a chance” to “move on”.

PATRICK LACHANCE, QUEBEC

Original offer amount: $95,000

Extras total: $177,000

Total pool cost: $272,000

He goes with the pool and collects a chase

The owner of Piscines Élégance is facing a nearly $110,000 lawsuit for walking away with an in-ground pool he sold to a Roberval couple.

Pierre-Samuel Larouche and Camille Gauthier bought a fiberglass swimming pool in April 2022 for about $37,800, including installation, according to court documents.

The work will start in May. While the couple has already paid more than $33,000 of the bill, Piscines Élégance reportedly demanded more than $21,000 in extras, in addition to additional amounts for its employees’ living expenses.

Dominic Flamand has repeatedly threatened the couple to drop the project if those extras aren’t paid for. Even the police stepped in. Due to the threats and fears of losing their pool, the customers paid $15,000, the lawsuit says.

A few days later, Mr. Flamand reportedly demanded an additional $40,000 without carrying out his threat. The couple refused to comply with this request.

No threats, he said

The dredger Patrick Laurendeau would then have explained to Dominic Flamand: “You just built a swimming pool for free”.

Piscines Élégance would have gone from words to deeds if it had gone with the pool and its accessories, goods that had been paid for, according to the couple, who are demanding more than $107,350 from Flamand and his company.

In a telephone interview, Dominic Flamand insisted there were no “death threats” or “arguments” in the case and insisted his lawyers advised him at the time to “get the pool out of the hole and go with it because he’s going to do it would “never get a check”.

“Those clients who started working and didn’t have the means to do so are the ones you’re calling today and they find it appalling. Because I’m in court with them today and I’m pretty sure I’m going to win,” he argued.

PIERRE-SAMUEL LAROUCHE AND CAMILLE GUTHIER, ROBERVAL

Original offer amount: $37,480

Extras total: $91,952

Total pool cost: $129,432

Father threatened with death

A father from Longueuil says he received death threats and feared for his safety after doing business with Piscines Élégance.

“I always said to my boy and my brother: If something happens to me, you know who it is,” argues Roberto Murro in an interview with our investigation office.

The man hired Dominic Flamand’s company to fix his broken pool in 2020 at a cost of $21,000. But from the start of the work, “hidden defects” discovered by Piscines Élégance would have caused the bill to rise to $95,000.

Roberto Murro considered this sum excessive and initially refused to pay it. Dominic Flamand is said to have told him in front of two members of his family who signed statements to that effect: “You better call 50 police officers because someone is going to die today,” according to a court document.

Mr. Murro assures that Excava-Plus’ Patrick Laurendeau was present during this threat. Fearing for his safety, Roberto Murro agreed “under pressure” to let Piscines Elégance complete the work for $95,000, the document said.

surprise bill

Three days after installing the pool, Piscines Élégance sent their client another bill for nearly $33,000. This time Mr Murro, who considered the “fraudulent maneuver” did not pay.

In 2021, Piscines Élégance canceled a legal mortgage on her residence, which she took as security. Roberto Murro denied and sued Piscines Elegance for $15,000. The case was settled out of court and the client paid $20,000 after several months of litigation. “I just wanted to buy peace,” he says resignedly.

Dominic Flamand denied threatening this client. “I never said that. I’ve been in business 15 years and I’ve never spoken to a customer like that. Never, never in a hundred years!” he defended himself in a telephone interview.

Roberto Murro, Longueuil

Original offer amount: $21,600

Extras total: $87,000

Total pool cost: $108,000

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Genaro García Luna was kidnapped by members of the Beltrán Leyva cartel without any resistance from his escorts. This was revealed on Tuesday by Sergio Villarreal Barragán El Grande, drug dealer and first witness in the trial of the former security minister in New York. The former police officer also asserted that García Luna was “raised” by Arturo Beltrán Leyva, an old ally who declared war on the Sinaloa cartel in early 2008 and unleashed chaos in Mexico during Felipe Calderón’s first term (2006). -2012). “Nothing was impossible for Arturo,” said El Grande. “Anything is possible in Mexico, there is a lot of corruption,” he concluded in his testimony before the Brooklyn court.

Villarreal Barragán explained in detail how the break within the Sinaloa cartel and the drug war between the faction of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán and Ismael El Mayo Zambada and that of the Beltrán Leyva brothers came about. The drug lord hinted that one of the key factors was El Chapo convincing law enforcement to crack down on his old allies. “People from the government started falling for us,” El Grande said. Arturo Beltrán, the leader of the Beltrán Leyva, realized that the captures and confiscations almost always happened after he had spoken to El Mayo or El Chapo, at least that’s what he suspected. “He recognized the betrayal,” said his former lieutenant.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the arrest of Alfredo Beltrán, aka Mochomo and Arturo’s brother, in an army operation in January 2008. Always following Villarreal Barragán’s testimony, the Beltrán Leyva faction could not believe that the payment was millions of dollars was bribes offered him no protection. El Grande said Monday that Arturo Beltrán was personally responsible for delivering more than $1 million in bribes to García Luna every month since he took over as director of the Federal Investigation during Vicente Fox’s administration (2000-2006). Agency (AFI) had taken over ). ). The bribes were delivered to a safe house south of Mexico City in black suitcases and bags.

When the defendant became head of the Secretariat for Public Security (SSP), a newly created ministry during the Calderón government, there was a change in the bribery scheme, the witness said. García Luna, then also chief of the federal police, no longer met personally with the members of the cartel, but almost always sent his right-hand man, Luis Cárdenas Palomino, then deputy director of private security for the SSP. According to this version, the former head of the AFI at times monitored the receipt of money by radio and long-distance calls.

“Which side are you on? With my cousin El Chapo or with me,” Arturo Beltrán asked García Luna, according to the story. “The problem is yours, I’m neutral,” the former official reportedly replied. According to the witness, the security minister most likely worked simultaneously with both factions together.”He continued to work for everyone: El Mayo and El Chapo, but also for Arturo,” El Grande said. “There were members of the Federal Police who left his side and others left with Arturo,” he added “It was a very violent war, we all started killing each other.”

After Mochomo’s capture, Arturo Beltrán had García Luna kidnapped, although no specific date was given. “They had raised it in the state of Morelos, on the way to Cocoyoc [un pequeño poblado a una hora y media de la capital]said the big one. The drug dealers took the cabinet member to speak with his boss in “an office” belonging to the Beltrán Leyva family. “They talked and then they let him go, they took him to where they picked him up,” said Villarreal Barragán.

The witness recalled that after the officer’s visit to the safe house in Morelos, drug traffickers such as Édgar Valdez Villarreal La Barbie or Alberto Pineda El Borrado laughed and talked in a corner of the house where there were many chargers lying around. It was the cartridges of the secretary’s companions who could do nothing about it. In 2010, writer Ricardo Ravelo published a similar story about an alleged kidnapping of García Luna by Beltrán, but he pointed out that it happened while he was in charge of the AFI. “See how easy it is to get hold of you?” is one of the phrases Ravelo attributed to the leader of the Beltrán Leyva cartel.

El Grande chronicled murders, kidnappings, and betrayals between old partners who later became enemies. Beltrán was so angered by his brother’s capture that he plotted to get revenge and finish off Jesús El Rey Zambada, El Mayo’s brother. The law of vengeance: brother to brother. “Arturo’s first plan was to kill him,” commented Villarreal Barragán, “I told him no, they were going to kill Alfredo [Mochomo Beltrán] in prison”.

César de Castro, Genaro García Luna’s attorney, at the opening hearing on January 23. JANE ROSENBERG (Portal)

Plan B was to arrest him. “Then he ordered the government to arrest him,” El Grande said. The Beltrán Leyva infiltrated the people of El Mayo to find El Rey, the man responsible for all of the El Chapo cartel’s shipments that passed through Mexico City’s airport. “There were two attempts, in the first we gave the information to the army, but they sold it to the people of El Rey,” Villarreal Barragán said in another testimony about the alleged corruption that runs rampant in the law enforcement agencies.

The second was at Siedo, the Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Organized Crime. This institution, which reported to the then Republican Attorney General, was tasked with directing the capture operation against El Rey Zambada. The criminals had crept in there too. El Grande donned the uniform of an official state agent again, and other gunmen disguised themselves as Siedo agents. “I was part of the operation,” confirmed Villarreal Barragán. “There were some that we disguised.” The arrest was made in October 2008 amid a violent shooting in Mexico City, with the support of local police in the Mexican capital. “I ordered the Siedo people to take pictures of Rey and all those detained,” El Grande said. He was afraid that El Mayo and El Chapo’s contacts would exchange him for someone else and set him free. At the time, the witness emphasized: “Anything is possible in Mexico.”

El Grande said he’s seen all about law enforcement’s complicity with organized crime. For example, he referred to La Barbie’s wedding in Acapulco. The Beltrán-Leyva cartel received information from the authorities themselves at the time, while they were still allies of Sinaloa, that the ceremony was being infiltrated by agents and that they were planning to ambush several drug lords. In the end, the drug dealers laughed at the government. Nobody showed up for the wedding. “The party was held, but we didn’t go. Not even the”.

El Grande also spoke of his arrest on September 12, 2010, a Sunday afternoon in Puebla, in the center of the country. “I was at my house with my wife and son,” he said. Suddenly, a group of Marines broke open his door and pointed it at him. “I gave them my guns, I told them they were looking for me, and I told them to leave my family alone,” the drug dealer told Assistant District Attorney Erin Reid near the end of the interrogation. “They stole everything they could and they arrested me,” he said.

After his arrest, he asked to speak to a DEA agent. Instead, they took him to Marisela Morales, Siedo’s boss at the time. He didn’t feel safe working with the Mexican authorities. Villarreal Barragán was extradited in May 2012, six months before the end of Calderón’s term, who claims he was unaware of any links between members of his government and organized crime. Arturo Beltrán Leyva was killed in a naval operation in December 2009.

It was the turn of César de Castro and García Luna’s lawyers to question the witness. The defense has focused on questioning the credibility of the witnesses involved and ensuring it was a matter of political revenge on his client. De Castro sought to dismantle El Grande’s testimonies, although he asked an extensive series of questions about the bribes allegedly delivered to his client and suggested that Villarreal Barragán would benefit from speaking out against the former official. But the capo has already served his sentence and was paroled at least a year ago.

The prosecution won the first round, exhausting several jurors and others in the room after seven hours of hearings. The former secretary faces five charges: three for drug trafficking, one for organized crime and another for false testimony. The next witness called to testify was Tirso Martínez, a former operator of the Sinaloa cartel.

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