Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

[EX Q]: Privatising Mexico's oil industry spells disaster. Considering Mexico's history and the present political context, it's no surprise that the majority of the Mexican population nowadays is either deeply suspicious of President Pena Nieto or just opposed to the current fast-track drive to privatise oil and pass it into the hands of foreign oligopolies . At present, Mexico suffers from an extremely weak state where the vast majority of crimes go unaddressed because of a judicial vacuum . More than 22,000 forced disappearances have occurred since 2007 and more than 70,000 people have been killed since 2006 . Almost every week we hear about more mass graves discovered . Most recently, a massacre of students in Iguala shook the nation . Mexico also suffers from the third largest illicit economy in the world, according to the Global Financial Integrity Report . Clearly, organised crime is openly challenging and fragmenting the state . In the face of these facts even President Nieto has admitted in public speeches that Mexico's legal system is in shambles . International experience and basic common sense indicate that a country must possess a minimum standard of the rule of law in order to be able to foster social benefits for most of its population when privatising state assets . Without functional regulatory and judicial controls, it is technically and politically not feasible for any oil-funded social development fund to effectively spread wealth to future generations through new public education programmes, a modernised public health, adequate environmental standards and a much-improved physical infrastructure . Absolutely nothing today indicates that Mexico can implement privatisation of the oil infrastructure at even the most basic standards of security, transparency, effectiveness and efficiency . Yet ,  a Mexican paradox occurs . While insecurity still runs at record highs , foreign money keeps pouring in . What's going on? Since the beginning of the still unfinished democratic transition and since the economic opening to international trade of the early 1990s, Mexico managed to attract billions of dollars per year in foreign direct investment . Yet ,  most of this money has been channelled into politically managed non-competitive sectors in the hands of Mexican "state courtesans" disguised as private entrepreneurs who over the last 25 years created vast oligopolies out of the privatisation of state assets . The privatisation process in Mexico has largely been conducted through dubious procedures orchestrated by corrupt federal governments . All this happened in the midst of a Mexican economy lacking technological innovation with low productivity and where more than half of what is produced and consumed is exchanged within informal/illicit markets . Nevertheless ,  these so-called private oligopolies within the mining, banking and telecommunications industries operate in a crony capitalistic fashion by attracting foreign investors to politically protected markets in which governments (through bribes and subsidies) ensure rates of return two to five times above the international average . How can, for example, German or US oligopolies presently investing in Mexico fail to fall in love with such a "generous" corrupt system? The forthcoming Mexican oil privatisation falls comfortably within this "legally corrupt" economic framework . Yet ,  harsh social realities have a way of trumping politics most of the time . Mexican writer and journalist Ana Lilia Perez published in 2012 a book titled"The Black Cartel" in which she provides a description of massive organised crime infiltration within the top managerial echelons of the state-run oil company, PEMEX . The nature of the organised crime infiltration covers technical and political appointees at PEMEX . Moreover ,  with thorough documentation, Ms Perez provides a detailed account of how and where a large portion of the oil extracted and distributed by PEMEX is currently stolen through illegal operations . These have been linked to Mexican politicians and US and Mexican private companies selling illegal Mexican oil to the markets in Canada, Mexico and the US, with the complicity of the Mexican armed forces supposedly responsible for protecting the PEMEX infrastructure . The current illegal oil trafficking comes with high-level political corruption, intense armed conflict causing thousands of deaths per month and frequent acts of terrorism against the PEMEX infrastructure . One cannot expect this armed conflict scenario to just go away after privatisation . In this kind of context, any honest foreign investor bidding within a Mexican oil privatisation process should have his or her head checked or otherwise possess enough political clout within Mexico or the financial capacity to bribe with millions of dollars the government ladder and pay for a vast praetorian guard of security personnel to manage the armed chaos ahead . In comparison , dealing with other oil producing countries with problematic states, such as Nigeria, would seem like a walk in the park . Shareholders of oil companies can only expect low economic returns and chaos from investing in the Mexican oil sector , unless , prior to any private investment drive, an international judicial cooperation effort starts dismantling the vast organised crime networks within the Mexican oil business and beyond . This international judicial cooperation must entail the actual implementation of a serious anti-corruption programme within the Mexican state with much broader conflict of interest and traffic of influence statutes, all monitored by reputable international civil society organisations . Furthermore ,  the failure of the Mexican state needs to be corrected with the installation of autonomous investigative units for economic crimes within each Mexican region and the creation of witness protection programmes for cases of political corruption linked to organised crime . These reforms will be good for Mexican society in general and also good for the pockets of Mexican and foreign oil investors .
[EX A]: Clearly, organised crime is openly challenging and fragmenting the state Almost every week we hear about more mass graves discovered

[EX Q]: Last minute Christmas shopping: Five things to avoid. This weekend millions of Americans will take to the mall to get last-minute gifts for their loved ones . They will pour through the already-picked-over selections to try and find "the gift." For those of you who are forced into the mall this weekend : I'm sorry . Here are five things to avoid as we enter the final shopping days before Christmas . 1 \. Believe the best bargains are found if you wait until the last minute . While it's true , retailers are starting their after-Christmas sales earlier than ever - just as the Christmas shopping season starts before you get to Thanksgiving dessert - seasoned shoppers know(1) value and(2) bargain do not mean the same thing . We all know just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's "a bargain" or a "value." It's only a bargain if it is truly something you want or need, and are able to get it at a deep discount . Often last minute shoppers don't know what they want . For those shopping this weekend you will have to settle for what circumstances present , which in many cases will be cheap materials, but not a bargains . The value is the ratio of quality (or quantity) to price . Low quality at a low price is no value , especially when compared to high quality at a low price . Values tend go early in the holiday shopping season . Cheap stays on the shelf until it's all that's left . 2 . Believe there is still money to spend in your budget this month . Last minute shopping, particularly for December, means buying during the back half of the month . That's typically when most income for the month is already committed , and any incremental spending means "borrowing against the future." It's better to buy early - and spread the purchasing over time - so you can more easily absorb the expense . Nobody likes that "January surprise." And for new last- minute shoppers, that surprise can be surprisingly BIG! 3 . Believe you can still find "just the right gift for Uncle George." Waiting until the last minute to shop means having to make compromises . Time and selection are your two greatest "friends" when you shop early . But for last minute shoppers they become your two greatest nightmares : you're pressed for time and all the best colors, sizes and values, are gone . Don't put yourself under a lot of pressure to find that perfect gift . At this stage in the game, a gift will do . 4 . Believe you still need "just one more" gift . We should all take a lesson out of Santa's playbook: 1. Make a list. 2. Check it twice . Too often last minute shopping isn't just an indication you've waited to the bitter end to buy those needed gifts . It also means you've waited too long to plan that shopping . And when that happens you're never quite sure if you have all the gifts you need (it seems keeping track of what you've bought is just as hard as planning what to buy in advance!) . So you keep buying just one more gift... just to make sure you've covered all your bases . By the way, that's when shoppers are especially susceptible to impulse buying . An attention-arresting display will attract last minute shoppers like honey attracts flies! 5 . Believe that the shopper has the advantage . While it is true that the Saturday before Christmas is still one of the busiest shopping days of the year , the advantage has swung back in favor of the retailer . With fewer hours to shop until Santa fills his sack, the retailer has the upper hand , especially if they've had a strong Q4 . For some, shopping the weekend before Christmas can bring the ultimate sense of that holiday experience . For those who enjoy shopping as a pastime, it's one of the best times to be in the mall , but for those folks who need to fulfill a shopping list, it can be one of the worst . The early bird still does get the worm . And the late bird gets ... the opportunity to pick over the dregs with a lot of other "late birds." With the brief time remaining before Christmas, use it to "shop for fun" not for necessity . It will truly help keep you in the Christmas spirit .
[EX A]: Here are five things to avoid as we enter the final shopping days before Christmas This weekend millions of Americans will take to the mall to get last-minute gifts for their loved ones

[EX Q]: Foie gras is exactly as delicious as you've heard. It should nonetheless be banned. When a US judge struck down California's 2 1/2 year old foie gras ban on Wednesday , a Napa Valley chef said he'd been "jumping up and down for 90 minutes." I'll bet you were, dude . Foie gras hits you in your animal pleasure center with the force of a bullet train and gives you, experientially, a high closer to that of a narcotic than sexual gratification . I was 19 and at le Grand Vefour, the legendary Parisian restaurant, when I first ate foie gras . An unassuming ceramic tub of what looked and smelled a bit like cat food arrived at the table with a glass of Sauternes the color of a hepatitis patient's urine to wash it down . My first, tentative, nibble of foie gras resists any food critic hyperbole for which I could reach to describe how wonderful it was - and has been every time since . You can't argue convincingly with the extraordinarily pleasurable experience of eating foie gras . However ,  you also can't argue convincingly - although many foodies try- that gavage, the force-feeding process which produces the stuff, isn't torture or, at at minimum, animal cruelty of a most hideous type . I am an unapologetic omnivore who worships at the altar of good (and "bad") food - so, hardly an animal rights advocate - and I believe that, for the most part, people have the right to to put what they want in their mouths . But the State of California was correct to ban foie gras , and I sincerely hope Attorney General Kamala Harris fights to get the ban reinstated . Contemplate gavage for a moment : for two or three weeks, migratory birds (ducks, geese) are kept in cages . Three times a day they have steel funnels shoved down their throats ; an auger is turned ; and they are force fed . The birds' livers grow enormous - eventually taking up half the space of their lower body . Aquatic birds, like ducks and geese, evolved as creatures who spend most of their time on the water, only occasionally foraging on land . They are social animals who like to hang out in groups, preen and communicate with each other via display and call . Sitting in a cage for a few weeks being force-fed is a horrible fate for any sentient being , but it is particularly nasty for these migratory birds . Some foie gras lovers argue that gavage can be ethical : there are "good" poultry farmers who use flexible plastic tubes instead of steel to force feed birds who get to roam around barns . Anthony Bourdain famously commented that "you see worse [than gavage] in the pay-per-view film on the hotel channel- and that's people, for God's sake" . (Presumably he was referring to fellatio) . Then there's the "civilized" cultures argument: the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans used gavage to produce foie gras, therefore as a similarly "civilized" culture we should be similarly allowed to force feed birds . Possibly the most specious argument against the California ban came from the plaintiffs' lawyer, Michael Tenenbaum , who called the ruling " a victory for freedom." Tenenbaum wasn't ad-libbing : many chefs and foodies have held that banning foie gras is the equivalent to "cultural imperialism" and is an abridgment of their basic rights . If Tenenbaum, too, truly believes that , he should be litigating for chefs' rights to make shark fin soup, fry up songbirds, pour boiling oil into live monkeys' brains, and in general cook up anything they damn well please . I get nervous when people - even really smart, talented people - use the word "freedom" to mean"I get to do what I want" . In the case of foie gras bans, the argument is that, because this food is so delicious, you get to eat it, cook with it, produce it and make money off it - no matter that it's produced as the result of an inhumane practice which has been documented by scientists as causing severe, prolonged suffering to animals . The discontent of civilization, as Freud once pointed out, is that we don't all get to do what we want . The price of getting to live among our fellow humans in a truly civilized society is that we have to repress some of our urges . I love everything about eating foie gras - but I do it rarely , and I look forward to the day when I won't be able to find it on a menu .
[EX A]:
Foie gras hits you in your animal pleasure center with the force of a bullet train and gives you, experientially, a high closer to that of a narcotic than sexual gratification