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Archive for July, 2007

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Eleven Hour Drive To Queretaro

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Well, I left Sunday morning at 2:30am and made it across Mexico City without getting killed! Made it to Queretaro about 1pm in the afternoon. We’re planning on leaving for the border on the 5th…then to Las Vegas to see my son Greg…and then to Oregon.

An expat said by email on Monday that “the radio reports that the Popular Movement in Oaxaca will meet at the market (I didn’t hear which, but out near Branamiel) very early this morning. They will go to the foot of the hill. Others are supposed to go singly (hormigas) like ants…A different report says they will avoid Crespo, and circle around by Porfirio Diaz, to the zocalo.

I would imagine that it will be very difficult to attack people, wherever they go. Tourists are witnesses. I also hear that no public transportation is coming into the city.”

Saigon Could Be Mexico

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

Or one of many other countries I have been in!

How to be a Taxi Driver in Saigon – Vietnam, Asia
By: Graham Price
www.bootsnall.com

Positions Available: Applicants Sought
Job Title: Taxi Driver
Location: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Qualifications Required: Driving license or some previous experience of having driven a car preferred, but not essential.

Skills Required
1. Excellent Spatial Awareness – you must be able to know exactly where your vehicle begins and ends. This will become apparent when you draw to a halt (from speed) precisely one millimeter away from the scooter in front, or when driving (at speed) through a red light that requires a death-defying manoeuvre between traffic coming from either side.

2. A Strong Right Thumb – this is a must for successful horn operation. The horn has many uses; the following list is by no means exhaustive. Creativity and resourcefulness in this area are particularly welcome. The horn should be sounded when you wish to:

– Hurry vehicles in front along
– Bully smaller vehicles into the slow lane [or onto the shoulder]
– Warn any bikes in the right-hand lane of your intention to turn right from the left-hand lane
– Warn other users of your presence (especially when overtaking on a busy street, driving the wrong way down a one way street, running a red light, or taking a corner on the wrong side of the road.)
– Scare pedestrians who have become stranded in the middle of the road (purely entertainment value)
– Inform drivers ahead that the traffic lights have changed. In this instance, the horn should be sounded precisely half a nanosecond after amber turns to green.
– Apologise to someone whom you have cut-up whilst changing lanes
– Show your distress and distaste if any other road user should be inconsiderate enough to run red lights, drive on the wrong side of the road, etc.

3. The ability to “read” your passenger’s “type” – Passengers tend to fall into one of four main groups:
[read on]

Still Another Voice

Monday, July 23rd, 2007
I have been invited to Max's this afternoon for pork loin. I know it will be good...he used to be a chef. But first I'll go the zocalo to watch still another march enter from the airport. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Another Voice

Monday, July 23rd, 2007
The voice of an American expat with family here who is invested in the life of Oaxaca:
The "commercial people," by and large, would have gladly gotten rid of URO (the Governor) a long time ago. The reason that URO is ... [Continue reading this entry]

Friendly Concern From Dear Friends

Monday, July 23rd, 2007
Here is an email exchange with a dear friend in Oregon. My answers are strictly from the point of view of an outsider...one who has only lived here one year and with limited intimate knowledge and understanding of what ... [Continue reading this entry]

Correcting The Record

Monday, July 23rd, 2007
I need to correct the record on the July 16 clash between the police and protestors in Oaxaca as I keep seeing mainstream and alternative media reports that the police were preventing people from entering the Fortin Hill auditorium where ... [Continue reading this entry]

Oaxaca Update

Saturday, July 21st, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007 2pm "Urgent" bulletins flying over the internet warn of the governor's plan to incite a violent showdown (see bulletin below, in Spanish) around Monday July 23, of the Guelaguetza, now being referred to as the "guerraguetza". The ... [Continue reading this entry]

Message From Doctora Berta

Saturday, July 21st, 2007
I received this information on a discussion site just now from a local expatriot who lives here: "For those of you who might not know, Dr. Muñoz, a medical doctor, became the preeminent voice of the popular movement on ... [Continue reading this entry]

Governor Blunders Again?

Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Rumors are circulating that as much as 50% (or perhaps more now) of reservations for the commercial Guelaguetza and tourist amenities like hotels have been cancelled. Attacking an unarmed and peaceful march exactly one week before the biggest week ... [Continue reading this entry]

Clash With Police On Fortin Hill

Monday, July 16th, 2007
Saturday night I got a ticket for parking in the wrong place in the Centro, so a bilingual friend in my apartment house generously accompanied me this morning to Santa Rosa on the outskirts of the city to pay my ... [Continue reading this entry]

Guelaguetza 2007

Monday, July 16th, 2007
Last year, the resistance "movement" (principally the APPO) that c0-0pted the annual teacher strike, boycotted the government-sponsored Guelaguetza, a traditional indigenous dance exposition that has been held at a specially built auditorium on the Fortin Hill... I think for ... [Continue reading this entry]

Why Read Political Blogs-Left To Right

Saturday, July 14th, 2007
I am waiting for the parts to arrive so I can get the bumper fixed on my car. In the meantime I am wondering how I am going to know who to vote for in 2008 and beyond. I have ... [Continue reading this entry]

Perspective

Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
Pedro Matias, a journalist with 20 yrs of experience watching governmental abuses here in Oaxaca said recently that every hundred years Mexico seems to explode in revolution: in 1810 with Independence, 1910 with the Revolution, and people are now wondering ... [Continue reading this entry]

Contemplating Leaving

Sunday, July 8th, 2007
My one year visa in Mexico expires August 8. After visiting my son Greg in Las Vegas I should be back in Oregon by the middle of August...driving from Oaxaca to Queretaro to pick up my friend Patty who ... [Continue reading this entry]

Unclaimed Social Security Deposits

Friday, July 6th, 2007
The Mexican Solidary Network said today that undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are prohibited from claiming Social Security benefits to date accounting for unclaimed Social Security deposits that may be as much as US $400 billion.

End of the Remittance Bonanza?

Thursday, July 5th, 2007
July 5, 2007 Commerce and Immigration News In the past decade, remittances from migrant workers in the United States emerged as one of the pillars of the Mexican economy. From north to south, entire communities became dependent on the flow of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Just Intimidation?

Sunday, July 1st, 2007
By Nancy Davies: Saturday Noticias printed an article saying an attack in the Zocalo was "suspended." Two organizations are involved: Consejo Ciudadano para el Progresso, which was quoted as saying, "the peaceful expulsion planned for this Saturday was cancelled at the ... [Continue reading this entry]