Entries
Making it past 27
The death of Amy Winehouse, a chain smoking crack cocaine user, at the age of 27 on July 23, 2011 reminded Fulano of the long list of rock singers who died at age 27. Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, …
Sderot's Qassam Museum
There is a museum in Sderot, Israel. It only displays one type of object: the Qassam rockets that Palestinians have fired into Israel. There are thousands of them. The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government …
Jesus is Horus
I'm not talking about my gardener, Jesús. There are three basic views of the Biblical Jesus. First is the religious Christian view, second is the secular historical view, that holds that Jesus was a real person, but not the Son …
Ping Pong Diplomacy
In the movie "Forrest Gump," the main character is a man with an IQ of 70 or so who manages to be involved with almost every major political event in the US during the 1950's, 60's and 70's. Gump is …
The Year of Hidalgo
The current president of Mexico is Felipe Calderón Hinojosa. In Mexico, presidents serve for one six-year term. The last year of the sexenio is known as the Year of Hidalgo, which will end on December 1, 2012 for President Calderón. …
Situational Awareness
Situation awareness, is the perception of environmental elements within a volume of time and space, the understanding of their meaning, and the projection of their status into the near future. Lacking or having inadequate situational awareness has been identified as …
Rosarito's Connection to the Iran-Contra Affair
In March 2006, a jury convened by the US District Court in San Diego found Arif Durrani guilty "for multiple violations of the Arms Export Control Act," and in June 2006, a federal judge sentenced Durrani to serve twelve and …
The One Million Person Lie
"A lie told often enough becomes the truth." Vladimir Ilyich Lenin One thing you will see everywhere when reading up on Mexico is the oft told lie that one million Americans have retired there. This is the bandwagon approach to …
Waterboarding and Abuse in Rosarito
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning. Although a variety of specific techniques are used in waterboarding, the captive's face …
Death on the Border
LEY GENERAL DE POBLACIÓN - Artículo 11: El tránsito internacional de personas por puertos, aeropuertos y fronteras, sólo podrá efectuarse por los lugares designados para ello y dentro del horario establecido, con la intervención de las autoridades migratorias. Artículo 78: …
Mexico: Crony Capitalism and Illegal Immigration
A news item last week in the Tijuana newspaper, Frontera, highlighted a fundamental problem in Mexican politics. It seems the city of Playas de Rosarito ordered construction stopped on a new funeral parlor that was only 15-days from its grand …
The Wanted and the Unwanted
Mexicans have a way of turning a phrase that says so much, with an economy of words. One of the best phrases I have ever heard is their description of the Americans who live in Mexico, especially Baja. Their saying …
A Tale of Two Countries
It seems it has become a national pasttime for Americans to compare Mexico to the United States, with the usual goal of demonstrating how much better the US is than Mexico, and demonstrate that Mexico remains a third world country. …
The Beaches of Baja
Until 2003, there did not exist any national protocols in Mexico to determine the quality of ocean water used for recreation. In 2003, the Mexican secretariats of the Navy, Environment, Tourism and Health established a “Clean Beaches Program,” to evaluate …