Reality, structure of politicians etc.

Found this and this is labeled in Russian.....I am sure it requires little translation...If you can't figure it out, let me know and I will give you a translation. At least I thought it was apropos.

Caesar's dies

From the AP Wire, it is reported that in Tijuana, Caesar's is dead.

The Tijuana restaurant that popularized the Caesar salad has closed, an apparent victim of a tourism-dependent economy devastated by crime, drug violence and the swine flu.

The slump in visitors from the U.S. also appeared to have claimed another food innovator on the border — an eatery linked to the invention of nachos in the town of Piedras Negras, across the Rio Grande from Texas.

The story goes on to say that both restaurants grew to fame, as legend goes that they whipped up some food in a hurry to satisty hungry visiting Gringos. Caesar's shut down on Monday after years of serving the famous romaine lettuce salad which was invented by Caesar Cardini in the 1920's...

An ex employee said that tourists aren't coming because they are scared off by drug cartel turf battles that often occur in Mexico's border regions and by last spring's flu outbreak.

How sad that a long standing institution has been shuttered because of bad economy and bad PR. What's next, Hussong's in Ensenada or maybe the bar with the burro?

Changing times.......

And I was saddened when my favorite Taco stand in Patzcuaro closed......Tacos Chinos......Sad day indeed!

My In Town Diggs.....could have been.

If I had to do it over again, I may have had the chance to live on or a block off the plaza. I keep looking at the building, but now know that however nice it maybe, it would have been a nightmare, especially wanting any semblance of modern life, hassle free.

There is no such thing as hassle free living.
Not even a new home, ok , well maybe a new home for about a year is hassle free, sort of.


Our home has been build for a little over ten years and now, there are some items that keep life interesting.

Two weeks ago our caretaker's house developed a water leak emanating from the floor.

Up come the floor tiles, Up and out comes the concrete, necessary to expose the 1/2 inch copper water pipes.

Seems that immediately after a local lighting strike, the water pipe somehow must have been affected.

There could have been several thought on this.

The long effects of corrosive action of the copper pipe may have been touching some steel screening that was placed in the floor slab
Or
The electric potential of the lighting strike hitting the earth could have used the water pipe as a conductor to ground and opened up a joint or a weak point in the pipe.....anyway it was a 2 or 3 day job, with more stuff to do.

I can just imagine what my 200 year old plaza house would have created in the upkeep responsibility quotient.....
Something I probably would not mind if the place was about 200 sq feet, but not one that is 3 stories, with a courtyard and 20 rooms or so.
The idea is to reduce some of the "stuff" that happens, and keep a balance of stuff that needs to be done.
Sometimes it can just wear you down. Leaky toilets. dripping faucets, rusting gutters and a roof leak or two, can upset that perfect vacation picture.

There is something to be said for not owing a place, but then again, somehow we have been drilled into , the security of ownership.

At this point is may be a little overrated.

Ask me in another month or two and I will probably change my mind.

Maybe just a single room on the plaza with no lawn, no caretaker and no responsibilities would suffice.....maybe not!

Ooh, Oh... ¿Verde dices?

Maybe the land fills are filling up faster than they should or faster than they really should. Mexico doesn't have any kind of recycling programs that I know of, not at least in the Patzcuaro area.

Today I read an article that Mexico City is putting into effect a ban on plastic bags.
Commendable especially when you consider that ever time you look on the side of the road or on the beach you will see the evidence of simply not tossing it out responsibly.

Responsibility?

That is the word that evades the normal family and the cause of so many issues down here that it will be interesting to see the result.

Children are taught from an early age that it is perfectly OK to toss something out the window whether it be a plastic bottle ( or glass) or plastic or paper bags, filled or unfilled.

The sound a sailing plastic Coke one liter bottle makes as it hits your window while, momentarily pausing it's journey to the side of the road is unnerving. , as you attempt to bring the car back into control while you catch a glimpse of the bouncing projectile as it find it's way to the side of the road, wishing that there would be instant payback.

Our road is littered daily with not only plastic bottles and bags, but with cans, empty cartons and various other objects that were once firmly held in someones hand never to see the proper receptacle.

I wonder if the Plastic Police will now be in line to receive instant settlement of their portion of the spread the wealth program.

I don't think it is a problem with plastic bags as much as it is with the general attitude of just litter control and understanding where it ends up and how and what it ultimately impacts.

There is nothing worse than seeing not only plastic bags but all the other stuff routinely fill our landfills and sides of the roads. Our property borders on a local highway, routinely twice or three times a month we have to clean up a full garbage bag of someone else's tossings.....

I guess it's the freedom to do what one wishes?

Well to be fair, I will have to reconsider the recycling issue. Lots of stuff never would reach the recyclers. It would have been morphed into something, since Mexicans never seem to throw away anything with the slightest value, except trash...... There lies the problem!

So what's new?

We follow the happenings in Honduras daily. Especially the interaction of the US State Department and how and why it is acting and responding to the situation.

We have friends and family down there. My wife just recently returned from visiting there for awhile.

It is interesting to hear the goings on from someone who has been there, grew up there, lived there and has roots from there.

I am disappointed how the political machine operates. It is also interesting how and why certain things happen, politically speaking.....

So what else is new.

There is an interesting book written by John Perkins. The book is called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

He tells of his own journeys and assignments to countries including, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia to name a few. He was recruited by the United States National Security Agency and was on the "payroll" of a US consulting firm.

If you want to understand the tentacles of politics and self serving special interest, this is a great book to read. I sort of knew that stuff was going on, but this really opened my eyes to the crap that is tossed about on a daily basis.

You can then understand why certain nonsensical, unexplainable things occur and it answers a lot to the daily " you would not believe what is happening" and the motivations of stuff that happens.......