Many
thanks to Rosalind for flying ‘Daddy’, the 
TV Blamed for Fear of Mexico
Last Modified: Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 9:48 p.m.
The subject: Whether it is safe for American students (and logically, any American of any age) to vacation in Mexico.
For the past several weeks, many cable networks have devoted segments to hyping the alleged dangers of vacationing in Mexico.
This particular celebrity attempted to do the same when Pauline appeared with him, but was the first such commentator to permit a person believing otherwise to speak for about 5 percent of the time.
As Pauline talked, the show's producers filled the screen behind her with incongruous shots of drug-related gunbattles in Mexico, and as she attempted to develop her statement, the talk-show host spoke over her for more than 90 percent of the program.
In actual fact, the resort areas of Mexico - Cancun, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo, Cabo San Lucas, the Maya Riviera, Huatulco and Nayarit - have experienced no violence directed against tourists and are, in fact, almost totally serene, as I myself witnessed on a recent stay.
It is as safe to vacation in the tourist part of Mexico today as to go to any city of the U.S. or Canada.
The recent violence in Mexico has occurred almost entirely in towns along the Mexican border with Texas and Arizona, and the single Mexican state of Chihuahua, surrounding the border town of Ciudad Juarez, has been the site of more than 50 percent of the violence (according to The New York Times), with additional instances in Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo.
The violence is drug-related and involves people engaged in the drug trade or in the suppression of the drug trade into the United States.
All this is recognized in the recent State Department "alert" on the subject, which also draws a careful distinction between the border cities of Mexico/U.S. and the areas many hundreds of miles away where tourists go.
When that recent talk show would dwell on the battles in Ciudad Juarez, adjoining El Paso, Texas, and follow up by claiming that all of Mexico was therefore dangerous for tourism, Pauline would respond by asking whether tourists should not go to New York because of problems in Detroit. "It's a big country," she managed to say.
Her host never responded to her emphatic claims that visitors to Mexico's major resort areas have not suffered in the slightest from the border wars happening hours and hours away.
To return to my own recent experience in Mexico: I enjoyed the most serene vacation imaginable just a few weeks ago in Cancun and along the Maya Riviera. The assertion that I was in danger from drug wars in faraway Juarez is laughable.
Can anyone explain to me why the cable networks are attempting to destroy tourism to Mexico? Why do they feel compelled to advance the party line on that issue? Other Mexican Web sites (see, for example, the LatinBusinessChronicle.com) have picked up the battle between Pauline and her interviewer and expressed similar puzzlement and outrage as to why America's television entertainers (posing as journalists) are attempting to defame all of Mexico - and destroy travel to a nation that received more than 18 million American tourists in 2008.
[ Arthur Frommer is a travel writer and guide. ]
Letters
I commend Mr.
Sanders on his charity work
You write in your article "Looking at the dramatic
and inspiring views...........Sanders would see
God's hand directing his work here in Mexico".
It's too bad nobody stopped to think why did god
allow the situation for Mr. Sanders to find it
necessary to do the good work he is doing.
Patricia Wilfert
Hi Dorothy,
Hola Bill Thanks for the e-newsletter
We are back in Canada and it is a balmy 13 degrees!!!!
It was great getting to know you ad Dot a little better
this season
Thanks for printing my Pics and we are looking forward
to seeing you again next year
All the best to you and your family
Dianna and Larry Belitski
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Trailer for Sale - REDUCED TO SELL Now $5000
Avion trailer that is in Paraiso del Pescador Trailer Park. Would you please put the following ad in the Jaltemba Sol ASAP:
FOR SALE: Avion trailer, 10.6
metres (approximately 35'), aluminum,
$7,500. $5000 U.S. See at Paraiso del Pescador
Trailer Park, Space #1. I'm leaving for
the U.S. on April 2. After that the
trailer will be in Space #8. e-mail
barbarakc2005@yahoo.com Mexico
phone: 327-274-0779 or 816-444-4031 U.S.
SE VENDE: Avion remolque, 10.6
metres, aluminio, $110,500 (pesos)
$5000 US en Paraiso del Pescador trailer park,
espacio #1. Despues April 1 en espacio
#8. Correo de internet
barbarakc2005@yahoo.com Telephone en
Mexico 327-274-0779 or U.S.
816-444-4031.
Learn
Spanish Today 
- Learn Spanish on-line for free, using interactive audio/visual lessons.
Photography by Bill Bell to view Mexico Photography click below
Colonial Cities and Towns Archeological Sites
Mexico Diverts River to Build Massive
Dam in Nayarit
Go to original article
MEXICO
CITY – President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday in
western Mexico led the ceremony marking the
start of diverting of the Santiago River to
allow construction of the La Yesca dam, which
will be the second-highest dam in the world.To be able to divert the river it was necessary to build two enormous tunnels 14 meters (about 46 feet) in diameter to channel the waters away from the site.
The diversion of the water exposed the river bed so that workers can construct the dam, which is located on the mutual border of the states of Nayarit and Jalisco.
The project will require an investment of $767 million and is being carried out by the Mexican firm ICA for state-owned utility CFE.
Calderon said that the dam “will be the most important hydroelectric project” undertaken by his administration and will put “Mexico in the vanguard in the generation of clean electrical energy.”
He said that the structure will be the world’s second-highest dam, after one built in China.
La Yesca will produce 750 megawatts of electricity, Calderon added.
According
to government calculations, the construction of
the dam will create 5,000 direct jobs and around
15,000 indirect ones.The Mexican president said that his government will increase spending on infrastructure despite the economic crisis.
“This year, we want to give a boost of at least 500 billion pesos ($32.89 billion), if not more, to infrastructure,” he said. EFE
Expats Need Permits for Volunteer Work
Twila Crawford - PVNN
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Questions undoubtedly will be endless about what is volunteerism, and what is not. |
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Expatriate volunteers in Puerto Vallarta
need to file papers to receive
permission from Immigration to volunteer
here. No fee is charged at this time.
Compliance by volunteers is to be by the
end of April. A brochure of rules is to
be available by March 15th. A news media
release also is to be provided by
Immigration to media.
Talk to the organization heads where you
volunteer to receive their form, write a
letter yourself in Spanish explaining
how you volunteer, and provide copies of
the first two pages of your passport,
that includes your photo, for
presentation to Immigration.
Last week, the International Friendship
Club (IFC) community room was packed
with expatriates full of questions. U.S.
Consular Agent Kelly Trainer coordinated
the two-and-one-half-hour meeting with
three Immigration personnel present. The
new director, or subdelegado, is
Alejandro Sandoval Hernandez, handling
regional Immigration.
Examples of concerns given by
Immigration are some bartenders saying
they are volunteers... and issues in the
real estate area. Volunteer musicians
and receipts of donations and tips
(considered income) are going to need
some further discussion.
Issues also came up concerning churches
and their charities work. Further
clarification also is needed concerning
condo boards and what is considered
volunteer work and what is going to
require work permits. Questions
undoubtedly will be endless about what
is volunteerism, and what is not.
Persons earning money, who do not have
working papers, need to get their papers
in order. Whether earning money, or
volunteering, note that the persons
fined recently at Santa Barbara Theater,
needed to pay up or were to be deported
within 24 hours. As in our own
countries, we need to follow the rules,
regulations and laws of this country,
Mexico, whether we agree with them or
not. Or probably move on.
The director of Immigration will be
available at the Immigration office from
9 am to 1 pm, Monday-Friday, to receive
papers from expatriates. Attendees at
the meeting also were reminded to carry
a copy of your visa and of your passport
at all times.
The Immigration phone number is
322-224-7970. If you feel you must state
your observations to U.S. Consular Agent
Kelly Trainor, her email is
amigakelly(at)prodigy.net.mx.
If you need help with typing or filling
out forms any time, Lorenza M. de Arias'
business is located in Plaza Marsol,
next to the Immigration office. Her
telephone number is (322) 224-3555. She
is very helpful.
An
award-winning journalist, Twila Crawford
lives in Puerto Vallarta, where, in
addition to contributing articles to
BanderasNews, the PV Mirror and other
local publications, she writes Out and
About in Puerto Vallarta, an informative
column that offers inside information
about who, what, why, where and when
it's happening around Banderas Bay.
Click HERE to read more articles by
Twila Crawford.
San Pancho AA
Alanon Monday at 5:00pm, CoDA Wednesday at 5:00pm, and AA Friday at 6:30pm in San Pancho in the museum on main street, between Galeria Corazon and San Pancho Cafe. Info at devasaya@gmail.com email or 311-258-4243.
Speak Spanish - That Should be Your Goal!
Learn Spanish Today Make 2009 the year that you learn Spanish
Can you Speak Spanish? How long have you been studying Spanish? Between high school classes, college classes and you own efforts you could easily have a couple years already under your belt. During this time you have likely built up a good Spanish vocabulary, along with a basic understanding of Spanish verb conjugation. But can you speak Spanish?
Why is speaking Spanish so hard? Would you feel comfortable approaching a native Spanish speaker and starting a conversation? Why not? Why is it so hard to speak Spanish even after years of study?
Beginning high school and college Spanish classes, as well as most self study Spanish courses start off by teaching vocabulary and verb conjugation. You practice speaking, but the focus is on the individual word or phrase. Lists of words are memorized and tests are given on verb conjugation. So when it comes time to speak, the words and phrases are separate in your mind. It becomes a matter of trying to pull all the pieces together and form them all into a sensible sentence, not just speaking.
The key to becoming more comfortable in speaking situations is to practice and learn the sentences as a whole, not in separate pieces. This way when you are trying to remember what to say, the whole sentence pops in your mind, not just one word. You will speak Spanish more correctly, more fluently and more confidently than ever before.
The Visual Link Spanish Course allows you to utilize this effective way of learning and practice speaking Spanish. In our
free online demo lessons, you can see how we utilize these strategies to truly teach you to speak Spanish. You will be able to recall everything you learn and words will come into your mind as a complete sentence not separate individual words. You will already be on your way to speaking Spanish more fluently and more confidently.
