Can Mexico Once Again Attract Foreign Retirees?

That’s a good question! Looking around locally in Todos Santos and Pescadero, the answer has to be yes. We never stopped attracting retirees, it’s just that the arrival rate slowed down quite a lot over the last two years. But things have picked up and the future is looking guardedly rosy once again.

If you would like to have a broader perspective on this question, then read the story, from mexdata.info,  at the link below:

Can Mexico Once Again Attract Foreign Retirees?

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Arson Fires In Todos Santos, Baja, Mexico

Remember the heurta fires of a few weeks ago? The first one was bad, burned lots of palms, a few houses, a trailer park and a boat. Just one of those things, right? Maybe not. Maybe they also were arson.

Last night there were 6 fires in the Todos Santos area. Sirens could be heard all over town. They were not just unfortunate happenings. A witness saw 4 young people, 2 males and 2 females in a red car, set one of the fires. They used gasoline. Then they quickly left and went off to start another fire. The young people (all from good local families) were apprehended and now likely face a dismal time in jail. It’s not a game any longer. Fortunately no one was hurt in the fires. But there was major property damage.  This is not the kind of “progress” we need in Todos Santos. See for yourself below:

Abandoned House In Las Tunas, Todos Santos, Torched!

La Revanche Disco In Central Todos Santos, Burned!

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The Mexican Constitution

We all know that Mexico has had several “revolutions”, first ousting foreigners and finally ousting home grown dictators. The result of the last revolution, the one that brought the country the one party control of the PRI, was a far reaching constitution, full of protections driven by the highest ideals of the time.

You can read the Mexican Constitution in full, in English, at the link below.

Mexican Constitution

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Epic Journey of Grey Whales

I just came across this great video (from the English version of Aljaseera of all sources!) covering the remarkable journey of grey whales, the same whales that grace our coastline here in Todos Santos Baja during the winter months. You can view it at the link below:

Epic Journey of Grey Whales

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Unreal Damage To Japan In Satellite Photos

These before and after photos are hard to believe. They sadly remind me of the devastation on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Thanks to the Baja Pony Express for the link.

Japan: Before and After

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Baja Viewed From Space

NASA just posted a high resolution photo of the Baja Peninsula taken on March 13, 2011. It’s nearly the entire Baja Peninsula but the southernmost parts are missing, including Todos Santos and Los Cabos. But it is a great shot! Click on the image below to see the full size rendering.

Baja Peninsula Seen From Space (Photo Courtesy NASA)

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The Developed World Is FAT!

According to the NY Times, countries in the OECD are fat, some very fat. Mexico leads the field (could it be all those flour tortillas and liter sized bottles of beer?)  based on stats from 2006 with 70% of the adult population being  considered overweight and 30% of the adult population being obese. USA follows closely behind at 68% and  28%.

In response to these statistics, Mexico has drastically changed regulations covering what can be sold to kids at school. Read more about all this fatness at the following links:

The World Is Fat

Mexico Puts Its Children On A Diet

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This Blog Was Being Copied (without permission) by Accident

Yep it’s true and I just discovered it today. Since Feb 8, a blog called lapaz.tobeinbaja.com had been reposting all my original copyrighted content including photos, without permission.

Julie Bruns, owner of the blog in question, was kind enough to immediately reply to my email explaining that it was not her intention to copy my content. Rather she was hoping to offer the first few lines of each post and link to this blog for the full post, thereby promoting Baja and this blog while creating a useful blog on her own part. Something went wrong with the coding and entire posts were being duplicated on her site. She has removed Todos Santos Pages from her site until she resolves the issues.

Thank you Julie, for being forthright about this entire incident.

I will however continue to add a footer to all posts on this blog so anyone can easily recognize when they have been copied. This has happened before, and last time it was not an accident so I think a footer is a good way to discourage copying.

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Presumed Guilty

You may have heard of a Mexican movie titled Presumed Guilty. It was banned in Mexico, then the courts allowed it to be shown publically once again. It is a stinging criticism of the inequalities and corruptions in the legal system here. You can view it in its entirety (Spanish with English subtitles) on YouTube:

Presumed Guilty

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FYI: No Tsunami Effect At All Here In Todos Santos Baja Mexico

I know I could have/should have posted this earlier but later is better than never. All is well here in Todos Santos, Baja. The tsunami had no effect at all. Life goes on as it did before. We are approaching the end of a very busy tourist season and I have personally been swamped with time intensive obligations. I have so many photos of events to share. Hopefully time will allow me to soon.

<I forgot to say in the original post that Los Cerritos beach was closed to the public on the morning of the tsunami so there were no emergencies there.>

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