I was in Iguala Saturday, and..

I found that the town appears to have recovered from the tragedy of the missing (and now found murdered) students.  I bought 3 lots on a mountainside overlooking the city a few years ago and had to drive down to make my quarterly payment.

Myself and a few friends from Cuernavaca purchased 8 lots in this huge development and are either waiting for our investment to increase or the right time for development.  Although there was a definite lack of police visible in the city, the opposite was true for the Army.  There is an Army Base located in central Iguala, but on numerous past visits, I hadn't even realized it was there.  Basically until things settle down in Iguala, it is under martial law.  I don't know whether this actually made me feel safe or not.

We made our property payments and chatted with the lady selling us the property.  She went into great detail about how these innocent students were not quite as innocent as the news had made them out to be.  They come from a nearby town and are poor students trying to survive and continue their schooling.  Groups of them in the past have been hired to protest in theirs or nearby towns on behalf of various factions (including police, politicians and narcos).  Their protests have always been boisterous and many times have led to extreme violence.

Recently they burned the city hall with all the records in Iguala, destroyed the local mall and have stolen buses to return home and from what our friend told us; even set people on fire and killed them.  The residents of Iguala know these 'students' to be a little more than protesters.  We were even told explicitly that the residents were sorry that they were murdered, but quite relieved that they were gone.  Anyway, I have to return to Iguala to make the last payment on two of my lots this January, and we'll see if the city has settled back into it's normal routine by then.

As an aside, I have witnessed many protests in Mexico, and the chanting and sign-waving are always exciting.  However, if you ask many of the protesters just exactly what they are protesting and what the issues are, they will look at you dumbfounded.  You see, most of the protesters in Mexico are paid to attend, and some even make it a career.  Amazing.

My 4th winter in Mexico...

Winters in Mexico are fantastic.  I'm well into my 2nd month of 7 in my 4th winter living in Mexico.  Today a strange thought struck me.  I remember my first winter here, and it was totally new and exciting.  Every day seemed like a new adventure, and the warmth, oh how I enjoyed the freedom from Canada's cold winters.  Now, it all seems normal.  I am still busy, and I'm sure there are many adventures to come, but life here now leaves me with a feeling that I can only describe as comfortable.

Although I live my summers on Vancouver Island, I can clearly remember the winters there were nothing like winters on the Prairies or the Rocky Mountains.  But it can still get cold - especially compared to Mexico.  Cold here, now that we are into November, is a chilly 75 degrees during the day and an icy 60 at night.  It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about life in Canada at this point in time.

The winter smells here are extremely similar to the summer smells back home, but perhaps just a little more pungent.  However, the sounds of the local birds (including roosters crowing every morning) and insects are completely different than Canada.  Today I noticed hummingbirds flitting from flower to flower in my yard, and realized that they seemed much larger than the northern variety.

I now own a car and have my Mexican driver license, so I think it is time to do some exploring.  Hopefully this will put a little spice back into my life. It is funny how as we grow accustomed to new situations, excitement wains.  So now it's time to make a new life decision.  Do I sit back in my new comfortable position, or do I get out there and explore more of the world?

Enough blogs on politics....

I brought my old Blackberry Bold 9900 to Mexico this year.  My plan was to sell it here and switch to iPhones when I got back to Canada next spring.  I decided against it, and instead found a site to unlock it so I can use it in Mexico.  I found a site called freemyblackberry.com and gave it a try.  My model was one of the lucky ones that could be unlocked free (in 48 hours) or if I wanted, I could pay a whopping $3.00 Cdn and unlock it immediately.

Because I'm retired and on a fixed income, I decided to try the free option.  As promised, today my phone was unlocked, I installed my Mexican SIM card from my Motorola, and voila; my phone is unlocked.  I now think I'll keep it as my permanent Mexican cell, and now have my Motorola as a spare for my daughter when she visits.  In Mexico, you can purchase a new SIM card for about 200 pesos to activate your phone and get a 200 peso credit to boot.  200 pesos will give you about 200 text messages, free incoming calls, and for local calls about 2 pesos a minute.  Almost free...

Not that many people have Blackberry's anymore, but still a very useful site if your phone is paid for and you travel to other countries.  Now to re-program all my Mexican contacts into my BB....

http://freemyblackberry.com/index.php

Russell Brand and Stephen Harper.

Canada is now under attack from extremists, and are now just like the USA.  Why?  Why is Canada now a target?  It is pretty obvious.  Our Federal Leaders (run by Harper) declared war on ISIS by promising to send our planes to Iraq.  Now this in itself may not be a bad thing.  ISIS extremists are dangerous and murdering innocent people, and they must be stopped by someone.  But in the past, Canada has always sent peacekeepers and humanitarian aid, not warriors.  Why change now?

Canadians are not idiots, but I think they are currently being manipulated.  Harper knows full well that during the heat of the Iraq/Syrian, or any other conflict, if we sent soldiers to fight we would become a target.  It is just like George W. Bush knew that if America allowed bin Laden to continue his threats, it would only be a matter of time before the jihad was brought to America.  When the twin towers fell, this gave his government the power to go to war, and strengthen US homeland security laws.

Sad, but now Canada is following in the same footsteps.  It is unfortunate that politicians thirst for power forces us into situations like this, and it is the Canadian people and our soldiers that will suffer - not Harper or his associates.  I will fight for Canada to the end and support our military, but never on behalf of a corrupt government that is more concerned with power and re-elections than with doing what is right for Canadians.  I hope Harper's motives are honorable. What do you think his motives are with an election looming next year?  Here is a link to Russell Brand's video.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/24/russell-brand-canada-stephen-harper_n_6045210.html

In closing, it seems like the entire world is controlled by those with money and power - and to top it off, they all seem corrupt and above the law and are almost never held accountable for their actions.  I wonder if Democracy has a chance, but enough negative thoughts.  Russell Brand at least nails the sad truth, but makes it interesting at the same time.

Taliban, ISIS, Terrorists.

C'mon, don't tell us not to worry about between 80-130 or more potential terrorists living among us in Canada.  Aren't these the people that have been trained to despise Christians, and to infiltrate us and kill us whenever they get the chance.  They will lie and say anything they think we want to hear, to conceal themselves among us.

How our RCMP and CSIS actually think they can convert them from Islam is beyond my comprehension.  It's like convincing a serial rapist to live amongst his/her prey and to just please stop doing it.  I don't think so.  These people are so radicalized that nothing will bring them back.  Particularly since they truly believe heaven is waiting for them if they kill us.

The non-Canadian born potential terrorists that have now been trained in Syria, or wherever, and returned should have their passports revoked and shipped back to their home countries.  If they were born in Canada, that is a different matter.  Charge them with treason.  If they have been trained to make war on Canadian citizens, it is just that, an act of war and they should be treated as war criminals.

How can we allow people to leave our Country to be trained to kill us upon their return; and then let them come back.  Oh, I feel much safer now, we are watching them closely.  Yeah, watching them drive their cars into innocent Canadians.  Will we next see public be-headings from these people being watched?  What is wrong with our leaders?

I think I'll just stay in Mexico for a few more months, and upon my return to Canada, I'll watch carefully over my shoulder.  Don't tell me to feel safe with these fanatics living amongst us, and to have faith in our policing system to protect us.  To me, both have already proven their incompetence.  Do you feel safe?

Ebola.

Here is a link to the WHO (World Health Organization) site that gives a very good history of the Ebola virus.  How it started, how it is transmitted and how to protect yourself from coming in contact with, and contracting it.

Ebola Virus Disease

As of today, October 11, 2014, Ebola has only surfaced in Dallas, Texas.  Canada has no reported cases, and the chances of an infected person arriving in Canada is relatively slim.  That being said, if high risk potential carriers of the disease arriving from West Africa are not discovered and stopped in the USA, they could potentially be able to carry on to Canada.  Hopefully the disease has been stopped in it's tracks in Dallas.

I have to travel through the USA over the next few months, and I will sure be careful what I touch and who I come in contact with at the airports.  Scary.  I think I'll stay away from West Africa for a while.

Mexican policing?

Police helicopters are flying over our neighborhood today supposedly looking for the Mayor of the City of Iguala, one hour south of Cuernavaca,where the recent disappearances/murders of college students took place.  I don`t know if they actually have information that he might be hiding in our area, but I suspect they are performing these searches (as I have seen them do many times) to try to prove to the public that they are actively searching for this criminal.

How, on earth, can they expect us to believe that the can fly over various areas in numerous cities and actually expect to flush this guy out of hiding.  As I stood out on our balcony watching this ineffective search being performed, I thought to myself, I sure do hope I don`t look like the Canadian version of the Mayor of Iguala.  We could have paratroopers sliding down ropes into our back yard.

This search would be laughable if it wasn`t for the fact that all these students have disappeared and are feared murdered.  It is indicative of the system here whereby known criminals are allowed to wander freely around the country, with everyone knowing that they are criminals, and no one seems to be able to catch them until they do something that lands them in the international news.  Then the search by helicopter begins.  Crazy county sometimes, but I do hope they catch the guy.