Arizona: The new home of fruits and nuts

Picture this.  You are out of milk and bread so you hop in the car, drive to Safeway or 7-11, and as you get out of the car to walk into the store, someone approaches you.  They don't want your money.  They want your ID.  And, they want one other thing.  They want proof that you are a legal U.S. resident.   What would you do?

That was the scenario facing a large section of the population in Arizona after the kooky governor there and her cronies implemented SB1070, a law that the U.S. Supreme Court has now largely ruled unconstitutional.   It was a huge victory for civil rights, a great defeat for racism.   And it is a dual message to states and the federal government.  It is not up to individual states to decide how to enforce federal immigration laws.

Shortly after the SCOTUS decision was released, Arizona's eccentric governor Jan Brewer took to the airwaves to declare it was a tremendous victory for Arizona.   As the day wore on, perhaps her advisers informed her that in reality, it was an overwhelming repudiation of the Arizona law.  By the end of the day, Brewer was telling Fox News (of course) that the ruling was "unconscionable."  She shifted the blame to President Obama, claiming that his administration had told Arizona to "drop dead."  Obama has also come under attack from immigration rights leaders for deporting more illegal immigrants than any other president, including George Bush.

I believe that if there are people in the U.S. living here illegally, then in many cases they should be deported.  However I feel more strongly that if those same illegal immigrants have been here for a number of years, have assimilated into American culture, have contributed to society and to their communities, are crime free, attend school, hold down jobs or serve in the military, then steps should be made available to allow them to become legal US citizens and residents.   It goes a step beyond what Obama did a few weeks back in announcing plans to allow young immigrants brought here illegally by their parents years ago to stay and be welcomed.

Now back to my question.  What would you do if you were stopped by law enforcement and asked to provide documentation to prove you were in the US legally?  A driver's license would not work.    You would have to present your passport or immigration papers.  I don't carry my passport with me and I don't know anyone else who does either.  Proving you are in the US legally on a moments notice, no matter who you are, is a dilemma that fortunately has been  deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.    Now, signs like the one we saw last year on a car in Arizona will hopefully no longer be necessary.  That sign read, "Don't Stop Me.  I'm not Latino, just tanned."

Lawyers, used car salesmen, and ...

Those of you who know me know  that I am very healthy. I'm in my 50s, I eat well, exercise for more than an hour a day, five days a week.   Don't smoke, have a cocktail or two each evening, and have little stress in my life.   My family has no history of cancer or heart disease.   My dad was healthy into his 80s. My mom is still going strong.

I do have slightly elevated cholesterol that, with a daily low dosage treatment of Simvastatin, is in the exceptionally healthy range and has been for eight years. Simvastatin is so widely used, that it costs less than aspirin ($14 for a year prescription).   That's the only medication I take.  The most serious medical ailment I have ever had was an appendicitis.

So, you'd think that I could easily get health insurance.  Guess again.

After I retired from News10, I had to buy insurance on my own.  I started out paying about $2500 per year for coverage from Bupa (a Latin America company) that allowed me to be in the US for up to six months of the year.  The deductible is $3000 annually.  It is basically catastrophic coverage.  In the past four years, I have thankfully never had to use it.  Now, my premium has exploded to $5500 per year for the same coverage.  And I am shopping around.

I want insurance that will cover me mainly in Mexico, but also in the US when I am here.   That rules out your major carriers like Blue Cross and Aetna who do not provide coverage out of the US (even though the cost of health care in Mexico is about one-third of what it is here). So, I need to go with international companies that I had never heard of before.  IMG, Azimuth, Best Doctors, etc.    Each company has their own way of covering their asses, while not covering mine.

IMG doesn't take at risk clients (cholesterol is a risk).   Azimuth would cover me but would exclude any illness or treatment related to elevated cholesterol.  Heart attack, stroke, circulatory issues, blood issues, leukemia .. all not covered while I still pay $4500 per year.  What the hell good is it?  This afternoon, I got the latest results from the Best Doctors application.  For a $4400 annual premium, They will insure me with a $5000 deductible for most things but a $20,000 annual deductible for anything related to cholesterol.    I am waiting to get further clarification on what anything related to cholesterol would include.  But I imagine, it's probably the same list as the one the good folks at Azimuth threw at me.

OK, here's the deal.  I hear a lot of people complain about President Obama's health care plan.   Probably a lot of those people who are critical already have good health care coverage from work,  or worked for some government agency at one time or another and have lifetime coverage with little out of pocket expense,  or currently have Medicare.   They are the lucky ones.   While the criticism in some cases may be warranted, the reality is, something has to be done to open up medical care to the uninsured or under insured.  Or better yet, quality affordable health insurance needs to become more readily available.  

Last year, a  New York Times article reported that for the third year in a row, health insurance companies were enjoying record profits.  While any industry deserves to make a profit, the question has to be at what cost is it to its customers?   I would like to be one of their customers.     And they want me but only if they are assured they will not have to risk anything if I am their customer.

There used to be an old joke about the most unscrupulous profession  ... the punch line being something about attorneys and used car salesmen. That's so 1980s.  In 2012, it is health insurance executives and the people who try sell their policies, who seemingly care little about the clients, and only about their client's money.

The joy of giving: How much or how many

“Hey-lo.  Ho er yu?”

Those are sweet sounds to my ears, spoken by eight Mexicans who until a few months ago, spoke no English.

Now, three times a week, from 4:00 to 6:00PM, I meet with Maria, Avelino, Maria Belin, Eric, Angelica, Eduardo, Lettie, and Nubia, and do my best to teach my new friends my version of English.   It is one of the most rewarding things I have done since I retired four years ago.

The youngest in the class are the three teenagers who realize that to achieve their dreams of being successful, they must learn English.  There is the retired doctor from Guadalajara.  Her dream was to live on the beach and learn English.   There is the jewelry designer who realizes in a resort town, she needs to communicate with the tourists.  And the farmer who helps a friend operate one of those para sailing operations and wants to be able to communicate with his gringo clients.   They are all so appreciative and inquisitive.  Full of questions.  Full of anticipation.

English is not an easy language for native Spanish speakers.  In Spanish, all letters and letter combinations always sound the same.  In English, the same letter can have a different sound in different words.  Think yellow vs. llama, can vs. cane, wide vs. width.  Combine that with the fact 70% of English verbs are irregular.   If the past of walk is walked, why isn’t the past of run, runed?  Get it?

They always have questions … and good questions.  Last week, they were stumped over the difference between “how much” and “how many.”   In Spanish, one word (cuanto/s) covers both.   As best I could, I explained that how much refers to items that cannot be precisely counted … how much gasoline, how much money, how much milk.   How many is used for items that can be counted … how many gallons of gas, how many dollars, how many glasses of milk. 

And of course, they want to know the “dirty” words (actually, they already know them. They just want to be sure they mean what they think they do).  When we were talking about things you find in a kitchen, the word “fork” really threw them.

When I was working, putting together stories for TV news, I always would try to think about how my story of that day may help at least one viewer in at least one way.  Though sometimes a challenge, the reward would come when I would get a letter, or phone call or email … or sometimes a face to face encounter … with that one viewer saying thanks.

Now, rewards come in a different way.  Every week I thank the students, and encourage them by telling them how much they have progressed.  To which they reply, “No, tank yu.”  Today is my last class until the fall.  I am returning to California for the summer.  But we are exchanging email addresses, Facebook names, and phone numbers.  We will be in touch.   As much as they appreciate the help I am giving them, I appreciate them for making me feel so welcome as a guest in their country.  That is the Mexican way.

A death and a birth

There are several signs that summer, though officially several weeks away, is already making its presence known in Puerto Vallarta.  We have had our first summer storms, and today is already overcast, humid, and threatening to rain.   That is summer in PV.  It is also the time of the year when the town is pretty much empty.  The seasonal residents have fled north and the hearty stream  of vacationers has been reduced to a trickle.  It is tough on the economy here, though as most locals know, they save up during the robust high season in order to limp along during the summer.  However, that will not be the case for one local, once thriving, historic business.

For decades, there has been one supermarket that has served the entire south end of Puerto Vallarta.  And it literally had the best selection of fresh food and imports of any store in the entire city.  Gutierrez Rizo Supermarket, known simply as Rizo's to the generations of shoppers there, charged more than anyone else.  But, it was convenient, it was local, and it knew its clientele, importing food items from the U.S. that gringos craved for and that you could not find anywhere else in town (think along the lines of horseradish, Libby's canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce).  This morning comes word in the PV Mirror that yesterday, Rizo's closed.  The employees apparently were told it will not reopen.

Those who live here and have depended on Rizo's have seen a slow decline over the past couple of years.  Once a two story market, the upstairs was shut down last year.  And the shelves became increasingly bare during this past season.  There would be days when you walked in and found three cases of canned bamboo shoots stacked in the middle of the store, but no bread or eggs or beer.   Some blame the infiltration of Wal-Mart which now has two super-stores in Puerto Vallarta and began stocking a better selection of products than Rizo's at lower prices.  Others blame it on poor management of Rizo's for their apparent inability to modernize while other more trendy grocery stores were opening elsewhere in town.   Whatever the reason, a landmark is shuttered, there are no large grocery markets on the south side, and we have lost an icon of what Mexico used to be.

But as Rizo's has died, life resurfaces for a scourge of the tropics.  It happens every few years, and apparently, this is one of them.  Locals tell us they are June bugs and they are among the most disgusting of insects I have ever encountered and they have once again invaded our neighborhood.  They are hard-shelled creatures that fly like mini-bombers, the smaller ones being the size of a dime, the larger ones more like a quarter.   They come out at sunset and stick around most of the night. And they must have terrible vision because they are constantly ramming you, ramming the TV if it is on, ramming walls and chairs and anything that is in their path.  You close the windows and doors and they still find a way inside.  And perhaps the worst thing about them ... they excrete a dark red fluid that looks a lot like blood and leaves a nasty stain.  And they've got to be really stupid.   They often end up on their backs, and despite the fact they have powerful wings, they don't use them to flip themselves upright.  They will remain on their backs for hours, wiggle their legs as if by magic that will upright them.   It is not uncommon to wake up in the morning and find an army of them on the patio, appearing as though they are doing calisthenics on their back.  The good thing is, they usually don't last much longer than a couple of weeks, but while they are here, they are among the most unwanted creatures we have to endure here.

So yes, it is summer in PV.  And unfortunately, we won't be here much longer to enjoy it.  Next week, we begin the three day trek northward, leaving behind memories of Rizo's and the crunchy June bugs.

*first photo courtesy of PV Mirror, Puerto Vallarta's leading weekly English language newspaper.

The Sickness Surrounding the Religious "Right"

Perhaps you've seen it, or at least heard about.  The demonic type sermon preached to the flock of followers  last week  of the Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, N.C. by Pastor Charles L. Worley. It is all over the Internet.  It has been played on CNN.  In case you haven't seen it, here is a link and an article from The Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/charles-l-worley-north-carolina-pastor-gay-rights_n_1536039.html


 Basically, the good pastor ranted and raved for quite some time about filthy homosexuals.  He flat out stated that they should be put in camps surrounded by large electric fences, and left to die.   His exact words:  "Build a great, big, large fence -- 150 or 100 mile long -- put all the lesbians in there.  Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can't get out...and you know what, in a few years, they'll die out...do you know why? They can't reproduce!"   

Most logical and compassionate people would view Worley's comments as vile and contemptible.    Indeed, several human rights organizations have come forth calling for a protest at the church and the company that hosted his church's website has taken it down.    But silent are others who could make an even greater statement against this public call for annihilation of gays and lesbians.  Namely, other churches and pastors across America.

With one of their own spewing such rancid hatred and calling for the extermination of an estimated ten percent of the U.S. population,  why are we not hearing from other religious organizations condemning such volatile and unlawful actions.   The only religious leader that I am aware of who has publicly chastised Worley is Rev. Welton Gaddy, President of Interfaith Alliance.
Speaking to Anderson Cooper on CNN, Gaddy said,  "In one fell swoop this angry minister managed to discredit from his pulpit both the Constitution of the United States and the compassion that we find in the bible, and additionally he did a very dangerous thing by planting seeds of hatred in sick minds that in the right circumstances can act on them and do the kind of violence that has no place in our world."  

That's all well and good, but where are the Catholics? Where are the Mormons?  Where are the Presbyterians?   Where are the other so called religious leaders who espouse love and understanding?   Their silence on issues such as this can only be interpreted by many as an endorsement of Worley's views and desires (though I am sure others may argue that by addressing Worley, even if as a challenge, it would be legitimizing what he has said).

I do know some pastors who may address this issue in their sermons to their local congregations.  Though I have not talked with her, I can imagine a friend of ours in San Diego who leads quite a contemporary congregation would be outraged.   These are pastors who do not at all believe in what Worley stands for, and they have been vocal in their own ways to their smaller gatherings.  They are to be commended.   Still, it would be refreshing if some of them would contact their local TV stations and newspapers before this weekend's services, if indeed they plan to rebel against Worley's hatred.   Let them know the public is welcome to hear them lash out against the bigotry and hurt unleashed by this Baptist church.  It's the type of public religious backlash against this type of hatred  that so far we have not seen.
There's more.  In Worley's sermon, he attacked President Obama.   He told his parishioners, "I'm not going to vote for a baby killer and a homosexual lover!"    That's his prerogative, but since churches, including his, enjoy a tax-exempt status and pay absolutely nothing to keep the government operating, why should those churches have any say in the political process in the U.S.?   Clearly, the Constitution calls for a separation of church and state and when religious organizations become advocates for any particular party or issue, they have violated that separation.   It is time that the justice department began investigating the influence that tax-exempt religious organizations have on the political process (including the large amounts of cash that the Mormon and Catholic churches put into defeating same-sex marriage in California), and if investigators determine that these organizations are indeed advocates for one party, one candidate, or one issue, their tax-exempt status should be revoked, and they should be taxed on income just like any other business.

And when it comes down to it, isn't that what a lot of religion has become in the U.S.?  It is a big business, no longer concerned about helping humanity but rather chastising those who do not fit into their image of what society should be, and by doing so raking in huge amounts of cash.   We will likely never stop the lunatic fringe of religion, the so called "religious right," that has permeated part of America.  But it would be refreshing to hear more mainstream religious organizations denounce the sermons of hate, and bring some true faith back into what has become a dubious sector of Americana.

Donna Summer: Remembering the Last Dance

From city to city, the names would change.   In Stockton, it was The Casbah. In Modesto, the Brave Bull.  In Sacramento, The Powerplant and the Rose.  In Guerneville, The Woods and Fifes.  In San Francisco, Midnight Sun and Moby Dick and Badlands and End-Up.   All different clubs with one thing in common ... the music. 


It was the late 70s, early 80s, and disco was king.   And the gay dance clubs were the center of the universe for the disco divas.  And queen among them ... Donna Summer.
It didn't matter if you were in the greatest dance clubs in the world (like Studio 54), or the back alley bars in smaller towns (like Bogie's in Redding, California), inevitably along with Thelma Houston, Viola Wills, The Village People, Soft Cell, and Michael Jackson, Donna Summer would dominate the music.   Her timeless anthem "Last Dance" more often than not signaling that it was 1:45 AM and closing time was imminent.

Already popular in Europe, it was the DJs at the gay clubs in the United States that first introduced Donna Summer to the US.  From there, her sound moved on to Top 40 AM radio.  She was an instant disco star.   She had 14 Top 10 hits and four number one hits on Billboards Hot 100.

"Love to Love You," "Hot Stuff," "I Feel Love," "MacArthur Park," "With Your Love," "Heaven Knows," "Dim All the Lights," "On the Radio," "She Works Hard for the Money," all continue to be staples clearly representative of the dance era, and songs that even now receive ample airplay on 70s and classic dance stations. 

I do remember with surprise when Donna Summer, the Queen of (Gay) Disco, seemingly turned her back on the community which was largely responsible for her great success.  Becoming a born again Christian, she said "AIDS has been sent by God to punish homosexuals."  The comments at the time created a huge backlash, and though in later years she apologized, her image remained tarnished among many in the community.

But with her surprise passing today of cancer (which she had kept a secret from the public), I prefer to remember the good times she created.  Whether they be on the pulsating high energy dance floor at the Hexagon House at The Woods in Guerneville, the jukebox at Bogie's in Redding, or blaring away on The Big 610 with the top down on the car.    May she find peace in her last dance.

One long hard ride

I now live in a country where lawsuits are the exception, not the norm.  There are several reasons.    Here, personal lawsuits can take more than a decade to resolve and they are expensive.  Second, a corrupt system doesn't guarantee a fair outcome. Third, people here usually try to work out their differences like they used to before the U.S. legal system got so out of whack.  And perhaps most important, people here in Mexico are deemed responsible for their own actions.

I remember four years ago when we first moved here.  A group of residents were walking around the complex with the developer and one raised questions about a hillside he thought looked unstable.  Concerned about liability, the resident asked the developer, what happens if a family was walking by the hillside and it fell on them and they died.  The developer replied, "Too bad.  Their unlucky day."  And he was serious.  Personal responsibility and fate play a large role in survival here.

So it is with interest that today I read the story of the northern California man who is suing BMW because apparently, after riding a BMW motorcycle, he got an erection.  And, it hasn't gone down in 20 months.   The guy's name is Henry Wolf, and in the lawsuit filed last week in San Francisco, he claims that he  "now is unable to engage in sexual activity, which is causing him substantial emotional and mental anguish."    I would have thought just the opposite, but I have never been in his predicament, in fact a long shot from it (pardon the pun).

That claim in itself is a bit suspect, but as we know from Viagra commercials, anyone experiencing an erection for longer than four hours could have a problem.  I'm no doctor, but I would think the situation after 20 months would be downright explosive.  After a bit of research online, I discovered that in extremely severe cases, amputation is necessary if it won't go down.  But, there are several treatments available that Mr. Wolf probably should have sought out long before deciding to sue BMW.   A cold shower may be a start.

What is priceless about a story like this are the comments that readers posted online.  Among the standouts on the CBS5 website: 

It sounds like he has one stiff ride.

This ought to really boost BMW's sales.

Coming to seats near you: "This seat is known to the state of California to cause persistent erections."

He should have whøred himself out for 20 months straight. Had he done that, he would have more than made up for the lost wages with money to spare for ED treatment.

I didn't know BMW made a Woody.

I would be bragging, not suing!

In San Francisco BMW stands for Big Motherfluking Weiner.

I don't think I would want to be on the jury when the "evidence" is "presented".

This story is a hard one to swallow.

How much do you want for that bike?

Sue them!? I'd build them a freaking shrine!!!

BMW= Big Major Woody

On a side note, Mrs. Wolf sent a box of homemade desserts and a thank you card to BMW.
OK, you get the idea.  So do I.  Americans are understandably skeptical nowadays of the legal system, and this case just solidifies that skepticism.  Of all the websites I read, not once did I see anyone write "Oh, that poor man, may God bless him."  Frivolous lawsuits have made a joke of the legal system, and the lawyers who file them (and take on the cases) simply bolster the image held by many that it is a sleazy profession (for a small percentage of lawyers it is, but most I know are reputable and honorable).

BMW, which says it has never seen a suit like this, may settle out of court, but I hope they don't.  I hope it goes to a jury and I hope the media covers it for the absurdity that it is.  And, I hope in the end, BMW sticks it to him.

"Justice for Trayvon" ... I think not

I don’t know exactly what happened that evening when George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin had their chance encounter in Florida.   Nor do you, nor does Jesse Jackson, nor does Al Sharpton.   Only two people do.   One is the suspect, the other is dead. 

But day after day, I see on the evening news or read online about uninformed people who are not asking for justice.  But rather, they are asking for the outright execution of Zimmerman.   If you haven’t seen it, check out this website which has captured the tweets from Twitter pages of “outraged” Americans.  It is mob mentality in America at its worse, enabled by media frenzy. 

 http://twitchy.com/2012/04/23/twitter-lynch-mob-now-that-george-zimmerman-is-out-on-bail-lets-kill-him/

Well, since these dangerous (and I will goes so far as to say racist) punks can’t get to George Zimmerman who has wisely decided to go into hiding, they have decided to target others who “represent” George Zimmerman.  Over the weekend, these random attacks increased.  The most egregious attack took place in Mobile, Alabama.  After a resident, a white male, asked some kids playing in the street at night to quiet down, the kids left, but a gang of adults, reportedly all black, returned.  As they savagely beat the resident, who is now in critical condition, one of the attackers reportedly said, “Now that’s justice for Trayvon.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/justice-for-trayvon-man-beaten-by-mob-critical-condition

It is easy to say, where is the outrage over this story?  Why isn’t NBC News leading their newscast with this supposed racially motivated attack?  Why hasn’t Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton come forward and called for a halt to this type of hatred that is pitting black against white.   

While on the surface, it appears this is an open and shut case, the reality is we don’t know.  We weren’t there.  Investigators are assigned to digging out the facts, the lawyers will present the facts to a jury, and 12 men and women will decide.   That’s the way it is suppose to work in America.  And that is not what is happening now.

Some may argue that had there not been the public outcry, George Zimmerman may have never been arrested.  Perhaps true, but if that’s the case, the outcry should have been against the police department and investigators, not against Zimmerman.   Zimmerman has now been arrested, it is time for the legal system to take over, not street mobs.

Online comments following the Mobile, Alabama beating run the gamut from blaming Obama for causing a racial divide to blaming the KKK for establishing the “rules” for dealing with these types of incidents.  But perhaps the following online post put it best:   We need to get united and this time to do our very best to get justice for Trayvon and now also for this poor young man that was beaten just because he was white.

Beating the System

In the four years since we moved to Mexico nearly fulltime, I have been extolling the virtues of living in this beautiful country … the people, the culture, the lifestyle, the climate.  But there is the other side of living in Mexico that at times can be frustrating.  It mainly has to do with availability of products, mostly those things we get used to living with in America.  And that includes entertainment.

While satellite TV (with hundreds of English channels, many in HD) is widely available, movies often take months to get here.  Also, there are many media companies based in the US that block their content outside the country’s borders.  This includes streaming video services such as Netflix and Hulu, as well as streaming audio programs such as Pandora and CBS Radio stations.   If you Google it, you’ll find several forums where ex-pats living around the world lament the loss of entertainment, particularly online entertainment.  Enter “The Box.”

A friend of mine first sent me the link about it earlier this year.  It is basically a router that you can hook up to your Mexican modem, and with a few adjustments and a small annual fee, you can trick entertainment providers into thinking that you are in the United States.  Skeptical at first, I decided to try it out.  I ordered the $89 router, paid the $60 annual fee, and three months ago, set it up.  Since then, the world of online entertainment (at least the US view of the world of entertainment) has opened wide up.   As I write this, sipping my morning coffee, I am listening to K-EARTH from Los Angeles, a station that until I got “The Box” posted on its website that it was sorry but I was out of the country and not eligible to listen to their programming.  They now think I am in San Diego, or sometimes Austin, or sometimes Phoenix, depending on what server I want my router to access.

I was telling my tech-savvy nephew about the problem here, and the solution.  He was somewhat amazed that his uncle who isn’t real computer literate was able to accomplish this tremendous feat (of course I did it with the help of a friend who knows about these things better than I do). 

Is it illegal?   There may be some licensing questions about the availability of content outside the US, but basically I am just using a conduit to access material that is free to Americans (and I am an American).  For the pay material (such as Netflix), I do pay my monthly subscription.  So there is no thievery involved.  There are other “pirate” sites where much of the same material is available, but there you pay no fees, and the security of the connection is questionable.  I don’t use them.  With what I am doing, the artists get paid (if it is a pay site like Netflix) or they get credit for song plays (for sites such as Pandora).  

It’s not a perfect system.  The Internet here through Telmex can be slow, and does drop out from time to time.  But, it works for the most part.  And is just one more challenge we have overcome living in a third world country.  Those of you who have never done it may wonder, why?  Those of you who have know why.

Surviving the Solar Storm in Mexico

It doesn't take much for the fragile infrastructure here in Mexico to crumble. On a calm mild Sunday afternoon, the electricity will go out. A week after you pay your cell phone bill, you'll get the message that they can't connect your call because there is not enough credit on your account (we'll wait ten minutes, and then miraculously, the call will go through). And at least a couple of times a week, the Internet will just stop working for a few minutes. It's just part of living here. So, when we saw Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News last night (Wednesday) warning that a big solar flare had just occurred and communications and electrical distribution on earth could be impacted, I told Kurt "Well, now they really have an excuse for failures." They did not disappoint. But, perhaps what has happened in the 12 hours since the news broadcast is more of a comedy of errors than a curse of the solar Gods.

A couple of hours after watching the report of the pending solar doom, while sitting on the patio, I saw a flash and heard a boom. Fireworks? No, just a transformer down the hill exploding. While the lights in our condo stayed on, some neighbors lost theirs. There was no power for the elevators nor for the pumps that provide water to the homes here on the hillside. The faucets ran dry within 20 minutes. But since that is not all that unusual, we know the routine ... fill up a couple of jugs of water before we run out. No problem. On with life in Mexico. Well, this time, not quite.

An hour or so later, around 9:30, while I was in the den watching TV, Kurt came in from his office and said the Internet had just gone out. Again, this is a fairly regular occurrence from Telmex. Wait five minutes, and it comes back on. But this time, it didn't. So, that means unplugging the modem, waiting a minute, then plug it back in and it will reset. But again, this time, it didn't. Must be those solar flares, right? But just to make sure, that meant calling Telmex in Mexico City (which is open 24 hours, presumably because somewhere in Mexico the system is failing 24 hours a day), and reporting the problem. That's when I learned the solar flares had claimed another victim last night ... phone service. No dial tone.

I knew I had paid my bill on time, but there was always the chance that Telmex didn't post it. Here, if your bill is due March 7 and it's not paid by midnight, it is turned off on March 8, no warning, no past due notice. So, I went downstairs to our neighbor’s home that we keep an eye on when they are not here, went inside (only to find their power was out), and picked up their phone to call Telmex. But the solar flares had zapped their lines, too. We were isolated. Returning to our home, I picked up the intercom and called security in the lobby. The guard said the phone and Internet were out in the lobby as well. On top of that, the satellite signal for the TV in the gym had been lost. The world was coming to an end. OK, maybe it wasn't that bad, but you get the point.

This morning (Thursday), waking up about 8:00, I pick up the phone. No dial tone. I look at the router. No Internet. I turn on the faucet. YES, WATER! Progress. Then I turned on the TV. The lead story on CNN ... at that moment, the major solar storm was disrupting radio communications. Electric grids and GPS systems could be the next to go. If only I could communicate with them and let them know it is ALREADY happening in Mexico.

My plan for the morning was to talk down the hill into town to get a haircut, but now I would also have to find a payphone that was working to call Telmex. Then the call came from the lobby. It was security telling me that Telmex had stopped by to say they are aware of the problem, there are hundreds of lines that were out, and they were working feverishly to fix it. However, it would take at least 12 hours (that means 24 hours if we're lucky) to restore service. I walked down the hill to not only find two thick cables ripped apart. Hundreds of brightly colored little wires were sticking out of each cable. And no one was working feverishly on it. In fact, there was not a Telmex crew in sight. On my walk back up the hill two hours later, still no one.

And yes, I believe solar flares were likely to blame. Here's my theory, it may have been a solar flare induced power surge that caused the transformer to blow, thus knocking out electricity and water. And, when the electricity company (CFE) sent out one of those big trucks last night to repair the transformer in the dark, it plowed into a telephone pole while backing up. The telephone pole snapped, wires were severed, phone and Internet cut. Just another day of infrastructure failure in Mexico. But at least this time, there was a good reason for it. Those pesky solar flares. Inconvenient? Yes, but I wouldn't trade it for a minute (though some times, heading back to Palm Springs does sound appealing).

Update: 8:45AM Friday. Last night about 9:45, a neighbor called my cell to say that he did not have Internet but did have phone service again, but had the wrong phone number. I checked and we had both Internet and phone, but someone else's number. I walked down the hill and talked with the four guys working on top of two poles (with flashlights). They said they knew the connected some lines incorrectly, but they would rewire them later. This morning, fingers crossed, everything seems to be working. Thanks, Telmess (er, I mean Telmex).

A Mother's Devotion

I first met Cindy Sheehan in April, 2004, just after her son 24-year-old Casey was killed in Iraq. I was covering Solano County (California) for KXTV, News10, and I was one of the first three reporters to show up at her home in Vacaville (the others were from the two local newspapers). Cindy and her husband Patrick graciously welcomed us. I felt so sad for them, but I was also honored to be there with them. They were so proud of Casey, and they were pleased that his life and sacrifices would be recognized in the local media.

For the next several days, I would visit the Sheehans. Not necessarily to do a story (though there were a few), but just to talk. They were very nice people, and as Cindy later told me, it was a relief to be able to talk with an outsider with whom they felt they could confide in their feelings. Other than notifying them that Casey had died and arranging for his remains to be brought back to his hometown, the military had little contact with the Sheehans.

Shortly before Casey's funeral, Cindy told me that her grief was turning to anger. It became clear that she never really supported the war, but had kept silent about it. Despite her family's wishes, she began to speak publicly about her disdain for President Bush and what she felt was an unnecessary war. It was not long before Cindy's discontent was heard well beyond her hometown of Vacaville. Eventually, she became one of the most vocal and powerful figures against the war in Iraq and against George Bush.

I kept in touch with Cindy over the years. She gave me her private cell phone number, and though she had left Solano County, we would still talk on occasion, mostly about how she was doing and how her life had changed so radically. After leaving News10 four years ago, I lost touch.

So, it is with interest that this week I see that Cindy Sheehan is now being sued by the federal government for failure to pay taxes. She told KXTV that she has not paid taxes since the year Casey was killed. "I feel like I gave my son to this country in an illegal and immoral war. I'll never get him back," Sheehan said. "And, so, if they can give me my son back, then I'll pay my taxes. And that's not going to happen."

Whether you agree with her or not, I give credit her for remaining strong in her convictions, and, as she has proven in the past, she is willing to face jail time to stand up for what she believes are the misgivings of the U.S. government. On her blog she writes, "The Feds have thrown down the gauntlet against someone who has absolutely not one ounce of fear of them, and when it’s over, they’ll know they have been in a fight."

When I first met Cindy, she was in shock. She seemed lost, defeated, not knowing what do to. Her life changed forever then, and through her son's death, she has found a cause and a following. One that she is even more devoted to now as in the days following Casey's death.

There's something happening here ...

I learned long ago as a reporter a couple of things that have influenced my thought process for most of my life. First, when people are involved there are always multiple and often differing versions of a story. Second, what you see in pictures or on video provides only a limited glimpse of the scene in total. In other words, you only see what is going on in front of the camera ... not to its side, not to its back.

That being said, I am still having great difficulties accepting what I saw happen, and later hear what happened, at UC Davis on Friday. The cell phone video, which has now gone viral and has been shown on virtually all major and minor news outlets around the world, shows a group of protesters, sitting down, arms linked, non-violent, blocking a walkway, being nonchalantly pepper-sprayed at near point-blank range by a UC Davis police officer. The incident incited angry response first from those nearby who witnessed what was happening. The more the bystanders yelled, the more the police officer pelted the protesters with a powerful blast of pepper-spray. Click HERE to see the YouTube video.

Since then, some law enforcement has praised the UCD police action ("What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," according to a Baltimore Police Lt who wrote rules regulating the use of force against protesters). It has also drawn the ire of those in academia ("We are outraged that the administrations of UC campuses are using police brutality to suppress dissent, free speech and peaceful assembly," says the Council of UC Faculty Associations). There is a call for UCD Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign. Referring to the video "chilling," she has requested an investigation.

Watching the video took me back nearly 40 years, to when I was a student at UC Santa Barbara. There were similar stand-offs back then, mostly over the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia and perceived injustice by the Nixon administration. While there were some violent clashes with police back then, several things were different. First of all, police were not as eager to engage a group of students who were peacefully protesting. Perhaps it was because they had their hands full with more violent demonstrations, but rarely did we see non-confrontational students at UCSB become the target of resistance from police. Second, there was little documentation of what actually transpired. Few carried still cameras, and video cameras had not yet been marketed (let alone cell phones, many of which now have video cameras built in). Atrocities of police and protesters were merely heresy. Not anymore. History is recorded and almost instantaneously distributed for all to see.

While the "Occupy" movement which the UCD protesters were supporting seems to have sputtered recently, largely because the original premise has been diluted by unsavory elements, the UCD incident could provide the impetus to change that. Whether the police were right or wrong (from what I have seen, they were wrong ... very wrong), the image of an officer repeatedly attacking peaceful protesters does not set well with Americans. When we see similar images from third world countries overseas, we cringe, and say thank God we don't live in a place like that. When it happens in the US, all to often, people say "Well, they must have had it coming." But if you read the comments on Facebook, if you read the letters to the editors, if you read the responses to stories on TV websites, overwhelmingly people are angry. And increasingly, they deserve to be angry and ought to be angry.

One UC Davis police officer may have thought that he was single-handedly suppressing a movement. In reality, he may have been spraying new life into an already edgy America that, like those of us in the 70s, is increasingly upset with the direction of the country ... including the erosion of basic rights granted in the Constitution for freedom of speech and peaceful dissent.

Living in a dangerous country

I often get the same question from friends and family, and sometimes total strangers who I have just met. When they learn where I live, they ask "But do you feel safe there with all that violence going on?" And in all honesty, I tell them, yes, for the most part I do feel safe.

It is true, the country where I have been living most recently has been racked with some of the worst violence known to mankind. Everyday ... every single day ... there are shootings, and muggings, and carjackings. We see it in the news every night. It seems that almost weekly now, we learn of another horrible incident where a gunman (or gunmen) enters a business or a night club or a school and opens fire killing and injuring dozens of people. It is usually to settle a score, to seek revenge with someone. But almost always, innocent people get caught in the gunfire. Just yesterday was the latest incident that happened not far from where I am living. Another lunatic entered a small beauty salon and murdered eight people. Eight innocent people whose day started off perfectly normal. Eight innocent people who never made it home last night to their children, their loved ones, their families. People just going about living their lives, only to have their lives taken from them by someone most of them did not even know.

At this point, you may be saying, "Yes, I've heard all that. That is the exact image that I have of Mexico. And that is the reason I will not go to Mexico. It is just too dangerous." But I am not talking about Mexico. For the past four months, I have been living back in the United States, and the violence I am seeing here is honestly worse than what I see when I live the rest of the year in Mexico. Mexico is not without its faults, and certainly the drug violence there has taken a tremendous toll with innocent people sometimes falling victim. But in Mexico, it is a war among gangs and armies fighting over territory. In the U.S., it is personal and hateful and based on anger toward fellow human beings. In two weeks, I will return to my Mexico home where indeed, I will feel safer.

You Are Andy Rooney's Successor

Everyone is a writer, everyone has something to say. It's just how well you write it or say it. In essence, that was the parting comment from Andy Rooney during what was his last regular appearance Sunday night on 60 Minutes. His words got me wondering. Who is going to replace Rooney with his weekly rants about everything from paper bags to light bulbs to 9/11?

Here is a guy who self admittedly shouldn't have been on TV ... only his words should have been there. And in fact, that is how it all started for him. Early on writing as a correspondent in WWII, then onto being a writer for Arthur Godfrey, newspapers, books, and eventually 60 Minutes. It was his writings, not his appearance, that made him what he is. It might be a bit of a stretch to say he was the conscience of America, but more often than not, his whiny words were able to ring true with many of the people who watched him regularly. While he apparently did not relish the notoriety that came with being on one of television's more enduring shows, he did love the words he wrote. He was a master at thought.

So, back to the question. Who replaces Andy Rooney? It won't be the blabber mouths on FOX or MSNBC whose whose incessant spewings qualify for little more than diarrhea of the mouth. It likely won't be any great newspaper columnists because, although I hate to admit it, the state of most newspapers today really doesn't allow for any great columnists anymore.

Perhaps I should refer back to what Rooney said last night. Basically, we are all people with thoughts, we are all people who can write. Maybe collectively, we should all take over for Andy Rooney. Take some time each week to write something that is on our minds. Put it on Facebook. Tweet it out. Send it to someone who you think might be interested. While writing sometimes can be a chore, it can also at times be rewarding, cathartic, revealing. I throw down the gauntlet. Write something, share your thoughts and observations, get people thinking and talking. Even if it's about a brown paper bag or a dead light bulb.

Remembering 9/11

The phone rang at 5:55AM waking me from a sound sleep in my small rented bungalow in Sacramento. It was my brother calling from his home in the rural Sierra Nevada town of Nevada City. He said, "Sorry to wake you, but you better turn on the TV, something is happening." I did, and immediately thought was a terrible accident. A few minutes later, the second plane hit. I took a quick shower and was able to make it to the station (KXTV, News10) before 7:00AM. The nightmare of 9/11 was fully underway.

Without even receiving a call to come in, already the newsroom was filling with reporters and photographers. Some were dispatched to the airport, some to the state Capitol, some to schools. I was sent to the Federal Building a few blocks away from the station. Federal marshalls were there turning people away. The fear was that perhaps Federal Buildings all across America had been targeted for attacks. After waiting there for a while, the station called and dispatched me and my photographer, Rich Kermickel, to a fire station, then to the Sacramento Army Depot, then to a staging area where the Sacramento Urban Search and Rescue Team was put on standby to be sent somewhere, exactly where they did not know.

We were out in the field and did not have access to television, except when we were at the fire station, and even then we were so busy we only caught glimpses of what was transpiring. So, throughout the day, we heard the almost unbelievable drama unfold on radio, listening to KCBS out of San Francisco. Very little of what we shot that day even made it on the air. What was happening in northern California was insignificant compared to what was happening elsewhere.

About 7:00 that night. The crews were called back to the station. There wasn't a lot more we could do. Local programming had been halted and only national broadcasts from the network in New York were being aired. A group of us went across the street to Jaimes Grill for a drink and a bite to eat and decompress. Few of us had seen much of the coverage.

That night, I went back to the bungalow, turned on the TV, sat there and finally saw what had happened. That's when the impact hit me. We will never forget.