Objects closer than they appear. Camino a Key West, La Florida.
martes, diciembre 19, 2006
da delano - south beach
Hace doce meses estaba en el Delano en miami --- bueno despues del anyo nuevo...como 36 horas despues...pero todavia estabamos en momento de celebrar! y ahora me voy para brasil...venga sudamerica!
dizque es nice en van nuys
una reunion de ex-chilangos....very nice in van nuys. and yes, i did see them open for aterciopelados at the henry fonda teatro. obvio. hasta la pregunta es necia. osea, claro. yes.
Teneis Soul?
Y tambien llego Jude....osea, hey jude...no hey u! Jude, I am still hoping to hear you on KCRW-Sta Monica on my way to work in Downtown! I want to hear "NPR correspondent in Mexico City...Jude in Coyoacan...and now in Xochimilco...and now in Ixtapalapa! Chanfles!" And of course, the micro in the background!
Donde Estan Las Regias?
There's nothing better than running into some old college friends from study abroad...here is Luis and Nancy...very cool peeps from my days at the Tec de Monterrey - en Nuevo Leon. I used to live in the Edificio #9 dormitory, and it was crazy! Osea, eramos unos chicos locos -- fraternity style partying -- and we had an olympic size pool separating us from all the ladies! Oh yeah, and a very obvious chain link fence...damn...dode estan las regias!
Una Tazita de Azucar
It's always great running into old neighbors in Mexico City. Vero is on my left (your right) and we met in Guanajuato during the Festival Internacional del Cervantino, basically a very bohemian art-inspired Octoberfest in one of Mexico's famed colonial cities. Osea, lo basico. Minimo. I met Vero at a bar, and poco a poquito nos dimos cuenta que viviamos en el mismo edificio en el Pedregal del Lago. Aqui estamos en Condesa en el famoso Soul Lounge. Octubre 2006 - Mexico City. La chava a mi derecha resulto ser prima de un amigo de Penn - los ivy leagues andan en dondesquiera! Chanfle! Portense bien todos. Chiz!
lunes, diciembre 18, 2006
Two Too Many San Diegans in the Valley
Now I have a problem with this picture because if there are two San Diegans in the Valley, that's two too many! Asi que se me van llendo por la autopista 5 sur, y no se les ocurra dejar ninguna de sus playeras de los Padres o de los Chargers!! El Jefe, Claudia (SD native, via San Luis Potosi and Columbia U) y yo.
Navidannukah
Celebramos Navidannukah en Van Nuys este fin de semana pasado. Aunque faltaron unos tamales y el champurrado, pues de todos modos parecia que estabamos en el Distrito Federal...una reunion apropriada para aquellos tiempos de la capital mexicana.
Van Nuys es Very Nice
Este fin de semana estuvo el jefe en Van Nuys. Asi que aunque es muy rraro encontrarme en el Valle de San Fernando...tuve que hacer una excepcion para ir al equivalente al Satelite del D.F. en LA. Pero aun 24 meses despues, seguimos siendo un halfbright y un fulbrite(!)!
Danzantes en Coyoacan
Esta foto fue tomada en Coyoacan durante el mes de Octubre del 2006. En esta plaza estaban tocando musica indigena con muchos tambores, mientras ciertas personas se ponian a bailar al ritmo de los tambores.
lunes, diciembre 11, 2006
Un Ciruelo Lleno de Vida
Esta es una fotografia de mi abuelita Cuca partiendo un pastel para el dia de las madres. Todos estamos debajo de un arbol de ciruelas que yo plante. Estos son los momentos de la vida mas dulces. Un arbol da vida.
Mariachi en tu Casa
Esta foto fue tomada en el Cinco de Mayo del 2006 en la calle Oakland en Pasadena. La fiesta fue titulada "Ay Mama Carlota," y fue celebrada con el proposito de recaudar fondos para estos jovenes musicos de Huntington Park.
Mexico's Thirst for Cola - Coming to an End?
Mexico hopes tax on soda will refill lost oil revenue
But soft drink makers are fighting Calderon's proposed levy, saying it could kill jobs.
By Marla Dickerson and Carlos Martinez, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
December 12, 2006
Big gulpers
MEXICO CITY — Mexico is trying to make up for a projected shortfall in oil revenue by raising taxes on other quick-fix liquids: colas and carbonated drinks.
A proposal by the nation's new President Felipe Calderon would impose a 5% levy on soft drinks — and an additional 15% on cigarettes — to raise $1 billion next year. With Mexico's oil production falling and its economy slowing, Calderon's administration is scrambling to find additional sources of revenue. Calderon said last week that he would seek to impose the new taxes as part of his 2007 budget.
The proposal has raised the ire of Mexico's $10-billion soft drink industry. The sector has taken out full-page ads in national newspapers blasting the proposal as a job killer and a potential blow to Mexican consumers, who trail only Americans in their consumption of carbonated drinks.
"Taxes on beer, cigarettes and soft drinks are the easiest to collect," said Alfredo Paredes, chief executive of Ajegroup, the maker of a popular soda called Big Cola. "That is why they are targeting us."
Although the tax would be levied on bottlers, companies said they would have to pass the cost on to the public, which already pays a 15% value-added tax on soda. They said the new tax could cost Mexico 36,500 jobs, including sugar-cane harvesters and mom-and-pop vendors.
Manufacturers said the hike would be particularly hard on low-income Mexicans, who spend more of their incomes on soft drinks than on beans. The average Mexican drinks an eye-popping 152 liters of soda a year, according to the industry statistics.
Sugary cola is a dietary staple for Mexico's poor. Cash-strapped laborers guzzle it on the job. Two-liter beverage bottles are more common than lunch boxes on construction sites.
"Poor people drink it for energy to keep from falling down in the street," said Paredes, whose Big Cola has captured nearly one-tenth of the Mexican market by selling cheaper than market leaders Coke and Pepsi.
At a convenience store in the capital's Polanco neighborhood, a 3.3-liter bottle of Big Cola was selling for $1.11 on Monday compared with $1.57 for a 2-liter bottle of Coke.
Paredes and other business leaders want Calderon to boost tax receipts by getting more cheats to pay up, rather than tapping industries that are already contributing.
The nation's underground economy is enormous and growing by the day. Millions of workers toil in off-the-books jobs as day laborers and street vendors. There's a popular saying among wealthy Mexicans: "If you're paying taxes, you have the wrong accountant."
Calderon has talked of simplifying the tax code and toughening enforcement to get more people to pony up. His move to hike taxes on soft drinks is an acknowledgment that Mexico's fiscal position is quickly deteriorating, thanks to heavy dependence on another prized liquid: petroleum.
Mexico, the world's No. 5 producer of oil, depends on it to fund 40% of its federal budget. Officials last year siphoned $54 billion from the state petroleum monopoly Pemex to finance public spending. High oil prices have resulted in tax windfalls over the last couple years but economists warn of a pending shortfall.
The nation's major oil field, Cantarell, is declining rapidly because of age. Production is down nearly 15% through the first 10 months of the year — more than twice the rate of decline predicted by Pemex officials last year. The company's worst-case projections show production plummeting to about 520,000 barrels a day by the end of 2008 — a nearly 70% freefall from October's average output of 1.65 million barrels a day.
Calderon's predecessor Vicente Fox tried to lessen Mexico's dependence on oil revenue by expanding Mexico's value-added tax, which functions like a national sales tax, to food and medicine. That proposal was rejected by Congress and got Fox branded an enemy of the poor.
Some analysts say Calderon's narrower tax on cigarettes and soft drinks stands a better chance of passage. Congress will probably decide on the measure before officials break for Christmas vacation.
Paredes said the industry was lobbying legislators, but he said he feared that they would rally around the new president to show support.
Mexicans are experiencing skyrocketing levels of obesity, heart disease, high-blood pressure and diabetes, largely because of unhealthful diets and lack of exercise. Increased taxes on Cokes and smokes could be used to offset soaring medical costs to treat these maladies.
Still, some aren't comfortable with the government using tax policy to influence fitness. Mexico City-based political analyst Sergio Sarmiento said consumers, not politicians, should decide what is healthful for them.
But at least one soda drinker agrees with Calderon. Lugging a 2-liter bottle of Sprite to his job site in the capital, construction worker Daniel Garcia said the tax hike would motivate him to spend his money on other things.
"It makes you fat and it messes up your blood," Garcia said of sugary drinks. "At first people will whine. We always do, especially with [anything to do with] money. But down the road it will be good for us."
marla.dickerson@latimes.com
carlos.sanchez@latimes.com
'Taxes on beer, cigarettes and soft drinks are the easiest to collect. That is why they are targeting us.'
Alfredo Paredes,
chief executive of Ajegroup, maker of Big Cola
But soft drink makers are fighting Calderon's proposed levy, saying it could kill jobs.
By Marla Dickerson and Carlos Martinez, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
December 12, 2006
Big gulpers
MEXICO CITY — Mexico is trying to make up for a projected shortfall in oil revenue by raising taxes on other quick-fix liquids: colas and carbonated drinks.
A proposal by the nation's new President Felipe Calderon would impose a 5% levy on soft drinks — and an additional 15% on cigarettes — to raise $1 billion next year. With Mexico's oil production falling and its economy slowing, Calderon's administration is scrambling to find additional sources of revenue. Calderon said last week that he would seek to impose the new taxes as part of his 2007 budget.
The proposal has raised the ire of Mexico's $10-billion soft drink industry. The sector has taken out full-page ads in national newspapers blasting the proposal as a job killer and a potential blow to Mexican consumers, who trail only Americans in their consumption of carbonated drinks.
"Taxes on beer, cigarettes and soft drinks are the easiest to collect," said Alfredo Paredes, chief executive of Ajegroup, the maker of a popular soda called Big Cola. "That is why they are targeting us."
Although the tax would be levied on bottlers, companies said they would have to pass the cost on to the public, which already pays a 15% value-added tax on soda. They said the new tax could cost Mexico 36,500 jobs, including sugar-cane harvesters and mom-and-pop vendors.
Manufacturers said the hike would be particularly hard on low-income Mexicans, who spend more of their incomes on soft drinks than on beans. The average Mexican drinks an eye-popping 152 liters of soda a year, according to the industry statistics.
Sugary cola is a dietary staple for Mexico's poor. Cash-strapped laborers guzzle it on the job. Two-liter beverage bottles are more common than lunch boxes on construction sites.
"Poor people drink it for energy to keep from falling down in the street," said Paredes, whose Big Cola has captured nearly one-tenth of the Mexican market by selling cheaper than market leaders Coke and Pepsi.
At a convenience store in the capital's Polanco neighborhood, a 3.3-liter bottle of Big Cola was selling for $1.11 on Monday compared with $1.57 for a 2-liter bottle of Coke.
Paredes and other business leaders want Calderon to boost tax receipts by getting more cheats to pay up, rather than tapping industries that are already contributing.
The nation's underground economy is enormous and growing by the day. Millions of workers toil in off-the-books jobs as day laborers and street vendors. There's a popular saying among wealthy Mexicans: "If you're paying taxes, you have the wrong accountant."
Calderon has talked of simplifying the tax code and toughening enforcement to get more people to pony up. His move to hike taxes on soft drinks is an acknowledgment that Mexico's fiscal position is quickly deteriorating, thanks to heavy dependence on another prized liquid: petroleum.
Mexico, the world's No. 5 producer of oil, depends on it to fund 40% of its federal budget. Officials last year siphoned $54 billion from the state petroleum monopoly Pemex to finance public spending. High oil prices have resulted in tax windfalls over the last couple years but economists warn of a pending shortfall.
The nation's major oil field, Cantarell, is declining rapidly because of age. Production is down nearly 15% through the first 10 months of the year — more than twice the rate of decline predicted by Pemex officials last year. The company's worst-case projections show production plummeting to about 520,000 barrels a day by the end of 2008 — a nearly 70% freefall from October's average output of 1.65 million barrels a day.
Calderon's predecessor Vicente Fox tried to lessen Mexico's dependence on oil revenue by expanding Mexico's value-added tax, which functions like a national sales tax, to food and medicine. That proposal was rejected by Congress and got Fox branded an enemy of the poor.
Some analysts say Calderon's narrower tax on cigarettes and soft drinks stands a better chance of passage. Congress will probably decide on the measure before officials break for Christmas vacation.
Paredes said the industry was lobbying legislators, but he said he feared that they would rally around the new president to show support.
Mexicans are experiencing skyrocketing levels of obesity, heart disease, high-blood pressure and diabetes, largely because of unhealthful diets and lack of exercise. Increased taxes on Cokes and smokes could be used to offset soaring medical costs to treat these maladies.
Still, some aren't comfortable with the government using tax policy to influence fitness. Mexico City-based political analyst Sergio Sarmiento said consumers, not politicians, should decide what is healthful for them.
But at least one soda drinker agrees with Calderon. Lugging a 2-liter bottle of Sprite to his job site in the capital, construction worker Daniel Garcia said the tax hike would motivate him to spend his money on other things.
"It makes you fat and it messes up your blood," Garcia said of sugary drinks. "At first people will whine. We always do, especially with [anything to do with] money. But down the road it will be good for us."
marla.dickerson@latimes.com
carlos.sanchez@latimes.com
'Taxes on beer, cigarettes and soft drinks are the easiest to collect. That is why they are targeting us.'
Alfredo Paredes,
chief executive of Ajegroup, maker of Big Cola
miércoles, diciembre 06, 2006
The Cig Egret
We also visited a museum of old environmental posters. I really like the play on words and images evoked by this Cleanup Day poster.
On the Bay
Part of the Fulbright conference in San Francisco included a tour of the Bay on this rugged research boat. Here, the staff of the boat gave a presentation on the various environmental challenges and projects happening around the Bay.
Red Geometry Deseo
I wish Mr. Kambe, my geometry teacher at Belvedere Middle School, would have had this picture of the Golden Gate Bridge in class. I feel like we could have really understood the whole slope issue as a group a lot better.
La Jaula de Rojo, No de Oro
En este momento exacto me senti como un ave en una jaula de rojo...no de oro, pero de rojo.
Fulbrighters in SF
Estos becarios Fulbright estan haciendo una presentacion a los estudiantes de esta escuela en San Francisco. Parte de las becas Fulbright es una responsabilidad social de compartir el mensaje de la ciudadania global - un mundo en donde todos estamos relacionados y conectados. El desarrollo empieza con la comunicacion, cara a cara.
Cancion del Maizal - SF style
Cancion del Maizal. Esta foto fue tomada durante mi viaje a la conferencia Fulbright en San Francisco (Marzo 2006). Este mural esta situado en una escuela al norte de San Francisco.
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