Category Archives: Merida, Yucatan, Maya

INDOOR MOSQUITO CONTROL

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Close the S-trap, please!

Some of us get bitten by mosquitos, more indoors than outdoors.  Unless you’re a plumber, you may not be aware that there is a tiny swamp of standing water in the drains of your sink basins and shower stalls. (This S-trap, desaguadero en estilo-S; estilo ese) is designed to retain water as a plug while allowing spillage, locking septic gases below ground, yet still enabling drainage.)  This liquid plug is an ideal hatchery, and needs to be screened or blocked to prevent those hatchlings from being deposited, and then biting and breeding indoors.   But it’s easy, if you disrupt access to where they’re laying their eggs.  

Go to a kitchen store, or maybe a plumbing supply, and get a mesh strainer, as shown above.  Or simply cover the drains when not actually draining — with those handy lids that cap off your water garrafa arriving from e-pura or Cristal.  For the floor drain in the shower, lids from those clear plastic containers of nuts sold at Costco are of a perfect size. (I’ve entered many articles on mosquito control, which can be searched in the white field at the upper right.)

PLEASE HELP ME RESTORE TWO MISSING BLOGPOSTS :

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“LADY LIBERTY”   A.I.-generated portrait, by Bas Uterwijk (fair use)

Dear Reader,

Digits are ephemeral.  I’ve lost two recent blogposts which I posted last week, before migrating my site to a new host,.  The photos are easy to repost, but the writing seems to be gone.  As exceedingly unlikely as it might be, maybe somebody out there filed the text of either of these posts?  One was titled FILM REVIEW:  A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood; (posted July 27) and the other was titled  ¿¿ What is Liberty ??  (posted July 31).  If you happen to have either of them, I would be most grateful to hear from you in the comment section, or at my personal email, if you have it.  (If you don’t wish to see your name in print, simply say so, as I can keep your response private.)  Note to anyone who might need to migrate a WordPress site:  Recent drafts are fugitive, and will be abandoned during transit!

If you’ve passed up this film, thinking it’s sappy, smarmy, kids-stuff, you’ve missed a gem about a true encounter between a hardboiled journalist and a PBS children’s entertainer which is subtly powerful.  An acquaintance who worked with Fred Rogers at the TV studio encouraged me also to read the cover article from Esquire magazine which hatched the film.  I did, and it’s quite good.

(Still hoping to find the original blogposts)

“MODERATION IN ALL THINGS” // ADDICTION

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Photo by Dylan de Jonge (fair use)

Balance is delicate — a Goldilocks concept :  just right.  Early Greek philosophers articulated it well :  moderation in all things.  German designers of the Bauhaus school borrowed the concept, observing that less is more.  Yet so many humans, especially in youth, tend to subscribe to a risky  position by arguing that, if some is fun or good,  more is better.  

We can become addicted to substances, to pleasures, to self.  But we can also become addicted to nonsense, making a god out of purity, abstinence — resulting in holier than thou positions, and judgementalism.  (Yes, I get it, that some people simply have problems maintaining balance, and their only practical resort is abstinence — and I do not judge that position.)  Whatever works to attain balance is wise, even if it may appear to be immoderately severe to other folks.  Jesus said judge not, lest ye be judged.  And that’s a delicate and difficult instruction.

Presently I’m located in a state which has banned all alcohol sales, again. (I’ve written on this topic before.)  Said state also insists that people wear masks — a wise policy, brilliantly enforced by traffic laws.  They even insist that everyone smear alcoholic sanitizer on their hands upon entering a store — a practice which I find bizarre.  Hey, the world is dirty, and as soon as I touch anything, so am I.  There is even some evidence that hand sanitizer is unhealthy, if it has been made with methanol, which is toxic, and can be absorbed thru the skin.  ¿ Is such a state poisoning citizens?

But the inconsistency about alcohol is odd.  On one hand (yeah, on both) the state advocates using alcohol to prevent cv-19 infection, and on the other it bans alcohol consumption where it could be considered medicinal to the throat — the main entry portal of the plague.  Drinking a little alcohol might actually be beneficial, as long as it is done moderately.  

Of course, no state can legislate moderation.  Yet they continue to try.  And people continue to drink hand sanitizer when they can’t buy booze, and then die.  Together we can get thru this pandemic if we think carefully.

 

UPDATED — ¿¿ MY HERITAGE ??

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The justification for displaying treasonous symbols based upon family history, “heritage” – is indefensible.  For example, in my own case I have some German-American ancestry, and some southern ancestry.  One of my paternal ancestors was born in southern Germany, arriving in the USA at age three.  He was seriously wounded in our civil war, fighting to defend the union of states, and our national Constitution, as a foot soldier. 

 My Dad’s elder brother was a paratrooper in the US Army during WW2 who served in Europe, fighting against the German reich.  (On my maternal, Irish, southern side, a history of any Confederate service is unknown to me.)  I simply cannot imagine anyone in our family justifying the display of the nazi swastika for “pride of our German heritage”!  

Here’s a well-argued essay suggesting that neither symbol above should be displayed by loyal Americans.  In the case of the stars and bars of the confederacy, that flag represents the ownership and abuse of other human beings.  (Thomas Jefferson reportedly claimed the children he fathered with his slave, Sally Hemings, as “property”.)   It is shameful to celebrate and defend such a heritage by flying that rebel banner.  

I ask, from the flip side of the Golden Rule :  If you were “owned” rather than “owner” would you be displaying this symbol?  The words of George Santayana come to mind :  Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.  Remembering is one thing; prideful celebration and display is something altogether different.  Humility requires, nay, demands that we put away such artifacts.

Independence Day is a day humbly to celebrate unity, equality, liberty.  Like Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which immediately became law but did not instantly become practice, these words ring true :  Love hath one race, one realm, one power.  ~MB Eddy.   The human race knows this in its heart, and will come to see that it is practiced naturally.  We have an internal and eternal sense of justice, and an innate ability to recognize the ideal.  This is our destiny.  

Philosopher John Rawls (in my retelling) invites us to a game of musical chairs at a table where the constitution of the land is being drafted. While we deliberate over what is just for various classes of people, we don’t know what chair we will occupy — a wheelchair? – a throne? – a beggar’s pallet on a sidewalk? – that of a bank CEO? — yes, true justice must truly be blind.  Nobody knows where one will sit tomorrow, which is true today.  Disregard our future seating at your own peril.

Excerpted from a powerful essay by Robin Wright at The New Yorker :  The statue [of Liberty] was the brainchild of Edouard de Laboulaye, a prominent French expert on the U.S. Constitution who also headed the French Anti-Slavery Society. After the Civil War, in 1865, he wanted to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S., enshrined in the new Thirteenth Amendment, which, in theory, reaffirmed the ideals of freedom—this time for all people—first embodied in the Declaration of Independence.

++ UPDATED : : MURAL ART : : MÉRIDA : : YUCATÁN : : MÉXICO : : BUFFALO : :

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La casa de Yul, c.62, a bit north of Av. Cùpules, Merida.

++ UPDATE :  There are two new images below, shared by another friend. I’m open to receiving photos of Mexican mural art, with details of location, (and author, if possible).   Perhaps this space, or a new entry, could become a point of documenting these works.  Send me a comment to discuss arranging receipt of images. ++

Friend Pat shared an article with me this morning (++last week) which has inspired me to dig thru my photos of street art seen around town.  That sharing linked me to a digital magazine I was unaware of,  featuring local cultural aspects, Memorias de Nómada (my rough translation:  recollections from wandering).  While I daily read the Mexican press online at sites such as LaJornadaMaya.mx , DiarioDeYucatan, and HeraldoDeMexico.com.mx ,  I had not known of this magazine.  Pleased ta meet’cha!   The story linked above, telling of an artist named Yul who lives at the depicted building on c.62 between Estadio Alvarado and Avenida Cúpules, is all in Spanish, which introduced me to some fun new words; if you don’t read the idiom, you might enjoy browsing the photos and events at their Home /Inicio.

 

 Next up we have a building being painted in a style reminiscent of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian.  If you look closely at the photo you can see the artist, Samual Barrera, working on a section of yellow, wearing a blue shirt.  His ladder is around the corner.  The owner sold the building, and the side with circles in black, gray, red and white, near his ladder, has been covered over.

Two blocks north of Av.Colon, near c.6 and c.33-d, in Garcia Gineres, near Slow Food Market

 There is a long tradition of mural painting in Mexico, preceding the golden age of Mexican muralists, such as Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. Below we see a replica of a mural done by the ancient Maya, at a home in Izamal.

Replica of a Mayan mural in Izamal.

 

A dynamic work, visible on the east side of c60 x c21 y c19, “Plan de Ayala” enroute to Costco

 

Near the old train depot in Mejorada neighborhood of centro Merida.  Photo by S.B.

 

Corn goddess gives birth to maize, inside old train station, c55 y c48, Mejorada, Merida. Photo: SB

 

Many of the items below are near Estadio Salvador Alvarado, on C.60 or 62.

Mural across from estadio Alvarado, on c.60

 

Mural across from Yul’s house. on c.62, near estadio Alvarado.

 

 

 

Fachada de jardín, c.64 x41y39, near central police station and Plaza de Toros, the bull ring.

 

c.64 near c.41, near central police station and bull ring.

 

The one below is a favorite.  It is too long to share completely, as the detail would be so tiny.  I’ve titled it “Launching Mayan women”.    They’re wearing huipiles, the classic embroidered house dress.  The mural is near a favorite coffee shop, Pan & Kaffe (c.43, x60 y 58).

“Launching Mayan women” (my title) on c.43, x64y62.

 

Mural painted by Mario Quiñones, on c.55 near c.74, centro.

 

Home of muralist Mario Quiñones, in centro, whose wife is a good seamstress.

 

Urban art from Buffalo NY (sharing the universal appeal of urban art). An abandoned department store on Broadway at Filmore, dressed in fabric.

 

MASKED ENFORCEMENT

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Photo by Suriyan Buntiam, ShutterStock (fair use)

The State of Yucatán has done a very wise thing by merging the wearing of masks with the operation of motor vehicles.  This act allows for enforcement by traffic cops.  All drivers must wear a mask while operating a vehicle.  Men, especially, are widely known to resist wearing masks.  But how many would risk a traffic infraction for the “liberty” of not wearing one? — the liberty to infect others.   Yucatecos should be proud of this law.  It is one of the wiser policies enacted anywhere.  (eg: The effectiveness of wearing masks is established as reasonable for reducing the spread of cv-19.)

 

¿¿ WHAT IS LEADERSHIP ??

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“Washing of feet” by Duccio, ~1308 (WikiArt)

Whether you’re an Atheist, a Buddhist, a Christian, a Daoist, a High-Flyer, a Hindu, or a Jew; a Shia, a Sufi or Sunni or Zoroastrian — whoever you might be — asking the question What does real leadership look like? has some currency today.   

No, those halos seen above are not required of leaders.  But a deeply humble sense of leading-by-example is still a key to success — which is well-illustrated in the exchange depicted above, of an “originalist” leading and teaching a dozen salt-of-the-earth followers, two of whom were either climbing the career ladder, or were naively aspiring to restore sanctity and ethical practice to their national theocratic system of worship.  So he seized this teachable moment.  Here’s a snippet quoting that teacher, by an unknown author simply called Mark. [scroll to v.42]:

43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant* of all.

[And then their leader proceeded to wash their feet, as a household slave could not be compelled to do in ancient Palestine at that time, but might do willingly, for a highly-esteemed family member.   ~John.]  Of course, said leader’s name is Jesus, of Nazareth, but his lesson is universal, and is still valid, although increasingly rare. Those who would lead, as well as those who vote, or might be wage slaves today, might think on this lesson.

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*Note: the King James translators intentionally mistranslated the word slave – as servant, as they did not want the ranks of British “attendants” to hear themselves described by such a destabilizing term understood as chattel, or personal property.  
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Leading by example seems almost a forgotten discipline, yet it is highly effective, and respected and memorable to those who may have been instructed thereby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEEP  [CORPORATE]  STATE : : book review

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Photo by Änhliche Bilder, Getty Images (FAIR USE)

YOU’RE BUSTED !!!   SO SORRY to do this to you, dear Reader, but the click which brought you here has now been added to your suspicious behavior file, stored in Utah, by Uncle Sam.  It’s been 1984 for a long time, but it didn’t have to be this way.  You see, Congress made a deal with the devil, mostly outlawing internet encryption, after the towers fell in 2001, so that every detail of our digital lives could be collected and stored, forever > > smile for the camera above your monitor > > Why did they do that?  Glad you asked.  

Here to tell us is a masterful storyteller, and a great American hero, who sacrificed his career and his personal comfort to blow the whistle on this corporate power grab :  Ed Snowden. (Yes, it looks like the intelligence community did it, but who might that be?)  Follow the money.  It mostly leads to the monetization of our every click, so we have no more privacy, and corporate America knows us better than we know ourselves.  Elected officials on both sides of the aisle are struggling to put the genie back in the bottle, sorta.  But corporate democrats are resisting, while progressives and many republicans want government surveillance to end, or at least to be restrained.  

 

PERMANENT RECORD, by Edward Snowden

Rarely have I encountered an autobiography of a more principled person.  Mr Snowden calls to mind that powerful statement No greater love has anyone than this: that a person lay down their life for their friends. ~Jesus.   Yet the intelligence community has hounded this man, threatening to imprison him for life; if they ever get their hands on him they will virtually crucify him.  Those who argue that he should face a trial have no clue what they are talking about, as, by law, he cannot get a fair trial for divulging state secrets to the American public, as he explains carefully in the book.  And the big, big secret which he risked his life to share is that the state has utterly violated and cancelled our right to privacy, guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment, by harvesting and storing every single communication and detail of our lives.  Yes, every selfie, every sly cheat or dark secret you (or any elected official) has ever done, every rant, every phone call.   No, “they” didn’t ask our permission.  Nor was any attempt made to amend the Constitution.  “They” just did it as  “a matter of national security”.  Case closed.  

Snowden tells us how different things are for citizens of the European Union.  How they are treated as citizens, as  “data subjects –that is, people who generate personally identifiable data.  In the US, data is usually regarded as the property of whoever collects it.”   The intelligence community has perpetrated a coup on our nation, seizing our data and our Constitutional right to privacy, without our permission — without even a national discussion.  Congress has allowed this, without protest, when they could have allowed for encryption of the internet, instead.  My iPhone is encrypted, as are most smartphones today.  But the google’s and apple’s and amazon’s and facebook’s are laughing all the way to the bank, as they are able to resell our every detail.  And that’s why I  inserted that word “[corporate]” in my headline.

Recently I attempted to become a digital subscriber to The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, of Amazon.  Upon learning of the terms – WaPo claiming the right to sell all my clicks – I cancelled the very next day.  Same with The Atlantic, owned by the widow of Steve Jobs.  Unless I agreed to allow their profiling of me, it was no sale, as neither of them would even allow an opportunity to opt out.  I even went by VPN to Switzerland which has very protective regulations and attempted to subscribe from there.  No deal.  Both publications insisted that I surrender to the corporate state-of-things in USA.  Wake up America!  We’re being auctioned to the highest bidders.

This book is the most gripping spy thriller I’ve ever read.  And it’s nonfiction. The one thing I wish the publishers had done was provide an index, as there is so much good information here.  It is my sincere hope that Donald Trump, who detests the deep state so much, might pardon Edward Snowden, and restore his US passport.  (Trump’s stock would go up with me, as my view of his leadership couldn’t go much lower.)  Maybe he could even give Snowden The Medal of Honor (or Medal of Freedow, as he’s no longer military).  Snowden truly is a national hero.  Read his story.  You might agree.  

In signing off, I will type these letters XKEYSCORE, while asking you to smile into the camera above your monitor, at the technologist who is tucking our names into that gigantic bunker of vaults in Utah.  <RASPBERRY>.  

 

Breathing the same air as Socrates and Jesus

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Photo from Marquette Magazine (fair use)

. . . and while we’re at it, take another breath which also includes air exhaled by da Vinci and Edison (the story is told well in YOUR ATOMIC SELF). 

Equilibrium.  Right now this principle is at work helping inoculate us with tiny aerosol particles of cv-19 which hang in the air in still spaces for hours, in varying concentrations.  Our immune system is continually sampling and fortifying our defenses against such invaders, so we are presently developing skill at defeating this unwelcome visitor.  We might even individually become immune before a vaccine arrives.  A key is to avoid inhaling too many such aerosols at once. (Handling fear helps, too.)  So, wear a good mask (not just a bandana); don’t touch nasty stuff, and then put fingers in eyes, nose, mouth.  (Hint: use a knuckle at the ATM, instead of a finger.) And learn to recognize risk, from this tragic choir rehearsal. 

Practice safe breathing.  Keep the community healthy.  Avoid ignorant people who won’t wear a mask, while we all work at developing immunity..  (There is a scientific report that suggests mask wearers may develop natural immunity quicker than non-wearers.) The human race will survive.  We can all participate.