for today,,,

The State Department said Friday it has been forced to suspend the issuance of U.S. passports and visas at its overseas diplomatic missions due to a glitch that has hit one of its computer databases.

In a statement posted to its travel.state.gov website, the department said a hardware failure in its Consular Consolidated Database glitch has left overseas embassies and consulates unable to print visas, regular passports and other travel documents. This means that people who submitted online applications for passports and visas on or after June 9 will likely experience delays in processing, it said.

The failure does not affect domestic passport issuance because it only stopped the database from receiving biometric information sent from overseas posts, the department said.

"We cannot bypass the legal requirements necessary to screen visa applicants before we issue visas for travel," it said. "As a result, there is a backlog of visas waiting to be processed. We are working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue and to clear the backlog."

"Security measures prevent consular officers from printing a passport, report of birth abroad or visa until the case completes the required national security checks," it said.

More details about the failure were not immediately available.

The consular database was taken down last July by another technical glitch that had the same effect but the department said the current issue is unrelated. The department said it was working "urgently to identify the problem and correct it."

"We expect the systems to be fully operational again soon," it said, but offered no timeline.

TIJUANA.- A pilot program put in place by Mexico's National Immigration Institute (INM) at the Otay Mesa border crossing charging foreigners an entry tax caused quite a controversy amongst residents in the border region this week. Today, the INM has clarified some of the many questions that locals were asking, and have assured that the announced requirement has many exceptions.
Representatives of the National Chamber of Commerce and the Tijuana Conventions and Tourism Committee expressed their frustration at the new program, stating that this federal requirement will impact regional tourism and the entire tourism industry.
The INM indicated that those that enter Mexico for less than seven days will not have to pay the entry tax, and that the 306 pesos tax (approx. $24 U.S. dollars) will only apply to those that intend on staying between 8 days and six months. This tax is somewhat similar to the fee that Mexicans have to pay for I-94 visas (a visa required if you plan on staying in the U.S. for more than 30 days and/or travel beyond 25 miles from the border). The INM states that this measure is intended to gain a better understanding of who is entering the country and where they are going.
U.S. citizens of Mexican origin will be not have to pay this tax if they have some sort of document identifying them as Mexicans. For students living in Mexico, they will also not require the permit so long as they have a permit, visa, or legal resident.
The INM is testing the program out at the Otay border crossing, where signs have already been posted to route traffic to special lanes for U.S. vehicles and Mexican Vehicles.

facebook wrote:ROAD REPORT. HWY 1 is all clear from Loreto to Hotel Paraiso Colonet. There are a couple of vados with shallow water but they will be gone in another day.... except maybe for the one just south of San Ignacio at the Oasis Hotel. It was swift moving and up to the doors. Only semi's and busses were getting across. We paid $300ps and were ferried across on the back of a flatbed semi. Well worth the price. Were only delayed for about an hour.

bwo wrote:Consular Agent - The U.S. Consulate General Tijuana is seeking a U.S. citizen applicant for the position of Consular Agent in the Consular Agency in Cabo San Lucas, B.C.S. Please access to our website to view the full Vacancy Announcement (http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/consularagent.html). If you are interested please submit ALL the requirements. Submit Application To: HROTijuana@state.gov. ☞ U.S. Consulate General Tijuana, HROTijuana@state.gov, http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/consularagent.html, 977-2242, Cabo San Lucas

BPE wrote: U.S. Notary. Consulate has suspended document services indefinitely.

Shingles is very painful and can last for years. It's recommended that everyone older than 60 who has had chickenpox should be vaccinated. I don't remember having chickenpox, but the vaccine isn't harmful, according to doctors and the internet.  Dr. Alonso Flores Lopez has the vaccine so I went to his office yesterday. He showed me the expiration date on the box which was reassuring. The medication is the same one they use in the States, but he charged a third less than they charge there. The actual shot was quick and painless. Dr. Flores is located on Serdan #640 between Republica and Torre Iglesias. His phone 125-5899 email:

Identical twins place their hands in a Y-shaped tube filled with mosquitoes to see how attractive they smell. Credit: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The likelihood of being bitten by mosquitoes could be down to our genes, according to a study carried out on twins.
Research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found, for the first time, an underlying genetic component to how attractive we are to mosquitoes and this is likely to be caused by genetic control of our body odour.
Although this was a pilot study, it provides exciting information which may allow us to understand more about how our intimate relationship with mosquitoes has evolved. Ultimately the finding could result in the development of better ways to control mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit.

The findings are published in PLOS ONE and build on previous research where it was shown that attractiveness to insects is based on differences in body odour. People who are less attractive to mosquitoes produce natural repellents. It seems that this trait is genetically controlled.

A series of trials using 18 identical and 19 non-identical female twins showed that identical twin pairs were more similar in attractiveness to mosquitoes than non-identical twin pairs. The extent to which genes play a part - the level of heritability - in the trait for being attractive or not to mosquitoes was found to be at a similar level (0.83) as that associated with height (0. and IQ (0.5-0..

Funded by the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, the pilot study was carried out in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, Rothamsted Research and the University of Florida. TwinsUK assisted with recruitment of the sets of twins.
In the experiment, Aedes aegypti, dengue mosquitoes, were released into a Y-shaped tube which divides into two sections. They were allowed to fly down either side towards the odour from the study participants' hands to see which twin they were most attracted to.

Female mosquitoes display preferences for the smell of certain people when they choose who to bite to feed on the blood which they require to reproduce. For example, pregnant women are more attractive to Anopheles gambiae (the principal malaria vector in Africa) than their non-pregnant counterparts, and people with a greater body mass also appear to be more attractive to mosquitoes and midges. Diet is often suggested as an explanation, with anecdotes about eating garlic or drinking beer to keep mosquitoes away. However, there is no clear and consistent dietary explanation.

Senior author Dr James Logan, Senior Lecturer in Medical Entomology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "By investigating the genetic mechanism behind attractiveness to biting insects such as mosquitoes we can move closer to using this knowledge for better ways of keeping us safe from bites and the diseases insects can spread through bites. If we understand the genetic basis for variation between individuals it could be possible to develop bespoke ways to control mosquitoes better, and develop new ways to repel them. In the future we may even be able to take a pill which will enhance the production of natural repellents by the body and ultimately replace skin lotions."

They can’t stop police officers — male officers, that is — from going after mordidas in the State of México so they’ll stop handing out traffic fines for a while instead. The state has declared a three-month moratorium on such fines while new transit officers — women only — are trained.


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Thee new officers will all be women as a result of a 2013 policy dictating that only female officers are allowed to impose fines.

The move is part of ongoing efforts to curb corruption and arbitrary detention of motorists by transit, municipal and state police, who extract bribes, or mordidas.



Officials with the Inspector General of Public Security Institutions caught 93 state and municipal police officers in the act of extortion against motorists in the first three months of this year. In one case, an inspector surprised an officer in Naucalpan trying to fine a woman for a driving infraction and caught the incident on video.

One solution has been to give the responsibility for imposing traffic fines to women officers only, a practice that was ordered two years ago by Gov. Eruviel Avila Villegas. Women officers, it seems, tend to be more honest than their male counterparts.

That is also a perception on the part of the public. Citizens have greater confidence in uniformed women, said Government Secretary José Manzur Quiroga. “. . . we are looking to stop corruption in the State of México and we believe there is much greater respect towards a woman police officer than a man.”

The moratorium is in effect in Huixquilucan, Naucalpan, Tlalnepantla, Cuautitlán Izcalli, Cuautitlán, Tultitlán, Coacalco, Ecatepec, Chalco, Toluca, Metepec, Lerma, Almoloya de Juárez, Zinacantepec and San Mateo Atenco.

1000Mbps over copper telephone lines: ITU begins work on G.fast, successor to DSL

The ITU has begun the process of approving G.fast, a new standard that will allow for access speeds of 1,000 megabits per second (1000Mbps, 1Gbps) over copper telephone lines. G.fast (full name ITU-T G.9701) is expected to be a cheaper and easier-to-deploy alternative than FTTH and FTTC (fiber to the home and cabinet). G.fast is the technology that will finally bring super-fast broadband speeds to the masses who are stuck with copper wires for the dreaded last mile.
There are generally three ways of getting internet access to your house: Telephone lines (twisted-pair copper wires), coaxial cable (shared with the cable TV infrastructure), and fiber (either to your house or fairly close). Because of the massive installed base of telephones and cable TV, the first two options are by far the cheapest. Fiber, because it generally has to be installed specifically for internet access, is much more expensive to deploy. The problem with telephone wire and cable internet access is that you can only squeeze so much data down a thin, low-grade piece of copper. This is where DSL, VDSL, and now G.fast enter the equation.

Mexico City (AFP) - US tire maker Goodyear will build a half-billion-dollar factory in central Mexico that will produce six million tires a year for customers across the Americas, the company said Friday.

Goodyear is the third auto sector company to make a major announcement in Mexico since last week, following a $1 billion investment by Japanese giant Toyota and a $2.5 billion project by US automaker Ford.
The tire plant will be built in the state of San Luis Potosi and will begin production in mid-2017, chief executive Richard Kramer said at a ceremony alongside Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in the country's capital.
The investment will cost between $500 million and $550 million and employ around 1,000 people. The company plans to break ground in June.
"In addition to supplying tires to our customers in Mexico, the plant's geographic location will enable us to export tires to both Latin America and North America as well," Kramer said.

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  Project expected to provide up to 15% savings compared to the cost of electricity consumption from the state utility CFE. Flickr: Nasa Earth Observatory
  
  

Energy Partners Latin America (EPLA) is to build a 150MW PV power plant costing over US$300 million in Baja California State, Mexico.
EPLA, an Intermountain Energy Partners affiliate, was established in 2014 in Baja California, to develop renewable energy and water reclamation projects throughout Latin America.
The investment was formerly announced by the state governor, Francisco Kiko Vega de Lamadrid.
The plant in Mexicali will provide energy for the industrial sector while offsetting 270,000 metric tonnes of carbon and giving Baja California State the cheapest electricity supply across the country.
The project is expected to provide up to 15% savings compared to the cost of electricity consumption from the state utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).
Construction will start in late 2015, creating over 1,000 jobs.
Companies can already acquire contracts with guaranteed electricity supply, with access to savings of US$447 million to the companies over 25 years through the purchase of this cheaper electricity, according to the state government.
The state government has also promoted the use of renewable energy due to strong solar and wind resources in the region.
This week, PV Tech reported that joint ventures involving Spain-based energy company Aljaval have received electric energy generation approval for eight solar power projects with a combined capacity of 220MW in Mexico including some projects in Baja California.
Javier Mas Abad, Aljaval deputy director, also spoke to PV Tech about the strong future for solar in Mexico despite difficulties in gaining finance.

La Paz, Baja California Sur (BCS). The May 15 season officially started tropical cyclone, it concludes the first half of November, regularly. For 2015, the first forecast it has is that 19 tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific; of which 8 could reach tropical storm, seven hurricanes of Category 1 and 2, and 4 intense hurricanes of Category 3, 4 and 5.

In this regard, Eleonora Romero Vadillo, professor and researcher of the Academic Department of Biology Marinade UABCS reported that this prediction, as the paths of hurricanes, is based on oceanographic and atmospheric conditions present. However, he added, those conditions may vary by distintitos factors. For example, last year 17 events of this type were expected and in total there were 21.

Tropical cyclones are phenomena that form in the tropics between 15 and 30 degrees north. There are other types of cyclones, such as extratropical, formed farther north and the Arctic, which are hurricanes cold water.

Doctor said it's important that people know that although the 19 predicted cyclones formed, does not mean that everyone will get to BCS, so not to cause alarm among the population; although it should take precautions to avoid preventable mishaps.

"Of the hurricanes that form in the Pacific, most traveling northwest, away from the coast of Mexico. In the first months tend to impact the southern states like Chiapas, Oaxaca and Jalisco. As advances season, usually recurve to the northeast, when stuck in BCS, it would be from the month of July, "he said.

As the average of phenomena landfall in the state, Romero said Vadillo generally ranging from 1 to 2. Many approach the south Californian coasts, but not always landfall.

Moreover, he said that this year has the characteristics of "Year Niño" weather phenomenon that occurs when winds generally blow towards Ecuador. There are years when those winds are weaker and warm water, which is normally biased to the west side remains America and distributed to the north and south. This causes the water are warmer.

From 1966-2014, there have been seven years in which, during the cyclone season, there have been these circumstances. Of these, only twice have impacted tropical cyclones in BCS.

Finally, the researcher invited the South Californian society to be alert to forecasts and above all to follow the official website of the National Weather Service, National Water Commission and the National Hurricane Center of the United States to be well 

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Grupo Aeromexico SAB are seeking a $1.5 billion venture to boost flight options for travelers between Mexico and the U.S.

“Passengers will be able to reserve, buy and fly interchangeably between both airlines,” Aeromexico Chief Executive Officer Andres Conesa said in a filing to the Mexican stock exchange. “The potential to combine and align our networks and scheduling will offer our clients a better product than what they’d get individually.”

If approved by U.S. and Mexican regulators, the agreement would also increase shared investments in airport installations such as lounges and boost mutual sales and promotions, Aeromexico said. The venture would deepen a relationship that started with a codeshare agreement in 1994, Delta said in a statement. The two airlines offer more than 4,000 weekly codeshare flights now.

Delta President Ed Bastian disclosed on Dec. 11 that the company had started talking with Aeromexico about a new partnership, at least partly to capitalize on a new air treaty between the U.S. and Mexico. It would be Delta’s fourth such partnership, which give airlines some freedom to set schedules and fares without triggering regulators’ concerns of uncompetitive practices.

Delta has similar deals on transatlantic flights with Air France-KLM and Alitalia SpA, with Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. on some U.K.-U.S. routes and with Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. on Australia and New Zealand routes.

The carriers have already struck accords to share access to each other’s airport lounges and check-in counters and to allow passengers to earn and redeem frequent-flier points.

Today in Mexico News Daily: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/return-work-others-marching/ http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/return-work-others-marching/80,000 workers remain on strike, 10,000 return to work after being threatened with reprisals. On Friday, the employers offered a 15% increase to wages that run about 120 to 130 pesos a day. But the workers are demanding 200 after having reduced their initial figure of 300 pesos. Today, Sin Embargo reports that the conflict in the San Quintín valley continues. A spokesman for the National Alliance of Organizations for Social Justice in San Quintín accused farm owners of exploitation. “They’re millionaires,” said Fidel Sánchez Gabriel. “They have yachts, their children drive around in luxury cars. They say they cannot increase wages to 300 pesos but the truth is that they are rich thanks to our leaving our blood in the fields.” He also said owners had rejected paying benefits such as social security, vacation pay and others. Sánchez Gabriel said 80,000 workers remain on strike, but about 10,000 have returned to work after being threatened with reprisals. He and his fellow protesters are demanding that Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong travel to Baja California to resolve the situation.

The water park is open 7 days a week now. We drove by this morning and talked to employees waiting to go in for work. The park opens at 10am. Remember, they don't allow you to bring food or beverages. The snack bar inside is great with very reasonable prices.

The Secretary of Hacienda (SAT) which is the tax dept. has announced that contractors will not have to pay the IVA tax (16%) on materials when building a dwelling. The law will establish who will be considered as contractor. This is a very big saving for people who will use a contractor to build a house, thus very important that one hires only approved contractors. for more information write to can-am-mex Firma Juridica / law firm.

There ought to be celebrations in Acapulco this week when the tourist industry gathers for its annual conference, Tianguis Turístico.

Mexico’s biggest tourism fair, which this year expects 100 foreign and 120 domestic buyers of travel-related products, follows a year in which the industry bounced back in a big way after some years of economic and security woes.


A record 29.1 million visitors arrived in 2014, an increase of 20.5% over the previous year, a big turnaround after some dismal years following the 2.5% decline recorded in 2009.

It is also significant in relation to the growth recorded during much of the last 30 years, when Mexico saw only modest increases in tourism. Its 1.1% growth during that period was shadowed by Turkey with 11.6%, Hong Kong with 8.6% and Malaysia with 7.8%, for example.

Another gratifying figure for the industry was in the estimated amount of money spent by visitors last year, a total of US $16 billion, a massive increase over annual revenues generated between 2000 and 2012, which fluctuated between $8 billion and just over $13 billion.

Last year’s numbers are expected to move Mexico into 12th place from 15th on the list of the world’s most-visited countries.

Although tourism promotion efforts have widened their geographic focus since the economic downturn of 2009, the United States continues to be the principal source of visitors. And with a stronger economy and lower fuel prices more Americans are on the way.

Their numbers were up 11.8% last year and many more are expected in 2015, particularly with the rise in the value of the dollar against the peso.