Texas to spring breakers: avoid Mexico

By Josh Dehaas | March 7th, 2012 | 11:47 am

Even resort towns may be unsafe

Photo by shinya on Flickr

The State of Texas has released a warning for “Spring Breakers” telling them to avoid traveling to Mexico as a result of nationwide violence.

The report is significant, because it references resort towns like Cancun, Acapulco, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. “Rape and sexual assault continue to be serious problems in resort areas,” as does petty crime, wrote Department of Safety Director Steven C. McCraw in a statement.

“The Mexican government has made great strides battling the cartels,” McCraw noted. “However, drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat, even in some resort areas.”

The release says that 13,000 narcotics-related homicides were reported the first nine months of 2011 and the number of U.S. citizens murdered in Mexico rose from 35 in 2007 to 120 in 2011.

The question of whether Mexico is safe for travelers has been hotly debated in Canada recently too. Last March, Maclean’s asked Why do Canadians still vacation in Mexico? Here’s an excerpt:

Canadians visit Mexico more than one million times every year. Most are untouched. But at least 17 Canadians have died in Mexico since 2006, and more than 120 have reported being assaulted to Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs (last year saw six murders and 35 assaults). These figures are higher than those for other top winter vacation spots, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Compared to other destinations, tourist facilities in Mexico are often more closely integrated with local communities. And Canadians assaulted and murdered in Mexico include those targeted in and around such supposedly safe enclaves, with the attacks frequently bringing responses from authorities that victims and their families consider to be incompetent, or worse.

But how’s the situation one year later? Well, the number of murders in Mexico in 2011 is expected to set a record, when full figures are released. On top of that, a handful of Canadians were reported beaten or killed in Mexico this winter, including Ximena Osegueda, a graduate student from the University of British Columbia who was found dead on a beach near Huatulco in December.

Still, Canadian, U.S. and British authorities generally agree that most resort towns are safe.Foreign Affairs Canada advises “exercis[ing] a high degree of caution due to a deteriorating security situation in many parts of the country,” and avoiding non-essential travel to two northern border states, Chihuahua and Coahuila. They also suggest avoiding crowds and demonstrations in the run-up to the presidential elections on July 1st, which could bring even more violence than usual.

Solar flare radiation could impact communications, GPS On watch » Sun surface’s high-activity area will face the Earth for the next 10 days.

An image released by NASA on March 5, 2012 is a view of a X1 solar flare in a new active region on the sun, region 1429. It has let loose two M-class flares and one X-class so far. The M-class flares erupted on March 2 and on March 4. The third flare, rated an X1, peaked at 10:30 ET on March 4. A CME accompanied each flare, though due to the fact that this active region is still off to the side of the sun, they will likely have a weak effect on Earth's magnetosphere. (AP Photo/NASA)

Solar flare radiation could impact communications, GPS

On watch » Sun surface’s high-activity area will face the Earth for the next 10 days.

By Sheena McFarland

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Mar 07 2012 02:39 pm • Last Updated Mar 07 2012 07:51 pm

The sun is coming out of a long slumber, and scientists are bracing for the impacts of heightened solar activity here on Earth.

A Tuesday-night solar flare shot the biggest wave of radiation and electrical and magnetic emissions in five years straight toward the Earth, meaning that by early Thursday morning electrical grids, GPS navigation and radio-wave transmissions could be affected.

The sun has been in a quiet phase for the last several years, but it’s coming out of it. And Coronal Mass Ejections, which spew a billion tons of plasma from the sun’s surface, will become more frequent, Rutledge said.The emissions are expected to come roaring into the atmosphere between 1 and 5 million miles per hour just after midnight on Thursday morning, according to Bob Rutledge, lead of the forecast office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center.

"The sun has solar flares often, but these are shooting toward Earth," said Patrick Wiggins, NASA solar system ambassador to Utah. "When that stuff gets here, it interacts with the upper atmosphere."

That’s when people in places like the northern parts of the United States and Canada get to see auroras, but the other effects might not be so positive.

Rutledge says car navigation systems shouldn’t be too affected, but mining and drilling companies that need accuracy to the centimeter will not be able to get that kind of precision.

Airplanes completing long-haul flights often travel near the poles to save fuel and cut down on flight times, but the geomagnetic storms are affecting the high-frequency radio communications needed to communicate over the horizon, Rutledge said. Several airlines have been warned they may need to reroute flights to travel at a lower latitude.

Delta Air Lines has not yet had to alter any flight paths, but they are continuing to monitor the situation, said spokesman Anthony Black.

Geomagnetic storms caused by large solar ejections can also cause damage to electrical transformers or trip safety switches, shutting down power. However, this storm shouldn’t be that intense, Rutledge said.

No paragraph style ]"> Utah’s lower latitude has protected it from issues associated with the electromagnetic interference of such flares, said David Eskelsen, spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power. His engineers, though, do keep track of space weather forecasts.

No paragraph style ]"> The next 10 days could bring more flares and more disruptions, Rutledge said.

No paragraph style ]"> "The one thing to keep in mind is that the active region is still there and it still has some potential," he said.

No paragraph style ]"> The sun’s activity, especially sunspots, is easily visible through with the naked eye — protected with a special filter for safety, Wiggins said. To see real-time images of the sun, visithttp://sohowww.estec.esa.nl/data/realtime-images.html

smcfarland@sltrib.com

Twitter: @sheena5427

Full Day Huatulco Eco Tour by Bus

Full Day Huatulco Eco Tour by Bus

Duration: 8 hours Languages: Spanish, English Location: Huatulco, Mexico

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• Details

Explore the Emerald Coast of Oaxaca on this exciting day tour. Begin your tour in Mazunte. Relax on the beach of Zipolite. Enjoy the local catch from the sleepy village of Puerto Angel.

Highlights:

Enjoy Mazunte ecotourism and sea turtle conservation center

Relax on a beach in Zipolite

Admire scenic Puerto Angel

Availability:

When do you want to go?Select a date »

Product & Pricing Options

• Standard Option

  Live guide: Spanish, English

  Duration: 8 hours

  Starts at meeting point (More details, Show on map)
  from US$ 40.00
  (per person, 2 persons min.)Check availability »

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Begin your guided tour in Mazunte, a small ecotourism community on the pacific coast in Oaxaca, Mexico.  Here you will see a variety of ecofriendly businesses and conservation centers, including: a natural cosmetics factory and the exclusive Mexican center of Turtles where seven of the eight species of marine turtles are protected. See turtles in all different stages of growth and learn what the Mexican government is doing to protect these very special creatures. Some of the marine turtles swim to the local shores to lay their eggs every year.

Continue on to Zipolite, one of the most unique and famous beaches along Mexico's Pacific coastline. Relax and take in the beach's peaceful ambiance as you lay in a hammock enjoying the refreshing ocean breeze.

Next you will stop in Puerto Angel, notorious for its fresh seafood and fish.  Don’t miss out on the local catch from the village fisherman, as this is the specialty of this sleepy village.

Included:

• Round trip transportation from Huatulco area hotels
• Admission fee to Mazunte

Not included:

• Gratuities (optional)
• Meals and beverages

Additional Information:

This tour requires a minimum of 2 passengers to operate.

Bruce Springsteen plays intimate venue

Playa Zipolite Pochutla OAXACA · Mexico · Open Air ·

05 - 08 Apr 12 · TRIPPOLITE · Playa Zipolite Pochutla OAXACA ...
Town: Playa Zipolite Pochutla OAXACA DJs : Mozkatt (Electro Magnetik) - Por, , Simple Project (Electronic Brain) - Ita, , Sandmandero... Live: 05 - 08 Apr 12 ...
www.goatrance.de/goabase/party/details/65598

TRIPPOLITE

Playa Zipolite Pochutla OAXACA · Mexico · Open Air · NEWUPDATE
Thu, 05 Apr 12, 22:00h - Sun, 08 Apr 12, 12:00h

DJs	Mozkatt (Electro Magnetik) - Por Simple Project (Electronic Brain) - Ita Sandmandero (Tatewari Rec.) - Mex TBA
Deco	Psy Mushroom Naked Runner .... deco - fluo by Tatewari
Location	Playa Zipolite ___ Iguana Azul 100 m. Adoquin Col. roca blanca
Entry fee	FREE FREE
Info	Free entry ..Free camping.. Free dogs...
Organizer	SST---- Southern Sun Tribe
Email	racris2010@libero.it
From	simpleprojectorga · 7 x ·
Insert	12h 26min, Update 12h 22min
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Sound Styles [?]	No music style so far...

Branding Myself- Get your FREE photo of Zipolite FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Zipolita: Branding Myself- Get your FREE photo of Zipolite
I liked the name Zipolita- Zipolite is so beautiful and "ita" means small when you add it to a word in Spanish. So I always say I carry a little of Zipolite in my heart ...
zipolita.blogspot.com/.../branding-myself-get-your-free-photo...

FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Branding Myself- Get your FREE photo of Zipolite

Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2012
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+

Hi, Welcome! If you haven't been here before, I am glad your here. I have a lot to share but not much time to do it. I'm busy! Busy like a little bee.

You see for over a year now I have been experimenting with Social Media. Watching. Testing, Repeating, Changing. So many things keep changing. Anyways I have multiple blogs and I tried driving traffic to them to see what was the best way and at the same time tried to find ways of promoting myself and others. It's been an interesting year I must say.

One thing that I decided last year was to start calling myself Zipolita. You see Tina in Spanish means Bathtub! Cute eh! But if I wrote that for my blog AdventureZ in Mexico, which originally could have been Adventures of Tina (Bathtub), well you see my point. It's not to cool. That's not to say there are not lots of Spanish/Mexico woman named Tina. In Mexico some people like to call me Cristina. Which is not my name...Christina is, but they don't usually spell it that way there.

I have a blog by my name Tina Winterlik. It does okay, I have had the most traffic on it. But the name Winterlik, that's another issue, not to catchy, hard to remember, unique yes, but people can never spell it right, always putting in an "n" or "c" at the end,...winterlink, winterlick....Nope! these are not my names. So I need a new name.

I thought maybe I could use my daughter's name- Angel name for some things...name my blogs after her...my dad named his boat after me...

Originally Adventurez in Mexico,  the blog was called Adventures of Angel but that I found confused people, they didn't know what it was about. So upon return home from Mexico, I made that blog private and started an entirely new one "Adventurez in Mexico!" I used a z as Adventures was all taken.

I knew I would need to promote it with Social Media and I was learning it as fast as everyone else, plus I took a course in it at Emily Carr called "FIND YOU SOCIAL MEDIUM" and I thought I could figure it out. I had started a blog called Social Media Super Hero. This was to attract as much attention I could get. On that blog I tried to let people know I could help them with Social Media. I didn't grab the facebook page though, so just so you know that's not me. I did grabFacebook pages for Adventurez in Mexico, Tina Winterik, Tina'z Social Media Workshopand Zipolita.

As I said I have multiple blogs and what I wanted to do was bring them all together under one roof. I liked the name Zipolita- Zipolite is so beautiful and "ita" means small when you add it to a word in Spanish. So I always say I carry a little of Zipolite in my heart everywhere I go. So I started calling myself Zipolita online everywhere.

I liked the Z idea, and so I added a Z to everything. Like the N in Nike I am trying to emulate what works. Adventurez in Mexico, Tina'z Blog, Tina'z Social Media Workshop, Zipolita...so I was getting there.

I figured out that blogger would let me link my blogs all together using tabs, ...most of them. But then something went wonky and some links didn't work.

During all this I came up with this fabulous idea to create online workshops that teach Social Media to Stay at Home Moms! but I worked too hard and got sick...and I put it on the back burner. That was a year ago. I'm a single mom who was homeschooling and dealing with all sorts of issues and just put in too many hours to be healthy. But I haven't given up. I'm healthy and things are coming together. Winter is over!!! Almost! and spring is on it's way and it's a whole new ballgame :)

So I am pulling that idea out again and I have a new plan and I'm going to plough ahead!!

First things first! BRANDING! This has been the big stalling point! Choosing the colours and the logo has been hard. I am still fiddling with it, but it's coming along nicely. As I tweek things I will keep you all up to date of my latest endevours. In just the last two days I have accomplished alot

• So now you will see that this blog, Zipolita, links to all my other 8 blogs and they link back to here.
• All my blogs have a tab to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, Google+(coming)Oops forgot, Faa-Fine Art America
• All blogs have the same Header text and mention Zipolita in some form
• My twitter background now matches my Zipolita blog colours/font

I have other tasks to work on, but it's coming together..baby steps...again. I need a true logo, ideas are flowwing and soon I will have it.

My two blogs to watch will be Adventurez in Mexico and Zipolita'z Social Media- which I renamed

My plan is to finish my short film but I am going to break it down though into 30 minutes each and add extra footage and narration to make them more interesting and informative.

I'm going to give away free Wallpapers and E-cards for people who visit my site (see below)

On my Zipolita'z Social Media I plan on finishing all my videos and posting them for free and then letting everyone know I am available for Social Media Services.

I have other fabulous plans too but this is all I'm going to share at the moment. As it is it's quite industrious and I sure hope I conquer it. Time will tell. I appreciate you support. Thanks for dropping by.

And to say THANK YOU here is a lovely photo I took in Zipolite.

 You may print it for PERSONAL USE ONLY. I hope you enjoy it.

With love from Zipolita aka Tina Winterlik 

Photography by Zipolita- aka Tina Winterlik © 2012 - You may print this for personal use ONLY! Enjoy

Gina Star - Mar 2012 - Top 10