Forget 2012. As far as many Mexicans are concerned, the ancient Mayas were being generous: the sky’s actually going to fall next year. Why? Because it’s 2010, Mexico’s bicentennial, and Mexican history has an eerie way of repeating itself. Mexico’s 1910 centennial, after all, saw the start of the bloody, decade-long Mexican Revolution, which killed more than a million people. And that cataclysm was precisely a century after the start of Mexico’s bloody, decade-long War of Independence in 1810.

You get the picture. As a result, there’s been no shortage of talk lately about possible unrest, especially in the form of armed rebel groups, erupting south of the border in 2010. But is there really a basis for concern? None as apparent as the popular grievances that existed in 1809 or 1909. But this is still Mexico; and while Spanish colonizers no longer oppress the country, and dictators like Porfirio Diaz aren’t brutalizing campesinos, the country nonetheless is reeling from the worst criminal violence in its history and one of its hardest economic slumps. “We are very near a social crisis,” JosÉ Narro, the director of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, said recently. “The conditions are there.”

Time: Bicentennial Anxiety: Why Mexicans Are Wary of 2010

(Thanks James K!)

Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government’s grueling battle against drug traffickers.

Prosecutors said the new law sets clear limits that keep Mexico’s corruption-prone police from shaking down casual users and offers addicts free treatment to keep growing domestic drug use in check.

“This is not legalization, this is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty,” said Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general’s office.

The new law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution.

Raw Story: Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession

(via Disinfo)

Like Kevin says, “This isn’t a done deal yet, but it’s good news.”

Mexico’s Senate approved a bill on Tuesday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of narcotics for personal use, in order to free resources to fight violent drug cartels.

The bill, proposed by conservative President Felipe Calderon, would make it legal to carry up to 5 grams (0.18 ounces) of marijuana, 500 milligrams (0.018 ounces) of cocaine and tiny quantities of other drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines.

Mexico’s Congress passed a similar proposal in 2006 but the bill was vetoed by Calderon’s predecessor Vicente Fox, under pressure from the United States, which said it would increase drug abuse, but now is worried by the drug-related violence along its border.

Calderon has staked his presidency on curtailing the escalating violence between rival drug gangs as they fight over smuggling routes to the United States, with violence spilling into U.S. cities like Phoenix and Tucson.

Reuters: Mexico Senate OKs bill to legalize drug possesion

(via Cryptogon)

In January I pointed to an article on how poorly Colorado’s immigration crack-down was going (see here). The LA Times has more (via Trevor’s del.ico.us links).

It turns out labor shortages in Colorado have become severe and the state is turning to prison labor to fill the shortages (This solution was once proposed by California Representative Dana Rohrabacher as well). So where are all the native born Americans, desperately hurting for jobs stolen by illegal immigrants?

A new study by the Public Policy Institute of California found that immigrants (both legal and illegal combined) and actually boost pay for native workers. A separate study found they’re less likely to end up in prison to boot.

So, in the interest of offering solutions as well as pointing out problems (or failed attempts at solutions), I’ll make a suggestion: A temporary guest worker permit program. The main advantage of such a program is that by making the solution temporary, if it turns out to be a disaster, new permits can be changed or the program can be cancelled altogether and after the permits expire, everything will go back to normal. A guest worker program would allow workers to seek legal protections without fear of being deported, and could potentially create a means to tax hitherto undocumented workers to pay for social services.

The means to a solution such as this one is difficult to determine. Public perceptions of immigrants in the US seems to be persistently bad, and politicians on both the left and the right like to talk tough about “cracking down” on illegal immigration. Most of the 08 presidential candidates favor militarizing the US-Mexico border in spite of the fact that most illegal immigrants enter the US legally (source). My suggestion is to arm yourself with the facts about immigration, write your congress people, and make an effort to correct people when they perpetuate myths about immigration.

See also: Dispelling Myths About Immigrants.

The Phenomena Interview Padre Engo: New York’s Voodoo High Priest, Militant Messiah, Music Producer and Musician Dateline:

Ed – You have stated that you are the incarnation of a Mexican god. How did you discover this?

PE – Yes I am Quetzalcoatl in the flesh. I am the first and there will be other avatars of the Feathered Serpent to come after me.

Only a black man can hold this spiritual title. Also, being a Moor (a black Muslim) and an avatar of Quetzalcoatl is not a contradiction in terms. Most people have no idea as to who Quetzalcoatl really is. All the so-called New Age books on Quetzalcoatl fail to tell you who he really is. Quetzalcoatl was not a ‘White Man with a beard’. The Mexican Indians never believed such nonsense. This idea only exists in the letter Cortez wrote to the King of Spain. Quetzalcoatl is a West African god that was always viewed as a black man from the East. This has been proven by the Harvard Professor Leo Weiner.

Quetzalcoatl is the product of the Mandingo magicians that colonized Mexico long before the birth of Christ, and again in the 1300s. He was originally depicted by the ancient Mexican Indians as a black man with a beard wearing a white ‘Islamic’ robe. His white robe is why he is often called a ‘White God’.

Full Story: Key 23.