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Mind Scraps: Rarámuri (Tarahumara) Photo Overload

Laura — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:54:38 +0000

I can’t say Mind Scraps will be too interesting for the next few days. I’m not doing much more than plugging away at the hundreds of photos from my trip into the Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre). View the first of several batches on Flickr:

Mind Scraps: Frenzy

Laura — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:19:58 +0000

Arrived in Chihuahua, Mexico by El Chepe (Chihuahua Pacifico train) from my trip to the Barrancas del Cobre late last night. The train chugs on as desert slowly morphs into a sloping land of strange rock formations – some eerily resemble petrified spirits of eras past. Then, the rises and dips become more drastic and [...]

Mind Scraps: Countdown to the Canyons

Laura — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:58:51 +0000

All the houses and buildings here in Chihuahua are made of concrete. I’m familiar with concrete being abundant, as it is in Honduras and Guatemala, but I feel like the two latter still had some wooden and rock buildings scattered about the concrete masses. Here… it’s all concrete. A giant concrete slab in the middle [...]

Mind Scraps: Ice Queen in Mexico

Laura — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:46:18 +0000

01.03.10 The nights are chillier than I anticipated. It takes a bit of will-power for me to unearth myself from my burrow each morning. I sleep on an extra mattress on the floor, layered in clothes and buried in blankets – head and all. I seem to be much colder than anyone else though. What’s up [...]

Can You Spare a Quarter?

Laura — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:40:04 +0000

The latest campaign to raise awareness about global hunger from the World Food Program announces that the global population is setting a new record: For the first time in the history of mankind there will be more than one billion people facing chronic starvation at any given moment. Yay us. Becoming a part of the solution, though, [...]

Hunger Bytes! Winners go to Guatemala

Laura — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:21:38 +0000

This years winners of the 2010 Hunger Bites! World Food Program video contest are heading to Guatemala to raise awareness about the country’s underfed population. A recent drought has exacerbated the Guatemalan hunger crisis… Two aspiring filmmakers from Mexico, the grand prize winners of an annual video competition held by the United Nations World Food Programme [...]

New Government in Honduras Leads with Violence

Laura — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:54:10 +0000

I have contacts in Honduras who openly stated that overthrowing former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was exactly what they wanted. They claim Zelaya was acting unconstitutionally when he tried to illegally legalize the extension of presidential terms. But, it seems that the new government, under the charge of newly-elect Porfirio Lobo, leads with gruesome violence. [...]

US: Dirty Politics with Honduras and Haiti

Laura — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:37:59 +0000

For those who believe the only motives behind U.S. involvement in third world countries like Honduras and Haiti is simply to preserve democracy… Why Washington “Cares” about Honduras and Haiti by Mark Weisbrot When I write about U.S. foreign policy in places like Haiti or Honduras, I often get responses from people who find it difficult to believe [...]

Playing Ball with Severed Heads

Laura — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:43:54 +0000

As Mexico is my current locale, I’m tracking all news Mexicano. Here’s a most interesting clip about ancient native sports. While the people of the indigenous community featured in this article were known to be more peaceful, this Mercury News piece explains how some communities plucked the hearts out of losing athletes. Yikes! WHAT A PITY. [...]

Mind Scraps: Random Razorbacks

Laura — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:03:14 +0000

25.02.10 Spin Pizza with Bob. First, Sonoma salad complete with red leaf, spinach, raisins, goat cheese, grapes, apples, glazed pecans and Blood Orange vinaigrette. My caramelized onion and goat cheese pizza was sweet and savory all at once. Washed down the pizza with house Chianti. An excellent little wine and pizza joint in Kansas City, MO. Karlos [...]