E X P Mexico.com

Obviously anyone interested in Mexico should spend an afternoon poring over this collection of Santo Posters from the Mexican Memorabilia Website.

Another edition of everything I found over the last couple of days while avoiding other more important work.

If the whole enormous (give it a while to load completely) page of old, well sustained, Santo the wrestler posters doesn’t give you a thrill, probly nothing will. But I still have to try.

How about the idea of re-introducing wolves to the northern states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua? Canis Lupus Baileyi was almost extinct, one of the rarest land mammals on Earth (according to the California Wolf Center)but efforts to the north of the border should see more of the critters calling Mexico home.

From Outdoor News Daily there’s news that the wolves are finally being released into Mexico since the first ones were bred in captivity  in the US way back in 1978 – when literally only 5 could be caught in the wild.

Mexico has announced its intent to release captive Mexican wolves, perhaps as early as October-November 2009, in northern Mexico (in eastern Sonora and western Chihuahua). On August 7, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will brief the [Arizona Game and Fish] Commission on how this project has been developed and on the potential for post-release dispersal into southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Originally Mexican Wolves called a big section of Northwestern Mexico and SouthWestern US Territory Home. Source: The Mexican Wolf Page at BoomerWolf.com

This follows a release of the Mexican wolves in Arizona more than 10 years ago, and a very active involvement on the part of the US Public and the US authorities. According to Outdoor News Daily, the US Fish and Wildlife call for comments on how to improve the wolf re-introduction program ended up eliciting 13,598 comments - including concerns about the genetic purity and the captives wolves comfort levels in human environments. It will be interesting to see how much success can be imitated on this side of the border.

If you want to know everything there is to know AND see all the wolf pictures, MexicanWolves.org is the place to start.

In other good sustainability news though – Mexico City’s Green Roof-Tops story – is frankly too-often met by scoffs and dismissals, at least among the Chilangos that I know. Here’s the latest thing- an Inter Press Service article – about the initiative. The article concentrates on the proven success and tantalizing possibilities generated by the program’s introduction at a hospital and the local SEDUVI offices and a centro historico school, but if you’re not at all familiar with what’s going on:

The Mexico city government hopes that the more than 8,000 square metres of green roofs created so far in public buildings will serve as an example for the private sector.

For now, the city plans to ask businesses requesting construction permits to dedicate 10 to 20 percent of their rooftops to green space – in exchange for tax benefits.

Our Facebook Eldefe.com Fan Page is sustaining a full load of the Cell Phone Pics we keep snapping. You've got to become a fan of Eldefe.com on Facebook to see all of them but, hey, it's free - and sustainable.

Like I said, I think a lot of city-jaded Chilangos are a little wary of Utopian government schemes, but this one requires real effort and commitment on the part of a lot of people involved – not to mention it requires at least something of a green thumb on the part of the people working it. But it’s worth a try and really – they don’t have to re-waterproof the roof tops for 80 years!

Sustainable architecture? How about Sustainable Tourism?

The Mexico Tourism Board and other Mexicans governmental tourism entities, in conjunction with the World Heritage Alliance (WHA), Expedia, Inc. and the United Nations Foundation, have initiated an educational partnership program for Expedia representatives and members of local communities in Mexico to ensure the protection of the delicate biodiversity, while empowering the rural communities through entrepreneurship.

I can still hear my right-wing friends in the states steaming with answers to that one.  Well, maybe I can’t hear them, but I can sort of imagine. Again – reasonable, sustainable, even interesting and good.

Peter Moskos, assistant professor of law, police science and criminal justice administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY’s doctoral program in sociology, and former Baltimore City police officer.

Lastly, how about sustainable impressions of another country? Sometimes they last too long. I quite enjoyed the musings of Harvard Sociologist and ex-Baltimore Police Officer, Peter Moskos, on his trip to Mexico.

I’m always amazed how different things are in Mexico from what most Americans think things are like. Maybe things are worse up in border towns in the north. Or some of the nasty resorts. Or in the slums of Mexico City. But down south, in the Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Chiapas, and Tabasco, everything is fine. Clean. Civilized. [...]

With the recent flu problems, there is a great emphasis on hygiene. I wish I could say the same about New York City. Even many street food carts, and there are a lot of them, have hand-washing stations.

And Villahermosa, where I am now, had a horrible flood two years ago. Today everything seems fine. I dare you to go to New Orleans and say the same about the flood five years ago.

Yup – some things can be sustained, and some other things we have to work really hard at sustaining.

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