Surviving Yucatan

June 4, 2014
Conservatives,  Tea Partiers, and Talking Heads on some business channels still chatter over “high unemployment” and a “weak economy”,  but  U6 and U3 unemployment measures of the actual numbers show a  different picture   of~ definitive trends~ ?:

US Unemployment (U6) of people who want work:

http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_u6.jsp

US Unemployment (U3) of people without jobs, who have actively looked for work within the past four weeks:

http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate.jsp

These numbers and their timing are right in line with our predictions about slow steady US (and Mexican) economic growth, as the US works-off the back-log of distressed properties and foreclosed properties (a 4 year process)  from the 2008 Fiscal Crisis and all the resulting 2009-2012 layoffs.   As the number of foreclosed/distressed properties fall, our home prices rise, and new construction rises,   and people start to fuel economic growth by finally spending and building – again.

What should we think about the people who complained about a bad economy that was supposedly not creating jobs ?

Do they look to the roots and causes of the Crisis in easy-money policies and insufficient regulation of Wall Street “investment bankers” that came from Conservative’s de-regulation policies?

Are the last 4 years of steadily decreasing unemployment really a bad thing?

As predicted (back in 2010):   2014 – 2016 look good for both the USA and Mexico,   as 2 million a year of relatively affluent Boomers become eligible for retirement every year until 2030 …  ~visiting~  spending $$$ , (with some snowbirds renting or buying property to escape the cold),  … all combine to fuel the future economies of Mexico’s expat communities … with good things  predicted out to 2030 for Mexican expat areas:  Baby Boomers: Retirement? Sufficient Savings? Their Likely Effects on Mexico?

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Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

Read on, MacDuff.

June 4, 2014
As regular guest author in the past here on Yucalandia, Lic. Spencer McMullen offers foreigners some of the best information and legal services to the expat community in Mexico. Today, Lic. McMullen describes a new Aduana website for checking the status of Temporary Import Permits (TIPs) for foreign-plated cars in Mexico. Without further ado, here’s Spencer’s good report:

After some time and errors the past few months, Aduana’s web site is now working, allowing one to check issuance of vehicle import permits online. You can check with the temporary import permit number or VIN number and passport number to get details of the permit issuance date and expiration date.

https://portalsat.plataforma.sat.gob.mx/…_internet/index.aspx

I don’t think this is necessarily good news as Aduana has been sloppy with their extensions and immigration has been giving people their new immigration cards with dates of a few weeks to a few months before people receive them thereby making the 15 day notification period impossible to comply with.

Lic. McMullen serves the expat community in the Lake Chapala area, and can be contacted at

Home

for legal help. Mexican licensed attorney (Cédula #7928026) and official court translator (Perito Traductor). Mx 376-765-7553

I have a favor to ask of Yucalandia readers,  since we do not have a foreign-plated TIP car, (both of our vehicles have Mexican plates), we were unable to test the new Aduana website and tell us how it worked.    Could someone out there use their TIP information, and check if the Aduana website is working properly now, and describe how it works.

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© Steven M. Fry

Read-on MacDuff . . .

May 23, 2014

What’s your favorite?
20 Mexican Engineering Inventions

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© Steven M. Fry

Read-on MacDuff . . .

May 29, 2014
Questions about The IRS’s new online FBAR system?
Check out: Internal Revenue Service Webinar on Reporting of Foreign Financial Accounts on the Electronic FBAR, Wednesday, June 4, 2014.

For written information see: IRS Reminds Those with Foreign Assets of U.S. Tax Obligations.

Also see our main article on US tax filing for Americans abroad at:    IRS Tax Issues for Americans Living and Working Abroad in Mexico – Master Article

and the subsection:  ~ Recent Changes in IRS Requirements for Americans Living Abroad – FBAR and Fideicomisos and FINCEN

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© Steven M. Fry

Read-on MacDuff . . .

May 26, 2014
In an unexpected twist, many US citizens living abroad may be required to file W-9’s, even it they are FULLY EXEMPT from FATCA. US citizens living abroad with some foreign Bank accounts, some foreign brokerage accounts, and FOREX trading accounts may soon be getting notices from their banker/broker/FOREX exchange trading firm(s) to prove/certify that the client (you) are exempt from FATCA. Some foreign banks are already asking their US citizen clients to fill out W-9’s …  For details on whether you are exempt from FATCA, see:  FATCA Fallout for US Expats Living Abroad   and  ~ FATCA Requirements for Expats with over $50,000 total in Foreign Accounts and Trusts

Unfortunately, even if you are exempt,  your foreign bank or brokerage may still have IRS requirements to have you fill out W-9, (July 1, 2014), to certify that you are exempt from FATCA.   (US citizens who work as employees of foreign brokerages or foreign banks may also have to fill out a W-9A.)

Here is one good description of the details on this new IRS requirement (provided by the FOREX firm “FCCM”):

“In what cases do I need to submit a Form W-9/W8-BEN/W8-BEN-E to FXCM?

In order to determine if tax withholding is applicable, FXCM must authenticate the residency of its accountholders. For instance, if an account is held by a non U.S. citizen or non U.S. registered business entity, FXCM may require a Certification of Foreign Status, such as Form W8-BEN or W8-BEN-E for the account. Similarly, if an account is held by a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien or U.S. business entity, the accountholder may be required to certify his/her tax status by completing a Form W-9.”

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“How will I know what Form to complete?

U.S. citizens or corporations may complete a W-9 form.
Instructions for non-US citizens or corporations can be found in detail here, and are generally outlined below for your convenience:

~ W-8BEN – non-US individual (unless individual falls under below classification)
~ W-8BEN-E – non-US entity (unless entity falls under below classification)
~ W-8ECI – non-US person with claim that income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States
~ W-8IMY – non-US intermediary, non-US flow-through entity, or non-US trust
~ W-8EXP – non-US government, international organizations, non-US central banks of issue, non-US tax-exempt organizations, non-US private foundations, or governments of US possessions

The outline provided above is not intended to be exhaustive and is not warranted or guaranteed by FXCM as to its completeness or accuracy. For assistance with selecting and completing the tax Form applicable to you, please consult a qualified tax professional.”

****
“How does FATCA impact FXCM and its clients?

To be FATCA compliant, FXCM must register its own FFIs with the IRS. In addition, FATCA regulations require FXCM to review existing onboarding and withholding processes and enhance them to comply with the regulations.

As part of an enhanced client onboarding process, additional documentation may be requested for clients holding accounts at FXCM. For instance, FXCM may need to obtain tax forms (i.e. W9/W8 series documents) after July 1, 2014, from both new and existing accountholders in order to identify the client’s tax classification.”

http://www.fxcmmarkets.com/legal/fatca/

“Onboarding” (?)

Fun, fun, fun, and yes, Daddy is taking the T-bird away, on July 1, 2014.

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Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

May 23, 2014 Has your Yucatecan car been running a little pooch-ey this past month? Magna gasoline has caused problems for many Merida cars this past month, as over 2,000 PROFECO complaints have been filed over Magna ruining fuel pumps (recent Milenio report) and over 700 local Toyotas affected.

Our mechanic-friend Eduardo Perez (Mechanico y Llantas Itzimna 999 144 41 23 ) describes having to replace 23 fuel pumps over just a 2½ week span in late-April to early-May, as they seized up from brown gunk.

Eduardo, Yucalandia, and various UADY scientists suspect that PEMEX changed some additive(s) in April, and that additive fouled fuel pumps with sticky gunk in our hot Yucatecan weather.   

Note:  PEMEX Yucatecan gasoline likely comes from Mexican refineries, while Norteños get their PEMEX gas from Texas & Louisana refineries  => not necessarily the same product.

If you doubt the contamination, maybe a few fotos could help: 

One tried and true method that ordinary folk can use to check out gasoline is to buy a little and store it in a somewhat transparent container.

I bought 2 liters on about April 29’th, and let it sit in this clean container for just 2 weeks.

It’s easy to see that a light brown residue coated the entire part of the tough plastic from just 2 weeks of contact,  and …

a nasty brown thick sticky residue separated out at the bottom.

Imagine this in your fuel tank.

Imagine this brown sticky stuff in your fuel pump…

What’s a car owner to do?

Since PEMEX gasoline problems have been going on for over a decade,   2012 foto:

   Water & Sediment Separating Out:  Pemex Gasoline: Issues? – The Yucalandia Article

… this latest problem of sticky brown gunk separating-out and damaging our fuel pumps, is just the latest round of  PEMEX gasoline quality issues.

Diario de Yucatan reports confirm what we already knew and told good friends:  http://yucatan.com.mx/merida/gobierno-merida/niegan-que-dane-autos-la-gasolina

… If you want to complain formally – send PROFECO an email at ~ denuncias@profeco.gob.mx ~  or ~ acercate@profeco.gob.mx ~  .. or Contact their FB inbox ” Consumidor Inteligente ” .

Some gringos tell us to add “alcohol” to “clean out your tank”,  but alcohols DO NOT dissolve sticky brown gunk (I tried) –  and alcohol simply takes that watery-heavily-sedimented-layer that sits in the bottom of your tank for years (like in the coke bottle) – and SWEEPS  it up into the fuel – dumping 2 or 3 years of sediment into your fuel filter and injectors in  one shot. …

Better solutions:  BG products are the best (but not available here),  Chevron Techron products like their “Fuel System Cleaner” or “Injector Cleaner” work excellently and were the first fuel additives approved by Mercedes & BMW.   Lucas cleaner (shown below) also works well in our experience.   The additives sold by PEMEX have not worked well in our experience.

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© Steven M. Fry

Read-on MacDuff . . .

May 22, 2014
Fun stuff from around the web for those starved for news and features about Mexico:

10 things Mexico does better than anywhere else

What’s your favorite?

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© Steven M. Fry

Updated May 21, 2014
The Diario de Yucatan chronicles the latest efforts by Yucatecan health authorities to combat Dengue:  Using Specialized Bacteria to Sterilize Mosquitoes.

Nueva técnica para esterilizar al mosquito transmisor En junio se daría un paso clave para el proyecto

En la búsqueda de nuevas maneras de combatir el dengue en Yucatán, las autoridades de Salud apuestan ahora a una tecnología que se está experimentando con éxito en otros países, como Estados Unidos y Australia.

El secretario de Salud del Estado, Jorge Mendoza Mézquita, explicó ayer que se trata de un método que consiste en inyectar en laboratorio al mosquito transmisor del dengue una bacteria que los esteriliza, de tal manera que al reproducirse, los nuevos ejemplares ya no tienen el virus que causa la enfermedad y eso reduce de manera importante la incidencia. ”

These techniques have been tried in Australia, Brazil, Vietnam, and Thailand with varying results.

Readers who want to know more about using  Wolbachia bacteria   to   (sometimes successfully)   infect and  (partly)  sterilize   Dengue-carrying mosquito populations (Aedes Aegypti) can read:
~ Risk Assessment of the Pilot Release of Aedes aegypti
mosquitoes containing Wolbachia

~ http://entomologytoday.org/2013/10/12/using-wolbachia-to-control-mosquitoes/

~ http://mosquitomate.com/faqs/

and the very good: PLoS article at:  http://www.plosntds.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0001797

To avoid backfire from readers for reporting facts from scientific studies, we simply direct readers to the sources.

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© Steven M. Fry
Read-on MacDuff . . .

May 22, 2014
The world just keeps getting stranger:

It turns out that educating US adults about factual errors in their beliefs does not work: “If someone held a contrary attitude, the correction not only didn’t work—it made the subject more distrustful of the source. ”

“Strong partisanship affected how a story about climate change was processed, even if the story was apolitical in nature, such as an article about possible health ramifications from a disease like the West Nile Virus …”

“If information doesn’t square with someone’s prior beliefs, he discards the beliefs if they’re weak and discards the information if the beliefs are strong.”

“If factual correction is ineffective, how can you make people change their misperceptions?”  New Yorker.com

Backfire effect: A recent healthcare study by Dartmouth researchers found that when educated Palin supporters were given the correct information about the supposed “death panels”, educated Conservatives became even “more likely to believe in death panels and to strongly oppose reform (than) if they received the correction.” ??? The Hazards of Correcting Myths …

Reliable research now shows that even well-educated Conservatives simply reply “Nugh-unhhh” and irrationally dig in their heels, when presented facts that contradict their personal opinions, even on key issues like the mythical “death panels”.

This might explain why years of Conservative’s comments  on Yucalandia have only been able to make vitriolic and frankly childish comments in reply to facts like:
~ US states controlled by Conservatives have the highest rates of child poverty,

~ Conservative US states rank 29’th in the world (with Bulgaria) for children’s education and standards of living,   and

~ Conservative US states receive the majority of US federal government welfare, in spite of their living Conservative principles.

Bizarre…

America seriously needs to change.
As long as blocks of people stubbornly cling to false beliefs,  we’re going to be stuck being the next-to-worst country (29’th) in the industrialized world.
We used to value doing things well.

We used to value being a good nation, taking good care of our children – making good futures for the next generations.

Now USA as #1: 
~ We still have the biggest bombs.
~ The USA still has the highest %’s of people in prison.  
~ We still spend the highest %’s of our resources on the military,  putting our military into 75% of the world’s countries – a record high in the history of humans.

… as our US children face worse food poverty rates than Mexico…
sad.

Get out and vote for change in the next election…

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Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

May 21, 2014
Ebay (via NPR) just announced that our personal account information data has BEEN HACKED.

Ebay is advising us to go change our Ebay passwords, immediately.

http://www.ebay.com

~ http://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBay&CurrentPage=MyeBayPersonalInfo&gbh=1&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK ~

Your password change “option” is the 3’rd item down in your personal “Account Information” block. … Click ~ Edit ~ .

You have to re-enter your personal login information, … then fill in new EBay passwords.

– If you are successful, you get this confirmation email:

eBay sent this message to ****** (****). Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more.

	eBay Change Password Confirmation

Dear ***** …”

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The Rest of the Story:  According to a Yahoo report  “… eBay did say that”

~  ” the hackers were able to access members’ names, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth. ” ~

Closing the barn door after the cows are already out?

(data stolen last March)

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Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

May 21, 2014
USA is a nation of immigrants.

Immigrants (far from our sight) quietly: ~ pick our food, ~ sew our clothes,
~ cut our meat, ~clean our offices, ~ build our homes, and
~ defend our nation.

Republican Congressman Jeff Denham is pushing a policy that’s worth considering: extend some respect to the children of illegals who serve in our military. Representative Denham (R) is pushing:  ENLIST (Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training Act)  a bill that offers permanent residency to undocumented immigrants who serve in the military,   as  an amendment  to the current defense bill.   Since Denham (R) is not on the House Armed Services Committee,  his proposal is stuck.

Maybe our Congressional Reps and Republican Leadership will listen to us.
This proposal needs the support of Republican House leaders to get onto the House agenda. So far, this very good idea is stuck in the limbo of House-rules.

This seems a very fair action to help those who are willing to die to become fellow citizens.

We can help get this important idea brought to a vote in the House: Write to your congressional rep. urging them to support this amendment.

Complaining to each other won’t change things. Our leaders need to hear from us.

Email them.   To learn how,    Go to:  www.House.gov
Enter your zip code beneath the map, then click on the name that pops up,
and ~ be transported ~ to your House member’s website.

Let’s use a little of our “computer-time” for a good cause.
Contact them by email, by phone, and/or by letter.

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© Steven M. Fry

May 18, 2014

How do we restore the balance?

Since the 1982 “Conservative Revolution”, politicians have climbed into bed with big business magnates, creating a government that serves the rich and powerful. The rich previously took 40% of the profits before Reagan’s regulatory & tax “reforms”. Now, under “Conservative’s” under-regulated Capitalism, the rich take over 97% of the profits for themselves – as over 50% of workers at big companies like Walmart and McDonalds live in poverty.

During the Reagan presidency, Conservative’s “reforms” shifted over $1 thousand-billion (a trillion) from middle class families, to the already-rich during Reagan’s Presidency. “Conservative’s” twin myths of tax-cuts (Reagan raised Middle Class taxes to historic highs during his presidency) & “trickle-down” actually created the giant sucking of over $3 trillion of wealth from middle class families, to create 6.5 million millionaire households, and 100,000 with over $100 million each => as Bush-Reagan Conservative “reforms” continued to create whole new classes of obscenely wealthy people ~ through 30 years of ~ “reforms” and “deregulation”.

“Conservative” myths of “job creation” through tax cuts & deregulation created 442 US billionaires…. and no, they didn’t “earn it”.

… unless you see yourself not as exploited, but as a temporarily embarrassed millionaire.

Huh? “Conservatives” & billionaires are “exploiting” Americans?

McDonalds could raise its average worker OUT OF POVERTY, (a 30-something mom who is the primary bread-winner in the family), by simply paying just $14 billion of profits to the already-rich versus ~ McDonald’s current $16 billion a year in “profits” ~ they pay-out to the already-rich.

Did anyone else notice that Walmart and McDonald’s et al can raise ALL their workers out of poverty, and ~ not raise prices ~ ?

Just trim a little fat from the profits they pay to their executives and owners.

~ Where did the “American Dream” go ~ under Conservative’s world of “trickle-down” , low taxes for the rich, and “regulatory reform”?

Consider the myth of “Privatization save $$ Money” …
~  Greed is not good ~   http://www.alternet.org/economy/privatization-scam-5-horror-stories-govt-outsourcing-greedy-private-companies

The people who actually do the work should:
Vote to take back OUR government, and OUR economy.

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© Steven M. Fry

May 15, 2014

… Republican’s personal opinions and their religiously-held ideologies on weather realities, are now especially poignant, as NASA scientists announce that the WAIS, a big ice cube that can all-alone raise world-wide ocean water levels 4 feet, as it goes ker-plunk from the land into the sea…

and

Marco Rubio Attempts To Link Climate Change To Abortion

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© Steven M. Fry

Read-on MacDuff . . .

May 8, 2014
I keep chiding myself to keep a camera at hand, battery charged, …

Why?

How many times in your life have you gone to sit on the potty, to find a brilliant iridescent green iguana leaping (terrified) at your kiester?

The poor thing was frantic:
leaping and scrambling to try to escape his porcelain prison.

My sole focus was to rescue him, quickly, … and release him in friendlier surroundings (our back garden).

… another great foto-op missed.

An hour later, I realized what a great little gem that foto would have been as a part of an ongoing series of (future) Short Stories from the Tropics. Being a good German(-American), I have no shortage of resolve or patience – and have kept the camera at the ready:

Recognize this location?

It’s our kitchen sink.

and

a great example of what each of us see.

I saw this  (coiled to strike) =>

Fry-Home Fun

<== Maria Alba saw this …
 

Clever readers might have noticed that these 2 images are just … the right-side of our kitchen sink versus … the left side of our kitchen sink.

My eye was enamored with the moving scorpion on the right side, while Maria Alba only saw the immobilized cucarachon on the left side. – with 100’s of ants doing “disposal”.   (Neither of us saw both.)

I commented about how unusual it was to see “one of these” in our kitchen, as Maria Alba quizzically replied “… we see one almost once a month… ?? ”

Steve:   “I haven’t seen one since last month, in our upstairs bedroom …. and that one had been the first in 8 years”.

Maria Alba:    “What are you talking about….?”

I scooped the scorpion into a clear plastic cup (w/lid) and showed her. Her eyes popped…

While scooping ~ a second look ~ revealed the big roach.  (and ant-disposal crew)

Maria Alba explained that the cucarachon – now not moving –  had ~ attracted ~ the scorpion….

How many of you noticed ….

what I then pointed out to Maria Alba?  ….

The cucarachon has … no head… and no abdomen…

Another casualty of war.

“Night of the Scorpion”
…
“Kitchen Wars:
Cuca v. Scorpio ”
…
“Another good reason to not kill scorpions?”
…
“Our little hunting friends …”

… What other things go on in our homes, unseen and unknown ???

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© Steven M. Fry

Read-on MacDuff . . .

April 2014 Emailed News from a Friend:

Police Release Burglary Codigos: Have You Seen Symbols on Your House?

On December 2013, the president of the State Judicial Council, Marco Celis Quintal , stated that burglary is an offense that causes significant psychological impact to the victim, “since the individuals are affected within their vital and intimate space that is their home.”

In 2013, the Ministry of Public Security captured two young men who for weeks had burglarized and burned a number of homes in Caucel, on the west side of Merida. Their modus operandi was designed to eliminate evidence such as fingerprints and DNA traces, and also to make the victims believe their goods had been destroyed in the fire, when in fact they had been stolen.

Those arrested were William de Jesús Sansores Xool age 19 and José Cruz Ku Sansores age 18, although it is presumed by the Ministry of Public Security that there were many more people involved in this wave of burglaries and arson.

Last month police arrested a gang of Colombians who had been burglarizing houses for months all over the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as in other parts of the country.  The gang was disbanded in a combined operation by The Secretary of Public Security (SSP) of Yucatan and the Campeche State Police.  These criminals had been operating in Yucatán and Quintana Roo, and they were specialists in stealing safes from houses. They committed eight robberies in Mérida and three in Cancún before being finally apprehended.

More recently, a man was arrested while he was burglarizing a property in the neighborhood of Montes de Ame, in the North of Merida.  A neighbor and a pizza delivery man alerted the local police, and asked them to investigate suspicious activity in a house where the owners were supposed to be on vacation.

According to reports from the authorities, these gangs are well organized.  One group of gang members walks around the neighborhood, watching for any movement and looking for potential victims.  These “scouts” then tag the properties with the appropriate symbols, informing the actual burglars of the conditions inside the property.  Scouts usually have a legitimate reason for being in the neighborhood, such as delivering flyers door to door.  Thus informed, the burglars can enter the property in relative safety.

Currently we have information from different police departments in Mexico that bands like the ones mentioned above are operating throughout the country, through simple graphic codes that makes the job easier for them.

For example, something as simple as a cross or a piece of string tied to the fence or gate can be a signal indicating that the inhabitants are on vacation or out working, etc.

These signs can be found on walls, doors, lamp posts or public telephone booths nearby, alerting other gang members.  If you see these types of drawings on or near your home, we recommend you take a picture before erasing them, and let your neighbors and the local police know about them.

Here is a guide to some of the most used codes and their meanings: