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South of North – Cattle drive as political leaders, fiscal gurus and czars ruin the economy, order assassinations

Various forms of present government corruption threaten Mexico’s dreams of growth.  Past similar attempts at self-aggrandizement stir the memories of many long-time residents.  The 1994 devastation of the Mexican economy is one of these.  A new president, Ernesto Zedillo, had just been sworn in (December 1,1994), unknowingly inheriting the disguised economic debris left behind by outgoing President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Miriam was from the shore of the Sea of Galilee, taking part in transforming the western world

Mary Magdalene had an unfortunate name.  It continues in “religious” memory to be too popular.  There were so many Marys that Pope “Gregory the Great” bunched several of Christ’s female followers together and turned Mary of Magdala into a whore.  (Magdala: a well-known city 120 miles north of Jerusalem on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.)  

South of North - No ‘whore,’ not a ‘maudlin’ penitent, Mary Magdalene was the victim of two centuries of mistaken identity

Her name was Miriam.  She was from Magdala, a town 120 miles north of Jerusalem on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.  She was to become, first, Miriam of Magdala, then Mary of Magdala, and finally Mary Magdalene, which alternated with The Magdalene.   She was the one female member of Christ’s followers whose personal closeness to Jesus evidently irritated Saint Peter (before he was a saint).   That was when her life was being mauled by what was to become about 2,000 years’ worth of full-time misogynism.   The original Miriam became “the whore” primarily due to her fellow Christians’ mental flaccidity.  

South of North – Lost in a map-less Mexican territory

1964.  We had recently left the busy port town of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave.  Now my wife, I and our sturdy Chevy station wagon were lost.  Our sleekly printed, carefully drawn map did not show the unpaved road we were traveling.  Ahead a thin man squatted as if waiting for a bus.  We hoped his presence meant he knew where he was going – unlike the two of us.  We hoped he knew where he was at.