Cancun Today

(OECD) Mexicans work longer days than anyone else in OECD countries, devoting 10 hours to paid and unpaid work, such as cleaning or cooking at home. Belgians work the least, at 7 hours, compared with an OECD average of 8 hours a day.

These are among the insights in the latest edition of Society at a Glance, which gives an overview of social trends and policy developments in OECD countries. Using indicators taken from OECD databases and other sources, it shows how societies are changing over time and compared with other countries.

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(Waco, Texas) A new study by Baylor University geology researchers published in Geology shows that Native Americans’ land use nearly a century ago produced a widespread impact on the eastern North American landscape and floodplain development several hundred years prior to the arrival of major European settlements.

Researchers attribute early colonial land-use practices, such as deforestation, plowing and damming with influencing present-day hydrological systems across eastern North America. Previous studies suggest that Native Americans’ land use in eastern North America initially caused the change in hydrological systems, however, little direct evidence has been provided until now.

The Baylor study found that pre-European so-called “natural” floodplains have a history of prehistoric indigenous land use, and thus colonial-era Europeans were not the first people to have an impact on the hydrologic systems of eastern North America. The study also found that prehistoric small-scale agricultural societies caused widespread ecological change and increased sedimentation in hydrologic systems during the Medieval Climate Anomaly-Little Ice Age, which occurred about 700 to 1,000 years ago.

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Gallery located in Plaza Kukulcán, next to Luxury Avenue entrance.

Sergio Bustamante galleries were founded in 1975, and the works of this Guadalajara based artist cram this hotel zone gallery.

Bustamante’s original combination of animal and human forms are endlessly interesting. His collection has expanded in recent years to include jewelry, furniture,  shoes and bags.

Photograph by Anita Brown

Interestingly, no cases have yet been reported in Cancun, raising the question of how the visitors who were diagnosed with the virus on returning home contracted it. Perhaps they got it from travelers visiting here from other destinations in Mexico, such as Mexico City. Despite this, the Cancun Hotel Zone is now almost completely tourist-free. In town, an occasional person is seen with a surgical mask. All taxi drivers are required to wear them, but I haven’t seen them on bus drivers yet.

As in the rest of the nation, public events and facilities will be suspended from May 1-6, except for vital services such as food and transportation. Many government offices are already closed or offering only restricted service, such as emergency tourist card replacements. Business people I talk with here feel (understandably) that authorities are overreacting in an excess of caution, as very few cases of actual swine flu have been identified, especially given the population of Mexico City. Let’s hope they are right.

(PRWEB) August 11, 2008 — Over 100 artists from 5 continents will participate in WORLD ART VISION, which will feature painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, prints, installation art, video and digital art. Arturo Garcia Bustos and Rina Lazo, who were, respectively, pupils of and assistants to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera will be present during the exhibition, therefore bringing an exceptional artistic testimony to WORLD ART VISION: CANCUN 2008.

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Photograph by Anita Brown.

Photograph by Anita Brown.