Monday

For weeks we've had next to nothing in the pantry. We even ran out of black pepper, for god's sake. These things, combined with busyness, laziness, social priority, and beckoning Deadwood disks resulted in our eating out (or take out) almost every day since the Election. Yesterday necessitated a pre-party trip to the store for things like ice cream cones, Magic Shell ™, and a loaf-like mango cheesecake. Incidentally, we also bought damn near every other thing that we saw there. So today these things combined: Sunshine's second trip to the dentist, guilt, and a fully-stocked refrigerator. Today’s result: all I’ve done is make fresh basil and oregano ravioli and burn the crap out of a pot of lentil-shaped cinders. So, a quick perusal of the news: I need to take back my earlier snark about the cancellation of the Guelaguetza festival owing to the month-long teacher's union takeover of Oaxaca. Starting as a protest occupation to demand a wage increase and then escalating into a militant call to oust Oaxacan Governor Ulises Ruiz, the situation has further degenerated in the weeks since federal troops used tear gas to temporarily retake downtown. According to the AP, protesters at union checkpoints are stopping cars on inbound streets amid rampant destruction of property; it seems very much like this cultural festival was included as a target:

"We have seen the festival of our people become a circus that is just for whites and gringos and Europeans," said Rosendo Ramirez, 51, a spokesman for the Oaxaca People's Assembly, which was formed to coordinate the protests. [AP]

Fair enough. But currently no police willing to chance this continuing fracas, and seventy-five percent of the city’s tourism, the significant source of local income, has been lost to one of México's poorest regions during the resulting anarchy. [Cavin]