| VIOLENT CRIME in MEXICO As you are probably aware there have been numerous reports recently about an "epidemic" of murders in Mexico. And we've been contacted by many soon-to arrive guests & potential guests who say something like: My mother/brother/daughter/friend/boss said OHMYGOD don't go to Mexico you could be murdered !!! So please: Tell us the truth regarding safety of traveling in Mexico? As usual the media have taken a totally sensationalist and biased tack in regards to the turf war between competing drug cartels. But even a lousy reporter should realize that TOURISTS ARE NOT THE TARGETS ! In fact tourists are greatly appreciated by the smugglers because (a) tourism provides good cover for laundering their illicit cash; (b) they are considered to be potential customers. And a mediocre journalist could google crime rates and find that approx 75 "typical" US cities have murder rates higher than Mexico! OK, everybody knows it can be dangerous in parts of Detroit, Baltimore, Newark, Oakland, Los Angeles or Washington, DC. But why don't we hear the US State Dept advising citizens against travel to popular tourist spots like Phoenix, Denver & Las Vegas? Or telling college kids to avoid travel in the "treacherous heartland" to places like Tulsa, Kansas City, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Albany, Buffalo, Atlanta, Knoxville, Little Rock, Milwaukee & Cincinnati? Or Indianapolis, San Francisco, Louisville, Jacksonville, Miami, and better avoid the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Fugeddaboudit! ... and on & on. ALL these places have higher murder rates than Mexico! Considering that over 22 million tourists travel to Mexico annually (equivalent to ~20% of the entire population) that would bring Mexico farther down the risk profile below such homicide "hot spots" as Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Wichita ... even Orlando! OHMYGOD don't take your family to Disney World !!! Now a good journalist could dig a little deeper and discover that assaults & murders in the US are extremely more likely to be committed by a family member, friend or close associate, than by random perpetrators. The only logical conclusion: Americans are far more likely to be victims of violence in the USA than traveling to Mexico as a tourist. TRAVEL ADVISORY: VISIT MEXICO A.S.A.P. !!! (The most dangerous part of your journey will be forgetting about your granny's heirloom nail clipper in your carry on luggage and having the audacity to disapprove of it's confiscation in "The Land of the Free"). |
Just say "NO" ... ... to bathing suits! ~ ~ ~ |
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| H1N1 FLU ADVISORY Unlike my personal rant above addressing (or should I say "undressing") all the 'Chicken Little' hype about risk of violence while traveling in Mexico, the following reality check regarding the "swine flu" hype was penned by Dr. David Eifrig M.D. (a medical doctor) in a report published by Stansberry & Associates on May 2: It's getting ridiculous, folks.... Let's take a deep breath and look at the facts: I just read on the news wires that two independent experts estimate at worst 1,700 Americans will contract the swine flu over the next four weeks. Again those are cases of swine flu ... only a tiny fraction of those people would be in jeopardy of dying. To put that in perspective, more than 26,000 people in the U.S. died last year from the standard influenza bug –that from the tens of millions of Americans who catch it. That's not a typo – thousands of people die every year from a similar bug in the U.S. Don't waste your time or your money on this. You should be more worried about Malaria, which kills 850,000 children worldwide every year. Seriously, this stuff about the pig flu is hype. (Oh, and all you doctors who will write and call me irresponsible – save your ink and time and spend the savings on reading some science). Remember back a couple of years how the avian flu – technically a subtype of Influenza A called H5N1 – was going to wipe out millions of people? Here's what I wrote a back then about the bird flu: The fact remains that we will never have a flu epidemic from the any influenza virus such as the flu epidemic we had in 1918. Major advancements in medicine such as antibiotics as well as improved technology to support breathing while the lungs recuperate are two main reasons we'll never have another epidemic. As a taxpayer, I believe this is probably one of the biggest scams ever perpetuated upon U.S. citizens – perhaps even bigger than the $900 hammers sold to the Air Force years ago. So don't worry about coming down with the avian flu. You're more likely to get struck by lightning after sinking a hole in one. It turns out that in the deadly pandemic of 1918 (100 million deaths worldwide), most people died from the secondary infections caused by bacteria, not the virus itself. Antibiotics (commercialized in the '40s) easily knock out these sorts of infections. So don't worry, if your immune system is competent, you have nothing to worry about. Viruses have been living among us and in us for years – most do no harm. If you get exposed, you might get a little sniffle or cough, maybe run a fever. But your body will probably fight it off, which protects you the next time you're exposed. Here's to a healthy and wealthy retirement, Dr. Dave Eifrig, MD |
| IMPORTANT TRAVEL ADVISORIES *See Update on "Swine Flu" Below |
| Sorry for the rants, it just frustrates me how the alarmist reporting is impacting our business ... and hindering your pleasure. My advice: TURN OFF Fox News & CNN and LIVE YOUR LIFE to the FULLEST ! ~ Life is too short to let the media alarmists keep you from it. ~ |
