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How would you like to have a really intelligent, honest and well educated president? How about a Harvard graduate? Well, would you believe that Mexico has a 12 consecutive year run of Harvard alumni presidents?

Prior to the new millennium, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) or its predecessor revolutionary parties, had held power for over 70 years in Mexico and was a member of Socialist International. They promised to take care of and protect the poor; however after several decades in power, the PRI became the symbol of corruption and electoral fraud. La Mordida, or the bite, is the term for bribery in Mexico and was the traditional and customary way to get things done. Police and state bureaucrats made their living taking Mordidas which was the basis for corruption in Mexico. Thanks to the PRI philosophies toward nationalization, expropriation, authoritarianism, and state control of the economy, Mexico held a Third World status for 80 years. With those philosophies, Mexico was probably not the best place for foreigners to invest in real estate, or for that matter, anything else.

The situation in Mexico changed dramatically in 2000 when Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN) first took over power for a six year presidential term lasting until 2006. Prior to his presidency, Fox had earned a Top Management Skills degree from the Business School of Harvard University and had then worked his way up to the presidency of Coca Cola Mexico and head of all Coca Cola Latin America. While President of Mexico, Fox established a new Ministry of Security and Police, doubled the pay for police officers, and cracked down on crime by improving the Mexican judicial system which had been rife with corruption and ineptitude. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparable measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide.

During Foxs presidency, Mexico maintained an HDI of 0.8 which represents high development. In comparison, many countries such as Canada, France, and Great Britain, generated low increases and even some decreases in HDI figures. Real wages dropped 305% from 1976 to 1999, however since PAN has been in office, real wages have not only stabilized, but are starting to increase. Fox represented the Alliance for Change. He was one of the few Mexican presidents to avoid a major economic upheaval during office, whereas previously, the Mexicans were accustomed to devastating peso devaluations. During the ten years that we've lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the peso has held firm at about 10.8 pesos per US dollar.

Foxs term expired in 2006, when his successor, Felipe Calderon, also with the PAN party, won a very close election. Calderon holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and will serve as President of Mexico until 2012. He supports balanced fiscal trade, flat taxes, lower taxes, and free trade. His motto is to Drive Mexico Into the Future which represents privatization, liberalization, political freedom, and market control of the economy.

These two Harvard graduates have taken Mexico from a Third World Country to a Newly Industrialized Country (NIC) in a very short period of time and are continuing to advance the economy. As an NIC, Mexico has joined the ranks with countries such as China, India, Brazil, Turkey, etc. en route to becoming First World Industrialized Countries. Recently, Mexico has changed from being a beneficiary to a full contributor to the United Nations Development Program. The Mexican Bolsa, or stock market, has more than tripled during the ten years that we've lived in Vallarta. The PRI party, still holds local power in the poorest states of Mexico; those where the inhabitants have the least education and are still waiting for subsidies from the government. However, the state of Jalisco where the capital is Guadalajara and the second largest city is Puerto Vallarta, is one of the many states where the local PAN party is in power.

This change in power has been quite remarkable and evident in Vallarta during the last seven years. Mordidas are seldom seen anymore in PV because the public officials are not willing to jeopardize their decent paying employment for a small bribe. The economy along the Mexican Riviera is booming today as an explosion of growth due to tourism and North American immigration has brought phenomenal amounts of money to the region. This in turn has created full employment of the locals and a very positive outlook for them as their standard of living constantly improves. During the past seven years, the Mexican government has spent billions of dollars improving and upgrading the infrastructures throughout the resort destinations. Puerto Vallarta has new water treatment facilities, power distribution systems, hospitals, university, upgraded airport, maritime terminal, highway system, etc. and is being prepared for the next five years of growth.

We have owned property here in Vallarta, located in the foot hills of the Sierra Madres overlooking Banderas Bay on the Pacific Ocean, for 24 years and have made Paradise our permanent residence for the past ten years. During the first 15 years, there were virtually no changes made here and the property values reflected it. However, during the years that PAN has been in power, the changes have been obvious and dramatic. Our villa has tripled in value and is expected to double again in the next five years as the baby boomers discover Paradise. For any American or Canadian considering investments such as real estate in a foreign country, its imperative to understand the stability of that foreign government. Fortunately, Mexico has been governed by US friendly Harvard graduates for the past seven years and will be for at least the next five years, thus assuring a safe and secure investing environment for retiring North Americans. Apparently, politics can have an influence on Paradise!

Jim Scherrer is a retired entrepreneur from Houston, has owned property in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for 24 years, and has made Vallarta his permanent residence for the past ten years. He founded Puerto Vallarta Real Estate Buyers Agents (PVREBA), whose mission is to reveal all the recent changes that have occurred in Vallarta while dispelling the misconceptions about living in Mexico. PVREBA acts exclusively as buyers agents by introducing North Americans to Vallarta, showing them properties that meet their needs and budgets, and assisting them through the foreign buying process, with all payments made by the listing agents. For the full series of articles regarding Retirement in Puerto Vallarta as well as pertinent Puerto Vallarta links, please visit us at http://www.pvreba.com/

I am sure you have heard it said that we dont appreciate something until its gone! When you think about water its probably one of those things that like me you take for granted because it is always there! However when it comes to caring for our lawns we suddenly become very aware of the importance of water when we are faced with any form of drought which leads to such things as a sprinkler ban! If you find yourself in a drought, there are some things you can do to help conserve water and make the best use of what you have available.

If you have not already mulched your plants, do it! Mulch will help limit the amount of water that evaporates from the soil. While organic mulches such as grass clippings or wood chips are preferable since they add organic matter to the soil, plastic mulches are useful in limiting evaporation from the soil. They can be laid between rows in the vegetable garden and will help limit moisture loss; however, they also will limit infiltration.

Place your water where it will do the most good. Sprinklers are very inefficient for getting water to the roots of your plants. Much of the water lands on the leaves and evaporates before reaching the ground. A slow gentle watering at the base of the plants, allowing the water to soak into the soil, will be most efficient.

Water those plants needing it most. Newly planted trees, shrubs, and flowers with limited roots systems will most likely suffer first from drought conditions. Give these plants priority if water is scarce. Well-established plants, especially those native to the area, are likely to withstand drought conditions with limited damage.

Water in the early morning before the heat of the day. This limits evaporation and supplies plants with needed moisture to make it through the hot, sunny day.

Consider using drip or trickle irrigation systems. Many inexpensive, easy to install systems are available that provide small amounts of water to the base of individual plants. These systems place the water where it is needed most, rather than applying it across the whole garden. Check with your local garden center.

Collect water from downspouts when it rains. Roofs intercept significant amounts of rain. Collecting this runoff into a barrel can help limit the use of water during dry spells.

Its essential that you have access to plenty of water when caring for your lawn and your plants. Therefore ensuring that you take advantage of any ways to conserve water is essential.

Paul Duxbury offers more advice on Lawn Care at http://lawn-care.blogspot.com

There is lots of snow in the mountains but in our golden valley its warming up and the winds are not howling. Our daffodils are peeking up out of the ground. That can only mean one thing: Its time to polish the golf clubs.

Thats what I was doing. I went out into the garage and started cleaning my golf clubs. I havent played golf for ten years. It was something I did about once a week with my companys handicap league and on special company-related occasions.

Recently, I havent really been able to play golf but I now have the aortic valve of a wonderful hog in my chest that can handle snow shoveling and weed pulling. What I was thinking was that it could handle golf too, if the opportunity came up.

Thats when Xrytspet plopped her bottom on my work table after pushing to the floor an old paint can, a three foot board, a perfectly good fan heater I had taken out of my neighbors garbage can, and a can of nails and screws.

I said, You can levitate that stuff right back there after you get your butt off my work table.

She pointed her sixth pinky at my treasures and levitated them into the garbage can. Then she levitated to the garbage can all the other stuff from my table except three pairs of pliers, two screw drivers, a coping saw, a sledgehammer, and a pack of sandpaper. She levitated the tools to my Sears roll-around tool cabinet except for the sledge which she parked in the corner of the garage.

I knew my wife would be so happy. I said, Dont stop now.

Xrytspet said, I want you to teach me to play golf.

I said, You cant appear in public and people will think it weird seeing a golf club swinging in the air all by itself.

She popped into a golf outfit that looked as crazy as some of the other golf outfits Ive seen on the public golf course. She wore big sunglasses that covered a good part of her face. I figured she had shopped at http://www.ladygolf.com/ and said, Okay. Nobody is going to notice. What are you going to use for clubs?

There in the corner.

I looked and sure enough there was a WAILEA Tropical Print golf bag, red with tropical flowers. I knew it was $369.00. The clubs were different however. I said, Where did you get those strange clubs? They look electronic.

She said, They are a gift from Silzrack. He gave them to me as a gift for my 17456th birthday. They are almost, as you would say, handmade.

I said, Holy Cripes! What birthday?

She said, You humans live such short meaningless lives.

I said, You heard that in Men in black, Xrytspet.

She blinked her eyes, blinding me for three minutes. I said, I told you to stop doing that.

Sorry, taylor Jones, the hack writer. But that was not the first time I heard that. Moses said it when he waved goodbye to the riff raft who would not help him build the ark.

I said, It was Noah and you probably have the wrong ark too. Let me explain it: NoahArc: MosesArk of the Covenant. Noahs ark is now an aberration on Mount Arafat. See http://arksearch.com/ and also seehttp://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a001.html.

Nobody knows where the Ark of the Covenant is. Ethiopia? It either carried Gods Crown or the Ten Commandments or both. See http://www.crystalinks.com/ark.html.

She twitched her nose and said, Whatever! Theyre not that much to look at.

I said, You havent seen them. You are just spoofing me again.

She reached into her pocket and handed me two very small pieces of wood. She said, I knew you wouldnt believe me.

She gave me her pout.

We played eighteen holes on the public golf course. The scar was: taylor Jones, the hack writer 133 and Xrytspet 18. It was a new high for me thanks to that hog.

I drove up to Moscow to our great University there to see Professor Samuel Greenberg, a dendrologist. I found him on the campus thumping a large oak tree. He said, Do you know that trees can talk?

I knew that Dr. Greenberg no longer taught at the University because of his strange behavior. But still, he knows more about ancient trees than any man on earth and still has his little laboratory behind the power plant.

I said, Dr. Greenberg, can you look at a couple of pieces of wood for me.

He looked at me through thick glasses and said, Wood?

What kind of wood?

Why did taylor Jones, the hack writer, drive all the way from Magic valley clean up here to Moscow?

It must be very important. Very important! Where is the wood?

I said, I put them in these glass vials.

He said, Very scientific. Lets go to my laboratory behind the power plant.

At the laboratory, Dr. Greenberg looked at the two pieces of wood under the microscope.

He had labeled my vials A and B.

He said, No doubt about A. It is gopher wood.

Now, lets look at B. My God!

This is acacia or shittah-tree wood.

Wait, there is a hair here. Its from a beaver skin.

Here is a blue fiber.

There is a trace of gold on the end of the piece of wood.

Where did you get these, taylor Jones, the hack writer? I must have them.

The last time I saw Dr. Greenberg he was running as fast as he could to his immaculate vintage Ford station wagon with the wood panels.

Id give my left ventricle for that car.

I learned later from the department secretary, Hazel Elm, that Dr. Greenberg had been institutionalized because he thought he had obtained wood from Noahs ark and the Ark of the Covenant.

I had been the cause of all the trouble. I should have believed Xrytspet.

The End

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry magazine. He is Executive Representative of IWS sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He also sells TopFlight flagpoles. He calls himself "Taylor Jones, the hack writer."

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.aaaflagpoles.com