Thanks to the country's close proximity to the US, Mexico has seen a rise in obesity. It now rates 4th in fattest countries in the world, after it's northern neighbor.
Most of the problem is in the cities, where people city goers opt for convenient food options like ready made microwavable noodles and Coca-Cola.

http://current.com/131b64c

Riding a bike through the traffic congested, smog filled, cobbled streets of Mexico City may not be the most appealing, but it is an effort to cut down on the excessive carbon emissions plaguing the overcrowded city. This spring, the city has installed 1,100 bikes at 85 stations throughout the center of the city. In first three months of this program, called Ecobici, 4,000 people have paid $24 for user cards they swipe at a rack to release a bike for a half hour. They return it to any of the bike stations, and 10 minutes have to pass before they check out another one. City officials hope to register 24,000 people in the first year. Ecobici is part of Mexico City's 15-year Plan Verde, a $1 billion-per-year program supported by Mexico's federal government, the World Bank and the United Nations. This is an idea borrowed from other European countries that have had success with the bike plan. It would also help to improve the health of the commuters, as they would get some exercise. Good for them! http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/main/93,1,291,0,7902-.aspx

A young girl raped by her step-dad in the Yucatan peninsula is only a month too late for the 90-day cut off after which abortion becomes illegal in cases of rape. Her step-dad now in jail, the girl is in danger of health complications if she delivers her child, yet the state law of Quintana Roo (home to Cancun). Sadly, "this girl is much more than an isolated case," says Adriana Ortiz-Ortega, a researcher at Mexico's National Autonomous University who has written two books on abortion in Mexico, "and there is much more influence now from conservative groups that are trying to prevent the legalization of abortion." While abortion is legal in the Districto Federal, it is prohibited or highly restricted in most other states of the country.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/04/19/mexico.abortion/index.html

WOW, thanks for sharing. Those are some nice tattoos...way to go Ricky! Good for him, accepting his sexuality...

Touching clip including personal accounts of human trafficking victims: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/mexico.human.traffic.drug/index.html Babies are sold to order to American customers. Girls are lured off the streets, drugged, raped, murdered, or forced into prostitution. Says one girl of her account in captivity upon witnessing another girl that had gasoline poured over her: "I wanted to look away, but they didn't let me. Even though the girl was on fire they kept hitting her and they were laughing as if they were enjoying what they were doing."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico The Mexican army says two soldiers and two gunmen died in a shootout in a northern Mexico area that has seen a recent spike in drug violence.
The army says soldiers patrolling in the border state of Nuevo Leon on Tuesday chased six suspicious cars that crossed into neighboring Tamaulipas state, where a gunbattle ensued in the town of Comales. The northeastern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, across from Texas, have seen a surge of violence in recent weeks that authorities blame on a fight between the Gulf cartel and the Zetas.

The indigenous people living in the mountainous region just outside Cuernavaca City are literally having their water taken out from under them. Denied by the government the right to dig wells that would grant them access to fresh water in the aquifers below them, somehow Coca-Cola has been allowed to install wells in the very same places. Since 2000, Coca-Cola has negotiated 27 water concessions with the Mexican government which gives them the right to extract water from 19 aquifers and 15 rivers, many found within indigenous territories throughout the country. The Mexican government discriminates against these indigenous groups by not allowing these communities to participate in the legal proceedings surrounding water concessions, which doles out the water use within Mexico. Instead of benefiting from their local water resources, they are forced to walk miles from their homes to gather contaminated water from reservoirs, and for potable water they must buy expensive bottled water or COKE (of which Mexico is the world's largest consumer)! The water that is underneath them is actually rerouted by the government to nearby cities to meet residential and industrial needs-like a coca cola plant! Given that it takes at least 2 liters of fresh water to produce 1 liter of coke, an infinitely less healthy product, this is highly alarming. In related news, the Coca-cola corporation is suspected to sponsored the murder of 10 union leaders who represented worker's rights in the Coke bottling factories in Colombia. http://rabble.ca/columnists/2010/04/coca-cola-doc-chronicles-bitter-battle Point is, twice before you drink that next ice cold coca cola!!

Armed men stormed a prison in the northern border city of Reynosa, freeing 13 inmates. The escape on Friday was the second mass jailbreak in less than two weeks in Tamaulipas State, which has been hit by a new wave of battles among feuding drug gangs. Such escapes are common from Mexican state prisons, where guards are often either bribed or too frightened to resist heavily armed gangs that arrive to free allies or to kill rivals.Thirty-one guards have been detained for questioning, according to an official in the attorney general's office, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under the agency's policy.Three prisoners were shot to death in the raid, but it was unclear who killed them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/world/americas/05mexico.html

Casa de Xochiquetzal, House of Beautiful flowers, is home to about 45 retiree-aged sex workers, many of whom still get paid to have sex if they please. These women entered the business because they had no other option to support themselves or their children, most of whom seldom visit. This short video offers a brief glimpse into the dismal life of the Tepito barrio and their fascinating life stories.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/16/vbs.house.setting.sun/index.html

On Sunday, a major 7.2-grade earthquake hit Baja California near the Mexico-US border, causing chaos as mass blackouts and evacuations of hospitals and nursing homes swept the cities. Two Mexicans died, millions felt the vibrations. This was the strongest quake to hit the area in decades. Most of the destruction occurred in small farming towns surrounding the city of Mexicali, although the commercial center experienced building collapse as well. Fortunately the energy of the quake traveled in a way to bypass the more populated city center. Civil protection authorities said Sunday that another man died when he ran into the street in panic and was struck by a car, but the government did not count him among the earthquake victims Monday. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100405/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_baja_earthquake

Semana Santa has a special meaning for the Yoremes of Sinaloa in Northern Mexico. Their unique dances, songs and prayer rituals are evidence of the religious synchretism that has occured between Catholicism and native cosmologies over the past 400 years since the Jesuit missionaries arrived. They are commemorating the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, the story that the Yoreme people reenact is quite different from the Bible story taught in the US as it includes many more characters and an original take on events. Many people get time off of work and school as well.

Mexico has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. In most cases reporters have been targeted for their coverage of organized crime and corrupt officials. According to the register of the Mexican organizations Article 19 and the Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social (Cencos), there were 244 attacks against journalists in Mexico in 2009, including 11 murders; 70% of these attacks were directly related to their media work. Freedom of the press and protection of journalists is a necessary reform in Mexico. "The press is caught in the cross-fire of this violence," said Kristel Mucino, WOLA's Communications Coordinator. "The Mexican government should do more to ensure reporters' security, they are a key element of any functional democracy." This is one of many key elements that holds Mexico back from being considered a successful democracy.
http://www.wola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=viewp&id=1078&Itemid=8

For many years, US-Mexico security has concerned itself with combating drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. However, organized crime experts assert that drug trafficking in Mexico may account for less than half of the organizations' income, with illicit activities such as human trafficking, pirated goods, arms trafficking, and kidnapping accounting for the rest. A report from the National Human Rights Commission states that from September 2008 until February 2009 there were 9,758 migrants who were victims of kidnapping in Mexico,of these, 9,194 were perpetrated by organized gangs. The expansion of drug trafficking organizations beyond illicit substances to multiple illegal activities underscores the need for a more comprehensive security strategy that goes beyond arrests to focus on addressing the weaknesses of Mexico's institutions.
http://www.wola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=viewp&id=1078&Itemid=8

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1842284/mexicos_shrimp_certification_withdrawn_to_protect_sea_turtles/index.html?source=r_science In order to protect sea turtles, the US National Marine Fisheries Service declared that Mexico's turtle excluder devices were no longer up to code with US standards, which require that exporters use excluders that are comparable to those used by American shrimp trawlers. This is a big deal for Mexico since half of its shrimp exports go to the US. However, it only applies to wild-harvested shrimp in the deep ocean. This prompted Mexican authorities to re-outfit its trawlers to lower the mortality rate of sea turtles so they can be re-certified by August or September, when the shrimping season will begin.