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Spanish Word of the Day
| March 11th, 2016 at 9:10:33 PM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 | This is the Torre Mayor, the second tallest building in Mexico. At one time it was the tallest building in Latin America.  I hear it is soon to be the third tallest, as Torre Reforma should be completed later this year. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| March 12th, 2016 at 1:50:35 AM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
I follow skyscrapers ever since a college course I took as an undergraduate. After the earthquake in 1985, no one ever thought they would build a super-tall in Mexico City. Super-talls are understood to begin at 700' and are so designated in honor of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower which was 700' and built in 1909 as the then tallest building in the world. Prior to the earthquake the tallest buildings in MC were: 693' Torre Ejecutiva Pemex 52 stories 1982 628' World Trade Center Mexico City 50 stories 1972 595' Torre Latinoamericana 45 stories 1956 Torre Mayor was built directly on top of some of the worst earthquake damage in 1985, and was considered a miracle of modern design as it was the most resistant buildings in the world. Upon opening it got hit with a Mag 7.6 quake and survived with no damage whatsoever. A number of buildings began construction, with the Torre Bicentenario leading the way to be finished for the bicentennial celebrations in 2010. That building was cancelled, but at least a half a dozen should be completed in a few years. In the interim, Panama City decided to Manhattanize as well. Trump's hotel in PC is still the tallest as several projects have been cancelled there as well.  |
| March 14th, 2016 at 8:36:37 AM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 | This is the Museo Nacional De La Revolucion  Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| March 14th, 2016 at 3:16:11 PM permalink | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 | La Guerra de Independencia de México: 16 de septiembre de 1810, La Revolución Mexicana: 20 de noviembre de 1910 Since the museum began before 1910 and finished 28 years later, it started out a monument to the war of independence in 1810, but ended up as a mausoleum for the heroes of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Francisco "Pancho" Villa, Francisco I. Madero, Plutarco Elías Calles, Venustiano Carranza, and Lázaro Cárdenas. The American Revolutionary War is also known as the American War of Independence, but as there was only one war there is little confusion. In English texts about Mexico sometimes the war of independence in 1810 is called the Mexican Revolutionary War after the US example, but it leads to confusion about the civil war that happened a hundred years later. Turning the data from MasterCard around to just look at visitors going through New York City we see how much cheaper a trip to MC costs than a trip to Europe. These numbers are FROM NYC to the three destinations, not FROM destinations to NYC.
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| March 15th, 2016 at 8:36:56 AM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 | My knowledge of Mexican history is quite poor. I'd love a book on Mexican history in Spanish at about a 6th grade level. Any recommendations? Moving right along, as I mentioned before my trip overlapped that of the Pope's. I heard lots of complaints of such things as it causing two-hour traffic jams in Mexico City. Fortunately, my personal timing was good and what little I was driven in Mexico City wasn't when the Pope was up to anything locally. Signs for the Pope were all over the place. Maybe I didn't talk to the right people, but I didn't meet one person who was excited for the Pope's visit but heard nothing but complaining about it.    I'd be interested to know how the Pope's visit affected Nareed. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| March 15th, 2016 at 8:43:17 AM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
At that level most of what's available is government propaganda.
Progress! Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| March 15th, 2016 at 9:43:39 AM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
The one recommendation I care to make doesn't exist yet. Mike Duncan will be doing the Mexican revolution in his podcast series "Revolutions." I've no idea when he'll get to it. He seems to be going in chronological order, and is now in the Haitian Revolution of the late XVIII and early XIX Centuries. I'm not sure what follows. He should go on to the bunched European revolutions of 1848, but he may as well jump all the way to 1910 or 1917. So maybe soon, maybe a year from now (the French revolution took a really long time to tell). Typically he announces the next when he closes the current one. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| March 16th, 2016 at 1:38:36 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 | https://picasaweb.google.com/117164923855468143550/HISTORIADEMEXICOPARANINOS# Here is one online.
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| March 16th, 2016 at 2:25:21 PM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 |
That's not bad, thanks, but I would put that at about a 1st grade level. I was hoping for something a bit heavier.  Here is a question I've been trying to get a straight answer to for decades. You see these little shrines to the Virgin Mary all over Mexico. This one is near the Mexico City airport. One thing I've been told, I think incorrectly, is that these are memorials to mark where a loved one died. The reason I don't believe that theory is you see these things dotted all over the long road to San Felipe on the gulf side of Baja. This is a lonely road were I doubt there are a lot of fatalities. However, I can't explain why somebody would build a little monument in the middle of nowhere either. If anybody can explain it, I'm all ears. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| March 16th, 2016 at 2:58:38 PM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
Join the club. Thus far all I know, at the risk of derailing this thread even further, is that: "That's a 'not-an-icon'." Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |