Ancient Maya quiz: What do you know about the civilization that built pyramids across Mesoamerica?
The ancient Maya civilization stretched throughout Central America and lasted for nearly three millennia. Although never unified into one massive empire, the Maya controlled dozens of city-states, also known as "polities," which arose when people settled in permanent villages and began to cultivate maize. The ancient Maya are well known for their pyramids and for their series of calendars — one of which convinced many people that the world would end in an apocalypse on Dec. 21, 2012. While the ancient political system collapsed between A.D. 800 and 1000, the society did not. Today, more than 7 million Maya live in their original homelands and beyond.
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Washington Post
5 days ago
- Washington Post
Mexican ranchers struggle to adapt as a tiny parasite ravages their cattle exports to the US
HERMOSILLO, Mexico — The United States' suspension of live cattle imports from Mexico hit at the worst possible time for rancher Martín Ibarra Vargas, who after two years of severe drought had hoped to put his family on better footing selling his calves across the northern border. Like his father and grandfather before him, Ibarra Vargas has raised cattle on the parched soil of Sonora, the state in northwestern Mexico that shares a long border with the United States, particularly Arizona. His family has faced punishing droughts before but has never before had to contend with the economic hit of a new scourge: the New World Screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Mexican ranchers struggle to adapt as a tiny parasite ravages their cattle exports to the US
Pictures of the Week Latin America and Caribbean Photo Gallery HERMOSILLO, Mexico (AP) — The United States' suspension of live cattle imports from Mexico hit at the worst possible time for rancher Martín Ibarra Vargas, who after two years of severe drought had hoped to put his family on better footing selling his calves across the northern border. Like his father and grandfather before him, Ibarra Vargas has raised cattle on the parched soil of Sonora, the state in northwestern Mexico that shares a long border with the United States, particularly Arizona. His family has faced punishing droughts before but has never before had to contend with the economic hit of a new scourge: the New World Screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite. U.S. agriculture officials halted live cattle crossing the border in July – the third suspension of the past eight months — due to concerns about the flesh-eating maggot which has been found in southern Mexico and is creeping north. The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The parasite enters animals' skin, causing severe damage and lesions that can be fatal. Infected animals are a serious threat to herds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it a "devastating pest" and said in June that it poses a threat to 'our livestock industry, our economy, and our food supply chain.' It has embarked on other steps to keep it out of the United States, which eradicated it decades ago. As part of its strategy the U.S. is preparing to breed billions of sterile flies and release them in Mexico and southern Texas. The aim is for the sterile males to mate with females in the wild who then produce no offspring. The U.S. ban on live cattle also applies to horses and bison imports. It hit a ranching sector already weakened by drought and specifically a cattle export business that generated $1.2 billion for Mexico last year. This year, Mexican ranchers have exported fewer than 200,000 head of cattle, which is less than half what they historically send in the same period. For Ibarra Vargas, considered a comparatively small rancher by Sonora's beef-centric standards, the inability to send his calves across the border has made him rethink everything. The repeated bans on Mexican cows by U.S. authorities has pushed his family to branch into beekeeping, raising sheep and selling cow's milk. What he earns is just a fraction of what he earned by exporting live cattle, but he is trying to hold on through the lean times. 'Tiempos de vacas flacas" — times of the lean cows — as he calls them. 'At least it lets us continue' ranching, the 57-year-old said with a white cowboy hat perched on his head. Reinvent to survive Even as ranchers in Sonora intensify their efforts to make sure the parasitic fly never makes it into their state, they've had to seek new markets. In the past two months, they've sold more than 35,000 mature cows within Mexico at a significant loss. 'We couldn't wait any longer,' said Juan Carlos Ochoa, president of the Sonora Regional Cattle Union. Those sales, he said, came at a '35% lower price difference compared with the export value of a cow.' That's hard to stomach when beef prices in the U.S. are rising. The U.S. first suspended cattle imports last November. Since then, more than 2,258 cases of screwworm have been identified in Mexico. Treatment requires a mix of manually removing the maggots, healing the lesions on the cows and using anti-parasite medicine. Some ranchers have also started retail beef sales through luxury butcher shops referred to as 'meat boutiques." There are other foreign markets, for example Japan, but selling vacuum sealed steaks across the Pacific is a dramatically different business than driving calves to U.S. feedlots. The switch is not easy. An uncertain future With his calves mooing as they ran from one end of a small corral to the other waiting to be fed, Ibarra Vargas said he still hasn't figured out how he will survive an extended period of not being able to send them to the U.S. The recent two-year drought reduced his cattle stocks and forced him to take on debt to save the small family ranch that has survived for three generations. Juan Carlos Anaya, director of Agricultural Markets Consulting Group, attributed a 2% drop in Mexico's cattle inventory last year to the drought. Anaya said Mexican ranchers who export are trying to get the U.S. to separate what happens in southern Mexico from the cattle exporting states in the north where stricter health and sanitation measures are taken, 'but the damage is already done.' 'We're running out of time,' said Ibarra Vargas, who already laments that his children are not interested in carrying on the family business. For a rancher who 'doesn't have a market or money to continue feeding his calves, it's a question of time before he says: 'you know what, this is as far as I go.'' __ Sánchez reported from Mexico City. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Yahoo
Woman Accuses Roommate of 'Showing Off' After Talking to Guest About Her Family's Culture
She was just sharing her background when a guest asked about her cooking, but now her roommate thinks she crossed a lineNEED TO KNOW A woman explains her multicultural background to a guest who asks about her cooking Her roommate later accuses her of flirting and being "showy" in her own kitchen The woman says she just answered his questions and now faces awkward tension at homeA woman got into a tense confrontation with her roommate over a seemingly innocent conversation about her culture. The 21-year-old, who describes herself as half Mexican and half Chinese, was left questioning whether she crossed a line after speaking about her heritage with a guest in their shared apartment. 'My parents came to the US before I was born, but thought it was very important for me to learn their native languages and participate in both of their cultures," she explains in her Reddit post. As a result, she grew up fluent in both Spanish and Mandarin and surrounded by a rich blend of Chinese and Mexican cuisine due to their love of cooking. The conflict unfolded one evening when she was cooking dinner, specifically, a family-created "fusion" dish, at home. 'I got stuck on a particular step, so I called my mom to ask for help and we talked in Spanish,' she writes, adding that her 23-year-old roommate, Ann, unexpectedly returned home with friends. One of the male guests entered the kitchen after noticing the aroma and asked what she was making. 'I explained the dish was created by my parents to blend Mexican and Chinese cuisine,' she recalls, noting that the guest seemed genuinely interested in the cultural fusion. He then asked why she was speaking Spanish on the phone, prompting her to share a bit about her upbringing. 'I told him that I'm half Mexican and half Chinese, and that I grew up speaking both Spanish and Mandarin with my parents,' she writes. The conversation continued with more questions about food and language, which she answered enthusiastically. The next day, the situation took a turn when another roommate told her that Ann felt she was 'showing off and flirting' with the guest. 'This pissed me off because I wasn't trying to flirt with him and he was the one who started the conversation with me,' she says. Wanting to clear the air, she approached Ann to discuss what happened, but the talk didn't go well. 'She just seemed annoyed and told me that it was obvious how it looked and I should be more mindful when she has her friends over,' the woman writes. Caught off guard by the accusation, she pointed out that she hadn't even been informed that guests were coming over. 'I told her that I can't be 'mindful' if she doesn't even warn me about having company over,' she says, adding, 'She said that she doesn't have to get my permission to invite people to the apartment.' At this point, the poster admits she got frustrated and decided to drop the conversation. 'I was getting irritated by this point so I let the conversation die down after this,' she shares. Since then, the atmosphere at home has been noticeably strained. 'Every time I see her she's short with me and barely acknowledges me,' she explains. With tension lingering, she turns to Reddit to ask if she "behaved out of line." Responses from Reddit users flooded in, offering strong support. One commenter emphasizes, 'This doesn't have anything at all to do with your heritage. This has to do with somebody she's obviously interested in was talking to you.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Another backed her up by addressing the apartment dynamic. ''She said that she doesn't have to get my permission to invite people to the apartment.' She's right. And you don't need permission to talk to people in your apartment.' Though the original post centers on cultural identity and a casual kitchen conversation, it became clear that jealousy may be at the heart of the issue. Still, the poster insists she had no hidden motives. Her only intention, she explains, was to cook dinner and share a meaningful part of her life when asked, expressing both pride in her heritage and confusion over the backlash. For the poster, the ordeal remains unresolved, but she ends on a lighter note by sharing, 'I posted the recipe to what I made on my profile since many of you were curious!' Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
