PAN leaves the Clouthiers out in the cold

Manuel Clouthier, commonly known as "Maquío," was the PAN's 1988 presidential candidate, and a very decent man - he actively joined the possible yet defrauded winner Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas in denouncing the fraud, until his own party quieted him down and made deals with president-elect Carlos Salinas.

His family, from their stronghold in Sinaloa, has continued in politics (Maquio died in a mysterious car crash in 1989): Both his son Manuel and his daughter Tatiana have been active in the PAN.

Yet they have been highly critical of Calderón's armed onslaught against the drug cartels and the manner in which is being fought. That is likely the main cause why Manuel was recently rejected as a senate candidate for PAN for 2012, despite his very significant political weight in Sinaloa.

The fight has been long brewing with the PAN, and a break with this emblematic neopanista family with its party seems very imminent: Don't be surprised if in a few weeks we'll see Manuel Clouthier Carrillo as a candidate for AMLO's 2012 coalition. 

1.7 million houses left with dirt floors

As a recent editorial in El Universal points out, the Mexican government's program of piso firme, or hard floor, is of extreme importance: Where the program has implemented - that is, where the federal government has helped construct cement floors in poor houses - parasites have been reduced with 78 percent, diarrhea with 49, and anemia with 81 percent.

This as very real, and extremely important gains, as they particularly affect children.

There are 1.7 million houses left, and El Universal rightly calls for completing this project before the end of 2012. With Calderón increasingly eager to leave a "legacy" that goes beyond the utterly failed "drug war," here's at least one chance to leave a lasting mark.

Morelos: PAN governor's christmas present for himself

Marco Antonio Adame Castillo (PAN), despite making a hefty sum as Morelos governor, awarded himself an aguinaldo, essentially an extra month's pay as christmas bonus, of cool 300,000 pesos.

That's about 22 times more than that of a worker in his government.

Adame explained he would use the bonus for "family development."

I am sure he will.