Some experts argue that we like chilies because they are good for us. They can help lower blood pressure, may have some antimicrobial effects, and they increase salivation, which is good if you eat a boring diet based on one bland staple crop like corn or rice. The pain of chilies can even kill other pain, a concept supported by recent research.

This might help you understand why eating chilies “hurts so good”.

MEXICO CITY — A debate about legalizing marijuana and possibly other drugs — once a taboo suggestion — is percolating in Mexico, a nation exhausted by runaway violence and a deadly drug war.

The debate is only likely to grow more animated if Californians approve an initiative on Nov. 2 to legalize marijuana for recreational use in their state.

Mexicans are keeping a close eye on the vote, seeing it as a bellwether.

“If they vote ‘yes’ to approve the full legalization of marijuana, I think it will have a radical impact in Mexico,” said Jorge Hernandez Tinajero, a political scientist at the National Autonomous University.

the relationship between freelance journalists and the newspapers, magazines and websites they write for is archaic and inefficient (as someone who recently worked for a major newspaper, I can vouch for this). Freelancers have to cold-call publishers and then negotiate their own rates, then they have to invoice and manage their own billing and payment. Ebyline automates that process, handling all the billing and payment between the writer and the publisher. Freelancers can also “self-syndicate” by putting their content up for bid in Ebyline’s marketplace.

In a recent post on Talk About Mexico, Jeff O’Brian questioned how a writer can survive financially in the current free-for-all state of affairs that exists on the internet. Yesterday’s request for paid writers by Robin Noelle of Facebook is one possibility, and this NY Times article about an online journalism broker could well be another. Syndication of articles about Mexico has the potential to produce serious income for a serious working writer.