At the Jalisco Institute for Reconstructive Surgery in Guadalajara on a recent Thursday, Operation Smile appeared to be living up to its name. Everyone looked happy.

Driven by a desire to combat climate change and promote urban mobility, a longtime U.S.-born resident of Guadalajara has come up with a website to help users navigate the city’s public transport routes with ease.

Notwithstanding that some news organizations have detected a decrease in Tea Party momentum and are predicting the conservative movement’s decline  into obscurity once the economy upturns, Karen Cage believes she and others in the Lakeside group can make a difference in the 2012 presidential election.

While the night of Tuesday, November 1 marked the beginning of Day of the Dead celebrations across Mexico, Guadalajara appeared no different to normal. Except, that is, in the “haunted” graveyard of Belen.

Preparations in Guadalajara were well underway this week for Mexico’s most surreal festival – “El Dia de los Muertos.”

Few Mexicans ever find themselves invited to ride along with the U.S. border patrol, rounding up desperate migrants as the American Dream collapses before their eyes.

But Jose Hernandez Claire is no ordinary Mexican. A renowned photojournalist from Guadalajara, he has documented the weary plight of migrant workers throughout his career of almost 30 years.