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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 164 | |||||||||
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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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but only for this year By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Today is yet another holiday in Costa Rica. It is the Monday on which Mother's Day is celebrated, giving the nation a three-day weekend. Despite threatened storms, a number of Central Valley residents went to vacation spots and are expected to return tonight clogging highways. This is the last three-day weekend for Mother's Day because lawmakers are poised to annul a law that moved the holiday from the traditional Aug. 15. Costa Ricans just did not accept the change in the traditional date and honor their mothers on the traditional day anyway. Shootout by motorcyclists leaves one dead, one hurt By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Gunmen intercepted and shot two men on a motorcycle in Zapote late Sunday morning. One of the victims died. The gunmen, too, were on a motorcycle and appear to have rammed the vehicle of the victims during the shooting. Dead is a 25-year-old man with the last names of Baez Alvarez. His companion, identified by the last names of Martínez Morales suffered multiple bullet wounds. The shootout happened on the Circumvalacion, the four-lane highway that runs south of San José centro. Some shots may have been returned by the men who were victims. There were conflicting reports. Motorcycles are frequently used in contract killings, but this is the first time in memory that the victims, too, were on a motorcycle. Another Shooting Saturday took the life of a traffic policeman. However, the shooting appeared to stem from a personal grudge and did not appear related to the man''s work as a policeman. The man who shot him killed himself a few minutes later. The shooting took place in Barranca, Puntarenas. Dead is Alexander Murillo Vega, the traffic policeman who was on a parked motorcycle at the time. The other dead man was identified as Carvajal Acosta, although confirmation awaits the result of an autopsy. Bank acount is set up here to accept aid for quake victims By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Embassy of Perú in Costa Rica has set up a bank account for donations to victims of the Wednesday earthquake in that country. The quake caused many deaths, injuries and property damage, the embassy statement noted. Other stories are HERE! It said it was setting up an account at the request of those who had called wanting to make donations. The account is at Scotiabank and the number is 10301613, the embassy said. Boost promised for tourism By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Government officials, including President Óscar Arias Sánchez, say they will try to boost tourism in the northern zone. The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo has signed an agreement with the cantons of Guatuso, Los Chiles, Upala y Boca Arenal. Toward that end, officials said they would fix some 70 kms (43 miles) of road in the area, and inaugurated a 5.8 kms (3.5 miles) stretch of asphalt between Los Chiles and the community of Tablillas. Technical school for Pozos By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Asamblea Legislativa has approved the transfer of land from the Municipalidad de Santa Ana to the proposed Colegio Técnico Profesional de Santa Ana. The location is in Pozos. High school youngsters will be able to select specialized training in technical fields when the school is in operation. Our reader's opinion
He anticipates leavingnow more than arrival Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Some observations from a frequent visitor to Costa Rica, but one whose salidas are increasingly more anticipated than his llegadas: 1. About the TLC. Typically, when one country wants to punish another, it imposes an embargo to restrict trade and commerce. I am amazed at how many Ticos want to punish their own country. 2. Probably I shouldn't be surprised. Anyone who has ever crossed the border at Peñas Blancas or Paso Canoas has already experienced this same attitude from some of the government's most annoying functionaries. 3. Personally, I hope the TLC is voted down. It is very difficult to do any kind of business in this country where cheating, fraud, lying, and theft are so endemic. 4. In fact I can almost envision a future in which half the population is employed in security while the other half seems involved in some kind of crime. Or, in the case of the police, involved in both. 5. Incidentally, about the sex trade: Has anyone ever surveyed the men and women involved to find out what their introductions to intercourse were? I am amazed at the amount of sexual abuse of children that exists, not by tourists, but by uncles, fathers, and neighbors. Sometimes I wonder if there is even one family that has been spared. Jose Arnstein
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 164 | |||||||||
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| Costa
Rica manages to dodge punch of another hurricane |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica
and wire service reports The country seems to have dodged another bullet launched by Mother Nature. Hurricane Dean, a tropical storm that grew to a major category 4 hurricane over the weekend, was expected to do damage to Costa Rica. The national emergency commission issued alerts Friday covering all provinces. But by early Monday the hurricane continues on a track a few degrees north of due west with winds ravaging Jamaica's southern coast with winds blowing at more than 230 kph (143 mph) and torrential rains of up to 50 centimeters (nearly 20 inches). The hurricane is expected to make landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula of México Tuesday, and that government has issued alerts. Costa Rica never experiences a direct hit by hurricanes, but the rains that come from Caribbean storms can be deadly and cause major damage. This weekend the biggest effect was high water in Limón that inundated some streets in the city Sunday. There was some flooding on the Pacific coast, too. Rain in the province was negligible Sunday, but San José received 25.2 millimeters, according to the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional. Wednesday night residents on Costa Rica's Pacific coast braced for a tsunami that never came. The cause of that was the earthquake that evening in Perú. |
The weather institute said that the
indirect influence of Hurricane
Dean will continue to have an effect today bringing rains in the
afternoon on the Pacific coast and the Central Valley. The northern
zone and all of Limón province will experience isolated showers. Cuba's government also issued a storm watch for communities on its southern coast. Dean is the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season, which forecasters expect to be more active than normal and produce at least seven hurricanes. Saturday Hurricane Dean passed south of the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic suffered minor damage from heavy rains and wind. Dominican officials reported the death of one person who was swept out to sea by a powerful wave. An elderly man drowned in storm waters in Saint Lucia, and two other people died on the island of Dominica in recent days. Weather forecasters say they expect the storm to continue moving west, and hit the Cayman Islands early today and reach Mexico's Yucatan peninsula by early Tuesday. The governor of the southern U.S. state of Louisiana, on the Gulf of Mexico, has declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm. Louisiana is home to New Orleans, which suffered devastating floods in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Officials with the U.S. space agency, NASA, said they are shortening the mission of the shuttle Endeavour by one day, because of concerns that the storm could affect conditions at Mission Control in Houston. NASA now says the Endeavour is due to land Tuesday. |
| For
our birthday an essay on that little birthday song |
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| ¡Cumpleaños Feliz! Happy Birthday! Since A.M. Costa Rica is celebrating an important anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the birthday song. In Costa Rica, as in the U.S., we sing the same melody but, of course, the words are in Spanish: Cumpleaños Feliz Te deseamos a ti Cumpleaños A.M. Costa Rica Cumpleaños Feliz Que los cumplas feliz Que los cumplas feliz Que los cumplas con muchos éxitos Que los Cumplas feliz Happy Birthday We wish to you Happy Birthday A.M. Costa Rica Happy Birthday to you May the years be fulfilled May the years be fulfilled May the years be fulfilled with many successes May the years be fulfilled The story goes that this little ditty was actually born in 1893. The music was written by Mildred J. Hill, a kindergarten teacher, and her sister, Patty Hill, also a teacher, wrote the English words. But what many people do not know is that this little tune originally was designed to serve a very different purpose. In the beginning the song was intended to welcome the students to school. So rather than saying “Happy birthday to you,” the words began “Good morning to you,” which in Spanish of course would be <Buenos dias a ti>. At some point along the way the melody got altered |
slightly to accommodate the new birthday words, however no one knows for sure exactly when this happened. But the first published edition of “Happy Birthday to You” appeared in an elementary-school songbook in 1924. In Spain the song is <Feliz, Feliz en tu dia> “Happy, Happy on your day,” and it has many interpretations. In México the song is <Las Mañanitas>, which is usually accompanied by a mariachi band. In Norway they sing <Hurrah for deg>, “Hurray for you!” or ¡Hurra por ti! in Spanish. In Norway parts of the song are traditionally acted out by guests at the birthday party. It will be interesting to know if the folks that work at A.M. Costa Rica did anything like that at their celebration Friday. Who knows, maybe with enough guáro… In Venezuela the traditional song is called <Ay, que noche tan preciosa>, “Oh, What a Beautiful Night.” It is very unique, and full of wonderful sentiment. But, whatever version we may choose it still comes out ¡Viva A.M. Costa Rica! ¡Felicidades! Y muchos años exitosos más. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
A.M. Costa Rica rates Display and classified rates have increased as of June 18, 2007. The average display increase is between 6 and 8.5 percent. This is the first rate increase in the six-year history of the newspaper. The new rates are posted here: As usual, the bulk of any income goes to get you a better newspaper. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 164 | |||||||||
| Tsunami
warning system in much better shape than in 2004 |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Peru is two continents and an ocean away from the Indian Ocean, but the speed and accuracy with which a massive earthquake near Lima recently was measured is a direct result of the global response to the 9.1-magnitude temblor and tsunami that struck South and Southeastern Asia Dec. 26, 2004. The deadliest disaster in modern history caused the loss of nearly 230,000 people. At the time, the United States and Japan were the only nations whose shores were protected by tsunami early warning systems, and people around the world looked to experts in those countries for help. Today, in an effort coordinated by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, a global tsunami warning and mitigation system slowly is taking shape in the world's oceans and along its coastlines. From 100 to 200 kms (62 to 124 miles) off the Peruvian coast, tectonic plates that cover the planet are active. There, the Nazca Plate grinds under and pushes up the South American Plate, releasing energy that sometimes becomes an earthquake. In the early evening Wednesday, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake occurred near the coast of central Peru, about 145 kms (90 miles) southeast of Lima, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake killed more than 500 people, injuring 1,600 and left tens of thousands homeless. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued and later cancelled a tsunami warning and watch for the Pacific coast of South and Central America, which experienced small tsunami waves less than a meter high. Thousands of Costa Ricans on the Pacific coasts took the warning seriously and began evacuations before the alert was cancelled. Among the seismic stations that helped pinpoint and characterize the major earthquake were five new stations that the U.S. Geological Survey has installed in the Caribbean over the past two years. The agency plans to install four more seismic stations there by the end of 2007. "These newer instruments are making available the kind of data that makes a difference when trying to estimate the kind of earthquake and the magnitude," seismologist Walter Mooney, lead coordinator for the survey's Indian Ocean tsunami warning system program. "The correct magnitude probably came significantly faster and more accurately than it would have in 2004," he added. Another difference since 2004 is the expanded use of deep ocean assessment and reporting of tsunamibuoys, designed by the U.S. Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Wash., to detect tsunamis as they move across the ocean. The Peruvian tsunami was detected by a Chilean-owned |
 This is a buoy of the armed forces in Chile. It is of the type that first detected the tsunami last week. buoy that sent tsunami data to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center within one hour of tsunami generation. The data were used to provide experimental tsunami forecasts within two hours of tsunami generation. The buoy data and forecast were instrumental in the quick cancellation of the warning, said Eddie Bernard, director of the Seattle center. This is the big difference from 2004 to now, he added. In Paris in 2005, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, already responsible with helping U.N. member states on the Indian Ocean rim establish a tsunami warning system, created a framework for developing regional early warning systems in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Along with the Pacific Tsunami Warning System that the commission established in 1965, these regional systems would conform to the same standards, ultimately to share data and form a global system for monitoring and detecting a range of natural and other hazards, including tsunamis. With funding approved by Congress in 2005, the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency are lending expertise and technology to these efforts. |
| Troops
sent in to ensure safety in hard-hit section of Peru |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Peru's government has deployed 1,000 more troops to help distribute aid and ensure calm in areas hit by an earthquake that killed at least 500 people. Damage from the quake continues to hamper relief efforts across central Peru. Military officials ordered more troops into affected towns amid reports that shipments of relief supplies had been looted and that tensions were rising among displaced survivors. Residents and officials say relief aid has been slow to arrive in some areas, because of damage to roads and other infrastructure by the 8.0 magnitude quake that struck central Peru Wednesday. Several international aid groups have sent teams to assist in relief efforts. The Peru country director for CARE International, Milo Stanojevich, says his teams are focussing their efforts on the provinces of Ica and Huancavelica, where government supplies have been slow to arrive. |
"There is an airlift, a military
airport in Pisco, so most of the
government aid has been going there. So we figured our best role is to
work in communities that are more out of the way and where aid is not
reaching," said Stanojevich. Stanojevich says his teams are working to provide water, blankets and flashlights to survivors, as well as tents for some of the 30,000 families left homeless in the quake. He adds that tension has been rising in recent days because of concern over looting and possible violence, partly caused by reports that 600 prisoners had escaped after the quake destroyed a prison near the town of Chincha. "Word is that the prisoners are looting. But I think it is a combination of things. People who are getting desperate for supplies, and other people are taking advantage of the situation," added Stanojevich. The U.S. government has released $150,000 in emergency aid to Peru, and is providing two medical teams. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Aug. 20, 2007, Vol. 7, No. 164 | ||||||
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