My
opinion on Ethanol Gas
Dear AM Costa Rica readers,
Have you ever used gasoline with ethanol?
Yes, all stations have to have 10% they can
have a premium fuel without ethanol at a
high price.
All forced by politicians trying to get the
tree hugger and the corn farmer vote.
Ethanol will do damage to any car older than
maybe 1980??
And small engines are a lot newer that
that. Gas has 114,000 to 115,000 btu's
ethanol has only 76,000 btu's If you were
using straight ethanol you would only get
66% of the fuel economy of gas. Where is
Cost Rica going to get their ethanol?
Are they going to build a plant or import
it
all?
If the country was interested in reducing
CO2 emissions from engine combustion they
would fix all the holes in the roads and get
rid of all the speed bumps except for the
school zones. Next would be to enforce the
speed limits especially in San Jose.
This alone, my guess, would reduce CO2
emissions by 20 to 30%
In 15 years I have never seen a car
stopped in San Jose for speeding, loud
pipes, running red lights, stop signs or
anything else.
I was in a taxi several years ago in 40 km
zone in San Jose doing 115 km. I don't ride
in taxi's anymore.
Robert Woodrow,
Curridabat, San Jose
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Government is funding one or more
additional multi-million dollar projects
Dear AM Costa Rica readers,
It seems that every single day your
periodical notes that the government is
funding one or more additional multi-million
dollar projects, usually in areas of
infrastructure.
Where is all this money coming from in a
country currently on the verge of
bankruptcy?
Are they mortgaging the future of the
country to central banks in the developed
world?
You might think that the CR politicians
could have learned from the third-world
countries of Central & South America,
Africa and SE Asia in this regard, but they
seem to be more concerned with the amount of
money going into their private pockets and
their future pensions.
Now that the CR citizens have allowed
themselves to be almost totally disarmed,
there’s not much they can do other than
complain.
How long before even that will be outlawed,
I wonder?
Or maybe the government will pass a law
stating that complaints will be taxed like
most everything else.
Looks for all the world like another
third-world takeover by globalists, which
will leave ordinary citizens on the outside
looking in.
Join the club, Costa Rica.
By D. O.
Herradura, Garabito, Puntarenas
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Motorcycles don't like ethanol
Dear AM Costa Rica readers,
We ride both an older 2004 Ducati with a
fiberglass tank and a newer Harley Iron 883.
In order to use the ethanol mix in my Harley
I will have to buy a stabilizer to add to
the fuel. It runs about $7 for 4 ounces that
will serve only 10 gallons of gas.
Heaven only knows what it would cost here in
CR. I won’t even get into the corrosion
factor in my motor.
As far as the Ducati goes… some Ducati's
even had fuel tank swelling problems from
ethanol in the fuel.
This would be my major problem with the
Ducati we ride .
Motorcycles don't like ethanol for a bunch
of reasons.
Not only does ethanol rot your fuel system,
and collect water it has less energy
Add to it the problems of harder starting,
rougher running, and lower fuel economy and
ethanol in your bike should be avoided
whenever possible.
Ethanol is a corrosive liquid and can damage
parts not meant to come in contact with it,
causing hoses and gaskets to swell,
deteriorate, and distort.
We only ride on weekends and the odd message
run during the week…. so using ethanol mix
will be a horror in our bikes as it doesn’t
store well and tends to separate from the
gas when the bike is parked for any length
of time.
We believe we should have a choice at the
pump and not have this forced down our gas
fillers.
Below is a cut and paste from our Ducati
manual
Maureen and Bob Reichel,
Candelaria de Palmares
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Need for new school in Brasilito
Dear AM Costa Rica readers,
I live in Porta Potrero, Santa Cruz,
Guanacaste, also known as Playa Potero. The
primary school in nearby Playa Brasilito was
condemned after the big earthquake on
September 5th, I believe that was in 2012 or
2013.
The students have had to attend classes in
the communal salon with no walls separating
the classes and inadequate ventilation.
When I read about these great new schools
that are being built it really saddens me to
think that the children of the Brasilito
community have had to attend school under
such poor conditions for over 6 years!
How is this possible? Why isn’t the
government doing anything to help these
children?
I know of a group in the U.S. that has been
raising funds for a new school for these
children but they haven’t been able to do
much with the money they raised because of
the bureaucracy and the fear of the funds
being misappropriated.
The smaller community schools need and
deserve the same attention that the larger
communities enjoy. They deserve the chance
for a good education, with computer labs,
etc.
The community of Brasilito held a protest,
blocking the main road in and out of the
area. I don’t remember when that was however
it is my understanding that the current
president visited the area and promised a
new school for these children.
That has not happened however I see other
schools have been built. The president also
promised to replace or repair the
“temporary” bridge that was installed after
the real bridge was destroyed in flooding
about 10-11 years ago.
This is a one lane bridge that connects the
communities of Playa Brasilito, Playa
Potrero and Playa Flamingo to the rest of
the country.
There is going to be a major marina in
Playa Flamingo soon and this bridge has to
be crossed for tourists to reach these
communities and the new marina. It is going
to be one big traffic jam in the near
future!
Even now there are times when this bridge
causes traffic to back up for more than a
kilometer on both sides.
So when I read stories in AM Costa Rica
about all this money being spent and I think
about how much money our communities
contribute in taxes it makes me sick.
Tourism is our #1 source of tax revenue in
this area and you would think the government
would pay more attention to the cash cow
they have here and put something back into
these communities.
Plus give the children an opportunity at a
better education so they can get jobs other
than being maids and gardeners. Or working
on sports fishing and other boats until they
are not able to do so anymore but are too
young to retire.
The government also needs to look into the
condition of the Colegios (High Schools) in
the area. They desperately need upgrades in
equipment such as computer labs and repairs.
These children deserve the same quality of
education that the children in the big
cities are getting but they are not
receiving it.
The primary school in Porta Potrero is
extremely small and lacking in funds. Years
ago when my daughter attended this school I
was constantly asked to donate money to
repair things, mostly the copy machine.
Being the only gringo parent I guess they
thought I had more money than others in the
area. I work for a living just like everyone
else and could only afford to help all the
time.
I could not understand why the school system
did not pay for these repairs?
Since many of the parents could not afford
the text books the teacher would have to
make copies for the class.The entire school
system seems to be backwards in my opinion.
The parents in the cities tend to have
higher income then the parents in these
smaller communities, making the need for
government funding assistance greater in the
small communities where the parents can’t
afford to constantly give money to the
school so their children can get a mediocre
education.
These children deserve better and the
government should take a look at how many
intelligent children in Costa Rica are not
receiving a proper education because the
money is all going to the big city schools.
It is a shame.
Thoughts from an Expat with 26 years of
living in a small Costa Rica community.
R. B.,
Flamingo Beach
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CR agreements with multinational
companies
Dear AM Costa Rica readers,
Costa Rica, in many respects, has no choice
but to move forward with international firms
for domestic development.
Costa Rica has also had little choice but to
except financing offers for project
developments from foreign governments, such
as China.
In the case of the expansion of Route 32
between San Jose and Limón, loans are backed
by the government of China itself. Costa
Rica has no other option simply for the
amount of funds required for these projects,
and the lack of financing vehicles within
the country that can generate loans of that
magnitude.
The danger lies not in the act of
development, the country needs it, but in
who we choose to partner with and in
developing an overall vision for forward
progress. With the Chinese, for example,
obviously there is a monetary loan that CR
will repay, with interest to China.
But what else does China get?
That’s where it gets murky and the danger
for CR lies. Several years ago China
famously built a large bridge in Nicoya. In
return they asked for a private dock in
Puntarenas for Chinese fishing vessels.
Later, an investigative reporter discovered
that the Chinese were using that dock for
shark-finning operations.
It’s also the motivation behind
development that Costa Rica must address.
Politicians, bankers and developers like to
repeat the mantra that "growth is good." In
truth, sometimes it is and sometimes it
isn't.
A quote from conservationist and author
Edward Abbey comes to mind; "In nature,
growth for the sheer sake of growth only
occurs in cancer".
So while the bankers and politicians cheer
the Limón port expansion for the "growth"
that it represents, by the time it filters
down to the people that same growth is often
marked by a drop in the overall quality of
life.
Sure, we have a big new highway and trade
agreements with China, on the other hand we
have downtown San José filling up with cheap
plastic junk stores ("1000 CRC or less!"),
the highways, even with the added lanes, are
more clogged than ever with thousands of big
rigs hauling this crap around the country.
Quality, durable (God forbid, locally made)
goods are hard to find but who cares, this
stuff from China is so cheap you can just
replace the item rather than repair it.
That’s not improving our lives. That’s not
making a stronger country.
It is providing some nice profits and
commissions for those at the top putting
these deals together, and the bigger the
deal the higher up it reaches.
The U.S. government has made several
public complaints about China's growing
influence in the region. Well, the truth is
that we need many (not all) of these
projects and can’t do it alone.
Costa Rica, along with most other Latin
American nations, would much rather partner
with the U.S. on these projects.
The U.S. has pulled back from the region and
is instead rebuilding infrastructure and
funding project developments at a furious
pace in places like Iraq, and simply doesn’t
have the money, time or attention needed to
work with its neighbors.
Latin America has no choice but to partner
with China. We do have a choice about what
and how we develop. So far, we've let the
fat cats at the top decide what’s best.
Perhaps with more public discussion and
planning we can avoid the cancerous side of
the "growth" mantra, and focus our
development on expanding the quality of life
first, and bank profits second.
Cyrus Lemmon,
Limón, Costa Rica
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No Prison for life in Costa Rica
Dear AM Costa Rica readers,
Prison for life is one of your worst ideas
yet.
Do you want to become the U.S. and join the
country with the largest prison population
in the world?
Do you want to saddle the Costa Rican
taxpayers with a growing penal budget that
never decreases but continually increases
until the cost of imprisonment exceeds the
cost of common sense?
If you want to stop the drug trade, one
needs to eliminate the user.
To date, not much has worked in the U.S. to
stop the usage.
It is senseless to imprison people who are
making money from human desire to escape,
temporarily, their horrible lives in the US.
If the U.S. put money into programs designed
to capture the intelligence, talents and
imaginations of its youth (of all colors!)
it might stem and ultimately stop the usage
of illegal drugs.
However, the people that run the government
prefer to send money down to countries like
Costa Rica in hopes of stopping the drug
trade. This war on drugs has been going on
for over 40 years.
Let the U.S. deal with this issue inside its
own borders. It is a U.S. problem. Don’t
also make it a Costa Rican problem.
Gary Keenan,
Heredia
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Fixing problems in Social Security
system delivery of services
Dear AM Costa Rica readers,
My understanding is: Doctors, Specialists
who are employed by the System receive a
monthly salary and a retirement fund.
These specialists also have a second job
(more important to them) THEIR OWN PRIVATE
PRACTICE where they make a lot of money
(because they are paid directly by the
patients they attend).
Why is it? A specialist is hired by the
Social Security System, receives a salary
and retirement - Works in the morning for
the Social Security System.
And then in afternoon goes to his private
practice and gets paid for attending private
patients?
This is one of the main causes of social
security patients being put on a long
waiting list for procedures!
In my opinion—no one in the social
security system is going to change this.
As long as this system exists—there will
long waiting times for PROCEDURES.
Ann Cabezas Creed,
Las Pilas, Alajuela
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The views or opinions expressed by
the authors are the sole and exclusive
responsibility of the senders and do not
necessarily represent the opinion of A.M.
Costa Rica. Therefore, the newspaper does not
accept liability for the article content.
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