Sentences upheld in murder
of Centro English teacher


The Sala III supreme criminal court has upheld 30-year sentences given two men who were convicted of killing a Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano English teacher in Heredia June 7, 2007.

The dead man was 25-year-old Esteban Solano Víquez of Heredia.

The court determined that the two men, identified by the last names of Garita Matamoros and Soto Alvarado, were guilty of murder and attempted murder. They were convicted Aug. 21 and, as is mandatory, their sentence was reviewed by the Sala III.

Solano and some friends had been at a party and stopped in Heredia centro to get hamburgers at a restaurant there. Two robbers pulled a knife on a female member of the group, and Solano came to her aid.

A man stabbed him in the stomach, a wound that proved fatal at the nearby Hospital San Vicente de Paul.

Calif. animal communicator
will visit here during April


Marta Williams, a California woman who has made a career as an animal communicator, will be in Costa Rica in April.

She is the author "Learning Their Language: Intuitive Communication with Animals and Nature,"  "Beyond Words: Talking with Animals and Nature" and a new book "Ask your Animal."

The schedule of her workshops for which a fee is charged is posted here. A local contact may be reached at 8857-2426 or 2487-5028.

By profession a biologist, Ms. Williams says this on her Web site:

"Everyone is born being able to communicate intuitively with animals and nature by mentally sending and receiving thoughts, emotions, and images. As we grew up, we were conditioned to suppress the ability. I teach people how to recover their skill, and in private consultations, I help humans hear what their animals have to say."

Foreign ministry employees
to stay at home to work


The foreign ministry said Friday that it would embark on a pilot program of teletrabajo, or Internet commuting.

The ministry said that seven employees, six women and a man, would work on line starting next week.

Work at home is being promoted by President Oscar Arias Sánchez as a way to save money. At least 17 other departments of various agencies are going to participate, according to Alicia Avendaño, director of Gobierno Digital,

Five Kent State teachers
to help with English classes


The first five of an anticipated 300 volunteers to teach English have arrived in Costa Rica. They are from Kent State University in Ohio.

The five will work in Guanacaste communities along with Costa Rican teachers.

This is part of Costa Rica Multilingüe, a government program to have 100 percent of the high school graduates by 2017 with intermediate English skills. The program plans to bring 300 trained English-teaching volunteers here over the next five years.

After orientation in San Carlos, the five will be in Coco, Sardinal, Guardia, Belén and Cartagena, said Casa Presidencial.


Western medicine needs
to learn a lot from history

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I don't think George Chapogas has done his homework re: the state of allopathic (western) medicine in the U.S.

Doesn't he know that the highest cause of death in that country is the medical system  — doctors wrong and missed diagnosis, bad medicines and those wrongly given, and hospital errors and deficiencies, botched operations?

And does not the fact that the health "industry" is the second largest in the country tell him something? Or the fact that practicing physicians invariably give prescriptions (chemicals) that treat only the symptoms; that medical research strives to find cures but does not talk about trying to find the CAUSE of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke?  Even though most of us have a good idea.
 
Were George to do a bit of research into western medical practices he would find that just about every 50 years or so over the past 500 years it has found that what was correct treatment 50 years ago is now incorrect because of medical "advances."  Oops has been said a lot. 

George might learn something if he would read my book "Sidewalks in the Jungle, What it's REALLY Like to Live and Retire in Costa Rica" (Publ. Hatala, Inc. amazon.com). I tell about the amazing alternative medical resources, and even have a story about my visit to a real genuine witch doctor. That should make George's hair stand on end. (The wizened old guy helped me!).
 
As a man who is 86, who has not taken chemical prescriptions for over 30 years excepting antibiotics for the rare infection picked up, who only takes vitamins, minerals, and herbal tinctures for health, and who's physical vital signs are of a man of 55 (Western m.d.'s recent assertion), I can talk for hours about the efficacy of alternative medicine, especially acupuncture, and medical herbs for curing illnesses.

George, wake up and begin to smell the roses. Remember, herbal treatments have been used effectively for around 4,000 years. Allopathic medicine has been in general use for about 400 years. It does have a lot to learn.