U.S. launches new strategy
for child exploitation


The U.S. Department of Justice has released its National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, which provides the first-ever comprehensive assessment of the dangers children face from child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism.

The strategy outlines a blueprint to strengthen the fight against these crimes, building upon the department’s accomplishments in combating child exploitation by establishing specific, aggressive goals and priorities, as well as increasing cooperation and collaboration at all levels of government and the private sector.

The strategy includes sex tourism involving minors.

As part of the overall strategy, the U.S. Marshals Service is launching a nationwide operation targeting the top 500 most dangerous sex offenders in the nation. Additionally, the Justice Department will create a national database to allow federal, state, tribal, local and international law enforcement partners to work with each other, engage in undercover operations, share information and intelligence, and conduct analysis on dangerous offenders, future threats and trends.

The department also created 38 additional assistant U.S. attorney positions to prosecute child exploitation cases.

“Although we’ve made meaningful progress in protecting children across the country, and although we’ve brought a record number of offenders to justice in recent years, it is time to renew our commitment to this work. It is time to intensify our efforts,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “This new strategy provides the roadmap necessary to do just that — to streamline our education, prevention and prosecution activities; to improve information sharing and collaboration; and to make the most effective use of limited resources.”

Since fiscal year 2006, the Department of Justice has filed cases against more than 8,600 defendants as part of Project Safe Childhood, a unified and comprehensive strategy to combat child exploitation that was started in May 2006. These cases include prosecutions of online enticement of children to engage in sexual activity; interstate transportation of children to engage in sexual activity; production, distribution and possession of child pornography; and other offenses.

Some of these cases involved arrests and convictions for engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place. Most of the cases involved U.S. citizens who were involved with minors in Thailand, Cambodia and The Philippines.

Palmares to be test case


Those living in the Palmares canton will get a preview of the 2011 national census this month.

The Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos said that it will be conducting test runs of the census form from Aug. 23 to 27. The results eventually will be made public and will provide an up-to-date look at the canton.

The institute said Palmares was selected because its population makeup resembles that of the country.

The full Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda seeks to determine the population by sex and age, education, employment, housing situation, health, rural development and access to basic services, among other facts.

Crucitas means a lot more
than just 3 percent return

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

"Las Crucitas Saga" Will it ever end? I suspect not until the pay cheques or salaries for individuals of the environmental groups runs out. After all, it is a job. It is their mission statement to do anything possible to disrupt what their superiors have deemed to be of significance, all but to protect that sacred cash flow they depend on for their daily subsistence. Well let's stop there in all fairness before I begin to sound resoundingly familiar.

I agree there have to be environmental rules and regulations in any country. But there must also be rule of law, and if that law can be manipulated endlessly, then it is not law, it is a joke.
 
Why is it in Costa Rica that when a court makes a decision that its never really the end of the issue at hand and a ruling can be changed at any time in the future ?
 
And why is it that in Costa Rica when it comes to getting all the necessary information from someone or to someone in a single meeting, it is impossible and gets dragged out for day or week or months when it should take only hours?
 
And how is it possible that with all the engineering in the country, everything is falling apart or never works from the inception: Roads (old /new) bridges/civil infrastructure (no sewers) polluted water, garbage, and none of this is new? This is competent engineering?
 
So tell me who are the people that inspected the planning for this mine ?

What are the names of these people and what government department do they work in? "Oh, you're not sure?" "Can't remember?"
 
These are just a few questions that relate to some of the things President Chinchilla has inherited and it is why in the case of Las Crucitas the fact that she has accepted a court ruling as final is a complete surprise on one hand. But on the other it shows her as a beacon leading the country into the First World for all business and industry to see. She has demonstrated that she can be totally objective in her judgment of the situation. I also suspect she has done the math and after actually reading and reviewing everything the financial aspect carries a lot of weight and possible benefit if it can be done correctly and safely.

Statistics I have on file show that as of Sept 7, 2009, the cash-flow statement reads as follows: Based on a price of ($750USD ounce) at that date.

   * Cash flow before taxes and capital expenses would be $356 million USD;

   • Cash flow after taxes and capital expense would be $200 million USD;

   • Additional benefits to country: 260 direct JOBS;

   • $30 million in salaries;

   • $10.5 million in social security;

   • $83.8 million in corporate taxes;

   • $14 million in royalties

And this is based on Sept 2009. Multiply this by approximately 77 percent to reflect today's gold prices ($1,185.52USD/oz) This is a hell of a long way from the numbers given by the environmental movement — a long way from just 3 percent, not to mention the $1.7 billion is not far off the settlement value if you actually do the math based on the industry standards and investment return to date.