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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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Our readers opinions
Ad hominem attacks appeal to emotions Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Responding to today's C. J. Benet's letter to the editor, I must ask what was the purpose for writing it, only followed by the question of, why publish it? Mr. Benet does not understand the difference between reporting news and column writing. The former should be free of opinions and report facts, the later has the privilege to opinionate, interpret and give perspectives of facts. I must suspect that Jo Stewart's world views are being attacked by C. J. Benet with an age-old ploy: to pick a couple of points to correct publicly in order to proceed and discredit the writer's integrity and all she has said. Benet's letter also contained "ad hominem" formulations, which should have not been passed on by the editors. These kinds of attacks appeal to feelings and reveal prejudices, rather than to the intellect, and they are marked by attacking the character rather than honoring with an answer the contentions made. Consumption, Mr. Benet, is the amount of what gets consumed, in a village, city, region, nation, hemisphere or world. Demand is the statistical prognosis of what amount will be demanded at a future time. Overall, consumption and demand are all too often used synonymously. You just did not agree with what she said. And if you have turned her off, stopped reading her, how do you know what she said? I believe you might be saying, however, that you have read enough to know that you do not agree with her views, and that you want her to be stopped. If you need to attack on such a small matter, it would have been more useful to explore the oil shortage further than saying that demand (by the Chinese) is the problem. There have been oil shortages before. U.S. citizens were asked to drive 55 miles for what seemed to be a lengthy period of time. Germany prohibited driving on Sundays. And we found out that the shortages were created artificially through "bad planning" which, of course, was in the interest of the oil cartels. Huge profits have been documented during those time where the consumption was higher than the production. Oil prices have been often manipulated. It's simply human nature, when business can take advantage of consumers they simply will. Corporate planning goes as far as the bottom line, and fails to understand that only cooperation on a planetary level will bring eventually lasting prosperity and peace for all. Creating win-win solutions is harder than making a fast buck. But a pending crisis, like the new oil crisis, will make the need for a change of consciousness spread faster. We have an animal-origin nature, which must constantly be overcome by ourselves, and on a societal level be monitored be regulatory agencies with the watchful work of a free press. I am afraid this time around we have a new keyword to learn: "Peak Oil", which is a term denoting that the projected demand in about five years from now will always be higher than the production. Oil must increasingly be extracted from deeper and deeper layers in the earth, and with the constantly raising demand, it will not be possible to sustain the level of production as dictated by consumption. Presently, the big evil is for the U.S. government to hold on to the idea that there is sufficient oil for decades to come. Nixon and Kisssinger knew that the Vietnam war was not winnable before they stopped it, and another 15,000 young man were killed during the stopping. Peak Oil must be known by the present U.S. administration because their families are in the oil business, but it is kept as quiet as possible. The Web site of the Department of Energy, for example, still confirms that the Saudis can produce as much oil as the world needs. Who is benefiting? Of course the oil cartels and their investors. It is in their interest that people do not switch to other or alternative energies. For instance, there is enough natural gas to maintain our driving habits for a very long time. If vehicles were switched to gas carburetors, there would be enough oil to produce all the myriads of products that we have gotten used to. But the Bush administration is not interested in switching yet, as the oil barons have all the statistics to foresee that there will be a severe shortage and that the oil prices will go through the roof so to speak. They have figured out what the threshold is before affluent people consume less, and they will ride it out to the max. Some say they would be stupid not to do so, as this is free enterprise at its best. We must understand what Peak Oil means to us individually, and we must take steps to prepare ourselves. The government is not going to do it for us. They can only react to crisis. They will regulate as they have done in the past, but they will not alleviate the crisis. Now is the time to look into other and alternative energy. The Internet is full of ideas, conversion plans, small startup companies that already make appropriate products. They will grow when we demand alternatives. If we fall asleep, we will be faced with a world that we will not want to live in or are able to recognize any longer, as the fight for oil has just barely started. The U.S. is not in Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction or to bring their brand of democracy, or to stop a dictator. They are there for oil, because it has been said that the U.S. living standard is not up for negotiation. It's time for all users to rethink the oil shortage as it effects us and spend less energy quibbling over definitions, as the crunch is already effecting us and will continue until we change our own dependencies and addictions to its unlimited usage. Richard M. Hughes
Tilarán, Guanacaste Read opinions elsewhere Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Who cares if you don't want to read Jo Stuart's column? I don't read her column for facts — only for amusement and her opinions. If you have different opinions, go elsewhere. There are many other sites where you can argue, "How right YOU are." Feel free to go there and leave those of us who enjoy her column alone to enjoy it. Marjorie Slovachek
Heredia Birds smarter than humans? Dear A.M. Costa Rica: hey boss, u know despite our dissagrements i appreciate your openness. however nasty the Jo letter is, it is not about opinion. One of her recent opinions opined (if i may paraphrase) that birds were likely smarter than humans, we just are too dumb to listen or comphrehend them. Opinions are indeed only opinions. However some will have more value than others just due to the basic education of the opinionator. (not every rude ass is incorrect. consider me for example:) There are people with Jo's opinions that are much better informed and educated, and might possibly express a similar opinion with more expertise. Please do consider. George Chapogas
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with the observations of Dr. Lenny Karpman Click HERE! |
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| Just guess who's out there holding up traffic now |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
It's the law of unintended consequences. Major traffic jams took place in the downtown during morning rush hour Monday because police were ticketing drivers who did not obey the new rule about license plates. The rule, which forbids each private vehicle from entering the downtown one day a week was designed to reduce traffic jams, speed up the flow and reduce the fuel use. The program has not really worked that way. The last digit of the license plate is the way transit police know if a vehicle should not be in the central area, bounded by Avenida 16 to the south and Avenida 9 to the north. Those who fail to follow the rules are fined |
5,000 colons,
although the fines are suspended now while the Sala IV constitutional
court studies an appeal against the decree instituting the program. The first problem with the project took place last week when the Municipalidad de San José decided to tear up a key section of Avenida 1. That caused detours and massive jams. The section has been mostly repaved as of Monday. But it was Monday when motorists complained that police were impeding the flow of traffic. One driver said that police had pulled over four violators within a three block section. But the cars being ticketed did not get out of the driving lanes and created traffic jams. The motorist said he spent a half hour in a jam because of the police action. |
| Legislative committee says that parents must spare the rod |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A committee has sent to the full Asamblea Legislativa a proposed law that would forbid physical or emotional punishment of minors. The law not only covers parents but anyone in a position of authority over them. The committee is the Comisión Permanente de Juventud, Niñez y Adolescencia, and it passed the text of the measure without a negative vote. Any parent who mistreats a youngsters could suffer criminal penalties also the loss of parental rights. |
A report from the
legislature is not clear on exactly where the
committee drew the line on emotional punishment. However a late
amendment also gives parents the obligation to educate and discipline
their children, although the manner is not specified. The Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, the Ministerio de Educación Pública and other unspecified state agencies would look out for violations. The measure has been in the committee for some time. Now it will eventually go to the full assembly for discussion and a possible vote. |
| American Airlines planning more flights to Daniel Oduber
airport |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
In February, American Airlines will have flights to the international airport in Liberia from its Dallas/Fort Worth hub, officials with the airline said. The airline already has flights to Juan Santamaría airport in Alajuela. The flights to Daniel Oduber airport in Liberia will depart Dallas/Fort Worth at 9 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. twice a week and arrive at 2:15 |
p.m. and 9:13
p.m.
The airline plans to fly to Liberia on Wednesdays and Saturdays and fly
back on Sundays and Thursdays, officials said. The airline will use a Boeing 737-800 aircraft as long as the government approves, officials said. That plane holds 142 passengers. American also has U.S. flights to Guanacaste from Miami, officials said. |
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| Massive Asian smuggling ring cracked in United States |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
U.S. law enforcement authorities say 87 individuals have been indicted and 59 arrests have been made on charges related to international conspiracies to smuggle counterfeit currency, weapons and drugs into the United States. Undercover agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation posed as smugglers, arms traffickers, drug dealers and as associates of organized crime to defeat efforts by Asian criminal enterprises to import an array of illegal items into the United States. John Richter, acting assistant attorney general, said the arrests were the result of two parallel undercover investigations on the East and West coasts of the United States called Operation Royal Charm and Operation Smoking Dragon. "This essentially was an organization that was willing to be a one-stop shop for illegal goods," said Richter. "We seized more than $4 million of highly deceptive currency, what some call loosely super-notes. It is the largest seizure of its kind. We did it before it could enter circulation and before it could do any damage to our economy." Richter says law enforcement authorities seized 36,000 ecstasy pills and other drugs, along with hundreds of millions of counterfeit cigarettes. He says the organized crime group was planning to smuggle large amounts of weapons into the United States. The indictements said that counterfeit Viagra also was involved. "We charged members of this organization with arms |
trafficking, and
with conspiring to import more than a million dollars worth of weapons,
including silenced pistols, silenced submachine guns, assault rifles
and other weapons including rocket launchers," added Richter. One of the more unusual aspects of this case was the use of a fake wedding to lure suspects from various countries to come to the United States where they were arrested. U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie of the District of New Jersey says phony invitations were sent out around the world to members of the alleged organized crime group. "The male and female agents who were in the invitation supposed to be married had been working on the investigation for a lengthy period of time, had represented themselves as being romantically involved to the people they were involved in this operation with," said Christie. "Eventually when it came time to bring this investigation to a conclusion, the idea of staging a wedding in order to bring these people to New Jersey to be able to apprehend them was developed. The people came into Atlantic City, New Jersey, expecting that they were going to a wedding, and instead they were arrested." Investigators would not name the nationalities of those arrested in the case, saying some are U.S. citizens. The bulk have Chinese names, although some non-Asian names appear in the indictments of persons living in the Illinois area. The Justice Department says the plants that allegedly manufactured the counterfeit cigarettes are in China. |
| México joins partnership to catch coyotes at border |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The United States and Mexico are stepping up efforts to prosecute human-trafficking organizations that prey on migrants crossing over the Mexican border into the southwestern U.S. states of California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. In a statement, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said the United States and Mexico are forming a new program that fights "the threat that organized crime and human trafficking organizations present to both countries." The program, called "Operation Against Smugglers (and Traffickers) Initiative on Safety and Security," expands upon previous efforts to identify and prosecute violent human smugglers, according to the branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of U.S. borders. |
The program will go
into force at ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexican
border to prosecute alien smugglers and human traffickers who endanger
migrant lives. The program will adopt guidelines -- established
by the
U.S. Border Patrol -- that were used on a small scale to help prosecute
smugglers, and make those guidelines standard throughout the
U.S.-Mexico border region. Record numbers of heat-related deaths among migrants have been recorded along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2005, and border patrol teams have rescued more than 2,000 people stranded in the desert along the border. The agency also announced it is launching a radio and television public-service campaign aimed at listeners in the United States and Mexico who are contemplating the use of paid smugglers to illegally transport family members, including minors, into the United States by placing them inside potentially dangerous hidden compartments in vehicles. |
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