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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 217 | |||||||||
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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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industry is in deep trouble By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Everyone knows that The New York Times and other paper-based publications are in trouble, but now comes shocking news. The parent company of the National Enquirer is planning to seek federal bankruptcy protection. Printing on paper really is on the way out if a newspaper cannot make a living by pandering to the base tastes of the American public. The Enquirer (not to be confused with a distinguished paper with the same name in Cincinnati) based its reporting on celebrities and a lot of people who were near celebrities. They were based in Boca Raton, Florida, and paid employees handsomely, particularly if they could come up with the next earthshaking scoop on a pregnant starlet. The media empire's downhill slide probably started in 2007 when it closed The Weekly World News. That was the publication where the Men in Black got all their information about aliens. The supermarket tabloids did some serious reporting, but not The Weekly World News. So it was harder to write for that publication because it was filled with fiction not news. The New York Daily news announced the bankruptcy filing of the parent company, American Media Inc. It said the firm also published Star, Men's Fitness, Shape and Fit Pregnancy. The bankruptcy petition does not mean the publications will fold. American Media seems to want to take on its creditors as business partners in exchange for eliminating its debt. Considering the current trend among struggling newspapers, it also could emerge as a non-profit corporation. Perhaps then it would bring back The Weekly World News and its Bat Boy, captured aliens and columnist Ed Anger. The Daily News said that American Media was suffering from Internet competition. In fact, an entrepreneur already purchased the Weekly World News online rights and it publishing on the Internet, Bat Boy and all. Visiting U.S. director to lead concert band By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Cynthia Johnston Turner, director of Cornell University's Wind Ensemble, will be the guest conductor for two concerts by the Banda de Conciertos de San José. One is Friday in the Catedral Metropolitana at 6 p.m. and Saturday in the Iglesia de Barrio México at 7:30 p.m. Professor Johnston Turner is a frequent visitor to Costa Rica and often brings the university musicians here. The weekend events are sponsored by the Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud and the Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical. Among the works on the program at "The thunderer, the John Philip Sousa march, and "Las Campanas" by Steven Michael Gryc. Horses will be on parade in Ciudad Quesada Sunday By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Comité Auxiliar de la Cruz Roja in Ciudad Quesada plans a tope or horse parade Sunday in that community. The goal is to raise money for the committee and to honor two long-time members, Carlos Zamora Acuña, who has served 42 years and Ademar Trejos Pérez for his 33 years. The event was organized by the Caballistas de San Carlos in honor of Alberto Rodríguez Baldì, owner of the Hotel Baldi Hot Springs Aguas Termales. The entry fee is 10,000 colons, about $20, which will go to the volunteer committee. Riders will start in Barrio San Roque north of the city and parade through the center passing the municipal building and the Roman Catholic church, said organizers. Autopista plan being studied By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A definite plan for repair of a landslide on the Autopista del Sol is not expected until next week. The highway now has two bailey bridges in place carrying traffic over the locations of the slide. The Consejo Nacional de Concesiones said it needs the time so its experts can study the proposal put forth by the concession holder. The trouble spot is at Kilometer 47.
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 217 | |||||||||
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| Survey uncovers where to find the lowest food prices |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The economics ministry has shown once again that it pays to shop around. This time the ministry's consumer agency shopped around and found differences in prices of basic products as much as 90.5 percent. For example, the agency's shoppers found that 120 grams of tuna in a metal can under the Splash brand cost 630 colons in Coopro San Vito in San Vito and 1,200 colons in Super Saint Clare in San Sebastián, according to its summary. Some 400 grams of Coronado powdered milk cost 1,042 colons in Diboyco in Turrialba but 1,970 in Super Economico in Barranca. That's a difference of 89 percent. The rate of exchange is about 506 to one U.S. dollar, so 1,970 colons is about $3.89. The surveyors also reported that they found cases where the shelf price was not the price that the cashier rang up. The survey was from Sept. 7 to 22 and involved pricing 18 specific articles at 104 stores all over the country. The Dirección de Apoyo al Consumidor of the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio does a study once every two or three months. Sometimes they are seasonal. A survey of Christmas toy prices probably will be reported next month. The products surveyed included rice, beans, sugar, coffee, cooking oil, lard, bread, chicken, steak, detergent and toilet paper, as well as the tuna and other items. The surveyors looked for specific brands and sizes. The stores included most of the chains as well as smaller operations. In some cases, the surveyors found that prices differed dramatically on the same item in different stores run by the same chain. By picking the same products, the surveyors added consistency to the study, but there was one problem. Some stores offer a reduced price for those carrying a frequent buyer card. The surveyors reported the price with and without the card. The best price for all 18 items was at Super Más in Cartago. |
 The total was 51,655 colons or about $102.08. The next four lowest stores were Coopro San Vita, Palí in San Vito, Super Kefra in Batán and Super Guacimo. The most expensive was not in Escazú or in Los Yoses, as expats might expect. It was the Jumbo in San Antonio de Desamparados. The total there was 61,469 colons or $121.48. The next four highest were all Megasupers. The cost without a frequent customer card closely followed Jumbo in Batán, Pérez Zeledón and Limón. Even with the card, the Megasuper in Batán was fifth highest. Stores that were found selling rice at higher than the government established price were reported to the Comisión Nacional de Consumidor for possible action, the ministry said. That also was done with a number of stores that had one price on the shelf and another at the checkout counter, it added. Both practices are violations of the law. Supermarket pricing is not always consistent because merchants include their rent, a reserve for shoplifting and other variables in the price. The full report on the survey is available on the ministry's Web site in Spanish. |
| Tropical storm and low pressure area expected to interact |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's weather experts say that a low pressure system along the Caribbean coast will interact with Tropical Storm Tomas, which still is headed this way, and that heavy rains will last through Thursday in the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas. Tomas, described as being just barely a tropical storm, is playing chicken with Costa Rica. It continues on a west to northwest path. Forecasters expect the storm to do a sharp right turn and zero in on Haiti and Jamaica. As of 1 a.m. today the storm was still just north of Colombia in the Caribbean. The central Pacific coast already as been hit hard. The national emergency commission reported that 152 persons had been placed in three shelters by mid-afternoon. The rains have continued and seemed to strengthen in the early morning. The commission issued an alert for the Pacific coast and the Central Valley. The Quepos area got 100 millimeters, nearly four inches by midday Tuesday. The most affected areas were Quepos, Parrita and Jacó on the Central Pacific coast and Santa Cruz on the north Pacific shore of Guanacaste. Some 80 persons were in a shelter at the Escuela de Río Seco in Santa Cruz. Some 22 |
were children. Other shelters were
in Parrita and in
Pueblo Nuevo. Parrita residents were walking around in knee-deep water and many homes were flooded. The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias and its local committees were working through the night. Tomas was reported with sustained winds of 45 mph or 65 kph, according to the U.S. Nacional Hurricane Center. A U.,S. Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft took measurements late Tuesday. The center said forecasters expect the storm to strengthen. The world's eyes are on struggling Haiti where heavy rains would be a disaster for the many earthquake victims still in tents. Atlantic storms typically make a turn to the north as they approach Costa Rica, which usually only suffers indirect effects. The hurricane center said it expected this turn within the next 48 hours. On the central Pacific Coast, workers were expected to continue today trying establish a temporary route around Costanera Sur highway damage at Ventanas between Uvita and Palmar Norte. The Consejo de Vialidad, the highway agency, said that the work could be delayed by heavy rains. The storm generated flooding that washed out a section of drainage pipes. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 217 | |||||||||
| State of nation report notes that 2009
was a crisis year |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rica was able to avoid much of the effects of the world economic crisis in 2009 but the unequal distribution of income showed the biggest increase in 10 years and the threats to citizens security were more dangerous. That is part of the summary of the Estado de la Nación, the 16th annual report on national trends. It was released Tuesday. The report touches on many aspects of life, including health, education and employment. The report is full of statistics, and the authors said they drew on more than 200 variables. One major point was that the informal labor market and the less qualified employees were the ones most affected by the economic crisis. |
The report also
said that Costa Rica has not exercised sufficient
controls over the use of its natural resources, including
underground
water. The document also seeks to assess the workings of the legislature. Just the summary is 22 pages long. The Ministerio de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica was quick to respond. In a statement the ministry outlined specific steps the government had taken to face challenges confronting the country. But both sources seemed to make clear that the country was defined by the economic crisis during 2009. The ministry also noted that outside forces impose more complex threats to the country. Cited were arms traffic, narcotrafficking and trafficking in persons. |
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| Brazil's boom is creating an expanded
middle class |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Brazil is experiencing its most sustained period of growth ever, with an expanding middle class and social and economic benefits for the poor. Ruth Hins owns a grocery store and bakery in the Rio de Janeiro favela of Cantagalo, where she used to live. She is one of 35.5 million Brazilians who have moved from humble beginnings into the middle class since 2003. Another 20 million have risen above the poverty level. "I never would have thought of this. I never would have dreamed of this happening," she said. As most of the world struggles to climb out of a recession, Brazil's $1.3-trillion economy is booming, and now surpasses India and Russia. Its per-capita income is twice that of China, and creative entrepreneurs like Ms. Hins are reaping the benefits Her father moved the family to Cantagalo from a small town in the northern state of Bahia when she was 12. He bought the property that now houses the store. "When I got the idea to open a shop, the only thing I had in the cabinet was salt. So, I started to sell salt," she said. She quickly moved from selling salt by the kilo to baking bread. Her store grew to the full grocery store it is today. She has expanded and opened a produce market next door, where she used to sleep. And there is a full bakery upstairs that runs 24 hours a day. Ms. Hins sells her baked goods to businesses and restaurants in neighboring Copacabana. Small business loans are difficult to come by in Brazil. Ms. Hins has expanded by leveraging her savings and making smart business decisions. "The machines to make bread are very expensive. So I |
bought old
machines and renovated the old machines to bake bread. And now I
am in
the process of replacing the old machines with new ones," she said. Brazilian economists say the country's success is simple to define. Policies put in place in the 90s to tame runaway inflation worked. A commodities boom has fueled growth and lowered poverty across Latin America. And aggressive social programs have educated more people and raised living standards. "Brazil is becoming a normal country in the sense that what is normal is to have kids in school, not to have high inflation, and to have an open economy. So, it is not that we are becoming a developed country. We are just filling the gaps. And there is a long way to go still," said Marcelo Neri, the chief economist for the Center for Social Policy in Rio. Brazil's economy has created 2.2 million formal jobs in the last nine months, a record for the country. More people with money to spend translates into a better quality of life for business owners like Ruth Hins. She now earns 10,000 reis, the equivalent of $5,800 per month. She is quickly moving out of the middle to the upper class. She bought a penthouse apartment on a street bordering the favela and can afford luxury goods such as a refrigerator, cable television, and a washing machine. "It is a dream. It is a dream come true for me. Just to have my own house. You know a lot of people who rent houses don't even have an address. They are always moving from place to place. But I have a house here, I have an address, this is my place," she said. Now she has new dreams. She wants to go back to school, travel outside of Brazil, and one day open a large grocery store in neighboring Copacabana. |
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Latin American news Please reload page if feed does not appear promptly |
European
countries tighten airline security measures By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
European countries including Britain and Germany have tightened air security measures amid fears about the safety of cargo. Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May announced new aviation security measures Monday. "From midnight tonight we will extend the suspension of unaccompanied air freight to this country, not just from Yemen but also Somalia," May said. Friday, authorities in Britain and the United Arab Emirates discovered two packages carrying the powerful explosive PETN. They had been sent from Yemen and were addressed to synagogues in the United States. The package found in Britain had already passed through Dubai and Germany. Monday, Qatar Airways said another bomb, which was intercepted in Dubai, had traveled as cargo on two passenger flights before being discovered. May said the new aviation restrictions will be reviewed in the coming weeks. "It is based on possible contact between al-Qaida in Yemen and terrorist groups in Somalia, as well as concern about airport security in Mogadishu," May said. Britain is not the only country to introduce new aviation security following the bomb scare. France and the Netherlands have also banned cargo flights originating from Yemen. Germany has gone a step further and banned all incoming flights from Yemen. A Yemen official told the country's state-run news agency that Germany's decision was a "collective punishment" against the people of Yemen. Britain-based security expert Norman Shanks says air cargo has long been a vulnerable point in aviation security. "Those of us in the industry were aware of it and it does not take too long for the terrorists to identify those emissions or those loopholes and that is exactly what they have done," Shanks said. He says technology exists that would have identified the explosives — the same technology, he says, that is used for checked-baggage screening. He says cargo should go through the same security. Banning all cargo that arrives from Yemen or Somalia, he says, is not the answer. "The terrorist simply has to take their packages across to another country, they do not need to do that by air," Shanks said. "And then ship them out through what is regarded as a potentially safe country." Earlier this year, the United States introduced a requirement that all cargo loaded onto passenger planes be screened for explosives. But rules on cargo screening vary around the world. Late Tuesday, Greece suspended all overseas shipments of mail and packages following a two-day wave of parcel bombs targeting embassies, European leaders and institutions. |
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