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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |||||||||
San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 222 |
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Go to Page 5 HERE! Go to Page 6 HERE! Sports is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
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The whole purpose of science
is to prove causation Dear A.M. Costa Rica: This is a fairly-written editorial about global warming except for one statement I would like to expound upon: namely that proving causation in science is difficult. Actually, you do not have any scientific explanation for things until you can, indeed, show cause and effect because science is all about explaining how and why things happen. This is why the carbon dioxide scam is so easy to detect. Ever since industrial man began creating carbon dioxide as a result of his activities, notably the burning of fossil fuels in mind-boggling quantities, anthropogenic carbon dioxide additions to the atmosphere have gone nowhere but up. Drake drilled the world's first oil well in 1859, although, of course, people had been burning coal prior to that time and even a bit of oil from natural seeps. Today 7 billion people consume nearly 90 billion barrels of petroleum EVERY SINGLE DAMN DAY! Now, I submit to you for calm consideration, that's a huge increase since 1859 in both population and consumption . . . and I haven't even included all of the world's coal-fired power plants created since then, with just China alone said to be building one new plant every week. But have global temperatures gone nowhere but up since 1859 as a result? Clearly they have not. In fact, the evidence of only the last decade, just to pick the most recent period of human activity with the best scientific instruments yet devised, has been that no significant warming has even occurred, and, in fact, there might even be a small cooling effect taking place. Now you might expect that this would make a lot of frightened people very happy, since it is very, very obvious that neither the world's population nor petroleum consumption are going to decline in any conceivable near future. Heck, those numbers are not even going to stay on a flat line. So if the planet actually was going to become uninhabitable because of anthropogenic carbon dioxide creation then there's absolutely nothing meaningful that can be done about it, therefore we ought to be very happy with this news that it's not going to happen. But some people have elected not to even use their own brains, relying on others to do their thinking for them. I used to be more amazed about this, but then I realized that I can read every day about successful scams pulled off by telemarketers and quick-talking salesmen, Investors are regularly being fleeced in some dubious venture somewhere or other, and a large number of those investors were people smart enough to make a great deal of money to begin with. As we say in Costa Rica, the best way to come here and see your bank account total one million dollars is to have brought two million dollars down with you when you came. Look at all of the very bright people fooled by The Brothers, Madoff and Ken Lay and Solyndra, and the list goes on and on, even though there is also clear evidence that other bright people were actually warning investors about each of these scams, but to no effect. And there are also well-meaning people who perhaps unthinkingly say things like "proving causation in science is difficult" — perhaps because they've heard it from someone else with an unknown less-pure motive and are merely repeating it — without stopping to think: "Wait a second, isn't the whole point of the discipline known as the 'scientific method' all about proving cause and effect? Why, of course it is!" Whenever that turns out to be too difficult to do after careful study, then the scientific conclusion is that you are looking at the wrong cause for producing the effect you are observing. Even if you do not possess the credentials to be "a scientist" but are looking for the cause of cyclical events, glaciations and warm periods which alternate, coming and going on a semi-regular basis, trying to attribute them to a cause which moves only in an ever-increasing direction ought to be enough to tip you off to the fact that some part of your logic must be wrong. Gregg
Calkins
La Fortuna Is the witness newsworthy? Dear A.M. Costa Rica: In your coverage of Mr. Camerer's death, you quote the opinions of his landlord and friend, Benjamin Over. Does Mr. Over have any credentials which would render his medical opinions newsworthy? Is he a physician? If not, what is the news value of reporting them? I'm a political scientist by training. If I render an opinion as to the makeup of the rings of Saturn, is that newsworthy? David
C. Murray
Grecia, Alajuela
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A.M. Costa
Rica's Third newspage |
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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 222 |
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Bid let for pavement work on
Interamericana Norte job |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's highway agency said Tuesday that a bid has been let for the construction of concrete pavement as part of the rebuilding of the Cañas to Liberia stretch on the Interamericana Norte. Carlos Acosta, executive director of the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad said that the job had been won by Consorcio FCC- Interamericana Norte. Some 11 firms competed. The winner is primarily a Spanish firm. |
Much of the cost will be financed by
a loan from the Banco
Interamericano de Desarrollo. Acceptance of that loan is pending in the
legislature. The bid award is for 48.2 billion colons or about $24.6 million. The companies bid for both concrete and asphalt pavement. The concrete is supposed to last 20 years. The 50.6 kilometer stretch also will have 19 bridges. The section is a bit more than 33 miles. The Consejo board envisions a four-lane highway with overpasses and bike and pedestrian walkways. |
Transport ministry alarmed at number of
motrocycle deaths |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A survey by the transport ministry on its Facebook page showed that motorists think that the more imprudent persons on the highway are motorcyclists. They also are leading candidates for the morgue. The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte is so alarmed at the number of motorcycle deaths that its workers issued a special bulletin Tuesday. Of the 14 persons killed on the nation's highways in October, six were on motorcycles, they said. Last year 75 persons died while driving or riding on a motorcycle. That was 26 percent of the 287 highways deaths, the ministry said. Of course, every motorist has seen the opportunistic way motorcyclists snake their two-wheeled vehicle through |
traffic between lanes,
alongside lanes and even sometimes on the sidewalk. Motorcyclists are required to wear approved helmets and to wear reflective vests in the evening and night. Some motorcycle dealers give away helmets and vests with the purchase of a machine. The ministry urged motorcyclists to use them. Silvia Bolaños, executive director of the Consejo de Seguridad Vial, said that many motorcyclists fail to wear the proper garb when they are going short distances. Accidents can happen anytime, and motorcycles are basically unstable and unprotected, she said. Helmets can cur the possibility of death by 45 percent and can reduce serious injury by 65 percent,said the ministry. Meanwhile, motorcyclists should be aware that being on such a vehicle increases the chance of death by 15 times, the ministry said. |
Veterans will be remembered at
Escazú service Sunday |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The Commonwealth Remembrance Day and the United States Veterans Day, Nov. 11, will be commemorated Sunday at the 5 p.m. service of the Escazú Christian Fellowship at the International Baptist Church located in Guachipelin, Escazú. The purpose of Nov. 11 is to honor all living veterans and the memory of those veterans who died serving their country. The service will be led by Pastor Stacey Steck and will start and end with a bugle call by Philip Jarman. Kevin Ludeke will perform with his bagpipes. Jerry Thomas, the |
chaplain of the Costa Rica
detachment of
the Marine Corps League, will offer prayer. In attendance will be
members of The American Legion Post CR10 of Escazú, the Costa
Rica
detachment of the Marine Corps League and other veteran’s organizations. Featured speakers will be British Ambassador Sharon Campbell, Cameron Mackay, the Canadian ambassador, and Eric Nelson, the deputy chief of the U.S. mission here. Refreshments will be served after the ceremony. Everyone is invited to attend and honor the veterans of the United States and the Commonwealth countries on this their special day, said John Moran, commander of Post CR 10. |
You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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A.M.
Costa Rica's Fourth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 222 |
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Guatemala, desperate for change,
terrorized by men in hoods |
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By
Shahrazad Encinias Vela
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff There have been more violent deaths after the 36-year armed conflict in Guatemala than there were during the war. Women and native Guatemalans are the majority of these deaths or disappearances. Last week Guatemalan journalist Lucia Escobar received threats after reporting on violence and missing people in the town of Panajachel. Ms. Escobar wrote that a local security committee she referred to as the hooded ones are terrorizing the tourist town of Panajachel in the department of Sololá, and there has been no punishment because the men have impunity. These security committees are meant to protect the public, but tend to overstep their power and instill fear upon its so-called protected, she said. She claimed their crimes range from abuse of authority, torture, kidnapping, assassinations, social cleansing and summary executions. An analysis of the news
Guatemala is a country where the people hoped for progress since the 1996 Peace Accords were signed. Instead it has retrogressed to a time of killing and fear. In the 1980s the fight, according to the dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, was to keep out insurgents from left-wing rebel groups. Yet during his one-year stint as president there was documented mass killings of the native people where soldiers destroyed more than 600 villages, according to truth commissions. Within the past few years there has been an increase in disappearances, attacks and killing of native leaders in Guatemala. A country that has 23 different Mayan dialects and uses it's native history as a symbol of the country to bring in tourists has downplayed the dangers facing the country. The media have overplayed drug-trafficking and has not pointed out what Ms. Escobar dared say. Leonardo Lisandro Guarcax was a Mayan leader and artist who was kidnapped, tortured and assassinated Aug. 25, 2010. He was on his way to work where he was principal of a school in the community of Sotz’il in the department of Sololá. He was the third person assassinated in his family within the 18 months leading to his death. No one has been held accountable for the murder. |
Calixta Gabriel Xiquín is a
Kaqchikel spiritual guide, activist, and
accomplished author, who was brutally attacked and left for dead in
Antigua, Guatemala in 2010. She was found unconscious and bleeding from
a puncture wound in her head. That happened to save her life. The
puncture allowed blood to flow which in turn didn't form into cerebral
hemorrhage. Her friends and family were scared to report her attack in
fear that killers would return to finish the job if they found out the
woman still was alive. For a time her friends and family kept her
attack a secret. It was known only to her close circle of friends. No
one has been held accountable for her attack. These are only two victims, but these two people are leaders in their native community. There are more that are slowly coming to light. Fear withholds the criminal complaints. Ms. Escobar made a statement where she reported the disappearance of a youth in Panajachel, Now she is accused of drug trafficking by Juan Manuel Ralón Solórzano, a leader of the local security commission. She may have some relief. Juan Manuel Ralón Solórzano and another leader of the Los Encapuchados or the hooded ones have been jailed, according to reports as this issue went to press. They face a litany of charges, including murder. They and their fellow members of the ad hoc security committee patrolled the streets at night wearing hoods, But police said they often were lawbreakers themselves. The Guatemalan scapegoat for violence, femicide and recent disappearances is the infamous drug cartels and their trafficking. The country faced a presidential election where mano dura or a "strong hand" was the platform of both presidential candidates including Otto Perez Molina. He won the 2011 Guatemalan election by 54 percent. But is more violence the answer to end violence? The Guatemalan public can only hope for change. Perez Molina has alleged ties to kidnapping, torture and killing of innocent people during his Guatemalan army general days in the 1980s. There are victims who have testified, but his court case is still in process. He continues to say he is innocent. If he is found guilty, he will have immunity during his four years as president of the Republic of Guatemala. The fact that a former military man won the presidential election in a country tarnished by violence proves that the country is in a state of disarray and desperate to be safe. |
Latin newspeople are facing death,
bullets and firebombs |
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Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The Inter American Press Association Tuesday expressed outrage at the death of a Brazilian cameraman as he was covering a clash between police and drug traffickers holed up in a shantytown, and at the same time condemned an attack on a journalist in Perú and the firebombing of a newspaper in México and another in Argentina, all incidents that it said clearly showed “the risks and reprisals that journalists face in reporting the news.” “We much regret these terrible events, which confirm what we have been denouncing, that violence is journalists’ main enemy,” said Milton Coleman, senior editor of The Washington Post, in Washington, D.C., and president of the press freedom organization. Gelson Domingos, 46, a cameraman with the Bandeirantes television channel, died Sunday outside the Antares shantytown in the Rio de Janeiro western suburb of Santa Cruz after being hit by a bullet that tore through his protective vest as he was filming while taking cover behind a police officer who was firing at drug traffickers sheltering there. Journalists in Rio de Janeiro said the vest he was wearing was not adequate to block a bullet shot from the kind of high-powered rifle used by the army and drug traffickers. In Perú, Feliciano Gutiérrez Suca, correspondent of the Lima newspaper La República, was shot and wounded on Saturday in Juliaca in the southeastern Peruvian province of Puno as he was heading home and was intercepted by four armed and hooded men. He said he put up a struggle because he feared they were planning to kidnap him. Gutiérrez was recovering in hospital after suffering an injury to his left leg. In early October he had published reports on alleged links by police officers with smuggling activity. |
Gustavo Mohme, chairman of the press
group's Committee on Freedom of
the Press and Information and editor of the Lima, Peru, newspaper La
República, meanwhile condemned the firebombing in recent days of
newspapers in México and Argentina. In México, early Sunday morning the plant of the newspaper Buen Tono in Córdoba in the Mexican state of Veracruz was set ablaze. The paper, which specializes in security matters, had begun publishing locally just over a month ago. Some 20 people who were in the building when the attack occurred were unhurt, but the plant was badly damaged. According to the staff members some 15 assailants arrived at the building shortly after midnight, overpowered the night watchman and broke in, spraying gasoline and setting fire to the newsroom and design, advertising and administrative offices. Veracruz state has seen an increase recently in violent actions against news media and journalists. July 26 the body was discovered of reporter Yolanda Ordaz. June 20 fellow journalist with the newspaper, Notiver Miguel Ángel López, was murdered along with wife and son. And June 1 the remains were found of Noel López Olguín, a stringer for the weeklies Horizonte and Noticias de Acayucan and the daily La Verdad. He had gone missing March 8. In Argentina, a fire set by unidentified assailants at the Junín, Buenos Aires province, newspaper La Verdad damaged the press and press room’s electric circuitry. The attack occurred after the paper’s editor, Omar Bello, received a number of threats following publication of reports about drug trafficking in the city. |
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What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2011 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
A.M.
Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 222 |
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U.S. rights group seeks compensation for cholera By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S.-based human rights group has filed a claim with the United Nations seeking millions of dollars in compensation and an apology on behalf of more than 5,000 Haitians affected by the country's deadly cholera outbreak. The Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti filed the petition, which was sent to United Nations headquarters in New York. A copy was sent to the U.N. mission in Haiti. The group says the U.N. and the mission there are liable because they failed to adequately screen peacekeepers from countries experiencing cholera outbreaks. The organization alleges untreated waste from a U.N. base was dumped into a tributary of Haiti's Artibonite River, the country's longest and most important waterway, and that the U.N. failed to adequately respond to the epidemic. The petitioners are demanding $100,000 in compensation on behalf of every cholera victim who died and $50,000 for every person who became ill but survived. The organization representing them is threatening a full court case if a settlement with the U.N. cannot be reached. The outbreak has been traced to Nepalese peacekeepers. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky confirmed receipt of the petition, but would not comment on it. He said the U.N.'s position is that of the experts' report in that a convergence of circumstances caused the outbreak. In December, the U.N. said its mission and Haiti's government carried out tests of water samples from the Nepalese base and adjacent waters and that the results were negative. This past May, a panel of independent experts commissioned by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a report that found that the epidemic was “introduced into Haiti as a result of human activity.” It noted the strain of bacteria was not native to Haiti and “is very similar to, but not identical, to the South Asian strain” of cholera. The cholera outbreak in Haiti has sickened nearly 500,000 people and killed more than 6,500 others since it began 13 months ago. In its statement Tuesday, the Boston organization said the Haitians filing the claims are all either victims of the disease or relatives of victims. Bolivia and U.S. resume full diplomatic ties By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Bolivia and the United States restored full diplomatic ties Monday for the first time since 2008. Three years ago the Andean nation's government expelled the U.S. ambassador and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The U.S. expelled the Bolivian ambassador in return. Bolivian President Evo Morales, a coca farmer, accused the Americans of inciting his political enemies. He has been critical of America's Latin American policies. The new diplomatic agreement includes the two nations cooperating in the war on drugs, but did not address the issue of American anti-drug agents returning to Bolivia. There was no specific date for the ambassadors to return to their respective diplomatic posts. Bolivia is the world's third largest cocaine producer behind only Peru and Colombia. Morales is a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. U.S. attorney general says gun scandal will endure By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the effects of a failed investigation into weapons-trafficking on the U.S.-México border will be felt for years to come. Holder spoke Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing on the so-called "Fast and Furious" operation meant to track guns bought in the United States and smuggled into México. Agents with the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency have told lawmakers they were ordered by their bosses to stand aside while gun buyers purchased weapons that were suspected to be destined for Mexican drug cartels. The agents said they were told not to arrest the buyers, but instead to track where the purchasers went. Two of the guns later turned up at the scene of a shoot-out in Arizona that left a U.S. border patrol agent dead. Holder said Tuesday that any incidence of so-called "gun walking" is unacceptable and must never happen again. He added that the scandal has highlighted the fact that the U.S. is losing the battle to stop the flow of illegal guns to Mexico. The revelations have outraged some members of Congress, prompting calls for Holder's resignation. |
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A.M.
Costa
Rica's sixth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Vol. 11, No. 222 |
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Latin America news |
to tax on corporations By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Sala IV constitutional court had declined to hear a case against the proposed tax on the country's corporations. The Poder Judicial said Tuesday that the magistrates have voted to reject the case. Only two magistrates would have heard the arguments advanced by opposition legislative deputies. This is the second time the case has gone before the Sala IV. In September, the magistrates said they did not see any unconstitutional aspects in the proposal. The Sala IV frequently rules on proposed legislation. The decision opens the way for lawmakers to pass the corporate tax,which is estimated to be more than $300 for every active corporation. Inactive corporations will pay half. The money would be due in January if the measure is passed quickly. Small- and medium-sized corporations that are registered as that before the Ministerio de Industría, Economía y Comercio would be exempt under the current wording of the proposal. The measure has passed once, but a second vote is required. President Laura Chinchilla wants the tax money to pay for new police officers, a police academy and to reintegrate felons into society. Florida firm buys out cell tower owner here Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
Global Tower Partners via its subsidiary GTP Costa Rica Holding CR, SRL and C.R. Transmission Holding Corp., consummated the closing last week under a Stock Purchase Agreement to take over Centennial Towers CR, SRL, which owns more than 250 towers currently constructed and occupied by the major wireless telecommunications operators in Costa Rica, the firm also has additional towers in various stages of permitting and construction still to be developed. "This transaction represents a strategic decision by GTP to invest in the Costa Rican tower sector and establish ourselves as the largest provider of tower sites in Costa Rica," said Marc C. Ganzi, chief executive officer, Global Tower Partners. "We went through a lengthy process to find the right acquirer of this business both to maximize shareholder value and continue growing the business professionally with the major wireless operators in Costa Rica in the next few critical years" said Jonathan Bettsak, director, C.R. Transmission Holding Corp. "We chose GTP given their reputation for closing transactions quickly and fairly as well as their reputation for operational excellence among the major carriers, both in the United States and Latin America. Today, we are extremely happy with the choice we made and look forward to a great working relationship in the future with GTP to maximize customer satisfaction." Terms of the Transaction remain confidential between the parties. Global Towers is based in Boca Raton, Florida. |
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