Archive for May 26th, 2008
Monday, May 26th, 2008
Dick Martin, (on the right) who was best known for being one half of the “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” comedy show in the 1960s, died from respiratory complications. He was 86.
Martin, who had a severe lung condition for years, died at a hospital in Santa Monica, California, with family and friends at hand, citing family spokesman Barry Greenberg.
The comedian, paired with comic Dan Rowan, was known for telling risque jokes and coming up with bogus theories about life on the “Laugh-In” show, and popularizing catch-phrases such as “Sock it to me!”. The show debuted in January 1968 and was canceled in 1973.
“Laugh-In” made stars of actresses Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin, and featured appearances by actors such as John Wayne and Kirk Douglas and even Richard Nixon, while he was campaigning for president in 1968. Rowan died in 1987.
Martin is survived by his wife Dolly Read, and two sons, actor Richard Martin and Cary Martin
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Monday, May 26th, 2008
In the international electronic coffee auction known as “The Cup of Excellence”, buyers from Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States paid up to $1,510 per a 100-pound bag of coffee grown in Costa Rica. Even the lowest price paid, $465, surpasses by far the $137 that the product gets at the New York Stock Exchange. The auction is sponsored by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, a non-profit organization with headquarters in the United States which focuses on improving the quality of coffee around the world.
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Monday, May 26th, 2008
Costa Rica has launched a program to plant 7 million trees this year. A nationwide campaign is aimed at mitigating global warming. The idea is not only that the people join in planting the trees, but that they also care for them. Last year, at least 2 million trees were planted in Costa Rica, according to official sources.
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Monday, May 26th, 2008
Costa Rican exports hit $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2008, marking a 10.5 percent increase over the same period last year.
The boost was in large part due to a 400 percent growth in sales of medical implants, which totaled $80 million, according to the Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX).
Costa Rica is now considered the second largest provider of such devices to the United States, behind Ireland.
Total exports to the United States, however, dropped slightly, less than 1 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2007.
“It’s apparent that the economic slowdown in the U.S. and the delay in Costa Rica’s implementation of CAFTA (the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States) continue to affect our exports to that market,” said COMEX Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz.
Exports to the European Union, meanwhile, grew 19.4 percent.
Besides medical products, other sectors that saw export growth were seafood, 11 percent; agriculture, 11 percent; food, 7.7 percent; and manufacturing, 10.6 percent.
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Monday, May 26th, 2008
The President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias traveled to the United States in order to receive special treatment on his vocal cords, the Presidential Press Office disclosed. Dr. Arias, 68, has been on sick leave since May 12, when an acute problem made him lose his voice. The official release was very brief and did not provide any details on the President’s ailment. His spokesperson Michelle Mitchell argued that it is a “private” trip in order to get medical treatment and that “out of respect for the President’s privacy,” it was decided not to disclose where he will be treated. However, it was later disclosed that the President was treated in Philadelphia and that he was diagnosed with a benign cyst on his vocal cords. Apparently, he will not undergo surgery, but has to abstain from speaking for four weeks. Vice-President Laura Chinchilla is the acting President of Costa Rica.
Costa Rica became the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean whose operating rooms incorporate a list of procedures to lower adverse events from surgery, such as infections and bleeding not linked to the patient’s ailment. These procedures are already operative at hospitals in the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Space. Promoted by the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization, the strategy fits perfectly within the Costa Rican National Program for the Safety of Patients.
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