Archive for July 27th, 2009
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Costa Rica is the site of the 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games scheduled for August 1 – 8, 2009. The parade of nations and opening ceremonies will occur on July 31, 2009. The games will be held in Playa Hermosa, just south of the popular resort town of Jaco. Playa Hermosa is located approximately two hours from San Jose, which is the capital of Costa Rica and 90 minutes from the International Airport.This is the first time an international surfing championship will be hosted by a Central American Country. The location of Costa Rica makes it accessible to many nations. Costa Rica is known for their surfing and placed fifth at last year’s international competition in Portugal.
This is also the first year that Billabong has sponsored the event. Billabong is a leading name in the surfing world and has invested $2 million dollars in this event, which they believe will be one of the world’s most important surfing events this year. Billabong marketing Vice President Graham Stapelberg said, “I believe it is vital to provide a platform for these emerging surf regions. It is the only event of its kind where you get such a large representation of so many different surf nations.”
Jose Ureña, president of the Costa Rica surfing federation said, “I’m really happy for the opportunity that ISA and Billabong have given to us. To be hosts of this event is like a dream, to have so many countries enjoying our waves. It is a unique occasion for us…We will witness something incredible for our country, especially surfing. We will have a massive audience supporting the national team.” Fox Sports and ESPN are expected to cover the event.
Playa Hermosa is at its peak during the month of August for surfing. The waves are 4 – 8 feet with perfect barrels. This is a black volcanic sand beach, which is beautiful and considered one of the best places for surfing in the world. The headquarters for the event is Hotel Terraza del Pacifico. If you plan to attend, it may be easier to find hotels in the tourist city of Jaco.
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Monday, July 27th, 2009
The Internet was first starting to get popular in 1990’s, at the same time Las Vegas was an extremely popular tourist spot for gamblers. By 1995, the first online casino was created. Within one year, three online casinos were in existence and up and running. What is interesting though is that many of the customers at these online casinos were American, but none of the online casinos were based in the United States. This was due to US legislation that prohibited such activities as gambling online in the States that only continued to get worse, ultimately leading to the screeching halt of online poker and casino play in the US by the UIGEA. Since Costa Rica was close to the United States, it ended up being the choice for offshore operations by many online casino operators.
Today, Costa Rica is home to many online casinos and poker rooms, but the truth is that Costa Rica has had a very long history of live gambling anyway. As well, the country has a very dependable technology, knowledgeable workforce, and the most important requirement of any successful online gambling site, an online-gambling-friendly government.
The US government has tried to get involved in the Costa Rica online casino industry, but has ultimately failed, as Costa Rica fought back, filing arbitration with the World Trade organization, which allowed them keep their rights to online gambling.
Even though Costa Rica is not currently doing that well in the tourism industry, they still are banking from online gambling, and their economy is thriving because of it. For example, at least 10,000 jobs have been created due to the online gambling industry online in Costa Rica. They also have a very considerable share of the billions of dollars in revenue that the online gambling industry generates.
Though economic times are very unstable and uncertain right now around the world, online gambling is still a successful and thriving business with a strong foundation and unlimited potential for growth. And Costa Rica knows the importance of this industry to their well-being, as they are very committed to the cause of keeping the monopoly on online gambling in the Caribbean.
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Monday, July 27th, 2009
Teachers are asking the ministerio de Salud to reconsider the decision to return to classes on Monday. In a letter to the ministra de Salud, María Luisa Ávila, the Asociación de Profesores de Segunda Enseñanza (APSE), demonstrated its discontent with the decision as Costa Rica is still adding up victims due to the AH1N1 flu virus.
The teachers union voice their concern on Friday when ministra Ávila announced that the mid year school break was over and school would continue on Monday, July 27, after a three week recess.
The mid year school break was to be over on July 20 after a two week vacation, however, Salud (Health) officials decided to keep the schools closed one week longer to avoid propagation of infection of the AH1N1.
Beatriz Ferreto, president of the APSE, explained that they (the teachers) have not received any training whatsoever on dealing with the pandemic and cannot accept any responsibility for not complying with the guidelines established by Salud officials.
Ferreto added that like the suspension of the “romeria”, the schools should also continue closed.
The ministerio de Salud cancelled this year’s walk to Cartago (the romeria) in fear of mass spreading of the AH1N1 flu virus, Salud officials saying that a possible 20.000 infections could occur of the 2 million or so expected romeros (walkers).
“There is no justification to re-open the schools as parents have not protected their children and have taken them to many places where they could have been infected”, said Ferreto in her plea to ministra Ávila.
The ministero de Salud explained that the decision to return to classes on Monday is based on the fact that the spread of the virus in the population of those under 19 years of age is lower than anticipated, thus lowering the risk of infection and spreading the virus.
To date the youngest person to have died from the AH1N1 virus, one of 17 deaths, was 21 years of age.
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Monday, July 27th, 2009
Ousted Honduran pres. faces charges if he returns
If ousted President Manuel Zelaya succeeds in returning to Honduras, the government that deposed him vows it will be as a prisoner.
Zelaya still faces the same arrest order that prompted soldiers to detain him in a June 28 coup. That order, sought by the independent attorney general and endorsed by the Supreme Court, charged Zelaya with four constitutional crimes, including treason, that carry combined penalties of up to 43 years in prison.
The embattled interim government — facing international condemnation for removing Zelaya in a coup — has since scrambled to find evidence of other crimes to justify his overthrow. The accusations, which vary from embezzlement to drug-running, so far have produced no public charges and seem to change from day to day.
“They are floating a lot of accusations, just throwing a lot of stuff at the wall to see what sticks to justify what happened,” said Christopher Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas in New York.
Zelaya stepped inside the Honduran border Friday, but he quickly retreated to Nicaraguan territory, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed. The interim government said it didn’t bother to arrest him because he barely entered the country.
Zelaya returned to the border again Saturday. (more…)
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