Archive for November 2nd, 2009
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Mel Gibson is a father for the eighth time. The mega Australian star and his Russian fiance Oksana Grigorieva have welcomed a baby girl. The baby was born on Friday, ahead of schedule by a few weeks, but mom and baby are doing well and at home already.
The affair which was reported earlier this year was first discovered in Costa Rica when pictures of the intimate couple surfaced. In April of 2009, Robyn, Mel’s wife of 29 years filed for divorced shortly after the pictures became public. The news was followed by Mel’s confession that he was indeed romantically involved with the young Russian musician and composer who is still hoping to have a successful career.
Oksana has another child, a son with Welsh born, English actor Timothy Dalton, who played James Bond from 1987 through 1994. Mel has six sons and one daughter with Robyn.
Regarding infidelity accusations, the actor stated in his divorce papers that he and wife Robyn had been officially separated since August of 2006. No news yet of a wedding date with his Russian fiance.
The actor has a new movie coming out, Edge of Darkness with a release date of January 29, 2010. See trailer below.
Most of us have grown up with Mel Gibson thrilling us on the big screen, and while the news of a baby is always good news, the obvious strain brought upon by the end of his almost 30 year marriage is evident on his face.
Always a fan, and not being privy to intimate details prompts me not to pass judgment.
Here’s wishing him, his family and his endeavors all the best
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
A British journalist, Michael Dixon, has been missing in Costa Rica for more than 10 days.
Michael Dixon: He was traveling alone in Costa Rica when he went missing and his family and friends first became concerned when he failed to report for work for the first time in seven years on Monday.
Mr Dixon, 33, was last seen by hotel staff at the Villas Macondo hotel in Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica, at about 9am on October 19.
Michael Dixon was last seen at a hotel in Playa Tamarindo on the morning of Monday, October 19.
The 33-year-old told staff at the Villas Macondo he was intending to stay for one night, or maybe more, after spending a week with friends in New York.
On Sunday, his brother David told users of a Facebook group set up to help find Mr Dixon: “We have searched in the air, we have searched by foot and we have searched by boat.
“Still no sign of Michael. The search continues.”
The 33-year-old British citizen was working in Brussels for RISI, a US business-to-business company in the forestry industry.
He was travelling alone in Costa Rica when he went missing and his family and friends first became concerned when he failed to report for work for the first time in seven years on Monday.
The Foreign Office confirmed that Mr Dixon was reported as missing in Tamarindo Beach, Guanacaste, on October 21. “We are providing consular assistance to the family,” said a spokeswoman.
Mr Dixon is 5ft 7ins (1.7m), 10st 3lb (65kg) and was wearing shorts and a T-shirt when last seen.
:: Anyone with information is urged to email findmichaeldixon@gmail.com
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Today’s game of Costa Rican Primera División between Deportivo Saprissa and CS Cartaginés maybe interesting, not for the action on the soccer field, but the possible action in the courtroom, as the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) has threatened to sue the Saprissa if it plays today.
The Estadio Ricardo Saprissa was “clausurado” (closed) by the CCSS for late payment of contributions to the social security.
Xinia Fernández, speaking for the CCSS, said that the “closure” means that the Saprissa has to discontinue all commercial activity in the stadium or out.
The Saprissa was barred from play last Wednesday in the Saprissa stadium in compliance with the closure order that expires on Monday.
Fernádez explained that the notice give to the Saprissa management clearly states that the soccer club is barred from any and all commercial activity.
The spokesperson said that CCSS officials will not be at the Saprissa-Cartaginés game on Sunday to stop play, but it will take legal action against the “morados” (the purple colour for which the team is known for) on Monday.
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Silver-colored coins are going out of circulation by Dec. 31, according to the Banco Central de Costa Rica.
These are the 5-, 10-, and 20-colon coins that are duplicated by a series of coins in brass of different sizes. Those who have stashes of such coins can turn them in until Dec. 31 at various banks. They no longer will be issued as change even by banks, said the central bank.
The coins are not worth much as metal. They are not silver but of a zinc mixture. They are not worth much, either. In most transactions, the odd colons are ignored. A 20-colon coin is worth only about 3.5 U.S. cents. The coin’s best use was as a telephone token.
After the first of the year, the coins only can be redeemed only at the Banco Central, the agency said. The bank announcement noted that the 20-colon coin was similar in diameter to the 500-colon Banco Central commemorative coin, and that this larger denomination coin will stay in circulation. It. too, is brass-colored. For awhile it was not considered a legal coin.
Once the transformation is complete, all of the coins in Costa Rica will be the same brass color.
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Another contributing factor can be added to the fatal accident last Thursday at the Turrubares bridge, lack of money on the part of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) to keep the bridges around the country safe, this admitted yesterday by former MOPT minister, Karla González and the director of the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi), Alejandro Molina.
The MOPT, at the beginning of the hired, unveiled new inspectors that would be responsible to keep an eye of the more than 1.300 bridges across the country.
Thier job was to check of cracks in the pavement, damage to tension cables, railings and signage, among other items. These continuous checks would ensure that bridges deemed unsafe would be closed to vehicular traffic and wait repair.
However, as the former minister and Conavi director admitted, there was no money by September to continue the work of the inspectors.
The inspectors were not employees of the MOPT, but rather contracted employees under contract with private companies dedicated to road inspection and safety, costing the government us$4.200 for each inspector.
For lack of funds, the contracts were cancelled and the bridges were ignored. Conavi was the responsible government agency to pay the inspectors, which in September did not have the money to pay the salaries, according to Molina, who added that the funds that were to used for the inspectors, went to pay for emergencies like the earthquake in Cinchona (January 8).
The lack of financings had a direct impact on the cancelling of the inspections.
Former minister González said the hiring of the inspectors was instituted after a report by the Agencia de Cooperación Japonesa (JICA) revealed that a large number of the bridges in the country were in a bad state of repair.
The former minister said that the inspection had been the first initiative in the last 40 years.
Benjamín Sandino, director de Conservación Vial del Conavi, said that the inspectors filled out a form of the basic condition of the bridge, the information the used by the supervisor to determine what repair or maintenance work was required.
Molina added that after the inspector contract was cancelled, engineers contracted to inspect roads were also asked to inspect bridges. As of this week, a number of Tránsito officials (traffic police officials) have been given orders to inspect a number of bridges.
Molina said that beginning in 2010, the Conavi will have 42 new people dedicated exclusively to the design, construction and maintenance of bridges.
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Costa Rica was eliminated from the Under-17 World Cup on Saturday, playing a man down for all but the first 13 minutes and allowing two first-half goals before losing its second straight game, 4-1, to Burkina Faso.
The Ticos, whose older counterparts advanced to the Under-20 World Cup semifinals earlier this month, return home with fellow CONCACAF member and Central American rival Honduras, which was eliminated on Friday.
Adrian Mora was ejected by Uzbek referee Ravshon Irmatov a minute after Zidane Zoungrana gave Burkina Faso the lead.
Abdoulaye Ibrango doubled the advantage in the 38th and Louckmane Ouedraogo all but sealed the victory with a goal in the 82nd. Juan Golobio pulled Costa Rica within 3-1 in the 86th, but Bertrand Traore restored the three-goal bulge in the 90th.
Burkina Faso had more than twice as many shots on goal as the Costa Ricans (15-7) and earned a second-round match Thursday against the winner of Group E.
Costa Rica finished last in Group D with one point, earned in its opening 1-1 draw with New Zealand, and saw its streak of reaching the quarterfinals in the past four tournaments come to an end.
Mexico already has qualified for the second round and could be joined by the United States, which plays its final group game against the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.
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