|
 |
|
|
|
Costa Ricans Make Baseballs
The game of baseball is a pure product of
America. The ball itself is another matter.
Every baseball used in the major leagues is made here, in Costa Rica.
Millions of them. They are handcrafted with the precision of a machine
by the men and women of Turrialba.
"It is hard work, and sometimes it messes up your hands, warps your
fingers and hurts your shoulders," said Overly Monge, 37. Temperatures
inside the factory can rise to 90 to 95 degrees, he said, and when they
do, "we suffocate."
He makes $55 a week after 13 years at the baseball factory, barely above
Costa Rica's minimum wage. After he pays for the necessities of life, he
has about $2 a day left over for himself, his wife and daughter. His
salary, adjusted for inflation, is about the same as when he started.
But that's life, he said with a shrug. Hard work, but far better than no
work at all.
Many of the coffee and sugar cane plantations around here have
collapsed, done in by the forces of globalization. There is only one
other factory in Turrialba, population 30,000. Without baseballs, Mr.
Monge said, life here "would be more like Nicaragua".
The baseball workers arrive at 6 a.m. and work until 5 p.m. Peak
production pressures have pushed the day deep into the night. Each can
make four balls an hour, painstakingly hand-sewing 108 perfect stitches
along the seams. They are paid by the ball — on average about 30 cents
apiece. Rawlings Sporting Goods, which runs the factory, sells the balls
for $14.99 at retail in the United States.
Free Trade Talks Extended to Today
Though it has been announced twice now the
closing of Free Trade negotiations between the United States and Costa
Rica, last night trade officials announced that they will extend talks
into today.
Commerce Minister, Alberto Trejos, announced late last night that at the
end of today (Sunday) an announcement on the agreement will be made. He
is hopeful that negotiators can resolved the outstanding issues dealing
with agriculture and textiles.
Trejos indicated that every effort was made to conclude the talks on
Saturday, but it just wasn't possible.
Costa Rica a Honeymoon Destination
Other than the big day, the honeymoon is something couples really look
forward to. It's a chance to unwind after months of planning, and a time
to enjoy each others' company without any demands from family and
friends.
One of the most popular honeymoon destination is Costa Rica.
The fact that more than one million tourists visit Costa Rica each year
does not happen by chance. The country, located in Central America, is
an isthmus where life seems to have created its roots.
The Caribbean region of Costa Rica is noted for its variety of aquatic
ecosystems and its beautiful white and black sand beaches providing an
ideal setting for activities such as sport fishing, snorkeling and sun
bathing.
Honeymoons were traditionally one month long. The groom, having
kidnapped his bride, would hide her from everyone for one month (or one
moon cycle). During this time, they would drink a concoction of honey
and mead (basically to keep her drunk and from screaming so that no one
could find them). Once pregnant, the bride could no longer be rescued,
as the marriage was considered inviolate.
Which Country
Are You?
Laid back person, enjoys spicy food in tropical
locations seeking similar person with more self-discipline, but enjoys
play as much as work -- and soccer.
Translated: Costa Rica.
It's an interesting time waster on the Net that can figure out which
country you are most like by asking only six questions.
Each country has its own little character traits. Costa Rica is about as
peaceful as anyone on the planet, a real dyed-in-the-wool pacifist. And
why not? No one really poses much of a threat to you and everything
seems to work out, no matter how much violence and insanity rages all
around you. So you relax and appreciate nature and culture while the
rest of the world carries on their petty disagreements. If only everyone
could follow your example.
Each country comes along with some insightful declarations, and it's
entertaining to query people around you. You never know, you could be
surrounded by friends and coworkers who identify with "axis of evil
nations. Iraq and North Korea are both options out of the 64 possible
results.
You can also retake the quiz if, for instance, you weren't into spicy
food that day or maybe you've re-evaluated your quality of life.
Depending on my mood, I can be a number of countries.
Because I feel I could improve my quality of life, I go down a new path.
Is life too crowded? No. Do I often feel used and manipulated? No. Do I
sometimes wish I were larger? Definitely not. Am I more or less crazy
than I used to be? Sadly, less. And finally, who was the worst villain
in the Nixon administration? I chose Nixon over Kissinger.
So who am I now? I guess you'll have to find out.
Take the
Country Quiz at the
Blue Pyramid
|
|
|
|
|
NASA prepares for
second Mars rover landing
As NASA scientists struggled to revive their ailing Spirit Mars rover, they
also began to prepare for the landing of its twin, Opportunity, which will
touch down on the Mars surface about midnight on Saturday.
The Opportunity will be slowed first by a parachute, then retrorockets. At a
height of about 30 feet, the rover, encased in a cocoon of air bags, will
bounce and roll for perhaps half a mile before coming to a stop.
The Opportunity's target is a region known as Meridiani Planum, which
contains a deposit of iron oxide the size of Oklahoma. The iron oxide, known
as hematite, interests scientists, because on Earth, it usually forms in the
presence of water.
"Even though Meridiani is an easier landing site in some respects, less
winds, less slopes, and the rocks aren't as bad as I'm going to be nervous,"
said Rob Manning, Mars Exploration Rover Entry, Descent and Landing Lead at
the NASA.
NASA on Friday declared the crippled Spirit Mars rover to be in "critical"
condition and said the vehicle would likely remain idle for several days or
even weeks.
Sending two rovers was seen as a way to increase the chance of success, as
only one in three international efforts to land on Mars has succeeded. Some
of the other spacecraft blew up, crashed or disappeared.
Italian Parmalat
accountant commits suicide
An accountant and close aide of jailed Parmalat chief financial officer
Fausto Tonna committed suicide Friday from a bridge on a provincial road
near the northern city of Parma, Italian police said.
Bassi, 42, worked in the administrative department of Parmalat and was
reportedly acting as secretary to Tonna's successor and former aide Luciano
Del Soldato, when the latter was arrested on New Year's eve in connection
with the multi-billion-euro fraud at Parmalat.
Tonna and former Parmalat head accountant Gianfranco Bocchi have been
helping investigators unravel the accounting fraud which plunged the dairy
multinational into bankruptcy.
Tonna and Bocchi have been brought from their prison cells to Parmalat
headquarters in Collecchio to work with investigators to determine the true
state of Parmalat's assets and debts.
Investigators said they were shocked by the news of Bassi's suicide.
"There was absolutely no reason to explain it," they said, indicating that
he was not under investigation.
Worldwide unemployment sets new record, says UN report
The UN International Labor Organization (ILO) said Thursday in a report that
global unemployment rose in 2003 to a record of over 185 million, or over 6
percent of the labor force.
The annual jobs report, released here at the UN headquarters in New York,
said that the worldwide economic recovery in the second half of the year may
have helped to improve the situation.
"It's too early to say the worst is over," said ILO Director-General Juan
Somavia. "However, if current estimates of global growth and domestic demand
hold steady or improve over the coming year, the global employment picture
may brighten somewhat in 2004."
According to the report, despite the pickup in economic growth after a
two-year slump, the 2003 figures remained at record levelsfor men and women
and escalated more sharply among young people.
It said that unemployment and underemployment during the first half of 2003
rose because of the slow pace of the upturn in the industrialized world's
economies and the negative impact of SevereAcute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
on employment in Asia.
The number of people who were unemployed in 2003 reached 185.9 million, or
about 6.2 percent of the total labor force, marking the highest unemployment
figure the ILO has ever recorded, according to the report.
Amazon.com collects online donations for US presidential candidates
The leading US online retailer Amazon.com Inc. has begun collecting campaign
contributions for the candidates in the 2004 US presidential elections, said
Amazon spokesman Chris Bruzzo Saturday.
By using the new service, contributors can donate from 5 to 200 US dollars
instantly using a credit or debit card to any number of candidates.
The Seattle, Washington-based retailer, which has 37 million active
accounts, said it is "trying to take the friction out of grassroots
contributions to presidential candidates."
Bruzzo said Amazon is providing the new service as a test and "may decide to
discontinue it at any time."
Amazon, which is not endorsing any candidates, charges usual processing fees
for donation payments.
"For us, we think this is an interesting but natural extension of what we do
every day," Bruzzo said. "Our goal here was to make it as easy for people to
make contributions to presidential campaigns as it is to buy the latest
Harry Potter book."
Currently, the campaign contributions page lists 17 presidential hopefuls,
in alphabetical order, including President George W. Bush.
So far the service has generated results for some of the candidates,
collecting contributions from 252 to 1699 dollars by early Saturday.
Leading Democratic candidate John Kerry had received 62 contributions
totaling 1,699 dollars, against 72 contributions totaling 1,095.01 dollars
for Vermont Governor Howard Dean, and 26contributions totaling 252 dollars
for Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik.
Some campaigns, including those of Bush, Connecticut Senator Joseph
Lieberman and a few others, had not signed up to the new service as of
Saturday.
Amazon said it was seeking permission to accept contributions for those
candidates. "We certainly do want to have all the eligible candidates signed
up," Bruzzo said.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
