miércoles, 23 de abril de 2008

Green Day

Green tips for your organization

  • Take public transportation.
  • Print Double-Sided, using the copier in the supply room. Only print indispensible documents, and just the text you need
  • Reuse one-side-printed paper for unimportant printing jobs, notes & faxes.
  • Put on more clothes rather than turn up the heating (or use less clothes rather than turn down the AC)
  • Turn off lights and AC & heating off before going home (at least fans & window units) Turn off lights in common areas if you are the last out.
  • Turn off your monitor when you go for lunch, a meeting or even a tea break.
  • Turn off your PC when you leave for the weekend.
  • Make the most of natural lighting - open the blinds!
  • Use the stairs instead of the elevator. This saves electricity and is good exercise!
  • Give a friend a plant’ as a gift.
  • Mark junk mail 'Return to sender' or ask to be removed from the mailing list.
  • Recycle: glass, aluminum, steel, tin, and paper. Have containers in public areas
Alejandro Beeche Van der Laat

miércoles, 16 de abril de 2008

Seguridad ¿Cuál es la realidad entonces?


"La preferencia de los ticos por buscar soluciones violentas a la criminalidad tiende a aumentar...

La mitad de los ciudadanos favorece la pena de muerte y el linchamiento, mientras que más de la tercera parte respalda matar a delincuentes que reinciden y el uso de la tortura.

Una encuesta de la empresa Unimer para La Nación pone números a hechos que muestran la propensión de los ticos a tomar la ley en sus manos."



"Janina del Vecchio, quien asumió ayer el Ministerio de Seguridad Pública, afirmó que la inseguridad en el país no es tan alarmante y que pensó que la situación era más seria...

Escalada de violencia. Del Vecchio comentó que “lo que está percibiendo el costarricense es una escalada de violencia pues cada vez los delitos son más violentos (...), lo que sí es cierto es que la percepción de inseguridad es más alta que la inseguridad misma, esa sí es la realidad”.

El director del Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), Jorge Rojas discrepó de lo mencionado por la Ministra, aunque expresó que probablemente ella pensó que la situación era más complicada.

“Costa Rica, evidentemente, tiene un problema de inseguridad serio y no tenemos por qué compararlo con nadie (...) La gente no se siente segura pues anda con su carro o caminando por la calle y lo bajan del carro o le roban el celular o la cartera”, dijo Rojas."

...ahh por cierto, ayer se metieron a robar a la casa de mis suegros. Se pueden imaginar cuál es la percepción de ellos sobre la seguridad del país.


Alejandro Beeche Van der Laat

Bar Stool Economics

Enviado a Palestra Económica por Otto Guevara Guth.

Nada como las historias o cuentos del día a día para ilustrarnos más claramente lo simple de lo complicado... (o de como complicamos lo simple)!!!

BAR STOOL ECONOMICS

"Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they di vide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar too It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. " Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier."

Alejandro Beeche Van der Laat

viernes, 11 de abril de 2008

Hitler y la antorcha olímpica


Me resultó curioso conocer que nuestra famosa carrera de la antorcha olímpica, símbolo de unidad humana, fue institucionalizada a partir de las olimpiadas de Berlín de 1936 con Hitler.

"En 1936, en los Juegos Olímpicos de Berlín, Carl Diem concibió la ceremonia del transporte de la llama Olímpica desde el antiguo local de realización de los Juegos en Olimpia en Grecia, hasta el estadio donde se realizaban los Juegos. Más de 3000 atletas realizaron una carrera para transportar la antorcha desde Olimpia hasta Berlín, donde el corredor Fritz Schilgen encendió la llama en la ceremonia de apertura el 1 de agosto. La carrera de la antorcha pasaría a formar parte de los Juegos Olímpicos." (Fuente: Wikipedia)

Quizás otra razón más para que los protestantes busquen apagarla!!!

PS: Me parece que los protestantes que buscan apagar la antorcha deben considerar el evento de las olimpiadas como herramienta de diálogo, hermandad por medio del deporte y diplomacia política para resolver temas de derechos humanos hacia los tibetanos... en lugar de castigar a los deportistas que poco o nada tienen que ver con las políticas de China.

Alejandro Beeche Van der Laat