AM Costa Rica Jay Brodell - Follow the MONEY

AM Costa Rica, 'Your English-Language New Source' on the internet has SUCKED for a long, L-O-N-G time. I remember when I first realized the fact when, Jay Brodell, the head honcho at AM Costa Rica was endorsing John McCain for President back in '08 and was using AM Costa Rica to do so. But it's not the John McCain thing or even the fact he used AM Costa Rica, it was the way he tore into Obama in order to bolster the image of McCain. Trust me, it was negative, negative, negative in typical 'right of Reagan'fashion. But really it's not even that, I mean, so what, he wanted McCain to win- no BIGGIE. AM Costa Rica SUCKS for a lot more reasons than that and here's our new video listing a few-



TONS of Costa Rica Tavel Info and VIDEOS on our websitc: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Surviving Crime, Murder and Corruption in Costa Rica

Here's how to travel to Costa Rica and survive crime, theft, murder and overall mayhem. You know, because it's around every corner.
So this dude from Connecticut, Howard Daniels Jr. writes an editorial to A.M.Costa Rica (Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday'....whatever) and gives his take on why tourism is down in Costa Rica. His reasons, here's the exact quote:

"The reason that North Americans are not going to Costa Rica as much anymore is twofold. #1 crime and #2 tired of dealing with bribe dealing police."

This subject is a pet peeve of mine and I've written about it numerous times. So, I'll let the VIDEOS BELOW do most of the talking. But here's my bottom line: I would say that 98.9% of the BAD things that happen to tourists while in Costa Rica are a direct result of their STUPIDITY when traveling abroad. #2- Their are exceptions but 99% of the time, if you're bribing a police officer, it's because you got caught breaking the law and with some of the fines here, you'll hope the cop is 'corrupt'. However, they have been known to 'shakedown' tourists on occasion as well, but this is more the exception than the rule and don't forget, you do have recourse when a bad cop tries to pull a fast one.

Lastly, only the worst of the worst stories get printed, so perception and drama RULES on the internet. If tourists weren't so STUPID, crime against them wouldn't be so high. Yeah, I said it.

*Living here is an entirely different matter.

If you are traveling to Costa Rica, watch all the videos below from beginning to end and I can assure you, your risk factor will be cut to about '0'. I have much more INFO about crime and it's effect on tourism in this blog but don't stop there, visit other sites and get more perspective as well.

Our ORIGINAL video about Theft and Crime in Costa Rica:



Renting a car, you don't want to skip this one:



Perspective on 'corrupt' police officers in Costa Rica:



Perspective on this 'murder' and 'crime' thing in Costa Rica:



Plan on riding the public buses:



Backing up your Travel Documents:



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

AM Costa Rica- JOKE of the DAY

AM Costa Rica, providing the JOKE most days.
Writers BLOCK? Read AM Costa Rica. They can get the ol' creative juices flowing again.

I had no intention of writing this morning... well, that is until I was checking out AM Costa Rica, "Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday". What can I say, AM Costa Rica is my muse.

Don't worry, no diatribe, no rant and I won't even say, "fuck". This is more of an observation and just another example of how 'subtly-blatant' Am Costa Rica can be in promoting their conservative viewpoint.

Don't need to know much about the specifics of the story, but here's the headline on the FRONT page of A.M. Costa Rica this morning.

'Letter sparks wave of complaints about cable firm'

A 'news story', front page about a cable provider, called Amnet here in Costa Rica that many people are unhappy with.... whatever.

See if you can catch it. This is what the A.M. Costa Rica staff wrote in their 'news story' about 3/4 into the 'article'.

"Amnet shuffled the channel listings and put a number of favorite expat channels, like Fox, into an upgraded package."

Hmmm... wonder why they picked 'Fox' as the example, well, it wasn't for 'The Simpsons' I can assure you. They're inferring we all watch Fox for its NEWS, you know, because it's 'fair and balanced'. I know, I know, many of you are thinking, "So what, that's what your bitching about... give me a break."

Yup, this little sentence has a few 'subtly-blatant' inferences and assumptions in it and since it's not an editorial, you're damn straight I take exception. I'm an ex-pat and let's just say I'd rather watch leaf-cutter ants doing their thing in my backyard before watching Fox, (accept for the Simpsons of course).

Call me hyper-critical, call me whatever you want, just know this, when A.M Costa Rica writes, they're usually writing with a conservative slant whether it's blatant or subtle... and that my FOX FRIENDS, is NEVER fair and balanced but merely an attempt to subtly sway your opinion without appearing to do so.

I can't be the only ex-pat who knows this..... "HELLO! anyone there?"

*Leaf-cutter ants really are worth watching.


TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

AM Costa Rica continues the BULLSHIT

AM Costa Rica just continues to push the BULLSHIT.

I decided to take a peek this morning at AM Costa Rica, 'Your daily English-language News source Monday through Friday', with the hunch their would be more editorials on the Barny Frank, Chris Dodd fuck-up. Appears I was right.

Don't know the story? AM Costa Rica published a news article and instead of sticking to the facts, they decided to interject their own opinion by writing a little sarcastic quip deriding the character of Mr. Frank and Mr. Dodd. Anyone who has a basic understanding of the dos and don'ts of reporting, knows this is a Journalism 101 don't, as this article was not an editorial or commentary, just news. "Just the facts ma'am."

So, this morning, AM f'in Costa Rica decides to print 2 more editorials by random dumbasses (and ones a supposed lawyer)to rationalize their position on Barney Frank.

The headline of the first editorial:

'Barney Frank campaigner says he's economics illiterate'

So, the writer of this editorial is some lady named, Barbara C. Johnson. She worked with Frank over 30 years ago........that's right 30 years... and based on that experience working with Frank, over 30 years ago, she says he's economics illiterate. Here's a little more of her experience:

"Barney gave his attention to those already politically well-connected and catered to them. He was, even then, pompous and evaded any serious questions about serious matters."

Whatever, he might be everything this Barbara says... although the statement is a vast over-generalization...just sayin'. Don't know and actually, don't care. But I know this- it has nothing to do with AM Costa Rica interjecting their sarcastic quip in a news story.

Here's the other editorial today, this one from Edward Baecher. Starts this way:

"If some do not like your commentaries, rather than the never ending belly aching, they should not read it anymore. I have faith that the staff at A.M. Costa Rica are aware of freedom of the press."

Then Mr. Baecher goes on to rip Barney a new one. Whatever, it's an editorial, his opinion, so again, whatever.

And that's the point Barbara and Edward, AM Costa Rica was presenting NEWS, they were not writing an editorial or commentary and the fact they printed your dumbass rationalizations just makes them appear more bias, because there's NO possible way they didn't get more shit from the likes of people like me.

AM Costa Rica, you're pathetic.

TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

The JOKE that is AM Costa Rica

AM Costa Rica says it's, 'Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday'. I call BULLSHIT.
I make fun of AM Costa Rica because well, it's easy. As far as being a legitiment news source, I would say their about 2 or 3 steps from being a joke. They exist for advertisement's sake, not that that's necessarily a bad thing but if you're looking for in-depth, hard hitting, unbiased news and reporting, AM Costa Rica is NOT it.

Here's their latest fuck-up.

This past Wednesday they ran this story: 'Rewards offered for turning in crooked U.S. firms'. It's a story about an organization, "which seeks to encourage and help those who would be whistle blowers about corporate bribery and corruption."

So the story goes on, here it is verbatim as written by the AM Costa Rica staff:

"The program grew out of the 2,300-page Dodd-Frank Act, the Wall Street financial reform package that just passed the U.S. Congress.

The measure is named after Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank, both of whom are not exactly ethical paragons."

WTF? This isn't a story about Chris Dodd's or Barney Frank's character or lack thereof ... Geez, AM Costa Rica, tell us what you really think.

Republican or Democrat...doesn't matter. Think Dodd and Frank deserve medals for their public service or they're complete assholes...irrelevant. This is Journalism 101 for god sake. Report the why, where, when, what and how, and leave your personal opinions to yourself. This was NOT an editorial; therefore totally irresponsible and only serves to inch you closer to JOKE(r) status.

Here's some free advice AM Costa Rica- You've written shit like this on numerous occasions and anyone who reads you even semi-regularly already knows you're pretty much right of Reagan. But if I were you, I'd admit to this particular lapse in judgment, because if you don't, you're going to lose a good percentage of readers who don't want to continuously read your Ann Coulter-ish sarcasms first thing in the morning. Just wondering, do your advertisers ever give you shit for your shit?

Think of it as a, "Don't ask, don't tell internet news source POLICY." We promise not to ask about your political views and in return you need to shut the fuck up when you feel the impulse to tell us about YOURS.

TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

AM Costa Rica hath no SHAME

AM Costa Rica is NOT primarily a NEWS source, it's first and foremost a paid Costa Rica referral site.
AM Costa Rica is actually getting worse, much WORSE (maybe Jay Brodell, the editor-in-chief, is thinking about retiring soon and grabbing all the advertisement revenue he can before he goes- who knows?). Go to their front page on ANY day, advertisements everywhere, so jammed packed in fact, they're now placing ads above their own AM Costa Rica 'header'. 'One' main story pretty much surrounded in a sea of blinking lawyers, brothels and casino ads. Looks like a cheap, 'What happens in Vegas' brochure.

*I've written about AM Costa Rica before- links to the right under 'Stuff I've written'

BUT, I know the advertisers are happy, very HAPPY because AM Costa Rica gets a lot of 'clicks'- thousands, everyday. But why so many clicks if AM Costa Rica SUCKS? Seriously, if Jay Brodell started AM Costa Rica today, it would be just one MORE in the zillions of below-average, 'aggregate' blog (news) sites created for the sole purpose of making a couple bucks utilizing google adsense. He wouldn't make enough to pay his cable bill.

But he didn't. Jay Brodell started AM Costa Rica about 9 years ago... gotta give him props for that but think of it this way, AM Costa Rica is like the 'OLDEST' and 'ONLY' liquor store in a town of 50,000. Their might not be a great selection, but when the pickins are slim, believe me, any ol' beer will do- and that's AM Costa Rica.


The other reason they're popular is, well, like I said, they're a GREAT referral site... sorta like a Costa Rica yellow pages for expats and people thinking about living here. A 'Yellow Pages' wrapped in a thin veneer of "journalism" and that my
friends is why the advertisers are HAPPY. If you absolutely don't know where to start your Costa Rica INFO search, they're FRONT page has most of the bases covered, in ads: residency lawyers, accountants and tax people, cosmetic surgery doctors and dentists, shipping containers businesses and of course, real estate folks etc. But here's the beauty, which Jay Brodell obviously knows. AM Costa Rica does well in 'keyword' searches, so, when you come across an AM Costa Rica 'news story', it's got all that great "How to live, move and re-locate etc" advertisements to go with it. You may not end up using any of the advertised people or businesses, but you can bet advertisers love the fact there's also a good chance you WILL.

You might want to consider the businesses or people who advertise on AM Costa Rica as well. Personally, I'd rather link to 'quality', which AM Costa Rica clearly isn't. If I were a potential advertiser on AM Costa Rica I would demand Jay Brodell UPDATE his pathetic excuse for a website, hire more experienced writers who can produce quality content and report the who, what, why, where and how without throwing in their not so subtle, 2 cents worth, before I even considered advertising on AM Costa Rica. I guess with AM Costa Rica and its advertisers, it's more like, 'Birds of a feather'.

I wish I had the resources to start something like, 'AM Costa Rica ALTERNATIVE, the REAL news source Monday thru Friday.' Hey, I'm not stupid, those are good 'keywords'... gotta give Mr. Brodell is due but I sure wish I could use them against him.

The following song is dedicated to Jay Brodell:



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Stupid Tourists get REINFORCED

Crimes committed against tourists visiting Costa Rica usually involve a petty theft of some kind for the simple fact many tourists lack common sense when traveling abroad.

Well, now STUPID tourists have a friend in Costa Rica. The powers that be have buckled under the pressure and have decided to give 'Stupidity' one more chance to be less STUPID, by placing 2 booths in the San Jose Airport, aka the Juan Santamaria International Airport, in order to provide tourists some crime prevention tips. This is called reinforcing STUPIDITY.

This out today in AM Costa Rica (this is not the entire article):

"José María Tijerino, the minister of Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, said that by contacting tourists early there were more opportunities to provide information for a safe visit.

The agencies appear to be responding to the many negative experiences that have given Costa Rica a bad name in other countries. For example, the U.S. Embassy reported that in 2009 more than 1,200 U.S. passports were reported missing or stolen there."

Okay, maybe booths at the airport are a good idea. My point is who in their right mind would travel to a country and not do at least a little homework before traveling? I can guarantee out of the 1,200 passports missing or stolen, about 1,100 were due to some sort of irresponsibility on the tourists part.

In the AM Costa Rica article they also mention the flat-tire scam:

"Crooks use the punctured tire routine to get tourists, usually in rental vehicles, to pull over and expose themselves to highway robbers."

This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. ANYONE who is visiting Costa Rica should already know this with just an hour or two of pre-travel research. These 'booths' can't tell you anything you shouldn't already KNOW.

I suppose it's how it ALWAYS is- the responsible taking the responsibility for the irresponsible- STUPIDITY should be PAINFUL, and to many tourists it often becomes just that. And of course it's these idiots that shout the LOUDEST about how dangerous Costa Rica is, unable or unwilling to take responsibility for their lack thereof. *Their should be an asterisk next to the 1,200 missing passports with the percentage of those that could have been avoided through common sense.

In an ironic twist, these guys followed our Travel Tips and had no problems while in Costa Rica.
KNOW THIS: it's the STUPID tourists giving Costa Rica the bad name.....

I'm sorry, I'm just so OVER this topic.

TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

Murder in Costa Rica and don't call my Mom a Bitch

Violent crime is UP in Costa Rica. Murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and over-all MAYHEM are all on the rise in Costa Rica. San Jose Costa Rica- DANGEROUS. Limon, Costa Ric- also DANGEROUS.
Everywhere you TURN, there's someone with a gun ready to separate you from your valuables. BEWARE!

"WHATEVER,.... I call BULLSHIT!"

I don't doubt crime is on the rise in Costa Rica. Hell, just the fact there's a recession would at least partially explain the rise, but there are also many other factors that I won't get into, at least not right now.

But living HERE and TRAVELING HERE are almost two entirely different things. This post is about CRIME as it relates to traveling here. Living in Costa Rica and dealing with crime is a different thing.
<<<<<<<<<<<<< Ummmmmm...maybe you should consider leaving the BLING at home.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I STILL maintain if you follow the advice of our VIDEOS and other INFO and other responsible Costa Rica websites regarding crime and theft etc, your likelihood of being the victim of a serious crime while traveling around Costa RIca is REMOTE- "YEAH, I said it."

Here's a VIDEO we did about Violent Crime on the RISE in Costa Rica. Hope it Helps.



TONS of Costa Rica Travel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!

AM Costa Rica- Setting the Journalism Bar LOWER and lower

'AM Costa Rica- Where the Advertisements get EDITED better than stories'
I've had a few issues with AM Costa Rica, 'Your Daily English-language News Source Monday through Friday', in the recent past, feel free to get acquainted- A.M. Costa Rica is FUGLY let me count the WAYS and this, AM Costa Rica RESPONDS to 'lil ol me and also this, AM Costa SUCKS pt 3. Actually, looking at the titles, I'm thinkin 'FUGLY' or 'SUCKS' probably gives my opinion away.

I must admit, AM Costa Rica makes it way easy to criticize and my only point in doing so is that maybe, just maybe Jay Brodell, Editor of ALL that is AM Costa Rica, will do something about it. The potential of this internet NEWS source is off the HOOK- what doesn't he understand?

Check out the above: The story on the TOP is brief, yet explains succinctly the important details, especially if you're handicapped and give a shit.

But what is this CRAP on the BOTTOM?

If you're NOT going to fill in ANY details and merely report an event, it should have read something like this:

Fuerza Pública officers made a sweep through Cartago centro Saturday night and early Sunday and checked out establishments in Manuel de Jesús Jiménez, Cot, Quircot, Taras and Guadalupe. Citations were given for various infractions ranging from....

Obviously just an example.

Here's a short list of questions I was thinking when I read the 'article', which if answered, may have made the story more interesting to the reader (in no particular order):

1. Were their any other problems? Looks like a lot of 'establishments' were checked... only one problem?

2. Has this Brick Brac place had issues in the past, run-ins with police... anything?

3. Is their a security guy at the door, is this a disco or just a bar and restaurant?

4. What's the law state on this in regards to a 'place of business' being responsible for its patrons?

5. Was this guy wearing Cocaine capsules around his neck, were they hidden... did he shove them up his ass and the security guy just didn't see them? This shit is important.

6. Did officers frisk every one in the Brick Brac, what's the law on that?

7. Did the 'owners' of the BriK Brac get to issue any sort of statement on their own behalf?

Is it just me... WTF?

I'm sorry, I can't go on, it's too long of a list. In my mind, the way this is written, I have to ASSUME too much. But it works because it sounds like the BricK Brac is a crack den and should be avoided at all costs. Good job police department. I blame AM Costa Rica for making me draw THAT conclusion, or ANY conclusion for that matter, and furthermore the owners of the BricK Brac should take issue with your,, hell, I don't even know what it is that shitty ass snippet of 'whatever' is called. It's certainly not informative, it may be factual, but who knows, like I said, not filling in the details,,, mine is BETTER and much more appropriate.

So, that bit of informative news I couldn't live without was done by the A.M. Costa Rica staff... "Damn, how many of you did it take to write that?" Actually, how many Blondes does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Know the answer, then you know the answer.

AM Costa Rica STAFF?
And please don't blame this on my browser.

Oh and one more MAJOR beef: This article entitled, 'Costa Rica simply is not a foreign worker's paradise' written May 25th by Garland M. Baker, a 'supposed' EXPERT, is perhaps the most poorly written article published in AM Costa Rica in the last few months. Chalk FULL of negativity, misleading facts... and talk about one sided- Garland is WAY out of the LOOP on this one. How this made the cut, I'll never know.

"Come on Jay, I'm beggin HERE. Step it UP... you can SHINE I know it."
Hey Everyone, we got TONS of Costa Rica Travel Information in our Travel Guide at Travel Costa Rica NOW and don't FORGET all our Costa Rica Travel Tip Videos, completely ORGANIZED so you can EASILY find what you're LOOKING for. ENjOY!

AM Costa Rica SUCKS pt 3.

AM Costa Rica takes 12 to the RIBS from Doin' Costa Rica.
Almost forgot. There appears to be more of you OUT there who think of AM Costa Rica, 'Your online English-language news source Monday through Friday', as I do. I hadn't checked my emails in a week while we were in San Jose and my last post HERE was about AM Costa Rica... And as usual, people would rather email me than actually comment on the post themselves, but it's GOOD. The original post that got it all started: A.M. Costa Rica is FUGLY- let me count the WAYS.

I didn't get a ton of emails concerning AM Costa Rica- 12 to be exact. But it should be noted, NONE were offended by my opinions of AM Costa Rica and its lack of professionalism on many levels. All had something to say, much more mean-spirited than me I might add, but this email pretty much sums up the 12 emails- very succiently:

"Jay Brodell is a scam artist.

He runs am costa rica out of his house in barrio otoya and his staff is Himself and one other woman.

They basically plagerize everything. And yes it sucks."

I don't know if what this person says is TRUE or not, nor am I willing to make such accusations, but I don't think I'd be surprised if they were.... just sayin.

I know, a little dramatic, but still a WIN in my book.

We have ALL your Costa Rica Travel Information at Travel Costa Rica NOW. and don't forget our Costa Rica Travel Tip Videos posted on YouTube. Hope it HELPS!

AM Costa Rica RESPONDS to 'lil ol me.

Do'in Costa Rica vs. AM Costa Rica- Round 2... sort of.

The editor… and I think owner of AM Costa Rica, 'Your online English-language news source Monday thru Friday', Jay Brodell, RESPONDED to my scathing editorial I wrote about them the other day: AM Costa Rica is FUGLY- let me count the WAYS.

Wow, seriously, I was flattered… well at first anyway. Even a tiny bit scared if truth be told.

So, if you read my post, I pretty much unloaded on AM Costa Rica (with examples) as to what I thought of their, ‘English-language news source Monday thru Friday’ - constructive criticism because I CARE. Really, I thought I entertainingly reamed them a new ASSHOLE, but I swear, my intentions were sincere. I called them out on a variety of issues: the overall UGLINESS of their site (it is), the fact it is NOT user friendly (it isn’t), lack of overall writing skills (10th grade at best), and even went so far as to say AM Costa Rica is basically a front for making advertising dollars (tell me it isn’t).

Really AM, underneath it ALL, you are what you ARE.

I was about 2 steps from calling AM Costa Rica’s mom- a BITCH.

Had I gone too far or would Mr. Brodell appreciate my criticism and thank me for my most EXCELLENT observations. I doubted this.

But what did cross my mind:

Lake Arenal which sits at the base of the Arenal Volcano was once a smaller lake (reservoir). It was purposely flooded in order to expand it so it could be used for hydroelectric purposes. A town (old Arenal) sits at the bottom of the lake; a community that found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, it occurred to me that I could be its sole inhabitant, if you get my drift.

So, with all this, what would Mr. Brodell write, well, here it is. (I wouldn’t normally post an email, but since it’s so impersonal I decided I would use the exact copy).

'I noticed that you were having trouble reading our newspaper. The headlines in the example you gave seem to run together.

We are using Times Roman at 14 points for body type. And there might be a problem with the pixel size of the monitor. It may be that you have your monitor and browser set to use your own typefaces, hence the distortion.'

Regards,

Jay Brodell
editor
A.M. Costa Rica

I’m thinking I would have gotten further if I would have called AM Costa Rica’s mom a BITCH. I didn’t know what to make of this. Oh by the way, he’s referring to this:

Personally, I thought this looked like a 'tag cloud'

Did he read the post? With all I BAD mouthed, he’s talking about this drivel- and blaming it on MY computer, my browser. I was perplexed to say the least.

I didn’t know if I should respond or what. Well, you know me, I NEED the last word. So, with careful contemplation, I decided to play along…. sort of.

From me to Mr. Brodell:

'Thanx, that may be true (referring to my browser) With all due respect, AM Costa Rica has more issues to consider rather than if I can view its headlines... just sayin'

Jay responds yet again, in an “I’m rubber your glue,” type of fashion, with:

'Well, you were the guy who brought it up.'

Wow, he really gets to the point huh? And so edg-U-ma-cated. Na-na-na boo-boo!

Okay Mr. Brodell owner of, ‘Your online English-language news source Monday thru Friday’, YOU WIN.

I don’t know what to say. I tried. I suppose if you want to blame the fact AM Costa Rica has some MAJOR issues on my browser, then so be it. What’s the quote about ‘Denial not being a river in Egypt?’ Hey, Mr. Brodell, for your own education: What the WIKI people say about Denial.

AM Costa Rica, I just want you to know, I’m officially calling your mom a Bitch… BITCH.


If I suddenly disappear off the planet, could someone please dust off their scuba gear?

All the Costa Rica Videos you could want at Costa Rica Travel Channel, and ALL your Costa Rica Travel Information at Travel Costa Rica NOW. and don't forget our Costa Rica Travel Tip Videos Hope it HELPS!

A.M. Costa Rica is FUGLY- let me count the WAYS

A.M. Costa Rica, your daily English-language new source, is just NOT attractive.
amcostarica.com sucks! AmCostaRica.Com Sucks! AMCOSTARICA.COM SUCKS!
Yeah, I said it.

For those of you who don’t know, A.M. Costa Rica is basically an online newspaper, or how they bill themselves- ‘Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday’. Whatever.

They’re very popular, in Spite of Themselves.

Literally, everything about A.M Costa Rica SUCKS! The layout speaks for itself, and in this day and age of cool, user-friendly web designs, there’s just NO excuse. It really is HORRID. Let’s see what the WIKI people say about the basic aspects of design:

1. The content: the substance and information on the site should be relevant to the site and should target the area of the public that the website is concerned with.

2. The usability: the site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable.

3. The appearance: the graphics and text should include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and relevant.

4. The visibility: the site must also be easy to find via most, if not all, major search engines and advertisement media.

Yeah, this looks good... well formatted... is this one of those 'tag clouds?'

As far as 1, yeah, they have content and it’s sorta relevant, but we’ll get into that later. They FAIL miserably on 2 and 3 (usability/appearance)- Go Look - Cruise Around and see for yourself. They also got 4 covered, mostly by DEFAULT, but the search engines definitely find them- a little too much for my liking.

They’re content is often subjective to say the least and frequently just blatant over-the-top advertising disguised as a relevant story. Take a look at this story, I mean advertisement, it ran a few weeks ago, Front Page, first story. Are you kiddin me. How much did they get for this one?

Back when I first started this BLOG, it was during the presidential elections; well the editor of A.M. Costa Rica wrote an editorial endorsing John McCain. Now, I could care less who A.M. Costa Rica endorses, but check out the article (actually, it’s my post, F*** AM Costa Rica, but their article is there as well), talk about one-sided…. I realize it’s an editorial, but this guy supposedly REPRESENTS a unbiased, factual news source- you don’t think his extremely right-wing, biased, conservative views don’t spill over into other stories A.M. Costa Rica does?

A.M. Costa Rica is a “Front’, the real stories are the advertisements. A.M. Costa Rica EXISTS to advertise, not unlike most magazines, newspapers, tv, etc, so I get it, but geeeez…. check out the front page, ad, Ads, and more ADS- there’s gotta be 3X the amount of advertisement space than story space. I have no beef with wanting to make money, but it’s just so blatant in my opinion.

Ummmm.... can't afford a designer, maybe a NEW template is in order, as hard as they are to FIND.

It’s a ‘hack’ site at least 70% of the time. Of course they do provide some relevant information, mostly because they PULL the REAL information from other sources. Stories are either written by ‘A.M. Costa Rica Staff’, or ‘Special to A.M. Costa Rica’ or provided by the ‘A.M. Costa Rica wire services’. A.M. Costa Rica Staff provide the fluffy, subjective pieces, the MEAT is usually provided by outside sources. And when A.M. does try to provide the meat, they often end up with a story of dots, that not only don’t connect; they don’t even resemble each other. Check this story out from the A.M. Costa Rica staff:

'An open boat spotted Saturday by a U.S. Coast Guard patrol plane ended up on a beach in Parque Nacional Corcovado Sunday where Costa Rican law enforcement took one man into custody.

Eventually a second man was detained, and police cut into the deck of the boat to reveal what was said to be 320 kilos (704 pounds) of cocaine. Dogs had alerted officials to a possible drug cargo.

The 22-foot craft of Ecuadorian registry did not appear to be a fishing boat as an occupant claimed. The man, identified by the last name of Murillo Mero, told the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas that he had run out of fuel and had to put in near the mouth of the Río Sirena. That was about 7 a.m. Sunday. Some 12 hours later the second man was located near Playa Salsipuedes. He carried no papers, officials said, but was believed to be from El Salvador.'

*WTF? What does this ‘second man’ have to do with anything? He’s not even relevant to the story, or more importantly, maybe he was, hard to say. Hey A.M.- it’s ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘how’ and furthermore, it makes much MORE sense to the reader when the DOTS actually connect. Who writes this shit?

I write because ‘I have ideas’, I’m no REAL writer, but A.M. Costa Rica writers may be even worse- subjective, general, vague, with often terrible explanations of ‘things’… and they’re NOT me, I can do that, it's a BLOG for God sake, but they’re suppose to be reporting the news in a matter-of-fact fashion, but frequently, if you didn’t know what they were talking about, well, you wouldn’t know what they were talking about.

And that’s my point, they’re POPULAR, but A.M. Costa Rica could be SO MUCH BETTER and really pack a punch, while maintaining integrity, but still providing accurate, unbiased NEWS about Costa Rica. Come on A.M. Costa Rica, take some of those advertising dollars and invest in a good web designer and maybe beef up the writing staff with people that actually graduated high school- you have the audience, now it’s time to step-up and perform.

Pretty PLEASE... you have an audience.

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Que?

It was reported in AM Costa Rica that the powers that be are proposing some changes in the residency laws-

"For pensionados the available monthly amount shown by a formal pension would go from $600 to $2,000. Rentistas would have to show a monthly income of $5,000 instead of the current $1,000."

Gringo Pricing seems to be taking on an entirely new meaning.

The Costa Rican government must know something we don’t, or at least have some super secret agenda of some kind. This new proposed change in residency law makes absolutely NO sense for a country that could ‘use the money,’ so to speak. I can’t help but think they’re shooting themselves in the foot…..at the average gringos expense.

This is the official reason for the proposal: "..the proposal is designed to battle corruption, speed processing and integrate immigrants into Costa Rican society."

Que? Pretty 'fluffy' if you ask me. Maybe what they meant to say is: It will cost more to manipulate the system, but still doable, we'll pay our workers more, so they'll work faster, and we'd like to get the Nicaraguans/Columbians OUT and keep rich gringos IN and we just don't know any other way to do it.

This appears to be a blatant attempt to get anyone below a certain economic level out of the country. You don't have money- you need to leave. A 'catch all,' beginning with the Nicaraguans and finishing with average gringos.

Really, I don't even think they want to touch the gringos, but to say anything else would be far too discriminating and blatantly prejudicial. I just can’t come up with another scenario. Since when did you need $5000.00/month to live here- that’s living like a king.

Maybe I'm missing the ‘big picture.’ I’m sure this all makes sense on some level. I felt this same way a few months ago when I saw how strong the dollar was against the colon, that didn’t seem to have made any sense either.

I need enlightened, can someone help?

I hope Oscar and the boys know what they’re doing.

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F*** AM Costa Rica

I must say, I have a lot less respect for AM Costa Rica (they are an internet news source for Costa Rica), see article here And NOT just because they endorse John McCain for president, it's their reasoning. Take a look and see what you think. Note: the italics were obviously added by ME. Here’s what they said:

There is a long tradition of newspaper endorsements of candidates, even though the impact, if there is any, remains unclear. (You endorsed Bush, and his impact has been very clear.)

Still A.M. Costa Rica strongly endorses John McCain, (WOW, big surprise you choose McCain, hopefully you're readers don't give a rip what you think.) the Arizona senator, for president of the United States. We urge others to follow our reasoning and cast their votes the same way. (Your dots are so abstract they don’t even recognize each other in order to connect.)

John McCain has his faults and some baggage. (Admit he has problems in order to act as if you're not bias, well,we all do, how about being a little more specific.) But John McCain is a proven patriot whose vision of America is of a strong beacon of freedom and personal liberty. (There’s millions of proven patriots and I also have a vision of a strong America- please tell me there’s more prerequisites for becoming president of the United States.)

We would be happy to endorse his opponent as a premier used car salesman. (As an editor, you should know what an Ad hominem argument is- which is a fancy way to say, ‘cheap, personal attack.’) After 45 years in the newspaper business, the editor knows slick, (just because Obama gives a better speech?) and that is what is being marketed by the Democratic campaign. (They don’t market him as ‘slick,’ they market him as ‘hope,’ big difference.) He has seen candidates raise false hope. (Yeah, I guess you’re right- only Democrats do that.) His first presidential vote was for John Kennedy. (Dating yourself are we? I’ll bet the only thing you’ve changed in the last 48 years is your underwear.) JFK's inexperience almost got the United States into a nuclear war. (No harm, no foul, and besides, many people believe he diverted a nuclear war, not almost got us into one.)

The editor also covered the Great Society and Medicaid, the current budget busters. (Could this editor be any more partisan; but he’s the true expert, maybe HE should run for president.) He learned that government is not the solution. (Under whose presidency did you learn this?) The solution always is the hard work, enterprise and creativity of Americans of whatever color. (How very republican of you. This is an untrue statement and does not necessarily make for a positive outcome. Furthermore, it's usually uttered by people who don’t understand the meaning of an uneven playing field.)

The Me-Me Generation has risen to some degree of influence in the United States. (I think you were trying to say this- Big Business has risen to prominent influence in the United States.) The wholesale thefts and frauds that hit the country financial system show that. (Again, big business.) The need now is for personal courage and honesty, not some supergovernment, leftist quick fix. (How about collective accountability and I don’t remember anyone saying anything was going to happen overnight.)

This endorsement is sure to provoke whines from the disaffected expats who cut and ran. (Are you insinuating the gringo’s that live in Costa Rica aren’t affected, or that we’re just losers who couldn’t make it in the good ‘ol US of A?) America does not cut and run. (That’s because we always think we’re right.) America finishes what it starts, (I understand this reasoning- I know when I make a mistake, I just keep going and act as if I didn’t.) including efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Obvious, a problem- not like you’re going out on a limb mentioning Afghanistan. Now, if you would have said ‘Russia,’ that would have been edgy.) America does not sit down with second-rate, authoritarian dictators. (Yeah, because what we’ve been doing so far has been working so well.) America does not whimper and beg pardon from the world for being great. (This statement is the very reason we have a marketability problem- look up the word ethnocentrism and get a clue.)

Given the options, George Bush was the best choice.(Hate to tell you, but George is going to go down in history as possibly the worst president in US history………… wanna bet?) But now the nation needs a coordinated, uniform effort to reinforce the cornerstone principles of America. (Thanks for defining those ‘principles’ for us, and I love the word ‘cornerstone-’ so apple pie.) And voters do not need to open the door to the terrorists and racists who seek to prove their hatred of the country. (We are NOT the world police, why can’t we worry about the people that live here for awhile and practice what we preach, we are not spreading democracy, we just want the damn oil.)

I need to be clear: I don’t endorse either candidate as I have no faith in the political system, but that’s not the point. This is the most poorly written drivel I’ve seen in a long time. Generality after generality- lame at best...just sayin.

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