Is anything beyond random natural selection happening with the evolution of potentially intelligent life on Earth and presumably on other life-bearing planets?
Natural selection isn’t the driver of evolution; evolution is the driver of natural selection. But what drives evolution, which is undeniably creative? Certainly not a creator standing apart from creation.
As blunt an instrument as natural selection is, and as non-linear as the evolution of the human brain has been (even in the hominem context), our species represents a quantum leap from all other life in the way of doing business.
In short, every species on Earth, except man, operates within an ecological niche. This appears to be true even of pre-human species such as Homo erectus, or paralleling human species such as the Neanderthals.
The question is: Can our prematurely named species, Homo sapiens, make the conscious leap from a potentially intelligent life form to an actually intelligent life form?
In “Extinct Humans,” Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz write, “With the advent on Earth of Homo sapiens – or at least, of H. sapiens with modern behavior patterns…there has never been a more fateful arrival on the biological scene than that of our extraordinary species.” (Italics theirs)
Given how implacably mechanistic they are in their view of evolution, Tattersall and Schwartz’s use of the word “fateful” here is perplexing, if not contradictory. Fateful how, for whom and for what?
Fateful to the Earth? Obviously, given that man is bringing about the Sixth Extinction in the 3.5 billion year history of life on Earth.
And we are a sentient, supposedly sapient species. (For the Buddhists out there, who believe all life is sentient, I’m using the word to mean “conscious of sense perceptions.” And by sapient I mean, “wisdom, sagacity.”)
As Tattersall and Schwartz attest, “Quite simply, we have as yet no idea about how a mass of electrical and chemical discharges within the brain is converted into what we individually and subjectively experience as consciousness. To explain ourselves completely, we shall ultimately have to achieve this knowledge.”
The first part is correct, and reflects the holy grail of neuroscience. But it still doesn’t even address what we mean by consciousness, except as a given in human experience, much less whether there are higher forms of consciousness, derisively called ‘mystical experiences,’ which are accessible to us.
However, “achieving the knowledge of how a mass of electrical and chemical discharges within the brain is converted into what we individually and subjectively experience as consciousness” will not “explain ourselves completely.” The underlying premise is false, which is that consciousness is nothing more than what occurs within the skull.
In other words, even if we could achieve the knowledge of how the brain generates thought (which is actually what they’re talking about, rather than conscious awareness, which is much more mysterious), it would not even begin to “explain ourselves completely.”
Why do these philosophical questions matter? Because we need to explain ourselvesadequately, as well as change radically, or we’re going run off the cliff as species.
As Roy Scranton says in an op-ed entitled, “I’ve Said Goodbye to Normal. You Should Too”: “Going back to normal now means returning to a course that will destabilize the conditions for all human life, everywhere on earth. Normal means more fires, more category 5 hurricanes, more flooding, more drought, millions upon millions more migrants fleeing famine and civil war, more crop failures, more storms, more extinctions, more record-breaking heat.”
An adequate explanation for why humans are such an anomalous, ecologically destructive species is necessary, though even if compelling, such an explanation wouldn’t be sufficient for us to change course.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
As we stumble out of this global pandemic, enough human beings (and that is an unknowable number) have to realize, as Scranton says, that a return to “normal could well mean the end of global civilization as we know it.”
His prescription – ‘imagining a new way of life beyond this one, after the end of fossil-fueled capitalism,” simply doesn’t cut it however. Then what is the way ahead?
As Tattersall says, “A routine phenomenon in the histories of organisms is called ‘exaptation,’ whereby new characteristics arise in one functional context well before being recruited in another.”
Through random pathways, nature has exapted a creature on Earth with the capacity for insight and understanding, as well as for transcendence and communion with the immanent intelligence of the universe.
To make the transition from Homo sap to Homo sapiens we will therefore need both — an explosion of insight and understanding in a human brain that has been exapted for it, and an adequate philosophical and scientific explanation for why we are so different and destructive as a species.
A multisectorial dialogue in 2020 produced the new global income scheme, a bill which would raise income tax for the 20% of the salaried workforce (with employers) that makes the most money.
This would affect those who make between ₡683,000 and ₡1.2 million per month. While someone who makes ₡700,000 currently is exempt from income tax, they would have to pay ₡1,666 per month.
Someone earning ₡850,000 would pay ₡16,666, instead of the ₡1,000 they pay now. Those earning ₡1.2 million would pay ₡56,666 instead of the current 36,000.
There are some conditions that could reduce the amount of tax owed. These include dependents, mortgage payments for a first home, and professional or medical services.
12% of the working population make between ₡683,000 and ₡840,000. 8% earn between 842,000 and ₡1.2 million. The top 10% make over ₡1.2 million. Someone earning ₡10 million would have to pay ₡300,000 in tax.
Karina Campos opened up about her life as an influencer, as people call her, although she thinks of herself as a content creator.
She has 212,000 followers, after just four years of creating content. She’s been dedicated 100% to this, for the last two years.
She pointed out that while her social media is full of good times, she is a normal person with ups and downs. She goes through rough times, just like everyone else.
She has high standards and values. She only promotes products that she truly believes in. She’s even turned down offers of thousands of dollars simply because she prefers to share products that relate to her lifestyle and interests, such as beauty, fashion, and healthy lifestyle tips. She currently works with ten brands.
She shared what happens behind the scenes of her beautiful photos. There is a ton of pre-production work and there are many people involved. She has a professional photographer and audio-visual producer. She loves to incorporate flowers in her photos. It’s become a sort of signature.
Being of Irish extraction, despite my surname, I have a weakness for stories. I say weakness because stories have their place – just not first place.
What is a story? A story is a coherent portrayal of a real or fictitious event that speaks to the human condition. It matters less whether a story actually happened than whether it has been wrung from the heart and mind of a good speaker or writer. A compelling story conveys, at an emotional level, a truth about the human condition.
Here’s a story. I met the devil once in Russia, not long before the Soviet Union collapsed. It came through my charismatic and powerful host, tested me to the depths of my being, and changed the course of my life.
It was January 1990, and I was in the USSR on invitation after starting a joint venture company with purportedly the leading example of perestroika. Andrei and his wife Vera were very hospitable, and even gave me their bed in their spacious Moscow apartment. Though I didn’t speak Russian, after a week, I had formed a relationship with their two sons, and almost felt part of the family.
So it was that I was invited to their eldest son’s 13th birthday party, which, as I was informed, is a very significant occasion in Russia’s male-dominated culture, since it marks a boy’s entry into manhood.
I was the only guest, and as is the custom in Russia, we drank a few vodkas, which more than a few shots as served in America.
It was a lovely dinner, and on the way back Vera, who had about as much English as I had Russian, said something out of the blue, or black, about evil. With American insouciance I tossed a bon mot into the backseat, where the four family members sat as I rode in the front with the driver. “If you remain with your fear,” I said off the top of my inebriated head, “evil can’t touch you.”
An inhuman voice, metallic and malevolent beyond description, and sounding like it emanated from half a mile behind the car, came through Andrei’s mouth. Dripping with evil that I had never experienced before or since, all it said was, “Is that so?”
In a single moment I went from being inside a swirling Russian Christmas bubble to the pit of hell. The veil had been ripped open, and the scales fell from my eyes. I saw torture, mass murder, and suffering on a Stalinesque scale, which of course had actually occurred under Stalin.
Without thinking it first, and with sudden sobriety, I did what I had superficially said foolishly inebriated: I held to my own fear. I rode a roller coaster of terror, and for half hour I couldn’t speak.
It passed, but I was irrevocably changed. It took a year of philosophical inquiry to understand what had happened, and to develop a non-theologized, non-psychologized philosophy of evil.
My longtime fried from philosophy graduate school, Dan, asked the right question: “What would have happened if you ran away from your fear?”
It was instantaneously clear, and my response was immediate: Either I would have been shattered into a million pieces never to recover; or it would have owned me.
So is this story true? It happened, and this how I understand it. But was the meaning created, or discovered? And what is the meaning?
The meaning is that there are dark forces in human consciousness that intend to destroy us if they cannot possess and control us. So are we are here for a reason, not just reasons of our making?
I’m finding it harder to feel that life has intrinsic meaning. But if life has no meaning except the meanings we make, then how and why does evil exist?
Not that evil is supernatural, or existed before man, and creatures like man wherever they evolve in the universe. So is the transmutation of potentially intelligent species such as Homo sap a a gauntlet that we must consciously run, whether we like it or not?
Clearly, if we only create meaning from our own minds, then there is no intrinsic meaning to life. The predominance of darkness and evil, even though it’s self-generated, would seem to make man doomed. For there are very few people, and the verdict is out on whether one will be counted among them, who can transcend collective darkness.
There is growth, but there is no such thing as social and psychological progress. Even so, is there a cosmic intelligence that cares about potentially intelligent life?
Costa Rica needs a specific campaign to attract older tourists (silver tourists) in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Here’s why.
As countries around the world start vaccinating their elderly, the elderly are preparing to travel again. Could they come to Costa Rica?
They say the darkest hour comes before dawn, and around the world right now we’re in a pretty dark place. COVID numbers are soaring, and countries are heading back into lockdown and travel restrictions.
For the travel and tourism industry and those countries that rely on tourists, like Costa Rica, none of this is good. We can relax our restrictions to enter all we like, but if other countries make it hard for their citizens to leave, it all comes to nothing.
But as they say, the darkest hour comes before dawn, and we may, just may, be seeing some glimpses of sunrise on the eastern horizon.
That slight ray of light came in early January with a BBC report from the UK. The report talked of travel companies over there seeing a surge of bookings for later in the year.
And not just any bookings, either. These bookings are coming from a specific demographic. The elderly.
In a phenomenon called “vaccine confidence”, it seems that even though the UK right now is in the grip of its third lockdown, the over-65s are taking an optimistic approach. They’re getting vaccinated first, and are ready to get out and travel as soon as that happens.
It’s no surprise, as they were the first people over there told to stay in and not leave their homes. They’re itching to get out again.
“Since the announcement of the vaccine, it’s given our customer base, predominantly those over 65, increased confidence to book and have that summer getaway in 2021” Jit Desai, from National Express, a UK-based travel company offering bus tours around the country told the BBC.
Even though Costa Rica is a country typically associated with adventure, surfing, rafting, zip lining, and so on, it offers a lot for the more refined traveler. And anyway, who’s to say the over-65s can’t do any of these things if they’re fit enough?
“We’ve always believed Costa Rica is perfect for everyone, not just young backpackers and adventure seekers,” said Halloran.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you’re fit enough, you can enjoy the pleasures of Costa Rica, and even if you want to take it easy, there are many options. You can take the aerial tram instead of the zipline or a river float instead of hitting the white water. So many national parks have facilities for all ages nowadays, it doesn’t have to be physical endurance to come here.”
And then there are the hotels. Costa Rica has so many places to stay nowadays compared to previous years. Elderly travelers with no interest in hostel lifestyle may not realize how much Costa Rica has changed. Nowadays there are resorts offering golf, fishing, and other activities. There are boutique, adult-only hotels to relax in.
“A lot of elderly travelers might not realize this about Costa Rica,” says Halloran.
“They might see Costa Rica as a place where their kids and grandkids go, but would never think about it themselves, so we should try to change that.”
The ICT should begin marketing to the “silver tourist” in the United States and elsewhere, who are in the lineup to get their COVID vaccines first. We should be selling the spirit of Costa Rica to these people as a safe place to come down once they’re vaccinated.
The elderly have experienced the brunt of the COVID pandemic and deserve a good break from it. This “vaccine confidence” they’re reporting in the UK will spread around the world, to the US and elsewhere.
We need to tap into it and ensure Costa Rica is known as a destination for everyone, young, middle-aged, young-at-heart, and old alike. It shouldn’t be too difficult to tap into this.
It’s not a question of changing Costa Rica, just changing the message a bit. If we do that, we can turn the second half of 2021 into a success story for Costa Rican tourism.
Hungry coyotes have been seen over the last weeks on the TEC campus, in Cartago. There used to be the occasional sighting at night but now the sightings are more frequent and even during the daytime.
They are taking advantage of the wide open, near-empty space. Many of the students are taking classes online and workers are telecommuting so the campus is solitary and thus more attractive for wildlife.
The coyotes especially like to frequent the lakeshore on campus because their instinct is to hunt for small animals. They are hungry and have been going after the domestic ducks that live in the lake.
Campus officials asked the National System of Conservation Areas to trap the animals without hurting them and relocate them to a protected area where they are safe and not a risk to people.
Real estate projects may be on the rise once again. The commercial banks still have the ability to give loans to promising projects, like one apartment complex that already has most units sold before even starting construction.
The focus is to give financing and firm leasing contracts to develop projects that are already progressing .Between November and December, three tower projects were approved by Banco Nacional. 60% of the units were pre-sold.
We saw a collapse in this market during the first half of 2020 and then a slight increase in financing loans, up 2.9% from October 2019 to October 2020. In May 2020, the year-on-year figure was down 6.4%. The construction decrease was much harsher, at 11.9%.
Demand for credit increased once again, in the last quarter of 2020. We are seeing more confidence and will see the execution of projects in 2021. Construction is no longer halted, as long as sanitary measures are executed.
This was a stealth reconnaissance excursion for HPI (Haunted and Paranormal Investigations International). I was informed by email from an unknown source to check out The Holbrooke Hotel and The Owl Tavern in Grass Valley. I ran it by the President of HPI, Shannon ‘Ms. Macabre’ McCabe. The stories that are being told by people who frequent these establishments, is that both places are haunted. Shan gives me the green light to check it out and that is what I plan to do. But, let me do some researching first and see what I can dig up. This is what I found:
Goldminers dream of striking it rich and boom towns are popping up all over the place. One of those places is Grass Valley. Stephen and Clara Smith were one of the first to invest into the boom town called Grass Valley and built The Golden Gate Saloon. This is known as the oldest, continuously operated saloon west of the Mississippi River. Then in 1862 one of their relatives Charles Smith did some additional building around the saloon and it became the Exchange Hotel, this was a place that you could exchange your gold. Finally in 1879, the hotel was purchased by Ellen and Daniel Holbrooke and a new name was given to the hotel, it became the Holbrooke Hotel. Many famous guests came to this hotel, such as Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, James Garfield, prize fighters ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons. Famous authors stopped by like Mark Twain and Bret Harte. Entertainers stayed the night like Lola Montez, Lotta Crabtree and Emma Nevada. Even bad guys like Black Bart have frequented this prestige establishment. The Holbrooke Hotel is a California State Landmark and if you ever visit this hotel, you will understand why.
My research on The Owl Tavern is that it consists of two structures built in 1857 and 1862. The original saloon opened in 1813 as The Bank Exchange Saloon. I will discuss more about this bar as you read on.
Today is March 15, 2008, Saturday and it was time to round up my posse. I don’t like ghosthunting by myself. I brought along ghosthunters-in-training Nancy Towne who has her own online store called Annabelle’s at: stores.ebay.com/Anabelles stores.ebay.com/Anabelles – Sparky Parker and Angel Kesti. Equipment being used are digital cameras, electronic audio voice recorders, Listen Up sound enhancers.
Nancy rode with me up to Grass Valley and we met up with Angel on the freeway headed to Grass Valley, I was wondering who was blowing their horn at me like a madman, I casually look over and it’s Angel waving. Sparky was already waiting for us at the hotel and she brought her cute Chihuahua. The first employee we met was Kelly Sheehan who works the Front Desk. She is a Guest Service Representative. She greets everyone with a smile. She is a new employee, so she really hasn’t experienced anything yet. Kelly has definitely heard the stories though. We get a grand tour of the hotel, it’s quite accomodating for many guests. We meet Renee Smith – housekeeper and she tells me how she will never forget on how she heard the exit door rattling continuously for a long period of time. The exit door is next to Room 9, which is reputed to be very haunted. She allows my investigators and I, to visit the various rooms that were frequented by the famous people who stayed at this hotel. There is a big picture on one wall and the blazing words that Mark Twain slept on this bed! The ambiance of history resonates throughout this hotel. Each room is completely different from any other room. There is the touch of the Old West and Victorian, you feel like you have walked into the past. The decor is exquisite and I can see why ghosts haunt this hotel. Why would anyone want to leave paradise?
We are told that in Room #1, is where a couple on their honeymoon heard the clanging sounds of chains and bangings on the wall. The honeymooner woman placed her hand on the wall and an unseen force pushed her hand to the wall not letting it go for a few good minutes, which really spooked her. In the kitchen, an employee by the name of Denise heard her name called by a unseen woman and later by an unseen man. Kelley Garitty, the chef once was walking downstairs and she was physically pushed from behind, she could feel two hands on her back. She felt they were men’s hands. The push made her fall into the employee in front of her. She has seen an apparition of a woman in a flower dress, 1800s style clothing with a high neck standing over the mixer like she was looking at something. Kelley watched the apparition for about 2 minutes and then it vanished. Then the second time around, she saw the same apparition standing in the corner of the kitchen looking towards the corner and it appeared that the apparition of this woman knew that Kelley was watching her, showing intelligence. Kelley tells me that she came across a little girl apparition that she feels has the name of Elizabeth. When she saw the little girl, a bunch of cans flew off the shelves. Kelley has worked here for awhile, so she has many stories and her last story was that she once came across a weird mist near the sink by the kitchen. There was no reason for the mist to be there, there was no hot running water or anything else that could cause the mist. Finally the mist evaporated as fast as it came.
One thing about the Holbrooke Hotel, you don’t have to stay in one of their rooms to experience the paranormal, the women’s bathroom is haunted downstairs and the Iron Room (storage room that once was a bar) is haunted. Patrons have heard the door slam in the women’s bathroom for no apparent reason. Patrons have seen shadows underneath the doorway in the woman’s bathroom and The Iron Room.
As I was getting down the stories of this hotel, the General Manager shows up. His name is Sean Gilleran. He has been at this establishment for one year. Sean has a superb personality and the hospitality he shows my investigators and I, are exceptional. If you ever visit the Holbrooke Hotel, you will feel like you know Sean and the other employees for a lifetime. I instantly bonded with Sean. Sean personally takes us to various rooms of the hotel and shows us the backyard part of the hotel, where there is another structure with more gorgeous rooms!
Kelly Sheehan and Sean Gilleran tell me that the legend is that one of the managers got into trouble at this hotel and when he passed on, he came back to haunt this hotel. They have heard stories from the patrons that children have been heard playing in the hotel, which sounds to me to be a residual haunting activity. TVs have been known to go off and then go on by themselves in various rooms of the hotel. The deceased manager that may haunt this hotel, is known as Edgar the Ghost. I learn that the Iron Room was once a speakeasy and that Room 14 and 15 were once used as a strongbox, a place to count gambling money.
The bar of this hotel was so popular during Prohibition Days, it actually remained open. Sean gives me a history lesson about a small town up the road called ‘Rough N’ Ready’, named after Teddy Roosevelt. Rough N’ Ready had some political problems during Prohibition and established itself as it’s own country for a period of one month.
While my investigators were wandering all over the hotel trying to pick up EVPs and get some photographic evidence, they came to the pantry and a cord hanging from the wall started moving back and forth on it’s own. The back part of the hotel is called the Purcell House and you must walk through the garden to reach this section of the hotel. The Purcell House has rooms that are named after famous mines, like Sixteen to One, Dutch Flat, Pennsylvania, El Dorado and Del Oro. As I wander around to various rooms, I started thinking how it would be like to stay overnight on a weekend and listen to the live bands that appear in their bar area. I can just imagine the fun evening festivities!
As we closed up this investigation, I had some hungry investigators, so we dined at the Holbrooke Hotel Restaurant. A restaurant that will tease and tantalize your tastebuds with delicacies such as: Prawn Cocktail, Grilled Filet Mignon, Porter Braised Pot Roast, Rigatoni, Seafood Cioppino, Pan Seared Salmon, Pan Seared Halibut, Grilled Swordfish, Steamed Clams, Fried Calamari, Seared Ahi, Roasted Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Seafood Cioppino, New York Steak and a whole lot more!!! Okay, looking at the menu, I was starving. Then I saw the waiter Joshua Michael Turzak bring out a homemade BLT sandwich with french fries. The crispy bacon smelled great, this is what I wanted to be chased down with some coffee and a Coke. My investigators all ordered tantalizing meals and we ate vigorously, but yet savoring every scrumptious morsel of our lunch. We were already to pay the bill only to learn from our courteous waiter Joshua that it was on the house. Sean took care of our lunch! Wow! What a guy! I would say that Sean is one of the greatest hotel managers West of the Mississippi! Thank you Sean! Joshua was so helpful and polite, I made sure he received a nice tip from all of us! Before we left the restaurant, Sean explains that he has never witnessed anything, but that the children who visit this hotel have seen a little girl phantom and will run to their parents exclaiming they have just seen a ghost!
As we were leaving this historical hotel, I can understand why patrons keep coming back, because of the Old West ambiance, the great hospitality, the friendliness of the hotel staff, the great social atmosphere and the feeling of being home, but yet away from home. What a wonderful place! Yes! I will be back!
As we were walking down the street, it was now time to visit The Owl Tavern, another old west establishment and I met the colorful assistant manager Gary L. McDonough aka Grey Dog! His laughter was contagious and he was delighted to show me around his haunted bar. He has been working here for 6 and ½ years. He tells me about George the Ghost. How funny, there is Edgar the Ghost at the Holbrooke Hotel and at The Owl Tavern there is George the Ghost. I only wonder if Edgar and George knew each other when they were both living? In 1847 this bar opened for the goldminers. It was open 24/7. In the back area is where the goldminers played poker. George one day was caught cheating at poker and somebody shot poor ol’ George down. George never left this bar and still haunts this bar. Booth #7 is George’s booth. I met with two employees Trevor Nuttall – Shus Chef and he tells me how he has heard the bar doors swing back and forth in a constant pattern, or how one day a bowl flew off the shelf and jetted into the next room. When the bowl flew off, he said to himself…”I’m out of here!” and left for the night. Bobby McKnight, Chef/Owner has seen with his peripheal vision shadows moving about. His uncle co-owner Michael McKnight has also heard the bar doors swing back and forth on their own accord. One night Mike was tapping his fingers on each table and behind him, he heard the finger tapping of an unseen entity which gave him the willies.
The bar is very elegant. The bar was built from Austrian cherrywood from the 1800s. This cherrywood traveled around Cape Horn to get here. There are pressed decorated tin walls around the bar area. The old time menu shows lobster tails for 99 cents, minced ham/Spanish omelette for 50 cents, pie ala mode 15 cents, tenderloin steak for a whopping $1.75. He also showed me the notorious ladie’s entrance, where ladies would sneak in to visit the gentlemen of the bar. This bar is located at 134 Mill Street, just a block and a half away from the Holbrooke Hotel!
To see pictures of the Holbrooke Hotel and The Owl Tavern, click on the HPI Meetup link here: ghosts.meetup.com/231/photos/
While in Grass Valley, my ghosthunting never ends, I received a call from New York from Alexis Farmer aka Allie in New York. She lives in an apartment that is 107 years old. She believes while visiting her mother that owns a home on sacred burial ground, that an entity has followed her to her apartment. She has seen red eyes in the dark. She has scratches on her chest when she awakens in the morning. People that visit her apartment, feel angry when they enter one of the rooms of her apartment. She feels that the entity that is inhabiting her apartment targets only women. She has placed holy water in each room, she has personally blessed this home, she has said prayers and nothing is working. She has placed crosses strategically around the house and later has found the crosses turned upside down. She tells me that she believes in God, but she is a Wiccan. She has witnessed an apparition of an old man in old fashioned clothes and when he appeared, she felt negative energy. One night, she heard a loud boom and something was thrown at her. Then later she heard a strange growling. She admits to once conducting a seance with friends and that all the candles went out on their own. Shannon and I, will be working on this case together to assist Alexis on this haunting activity in some apartment located in New York. It is time to put our Demonologist skills to some good use! Stay tuned.
Oh, one more thing, before I let you go. Shannon McCabe and I, went to Napa to listen to a boring 90 minute time share seminar, only to receive later after saying…no – 100 times over…ahh..what part of ‘no’ don’t you understand? Well, you get the picture…we finally got our gift, 2 airlines tickets to New Orleans for October and 2 nights at a 5 star hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, again for October. Yep! Shan and I will be ghosthunting in New Orleans and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! Rock & Roll! To learn more about the Holbrooke Hotel, please visit their website at: www.holbrooke.com/
FINDINGS OF THE HOLBROOKE HOTEL AND THE OWL SALOON: Some photographs taken of various areas of the hotel and the saloon show orb activity. Nancy has an unusual photograph taken at the hotel, that shows a strange figure in the reflection of the mirror. This photograph needs to be analyzed further to determine, to see if it is substantial. EVP evidence is pending.
Costa Rica declared five buildings as historical and architectural heritage, at the end of 2020. These buildings are in four cantons. The intention behind the declaration is to keep them protected and preserved.
The school of Santa Rosa de Santa Cruz, in Guanacaste, the park and kiosk in Palmares, the old Post Office and Telegraph building in Juan Viñas de Jiménez, and the Escobal and Quebradas railway stations in Atenas are the five sites.
These are significant in that they are an important part of communal identity and a window into another era. Their conservation must now be protected and even guaranteed.
The conservation assures that generations to come will be able to see these original historical structures. They are going to be almost like a live documentary or timeline through history.
Exactly 100 years ago, Costa Rica was also fighting a pandemic. Meetings were prohibited and the school year suspended. At that time, it was the Spanish flu causing all the trouble, similar to what we are now going through with covid-19.
While there are many similarities, such as campaigns related to hygiene and keeping living spaces and people clean and isolated from each other, there are some important differences between the two pandemics.
100 years ago, there was no CCSS or Ministry of Health. There was no centralized medical system. Local doctors did their best to register sick patients and treat them. Additionally, there was no TV, radio, or Internet. They had only printed newspapers and flyers to share information about how to stay healthy.
At that time, the population was around 500,000 people. There was a lack of clean drinking water, toilets, and sewers. Eating habits were poor. 1,298 people died from the Spanish flu in Costa Rica and many more got sick from it.
Sara Donald 