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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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José, Costa Rica, Friday, Jan 2, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 1
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 A.M. Costa Ricas
photo
Sharon Brodell and Xochitl
Quesada show part of the goodies they baked New Year's Eve. Alas, most
of it is gone now.
This is why
Christmas is just once a year
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
How can you not get fat over the holiday? The temptations are legion, and they are delicious. The most inviting have to be the old family recipes for cookies and all sorts of Old Country baked goods. Most of them require mountains of butter. That's butter, not fake substitutes. But then there is rompope, that Costa Rican version of eggnog. The cool, thick, sweet creamy drink goes down so easily, and the store-bought boxes are so available. There is something in the rompope chemistry that makes those suffering from its hangover swear off the drink. Until next year. New Year's Eve is the traditional time when amateur drunks try out their wings. They felt the pain all day Thursday, and maybe into today. Costa Ricans tend to use low-cost guaro as a fortifier for many drinks. A guaro hangover is only a few points below that of rompope. So as the day after New Year's dawns, the time has come to step on a scale. The butter cookies, the rompope, the guaro, the glazed chicken, the pork roast, the honey-baked ham. Indeed, no satisfactory holiday plate can be filled with less than 4,000 calories. So once the hangover clears, the time has come to make a visit to the gym. Many visits to the gym. Now it's business as usual By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
With today's edition, A.M. Costa Rica resumes its regular weekly schedule. The newspaper was not published Christmas Day and New Year's Day. On the other days during the holiday period there were some interesting and important articles. These articles may be accessed by date HERE! Links to major articles also can be found in the top story box below.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Jan 2, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 1 | |
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Good time for a swing The freezing cold may not be obvious, but this is what -19 degrees F looks like. That's -28.3 on the Celsius scale used in Costa Rica. This scene was Wednesday at a rural location south of Denver, Colorado. Much of the United States is gripped by frigid arctic air. |
 A.M.
Costa Rica/Sarah Hogan
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| Hot-air device and fireworks blamed for rash of New Year's
fires |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fire fighters had to handle five structural fires in the waning hours of 2014 and early Thursday. A hot-air globe got the blame for one blaze, and fireworks were blamed for the others. In addition, fire fighters had to handle nine field fires, a gas leak, a vehicle fire and a short circuit, they reported. The globe got the blame for a blaze reported at 12:14 a.m. Thursday. Héctor Chaves, director of the Cuerpo de Bomberos, had been making public statements earlier in the week about these paper hot-air devices. In Purral de Goicoechea, neighbors saw what probably was a globe landing on one of two homes that were destroyed. A third home suffered significant damage, fire fighters said. That left seven adults and two youngsters homeless, they added. Chaves said later that the fire agency would seek to have these hot air devices made illegal. He said the big problem is that once launched, there is no control on where they go. At 11:44 p.m. Wednesday fire fighters said some form of fireworks got into the second floor bedroom of a home in |
Guararí.
The stray explosive landed in a basket of clothing, but the
blaze was
extinguished before it could spread. At 12:23 a.m. Thursday fire fighters said some form of fireworks got into a bedroom window of a home in Santa Bárbara de Higuito de Desamparados, The intruding device ignited curtains, and about 10 percent of the home suffered damage, said fire fighters. No one was home, but neighbors spotted the fire, they said. At 12:31 a.m. Thursday another explosive firework got into a storage area in a home in La Fortunita, Gravilias de Desamparados. Paper and other items ignited, and about 60 percent of the home suffered heavy damage, said fire fighters. Also in Purral de Goicoechea at 1:02 a.m. Thursday two homes and a shop suffered damage as well as three vehicles, the fire agency said. About half the shop was destroyed. Fire investigators said they collected remains of fireworks on streets near the blazes. There also was similar evidence found on the roof of the shop in Purral, they said. Such fireworks are illegal because they explode. But that did not stop thousands of Central Valley residents from launching all sorts of rockets at the beginning of the new year early Thursday. |
| New Year begins with five violent deaths during the first
eight hours |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Cruz Roja said it had 14 emergencies and five deaths in the first eight hours of the new year. The agency said 11 persons were badly hurt, too. At 28 minutes past midnight Thursday, the agency said two motorcycles collided near Quepos, and two persons were taken to Hospital Monseñor Sanabria. At 49 minutes into the new year, a vehicle struck and injured fatally a 25-year-old woman in Pérez Zeledón. In Sámara at 1:02 a.m. a man died after being struck by a vehicle. In Curridabat, rescue agency personnel aided a man who had been shot. That was at 1:34 a.m. A short time later in Villa Bonita, the agency transported a wounded youth to Hospital de San Rafael de Alajuela. The victim suffered a knife wound. At 3:02 a.m. in Pueblo Nuevo two motorcycles collided and one person died. Another was injured. |
At 3:09 a.m.
in Alajuelita an 18 year old suffered a gunshot wound. In Desamparados de Alajuela the agency took three men to the Hospital de Alajuela. They were suffering from gunshot and knife wounds. In Pérez Zeledón at 7:04 a.m. Cruz Roja workers went to the scene of a man stabbed with a knife. The victim was dead. About an hour later, the same situation developed in Cariari de Limón where the body of a man turned up in a vacant lot, the agency said. The activity early Thursday was not unusual. Five persons were reported to have died in the early hours of 2014, too. Due to the holidays, more information is not available immediately on the cases. The agency said that in 2014 its workers were called to the scene of 273 deaths from a gunshot or knife wound. There also were 371 persons who died at the scene or en route to a hospital in traffic mishaps in 2014, the agency said. The agency said that 76 persons drowned in 2014. There were no reports of this type of death as of Thursday. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Jan 2, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 1 | |||||
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| Finger use on smartphones reported to have an effect on brain |
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By the Cell Press news staff
When people spend time interacting with their smartphones via touchscreen, it actually changes the way their thumbs and brains work together, according to a report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. More touchscreen use in the recent past translates directly into greater brain activity when the thumbs and other fingertips are touched, the study shows. "I was really surprised by the scale of the changes introduced by the use of smartphones," says Arko Ghosh of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. "I was also struck by how much of the inter-individual variations in the fingertip-associated brain signals could be simply explained by evaluating the smartphone logs." It all started when Ghosh and his colleagues realized that the newfound obsession with smartphones could be a grand opportunity to explore the everyday plasticity of the human brain. Not only are people suddenly using their fingertips, and especially their thumbs, in a new way, but many are also doing it an awful lot, day after day. Not only that, but the phones are also keeping track of digital histories to provide a readymade source of data on those behaviors. Ghosh explains it this way: "I think first we must appreciate how common personal digital devices are and how densely people use them. What this means for us neuroscientists is that the digital history we carry in our pockets has an enormous amount of information on how we use our fingertips . . . ." While neuroscientists have long studied brain plasticity in expert groups, musicians or video gamers, for instance, |
smartphones
present an
opportunity to understand how regular life shapes the brains of regular
people. To link digital footprints to brain activity in the new study, Ghosh and his team used electroencephalography to record the brain response to mechanical touch on the thumb, index, and middle fingertips of touchscreen phone users in comparison to people who still haven't given up their old-school mobile phones. The researchers found that the electrical activity in the brains of smartphone users was enhanced when all three fingertips were touched. In fact, the amount of activity in the cortex of the brain associated with the thumb and index fingertips was directly proportional to the intensity of phone use, as quantified by built-in battery logs. The thumb tip was even sensitive to day-to-day fluctuations: the shorter the time elapsed from an episode of intense phone use, the researchers report, the larger was the cortical potential associated with it. The results suggest to the researchers that repetitive movements over the smooth touchscreen surface reshape sensory processing from the hand, with daily updates in the brain's representation of the fingertips. And that leads to a pretty remarkable idea: "We propose that cortical sensory processing in the contemporary brain is continuously shaped by personal digital technology," Ghosh and his colleagues write. What exactly this influence of digital technology means for users in other areas of their lives is a question for another day. The news might not be so good, Ghosh and colleagues say, noting evidence linking excessive phone use with motor dysfunctions and pain. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Jan 2, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 1 | |||||||
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| Sea Shepherd crew finds another long, illegal gillnet Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Within two hours of successfully recovering a 25 kilometer-long illegal gillnet abandoned by the vessel Thunder, the Sea Shepherd ship Sam Simon reported that it has located a second monster gillnet. The second illegal gillnet was found Monday just a few miles from the first net, inside the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources area of management. Using photographic evidence, Sea Shepherd has been able to confirm that the most recent gillnet is also the property of the Nigerian-flagged, Thunder, which left from the region in mid December. The crew of Sam Simon has commenced a recovery operation to remove the illegal gillnet from the Antarctic waters. Captain of the Sam Simon, Sid Chakravarty, said, “With more streamlined and efficient operations in round two, I am confident that we will recover the entire length of this net in just a few days. Thereafter I will move on to scout and clear the Banzare Bank of any other nets laid down by the Thunder.” Based on the the first 24 hours of the retrieval operation, it is expected that the size of the monster gillnet is twice that of the previously confiscated 25 kilometer-long gillnet. Captain Chakravarty said, “This monster net has entangled and suffocated marine life, killing them in the most undignified way imaginable. My decks look like a battlefield with many of the recovered creatures in advanced stages of decomposition. The large number of dead animals that we have documented is proof of the wide-spread destruction that the Thunder has wreaked over its decade-long onslaught on the Southern Ocean. ” Sea Shepherd has reported the second retrieval operation to the relevant law enforcement authorities. A known poaching vessel, the Thunder was issued with an Interpol purple notice following a joint effort by Norwegian, New Zealand and Australian authorities, and is currently included on conservation commission black-list of invnvjnllegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operators. The use of gillnets has been outlawed since 2004, and the commission has specifically expressed concerns regarding the impact of this fishing method on the marine ecosystems of Antarctica. The Sea Shepherd ship, Bob Barker, has been in pursuit of the Thunder for 17 days and is now in the South Indian Ocean, having escorted the poachers out of the commission region Monday. During this time the Thunder has been unable to engage in any further illegal fishing.  Voice of America/ T. Banse
Researcher Jimmy O'Donnell
at the University of Washington lab bench where he processes eDNA
samples.The word now is eDNA as device detects life forms By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
It's a familiar scene in science fiction stories: Explorers arrive on a new world and quickly determine what's in their surroundings with a high-tech device that checks for breathable air and signs of other life forms. Here on earth, science fiction is becoming reality through a new sampling technology called environmental DNA, or eDNA for short. It allows scientists, like ecologist Ryan Kelly, to detect rare or invasive species, study biodiversity or estimate fish abundance with just a scoop of air or a dip of water. "Essentially we can take a sample of soil or air, or in our case, water and we can sequence the DNA out of it and tell you what is there." That's because all living creatures are constantly shedding or excreting their telltale DNA into the environment. In Kelly's lab at the University of Washington in Seattle, his team filters out and amplifies the genetic material. They are currently working with water samples collected from Puget Sound. Kelly said the cost of gene sequencing has plummeted in recent years. That makes DNA screening practical. Environmental DNA can be used in two ways. One is to identify the creatures that live in a certain place. The other is to confirm the presence or absence of a specific critter, typically an invasive or endangered species. Caren Goldberg, who runs the new eDNA lab at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, is one of the first biologists in the northwestern U.S. to take the tool from demonstration experiments to practical application. "It is extremely useful for species that are really hard to find," she said, adding, "I have spent many hours looking for species that I was pretty sure were there, looking under rocks, looking in the water, doing all kinds of surveys." Ms. Goldberg sees the potential to get answers more efficiently, safely and with less destruction compared to traditional survey techniques such as snorkeling, netting or using an electric current to temporarily stun the fish. "We're absolutely at this point where proof-of-concept has been established," she said. "I don't think everyone is on board necessarily yet, but I think the majority of the people are on board." In fact, this newer way to figure out what's where is rapidly catching on around the world. In Vietnam, zoologists are using it to locate the last wild specimens of the Yangtze giant softshell turtle. In Trinidad, a researcher is using eDNA to track down endangered golden tree frogs. And in Madagascar, it's being used to identify amphibian diseases. For her part, Ms. Goldberg has used the sensitive DNA screening to confirm the local extinction of a leopard frog in northern Idaho. She's also been hired to determine the extent of the spread of the New Zealand mudsnail, a tiny invasive critter that is infesting Washington state's lakes and streams. Now, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management wants Ms. Goldberg to look for the Columbia spotted frog in eastern Oregon and Nevada. The rare amphibian is a candidate for federal threatened species listing. Field biologists are not going to be replaced by robots just yet, say scientists working with the technology. But the old-fashioned field work could soon be more targeted or prioritized. "This is not going to replace all the other tools," said Boise-based U.S. Geological Service ecologist David Pilliod. "It's another tool in the toolbox." Pilliod described the results of study involving chinook salmon that was just published online in the journal Biological Conservation. He, Ms. Goldberg and lead author Matthew Laramie, another survey scientist from Boise, tested their ability to detect endangered spring chinook in the Methow and Okanogan River basins of north central Washington. In the study, the eDNA showed high reliability in detecting chinook salmon in places where the fish were known to be present. The molecular sampling also found traces of Chinook in some tributaries where they were not expected. "One area where eDNA might help is detecting where fish are recolonizing," said Pilliod in an interview. The federal government and Colville Confederated Tribes, a federally recognized American Indian tribe, are spending millions on recovery plans for upper Columbia River fish runs. Solid information about the distribution of the fish is useful both to measure progress and to allocate habitat restoration grants. Natural resource managers are looking for evidence that eDNA methods are getting better at reporting what's there with a low number of errors. This has received the most scrutiny in the Great Lakes region where both false positives and missed detections have occurred while monitoring for invasive Asian carp. A related research goal is to more accurately pin down how long environmental DNA lingers and how far it can drift in different environments. Actress Luise Rainer reported to have died at 104 By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Hollywood actress Luise Rainer, the first of just five performers to win back-to-back Oscars for acting, has died at her London home at 104. Her daughter said Ms. Rainer died of pneumonia. The Austrian-born Ms. Rainer became one of Hollywood's hottest stars after winning consecutive Academy Awards for "The Great Ziegfeld" in 1936 and for playing a Chinese peasant in "The Good Earth" one year later. Ms. Rainer, however, turned her back on Hollywood and walked out on a lucrative contract when studio bosses refused to let her appear in the films she wanted to do. Ms. Rainer spent most of her career in Europe, appearing in British films and making only occasional American appearances, including an episode of the TV comedy series "The Love Boat." The only other actors to win consecutive Oscars are Tom Hanks, Katharine Hepburn, Jason Robards and Spencer Tracy. 2.4 million workers got a New Year's pay increase By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
About 2.4 million low-paid workers in the United States got a pay raise on New Year's Day as new minimum wage laws take effect. In the United States, the minimum pay is $7.25 an hour, which translates to a yearly salary of $15,080. But 20 of the country's 50 states and the national capital of Washington passed new laws in recent months or had already imposed requirements that now will boost wages above the national level, to an average of $8 an hour, or $16,640 annually. The wage increases are expected to pump about $1.5 billion annually into the accelerating U.S. economy, the world's largest, because low-wage workers tend to spend most of their paychecks. President Barack Obama last year called for a federal minimum wage of $10.10 an hour, but encountered stiff opposition from Republican opponents in Congress and the proposal failed. Numerous new state laws also took effect Thursday in the United States, including one in California that requires college students to give affirmative consent to their partners before engaging in sex. In Michigan, the sale of cough and cold medicines for the purpose of making the drug methamphetamine is now banned, while New York is requiring its residents to recycle old computers and televisions rather than throwing them in the trash. U.S. economic indicators still appear to be mixed By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Several economic studies published Wednesday paint a mixed picture of the U.S. economy. The Labor Department says the number of people signing up for unemployment compensation rose in the United States last week. Initial unemployment claims rose 17,000 to a nationwide total of 298,000. While the number of layoffs rose from the prior week, the relatively low total number is still consistent with an improving job market. A separate report from the National Association of Relators, a business group, says the number of pending home sales improved slightly in November. Experts track pending home sales to get a look at the housing market's health and direction. The association's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, says "consistent economic growth and steady hiring" are giving more families the confidence they need to purchase a home. Meantime, the Institute for Supply Management, a business group, says business activity in the important Chicago area slowed noticeably, but remains consistent with continued economic growth. The experts track production, orders, backlogs and other data to gauge the pace of economic activity. Russians prepare themselves for rough new year ahead By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Despite dire predictions about Russia's economy for 2015, many Russians welcomed the New Year with cheers and hopes for a better future. With the sinking value of the ruble, some people say they crave stability more than they do prosperity. But the troubles, including political tensions with the West, seem to have spurred a surge of national pride, something Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to boost with his New Year's message. Hopes for a better future also seem especially high among Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. The fireworks in Moscow's Red Square on New Year's Eve were greeted with much enthusiasm, recalling better times in Russia. "We wish the most positive, all the best, for Russia. It will win. Russia is always the best, the most powerful. Russia rules! Hooray! Go Russia!" said one Muscovite. But sinking oil prices combined with Western sanctions against Russia could lead to an economic recession in the country this year. The value of the Russian ruble has declined by about one-half against Western currencies, bewildering ordinary Russians. "I looked at the exchange rate every day. It was simply interesting for me to watch this exchange rate that was growing and falling and then growing. But it had no effect on me. When you have nothing you can't lose anything either!" said Elena, a local. Even President Putin warned Russians of the possible difficulties ahead. "In the coming year, we will together have to solve many problems. And the year will turn out the way we ourselves decide to make it. The results will be as effective, creative, as each of us endeavor to make them. There are simply no other recipes,” said Putin. But while he vowed that Russia will soon overcome its problems, Putin's opponents are predicting a dark future. "The end is near, the country is at the brink of going down. I have these kinds of feelings. That's why I'm saying that people will take to the street demanding a change to the situation, and we will contribute to this. That's why I think that 2015 is a very important year. I would say it may be a historic year," said Mikhail Kasyanov, a former Russian prime minister and opposition leader. Russian financial officials say that with some effort, an economic disaster can be avoided. "Any improvement, even a very small local one, in general policy, is able to strengthen the markets. For example, European sanctions need to be voted upon to be extended, and maybe if Russia doesn't give cause for a strengthening of sanctions, we can get a positive result in that case," said Sergei Romanchuk, who works in the foreign exchange and money market department at Metallinvestbank. The most recent polls show that President Putin still enjoys strong popular support, between 70 and 80 percent. That support is especially high among Russian speakers in Crimea, a Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia last March and despite shortages of water and electricity they have suffered ever since. "We came today to the square to celebrate the New Year together with the town, with the people and to see Putin. They have promised they will switch off the light in the apartments, but we really wanted to see the president. So that's why we came: to feel the unity and the mood of the town. And to celebrate the New Year," said a resident of Sevastopol. The annexation of Crimea and Moscow's support for Russian separatists in the rest of eastern Ukraine have earned Western condemnation and contributed to Russia's economic woes. Some Russians are looking at it philosophically. "We have got used to being more optimistic, despite everything. Because if you don't laugh, you can go crazy," said Anastasia Khripunova, a student. Others look at the situation with a sense of humor. One singer asked Santa Claus to send Russians a new and unused president packed in a gift box, with a return label in case he is not satisfactory. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Jan 2, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 1 | |||||||||
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 Voice of America/Arash
Arabasadi
Jim Hoover, who
painted his face red and sported a Capitals jerseythat read 'Man in Red,' attended the game with his wife, Lilly. Hockey: Way it
was meant to be played
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Sunglasses and eye black, a grease applied under the eyes to reduce glare, aren't typically seen at a National Hockey League game, but then again, there are not many professional ice hockey games played outdoors. The league began staging outdoor games on New Year’s Day in 2008, and the U.S. capital got to host the special event for the first time Thursday. The Washington Capitals defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in a game played at Nationals Park, the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Jim Hoover, who painted his face red and sported a Capitals jersey that read "Man in Red," attended the game with his wife, Lilly. “This is great. We’ve been waiting for this to come around for a long time," Hoover said. "We were really excited when Washington got to play Pittsburgh a couple years back. And you can just see the number of people here. It’s great. We’ve got great weather here.” The early-afternoon game time temperature at faceoff was 6 degrees C (43 degrees F), but the ice was kept hard by special refrigerated pipes beneath the surface. The sun shone brightly, and early in the game, the shadows did make following the puck a bit tricky for the players, especially the goalkeepers. It took more than two weeks of construction to build the ice rink on top of the baseball stadium's field, but for the home fans in the sellout crowd of 42,832, it was well worth it, even though they paid premium prices to attend the big event. They were able to watch their Capitals get the winning goal with only 12.9 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat the Blackhawks, who have the most wins in the league so far this season. Forward Troy Brouwer, who scored the game-winner, said it was a special day for him in many ways. “I’ve had some good moments in my hockey career, but this one, with all the intangibles that played a part in it — my parents were able to come into town, playing against my former team, this being the first goal that I’ve scored against my former team, the dramatic fashion at the end of the game, of how everything played out — it's going to be a memorable day," he said. Early in the game, no one could have predicted such a dramatic finish. Washington took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Eric Fehr and captain Alex Ovechkin. But Chicago battled back, and going into the final period, the game was tied at 2-2. Both teams had late power plays in the final period, but it was the Capitals who capitalized on theirs to get the victory. Ovechkin said he could not have imagined a better finish. "I think just the whole day was unbelievable," he said. "This event was outstanding. The atmosphere on the ice from the first second was unreal. You know we’ll remember it all our lives." |
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| From
Page 7: Prices of oil plunged nearly 50 percent By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
World oil prices plunged the most last year since the 2008 financial crisis. As markets closed at the end of 2014, the price for both the international benchmark Brent crude drilled in the North Sea and the West Texas Intermediate tapped in the United States had fallen by more than 45 percent for the year. Almost all of the freefall occurred since June, when prices were above $100 a barrel. By year's end, Brent was trading at $57.33 a barrel and U.S. crude at $53.27. Analysts attributed the plummeting prices to a glut of oil on the world market, caused by a variety of factors. The United States and Canada have increased their oil production, aided by fracking technology that allows drilling companies to reach oil deposits deep in shale formations that previously could not be tapped. U.S. oil production reached nine million barrels a day, the highest level in more than 30 years. At the same time, economic growth slowed in China, the world's biggest energy consumer, while Japan's economy dropped into a recession and Europe's 18-nation euro currency bloc edged close to a contraction. But in the U.S., cheaper oil has led to the lowest gasoline prices for motorists in several years, helping accelerate growth in the world's largest economy. Oil experts say prices could continue to fall in the first quarter of 2015 before rebounding later in the year. |
