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San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 12
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Zika warning
issued for pregnant women
By the St. Michael’s Hospital news
staff
The zika virus, possibly linked to serious birth defects in Brazil, has the potential to spread within the Americas, including parts of the United States, according to an international team of researchers who track the spread of infectious diseases. The zika virus, native to parts of Africa and Asia, has for the first time been introduced into the Americas where it is spreading locally among people who have not traveled abroad. There is no vaccine against the virus or antiviral treatment. “The summer Olympic Games in Brazil in August heighten the need for awareness of this emerging virus,” Kamran Khan of Canada's St. Michael’s Hospital wrote in a research letter published Monday in The Lancet. Zika is generally a mild illness, spread by a day-biting mosquito. However, there is a worrisome, but as of yet unproven, association of infected mothers in Brazil giving birth to babies with small heads and underdeveloped brains, Khan said. There has been a 20-fold increase in the number of babies born with this condition, known as microcephaly, since zika first appeared in Brazil in May 2015. The virus has since spread across more than a dozen countries in South and Central America and up into Mexico. A case was confirmed in Puerto Rico in December in an individual who had not recently traveled, meaning he or she was bitten by a local infected mosquito. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control say some travelers returning to the United States from zika-affected areas have also been infected with the virus, which has the potential of allowing the virus to then spread locally. To predict where zika might spread, Khan and his team mapped the final destinations of international travelers leaving airports in Brazil from September 2014 to August 2015. Of those 9.9 million travelers, 65 per cent were going to the Americas, 27 per cent to Europe and 5 per cent to Asia. Traveler volumes were greatest to the United States, followed by Argentina, Chile, Italy, Portugal, and France. China and Angola received the highest volume of travelers in Asia and Africa. Members of the team from Oxford University mapped the global geography of Aedes species mosquitoes capable of transmitting zika virus and then modeled the worldwide climate conditions necessary for the virus to spread between Aedes mosquitoes and humans. They estimated that more than 60 per cent of the populations of the United States, Argentina and Italy live in areas conducive to seasonal transmission of zika virus. By comparison, Mexico, Colombia and the United States have an estimated 30.5 million, 23.2 million and 22.7 million people respectively living in areas conducive to year-round zika virus transmission. Khan said that with no vaccine or antiviral therapy available, possible interventions include personal protection (i.e., repellent use); daytime avoidance of mosquito bites (especially by pregnant women until more is known about the association between Zika virus infection and microcephaly) and community-level mosquito surveillance and control measures. “The world we live in is very interconnected now said Isaac Bogoch, a tropical infectious disease specialist at the Toronto General Hospital who contributed to the study. “Things don’t happen in isolation anymore. Infections from the farthest corners of the world can quickly arrive on our doorstep.” Swine flu strain called same as last year By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The health ministry said Monday that the variety of swine flu that has been causing illness in the country since December is the same variety as it has been for the last three years. The ministry was trying to counter rumors that the virus had mutated and had become more aggressive. Daniel Salas Peraza, an official with the Ministerio de Salud, said that samples of the virus went to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, for testing. The report arrived Monday, he said, and confirmed the nature of the virus. The virus is in the news because there have been 24 deaths. However, health officials say that this is normal in any year and that those who died had other health issues. The swine flu is AH1N1 of a strain that was identified first in California in 2009. The strain is the same that the vaccines used in the past years have been designed to combat. Only a few of the individuals who died had been vaccinated. The government plans to import a million doses of vaccine for use starting in April, it said. Meanwhile, both the health officials and international agencies say the flu wave has peaked. Copper still a commodity for thieves By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The world price of copper has dropped more than 50 percent in the last three years, but there still are crooks trying to make money stealing telephone and electrical wires. Fuerza Pública officers found one such suspect on the roof of a fast-food restaurant in Nicoya. The man was trapped when officers surround the restaurants, which was closed at the time. The man was remanded to the Fiscalía de Flagrancia in Santa Cruz. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this Web site are
copyrighted by Consultantes Ro Colorado S.A 2065 and may not be
reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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| A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 12 | ||
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| 12 years of traditional Costa Rican contest recipes are put
online |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Those regional food contests have produced enough traditional Costa Rican recipes for the Internet publication of seven cooking books. The Centro de Investigación y Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural set up the contests from 2001 to 2013. One of the requirements for participants was to provide the recipe. Now the "Cocina Tradicional Costarricense" comes in seven sections with dishes that probably never have been heard of by expats, such as gallina arreglada, chicheme, buñuelos, torta de novios, chancletas de chayote and mazamorra. And access is free, although an updated Flash reader is needed. The regions represented are Guanacaste y Región Central de Puntarenas, Heredia y Limón, Cartago, Alajuela y Heredia, San José, Limón and the Zona Norte. |
 Centro
de Investigación y Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural
photo
This is picadillo de arracache, a
dish that goes far back into pre-history. Arracacha (Arracacia xanthorriza) is a starchy
root that originated in the Andes. |
| Araya is back in effort to become mayor in Feb. 7 municipal
election |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The municipal elections are not nearly as interesting to most Costa Ricans as the latest soccer match. And for expats who cannot vote, Feb.7 will be just another Sunday. All the municipal elected positions are up for grabs, but the most interesting race is in San José Centro where Johnny Araya Monge seeks to make a comeback. He was the Partido Liberación Nacional candidate who dropped out and gave the race to Luis Guillermo Solís. That cost Araya censure from his party. So to become mayor, he created his own ticket, the Partido Alianza por San José. He faces three other candidates, and the prize is a big one. |
When he was
mayor Araya made about $14,000 a month. Until he decided to run for president, Araya had been mayor since the 1990s. Despite his shortcomings in the presidential race, he is considered a favorite, thanks to name recognition. Also running are Daguer Hernández of the Partido Acción Ciudadana, Jorge Eduardo Sánchez of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana and José Manuel Echandi of the Partido Integración Nacional. Also up for grabs are positions as regidores or council members. The races for mayor are intensely local with road maintenance, parks and other citizen amenities being very important. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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be
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 12 |
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| Coffee suggested as a way to keep true to New Year's fitness
resolutions |
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By the University of Kent news staff
For anyone struggling to keep the New Year Resolution to do more exercise science shows a solution could be found in a simple cup of coffee. In a paper published this month in the scientific journal Sports Medicine, Samuele Marcora, a University of Kent endurance expert, suggests the use of caffeine could help people stick to their fitness plans. Responding to the findings that the majority of people give up their resolution to do more exercise within the first six months, Marcora said his research could provide a solution. Marcora suggests that reducing perception of effort during exercise using caffeine or other psychoactive drugs like methylphenidate and modafinil could help the many people who find it difficult to stick to their fitness plans. Together with lack of time, physical exertion is one of the |
main
perceived barriers to exercise, which is natural as humans evolved to
effectively conserve energy. This inherent laziness means that
sustaining exercise in the long term is very difficult even when people
are still motivated to improve their health and fitness as when they
started. Marcora points out that perception of effort is one of the main reasons why most people choose sedentary activities for their leisure time. Compared to watching television which requires zero effort, even moderate-intensity physical activities like walking require considerable effort. He says that the use of caffeine or other psychoactive drugs to reduce perception of effort during exercise can make the healthy choice easier. He also states that whilst there is no strong ethical opposition to the use of psychoactive drugs to help quit smoking or treat obesity, the negative perception of doping in sport may prevent the use of stimulants and other psychoactive drugs to treat physical inactivity which is responsible for twice as many deaths as obesity. |
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Colorado
S.A. 2016 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica's
Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 12 | |||||||
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| Washington Post reporter recounts prison experiences By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian says he had extraordinarily limited human interaction and spent 49 days in solitary confinement during his 18 months in an Iranian prison. Rezaian is one of four Americans freed Saturday as part of a prison swap with Iran that came with the implementation of the nuclear agreement. He met face-to-face with senior Washington Post editors at the German hospital where he is recovering from his ordeal before returning to the United States. "I want people to know that physically, I'm feeling good. I know people are eager to hear from me, but I want to process this for some time," Rezaian said. He was picked up in 2014 and accused of spying, charges both the Post and the Obama administration called absurd. He was sentenced to an undisclosed prison term after a closed door trial in which he apparently was given little opportunity to offer a defense. Rezaian said he spent most of his time in the custody of Iran's Revolutionary Guard – the military force tied to hardline religious leaders. He was kept in a small room with no mattress, and said walking around a courtyard was his only exercise. He was hospitalized three times with chronic eye and groin infections. Rezaian said his last few hours in Iranian custody were among the most anxious, calling his departure from Iran and handover to Swiss officials as touch and go until the last minute, fearing something would go wrong. "I want to thank my family, especially the efforts of my brother Ali and my wife in Iran and my mother everywhere she was. They have been incredible," he said. "I also want to thank everybody at the Post and my colleagues in other media as well, as well as everybody in the U.S. government who played an important role in my release." Also meeting with family Monday for the first time since his freedom from Iran was former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati. His brother-in-law, sisters and Michigan Congressman Daniel Kildee visited Hekmati at the German hospital. Hekmati, an Iranian-American, was arrested in 2011 on spying charges while visiting his grandmother. An American pastor, Saeed Abedini, jailed in 2012 for spreading Christianity, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, whose reasons for being in Iran are still unclear, also were freed Saturday. Matthew Trevithick, detained in Iran last month on charges that were never disclosed, was freed in a deal separate from the four other Americans. In return for freeing the four U.S. citizens, President Barack Obama offered clemency to seven Iranians who were either charged with or convicted of violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. Charges include exporting military electronics to Iran and computer hacking. The Obama administration also agreed to drop charges against 14 other Iranians outside the U.S.. None is in U.S. custody, and officials have determined that efforts to have them extradited will not succeed. Iran also has agreed to try to determine the fate of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007 while working on a project linked to the Central Intelligence Agency. U.S. officials have said they are not sure if he is still alive. The Americans were freed as the United States and European Union lifted economic sanctions against Iran as part of last year's nuclear deal. There was no mention of the prisoner swap while the deal was being negotiated. But Obama and other senior U.S. officials have said they repeatedly demanded that Iran free the Americans. U.S. ambassador in Israel says vigilantes go unchecked By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro accused Israel on Monday of having separate standards of justice for Jews and Palestinians. Shapiro said at a security conference in Tel Aviv that what he called too much Jewish vigilantism goes unchecked by Israel. "Too many attacks on Palestinians lack a vigorous investigation or response by Israeli authorities," he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Shapiro's comments untrue and unacceptable, coming on the day of a funeral for a Jewish mother of six stabbed to death in her settlement home by a Palestinian intruder. The intruder is still at large. Also Monday, a Jewish security guard shot another Palestinian who stabbed a pregnant woman in a West Bank settlement. She is expected to recover, and the fetus was unharmed. Shapiro also said Monday that the U.S. is concerned and perplexed by continued Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, parts of which the Palestinians want for a future state. Shapiro said it brings into question Israel's stated commitment to eventual Palestinian independence. Netanyahu again blamed what he said is the Palestinian leadership's incitement to violence and its refusal to recognize a Jewish state for the collapse of diplomacy. The West Bank stabbings are part of a four-month wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence sparked by rumors that Israel was planning to take over an east Jerusalem holy site revered by Muslims and Jews. Twenty-three Israelis and at least 136 Palestinians have been killed since September. Family of dead black motorist receives a financial settlement By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The family of an unarmed black motorist shot and killed by a white University of Cincinnati police officer has settled a civil suit and will receive $4.8 million, scholarships for the dead man's 12 children, and an apology from the school. The shooting was one of several across the United States that have raised questions about police use of force against minorities. Ray Tensing, the officer who shot Samuel DuBose, was indicted on murder and manslaughter charges in July. They say Tensing stopped DuBose car for a minor traffic violation and a struggle ensued after DuBose refused to provide a driver's license and get out of the car. Tensing has said he was dragged by the car and forced to shoot DuBose. But a video from a camera worn by the officer showed Tensing was never in danger during the July 19 incident. Military tells what happened with 10 detained U.S. sailors By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. military has released its first official account of Iran's 15-hour detention of 10 U.S. sailors whose boats had strayed into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf last week. A U.S. Central Command statement said the two Navy vessels were scheduled to meet up with a U.S. Coast Guard boat in international waters for refueling but deviated from their planned course on the way. "The command investigation will determine what caused the change in course and why the RCBs entered into Iranian territorial waters in the vicinity of Farsi Island," the statement said of the U.S. Navy boats. The sailors were traveling through the Persian Gulf from Kuwait toward Bahrain when U.S. controllers lost contact with them Tuesday. One of the boats had indications of a mechanical issue in a diesel engine, and both vessels stopped, the Central Command said. "This stop occurred in Iranian territorial waters, although it's not clear the crew was aware of their exact location. While the RCBs were stopped and the crew was attempting to evaluate the mechanical issue, Iranian boats approached the vessels." The sailors were later detained. "At gunpoint, the RCBs were escorted to a small port facility on Farsi Island where the U.S. sailors disembarked and were detained for approximately 15 hours. At this point there are no indications that the sailors were physically harmed during their detainment," the Central Command said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who spoke to his Iranian counterpart several times over the incident, said the swift release of the sailors was a success for diplomacy. At the same time, Kerry says the pictures of 10 American sailors being detained by Iran last week left him extremely upset and frustrated. Kerry told CNN television Monday that he thought Iran's treatment of the sailors was inappropriate, and that he immediately let Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif know how he felt. But Kerry praised Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for responding promptly to the situation, saying that what could have been a very dangerous major hostage crisis just a few years ago was resolved quickly because of diplomacy. Kerry answered critics of U.S. policy toward Iran by saying it is far more dangerous not to negotiate with Tehran. China's official Buddha list now available on Internet By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
China has published a list of authentic living Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism, saying the move is part of an effort to prevent fraudulent religious leaders from swindling money from believers. The Chinese government published a list Monday of 870 what it called verified Buddhas on the Web site of the State Administration for Religious Affairs. The list includes photographs, names, birth dates and resident monasteries. China began issuing certificates to what it calls living Buddhas in 2010, but this is the first time the information has been accessible on the Internet. Critics say the spiritual cataloging is an attempt by the Chinese government to control Tibetan Buddhist leaders as well as the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. China's state-run Xinhua news agency says the Internet database is an effort to promote transparency in Tibetan Buddhism and to regulate reincarnation issues for living Buddhas. Previously, China and the Tibetan government-in-exile have disagreed on the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, with both appointing different boys to the position in 1995. Tibetan Buddhists believe that Buddhas can choose where and when they will reincarnate or take rebirth in their next life, in order to continue their work of helping people. They believe that anyone can become a Buddha by removing all impurities from the mind through meditation and prayer. Previously, the Dalai Lama has said he will decide before he dies on whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue. He has said he will consult with the high lamas of Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public and others before deciding. However, he said China should have no say in whether he is reincarnated. Tibet's government-in-exile has operated from India since 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. China has often accused the Dalai Lama and his followers of advocating Tibetan secession, despite repeated assurances from the Dalai Lama that he is seeking dialogue with China aimed only at establishing Tibetan autonomy. Tennis tourney under cloud with claims of match-fixing By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Tennis play began Monday at the Australian Open as two news organizations reported allegations of match-fixing based on leaked documents they received. The BBC and Buzzfeed said that during the past decade the sport's Tennis Integrity Unit was repeatedly warned about the potential throwing of matches by 10 players ranked in the top 50, but that none ever faced punishment. Chris Kermode, the president of the Association of Tennis Professionals, said the Integrity Unit has not found any evidence to back up the allegations and does not rely on suspicion or hearsay. "The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggest that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated," Kermode said. According to the BBC and Buzzfeed, eight of the suspected players were in this year's Australian Open draw. The reports said a 2007 probe by the tennis association found that betting rings in Russia and Italy made hundreds of thousands of dollars betting on matches that investigators believed to be fixed. Tennis officials launched the integrity effort after a 2007 match involving Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello. A British bookmaker received an unusual amount of wagers on the match, most of them for Arguello. Davydenko withdrew in the third set despite leading, and the bookmaker cancelled all of the bets. Both players were later cleared of any wrongdoing. Kermode that since the Integrity Unit was set up in 2008, it has sanctioned 18 players, including handing out life bans to six of them. Novak Djokovic, the world's top-ranked men's tennis player, said Monday that in 2007 people who worked with him were approached with a proposal for him to fix a match, which he did not. Djokovic said there is no room for corruption in the sport, and that until there is evidence involving active players, then reports are only speculation. "For me, that's an act of unsportsmanship, a crime in sport, honestly. I don't support it. I think there is no room for it in any sport, especially in tennis," he said. Missing book publisher cries when he shows up in China By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A Hong Kong book publisher whose disappearance sparked international interest appeared weeping on state television Sunday, saying he had returned to China to surrender to police 11 years after fleeing a fatal drunk driving incident. Gui Minhai is one of five missing people who are associated with the publisher Mighty Current, which specializes in books on political scandals involving China's Communist leaders and other sensitive topics that are banned in the mainland. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that Gui said while in detention that he surrendered in October, about a decade after fleeing China following the drunk driving incident. The report did not say if he was facing trial nor did it address the other disappearances. Gui's friends have suspected he was abducted for political reasons by Chinese agents from his apartment in Pattaya, Thailand, and smuggled into China. He is a naturalized Swedish citizen, and his disappearance prompted questions from the Swedish Embassy. The disappearances are the latest incidents to fuel growing unease in Hong Kong over the erosion of freedoms in the city, with fears that the five have been detained by Chinese authorities because of the work they published. In the interview broadcast on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Gui said he fled the mainland after he was convicted of killing a college student in a drunk driving incident, despite only being sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence. "I am taking my legal responsibilities, and am willing to accept any punishment," he said. During the interview, which took place in a detention center, Gui sobbed and apologized to the family of the dead student. Democratic candidates praise results of Iranian nuclear deal By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Democratic candidates running in this year's presidential election agreed Sunday that the implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran and release of U.S. citizens represent a positive step in relations, while also calling on countries in the Middle East to increase their role in the fight against Islamic State. Former secretary of State Hillary Clinton said more needs to happen before moving rapidly toward normalizing relations with Iran, and the U.S. needs to pressure Iran further on bad behavior in the region such as its actions in Syria. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been gaining on Mrs. Clinton in polls in the past month, said the existence of a nuclear deal without war and the thaw in the relationship between the U.S. and Iran are very positive. But he said he would not immediately open an embassy in Tehran, instead pointing to the U.S. and Cuba as an example of moving toward warmer relations with an important country. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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Colorado S.A. 2016 and may not be reproduced anywhere without
permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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| A.M. Costa Rica sixth news page |
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 12 | |||||||||
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Migrants to Britain told to learn English By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
British Prime Minister David Cameron has attacked what he calls a passive tolerance in Britain's Muslim communities for segregation and discrimination against women, and says a poor grasp of the English language leaves Muslim women more susceptible to extremist rhetoric. In an essay published Monday in The Times newspaper that drew immediate fire from critics, Cameron proposed nearly $30 million in government funding for English language classes for Muslim women. He also suggested some migrants could be deported for failure to speak the language. Former Conservative lawmaker Sayeeda Warsi, Britain's first female Muslim cabinet minister, welcomed the language funding. But she told British radio that Cameron's proposals are the result of lazy and misguided thinking that stereotypes British Muslim communities. Under proposed new rules, foreigners coming to Britain on five-year spousal visas will be tested half-way through their stay to show improvement in English language skills. Media reports say those measurements would be a key factor in deciding whether to extend a person's right to remain. Anesthetic delivered without needles By the Elsevier news staff
A new study reveals how the dentist could give anesthetic using a tiny electric current instead of a needle. The researchers behind the study, from the University of São Paulo, say their new findings could help improve dental procedures and bring relief to millions of people who are scared of needles. It would also save money and avoid contamination and infection, they say. "Needle-free administration could save costs, improve patient compliance, facilitate application and decrease the risks of intoxication and contamination," said Renata Fonseca Vianna Lopez, one of the authors of the study from the Brazilian University. "This may facilitate access to more effective and safe dental treatments for thousands of people around the world." Dentists often have to carry out invasive and painful procedures in the mouth. To minimize patients' discomfort, dentists use anesthetics that block the pain, which are administered using needles. However, many patients are afraid of these injections, resulting in them postponing and even canceling visits to the dentist. For these patients, an additional step is needed: dentists first give them a topical painkiller to reduce the pain and associated fear caused by the needle. This can come in the form of a hydrogel, ointment or sprays. The most common are hydrogels that can contain lidocaine and prilocaine. In the new study, the researchers investigated a way of getting these topical anesthetics into the body more effectively, to see if they could replace needles altogether. They found that applying a tiny electric current, a process called iontophoresis, made the anesthetics more effective. The researchers first prepared the anesthetic hydrogels with a polymer to help it stick to the lining of the mouth. They added two anesthetic drugs, prilocaine hydrochloride and lidocaine hydrochloride. They tested the gel on the mouth lining of a pig, applying a tiny electric current to see if it made the anesthetic more effective. The anesthesia was fast-acting and long-lasting. The electric current made the prilocaine hydrochloride enter the body more effectively. The permeation of the anesthetic through the mouth lining increased 12-fold. The researchers say the technology has applications not only in dentistry anesthesia, but also in other areas such as cancer treatment. The researchers now plan to develop an iontophoretic device to use specifically in the mouth and do some preclinical trials with the system. |
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| From Page 7: Those attending auto show remember close call By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
On the sprawling floor of Detroit’s Cobo Center, site of the 2016 North American International Auto Show, the latest and greatest vehicles, and the technology going into them, are at center stage for the international press. Amid the glitz and glamour and shiny metal and chrome of this annual ritual for the automotive world, it’s easy to forget how close the U.S. auto industry came to complete collapse. “When I was here in 2008, 2009, there was just a sense of depression, frankly, and fear,” describes U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat. “Because we weren’t sure what was going to happen.” Sen. Stabenow’s colleague in the U.S. Senate, Gary Peters, also a Democrat from Michigan, remembers just how dire the situation was. “When we would walk around this auto show in 2008 and 2009 we weren’t sure if some of these automakers would survive, whether or not General Motors and Chrysler would be around.” In the frigid Detroit winter of January 2009, the scene outside the Cobo Center reflected those concerns. At the time, General Motors and Chrysler, two of the big three U.S. automakers, were on the verge of bankruptcy, iced by an economic downturn that forced many Americans to skip new vehicle purchases. Just over 13 million new vehicles left dealer lots in the U.S. in 2008. By 2009 that number dipped to just above 10 million. Assembly lines halted, and thousands of workers like Frank Warren were laid off. “The event that led to my latest round of layoffs was a bunch of bad decisions being made by a bunch of executives being overpaid themselves,” he explained. “We had no idea we were on the verge of bankruptcy.” The solution to the meltdown was for the U.S. government to finance loans to the struggling U.S. automakers. “All we’re asking for is some help here, and they call it a bailout,” said Daimler Chrysler employee Keith Kennedy at the time. “They’re not bailing anybody out. It’s a loan.” “In the 2008 meltdown, the auto industry was on life support,” says University of Michigan Law Professor John Pottow, who describes the U.S. government’s role in the crisis. “They basically came in as if they were a giant hedge fund, and said, we’re going to let you borrow some money on our bankruptcy terms, and that will be enough to fund your restructuring.” “No amount of government stimulation is ever going get us back on our feet," said Tea Party supporter Jeff McQueen during an organized protest against the loans outside Cobo Center during the 2010 North American International Auto Show. Peters says the loans were indeed a risky move for President Barack Obama, who succeeded President George W. Bush as the meltdown in the auto industry accelerated. “Had that disappeared, and with the loans, it would have been catastrophic for him. He may not have been able to survive a re-election.” Peters served as member of the U.S. House of Representatives at the time of the crisis, and was part of the Michigan delegation urging the president to act to save those auto companies in trouble. “We all fought very aggressively to make sure that the funding was available for our companies to get through a very tough time and President Obama made some tough decisions,” Peters said during an interview at the 2016 North American International Auto Show. “He was attacked by a lot of folks around the country who thought he should not help the auto industry.” Pottow says the auto industry today may have looked very different if the Obama administration listened to those recommendations. “We might have shut one or two of them down had things gone the other way.” But the government’s involvement was immediately clear to General Motors employee Matt Slade, who credits the loans with saving his job. "They kept thousands of people, especially in Michigan and the metro Detroit area, working,” he told VOA in an interview in 2010. “It's not the perfect scenario; however, it did save our industry.” “We’re coming off of the best sales year ever for American vehicles, ever, for 2015,” explains Sen. Stabenow. “We’re totally back.” While many assembly lines in the region are busy churning out new, more fuel-efficient vehicles, the restructuring led to the elimination of several brands altogether, such as GM’s Pontiac and Hummer. Although employment figures for the Big 3 U.S. automakers in Detroit are close to their pre-recession numbers, Peters says they are still down from recent highs. “Even though they are making more cars, you don’t see the kind of increases in employment you would have seen in years past,” says Peters. “A lot of people are back working in the industry,” says Sen. Stabenow. “A lot of people are back working in the parts supplier industry. We actually have more jobs in the parts suppliers than we do the manufacturers themselves.” Those brands that remain are now the showpieces of more advanced, marketable automotive technology, and that’s what’s fueling the resurgence of jobs in Michigan, says Kevin Kerrigan, senior vice president with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. “Seventy-six percent of the research and development money that is spent in the U.S. is spent here in Michigan,” he says. “I think innovation, I think technology, I think the bigger picture what consumers are going to want down the road, are the true driving factor in what saved the auto industry,” says U.S. automotive expert Michael Caudill from the floor of this year’s Auto Show. “I think the auto industry saved itself.” When President Obama visits the 2016 North American International Auto Show on Wednesday, he will get an up-close look at the newest technology and innovations in an industry his administration is partially responsible for saving, says University of Michigan Professor John Pottow. |
