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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 33
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Scouting will
celebrate 100 years here
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Movimiento Guías y Scouts de Costa Rica celebrates 100 years Sunday in five locations around the country. President Luis Guilermo Solís is scheduled to attend a ceremony at 9 a.m. in Parque la Sabana. There also will be local ceremonies at San Ramón, Limón, Pérez Zeledón and Liberia. In San Ramón local fire fighters will help older scouts rappel from the tower of the local Catholic church. Starting from Parque Vargas in Limón the scouts will parade through the streets. There also will be a rally and a run through the streets of Liberia. At Parque la Sabana the various age groups of scouts and guides are expected to show their various skills. Father of parks being remembered By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats and others in the environmental movement are remembering Álvaro Ugalde Víquez, 69, who died Sunday. He is considered the father of the Costa Rican parks system. He had a special relationship with expats because he spoke English, which he learned doing manual labor in Georgia before entering his master's program at the University of Michigan. He did his undergraduate training in biology at the Universidad de Costa Rica. He was director of the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa and the Parque Nacional Volcán Poás before becoming director of the park system where he served for 17 years. He also is remembered as a defender of the Osa peninsula and the Parque Nacional Corcovado there. Time magazine named him a Latin American environmental leader in 2000. He belonged to a number of international organizations and was a consultant for the United Nations. Fuel price computation change proposed By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's price regulating agency plans to revise the way fuel prices are computed. The new proposal will be presented to the public March 10. The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo is the state-owned fuel monopoly, and it has been criticized for the excessive costs of its operation. The firm has not actually refined fuel for years and simply imports the product and distributes it. The Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos computes the price of fuel each month based on international prices and the dollar exchange rate. Fuel prices have not fallen as abruptly as the international price. Symphony orchestra to play in Sarchí By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional plays Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Estadio Municipal Eliécer Pérez Conejo in Sarchí. The invited director for the free performace is Iván del Prado, who has led the Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, the Orquesta del Gran Teatro de La Habana and the Orquesta de Baja California. Tenor Joaquín Yglesias and soprano Keren Rodríguez will perform. Traffic police on the prowl at schools By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Traffic police had 98 inspectors on duty when public schools opened, and they issued tickets for illegally carrying students. Anyone who carries students for hire has to be registered with the Consejo de Transporte Publico. Police issued 143 tickets for illegal transport, they reported. They also pulled the plates on some 167 automobiles for various violations. Good screen name means more dates By
the British Medical Journal news staff
Choosing a screen name with a letter starting in the top half of the alphabet is as important as an attractive photo and a fluent headline in the online dating game, reveals an analysis of the best ways of finding love in the digital world, and published online in the journal Evidence Based Medicine. The researchers wanted to find out what approaches would maximize the chances of converting online contact between men and women into that all-important first face-to-face meeting, using published research on the art of attraction and persuasion. They therefore carried out an extensive search of relevant studies in the fields of psychology and sociology, as well as computer, behavioral, and neurocognitive sciences. Out of almost 4000 studies, 86 met their inclusion criteria. The study findings were pooled and synthesized to come up with a list of dos and don'ts for online dating, from creating a profile to making an approach. They found that the screen name chosen for an online profile is important. The lovelorn should avoid names with negative associations, such as Little or Bug, and aim for something more playful, such as Fun2bwith as this type of name is universally attractive. And would-be daters should take gender into consideration: men are more drawn to names that indicate physical attractiveness, such as Blondie or Cutie while women go for names that signal intelligence, such as Cultured. But it may be even more important to start a screen name with a letter in the top half of the alphabet, say the researchers. That's because several measures of success, such as educational attainment and income are linked to names higher up the alphabet, added to which search engines sort names alphabetically. But choose carefully, say the researchers, who recommend looking at the profiles of other people you find attractive and using a similar screen name to theirs. It goes without saying that an attractive photo is essential. But be sure to include one that features a genuine smile that crinkles up the eyes, and possibly a tilt of the head. And women seeking men should wear red as this is likely to boost the level of interest, the evidence shows. And don't stop at selfies. Group photos showing other people having a good time in your company, preferably with you right in the middle of the action and touching someone else --but only on the upper arm -- will help to convey, respectively, your friendliness, importance, and status, said the study. Incidentally, women find a man more attractive when they see other women smiling at him, say the researchers. When it comes to the headline message, don't use complex language in the belief that it will make you look more intelligent. It won't. People are naturally drawn to words that are easy to remember and pronounce, and ease of information processing increases likability, the analysis shows.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 33 | |
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| Casa Presidencial decides to enter the online news business |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
These days almost anyone with a computer can set up an online news Web site. And that includes President Luis Guillermo Solís. The new site at Gobierno.CR is supposed to make information accessible for the population and enhance freedom of expression, said Casa Presidencial. It should not be confused with the real official newspaper, the La Gaceta. Boris Ramírez, director of communication for the president, said that the news would be updated every 15 days. Not coincidentally, the first edition contains a photo of Solís looking very presidential. Former president Laura Chinchilla also had her own news Web site, but most of the media were not highly critical and just did not pay attention. Public officials usually set up their own news system when they feel they are being given a bad deal by the established press. Solís, instead, has been having a year-long honeymoon with the major news outlets. |
 Casa
Presidencial
photo
This photo decorates the first
issue of the Solís newspaper.Ramírez, in a news release, promises news, interviews and other news-like presentations. The first edition includes such stop-the-press flashes such as "Government Reaffirms Its Promise for Integrated Development in Limón." And Solís staring at the flags of the provinces. The editor was identified as Mario Bermúdez. |
An adjacent landowner has allowed workers to dig into the embankment alongside the ruptured highway to create temporary lanes. |
 Consejo
Nacional de Vialidad photo
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| Restoring Interamericana Sur may take three weeks more |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Highway officials are promising that a bypass at a slide on the Interamericana Sur will be finished in three weeks. The location is at La Cangreja at 35 kilometers north of the border with Panamá. This is a key highway that carries a lot of freight and agricultural products. A detour had been in use since half the highway dropped down a cliff Jan. 30. However, the detour has been out of service since Friday because of the poor condition of the road and rain. |
The Consejo
de Vialidad received permission from an adjacent
landowner to dig into the embankment alongside the ruptured highway to
create the temporary lanes. Meanwhile, engineers are trying to figure out how to make a permanent fix. Traffic officials are suggesting a wide detour, perhaps through the Constanera Sur and Buenos Aries de Puntarenas. And national officials and those from the Municipalidad de El Guarco are trying to improve the detour so it can be used again. This is a route that goes through La Estrella. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 33 | |||||
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| Law officers warn of an email virus that can hold a computer
hostage |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial investigators say that scamsters from afar can use a computer virus to hold hostage important data on a user's computer. The Judicial Investigating Organization said it already has received two complaints. The agency said there could be other victims. The virus arrives as an attachment as a zip, rar or cab file. The email message accompanying it contains some form of inducement. If the computer user opens the attachment, the virus installs itself on the victim's hard drive and is said to encrypt all the important documents it finds there, such as data bases. When the computer user seeks to access the important data, the virus says that a ransom payment first must be made to some foreign location via bitcoin or similar to obtain a key to circumvent the virus. Otherwise the data will be destroyed. The amount is at least $350. |
 Screen shot of ransom note. Click HERE for larger image.
The notice gives the user a chance to see what data has been encrypted. Judicial investigators suggest the obvious: That users should decline to open any suspicious attachments. |
Here's reasonable medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
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2015 and may
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
news page
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 33 | |||||||
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Winter keeps chilly grip on much of United States By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Freezing cold temperatures hit large parts of the U.S. Monday as northeastern New England region began digging out of its fourth winter storm in a month, while the mid-Atlantic region and parts of the south were hit with their own blast of snow and ice. Snow swirled sideways in Kentucky and the state capital of Frankfort came to a frozen halt Monday. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear urged people to stay home if possible. The state was expecting anywhere from 15 to 38 centimeters of snow by late Monday. Freezing rain was forecast for northern Mississippi and snow and sleet is possible in north Georgia. The nation's capital, Washington, is preparing for up to 30 centimeters of snow, in Boston more than 2.4 meters of snow have fallen this year and another 20 centimeters is expected by Thursday. Along with the snow, the eastern United States is experiencing record breaking cold for mid-February. The coldest spots Monday were Watertown, New York, where the thermometer hit -36.6 Celsius, and Mount Washington, New Hampshire, with a reading of -37 Celsius. "It’s getting a little tiring. I love Maine, I love the winter," said a resident of the northeastern state. "But this winter makes you question it." The Washington area has dealt with tree-toppling winds and temperatures as low as minus-15 degrees over the last two days. With the ground frozen solid and temperatures expected to hover at or below freezing for the rest of the week, any snow that falls will be slow to melt. People here can expect little sympathy from fellow Americans in northern states such as Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where some motorists have given up trying to dig out their cars and resorted to more basic forms of transportation – including their feet and their sleds. As one bundled-up man said, "All you can do is grin and bear it." Banking scandal brings call for more oversight and action By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The latest black eye to the global banking industry, the British-based HSBC Holdings PLC secret account scandal, has heightened demands by activists and lawmakers in a number of nations for better transparency and accountability. And fingers are being pointed at some nations for not taking action sooner. Former HSBC Swiss private banking employee Herve Falciani handed the data about tens of thousands of that bank’s private accounts over to French authorities in 2008. That information eventually became the core of the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ HSBC report, released in early February, showing 106,000 hidden accounts at the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC. Falciani is slamming the British government for not responding strongly enough to the account revelations, which were provided to London via France in 2010. He says he contacted British authorities in 2008 with the data, but got no response. The whistleblower is quoted by London’s Guardian as saying, "By that time, I had already declared and explained the problems that were happening." Falciani added it would have been very easy for the British to obtain that information. The HSBC account information has impacted not only wealthy investors, but political figures as well. The only Arab journalist in the consortium, Hisham Allam, said that sons and close aides of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were among those exposed by the leak. And officials in other governments have also been implicated. The use of secret accounts and shell corporations to hide cash and its account holders is hardly confined to HSBC. Another banking giant caught engaging in this was Switzerland’s UBS. And there have been others. U.S. tax attorney Lawrence Brown says U.S. officials have started probes. "The U.S. started criminally investigating Swiss banks in 2009, resulting in record fines and dozens of criminal indictments," Brown said. "In 2009, UBS paid $780 million to the IRS and turned over information about their American clients. HSBC paid a then-record $1.92 billion fine for money laundering, among other violations," he said. "That record was broken in 2014, when Credit Suisse paid more than $2.6 billion after pleading guilty to conspiring with wealthy Americans to evade taxes.” In 2013, Brown said, "More than 100 Swiss banks signed settlement agreements with the Department of Justice, requiring them to pay huge fines and provide information to U.S. authorities." A year later, the U.S. Foreign Account Taxpayer Compliance Act came into force, requiring banks everywhere to inform U.S. authorities about accounts held by Americans. While the United States and other nations have in recent years beefed up enforcement of the global banking system, and Switzerland has instituted some reforms, the executive director of good governance and accountability group Transparency International’s London office says that even stronger enforcement and louder public clamor for reform is sorely needed. "Perhaps the most shocking thing about the latest bout of banking scandals – HSBC, UBS – is how little shock there has been," Transparency’s Robert Barrington said. "Outrage, certainly, but little shock. It is almost as though we expect large banks to be behaving badly. "It is HSBC and UBS today, and yesterday, it was someone else, and tomorrow, it will be someone else again," Barrington said. "There will be an investigation, a large fine, a provision made in the accounts, and the bank will move on. Yet, we are all left with a bitter taste, a sense that they got away with it, and that justice has not been done." Joshua Simmons, policy counsel for the better-governance and accountability group Global Financial Integrity, said that concerns over jihadist financing are forcing nations to take a stronger oversight stance on the banking industry. "There’s really nothing unusual about what has come out in those cases. This sort of behavior was rampant pretty much throughout the 20th century," Simmons said. "It has only been in the past few years, since the start of the war on terror – and especially after tax revenue decreased dramatically as a result of the financial crisis – that countries have really begun to crack down.” Markus Meizner, a senior analyst with the London-based advocacy group Tax Justice, said that it's time to make bank account and corporate owners’ identification more transparent. “We need to establish firmly in international and national law that "ownerless accounts have to be closed or exposed and that legitimate owners for bank accounts can only be only warm-blooded human beings,” he says. Meizner, who says such rules are in place in a number of countries, said that the United States, where 2,900 of the HSBC leaked private account holders reside, remains weak regarding transparency. "If a similar leak of a large U.S. bank were to happen tomorrow, the revealed data may not even include the identities of the real account owners, as was the case, at least, in the HSBC data," Meizner said. He said that despite Washington’s new efforts, the U.S. is "where the transparency of company ownership is among the worst in the world," adding that the U.S. has "so consistently failed to police its own house." Transparency International’s Barrington said the global banking sector has more work to do. "Let’s hear our banking leaders make unambiguous confessions of collective failure, and commitments to collective change," he said. "Punish the guilty. A few individuals have been fined, faced jail, had licenses removed. But nothing commensurate to the size of the problem -- an even bigger problem if you buy the systemic corruption argument. "If the banks accept the argument that their industry is systemically corrupt, then they need to act quickly and radically," Barrington says. "If they don’t accept that their industry is systemically corrupt, perhaps the problem really is bigger than suspected, which means that the solution, when it comes, will need to be more radical, more painful and less inclined to listen to the industry’s own views," he says. Lance Armstrong ordered to pay back $10 million By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Disgraced U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong has been ordered to pay $10 million to a sports promotions company in a fraud dispute over cycling bonuses. Arbitrators at a civil court in Texas ruled Monday that Dallas-based SCA Promotions should get back the bonuses it paid to the 43-year-old Armstrong during the years he was doping. The company had paid Armstrong bonuses for three of his Tour de France victories. The cyclist was stripped of his record seven championships, his 2000 Olympics bronze medal and given a lifetime cycling ban in 2012 after an investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency found he used performance-enhancing drugs. SCA had disputed the bonuses in arbitration courts for years, with Armstrong testifying under oath at a hearing in 2005 that he did not use drugs. After Armstrong admitted to using banned drugs in 2013, the case was reopened. The three-member arbitration panel said Monday the case presents "an unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy." Lawyers for Armstrong say they are appealing the ruling. A lawyer for SCA, Jeffery Tillotson, described at the time of the court hearings in 2013 why his client was pursuing the case. "My client had a contract with Lance Armstrong whereby we would pay him prize money if he won a series of Tour de France races in 2002, 2003, 2004. He won those races. We paid him the prize money because he was the winner and because he said he was a clean rider,” Tillotson said. “Now that he's admitted he doped and those titles have been stripped from him, my client believes it is entitled to the return of that money.'' He described Armstrong as "an extremely passionate liar. He was cold and ruthless about it," Tillotson said. "There was no hesitation. He employed almost every trick in the book to embellish and make his lie more believable.'' Terror in Europe likely to affect action in Congress By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Congress is in recess this coming week, as President Barack Obama prepares to host a summit on confronting violent extremism in American neighborhoods. Attacks in Denmark once again underscore the need for vigilance, and could impact forthcoming congressional deliberations on President Obama’s request for authorization to battle Islamic State militants. Attacks in Copenhagen targeting a Jewish synagogue and a free-speech event appear eerily reminiscent of last month’s deadly terrorist shootings in France. As violence flares anew in Europe, U.S. officials worry radicalized Muslims who joined Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria could slip back into the United States. Keeping track of the flow of potential terrorists to and from the Middle East is proving a daunting challenge, according to FBI Assistant Deputy Director Michael Steinbach. “I don’t know every person there. And I do not know everyone coming back," he said. "So it is not even close to being under control.” It is in this atmosphere of uncertainty that President Obama asked Congress for formal but limited authorization to battle Islamic State. “It is not the authorization of another ground war, like Afghanistan or Iraq," said Obama. "At the same time, this resolution strikes the necessary balance by giving us the flexibility we need for unforeseen circumstances. For example, if we had actionable intelligence about a gathering of ISIL leaders, and our partners did not have the capacity to get them, I would be prepared to order Special Forces to take action.” Congress is united in wanting Islamic State defeated. But many Republicans think President Obama and his successor should have a freer hand in the fight. House Speaker John Boehner: “There is a war underway, and we are in the midst of it, but the president has tied his own hands and wants to tie his hands even further with the authorization he has sent up here,” said Boehner. By contrast, the proposed authorization is too open-ended for some Democratic lawmakers, like Rep. Adam Schiff. “I think it is very important we find a way to get to ‘yes’ on an authorization," said Schiff. "But I also think it is very important we not write another blank check. We did that 14 years ago with the 2001 authorization.” Lawmakers will use this week to hear from constituents at home on a variety of topics, including the fight against Islamic State. Deliberations on protecting America will begin in earnest next week, when legislators will face a more immediate deadline: funding domestic security operations that expire at the end of the month. Danish police had info on dead terror suspect By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Danish media are reporting that the gunman who attacked a free-speech seminar and a synagogue in Copenhagen was a former convict who had recently been radicalized, perhaps while in prison. Police have not released the shooter's name but the media have identified him as Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, who had been incarcerated for a vicious stabbing of a passenger in a train. The sketchy details about the gunman emerged as tens of thousands of Danes gathered for vigils across the country. In Copenhagen, the prime minister and crown prince joined about 30,000 people honoring the victims in the bitter Monday evening cold outside the Krudttoenden cultural center. Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said Monday there is no indication that the gunman who carried out deadly attacks was part of a terrorist cell. The Danish premier said the 22-year-old gunman was born in Denmark, and that police knew him for several criminal acts and gang connections. But she said investigators have not tied the suspect, who was shot dead by police, to an Islamic cell "that took him to where he was now." Danish intelligence chief Jens Madsen said investigators believe the gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism, possibly including the terror attacks by Islamic extremists in Paris last month that killed 17 people. Ms. Thorning-Schmidt called the two shootings a cynical act of terror against Denmark. But she said the attack was "not a conflict between Islam and the West. This is not a conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims." Rather, she said, "This is a conflict between the core values of our society and violent extremists." Meanwhile, Danish police say they have arrested two men on suspicion of helping the gunman, by giving him advice and assistance. A Copenhagen judge ordered the suspects held for 10 days while police continue their investigation. Police killed the gunman early Sunday after he opened fire on officers near a train station. In the first attack Saturday, a gunman with an automatic weapon killed one person and wounded three police officers at a cafe. Danish media identified the deceased as a 55-year-old film director, Finn Norgaard. The free-speech event was also attended by Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who is known for provocative drawings, including a 2007 cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that led to threats against the 68-year-old cartoonist. The French ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray, also attended the discussion. Both were unharmed in the shooting. Hours later, volunteer Dan Uzan was guarding a bat mitzvah ceremony when he was killed in the synagogue shooting, which wounded two police officers. In light of the violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Jewish people in Europe to immigrate to Israel, as he did following a deadly attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris last month. But Ms. Thorning-Schmidt and other European leaders sought Monday to reassure Jews that they belong in Europe and are part of the continent's social and religious fabric. French officials drew parallels between the acts of violence in Copenhagen and those in Paris. Threats and attacks against cartoonists whose work has angered some Muslims began with the publication of 12 editorial cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. The paper said the cartoons, most of which depicted the Prophet Muhammad, were part of an attempt to contribute to the debate about criticism of Islam and self-censorship. The cartoons eventually led to protests around the world, including violent demonstrations and riots in some Muslim countries. Two are jailed for aiding suspect in Danish shooting By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Police in Denmark have jailed two people suspected of helping an assailant responsible for two shootings in Copenhagen, the motives of which are already being compared to similar Islamist-inspired attacks in France last month. The shootings have drawn condemnation across Europe as an assault on free speech and democratic values. Flags flew at half staff in Copenhagen and piles of flowers lay in front of the cultural club and the city's main synagogue where the shootings took place. These images are strikingly similar to those in Paris last month, after three assailants killed 17 people in back-to-back shootings. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo traveled to Copenhagen to express her solidarity with the city and its people. She and the city's mayor, Frank Jensen, vowed to defend free speech and democracy. Danish media have identified the suspected gunman in the Copenhagen attacks as 22-year-old Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein. Police shot him dead early Sunday outside an apartment building after he opened fire on them. Like the Paris shooters, El-Hussein came from a Muslim family, and he had a prison record. Danish security services say he may have been inspired by the Paris attacks. The targets for the Copenhagen attacks were similar to those in Paris, where gunmen attacked a satirical magazine and a kosher supermarket. The response has also been similar. Danish police have been out in force following the attack. In Paris, more than 10,000 soldiers continue to guard sensitive places. In a radio interview Monday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the threat is particularly high in Europe and that France will remain on high alert. The attacks have particularly alarmed the Jewish communities in both countries. The desecration of several hundred Jewish tombs in France's Alsace region on Sunday has added to the concern. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 33 | |||||||||
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Chinese prosecutors said Tuesday a former top Communist Party official will face a criminal investigation over allegations he accepted bribes. The development comes a day after the official, Su Rong, was expelled from the party and stripped of all his government positions, becoming the latest high-ranking official to be brought down by President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive. Su was a former party leader in Jiangxi Province and the vice chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Congress, the country's top political advisory body. Monday, the Communist Party's internal graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said it found Su accepted huge bribes in return for granting government positions. "As a senior CPC official, Su defied the party's political rules, seriously violated organizational discipline and was involved in dealing out official positions, which had a vile impact on ranks of cadres and social ethos," said the statement. The Supreme People's Protectorate, which on Tuesday announced the criminal investigation, did not mention any specific charges Su may face. But the official Xinhua news agency reported the Protectorate has taken coercive measures against him. President Xi has been waging a sweeping campaign against endemic corruption, warning that graft threatens the rule of the Communist Party. At least 70 high-ranking officials have been brought down by the campaign. Tens of thousands of lower-ranking officials have also been disciplined for corruption. The majority of the cases have been handled by the party internally, and are not referred to prosecutors Marijuana can mimic narcolepsy in teens By the Nationwide Children’s Hospital news
service
A study published by researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, found 10 percent of adolescents sent to a sleep center for evaluation of excessive daytime sleepiness with testing results consistent with narcolepsy had urine drug screens positive for marijuana, confounding the results. “Our findings highlight and support the important step of obtaining a urine drug screen in any patients older than 13 years of age before accepting test findings consistent with narcolepsy, prior to physicians confirming this diagnosis,” said Mark L. Splaingard, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Columbus, Ohio, hospital and senior-author on the study. “Urine drug screening is also important in any population studies looking at the prevalence of narcolepsy in adolescents, especially with the recent trend in marijuana decriminalization and legalization.” “A key finding of this study is that marijuana use may be associated with excessive daytime sleepiness in some teenagers,” said Splaingard. “A negative urine drug screen finding is an important part of the clinical evaluation before accepting a diagnosis of narcolepsy and starting treatment in a teenager.” |
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| From Page 7: Tax agency to seek names of shareholders By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The tax collectors are trying to win the right to know the names of stock holders in private corporations. A proposal to that effect appeared in a recent La Gaceta, and there likely will be some objection. The reason for collecting the names is so that the tax agency, the Dirección General de Tributación, can collect a tax on the transfer of stock. Some lawyers have said that this approach needs to be done as a matter of law and not by an executive decree. The tax agency is famous for issuing decrees that are beyond its authority. Companies that do business with the government already have to disclose their owners so that no officials benefit from contracts. And expats who own corporations have to provide this information to banks if they have an account. |
