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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday, April 23, 2015,
Vol.
15, No. 79
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Mosquitoes like
some more than others
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Some people seem to get bitten by mosquitoes more than others. Now scientists have demonstrated that is really the case, and they say it is all because of genes. It is hoped the research might lead to new preventative treatments for diseases like malaria. “We decided to look at this in a study using twins, where we compared the attractiveness of identical twins and non-identical twins,” said James Logan of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In collaboration with the University of Florida, Logan and his team performed a series of trials using 18 identical and 19 non-identical female twins. Mosquitoes were released down Y-shaped tubes, and chose which twin they wanted to bite by turning left or right. Identical twins had a very similar level of attractiveness to the mosquitoes, while non-identical twins differed. “That suggests the trait for being attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes is controlled by our genes," Logan said. "We know that if you are unattractive to mosquitoes, you produce natural repellents. So it is likely that the genes that are controlling how attractive we are, are controlling the odors being produced by our body,” he said. Researchers are conducting further work, which they hope could lead to new preventative treatments. “Once we know which genes are involved, we might be able to assess a population for their level of risk of being bitten by a mosquito and therefore their risk of a disease like malaria or dengue,"Logan said. A drug could then be developed that would regulate repellents by the body naturally, which would repel mosquitoes, he continued. Mosquitoes transmit diseases like malaria, which kills around half a million people a year. Thanks to better preventative measures and new drugs, the World Health Organization reported a 47 percent drop in malaria deaths in the past decade, the equivalent of about 3.9 million children's deaths averted. “I would actually call it unprecedented progress, in the fight against malaria. But 97 countries around the globe have continued transmission of this parasite, that means that around 3.2 billion people remain at risk of infection,” said Pedro L. Alonso, director of World Health’s Global Malaria Program. There are many anecdotal theories on how to deter mosquitoes, as varied as eating garlic, drinking beer, or ingesting high levels of vitamin B. But scientists say there is no evidence that eating any particular food will stop mosquitoes from biting. Police agency reports drop in crimes By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There were more than 1,000 robberies a month in the first three months of the year. The statistical department of the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública said the total was 3,054. The agency said this number was 449 fewer than in the first three months of 2014. The agency also reported a 6 percent reduction in crimes against property in the first three months of the year. The agency did not give the total but said that the reduction was some 869 cases. That suggests that the total was about 14,500 cases of property crimes. The statistics from the ministry are mainly those resulted from cases handled by the Fuerza Pública. Sometimes crime victims go directly to the Judicial Investigating Organization and sidestep the street police. For that reason the statistics are just an indiction because neither the Fuerza Pública nor the Judicial Investigating Organization has the full total of crimes. However, the totals do suggest a trend. Gustavo Mata, the new security minister, said that the declines were the result of police efforts. By far, the largest number of crimes were simple thefts. Our reader's opinion
Humans have significant warming impactDear A.M. Costa Rica: Mike Michael (in Monday's edition) made it clear he has no background in science and is an environmentalist in training. That being the case, his summaries need to be considered as opinion without scientific explanations regarding the environment. He mentioned, "A lot of folks do not let the facts or common sense enter into their thought processes, so many times the hidden agenda pops up." That is true but if you get facts from programs with some of the most reliable information like NASA, NOAA or Scientific American and many other reliable scientific sources and papers, you will get the facts that global warming is happening and the human race is having a substantial impact in regards to it. Mike also tries to simplify the equation by using statistics that have nothing to do with the human impact on the planet. He narrowly uses the argument regarding the current world population of 7.2 billion people could fit into the state of Texas and Montana. The real equation on this topic is how much land is being used to sustain the population, and how much habitat destruction and pollution are having an affect on the entire planet. That is what needs to be considered, and you will see we have overstepped our boundaries. I have studied this topic for many years and have a background in the sciences and tropical ecology. Mike claims this is a political issue, left vs. right. It should not be a political issue. It should be an issue of raw scientific evidence by reputable research. As most know, the vast majority of scientists are on the side of global warming being an enormous issue of great consequences. Chistiana Figueres may have an agenda but what she is basically saying can be backed up by the majority consensus of climatologists and others in the climate field. Henry Kantrowitz
Punta Leona Cannabis users prone to false memories By the Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona news staff
A new study reveals that consumers of cannabis are more prone to experiencing false memories. The study was conducted by researchers from the Human Neuropsychopharmacology group at the Biomedical Research Institute of Hospital de Sant Pau and from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in collaboration with the Brain Cognition and Plasticity group of the Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research. One of the known consequences of consuming this drug is the memory problems it can cause. Chronic consumers show more difficulties than the general population in retaining new information and recovering memories. The new study also reveals that the chronic use of cannabis causes distortions in memory, making it easier for imaginary or false memories to appear. On occasions, the brain can remember things that never happened. Memory consists of a malleable process which is created progressively and therefore is subject to distortions or even false memories, noted researchers. These memory mistakes are seen more frequently in several neurological and psychiatric disorders, but can also be observed in the healthy population, and become more common as humans age. One of the most common false memories are of situations from childhood which an adult believes to remember because people have explained them over and over again. Maintaining an adequate control over the veracity of memories is a complex cognitive task, researchers noted. In the study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, researchers from Sant Pau and Bellvitge compared a group of chronic consumers of cannabis to a healthy control group while they worked on learning a series of words. After a few minutes they were once again shown the original words, together with new words which were either semantically related or unrelated. All participants were asked to identify the words belonging to the original list. Cannabis consumers believed to have already seen the semantically related new words to a higher degree than participants in the control group. By using magnetic resonance imaging, researchers discovered that cannabis consumers showed a lower activation in areas of the brain related to memory procedures and to the general control of cognitive resources, the study reported. The study found memory deficiencies despite the fact that participants had stopped consuming cannabis one month before participating in the study. Although they had not consumed the drug in a month, the more the patient had used cannabis throughout their life, the lower the level of activity in the hippocampus, key to storing memories, said the report. The results show that cannabis consumers are more vulnerable to suffering memory distortions, even weeks after not consuming the drug. This suggests that cannabis has a prolonged effect on the brain mechanisms which allows humans to differentiate between real and imaginary events. These memory mistakes can cause problems in legal cases, for example, due to the effects the testimonies of witnesses and their victims can have, said the researchers. Nevertheless, from a clinical viewpoint, the results point to the fact that a chronic use of cannabis could worsen problems with age-related memory loss.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, April 23, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 79 | |
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| Festival openings will test taste for culture in Acosta and
Alajuelita |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Today will give a good indication of the success of the culture ministry's $1.5 million bet. This year for the first time, the activities of the Festival Internacional de las Artes are dispersed among four cantons outside the capital. The event will be inaugurated at 2 p.m. in Acosta and at 6 p.m. in Alajuelita. The Acosta inauguration is being called the rural one. The inauguration there will be at 2 p.m. in the park of San Ignacio de Acosta. A main feature will be an impromptu theater group and at 5 p.m. the Banda de Conciertos de San José and the Banda Municipal de Acosta. At the same time in the community's Plaza de Deportes the musical groups Zimbabwe and Violentango of Argentina and Costa Rican groups Witty y Gavina, Los Kaites and Sonámbulo will perform. |
In Alajuelita
what is being called the urban inauguration takes
place at 6 p.m. The residents' taste for music will be tested by the
Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil. The program includes the "Romeo and
Juliet"
overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and "Russian Easter Overture"
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. A major event is the illumination of the Cruz de Alajuelita high up on a nearby San Miguel mountain. Later the public is being invited to engage in video mapping, that is projecting images on buildings. Performances at 9 p.m. feature the Teatro Humano Cariló and the Compañía Española La Tal. The dramatic efforts will be at the Parroquia Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. The stated purpose of the dispersal of the festival to the four cantons is to bring culture to the people there. The festival runs until May 3 with events also in Aserrí and Desamparados. |
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Opera
Send in the clownsBy the A.M. Costa Rica staff A double dose of jealousy, adultery and death comes to the Teatro Eugene O’Neill Saturday. The twin operas “Cavalleria Rusticana” by Pietro Mascagni and “Pagliacci” by Ruggero Leoncavalllo will be shown in high definition from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. The theater of the Centro Cultural Costarricense- Norteamericano is in Los Yoses. This is the final performance of the season. The one-act “Cavalleria Rusticana” and the two-act “Pagliacci” have traditionally been on the same bill since 1893. The Argentina tenor Marcelo Álvarez appears as Turiddu in “Cavalleria Rusticana” and as Canio in “Pagliacci.” Admission is available through Specialticket.net. The centro also has announced a list of performances for the next season beginning in October, with “Il Trovatore” and followed by “Otello,” “Manon Lescaut” and “Madame Butterfly.” |
 Metropolitan Opera photo
Marcelo Álvarez as Canio in 'Pagliacci.' |
| Finance ministry awards first batch of ¢110 million in
its fiscal lottery |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats probably do not realize it, but if they spent 3.500 colons or more via a local credit card, they were in a lottery. And they lost. The Ministerio de Hacienda announced the results of the year's first lottery and identified three Costa Ricans who won from 50 million to 10 million colons. That is about $96,000 to $19,000. The ministry is trying to encourage the use of credit cards so that agents can keep track of the firms and individuals that |
are getting
the money. Purchases at retail stores count, and payments to
professionals count double, under the ministry rules. Payments to the government, cash withdrawals, utilities, memberships and other payments that may not result in a tax situation are not included. Banks make the list of payments available to the government, which says it makes the final selection electronically. Two more lotteries are planned this year, one in August and the other in December. Prizes again total 100 million colons. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, April 23, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 79 | |||||
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| GOP candidates keep their sights on likely opponent Hillary
Clinton |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Hillary Clinton may not have any rivals for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination as yet, but she is getting plenty of fire from a gaggle of eager Republican White House hopefuls. Mrs. Clinton took her campaign road show to New Hampshire this week where she continued what experts like to call her soft launch of a presidential campaign featuring listening sessions with voters and visits to coffee shops. A few days earlier, 19 Republican current and potential presidential contenders flocked to New Hampshire to make their pitches to local Republican activists and one by one they took their shots at Mrs. Clinton. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of three official Republican candidates, focused on lingering questions about Mrs. Clinton’s handling of a 2012 terrorist attack at a U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya. “I think that her dereliction of duty, her not doing her job, her not providing security for our forces, for our diplomatic missions, should forever preclude her from holding higher office,” Paul said to cheers from those in the crowd. Most of the other Republicans who spoke to the gathering also took shots at Mrs. Clinton and it appears the Republican Party may be about to borrow a page from Democratic Barack Obama’s re-election campaign playbook from 2012. The Obama campaign spent millions during the summer of 2012, well before the general election, to soften up Republican nominee Mitt Romney and depict him as out of touch with the average American. That strategy paid huge dividends in the fall campaign when Romney pulled closer in the polls, especially after the first presidential debate, but then faded near the end. Mrs. Clinton may have an advantage in having little Democratic competition at the moment, but Republicans hope their unrelenting attacks on her will pay off if she becomes the Democratic nominee next year. Mrs. Clinton is determined to keep her focus on domestic issues, particularly jobs and the economy. “We need to really add prestige and distinction to the work we need done in America,” she said. “And that is going to be a challenge, I’m aware of that, but I think it is a challenge worth taking on,” Mrs. Clinton said at a roundtable discussion at a community college in Concord. Mrs. Clinton also sought to win over liberals with her focus on economic inequality. “The deck is stacked in their favor,” she said at one point about the wealthy. She also expressed some qualms about President Obama’s push for a congressional fast track to consider the massive trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and argued that any deal must have a positive impact on U.S. jobs and wages. |
She also
sought to sidestep questions about donations to the Clinton
Foundation and the recent email controversy when she spoke to reporters
in Keene, New Hampshire. “We will be subjected to all kinds of distractions and attacks,” she said. “I’m ready for that. I know that comes, unfortunately, with the territory.” Mrs. Clinton’s trip to New Hampshire was the second installment of the soft rollout of her campaign designed to have her do more listening and de-emphasize the fact she is a huge frontrunner for her party’s nomination. A report in Politico by Jack Shafer described the campaign as Clinton’s unrun for the presidency. “Listening is the epitome of unrunning, allowing a candidate to do nothing at all but remain operational,” Shafer wrote. Mrs. Clinton is the only announced Democrat in the 2016 race so far and opinion polls show she is a strong favorite for the party nomination. But Mrs. Clinton is also trying to succeed fellow Democrat Obama in the White House at a time when voters seem to want to change. “At a time when people are enormously dissatisfied with Washington and with the status quo, she has got to be not Washington,” said analyst Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report. “She has got to be non-status quo and presidential elections tend to be about the future.” Republicans seem inclined to blast away at Clinton for the time being instead of each other, but that will change. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is the closest thing to a frontrunner in the Republican field, but his lead in national polls is slim and he could have trouble with conservative voters who make up a large percentage of those who take part in the first presidential test early next year, the Iowa party caucuses. During the recent Republican summit in New Hampshire, Bush was confronted by a woman activist in the audience who warned him that the party is in no mood to hand him the nomination. “I don’t want a coronation on our side by any stretch of the imagination,” she said as Bush took questions on stage. “I don’t see any coronation coming my way, trust me,” Bush responded with a smile. Bush was one of the 19 White House hopefuls who spoke in New Hampshire and it’s expected he could join the list of official candidates as early as June. Many others showed up to gauge support for a potential bid including real estate mogul Donald Trump, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, April 23, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 79 | |||||||
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| Obama promotes carbon deal in visit to Everglades swamp By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Home to both crocodiles and alligators, herons and hundreds of other animal and plant species, the Everglades National Park in Florida hosted a U.S. president Wednesday. President Barack Obama traveled to the 1.5-million-acre park in the southern United States with a message to the American people that climate change can no longer be denied. “2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Fourteen of the 15 hottest years on record have all fallen on the first 15 years of this century,” said Obama. “Around the world, in the aggregate, it was the warmest winter ever recorded. This is not a problem for another generation, not anymore. This is a problem now. It has serious implications for the way we live right now.” Obama has not minced words about climate change, calling the issue the greatest threat to the planet. The president used his Earth Day trip to the ecologically-sensitive Everglades to highlight the real impact climate change is making on the environment, people’s health, their livelihoods and the local economy. “As sea levels rise, salty water from ocean flows inward. This harms freshwater wildlife which endangers a fragile ecosystem," he said. "The saltwater flows into aquifers which threatens the drinking water of more than 7 million Floridians.” Christy Guldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, calls the park ground zero and says the president wanted to see firsthand the implications of climate change and how local residents are being affected. “They are changing their lives, they are adapting the way they manage Everglades National Park, they are dealing with the flooding around the coast continuously,” said Ms. Guldfuss. The park is also a major component of Florida’s $82 billion tourism economy. The president’s trip comes as the U.S. leader has advanced plans to cut carbon emissions by nearly a third by 2025 as part of a joint pledge with China. China has set a goal of leveling its rising emissions in 2030, perhaps before. The two countries are the world’s largest polluters. At home, facing a Republican-majority Congress that is fighting his plans, Obama has gone it alone, using executive authority, for example, to require U.S. federal agencies to factor in environmental sustainability when they design new international development programs. Wednesday the Obama administration announced new measures aimed at calculating the risk and impact of climate change, including a mapping tool to determine how local populations along the U.S. East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico would be affected under various flood scenarios. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also announcing new measures to work with farmers, ranchers and land owners in order to reduce net greenhouse emissions by at least 26 percent by the year 2025. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says the president goal is to foster a public dialogue on climate change. “We do need to acknowledge that climate change is a reality and there is a responsibility that we have to confront it. And failing to do so is doing a great disservice to the next generation that will inherit this planet, but it’s also a failure of leadership,” he said. During his speech at the Everglades, Obama hit back at Republican critics who say measures to fight climate change hurt the U.S. economy. “This is not some impossible problem that we cannot solve," he said. “We can solve it if we have some political will, and we can solve it in a way that creates jobs. We can solve it in a way that doesn’t disrupt our economy, but enhances our economy. And it’s a bipartisan issue.” Obama noted that former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt established the U.S. National Park System, former president Richard Nixon started the Environmental Protection Agency and former president George H.W. Bush was the first such global leader to acknowledge the impact of climate change. All three presidents were Republican. Sam Adams, former mayor of Portland, Oregon, and now a director of the U.S. Climate Initiative at the Washington-based World Resources Institute says climate change should not be a political issue. “There is no Republican Sea level rise and Democratic sea level rise. There is just sea level rise. Same with the drought, it’s not a partisan drought, it’s a drought. Same with the anemic snow pack in the Pacific Northwest,” he said. “Regardless of the reasons for why people might think that’s happening, the Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, and liberals should come together to address those issues and what causes them in the first place.” Obama said globally the United States must not only lead on climate change, but has a responsibility to help developing countries deal with the effect of climate change. “Let’s be clear, the United States is number two in terms of carbon emissions I believe it’s not only within our wherewith all to become a prosperous low carbon economy, I think it’s also our responsibility to help less fortunate, less developed countries do the same," Adams said. "And it’s within our ability to do so. And it’s in our interest to do so.” At the Everglades Wednesday, Obama gestured to the swampland behind him as he spoke of his daughters, noting the importance of protecting the planet for future generations. “I want Malia and Sasha not only to be able to enjoy this amazing view; I want my grandchildren a way, way long time from now to enjoy this amazing view," he said. "And their children, and their children after that. That’s what we do as Americans, take responsibility and leave behind for our children something special.” U.S. Senate passes legislation to support trafficking victims By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Senate Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to help victims of human trafficking, a move that will finally open the door to a vote to confirm attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch. The Senate passed the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act 99 to 0. It would impose large fines on people convicted of trafficking and sex crimes against children. The money would be used to help the victims recover. Texas Republican John Cornyn is the bill's leading sponsor. "We have not fallen deaf to the cries of those who actually need our help. . . this legislation will be instrumental in helping victims of sexual abuse and trafficking recover from a life in bondage." The bill had been stalled over anti-abortion language that Democrats did not like. The abortion provision was stripped from the bill after a compromise. Senate Republicans had been refusing to allow a confirmation vote on President Barack Obama's choice for the next attorney general, Loretta Lynch, until the trafficking bill was passed. Obama nominated Ms. Lynch in November to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder. A vote on Ms. Lynch is now scheduled for Thursday. She is expected to have enough votes to win confirmation. The House of Representatives already passed a human trafficking bill. House and Senate negotiators will now work on putting together a final bill that the president can sign. Senate committee prepared to release trade authority bill By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S. Senate panel is poised to approve legislation to facilitate the formation and approval of an ambitious Pacific region trade pact. “This is truly a historic bill,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Finance Committee chairman. “U.S. trade with foreign countries is a good thing. We need to be tearing down barriers to American exports, while at the same time creating enforceable rules for our trading partners.” The committee was expected to approve trade promotion authority with bipartisan backing later Wednesday. Trade promotion authority, also known as fast track, sets forth congressional goals and benchmarks when trade deals are negotiated but, once completed, subjects them to up-or-down votes in both Republican-led chambers with no amendments allowed. Trade promotion authority is viewed as critical for approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership involving the United States and 11 other nations that, combined, account for about 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product. Initial negotiations began more than a decade ago and have been extended repeatedly as more nations came to the table. With portions of the negotiations believed to be nearing the finish line, U.S. lawmakers are weighing in. “Over the next decade and a half, the global middle class is going to balloon by more than two billion people, and they are going to be spending an awful lot of money,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the Finance Committee’s top Democrat. “I want those billions of people to buy products designed and built by Oregonian and American workers, and get those workers high-wage, high-skilled jobs in a tough global economy.” Others note that Hatch and Wyden introduced trade promotion authority late last week and accuse them of rushing to approve the bill without giving lawmakers adequate time to examine its many provisions and potential consequences. “They want to fast-track this fast track legislation so they can pass more trade agreements that outsource jobs,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat. “Trade done right can create jobs, but our current deals amount to corporate handouts and worker sell-outs.” Opponents of trade promotion authority point to prior trade deals approved under fast track like the North American Free Trade Agreement that went into effect more than 20 years ago with mixed economic results. While backing the expansion of trade as a general principle, President Barack Obama has said that previous deals did not always live up to the hype. Wyden says current trade promotion authority legislation addresses prior shortcomings. “The 1990s playbook on trade has to go. Our trade policies in 2015 have got to work better for America’s middle class,” he said. “Our country is going to aim higher in trade agreements. Our trade enforcement will be much tougher, and the process of negotiating and voting on agreements will be more transparent, will be more open, more democratic.” If approved by the Finance Committee, the bill would go to the full Senate, where furious debate is expected. “The answer is not only ‘no’, but ‘hell no’,” said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid when asked about trade promotion authority Tuesday. Full Senate approval would have to overcome a likely procedural maneuver by opponents attempting to block a vote. The so-called filibuster would likely delay but not prevent passage. Approval in the House of Representatives is viewed as all but assured. Chinese leader defines aid as being without strings By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Wealthy nations should abandon political strings on aid to developing countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a conference Wednesday that aims to strengthen ties between Africa and Asia. More than 30 heads of state are in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, for the five-day Asian-African Summit, which commemorates the 1955 conference that laid the foundations for the Cold War-era Non-Aligned Movement. Conference goers hope to further expand economic cooperation between Africa and Asia. The two continents contain some of the world's largest emerging markets, or countries that are in the process of becoming more advanced. China is Africa's largest trading partner, importing tens of billions of dollars each year in natural resources and investing in crucial development across the continent, including massive infrastructure projects and debt relief programs. But as it expands its influence in Africa, many in the West have accused China of ignoring human rights concerns, for instance, by offering no-strings-attached aid packages to countries with authoritarian governments. Xi Wednesday defended China's foreign aid policy, saying the world's richer countries have a responsibility to fulfill their commitments to developing nations without demanding political concessions. Such cooperation "should be based on mutual respect and equality," said President Xi, who added that China "will continue to offer assistance to developing countries with no political strings attached." "We need to follow a win-win approach in common development that is in line with our development strategies, so we can turn the forte of the two continents into economic strength, deepening regional and cross-regional cooperation, as well as encourage freedom of trade and investment," he said. Xi also touted the benefits of the new Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, which many see as a competitor to the United States-backed World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Asian Development Bank. "China will work with all parties in the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. Together we'll launch the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and making proper use on the Silk Road Fund. We will continue to support South-South Cooperation," he said. Fifty-seven countries including U.S. allies such as Britain, Germany and France have joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as founding members. Online handicraft marketer has huge success with IPO By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S.-based online handcrafts and antiques seller has had unprecedented success since it went public last week. Although Etsy's stock prices have declined since the initial excitement, the New-York based start-up is showing resilience. Etsy is an online marketplace offering handmade, antique and vintage goods sold by individual sellers. Since its inception a decade ago, the firm has built a solid base of about 1.5 million active sellers and close to 20 million buyers. Its revenue has grown steadily, reaching more than $195 million last year. As of December, the Etsy app had been downloaded 22 million times. Kathleen Smith, whose company, Renaissance Capital, tracks IPOs and developments in the market, said Etsy "is a leading online operator of handmade and vintage goods, including jewelry, furniture, clothing. No other company has been able to create this kind of community. And it's a very loyal community. Mostly women. And in the prospectus, they will tell you that about half of the buyers and sellers in 2011 were buyers and sellers in 2014." Still, Etsy's initial stock market success surprised everyone. Its shares opened at $31 on April 16, the day the company made its Nasdaq debut, and climbed above $35 during the day, more than double the firm's initial public offering price of $16. Called the largest IPO ever for a venture-backed, New York-based start-up, Etsy sold more than 13 million shares, raising $267 million on the day it went public. After the initial stock market hype, Etsy's stock prices went down, sparking predictions that it will be sold. Liana Baker, a correspondent who covers mergers and acquisitions for Reuters news service, said, "I think, with Etsy coming out and the valuation in the low billions, it could make it ripe for picking by a bigger company like eBay or Amazon." But as of Tuesday, the company's stock had recorded a slight increase, ending at $25 per share. Market analysts said it is not yet clear what Etsy's future will be. "That is going to depend on how management treats its new investors and delivers the kinds of expectation that investors are expecting," Smith said. Founded in 2005, Etsy has grown from a Web site selling just wooden objects to an online community of crafters offering unique goods that cannot be mass produced or re-sold. Its supporters view it as an antidote to global mass production and consumption, pushed by big corporations. Senators hear of potential of farm exports to Cuba By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Agriculture experts say U.S. farm exports to Cuba could more than triple in the next five years reaching $1 billion and support thousands of new U.S. jobs. Farmers and government officials told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee recently, however, that both Washington and Havana must remove more legal, logistical, and financial obstacles to reach this goal. President Barack Obama recently eased restrictions on trade and travel to Cuba and allowed Cuban-Americans to send larger amounts of money to their families on the Communist-ruled island. But Obama can’t end the decades-old trade embargo against Cuba without congressional approval. There is strong opposition to ending the embargo or taking other steps to ease restrictions from some Cuban-American members of Congress who call such steps appeasement of dictators and a threat to U.S. security. They argue that expanded trade would support a hostile authoritarian government far more than it helps Cuban consumers. An expert on relations between Cuba and the United States, New York University's Arturo Lopez-Levy, disagrees with these critics, but he said it may take several years to fully normalize relations between the former Cold War adversaries. Cuba could be a much larger business opportunity for U.S. farm products because the island imports about 80 percent of the food consumed by its 11 million people, according to Michael Scuse of the U.S. Agriculture Department. Scuse and other witnesses said Cuba buys food from distant lands like Vietnam, New Zealand, the European Union, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina. That rice, wheat, corn, milk, and fruit is available from the United States with lower shipping costs, giving Cuban consumers a price break, and leaving more room for farmers to profit. U.S. farmers have been selling food to Cuba for a few years, after an earlier partial easing of the trade embargo, but they complain they are losing business to other nations because current U.S. law blocks the kind of marketing and financing their rivals use to sell more goods. Minnesota cattle rancher Ralph Kaehler said large companies may have the resources to prosper without help from the U.S. Agriculture Department, but small companies like his do not. Farmer Doug Keesling, whose family has been raising wheat in Kansas for five generations, said the current U.S. rules and laws complicate financing and make it too expensive to compete for business in Cuba. These farmers and other experts also complain the Cuban government requires U.S. goods to go through its Alimport organization, needlessly complicating and slowing down such transactions. Some business, though, is already underway. Officials at the U.S. port of New Orleans say they ship 25,000 tons of frozen chicken from American producers to Cuba each year, and are optimistic the trade will grow in volume and variety. Matt Gresham said New Orleans was one of the island’s largest trading partners prior to the embargo and could eventually regain that status. He said the Cuban people will likely need farm products, machinery and many other goods, but he expects it will take a while for the island’s economy to expand enough to create additional buying power. That growth may be helped by Obama's policy changes that loosen restrictions on financial transactions with Cuba, and raise the limit on remittances. Harvard University's Manuel Orozco writes these changes will allow more Cuban businesses to offer electronic transactions, boost competition for financial services, and increase disposable income for many Cubans. Taken together, these changes will boost purchasing power, savings and investment. That will help expand the island's small private sector. New York’s Andrew Cuomo is not waiting for political, legal, or economic progress. He's leading a trade delegation to Cuba this week. That makes him the first governor of a U.S. state to head such a mission since Obama eased restrictions. Cuomo said he would like to sell New York’s apples to Cuba, and New York businesses have just made deals for a cancer research project with Cuban colleagues, and for computer software sales on the island. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, April 23, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 79 | |||||||||
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 Ministerio de Seguridad Pública
photo
Armamento employees will destroy these
weapons.
More
firearms go under the metal saw
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The security ministry's weapons division said Wednesday that its worker had destroyed 213 firearms already this year. The total last year was 21,569 The bulk of the weapons had been confiscated by Fuerza Pública officers, and the weapons agency, the Dirección de Armamento del Ministerio de Seguridad Pública, conducted the destruction under court order. The weapons range from a couple of pieces of pipe put together by a teen to top-of-the-line handguns with laser sights. Some expats have wondered why the security ministry does not sell the higher quality weapons overseas. A brand name revolver might bring $500 in a legal sale. The other option might be to allocate some of the quality weapons to the various police forces. However, Costa Rican officials are adamant that such weapons, regardless of quality must be destroyed. They have a similar distaste for weapons in general, and the ministry just ordered private guard services to discontinue the use of 12-gauge shotguns by their employees. The shotgun is an effective weapon against crooks armed with AK-47 rifles, and some guard service operators have expressed the concern that their employees will be outgunned. The ministry officials prefer 9-mm. handguns and have said that shotguns are too complex. Current law, of course, prohibits all but citizens and permanent residents from owning weapons for protection. Residents who are tourists, pensionados, rentistas or inversionistas cannot own a weapons legally, but many have opted for bootlegged weapons for self-protection. Handgun was designed to fire BBs By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police officers in Heredia spotted men in a car shooting at an advertising sign in the Los Arcos section. Fuerza Pública officers on motorcycles chased the individuals in a car and managed to detain them. The weapon, it turned out, was a BB pistol that appeared to be a 9-mm., said the police agency. The detained individuals were introduced to the owner of the advertising sign, police said. Police did not disclose the motive. Police officer suffers stab wounds By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Fuerza Pública officer took two stab thrusts to the back Tuesday night during a response to a domestic violence complaint in the Pacific coast community of Nosara. The officer, one of two at the scene, is expected to recover, said the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública. The suspect was detained during the encounter. |
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| From Page 7: Green energy to be promoted by bank By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica and Banco Promerica have reached an agreement for technical cooperation and promotion of a financial market for renewable energy and efficient energy products. The Banco de Desarrollo para Centroamérica is seeking to create financial products for green energy. The targets are small and medium enterprises. A news release said that the amount involved was $54,000 for promotional purposes. The money comes from European and German sources, said the development bank. Banco Promerica is a private entity. |
