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A.M.
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Published
Tuesday,
May 3, 2016, in Vol.
17, No. 86
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San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday,
May 3, 2016, Vol. 17, No.
86
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President’s
speech draws some praise
By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
President Luis Guillermo Solís got some rare praise from a political opponent after the presidential state of the country speech Monday. Antonio Álvarez Desanti, who now is the president of the Asamblea Legislative, cited programs that had benefited the country, including the way the Solís administration had handled the wave of thousands of Cuban migrants. He also cited efforts against narcotrafficking with the Ministro de Seguridad and the Comisión de Seguridad y Narcotráfico and certain social programs. But he also said that the president’s grip on the country was indecisive. The president was generous in his talk and noted that some recent projects had been the result of labor by previous administrations including that of Laura Chinchilla Miranda, who belongs to the same party as Álvarez, the Partido Liberación Nacional. Solís outlined what he said were a number of achievements including a $420 million pending loan from the World Bank to pay for half of what the executive branch owes the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. There was no doubt of the president's main desire, more taxes. That was not a major part of the 12,800-word speech. He said that unless lawmakers approve more taxes, the national deficit would reach 8 percent by 2018. He rejected what he said were draconian budget cuts. Álvarez said later that the legislature would be open to collaborate on a tax proposal but said that the government budget has increased 10 percent when inflation was 1 percent and that there were concerns about the unclear finances of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, the management of the public banks and the financial demands of the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo. Session today on rapid response to rape By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
The U.S. Embassy is among the sponsors of a training session today at 3:30 p.m. on rapid response for victims of rape and other sex crimes. The Poder Judicial said the session will be in the Centro de Convenciones of the Hotel Wyndham Herradura in Heredia. Participating will be the president of the Corte Suprema de Justicia, Zarela Villanueva Monge; chief prosecutor Jorge Chavarría Guzmán; Walter Espinoza Espinoza, the director of the Judicial Investigating Organization; María del Rocío Sáenz, executive president of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, and Stafford Fitzgerald Haney, the U.S. ambassador. Boat inspections scheduled for Lake Arenal docks By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Boat owners at Lake Arenal can schedule inspections for a navigability certificate through Friday, according to the Dirección de Navegación y Seguridad del Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes. Inspectors will be at the various docks around the lake. More information is available at 2471-1791 or 22-33-50-22. There is a fee.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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San
José, Costa Rica,
Tuesday, May
3, 2016, Vol. 17,
No. 86
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| Tales
from the time when the U.S. government did not lie to us |
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By Jay Brodell
editor of A.M. Costa Rica Today is World Press Freedom Day, and it also is a few days from my 52nd anniversary of being a newspaperman. That’s not exactly accurate. There was time spent getting the paperwork to eventually become a tenured professor and also time to earn money to support my journalism habit. But I do remember the days when the government did not lie, abortion was a felony, television couples slept in separate beds and cocaine was not a party favor. Wow! Have things changed. We, the 1960s journalists, thought we could help end poverty just by supporting Lyndon Johnson. Medicaid was a big innovation from the Great Society that provided the poor with medical and dental care. Two years later we were writing about how medical professionals were gaming the system for six figure incomes. The dust was just beginning to settle in post-Batista Cuba, and Fidel Castro and his associates really were making trouble in the hemisphere. In 1969 in Venezuela, I was writing about Cuban submarines making arms deliveries to Venezuelan rebels. Being overseas then meant being ready to fight for a Sunday New York Times and await all the family news from the unreliable mails. Back in 1964 a new publisher at my Binghamton, New York, newspaper wanted to make news by endorsing Johnson for president. He sent a reporter to the public library to research if the newspaper ever endorsed a Democrat. It had not. But the reporter, my friend, spent days in the library caught up with history. The newspaper was old enough to have reported the 1848 elections. He was captured by the discrimination reflected in the newspaper. Racism against blacks would come later. But in the mid-19th century, the semi-humans were the Irish newcomers. They were great for digging canals, but when they fell into one and died, they rated about one sentence in the newspapers of the day. There was a big battle in the Republican Party in 1964, then too. Conservative Barry Goldwater represented the right wing of the party. Nelson Rockefeller, the New York governor, sought the presidential nomination as a moderate. Rockefeller, the rich candidate who could not be bought, did not make the cut. I covered Rockefeller when he was in a public relations battle with the new U.S. senator from New |
 National
Archives and Records Administration photo
Lyndon Johnson traveled to Independence, Missouri,
and the Harry S. Truman Library so the former
president could witness the signing of the Medicare
bill in 1965. Also in the photo is Lady Bird Johnson.
The bill was one of the achievements of the Great
Society.York, Robert Kennedy. Both men had staff members who immediately called reporters with news of grants and government actions. Once Rockefeller gave a speech about Kennedy’s favorite project, and I assembled my notes to leave. Instantly there was a goddess by my side inviting me to a hotel suite to learn Robert’s take on the speech. I looked over her shoulder and past her golden tresses to see my competition, a female reporter who worked for the afternoon paper being similarly invited by a matinee idol type. Until then, I did not know that politics was that ruthless. That also was the year when America was jolted by double assassinations. Martin Luther King, Jr. died in Memphis, Tennessee, April 4 and Robert Kennedy in California June 6. Vietnam war deaths were the grim news of the day, so much so that Johnson announced he would not seek reelection that March. Some nearby small towns had lost most of their young men. All was not grim in the newspaper days of the 1960s. I met my bride, a backtalking news source at a local hospital who demonstrated her skill at blackjack to the dismay of newsroom companions. And she was so loyal she even plunged into Latin America with me the next year. And so it was in the 1960s when things were not as they are now. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page |
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San
José, Costa Rica,
Tuesday,
May 3, 2016, Vol. 17,
No. 86
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| Some
neighbors of Turrialba volcano are having water trucked in |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Turrialba has been restless since Thursday, and emergency commission members say they are delivering water to those communities nearest the mountain. The ash from the eruptions has polluted the water sources. In addition schools are being closed as a safety precaution. They are in El Volcán, La Reunión, Sitio Las Abras, Las Virtudes and La Pastora. The commission, the Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias has established a prohibited zone five kilometers around the crater of the volcano. Scientists also are keeping a close watch. The crater is watched |
by a
series of cameras 24 hours a day. The volcano has acted up in the past, and there is a good chance the mountain will resume its nap in a few weeks. Vegetation in the area, which contains many truck farms, has been damaged. Farmers are spraying plants to eliminate the caustic and abrasive ash. The national park continues to be off-limits, and the commission urged tourists to find other attractions. The mountain has been emitting primarily ash, gases and water vapor. Some of the eruption columns went 1,000 meters into the sky over the weekend. The ash is being deposited within an area two miles from the crater, the commission said. |
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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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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A.M. Costa Rica's
Fifth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 3, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 86
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over attacking bin Laden By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The decision to hunt down and kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was a priority from the moment he took office, President Barack Obama says, but whether to actually undertake the mission was heavily debated. Obama spoke to CNN television Monday, on the fifth anniversary of the special forces operation that killed the world's most wanted criminal who was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington that killed 3,000 people. It was the first time Obama spoke about details of the mission. U.S. intelligence had identified bin Laden's most trusted courier in late 2010, according to U.S. accounts. Months of intelligence led the president's security team to conclude that bin Laden was hiding on the third floor of a heavily guarded compound near the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. Surveillance video showed a tall man resembling bin Laden shuffling through a courtyard for exercise. Obama said the risks of going after bin Laden were very high, especially if the information pointing to his hiding place was wrong. An incorrect conclusion that it was bin Laden in the house would cause significant blowback within Pakistan, Obama said. The president said when it came time to decide whether to go forth with the mission, some members of his security team said more intelligence was needed. But Obama said there was good reason to think the terrorist was hiding there. "If we did not take action, he might slip away and it might take years before he resurfaced," Obama said. As Obama and his security team watched a live video feed, four U.S. helicopters landed in the compound and discharged members of a highly trained Navy SEAL team. One of the aircraft was damaged as it landed, causing plenty of anxiety inside the White House, he said. Hillary Clinton, who was then secretary of State, said her heart was in her throat. "I never spent a more stressful 30 minutes in my life," she said. The SEAL team killed a guard on the first floor, shot dead one of bin Laden's sons on the second floor when it appeared he was about to open fire, then burst into a third floor room. One team member shot the world's top criminal twice in the head. Obama said no one in the White House watching the operation cheered or high-fived each other. The SEAL team captured boxes of computer drives and DVDs from bin Laden's house along with his body, which was later deposited into the sea after a Muslim burial ceremony. Just seconds before bin Laden was shot dead, Obama said, "hopefully at that moment, he understood that the American people hadn't forgotten the some 3,000 people who he killed." Venezuelan opposition files petition for recall of Maduro By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Venezuela's opposition says it has delivered a petition to election authorities calling for a nationwide referendum to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office. The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable said Monday it has collected 1.85 million signatures, more than nine times the number needed to launch the referendum process. The party blames Maduro's policies for food and medicine shortages, soaring inflation and increasingly frequent power cuts. The national electoral board must now validate the signatures. Then the opposition can try to collect the signatures of 20 percent of the electorate, around 4 million people, before a referendum can be held. A recent poll found that two-thirds of Venezuelans want Maduro to leave office. The opposition is seeking to hold a recall referendum by the end of the year which, if successful, would trigger a new election. They accuse the Maduro administration of trying to stall any potential vote until 2017, when a successful recall vote would transfer power to the vice president. Sunday Venezuela pushed its clocks forward a half-hour in an attempt to deal with the country's chronic shortage of electricity. Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela's science and technology minister, said the change will reduce the nighttime use of lighting and air conditioning. The government has initiated a packet of changes designed to save electricity, including rolling blackouts, a two-day public sector work week, and schools closed on Fridays. Maduro, who was elected in 2013 in a close vote, blames the power shortage on this year's massive drought, which reduced the reservoirs at Venezuela's hydroelectric dams. The opposition says the administration's mismanagement is to blame for the power cuts as well as the country's economic downturn. The oil-rich country once was awash in money, but oil prices have fallen and so have the fortunes of Venezuela. U.S. High Court won’t hear appeal of $15 minimum wage By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to hear a challenge to a minimum wage law brought by the franchise business owners in Seattle, Washington. The owners of such businesses as McDonald's argue the law requiring employers to pay workers $15 an hour is discriminatory because it gives them the same deadline to phase in the higher wages as large companies have. The franchise owners regard themselves as small businesses, which have been given more time to adjust to the new law. Workers' rights advocates say franchise owners get numerous benefits from their parent corporations that independent small businesses do not have. Republican-led congressional inaction on a federal minimum wage hike has prompted several states and large cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and New York state, to pass their own minimum wage laws. Many business owners say they cannot afford it. But workers say they cannot live on the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has been in place since 2009.  Library of
Congress photo
The oil painting shows a mortally wounded President Abraham Lincoln as he is moved from Ford's Theater. Wounded Lincoln painting restored for Ford’s Theater By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
There were no cameras outside Ford's Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865, as a group of men carried a wounded man out of the building. But German artist Carl Bersch captured the scene on his sketchpad as he sat on a nearby porch. A woman's face has a look of sheer horror. Around her a large crowd has gathered, their faces lit by the glow of a single street light. The wounded man is their president, Abraham Lincoln. Moments before, he and his wife, Mary, had been sitting in the balcony at the theater watching a play when a gunman entered the presidential box and fired a single bullet into the back of Lincoln's head. As his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, fled, the injured president was carried to the Petersen boarding house across the street, where he died the following morning. His death came just as he was leading the nation out of a long and bloody Civil War that had led to the death of more than 620,000 soldiers. Bersch developed his sketch into an oil painting, “Lincoln Borne by Loving Hands.” It is the only known painting by an eyewitness that captures the horror of that fateful night. The painting was recently unveiled at Ford’s Theatre and is owned by the U.S. National Park Service, which has a vast collection of rare artwork and other artifacts of historic and cultural importance. Laura Anderson, museum curator with the National Park Service, says Bersch was initially sketching a parade that was taking place on the street that night, celebrating the end of the Civil War. But his attention was soon drawn to the dramatic event that was unfolding before his eyes. "He knew immediately it was a momentous scene that he was witnessing as he saw the president carried out onto the street," she said. Since its creation more than 150 years ago, the painting has undergone several restorations, not all of them effective. So the Park Service asked conservator David Olin to undo the previous damage and help restore the work to its original condition. “In 30-something years of doing conservation, I have never seen a rendering of the event that took place outside of Ford's Theatre, recalling and capturing the aftermath of Lincoln’s assassination," said Olin. "So to me it's a very unique painting.” Olin says he was fascinated "by the way that Carl Bersch captured not only Lincoln being carried out, but Lincoln is a very small facet of the overall design." "I think the artist has really captured what was going on . . . the impact it had on the nation, with the activity in the background and the very dark, strong shadows," he explained. He and his team spent about six months restoring the painting. The first phase was to clean the painting, removing the previous layers without damaging the original content. The second phase was doing structural repair, and the third phase involved “dot-by-dot in painting pre-existing areas of abrasion and loss, with colors, pigments, that are age-tested and fully reversible.” “So the objective, once the painting is cleaned and stabilized, is to bring back the artist's intent,” Olin said. Tamara Luzeckyj, one of the team members who worked on the painting, seemed pleased with the final result. “We’ve removed everything that's been obscuring that over the past hundred-something years and people can see it for what it originally was and be moved by that original painting, not the mask that we've been looking at for a long time,” she said. The artwork now hangs in the Ford’s Theatre museum, near the site where Lincoln was assassinated. Ms. Anderson hopes that when visitors see the painting, they will think about what happened that night at Ford's Theatre, more than a century and a half before. "It was a momentous occasion. It was the first time a president was assassinated. There was a peaceful transfer of power, and it was a very sad event and it was clearly felt by the artist who painted this painting,” she said. Many still regard Abraham Lincoln as one of the country's greatest and most beloved presidents. Bersch's painting is a poignant reminder of one of the darkest moments in American history. New Hampshire will appeal voting booth photo ruling By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The state of New Hampshire is appealing a decision that allows voters to take pictures inside voting booths. It would like to join other U.S. states that have banned any voting booth documentation in the form of digital images or photography being shared on social media or otherwise. In other words: No selfies with your ballot. "It's natural that people, particularly young people who are participating in the democratic process, want to make a record of their specific act of casting a ballot," said John Hardin Young, chairman of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Election Law. "That can include taking a photograph with their phone of the actual ballot face as it's marked. In a way, we are really at loggerheads. On the one hand, we want everyone to participate. On the other, we do want to make sure that the ballot box remains secret." The secret ballot has long been perceived as an integral part of the U.S. democratic system, protecting voters from criticism or peer pressure and allowing them to fulfill their democratic privilege in private. Many state officials, such as in New Hampshire, believe that documentation of ballots may promote an uptick in voter fraud and buying votes, allowing companies or individuals to force paid voters to give confirmation that they completed their "job." But a federal judge ruled in 2015 that New Hampshire could not ban photography in the voting booth. The social network Snapchat joined the discussion last week by filing a court brief in the New Hampshire case, arguing that engaging in social media is a way of political expression, a millennial's version of an "I Voted" sticker that keeps them involved and excited about the political process. "Whatever its form, the voter's message is the same: I'm participating in the civic process, and you should, too," Snapchat said. "That message has carried over to the virtual world. Millions of voters announce online that they have voted, and many engage with or share political content with their online networks. Selfies and ballot selfies are part of that." Snapchat also argued that as a news gatherer, the social media app has a journalistic interest guaranteed under the First Amendment of the Constitution to share ballot booth selfies. "The state's ballot-selfie ban unjustifiably infringes on that right," Snapchat said. Steven LaBonte, a representative for the case from the office of the Attorney General of New Hampshire, does not deny the importance of news gathering and the press's right to freedom of expression. But he did not buy Snapchat's claim that ballot selfies have a place in modern news gathering. "I think the press has a news gathering duty, but it has been done for years without the ballot selfie," he said. Snapchat's format has changed and expanded in recent years, moving toward more live stories that can be viewed by a broad audience as opposed to sending individual snaps to a handpicked list of people, but the basic principle of sending an image that can only be seen once before it disappears remains the same. Young does not think that Snapchat's format lends itself to the arguments it is making in regard to documentation, but says that, regardless of the nature of the photo, the overarching question remains the same. What is best for the voting booth? "Whether that is an instant snap for a moment or all time, the real question is what do you believe is the predominant or best policy for the voting booth?" There is no federal consensus on photography in the voting booth, and laws vary dramatically state by state. While some states, such as South Carolina, have virtually no restrictions, Pennsylvania voters can face fines of up to $1,000 for posing with their ballot. Many other states, such as Texas, have more moderate policies. They ban cellphones and photographs inside the voting booth, but the offense is not punishable by law. Young said that while this case is bound to receive national attention, a federal law is unlikely. "Most of the laws regarding voting are decided at the state level … and I don't see that changing," he said. Indiana primary may give Trump the nomination edge By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump faces a crucial showdown in the Indiana primary today with his closest rival, Sen. Rafael “Ted” Cruz of Texas. A Trump victory in Indiana would likely put him on a glide path to clinching the Republican Party’s presidential nomination before the national convention in Cleveland in July. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll has Trump with a 15-point lead in Indiana, although earlier surveys varied as to the extent of his lead. An increasingly confident Trump told supporters at a rally in Terre Haute, Indiana, that he is eager to shift his focus to the general election campaign and away from rivals Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. “It’s really important that we win because if we win, you know, we want to raise money for the party, we want to raise money for the Senate races and for the congressional races and do a lot of things instead of wasting our time with these people!” Trump is coming off five easy primary victories last week in the East and a win in Indiana would deal a major blow to Cruz and his hopes of forcing a contested convention. Cruz is on a campaign blitz of Indiana in the final hours before the primary. During an encounter with reporters in northern Indiana, he lumped Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton together as he made a last-minute appeal for Republican support. “Do you want to turn on the television and see a president, Republican or Democrat, who embarrasses you?” Cruz is desperate for a win in Indiana that would make it more difficult for Trump to secure the necessary delegates before the convention, perhaps setting up a multi-ballot battle for the nomination in Cleveland. “I’m not getting to 1,237 delegates and Donald J. Trump is not getting to 1,237 delegates. And the Hoosier state is going to have a powerful voice in making that clear,” Cruz told supporters in Indianapolis recently, accompanied by his vice presidential running mate, former tech executive and failed Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. Cruz picked Fiorina with the hope of energizing conservative voters before the Indiana vote, and she has become a featured speaker during his campaign events. “There is a lot at stake and, in fact, this is a fight. This is a fight for the soul of our party and the future of our nation,” she told cheering supporters in Indianapolis. Cruz also got a last-minute boost with the endorsement of Indiana’s popular governor, Mike Pence. “I see Ted Cruz as a principled conservative who has dedicated his career to advocating the Reagan agenda and I’m pleased to support him.” Before endorsing Cruz, Pence also went out of his way to praise Trump, the latest sign the Republican establishment is coming to terms with the notion that Trump is the likely nominee. Kasich stepped aside from campaigning in Indiana in a loose agreement with Cruz. The Ohio governor is focused on later primaries, including Oregon in mid-May, and hopes to remain relevant if the July convention truly turns into a contest. Kasich told supporters in Oregon that he is the only optimistic Republican left in the race. “Some people say to me, your candidacy is about hope. Your candidacy is about healing. Your candidacy is about bringing people together, not having people divided,” he said. Despite his lead, Trump continues to face protests, including one last week in California where he spoke at a Republican convention. Cruz and Kasich also addressed the convention, which chose delegates before California’s June 7 primary. A victory in Indiana Tuesday would put Trump one step closer to his goal of a first ballot victory at the national convention. “Donald Trump, I think, has to win on that first ballot, either outright with the 1,237 delegates or by getting close and persuading a few others,” said analyst John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. “If it goes to ballots two and three, he is potentially in some trouble.” Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is also campaigning in Indiana, fresh off winning four of five primaries last week. Mrs. Clinton is already focused on Trump as her likely opponent in the general election and takes issue with his charge that she is playing the woman’s card in her campaign. “Mr. Trump accused me of playing the “woman card.” Well, if fighting for women’s health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in,” Mrs. Clinton told cheering supporters at a victory rally in Philadelphia after her primary wins last week. Polls show Mrs. Clinton is in a tight race in Indiana with rival Bernie Sanders, who vows to fight on through the rest of the coming primaries. “We believe that we are in a very strong position to win many of these remaining contests and we have an excellent chance to win in California, the state with far and away the most delegates,” he said Sunday. Sanders vowed to continue to try to win over superdelegates to the national convention in Philadelphia in July. But Mrs. Clinton has maintained her huge advantage with the superdelegates, most of whom are elected officials and party leaders, and that has given her a virtually insurmountable lead in the quest for the Democratic nomination. |
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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 Río
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 |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 3, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 86
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Baby boomers displaced by
millennials By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The long reign of the baby boomers is over. The millennial generation is now the largest living generation, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. There are now 75.4 million millennials, people born during the period from 1981 and 1997, who were between the ages of 18 and 34 in 2015. They edged past the country’s 74.9 million baby boomers, the generation born after World War II, who range in age from 51 to 69. “Millennials are kind of their own culture,” said William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution author of “Diversity Explosion.” “They’re already being noticed because of their size and their unique attributes but, for the most part, they’re not yet in positions of power so that will occur in the next 10 or 15 years and when that happens, they’ll make a marked change.” Millennials are the best-educated U.S. generation to date. They’re more likely to be politically independent, rather than Republican or Democrat, and they’re much more socially liberal, accepting things like gay marriage to a much greater degree than earlier generations. The United States might have a history of isolationism but, with this new generation, that’s likely to be all in the past. “Because they’re more racially diverse and many of their parents were born outside the United States, they are more familiar and more adept at interacting with people from other cultures and other backgrounds,” Frey said. “This much more diverse, kind-of international generation. . . is going to have a much more global reach. It’s going to make us better able and better equipped to persist and succeed in a global economy.” Before the ascendance of the millennials, baby boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, ruled as the largest living U.S. generation and wielded a great deal of cultural, economic and political influence. The baby boomers peaked at 78.8 million in 1999, as boomers born in other countries continued to swell their ranks. The millennials are expected to surpass that number in 2036 at 81.1 million. But don’t expect the rabble-rousing generation that expanded racial diversity and advanced women’s rights to shuffle quietly into gray-haired obscurity. They might not be inclined to give up position, power and influence without a fight. “They may tend to get a little bit ornery as they get older,” Frey said. “I think enough of them will revive some of their earlier ideas and rebelliousness as they get into old age, in good ways, and they may be able to partner with millennials to make that change come about. But it could be rough for a few years.” Hurricanes found to encourage vegetation By the Duke University news
staff
While hurricanes are a constant source of worry for residents of the southeastern United States, new research suggests that they have a major upside counteracting global warming. Previous research from Duke University environmental engineer Ana Barros demonstrated that the regular landfall of tropical cyclones is vital to the region’s water supply and can help mitigate droughts. Now, a new study from Ms. Barros reveals that the increase in forest photosynthesis and growth made possible by tropical cyclones in the southeastern United States captures hundreds of times more carbon than is released by all vehicles in the U.S. in a given year. The study was published online on April 20, 2016, in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences. |
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| From Page 7: Biofuels seminar planned in Moravia By the A.M. Costa Rica
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Agricultural engineers are planning a free seminar on the production of biofuels. The seminar will be Thursday at 2 p.m. in the Colegio de Ingenieros Agrónomos in Residencial Los Colegios, Moravia. The organization noted that interest in agricultural products to make biofuels is increasing. But many products have high costs and need study before planting. Some expats are involved in the production of biofuels with various types of plants. The schedule includes addressing the use of sugar cane, coyol, palm oil and other potential bio fuels. The seminar also is supposed to address the legal implications. The event is part of the organization’s 75th anniversary celebration. |
