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San
José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 5, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 87
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Vice president
wins top spot
in Panama's presidential race By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Panama's vice president has won a surprise victory in the presidential election. Juan Carlos Varela, who had distanced himself politically from President Ricardo Martinelli, has been declared the winner of Sunday's vote. Election day began with opinion polls pointing to a tight race among the top three candidates. None had the 50-year-old Varela, the scion of one of Panama's richest families, with a lead. Most polls gave a thin edge to Housing Minister José Domingo Arias, the president's choice for his replacement. Arias' running mate was President Martinelli's wife. The other top candidate was former Panama City mayor Juan Carlos Navarro. President Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon, recently inaugurated the first metro in Central America in Panama City. Semana Santa occupancies were less than expected By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Hotel occupancy over Semana Santa was 72 percent, below what tourism operators had predicted. Still, some 73 percent of the 147 firms contacted in a survey said the demand was good or very good, said the Cámera Nacional de Turismo. Puntarenas seemed to have the highest occupancy. The tourism chamber calculated this to be 86 percent over the period April 11 to April 20. Much of the business came from foreigners because the survey also showed that the average occupancy by Costa Ricans was just 42.6 percent throughout the country. Typically, Costa Ricans either visit relatives on the coasts during the week-long holiday or they simply set up tents on the beach. Semana Santa is a major vacation period rivaled only by the Christmas season for tourism operators. Previous holiday seasons have had higher occupancy, and tourism operators are expected to seek some concession from Luis Guillermo Solís after he takes office Thursday. Police arrest Nicaraguan as presumed human trafficker By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A man suspected of smuggling immigrants into the country is now in the hands of the Fuerza Pública. The arrest occurred over the weekend at the Peñas Blancas border when the Nicaraguan man with the last names Sosa Valdivia tried to usher two immigrants into Costa Rica, said police. He charged a pair of Nicaraguans 10,000 colons for bringing them into the country, according to a police report. They were later sent to authorities from immigration. This marks the second arrest this year of an intermediary bringing Nicaraguan immigrants across the border, said the Fuerza Pública.. San José man, 79, dies visiting Canadian kin By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A San José man who was visiting family members in Canada has died there. He is José Jesús Garlow, 79, said the family. He was retired from his job a a factory worker. Survivors are Marvin Garlow, Gerry Garlow, Maria Fuendes and Eva Mendez, all of Canada, said the family. There was cremation, and his ashes are being returned to his home in San José.  Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Police confiscated these
medicines from a bus passenger coming from Nicaragua Friday. Offices
said the medicines will be destroyed because they lack government
approval.y Seguridad Pública photo Our reader's opinion
Cruelty is the same horrorregardless of animal type Dear A.M. Costa Rica: This was a quote from the article a few days ago: "As a veterinary scientist, I consider the hunt to present real and significant welfare concerns. If what I have witnessed being done to a young seal was done to a horse or a dog, there is little doubt that it would be labelled as cruel." I find this hypocritical. This veterinarian and most other North Americans would agree it would be cruel to do what they do to baby seals to a horse or dog. Most people have no problem with the horrific slaughter of baby sheep called lambs or baby cows, calves. People seem to think that lamb chops, rack of lamb or veal is OK to eat but eating products from baby seals is cruel but not for the lamb or calf. It also could be said for pigs, chickens, cows, turkeys and ducks. All are treated inhumanely while being raised on commercial farms (concentration camps) and are slaughtered in horrific ways as well. In fact about 70 billion are slaughtered every year. I think we need to be honest about how we deal with animals around the world and not just pick and choose the ones we think shouldn't be tortured. It is a good thing that most people in North America don't like the idea of horses or dogs being eaten. Otherwise they would be on the menu in most restaurants and in the meat section of the grocery store. Why is it called cruelty for one animal and not another? Does it just come down to how good they taste? If so, that sure is a shame that our tastes cause horrific cruelty for so many and not others. If you think it is necessary to eat these animals to survive, sorry. Studies show vegetarians and vegans have a healthier quality of life compared to those who consume meat. Henry
Kantrowitz
Punta Leona
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 5, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 87 | |
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The inactivity at Volcán Arenal, obvious in this Sunday photo, is having an effect on tourism and the economy of the area. The volcano was famous for its continuing eruptions of hot rocks and ash. This activity was best observed from one of the La Fortuna region's hot pools, preferable with a drink in hand. |
 A.M. Costa Rica/Michael Krumholtz
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| Emissions from Volcán Arenal reported to be lowest in
years |
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By
Michael Krumholtz
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Emissions from Arenal volcano have reached their lowest points in years. The latest "State of the Volcanoes Study" by the Observatorio Vulcanólogico y Sismológico de Costa Rica said that the output from the volcano has been less than the one-ton-per-day minimum required for measurement. The observatory's study added that any material coming from Arenal's crater is decreasingly acidic. This trend coincides with the decrease in eruptions and seismic activity, said the Universidad Nacional agency. Carlos Ramírez, a volcanologist at Universidad de Costa Rica, insisted that this pattern is a natural phenomenon. He said Arenal remains under the same classification of active, and that the country's other volcanoes are experiencing a similar cycle. "Rincón de Vieja was last active in 1996 and now it's not as active as it was in those years," Ramírez said. "Poás was active in the early |
1990s for 10 to 15
years and now it's giving out very light emissions." He agreed with the volcano observatory's study that said Arenal has not seen as much lava flow or activity in general over the last three to four years. The Red Sismológica Nacional where Ramírez works lists Arenal's last major eruption as happening in 2010 when it emitted a pyroclastic flow. Now the network at Universidad de Costa Rica considers the volcano under a state of rest as recently the volcano has only been giving off gaseous outputs. Arenal's present period of activity began in 1968 after centuries of dormancy and has been one of the top 100 most active volcanoes in the world in the past 40 years, according to the Red Sismológica. Arenal awoke that year with a bang, according to the volcano observatory, as it's explosion damaged much of the rainforest blanketing its base and killed about 90 people. The observatory has been tracking volcanic and seismic activity in Costa Rica since 1984. |
| Restoration is complete at Heredia Comandancia, heritage
center says |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The restoration of the Comandancia de Heredia is completed and the structure will again be turned over to the security ministry in a ceremony today. The structure in Heredia Centro has long been listed by the Centro de Conservación Patrimonio Cultural. The building was in bad shape even though it was being used every day. The 440-million-colon ($815,000) project restored just about everything, including the cells. The Centro de Patrimonio said the Comandancia now appears the same what it was when it was built in the 19th century. Any parts that were not original have been removed, and areas that had not been used because of the bad condition have been opened up again, said the centro. There was a lot of documentation about how the structure appeared originally, the centro said. The redone structure also meets the requirements for disable access, said the centro. |
 Centro de
Conservación Patrimonio Cultural file photo
This photo is from 1911. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 5, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 87 | |||||
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| New research shows that global warming effect is hardly
uniform |
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By
the Florida State University news staff
New research by a team of Florida State University scientists shows the first detailed look at global land surface warming trends over the last 100 years, illustrating precisely when and where different areas of the world started to warm up or cool down. The research indicates that the world is indeed getting warmer, but historical records show that it hasn't happened everywhere at the same rate. And that new information even took scientists by surprise. "Global warming was not as understood as we thought," said Zhaohua Wu, an assistant professor of meteorology at Florida State University. Wu led a team of climate researchers. The group, using an analysis method newly developed by Wu and his colleagues, examined land surface temperature trends from 1900 onward for the entire globe, minus Antarctica. Previous work by scientists on global warming could not provide |
information
of non-uniform warming in space and time due to limitations
of previous analysis methods in climate research. The research team found that noticeable warming first started around the regions circling the Arctic and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. But the largest accumulated warming to date is actually at the northern midlatitudes. They also found that in some areas of the world, cooling had actually occurred. "The global warming is not uniform," Chassignet said. "You have areas that have cooled and areas that have warmed." For example, from about 1910 to 1980, while the rest of the world was warming up, some areas south of the equator — near the Andes — were actually cooling down, and then had no change at all until the mid 1990s. Other areas near and south of the equator didn't see significant changes comparable to the rest of the world at all. The team's work is featured in the journal Nature Climate Change. The detailed picture of when and where the world has warmed or cooled will provide a greater context to global warming research overall, Wu 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, Monday, May 5, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 87 | |||||
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| Biggest gay pride parade takes place in Sao Paulo By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Hundreds of thousands of gay rights supporters. many wearing elaborate colorful costumes, marched through the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo Sunday in one of the world's biggest gay pride parades. Some of the outfits celebrated Brazil's hosting of soccer's World Cup next month while other participants wore large wigs and danced on grand floats. But there was a tone of seriousness under all the joy. The organizers are demanding Brazil pass laws making homophobia a crime, including discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. They say such a law would also cut down on violence against homosexuals. While Brazil's supreme court legalized gay marriage in 2011, conservative lawmakers and religious leaders opposed federal legislation granting more rights to homosexuals. Police release Gerry Adams despite crowd of protesters By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Northern Ireland police have freed Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams after questioning him for five days about the 1972 execution of a widowed mother of 10 suspected of being a spy for the British army during the country's decades of political and religious violence. Police on Sunday said they will send a report to the Northern Ireland prosecutor's office, which will decide whether to charge Adams in the killing of Jean McConville. Addressing reporters and supporters at a Belfast hotel, Adams again insisted he is "innocent of any involvement in any conspiracy to abduct, kill or bury Mrs. McConville." Adams was a key figure in the 1998 peace settlement after 30 years of killings in Northern Ireland between Irish Catholic nationalists and mostly Protestant pro-British loyalists seeking to keep Northern Ireland as part of Britain. Over the years, former Irish Republican Army fighters have accused Adams, a member of the Irish parliament, of involvement in the campaign of killings during the sectarian clashes. McConville was abducted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army from her Belfast home and shot to death. Her body was secretly buried and found decades later on a beach in the Republic of Ireland. Historians and witnesses say Adams served as an IRA commander for decades during the conflict. Adams has always denied holding any position in the outlawed group, despite accusations from an IRA veteran who said McConville was killed on Adams' orders. Adams’ departure from the police's main interrogation center in Antrim, west of Belfast, was delayed by two hours by a crowd of angry Protestants outside the front gate. Dozens of officers, many sporting full riot gear with flame-retardant boiler suits, body armor, helmets and shields, confronted the hardline Protestants, as they tried to block Adams' exit by sitting down in the roadway. After a 15-minute standoff, police escorted Adams out via a rear exit that the protesters could not see. World Press Freedom Day spotlights dangers to media By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Saturday was World Press Freedom Day, an annual observance established by the United Nations in 1993 to support freedom of expression. The U.N. says an open and pluralistic media must work in a safe environment without fear of reprisal. The international body says last year 71 journalists were killed, while another 826 were arrested. More than 2,000 journalists were threatened or physically attacked last year. The 2014 World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information. Reporters Without Borders, the sponsors of the index, said some countries have been affected by a tendency to interpret national security needs in an "overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to inform and be informed." The group said the trend was a growing threat worldwide and was endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies. Finland tops the World Press Freedom index for the fourth straight year, closely followed by Netherlands and Norway, like last year. The last three positions are again held by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, three countries where Reporters Without Borders says freedom of information is non-existent. The United States is number 46 on the list of 180 countries. Haiti is number 47. Cape Verde comes in at number 24 and Britain is 33. Russia is number 148, Cuba is 170 and China is ranked at number 175. Critics home in on Obama for his handing of Russia By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
As tensions and turmoil escalate in Ukraine, America’s response to the crisis is becoming an increasingly contentious issue in Washington. Deadly clashes in Odessa point to a grim reality: with every passing day, Ukraine teeters closer to civil war between a pro-Western government in Kyiv and pro-Russian militias backed by Moscow. A new round of U.S. sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has not altered Moscow’s aggressive posture toward Ukraine, a fact noted by President Barack Obama’s critics in Washington. “President Obama talks tough about Vladimir Putin. But his actions have not gone far enough to change Putin’s calculation that the benefits of his aggression outweigh the costs,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican. Last week, Senate Republicans introduced a bill that would subject Russian banks and other key economic sectors to U.S. penalties. “Our economic well-being is deeply dependent on our national security. The problem is that President Obama does not seem to understand this. Instead of shaping world events, he has often simply reacted to them,” Rubio said. However, Obama is not ruling out elements of the Republican proposal. “If Russia continues on its current course, we have a range of tools at our disposal, including sanctions that would target certain sectors of the Russian economy,” the president said. But in a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Obama said he hopes diplomacy will make further sanctions unnecessary. “Our hope is that we should not have to use them. We are not interested in punishing the Russian people. We do think that Mr. Putin and his leadership circle are taking bad decisions and unnecessary decisions and he needs to be dissuaded from his current course,” Obama said. The crisis in Ukraine is but one source of friction in the foreign policy arena between the White House and its critics. Many Republicans, and even some Democratic lawmakers, have urged a more robust U.S. response to the fighting in Syria, and are skeptical about the administration’s effort to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions through diplomacy. Environmental prize winner opposes fracking technique By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
This year’s North American Goldman Environmental Prize winner used legal means to ban hydraulic fracturing in parts of central New York state. Fracking, as it is known, is a controversial method to extract natural gas and other fossil fuels. Anti-fracking activists say the technique hurts the environment, while the petroleum industry maintains fracking is safe. Goldman award winner Helen Stottje is a lawyer in a mostly rural area of New York with small towns. She’s against fracking, which involves deep drilling through shale rock and pumping down a pressurized mix of water and chemicals to release natural gas. Stottje volunteered to build a case against an industrial complex being constructed by a fracking company. While the company won the case, Ms. Stottje learned that local laws could stop fracking, and she used that as a weapon to help ban fracking in several towns. Today, more towns in New York state have passed local laws prohibiting fracking. Ms. Stottje’s crusade began after attending a local meeting where she saw photos of destruction caused by fracking in nearby Pennsylvania. “The chemical pits, with the drill cuttings and the flowback water, cleared tree areas, swaths of forests that were just clear-cut for pipelines, for well pads,” she said. But Steve Everley, a spokesman for the education arm of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, says, although there are risks, they are manageable. “Everything is safely managed through the multiple layers of steel casing and cement that goes into creating a well. You’ve got anywhere between five and seven layers that protect what’s inside the pipe from what’s outside of it. I chiefly mean groundwater supplies,” he said. But Ms. Stottje thinks fracking is harmful and says about a third of the wells fail. “These are our water supplies we’re talking about drilling through in large number. And in addition, there are methane emissions, and emitting all of this methane, such a powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, is very disruptive,” she said. But Everley points out that studies have shown that fracking actually helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions. He says fracking should also continue because it provides jobs and energy security. Ms. Stottje, however, says fracking should be stopped permanently. Microsoft produces patch for unsupported systems By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Microsoft has announced that its latest security update for Internet Explorer is being made available for users of Windows XP, even though the software firm stopped supporting that version of its operating system in favor of the newer versions, Windows 7 or 8.1. Microsoft ended technical support, including automatic security updates, for Windows XP April 8, saying it wants to use its resources for supporting newer technologies. However, last week a security flaw was discovered in Internet Explorer, versions 9 through 11, which enabled hackers to gain access to computers using Windows XP. The new security patch will be installed automatically on most computers using Windows XP. Users who opted to use the manual update are being encouraged to do it as soon as possible. Microsoft is calling on users of Windows XP to upgrade their operating system and install the latest version of Internet Explorer 11. First case of Mideast virus found in U.S. health worker By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has confirmed the first case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Virus within the United States. Centers officials Friday said an American health care worker who recently traveled to Saudi Arabia has been hospitalized with the virus in the midwestern state of Indiana. They say the patient has been isolated and is in stable condition. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the case is rapidly evolving, and that the Centers for Disease Control is working to identify people who may have been in contact with the patient. Ms. Schuchat said the patient traveled from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 24 to London, and then on to Indiana. The virus first appeared in September 2012, and all of the cases have been linked to six countries in the Arabian peninsula. Saudi Arabia has seen the most cases. Ms. Schuchat said around 400 people have tested positive for the disease since it first appeared, and that about one-third of those people have died from the virus. The Middle East Respiratory Virus is a member of the coronavirus family, which includes germs that cause the common cold, as well as severe acute respiratory syndrome. T/eh respiratory syndrome popped up in southern China in 2003, infected about 8,000 people in 29 countries and killed about 800 before it was contained. A spike in Middle East Respiratory Virus cases in Saudi Arabia that began last week has raised worries among health experts that the virus has mutated into a more spreadable form. Ms. Schuchat said the reason for the increase is not yet known. It is not yet clear where Middle East Respiratory Virus came from originally, but camels are the lead suspects. Five top killers named for U.S. premature deaths By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Five things kill the majority of the nearly 900,000 Americans who die prematurely each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Premature death, as defined by the centers, is under 80 years old, given that the average life expectancy in the U.S. is 79. The five top killers are heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke and unintentional injuries. These accounted for 63 percent of all U.S. deaths in 2010 though the rates vary greatly by state. Of those deaths, the centers says 20 to 40 percent could be prevented if people had access to the top preventative care available in the country for each specific cause of death, a best-case scenario of sorts. The best-case scenario was calculated by using the mortality rates of the five top causes of death in all the U.S. states. The three states with the lowest mortality for each of the five top killers was then averaged. The CDC study estimated the number of avoidable, premature deaths for each cause would be as follows: * 34 percent of premature deaths from heart diseases, potentially extending about 92,000 lives. * 21 percent of premature cancer deaths, potentially extending about 84,500 lives. * 39 percent of premature deaths from chronic lower respiratory diseases, potentially extending about 29,000 lives. * 33 percent of premature stroke deaths, potentially extending about 17,000 lives. * 39 percent of premature deaths from unintentional injuries, potentially extending about 37,000 lives. Those numbers, the centers said, could not be added together because some people might recover from a heart attack only to later die from cancer, for example. The data covered 2008 to 2010. “As a doctor, it is heartbreaking to lose just one patient to a preventable disease or injury, and it is that much more poignant as the director of the nation’s public health agency to know that far more than a hundred thousand deaths each year are preventable,” said Tom Frieden, centers director The southern states, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, saw between 28 and 33 percent of preventable premature deaths, the centers said. This data is yet another demonstration that when it comes to health in this country, your longevity and health are more determined by your postal code than they are by your genetic code, Frieden said during a news conference. Ways to lower the risk of premature death include many common sense steps. For example, the centers recommends eating healthy, exercising, avoiding smoking, using seat belts, using helmets, controlling high blood pressure and avoiding exposure to harmful chemicals and other substances. Frieden told reporters that the “good news is that things that people can change -- what we call modifiable risk factors -- make a huge difference." According to a 2009 World Health Organization report, the top causes of premature death worldwide are poor childhood nutrition, unsafe sex, alcohol use, lack of safe water, bad sanitation and hygiene, and high blood pressure. Obama among attractions at annual Washington dinner By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The glitterati of Washington and Hollywood came together Saturday for the 100th annual White House Correspondents Association dinner. President Barack Obama, as presidents traditionally do, attended the Washington event and delivered a string of jokes, some of them directed at his own administration. Obama made fun of the troubled start of the government's health care Web site. The president said, "In 2008, my slogan was 'Yes, we can.' In 2013 my slogan was 'control, alt, delete.'" The president joked about conservative Fox TV whose hosts and commentators have questioned Obama's citizenship. The joke included a reference to Hillary Clinton, who could run for president in 2016. Obama said, "Let's face it, Fox, you'll miss me when I'm gone. It'll be harder to convince the American public that Hillary was born in Kenya." Joel McHale, the host of the E Network's "The Soup" and the star of the NBC-TV comedy "Community," was the host for this year's dinner. Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o was among the Hollywood celebrities at the dinner. Other guests included the cast of the ABC TV drama "Scandal," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. John McCain, Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, ABC newscaster Diane Sawyer and MSNBC host Ronan Farrow. 'Spider-Man 2' resonates to viewers all over world By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Marc Webb’s "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is one of Hollywood’s summer big budget movies. It cost $250 million to make and another $150 million to market around the world. Sony Pictures hopes its stunning special effects will bring in the money. But it is Spiderman's humanity and idealism that speak to people all over the world. Marc Webb’s 3D sequel "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," starts as Peter Parker, the young man under the Spiderman suit, is graduating from high school and preparing to take on the world. The film dazzles with its special effects, but filmmaker Webb says the superhero's optimism and youthfulness are the biggest draw for young people. “Which is kind of a magical thing because we are in a world that is divided by borders, by religion, by politics and these characters, the characters that everybody can find something in, can penetrate people in a very special way as we travelled the world," said Webb. Like Webb, Andrew Garfield, who plays Spiderman, believes that Hollywood’s big budget superhero flicks help shape an international popular culture based on compassion, idealism and hope. “No matter what your gender, no matter what your sexual persuasion or your skin color, he is a representative of all of us. We really felt that going around the world, everyone can imagine themselves as Spiderman," said Garfield. In "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Spiderman fights crime with gusto in the urban canyons of New York City, breaking into witticisms that many may not find that witty. But he is likable and has a great chemistry with his co-star Emma Stone, who plays Gwen Stacy, his love interest. “It feels like making a different movie every day because you are shooting these really grounded intimate scenes one day and the next day you are on wires swinging in a giant green room," said Stone. The big money is on the film's impressive special effects. Like those seen in one of the film's climactic moments, when Spiderman faces off with his nemesis Electro, played by Jamie Foxx. “We built an entire version of Times Square off on Long Island because they wouldn’t let us do the things we needed to do in the actual Times Square. We had 13 construction cranes, all these green screens surrounding this environment we could come up with, an arena for Spiderman and Electro to go head to head," said Webb. The sleek CGI technology makes Spiderman more agile than ever and his enemies more menacing. “After it’s done, after people are watching it and it’s opening up all over the world, we had a chance to travel and see young kids and people so excited about it," said Foxx. But it is the grim and unexpected turn of events towards the end of the film that highlights Spiderman's humanity and limitations in a human drama where no one can have it all. New measure of economies puts India and China ahead By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The summary findings of a World Bank study show the economies of India and China have grown more than previously thought, leading some analysts to predict that China could surpass the United States as the world's biggest economy by the end of the year, sooner than many experts had predicted. Conducted every six years by the World Bank’s International Comparison Program under authority of the United Nations Statistical Commission, the results show that, based on 2011 prices, the purchasing power of China’s yuan was significantly stronger than indicated by standard exchange rates. Drawn from a different economic measurement than the widely-used gross domestic product figures, the results of the purchasing power parities method purportedly reflect differences in costs of living in different nations with greater accuracy. According to Kamel Mellahi, professor of strategic management at Britain's Warwick Business School, gross domestic product measurements have inherent problems. "With traditional GDP, people always said it underestimated the size of economies in developing countries, and some of the emerging economies, because the cost of living is cheaper and lower there," he said Whereas ross domestic product measures all goods and services produced in a nation and relies on market-based exchange rates — the rate travelers or exporters get at a bank — purchasing power parities-based analysis allows comparison of living standards in countries with widely varying prices. It "captures how far a dollar goes in terms of buying goods and services in different countries," said Mellahi, explaining that the purchasing power parities metric is particularly good at illustrating the relative cost of goods in different nations and how much it costs to buy things needed by ordinary people. "You take a basket of goods that we all buy, including milk, butter, sugar, [going] to the movies, prices of haircuts in different countries, and they look at the cost of that in different countries," he said. Scholars then use that data to work out what amounts to a hypothetical exchange rate with which to compare economies. Whereas both purchasing power parities and gross domestic product rates can be affected by many factors, Bankrate.com chief financial analyst Greg McBride says although purchasing power parities eliminates some statistical distortion, it produces results more akin to estimates than precise measurements. "There is a huge margin of error there that I think can really throw the validity of the whole thing into question," said McBride. Regardless of methodology, various reports indicate China and India have been growing faster than developed economies such as the United States for some time, and the recently released data also show India overtaking Japan as the world's third-largest economy. The summary findings also show the U.S. economy expanding at a weak one-tenth of one percent in the first three months of this year. The full results of the International Comparison Program report are slated for release in July 2014. Mice are more youthful when given young blood By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. scientists have discovered that older mice become more energetic, stronger and have better memory when injected with the blood of young mice. Researchers at Harvard University and the University of California, San Francisco, carried out their experiments on animals whose ages were equivalent to humans in their 20s and 60s. They believe the blood of the younger mice has a protein called GDF11, which also is found in human blood. They say this protein appears to decline with age. The doctors say they hope their research on mice can one day be used to treat human sufferers of diseases that affect the elderly, including dementia and Alzheimer's. But they caution people against trying this blood experiment at home. The study appears in two journals -- Nature Medicine and Science. Safer sleep position still not common among moms By
the American Academy of Pediatrics news staff
Since 1994, parents have been urged to put their babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. It appears many caregivers have not gotten the message, and health care providers have not done enough to educate families. Rates of babies being placed on the back for sleep are as low as 50 percent in some states, according to a study to be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition, only about two-thirds of term infants nationwide are placed on their backs to sleep, and the rate is even lower among preterm infants. “Given that supine sleep positioning significantly reduces an infant’s risk for SIDS, it is worrisome that only two-thirds of full-term infants born in the U.S. are being placed back-to-sleep,” said lead author Sunah S. Hwang, a neonatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and South Shore Hospital, and instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. “More concerning is that adherence to safe sleep positioning is even lower for preterm infants who are at even greater risk for SIDS compared to term infants.” Sudden infant death syndrome is the leading cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year of age. More than 2,000 babies died from sudden infant death syndrome in 2010, the most recent year statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Although the precise cause of SIDS is still unknown, we do know that safe sleep practices, such as sleeping on the back, reduces the risk of infant death in the first year of life,” Dr. Hwang said. “The Back-to-Sleep campaign reduced the rate of SIDS by 50 percent in the 1990s. Since 2001, this rate has remained stagnant.” Dr. Hwang and her colleagues analyzed data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System to compare the prevalence of supine sleep positioning after hospital discharge for preterm and term infants .This is a state-based surveillance system supported by the centers to monitor behaviors and experiences among women who recently delivered a live-born infant in a hospital. Surveys are mailed to mothers, and those who do not respond are contacted by phone. Mothers were asked which position they usually put their infant to sleep (side, back, stomach). Responses were categorized as supine (back) and non-supine, which included a combination of sleep positions. The study included 392,397 infants born in 36 states, which had response rates of 70 percent or more in 2000 to 2011. Researchers analyzed supine sleeping in the following gestational age categories: 27 weeks or less, 28-33 weeks, 34-36 weeks and 37-42 weeks. Results showed both preterm and term infants had suboptimal rates of supine sleep positioning after hospital discharge. In addition, supine sleep positioning varied widely by state, with Alabama having the lowest rate at 50 percent and Wisconsin having the highest rate at 81 percent. The most preterm group of infants (less than 28 weeks) had the lowest rate of supine sleep positioning at 60 percent. After adjusting for maternal age, education, race/Hispanic ethnicity, marital status, previous live birth, insurance status before pregnancy, method of delivery and maternal length of hospital stay, late preterm infants (34 to 36 weeks) were significantly less likely to sleep on their backs compared to term infants. “Given the concerning data about inadequate adherence to safe sleep practices for all infants and in particular for preterm infants, we need to better engage families about adhering to safe sleep practices at the individual, community, hospital and public health levels,” Dr. Hwang concluded. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 5, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 87 | |||||||||
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 Fabián Sánchez photo
Noe Mar McGonagle gestures to
the crowd after taking first place in the open divison of the Reef
Classic surfing championship Sunday. he defeated Venezuelan
Rafael Pereira in the final encounter at Playa Hermosa de Jacó.U.S. Web site promoting educational exchanges By
the U.S. Department of State news staff
The U.S. Department of State has unveiled a new 100,000 Strong in the Americas website available at www.100kstrongamericas.org. The Web site is designed to promote educational exchange opportunities in the Western Hemisphere. The initiative is implemented through partnerships between the U.S. government, including the White House and the Department of State; Partners of the Americas, the Association of International Educators, foreign governments, universities and colleges, and the private sector. The goal of 100,000 Strong in the Americas is to strengthen U.S. relations with the countries of the Americas through increased student mobility. Students from the United States and the Western Hemisphere select international exchange programs that will equip them with a broad base of skills and experiences, including exposure to other countries and cultures. The initiative reflects a growing focus on ensuring youth throughout the Western Hemisphere are prepared with the language and cross-cultural skills needed to succeed in the 21st century economy. The updated Web site contains resources for students interested in studying abroad in the Americas, higher education institutions who want to increase their footprint in the Western Hemisphere, and private sector companies who want to contribute to the future prosperity of the Americas. 100,000 Strong in the Americas will enable a new generation to reach across borders to address common challenges and seek out new opportunities. |
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| From Page 7: Textile plant planned for Guanacaste Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
During its report to its shareholders for the second quarter of 2014, the Canadian company Gildan Activewear confirmed in Montreal, Canada, that its next investment will be made in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, involving a modern textile manufacturing plant. The Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo has been working with the company for several months and stated its satisfaction with the confirmation of the new plant. The firm is expected to provide jobs for 1,000 persons. Gildan Activewear distributes its products in the United States and Canada, where it owns the leading brand in the industry. It is also one of the largest brands to provide sports, casual, and dress socks for a broad spectrum of retailers in the United States. Currently, it is developing itself as a brand to supply underwear and sportswear. Gildan Activewear reported sales above $2.2 billion in 2013, us 69 percent since 2009). The company has more than 33,000 employees around the world in its plants located in countries such as Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and the United States. Gildan Activewear indicated in its report that it chose Guanacaste because of its strategic location close to its other plants in Nicaragua, access to ports on the Costa Rican Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and expeditious entry into the main markets in the United States thanks to the free trade agreement with the United States. It also cited the Free Trade Zone Regimen that Costa Rica has. According to Gabriela Llobet, the development agency's general director, "the operation that Gildan Activewear has decided to install in Costa Rica will make it possible to continue forming a solid network of plants in Central America, all the while that it diversifies and increases production capacities in the region and strengthens distribution of its products for the American and other markets around the world. This is all thanks to the competitive export platform that Costa Rica offers. We are very pleased since this plant will make it possible for Costa Rica to join a global value chain for the textile sector in a very sophisticated segment." |
