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José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 25, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 101
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Weekend marked by wet weather
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Limón Centro got 125 millimeters in 12 hours Sunday. That's a bit less than 5 inches. Some parts of the province were flooded, as a low pressure system enveloped the country. Traditionally, homes there are built on stilts. There also was rain in the northern zone, the Central Valley and the central and south Pacific. Traffic was hampered, and there were at least three deaths of pedestrians over the weekend that may have been partly attributed to low visibility brought about by the rains. There as some flooding in the capital. Emergency officials will be checking for possible damage today. The Instituto Meteorological Nacional said that the low pressure area was associated with the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, the place where the northern and southern trade winds meet. This band of unstable weather circles the globe and moves to the north and to the south of the equator. The weekend rain in the capital generally was gentle, but there were reports of high winds and electrical storms elsewhere. Such conditions are typical of May. The rains were expected to clear somewhere today with the Pacific coast and the Central Valley enjoying partly cloudy skies. Taxi protests are called unjustified By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Taxi drivers protested for two days over a reduction in their authorized fares. But the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos, the agency that cut the rates, said that the protests are unjustified. For both city and rural taxis, the cut is 10 colons for the first kilometer. The old rate is 640 colons, and the new rate, which went into effect Friday, is 630 colons. For urban taxis the rate for subsequent kilometers dropped from 640 to 610 colons. Rural taxis charged 795 for each additional kilometers. That rate is now 770 colons. The Autoridad used a complex formula that is based on prices in the past. The taxi drivers are well aware the fuel prices are increasing. The Autoridad said the lower rates were justified based on the price of motor fuels at the end of January.  Municipalidad de Montes de Oca
photo
Recyclers drive a distinctive truck.
Recycling
program marks five years
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Municipalidad de Montes de Oca, which includes San Pedro, reports that its five-year-old recycling program collects an average of 22 metric tons a month from 82 designated sites. The municipality also services businesses, a summary noted. The municipality has nine routes and 10 municipal employees operating two vehicles. The local government also operates a recycling center in Sabanilla where the collected material is sorted. The collectables include paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, aluminum, tires and obsolete electronics. The local government has invested 15 million colons, about $28,500, in this effort, it noted. Expotur reports 5,000 sales meetings By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expotur generated more than 5,000 meetings between Costa Rican tourism providers and potential customers, organizers say.. Expotur is the tourism marketplace that took place May 14 and 15. The organizer, the Asociación Costarricense de Profesionales en Turismo, said that 63 percent of the tourism wholesalers who participated had not been to the event in the past. They came from 30 different countries and met with 266 tourism operators, the organization said. Progress reported in U.S. and Cuba talks By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. and Cuban officials say they have made progress in talks on restoring diplomatic ties but that there is still more work to do. The officials commented Friday, after wrapping up a fourth round of talks, in Washington. In the two-day session, negotiators focused on issues including the process for re-opening embassies, following a more than 50-year break in formal U.S.-Cuba relations. “I do remain an optimist but I am also a realist about 54 years that we have to overcome,” said Roberta Jacobson, the chief U.S negotiator. Ms. Jacobson, the assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, said the two sides still had a few things that need to be ironed out and would work to do so as quickly as possible. Her Cuban counterpart, Josefina Vidal, said both sides agreed to continue dialogue on key issues. “Both delegations agreed to continue the exchange on aspects related to the functioning of diplomatic missions,” said Ms. Vidal, the head of the U.S. division of Cuba’s ministry of foreign affairs. In a Friday briefing, Ms. Jacobson indicated that diplomatic access could be one of the remaining sticking points. “There are various circumstances in which embassies operate in somewhat restrictive environments,” said Jacobson. “We have confidence that when we get to an agreement, our embassy will be able to function so that our officers will be able to do their jobs,” she added. One issue that has been troublesome is the right of U.S. diplomats to travel around Cuba unimpeded, said William LeoGrande, a Latin American politics professor at American University. “The Cubans have said they are willing to allow that but only if U.S. diplomats will refrain from providing support to Cuba dissidents. So, that’s been a sticking point,” said LeoGrande. Ms. Jacobson indicated that fifth round of talks may not be necessary to resolve remaining differences. She said it is possible that remaining challenges could be handled by the chiefs of mission at the U.S. and Cuban interest sections. The talks between the U.S. and Cuba were the first high-level engagement between the two countries since President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro met during the April Summit of the Americas in Panama. Shortly after the summit, President Obama announced that he intended to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The U.S. Congress has until Friday to weigh in on the president’s decision to remove Cuba from the list. Satellites used to track mosquito sites By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Researchers at the Australian National University have found a better way to keep an eye on the spread of malaria, dengue and other parasitic diseases using satellite data and remote sensing. Malaria, a preventable disease spread by mosquitoes, puts at risk up to 3.3 billion people worldwide. That included up to 97 countries in 2014, according to the World Health Organization. Using satellites, scientists with a wide range of expertise can monitor the regions where mosquitoes are likely to thrive, typically in warm and moist areas where there are ponds and paddies for breeding and vegetation for adult mosquitoes to rest. Without optimal environmental conditions, neither mosquitoes nor malaria would exist. To better understand how malaria works, Jakob Rossner, mobile application administrator at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine, created a game that looks at the world from a mosquito’s point of view. “People learn about complex, interconnecting systems best when they get to play with them, making active choices rather than just passively reading or watching information,” he said in an email. Rossner expressed the hope that his free game might be used with traditional curriculum in schools or even to raise awareness where malaria and similar diseases are common. The Nuffield Department of Medicine funded Rossner’s efforts and the game, which is based in part on the department’s malaria research. “Sensors in satellites detect patterns of reflected electromagnetic radiation, using a process called remote sensing,” said Archie Clements, director of the research, School of Population Health at the Australian National University. “These patterns,” he explained in an email interview, “can tell us about different aspects of the environment, such as rainfall, temperature and vegetation cover.” Medium-resolution satellite data can be used to map communities where malaria transmission is likely to occur, said Clements, whereas high-resolution satellite data could help pinpoint specific malaria mosquito breeding sites. “Information can be collected from the entire surface of the earth,” he added, “including areas that are inaccessible due to difficult terrain or geopolitical disturbance – attributes that characterize many areas of the world affected by malaria.” Using satellites to collect data has some advantages over traditional methods of monitoring the environment. The technology can bolster weak or ineffective surveillance systems in many of the countries affected by malaria and other parasitic diseases, said Clements. “Countries are challenged by the need to count and geolocate malaria cases so that resources can be allocated to those most in need,” he explained. Without good surveillance data, he said people who carry malaria parasites “are less likely to be identified, people who are at risk of infection are less likely to receive bed nets or have their houses sprayed with insecticide, and mosquito breeding sites near people’s houses are less likely to be detected and contained.” While Clements conceded that satellite information is unlikely to replace traditional surveillance data, he said it could be an “additional tool to malaria-affected countries to help them use their resources more effectively.”
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 25, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 101 | |
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| An A.M. Costa Rica news analysis Failed assaults on individual rights puts Solís leadership to the test |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Central government officials have had to dump legislative proposals twice in less than two months. That coupled with the collapse of the Festival Internacional de las Artes and a Sala IV ruling Friday is raising doubts even among supporters of the president's hold on management. The latest reversal took place Friday when the Instituto Nacional de Vivienda y Urbanismo withdrew a proposed regulation that would have prevented many landowners from developing their properties. That decision followed the withdrawal in April of a draft of a radio and television law put forth by the Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones. That draft would have given the government the power to shut down stations that it didn't like. The bill had been copied from similar laws in authoritarian regimes. Then Friday, the Sala IV overturned a decision by the former culture minister to withdraw funding from an orchestral production of “Cocorí.” The orchestral work was based on a popular children's book by the same name. Some lawmakers objected because the principal character is a black youngster from Limón. The court said that the decision by Elizabeth Fonseca, the then-minister, amounted to prior censorship. She is the same minister who just lost her job over the collapse of the arts festival. A report characterized the problems with the festival as a |
breakdown in
communications between key players. But the radio and
television law, the decision on "Cocorí" and the proposed
regulation of
land use all involve fundamental rights. The land-use measure, the subject of an extensive news story Friday, was at least heavy-handed. The purpose was to prevent urban sprawl by restricting development outside the urban cores. The measure had caused an uproar in development circles, which is why it was withdrawn. Still, the drafters of the regulation must have lacked some basic knowledge of the Costa Rican Constitution. Even the legislature would not be able to impose such rules. The debacle with the radio and television law might have just been sloppy work. Those involved admitted that the text had been copied from other governments. That suggests either that the officials did not read the final draft or that they agreed with the thrust of the measure. Both the land-use and the radio and television drafts were pulled on orders from Casa Presidencial. Either officials there did not know about the drafts, or they simply responded to political pressure President Luis Guillermo Solís can argue in the case of the land-use measure that he was outside of the country drumming up investments for Costa Rica. But presumably he had a role in hiring the top oficials involved. Those involved with the radio and television law lost their jobs, as did Ms. Fonseca and some of her staff. |
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Leaping lizards! Nature's bounty extends to illegally capturing a nest full of iguanas. There appears to be a steady trade in selling the lizards as pet. But one plan backfired when police happened upon a box at a local hotel that contained 79 of the newborn critters. Police suspected someone raided a nest and took the babies for sale in the city. |
 Ministerio
de Seguridad Pública photo
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| Volcano watchers take a trip to the summit of Volcán
Turrialba |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Volcano experts took a trip Friday to the edge of the Volcán Turrialba crater to get a good look at the vent that has been emitting gas and ash. The team was from the Red Sismológica Nacional. Meanwhile, other experts went down into the crater of the Volcan Poás to take measurements of the water in the lagoon |
there. The
temperature is an indication of what is going on below. Póas has been erupting occasionally over the past six months, but the product of the eruptions have stayed in the crater. Turrialba, on the other hand, seems primed for a major eruption. There has been limited activity for the last week, although gas and other vapor continue to be emitted by the principal vent. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 25, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 101 | |||||
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| Facebook study reveals traits of low-self esteem and narcissism | |
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By the Brunel University London news staff
People who post Facebook status updates about their romantic partner are more likely to have low self-esteem, while those who brag about diets, exercise, and accomplishments are typically narcissists, according to new research. Psychologists at Brunel University London surveyed Facebook users to examine the personality traits and motives that influence the topics they choose to write about in their status updates, something that few previous studies have explored. The data was collected from 555 Facebook users who completed online surveys measuring the big five personality traits, extroversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, as well as self-esteem and narcissism. The research found: • People with low self-esteem more frequently posted status updates about their current romantic partner. • Narcissists more frequently updated about their achievements, which was motivated by their need for attention and validation from the Facebook community. These updates also received a greater number of likes and comments, indicating that narcissists’ boasting may be reinforced by the attention they crave. • Narcissists also wrote more status updates about their diet and exercise routine, suggesting that they use Facebook to broadcast the effort they put into their physical appearance. • Conscientiousness was associated with writing more updates about one’s children. |
 Psychology lecturer Tara Marshall from Brunel University said: “It might come as little surprise that Facebook status updates reflect people’s personality traits. However, it is important to understand why people write about certain topics on Facebook because their updates may be differentially rewarded with likes and comments. People who receive more likes and comments tend to experience the benefits of social inclusion, whereas those who receive none feel ostracised. “Although our results suggest that narcissists’ bragging pays off because they receive more likes and comments to their status updates, it could be that their Facebook friends politely offer support while secretly disliking such egotistical displays. Greater awareness of how one’s status updates might be perceived by friends could help people to avoid topics that annoy more than they entertain.” The research team said further studies should examine responses to particular status update topics, the likability of those who update about them, and whether certain topics put people at greater risk of being unfriended. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 25, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 101 | |||||||
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| NSA deadline approaches with Congress still split By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
This week, a U.S. spy agency is reportedly winding down its collection of Americans’ telephone records after Congress failed to reform or extend the once-secret program that expires June 1. Lawmakers left Washington for a week-long recess without addressing the National Security Agency’s snooping capabilities, and it is not clear whether any measure to remedy the situation can pass both chambers when Congress reconvenes. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced deep concerns before the chamber adjourned Saturday. “This is a high-threat period. and we know what’s going on overseas. We know what’s been tried here at home,” said McConnell. “My colleagues – do we really want this law to expire?” Moments earlier, senators defeated a last-gasp effort to extend the NSA’s bulk data collection program by two months. Republican Rand Paul had advocated the program's demise during more than 10 hours of remarks on the Senate floor. “Every American is somehow said to be under suspicion because we are collecting the records of every American,” said Paul. “There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate, and liberty and privacy to suffer.” Paul, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has been tapping into public outrage sparked in 2013, when fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the program. President Barack Obama has said phone records should stay with telecommunications companies unless the government obtains a court order to review them. A bill to do just that passed the House of Representatives but was voted down in the Senate, where many Republicans cited national security concerns. “I would suggest first and foremost that it’s reasonable that the government be able to identify evidence that could prevent a 9/11 attack that could cause the deaths of thousands of Americans,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions. Legislative disarray on domestic spying shows Congress is out-of-step with the American public, according to Democrat Patrick Leahy. “I don’t care what state you are in, if you ask Americans: do you want bulk collection of all your phone records? You know what the answer would be: of course not,” said Leahy. The Senate will return from recess a day early to try, once again, to pass some sort of NSA bill hours before the June 1 deadline. Even if they succeed, House Speaker John Boehner is making no promises on what his chamber might do. “The House has acted. It’s time for the Senate to act. If they act, we will certainly look at what they do and make a decision about how to proceed,” said Boehner. The NSA has been collecting phone records under a section of the Patriot Act, a law enacted after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that grants the U.S. government broad powers to probe and prevent terrorist plots. A federal appeals court recently ruled the program illegal. Its constitutionality ultimately could be decided by the Supreme Court unless Congress reforms it. U.S. marks Memorial Day with three-day weekend By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
People in the United States will honor those who died in military service with the annual Memorial Day holiday today. While many communities across the country will honor the war dead with parades, patriotic concerts and ceremonies, others will mark the day with quiet reflection on those who have lost their lives in military service. Sunday thousands of motorcycle riders rolled through Washington for the annual Rolling Thunder rally to call attention to prisoners of war and those missing in action. President Barrack Obama used his weekly address to commemorate Memorial Day and pay tribute to the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in service to our country. He said the holiday is especially meaningful this year because it is the first Memorial Day since the war in Afghanistan ended. The first large-scale observance of what was originally called Decoration Day took place at Arlington cemetery in 1868, three years after the bloody U.S. Civil War that killed more than 600,000 people. Originally the date was May 30. But more recently the day has been celebrated on the last Monday of May in order to create a three-day U.S. weekend. Many Americans have the day off from work and school, and the three-day weekend is seen as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season. Many families have picnics or make trips to the beach, parks or campgrounds. The Marine Corps League in Costa Rica will mark the day Saturday with a ceremony at a cemetery in San Antonio de Escazú. Details are on the calendar.htm page. Math genius featured in movie dies with wife in Jersey crash By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Nobel Prize-winning mathematical genius John Nash, whose struggle with schizophrenia was portrayed in the 2001 movie "A Beautiful Mind," and his wife have been killed in a traffic accident in the U.S. The 86-year-old Nash and his wife, Alicia, 82, were killed Saturday when the driver of the taxi in which they were riding lost control of the cab on the New Jersey Turnpike. Nash won the 1994 Nobel Prize for economics for his study of game theory and the mathematics of decision-making, considered some of the most influential ideas of the 20th century. The Oscar Award-winning movie starring Russell Crowe was based loosely on Nash's battle with schizophrenia. Nash said he suffered from the illness for 25 years, although in later years was able to stop taking medication and returned to normal activities and his research. Cleveland police detain 71 in protest over cop's acquittal By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A total of 71 people have been arrested in the central U.S. city of Cleveland during protests following the acquittal of a white policeman in the shooting deaths of two unarmed blacks in 2012. The city's streets were calm early Sunday after the Saturday night protests. Earlier Saturday, a judge acquitted a Cleveland police officer who fired the last 15 of 137 rounds police shot at the suspects during a high-speed car chase. Patrolman Michael Brelo stood on the hood of the suspects' car and fired through the windshield at its unarmed occupants. But Judge John O'Donnell ruled that it was not clear which shots killed Timothy Russell and Melissa Williams, those fired by Brelo or by 12 other officers who took part in the chase. Despite the verdict in the criminal case, Cleveland has already paid families of Russell and Williams $1.5 million apiece to settle wrongful death lawsuits. Brelo remains suspended from the Cleveland police force without pay pending resolution of administrative charges. Five police supervisors involved in the case face dereliction of duty charges for failing to control the chase. In a statement issued after O'Donnell's verdict, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice said they have been monitoring the case. The Justice Department said it will not review the testimony and evidence presented at the trial, but will determine if additional steps are available and appropriate. Judge O'Donnell said Saturday "the verdict should be no cause for a civilized society to celebrate or riot." The case is the latest in the U.S. where white police officers have been accused of using excessive force in street incidents, killing black suspects who have turned out be unarmed. The verdict comes as authorities are investigating two other high profile cases in Cleveland involving the deaths of black people at the hands of police. Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice who was playing with a replica gun when he was shot by Cleveland police responding to an emergency call about a man with a gun. He died a day after the shooting. Prosecutors are also investigating the death of Tanisha Anderson, who died while handcuffed in police custody last year. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, citing her physical restraint by police as well as her mental illness and a heart condition.  Archbishop
Oscar Romero
Beatification
of Romero
is first step to sainthood By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Hundreds of thousands of worshippers converged on the Salvadoran capital Saturday to witness the the beatification of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero. A papal declaration leaves the assassinated prelate one step from Roman Catholic sainthood. Romero, revered by the poor and reviled by the right-wing government in power 35 years ago, was gunned down in 1980 by a right-wing death squad for his support of the country's poor. Shortly after the killing, El Salvador erupted into a 13-year civil war that claimed an estimated 75,000 lives. Saturday, flag-waving supporters, many of them wearing t-shirts emblazoned with Romero's face, heard an envoy of Pope Francis read a papal letter proclaiming the beatification. U.S. President Barack Obama, in a statement, welcomed the honor, calling Romero "an inspiration for the people of El Salvador and across the Americas." Four presidents and envoys from scores of countries also paid tribute to the cleric, who is widely known among supporters as the voice of the voiceless. Romero's impassioned sermons, widely heard on Salvadoran radio in the years before his death, riled right-wing extremists and triggered alarm in the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government. The push for Romero's sainthood was long resisted by conservative Catholics and Salvadoran right wingers, who linked the archbishop's sermons to Marxism, as the Cold War played out in the late 1970s. But Saturday, even the country's right-wing Arena Party showed support for the beatification in a newspaper advertisement praising Romero for his message of reconciliation. In life, Romero was loved by the poor, whom he defended passionately, and loathed by conservatives who considered him too close to left-leaning movements in the tumultuous years ahead of El Salvador's 1980-92 civil war. Romero was celebrating Mass in a cancer hospital chapel March 24, 1980, when he was shot through the heart by a sniper who apparently fired from a car outside. The day before, Romero had delivered a strongly worded admonition to the U.S.-backed military to stop repressing civilians. The triggerman has never been identified, and no one has been prosecuted for the killing. Paramilitary death squad leader Roberto d'Aubuisson, who was named by a U.N. truth commission after the war's end as the mastermind of the assassination, died in 1992 having maintained his innocence to the end. Romero's beatification was held up for years by church politics until Pope Benedict XVI unblocked the case in late 2012, after it was determined he had not been an adherent of revolutionary liberation theology as many claimed. Saturday's ceremony constitutes official church approval of Romero's legacy, even if some conservatives in the Vatican and Salvadoran society still view his memory with distaste. A huge stage was erected in recent days beneath the square's 18-meter-tall monument depicting Christ atop a white pillar and blue globe. An urn there contains the shirt that Romero was wearing when he was shot. Officials closed off about 5 square kilometers (2 square miles) of streets nearby to accommodate the expected crush of pilgrims, many of them bused in from the countryside, and the hundreds of vendors selling commemorative T-shirts, key chains, bags, bracelets and coffee cups for $2 to $5 as well as copies of documentaries and movies inspired by Romero's life. Authorities set up 27 giant screens for the benefit of those far from the stage and deployed 3,700 police and soldiers to provide security. Hotels in the capital were at capacity, and officials predicted the event would generate $31 million in economic activity. In Costa Rica, the ceremony was carried by Canal 13 and Radio Nacional. Helio Fallas Venegas, Costa Rica's first vice president, represented the country in San Salvador. The Iglesia de Curridabat erected large screens and invited local Salvadorians to witness the ceremony there. Celebrations were also planned in Los Angeles, which is home to about 360,000 people of Salvadoran origin. Many of them arrived in the 1980s fleeing the Central American nation's civil war, in which at least 75,000 people died and 12,000 more disappeared. Also Saturday, tens of thousands of people gathered in the central Kenyan town of Nyeri to attend the beatification ceremony of Sister Irene Stefani, an Italian nun who worked for many years in the East African nation. Sister Stefani, who belonged to the Consolata Missionary Sisters, first came to Kenya in 1915 and died there in 1930 at the age of 39, according to a Web site dedicated to her beatification. In her case, beatification comes after official verification of a 1989 miracle in Mozambique, a country she never visited, that was attributed to her. The miracle reportedly happened when a group of about 270 people in danger of death prayed to Sister Irene "and the little water in the baptismal font, measuring between four and six liters, was multiplied to enable them to drink and wash for four days, before help arrived from outside," Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reported, citing a priest in charge of Nairobi's Consolata Shrine. Michoacan shootout leaves mainly gang members dead By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Mexican officials say at least 42 people were killed in a gunfight between suspected criminals and security forces in western Mexico, the latest violence in an area that has been plagued by violent drug gangs. The officials say almost everyone killed in the shootout Friday in Michoacan state near the border with Jalisco state was a suspected gang member. At least one police officer also reportedly died in the shootout. Monte Alejandro Rubico, Mexico's national security commission director, called the shootout "prolonged in a sporadic way for approximately three hours in at least three different parts of the property." Michoacan Gov. Salvador Jara said the clash started when security forces stopped a suspicious vehicle, prompting its passengers to open fire. Jara said it was likely the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel was involved, but that the confrontation was under investigation. That cartel has killed at least 15 police officers in recent months and shot down a military helicopter in Jalisco state earlier this month, killing at least six people aboard. Michoacan and Jalisco have endured some of the worst violence in a Mexican drug war that began to escalate in 2006, when the government deployed troops to combat cartels. Tens of thousands of people nationwide have died in clashes between drug gangs and security forces in nearly the past decade. |
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 A.M. Costa Rica/Victoria
Torley
Not just one plant, but
many, and Nixon is included.The surprise awaits behind the house It’s a simple little house on
a main road through town. A short wall in front covered in plants. The
house crowds to within a meter of the sidewalk. Nothing that would draw
your attention as you drive by,
We walk through that detailed gate and enter Nixon’s real world. The path is hard-packed earth overhung by branches and flowered vines. The air is much cooler. Upright meter-high columns of soil on one side are are topped with plants. They look as though they would wash away in the first rain but Nixon explains that he built columns of concrete and covered them with soil; the roots of the plants hold the soil in place. They amaze me. The narrow passage opens up to the left to stairs and a terraced area packed with plants. The stairway leads to his workshop, but the path continues to the right into the gardens. Nixon’s yard, like so many in Arenal, is sloped, but this has been no disadvantage. He has used stone, concrete and recycled materials hold the plants in place. The area is also narrow and not very deep, perhaps 13 by 16 meters. But again, this has not been a handicap for the gardener. Paths run through the garden, some of grass, some of packed earth. Stand on one path, and you are alone, unable to see anyone else in the garden. It is very quiet. The slope has been cut to allow flat areas for walking, and steps have been engineered at each turn. There are a lot of turns, as the garden winds back and forth to allow maximum space for plants. Here and there you will find a stone or concrete bench worked into the slope so that you can just sit and watch the hummingbirds drink their fill from flowers. The result is a small space used to its maximum. It is the space of a master gardener. But he is not done, Nixon tells me. He is planning a bridge or overlook for the garden, one with an arched trellis for his vines. As he speaks and gestures, I can almost see it take shape. This sculptor of iron is also a sculptor of gardens, and plants are his medium. He has created a space of tranquility in the middle of our small town. If you would like to suggest a topic for this column, simply send a letter to the editor. And, for more garden tips, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arenal-Gardeners/413220712106845 |
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| From Page 7: Fed chief predicts interest increase this year By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The head of the U.S. central bank said she expects the Federal Reserve to start raising the key interest rate at some point this year. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen told a business group Friday in Rhode Island that she expects the economy to continue improving, ending the need for record-low interest rates. The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates six years ago to nearly zero to bolster the economy in the midst of recession. Falling unemployment and modestly rising growth eventually will mean the stimulus will no longer be needed, with the central bank allowing interest rates to rise toward their historic averages. Yellen said continuing the stimulus too long could overheat the economy with inflation high enough to hurt growth. She said the decision to raise rates will depend on further economic data, and once rates begin to go up, they will rise gradually. In an interview, the chief economist for PNC Financial Services Group, Stuart Hoffman, said timing the interest rate hike is important because keeping rates too low for too long could push inflation higher and faster than is good for stocks, jobs, and the overall economy. Earlier Friday, a key measure of U.S. inflation showed consumer prices rose one-tenth of 1 percent in April, as falling energy costs were offset by rising prices for shelter and medical care. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said prices gained three-tenths of a percent in the overall economy, excluding the food and energy sectors, where prices often are more volatile. The same core measure of inflation shows prices gained 1.8 percent over the past year. That is a bit higher than the previous month, but below the level that U.S. central bank economists say would be best for stable prices and full employment, 2 percent per year. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's rating service cut its forecast of U.S. economic growth by four-tenths of a percentage point, to just 2.4 percent for this year. A separate survey by Fitch Ratings indicated investors are growing more cautious about the U.S. economic outlook. |
