|
|
A.M.
Costa Rica
Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday |
 |
| (506) 2223-1327 |
Published Thursday, June 2, 2016, in Vol. 17, No. 108
|
Email us |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more details |
|
|||
|
San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, June 2, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 108
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
Go to Page 5 HERE! Go to Page 6 HERE! Sports is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
NEXT PAGE |
|
Three tourist robbery suspects detained By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Judicial agents said Wednesday that they were seeking two more persons who are suspects in street robberies and homes invasions in the Cóbano area on the Nicoya peninsula. The Judicial Investigating Organization said that there had been eight complaints filed. Three detentions came during five raids conducted in Cóbano and Puntarenas Wednesday. Two other individuals were being sought, said investigators The judicial agency said that the bulk of the street robberies involved tourists as victims. Cóbano is the principal administrative and shopping center for vacation spots like Montezuma, Mal País and others at the tip of the peninsula. Judicial agents said they detained one individual at a raid at his home in Puntarenas where they also discovered what they called a considerable quantity of drugs and money. Two were detained in Cóbano. Agents said that tourists who walked in the area were confronted with firearms by robbers who demanded their personal items. Many professionals pay no tax, study says By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
The nation’s budget watchdog reported Wednesday that 56 percent of independent professionals reported no income in the years 2011 to 2015. The professionals include physicians, surgeons, dentists, engineers, architects, lawyers, notaries, accountants, auditors and veterinarians, said the Contraloría General de la República. The tax agency within the Ministerio de Hacienda has been complaining about this for years, too. The report is bound to provide impetus to plans to tighten tax reporting controls. Among other actions, the Dirección General de Tributación wants to centralize the billing process so it can keep track of who pays whom. The Contraloría said that 10,893 had reported no income for five periods under study. In some cases that report of no income may be legitimate if the individual was working for a salary that was reported in another fashion. The Contraloría blames part of the problem on technological limitations in the collection of taxes. The agency urged the director general of Tributación to set up better systems to track the independent professionals. Fire fighters plan a La Sabana road race July 17 By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Expats who want to run with the fire fighters can sign up now for the V Carrera del Bombero 2016. The event will be July 17, starting at 7 a.m. at the Estadio Nacional. There is a 5k, 10k and a 1k for kids. There are cash prizes and distinctive T-shirts with the graphic of a fire truck on the front. A number of runner stores are taking signups, and there is an online system HERE!
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this
Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Ro
Colorado S.A 2065 and may not be reproduced anywhere
without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
|
San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, June 2, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 108
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
 Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad photo
Some sea creatures already are colonizing the
recycled power line insulators |
|
| Fish
and coral are getting the benefit of discarded power
line insulators |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Unwanted insulators have been put to use off Playa Hermosa as part of an artificial reef built by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad. The insulators are porcelain and are of the type that are seen holding up high-tension wires. The reef is in water of some 25 to 28 meters, well out of the way of swimmers. The first section is six meters in diameter and made up of six insulators. The reefs in the Pacific have been taking a beating from the |
shrimp
trawling nets that are dragged along the bottom. The material has been in the sea for just six months, but the state power company said that natural growth already has been seen. The material was put there by divers who work for the company at some of three hydro projects, the firm said. But first the material was tested in a law to make sure there would be no unforeseen consequences, said the company. The company estimates that by placing the material there, the growth of the reef has been advanced from 100 to 150 years because coral grows slowly. |
| Citizen
committee in Jacó is confronting smart mosquitoes,
expert says |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Mosquitoes are smart. That is the opinion of Rodrigo Marín, the health official who has been directing a team of 42 persons trying to quell the zika outbreak in the Jacó area. The epidemiologist spoke to concerned citizens who have set up a support committee. Although the Ministerio de Salud is conducting extensive fumigating and has done so since May 9, he says that this process is not completely effective. "Fumigating can accomplish only so much. It kills adult mosquitoes, but it does not kill eggs nor growing larva which is found in stagnant water and garbage," he said in a summary released by the citizen committee. He credited the mosquitoes with smart survival tactics. “They love plastic containers and lay their eggs in plastic where water evaporates and eggs cling to the surface of the container,” he said. “The eggs can lay dormant for up to a year. Just add water and the eggs turn to larva and the mosquitoes appear within 10 days.” |
"It's
now the community's responsibility to address the
issue of garbage pick-up and eliminating zika
mosquito breeding sites,” he said, according to the
summary. The efforts have had some success. The bulletin Wednesday from the Ministerio de Salud said that there were 53 confirmed zika cases in Jacó. That is still an increase from the report a week earlier when there were 44, but the increase is not dramatic. The civic organization is headed by Robert Sinclair who told the crowd that the zika issue threatening Jacó is neither overblown nor an exaggeration, according to the summary. Sinclair said, "It's real, we've already heard the World Health Organization warn travelers not to visit areas where zika has been identified, and that includes Costa Rica." Sinclair presented a comprehensive and sustainable plan which focuses on total community involvement and ranges from education in schools to massive garbage clean-ups and working with the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, the municipality and the business community to achieve Zika Safe goals, said the committee summary. Sinclair also asked for community donations to fund the program, the summary said. |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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 |
||||||
A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page |
|
San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, June 2, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 108
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Marijuana
bad for gums but not as bad for health as smoking, study
finds |
|
|
By the Duke University news
staff
A long-term study of nearly 1,000 New Zealanders from birth to age 38 has found that people who smoked marijuana for up to 20 years have more gum disease, but otherwise do not show worse physical health than non-smokers. The international research team assessed a dozen measures of physical health, including lung function, systemic inflammation and several measures of metabolic syndrome, including waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, glucose control and body mass index. Tobacco users in the study, which appears online in JAMA Psychiatry, were found to have gum disease as well as reduced lung function, systemic inflammation and indicators of poorer metabolic health. “We can see the physical health effects of tobacco smoking in this study, but we don’t see similar effects for cannabis smoking,” said Madeline Meier, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University who conducted the study with colleagues at Duke University, King’s College in the United Kingdom and the University of Otago in New Zealand. While study participants who had used marijuana to some degree over the last 20 years showed an increase in periodontal disease from age 26 to 38, they did not differ from non-users on any of the other physical health measures. To measure cannabis |
use, they
asked study subjects to self-report their use at ages 18,
21, 26, 32 and 38. The study’s statistical analysis found that the decline in periodontal health in pot smokers was not explained by tobacco smoking, alcohol abuse or less tooth brushing and flossing. The lack of physical health problems among cannabis users also was not attributable to their having had better health to begin with or to living healthier lifestyles. “We don’t want people to think, ‘Hey, marijuana can’t hurt me,’ because other studies on this same sample of New Zealanders have shown that marijuana use is associated with increased risk of psychotic illness, IQ decline and downward socioeconomic mobility,” Meier said. “What we’re seeing is that cannabis may be harmful in some respects, but possibly not in every way,” said study co-author Avshalom Caspi of Duke. “We need to recognize that heavy recreational cannabis use does have some adverse consequences, but overall damage to physical health is not apparent in this study.” “Physicians should certainly explain to their patients that long-term marijuana use can put them at risk for losing some teeth,” said Terrie Moffitt, also of Duke and co-director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, from which these data were gathered. |
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
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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 |
||||||
|
A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
 |
|
|
San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, June 2, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 108
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
|
|
said to be mainly Asian By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Legal and illegal immigration to the United States has risen over the past two years, reaching levels not seen since the beginning of the 21st century and the greatest numbers are coming from Asia, not Latin America. The findings appear in a year in which U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump is promising to build a wall on the Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants from entering the United States. New findings by the Center for Immigration Studies show more than three million legal immigrants came to the United States in 2014 and 2015, which is a 39 percent rise over the previous two years. The survey measures the flow of people in and out of the United States, including those on long-term visas. The center said in a statement Wednesday that factors influencing immigration may include the healthier economy, cutbacks in enforcement of immigration laws, and the nature of the U.S. legal immigration system, which provides options for long-term temporary visas for students and guest workers. The center analyzed U.S. government data collected in its monthly Current Population Survey and found that the jump in immigration was due to a jump in immigrants from East Asia, South Asia, and Latin America, excluding Mexico. Experts say that, regarding legal immigration, there has been a rise in the number of long-term work visas issued to Indians and Chinese. Meanwhile, the largest share of illegal immigrants was from Central America, which may mean they are part of the large numbers of unaccompanied children that began crossing U.S. southern borders illegally. Experts unconnected with the center numbers say many illegal immigrants are in the country because they had legal visas but stayed after the visas expired. The rise in immigrant numbers suggests that more people may be overstaying their visas than in past years. Enthusiastic crowd cheers Sanders at California stop By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Campaigning Saturday in Bakersfield, California, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sent a large and wildly enthusiastic crowd into a tizzy just minutes into his remarks when he said, “If I’m elected president, I promise you …” Attendees howled over Sanders’ choice of one particular word. The candidate paused, relishing the moment. “Alright, when I’m elected president,” Sanders continued to thunderous applause and shouts of approval. “When the people of this country have a president who is going to fight for them, workers are not going to be working in the fields for starvation wages, that I assure you.” How Sanders ultimately channels the passions and expectations of his supporters is an open question for Democrats in the final weeks of a hard fought, and at times, acrimonious primary contest between the Vermont senator and Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of State. The acrimony can’t be missed on social media. A Sanders supporter recently tweeted that “#CorporateFascist uber-hawk Clinton” is “John McCain with a uterus” and that “Everyone knows Hillary is a pathological liar. The problem is, her supporters don’t give a crap.” Days ago, a Clinton supporter tweeted, “Okay @BernieSanders: we’ve had it with your bull----. Go home old man. #BernedOut.” “I’ve certainly seen it all over Twitter. That’s where it’s the nastiest,” said Frank Anderson, executive director of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee in the presidential battleground state of Virginia. “I don’t think it’s productive at all,” Anderson added. While pundits say front-runner Mrs. Clinton has an all but insurmountable delegate lead, Sanders insists the battle is not over, and that a strong showing in California and five other states next Tuesday would generate momentum for his campaign heading into the Democratic National Convention in July. Even so, in recent campaign stops the independent senator-turned Democratic presidential contender has omitted his most pointed attacks against Mrs. Clinton that caused some Democratic leaders to fret openly about the party’s ability to unite for the November election. In April, Sanders said he doubted Mrs. Clinton is qualified to be president, given her initial support for the Iraq War, her backing of trade deals, and her ties to corporate America. “Our job is to take on Wall Street, not to take their money,” he said at a campaign stop weeks ago. By contrast, at rallies over this past weekend, Sanders didn’t mention Mrs. Clinton except to say they have a common goal: defeating Republican Donald Trump. Sunday, when asked about last week’s State Department inspector general report that Mrs. Clinton’s email use as secretary of State violated agency procedure, Sanders refrained from attacking her, saying it was a matter for the American people, Democrats, and delegates to examine. “For me, right now I continue to focus on how we can rebuild a disappearing middle class,” he said on “Face the Nation,” a CBS program. Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, has focused her firepower on Trump, questioning his qualifications to be commander-in-chief and highlighting revelations stemming from a lawsuit alleging fraud at a university bearing the Republican candidate's name. While stressing that Trump must be defeated, Sanders has said little about achieving party unity at the Democratic National Convention. Many of his most vocal supporters, however, reject the possibility of unity if Mrs. Clinton is the nominee. “HRC is a TRAIN WRECK candidate that we WILL NOT VOTE FOR ... #BernieOrBust,” a Sanders backer tweeted. Others have said, if Sanders is not on the ballot in November, they would vote for the Green Party or even Trump before they vote for Mrs. Clinton. “Sanders has spent a year convincing progressives, independents, and Democrats that Clinton is not the person they should want to be president, and as long as his messaging continues some of his supporters will not budge,” said political analyst John Hudak of the Brookings Institution. “The same phenomenon happened in 2008 as Mrs. Clinton continued her battle with then-Senator Obama.” Anderson said fissures among Democrats seem worse today. “In 2008, you had a broader coalition of people supporting both candidates,” he said. “Right now it’s more clearly divided between the really liberal and the somewhat liberal. The battle lines are more clearly drawn.” In 2008, some Clinton supporters said they would never vote for Obama, calling themselves PUMAs, which stood for “Party Unity My A--.” Those divisions all but melted away, though, after Mrs. Clinton endorsed Barack Obama at the end of the primary season, and Obama went on to a decisive victory over Republican John McCain. Hudak expects a similar dynamic this year. “The rift between the Sanders and Clinton campaigns may look like a threat to Democratic Party unity and to the Democratic ticket in November, but the type of anger and refusal to vote for Clinton among some Sanders supporters is politics as usual in a competitive primary,” he said. “At the end of the day, many, not all, but likely enough, Sanders supporters will come, even if begrudgingly, into the Clinton camp,” Hudak added. “Sanders will endorse Clinton and even if he isn’t the ardent campaigner that she was in 2008 on Obama’s behalf, his message will be clear: Democrats and progressives don’t have any choice but Clinton.” The Bernie or bust movement does not extend to the advocacy groups backing the Vermont senator. “We have two candidates running for president that have a vastly superior environmental record than the Republican nominee, Donald Trump,” said Erich Pica, president of the pro-environmental organization Friends of the Earth Action, which endorsed Sanders last year. “The people who are supporting Bernie Sanders for president believe in something that is wholeheartedly different than what Donald Trump believes in. If Secretary Clinton wins the nomination, voting for Donald Trump in that situation would be essentially voting against everything Senator Sanders represents and has been campaigning on,” Pica added. Some observers see another possibility: that millions of young progressives energized by Sanders simply might stay at home on election day rather than vote for Mrs. Clinton or Trump. “I should hope that it doesn’t come to that,” Anderson said. “There are a number of new people coming to the process. It’s a risk that they become disengaged.” But Hudak sees a countervailing force to motivate Democrats and progressives of all ages: the possibility of a Trump presidency. Trump’s planned British trip brings expected responses By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
“Is he coming, really? Oh, bloody hell!” was the response of one diner at an upscale restaurant near the Houses of Parliament in London Monday night, after hearing news that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will visit Britain later this month. The reaction was as expected in a country where more than a half-million people, offended by Trump’s remarks about Muslims, signed a petition six months ago to ban him from entering Britain. That petition led to a debate in parliament in January, but there was no vote to legally bar him because British law would only allow such an action if ordered by the home secretary. Trump angered many in Britain when he pledged to ban Muslims temporarily from the United States last year, following a terrorist attack in California. Prime Minister David Cameron at the time called the remarks divisive, stupid and wrong. Sadiq Khan, who became London’s first Muslim mayor last month, called Trump’s views on Islam ignorant. Trump responded by challenging Khan to take an IQ test. Pundits early Tuesday noted almost everything surrounding the billionaire-turned-politician’s visit will be characteristically controversial. Trump is scheduled to arrive on June 24, an especially sensitive time in British politics because it is one day after British voters will have cast ballots in a landmark referendum that will decide whether their country remains in the European Union. Trump has spoken in favor of Britain’s exit, or Brexit, from the EU, but has tempered his stance by saying it is a matter for British voters to decide. British analysts say they expect that Trump, if elected, will temper his style, adapt to the office of the president, and behave more diplomatically than he is perceived to be doing as a presidential candidate. Some analysts say many people in Britain are coming to terms with the possibility that he may become president of the United States. Few believe the historically strong relationship between Washington and London would suffer. “I think the relationship will be better than people suppose,” Philip Collins, a speech writer for former prime minister Tony Blair, said. If American voters elect Trump in November, he said, “Britain would respond in the way that Britain tends to, which is to say ‘what a peculiar choice they have made but, hey, it’s their choice.’” The prime minister’s office did not indicate there are any plans for Cameron to meet with Trump. The purpose of Trump’s visit is to attend the reopening ceremony of his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland after a $300 million refurbishment. Trump is expected to receive a warm welcome from some Scottish politicians who could include those who supported a ban against him, notes Keith Boyfield, a London economist. “How far will the Scots be pleased to see him if he’s going to be writing checks to provide jobs in areas of high unemployment?” “Perhaps you’ll see some of those Scottish politicians having selective memories about what they’ve said in the past,” he said. U.S. State Department plans new rule over censored video By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The State Department has launched a new policy for how it handles video and transcripts from daily briefings after admitting that a portion of a briefing video about Iran nuclear talks had been deliberately removed. Spokesman John Kirby announced the changes Wednesday after disclosing that a department technician removed a portion of the Dec. 2, 2013, briefing video posted on the agency's Web site. He said the technician was responding to a phone request initiated on behalf of another individual in the agency's Public Affairs Bureau. However, he said the technician could not remember who made the call. A portion of the video, which has since been replaced, deals with U.S. engagement with Iran in the early days of Iran nuclear talks. A reporter asks then-State Department spokesman Jen Psaki if direct government-to-government contact between the U.S. and Iran had been going on much longer than previously disclosed. In particular, the reporter questions a statement made by former State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland in a February 2013 briefing. Nuland, asked if the U.S. had previously conducted secret talks with Iran, said there had been no government-to-government talks. She said the U.S. had made it clear that it was prepared to talk to Iran in the context of the "larger P5 + 1 framework," a reference to the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. Kirby said the motive for removing the excerpt remains unclear but that the removal did not violate State Department guidelines. "There were no rules in place at the time to govern this sort of action," he said. U.S. gun ownership finds its legality in Constitution By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Gunshots rang out once again on a campus in the United States Wednesday. Students and faculty raced out of harm's way, ducked under furniture, barricaded doors and hid in interior rooms, bathrooms and labs. The short-lived nightmare on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles came one day before Wear Orange: National Gun Violence Awareness Day. The situation was a murder suicide. Wear Orange was inspired by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago high school student killed by gunfire in 2013. The group decided to honor her life by wearing orange, the color worn by hunters in the woods to protect themselves and others. While the idea has been embraced by civic organizations, politicians and celebrities, it has been rejected by gun rights advocates. The National Rifle Association has attacked the campaign as pointless, and said "participating is an easy way of scoring points for being 'socially conscious.'" Here is a look at the unique relationship between Americans and their guns. Any law-abiding citizen in the United States is allowed to own or carry a gun. That right comes from the U.S. Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It says: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." The Second Amendment was based partially on English common law, which describes an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self-defense, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state. To purchase a gun in the majority of states, a person needs to be of age, pass the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check and fill out a firearms transaction record. However, background checks are not currently required for private sales, including those conducted at gun shows. Certain people are banned from owning weapons, including convicted criminals, people with mental health illnesses or non-U.S. citizens. But the system has major holes in it. Pro-gun ownership: The wording of the Second Amendment is the primary defense cited by gun rights advocates. They say Americans have a constitutional right to arm themselves. Many supporters are quick to point out that stricter gun laws have not ended gun violence in cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C. Gun owners say firearms give people the power of self-defense, dissuading criminals from victimizing people who might be armed. That argument appears to gather momentum with every report of a mass shooting. Pro-gun control: Those advocating stricter laws cite statistics to bolster their case. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2013, there were more than 33,000 firearms deaths in the U.S. They point to countries like Japan where gun control laws are strict and shooting deaths are almost nonexistent. They argue that better records on gun ownership and more stringent laws dictating the sale, possession and storage of guns would allow law-abiding people to have firearms, while resulting in far fewer accidental deaths, suicides and homicides. The debate on guns has played out many times in American history. But regardless of where one falls, the fact remains that U.S. gun ownership is exceptionally high and growing. According to the Small Arms Survey, the United States has an average of 116 guns per 100 people, although most of those weapons are owned by a minority of citizens. The United States is home to roughly 35 to 50 percent of the world's civilian-owned guns, even though it holds less than 5 percent of the world's population. Generally not stated is the pro-gun belief that firearms in the hands of citizens are a check on government. Some of the increase in firearms sales has been attributed to the election of President Barack Obama. Obama, in visits to Indiana, takes credit for more jobs By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
U.S. President Barack Obama returned to Elkhart, Indiana, Wednesday to dispel what he says are Republican myths that his policies are bad for the economy. The Midwestern city was the first city Obama visited as president in 2009, when Elkhart's unemployment rate was nearly 20 percent. It is now down to 4 percent, and Obama credits what he says are smart decisions by his administration and Congress to create jobs across the country. Obama told the crowd to beware of politicians who he says prey on their anxieties about the country's economic future to try to win votes. He said they continue to reinforce myths that play on people's fears, adding that it is a myth that government regulations on business and industry destroy jobs, that global trade deals kill domestic manufacturing, and that immigrants are taking jobs from Americans. The president said immigrants start 30 percent of all new businesses in the U.S., and that they pay more in taxes than they receive in government benefits. Obama said true immigration reform is what is needed, and the mass deportations that some politicians want is not only impossible but would damage the middle class. Later Wednesday, at an Elkhart town hall meeting broadcast on PBS television's “NewsHour,” the president said it is hard to see how other Republican-supported proposals, such as easing regulations on Wall Street and cutting taxes for the wealthy, would benefit the middle class. While not saying the name Donald Trump, Obama wondered how the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would bring back lost jobs and renegotiate trade deals as he promises he would. "What magic wand do you have?" Obama asked rhetorically. The president said big factory manufacturing jobs that have moved overseas or been lost to automation are not coming back. He said people must be trained for the jobs of the future, including high technology careers. Also on PBS, Obama refused to endorse Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders as the Democratic choice for president, saying they both broadly share his goals. He also said he is trying to get more Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S. He noted that other countries, specifically Canada and Germany, have done so much more. Switzerland's gigantic tunnel inaugurated by area leaders By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Switzerland has inaugurated the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest rail tunnel, running more than 57 kilometers beneath the Alps. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi joined Swiss leaders in a celebration featuring musical bands, dancers and even a theme song for the GBT tunnel project, which began 17 years ago. When it becomes fully operational in December, the tunnel will “bring together peoples and national economies,” Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann said. "It is an important step for Switzerland, and also for our neighbors and the rest of the continent," Schneider-Ammann said. "People and goods can now move faster, and there will be better links among cities like Stuttgart, Zurich, Lugano and Milano are linked much better." The Swiss leader said the new Gotthard tunnel is "the construction of the century, building on the pioneering achievement of our ancestors." Other Swiss officials hailed the project as a masterpiece of timing and cost control; it was completed on time and within its budget of more than $12 billion. Engineers who worked on the GBT said new and innovative construction methods were developed to cope with huge rock pressures and heat deep underground, as well as new sealing systems and special concrete mixes. The twin-tube GBT, 2,300 meters underground at its deepest point, runs between the German-speaking town of Erstfeld in central Switzerland and Italian-speaking Bodio in the south. It is the second part of a long-range plan to upgrade alpine railway links approved in 1992, and a third tunnel is due to open by 2020. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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 |
||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica sixth news page |
|
San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, June 2, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 108
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|||
|
Scientists find gene for multiple
sclerosis By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Scientists have discovered that a single genetic mutation can cause multiple sclerosis. The new evidence could lead to a cure for a disease that cripples millions of people. It’s long been thought that multiple sclerosis was caused by some vague interplay among certain genes that made contracting MS more likely, when triggered by some environmental factor, such as a viral infection or vitamin deficiency. But Canadian researchers have discovered, at least in cases of a severe form of MS called primary progressive, that a single mutated gene can dramatically increase the risk for developing the neurological disorder. An estimated two million people around the world have the disease. Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver studied a large database assembled over the years of 2,000 Canadian families with members who had MS. The investigation led them to two families that carried a mutation in a single gene called NR1H3. Family members suffered from the severest form of multiple sclerosis. Medical geneticist Carles Vilariño-Güell, a senior author of a paper published in the journal Neuron, notes that 15 to 20 percent of MS cases were thought to be hereditary but that’s never been proved. “The other genes that were previously described increased the risk of disease by . . . at most three percent. With this mutation, your risk is 60 to 70 percent. So, that’s a 600 to 700 increase in comparison to the general population. And that’s what really makes this completely different from other genetic findings ," said Vilariño-Güell. PGA dumps Trump for Mexican site By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The PGA Tour is moving a tournament from a Miami golf course owned by Donald Trump to one in Mexico City. Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said the change was not political, but came after the tour was unable to secure sponsorship for the World Golf Championships tournament at the Trump National Doral course at levels to sustain the event and help it grow. The tournament had been held at Doral since 2007 after stops in Spain, Ireland, England and elsewhere in the United States. Trump called the decision, announced Wednesday, a sad day for Miami, the U.S. and golf. "No different than Nabisco, Carrier and so many other American companies, the PGA Tour has put profit ahead of thousands of American jobs, millions of dollars in revenue for local communities and charities and the enjoyment of hundreds of thousands of fans who make the tournament an annual tradition," Trump said. He has criticized American companies for moving their operations abroad throughout his current campaign for president, and said the PGA Tour move further shows why he is running. "You vote for Donald Trump as president, and if I become your president, this stuff is all going to stop," he told supporters in California. Cadillac, which has sponsored the event at Trump's course, did not renew its deal as the title sponsor of the event. The new sponsor through 2023 is Grupo Salinas, a Mexico City-based retail, television and telecommunications company. The rebranded tournament will be first held in March 2017. |
| Costa
Rican
News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW
in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
| Fine
Dining
in
Costa Rica |
The
CAFTA Report |
Fish
fabulous Costa Rica |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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 |
||||||
| From Page 7: U.S. taxpayers to fight bovine flatulence By the A.M. Costa Rica
staff
The U.S. government is giving Costa Rica $1.1 million to help a program to cause milk cows to pass less gas. A United Nations fund also is investing $400,000. The money from USAID will be to implement strategies for livestock so that they produce less methane, identified as a greenhouse gas. The project involves training livestock operators and research into pastures and hay, said the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería. Ruminants such as daily and beef cattle are major producers of methane because of the way they digest their food and the manure they produce. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifies the agricultural sector as the main producers of methane worldwide. The agricultural ministry said that 41 farms and ranches would be involved in the program. The money will be put into a trust that will be available for farmers and ranchers as they develop programs that need funds, said the ministry. In the United States, the White House says it wanted to reduce methane emissions from dairy animals by 25 percent by 2020. |
