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suffers periodic outages By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad said Monday that users of its Alcatel cell service have been experiencing problems with periodic outages due to a fault in the system. So the company will be moving cell users to another server. As a result, the company said that cell phone users with prefixes from 8810 to 8850 will have to reinitiate their voice message system. The Acatel system is the one acquired in 2001. It also is the system that figures heavily in a criminal proceeding. Alcatel was awarded the mobile telephone contract in August 2001, which was valued at $149 million. An executive of the company eventually admitted funneling some $14 million in so-called commissions to Costa Rica. The consultant getting the money said he gave some to then-president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez. Rodríguez is awaiting trial. Starting Wednesday the company advised affected users to call 190 and follow the instructions there for reinitiating voice messaging services. They will have to provide a new PIN also. Users also will have to record a new message of welcome, the company said. Swine flu cases are now confirmed at 93 here By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rican health officials are reporting 93 cases of confirmed swine flu, they said Monday. The majority of the cases are in the San José area but there are a few cases in 13 communities. Desamparados has 12 confirmed cases. Heredia has eight. Health officials emphasized that nearly all the cases developed in persons who had a prolonged association with persons already infected. The World Health Organization says swine flu has now spread to 73 countries, with 139 deaths from the disease since it was first detected in April. The latest figures, released Monday, show more than 25,000 people have been infected with the swine influenza worldwide. The United States tops the list with more than 13,000 cases — followed by Mexico, with more than 5,700. Most of the deaths from swine flu occurred in Mexico. The World Health Organization has said it is closer to declaring a pandemic because the infection appears to be taking hold outside North America. The mayor of the southern U.S. city of New Orleans has been placed under quarantine in China after a fellow passenger on his flight to the country exhibited flu-like symptoms. Mayor Ray Nagin, his wife, and one member of his staff are now being held in Shanghai. Tico career ambassador to discuss Latin trends By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Costa Rican diplomat and historian will be the featured guest at the Speaker's Forum June 17. The speaker is Alvar Antillon-Salazar who has attained the career ambassador rank in the Costa Rican foreign service. Antillon-Salazar also was one of the five notables appointed by former president Abel Pacheco to evaluate the impact of the free trade treaty with the United States. His speech will cover a broad range including the Colonial era and present social and political development in Latin America, said organizers. The event is at the Hotel Beacon Boutique in Escazú centro from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Those attending are encouraged to arrive a half hour earlier to enjoy food and refreshments at the garage-level meeting room Antillon-Salazar served in Germany as ambassador concurrent with Denmark and Austria. He served as representative to the Organization of American States and has served in different posts in the foreign ministry. Those seeking more information can call 2289-6333, 8821-4708, or The Beacon Hotel at 2228-3110. There is a 1,000 colons entrance. Simple pottery water filter is a boon for Third World By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Once the hub of U.S. steelmaking, Braddock, Pennsylvania, is today a mix of abandoned buildings, empty lots and closed shops. It's been that way since the mid-1970s, when foreign competition led to the collapse of the steel industry in the region. While Braddock is a ghost of its former self, newcomers, artists and entrepreneurs, are breathing new life into this former steel giant. Jeffrey Schwarz came to Braddock in 2003 to help kids. He developed a summer pottery program and ran it in the basement of the library. "It was very successful," he says. Schwarz renovated the library basement into the Braddock Pot Shop.The 33-year-old artist says his mission is two-fold: He still teaches kids and offers pottery classes for adults, but the studio is also the headquarters for the North American Water Filter Project. This group is dedicated to promoting clean and safe drinking water in developing countries. On a good day, with his brother working as a volunteer, Schwarz can make 20 water filters. He says the process is simple. "You take clay. You take a certain percentage of sawdust or any combustible material, because saw dust might not be everywhere. You [can] use rice hulls or pine needles, [and] combine that with clay, [and] fire that to a low temperature." The combustible material burns out, leaving tiny holes that allow water to seep through the vessel's permeable walls. Schwarz then applies a protective coating made from water infused with bits of silver. Dirty water is poured in the top, and the filter removes the sediment in the water and the protective silver coating kills any bacteria. The filtered water is clean and drinkable according to various scientific tests. Schwarz says it performed especially well in a test linked to an ongoing medical study in South African HIV clinics. Schwarz says the potters' clay filters have great potential. They can help save lives and stimulate the economy wherever they are introduced. He would like to train a brigade of water filter technicians to work with potters in other countries.
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| Hey, let's give this guy a
hand. Humm, maybe we should rephrase that. |
 A.M. Costa Rica file photo
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Around here the critter is
just part of the landscape
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
While reality TV producers search for creepy stuff to wow North American audiences, expats here generally take their critters in stride. Spiders and ants are the cleanup crew in Costa Rica. They eliminate many of the nastier bugs. They are everywhere, be it the Central Valley or the coastal regions. And always on patrol. Snakes are everywhere, too. Any vacant lot even in downtown San José can be home to such a reptile. A reporter rescued a snake on the sidewalk at Casa Amarilla, the foreign ministry. You can't get any more downtown than that. The offices of A.M. Costa Rica not far away became a resting place for a two-plus meter boa one morning when the snake decided to wrap itself around an entry portón. He was one of several who patrolled the neighborhood. The rat population had diminished greatly. Those who reject the use of strong chemicals to fight critters in their homes are rewarded with a proliferation of spiders and geckos who run their own control program. Every once in awhile a gararobo will drop by to take the sun. At lower elevations, no home is complete without an iguana in the roof. Or maybe a bat population. Those close to the coast sometime report seeing crocodiles crossing the roadway, usually in bad weather. That happens in Florida, too, without much damage to the two-legged creature. In fact, crocs are a tourist attraction on the Río Tarcoles. One guide even has a trained crock who dances for a chicken dinner. At last report, the guide was still reporting for work. Coastal dwellers also have the annual parade of crabs to announce the beginning of the rainy season. Usually it is the unseen critter who does the most damage. A dose of dengue from a passing mosquito is far more troubling than a confrontation with a frightened snake. |
 A.M. Costa Rica photo
This lizard, known locally as a gararobo, dropped in on the
table one morning to catch some sun. A.M. Costa Rica photo
The visiting city snake didn't want to bother anyone.And there are other insect-born ailments that common sense and a dose of repellent can prevent. The statistics show that swimming in the ocean is far more dangerous than walking in the jungle. Rip tides do not run away. So when outsiders come to Costa Rica with the hopes of shocking television audiences, they are driven by their own preconceptions and do not really learn that humans can live in harmony with the country's natives. Although not too closely! |
| In May, the A.M. Costa Rica Web server registered 5.25 million hits |
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Stanford scientists propose relocated heat-threatened species
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By the Woods Institute
for the Environment at Stanford University Climate change threatens hundreds of thousands of species, including the colorful San Francisco Bay checkerspot butterfly, with extinction. Now Stanford University scientists, along with a multidisciplinary research team, are proposing when and how to save the Bay checkerspot and other vulnerable species by moving them to suitable new habitats. As the climate warms and alters the global ecosystem, many plants and animals will find themselves in habitats too warm or physically altered. For some, it may be a case of move or die. Some researchers have proposed using managed relocation, or assisted migration, to help move vulnerable flora and fauna to habitats where they are more likely to thrive. A team of scientists, including two from Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment, has developed a model for deciding if, when and how species can be viably relocated. Their work will be published this month in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We've got to move things," said Terry Root, co-author of the paper and a senior fellow at the Woods Institute. "We could have about 400,000 species going extinct if the temperature increases by two degrees Celsius, and I don't really see how it won't, given our actions this far." Moving that many species is not feasible, Ms. Root said. And while some species are physically relocating themselves, many cannot, including trees and animals in isolated environments, she added. |
The creatures that live on the Sky Islands, a mesa in the Arizona
desert, can now live there nicely, Ms. Root said. "But as soon as it starts
getting warmer, they are going to cook," she said. "And they can't
scale themselves down the mesa, across the desert, and find somewhere
else to live. They need our help." The paper proposes a new management tool for choosing which species are most viable for relocation based on a series of social and ecological criteria — for example, how much is known about the biology, geographical distribution and the ecological uniqueness of the species, as well as how easy they are to catch and move. Social factors, such as cultural importance, financial impact and even the laws and regulations regarding the species, also are considered. "You have to know a lot about their biology and their habitat needs before you can move them," Ms. Root said. "Otherwise they're not going to make it." In the published study, researchers looked at three examples — the Bay checkerspot butterfly and two types of trees — where managed relocation might be a potential intervention strategy as the climate warms. They ranked the species in terms of movement feasibility and also looked at managed relocation from the perspective of two hypothetical groups: proponents and opponents of the tactic. Based on what's important to each group, managed relocation might be more or less viable. "Basically, any organism that is deemed 'important' for whatever reason could be a candidate for managed relocation," said lead author David Richardson of Stellenbosch University in South Africa. |
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Cuba again says it will
reject OAS membership By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Cuba has formally rejected re-joining the Organization of American States, days after the group revoked Cuba's expulsion nearly 50 years ago. Cuba's official media published a government statement Monday saying Cuba's values are incompatible with what it described as the group's neo-liberal values of capitalism and self-promotion. The statement also accused the United States of exercising oppressive control over the Organization of American States. The 34-member organization voted Wednesday to lift its 1962 suspension of Cuba's membership — in place because of Cuba's Communist government suppression of democratic values. The organization said Cuba's re-entry would be the result of a "process of dialogue" under the group's "practices, proposals and principles" — an indirect reference to human-rights protections and democracy. Before the decision, Cuban officials said they had no interest in re-joining the hemispheric group. An essay published last week, and attributed to former Cuban President Fidel Castro called the Organization of American States an accomplice to crimes committed against his country. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the organization members assembled in Honduras last week to restore Cuba's membership, only after political prisoners are released and basic human rights are improved. Day care blaze blamed on possible short circuit By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A Mexican state prosecutor says a fire that tore through a day care center and killed 44 children, may have been caused by a short circuit or overheating of a cooling system at a nearby warehouse. Sonora state prosecutor Abel Murrieta issued his assessment Monday as more than 30 people remained hospitalized following Friday's blaze at the ABC day care center. The burn victims were being treated in both Mexico and the United States. Officials say many of the victims who died from smoke inhalation were under the age of 5. Authorities have said more than 140 children were inside the facility when the blaze erupted in the building next door. Witnesses said flames blocked the day care center's only exit, and that one parent used his pickup truck to knock a hole through the wall to rescue children. |
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Labor's Brown won't resign, he says in praised speech By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has given what one Cabinet minister calls the "speech of his life," in a closed Labor Party meeting where he defended himself against scandal and a poor showing in two recent elections. Mr. Brown met privately Monday with 350 Labor members of Parliament, refusing to resign despite calls from some party hardliners. Lawmakers who were present said Brown told the gathering his performance as party leader and prime minister needs to improve, but that he will not resign, as some of his opponents have suggested. Witnesses say most of the several hundred party members in the room cheered and applauded loudly. Brown has been prime minister since 2007, when Tony Blair stepped down as leader of the British government. He is obliged to call for new elections by next June — five years after the previous national ballot. Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw, who reviewed Brown's performance with the "speech of his life" accolade, said what had been expected to be a bitter showdown between party factions turned into "a massive show of unity." Labor candidates finished a poor third in the just completed European Parliamentary elections — behind their traditional rivals from the Conservative Party and even members of the the anti-EU UK Independence Party. It was Labor's worst election showing in 100 years. Eight members of Brown's Cabinet have resigned, and several of them say Brown should call early elections. The prime minister is expected to set an election date sometime in May of next year, just before the June 2010 deadline. Elsewhere in Europe, conservatives and center-right parties dominated the European Parliament vote, scoring victories in Germany, France, Poland, Spain and other states. Voter turnout for the four-day-long election was slightly more than 43 percent — a record low. Analysts say many Europeans have little faith in the EU and believe parliament members are detached from citizens' daily problems. |
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