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José, Costa Rica, Thursday, June 11, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 114
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Reader response to drug editorial
was generally positive about marijuana By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Reader response to Wednesday's A.M. Costa Rica editorial calling for the legalization of marijuana and cocaine was generally positive. But some said that cocaine, because it is addictive, should continue to be banned. The editorial called for legalization in Costa Rica and in the United States. It said that the war on drugs has caused extensive criminality here. Costa Rica is considered a major transit point for illegal cocaine. Sharon Wolf, an expat and physician, said "As a medical doctor, having witnessed the tragic deaths, injury to innocents and downhill financial ruin of parents hoping to save a beloved son/daughter, I don't see how the legalization of the same addictive drugs causing these deaths can be of any help in this scourge, any more than legalizing murder would be of any practical benefit." Carol Meeds, an expat who lives on the Caribbean coast, said: If you have ever lived with or even near a cocaine or crack addict you will know about the episodes of rage called, "cocaine psychosis." The editorial noted that such drugs are available widely here already. Many responses were just a sentence or less. A sampling of the longer comments follows: Self-interest groups will fight legalization Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Although I’m not a user, I was delighted to see your call for the legalization of marijuana and cocaine (not crack). Your reasoning is logical and should be adopted worldwide. In Costa Rica it would definitely allow the police to go after career criminals. In the United States it would do the same thing, but there would be a tremendous loss of employment in certain police departments, and in the Drug Enforcement Administration. We can expect a lot of resistance from these self-interested groups. Sadly, it is in their self-preservation for employment that makes them really not to want this foolish war on drugs to ever end. Warren Kinsman
San José Bernie Sanders will stand up for the people Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Kudos on your about face. My only question is, what took you so long? This is a very interesting time. With widespread social media taking on a hefty role in bypassing traditional forms of news media, the public is beginning to demand change from government(s) The 40+ year failed drug policy is a case in point. How this plays out, will have a lot to do with whoever wins the upcoming presidential election. Hopefully you will have gotten over your malady of "republicanitis" and endorse Bernie Sanders for president. The Republicons are obviously employees of the corporate plutochracy, while Bernie is willing to stand up for "people." He has publicly stated that his biggest priority if elected is repealing Citizens United. It has become obvious that the direction the country is going in, has taken it out of the parameters that the founding fathers had in mind, and laid out in the Constitution, and Bill of Rights. The time for believing in the old two-party system is over. It's time for people to start voting based on issues, which you now seem to have come to realize. Hari Singh Khalsa
Cóbano Editor's note; Citizens United, 558 U.S. 310, is the U.S. Supreme Court decision that stops the government from restricting political expenditures by non-profit corporations. Physician says there is no practical benefit Dear A.M. Costa Rica: After many notes of sincere congratulations, I write to strongly differ with you on this. The legalization of addictive drugs has long been the pet objective of elite intellectuals and persons aware of its huge financial potential. As a medical doctor, having witnessed the tragic deaths, injury to innocents and downhill financial ruin of parents hoping to save a beloved son/daughter, I don't see how the legalization of the same addictive drugs causing these deaths can be of any help in this scourge, any more than legalizing murder would be of any practical benefit. I'm writing this because I do believe you have the integrity and personal doubt to publish this, perhaps make an authentic search for more insight and wisdom. Sharon Wolf, M.D.
Marijuana is much better than alcohol Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Your realization that marijuana should be legalized is to be commended. Eighteen years ago I had to decide if I was more comfortable knowing my son was driving home on a weekend night high on marijuana or high on alcohol. Having tried both in my youth I was aware how much safer I drove when having smoked marijuana versus after drinking alcohol. It was an easy decision. Marijuana was easily the preferred drug/substance. Costa Rica should apply it’s anti-drug resources to better uses. So should the U.S. Those resources are now and has been for years wasted on this type of prohibition. Chris Christie, Republican about to announce his candidacy for president, still believes marijuana is a gateway drug to the crack/meth/heroin’s in the world. Has the guy ever actually smoked (and inhaled) marijuana? It may not happen in my lifetime, but the U.S. will eventually (in the next two three generations) decriminalize if not fully legalize marijuana. Cocaine may be a different matter, at least in the U.S. Yes, I have snorted my share of cocaine, both fairly pure and badly cut. Like alcohol, is a more psychologically addictive drug. Unlike alcohol, it does not impair one’s ability to drive, at least when snorted. Again, this conclusion is based on my own experience and my observation of my friends/acquaintances use. Unfortunately, most of the U.S. still harbors wild fears based on lack of knowledge and manipulation by the governmental/law enforcement bureaucracy. It will be many generations before the U.S. is ready to swallow this truth. For most people, it is better to ignore the facts when having already made up their minds. I no longer use cocaine. If it were legal and pure, I might try it occasionally, but it can be hard to use when one has daily obligations beyond a college class. Like alcohol, too much can produce its own hangover effects the following morning when one must wake up and go. But, given the enormous waste of money and manpower over the last 45 years, trying to stop something that many people want and use, makes zero sense. I applaud your intelligent approach to this issue. Gary Keenan
Any war benefits the large corporations Dear A.M. Costa Rica: My hat is off to see that A.M. Costa Rica is bold enough to go out on a limb in support against the "war" on drugs. Many of us liberals (not necessarily Democrats) and libertarians have seen the writing on the wall for many years. Anytime we have a "war" on anything it is really about making money by large corporations. The "war" on drugs is just that. It makes billions of dollars a year on weapons, ammo, private facility incarceration, drug testing and private companies connected to the governments. Since the beginning of the "war" on drugs, in 1971, by Richard Nixon and the formation of the DEA, the drug problem has increased significantly. The war on drugs has cost over $1 trillion dollars. The Cato Institute reports that legalizing drugs would save roughly $41.3 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. The report also estimates that drug legalization would yield tax revenue of $46.7 billion annually. The Global Commission on Drug Policy reported that between 1998 and 2008, global use of opiates increased 34.5 percent, cocaine 27 percent, and cannabis 8.5 percent. President Carter said when he left the presidential office in 1980, 500,000 people were incarcerated in America. At the end of 2009, the number jumped to 2.3 million. If the number of people on probation and parole are included, the figure totals 7.2 million people, or more than 3 percent of all U.S. adults. Over 80 percent were incarcerated for possession only. In 2011, 50.8 percent of federal inmates are incarcerated for drug offenses. The wasted taxpayer dollars could be spent on helping our youth to stay off of drugs and more rather then locking them up. Cheers again to A.M. Costa Rica for taking a bold stance on the subject. Henry Kantrowitz
Punta Leona People steal and kill to get drugs Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
How very sad that this newspaper is calling for legalization of illegal drugs. Instead of helping suggest to find a way to beat drugs you are giving in and asking for it to be legalized. What good things do drugs do for people? I have never seen or heard of anything good coming of them. They destroy people and their loved ones. People steal and kill to get them. Please rethink what you have written here, find a way to help not hurt people. You have a beautiful country, and the people are wonderful human beings. Keep it that way! Show the world that drugs are not needed or to be tolerated. Put your voice to good use not how to destroy your beautiful country.....very disappointed in your opinion on this one! Hugo Chávez once said "Give American drugs and they will destroy themselves." Stand up for what is right, get these bad guys. Don't make them heroes. Gail Mason
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Yes for marijuana, but no for cocaine Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Although my views are definitely liberal and may even be libertarian at times, I have to be one of those people who draw the line at permitting the uncensored use of drugs that hurt others. If you have ever lived with or even near a cocaine or crack addict you will know about the episodes of rage called, “cocaine psychosis.” “Cocaine-related violent behaviors occur in as many as 55 percent of patients with cocaine-induced psychiatric symptoms. Homicide has also been associated with cocaine use in as many as 31 percent of homicide victims. In suicide, cocaine has been found to be present in as high as 18 to 2 percent of cases. Many patients with cocaine dependence have also been found to have a comorbid psychiatric disorder,” according to the National Institutes for Health. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC181074/ Marijuana should not even be regulated as a drug. It is a naturally growing herbal medicine that offers many treatments for many ailments including the ailment of anxiety brought on by living in the modern world. For that matter, in my opinion, Coco leaves are probably not a problem either. Carol Meeds
Caribbean coast
We must stop turning people into criminals Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Your concise and well-reasoned editorial on the legalization of marijuana and cocaine is a statement that deserves the broadest possible audience. Until the U.S.-led War on Drugs is eliminated, the carnage and corruption that illegality produces will worsen, reducing the quality of life for everyone. We must stop turning our children, our friends and our neighbors into criminals for indulging in habits that should be treated rather than prosecuted. James Saxon
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, June 11, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 114 | |
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| Minimum salaries tied to education and may increase
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
While employees at the Ministerio de Trabajo work to adjust the long list of minimum wages little attention is being given to the impact this government policy has on the workforce. Instead of setting just one minimum salaries, the ministry's Consejo de Salarios sets a percentage of increase that affects a long list of salaries by jobs. The amount changes every six months, usually based on inflation. Some salaries are stated by the day. A carpenter receives at least 10,531.09 colons per day. So does the individual who fields telephone calls at taxi companies, hair dressers and bartenders. The amount is about $20 a day. The salaries at the higher levels are based on academic attainment and not the type of job. So a university graduate must be paid at least 507,779.05 colons ($958) a month. The holder of what amounts to a master's degree must be paid 609,355.75 colons ($1,150). Incredibly, at the top of the list are newspeople who must be paid at least 750,481.33 colons ($1,416) a month. Workers can enforce these salaries by an appeal to the Ministerio de Trabajo. Some of Costa Rica's unemployment most certainly is due to advanced degree holders being priced out of the market. A number of job seekers have told A.M. Costa Rica managers that they would only work for the high minimum wage even if the job was as a trainee |
 Technically, a university graduate working as a carpenter should get 507,779.05 colons a month instead of 10,531.09 colons per day. Costa Rica's unemployment rate is about 9.7 percent, according to government sources. Many other countries have a flat minimum wage or one that is based on the job being performed and not on education. The minimum wages do not include professional fees. In some cases, such as lawyers, the minimum fee is set by the professional organization, the colegio. |
| Bill blames beauty pageants for a host of ills affecting kids |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The child protection agency, the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, appears to be the driving force behind a legislative bill that would prohibit beauty pageants of children under 16 years. The same bill appears to prohibit using children under that age as models. The summary of the bill says it will ban all forms of erotism in boys and girls and adolescents. It is No. 19.362. The measure also would appear to prohibit youngsters in advertising, in clothing, cosmetics, video games, movies, fictional personas, animated drawings, parties, child events, radio shows, television shows and social networks. The summary of the bill blames beauty pageant for a multitude of sins, including anorexia, stealing childhood from youngsters, objectification, distortion of self-image, |
wrecking
self esteem and instilling an inferiority complex. The
result is to promote a stereotype of beauty for which
youngsters, mainly girls, will strive, it says. The result will lead eventually to plastic surgery, including nose jobs, and liposuction, says the summary. The children also are exposed early to sexuality and are predisposed for sexual exploitation and abuse, said the bill. The summary cites a host of international treaties that say children must be protected, and then expands this protection to eliminating beauty contests, which the summary equates to child abuse. The penalty for holding a beauty contest is a moderate fine, but parents can lose custody to the Patronato if their children participate, said the text of the bill. Some 17 lawmakers are sponsors. The bill is in the Comisión de Juventud, Niñez y Adolescencia. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| Common antibiotic appears to be effective against those
superbugs |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A common antibiotic used for treating sore throats and ear infections may be a potent weapon against superbugs that are resistant to most other drugs. In traditional laboratory tests against such bacteria, the antibiotic azithromycin, sold commercially as Zithromax, did not perform very well. But under different testing conditions, azithromycin proved highly effective against three difficult-to-treat pathogens. Instead of doing the testing in a standard laboratory culture, scientists tested the drug in a culture that was more like the human body and contained a lot of human natural bacteria-fighting factors. The resulting activity "was so potent that we could see that azithromycin was able to cure some of these infections in a mouse model of the drug-resistant pathogens,” said Victor Nizet, a professor of pediatrics and pharmacology at the University of California-San Diego. Nizet’s group found that azithromycin, in this culture medium, zapped three superbugs, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii. |
Superbugs are
particularly lethal because they rarely strike healthy
people. Instead, they tend to infect debilitated hospital patients with
weakened immune systems, often killing them because no antibiotics are
effective against the pathogens. The highly resistant bacteria in this study are called gram-negative. This means they have cell walls and a structure that are difficult for antibiotic drugs to penetrate. The World Health Organization warns drug resistance is spreading rapidly among these pathogens and is sounding the alarm that no new experimental antibiotics are on the horizon. This study is important because it suggests some antibiotics that have been largely ignored in the treatment of serious infections could in fact save lives. “If you are seeing a percentage of treatment failures with current antibiotic therapy, then it is important to step back and ask, 'Have we studied all of the antibiotics in the richest context that could yield the best treatment?' ” Nizet said. While he said more research is needed, Nizet said it is possible physicians might want to try drugs like azithromycin, which have a proven safety record, in their sickest patients. |
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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 will auction this and about 2,000 posters more relating to World War I. They were collected by Brooklyn resident Edward H. McCrahon, a colonel in the U.S. Army. The full collection is HERE! Obama sends more advisers to bolster Iraqi troops By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama Wednesday ordered 450 additional military advisers to Iraq in a new effort to bolster Iraqi troops as they try to retake Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital seized last month by Islamic State insurgents. The White House said the extra troops would not serve in a combat role and would augment the 3,100 trainers the U.S. already has in Iraq to train, advise and assist Iraqi forces and Sunni fighters. But Obama is continuing to rule out sending ground troops back into Iraq after withdrawing them in 2011. A statement said the president was adding the new advisers at the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the recommendation of U.S. defense chiefs. "These new advisers will work to build the capacity of Iraqi forces, including local tribal fighters, to improve their ability to plan, lead and conduct operations against ISIL in eastern Anbar under the command of the prime minister,'' White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Under the plan, the U.S. would open a new training site at al-Taqaddum, a desert air base that once served as an American military hub, in eastern Anbar province. The move will increase the number of U.S. training sites in Iraq from four to five. At the Pentagon, spokesman Col. Steve Warren said the new U.S. forces could begin operations at al-Taqaddum in six to eight weeks. Their objective, he said, will be "to engage with the leadership of Iraqi units at the brigade and higher level and advise and assist them on how to conduct their operations.” U.S. deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Wednesday that the advisers would give the U.S. greater capacity to strengthen Iraqi forces, while working with Sunni tribal fighters who are essential to coalition efforts to combat the Islamic State group. Most of the trainees would be Sunni tribal volunteers. “What we’re trying to do here," the Pentagon's Warren said, "is bring the Sunnis into the fold, into the tent, so they can join with the Iraqi government, with the Iraqi security forces and defeat ISIL.” Obama also ordered the expedited delivery of essential equipment and materiel to Iraqi forces, including Kurdish peshmerga troops and Sunni tribal fighters operating under Iraqi command, the White House said. The expanded effort also will include delivering U.S. equipment and arms directly to al-Taqaddum, not unilaterally but under the authority of the government in Baghdad. This represents a change in the U.S. policy of providing arms only through the central government. Obama has also ordered officials to intensify their efforts to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria, out of fear they will eventually return to their home countries and carry out attacks, the statement said. Obama acknowledged earlier this week that even after launching 4,400 aerial attacks against Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria since September, the U.S. had not developed a complete strategy with the Iraqi government to train more of Baghdad's troops, especially Sunni tribesmen seen as key to retaking Ramadi. The Sunni tribes, he said, are not only willing and ready to fight Islamic State but have been successful at it. The U.S. in the past year has trained about 9,000 Iraqi troops and is training another 3,000, but it is unclear how many more recruits Iraq will be able to supply. With the Islamic State group's takeover of Iraq's second city, Mosul, a year ago, and now Ramadi, criticism of Obama's aerial-only bombardment of the militants has grown louder in Washington. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a Democrat, said reworking America’s strategy in Iraq was overdue. "Obviously, our present strategy isn’t working. The key issue for me has always been: If we believe that ISIL is a national security threat, then you have to deal with the threat," Menendez said, referring to an acronym for the Islamist extremists. He added that having better-trained Iraqi troops fighting the Islamic State group would be desirable. By contrast, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. a Republican, criticized Obama’s entire Iraq strategy as a duct-tape approach. "This is just adding capacity to a strategy that will never work. President Obama is fundamentally off track here. Five hundred are too few to make a difference," said Graham, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate. Graham advocated sending a small contingent of U.S. combat forces to Iraq, an option Obama has ruled out. Political surveys in the U.S. show little public support for sending U.S. ground fighters back to Iraq. At a Republican leadership news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday morning, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said sending additional military advisers to Iraq "is a step in the right direction, but as the president admitted the other day, he has no strategy to win." Other critics, such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, were dismissive of Wednesday's decision. "This is incrementalism at its best or worst, depending on how you describe it," McCain said. The U.S. already trains Iraqi troops at four sites — two in the vicinity of Baghdad, one at al-Asad air base in Anbar province and one near Irbil in northern Iraq. There is another training center for special operations forces near Baghdad. The Islamic State extremists have taken sizable areas of both Syria and Iraq, and Iraqi security forces, supported by militias, have been trying to reclaim areas near Ramadi since it fell to the militants last month. Wednesday, the U.S. Central Command said the U.S.-led coalition conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria in a 24-hour period. Also, Kurdish officials said an American man was killed fighting Islamic State militants alongside Kurds in Syria. The State Department identified him as Keith Broomfield, but it gave no circumstances of his death. Vote may come Friday on fast-track authority By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are cautiously moving forward with plans to hold a vote Friday to grant fast-track trade promotion authority to President Barack Obama. The issue has most Republicans lined up with a president they usually oppose. On the other side of the issue is a broad coalition of tea party Republicans skeptical of giving the president too much power, progressive Democrats, labor unions and other groups. This unlikely group is fighting as hard as it can to stop a vote from happening or to defeat it on the House floor. House Republicans met Wednesday behind closed doors inside the U.S. Capitol and decided to move forward on legislation this week, knowing that the vote is likely to be extremely close and hard fought. Speaker John Boehner of Ohio told reporters: “Trade votes are never an easy lift around here, but Republicans are continuing to work, and we are seeing some positive momentum in the right direction.” At the same time outside the Capitol, labor union leaders, environmentalists, retirees, feminists and some Democratic lawmakers held a news conference, vowing to stop the trade legislation. Rep. Barbara Lee of California, a Democrat, acknowledged that Democrats have come under pressure from the president to support the bill, but she said pressure is not what matters to her or to others who are taking a stand. “This deal is bad for American workers, it is bad for American jobs, so we need to go back to the drawing board,” Rep. Lee said. The White House has said it will have the back of any Democratic lawmakers who may face a primary election challenge from within their own ranks if they vote for trade promotion authority. Several Democratic House members said that they come under relentless pressure from unions and other activists when they return to their home districts. Roy Houseman, a legislative representative for the United Steelworkers, said the steel industry has already lost 5,000 jobs, partly because of previous trade agreements, and that thousands of American jobs are at stake. He said unions would continue to push hard against granting fast-track trade authority, and that it is far from certain there will be a vote this week. He said Republicans had pulled votes in the past because they lacked sufficient support for a bill's passage. "As we are coming to an end game, we feel strongly that it is in the members of Congress' best interest to vote for their constituents, and that would be opposing fast track,” he said. The trade bill needs 217 votes to pass, and so far, only 18 Democrats have pledged to support it, forcing Republicans to try to limit the number of no votes on their side. Negotiations on details are still ongoing, and some Democrats say they are holding out for the best possible conditions they can get. Obama is seeking fast-track authority to negotiate the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which is also an issue lawmakers passionately disagree on. Hackers might be winning against big firms, study says By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A study released Wednesday suggests that despite the growing time and resources companies spend on cybersecurity, they’re at best keeping even with the hackers and may in fact be losing ground. Hackers, the study said, are becoming more skillful and their tools more effective, and the market for their stolen information is flourishing. The study, conducted by the RAND Corp., was based on extensive interviews with 18 chief information security officers, traditionally the top cybersecurity position in corporate organizations, as well as a review of current cybersecurity products on the market. The authors of the study, “The Defender’s Dilemma: Charting a Course Toward Cybersecurity,” conclude that worldwide corporate spending on cybersecurity now nears $70 billion annually and is on track to grow at a rate of 10 percent or more each year. Despite that investment, report authors say, security officers are relatively pessimistic about their battle against cyberattacks and believe that hackers may in fact gain the upper hand in a matter of a few years. That last finding was among several that report authors suspected even before the study was conducted. Other initial preconceptions that were confirmed were that larger businesses often had more options for strengthening cybersecurity than smaller ones, and that walling off specific parts of corporate computer systems from the Internet can help guard against attack. Among the more surprising findings for the report authors was that security officers often view the greatest damage caused by cyberattacks to be on a corporation’s reputation, rather than the actual stolen data or intellectual property. “The bedrock of cybersecurity is good system software,” the authors wrote. “Companies often find themselves having to invest in defensive measures because foundational systems and software are unsecure. The security and solidness of the actual software helps to prevent attackers from gaining a foothold on a network.” The report said that recent high-profile data breaches at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Anthem Insurance and many other private firms have paradoxically strengthened corporations’ cybersecurity posture, because corporate boards are taking the issue much more seriously. “Core software is improving, and cybersecurity products are burgeoning,” the authors write. “The combination is likely to make the attacker’s task more difficult and more expensive — which will not solve the problem, but will make it more manageable.” Several recent studies have shown that many companies are more worried about the damage to their reputations from cyber attacks than the actual loss of intellectual property or other valuable information. A previous study by the Ponemon Institute says the most costly cyber crimes include attacks by malicious insiders and denial of service attacks that overwhelm a firm's computer systems. The Ponemon study also says the longer such attacks continue, the more costly they become, with business disruption the largest expense. Ponemon Institute founder Larry Ponemon said the problem of cyber attacks is huge and getting worse at an exponential rate. In an interview, he said such attacks had already put some small and medium-size companies out of business, and that it was just a matter of time before a large firm, like Target, is closed by cyber issues. A separate report Tuesday from the Standard & Poor’s rating agency says global business losses from cyber attacks may run as high as $400 billion per year. World Bank estimates growth at just 2.8 percent for world By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The global economy is in for one more year of disappointing growth, according to a World Bank study published Wednesday. Growth is expected to improve a bit next year. Experts at the global lender now predict that the global economy will expand 2.8 percent this year as commerce confronts the sometimes surprising impacts of falling oil prices and rising U.S. interest rates. Washington cut its key interest rate nearly to zero during the recession to revive flagging growth. But the recovering economy no longer needs this crutch, and the U.S. central bank is expected to slowly raise interest rates later this year. That would increase the cost of borrowing and tend to slow growth. As expected, falling oil prices have hurt the economies of some oil-exporting nations. But Wednesday’s study shows that falling crude prices have not yet helped oil-importing nations as much as economists thought they would. Overall, economies in the developing world are predicted to expand 4.4 percent this year and speed up a little in 2016. China’s growth is expected to slow to 7.1 percent, while Russia’s economy, hurt by falling oil prices and sanctions, is expected to have a negative growth rate of 2.7 percent. For the United States, the strengthening dollar means that American-made goods are more expensive and less competitive on global markets, which could slow the growth of the world’s largest economy. That would cut demand for the goods and services that flow to this key market from all over the world. Growth will hit 1.5 percent in the eurozone as the declining value of its currency bolstered exports, falling oil prices encouraged consumer spending, and officials cut interest rates to record-low levels. Greece’s problems repaying loans have hurt its economy, but the World Bank says so far, it has had a limited impact on its neighbors. |
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Publishers flee
after corruption editorial
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The husband and wife team who publish the Cayman Compass, the island's oldest newspaper, have fled for their own protection because they ran a critical editorial June 3 on the international soccer federation scandal. The island's premier, Alden McLaughlin, called the opinion piece “reckless … treasonous attack on the Cayman Islands and on all the people of Cayman.” Then the island's legislature voted to strip the newspaper of government advertising. The editorial suggested that the government acted rather slowly in responding to accusations of alleged bribery and corruption within the International Federation of Football Associations and specifically against Jeffrey Webb, head of the local association and president of the football confederation which comprises North America, Central America and the Caribbean, according to the Inter American Press Association. Webb was arrested on May 27. The newspaper said that corruption was so prevalent in the Cayman Islands that it called it “an insidious common crime.” The Inter American Press Association said it expressed concern and condemned the fact that legislators had approved withdrawal of official advertising in retaliation for an editorial that criticized the premier and local officials. Press association President Gustavo Mohme, editor of the Lima, Perú, newspaper La República, condemned “the lack of independence of the legislators who, in order to ingratiate themselves with the premier, approved the suspension of placing official advertising and any other commercial activity with the islands’ sole newspaper, directly impacting freedom of expression and the people’s right to have access to information of public interest.” The chairman of the association's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, referred to “the abuse of privilege and the manipulation of the legislature over an editorial denouncing corruption.” He declared that “the placement of official advertising should not be used to award or punish media or journalists,” as established by the Declaration of Chapultepec, in its Principle 7. McLaughlin accused the newspaper of having carried out “a full frontal assault on the Cayman Islands and its people,” and supported the economic sanctions against it. Cayman Compass co-publishers David R. Legge and his wife, Vikki, were placed under police protection, and by the weekend had left the country for the United States Saturday, his newspaper reported. “The premier must be aware of the irony of his remarks,” Mr. Legge was quoted as saying in his newspaper. “The editorial to which he took such umbrage addresses the need to eliminate corruption in the Cayman Islands (and by inference, elsewhere). Mr. McLaughlin himself campaigned in no small measure on the exact same theme in the run-up to his election in 2013. “Further, the editorial was in perfect harmony with remarks to be delivered yesterday by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to the heads of the G7 countries meeting in Germany. According to the BBC, Mr. Cameron was to urge a ‘global crackdown on the “cancer” of corruption.’ “In Mr. Cameron’s words: ‘We just don’t talk enough about corruption. This has got to change. We have to show some of the same courage that exposed FIFA and break the international taboo on pointing the finger at corrupt institutions.’ “He concluded: ‘World leaders simply cannot dodge this issue any longer.’” The newspaper said in a news story: The Compass editorial, entitled ‘Corruption: An insidious, creeping crime’ stated the following in its second paragraph: “Whether it’s securing a vehicular inspection sticker, an exemption to development regulations, approval for work permits, the support of a particular bloc of voters, or, allegedly, millions of dollars in bribes in relation to sporting events – lurking behind the scenes are shadows of impropriety, influence and inscrutability. Because such behavior is so commonplace, we tend to ‘normalize it,’ refusing even to recognize it, or neglecting to see how aberrant it really is. In the 1990s, U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan called this ‘defining deviancy down.’ In Cayman, we’re more likely to attribute such behavior to ‘cultural differences.’” |
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| From Page 7: Telecom regulator defends ¢2.2 billion fine By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones is defending itself because it has assessed a 2.2 billion colon fine on the state telephone company for uncompetitive practices. The legislators of the Partido Acción Ciudana said it rejected the fine, and the Frente Interno de Trabajadores of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad said Tuesday that the government agency was using the same lawyers who work for a private telecom company, a competitor. The Superintendencia denied any conflict of interest Wednesday and said that the process whereby the fine was levied was well advertised and published in the La Gaceta official newspaper. The fine stems from an allegation that the state telecom company sold some services for less than they cost for four months during late 2011 and early 2012. The state telephone company is appealing, and the whole case probably will end up in court. The amount involved is about $4.2 million. |
