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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday,
July 24,
2014, Vol. 14, No. 145
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A high pressure area in the Caribbean is sending strong winds into Coast Rica, and the system is generating more rain for the coast and the northern zone. The national emergency commission said that rivers on the Caribbean coast were swelling, including the Sarapiquí, Frío and Parismina. An evening report said that the Río Colorado in northeast Costa Rica already had flooded some homes in low areas. Wind in the Central Valley and Guanacaste were expected to reach 95 kph or about 59 or 60 mph. Rains that were falling Wednesday night on the Caribbean coast and in the northern zone were expected to continue through this morning. Amounts may be as much as 2 inches. These areas have been particularly hard hit by rain over the last week. Lesser amounts were expected in the central and south Pacific coast, according to the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional. The weather institute issued a bulletin at 2:16 p.m. and another at 7:15 p.m. One resident in La Garita likened the winds there to what usually takes place in January. Rock ends life of U.S. woman expat By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A man who she had raised is the prime suspect in the murder of a U.S. citizen Wednesday in Los Ángeles de Limoncito in Coto Brus. The dead woman was identified by the Judicial Investigating Organization as Esther Pearl Kropf Yoder. She was between 35 and 40, agents said. The judicial police said the suspect had lived with the woman for years since he was little. About 2 p.m. in a river near the home where they both lived, the man took a rock and struck the woman on the head, agents said. The man then called 911, and Fuerza Pública officers who arrived found the woman still in the river or creek. The suspect is expected to claim that he acted in self-defense when the woman was aggressive toward him, said agents. The man was discussing the event freely with investigators, the agency said. The man was being held overnight while the investigation continued. The woman is believed to have been a long-time resident. The judicial agents from Ciudad Neily are on the case.  Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas
photo
Both men ended up safe in
Limón.Two men rescued
from rough seas
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Strong winds and heavy seas dumped into the ocean two men who said they were fishermen from Bluefields, Nicaragua, said the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas. The coast guard said that the men were rescued in the outer harbor by an oil tanker that was leaving Moín Wednesday morning. The coast guard sent a launch to retrieve the pair. Both men said they were Jamaicans, said the coast guard. They were identified as Peter Reynolds, 31, and Daley Rollar, 39. The coast guard said they were on the 40-foot boat when it overturned. Seals seem to appreciate wind farm projects By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Offshore wind farms are harnessing more than wind. Seals are foraging for food at these offshore developments, according to a new study. Study lead author Deborah Russell, with the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her colleagues monitored the location and behavior of 100 seals off the British and Dutch coastlines by tracking GPS tags glued to the animals' backs. “It is actually quite interesting, the tags transmit that data through the mobile phone system," Ms. Russell said. "So they kind of send text messages about where the seals are and where they have been and information about their activity.” The aim was to better understand the interaction between seals and wind turbines and underwater pipes. The scientists charted grid patterns with the GPS data that show seals visited the structures, sometimes repeatedly. Ms. Russell says expected increase in the number of these structures is certain to have consequences. “The presence of an operational wind farm may make the area less attractive to mammals due to an increase in noise because of operating wind turbines," she said. "However, conversely, they may make the habitat more attractive by increasing prey availability, by decreasing fishing activity or in this case we think it is actually that the anthropogenic structures can result in artificial reefs.” The artificial reef could set up a new dynamic in the food chain. “If the structures increase the overall abundance of prey in the environment, then they may provide the sustainable new foraging opportunities for these biotas," said Ms. Russell. "And in this case the structures should really be designed to maximize these ecological benefits. However, in contrast if the prey, which were previously sparsely distributed, are simply concentrated at these structures, it makes them very vulnerable to . . . marine predators such as seals.” These are issues that Ms. Russell says must be examined in future studies, to better inform decision makers and the public about the best development practices for the mammals and the ocean environment. U.N. report shows uneven development By the U. N. Development Programme news
staff
Levels in human development continue to rise – yet the pace has slowed for all regions and progress has been highly uneven, according to the latest Human Development Index included in the 2014 Human Development Report “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience”, published today by U. N. Development Programme. The lower human development groups appear to be improving at a higher rate, said the report, adding that this is grounds for optimism that the gap between higher and lower human development groups is narrowing. Zimbabwe, for example, experienced the biggest improvement in HDI due to a significant increase in life expectancy – 1.8 years from 2012 to 2013, almost quadruple the average global increase. Meanwhile, the rankings remain unchanged at both ends of the development index. Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands and United States remain in the lead for another year, while Sierra Leone, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Niger continue to rank bottom of the list. Despite overall gains in human development, progress in all regions decelerated over 2008 to 2013 compared to 2000 to 2008. In the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific region, and Latin America and the Caribbean, average annual growth rate in development index dropped by about half when comparing these periods. The steepest declines in development values this year occurred in Central African Republic, Libya and Syria, where ongoing conflict contributed to a drop in incomes. This year’s report presents values for 187 countries, and is the first index to use the latest International Comparison Program’s conversion rates of national currencies to purchasing power parity, released by the World Bank in May 2014. Income inequality continues to grow and education remains persistently unequal. Inequality in income has risen in several regions, including among very high human development countries. Despite registering the biggest drop in overall inequality this year, the Latin America and Caribbean region maintains the global high-water mark in income inequality.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, July 24, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 145 | |
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| Tourism industry leaders wrestle with looming sales tax
impact |
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By
Michael Krumholtz
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Citing higher costs that could push tourists away from Costa Rica, tourism industry leaders decried the finance ministry's decision to put a sales tax on entrances into protected lands and national parks as well as tourist activities. Wednesday Pablo Heriberto Abarca, president of the Cámera Nacional de Turismo, said the added sales tax is unconstitutional and based on subjective interpretation. The section of the 1982 general sales tax law under debate says night clubs, social centers, and recreation centers or gyms are subject to taxes. This new tariff implies that adventure tours like hiking, canopy, or rafting are benefiting from public lands and should thus be charged within this grouping. “The tax law does not even clearly state national parks nor does it  A.M. Costa Rica/Michael Krumholtz
Pablo Heriberto Abarca makes a
point while flanked by Luis Vázquez Castro and Kathia Valverde
Madrigal. |
say
anything about activities and tours,” Abarca said. “This tax has never
been collected and now, 384 months after the creation of the Ley del
Impuesto General de Ventas, they hope to add on to the law through an
interpretation.” The increased fees are due to take effect next Wednesday, three months after an April 30 decree issued by the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía that increased entrance fees into public protected areas. Abarca claims that tourism authorities were never given an official notification of the Ministerio de Hacienda's plans to impose the tax. Kathia Valverde Madrigal, the president of Costa Rica's association for tourism operators, said immediate consequences will follow this tax for an industry that is already reeling from mounting expenses. “It's clearly going to affect numbers for tourism businesses,” Ms. Valverde said. “Costa Rica cannot allow its tourism sector to keep dropping as more and more people go to places like Nicaragua and Panamá. We can't keep being the most expensive choice.” She said tour guide and adventure travel companies will have to take up the burden of paying the charge, especially if they are traveling with dozens of patrons. Tourists already pay high costs to enter national parks without this new recreation tax, including a $16 per person fee to enter Paque Nacional Manuel Antonio. Rising prices for tourists, companies that decide to avoid national parks all together, and potential business closures are all foreseeable consequences that could pop up, Ms. Valverde said. Tuesday lawmakers argued whether a retroactive assessment of the sales tax was valid. “It seems that they're wanting to carve out the tourism sector just over an interpretation of the law,” said Luis Vázquez Castro, head of the Asamblea Legislativa's tourism commission. Ms. Valverde and Abarca are scheduled to meet soon with the tourism minister, Wilhelm Von Breymann, and the finance minister, Helio Fallas, to analyze the problems that now confront businesses in the industry. |
 Judicial
Investigating Organization photos
A variety of pots, a jaguar bowl and well-used metates and a mano make up the collection |
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| Judicial agents confiscate pre-Columbian collection from
Santa Rosa |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial investigators raided a summer home in Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and confiscated 67 pre-Columbian pieces, mostly pots. Although the Judicial Investigating Organization characterized the pots as having high value, they were mostly nondescript, plain bowls and three metates and a mano used at one time for grinding grain. None appears to be ready for display in the Museo Nacional. It was museum officials who triggered the raid. The most elaborate of the pieces, an anthropomorphic pot, has a broken rim. It had the figure of a man with the protruding head of a jaguar. Judicial police said that the home was the property of a man from Heredia who was not further identified. Judicial investigators said that part of the high value was due to the historic and cultural value of the pots. They also said that the property owner would face an action from prosecutors. |
The pots most
likely will end up in the museum's storage facilities in
Pavas. Museum officials are aggressive in confiscating all sorts of
pre-Columbian artifacts, in part to reduce the illegal trade. Many of
the pieces were collected by Costa Ricans and expats before there was a
law prohibiting this type of activity. In the past, the museum has been forced to return some pieces because there was a high probability that they were collected legally. Museum officials will catalogue archaeological pieces in private collections on the assumption that they belong to the state. Costa Rica's museums have a large quantity of pieces for which workers have no record as to when and where they were collected. So as archaeological finds, they are worthless. Santa Cruz in pre-Columbian times were influenced heavily by cultures to the north. The section that is now Guanacaste was nominally a dependency of the Aztec Empire in the Valley of México. This area was a source for ceramics and tribute. Residents still make ornate polychrome pieces in the style of their ancestors. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, July 24, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 145 | |||||
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Plenty of
firearms are illegal,
and some are just homemade By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Despite police efforts and registration requirements, illegal weapons proliferate. The Fuerza Pública confiscated eight firearms Tuesday, including one homemade device with four barrels. Some expats have said they keep illegal firearms because the registration process is too difficult and has to be repeated frequently. That was born out when police went to a La Uruca home this week and found an 85-year-old man with two pistols. His wife had turned him in and told police that she worried about the safety of the family because of the man's declining mental state. The man showed documents to police, but the documents to keep the weapons legally had expired in 1975, they said. Not everyone who carries an illegal firearm is a crook. Only permanent expat residents here can obtain a firearm permit, but many so-called perpetual tourists, pensionados or rentistas keep a pistol or shotgun in their home for protection. There also is a steady commercial trade in illegal weapons. Those who cannot afford even a cheap handgun, can consult the Internet for ways to build one. That might not be a good idea. A street robber killed earlier this month had a homemade weapon. The man who killed him carried a legal and professionally built firearm |
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
This homemade pistol is fired by
pulling a cord.y Seguridad Pública photo |
Here's reasonable medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, July 24, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 145 | |||||||
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| Malaysian airliner tragedy seen affected U.S. election By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Reaction in the United States to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over rebel-held areas of Ukraine continues to be harshly critical of Russia and the separatist rebels they back in eastern Ukraine. The intense focus of international outrage over the incident and the challenge facing the administration of President Barack Obama suggests the crisis could be a factor in U.S. midterm congressional elections in November. President Obama is trying to keep the pressure on Russia and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine to cooperate with international efforts to find out who was responsible for shooting down the plane last week with a surface-to-air missile. “We have to make sure that the truth is out and that accountability exists,” the president said at the White House this week. There is no shortage of outrage in the U.S. over the incident. A Washington Post editorial said the behavior of Russian leaders and the rebels they back in eastern Ukraine has been “a lesson in barbarity and morally contemptible statecraft.” A New York Times editorial said the callousness of the Russian-backed rebels on the ground in the aftermath of the crash and their Russian sponsors was outrageous. Opposition Republicans are scrutinizing President Obama’s response to the situation in Ukraine and some, like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are demanding that he take a tougher stance. “The Europeans are never going to lead on this issue. It is indispensable that America lead, and there is a battle of wills between the KGB colonel and the community organizer and the colonel is winning,” Graham told NBC’s Meet the Press program. The debate over the U.S. response to Russia comes in the wake of a new poll by Politico that shows Americans are more reluctant to support direct military engagement overseas. The poll was conducted before the downing of Malaysia Flight 17. The survey shows deep reluctance among the public for U.S. military intervention in Ukraine and Syria, and support for the pullout of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. Alexander Burns of Politico said he was surprised by the vehemence many voters expressed in the poll that it was time for the U.S. to keep away from overseas conflicts. “You might have guessed that the public is not overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the idea of foreign military adventures at this point,” Burns told reporters at a Politico briefing in Washington. “I don’t know that I would have guessed that they were this unenthusiastic about foreign military engagements to the point where you have big majorities of Republicans saying that they support the plan to get everybody out of Afghanistan. Big majorities, across age groups, across races, geographically consistent just saying, 'you know, let the rest of the world deal with its own damn problems.'” The poll showed that 89 percent of voters believe foreign policy will be an important issue in this year’s U.S. congressional elections. But Burns said that when voters in the survey were asked to name the issue that matters most to them, only 11 percent said foreign affairs, defense or terrorism. Foreign policy traditionally ranks low on the list of priorities for voters in a congressional election year. Most analysts believe this year’s elections will be driven by voter opinions about the economy, President Obama, and local issues. President Obama’s public approval ratings remain low at or slightly above 40-percent. Political Analyst Charlie Cook said that is usually a political danger sign for the president’s Democratic Party in the November election. “In the post-World War II era we have had six of these second term mid-term elections, and in five out of six the party in the White House got really, really hurt badly in either the House or the Senate or both,” Cook said. “The circumstances were different, but the outcome was almost entirely the same of ugly election outcomes.” University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato believes Republicans should be doing better than they are this year, though, given the huge advantage they have in going after so many Democratic Senate incumbents in Republican-leaning states. “This is the best map for Republicans since 1980,” he said. “They should run up a huge margin based on the conditions that ought to be present in a sixth year election. Ain’t happening so far. It’s just not happening.” Yes, it’s early and lots of things can and will happen between now and the 2016 presidential race, but some early trends are becoming apparent. First off, and this is no surprise, Democrats seem to love Hillary Clinton and desperately want her to run for president. The latest NBC News-Marist poll is eye-popping. Mrs. Clinton leads Vice-President Joe Biden in the early contest state of Iowa by a margin of 70 to 20 percent. And the margin is even larger in New Hampshire, the first presidential primary state, with Ms. Clinton leading Biden by a margin of 74 to 18 percent. A Gallup poll also shows that Ms. Clinton is the best liked of the potential contenders for 2016 from either party. She tops the list with 55 percent having a favorable opinion of her. The top Republican contender in terms of likability is former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. He gets a positive rating from 33 percent in the poll, while 21 percent have a negative view. In one sense the numbers concerning Ms. Clinton are not too surprising. She has had big leads all along in both those states and in nationwide polling. But this latest survey comes in the wake of the her book tour for "Hard Choices," the memoir of her time as President Obama’s secretary of State. Mrs. Clinton ran into some flak during her promotional tour with comments about her wealth that Republicans and even some Democrats saw as out of touch, raising questions as to whether she is ready for prime time after being out of the political arena since her failed bid for the Democratic Party nomination in 2008. The Marist poll confirms Mrs. Clinton as the clear frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. The results also show that Mrs. Clinton could face a much tougher time, however, convincing swing voters that she would be the best choice for president. For example in Iowa, Mrs. Clinton is tied with Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in a head-to-head matchup, with both candidates drawing 45 percent. Mrs. Clinton holds a one-point lead over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in Iowa, 44 to 43 percent, and bigger leads over other potential Republican contenders like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (49-37 percent) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (50-37 percent). Despite Mrs. Clinton’s big lead among Democrats, most analysts still believe that she is likely to face a challenger from the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party if she decides to run. Among the possible contenders are Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Vermont’s independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Gov. Jerry Brown. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a favorite among liberals for her focus on economic populism, is busy on the campaign trail for Democratic Senate candidates around the country. Israeli ban lifted By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ban on U.S. airlines flying in and out of Israel's Ben Gurion Airport late Wednesday. Aircraft travel still is safe, industry experts contend By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Despite last week’s downing of a Malaysian jetliner over eastern Ukraine with the loss of all on board, aviation experts insist air travel worldwide remains, by far, the safest mode of transportation. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notice to Airmen Tuesday, banning U.S. carriers from flying to or from Israel's Ben-Gurion airport, after a rocket strike 1.6 kilometers from the airport perimeter earlier in the day. The European Aviation Safety Agency Tuesday also issued a Safety Information bulletin that strongly recommended airspace users refrain from operating to and from the Tel Aviv airport. Delta Airlines Flight 468, en route from New York to Tel Aviv with 290 passengers and crew, was diverted in mid-flight Tuesday to Paris. "Delta had to do what Delta had to do. It’s quite unfortunate that we were literally an hour before landing in Ben Gurion," said Daniel Leon, who was aboard that flight. "But, I respect the decision, right. I mean, they’ve got some rules that they have to obey, and they explained to us why they were doing it. There was a bit of confusion on the plane earlier on. But, I think, we’re on the ground now, they were extremely helpful." Israeli authorities insist there is no security problem. Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said there was no reason to cancel flights and, yield to terrorism. Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he was traveling to Tel Aviv on El Al Airlines Tuesday to show solidarity with the Israeli people and prove the airport is safe. He called the flight restrictions a mistake. In Washington Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the FAA notice is aimed at ensuring public safety, not a political statement directed at Israel over its operation against Hamas militants in Gaza. "I would note that, in 2012, the department also issued travel warnings for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in March, August, and December," Ms. Harf said. "So, this is a step we have taken when we felt the situation on the ground warranted it. Obviously, that is a process that we go through that in no way is policy-related or politically-related. It is just related to how we can best protect American citizens. "The FAA makes these decisions when they feel it’s warranted, again, for the safety of United States citizens," she added. "And they, in response to the recent attack at Ben Gurion Airport, in the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport, after consultation with U.S. operators, felt today that it was important to issue this notice." Concern about airline safety also follows last week’s downing of Malaysian Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in which all 298 people on board perished. U.S. intelligence suggests ill-trained pro-Russian separatists using a sophisticated Russian-made surface-to-air missile are responsible. Aviation consultant Scott Hamilton of Leeham Company says the FAA directive is not unusual. "The FAA has been issuing no-fly zones for quite a while and, in fact, since the Malaysian (MH17) shoot down, there have been a number of maps that have shown up on the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere that have identified where there are no-fly zones or restricted-area fly zones that the FAA has issues," Leeham said. "And, some of those go back years, if not decades, Somalia, for example, northern Kenya. Those have been in existence for quite some time." The FAA has also imposed restrictions on U.S. flights over Ethiopia, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia and Ukraine. It identifies as potentially hostile regions Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Iran, Kenya, Mali, Syria and Yemen. Airline Capt. John Cox, who is also chief executive officer of the Washington-based aviation consulting firm Safety Operating Systems, insists, despite these recent incidents, including the March disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, it is very safe to fly commercial aircraft. "In spite of the tragic loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and the Malaysian Flight 370, it has never been safer to fly," he insisted. "We flew 3.3 billion passengers last year. We had the lowest fatality rate in recorded history. These tragedies do not change the fact of the safety of our aviation system. Cox acknowledges that sophisticated weaponry like the SA-11 air-defense system in the hands of non-military groups is very concerning. "The failure to correctly identify that airplane (MH17) was unconscionable, it was inept," he said. " Never in history have we had a surface-to-air missile rise to a cruising altitude of a commercial jet, over 30,000 feet." Cox says such missile systems are not in great numbers and there will be a concerted effort to block out passage over airspace in areas where open conflict occurs. And, he says aviation organizations, including manufacturers, regulators and operators all employ robust safety management systems to minimize exposure to potential hazards in flying. Chinese man admits effort to steal U.S. military items By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A Chinese national pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court in New Mexico Wednesday on charges of trying to smuggle military sensors to China. The man, Bo Cai, faces up to 35 years in prison when he is sentenced at a later date. Bo worked for a technology company in China when he schemed with his cousin, a student in the United States, to acquire sensors the Pentagon uses for such military purposes as motion control systems. He flew to the United States, and agents arrested him in Los Angeles in December when he tried to board a plane with the sensors. His cousin, Wentong Cai, also was arrested. He pleaded innocent and will go on trial next month. Director of anthrax lab has submitted resignation By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the director of the laboratory that released anthrax by mistake last month has left the agency. The Centers said Michael Farrell, the head of its Bioterror Rapid Response and Advanced Technology Laboratory, resigned Tuesday, after a mix-up in June potentially exposed dozens of people to the deadly bacteria. Potentially 80 government lab workers were exposed to anthrax when samples of the bacteria were released before they were deactivated. None of the lab workers has shown any sign of illness. Farrell led the Centers' bioterror lab in Atlanta starting in 2009. He was reassigned after the anthrax scare. An investigation into the incident revealed lax safety and security standards. U.S. ambassador in Australia seeks end to AIDS barriers By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. ambassador to Australia said it should not be a crime to be a member of the lesbian or gay communities. Ambassador John Berry told the 20th international AIDS Conference that the fight against the disease cannot be won by relegating segments of the population to the shadows. Ambassador Berry said the world has reached a critical moment in the fight against HIV/AIDS. “We are now on the brink of an AIDS-free generation. But reaching that goal will depend on all of us working together and being able to get the preventative care and treatment that everyone needs.” However, he said there are many barriers around the world blocking access to prevention, care and treatment, he said. “Unfortunately, the criminalization of certain at risk populations and those who are HIV positive – and the stigma associated with HIV – are the very things that will prevent us from eliminating this disease entirely,” he said. The U.S. ambassador said that criminalization is bad health policy and bad public policy. He says it does not stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and, in fact, does just the opposite. “Criminalization laws undermine public health approaches that we need to fight this disease and limit its spread. These laws don’t reflect current scientific knowledge. They undermine our ability to get people into screening and treatment. And more fundamentally, these laws wrongly stigmatize and marginalize those living with HIV and AIDS.” More than 80 countries around the world have criminal laws against sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Some of those laws contain very harsh penalties. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association says 13 U.S. states still have not repealed their anti-sodomy laws. That’s despite a 2003 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court declaring such laws unconstitutional. The Center for HIV Law and Policy says 32 states and two U.S. territories “have HIV-specific criminal statutes and thirty-six states have reported proceedings in which HIV-positive people have been arrested and/or prosecuted for consensual sex, biting, and spitting.” The center says there have been at least 80 such prosecutions in the last two years alone. Ambassador Berry said the U.S. still has more to do in this regard. “Now while the United States still has laws that criminalize HIV status, we are working to become better – to do better – and to remedy our mistakes. We believe that one of the most productive public policy actions that we can take is removing outdated criminalization laws from the books. The president in his national HIV/AIDS strategy has called for the review and reform of all HIV criminalization laws across our country,” he said. Ambassador Berry called that a good step, but added more needs to be done at home and abroad. He noted that new HIV infections are on the rise in the United States and the AIDS conference host country Australia, particularly among young men. He said, “Those of us who remember the funerals of the 80s and 90s have no wish to repeat that era. It falls to us to ensure that the next generation does not repeat these mistakes.” He said that means educating young people about HIV prevention and transmission, supporting research, lifting travel restrictions on those living with HIV and supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Berry also praised PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, for helping to get 6.7-million people on treatment. |
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| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, July 24, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 145 | |||||||||
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Dogs can be
jealous, study shows
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
An emotion once thought to be purely human, becoming green with envy, can also be observed among dogs, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego. In their study, dog owners who showed affection towards other subjects, including a toy dog that made noise and wagged its tail, and an inanimate object, elicited what appeared to be jealous behavior from their dogs. About a third of the 36 dogs tested tried to break up the connection between the owner and a seeming rival, says a psychology professor, Christine Harris, who led the study. Another quarter of the dogs actually snapped at the toy dog. Many scientists believe that jealousy is a learned emotion, too complex of a trait to be inherited like fear and anger are. Ms. Harris' study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, may prove that wrong. "Our results challenge these ideas, showing that animals besides ourselves display strong distress whenever a rival usurps a loved one's affection," she concluded, suggesting that jealousy may also be 'hard-wired'. A better understanding of jealousy could have an impact on society, the researchers say, as it is the third-leading cause of non-accidental homicide. Common herbs found to cut blood sugar By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The herbs rosemary and oregano not only enhance the taste of food, lab tests find they are loaded with healthful compounds that work to reduce blood sugar as effectively as anti-diabetic drugs. Researchers at the University of Illinois found the herbs contain polyphenols and flavonoids, compounds that interfere with a diabetes-related enzyme, which is also the target of prescription drugs to control blood sugar. Researchers found how the herbs are grown makes a difference. They found commercial extracts of Greek oregano, Mexican oregano and rosemary were better than greenhouse herbs at blocking the diabetes enzyme, an action required for reducing the risk of type-two diabetes. The incidence of type-2 or adult-onset diabetes has exploded worldwide with the easy availability of cheap fast food. The findings are reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a publication of the American Chemical Society. Experts note that it is easier for some people than others to control their disease with changes in diet and exercise. Others have trouble affording anti-diabetes medication. For these people, experts say herbs may provide a natural way to help lower blood sugar. |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday,
July 24,
2014, Vol. 14, No. 145
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Dimples studied to
make better golf ball
By
the Taylor & Francis news staff
Elements such as trip wires, dimples and sand-grain roughness on the surface of a body have been shown to be effective in reducing drag on objects such as golf balls, which helps them fly farther. Dimples make up the small round indentations on the golf ball. They energize the flow and induce turbulence in the layer of air next to the ball. This turbulent boundary layer can reduce drag. The study, published in Journal of Turbulence, provides new insights into how the momentum transport is affected by the dimples and how multiple dimple rows interact to generate near wall turbulence. Co-author Nikolaos Beratlis explains: “To most golfers the fact that a golf ball with a roughened surface can give you 150 yards more than a perfectly smooth one sounds like a paradox.” He adds: “This additional momentum that dimples give keeps the flow attached to the surface longer reducing the pressure difference between the front and back of the golf ball, thus resulting in less drag. “ Results showed that the presence of the dimples triggers instabilities that cause significant momentum transport. “These results provide guidelines for more precise separation control, which will help us tailor golf balls to individual golfers for best performance,” Beratlis added. Business resources
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