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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Friday,
Aug. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 171
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Album spotlights
Costa Rican identity theft
By
Bryan Kay
Special to A.M. Costa Rica A former rocker with British bands Manfred Mann and Thin Lizzy who had his identity stolen by an impostor in Costa Rica has released a solo album chronicling
From there, more song ideas were formed, eventually leading to the 11-track album. These days, Flett operates as an addictions counselor near Orlando, Florida. Another of the album tracks, “Forget You,” details the ravages of addiction. Meanwhile, attempts over the years to track down the man behind the identity ruse failed. Since he vanished from Costa Rica sometime between 2002 and 2003, there have been no reported sightings of the would-be celebrity. "Flying Blind" is available HERE! Democrats to hear about global warming By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Global warming will be the topic Saturday morning when Democrats Abroad meets at the Holiday Inn Aurola in downtown San José. Matthew Cook, a member of the organization's executive committee will give the presentation, titled “Global Warming: Everything you didn’t want to know about Climate Change because you were afraid to ask.” He holds a master's degree from the University of California Riverside in environmental and developmental economics. The purpose of the talk is to succinctly explain why climate change is a clear and present danger to human lives and livelihoods as well as to explore how Democrats Abroad-Costa Rica can use the issue to help get out the vote in November, the organization said. Charge sought for permits to carry firearms By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Solís administration wants to charge each person who obtains a permit to carry a weapon $50. Now the government is bearing the cost of issuing the permit, said the security minister, Celso Gamboa Sánchez, who appeared before lawmakers Thursday. Gamboa asked the Comisión Permanente Especial de Seguridad y Narcotráfico to throw out a bill members had been studying. The measure regulates security companies. Gamboa said that the administration has just come forth with a new bill that would be more of what he called integral. The current measure, if adopted, would cause problems within the industry, he said. The new bill is No. 19.281. Parade of saints in San Ramón By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The San Ramón festival committee has scheduled the Entrada de Santos for Saturday at 10 a.m. as part of the Festejos Patronales de San Ramón 2014. Organizers said that some 62 images of various saints would be in the procession carried by the faithful. Some 65,000 pilgrims are expected, they said. The figures, some life-size and some smaller, come from nearby communities and from churches as far away as San José and Guanacaste. The festival continues through Monday with other activities, local food and entertainment. The event is organized by members of the San Ramón Nonato Catholic Church. Animal adoption opportunity Saturday By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Asociación Animales de Asís will hold a dog and cat adoption expo Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Walmart store in Heredia. The animals have been castrated and vaccinated, said the association. A donation is sought for each animal to support the association.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 171 | |
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| Tax agency plans to skim 2 percent from credit card
transactions |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The finance ministry has come up with a new way to collect more taxes. Via what amounts to a hidden resolution, the Dirección General de Tributación has told banks and processors to skim 2 percent for nearly every credit card transaction starting Oct. 1. The money is supposed to be held for eventual payment of income taxes. The resolution was tucked away in a nearly inaccessible part of the Web page of the Ministerio de Hacienda, purportedly for public comment. There was no general announcement, although the tax agency contends the proposal was available for public comment since June. Two resolutions published in the La Gaceta official newspaper Monday described the procedure. The money that is retained is supposed to be applied to future income tax payments. If the amount is in excess of what the taxpayer owes at the end of the year, the balance is supposed to be returned. There is no indication in either resolution about interest being paid, although that is a possibility. The measure is expected to affect directly expats in the restaurant and tourism business who accept payments by credit cards. Credit payments that are handled outside the country and outside the local banking system would not be affected. |
The measure almost
certainly will generate litigation, although there
is precedence because some sales taxes are collected the same way. Businesses that are on the so-called simplified system, as are many bars, have been excluded from the requirement, according to the resolution. They pay sales taxes ahead of time when products are delivered. The resolutions also include professionals, such as physicians and lawyers who are notorious for ducking taxes. The tax agency has been pushing for more use of credit cards so the investigators there can keep track of payments to professionals. This resolution would seem to favor cash payments. Some merchants might be inclined to impose a 2 percent surcharge on credit card payments. There does not seem to be any adjustments outlined for cases where a major credit card payment is canceled. This might take place, for example, when a tourist cancels reservations for whatever reason. News of the policy was published first Thursday by La Nación. There have been no formal responses from merchants who might be affected and their trade organizations. The resolutions were signed by Carlos Vargas Durán, director general of Tributación. They are DGT-R-035-2014 and DGT-R-036-2014. |
| The European prince among is subject of a U.S. writer's
biography |
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By
Michael Krumholtz
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff A direct descendant of European royalty, Prince Alfred of Prussia, arrived in Costa Rica in 1927 when he was 3 years old and remained living in the country until his death in 2013. The royal Costa Rican
Historians and Russian officials are still divided over Nicholas II and the Romanovs' fate, though many believe they were executed by Communists in 1919. But Ms. Stravlo claims that after 15 years of having compiled documents and evidence from Costa Rica and other parts of the world, the century-long case may not be how the majority perceives it. While adding this puzzling history to the backdrop, the book describes how Alfred's parents, Prince Sigismund of Prussia and Princess Charlotte Agnes of Saxe-Altenburg, escaped the country amid the chaos of the war. In Costa Rica they settled upon Barranca, Puntarenas, on a farm called San Miguel. Ms. Stravlo says that both Sigismund and Charlotte Agnes were the grandnephew and grandniece of German emperor and king of Prussia Wilhelm II. The couple also had a daughter, Princess Barbara, before they moved to Central America and gave birth to Alfred in Guatemala. The author, who has also worked as a journalist and on television production, says she was friends with Prince Alfred and was able to collect intimate stories from his perspective over the years. One of those anecdotes involves a young Alfred sitting and eating with workers from the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad during their construction of the hydroelectric plant in Cachí. The book goes on to reveal the prince's love for the arts, nature, and genealogy, a study for which he could have been subject and the |
 teacher. He was the founder of the Costa Rican society of genealogical studies in San José. Before Alfred's death at age 88, the author was able to spend extensive time with the prince as she had set out on the project to profile him in 1998. For the past six years Ms. Stravlo says she has dedicated all of her time to researching Alfred and the royal families with which he shared his bloodlines. Ms. Stravlo will discuss her book Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Espacio Cultural Carmen Naranjo for the 15th International Book Fair that concludes this weekend. The book will be available at local bookstores like Librería Lehmann, as well as Amazon. Ms. Stravlo shares nationality from both Costa Rica and the United States and lives in Dallas, Texas. She also co-authored “The Lost Romanov Icon and the Enigma of Anastasia,” which is a historical novel that adds to the speculation over the Romanov dynasty and the possible survival of Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II. This latest book was first published in Spanish under REA Ediciones. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 171 | |||||
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| Florida researchers are not optimistic about halting orange tree disease | |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire service reports An entomologist in Florida estimates that it may take five more years to find a way to keep orange trees free of a bacteria carried by an Asian insect. Citrus ranchers in Florida are burning orange trees damaged by a spotted brown bug called psyllid. It is a native of Asia and carries what the Chinese call the yellow dragon disease. Florida ranchers call it greening. The Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería has declared an agricultural emergency over the problem, While feeding on citrus leaves, the bug infests them with bacteria that clog the tree’s capillary system, slowly choking it to death. The fruit borne by the diseased plant is small, it falls off and the tree eventually dies. The Asian citrus psyllid is Diaphorina citri. No citrus-growing countries have developed a cure, although California researches have discovered a tiny wasp that can attack the bug's young. In Florida, farmer Ellis Hunt is extremely frustrated. “When you spend the money to raise it, and get it almost there, and it turns loose and hits the ground, that's ... a disaster. That's heartbreaking,” he said. To make matters worse, Florida’s $9-billion citrus growing industry, second only to Brazil, is fighting growing foreign competition and declining sales due to U.S. consumers' growing aversion to sugar and carbohydrates. The industry's 75,000 jobs depend on finding a cure to the disease. At the University of Florida's Citrus Research and Education Center, some of the world’s best botanists and entomologists are trying to save the existing trees, grow new ones resistant to the bacterium, |
 Voice of America photo
Oranges are not supposed to fall
to the ground like this.and make the insect incapable of transmitting the disease. Entomologist Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski said the problem is keeping her awake at night. “It's something I think about every day. I think about it at night when I'm supposed to be sleeping. It's a huge problem, and we need to come up with as many tools as we can,” she said. Ms. Pelz-Stelinski said it may take as long as five years to come up with a way to make the psyllid bug free of the dangerous bacteria. In the meantime, botanists are experimenting with grafting as a way to keep the existing trees alive, while citrus farmers try to control the disease by spraying the trees and feeding them with nutrients -- added expenses that further shrink their income. |
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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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 171 | |||||||
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| Testing of ebola vaccine due to begin in the U.S. By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. health officials announced Thursday the launch of the first human testing of a vaccine to prevent ebola. The vaccine candidate was co-developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. Anthony Fauci says vaccine research has accelerated since the ebola epidemic was first reported in West Africa last March. "We are announcing the opening of a small human safety study of an investigational ebola vaccine candidate that will be tested here at the NIH," he said. "This is the first of several Phase One clinical trials of ebola vaccine candidates that we are set to launch." Fauci is the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. He describes the West Africa ebola outbreak as a “public health emergency that demands an all hands on deck response.” "We have accelerated the time line for testing experimental ebola vaccines that we have been developing for several years," he said. "And after an expedited review of the candidate product and clinical trial design by the United States Food and Drug Administration we have the green light to begin." He says the trials will be based on three earlier versions of ebola vaccine candidates. Those trials led to the vaccine that is now being studied. Next week, the first three volunteers will be enrolled in a study known as VRC207. "The trial aims to enroll 20 healthy adults, ages 18 to 50 years, at the NIH Clinical Research Center here in Bethesda, Maryland," he said. "The study will evaluate the experimental vaccine’s safety and whether it generates an immune response in healthy adults that, based on our animal studies, could predict effectiveness in preventing the acquisition of ebola infection." Fauci says earlier studies of the experimental vaccine performed extremely well in protecting primates from ebola infection. The current vaccine candidate uses a chimpanzee cold virus. The virus carries a gene related to the surface protein of the Zaire and Sudan strains of the ebola virus. The Zaire strain is blamed for the West Africa epidemic. "It is important to know that the ebola gene contained in the investigational vaccine cannot cause a vaccinated individual to become infected with ebola," he said. "The volunteers in the VRC207 trial will be divided into two groups to test first a lower and then a higher dose of the vaccine. The vaccine will be administered through an injection in the arm. The trial is scheduled to last 48 weeks, but initial findings could be available by the end of this year. In October, a second trial will begin in the U.S., Britain, Mali and The Gambia to test a vaccine candidate that contains genetic material from only one of the Ebola strains. Fauci says despite the vaccine research, precaution and prevention are the best defense right now against the disease. World Health says climate may spread more diseases By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that major killer diseases will spread and health problems will worsen with climate change. World Health, which is holding the first global conference on health and climate in Geneva, urged nations to act quickly to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, which lead to climate change. Some countries could see localized benefits from global warming. Cold countries, for example, could experience fewer winter deaths due to more temperate weather as well as increased food production. But World Health says overall health effects are likely to be overwhelmingly negative. Maria Neira, director of the public health, environmental and social determinants of health at World Health, says seven million people die prematurely every year because of air pollution, but that number can be cut. “We can reduce dramatically non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular diseases, heart disease, respiratory diseases, by promoting, for instance a more sustainable, low-carbon society where instead of using very pollutant and solid fuels," Ms. Neira said, "we will move into a more sustainable energy consumption and, therefore, by doing so, we will obtain plenty of benefits for our health.” The health community is working to improve surveillance to control infectious diseases and she says deadly diseases such as cholera, malaria and dengue are highly sensitive to weather and climate. Recent World Health figures show that climate change already causes tens of thousands of deaths every year from shifting patterns of disease and extreme weather events, such as heat waves and floods, the agency claims. Climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths every year between 2030 and 2050 due to heat exposure, diarrhea, malaria, and childhood under-nutrition, the agency said. Alistair Woodward, the coordinating lead author of the health chapter of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says there is opportunity for positive change. “Transport systems, which produce maybe a quarter of the greenhouse emissions, are unhealthy and damaging to the environment in many ways," Woodward said. "If we could increase the use of active transport, our estimates are putting people on bikes, the benefit cost ratio is maybe 10 to one…Air pollution…If we put in practice what we know about ways of reducing black carbon emissions, diesel filters, plain cook stoves, for example, then we could probably save around two million premature deaths a year.” The World Health notes that climate change also has serious economic consequences. The U.N. agency says the direct damage costs to health is predicted to be between $2 billion and $4 billion a year by 2030. China becoming suspicious of those with dual passports By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
China's ministry of public security has announced a new policy to encourage reporting people who obtain citizenship in another country, but still keep their Chinese citizenship. The move has led to a sharp debate about dual citizenship and the impact of the crackdown on Chinese who live abroad. Recently, the ministry published procedures for reporting those who hold foreign citizenship, but retain their Chinese identifications and benefits. Observers say the new policy is at least in part aimed at so-called naked officials, public servants who have family and assets overseas that could allow them to hide the gains of corruption. There are believed to be thousands of the so-called naked officials, but the exact figure is unknown. Luo Bin, the president of Robinson Immigration Consultants in Canada, expressed support for the Chinese government’s strict enforcement of single citizenship. “With China's economy developing, to a certain extent there has been a series of problems such as economic corruption. The Chinese government now is fully aware of the seriousness of those problems," said Luo. "Through the strict implementation of single citizenship, I think they are doing right to prevent corrupt officials or criminals from fleeing abroad or transferring assets." Corrupt officials who evade legal sanctions by transferring assets abroad, however, are in the minority. Most of those who could be affected are people who have taken citizenship abroad for work or family matters that are not connected to corruption issues. Luo thinks tighter enforcement could cause a loss of financial benefits for those who lose their Chinese identity cards because of having citizenship overseas. “There are many restrictions. For example, we are not allowed to buy houses. Besides, many Chinese retired after 20 or 30 years of work. So their concern is, once they obtain foreign citizenship, whether such accumulated pensions and other benefits in China will be reserved," said Luo. In recent years, demands for dual citizenship have become louder. But Professor Tong Zhiwei at the East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, said the issue is complicated. “On the one hand, dual citizenship is beneficial to individuals, namely, the many overseas Chinese who study and do business abroad. By keeping dual citizenship, they do not need to go through the whole visa application, and they can enjoy rights and benefits offered by both countries," said Tong. He added, though, that the Chinese government has its own concerns about dual citizenship. "For example, when a Chinese who holds an American passport commits a crime, or has confrontation with the Chinese government, in case he or she is detained or tried in China, the Chinese government will have to inform and work with the U.S. on his case. This is not only a cumbersome process, but also gives foreign countries excuses to interfere with China’s internal affairs,” said Tong. Enacting legal dual citizenship does not appear to be a priority in the near term, so some are calling on Beijing to expand its green card program, which lets foreign citizens live and work inside China. Obama says illegal arrivals have declined at the border By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama says arrests at the U.S. border with Mexico have dropped for the second straight month. Obama told reporters in Washington Thursday that "the good news is, we've started to make some progress." Although final figures for August have not been released, the president said that number is expected to be lower than the same period last year, despite tens of thousands of Central American children and families arriving through Mexico in recent months. The decrease will relieve pressure from centers that are over-capacity since detentions skyrocketed between March and June. "What that, I think, allows us to do is make sure those kids are being taken care of - properly, with due process. At the same time, it's allowed us to then engage in a broader conversation about what we need to do to get more resources down at the border," Obama said. Last year, roughly 31,500 children traveling alone were detained at the southern U.S. border. That number is expected to more than double this year, despite decreases from June to July, and now August. Obama on Thursday also repeated his pledge to take more executive actions if Congress does not agree to immigration reform by the end of the year. "In the absence of congressional action, I'm going to do what I can to make sure the system works better," he said. Earlier Thursday, authorities arrested 145 people for blocking a sidewalk in front of the White House during a rally for changes to the country's immigration system. An aging world put pressure on countries to face impact By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The world is getting older, fast. And as more people retire each year, fewer working-age people will be there to replace them. Bond rating agency Moody’s says that will lead to a decline in household savings; reducing global investments, which in turn, will lead to slower economic growth around the world. But experts say it’s not too late to mitigate the economic impact of the world’s aging populations. In Japan there are special playgrounds for the elderly. In Italy dance classes for seniors are part of the “good life.” And in Germany the rapid pace of retirements has become a bigger issue than unemployment. They are the world’s super aged nations, the term for countries where at least 20 percent of the population is 65 years or older. “The demographic transition is upon us now and its progressing, by historical standards, quite rapidly," said Elena Duggar, head of Moody's Sovereign Risk Division. In five years six more countries will join the ranks of the super-aged. And by 2030 that number will rise to 34. “That will translate into reductions in labor supply," Ms. Duggar said. "At the same time aging means that the household savings rates will go down, which will negatively impact on investment. Both trends put together would mean that aging will have a significant negative impact on global growth." A business research group, the Conference Board, says aging could shave as much as 1 percent off global growth in the next 10 years. Ignoring the coming changes is risky says economist Fariborz Ghadar, author of "Global Tectonics - What Every Business Needs to Know." “Economic growth rates will slow down, jobs will not be available for the young, there is going to be conflict both internally in certain countries, externally. There’ll be backlash against immigrants and that’s not the kind of world we really want," said Ghadar. But the solution may be as close as a nation's borders. "See - the largest addition to the U.S. population is by immigration, it is not by number of children," said an economics professor, Kishore Kulkarni. In the U.S. the average birth rate is 1.9 children for every woman, an average bolstered by higher birth rates in immigrant families. Ghadar says the trend is obvious when one considers that the birth rate for Hispanic families in the U.S. is 2.3 children. “We are turning Hispanic. And in fact, what I normally tell my audiences, if you want somebody to take care of you when you’re 90, you better speak Spanish," he said. While consumer buying patterns will change as populations age, Kulkarni said he believes targeted career training and productivity gains through technology could offset the decline in workers. "It is a misalignment of demand rather than a total and a drastic change in the demand. And it is a challenge which we can easily accept and tackle as it comes to us," he said. Kulkarni adds that aging will be less of a challenge in countries where elders are seen as assets rather than liabilities. But nearly all the experts say young workers, in the future, will work longer and retire later than seniors today. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 171 | |||||||||
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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
The Servicio Nacional de
Guardacostas says its officers saved the life of this small shark and
15 lobsters when officers encountered an illegal drag net at the
Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Playa Hermosa-Punta Mala, The
creatures were returned to the sea.Grecia-Sarchí Web site makes changes Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
With eight months under its belt, Que Pasa (www.quepasagrecia.com), the free-membership community information Web site serving the English-speaking residents of greater Grecia and Sarchi, announced two major changes for its subscribers. First, Que Pasa has added a private-access, subscribers-only answer page on Facebook. “We felt that as a no-cost community information Web site serving English-speaking residents of greater Grecia and Sarchi, many of our subscribers could benefit from the local knowledge of other subscribers who have lived in the area a little longer,” said Debi Gedling, Que Pasa editor and co-founder. “We hoped that newer members of our Que Pasa Web community would not have to re-invent the wheel anytime they encountered an obstacle that more-seasoned subscribers may have previously overcome.” Subscribers will now be able to post questions on the members-only Que Pasa Answer Page on Facebook. Other members can offer answers and solutions to the question and the “asker” will be notified by email when an answer to their question is posted. After eight months, Que Pasa also was able to learn how to better organize the site to make it more intuitive and easier for its subscribers to find the information contained on the site. Site content oriented to “things to do and see” (restaurants, entertainment, events, and tourism sights) can now be found in a single location; “activities and classes” (such as pet spay and neuter clinics, Zumba dance and yoga classes) in another; and “services and resources” in a third. Other information on the Que Pasa site such as: real estate and items for sale; rentals; pet news; recipes; contributed articles, lost and found; and miscellaneous remains easily accessible as before. Subscriptions to the site are free. Beach theft suspects held By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Tourism police in the popular Pacific coastal area of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, say they detained two men suspected of stealing from tourists on the beach at Playa Conchal. A report detailed that the pair of Nicaraguan men detained had been arrested before for similar complaints of theft against foreigners in Santa Cruz. Police arrested the men Wednesday after receiving complaints of a crime on the beach located 12 miles north of Tamarindo. The pair was turned over to officials from Migración, the report said. Terminal access in Moín 75% done By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
HIghway officials say that the road to the proposed site of APM Terminals in Moín is about 75 percent completed for now. The work remaining is to erect two bridges over the Río Moín, said the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. This is the access to the proposed $1 billion container handling facility that is being put in by a Dutch firm. The roadway now is two lanes and is gravel. Eventually as the terminal facility is competed the roadway will be four lanes and paved. The project was a delicate one because trees had to be cut and animals relocated, said the agency. The terminal is opposed vigorously by workers who now have jobs on the public docks. The new facility is a concession. The Dutch firm will create an artificial island in the sea that will connect to the new road. |
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| From Page 7: U.S. economy booming, federal report says By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. economy, the world's largest, is growing even faster than first thought. The Commerce Department reported Thursday the American economy advanced 4.2 percent in the April-to-June quarter, up from its earlier 4 percent estimate. The agency said the bigger expansion was fueled by more robust business investment in new buildings, machinery and research. The report said the American economy also is advancing because of increased consumer spending, more exports and higher spending by state and local governments. The second quarter growth came after the U.S. economy contracted at a 2.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, partly because of an unusually harsh winter. Economists are forecasting 3 percent growth throughout the second half of the year and into next year. The U.S. labor market has been adding jobs at a rapid pace, with employers hiring an average of 244,000 new workers each month since February, the best six-month advance since 2006. Even so, the country's jobless rate is still at 6.2 percent, high by U.S. historical standards, and nearly 10 million workers remain unemployed. |
