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San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday,
Sept. 2, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 173
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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública
photo
This some of the material
used in the cultivation operation.Hydroponics
operation raided in El Coyol
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Anti-drug police said that a neighbor turned in a family that was growing marijuana in El Coyol en Alajuela. The Policía de Control de Drogas moved in Monday and made three arrests. One of the suspects is a 56-year-old female U.S. citizen with the last name of Dittrich. She is believed to be the companion of a 43-year-old man with the last name of Chamorra. A 28 year old, identified as a nephew, also was detained. The marijuana operation used hydroponics, said police. They confiscated vehicles and items used in the production of marijuana including some of the processed material. Our readers' opinions
Improvements are all a matter of moneyDear A.M. Costa Rica: The answer to the matter of improvement of facilities at Hospital México and Hospital San Vincente de Paul in Heredia, which Sr. Albert Nobert raised in Monday’s letter, is the same as the answer to the matters of shortages of resources for Costa Rica’s schools and teachers, roads, police, environmental protection, and everything else. If we want the government to spend more money, we have to provide them with more money. It’s really pretty simple. Costa Rica has a chronic inability to efficiently collect taxes. Retail sales go untaxed despite the law. It’s been reported that about one in six professionals (physicians, dentists, attorneys, accountants, architects, engineers and others) pay any (any!) income tax at all. And the system of real estate taxation in which some property owners never pay their taxes and others pay at the same level for decades is a joke. Various proposals have been put forth to impose the tax burden more uniformly and more fairly. While I’m no proponent of a value added tax, from a procedural perspective it makes great sense, regressive though it would be. A fair and comprehensive imposition of an income tax would be more just but also more difficult to impose. And perhaps we expats should pay more of the bill. The fact remains that if we wish the government to provide those things which we, as individuals, cannot provide, we will have to pay for them. Sr. Nobert and I cannot afford to upgrade the hospitals’ facilities, but the community as a whole can if we have the will to do so. David C. Murray
Grecia Dogs can handle avocados Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I read with interest your statement that avocados are poisonous to dogs in the A.M. Costa Rica of Sept. 1. This is completely incorrect. I have been an avocado grower in California, and one of the favorite foods around an avocado grove for both dogs and coyotes is fallen avocados. My last dog lived to about 14 1/2 eating avocados. Also, the favorite dog food for show dogs because it gives their coat a beautiful sheen is a food made from avocados called AvoDerm. You should check your facts. Many birds such as the quetzel also eat wild avocados, and I doubt they are poisonous to parrots either, but not sure. Dick Keim
San Rafael de Alajuela Editor's Note: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals lists avocados as being hazardous to dogs. It names the Guatemalan variety, a common one found in U.S. stores, as the most problematic. Other varieties of avocado can have different degrees of toxic potential. In some dogs and cats, mild stomach upset may occur if the animal eats a significant amount of avocado flesh or peel, it says. Avocado meal used in pet foods would not pose a hazard to dogs and cats, it says.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 173 | |
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| Whale and dolphin festival will be two weekends this month |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Residents of the southwest coast plan a whale of a fiesta for two weekends at the Parque Nacional Marino Ballena about 10 miles south of Dominical. This is the VI Festival de Ballenas y Delfines. The festival is an effort to draw tourists to the area, and the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo is one of the sponsors. But there is a good reason. The whales are in at this time of year, and the national park has many more hectares in the ocean where the sea mammals can show off. The institute says that whale-watching is on the upswing, based on surveys done at the airports. The event is from Friday through Sunday this week and next. Another organizer, the Asociación de Operadores de Turismo, said that last year's event drew 9,000 visitors. In addition to whale-watching trips, visitors also will be able to relax on the beach and sample some of the dishes prepared by local restaurants. There also will be activities typical to local festivals. |
 Instituto Costarricense de Turismo photo
The whales are waiting in the
south Pacific. |
| Environmental tribunal halts small housing project at
poisoned spring |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo has frozen construction work at a 20-lot subdivision because the project may affect the local water supply. The project is El Alto de El Tablazo between Copalchí de Cartago and Higuito de Desamparados. There are five springs in the area, and one of them made the news in July because someone put poison in it. The Tribunal ordered the two municipalities to refrain from issuing permits for terracing or construction until a survey can be made to locate the springs and the ground recharge area. The Tribunal also sought an evaluation from the Área de Conservación Cordillera Volcánica Central for the worth of some 16 trees that already have been cut on two of the properties, it said. The Tribunal will seek compensation. When the spring was poisoned, service to 8,000 persons was halted, and the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados had to haul water. The Tribunal said there were multiple complaints filed about the project, mostly relating to the springs. A map released by the Tribunal showed that the subdivision was platted directly on top of most of the springs. |
 Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo graphic
All but one of the springs that
are shown as triangles surrounded by a circle are within the boundary
of the subdivision. A white triangle is an existing home. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 173 | |||||
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| Climate change study urges big reduction in consumption of
meat |
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By
the University of Cambridge news service
Healthier diets and reducing food waste are part of a combination of solutions needed to ensure food security and avoid dangerous climate change, say the team behind a new study. A new study, published in Nature Climate Change, suggests that – if current trends continue – food production alone will reach, if not exceed, the global targets for total greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. The study’s authors say everyone should think carefully about the food and its environmental impact. A shift to healthier diets across the world is just one of a number of actions that need to be taken to avoid dangerous climate change and ensure there is enough food for all, the study says. As populations rise and global tastes shift towards meat-heavy Western diets, increasing agricultural yields will not meet projected food demands of what is expected to be 9.6 billion people - making it necessary to bring more land into cultivation. This will come at a high price, warn the authors, as the deforestation will increase carbon emissions as well as biodiversity loss, and increased livestock production will raise methane levels. They argue that current food demand trends must change through reducing waste and encouraging balanced diets. If humans maintain business as usual, say the authors, then by 2050 cropland will have expanded by 42 percent and fertilizer use increased sharply by 45 percent over 2009 levels. A further tenth of the world’s pristine tropical forests would disappear over the next 35 years. The study shows that increased deforestation, fertilizer use and livestock methane emissions are likely to cause greenhouse gases from food production to increase by almost 80 percent. This will put emissions from food production alone roughly equal to the target greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 for the entire global economy. The study’s authors write that halving the amount of food waste and managing demand for particularly environmentally-damaging food products by changing global diets should be key aims that, if achieved, might mitigate some of the greenhouse gases causing climate change. “There are basic laws of biophysics that we cannot evade,” said lead researcher Bojana Bajzelj from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, who authored the study with colleagues from Cambridge’s departments of Geography and Plant Sciences as well as the University of Aberdeen's Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences. |
“The average
efficiency of livestock converting plant feed to meat is less than 3
percent, and as we eat more meat, more arable cultivation is turned
over to producing feedstock for animals that provide meat for
humans. The losses at each stage are large, and as humans globally eat
more and more meat, conversion from plants to food becomes less and
less efficient, driving agricultural expansion and land cover
conversion, and releasing more greenhouse gases. Agricultural practices
are not necessarily at fault here – but our choice of food is,” said
Bajzelj. “It is imperative to find ways to achieve global food security without expanding crop or pastureland. Food production is a main driver of biodiversity loss and a large contributor to climate change and pollution, so our food choices matter.” The team analyzed evidence such as land use, land suitability and agricultural biomass data to create a robust model that compares different scenarios for 2050, including scenarios based on maintaining current trends. One scenario investigated by the team is on the supply side: the closing of yield gaps. Gaps between crop yields achieved in best practice farming and the actual average yields exist all over the world, but are widest in developing countries – particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The researchers say that closing these gaps through sustainable intensification of farming should be actively pursued. But even with the yield gaps closed, projected food demand will still require additional land – so the impact on gas emissions and biodiversity remains. Bajzelj points out that higher yields will also require more mineral fertilizer use and increased water demand for irrigation. Food waste, another scenario analyzed by the team, occurs at all stages in the food chain. In developing countries, poor storage and transportation cause waste; in the West, wasteful consumption is rife. “The latter is in many ways worse because the wasted food products have already undergone various transformations that require input of other resources, especially energy,” said Bajzelj. “Western diets are increasingly characterized by excessive consumption of food, including that of emission-intensive meat and dairy products. We tested a scenario where all countries were assumed to achieve an average balanced diet - without excessive consumption of sugars, fats, and meat products. This significantly reduced the pressures on the environment even further,” said the team. The ‘average’ balanced diet used in the study is a relatively achievable goal for most. For example, the figures included two 85-gram portions of red meat and five eggs per week, as well as a portion of poultry a day. |
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, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 173 | |||||||
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| Ethnic cleansing in Iraq historic, Amnesty says By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Rights group Amnesty International says Islamic State militants in northern Iraq have carried out ethnic cleansing on a historic scale in a bid to wipe out non-Arabs and non-Sunni Muslims. A new report Tuesday says the systematic campaign includes mass killings and abductions that have terrorized all of northern Iraq and is fueling sectarian tensions in the region. Amnesty is calling for protection and humanitarian support for Iraq's minorities who have been displaced by months of fighting. The report comes a day after the United Nations issued a similar warning about minority persecution at the hands of the Islamic State group. Iraqi troops backed by Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite militiamen recaptured the town of Sulaiman Bek, south of Kirkuk, Monday, marking the second town to be freed from Islamic State fighters in as many days. Sulaiman Bek had been controlled by the militants since June. Sunday, Iraqi forces entered Amerli, ending a two-month siege by the Islamic State. Outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Amerli on Monday, where he vowed Iraq will be a graveyard for the militant group. Also Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron told his parliament that Britain needs new laws to deal with the threat posed by the Islamic State and British nationals who are fighting with the group. He proposed letting police seize the passports of British citizens suspected of having traveled overseas to fight with terror groups. He said it is believed that 500 people have left Britain to fight in Iraq and Syria. Obama faces challenges with militants and Russians By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Two months before midterm congressional elections that will have a huge impact on the last two years of his tenure, President Barack Obama faces dueling foreign policy crises that pose a leadership test both at home and abroad. The growing threat from Islamic State militants in the Middle East and Russia’s latest military move into Ukraine have brought into clear focus the challenges for the United States in an age where Washington policy makers are acutely mindful of the U.S. public’s waning appetite for overseas military engagements. President Obama’s acknowledgement that the U.S. doesn’t have a strategy yet with regard to containing Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria suggests the administration wants to take some time to explore its options both militarily and diplomatically before reaching any decisions on whether to expand the U.S. air campaign into Syria. As the president said, “Syria is not simply a military issue, it’s also a political issue.” Obama’s comment drew some immediate fire from some of his Republican critics. Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Mike Rogers of Michigan, said the president’s comment “confirmed what we have been talking about really for almost two years. There has been no real strategy.” Another Republican had a different view. Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma told MSNBC television that he thought the president “was being commendably cautious about being involved in the middle of the Syrian civil war.” Cole also said the administration should go to Congress for authorization on ramping up its military strikes on Islamic State fighters in Syria, something several Democrats have also said they would support if a decision is made to expand attacks beyond northern Iraq. Obama is also warning that Russia is likely to face more Western sanctions over its latest moves in Ukraine, but he also said the U.S. will not be taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem. As Congress returns to Washington from its lengthy August recess, the president can expect even more Republican pressure to act decisively and boldly in light of the twin challenges in Syria and Ukraine. Both issues could resonate with voters in November's midterm elections, which present Republicans with their best opportunity in years to seize control of both houses of Congress for the final two years of the Obama presidency. President Obama’s overall public approval ratings remain low — just above 40 percent in most national polls — and that usually spells trouble for the president’s party in a midterm contest. But the public so far seems supportive of air attacks on Islamic State militants in Iraq, also known as ISIL, and the recent beheading of American journalist James Foley seems to have galvanized U.S. public opposition to the group. But lingering public wariness of U.S. ground troops engaging in overseas conflicts in the wake of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq means the president must still confront the limits of U.S. military power in the context of what the American public is willing to support in any given crisis. It is far easier to build public support for limited, successful drone and air attacks than a more open-ended military commitment that could involve ground troops. Foreign policy issues usually don’t become critical factors in midterm elections. But given recent events in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, the Obama administration’s overall foreign policy approach has come under fire from congressional Republicans and is being highlighted by some Republican candidates for the House and Senate. President Obama has been getting some negative public approval ratings on his handling of foreign policy and that, combined with continuing apprehension about the economy, have driven his overall ratings to some of the lowest points of his presidency. Some analysts believe that a firmer hand against Islamic State militants in both Iraq and Syria could help alter public perceptions about the president’s management of foreign policy, an area where he was given solid marks in previous years. Immigration reform also looms as a political flashpoint once Congress returns to Washington in early September. Leaders of both political parties are eagerly awaiting what executive action President Barack Obama may take on the immigration issue, having vowed in June to take action if Congress did not. Now the stage is set for yet another political confrontation on immigration reform less than two months before Americans go to the polls in November. Several Republicans are already warning the president that whatever he wants to do on his own on immigration reform will spark a strong reaction on their side. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a likely Republican presidential contender in 2016, wants to tie the immigration issue to the impending congressional debate over renewing funding for the federal government. The budget will be one of the top priorities for Congress when it returns, and some conservative Republicans in the House are already raising the possibility of another government shutdown if the president takes unilateral action on immigration that they deem as too sweeping. In his latest comments on immigration reform, the president raised the possibility that whatever he decides to do may not happen for a while yet, a timeline that might slip until after the midterm elections. That would no doubt please several Democratic senators in tight races who fear a backlash from conservatives on Election Day should the president act unilaterally on the immigration issue. Korean war IDs advanced by new DNA technologies By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The process of identifying American remains from the Korean War has picked up speed. Out of the 208 boxes of U.S. remains that Pyongyang handed over to Washington in the early 1990s, a total of 49 were identified in the last three years. That is a large increase from earlier efforts, when only 61 bodies were identified between 1992 and 2011. The progress came after the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command launched its K208 Project Team in 2011. The process sped up significantly with the use of state-of-the-art DNA identification technology based on the remains’ location information. In an interview, forensic anthropologist Jennie Jin, who’s leading the project, attributed the advancement in DNA analysis and comparison technology to the breakthrough in joint command’s findings. "There were many instances where remains that look like they are from one person actually had different people’s bones assembled together," Dr. Jin said. "In such cases, DNA test is crucial." While Pyongyang claimed each box represented a single U.S. service member lost during the war, the American team found that most boxes contained remains from more than one individual. According to K208, the boxes from Pyongyang also contain remains of South Korean and possibly other United Nations Command soldiers. The minimum number of remains in the 208 boxes is estimated to be around 600. "We have to use anatomical, anthropological testing, as well as precise DNA identification," Dr. Jin said. The Korean-American manager said DNA samples acquired from surviving family members contributed greatly to speeding up the process. According to Dr. Jin, the information found in DNA testing is not very useful until it can be compared to the DNA testing results of their family members. "Back in 1999, we could only attain 15 percent of DNA samples from the family members. Now we have 89 percent," Dr. Jin said. That means the joint command acquired DNA samples of around 14,000 people in the last decade. In addition to the work by the command, the U.S. military also has identified more than 30 remains from the Korean War through other projects. News reporting undergoes shift to multiple platforms By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Internet and rapidly evolving technology is quickly changing how people receive news and how journalists deliver it. There are now more ways to tell a story than ever before. One school in Los Angeles is teaching the next generation of journalists with the help of a state-of-the-art newsroom. When Faith Miller wanted to study journalism in college she didn't realize how hands-on the experience would be. “I did not expect that in school I would be reporting on real stories, and I did not know how much work goes into it,” she said. Unlike their counterparts of past generations, students at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism learn to deliver news across all platforms, including television, radio and the Web. And that’s not all, said Willow Bay, director of the School of Journalism. “Today we expect journalists to be able to use all sorts of technological tools to research stories, to vet that research, to analyze that research. We expect them to be fluid in multimedia storytelling skills. We expect them increasingly to be their own marketing and distribution arms, to get their stories in front of audiences and to spread those stories as far as they can,” said Ms. Bay. They learn all those skills in a brand new media center, built like a modern newsroom. There is a circular assignments desk in the middle of the center, with television monitors overhead broadcasting on different channels. More than 90 workstations are spread out around the room where student journalists who work on TV, radio and the Web collaborate side-by-side. Digital Journalism Professor Robert Hernandez said future journalists must also be tech-savvy, and that meant learning basic computer programing languages. “They need to know how the Web works and be able to tinker with it,” he said. Hernandez demonstrated some of the modern tools Web reporters could use to tell stories in a different way. “You can do a 360 panorama through your phone. We can talk about what a tornado looks like, how it rips trees out of the ground. Through their phone there’s an app that stitches them together,” he said. Students can also take a class that experiments with Google Glass, a device that connects to the Internet and records video and audio. Will Federman, a print and digital journalism student, said, “I think we’re entering a market now where if you don’t have kind of a wide range of skills and have a little bit of knowledge on everything, you’re probably going to have a difficult time finding a job.” The goal is not just to prepare students for the real world but to also make them savvy enough to adapt quickly to changing technology. With new technology comes new ethical questions, however, and future journalists should tread carefully, according to the media center's executive director, Serena Cha. "In the journalism arena we’ve got to consider carefully. How do we teach students to use the tools responsibly? Yes, new technology often raises new questions because you’re able to manipulate reality even more than before,” said Director Cha. Faculty members said at the core of all this technology, students still needed to learn traditional journalism: how to write and tell a compelling story that is accurate, fair and balanced. Cuba restricts imports of some consumer goods By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Cuban government is enacting new rules that restrict imports on consumer goods sent by mail or brought to Cuba by air travelers. The restrictions imposed Monday mean greater hardship for a struggling private sector that has depended on suitcases full of goods from family members and friends to counter severe shortages. The rules increase duties on popular items such as televisions and further limit the number of items such as pants or underwear that an air traveller can carry to Cuba. They also increase duties on the weight of mailed packages. Cuba says the restrictions are meant to stop black market abuses. The rules also protect the state monopoly on selling imported goods. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
Police found a Central Valley
resident coming from Nicaragua with these 40 pairs of sandals. The man
was on a small bus in La Cruz near the northern border over the
weekend. When he showed a customs paper that police realized was false,
he was in much more hot water.By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Residents of the community of Ostional on the far Pacific coast have been collecting and selling turtle eggs for 30 years. This is legal because government officials have said that the eggs that are taken only would be destroyed by later arriving turtles. Now the residents want some legal assurance that the practice can continue. A representative of the Asociación de Desarrollo de Ostional said that the community has made about $5 million for the sale of turtle eggs during that time. But it also has made significant investments in conservation projects, the association representative said. A pending measure in the legislature would solidify the deal between the government and the community. It is No. 18.939 and involves the Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Ostional. The egg collecting is not without critics, and Ostional has become infamous due to a series of Internet photos that shows members of the community happily collecting turtle eggs. The photos circulate under the title "Shame of Costa Rica," and the series draws unhappy emails from those who are not familiar with what really is going on.  Casa Presidencial photo
President Luis Guillermo
Solís has ordered flags of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and
Nicaragua to be flown at Casa Presidencial in honor of September, which
is the month of independence. |
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| From Page 7: United increases flights for high season By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
United Airlines said that it will add six flights from the United States to Costa Rica around Christmas for the high season. Four additional flights will be offered Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from Houston, Texas, to Juan Santamaría airport near San José. Two additional flights, Saturday and Sunday, will connect Newark Liberty Airport near New York City with Juan Santamaría. The airline said it will be flying Boeing 737-800s with seats for 152. The additional flights will begin Dec. 19 and continue through Jan. 4. United now offers 64 flights from the United States to Costa Rica, including those going to Daniel Oduber airport in Liberia. |
