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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Monday,
Sept. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 192
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 Ministerio de
Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública
photo
This crocodile that wandered the streets of Quepos was
trussed up and exported Friday by the Fuerza Pública
and
fire fighters. This is the second crocodile located
in the central Pacific community in the last week.By the University of California — David
news service
A new scientific review from the University of California — Davis reports that the performance and health of food-producing animals consuming genetically engineered feed, first introduced 18 years ago, has been comparable to that of animals consuming non-engineered feed. The review study also found that scientific studies have detected no differences in the nutritional makeup of the meat, milk or other food products derived from animals that ate genetically engineered feed. The review, led by university animal scientist Alison Van Eenennaam, examined nearly 30 years of livestock-feeding studies that represent more than 100 billion animals. Titled “Prevalence and Impacts of Genetically Engineered Feedstuffs on Livestock Populations,” the review article is now available online in open-access form through the American Society of Animal Science: It will appear in print and open-access in the October issue of the Journal of Animal Science. Genetically engineered crops were first introduced in 1996. Today, 19 genetically engineered plant species are approved for use in the United States, including the major crops used extensively in animal feed: alfalfa, canola, corn, cotton, soybean and sugar beet. Food-producing animals such as cows, pigs, goats, chickens and other poultry species now consume 70 to 90 percent of all genetically engineered crops, according to the new review. In the United States, alone, 9 billion food-producing animals are produced annually, with 95 percent of them consuming feed that contains genetically engineered ingredients. “Studies have continually shown that the milk, meat and eggs derived from animals that have consumed GE feed are indistinguishable from the products derived from animals fed a non-GE diet,” Ms. Van Eenennaam said. “Therefore, proposed labeling of animal products from livestock and poultry that have eaten GE feed would require supply-chain segregation and traceability, as the products themselves would not differ in any way that could be detected.”  Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
The pilot of this crashed
plane vanished after the mishap in Cañas, Ganacaste, Sunday
afternoon. Police are suspicious. The craft is a Cessna 182 with a
false registration number.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| 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 Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 192 | |
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| Pennsylvania priest who is pedophile suspect visited Costa
Rica |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest who is facing child sex abuse charges in the United States was involved with youngsters in Costa Rica, too. The priest, Joseph D. Maurizio, Jr., 69, was charged Thursday with engaging in illicit sexual conduct and possession of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in Pittsburgh, the federal agency reported. He has been suspended as pastor of the Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Central City, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. Federal agents allege that they found possible child pornography on his computer system that was in the church rectory. The federal agency said that from July 2011 through the present, foreign travel records indicate that Maurizio has made approximately 10 separate trips to various Central American countries. Many of his visits were to Honduras where he was associated with Fundación ProNiño in Progresso, Honduras, a home for street children. Federal agents visited the home and area to obtain statements that cover 10 years, the agency reported. According to the court complaint, every year between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio traveled from Pennsylvania to Honduras to assist the non-profit organization that provides services to children there, said Homeland Security. Each trip lasted two to three weeks. The priest also was reported to have been involved with a rescue home in Costa Rica called New Home for Street Children. Sept. 12, search warrants were executed by Homeland Security |
special
agents at the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church and a farm
owned
by Maurizio in Windber. Dozens of pieces of evidence were
seized from the rectory including four computers, a laptop, hundreds of
CDs, a loose hard drive, camera, floppy disks, thumb drives, VHS tapes
and media cards, the agency said. Suspected images of child pornography
were found on the loose hard drive, the agency added. Homeland Security requested that anyone with information about Maurizio contact the agency by calling the 24-hour Tip line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. The public can also submit an online tip at www.ice.gov/tips/ or by downloading the Operation Predator smartphone app and submitting a tip via the app, the agency said. All tips will remain anonymous, the agency added. Years of online church bulletins at Our Lady Queen of Angels verify the priest's involvement with Central America and Costa Rica, although there are little specifics. The Maurizio case is creating a local firestorm because area bishops were said to have received reports of this type of illegal activity for the last five years. One report said that church authorities did not know of the priest's outside work with children despite the mentions in the weekly bulletins. Under U.S. law, illegal sexual activities overseas can be prosecuted in federal court. Although Pope Frances has vowed to root out illegal sexual activity by the clergy, many who follow such cases have said they are skeptical. Last week the Vatican said a bishop in Paraguay was suspended over allegations he covered up cases of sexual misconduct by priests under his charge. Sunday a Catholic bishop in Britain resigned his post and admitted an affair with a married mother in his parish. Roman Catholic priests are supposed to be celibate. |
| Career of Juan Rafael Mora Porras to be discussed Tuesday | |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
This is the bicentennial year of the birth of Juan Rafael Mora Porras, who, as president, was instrumental in raising military forces to fight the troops of William Walker in 1856. So the Museo Histórico Cultural Juan Santamaría is hosting a discussion of the career of Mora and that of his brother-in-law, José María Cañas, Tuesday at the Alajuela museum. The country marks the war against the Nicaraguan filibusterers March 20, the anniversary of the battle of Santa Rosa, and April 11, the anniversary of the battle of Rivas. Less known was that the Costa Ricans at the time heard the campaign described as a battle against invading Protestants. The outcome was less than heroic. The troops brought back cholera to the rest of the nation and 10 percent of the population died, according to historical estimates. Mora was a bit of an elitist, too, because he disenfranchised most of the population with a constitutional rewrite that restricted voting and holding office to the rich. |
 José
María Cañas and Juan Rafael Mora Porras
The historical record is not very clear on why he was deposed in1859. When he returned from exile in El Salvador a year later he was captured and executed in Puntarenas along with Cañas. The museum discussion will be at 2 p.m. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 192 | |||||
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| Wife of scientist was inspiration for name of new poison
dart specimen |
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By
the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute news service
A bright orange poison dart frog with a unique call was discovered in Donoso, Panamá, and described by researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí in Panamá, and the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. In the species description published this week in Zootaxa, it was named Andinobates geminisae for Geminis Vargas, "the beloved wife of Marcos Ponce, for her unconditional support of his studies of Panamanian herpetology." Ponce is a co-author.  Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
photo
The hololotype specimen which
scientists used as the basis to describe a new species of poison dart
frog, Andinobates geminisae. |
Every new species
name is based on a representative specimen, the hololotype. The
specimen for this species was collected Feb. 21, 2011, in the
headwaters of the Rio Caño, in the district of Donoso,
Colón Province, Panamá, by Samuel Valdés, who was
then the MWH Global Inc. environment office director, and his field
assistant, Carlos de la Cruz. Additional specimens were collected
between the Rio Coclé del Norte and the Rio Belén by
biologists Ponce and Abel Batista, then a student at the Universidad
Autónoma de Chiriquí. The specimens were deposited in the
Museo de Vertebrados at the University of Panamá, the Museo
Herpetólogico de Chiriquí at the Universidad
Autónoma de Chiriquí and in the Círculo
Herpetólogico de Panamá. "Abel Batista and Marcos Ponce were the first to note the presence of this species," said Cesar Jaramillo, Smithsonian herpetologist. "They've known it was there for several years. However, they were not sure if it was only a variety of another poison dart frog species, Oophaga pumilio, which exhibits tremendous color variation. Based on morphological characteristics of the adult and the tadpole, I thought it might be a new species of Andinobates." Andrew Crawford, professor at Universidad de Los Andes and former Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow, sequenced the DNA, confirming that this was a new species of Andinobates. Genetic information about this species is available in the Barcode of Life Data System and in GenBank. Because this new frog species appears to be found in only a very small area, habitat loss and collecting for the pet trade are major threats to its existence. The authors recommend the formulation of special conservation plans to guarantee its survival. A. geminisae is included in the captive breeding program of the Panamá Amphibian Rescue and Conservation project, a consortium of six zoos and research institutions dedicated to saving amphibians from the chytrid fungal disease, which is decimating amphibians worldwide, and habitat loss. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
news page
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 192 | |||||||
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| International effort sought to fight organ trafficking By the University of Leeds news service
The author of new research into organ trafficking has called for a concerted international effort to confront the problem. Ana Manzano of the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds says a combination of factors means nobody knows definitively how many organs are being traded across the world. “Unless these issues are addressed and countries work together to take firm action against the traffickers, more people who have their organs trafficked will die, " she said. “Even in the UK, although the World Health Organization has identified us as a buyer country, we don’t know the full extent of it.” The research, published in the journal Transplantation, describes five main reasons why the true extent of organ trafficking is difficult to pinpoint. These factors are: * A reluctance by those who give away their organs to talk, because of fear of prosecution. * No agreement between countries about what penalties should be in place for those who buy organs, and little consistency in enforcing laws. * The high status of surgeons. Some surgeons perform illegal transplants knowing that they will only be caught if they are reported to regulatory bodies by colleagues. * The nature of organ trafficking offenses means they can span several countries, making tracing organs difficult. * Insurers play a part in the proliferation of organ trafficking by paying for follow-up treatment to transplant patients. Dr. Manzano added: “Together, these factors have helped create the practice of organ laundering where the illegal purchase of organs takes on the veneer of a legal transaction. “Countries should follow the example of places like Spain where reporting the recipient of an organ purchased abroad is compulsory if follow-up care is requested.” Although there is no internationally agreed definition, organ trafficking is broadly defined as situations in which people are tricked into giving up organs, may sell them for financial gain but are not paid for as agreed. Dr. Manzano added: “If countries do nothing about this problem, the consequences for both donors and recipients can be terrible, as they may have to deal with dreadful health outcomes.” Obama: U.S. underestimated the rise of Islamic State forces By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama said the United States underestimated the rise of Islamic State and other Syrian-based militants and overestimated Iraq's ability to fight them. Obama told CBS television's "60 Minutes" Sunday it is a myth that if the United States had armed the moderate Syrian rebels two years ago, as some in Washington urged, Syria would be fine today. The president blamed the situation in Iraq, in part, on former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. He said the prime minister squandered an opportunity to unify the country. Obama said Maliki was suspicious of Sunnis and Kurds and more interested in consolidating his Shi'ite support than putting together a unity government. The U.S. leader said Syrians, Iraqis and others in the region must think about what political accommodation means. He said young men who only think about whether they are Sunnis or Shi'ites should instead be concerned about getting an education and a good job. Earlier Sunday, U.S.-led air strikes hit three oil refineries near Syria's border with Turkey in the ongoing offensive against Islamic State militants. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks occurred shortly after midnight, adding that they also hit a plastics factory. Also on Sunday, U.S. lawmakers stepped up calls for congressional authorization of Obama's war against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, amid signs the United States and its allies face a long and difficult fight. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio told ABC's This Week that he believed Obama had the legal authority for strikes against Islamic State militants but would call lawmakers back from their districts if Obama sought a resolution backing the action. “I think he does have the authority to do it. But ... this is a proposal the Congress ought to consider,” Boehner said, warning that the United States could eventually be dragged into another ground war in the region. Obama and other U.S. officials have said they believe no further vote to authorize force is needed, but political analysts warn that the war could dampen participation by anti-war Democrats in the November elections. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN that Congress should debate the issue because of uncertainty about how long the U.S. military would remain engaged in Syria. “There are some serious questions that we have to ask,” Murphy said. “You need a realistic political strategy. And I just don't think we have that today in Syria.” Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican and member of the Foreign Relations Committee, urged Obama to follow the lead of British Prime Minister David Cameron in recalling the British parliament. “I think the president has an obligation to call us back tomorrow to start this debate,” Barrasso said. Europe wins golf Ryder Cup by again defeating U.S. By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Europe has retained golf's Ryder Cup, easily defeating the United States for its eighth victory in the last 10 times in the biennial event. The 12-man European team, a collection of the continent's best professional golfers, held a commanding four-point lead heading into Sunday's decisive singles matches at the Gleneagles course in Scotland, and added to its margin, finishing ahead 16 1/2 to 11 1/2. The Europeans won five matches on Sunday, the U.S. four, and three ended in ties. With a handful of golfers yet to finish on the hilly, manicured course, Welsh golfer Jamie Donaldson won his match over American Keegan Bradley to give Europe the deciding point it needed to keep the cup. Donaldson exulted in the victory. "It's been an unbelievable week. I've had so much support. The crowds have been immense. It's a wonderful feeling," said Donaldson. Air France union decides to end expensive strike By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Air France's leading pilots union has decided to end a two-week strike that crippled the French airline, a union official said Sunday. The strike's end comes after Air France offered Wednesday to scrap a central part of a plan to shift most of its European operations to low-cost carrier Transavia. That plan had prompted the strike, because pilots see it as a way to outsource their jobs to countries with lower taxes and labor costs. Air France wants to restructure to stay competitive. Air France's dispute with pilots triggered a walkout that has cost it up to 20 million euros ($25 million) a day, grounded roughly half of the carrier's flights, stranded passengers worldwide and led to stern shows of frustration by the French prime minister. “I can confirm that the SNPL has decided to put an end to the strike,” Julien Doboz, spokesman for the sister Air France pilot union SPAF, said. Air France declined immediate comment. The SNPL union told The Associated Press in a text message that the strike was over. A spokesman told AP he was unable to immediately provide further details, but confirmed that the union believed conditions were still not in place for proper dialogue between the pilots and Air France management to overcome problems leading to the strike. Pilots have been trying to pressure Air France to offer the same contracts to those flying on the proposed new Transavia unit as to its own pilots, a demand the airline has argued is incompatible with the low-cost model. The pilots decided to end the strike without reaching an agreement with the French airline even though talks resumed with management on Saturday night. U.S. doctor is flown home after being exposed to ebola By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
An American doctor who was exposed to ebola while in Sierra Leone has been flown to the United States. The doctor was flown to a regional airport in the eastern state of Maryland Sunday and walked off the plane wearing a white protective suit. The infectious disease chief at the National Institutes for Health near Washington would not discuss details about the patient, but said that in general, an exposure to ebola doesn't necessarily mean someone will become sick. In a statement issued Saturday, the National Institute for Health said the patient will be admitted to its clinical center for observation and to enroll in a clinical study. The agency also said the physician will be in a special isolation unit out of an abundance of caution. Four other American aid workers who were infected with ebola while volunteering in the West African outbreak have been treated at hospitals in Georgia and Nebraska. One remains hospitalized while the others have recovered. Earthquake in Perú kills at least eight near Cuzco By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
An earthquake in Perú has killed at least eight people, including four children, and injured at least a half-dozen more, police said Sunday. The shallow 4.9-magnitude tremor rocked the mountainous southeastern region of Cuzco late Saturday. The victims were all from the community of Misca, where many homes collapsed in the quake. Police were only able to get through the blocked roads to the village Sunday. President Ollanta Humala and several ministers are traveling to the area to assess the damage. Carlos Castro of Peru's civil defense agency reported the deaths from the Saturday night earthquake during an interview with RPP Radio Sunday morning. The agency had earlier reported seven deaths on its Web site. Teen use of marijuana said to have damaging impact By the Loyola University Health System
news staff Whether states should legalize marijuana for recreational and medical use is a hot topic across the country. As the debate continues, more preteens, teens and young adults are beginning to use the substance with the feeling that it is safe. In fact, 36 percent of all seniors in high school and 7 percent of eighth-graders report using the drug in the past month, according to a recent study. Though the public’s perception that marijuana is a harmless drug continues to increase, research shows it can have a damaging impact on developing brains and may lead to lifelong addiction. “Teens are seeing marijuana as a safe substance, but its effects on the adolescent brain can be dangerous, especially if there is heavy use. As the stigma of marijuana use decreases, the number of teens using the drug has increased. More U.S. high school students now smoke marijuana than they do cigarettes,” said Garry Sigman, director of the Adolescent Medicine Division at Loyola University Health System and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Loyola University Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine. Marijuana is an addictive substance and, according to Sigman, adolescents are two to four times more likely to become dependent on the drug within two years after first using it as compared with adult users. “Marijuana is the most common substance addiction being treated in adolescents in rehabilitation centers across the country. Like all addictive substances, marijuana is used to lessen uncomfortable feelings like anxiety and depression. Because the type of addiction is seen as less intense in comparison with other substances such as cocaine or heroin, many people don’t realize that marijuana can cause dependence and has a withdrawal syndrome,” Sigman said. While some adolescents use marijuana only occasionally due to peer pressure at a party or in a social setting, others self-medicate with marijuana to cope with emotions and stress. One of the signs of a substance-use disorder is when drugs are used often to cope with uncomfortable feelings. Addiction isn’t the only hazard for adolescents when it comes to smoking marijuana. Research shows that heavy use can lead to neurotoxicity and alterations in brain development |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 192 | |||||||||
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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
The security ministry's
aviation wing made three trips to Panamá Sunday to bring back
found Costa Ricans who were injured in a vehicle accident there. Here,
one patient arrives at Juan Santamaría airport to be transported
by ambulance to a hospital.Escazú hotel closed by tax officials By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Tax authorities closed The Beacon Costa Rica Hotel & Spa Friday morning and rousted out the guests who were there. The hotel remained closed Sunday night, but an employee said that hotel operators planned a meeting with the Ministerio de Hacienda this week. The ministry made no mention of the action or reported on any similar closings. Such actions are not unusual when a company has fallen behind on the payment of sales taxes or, sometimes, payments to the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. The hotel is just a block and a half west of the Parque Central in Escazú, Agents spot men fleeing Escazú home By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two judicial agents driving by a home in San Rafael de Escazú spottted a suspicious vehicle and then saw three men jumping a wall to get into the car. The agents figured correctly that this was a home invasion in progress, and they managed to stop the vehicle and take into custody four persons from 18 to 43 years of age. The crime took place about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, and when contacted a few minutes later, the occupant of the home said he had just been robbed by three men who took items very similar to those found in the vehicle, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. |
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| From Page 7: Cuba's airline will begin a direct flight By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Cubana de Aviación said it will begin a direct flight to Costa Rica Nov. 16. The flight will be between Aeropuerto Internacional José Martí in Havana to Juan Santamaría in Alajuela. The flight was announced by Wilhelm von Breymann, the minister of Turismo. He noted that there were 3,372 visitors from Cuba in 2013. He also noted that four airlines have announced in September that they are increasing flights to Costa Rica, mostly for the December-March high seasons. |
