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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 200
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Our reader's opinion
Key elements of marijuana study missedDear A.M. Costa Rica: Your report of Wayne Hall's recent review of marijuana use fails to adequately describe the "regular" users for whom he discusses risks. Nowhere do you say what percent of all users are included in "regular" users, nor do you say what percent of all users fall into the "regular" category. For him to say that "regular adolescent cannabis users have lower educational attainment" sounds scary to those who do not know that the he defines "regular" users as those who might smoke three to five joints a day, typically smoking every day. They do not represent the majority of all users, by far. Crucial too, is the question of what percent of all users are ever regular users. By the American Psychiatric Society's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for dependence, the author says that 9 percent of those who ever use marijuana will at some time be "dependent" on it. He only mentions in passing that 15 percent of those who have ever used alcohol will at sometime be dependent on alcohol. No one versed in the epidemiology and risk assessment of cannabis will claim that it is without risk. But at the same time, the professional literature is fraught with exaggeration regarding marijuana use, starting as far back as Harry Anslinger's fanaticism and the classic movie, "Reefer Madness." If A.M. Costa Rica is to publish this side of the issue, then please, to prevent bias, tell us about the horrendous criminal sanctions imposed on thousands of people whose only crime has been possessing and using this drug. Tell us how Black and Latino users go to prison, while white male adolescents get sent to forced treatment, which which most of them do not need. Tell us about the enormity of the correctional system in the United States, the force behind criminalizing health problems. Be fair, A.M. Costa Rica. John French
Heredia Court officials
denounce budget cuts
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Poder Judicial has launched a campaign to protect its proposed budget. Magistrates of the Corte Suprema de Justicia held a press conference Wednesday to protest a motion in a legislative committee that chopped 4.7 billion colons from the 2015 budget. That is about $8.7 million. The budget cut was by the Comisión Permanente de Asuntos Hacendarios. Zarela Villanueva Monge, the president of the court, said that the cuts involve budget areas that already have been established by prior contracts and that if the Poder Judicial does not adhere to the agreement, there will be much more money spent in damages. Some of the cuts involve budget lines such as security of judicial structures, repair of communication equipment, the medical examiners, and transport of prisoners, officials said. Francisco Segura, director of the Judicial Investigating Organization, said that the cuts give an advantage to criminals The Poder Judicial not only includes the courts and the prosecutors, but it also includes public defenders, investigators, programs for victims, protection for witnesses and even food for inmates who are temporarily in custody. The Poder Judicial has been under fire for the pensions retirees receive and also the way nearly all employees almost always get merit raises.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 200 | |
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| Another effort seeks to promote the unique cuisine of Costa
Rica |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Even food is not out of the reach of the central government. The Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio announced Wednesday what it calls the Plan Nacional de Gastronomía Sostenible y Saludable. The ministry did so at a meeting of the Cámara Costarricense de Restaurantes y Afines. The ministry said that it was seeking a Costa Rican gastronomy based on national products and to rescue cooking traditions, Also sought was promoting community development and protecting the environment. The ministry said that other agencies and private organizations were supporting the initiative. One of them is the Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud, which already runs contest to promote traditional dishes and to collect the recipes. The ministry also sees this as strengthening small and medium enterprises. There are some 90 food producers already listed with the ministry's small business program, including restaurants, drink manufacturers, mobile food providers and food producers. The ministry initiative also includes setting standards for the food industry and a multitude of other specifics. Some seem hard to swallow, such as reducing cost and increasing productivity and profitability. And finally to increase the quality of life in the country. So what should be a traditional Costa Rican dinner? Not all these ideas are traditional, but they do include local foods.
A really traditional food here is the paca (Cuniculus paca) also
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This would be
accompanied by a guaro martini, shaken not stirred!
Chayote. Cartago potatoes and perhaps rice with a side of beans
Cafe Rica, the coffee liquor, comes with a separate serving of expresso. Would if be politically incorrect to offer Puriscal cigars in the drawing room? If anything, Costa Rican cooks under estimate what is available. What about bananas or platanos. Avocados, perhaps? Although the best ones seem to come from California. A strange fact is that Costa Rica produces little wine, and some that is offered as a national product comes from imported powder. Jocote producers are reported to have developed an alcoholic drink similar to wine using the little green fruits. Any other suggestions? |
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| President launches high-level commission to make country
competitive |
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By
the A.M.. Costa Rica staff
The president initiated the work Wednesday of a commission designed to improve the competitivity of the country. It is the Consejo Presidencial de Competitividad, Innovación y Talento Humano The work will be in three parts. The first, headed by First Vice President Helio Fallas, is the Consejo de Competitividad This includes the ministers of Agricultura y Ganadería, Economía, Industria y Comercio, Comercio Exterior, Obras Públicas y Transportes, Ambiente y Energía and Turismo. There also are two representatives from industry and one each from the Consejo Privado de Competitividad and the Cámara de Exportadores. The Consejo de Innovación y Talento Humano will be directed by Second Vice President Ana Helena Chacón and include the ministers of Ciencia y Tecnología, Educación Pública, Trabajo, and Comercio |
Exterior. There
will be representatives from the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, the Consejo Privado de la Competitividad, the Consejo Nacional de Rectores, the Unión de Rectores de Universidades Privadas, the Asociación de Empresarios para el Desarrollo, private industry and the Coalición Costarricense de Inciativas de Desarrollo. Also created is the Alianza para el Desarrollo Productivo y el Empleo, headed by the Ministerio de Trabajo. The umbrella presidential commission will meet twice a month, and the individual consejos will meet once a month, said Casa Presidencial. The groups are supposed to identify the vision and the objective principles that the country should reach in the medium and long term to be more competitive. They are supposed to suggest programs, priorities and policies involving the various ministries with the same goals. Also announced Wednesday was that President Luis Guillermo Solís will travel to Canada at the end of the month seeking investors. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 200 | |||||
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| Mangroves found to provide protection for various types of
coral |
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By
the U.S. Geological Survey news staff
Certain types of corals, invertebrates of the sea that have been on Earth for millions of years, appear to have found a way to survive some of their most destructive threats by attaching to and growing under mangrove roots. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and Eckerd College published research on a newly discovered refuge for reef-building corals in mangrove habitats of the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than 30 species of reef corals were found growing in Hurricane Hole, a mangrove habitat within the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument in St. John. Corals are animals that grow in colonies, forming reefs over time as old corals die and young corals grow upon the calcium carbonate or limestone skeletons of the old corals. Coral reefs make up some of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth, and face many threats such as coastal pollution, dredging and disease. However, some of their most widespread threats involve warming ocean temperatures, solar radiation and increased ocean acidification. It is from these threats that corals are finding refuge under the red mangroves of Hurricane Hole. Red mangroves, subtropical or tropical trees that colonize coastlines and brackish water habitats, have networks of prop roots that extend down toward the sea floor, and corals are growing on and under these roots. How does it work? Mangroves and their associated habitats and biological processes protect corals in a variety of ways. * The shade provided by mangroves protects the corals from high levels of solar radiation. This in turn, may reduce some of the stress caused by warming ocean waters. * A combination of chemical, biological and physical conditions around the mangrove habitats helps protect the corals by keeping acidity in the water below harmful levels. With oceans becoming more acidic due to the increased amount of carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere, ocean animals like corals are threatened by rising acidity levels, which can slow coral growth and impact reef structure. * The shade provided by the mangroves helps deter coral bleaching, a condition that essentially starves coral and can, in prolonged cases, |
 U.S. Geological Survey /Caroline Rogers
Beneath these trees, protected
by
the roots, coral flourishesresult in their death. Coral bleaching episodes are becoming more frequent around the world. Bleaching occurs when corals lose their symbiotic algae. Most corals contain algae called zooxanthellae within their cells. The coral protects the algae and provides the algae with the compounds they need for photosynthesis. The algae, in turn, produce oxygen, help the coral to remove waste products, and, most importantly, provide the coral with compounds the coral needs for everyday survival. When corals are under prolonged physiological stress, they may expel the algae, leading to the condition called bleaching. When examining corals for this study, researchers found evidence of some species thriving under the mangroves while bleaching in unshaded areas outside of the mangroves. Boulder brain corals, for example, were found in abundance under the mangroves and were healthy, while many of those in unshaded areas a short distance away were bleaching. Organisms throughout the world are threatened as climate and other conditions change. It is not known how many other mangrove areas in the world harbor such a high diversity of corals, as most people do not look for corals growing in these areas. No coral reefs have been identified to date that protect from rising ocean temperatures, acidification and increased solar radiation like these mangrove habitats in St. John. |
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
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 200 | |||||||
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| U.S., Navajo Nation make deal to settle trustee faults By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A record multi-million-dollar settlement between the United States government and the Navajo Nation has been seen as a turning point in relations between the federal government and the entire Indian nation. It is the largest sum ever paid by the U.S. government to a single Indian tribe. Within the territory of the United States are 562 nations, ethnically-, culturally- and linguistically-diverse Native American tribes recognized by the United States as sovereign governments. The largest is the Navajo Nation, whose territory stretches more than 70,000 square kilometers across three western states. While the tribal governments enforce laws on their territory and license and regulate activities, the federal government holds the vast majority of Indian lands, money and resources in trust for the tribes, and is required to manage them in a way that benefits the tribes and individual Native Americans. The Navajo Nation sued the federal government in 2006 and sought $900 million in damages for mismanagement of resources and trust accounts since at least 1946. The claims in the case involved essentially three things: one, the federal government as trustee was responsible for negotiating a contract for the extraction of natural resources for the Navajo Nation’s property; two, the government was responsible for monitoring the performance under the contract to make sure that the Navajo Nation was paid the royalties due; and three, as trustee the United States was obligated to invest the proceeds in a commercially appropriate way. Andrew Sandler, who represented the Navajo Nation in the suit, said the settlement for $554 million is an equitable deal for both parties. It comes at a time when the Navajo Nation needs significant investment in several areas -- from education to housing -- and he said it will go a long way toward addressing those needs. “The Navajo Nation is plagued by an unemployment rate as high as 50 percent. It is in desperate need for educational resources, for infrastructure resources, for roads, for water, and many other things," said Sandler. "This $500-plus million will go a long, long way to improving the quality of life for the Navajo people.” The signing ceremony took place late last month in Window Rock, Arizona, which serves as the capital of the Navajo Nation. Navajo official Rick Abasta said that there were compromises on both sides. “There was a little bit of compromise on the Nation’s part in accepting this $554 million settlement. But I think the bigger picture was to end the litigation against the federal government, because of course that has a cost as well, and move forward with improving the Nation and utilizing these funds,” he said. In various public statements, U.S. officials had acknowledged that the federal government had failed in its obligation as trustee. However, the deal reflects Washington's commitment to upholding its trust responsibility to Indian Country and to building strong, prosperous and resilient tribal communities. Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said the agreement was symbolic of the evolving relationship between the Navajo Nation and the U.S. government. “The $554 million represented in this settlement is more than just the end of a legal battle. It is not just fulfilling the trust responsibility of our trustee, nor is it full compensation for the loss of revenue and the harm caused by the federal government’s actions over decades," he said. "This settlement marks a turning point in our relationship with the federal government, and I'm hoping to see that before Obama leaves.” U.S. tribes have filed more than 100 lawsuits against the federal government. Since early 2012, the government has resolved about 80 of them, amounting to $2.5 billion. Feb policy makers seeking better way to communicate By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Officials of the U.S. central bank are looking for better ways to tell markets they are not going to raise interest rates abruptly or soon, even though many economic indicators are improving. When to raise interest rates and how to warn markets that this economic change is on the way was a key part of the debate at September's meeting of top Fed policy makers. Many analysts predict the Fed will begin raising rates to more normal levels in the middle of next year. Notes from that gathering were published Wednesday after the Fed's customary delay of several weeks. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates to record lows during the recession to encourage economic growth. But now, the economy is growing, unemployment has fallen sharply and inflation remains below the 2 percent level many economists say is healthy for the economy. The minutes of the Sept. 16-17 meeting revealed an underlying concern that expectations of financial markets are slightly out of sync with Fed expectations, and that dropping the current policy language could send unintended signals. Some Fed officials cited disappointing growth and inflation in the eurozone, while several said "slower economic growth in China or Japan or unanticipated events in the Middle East or Ukraine might pose a similar risk," the minutes show. Investors and others watch Fed discussions closely, and stock market prices rose shortly after the notes were published. The notes show Fed officials expressing concern that markets might misinterpret the Fed's guidance on interest rates and perhaps cause a panicky sell off of stocks. Fed officials also worried that slowing growth in other nations might crimp the U.S. recovery, and a strengthening dollar might complicate efforts to move inflation closer to the bank's 2 percent target.  Case Western Reserve University photo
This is the hand that can feel
sensations.Independent
teams devise
nearly human prosthetics By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Life-like artificial limbs are on the way. Two independent teams of researchers have developed prosthetic devices that behave and feel sensation just like real arms and hands. One device, implanted into the remaining bone, gives amputees a full range of movement using electrical impulses from the brain. The other invention restores the sense of touch. Artificial hands that look real have been on the market for some time. Now, researchers are creating prosthetic devices that have the sense of touch and exhibit a full range of motion like the missing appendage. One prosthetic, an artificial arm developed by Swedish researchers, is attached to the remaining bone within the amputated limb of the wearer. Electrodes implanted under the skin receive motor impulses and translate them into movement. Biomedical engineer Max Ortiz Catalan of Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, helped develop the life-like artificial arm. “Some of those muscles are still there. The nerve cells still there," said Catalan. "So we can pick up those signals coming down from the brain and use them to tell the prosthesis what to do.” Catalan and co-researchers describe the mind-controlled artificial arm implanted in a male patient, a truck driver who lost his arm a decade ago, in Science Translational Medicine. Before the implant, the man controlled the prosthesis, imperfectly, through electrodes placed on his skin. But now, Catalan said, the man has complete, stable movement and use of the arm. “The patient is using it on his in activities of ... daily living, and playing with his kids, and doing stuff at his home and working. So, he went from working from 50 percent to working 100 percent, and he can wear the prosthesis all day.” Catalan says researchers plan to start implanting the device in patients with amputated arms beginning next year. In a second paper in the journal, Dustin Tyler and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, describe how they used implanted electrodes to stimulate sensation in an entire prosthetic limb. “They have an artificial hand, but what they feel is as though it is their hand. And so we are applying electrical stimulation techniques directly to the nerves that used to go to the sensors in the real hand. And so by activating those, their perception is that it is their real hand,” he said. The experimental device that creates sensation in a prosthetic hand sits in a box on a desk in the laboratory, much to the disappointment of the two men who have been part of the experiment for some two years. “You know, one of our subjects basically said when he leaves he has to leave his hand behind because he can not have the sensation outside of the lab," Tyler said. "So, the feeling of their hand back is so powerful, they would like to have this continually.” Tyler said the goal now is to make the device portable by implanting a controller, possibly in the chest. He said it would be possible to integrate the technology into the mind-controlled prosthetic arm developed by Swedish researchers to make the artificial hand even more like a real one. Small village felt brunt of the ebola outbreak By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
In Sierra Leone's Darru district, the remote village of Njallah Geima is one of the worst hit by ebola. Since May, more than half of the 200 people who live there have been infected with ebola, killing 61 of them in just eight weeks. The remote village sits on a single road. James Bayone is a social worker from Darru who now helps support what is left of this devastated community. He said Ebola wiped out entire families. “You have a lot of orphans here, a lot of orphans. They are now just left with foster parents. All these children they are left with their grandfather, their mothers died and other relatives, they all are left with their grandfather,” he explained. Sixty-five year old Arabic teacher Foday Konneh has been left to care for 31 children, 18 are orphans. “The children many of them are here to learn Arabic, but some of the children are victims of this ebola, their parents died. They were here with me when there parents died, now they have no other place to go," Konneh said. "So I had to embrace them, to take care of them and cater for them. But to earn a living, it is really difficult sometimes, it is hard,” Konneh said. With a failing health system, many people like Konneh are left with little support. Bayone said when ebola struck the village, they were cut off, nobody came to help. "Everybody abandoned them. As long as you said you were from Njallah Geima, everybody would abandon you," he said. "So it's a little bit easy for them." Solomon Jauad lives with his family on the edge of the village. He survived ebola, but lost many family members. “He says the whole house, if you are looking at the whole house, it was 14 people who died and three ... were brothers,” Bayone said. This room has been locked since his twin brother's death. Solomon said he was afraid to go for treatment. The room is all but untouched. Pictures of family still hang on the walls. Cigarettes his brother sold sit on a shelf. Solomon said he was the last person to die in the village. Bayone said ebola has touched every part of this community. “There is not a house in this town that was not affected, whether direct or indirectly that was affected," he said. When ebola came to Njallah, many people ran away, frightened of those infected. Baby Bandu was found locked in an empty house with her sister who later died of ebola. Veronica Kamara said Bandu is just 18 months old. “They were in the village both of them, herself and her elder sister who was 7 years old, they were abandoned in the village in a house where there were only two of them in that house, and they were brought here by contract tracers to this center," she stated. Veronica said she has tracked down relatives of the child, but they rejected her. Study says smoking joints fails to boost user creativity By
the Universiteit of Leiden news service
People often think that smoking cannabis makes them more creative. However, research by Leiden psychologists Lorenza Colzato and Mikael Kowal shows that the opposite is true. They published their findings in Psychopharmacology. The findings show that cannabis with a high concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC does not improve creativity. Smokers who ingested a low dose of THC, or none at all (they were given a placebo), performed best in the thinking tasks that the test candidates had to carry out. A high dose of THC was actually shown to have a negative effect on the ability to quickly come up with as many solutions as possible to a given problem. The research findings contradict the claims of people who say that their thinking changes and becomes more original after smoking a joint. There’s no sign of any increased creativity in their actual performance, according to researcher Colzato. ‘The improved creativity that they believe they experience is an illusion.’ Ms. Colzato: ‘If you want to overcome writer’s block or any other creative gap, lighting up a joint isn’t the best solution. Smoking several joints one after the other can even be counterproductive to creative thinking.’ Ms. Colzato and her Ph.D. candidate Kowal were the first researchers to study the effects of cannabis use on creative thinking. For ethical reasons, only cannabis users were selected for this study. The test candidates were divided into three groups of 18. One group was given cannabis with a high THC content (22 mg), the second group was given a low dose (5.5 mg) and the third group was given a placebo. The high dose was equivalent to three joints and the low dose was equal to a single joint. Obviously, none of the test candidates knew what they were being given. The cannabis was administered via a vaporizer. The test candidates then had to carry out cognitive tasks that were testing for two types of creative thinking: * Divergent thinking: generating rapid solutions for a given problem, such as: “Think of as many uses as you can for a pen?” * Convergent thinking: Finding the only right answer to a question, such as: “What is the link between the words ‘time’, ‘hair’ and ‘stretching.’ (The answer is ‘long’.) |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 200 | |||||||||
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 Municipalidad de Palmares photo
A pedestrian bridge is now
in service in Palamares between Santiago andRincón de Zaragoza. The bridge mostly will benefit school children. At the same time work is underway to put in the foundation for a new vehicle bridge. Driving skills can be important By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some folks just are not cut out for the jobs they choose. Such is the case with two hijackers who confronted a truck driver and locked him in the body of the vehicle. That was about the time they figured out they did not know how to start the vehicle. Police spotted the delivery truck in Rohrmoser and quickly recognized the individual at the wheel. He was a well-known Pavas resident. The pair were detained and eventually were presented to a judge who sent them away for four and six years. Juvenile crocodile sentenced to Tárcoles By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fuerza Pública officers encountered another crocodile in San Jerónimo de Orotina. This is at least the third misplaced croc this season. The young croc appeared to have become used to sunning itself on a bridge in the community. Officials were worried because the sunbathing location is on a route traversed by students each day. Police grabbed the critter Tuesday and took it to he Río Tárcoles, which is more or less crocodile central. Other captures of much bigger critters were in Jacó and Quepos. This is the season mature crocs go courting. Pet adoption fair is Saturday By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Asociación Animales de Asís will host a pet adoption fair Saturday fr, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Heredia Walmart. The animals, cats and dogs, puppies and kittens, are castrated and vaccinated. A donation is sought. |
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| From Page 7: Regional travel fair begins today By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The regional Feria Centroamérica Travel Market opens today for a two-day run at the Centro de Eventos Pedregal. in Belén Organizers said that some 108 tourism wholesalers will be represented and there will be 180 Central American vendors there, too. Tourism officials said they hoped for a good turnout of European wholesalers and tourism operators There were some 300,000 Europeans who visited the country last year, an increase of 5.6 percent, said the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo. |
