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San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 226
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gold firm's arbitration case By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Canadian organization is continuing a public relations effort against Infinito Gold Ltd, which is preparing a $1 billion international arbitration case against Costa Rica. Infinito, through its subsidiary here, Industrias Infinito S.A., sought to open the Crucitas open pit mine north of San Carlos. The firm had a valid concession for years until a Costa Rican court annulled it. The Canadian organization is called LeadNow, and its Web site said it is an independent advocacy organization that brings generations of Canadians together to achieve progress through democracy. The organization also opposes a Canadian trade treaty with China, according to the Web site. A LeadNow email called the petition drive a bi-national effort between Canada and Costa Rica. It said organizers hope to present the petition to John Morgan, Infinito's chief, at the firm's annual meeting Nov. 21, presumably at its home base of Calgary. The petition also is in Spanish. It has 1,487 signatures, according to the Web site. "Infinito Gold doesn’t care what Costa Ricans think, but with its shareholder meeting just weeks away, we have a key opportunity now to force management to come clean about its shameful bullying to the company’s shareholders, a massive dose of public pressure will force Infinito to drop its lawsuit for good," says the site. The organization appears to have obtained much of its information from Mining Watch, an organization that says MiningWatch Canada is a pan-Canadian initiative supported by environmental, social justice, Aboriginal and labour organisations from across the country. LeadNow seems to be unaware that Infinito had a valid concession that was overturned even after the Sala IV constitutional court gave it a green light. That is at the core of the firm's complaint. Cartago electrical utility fails to win rate hike By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's utility regulating agency says it has rejected a request for a 3.4 percent increase in rates by the Junta Administrativa del Servicio Eléctrico Municipal de Cartago. The rate-fixing agency, the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos said that the utility did not provide information that separated out the various services it provides. The agency appears to want various classes of users considered separately based on the income cost of providing electricity to each group. Market at city bus station will have pipes replaced By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Municipalidad de San José has begun work to replace the underground pipes at the Mercado Calle 16, which is better known as the Mercado Coca Cola. The location is at the well-known inter-city bus station. The project will cost 80 million colons, about $160,000. It involves tearing up the floor of the market and adjacent areas. Workmen will be on the job from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. in order to avoid inconvenience to merchants and bus passengers, said the municipality. Our reader's opinion
In the case of U.S. president,lying is not just revising Dear A.M. Costa Rica: On Page Five of Monday's edition there is an article referencing Obama's falling approval ratings. In that article appears the sentence "Obama revised his pledge." When does lying to the American people become a revision? I am sure you have seen the multiple times Obama had stated in no uncertain terms that "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, PERIOD." and "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan, PERIOD." There is no if's, and's, or but's, in those sentences. The fact is that he lied to the people because he would have NEVER received approval for his plan had he told the truth, and he would have not been re-elected had he told the truth. In his second campaign he continued to lie about Obamacare to get re-elected. You may think that this lie is okay, because he is giving the U.S.A. health insurance for everyone. So that the end justifies the means. Among the problems with this approach is that one lie begets another and another. He now denies that he intended to lie the first time, another lie. Then you have Democrats on TV denying the obvious and saying he didn't lie, he just didn't tell the whole truth, and that he should have added a few asterisks to his statements. These people just make matters worse. It is like the husband who gets caught in bed with another woman, and he tells the wife, "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes." The press is one of the few places where truth should matter, and you do a disservice to your readers when you don't state the facts as they are, and maybe not how you might wish them to be. The public loses confidence in both the government and the press when they are being lied to on a consistent basis. See Benghazi, IRS and the Tea Party organizations, Fast and Furious. I hope in the future you tell it like it is. Your readers deserve better. Mike
Hawkins,
Santa Ana Gun violence in some movies is reported to have tripled By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A new study shows that movie violence has more than doubled since 1950 and gun violence in films has tripled since 1985. Researchers with the American Academy of Pediatrics noted that the increase comes largely in movies rated PG-13, which are not recommended for children under 13. Trained coders identified the presence of violence in each five-minute film segment for one-half of the top 30 films since 1950 and the presence of guns in violent segments since 1985, the first full year the PG-13 rating was used. PG-13–rated films are among the top-selling films and are especially attractive to youth. The research found an overall annual increase in gun violence from 1985 to 2012, but the trend differed by movie rating. Among films rated G, for general audiences and PG movies which may contain some material not suitable for children, gun violence decreased slightly. The rate of gun violence did not change for R-rated movies, which require children under 17 to be accompanied by a parent. Among films rated PG-13, gun violence increased. In fact, since 2009, PG-13 movies have contained as much or more violence than R-rated movies. Many studies have contended that the mere presence of guns can increase aggression, an effect dubbed the “weapons effect.” “Even if youth do not use guns, these findings suggest that they are exposed to increasing gun violence in top-selling films,” the researchers write. “By including guns in violent scenes, film producers may be strengthening the weapons effect and providing youth with scripts for using guns.” Furthermore, the researchers say that because of the widespread availability of movies via the Internet and cable, the weapons effect could be amplified. Fed nominee will be facing tough questions in U.S. Senate By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Janet Yellen is likely to face sharp questioning at her confirmation hearing this week to become chairwoman of the U.S. central bank, but most analysts think eventually she will win approval as one of the most powerful unelected leaders in the world. There does not appear to be any organized opposition to U.S. President Barack Obama's nomination of the 67-year-old Ms. Yellen to become the first woman to head the Federal Reserve when the current chairman, Ben Bernanke, leaves office at the end of January. But Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee are expected to closely question Ms. Yellen, now the Fed's vice chairman, about policies the central bank has adopted to try to boost the American economy, the world's largest. The country is still faced with high unemployment as it slowly recovers from the 2009 recession, the steepest downturn for the U.S. since the Great Depression of the 1930s. At least one Republican senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said he will try to block Ms. Yellen's confirmation until Obama agrees to let more State Department officials testify about the details of the 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four American diplomats, including an ambassador. Policy makers at the Federal Reserve, led by its chairman, make decisions that shape the U.S. economy. They also often influence key leaders overseas, though, as they decide how to advance the massive economies in Europe and Asia and the more regional economic fortunes in South America, Africa and elsewhere.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 226 | |
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| Catch 22 keeps bus passengers in the rain
along major highway |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
An open air bus stop on the Bernardo Soto highway just west of Juan Santamaría airport is so bad it has been written up in Spanish-language newspapers. There was no protection for bus passengers, and there is a big pool of water at the site. The government did not seem to be responsive, so residents of the Villa Nueva area decided to take matters into their own hands. Architectural designs, building materials and construction costs were donated, and residents began erecting a modern bus shelter. That is until the police came. Apparently doing this type of construction is against the law. Police said the residents needed a permit. "Then we gathered over 200 signatures asking for the authorities to grant us a permit, but no one knew how to get one or where," said John Koger, one of the residents. "We took it to the courts, and they said 'No permit. You need to tear it down.' In short, there is no way to get a permit, so people just put up their own, and the government looks the other way, except with us." Koger noted that the Ministerio de Obras Públicas, the |
 John Koger photo
Youngsters wait at the
half-completed bus shelterConsejo Nacional de Vialidad and the Municipalidad de Alajuela all claim they have no power to issue a bus shelter permit. So the bus users are seeking a decree from President Laura Chinchilla so they can put up the bus shelter. Koger notes that the project will cost the country nothing. So far, no dice. They will gather Saturday at 10 a.m. to promote their effort. Otherwise, the shelter will have to be demolished. |
| Lawmakers act to advance bill to create
defender of prisoners |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A legislative committee approved and reported out to the full body a measure to create a special defender for prisoners. The decision came in the Comisión Permanente de Asuntos Sociales. If approved, the position would be part of the Denfensoría de los Habitantes. But the emphasis will be on the rights and interests of those who are in prisons. Already there is a flood of court cases filed on behalf of prisoners. The topics range from legal issues to food and housing. The prisons are in deplorable shape and overcrowed by 30 percent. |
The bill is No, 18.576. The job
description allows the prisoners' defender to work independently. Lawmakers on the committee were quick to note the condition of prisons and called them schools for crime. The Defensoría already handles complaints from prisoners, but lawmakers said the matters require someone specialized in that area. The defender of prisoners also would be charged with reporting to the legislature changes that could improve the lot of the convicts. The office also will have responsibility for prisoners' families who were said to suffer discrimination. |
| Water leak creating giant hole in city
street, officials report |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The central government is not the only entity with collapsed roadways. The Municipalidad de San José said Wednesday evening that a drainage line had ruptured on Avenida Una at calles 22 and 24. |
This is an area north of the Torre
Mercedes on Paseo Colón. A report said that a giant hole was developing. Municipal officials promised to tackle the job first thing this morning, they said. In addition to fixing the leak, city workers have to apply fill and new asphalt. |
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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, Nov. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 226 | |||||
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| Social connections called critical for development of
sophisticated skills |
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By
the University of British Columbia news service
The secret to why some cultures thrive and others disappear may lie in social networks and the ability to imitate, rather than individual smarts, according to a new University of British Columbia study. The study, published by the Proceedings of the Royal Academy: Biological Sciences, shows that when people can observe and learn from a wider range of teachers, groups can better maintain technical skills and even increase the group’s average skill over successive generations. The findings show that a larger population size and social connectedness are crucial for the development of more sophisticated technologies and cultural knowledge, says lead author Michael Muthukrishna, a doctoral student in university's Department of Psychology. “This is the first study to demonstrate in a laboratory setting what archeologists and evolutionary theorists have long suggested: that there is an |
important
link between a society’s sociality and the sophistication of its
technology,” says Muthukrishna, who co-authored the research with
Joseph Henrich, a university professor. For the study, participants were asked to learn new skills, digital photo editing and knot-tying, and then pass on what they learned to the next generation of participants. The groups with greater access to experts accumulated significantly more skill than those with less access to teachers. Within 10 generations, each member of the group with multiple mentors had stronger skills than the group limited to a single mentor. Groups with greater access to experts also retained their skills much longer than groups who began with less access to mentors, sustaining higher levels of cultural knowledge over multiple generations. According to the researchers, the study has important implications for several areas, from skills development and education to protecting endangered languages and cultural practices. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 226 | |||||
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| Diabetes emerges as menace to many more, report says By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The world is losing the battle against diabetes as the number of people estimated to be living with the disease soars to a record high of 382 million this year, medical experts said Thursday. The vast majority have type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to obesity and lack of exercise, and the epidemic is spreading as more people in the developing world adopt Western, urban lifestyles. The latest estimate from the International Diabetes Federation is equivalent to a global prevalence rate of 8.4 percent of the adult population and compares to 371 million cases in 2012. By 2035, the organization predicts the number of cases will have soared by 55 percent to 592 million. “The battle to protect people from diabetes and its disabling, life-threatening complications is being lost,” the federation said in the sixth edition of its Diabetes Atlas, noting that deaths from the disease were now running at 5.1 million a year or one every six seconds. People with diabetes have inadequate blood sugar control, which can lead to a range of dangerous complications, including damage to the eyes, kidneys and heart. If left untreated, it can result in premature death. “Year after year, the figures seem to be getting worse,” said David Whiting, an epidemiologist and public health specialist at the federation. “All around the world we are seeing increasing numbers of people developing diabetes.” He said that a strategy involving all parts of society was needed to improve diets and promote healthier lifestyles. The federation calculates diabetes already accounts for annual healthcare spending of $548 billion and this is likely to rise to $627 billion by 2035. Worryingly, an estimated 175 million of diabetes cases are as yet undiagnosed, so a huge number of people are progressing towards complications unawares. Most of them live in low- and middle-income countries with far less access to medical care than in the United States and Europe. The country with the most diabetics overall is China, where the case load is expected to rise to 142.7 million in 2035 from 98.4 million at present. But the highest prevalence rates are to be found in the Western Pacific, where more than a third of adults in Tokelau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands already are living with the disease. Pharmaceutical companies have developed a range of medicines over the years to counter diabetes, but many patients still adequately struggle to control their condition, leading to a continuing hunt for improved treatments. Times says JPMorgan Chase hired daughter of top Chinese By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The New York Times is reporting JPMorgan Chase secretly employed the daughter of Wen Jiabao, who until recently was China's prime minister and the main overseer of the world's second largest economy. The Thursday report comes as the U.S. government investigates whether the bank hired the children of powerful Chinese officials to help win lucrative business deals with the country's state-owned companies. The Times reported JPMorgan paid $1.8 million from 2006 to 2008 to a relatively obscure business that was run by the then-prime minister's daughter, Wen Ruchun, who went by the alias Lily Chang. JPMorgan has not been accused of wrongdoing, but The Times said the bank's Hong Kong executives were aware of her true identity and appear to have benefited from her many connections. Officials with JPMorgan declined to comment on the report. The Chinese and U.S. governments have also not reacted to the report, which was based on a review of confidential documents, Chinese public records and interviews with knowledgeable officials. China is trying to promote genetically modified foods By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
China's state media are working overtime to persuade the public that genetically modified food is safe, apparently softening up the population for a policy switch to allow the sale of such food to ensure its 1.35 billion people have enough to eat. In the past 30 years, China's urban population has jumped to about 700 million from under 200 million, driving up demand for meat and staples such as rice that scientists say only genetically modified food can satisfy. Imported modified soybeans are already used as feed for animals but winning acceptance for the more widespread use of genetically modified food may be a hard sell in a country frequently in the grip of food scares, just this year over baby milk powder and chemicals in chickens, for instance. Genetically modified food faces opposition even at the top levels of Chinese bureaucracy, with a senior national security official likening it to opium. But state media is taking up the fight: Monday, Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily rejected rumors that eating genetically modified food could alter human DNA, and news agency Xinhua ran an investigation last week debunking tales that modified corn consumption had reduced sperm counts. Zhang Qifa, known as China's “father of GMO rice,” recently criticized the Ministry of Agriculture for refusing to approve strains that have cost billions of yuan in research over the past decade. Beijing granted safety certificates for its first genetically modified rice in 2009 but has so far refused to authorize commercial production. The certificate for Zhang's pest-resistant “Bt” rice will expire next year, meaning researchers have to reapply, a process that could take years. “Right now, China's GMO rice production has ground to a halt ... I personally think we have missed opportunities to develop,” Zhang said, adding that genetically modified food commercialization wasn't a matter for the public and should begin without delay. Huang Dafang, a researcher with the Biotechnology Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, was unimpressed with the media campaign. “We have not seen any signs of progress, only the continuation of the debate,” he said. Scientists have been at pains to show that genetically modified food is already part of the food chain: China is the world's top importer of genetically modified soybeans, used as feed, and also imports genetically modified corn from the United States and elsewhere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast China's rice imports would reach a record high of 3.4 million tons in 2013/14 and researchers say China is facing a growing food gap that can only be properly addressed through the use of genetically modified food. But while policy makers have expressed optimism about modified crops and scientists have long urged the government to allow new strains of modified rice, Beijing will not move until it is sure the risks are minimal and that, crucially, the public is behind it. The debate hasn't been entirely one-way, with influential researchers still urging caution, especially when it comes to staples like rice and wheat. “Many have said there are no risks to GMO food but the risks may not even be discovered in three or five years but actually over three to five generations,” said Jiang Changyun, research director at the Industrial Development Research Institute, who wants the government to improve labeling so that people can decide themselves whether to eat genetically modified food or not. The debate has moved into the realms of national security, with Peng Guangqian, deputy secretary-general of the National Security Policy Committee, likening genetically modified food in August to a new kind of opium being forced upon China by Western companies. Writing in Global Times, a tabloid backed by the People's Daily, Peng said companies such as Monsanto and Dupont were dumping genetically modified food products on China. Wang Xiaoyu, an official at the Heilongjiang Soybean Association, said genetically modified soy oil consumed in southern parts of the country was linked to high cancer rates. However, another worry, he conceded, was that imports of cheap modified soy had led to a fall in local production, since many planters were unable to compete. Huang of the Biotechnology Research Institute complained that the scientific debate had been hijacked. “GMO is a scientific matter and should not be debated at the social level. If China's Three Gorges dam and nuclear power were decided by public debate, neither would have been established,” he said.  Oregon State University/ Vaughn Walton
Invasive stink bug on an olive
branch in Oregon's Willamette Valley.Asian stink bug
is real stinker
to farmers and even scientists By
the Oregon State University news staff
A smelly invasive bug continues to spread across the United States, alarming both farmers and scientists. The name of this insect is a mouthful: the brown marmorated stink bug. Native to East Asia, the insect is causing crop losses from coast to coast in America. Researchers are working on control measures, but some of those come with their own worries. One way scientists are following the spread of the brown marmorated stink bug is by setting traps. There are four traps at the edge of a blueberry field at Oregon State University's North Willamette research farm. University entomologist Vaughn Walton points to a brown bug with a body shaped like a medieval shield and distinctive white stripes on its antennae. It's about the size of the fingernail on the ring finger. It's called a stink bug for good reason. Many people say it's like a cilantro flavor," said Walton. "Some of the people in my lab used to like cilantro. Now they hate cilantro." Here's why this bug invasion raises alarms. A stink bug can transmit that flavor into berries and fruit when it feeds. It can hide in wine grape clusters and then taint the juice when the grapes are crushed. Early season attacks cause berries and nuts to shrivel. Stink bug bites leave blemishes on vegetables. U.S. Department of Agriculture research entomologist Tracy Leskey, who works on fruit trees in West Virginia, says the greatest crop damage has been reported in the mid-Atlantic region. "Left untreated it would be a substantial loss," Leskey said. "In places where we are not controlling the insect for experimental purposes, we easily see 100 percent injury in those fruit." North America has more than 200 native stink bug species, but farmers don't worry about most of them. They are focused on the more voracious variety that comes from East Asia. Scientists first detected it in the United States in Pennsylvania, in the late 1990's. Walton says the invasive species has multiplied and spread in all directions from there. "They are really good hitchhikers. They move on cars, on cargo, on trains and stuff like that." The Asian stink bug has now been detected in 40 U.S. states and several Canadian provinces. Back in Oregon's Willamette Valley, the bug is showing up in commercial crops for the first time this year. "Hopefully we'll learn how to control this pest," said farmer Michelle Armstrong, who grows sweet corn and vegetables. "We definitely see it as a major threat." The U.S. Agriculture Department is funding a number of university studies looking into control measures, but Ms. Armstrong says nothing has come on the market yet that specifically targets the brown marmorated stink bug. "That's part of the worries for the growers," she said. "As a grower myself, what will I do when this pest gets in my field? I don't have a lot of options. We don't want to spray more than we have to." Powerful insecticides do kill the bug, but also take out beneficial insects farmers want to keep around. So other options are getting a look. One is mass trapping using pheromone lures. The Oregon State science team says the long-term solution probably involves bringing in the stink bug's natural predators which exist in East Asia. "There's a wide range of parasitoids and predators from there," Walton said. "We've imported them. They're in quarantine. You can't release them because they can potentially affect other good bugs that we don't want to be affected." The Agriculture Department says it will take several more years of research before scientists are more certain there won't be unintended consequences from introducing another non-native species onto U.S. farms. New anti-doping code contains 2,000 revisions, drafters say By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The adoption of a revised World Anti-Doping Code received “overwhelming support” after intense discussions on Wednesday said World Anti-Doping Agency's president with the agency confident it will be ratified as planned on Friday. “There was overwhelming support for the direction in which the code is heading,” said the president, John Fahey, after the first full day of the World Conference on Doping in Sport. Tougher sanctions, more vigorous testing and an enhanced drive to catch drug cheats form the basis of some 2,000 changes to the code, set to be adopted at the end of the conference by some 1,000 delegates from government, civil bodies, sports associations and the International Olympic Committee. It will be implemented from the start of 2015. The draft code includes doubling the standard ban for serious doping offenses and excluding offenders from the Olympic Games, although there was some objection to these plans from the speakers during Wednesday's deliberations. “The overwhelming majority of athletes who made submissions left the impression they want a four-year, or more, ban for offenders. I can say there were only a few submissions that did not support tougher penalties and maybe some flexibility for those who unwittingly dope,” said the the agency president. “But I don't agree with a two-year ban,” added Fahey, whose term ends next month. The agency also said it was working with Jamaica on extensive improvements to their anti-doping policy in the wake of a reported breakdown in their testing procedures in recent years. “We went to Jamaica at the invitation of the government to audit the process after media reports and we put an extensive report together for them,” said the agency director general, David Howman. Former world 100-meters record holder Asafa Powell, three-times Olympic gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown and Olympic relay gold medalist Sherone Simpson are among six Jamaican athletes who have tested positive for banned substances this year. Obamacare Web page counts 100,000 who have signed up By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says more than 100,000 Americans have chosen new health care plans through the so-called Obamacare program that opened for business Oct. 1. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that as of early this month, 106,185 people had either purchased new health care plans or chosen new plans without yet paying for them. This is barely one-fifth of the nearly 500,000 people administration officials had projected would sign up in the first month of President Barack Obama's signature health care program. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney acknowledged Wednesday that the numbers fell well below expectations. Administration officials are hoping that several million people will sign up for plans before the March 31 registration deadline. Ms. Sebelius said the government's Healthcare.gov site and state-run sites supporting the government plans have seen about 27 million unique visitors. She added that the administration reasonably expects those numbers to grow over the next three months. Problems with the health care rollout have plagued President Barack Obama in recent weeks. Ms. Sebelius promised that things will get better soon. He has said the government Web site is too slow and is failing to serve many people seeking to buy insurance online. He has said he is not happy about the situation, calling the technical glitches a debacle. World ban on killer robots sought from U.N. agency By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
An international coalition is calling for a ban on fully autonomous weapons known as killer robots. The 45-member Campaign to Stop Killer Robots says it wants the United Nations to draft an international treaty to outlaw the use of these robotic weapons. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is taking its case to governments attending the annual meeting of the Convention on Conventional Weapons here in Geneva this week. The group of non-governmental organizations says it wants the U.N. gathering to agree to add fully autonomous weapons to the Convention's work program in 2014. The fully autonomous weapons or killer robots have not yet been developed. Technology, however, is moving toward increasing autonomy. Such weapons would select and pull the trigger on targets without human intervention. Noel Sharkey chairs the International Committee for Robot Arms Control and is a founding member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. He says autonomous weapons should be banned outright. "The big problem for me is that there are no robot systems that can discriminate between civilian targets and military targets unless they are very, very clearly marked in some way . . . so, the idea of having robots going out into the field and selecting their own targets is to me, is just horrifying. It cannot work, " said Sharkey. Fully autonomous weapons do not yet exist. The activists, however, say several robotic systems with various degrees of autonomy and lethality are in use by Britain, Israel, the United States and South Korea. They say other nations, such as China and Russia, are believed to be moving toward these systems. The director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch and a member of the campaign, Steve Goose, warns that killer robots will become a reality if governments do not act now to ban them. He says the technology and doctrine are headed toward greater autonomy on the battlefield. While fewer and fewer soldiers are on the battlefield, he says many civilians remain. Goose says a line must be drawn on a weapons system that would be able to select and attack targets automatically. He says this concept crosses a fundamental moral and ethical line. "Armed robotic weapons systems should not make life and death decisions on the battlefield. There is simply something inherently wrong with that," said Goose. "So, they need to be banned on ethical grounds. We think they also need to be banned on legal grounds. If and when a killer robot commits a war crime, violates international humanitarian law…who would be held accountable, who would be responsible for that violation?" Goose says in recent months, fully autonomous weapons have gone from an obscure issue to one that is commanding worldwide attention. He says that since May, 34 countries, including several that are developing these systems, have openly expressed concern about the dangers the weapons pose. He notes that in 1995, the Convention on Conventional Weapons created a protocol to the treaty, which pre-emptively banned blinding lasers. Goose says he believes killer robots could become the second such weapon to be prohibited before it is ever used on the field. |
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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 Consultantes Río Colorado S.A. 2013 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa
Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 226 | |||||||||
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Colombia's Santos
enjoys a bump in his popularity By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos' popularity rose for a second straight month in November, and a poll published on Tuesday showed he would be re-elected next year in a second-round vote. Santos' popularity increased to 36.9 percent from 29 percent in an October poll. A Gallup survey showed he would win 27 percent of the vote if a first-round presidential election scheduled for May took place now. The poll said Santos would take 39.4 percent in a second ballot and win the presidency. A candidate needs more than 50 percent to win the presidency in the first round, while the second round goes to the candidate with the most votes. Santos would beat opposition candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, who represents former President Alvaro Uribe's new political party. Zuluaga would receive 14.9 percent support in the May round of voting and 29.5 percent in June, according to the poll, which was conducted between Nov. 1 and 6. As many as 30.6 percent of Colombians would cast blank votes in the first round, an indication that they are not satisfied with Santos and do not yet know much about the alternative candidates, Jorge Londono, head of Gallup pollster, said. Santos has until Nov. 25 to reveal whether he intends to seek a second straight term in office. His approval ratings, which have slumped in the past few months, were given a boost last week when the government and Marxist rebels reached agreement on the second, and possibly toughest, item on a five-point peace agenda. Santos took office in 2010 with an approval rating of 74 percent and maintained decent ratings through the beginning of peace talks with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC. But the initial euphoria soon wore off as Colombians judged the yearlong negotiations would yield little. The new poll showed an improvement in Santos' popularity for a second month. In September his support slumped to a record low after a two-week farmers' strike was broadcast on television with images of riot police wearing armor confronting workers dressed in ponchos. Zuluaga's popularity reached 25.6 percent in the November poll, up from 17 percent in October. Gallup spoke to 1,200 people in more than 50 cities and towns across Colombia. The survey had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. |
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| From Page 7: Trade meeting with Chinese already attracting 800 By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
More than 800 persons have signed up for the business meeting with Chinese Nov. 26 and 27, said the Ministerio de Comercio Exterior. Those who attend will have a chance to arrange face-to-face meetings with potential Chinese purchasers. Some 100 Chinese are expected to attend. The event is sponsored by various Chinese organizations and organized here by the commerce ministry, the Promotora del Comercio Exterior and the Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas para el Desarrollo with support from the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Business people from an estimated 20 countries will attend, said the ministry. Costa Rica has a trade treaty with China, and Chinese are interested in constructing a free trade zone here to ship goods elsewhere in the hemisphere. |
