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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 252
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Readers reported chaos Friday at the immigration offices where parents obtain permission to take a minor child out of the country. The Internet link between the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores and the Dirección General de Migración was out of service. This is the system used to forward permissions signed by absent spouses, usually fathers, from other countries. Friday was the last day that a parent here could obtain the permission because the immigration officers were closing for the holidays. The law is designed to reduce parental abductions, and immigration clerks need to see permissions from both parents in order to stamp the passport of a minor Costa Rican. One reader reported that tempers flared between a divorced couple because the father declined to sign a permission slip for the couple's daughter. The wife punched out the father and was led away in handcuffs, the reader said. Soccer dispute blamed in Guadalupe killing By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police officers and even the agency's dogs were on alert Saturday when the Club Sport Herediano and Deportivo Saprissa met to decide the nation's soccer championship for the winter season. Just a handful, some seven persons, were detained for fighting or for possession of marijuana. Police stood shoulder to shoulder in the aisles of the Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero. There also were heavy patrols in Heredia Centro and even in adjacent Tibás. Saprissa won. Proof that tempers flare over soccer came in in Guadalupe Centro where a 30-year-old Saprissa fan died of a stab wound after an argument about sports. The man identified by the last name of Ríos left a bar to continue his argument and was stabbed in the leg, said the Fuerza Pública. The victim ran to a nearby restaurant where he died in the men's room. One suspect is a man who sells meat snacks near the bar. He is accused of using the knife of his trade to inflict the wound. A second suspect also was detained. Our reader's opinion
Economy faces collapse without changeDear A.M. Costa Rica: The article on the weakening of the U.S. dollar against the colon was interesting. On a daily basis I track international money markets on Bloomberg.com. The U.S. dollar has strengthened against all the major currencies in recent times. The colon is bucking the trend. We should ask why? Is the Costa Rican economy booming? Has its government reduced its U.S. dollar deficits? Are exports generating large dollar surpluses? Is there a big inflow of foreign investment capital? Are speculators piling into the colon, expecting it to surge against the dollar? You do not have to be an economist to recognize that none of these things is true. The newspapers here contradict such notions on a daily basis. So how come the colon is less volatile against the dollar than any major currency, and how come it is actually strengthening, despite the weakness of the economy? Your article contains the answer. The currency is managed by the government and is artificially shored up. That is why Costa Rica is so expensive compared to other expat destinations. The government continues to borrow in dollars as do many Costa Rican citizens. If the colon were allowed to float freely against the dollar, it would crash and burn. This would cause a massive personal and government debt crisis and economic collapse. No wonder the government does not want the currency to weaken on its watch. Unfortunately, unless the economy unexpectedly and massively improves and individuals and the government change direction, reducing instead of increasing their indebtedness, the downward pressure on the currency will become ever stronger. I personally witnessed a similar situation in Asia in 1997. It was far from pretty. In one week the currencies of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and their smaller neighbors collapsed. There was massive unemployment. High end cars were dumped on the streets, because the owners could not afford the payments. Consumer spending and property prices collapsed. Asia had high wage flexibility and came out of the crisis in just a few years. Costa Rica has little such flexibility and could be heading for disaster. Chris Clarke
Grecia
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 252 | |
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| Lawmakers challenge labor code unveto by Solís in
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some 20 lawmakers from various political parties have challenged the president by seeking judicial review of his action with the labor reform bill. President Luis Guillermo Solís once again reversed an action of a former president and lifted a veto imposed in 2012 by former president Laura Chinchilla. That action does not sit too well with some lawmakers who said they believe the action seriously affects the division of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government. That is why the lawmakers have filed appeals with the Sala IV constitutional court. Juan Marín Quirós of the Partido Liberación Nacional, said the Constitution has been mistreated. He said he would await a judicial verdict to see if his opinion is correct. Many of the lawmakers said they agree with a number of facets in the new legislation. But they think that the measure should have been submitted again to the Asamblea Legislativa. Solís Friday also signed a directive that negates one part of the labor reform. His directive forbids strikes by essential public service workers, such as those at hospitals and police. Earlier in the year, Solís reversed a veto by former president Óscar Arias Sánchez to allow vendors to continue to occupy Calle 13 bis just west of the Plaza de la Democracia. This action was opposed and appealed by the Municipalidad de San José. |
 Partido Liberación Nacional photo
Lawmakers announce their
decision to seek Sala IV review of the president's action.The twin actions have generated uncertainty in the business community where some see the president as reckless or arrogant. However, he managed to win a court appeal that challenged his appointment of a Methodist bishop as his minster of the Presidencia. In a controversial decision, the Sala IV said the rule against clergy only applied to those of the Catholic faith. However, the Constitution makes no such distinction. The labor reform bill favored by Solís forbids the government or employers from filling the slots of strikers with temporary workers. It also allows a small percentage of employees to call a strike for an entire enterprise, even it they are not unionized. The measure is generally seen as highly favorable to labor. |
| Cuban cigars may soon lose their image of U.S. contraband |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Local cigar vendors are frequent stopping points for U.S. tourists, mostly male, who are seeking the forbidden fruit of Cuban cigars. The metro area has cigar rooms where smokers can pay up to $60 a cigar. There also are tobacco shops that display certification that their Cuban cigars are really that and not cheap rip offs made in Puriscal. The problem is bringing the cigars back to the United States, which is a forbidden practice. Homeland Security promises large fines for anyone caught with Cuban cigars or alcohol, for that matter. Under the proposal for relaxing trade barriers between Cuba and the United States, it appears that U.S. visitors to the island will be able to bring back home $100 worth of cigars or alcohol. The rules have not changed yet, but new ones are expected to be announced soon. By extension, all U.S. overseas travelers, including tourists to Costa Rica, will be able to bring home Cuban products. Most cigar smokers do that already, and an agency that cannot stop the importation of tons of cocaine or thousands of illegal aliens is unlikely to spot a couple of Montecristos stuffed inside some underwear. Larger shipments of Cuban cigars depend on U.S. congressional action, sources said. That may be a long time in coming, considering the current U.S. political situation. Although Puriscal west of the Central Valley is the source of Cuban |
 Wikimedia Commons/Dan Smith
Four well-known Cuban cigars: H.
Upmann, Montecristo, Macanudo, Romeo y Julieta.knockoffs, tobacco growers there also boast they have a product as good as the Communist island. Vegas Santiago S.A., is the the largest cigar manufacturer in Costa Rica, along with the 200 members of the Association of Tabacaleros de Puriscal in Costa Rica, the firm announces on its Web site. Yet, Costa Rican cigars have not been promoted vigorously. Florida also has some cigar production operated by former Cuban residents. In addition, some Nicaraguans claim that Cuban manufacturers use the wrapper or outer leaf from their country. So there also is the possibility that Cuban cigars will lose their luster when they are fully legal in the United States. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 252 | |||||
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| Study predicts increase in chronic flooding of coastal
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By the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration news staff
By 2050, a majority of U.S. coastal areas are likely to be threatened by 30 or more days of flooding each year due to dramatically accelerating impacts from sea level rise, according to a new study, published in the American Geophysical Union’s online peer-reviewed journal Earth’s Future. The study is by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The findings appear in the paper "From the Extreme to the Mean: Acceleration and Tipping Points for Coastal Inundation due to Sea Level Rise," and follows the earlier study, "Sea Level Rise and Nuisance Flood Frequency Changes around the United States," by the report’s co-author, William Sweet, oceanographer at the agency's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. The new analysis was presented at a news conference in San Francisco. Scientists Sweet and Joseph Park established a frequency-based benchmark for what they call tipping points, when so-called nuisance flooding, defined by the National Weather Service as between one to two feet above local high tide, occurs more than 30 or more times a year. Based on that standard, the team found that these tipping points will be met or exceeded by 2050 at most of the U.S. coastal areas studied, regardless of sea level rise likely to occur this century. In their study, Sweet and Park used a 1.5- to 4-foot set of recent projections for global sea level rise by year 2100 similar to the rise projections of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, but also accounting for local factors such as the settlement of land, known as subsidence. These regional tipping points will be surpassed in the coming decades in areas with more frequent storms, the report said. These tipping points will be exceeded in areas where local sea levels rise more than the global projection of one and a half to four feet. This also includes coastal areas like Louisiana where subsidence, which is not a result of climate change, is causing land to sink below sea level. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tide gauges show the annual rate of daily floods reaching these levels has drastically increased – often accelerating – and are now five to 10 times more likely today than they were 50 years ago. “Coastal communities are beginning to experience sunny-day nuisance or urban flooding, much more so than in decades past,” said Sweet. “This is due to sea level rise. Unfortunately, once impacts are noticed, they will become commonplace rather quickly. We find that in 30 to 40 years, even modest projections of global sea level rise -- 1½ feet by the year 2100 -- will increase instances of daily high tide flooding to a point requiring an active, and potentially costly response, and by the end of this century, our projections show that there will be near-daily nuisance |
 New Jersey Army National Guard photo
Aerial views during an Army
search and rescue mission show damage from Hurricane Sandy to the New
Jersey coast, Oct. 30, 2012. The soldiers are assigned to the 1-150
Assault Helicopter Battalion, New Jersey Army National Guard.flooding in most of the locations that we reviewed.“ “Communities across the country become increasingly vulnerable to water inundation and flooding, effective risk management is going to become more heavily reliant on environmental data and analysis," said Holly Bamford, the agency's acting assistant secretary for conservation and management. "Businesses, coastal managers, federal, state, and local governments, and non-governmental organizations can use research such as this as another tool as they develop plans to reduce vulnerabilities, adapt to change, and ensure they're resilient against future events." “The importance of this research is that it draws attention to the largely neglected part of the frequency of these events. This frequency distribution includes a hazard level referred to as nuisance: occasionally costly to clean up, but never catastrophic or perhaps newsworthy,” said Earth’s Future editor Michael Ellis in accepting the paper for the online journal. The scientists base the projections on tidal stations where there is a 50-year or greater continuous record. The study does not include the Miami area, as the agency's tide stations in the area were destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and a continuous 50-year data set for the area does not exist. Based on that criteria, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration team is projecting that Boston; New York City; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, Virginia; and Wilmington, North Carolina; all along the Mid-Atlantic coast, will soon make, or are already being forced to make, decisions on how to mitigate these nuisance floods earlier than planned. In the Gulf, the agency forecasts earlier than anticipated floods for Galveston Bay and Port Isabel, Texas. Along the Pacific coast the earlier impacts will be most visible in the San Diego/La Jolla and San Francisco Bay areas. Mitigation decisions could range from retreating further inland to coastal fortification or to a combination of green infrastructure using both natural resources such as dunes and wetland, along with man-made infrastructure such as sea walls and redesigned storm water systems. |
Here's reasonable medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 252 | |||||||
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| NYC police killings lack a clear motive, cops say By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A gunman ambushed and murdered two New York City police officers Saturday as they sat in a marked police car before shooting and killing himself on a subway platform in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the city's police commissioner said. The motive for the attack on Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos was not immediately clear. Quoting a law enforcement source, NBC's New York affiliate reported that the gunman may have been seeking retribution against police after posting a threatening message on a social media account. Commissioner William Bratton identified the suspect as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, and said he was believed to have shot and seriously wounded a former girlfriend earlier in the day in Baltimore, Maryland. Although the killer was black and from a Muslim family, police officials said that these were not factors in the attack. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Bratton urged the public to tell police if they saw social media postings from people threatening police officers. De Blasio called the killing of the two officers "a particularly despicable act." U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder condemned the shootings and called them an "unspeakable act of barbarism." In Washington, a spokesman for the administration said President Barack Obama "has been briefed on the Brooklyn police shooting. White House officials continue to monitor the situation." The police deaths in Brooklyn — the first deaths of police officers by gunfire in the city in three years — followed weeks of protests in New York and other parts of the United States after separate cases in which grand juries declined to charge two white police officers involved in the deaths of two unarmed black men. In a protest that took place Saturday, demonstrators against police violence shut down part of the Mall of America in Minnesota, one of the nation's largest shopping centers, a community group said. Mike Isaac, who lives in the area where Saturday's shootings took place in Brooklyn, told CNN that it was a largely African-American neighborhood and had been tense since the protests touched off by the case of Eric Garner, who died after a chokehold was placed on him by a New York City police officer. "The mood is pretty freaked out," he said. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a New York civil rights leader who has supported the families of Garner and Michael Brown, a Missouri teen fatally shot by a police officer, said he was outraged by the officers' killings. "Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, in connection with any violence or killing of police, is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases," he said in a statement. Cuba, North Korea top U.S. political discussions By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers have left Washington for the remainder of the year, but the city remains focused on historic and unprecedented developments on the world stage. The coming week is expected to bring continued scrutiny of a diplomatic opening between the United States and Cuba, as well as North Korea’s alleged role in hacking media giant Sony. While some Cuban exiles protest in Miami, and Cubans on the island hope for an economic boost, President Raúl Castro says renewed ties between Washington and Havana do not signal an end to communism in Cuba. “In the same way that we have never demanded the United States change its political system, we will demand respect for ours,” said he. Such comments confirm the worst fears of President Obama’s critics, like Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican. “Engagement by itself does not guarantee or even lead to political freedoms. The Cuban government controls every aspect of their economy. They intend to follow the model of Vietnam and China where they can grow their economy, but they do not grow political freedoms. In fact, they repress them,” said Rubio, speaking on ABC’s This Week program. Late last week, Obama departed for a holiday vacation in Hawaii. Before leaving, he defended the decision to rebuild relations with Cuba. “I do not anticipate overnight changes, but what I know deep in my bones is that if you have done the same thing for 50 years and nothing has changed, you should try something different if you want a different outcome,” said Obama. Meanwhile, Sony is defending its decision not to release a movie that ridicules North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Appearing on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS program, Sony Pictures chief Michael Lynton remained steadfast. “We have not caved. We have not given in. We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie,” said Lynton. Tourist operators, farmers are all for ties with Cuba By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama's decision to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba has drawn support from people who take tourists there and farmers who want to sell more food to the island nation. The decades-old embargo on U.S. residents doing business in Cuba had already been eased to allow educational tour groups. Jim Moses, who leads one such group, Road Scholar, said he thought demand for travel to Cuba "is going to skyrocket. And I say that because of the small number of programs we have been able to offer for the past eight years — we've been barely able to keep up with demand." Farm groups say embargo exemptions have allowed them to export food and medicine for several years, but only $350 million out of Cuba's $2 billion worth of food imports come from the United States. U.S. farmers say cutting financial regulations or ending the embargo altogether could boost their market share. The American Farm Bureau Federation's David Salmonsen said the business case is strong. "We have all the proximity advantage," he said. "Our major agricultural exports go through the port of New Orleans — that is less than a day’s sail away from Cuba. So we are the closest major food producer that Cuba has." Simon Whistler, an analyst in Washington for Control Risks, a consulting firm that specializes in minimizing political, security and integrity risks, said the new, less restrictive rules don't amount to as much of a change as some headlines would suggest. "The important thing to remember, this: From a business point of view — in the short term at least — it's more symbolic than a real game-changer." The decision to ease restrictions on trade with Cuba has sparked anger and demonstrations in some Cuban-American neighborhoods in the United States. Cubans whose families fled the Communist-led island nation say that it still has human rights problems, and that the trade embargo should stay in place until there is more personal freedom there. It will be up to Congress to maintain or end the embargo. Boxer Muhammad Ali in hospital with pneumonia By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has been hospitalized with a mild case of pneumonia. The three-time world heavyweight champion, who is battling Parkinson's disease, is in stable condition at an undisclosed hospital. Ali's spokesman said the illness was caught early and Ali is expected to make a full recovery. No other details are being released due to the Ali family's request for privacy. Ali's public appearances have diminished in recent years as he continues to battle Parkinson's disease, which was first diagnosed in the mid-1980s. Ali had a storied career as a professional heavyweight boxer from 1960 to 1981. He dazzled the boxing world with slick moves in the ring and enamored the public with his wit and engaging personality. He beat George Foreman in one of the greatest fights of all time dubbed The Rumble in The Jungle, held in 1974 in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ali also had a thrilling rivalry with heavyweight Joe Frazier that saw the two men slug it out in the ring and verbally spar out of it. In 1964, he converted to Islam, changing his name to Muhammad Ali from Cassius Clay. On religious grounds, Ali refused to join the armed forces in 1967 during the Vietnam War and was convicted of draft dodging. That conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Leg balancing test may suggest risk of strokes By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Trouble balancing on one leg for 20 seconds may indicate blood vessel damage in the brain and predict risk of stroke, according to a new study. The findings hold true, even if there are no symptoms of brain disease. Japanese researchers at the Center for Genomic Medicine at Kyoto University say individuals who showed poor balance while standing on one foot should receive increased medical attention. They measured leg-standing time in a group of almost 1,400 otherwise healthy men and women, whose average age was 67. In the study, participants stood with one leg raised and their eyes open. Researchers found that those who had trouble standing on one leg for longer than 20 seconds were at significantly increased risk for cerebral small vessel disease. Investigators confirmed the presence of the condition with high-tech brain imaging. In general, participants with increased blood vessel damage were older and had high blood pressure. Researchers, who published their findings in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, also found those who had trouble balancing had reduced cognitive function. Superintelligent robots seen as dominant galactic life form By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
According to a group of prominent U.S. scientists, the dominant form of life in the universe is likely not biological creatures but superintelligent robots. As improved astronomical instruments keep discovering potentially habitable planets in the galaxy, these scientists say it is becoming more obvious that someday Humans may encounter other intelligent life forms. And, they predict, it will be artificially intelligent. They say the way artificial intelligence is developing on Earth strongly suggests that in the not-so-distant future, society here may reach the point where biological life integrates with artificial life — the so-called singularity. They point out that the research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, DARPA, is already working on brain computer interface technology. A program called ElectRX is developing miniature implantable devices to modulate nerve circuits and treat a whole range of diseases. Scientists, including Seth Shostack, director of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, say if that is the way things are going, it is easy to conceive that artificial intelligence already exists in some distant alien world where soft, moist brains became obsolete a long time ago. Elton John weds partner in ceremony near London By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Sunday, wedding bells rang for Sir Elton John and his long-time partner David Furnish. The 67-year-old legendary singer-songwriter officially married Furnish near London, nine years to the day since the two entered into a civil union. They tied the knot at a posh wedding ceremony at their estate in Windsor, with a guest list that included major celebrities. The couple's two toddler sons, Zachary and Elijah, were ring-bearers. John said he is very proud of Britain, where same-sex marriage is now legal nearly everywhere. England and Wales began recognizing same sex marriages earlier this year. Scotland followed last week, but only civil unions are recognized in heavily Catholic Northern Ireland. World survey shows people are living much longer By
the University of Washington
news staff
People are living much longer worldwide than they were two decades ago, as death rates from infectious diseases and cardiovascular disease have fallen, according to a new, first-ever journal publication of country-specific cause-of-death data for 188 countries. Causes of death vary widely by country, but, at the global level, drug use disorders and chronic kidney disease account for some of the largest percent increases in premature deaths since 1990. Death rates from some cancers, including pancreatic cancer and kidney cancer, also increased. At the same time, countries have made great strides in reducing mortality from diseases such as measles and diarrhea, with 83 percent and 51 percent reductions, respectively, from 1990 to 2013. Globally, three conditions – ischemic heart disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – claimed the most lives in 2013, accounting for nearly 32 percent of all deaths. Published in The Lancet Thursday, the study, “Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013,” was conducted by an international consortium of more than 700 researchers led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The average age of death increased from 46.7 in 1990 to 59.3 in 2013, as a result of declining fertility and a demographic shift in the world’s population to older ages. Partly because of global population growth, the number of deaths in both sexes for all ages combined increased from 47.5 million to 54.9 million. |
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2014 and may
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 252 | |||||||||
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My friend Jodi has a lovely home on a nice private lot. At least it was private until the lot next to her sold and they began construction. Now she has one of those dilemmas that face so many of those who choose a home without a lot of outside maintenance. (I can certainly understand
Most of us have done some vertical gardening, even if we never called it that. We have had a vine on a fence, a bougainvillea on a wall, or even tried our hands at an espaliered fruit tree. For now, though, let’s stick with that vine on a fence because that is exactly the solution my friend chose for her ‘I don’t want to look in their window’ problem. So, a reasonably tall fence is the answer to the problem. Fencing material isn’t an issue as it will be covered with vines very quickly and rendered invisible. And what a selection of vines we have in the tropics! They are everywhere. From India, comes the genus thunbergia which includes the blue trumpet vine, fast growing to 24 meters (80 feet) and perfect for a fence, while the South American passion flower (passiflora) can be fence grown for about 15 meters (50 feet) for both flowers and fruit. Speaking of fruit, we also have to remember that the vertical garden is perfect for both fruiting climbers and for vegetables. Easy climbing vegetables include peas and cucumbers as both are light weight. Heavier edibles like melons and squash require a sturdier fence and a fabric sling to keep them from falling from the vine before they ripen. But back to our ‘hide the construction’ fence. Let’s choose a vine that does more than hide something; let’s choose one that provides food for local hummingbirds. Hummingbirds love tubular flowers in reds, yellows, and oranges. For them, a mandevilla (mandevilla) or an orange trumpet vine (pyrostegia) is an invitation to stay a while and enjoy lunch. The few vines mentioned here are just a sample of the varieties we have to choose from in the tropics. But whether you choose them for color, for scent, for wildlife, or for growth habit, your vertical garden will be a wonderful addition to your landscape. Plant of the Day
If you would like to suggest a topic for this column, simply send a letter to the editor. And, for more garden tips, visit the Arenal Gardeners Facebook page. |
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| From Page 7: Cement giant to increase production By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Mexican cement firm CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. says a subsidiary will invest $35 million to increase the capacity of its plant in Costa Rica. The project will be able to produce 1.1 million tons of cement by 2017, about 25 percent more than currently. The company said that the project would employ about 90 persons during construction and about 50 thereafter. The plant is located in Colorado de Abangares, Guanacaste. Some observers suggest that the company is preparing to produce cement for the proposed Nicaraguan canal nearby. Cement always has been a controversial topic in Costa Rica because the price is generally higher here than in adjacent countries. |
