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A.M.
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Published Tuesday, May 31, 2016, in Vol. 17, No. 106
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 106
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Fishermen
voice opposition to trawling bill
By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Opponent of shrimp trawling are rallying those who seek other fish. The Fundación MarViva said that Guanacaste fishermen met with lawmakers over the weekend to voice their opposition. The foundation also opposes bill No. 19.838 that would sidestep a Sala IV constitutional court decision outlawing shrimp trawling. The foundation provided a summary of the weekend meeting. The central government supports the measure because officials are concerned by the individuals put out of work by the ban. One reason for the opposition is that shrimp fishermen can use a net with openings of just 1.5 inches square, the lawmakers were told. Other fishermen have to use a net with openings 4.5 inches square. Consequently, the shrimp trawlers sweep up a lot of unwanted fish. The lawmakers also were told that the Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura does not have the resources to provide the needed oversight. The bill is in the Comisión de Ambiente. The Sala IV also told the fishing institute to not renew licenses for shrimp trawling when they expire. Others have expressed concern because the trawling method damages coral. President will travel to Cuba By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
President Luis Guillermo Solís, just back from a two-week trip to the United States, Britain and Italy, is going to Havana. The meeting in Cuba is of the Association of Caribbean States, said Casa Presidencial. The 25-member organization is mainly interested in trade and tourism. The main meeting is Saturday with sessions between country leaders scheduled for Sunday. Traffic officer held over repo job By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
A traffic officer has been accused of acting illegally as a repo man. The Judicial Investigating Organization detained the 61-year-old man on the allegation of abusing authority. The judicial agency said the traffic officer accompanied another man as they tried to repossess a bus in Turrialba. The owner of the bus was behind on payments, the agency said. But the men did not have any judicial order allowing them to take the vehicle, the agency said. The traffic officer was on his day off, the agency said. He was detained Monday while working on the autopista Florencio del Castillo.
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 106
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 Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles graphic This is the entire proposed route from the Heredia rail station west to the Hospital San Rafael de Alajuela. |
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| Heredia
rail service expected to add 12 more kilometers this
morning |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Government officials said that a 12-kilometer stretch of rail between Heredia and Río Segundo de Alajuela was going into service at 5:30 a.m. today. The new rail section will be part of a pilot project that can carry a passenger from the Río Segundo to Heredia and to the Estación Atlántico in San José. The line continues to the Universidad Latina in San Pedro. Crews for the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles have been trying hard to get this section open because officials had promised to have the stretch in service by the end of the first half of 2016. The rail expansion has not come without complaints. Passengers say the cars are overcrowded. And from time to time there are |
derailments
or a collision with a vehicle or a human. One man was hit in Barrio Cuba Monday and dragged 50 meters by a train. He survived with head injuries. The accident happened when the man slipped on the rails and fell, said observers. There have been 11 persons hit by trains this year and three have died. In addition, two units of the valley passenger line collided head-on. One problem for the rail construction crews is that some individuals have intruded on the right-of-way. The next project is to continue the line to Alajuela Central. Basically crews had to rebuild the line. The rail institute found out when it was opening up the San José Heredia line that all the ties and rails would have to be replaced. Now concrete ties are being used. |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 106
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| Human
rights obligations trump U.N. cannabis treaty, researchers
say |
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By the Radboud University news
staff
The regulated cultivation and trade of cannabis for recreational use is permissible on the basis of states’ positive human rights obligations. This is the result of research by legal scholars Piet Hein van Kempen and Masha Fedorova of Radboud University, The Netherlands. Pleas for the regulated cultivation and trade of recreational cannabis are often based on arguments related to individual and public health, the safety of citizens and the fight against crime: the so-called positive human rights obligations. To date, however, no study has been carried out to find out what the legal implications of legalizing cannabis would be. International law and cannabis II is the first study into cannabis and positive human rights obligations. The study of the two scholars shows that these positive human rights obligations can require states to provide regulated legalization of the cultivation and trade of recreational cannabis if this regulation were to protect human rights more effectively than a total ban on drugs, as defined in the U.N. Drugs Conventions. The researchers’ analysis also resulted in an affirmative answer to another crucial question: From an international law perspective, should states give priority to their positive human rights obligations over their obligations resulting from the U.N. Drug Conventions? |
In their
research Van Kempen and Ms. Fedorova concluded that the
U.N. Drugs Conventions as such do not allow for the
regulated legislation of the cultivation and trade of
cannabis for recreational use. Thus, their new study offers new insights from a human rights perspective. The five primary conditions for regulated legalization are: 1.This must be in the interest of the protection of human rights. 2.The state must demonstrate that the regulated legalization of the cultivation and trade of cannabis will result in the more effective protection of human rights. 3.The decision regarding such regulation must have public support and must be decided through the nationwide democratic process. 4.There must be a closed system so that foreign countries are not disadvantaged in any way by this measure. 5. The state is required to actively discourage cannabis use. If a state can meet these conditions, under current international law it is permissible to give priority to human rights obligations over the obligations of the U.N. drug conventions, the scholars concluded. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 106
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to give earthlings a good view By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Astronomy buffs across much of the globe awaited darkness Monday for a glimpse of Mars, as the Red Planet makes its closest approach to Earth in 11 years. The event, visible to the naked eye, is when the second-smallest planet in the solar system passes within 76 million kilometers of Earth. Scientists say it will remain roughly at that distance through June 12. The close encounter is known as close approach, an event marked by Mars and Earth coming nearest each other in their orbits around the sun. NASA says the next close encounter will occur July 31, 2018, when Mars will be about 57 million kilometers away. In a statement earlier this month, the U.S.-based site Sky and Telescope urged star gazers to look low in the southeast sky at the end of twilight, "and you can't miss it," said senior editor Alan MacRobert. "Mars looks almost scary now, compared to how it normally looks in the sky," he said. Zoo defends its decision to kill gorilla with boy By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The Cincinnati Zoo is defending its controversial decision to shoot and kill an endangered male lowland gorilla after a 4-year-old boy fell into his enclosure Saturday, putting himself in serious danger. The incident was captured on video and has outraged animal lovers around the world. It shows the gorilla, named Harambe, dragging the boy through a shallow moat filled with water. Several times, Harambe looked to be gently touching the boy and stood him up on both feet as if he was trying to protect him. But just as suddenly, he pulled the boy through the moat to a different part of the pen with the boy's head hitting the concrete. Harambe had control of the boy for at least 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team shot him to death. Many animal lovers say killing the huge 17-year-old primate was unnecessary. But zoo director Thane Maynard said Monday that officials believed they had no choice. With his pen surrounded by screaming and excited people, Maynard said, the gorilla was clearly agitated, disoriented and acting erratically. Maynard called Harambe unpredictable and said tranquilizing the 181-kilogram ape would have taken too long. He described lowland gorillas like Harambe as dangerously strong with arms as large as a man's leg and hands powerful enough to crush a coconut. Maynard said this is the first time this kind of thing has happened in the zoo's 143-year history. He said the barriers around Harambe's enclosure were adequate. It is still unclear how the child got past those barriers. The boy who tumbled into the gorilla pen was remarkably unhurt. He is back home after spending several hours in a hospital. His family thanked the zoo for its speedy reaction to the crisis and said they understand the zoo's grief at having to kill an endangered and beloved animal. Meanwhile, social media is buzzing with outrage over the death of Harambe. More than 200,000 people have signed a petition on the Change.org website. Another online petition called Justice for Harambe has attracted 165,000 signatures from people wanting the boy's parents to be charged with negligence. A Facebook page also called Justice for Harambe had more than 64,000 likes as of late Monday. Such gorillas can be found in the dense rain forests of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea. Their population has declined by more than 60 percent over the past 20 to 25 years because of poaching and disease, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Some churches continue policy of shielding illegals By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
For more than three decades, churches and synagogues across the country have served as sources of refuge to immigrant families at risk of deportation. But today, they take a considerably more nuanced approach in handling a crisis that affects tens of thousands of immigration violators and their families, from as far south as Arizona border towns to the heart of New York City. The Sanctuary Movement, as it is commonly known, arose from some of the darkest days of Central America’s history. When President Ronald Reagan first took the oath of office in 1981, civil conflicts and economic calamity had begun to ravage Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. By decade’s end, nearly 1 million refugees had fled north to the United States to seek asylum. Congregations, in a show of defiance to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, shielded refugees who otherwise would have been denied asylum status. Fast forward to 2014, when gang and drug violence, as well as economic devastation south of the border, led to another massive influx of refugees and migrants, including children. An estimated 4.5 million children born in the U.S. have an undocumented parent. The response has been a deportation policy that has led to more than 350,000 annual removals, a term coined in 1996 that refers to both border exclusions and deportations. In many cases, families are separated. Tucson, Arizona’s Southside Presbyterian Church, which co-led the sanctuary movement of the 1980s, has revived its efforts by providing physical shelter and legal assistance to immigrants facing deportation. The Rev. Alison Harrington, in an interview, said more congregations feel outraged and heartbroken over current U.S. deportation policies, and are opening their doors in hopes of keeping families together and communities intact. Rev. Harrington said a growing anti-immigrant nativist movement by individuals and politicians is only fueling these efforts. “You kind of have this rising of people, who are people of faith, who will be conscious to say, ‘This is not who we believe we are as a people, as an American people,’” said Rev. Harrington, adding that she feels a moral imperative to help. Because of the church’s proximity to the Mexico border, along the barren Sonora desert, Rev. Harrington said she encounters immigrants seeking assistance on a regular basis. In the 1980s, a period she calls a nightmare, 80 people slept on the church floor on any given night, roughly 14,000 over the span of a decade. But the church now accommodates only one family at a time, in rare circumstances for a month or more. In 2014, she recalls one family, Rosa, along with her husband, Gerardo, and two sons, now 9 and 12 years old, who remained in sanctuary for a record 461 days before Rosa's case was resolved. “We had to get into high-level negotiations on that one,” Rev. Harrington explained, “so a lot of the details are confidential, but her case was resolved to the point that we knew she would be safe to leave.” While churches similar to Southside most commonly provide direct services to immigrants seeking immediate assistance, including short-term housing, other areas of the country have higher settlement rates. As a result, immigrants in places as far apart as New York City or the San Francisco Bay area require a different set of services. Judson Memorial Church, in the heart of Manhattan, is one example that provides sanctuary in more ways than one. “It could be physical, it could be spiritual, it could be financial, it could be legal,” the Rev. Donna Schaper said. “We accompany about 200 people a month, and we train volunteers to go to ICE so they know their rights,” she said, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration employees, Rev. Schaper explains, are not the enemy. Her employees even make a point of knowing them by name. But she makes it clear that she does not morally respect the game they play, one that she says terrifies people. Just outside Rev. Schaper’s door, Miguel Ángel Animas and his two U.S.-born daughters are seated, awaiting help from the staff at the church. His wife, the girls’ mother, was recently deported to Mexico. Schaper explains how immigration, like the environment and homelessness, lacks enough of a human face to inspire swift action on comprehensive reform. She pauses briefly, thinking of Animas’ youngest daughter, who is playing a Dora the Explorer video game on a tablet. “Look at that girl, Michel. Who wouldn’t want to help her, if they saw her?” Rev. Schaper asked. Despite Rev. Schaper’s frustration, she describes New York City as a very friendly city to immigrants. And in her tenure at Judson Memorial Church, she has seen success, especially at the local level. In 2009, the New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC, an interfaith network of citywide congregations, including Judson, spearheaded an effort to prevent immigration agents from interviewing and detaining immigrants at city jails convicted of minor offenses, or whose cases were dismissed. Their fight eventually paid off. In 2011, then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a City Council bill reversing key provisions, a major victory for Judson and New York immigrant families who might have otherwise been separated.  National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
photo
This Landsat image shows a
reduced Lake Mead
Lake Mead level is
reported
at lowest point ever recorded By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The 16-year drought in parts of the western United States has dropped the water level in the country's largest reservoir at Lake Mead to its lowest level in its 81-year history. When full, the lake, straddling the Nevada-Arizona state border that was formed with the construction of the Hoover Dam during the Great Depression of the 1930s, has a surface elevation of more than 370 meters above sea level. It provides crucial water to the two states and also California, including Los Angeles, the country's second-biggest city. But the Lake Mead level has been falling during the extended drought that has parched farmlands in the west and led to water rationing. In the last week, the recorded lake level fell to 327 meters above sea level. Lake Mead is currently at 37 percent of capacity and its shoreline has the distinctive look of a dirty bath tub, with rings marking where water levels once were. Melting snowpacks that feed the lake from the Colorado River have diminished over the years. Emergency measures could be implemented if the water levels continue to fall throughout 2016, but the agency that manages the lake is predicting that its level could rise slightly in the coming months. Holder says leaker Snowden provided a public service By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder says Edward Snowden performed a public service when the ex-National Security Agency contractor leaked classified intelligence documents. Holder, however, was quick to put into context what appeared to be praise of a person the U.S. considers a criminal. "I thought the president put it best when he said, 'Just because we have the ability to do something, doesn't mean we should,'" Holder said during an appearance on the "Axe Files," a podcast hosted by David Axelrod, produced by CNN and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. The Obama administration was constantly weighing the value of surveillance against the issue of privacy, Holder explained. Still, the former top American law enforcement official added "We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made." By leaking a flood of classified information to select news outlets in 2013, Snowden revealed the extent to which the Obama administration was collecting personal data — far and above what took place under The Patriot Act following the 9/11 attacks. The revelations not only shocked the American public, but also international allies such as Angela Merkel, whose personal cellphone was revealed to have been bugged. The crisis prompted President Barack Obama to convene a panel that criticized the National Security Agency's domestic data collection, that is the bulk of metadata on Americans, which can show the most intimate details of an individual's life. For some, Snowden is a traitor who gave away all kinds of secrets to our enemies, thus putting the public in danger. For others, he is a brave American activist, who put his life on the line to reveal the violations of the U.S. Constitution. During the podcast, Holder reflected on the nuance of the Snowden case by saying that, ". . . doing what he did and the way he did it was inappropriate and illegal." In the eyes of the U.S. government, Snowden jeopardized America's security interests by leaking classified information while working as a contractor for the National Security Agency in 2013. "He harmed American interests," Holder said. Holder is currently trending in the top 10 on Twitter. Snowden lives in exile in Russia, but occasionally makes video appearances. Catholic parishioners lose last battle for their church By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Parishioners in Massachusetts held an emotional final service after losing their legal battle to keep open the Catholic Church that many had attended for decades. Parish members were forced to vacate the St. Frances X. Cabrini Church where they had held an 11-year round-the-clock vigil to keep the building open. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston decided to close the church, along with dozens of others, to deal with declining Mass attendance and other problems. Members of the church spent the last 11 years fighting that decision, with their legal appeals earlier this month reaching the Supreme Court, which declined to hear their case. Lower courts had ruled that the archdiocese was the legal owner of the church property and had the right to evict church parishioners. Church members had also appealed their case to the Vatican, but were not successful in persuading church officials to keep the building open. The Boston archdiocese says it hopes the protesters will go to another Catholic church within the district. Some parishioners told local media that they want to form their own church outside the reach of the Vatican, and say they have begun raising money to build a new parish. Turkish leader rejects birth control for Muslims By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said no Muslim family should use birth control or engage in family planning, saying the practices violate Muslim traditions. "We will multiply our descendants. They talk about population planning, birth control. No Muslim family can have such an approach," he said Monday in a televised speech. Erdogan, a devout Muslim, has angered women's groups in the past by dictating how many children a woman should have and speaking against gender equality. He has previously attempted to ban abortion in the country and has called for limits on Caesarean births, saying women who give birth that way generally cannot have more than one more child. Wealthy Chinese generally avoid making big donations By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
China saw its number of billionaires grow by 30 percent to 40 percent annually, but is still recording charitable donations at a small fraction of the rates seen in Europe and the United States. A new report by the U. N. Development Program found that charitable donations are about 4 percent of those in the West. The year 2015 saw 38 percent growth in the number of billionaires in China, according to a Forbes magazine study. Their net worth rose by $170 billion, reaching $830 billion in 2015. China is the world's second-biggest producer of billionaires after the United States. One reason for the lack of donations is the lack of transparency in the functioning of charity organizations, and widely held suspicion about the use of funds raised for social welfare, Gu Qing, assistant country director for Poverty, Equity & Governance at the U.N. agency’s China office, said. "There have been some major scandals on the use of funds collected for charity. Also, there are few tax benefits to encourage donations," Gu said. An unclear legal and policy framework have added to the general reluctance to give. In China, charity donations by business people and companies are mostly give-and-take deals, said Oliver Rui, professor of finance at China Europe International Business School. "Donors often cut under-table deals for getting favors from local government bodies in return for donations," Rui said. "Most charity foundations are directly or indirectly affiliated with government agencies. People either stay away from them or cut deals." There are some improvements, however. The Development Program report found there was a 60 percent increase in the past five years in the number of charity foundations, which stood at 4,211 in 2015. Analysts said this was not very significant in an economy which has grown at 8 to 10 percent in recent years. China recently came out with new laws that imposed severe restrictions on foreign non-government organizations, and a set of new regulations for charity organizations. China wants to discourage the growth of an independent civil society and divert funds and energies to certain chosen fields, said Josh Freedman, research manager at consulting firm China Policy. "The government is trying to redefine charity. It is welcoming donations in charities that support its own goals like poverty eradication, disaster relief and environmental protection. But, it wants to curb NGOs that encourage labor activism or support political groups," Freedman said. Official controls on domestic charities remain despite some relaxation on their operations in the new law. For example, a charity is not allowed to raise funds outside the county in which it is registered. This allows local officials to watch and control the flow of funds. Experts fear that keeping foreign NGOs out of the picture would make it difficult for China to develop a responsible and efficient network of charity organizations. Some experts even question the wisdom of separating the goals of charity from the need to develop an independent and self-sustaining civil society. "At UNDP, we believe that a strong and healthy philanthropic sector in China, confident in looking outside its borders, will benefit China as well as the rest of the world," Patrick Haverman, deputy country director of UNDP China, said while releasing the report. Unlike in the U.S. and Europe, the super-rich in China do not set an example by donating huge sums to charities. There are none like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett in China. A different picture emerged last week when e-commerce tycoon and Alibaba head Jack Ma announced he will give away a large part of his income to Alibaba Group Charitable Fund and other charities. Ma, who is the world's 33rd richest man with an individual net worth of $20 billion, also said he will not claim income tax deductions that would be available to him for giving. The announcement is being seen in different perspectives in different quarters. "Jack Ma is doing it for public relations. There has been some negative news about his company. He wants to enhance his reputation by giving to charity," said Rui of the China Europe International Business School. Some Chinese business people view charity as a networking tool that will advance their business interests. Besides, there is a realization that they must donate to local charities in order to smooth the process of acquiring companies in foreign countries, he said. Freedman of China Policy said the e-commerce tycoon may have been influenced by his long association with businessmen and life in the United States. "Corporate social responsibility has yet to become an acceptable trend in China. Some businessmen use charity as a business tool. But, the situation is improving gradually," Freedman said. International organizations like the U.N. Development Program are trying to persuade China to open up facilities for giving donations through the internet because a substantial part of the population is connected, mostly through mobile phones. The government recently cracked down on the use of the internet for giving and collecting donations after some instances of misuse arose. "We believe the internet is the future direction for China's philanthropy growth. There are many people wanting to contribute to society through mobile payments," said Gu of the Development Program. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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Colorado S.A. 2016 and may not be reproduced anywhere
without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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| A.M. Costa Rica sixth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 106
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Quake rattles the area
around Parrita
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Parrita experienced a mild earthquake early today at 12:12 a.m.. The Red Sismológica Nacional said that the magnitude was 4.5. The estimated epicenter was 13 kilometers south of Parrita on the central Pacific coast. The quake was felt in Quepos and the Valle Central, said the Red. A quake of this magnitude is enough to rattle some dishes and perhaps cause minor damage. The quake was attributed to the usual reason for quakes in that area, the subduction of the Coco tectonic plate below the lighter Caribbean. The intersection of these geological plates is the reason for Costa Rica’s central mountains and even its active volcanoes. Tourism minister seeking conventioneers By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
With bids having been let for the the country’s $35 million convention center, the country’s tourism minister is on the road trying to generate organizations to use it. The minister, Mauricio Ventura, was at the international reunions fair in Lima, Perú, which runs through Wednesday. He spoke at the event. The Costa Rica Convention Bureau also was represented. The 15,000-square meter (161,459-square foot) convention center will go up on 10 hectares in Barreal de Heredia along the General Cañas autopista. It is three times the size of any facility available now. In an interview last month, Ventura noted that the project may not break even but tourism officials are counting on the spinoff of business as a result of convention goers. Ventura also allowed that no one in the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo is prepared to run a convention center and that a candidate will have to be sought for this job. . |
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| From Page 7: Another Fed official signals a U.S. rate hike By the A.M. Costa Rica
wire services
A U.S. Federal Reserve Bank president said Monday the global markets seem to be poised for an interest rate hike this summer. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis, said his outlook was not too surprising since signs are pointing to a second quarter rebound in the U.S. gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S. Bullard's remarks, made at an international conference in Seoul, South Korea, follow revised data Friday from the U.S. Commerce Department that the economy expanded faster than previously thought in the first three months of this year. He declined to say whether the Federal Reserve Bank, the central banking system of the U.S., should raise interest rates in June or July. Officials from the Fed's 12 regional banks will meet June 15. The Fed most recently raised interest rates in December of last year, the first time the bank had done so in nearly a decade. Interest rates remain unusually low after they were slashed during the 2008 financial crisis in a bid to boost economic growth. The economy's sputtering and uneven recovery has experts debating how soon and how much rates should rise. Raising them too soon could cause the economy to slide back into a recession. Waiting too long to raise rates could cause inflation that could hurt the economy. |
