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José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 118
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Correa strangles news, press
group says
Special to A.M. Costa Rica
A hemispheric press organization says that Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has flagrantly abused the public right to be informed and the right to work of independent journalists and privately-owned and news media in his country. The organization, the Inter American Press Association, said that the second anniversary of the enactment of Ecuador’s organic communication law will be in a few days. June 23 marks two years since enactment of the communication law, which the organization has described as an instrument of inquisition that turned President Correa into the principal censor in the Americas. The organization has criticized this legislation since Correa proposed it four years ago, predicting that it would be used to silence his political opponents, the independent press and members of the public in their use of social media and the Internet. The Inter American Press Association has been insisting that this law is illegitimate, that it is applied in a discriminatory manner against independent media and journalists, through agencies answering to the executive branch, with the explicit aim of censuring the free flow of information and the different currents of public opinion. In cases of prior censorship during recent months, the Inter American Press Association has offered solidarity with several media and journalists who defied the government, by not accepting the punishments, based on their constitutional right to resist. “We were not mistaken,” said Gustavo Mohme, Inter American Press Association president. “We knew that this law would make censorship official and that the public would be the big loser, through restrictions on their right to be duly informed.” Mohme, referring to the speech this week by the newsecretary general of the Organization of Aemrican States, Uruguay’s Luis Amargo, during the opening of the 45th General Assembly in Washington, D.C., called for a positive agenda and said that “there is nothing more positive than that this body begin to demand of the governments that they comply with the Inter-American Democratic Charter.” Mohme, editor of the Lima, Perú, newspaper La República, said that in this new phase of the Organization of American States, in which it is hoped that it will be more effective, “there should be a greater commitment to the understanding that without freedom of the press and of expression there cannot be true democracy, as the charter states.” The Inter American Press Association pointed out that statistics of sanctions so far clearly show how the communication law is being applied in a discriminatory manner and as a shield for officials, many of whom use it as a means of reprisal against those who criticize their work. Of the 270 cases between 2013 and February this year, 231 were against privately-owned media, and 142 of them based on formal complaints filed by authorities and officials. As a result of these cases and other actions of governmental pressure, a magazine, Vanguardia, three newspapers, Hoy, La Hora de Manabí and Diario Meridiano, and dozens of radio stations were shut down during this period. The press association has also criticized this law for the lack of independence of the bodies responsible for enforcing it, the superintendency of information and communication and the communication council, which are subject to the directives imposed by President Correa. Among the punishments imposed are the publication of obligatory restatements, public apologies by the media’s editor and fines which are increased in case of recurrence. This was the case with El Universo, which the superintendency ordered to pay a fine equivalent to 10 percent of its average billing in the past three months (approximately $350,000), because the newspaper had published only a portion of a reply and changed the headline. El Universo asserted its constitutional right to resist. The chairman of the association's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, said that the organization “supports the media when they decide to challenge regulations which, while they may be legal are not always fair, especially when they violate universal rights to freedom of the press and of expression.” He added that “the dictatorships of Pinochet, Stroessner, Videla, Trujillo, Fujimori and Somoza, to cite some cases, also had their legality against freedom of expression. But that did not mean that, because they acted under said legality, they were legitimate acts.” Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, added, “We media and journalists have the duty to challenge official censorship, whatever its name, to dispel criticisms about being subservient to authoritative and totalitarian regimes.” Mohme and Paolillo, in another reference to recent speeches in the Organization of American States, said that no one can remain indifferent before a law enacted at the whim of President Correa that established the offense of media lynching in order to counteract criticisms of his governance. “In addition," they declared, "the international community has allowed the Ecuadorean government the unthinkable, which is to legislate that information is a public service, a perfect justification and excuse. This way it can cut off the information and dealt with it as the government wishes, as if it were water, electricity or health services.” The Inter American Press Association also noted that this legislation erased with a stroke of the pen the government’s obligations to its citizens, eliminating a 2004 Law on transparency and access to public information. It further indicated that last September the constitutional court threw out litigation claiming this law to be unconstitutional. Thus, just as once the regime of former president Hugo Chávez sought to export the concept of truthful information, which in the Venezuelan constitution was used to regulate censorship of the media, the Correa government sought in the Latin American Parliament insertion of a clause defining information as a public service. The parliament flatly rejected it. The current situation against the press has led non-profits, local journalists and media to call on international bodies to travel to Ecuador to experience on site the seriousness of the situation in which journalists must work. The request was presented to 14 international organizations that watch over freedom of expression, and to the United Nations and hemispheric special rapporteurs for freedom of expression. They stated that in Ecuador “there has been imposed a silent, but very effective, regime of prior censorship that is strangling news media and silencing journalists day after day.” Golden State wins basketball championship By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Golden State Warriors defeated the host Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 Tuesday to win the 2014-15 National Basketball Association championship series. The Warriors got 25 points each from Stephen Curry, the NBA's regular season most valuable player, and Andre Iguodala, to help the franchise take the best-of-seven series by a margin of 4-2, in its first NBA championship since 1975. Iguodala, who spent the entire season as a reserve player until the fourth game of the series, when Golden State was down 2-1, was named the finals' MVP. Superstar LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 32 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, putting in yet another dominant performance during the championship series. But James was playing without fellow stars Kevin Love, who was injured early in the playoffs, and Kyrie Irving, who suffered a knee injury in Game 1 of the finals, leaving Cleveland without another dominant scorer to go against a deeply-talented Golden State team, which won 67 regular season games. Tuesday's loss was a bitter one for the Ohio-born James, who began his career with the Cavaliers and returned last year after four seasons with the Miami Heat, where he won two NBA championships. It also marks another season of heartbreak for Cleveland sports fans, who have gone over 50 years without a championship from either of its major league teams, the Cavaliers, the Browns of the National Football League and the Indians of Major League Baseball.
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reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 118 | |
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| Officials pleased that former vice president is now rights
court judge |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Former vice president Elizabeth Odio Benito, 75, successfully concluded a campaign to become a judge on the hemispheric Interamerican Court of Human Rights Tuesday. This time she had the full support of Costa Rican officials. The election was by foreign minsters at the Washington meeting of the Organization of American States. The court is located in San Pedro. The foreign ministry said that her election was important for Costa Rica because it recognized the country for its long support of human rights. She was with Manuel González Sanz, the foreign minster, in Washington. The election was relayed to San José by a video conferencing setup that fed to the foreign ministry here. Judge Odio has a long and distinguished history, first as a professor at the Universidad de Costa Rica and vice president of academic affairs. She has held several minister positions in the Costa Rican government and was vice president under Miguel Ángel Rodríguez. In 1993 she became a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. She left there to take her seat as a vice president. For a reason that still is unknown then-president Abel |
 Casa
Presidencial photo
President Luis Guillermo
Solís can converse with Elizabeth Odio Benito and Manuel
González Sanz in Washington via video conferencing.Pacheco declined to support her for election to the International Criminal Court, but the president of Panamá, Mireya Moscoso, did. She did not lack national support for the latest position. The term is for five years. |
| Government three-step plan shows news taxes have not been
forgotten |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Although the central government is now seeking quick passage of bills that would fight tax fraud and smuggling, more taxes have not been forgotten. Vice President Helio Fallas outlined a three-stage effort over the remainder of the current administration to resolve the country's financial woes. He noted that the government's deficit has become larger in the last six years. He cited elevated evasion and fraud, import duties lost because of free trade treaties, the creation of new obligations without resources to pay for them and an increase in interest on the nation's debt. None of this is new, but the vice presdient, who also serves as minister of Hacienda, used the situation to call on lawmakers to pass the fraud and customs bills. He said the road map for the administration is in three phases that include gradual reforms, new legislation and modernization of tax collecting technology. The tax fraud bill and the bill that increases penalties against |
smuggling
make up the first step. The bills already are in the current
legislature, although they are subject to revision. The second step is approval of a value-added tax and increases in the tax rate, he said. There also is a bill to reduce exonerations from taxes and import duties. All of these have been submitted to lawmakers, he noted. He said that the executive branch has done its part by issuing rules about travel, food and overtime as well as freezing 85 percent of the vacant government positions. There also is a bill to adjust downward some pensions. The third phase includes a number of technical legal changes to control the growth of the deficit. Also included are suggestions from other political parties, he said. He said the government has been in the red every years except two since 1980. In his presentation Tuesday he also called on lawmakers to refrain from creating more financial obligations without ways to pay for them, He noted that in 2014 the deficit was 5.7 percent of the gross domestic product, the total of all goods and services. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 118 | |||||
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| Eating chocolate is linked in study to lower incidence of
heart disease |
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By the British Medical Journal news staff
Eating up to 100 grams of chocolate every day is linked to lowered heart disease and stroke risk, says research published online in the journal Heart. There doesn't seem to be any evidence for cutting out chocolate to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, conclude the researchers. They base their findings on almost 21,000 adults taking part in the EPIC-Norfolk study, which is tracking the impact of diet on the long term health of 25,000 men and women in Norfolk, England, using food frequency and lifestyle questionnaires. The researchers also carried out a systematic review of the available international published evidence on the links between chocolate and cardiovascular disease, involving almost 158,000 people, including the Norfolk C study participants. The Norfolk participants (9,214 men and 11,737 women) were monitored for an average of almost 12 years, during which time 3,013 (14 percent) people experienced either an episode of fatal or non-fatal coronary heart disease or stroke. Around one in five (20 percent) participants said they did not eat any chocolate, but among the others, daily consumption averaged 7 grams, with some eating up to 100 grams. Higher levels of consumption were associated with younger age and lower weight, waist: hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, inflammatory proteins, diabetes and more regular physical activity, all of which add up to a favorable cardiovascular disease risk profile. Eating more chocolate was also associated with higher energy intake and a diet containing more fat and carbs and less protein and alcohol. The calculations showed that compared with those who ate no chocolate higher intake was linked to an 11 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 25 percent lower risk of associated death. It was also associated with a 9 percent lower risk of hospital admission or death as a result of coronary heart disease, after taking account of dietary factors. And among the 16,000 people whose inflammatory protein level had been measured, those eating the most chocolate seemed to have an 18 percent lower risk than those who ate the least. The highest chocolate intake was similarly associated with a 23 percent lower risk of stroke, even after taking account of other potential risk factors. |
 A.M. Costa Rica file photo
Of nine relevant studies included in the systematic review, five studies each assessed coronary heart disease and stroke outcome, and they found a significantly lower risk of both conditions associated with regular chocolate consumption. And it was linked to a 25 percent lower risk of any episode of cardiovascular disease and a 45 percent lower risk of associated death. This is an observational study so no definitive conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn. And the researchers point out that food frequency questionnaires do involve a certain amount of recall bias and underestimation of items eaten. Reverse causation whereby those with a higher cardiovascular disease risk profile eat less chocolate and foods containing it than those who are healthier may also help to explain the results, they say. Nevertheless, they add: "Cumulative evidence suggests that higher chocolate intake is associated with a lower risk of future cardiovascular events." |
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Colorado
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| Lawmakers are displeased at U.S. technology hacks By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. lawmakers sharply attacked government hiring and technology officials Tuesday for not preventing a cybersecurity attack that compromised personal information for millions of U.S. federal workers. "You failed, utterly and totally," Rep, Jason Chaffetz told Katherine Archuleta, chief of the government's employment agency, the Office of Personnel Management. "OPM's data security posture was akin to leaving all the doors and windows open in your house and expecting that nobody would walk in and nobody would take any information,” said Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee. “How wrong they were." Chaffetz demanded to know why the personal information of government workers and retirees was not encrypted after the employment agency's watchdog warned last year that it was vulnerable to cyberattack. At least 4.2 million current and former federal workers, and likely millions more, are affected. "It is not feasible in systems that are too old," Ms. Archuleta said in explaining why protections are not adequate. "I want to emphasize that cyber security issues that the government is facing is a problem that has been decades in the making, due to a lack of investment in federal IT systems and a lack of efforts in both the public and private sectors to secure our internet infrastructure." In the last two weeks, the U.S. identified two cyberattacks on government employee records, saying they occurred over the last several months, and perhaps began much earlier. Some officials have blamed Chinese state interests for the attack, but the attacks are said to be still under investigation. Ms. Archuleta said U.S. technology systems are under constant attack from foreign governments, criminals and business interests. "In an average month, OPM, for example thwarts 10 million confirmed intrusion attempts targeting our network,” she said. “These adversaries are sophisticated, well-funded and focused. These attacks will not stop – if anything, they will increase." Ms. Archuleta declined to answer some questions about the scope of the attack in the public hearing. She told the members of Congress she would discuss such issues only in a closed-door, classified setting. Trans-fat order may mean targeting developing world By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. government announced it will phase trans fats out of all foods over the next three years. Trans fats are a food additive that contributes to coronary artery disease and heart attacks. At least one expert thinks the food industry will continue to actively market food with trans fats in developing countries. Many developed countries, including Australia and those in the European Union, have eliminated trans fats from processed and fast foods. Trans fats raise the level of so-called bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol, and their use has been on the decline in the U.S. for more than 10 years. Now, the United States — a huge market for processed foods — is ordering manufacturers and restaurants to completely phase out trans fats over a three-year period. Two years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared that trans fats, which are added to food to improve taste and shelf life, are no longer recognized as safe. But Lawrence Gostin, a legal expert on national and global health law at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., thinks none of these moves will stop the worldwide sale of foods made with trans fats. “I could see them continuing to market these harmful products in India, Brazil and other middle income countries, and then in low-income countries in Africa and the Middle East and elsewhere,” he said. That’s because foods containing trans fats taste good. The harmful food additive is in refrigerated piecrust and dinner rolls, liquid coffee creamer and microwaveable popcorn. Trans fats are also added to oils to turn them into solid cooking fat and margarine. Gostin said he thinks the food industry might now step up sales of these products in developing countries. “The question is — is whether they then dump their unhealthy, trans fatty acid products on to poorer countries around the world with less robust regulatory systems," he said. "And I just think that’s unethical but expected.” Gostin calls the presence of trans fats in foods a global health emergency, and he hopes countries with no regulatory restraints against the food additive will follow the lead of the U.S. and other countries “We can’t just sit back," he said. "This is a silent epidemic. It’s no less an epidemic than AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria or any of these major outbreaks. Gostin said an international revolution is needed to get the food industry to make the food supply safer and healthier. Robots in the kitchen seen as a developing world trend By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Search-and-rescue operations in dangerous environments are often seen as the first areas that will employ advanced robots. But there is another segment of everyday life that may soon see many robots taking over jobs usually reserved for humans: the restaurant industry. At the DARPA Robotic Challenge competition held in California, robots were required to complete tasks quite simple for humans — drive a vehicle, climb up steps, cross some rough terrain, shut a valve. Some spectacular failures illustrated how hard it is to design efficient walking machines. Only a few days later, at an annual food machinery and technology exhibition in Tokyo, a stationary robotic chef prepared food with remarkable versatility, while other machines cooked, baked pastries and even wrapped perfect sushi. Akihiro Suzuki, assistant manager at Yaskawa Electric, said his company's robot, MOTOMAN-SDA5, could be an excellent kitchen assistant because it never gets tired. “Obviously, it's difficult for him to taste or adjust heat or seasonings properly to get the best flavor," Suzuki said. "But if it's simple cooking with a specific proportion of seasoning, he can repeat the same movement to reproduce the same dish.” Visitors were impressed. Masayo Mori, watching the robot at work, said, "I wouldn't mind getting a husband like this for myself.” Suzumo Machinery displayed its sushi maker, which takes over the strenuous and repetitive task of wrapping the increasingly popular Japanese delicacy. Hiroshi Monden, one of the company managers, said sushi "has been spread to the world, but sushi chefs are not as much. With this machine, anybody can make sushi so easily and repeatedly.” Another new technology that impressed onlookers was a machine designed by the Furukawa Kikou company for scooping and moving soft ingredients without leaving any residue. Development division manager Takuya Furukawa said the machine, SWITL, was perfect for the fast-food industry. “This machine is devised to scoop up soft material like hamburger patties or dough to put them into ovens or freezers without spoiling their shapes,” he said. The company would not say what kind of technological breakthrough their innovation was based upon. Experts suspect the surfaces may be covered with some kind of hydrophobic material that repels water molecules. Other robots, such as those that frost cakes or peel and slice apples, may also find their way into today’s kitchens. U.S. Senate votes to ban torture by any agency By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Senate has voted 78-21 to ban the use of torture in the interrogation of terror suspects and other detainees held by the United States. The measure codifies into federal law President Barack Obama’s executive order banning the use of what U.S. officials once described as enhanced interrogation techniques. “We can recommit ourselves to the fundamental precept that the United States does not torture – without exception and without equivocation – and ensure that the mistakes of our past are never again repeated,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Feinstein wrote last year’s bombshell report detailing years of abject abuse – from waterboarding to rectal feeding – inflicted on detainees captured by the United States after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The legislation approved Tuesday would limit all U.S. agencies, from the Pentagon to the CIA, to interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual. It passed as an amendment to a mammoth bill before the Senate authorizing all U.S. military activity and spending for the next fiscal year. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican John McCain, also helped write the anti-torture amendment. A Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war, McCain said he knows “from personal experience that the abuse of prisoners does not produce good, reliable intelligence.” “Our enemies act without conscience. We must not,” said McCain. “We must continue to insist that the methods we employ in this fight for peace and freedom must always – always – be as right and honorable as the goals and ideals we fight for.” Such thinking is not universal across America’s political spectrum. Some Republican senators as well as some of the party’s presidential contenders say, in extreme cases when American lives are on the line, U.S. authorities should have leeway in the tactics they employ to extract information from terror suspects. Despite overwhelming support for the amendment, its immediate fate is uncertain. President Obama has spoken out against torture from the very beginning of his administration, but the White House is threatening a veto of the National Defense Authorization bill over some of its spending provisions. Kirk Kerkorian dies at 98 after building an empire By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who went from being the son of poor Armenian immigrants to the builder of resort hotels and owner of a legendary film studio, died Monday at age 98. No cause of death was given. The California-born Kerkorian dropped out of school as a boy and worked at a variety of jobs, including as a boxer. He used his World War II flying skills to found an airline to transport gamblers to and from the then-burgeoning tourist town of Las Vegas, Nevada. The success of the airline allowed him to buy land in the desert resort on which he built the International Hotel in 1969 and the MGM Grand four years later. Both were the world's biggest hotels when they opened. Kerkorian also bought and sold the MGM film studio three separate times, but failed in a bid to take over Chrysler, the third-largest U.S. car builder. Despite his multibillion-dollar fortune, Kerkorian was a modest man who avoided the limelight and the press. He bought his own seat in the stands at major sporting events and shunned limousines in favor of driving himself in his own station wagon. His charitable works were generally unreported. Monetary Fund's new report stresses income inequity cut By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Income inequality is hurting the potential for growth worldwide, and the best way to tackle that is through helping the poor and the middle class, according to a new study by the International Monetary Fund. “Widening inequality is hardly a debated issue,” Kalpana Kochhar, deputy director of the Strategy, Policy and Review Department at the Moneetary Fund, said Monday. “The gap between the rich and the poor is at the highest level in decades in advanced countries, and inequality is also rising in major emerging markets,” she added. In releasing the report, titled "Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: A Global Perspective," Ms. Kochhar said inequality trends have been more mixed in emerging markets and developing countries, with some countries experiencing declining inequality, but pervasive inequities in access to education, health care, and finance remain in areas such as Latin America, Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. The report suggested that policy makers focus on the poor and the middle class because they are the major driving force of growth. The authors of the study rejected the main idea of trickle down economic theory, that economic benefits provided to those at upper income levels will indirectly benefit those at lower income levels as resources inevitably trickle down to them. According to the study, a 1 percent increase in the income of the richest 20 percent corresponded to a nearly 1 percent decline in gross domestic product growth over five years. In contrast, an increase in the income share of the poorest 20 percent corresponded to a more than one-third percent increase in GDP growth, it said. “The bottom line is that focusing on the poor and the middle class is actually good for growth, and this means ending poverty could also boost growth prospects for all,” Ms. Kochhar said. She said that is a fairly powerful message for policy makers and researchers around the world. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to tackling inequality,” the report said. It urged governments to make appropriate policies based on the underlying drivers and country-specific policy and institutional settings. Singapore’s foreign minister gives U.S. warning on trade By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Singapore’s foreign minister, K. Shanmugam, has warned that in light of last week’s congressional setback in granting presidential trade promotion authority, the United States faces a stark choice over its future in the Asia-Pacific region. Trade promotion authority approval is seen as crucial to eventual agreement on a new Asia free-trade accord. The Singaporean diplomat’s warning comes as Republican leaders in the House of Representatives move to delay another vote on trade promotion authority to late July. Speaking Monday to the Washington-based Centers for Strategic and International Studies, the Shanmugam said it is vital to complete the years-long negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement. Shanmugam said most of this century’s economic growth will come from Asia. "Everyone knows China. But there are other parts of the story, India, Southeast Asia. ASEAN, the 10 countries of ASEAN together are the seventh largest economy in the world, something that not a lot of people realize – 2.4 trillion dollars today but, within five years, it will be 4 trillion," said Shanmugam, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations He said it is a region in need of infrastructure development, and that fields in which the United States is dominant, such as energy and information technology, are much in demand. He added that it is a region where history is being rewritten with emerging new institutions, both national and multi-national. "In all of this, where is the United States? It’s been the guarantor of peace. It’s been the guarantor of progress and prosperity up to now. If you don’t do this deal, what are your levers of power? How integrated are you into the Asian economies? Meanwhile, there are a whole series of other trade deals that have happened, will happen and from which you’ll be excluded," said Shanmugam. He said the United States faces a stark choice: does it want to be part of the region, or does it want to be out of the region? He said that if Washington chooses to be out of a region that represents 40 percent of global gross domestic product, its only lever of power is the Seventh Fleet, the U.S. naval presence in the region. "Trade is strategy, and you’re either in or you’re out, and what does it mean for your jobs, your investments, for your prosperity? I mean it’s very, very serious, and your credibility. Let’s be frank about it; the president wants it, everybody knows this is important and you can’t get it through?" he said. The Singaporean diplomat said new chapters in Asia-Pacific are being written every day and the world will not wait, even for the United States. Singapore analyst Michael Barr of Australia’s Flinders University School of International Studies, said the perception of political gridlock and rising economic nationalism in Washington concerns America’s traditional Asian allies. He said they would be reluctant to reach agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without fast-track authority because it means Congress could further amend the pact. "Singaporeans in particular, it’s not just them, are very concerned with managing the rise of China, and Singapore knows that they have extremely limited capacity to do anything themselves about managing the rise of China. All they can do is manage their response to it, and they really look to the Americans," said Barr. Barr said they are concerned about losing faith in America. He said the real worry in Asia is the Americans will show themselves incapable of doing anything effective, even something minimal like signing a free trade agreement. U.S. House Republican leaders have indicated they need more time to build congressional support for trade promotion authority, which is tied to job retraining funding, referred to as Trade Adjustment Assistance, which was soundly defeated Friday. A move is underway to push a repeat vote back from Tuesday to July 30. White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged Monday the longer the process plays out, the harder it will be to build bipartisan support. Complicating Obama’s efforts to gain fast-track authority is opposition from two key Democratic allies, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and likely Democratic 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who Sunday called on the president to listen to and work with his congressional allies. Writing in Monday’s USA Today newspaper, Ms. Pelosi called for a new paradigm on global trade that gives voice to representatives of the public, as well as private and non-profit organizations. She said workers need more leverage, as well as greater transparency and accountability in trade pacts to protect wages, the planet and security. |
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contents of this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río
Colorado S.A. 2015 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's sixth news page |
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 Asociación Caritativa Canadiense
photo
School outhouse is pretty
much outside.Canadian charity
plans Talamanca work
Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Canadians are gearing up to raise funds for a badly needed new roof and outhouses at a remote school high up in the Talamanca mountains in distant southeast Costa Rica. The Asociación Caritativa Canadiense is extending an invitation to expats and friends of Canada to join the celebration of their homeland’s 148th birthday with a family fun day at the Hotel La Rosa de America in La Garita June 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day is a Saturday. Ticket purchases support a 16-year program of assistance to schools in need. The association’s goal is to exceed last year’s proceeds of $3,000 so that the work can continue. A small team from the association braved a difficult two-hour horseback ride to reach the Sarkli school in the Talamancas and assess the needs of those there. They found the roof of the school to be severely leaking, an intolerable situation for the 16 Cabecar children and their teacher during the many months of rain. And an outhouse was unfit for use. The children and various members of the community were all using the teacher’s bathroom. Proceeds from this year’s Canada Day celebration will provide the materials, transportation and labor to undertake and complete the project. A new venture is also planned to focus on high schools with high drop-out rates. The Asociación Caritativa Canadiense said it hopes to provide needed infrastructure, defined by the students themselves, that has the greatest value to improve the learning environment and pride in school. Three high schools considered for the pilot project are located in the Caribbean and San José areas. Tickets for the June 27 event are 10,000 colons. Children under 12 are free. Included are food, swimming pool, music and raffle prizes, the association said. To purchase tickets or to make a donation to the school projects, those interested can contact aspinall.lisa@gmail.com The work of The Asociación Caritativa Canadiense began in 2000 as the Outreach Committee of the Canadian Club of Costa Rica. Since then more than $330,000 has been donated to 95 schools in need throughout the country. |
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| From Page 7: Workmen's comp rates will go down By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Nacional de Seguros said Tuesday that rates for on-the-job accident insurance will be reduced 6 percent as of July 1. The insurance is called seguro de riesgos del trabajo, and as of May there were 1.4 million workers covered by the state company. The announcement also said that employers would save 8 billion colons, some $15 million, due to the rate cut. Premiums are based on employee salaries. The reason was a reduction in the number of covered accidents, said the insurance institute. The institute, which also issues vehicle insurance, maintains its own medical system, including the new Hospital del Trauma south of Hospital México in La Uruca. |
