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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 6, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 88 |
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Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública
How do drivers expect to
carry wood without properpermissions? Police are on the lookout for such loads. This flatbed of planks was detained near Siquirres late last week, said the Fuerza Pública. Advanced fee scam results in two arrests in San José By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The advance payment fee scheme continues to be alive and well. Judicial agents have made arrests in a presumed scam that was keyed to ads to loan money in local Spanish-language newspapers. The main victim at this point is a resident of Orotina who advanced 1 million colons, about $2,000 in anticipation of receiving a loan. The victim thought he was making the deposit to a lawyer's account. Judicial agents have detained the owner of that account and also a guard, both in downtown San José. They say the guard was the man who actually placed the ad for loans in a daily newspaper. The Judicial Investigating Organization said that a trace of telephone communications between the victim and the scammers showed that the victim was talking to a man who was in prison. The cell phone turned up in a shakedown of cells, agents said. The investigation began in August, they said. The newspaper ad promised money to refinance mortgages and for other uses. Criminals in prison frequently are involved in scams and even extortion via the telephone. Although a cell telephone is considered contraband, many are hidden in the country's prisons. Efforts to block the signals have had limited success. Twin quakes hit Friday and again on Sunday By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two earthquakes greater than 4.0 took place in the Pacific south of the Osa Peninsula Friday. And two lesser quakes took place near San Cristóbal de Desamparados Sunday. The Friday quakes were estimated at 4.6 and 4.1 by the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica. The stronger quake took place at 6:51 a.m. Friday. Less than a hour later, at 7:29 p.m., the second quake took place. This is an area prone to quakes. The Laboratorio de Ingenieria Sismica said the quakes were felt strongest in Corredores. The quakes also were felt in Puerto Jiménez and Ciudad Neily. The Sunday quake at 3:04 a.m. was estimated at 3.7 magnitude by the Laboratorio. The Observatorio said 3.5. The second quake in nearly the same point was at 3:57 p.m. The Laboratorio said it had a 3.2 magnitude. The Observatorio said 2.9. The two earthquake monitoring agencies use different systems. Seeking hunters, police stumble upon marijuana plantation By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police and environmental agents set out Sunday morning seeking illegal hunters. They had received a tip. Instead, Fuerza Pública officers and agents from the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía stumbled upon a marijuana plantation with 450 small plants. The location was at San Jerónimo de San Pedro en Pérez Zeledón, The law officers never found illegal hunters but they destroyed the marijuana after taking samples for prosecutors, they said. Muslims seem a bit more liberal on who gets to go to Heaven Dear A.M. Costa Rica: The article on, "Most Muslims would embrace sharia law in their countries," seems to have one commonality between Christians and Muslims, although Muslims seem more open that people of other religions can also get to heaven. "More than half (Muslims) say other religions can lead to eternal life in Heaven. That's compared to 96 percent of Egyptian Muslims and 92 percent of Pakistani Muslims, and overwhelming majorities in other countries, who say Islam is the only true religion." I have yet to find a Born Again Christian I know who has said that I have a chance of going to Heaven, because I am not a Christian. So half of the Muslim population that thinks you can only go to heaven if you are a Muslim are on the same wavelength as many Christians regarding their beliefs. I have been told time and again, by Christian friends and other Christians, the only way to heaven is to accept Jesus Christ as my savior. At least it appears Muslims are more tolerant when it comes to this topic. I remember when my wife was dying of brain cancer, her mother told me, one time in the emergency area of a hospital, I was an outstanding, loving and caring husband and couldn't have been better helping my wife deal with her cancer. In the next sentence she said, she was sorry that I wouldn't be seeing my wife in Heaven because I was not a Christian. I then explained to her that her daughter, my wife, wasn't either. My mother-in-law was quite disappointed. It then got worse. Her other daughter, my sister-in-law who was there also, told her that she was not a Christian either. Right after that my daughter (her granddaughter) said, "Grandma, I am not a Christian either. I guess you will be all alone in heaven cause none of us are going to heaven cause we aren't Christians." According to some examples from the Jewish Torah, it talks about Gehenna (a kind of hell) as a place of punishment for those who lead an immoral life. However, the time a person's soul could spend in Gehenna was limited to 12 months, and the rabbis maintained that even at the very Gates of Gehenna a person could repent and avoid punishment (Erubin 19a). After being punished in Gehenna, a soul was considered pure enough to enter Gan Eden (Heaven). Most other beliefs or religions discuss reincarnation and that we are reincarnated until we practice unconditional love on our planet, then we enter enlightenment. More new age thinking is that we live in many probable realities all at the same time and that there is no Heaven or Hell. This is congruent with some of the theories of quantum physics like the M theory, which also discusses living in a number of different dimensions all at the same time. Henry
Kantrowitz
Punta Leona
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What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A. 2013 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 6, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 88 |
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This is the kind of photo opportunity that political advisers love. The shot has lots of color and shows little children being treated gently by the U.S. president. This photo is the only one from the Costa Rican trip posted to the White House Web site. |
White
House photo by Pete Souza
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Visit by Barack Obama is short on
concrete developments |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Despite enormous efforts of security and large amounts of hype, there was little concrete that developed immediately from the two-day visit here by President Barack Obama. There were no financial pledges. President Laura Chinchilla, business leaders and the Spanish-language press stressed the idea that Costa Rica may obtain liquid petroleum gas from the United States at a reduced cost under the Central American Free Trade Treaty. Yet Ms. Chinchilla is preventing a U.S. firm from doing exploratory drilling in the northern zone where there may be large quantities of gas in addition to petroleum. The other goals sought by Costa Rica were similarly cloudy. The foreign ministry said later that the visit of Obama put Costa Rica in a better position to convert itself into a nation that is modernized and on the road to progress. Then the statement by Enrique Castillo, the foreign minister, said that gave a long list of what Costa Rica sought to do, including stimulating innovations. A.M. Costa Rica
news analysis
The minister of Relaciones Exteriores y Culto said Obama's visit provided a list of what the country must do over the long run. But all of this was known previously. Ms. Chinchilla in her Friday press conference noted that Costa Rica sought to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Obama stopped short of saying the United States would back the bid. According to the official White House transcript, what he said was less than a specific endorsement: "Costa Rica has shown itself to be a world leader and model around free trade, freedom of the press, democracy, respect for human rights, and that makes it an outstanding candidate for membership in the OECD, for example. And so we will expect that we’ll continue to support Costa Rica in expanding its influence." Costa Rica hoped that the visit by Obama would put the country on the world stage. Developments in the Middle East overshadowed the events here, and even the White House Web site emphasizes Obama's Thursday visit to México and not the Friday and Saturday visit to Costa Rica. There is one photo from Costa Rica available of Obama surrounded by school children waving flags. That photo seems to summarize the visit. The meeting with Central American presidents gave Obama a needed boost in trying to promote his version of an immigration bill in the U.S. Congress. Ms. Chinchilla gets a boost in her sagging ratings by being the hostess for one of the most powerful men in the world and other regional presidents and suggesting that the visit may bring benefits to Costa Rica. Costa Ricans were again reminded of U.S. precision and power with Blackhawk helicopters overhead and an impressive motorcade on an empty highway to and from the Juan Santamaría airport. And local police officials congratulated |
themselves on an effort that put
1,000 officers in the field and handled eight reports of suspicious
persons. The principal unhappiness came from merchants who took a big
hit with the closing of downtown streets and a Friday holiday for
public employees in the region. In his weekly radio address, which aired Saturday morning, Obama, in the words of the White House, describes the incredible opportunities to create middle-class jobs in America by deepening economic ties and expanding trade in Latin America and discusses a recent Senate bill that takes common sense steps to fix the broken immigration system. The address was for internal consumption and probably was taped before Obama arrived here. President Chinchilla praised the free trade treaty thusly: "Thanks to CAFTA, the countries in our region have increased by 70 percent the international trade. And what we basically seek is to be able to promote initiatives in the area of facilitation of trade." A quick check of the statistics provided by the U.S. Commerce Department show that there has been a great increase in trade from 2001 to 2012 when the last yearly figures are available. In 1999 Costa Rica exported $2.4 billion in products to the United States and imported nearly $4 billion. That left a $1.6 billion deficit. In 2012 the trade deficit for Costa Rica was $4.8 billion with exports of $7.2 billion and imports from the United States of $12 billion. This country's exports are mainly computer chips and agricultural products. Said Obama during the Friday press conference: "Costa Rica shows the benefits of trade that is free and fair. Over the last few years, under the Central America Free Trade Agreement, our trade with Costa Rica has doubled, creating more jobs for people in both of our countries. Our partnerships are creating more opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs, including young people and women. As I told President Chinchilla, the United States will continue to be your partner as Costa Rica modernizes its economy so that you’re attracting more investment and creating even more trade and more jobs." Although both presidents tried to emphasize economic development over the war on drugs, that issue cropped up several times in the public comments. Both presidents promoted an approach that attacked the roots of drug use. Obama summarized that when he met with business leaders Saturday morning: "But what I also believe is that we can't just have a law-enforcement-only approach. We also have to have a prevention approach. We have to have an education approach. We have to think creatively because obviously some of the things that we’re doing have worked, but some things haven’t worked. We’ve got to think about institution building and capacity in our law enforcement and our judicial systems. Those are all going to be very important, and I know that the work that we’ve done together has made some progress, but I’m interested in learning more about other things that we can do." The cost of the visit to the United States Treasury and to Costa Rican governmental budgets has yet to be computed. |
Park guards were in the right place at the correct time to catch this eruption in the acid lake in the Volcán Poás crater. The volcano was not draped in the usual layer of clouds. The Red Sismológica Nacional posted the image to its Facebook page. |
Red Sismológica Nacional photo
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Poás attracts scientific attention
with a bubbling eruption |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Volcán Poás acted up last week, but the event was overlooked by most of the media because of the anticipated arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama. However, park guards were on hand to take photos of the small eruption in the crater's acid lake. That was Wednesday. The scientists at the Red Sismológica Nacional thought enough of the event to descend into the crater Friday to take samples of the water in the crater lake and to |
take measurements of the principal
crack that is emitting steam and other vapors. There was no indication that this is the volcano's preparation for a full-scale eruption. In fact, the volcano has sent geysers of water far higher than the rim of the nearly 1,000-foot deep crater. These events are real surprises to onlookers, who are pm the overlook. Results of the scientific hike to the crater lake are not available yet, but there is no indiction that access to the popular tourist spot will be restricted. |
You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 6, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 88 |
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Imprisoned
Ethiopian columnist honored in Ciudad
Colón by U.N. official |
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University for Peace photo
Irina Bokova helps plant a tree
on the Ciudad Colón campus |
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Irina Bokova, the director general of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, visited the University for Peace in Ciudad Colón Friday to award this year's press freedom prize to an imprisoned Ethiopian journalist. May 3 was Press Freedom Day. The recipient of the Guillermo Cano prize for press freedom is Reeyot Alemu, a part-time columnist and teacher who is being held on a terrorist charge. She has received support from a number of international press organizations. All of the charges against Reeyot were based on her journalistic activities -- emails she had received from pro-opposition discussion groups and reports and photographs she had sent to opposition news sites, said the Committee to Protect Journalists. She was detained in 2011 on three charges, and originally faced 14 years in prison. Two charges have been thrown out, and she is in jail for five years. She has mananged to write a book about her ordeal. The Committee to Protect Journalists just wrote Berhan Hailu, the Ethiopian justice minister because Ms. Alemu has been threatened with solitary confinement for making her case known. Guillermo Cano is a Colombian editor who was assassinated in 1986. While at the university, Ms. Bokova toured a center for sustainable development that will host a new professorship sponsored by the U.N. organization. |
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What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A. 2013 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
A.M.
Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 6, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 88 |
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NRA leadership may
differ
from membership's opinion By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
More than 70,000 people attended the annual convention of the National Rifle Association, or NRA in Houston, Texas, this weekend to conduct organizational business, listen to speeches and get a look at some of the latest products offered by gun manufacturers. Resistance to recent proposals to limit access to guns was the focus of the event. NRA members came from all over the country to rally for the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which is under threat, according to NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre. "We will never back away from our resolve to defend our rights and the rights of all law-abiding gun owners," he said. This convention comes only weeks after the U.S. Congress rejected a gun control bill prompted by last December's school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults. The killer used his mother's legal weapons after killing her. NRA pressure on lawmakers played a role in defeating the bill, and so did Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican. “If you are a violent criminal, we should come down on you like a ton of bricks and, at the same time, we should safeguard the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens," he said. Most of the more than 70,000 people here for this convention support the NRA leadership in opposing almost all forms of gun control. Steve, who came here from the northwestern U.S. state of Washington, fears that expanded background checks could eventually lead to confiscation of all firearms. "They want to register all the guns. They want to know who's got them and in every country that has done that, what has been the natural outcome," he said. Steve also opposes a ban on so-called assault weapons, which include semi-automatic rifles popular with target shooters. "By demonizing these guns, they are scaring the population into accepting giving up more of their freedom," he said. But even here there are people like Ramona who favor enhanced background checks. "I think it is essential to have background checks. I don't think there is any harm in doing them, and I think it will help with the enforcement," she said. Recent polls have shown many of the NRA's five million members think like Ramona. That some of them might help promote measures to reduce gun violence is the hope of Erica Lafferty, daughter of a Newtown victim. "The most recent polling I have seen showed that 74 percent of NRA members do support the universal background checks; it seems like their leadership is way more right," she said. Part of the problem is a deep cultural divide between Americans who learn at an early age to use guns for hunting and target practice, and those who see the proliferation of guns as a threat to their children and society at large. Bollywood reaches 100 years with some changes likely By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
India’s hugely popular Hindi film industry known as Bollywood celebrated its 100th birthday Friday. With a loyal following not only in India, but several Asian countries, Bollywood is evolving from making extravagant, romantic films to more experimental cinema. But its primary mission remains entertainment for movie-mad Indians. It is a special day for 33-year-old Ekta Kapoor as she got ready to watch Bollywood’s newest release, "Bombay Talkies," a collection of four short films commemorating 100 years of Bollywood. Ms. Kapoor is like millions of Indians, passionate about Hindi movies. "Excitement. I love anything to do with Bollywood right from childhood. Can’t think of life without Bollywood," she said. Since the day that a black and white story of a king from Hindu mythology, Raja Harishchandra, hit the silver screen in India in 1913, Bollywood has traveled a long way. Known for films peppered with catchy song and dance numbers, Bollywood is the dominant film industry in India, a country that produces more than 1,000 movies and sells three billion movie tickets each year. For decades Bollywood was defined by its staple fare: family entertainers and romantic sagas played out by glamorous film stars almost always with happy endings and a heady dose of fantasy. "It is the family values, the song and dance, the stars, the kind of un-ironical optimism, it is all very cheerful and it is very sort of sweetly optimistic and that is something that travels very well," explains Anupama Chopra, an author and film critic in Mumbai. "It is almost a catharsis where you are just letting it go because of the melodrama, the emotions and everything is heightened to the power of 10." But Chopra said that is changing slowly. The escapist fantasies are giving way to fresher stories as Bollywood begins to tread new ground. And a new crop of experimental filmmakers is making an impact. The new artists are directors like Dibakar Banerjee, who tells one of the stories in "Bombay Talkies." Ms. Banerjee said there is potential and space for new ideas in the industry, but it is not going to be easy to build on this trend. He says today most stories are being driven by urban India. "The new rich or affluent urban middle class has become the biggest contributor to a film’s success and the subject and the stories and the conflicts in the films over the last 10 to 15 years have become more and more urban. There has been an increase in some kind of challenge to the old moral order, the old social order," she said. Bollywood films are hits not just in India, but across Asian countries from the Middle East to Central Asian countries like Afghanistan, and East Asian nations like Indonesia and Malaysia. They are even finding a small audience in some European countries. Top Indian film stars have long been household names in these countries, giving Bollywood the title of India’s cultural ambassador in Asia. Ms. Banerjee explains what gives Bollywood a strong connection with Asian audiences. "The concerns of the average Indian people were the concerns of these people, which was one of preservation of family, the preservation of tradition, a certain way of life, under the fiercesome assault of Western values," said Ms. Banerjee. "These films told us, we are all right, we are all there. But over the last 20 years even that is changing. We are in flux now, and the only way we can maintain the cultural leadership is to redefine our content to make it a little more truer to the reality of India today.” As Bollywood steps into its second century, it is exuding optimism after shrugging off competition from the proliferation of entertainment channels on television. The government gave filmmaking formal industry status just over a decade ago, making it easier to raise financing. It also opened the door for foreign film studios such as Warner Brothers to invest in India. But primarily it is India’s love for cinema that ensures the industry’s future, says film critic Chopra. "My longstanding belief is that films are a religion in this country. This is the second golden age of Bollywood… we are in a space where you have growing markets, you have a plethora of new talent, you have audiences willing to accept things that are unusual. For me it is all uphill from here," said Chopra. That is certainly what fans like Ekta Kapoor hope. They want Bollywood to explore newer dimensions, but never lose the vibrancy and glamour that gives it its unique identity. Immigration and Benghazi on the congressional agenda By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Congress reconvenes today after a week-long recess to continue work on immigration reform and to delve once again into last year’s terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. A push to overhaul U.S. immigration laws has been gaining momentum in the Senate, where a bipartisan reform bill was unveiled last month. This week, senators could decide whether the bill extends equal protections to homosexual immigrants whose relationships are not recognized under current federal law. Last week, President Barack Obama spoke in favor of gay-inclusive immigration reform. “The LGBT community should be treated like everybody else. To me, that is the essential core principle behind our founding documents, the idea that we are all created equal," he said. The issue? Gay Americans cannot sponsor a foreign spouse for U.S. residency and eventual citizenship. Bi-national married gay couples, like American Heather Morgan and Spaniard Maria del Mar Verdugo, could be torn apart at any time. “We have that complete uncertainty and the idea that at a moment’s notice, Maria could be forced to leave," she said. But some Republican lawmakers warn against injecting gay rights into immigration reform, saying to do so would put the entire bill in jeopardy. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to consider the issue when it meets later this week. Meanwhile, the terrorist attack that killed four Americans, including the ambassador, in Benghazi, Libya, will be examined once again by an oversight committee in the House of Representatives. Republicans like Darrell Issa remain dissatisfied with the Obama administration’s explanations of its actions before and after the assault. “We need to operate in a country like Libya erring on the side of security," he said. Tuesday, President Obama will receive South Korean President Park Geun-hye at the White House. The visit follows a period of dramatically-escalated tensions surrounding North Korea, and amid a reassessment of America’s security posture in the Asia-Pacific region. Solar-powered plane makes first stop after night flight By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A Swiss pilot has landed in Phoenix in the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona on the first leg of what is planned as the first cross-country flight of a completely solar-powered plane. Adventurer Bertrand Piccard landed at about midnight in total darkness in the "Solar Impulse," the first-ever manned plane that can fly by day or night using only solar power. The flight from northern California took about 20 hours at an average speed of 49 kilometers per hour. Piccard and a second pilot, Andre Borschberg, plan to share duties, making long stopovers in Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis and Washington, before a final landing in New York next month. The Solar Impulse has the wingspan of a 747 passenger jet, but weighs only as much as a mid-size car. The plane collects energy from the sun and stores them in batteries, so it can fly day and night. But the plane's top speed is only about 69 kilometers per hour and it seats just one pilot, calling for frequent rest stops. The two pilots compare their initial flight to those of aviation pioneers the Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh. They admit that the commercial use of solar powered planes is still far into the future, but hope the project can help lead to more energy-efficient aviation. New Star Trek film to open in London as 12th edition By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The crew of "USS Enterprise" beamed into London for the premiere of the sci-fi sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness" with critics saying on Friday that the eagerly-awaited film proved the franchise could still live long and prosper. The film, starring Chris Pine as Capt. James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as First Officer Spock, is a 3D follow-up to director J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot of the popular franchise starring a new cast of spacefarers. The action kicks off with a terrorist attack in London against Starfleet, and the man responsible is the one-man killing machine John Harrison played by up-and-coming British actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Soon the crew of the "Starship Enterprise," including Nyota Uhura played by Zoe Saldana and Keith Urban as Bones, are on his tail, but things are not all what they seem with some moral dilemmas and life-changing decisions to be made. Early reviews have been positive about Abrams' second movie but he is unlikely to direct a third Star Trek film as he has signed up to start work on the next Star Wars movie. Abrams was named in January by Walt Disney Co. as the director of "Star Wars: Episode VII" due out in 2015, but he said he would like to stay involved in future Star Trek films by Viacom Inc. studio Paramount Pictures. "No matter what, if the third is in the offering, if they do a third, definitely we'd be involved as producers on the movie," he told Reuters television on the red carpet at the premiere. "Depending on what the timing would be and everything, but there would be no more fun thing to do than work with this group again. They're amazing." Critics gave positive reviews to "Star Trek Into Darkness" that opens in Britain on Thursday and in the United States on May 17, the 12th film in the Star Trek franchise that was created about 50 years ago by Gene Roddenberry and led to six TV series. To date, the 11 Star Trek movies have grossed more than $1 billion in the United States since 1979, including $256 million from Abrams's 2009 film. But critics were not as glowing in their praise as for Abrams' 2009 movie Star Trek, describing it was an exciting action movie that did not take itself too seriously. "People are unlikely to charge out of the cinema with quite the same level of glee as they did in 2009; but this is certainly an astute, exhilarating concoction," wrote Andrew Culver in The Guardian. Time Out London wrote: "The result is a stop-gap tale that's modest, fun and briefly amusing rather than one that breaks new ground or offers hugely memorable set pieces." The new villain, Cumberbatch, 36, who shot to fame playing the detective Sherlock Holmes in the BBC television drama "Sherlock," received glowing reviews. Critic Chris Tookey writing in the Daily Mail, said Cumberbatch was a worthy successor to some illustrious forebears. "[He] delivers a silky, sinister baddie with commendable, if computer-enhanced, athleticism and an attitude that makes him one of the great movie villains," he wrote. Some emissions brighten clouds and cool the climate beneath By
the Manchester University news service
University of Manchester scientists, writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, have shown that natural emissions and manmade pollutants can both have an unexpected cooling effect on the world’s climate by making clouds brighter. Clouds are made of water droplets, condensed on to tiny particles suspended in the air. When the air is humid enough, the particles swell into cloud droplets. It has been known for some decades that the number of these particles and their size control how bright the clouds appear from the top, controlling the efficiency with which clouds scatter sunlight back into space. A major challenge for climate science is to understand and quantify these effects which have a major impact in polluted regions. The tiny seed particles can either be natural (for example, sea spray or dust) or man made pollutants (from vehicle exhausts or industrial activity). These particles often contain a large amount of organic material, and these compounds are quite volatile, so in warm conditions exist as a vapor in much the same way as a perfume is liquid but gives off an aroma when it evaporates on warm skin). The researchers found that the effect acts in reverse in the atmosphere as volatile organic compounds from pollution or from the biosphere evaporate and give off characteristic aromas, such as the pine smells from forest, but under moist cooler conditions where clouds form, the molecules prefer to be liquid and make larger particles that are more effective seeds for cloud droplets. “We discovered that organic compounds such as those formed from forest emissions or from vehicle exhaust, affect the number of droplets in a cloud and hence its brightness, so affecting climate,” said study author Gordon McFiggans, from the University of Manchester’s School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences. “We developed a model and made predictions of a substantially enhanced number of cloud droplets from an atmospherically reasonable amount of organic gases. “More cloud droplets lead to brighter cloud when viewed from above, reflecting more incoming sunlight. We did some calculations of the effects on climate and found that the cooling effect on global climate of the increase in cloud seed effectiveness is at least as great as the previously found entire uncertainty in the effect of pollution on clouds.” |
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What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A. 2013 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
A.M. Costa
Rica's sixth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 6, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 88 |
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More
youths veto hard work, but want benefits anyway By
the San Diego State University news service
Are today’s youth really more materialistic and less motivated than past generations, or do adults tend to perceive moral weakness in the next generation? San Diego State University psychology professor Jean M. Twenge, along with co-author Tim Kasser, professor of psychology at Knox College, has set out to answer that question. In a study published by Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Ms. Twenge and Kasser show that there is in fact a growing gap for today's young adults between materialism and the desire to work hard. “Compared to previous generations, recent high school graduates are more likely to want lots of money and nice things, but less likely to say they’re willing to work hard to earn them,” said Ms. Twenge, author of the book “Generation Me.” “That type of fantasy gap is consistent with other studies showing a generational increase in narcissism and entitlement,” Ms. Twenge said. Ms. Twenge and Kasser drew from a nationally representative survey of 355,000 U.S. high school seniors conducted from 1976 to 2007. The survey examines the materialistic values of three generations with questions focused on the perceived importance of having a lot of money and material goods, as well as the willingness to work hard. Compared to Baby Boomers graduating from high school in the 1970s, recent high school students are more materialistic. 62 percent of students surveyed in 2005-07 think it’s important to have a lot of money, while just 48 percent had the same belief in 1976-78. Sixty-nine percent of recent high school graduates thought it was important to own a home, compared to just 55 percent in 1976-78. Materialism peaked in the 80s and 90s with Generation X and has continued to stay high. As for work ethic, 39 percent of students surveyed in 2005-07 admitted they didn’t want to work hard, compared to only 25 percent in 1976-78. The researchers also found that adolescents’ materialism was highest when advertising spending made up a greater percentage of the U.S. economy. “This suggests that advertising may play a crucial role in the development of youth materialism,” said Twenge. “It also might explain the gap between materialism and the work ethic, as advertising rarely shows the work necessary to earn the money necessary to pay for the advertised products.” Understanding generational trends in materialism among youth is important because placing a strong priority on money and possessions is associated with a variety of problems, including depression and anxiety, according to earlier research performed by Kasser. “This study shows how the social environment shapes adolescents attitudes,” said Twenge. “When family life and economic conditions are unstable, youth may turn to material things for comfort. And when our society funds large amounts of advertising, youth are more likely to believe that 'the good life is the goods life.” |
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