Crazy Jimmy is a professional. Don't try this at home!

By Kayla Pearson
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A.M. Costa Rica/Kayla Pearson

Crested caracara and offspring await chicken treats.

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

By the Umeå University news staff

General placed under arrest
in Venezuela election drama


A Venezuelan court charged retired general Antonio Rivero on Monday with inciting post-election violence in the latest political flash point in the bitterly divided nation.
 
Opposition leaders say Rivero, a member of the Popular Will movement that is a driving force of Venezuela's opposition coalition, became new President Nicolas Maduro's first political prisoner when he was arrested over the weekend.
 
Authorities say he was one of those behind a wave of violence, on the day after Maduro's disputed April 14 election, that represented a coup attempt and killed nine people.
 
Rivero, who was an ally of former socialist president Hugo Chávez until 2008, was charged with conspiracy and public instigation at a Caracas court after authorities showed a video of him helping coordinate protesters in the capital's streets.
 
“This is part of the persecution the government has carried out, to spread fear,” opposition leader and losing presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said, calling for Rivero's release and an end to alleged harassment of his supporters.
 
“If they continue like this, they are going to have to jail eight million Venezuelans.”
 
Though his case appears to be losing steam and has not garnered much support from other Latin American countries, Capriles plans to challenge the presidential vote both in local and international courts.
 
He has asked for a full vote recount, alleging thousands of irregularities and accusing Maduro of stealing the election.
 
Maduro, who was Chávez's chosen heir and won the vote by less than 2 percentage points, has warned Capriles of legal action against him too and called the opposition leader a fascist bent on destabilizing the oil producing nation.
 
The president said violence whipped up by the opposition after the vote had included protests outside the home of Tibisay Lucena, head of the election board. The opposition accuses her of taking orders from the ruling Socialist Party.
 
“Why did they attack her house? Why did the media not denounce this?” Maduro said Monday. “Sooner rather than later, the feelings of fascist hate will be defeated.”

 
Movie recounts dark side
of products using aluminum


Aluminum is everywhere.  From airplanes to cooking pans, this versatile, light-weight metal has been around for generations.  And its many benefits have made life easier and more convenient for millions of people. But a new documentary portrays what the filmmaker describes as the dark side of aluminum. 
 
It’s in the soda cans and in food products.
 
But Austrian filmmaker Bert Ehgartner says there’s another side to aluminum. “It has a lot of good pluses.  But there is also a dark side of this metal," he said.
 
Ehgartner explores that alleged dark side in his new film, "The Age of Aluminum."
 
The documentary shows the mining and production of aluminum and its resulting impact on the environment.
 
One sees the mining of bauxite, an ore that contains a large amount of aluminum hydroxide, from a rainforest in Brazil. The film shows how large areas of rain forest have to be dug up in order to reach the bauxite.
 
The toxic waste from aluminum production is then discarded over vast areas.
 
And according to the film, the mining waste is apparently causing health problems for the nearby inhabitants who swim in the water, drink it and cook with it.  The children complain of itchy skin and have developed blisters.
 
The film also includes footage of a 2010 accident at a Hungarian aluminum factory.
 
Ehgartner says aluminum is also making people sick, in other ways through the very products that make life more convenient, and safer, for so many.
 
“I was surprised, for example, when I found it in vaccines or when I found it in certain kinds of cosmetics and antiperspirants, even in foods. You find it everywhere," he said.
 
Scientists in the film link aluminum found in those products to a wide variety of modern diseases, including breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, allergies and autism.
 
Neuroscientist Christopher Shaw is particularly concerned about the link between aluminum, which can be found in drinking water and antacid medication, and Alzheimer’s, a fatal brain-wasting disease.
 
“Many researchers are beginning to accept that aluminum has some sort of role to play in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.  Whether it does in others is still an open question, but Alzheimer’s is really coming into focus and it's fairly clear that the body burden of aluminum from all the sources to which humans are exposed may be contributing to Alzheimer's disease," he said.
 
But not everyone agrees with those findings.
 
The Aluminum Association declined a request for an interview but issued the following statement:
 
"The Age of Aluminum" deviates from decades of mainstream scientific research and consensus. The weight of published scientific evidence demonstrates no direct causative link between aluminum and the illnesses depicted in the film.
 
“My first message would be don’t panic," said Melissa Perry, an epidemiologist at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.
 
“The current status of the evidence does not give us definitive conclusions that aluminum is linked to Alzheimer’s disease or other brain problems, or breast cancer. This means it’s critically important to conduct more human studies," she added.
 
More studies, that's a point on which even "The Age of Aluminum" filmmaker Bert Ehgartner agrees.
 
“So aluminum is really a threat for mankind and we don’t have enough research, and that’s one of the reasons why I made this film, to give support to the scientists who want to do more research. And I think it’s really necessary," he said.
 
Experts on both sides of the issue agree that aluminum is here to stay.  They also agree that what is needed, at the very least, is more research to understand the link between aluminum and human health.


Voice of famous inventor
found on old wax disc


When Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, died in 1922, the sound of his voice was lost to all but who knew him. Until now.

Historians have identified a recording Bell made 128 years ago and released it to the public for the first time. The sound of the Scottish-born inventor who lived in England, Canada and the eastern United States can be heard on a crackling recording laid down on a wax-and-binder-board disc way back on April 15, 1885.

Teams from the National Museum of American History, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Library of Congress analyzed and digitized the disc, comparing the recording to a 19th century transcript Bell signed and dated: “...in witness whereof, hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell.”
 
The man, who has with his inventions given voice to so many others, finally has a voice of his own, helping historians eavesdrop on a period in history that gave birth to a new era in sound.


Part of World Trade jet
founds in New York alley


New York's medical examiner's office will search for human remains in an alley where a suspected part of a hijacked September 11 jet is wedged between two buildings.

Police have declared the area a crime scene, at least until forensics experts finish their work.

A piece of landing gear is stuck in a narrow, 60-centimeter gap between an Islamic center and another building in lower Manhattan, close to where the World Trade Center stood. The name "Boeing" and a series of numbers can be seen.

Police say Boeing has confirmed that the apparatus is from a Boeing 767, the type of plane that al-Qaida terrorists hijacked and flew into each tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Police say a rope is tangled around the part, but the reason is not clear.

About 3,000 people were killed in the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil.

Authorities say they may remove the gear on Monday and begin searching for human remains a day later.


China seeks to rein in
gamblers with state cash


With little fanfare, China is sending an official with a tough cop reputation to be its top man in Macau, the world's biggest gambling hub, as Beijing puts tackling corruption center stage.

Li Gang, a veteran of handling contentious issues in Hong Kong, is slated to this year take control of China's liaison office in the former Portuguese colony, which like Hong Kong, is a special administrative region under China's 'one country, two systems' principle.

The office, China's representative in Macau, has deepened its ties with casino and junket operators, who helped bring in over two-thirds of Macau's $38 billion in revenues last year.

The low-key but significant moves signal a deliberate attempt by China to be more directly involved in the oversight of Macau, which has drawn unwanted attention with reports of mainland officials laundering state funds and betting millions in the casinos' high-roller VIP rooms.

Rather than signaling a crackdown on Macau's lucrative gambling industry, casino executives say the target is those Chinese officials using public money or pledging state assets to gamble, money that could otherwise be invested in businesses.

For example, Yang Kun, a vice president at Agricultural Bank of China, owed Macau casinos 3 billion yuan ($490 million) in gambling debts, while local media have reported former high-flying politician Bo Xilai laundered money through Macau. There has been no official ruling on either case.

"They are taking a much more proactive role. The Chinese government is more concerned about assets being wasted," said a senior executive at a Macau casino, who didn't want to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. "For them, it's not about the funds being gambled, but about businesses or factories being squandered."

China has revamped its anti-money laundering rules, and Macau is overhauling its laws to set more explicit requirements to detect suspicious transactions. Francis Tam, secretary for economy and finance, has said there will be stricter oversight of the gaming industry, with the government paying closer attention to abnormal capital flows.

Suspicious transaction reports in Macau rose by almost a fifth last year to 1,840, and more than 70 percent of those were related to the gaming industry, according to Macau's financial intelligence office.

Li, who sits on the Chinese Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was appointed deputy director of the Macau liaison office in December, and political analysts expect him to be China's main representative later this year when the current chief is due to retire.

Having won plaudits for his firm handling of elections and electoral reform in Hong Kong as deputy director, Li has been quoted by local media as saying anti-corruption efforts are in line with a broader effort and one of new Chinese President Xi Jinping's priorities: To tackle graft and the illicit outflow of funds, rather than a crackdown on Macau's gaming industry.

Located on the tip of China's southern coast, Macau is the only place in China where casinos are legal, and more than two-thirds of its visitors come from the mainland. Each month, gaming rakes in more than half of Las Vegas' annual revenue of $6.2 billion.

"China's government is always focusing and concentrating on Macau's development," said a representative of the liaison office, which works from a recently renovated building that towers above the gaudy casinos and ubiquitous pawn shops, in response to a question on whether the government was increasing its attention on Macau.

After the release of notorious mobster Wan "Broken Tooth" Kuok-koi in December, representatives from the liaison office informed casino operators that if they faced any trouble they should go directly to them. Under Portuguese control, VIP junket operators like Wan tended to take matters into their own hands, resulting in frequent and bloody violence in the 1990s.

Macau junkets are companies or individuals authorized to issue credit to gamblers and settle any subsequent debts. The biggest junket firms run multi-billion dollar operations. Alvin Chau, founder of one of the leading operators Suncity Group, was this year selected as a member of China's Guangdong provincial committee, elevating his political credentials.

Macau's first junket association was created on the eve of "Broken Tooth's" release, with operators, liaison office representatives and local regulators attending a lavish dinner at Las Vegas Sands Corp's new resort. Photos and videos of the dinner posted online show junket operators taking oaths, raising their right hand and reading from a small piece of white paper in the other.

"The association will strive to work together to keep society stable and the economy flourishing and transform Macau into an international city," the Apple Daily quoted the association's president Guo Zhizhong as saying.

Deborah Ng, director of Macau's financial intelligence office, has said that casino operators have adequate controls in place to detect if government officials or high-ranking politicians are gambling.

"I think there's improvement. I can't say what we have done now will totally prevent the risk, but actually we can see that things are improving," Ms. Ng said.


Private spacecraft fires
its rocket for first time


A six-passenger spaceship owned by an offshoot of Virgin Group fired its rocket engine in flight for the first time Monday, a key step toward the start of commercial service in about a year, Virgin owner Richard Branson said.
      
The powered test flight over California's Mojave Desert lasted 16 seconds and broke the sound barrier.
      
"It was stunning,'' Branson said. "You could see it very, very clearly. Putting the rocket and the spaceship together and seeing it perform safely, it was a critical day.''
      
The spaceship and its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port at 1400 GMT, heading to an altitude of about 14 kilometers, where SpaceShipTwo was released.
      
Two pilots then ignited the ship's rocket engine and climbed another 3 kilometers, reaching Mach 1.2 in the process. Additional test flights are planned before the spaceship will fly even faster, eventually reaching altitudes that exceed 100 kilometers.
      
"Going from Mach 1 to Mach 4 is relatively easy, but obviously we've still got to do it. I think that the big, difficult milestones are all behind us,'' Branson said.
      
Virgin Galactic is selling rides aboard SpaceShipTwo for $200,000 per person. More than 500 people have put down deposits.
      
Branson and his grown children plan to be the first non-test pilots to ride in the spacecraft, about a year from now.
      
SpaceShipTwo is based on a three-person prototype called SpaceShipOne, which in October 2004 clinched the $10 million Ansari X Prize for the first privately funded human spaceflights. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen bankrolled SpaceShipOne's development, estimated at $25 million.
      
So far, Virgin Galactic and partner Aabar Investments PJC of Abu Dhabi have spent about $500 million developing SpaceShipTwo, and expect to sink in another $100 million before commercial service starts, Branson said.
      
The company plans to build four more spaceships and several WhiteKnight carrier jets, which also will be used for a satellite-launching business.
      
In addition to flying passengers, Virgin Galactic is marketing SpaceShipTwo to research organizations, including NASA, to fly experiments, with or without scientists.
      
Other companies planning to offer suborbital space flight service include privately owned XCOR Aerospace, which expects to begin test flights of its two-person Lynx rocket plane this year.

Movie tracks rural ethics
in the heartlands of U.S.


Filmmaker Ramin Bahrani and actor Dennis Quaid join forces in the new drama, "At Any Price," which explores the survival of a rural American family amidst today’s farming giants and seed monopolies.

Iowa farmer Henry Whipple knows what’s at stake and will stop at nothing to expand his holdings.

Henry’s ruthlessness does not win friends. But as the title implies, the story is about economic survival, whatever the cost.

Filmmaker Bahrani, the son of Iranian immigrants, sees America as a dynamic country of immigrants that re-invents itself to grow. His film reflects the idea that growth can come from strife.

“The heartland is not this romantic vision of yokels and overalls," he said. "These are very sharp shrewd men with telephones that are checking commodities, prices, and if by chance there is political instability in China, they would quickly shift what they are doing.”

Quaid offers a multilayered performance as Henry, a man who has lost his way. His relationship with his son is crumbling and his marriage is on the rocks.

“He has this vision of the way things used to be and, in his mind, the romantic vision of the family farm," Quaid said. "But the pressures of this big business have caused him to go into some corrupt practices. He presents this confident exterior to the world but he’s hiding the way he feels inside. He feels that he’s losing his soul.”

Henry survives the scrutiny of a corporation that suspects he is reselling their patented seeds.

“In the end of the film, Henry has gotten everything that he wants, which he wanted to have," Quaid said, "but at the same time there is a haunting that’s there.”

"At Any Price" uses a rural setting to address the human condition.

Toros dominated in defense and in moving the ball.

Toros dominate Bulldogs
to take the championship

By Cody L Gear
Special to A.M. Costa Rica