Mother Earth

As more of the half-truths, deceptions and hypocrisy continue to be exposed surrounding the "Global Warming Scam", there is a danger of overreaction.

Some of us have become so outraged at the Fear-based "Sky is Falling-give-us-your-money-so-we-can-fix-it-because-we-are-scientists" speeches that were fed to us about Greenhouse Gasses, Rising Planet Temps, Receding Arctic Ice and Polar Bear Extinction, that we throw up our hands in disgust when the truth is exposed.

Ironically, it was trusted, learned men who fudged data and attempted cover-ups that became embarrassingly public.  Do we therefore assume that our Planet must be healthy enough so that we, as Earth's Caretakers are no longer needed? Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Although Man as a species may not be killing the planet in the dramatic, fear based ways some doomsday experts would like us to believe, we are changing and destroying ecosystems that give us Life in many ways.  In Costa Rica a man named Henry Kantrowitz sees Earth as a living Mother that we have been given the responsibility of protecting.

As a Naturalist, Henry lives his life within the philosophy he cherishes but restrains from self righteous rants even to "rant deserving" people he sees killing creatures he loves.  Read his open letter below to see how Henry Kantrowitz does battle for people's minds in the war we must all win.


"Ancient Mother Earth,
We don't own her, we are a part of her. Her pulse can be watched as the waves approach the shore. Each wave is a sign she is still alive. We see the beauty in her life blood which is precious to her and to us. Water keeps us both alive. After all she is called the water planet. Her arteries keep flowing over much of her body. We need them as much as she does. 

Without her arteries (our rivers) we can't continue nor can she.
As she continues to develop she needs to stretch and exercise her tremendous muscles frequently. We get scared but she really isn't purposely trying to hurt us with her tremors. She needs to do this to grow and change, just like we need to grow and change as we get older and hopefully more evolved. I think she is trying to tell us we need to grow and change with her not conquer her.

We take her for granted and think she is stronger than she really appears. She seems to have survived every crisis so far. She has adapted well for her age and continues to go strong, or is she?
I have noticed over time her health is degenerating. Her arteries are getting more and more clogged; So clogged, that we can't drink her life giving blood without a purifier. 

She has become clogged in every one of her major arteries throughout her body, with huge formations of cholesterol and plaque (our garbage and pollutants).
Her massive lungs, our forests, are being reduced at a phenomenal rate and are taking on so much work that she has a hard time breathing, as so do we in our cities. Her cilia hairs (forest trees) are being cut down and are dying from air pollution.
 
Mother Earth has yet another problem; she has a fever that is on the slow rise. This too is an indicator that she is not feeling so well. Her cooling system is beginning to deteriorate. Huge chunks of her structure are breaking off and melting away. Even her aura ( the ozone layer) comes and goes in some areas. We now witness huge gaps of her aura causing large parts of her immune system to break apart. As a result excessive ultra violet light waves penetrate our system which injures our fellow inhabitants (plants and animals) and our own skin and eyes as well.  we need to learn not to cause such problems in the first place.
 
Mother Earth has taken care of us since our beginning. Now that we have grown up, shouldn't we take some responsibility and take care of her? Here are several life changes that can help save her and us, so we can all live happily ever after.
 
Conserve her life blood (water) don't waste it or pollute it, use biodegradable detergents and cleaners.
Practice the Three R's, Recycle, Buy Returnable bottles, Reuse plastic water bottles and resealable plastic bags
Don't buy products overly wrapped with plastic and/or Styrofoam.
Don't use aluminum wrap. Much aluminum is mined in the tropics and causes catastrophic pollution in the rivers that flow through the rain forests.
 
Mother Nature would prefer if you would eat organic foods and drink shade grown/organic coffee to keep her arteries clean from pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers. You and I will be healthier and so will she.
Help stop air pollution, get out and walk or bicycle instead of hopping in your pollution producing car, it's good for Mother Nature and the air you breath too.

We all need to take responsibility to care for Mother Nature and to pass on her good health to the next generation. Place this letter on your refrigerator, which I hope is energy efficient, to remind you daily how you can make a difference."
Henry Kantrowitz
Interpretive Naturalist
Conservationist

Fess Parker died this week. He was 85 years old. The growing number of U.S. expats in Costa Rica may recall a little of the Fess Parker phenomenon of their childhood. His legacy will forever be based on his T.V. portrayal of a real life American hero, Daniel Boone.

Could Fess Parker have ever known how many millions of little boys, including me and my brother, all across the U.S. in the magic years that were the 1950s, would forever carry his 6 foot 6 inch tall image in their dreams and childhood memories along with coonskin hats, flintlock rifles and rubber bowie knives?

It’s a mixed blessing for an actor, to be cast in such a perfect role because who would want to hire Daniel Boone for anything else? We knew that he wasn’t real but what we saw every week inside that Glade polished furniture-sized box sitting in our living rooms became synthesized into our essence---helped make us internally, what we grew up to be.

The timing of the 1950s television heroes, like Davy Crockett was perfect---no home computers, video games or cable T.V.---nothing to distract from the world of good guys and bad, right and wrong, good and evil. We had many to choose from; The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Bat Masterson, The Rifleman, Maverick, Paladin, Cheyenne, The Swamp Fox, Zorro, Mighty Mouse, Superman, Hopalong Cassidy, James T. West and Wyatt Earp and others.

The Daniel Boone series was a Walt Disney produced show so it was Fess Parker, dressed in buckskin and coonskin cap, riding a tall horse, who led the Disneyland opening day parade July 17th, 1955 in temperatures over a “Global Warming” 100 degrees.

Along with his T.V. sidekick Buddy Ebsen, the pair performed a production of “Old Betsy” in front of ABC cameras that were covering the event live at “the happiest place on earth”. Here’s a link to see the actual singing and dancing live number (bonus points if you know who the man in the white suit is-FYI, he'll be 98 years old on July 17th) ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvKV37VbJYk 

For me, the Fess Parker/Daniel Boone primary experience led to hours of wonderful adventure stories of Hawkeye, the skilled “Native American” who could move through a forest without a sound, never leaving a trace, in the Leatherstocking series of books by James Fenimore Cooper.

Many years later, we even tasted some of Parker's own estate bottled wine at his beautiful vineyards in Central California one unforgettable afternoon. We didn’t see Daniel Boone that day but we spotted his coonskin cap embossed in gold on every bottle.
Rest in Peace Fess Parker.

Joan Rivers-Hostage In Costa Rica

The veteran (no, I did not say Battle-axe) U.S. comedienne, Joan Rivers was denied her seat on a New York bound Continental flight in Costa Rica this week 

After successfully passing through numerous security checkpoints, a discrepancy was noticed at the final gate before boarding the plane.  Someone had mistakenly typed in a wrong first name on her ticket/boarding pass. 

The 76 year old Rivers and her $645 designer shoes were now all alone in the middle of Central America, with little money, speaking no Spanish and no one knowing who she was. 

Fortunately for her, Rivers happened to be stuck in one of the most friendly, caring, beautiful countries in the world.                                        

The saga of Joan Rivers in Costa Rica can be a great learning tool for anyone planning a visit to the Land of Pura Vida.  http://bit.ly/kH8Q1

What Is It?

If you live in a place other than Costa Rica, you might not know what this is. 

Hint:  Not all of them are in this condition and sometimes their purpose is just as efficiently served by a tree or telephone pole or a particularly located piece of ground. 

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS MOVIES 2009

1) "The Bishop's Wife" (1947)-Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven plus so many more veteran actors fill the screen.

Cary Grant is an Angel sent down in response to a prayer from the Bishop (Niven) for help in raising funds for a new cathedral.

The Bishop gets more help than he bargained for however, as the Angel becomes entwined in his work on the cathedral and his family situation.

2) "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947)-What was it about this year that gave birth to such a pair of Christmas Gems?
This movie stars Maureen O'Hara, Natalie Wood, John Payne and Kris Kringle himself, Edmund Gwenn.  When a nice old man keeps insisting that he's Santa Claus, he gets thrown in an insane asylum.

A young lawyer (Payne) risks his career and love interest (O'Hara) to defend Kris in a court case that grabs the attention of the whole country.

3) "Elf"- Stars Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart and Edward Asner.  This movie continues its staying power every year.

It can now be safely stated that Elf has joined the ranks of genuine Christmas Classics.  Buddy the Elf (Ferrell) is a very tall human raised by Papa Elf (Newhart) at the North Pole from an infant after he crawled into Santa's (Asner) Magical Sack of Toys on a Christmas Eve toy run.

Since he doesn't really fit in (literally), Buddy is sent to New York city on a mission to find his real father (Caan), and the adventure begins.

These are 3 of the 10 Holiday movies on the Jacosun Classic Christmas Movie list.

As a bonus, links are provided to seldom seen, sometimes bizarre, Christmas T.V. Specials which aired in some cases only one time;  like "The Star Wars Holiday Special" from 1978 or "Santa Clause Conquers the Martians" from 1964 which is so horrible that it has become a Cult Classic and made it as #10 on our Best list.

To read about and actually experience The Most Entertaining Christmas Movie Classics of all time, go to Jacosun.com.

Killing Lily's Apple

Good news---If you bring your laptop to Jaco Beach, the airport security guards won't shoot it full of holes!

An increasing number of Costa Rica visitors bring their computers along on their vacations, finding WiFi signals abundant in most population centers.

Airport security here is used to seeing them and properly inspects the electronic devices with nary a shot fired, so far.

An American student, Lily Sussman was not so fortunate when traveling across the Egyptian/Israeli border.

Her Apple Macbook became a perforated paperweight when some kind of "misunderstanding" occurred as she was told, "I'm sorry, but we had to blow up your laptop".
Read more in jacosun.com.

OBAMA'S SIGNAL

The strange spiral lights seen above the Oslo, Norway sky this week may eventually be displayed over the Vulcan Poas, here in Costa Rica, if Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continues his military buildup countering the threat he perceives from the strengthening Columbian/U.S. BFF relationship.

The strange spiral lights in the Norwegian night sky were first thought to be a natural phenomenon, perhaps some speculated, a positive celestial sign of approval to accentuate the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Barack Obama. The actual reason for the lights, however do send the world a message---a message of darkness, evil and violence. As it turns out, the beautiful glowing spiral was caused by a failed missile launch by our old friends from Russia.

Ironically, this attempted show of military might comes just after President Obama canceled the George Bush era Central European missile shield last November. This no doubt sent the now independent former Soviet bloc countries into serious flashbacks of Russian tanks and brigades of AK-47 wielding soldiers crushing their world with an iron fist.

So, as a message to the world, to the Russian home audience and directly to the silver tongued Chicago Political Organizer in his moment of international recognition, the Bat Signal was sent into the sky, alerting the world that Russia is now engaged in reclaiming their Yard Bully Status.

The bitter fruits of a weak leader are already sprouting from the kumbaya seeds that were planted with good intent by a man who wants “us all to just get along” and whose enemies are of the domestic type like Insurance companies, the U.S. military, big business and Republicans.