Page 4 January 1, 2015 Movie Studio’s Initial The Optimism of the Young Decision was Wrong By Gerry Chong The bouncing baby New Year stood preening before the mirror, hiking up his diapers, slicking back his hair, and straightening the sash across his body that read “2015.” With a bounce he high-stepped into the room, passing an old and disheveled ’14 on his way out. “Man, this is a tough gig, little guy. Hope you’ve got what it takes to make it through to the end.” “No problem, old man, I got a sense of humor that will take me through anything, so I’m stronger than you. Fr’instance, I’ve gotta laugh when ‘Moonbeam Brown’ nominated three members to serve on the California Supreme Court. Their role, of course, is to interpret our Constitution. Only problem is, none of the three has served a single day as a judge! They’re Washington D.C.-based law professors! So it’s kinda like asking a baseball coach to play in the Major Leagues. So you see, old man, you’ve just gotta laugh. “Or how about this one: and you can really blame Bush. A Gitmo releasee, Ibrahim al-Rubaysh, a Saudi, is now a senior leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, so the U.S. would kinda like to get him back. Obama is offering $5 million to recapture a guy we already had in our prison. “See, old man, yuk it up. It’s good for your soul. Not had enough examples? Try this one: Obama has nominated Alyssa Starzak to be General Counsel to the Army. Only problem is that Intelligence officials have accused her of stealing CIA confidential files. Apparently, Ms. Starzak Venus Express Goes Gently into the Night Based on a press release from the European Space Agency, provided by Bob Eklund The European Space Agency’s Venus Express has ended its eight-year mission after far exceeding its planned life. The spacecraft exhausted its propellant during a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit following the low-altitude aerobraking earlier this year. Since its arrival at Venus in 2006, Venus Express had been on an elliptical 24-hour orbit, traveling 66,000 km above the south pole at its furthest point and to within 200 km over the north pole on its closest approach, conducting a detailed study of the planet and its atmosphere. However, after eight years in orbit and with By Cristian Vasquez Being in the media makes it natural that I would be inclined to refuse any form of censorship. For several weeks now Sony studios has been harshly criticized for canceling the release of its movie “The Interview” due to threat made by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. While executives at Sony studios have since change their stance and agreed to a limited release of the film, their initial reaction was very disappointing and embarrassing. For starters, it is bad enough when an American entity tries to censor our airwaves but to allow an outside source to silence us is insulting. Let’s not forget that in the Post- Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl circus, many television and radio executives took it upon themselves to self-censor, with some influence by the FCC. We are 10 years removed from that absurd incident and it seems that we haven’t completely shaken off the tendency to micromanage all content for fear of complaints. So to have a major movie studio consider not releasing a movie because someone in another country is upset is absolutely absurd. I will admit that any type of terrorist threat, not matter how small or insignificant we might personally consider it, should be taken serious. However, terrorists thrive on people’s fear and if we fold to all of their demands, it is my opinion that we make ourselves more vulnerable to the entity making the threat. Furthermore, we make ourselves vulnerable to any other terror group paying attention. Lastly, and not to sound arrogant but I am not afraid of North Korea’s threats. Granted, I am no expert on National Security but to borrow from and old expression, I do believe that their leader is all bark and no bite. I’m not implying the man isn’t unstable enough to try something but it’s not enough to worry me. For anyone who would stay away from a theater because of the threat, that is okay. I can respect their personal decision to err on the side of caution. Maybe I’m still immature but North Korea’s threat wouldn’t keep me from going anywhere in the United States. Yet, to have a movie studio entertain the idea of holding out is discouraging. There might be more to the initial reaction than just fear, but if that is the case, then say so. To be honest, I probably wasn’t going to line up on Christmas Day to watch this movie. I have other plans; spend time with family, eat with an absolute lack of self control and then ask my mom to help make my stomach feel better. Yet, the fact that it isn’t an option because of fear is absurd. I can’t sit here and pretend that everyone has a good sense of humor so I am sure that the North Korean dictator wasn’t flattered at the premise of the movie. Still, leaders around the world are constantly mocked and they deal with it because it is the nature of life. If President Obama, or President Bush before him were upset every time they were made fun of in the media, they wouldn’t have made past their first term (SNL has at least one skit mocking the sitting president every week). So as the Christmas break comes to an end, finally we can all decide what to do, where to go and what to watch. I for one will take the advice of President George Bush and take my family and enjoy life the way we want it to be and that means free of fear. If I refrain from watching “The Interview” it will be because I have something better to do. • lifted a copy of the confidential Panetta Report which described U.S. handling of detainees. Shamee, shamee, Ms. Starzak. “Look out! Here comes a politically incorrect knee slapper. Circulating around the internet is the White Trash response to ‘Hands Up- Don’t Shoot.’ The Tea Baggers are responding, ‘Pants Up- Don’t Loot.’ “OK, OK,” said the brash ‘15, “I’m the new kid on the block so I don’t know when to stop the racist stuff. Don’t throw bottles at me yet. Give me a few months to learn the ropes and I promise not to do that again. But don’t squelch my sense of humor. Let me run one last hilarity (no, not Hillary) by you. “Apparently there has been a flood of signups for Medicaid, which is good. But the he high level of government reimbursements to Medicaid doctors ran from 2013 through 2014, and will end by the time ’15 takes his throne. Steve Zukerman of the Urban Institute says doctor reimbursements in 2015 will fall by an average of 43% across the country, but in California, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania it will fall by 50% or more. “Moreover, the Administration has told the Supreme Court that doctors do not have the right to challenge the adequacy of their reimbursements. Wheeeee, this is more darned fun!” So with a bow, ’15 explained to ’14 that he just lacked the appreciation of humor as the prism through which to view history. Hooray for the optimism of the young. * Looking Up Artist’s representation of Venus Express as it orbits Venus during June and July 2015. The Venus Express will exhibit its “aerobrake” maneuver, which will reduce its viewing altitude from 200 to 130km. Credit: European Space Agency – C. Carreau. propellant for its propulsion system running low, Venus Express was tasked in mid-2014 with a daring aerobraking campaign, during which it dipped progressively lower into the atmosphere on its closest approaches to the planet. Normally, the spacecraft would perform routine thruster burns to ensure that it did not come too close to Venus and risk being lost in the atmosphere. But this unique adventure was aimed at achieving the opposite, namely reducing the altitude and allowing an exploration of previously uncharted regions of the atmosphere. “During its mission at Venus, the spacecraft provided a comprehensive study of the planet’s ionosphere and atmosphere, and has enabled us to draw important conclusions about its surface,” says Håkan Svedhem, ESA’s Ve n u s Express project scientist. Venus has a surface temperature of over 450°C, far hotter than a normal kitchen oven, and its atmosphere is an extremely dense, choking mixture of noxious gases. One highlight from the mission is the tantalizing hint that the planet may well be still geologically active today. One study found numerous lava flows that must have been created no more than 2.5 million years ago— just yesterday on geological timescales—and possibly even much less than that. Indeed, measurements of sulfur dioxide in the upper atmosphere have shown large variations over the course of the mission. Although peculiarities in the atmospheric circulation may produce a similar result, it is the most convincing argument to date of active volcanism. Even though the conditions on the surface of Venus are extremely inhospitable today, a survey of the amount of hydrogen and deuterium in the atmosphere suggests that Venus once had a lot of water in the atmosphere, which is now mostly gone, and possibly even oceans of water like the Earth. Studies of the planet’s ‘super-rotating’ atmosphere—it whips around the planet in only four Earth-days, much faster than the 243 days the planet takes to complete one rotation about its axis—also turned up some intriguing surprises. When studying the winds, by tracking clouds in images, average wind speeds were found to have increased from roughly 300 km/h to 400 km/h over a period of six Earth years. At the same time, a separate study found that the rotation of the planet had slowed by 6.5 minutes since NASA’s Magellan measured it before completing its five-year mission at Venus 20 years ago. However, it remains unknown if there is a direct relationship between the increasing wind speeds and the slowing rotation. How to see Venus: Venus is just coming back into view in our evening sky, after spending several months as a “morning star.” It first became visible soon after sunset in mid-December, just 4 degrees above the southwest horizon, and is steadily gaining elevation each night. By January 6, it will be 9 degrees above the horizon in mid-twilight. And you can continue to enjoy Venus as an “evening star” in the western sky for the next several months. • WE CAN SELL YOUR ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES FOR YOU ON eBay NOW is the Season to SHARE Bring any unwrapped gift, gift card or nonperishable food item to Studio Antiques and it will be donated to C.A.S.E. for our neighbors who need help this season. 337 Richmond St El Segundo 310-322-3895 9-5:30 studioantiques.com
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