Masks

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's giant Popocatepetl volcano may generate lava flows, explosions of "growing intensity" and ash that could reach miles away, the National Center for Disaster Prevention said Monday. Officials were preparing evacuation routes and shelters for thousands of people who live in the shadow of Popocatepetl, located 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. Officials have created a 7.5-mile restricted zone around the cone of the volcano. Popo, as the volcano is known, has displayed a "notable increase in activity levels" in the last few days, including tremors and explosive eruptions, according to a statement from the federal government.

Re "French auction defies tribe," April 13 In reporting on the travesty of the French auction of objects sacred to the Hopi people, whose masks embody ancestors, why would The Times tell readers that the Hopi tribe keeps them "out of public view and consider it sacrilegious even for pictures of the objects to be shown," and then publish photographs of four of the masks to accompany the article? How do you justify your disrespect? Allen F. Roberts Los Angeles ALSO: Letters: Picking up after the slobs Letters: Tragedy won't stop Boston Letters: What ails the Republican Party

Re "French auction defies tribe," April 13 In reporting on the travesty of the French auction of objects sacred to the Hopi people, whose masks embody ancestors, why would The Times tell readers that the Hopi tribe keeps them "out of public view and consider it sacrilegious even for pictures of the objects to be shown," and then publish photographs of four of the masks to accompany the article? How do you justify your disrespect? Allen F. Roberts Los Angeles ALSO: Letters: Picking up after the slobs Letters: Tragedy won't stop Boston Letters: What ails the Republican Party

This post has been corrected. See below for details. The gavel came down on 70 sacred Hopi Indian masks at the Drouot auction house in Paris on Friday, generating $1.2 million for the owners and auctioneers - and anger and emotional cries from protesters who said it was a sacrilege that violated tribal rights and the Hopi religion. The Associated Press reported that the auction proceeded after a French court rejected requests from the Hopi tribe and U.S. government to stop the sale; in its ruling, the court said that U.S. laws governing the sale of Native American religious objects are not applicable in France.

With the presidential election so close to Halloween every four years, it's no wonder we start conflating them. One retailer with what is said to be a sound predictor track record -- retail sales equal electoral votes -- reports that President Obama masks are outselling Mitt Romney masks, both priced at $19.99. (Although why were Obama masks originally $24.99 and Romney masks only $21.99?) A president is almost always more recognizable than the challenger, which may account for part of this.

AMC Theatres, the nation's second-largest cinema chain, is forbidding patrons to wear costumes deemed offensive or wear face-covering masks in the wake of the shooting in Colorado at a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises. " "We will not allow any guests into our theaters in costumes that make other guests feel uncomfortable, and we will not permit face-covering masks or fake weapons inside our buildings," AMC said in a statement after a shooting rampage early Friday at a theater in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead and nearly 60 wounded.

Chris Rainier's photographs of New Guineans in the exhibition " Where Masks Still Dance " are among the most striking portraits of a distant corner of the world you'll see for a long time. The traditional face-painting is intricate and haunting, and even more prosaic shots of locals hunting, worshiping and enjoying family life are both uncanny yet reveal a universal humanity. Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. Opens Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $12. www.bowers.org.

PARIS -- Dozens of Native American masks were sold at auction Friday despite objections by the Hopi tribe, which considers the items sacred, and the U.S. government. The 70 masks sold for a total of about $1.2 million after a French court approved the auction, rejecting arguments by the Hopi tribe and its supporters that the items should not be up for sale because they are “sacred figures” of their ancestors, not art. A mask called “Mother Crow” sold for about $209,000.

Whether you see them as dangerous techno-pranksters or the new (masked) face of social protest, the Internet collective called Anonymous are undeniably game-changers. The documentary "We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists" is Brian Knappenberger's sympathetic (as in, mostly unchallenged) peek inside the cyber-disturbance group that in 2008 famously took on Scientology as a first shot across the global bow, hit the websites of PayPal, Visa and Mastercard when they cut off financial lifelines to Wikileaks, and gave communications aid to the Arab Spring.

Have the industries which use hydrofluoric acid considered the cost-effectiveness of issuing gas masks to everyone within five miles of their facilities? This, along with a warning system like the civil defense system of the '50s, could be achieved quickly and would allow all of us in the area to breathe easier. JOHN HUNTLEY Torrance

PARIS -- Dozens of Native American masks were sold at auction Friday despite objections by the Hopi tribe, which considers the items sacred, and the U.S. government. The 70 masks sold for a total of about $1.2 million after a French court approved the auction, rejecting arguments by the Hopi tribe and its supporters that the items should not be up for sale because they are “sacred figures” of their ancestors, not art. A mask called “Mother Crow” sold for about $209,000.

BEIJING -- The local media have given it a name: "Beijing Ke," or the Beijing Cough, defined by the China Daily as "a bout of persistent dry cough or throat tickle because of Beijing's poor air quality. " Earlier this year, the local air-quality reading was so bad that citizens were warned to stay in doors for days on end. The international media called it the "Airpocolypse. " For Beijing's 20 million residents, pollution has become a way of life. Even on the relatively good air-quality days, such as the ones that cold winds have brought here this week, locals take precautions.

Like the offset eyes on a Picasso portrait, the volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io seem to be strangely shifted, according to a study by NASA and ESA scientists. Io's clustered volcanoes seem to be lying 30 to 60 degrees eastward of where they were expected, according to a paper published this year in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The study could shed light on the internal dynamics of Jupiter's volcano-pocked moon. Io's internal heat comes from the kneading it gets from Jupiter and its fellow moons.

Various colored rolls of masking tape are great for entertaining children on long flights or drives. It sticks to most surfaces but doesn't hurt them, and it can be used for everything from tick-tack-toe to tape drawings and sculptures. Betsy Hooper San Gabriel Write an email every day to someone back home and CC yourself. It's a much better way to create a journal. Get your children to do it too. Kathleen Milnes Pacific Palisades Keep a duplicate set of phone chargers in your carry-on bag. Karen Kovach Newport Beach Take pajamas for a long international flight.

The Batman mask worn by George Clooney , the slinky Catwoman suit worn by Halle Berry and other Hollywood film items will be donated to a Smithsonian museum on Friday (today). In an afternoon ceremony in Washington, D.C. , Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer is scheduled to turn over more than 30 artifacts from 13 of his studio's films to the National Museum of American History . The pieces are dominated by superheroes but draw on a little of the studio's past, too. Among the items being donated to the Smithsonian are the overcoat worn by Bette Davis in "Now, Voyager" (1942)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Katherine Webb were hanging out poolside the other day, you know, just waiting for their turns on the high dive. Naturally, the Lakers legend was wearing a Darth Vader mask and ... Huh? You mean there's something unusual about the NBA's all-time leading scorer dressed like a "Star Wars" character spending time at the pool with a beauty queen/Sports Illustrated swimsuit model/"Inside Edition" Super Bowl correspondent/girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron?

On Halloween night Valley businesses will implement a new rule: No masks after 9 p.m. Business leaders, community activists and police have agreed to prohibit anyone who is wearing a mask from entering businesses after 9 p.m. The rule stems from concern that masked patrons or trick-or-treaters might be robbers. Police say they usually beef up patrols on Halloween, and would welcome any additional precautions. "You have people walking around with their identity masked," said Lt.

Far from the Persian Gulf and the threat of chemical weapons, demand for gas masks is booming, a local merchant said Thursday. "We're out of stock," said Nana Goldberg of the Original I. Goldberg Army & Navy Store in downtown Philadelphia. Goldberg said demand for the masks had been strong since Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait and accelerated with the passing of Tuesday's deadline for Iraqi withdrawal.

BEIJING - Bad air is good news for many Chinese entrepreneurs. From gigantic domes that keep out pollution to face masks with fancy fiber filters, purifiers and even canned air, Chinese businesses are trying to find a way to market that most elusive commodity: clean air. An unprecedented wave of pollution throughout China (dubbed the "airpocalypse" or "airmageddon" by headline writers) has spawned an almost entirely new industry. The biggest ticket item is a huge dome that looks like a cross between the Biosphere and an overgrown wedding tent.

WASHINGTON - When Republicans in Congress say they are willing to put tax revenues on the table in budget talks with President Obama, that offer obscures a divide within their ranks that could thwart a year-end fiscal compromise. Most Republicans are willing to limit popular income tax deductions as part of a tax overhaul that also lowers rates - a combination they believe will spur economic growth and eventually produce more revenue. But some are less enthusiastic about simply capping those deductions alone, even on upper-income households as Obama prefers, which would create immediate revenue that can be applied to a broad deficit-reduction package.