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|Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A nearly five-decade long conflict between government forces and anti-government insurgent groups, principally the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) heavily funded by the drug trade, escalated during the 1990s. More than 31,000 former paramilitaries had demobilized by the end of 2006 and the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia as a formal organization had ceased to function. In the wake of the paramilitary demobilization, emerging criminal groups arose, whose members include some former paramilitaries. The insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government, but continue attacks against civilians. Large areas of the countryside are under guerrilla influence or are contested by security forces. In October 2012, the Colombian Government started formal peace negotiations with the FARC aimed at reaching a definitive bilateral ceasefire and incorporating demobilized FARC members into mainstream society and politics. The Colombian Government has stepped up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, and now has a presence in every one of its administrative departments. Despite decades of internal conflict and drug related security challenges, Colombia maintains relatively strong democratic institutions characterized by peaceful, transparent elections and the protection of civil liberties.
Only South American country with coastlines on both the North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea
|Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama
|Geographic coordinates:
|total: 1,138,910 sq km
land: 1,038,700 sq km
water: 100,210 sq kmnote: includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, and Serrana BankSize comparison: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
|Land Boundaries:
|total: 6,309 km
border countries: Brazil 1,644 km, Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,800 km, Venezuela 2,050 km
|3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km)
|Maritime claims:
|territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
|tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands
|flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains (Llanos)
|Elevation extremes:
|lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico Cristobal Colon 5,775 m note: nearby Pico Simon Bolivar also has the same elevation
|Natural resources:
|petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower
|Land use:
|arable land: 1.84%
permanent crops: 1.66%
other: 96.5% (2011)
|Irrigated land:
|10,870 sq km (2011)
|Natural hazards:
|highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts volcanism: Galeras (elev. 4,276 m) is one of Colombia's most active volcanoes, having erupted in 2009 and 2010 causing major evacuations; it has been deemed a "Decade Volcano" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Nevado del Ruiz (elev. 5,321 m), 129 km (80 mi) west of Bogota, erupted in 1985 producing lahars that killed 23,000 people; the volcano last erupted in 1991; additionally, after 500 years of dormancy, Nevado del Huila reawakened in 2007 and has experienced frequent eruptions since then; other historically active volcanoes include Cumbal, Dona Juana, Nevado del Tolima, and Purace
|Current Environment Issues:
|deforestation; soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions
|International Environment Agreements:
|party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
|^Back to Top
|noun: Colombian(s)
adjective: Colombian
|Ethnic groups:
|mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1%
|Spanish (official)
|Roman Catholic 90%, other 10%
|45,745,783 (July 2013 est.)
|Age structure:
|0-14 years: 25.8% (male 6,032,725/female 5,755,437)
15-24 years: 18.2% (male 4,241,621/female 4,101,552)
25-54 years: 41.5% (male 9,376,745/female 9,597,744)
55-64 years: 8% (male 1,705,451/female 1,962,606)
65 years and over: 6.5% (male 1,242,980/female 1,728,922) (2013 est.)
|Dependency ratios:
|total dependency ratio: 51.2 %
youth dependency ratio: 41.9 %
elderly dependency ratio: 9.3 %
potential support ratio: 10.7 (2013)
|Median age:
|total: 28.6 years
male: 27.6 years
female: 29.5 years (2013 est.)
|Population growth rate:
|1.1% (2013 est.)
|Birth rate:
|16.98 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)
|Death rate:
|5.33 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.)
|Net migration rate:
|-0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2013 est.)
|urban population: 75% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 1.7% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
|Major urban areas – population:
|BOGOTA (capital) 8.744 million; Medellin 3.497 million; Cali 2.352 million; Barranquilla 1.836 million; Bucaramanga 1.065 million (2011)
|Sex ratio:
|at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.86 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2013 est.)
|Mother's mean age at first birth:
|21.4 note: Median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2010 est.)
|Maternal mortality rate:
|92 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)
|Infant mortality rate:
|total: 15.46 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 18.77 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 11.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2013 est.)
|Life expectancy at birth:
|total population: 75.02 years
male: 71.82 years
female: 78.42 years (2013 est.)
|Total fertility rate:
|2.1 children born/woman (2013 est.)
|Contraceptive prevalence rate:
|79.1% (2010)
|Health expenditures:
|7.6% of GDP (2010)
|Physicians density:
|1.35 physicians/1,000 population (2002)
|Hospital bed density:
|1 beds/1,000 population (2007)
|Drinking water source:
urban: 99% of population
rural: 72% of population
total: 92% of populationunimproved:
urban: 1% of population
rural: 28% of population
total: 8% of population (2010 est.)
|Sanitation facility access:
urban: 82% of population
rural: 63% of population
total: 77% of populationunimproved:
urban: 18% of population
rural: 37% of population
total: 23% of population (2010 est.)
|HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate:
|0.5% (2009 est.)
|HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS:
|160,000 (2009 est.)
|HIV/AIDS – deaths:
|14,000 (2009 est.)
|Obesity – adult prevalence rate:
|17.3% (2008)
|Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
|3.4% (2010)
|Education expenditures:
|4.5% of GDP (2011)
|definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.6%
male: 93.5%
female: 93.7% (2011 est.)
|School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
|total: 14 years
male: 13 years
female: 14 years (2011)
|Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
|total: 23%
male: 18.2%
female: 29.9% (2008)
|^Back to Top
|Country name:
|conventional long form: Republic of Colombia
conventional short form: Colombia
local long form: Republica de Colombia
local short form: Colombia
|Government type:
|republic; executive branch dominates government structure
|name: Bogota
geographic coordinates: 4 36 N, 74 05 W
time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)
|Administrative divisions:
|32 departments (departamentos, singular – departamento) and 1 capital district* (distrito capital); Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Bogota*, Bolivar, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Guainia, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, Archipielago de San Andres, Providencia y Santa Catalina (colloquially San Andres y Providencia), Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes, Vichada
|20 July 1810 (from Spain)
|National holiday:
|Independence Day, 20 July (1810)
|5 July 1991; amended many times
|Legal system:
|civil law system influenced by the Spanish and French civil codes
|18 years of age; universal
|Executive branch:
|chief of state: President Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderon (since 7 August 2010); Vice President Angelino GARZON (since 7 August 2010); note – the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderon (since 7 August 2010); Vice President Angelino GARZON (since 7 August 2010)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president (For more information visit the World Leaders website )
elections: president and vice president elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 30 May 2010 with a runoff election 20 June 2010 (next to be held in May 2014)
election results: Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderon elected president in runoff election; percent of vote – Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderon 69.06%, Antanas MOCKUS 27.52%
|Legislative branch:
|bicameral Congress or Congreso consists of the Senate or Senado (102 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Camara de Representantes (166 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate – last held on 14 March 2010 (next to be held in March 2014); Chamber of Representatives – last held on 14 March 2010 (next to be held in March 2014)
election results: Senate – percent of vote by party – NA; seats by party – U Party 28, PC 22, PL 17, PIN 9, CR 8, PDA 8, Green Party 5, other parties 5; Chamber of Representatives – percent of vote by party – NA; seats by party – U Party 47, PC 38, PL 37, CR 15, PIN 12, PDA 4, Green Party 3, other parties 10; note – as of 1 January 2011, the Senate currently has 101 seats after one seat became vacant due to a PL senator losing his seat for illegal collusion with the FARC; the Chamber of Representatives also has one seat vacant after only 165 of the 166 candidates were credentialed
|Judicial branch:
|highest court(s): Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (consists of the Civil-Agrarian and Labor Chambers each with 7 judges, and the Penal Chamber with 9 judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 magistrates); Council of State (consists of 27 magistrates) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the Congress from candidates submitted by the president; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court magistrates – 3 nominated by the president, 3 by the Supreme Court, and 3 elected by the Senate; judges elected for individual 2-8 year terms
subordinate courts: Superior Tribunals (appellate courts for each of the judicial districts); regional courts; civil municipal courts; Superior Military Tribunal; first instance administrative courts
|Political parties and leaders:
|Alternative Democratic Pole or PDA [Clara LOPEZ] Conservative Party or PC [Efrain CEPEDA Sarabia] Green Party [Jorge LONDONO Ulloa; Enrique PENALOSA] Liberal Party or PL [Simon GAVIRIA Munoz] National Integration Party or PIN [Angel ALIRIO Moreno] Radical Change or CR [Antonio GUERRA de la Espriella] Social National Unity Party or U Party [Juan Francisco LOZANO Ramirez] note: Colombia has seven major political parties, and numerous smaller movements
|Political pressure groups and leaders:
|Central Union of Workers or CUT Colombian Confederation of Workers or CTC General Confederation of Workers or CGT National Liberation Army or ELN Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC note: FARC and ELN are the two largest insurgent groups active in Colombia
|International organization participation:
|BCIE, BIS, CAN, Caricom (observer), CD, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-3, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNSC (temporary), UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
|National symbol(s):
|Andean condor
|National anthem:
|name: "Himno Nacional de la Republica de Colombia" (National Anthem of the Republic of Colombia)
lyrics/music: Rafael NUNEZ/Oreste SINDICInote: adopted 1920; the anthem was created from an inspirational poem written by President Rafael NUNEZ
|Diplomatic representation in the US:
|chief of mission: Ambassador Carlos Alfredo URRUTIA Valenzuela
chancery: 2118 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 387-8338
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Beverly Hills (CA), Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Newark (NJ)
|Diplomatic representation from the US:
|chief of mission: Ambassador Michael MCKINLEY
embassy: Calle 24 Bis No. 48-50, Bogota, D.C.
mailing address: Carrera 45 No. 24B-27, Bogota, D.C.
telephone: [57] (1) 275-2000
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Colombia's consistently sound economic policies and aggressive promotion of free trade agreements in recent years have bolstered its ability to face external shocks. Real GDP has grown more than 4% per year for the past three years, continuing almost a decade of strong economic performance. All three major ratings agencies have upgraded Colombia's government debt to investment grade. Nevertheless, Colombia depends heavily on oil exports, making it vulnerable to a drop in oil prices. Economic development is stymied by inadequate infrastructure, weakened further by recent flooding. Moreover, the unemployment rate of 10.3% in 2012 is still one of Latin America's highest. The SANTOS Administration's foreign policy has focused on bolstering Colombia's commercial ties and boosting investment at home. The US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was ratified by the US Congress in October 2011 and implemented in 2012. Colombia has signed or is negotiating FTAs with a number of other countries, including Canada, Chile, Mexico, Switzerland, the EU, Venezuela, South Korea, Turkey, Japan, China, Costa Rica, Panama, and Israel. Foreign direct investment – notably in the oil and gas sectors – reached a record $10 billion in 2008 but dropped to $7.2 billion in 2009, before beginning to recover in 2010, and reached a record high of nearly $16 billion in 2012. Colombia is the third largest Latin American exporter of oil to the United States, and the United States' largest source of imported coal. Inequality, underemployment, and narcotrafficking remain significant challenges, and Colombia's infrastructure requires major improvements to sustain economic expansion.
|GDP (purchasing power parity):
|GDP (purchasing power parity): $511.1 billion (2012 est.) $491.5 billion (2011 est.) $460.8 billion (2010 est.)
note: data are in 2012 US dollars
|GDP (official exchange rate):
|GDP (official exchange rate): $366 billion (2012 est.)
|GDP – real growth rate:
|4% (2012 est.) 6.6% (2011 est.) 4% (2010 est.)
|GDP – per capita (PPP):
|GDP – per capita (PPP): $11,000 (2012 est.) $10,700 (2011 est.) $10,100 (2010 est.)
note: data are in 2012 US dollars
|Gross national saving:
|20.4% of GDP (2012 est.) 20.9% of GDP (2011 est.) 19.1% of GDP (2010 est.)
|GDP – composition, by end use:
|household consumption: 61.2%
government consumption: 16.5%
investment in fixed capital: 23.9%
investment in inventories: -0.4%
exports of goods and services: 18.3%
imports of goods and services: -19.5% (2012 est.)
|GDP – composition, by sector of origin:
|household consumption: 61.2%
government consumption: 16.5%
investment in fixed capital: 23.9%
investment in inventories: -0.4%
exports of goods and services: 18.3%
imports of goods and services: -19.5% (2012 est.)
|Agriculture – products:
|coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; shrimp; forest products
|textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds
|Industrial production growth rate:
|2.4% (2012 est.)
|Labor force:
|23.09 million (2012 est.)
|Labor force – by occupation:
|agriculture: 18%
industry: 13%
services: 68% (2011 est.)
|Unemployment rate:
|10.4% (2012 est.) 10.8% (2011 est.)
|Population below poverty line:
|34.1% (2011 est.)
|Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 44.4% (2010 est.)
|Distribution of family income – Gini index:
|58.5 (2011) 53.8 (1996)
|revenues: $107.6 billion
expenditures: $107.1 billion (2012 est.)
|Taxes and other revenues:
|29.4% of GDP (2012 est.)
|Public debt:
|40.6% of GDP (2012 est.) 42.9% of GDP (2011 est.)
note: data cover general government debt, and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities
|Fiscal year:
|calendar year
|Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (2012 est.) 3.4% (2011 est.)
|Current account balance:
|-$13.29 billion (2012 est.) -$9.978 billion (2011 est.)
|$59.96 billion (2012 est.) $56.68 billion (2011 est.)
|Exports – commodities:
|petroleum, coal, emeralds, coffee, nickel, cut flowers, bananas, apparel
|Exports – partners:
|US 39.4%, Spain 5.1%, China 4.9%, Netherlands 4.3% (2012)
|$53.77 billion (2012 est.) $50.52 billion (2011 est.)
|Imports – commodities:
|industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity
|Imports – partners:
|US 30.2%, China 11.5%, Mexico 10.3%, Brazil 5.2% (2012)
|Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|$37 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $31.91 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
|Debt – external:
|$82.42 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $76.92 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
|Stock of direct foreign investment – at home:
|$111.9 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $95.65 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
|Stock of direct foreign investment – abroad:
|$31.63 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $31.88 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
|Market value of publicly traded shares:
|$201.3 billion (31 December 2011) $208.5 billion (31 December 2010) $133.3 billion (31 December 2009)
|Exchange rates:
|Colombian pesos (COP) per US dollar – 1,798 (2012 est.) 1,848 (2011 est.) 1,898.6 (2010 est.) 2,157.6 (2009) 2,243.6 (2008)
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|Electricity – production:
|56.28 billion kWh (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 46
|Electricity – consumption:
|46.87 billion kWh (2010 est.)
|Electricity – exports:
|1.294 billion kWh (2011 est.)
|Electricity – imports:
|8.22 billion kWh (2011 est.)
|Electricity – installed generating capacity:
|13.54 million kW (2009 est.)
|Electricity – from fossil fuels:
|32.9% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
|Electricity – from nuclear fuels:
|0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
|Electricity – from hydroelectric plants:
|66.6% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
|Electricity – from other renewable sources:
|0.4% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
|Crude oil – production:
|944,000 bbl/day (2012 est.)
|Crude oil – exports:
|777,900 bbl/day (2009)
|Crude oil – imports:
|10 bbl/day (2011 est.)
|Crude oil – proved reserves:
|2.417 billion bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
|Refined petroleum products – production:
|316,500 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|Refined petroleum products – consumption:
|287,000 bbl/day (2011 est.)
|Refined petroleum products – exports:
|52,680 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|Refined petroleum products – imports:
|6,045 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|Natural gas – production:
|11.26 billion cu m (2010 est.)
|Natural gas – consumption:
|9.08 billion cu m (2010 est.)
|Natural gas – exports:
|2.18 billion cu m (2010 est.)
|Natural gas – imports:
|40,290 cu m (2011 est.)
|Natural gas – proved reserves:
|134.1 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)
|Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy:
|72.31 million Mt (2010 est.)
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|Telephones in use:
|7.127 million (2011)
country comparison to the world: 26
|Cellular Phones in use:
|46.2 million (2011)
|Telephone system:
|general assessment: modern system in many respects with a nationwide microwave radio relay system, a domestic satellite system with 41 earth stations, and a fiber-optic network linking 50 cities; telecommunications sector liberalized during the 1990s; multiple providers of both fixed-line and mobile-cellular services
domestic: fixed-line connections stand at about 15 per 100 persons; mobile cellular telephone subscribership is about 100 per 100 persons; competition among cellular service providers is resulting in falling local and international calling rates and contributing to the steep decline in the market share of fixed line services
international: country code – 57; multiple submarine cable systems provide links to the US, parts of the Caribbean, and Central and South America; satellite earth stations – 10 (6 Intelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 3 fully digitalized international switching centers) (2011)
|Broadcast media:
|combination of state-owned and privately owned broadcast media provide service; more than 500 radio stations and many national, regional, and local TV stations (2007)
|Internet country code:
|Internet hosts:
|4.41 million (2012)
|Internet users:
|22.538 million (2009)
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|836 (2013)
country comparison to the world: 8
|Airports (paved runways):
|total 121
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 39
914 to 1,523 m: 53
under 914 m: 18 (2013)
|Airports (unpaved runways):
|total 715
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 25
914 to 1,523 m: 201
under 914 m: 488 (2013)
|3 (2013)
|gas 4,991 km; oil 6,796 km; refined products 3,429 km (2013)
|total 874 km
standard gauge: 150 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 498 km 0.950-m gauge; 226 km 0.914-m gauge (2008)
|total 141,374 km
|24,725 km (18,300 km navigable; the most important waterway, the River Magdalena, of which 1,488 km is navigable, is dredged regularly to ensure the safe passage of cargo vessels and container barges) (2012)
|Merchant marine:
|total 12
by type: cargo 9, chemical tanker 1, petroleum tanker 2
registered in other countries: 4 (Antigua and Barbuda 1, Panama 2, Portugal 1) (2010)
|Ports and terminals:
|major seaport(s): Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean) – Cartagena, Santa Marta, Turbo; Pacific Ocean – Buenaventura
river port(s): Barranquilla (Rio Magdalena)
oil/gas terminal(s): Covenas offshore terminal dry bulk cargo port(s): Puerto Bolivar (coal)
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|Military branches:
|National Army (Ejercito Nacional), Republic of Colombia Navy (Armada Republica de Colombia, ARC, includes Naval Aviation, Naval Infantry (Infanteria de Marina, IM), and Coast Guard), Colombian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea de Colombia, FAC) (2012)
|Military service age and obligation:
|18-24 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; service obligation is 18 months (2012)
|Manpower available for military service:
|males age 16-49: 11,692,647
females age 16-49: 11,727,625 (2010 est.)
|Manpower fit for military service:
|males age 16-49: 9,150,400
females age 16-49: 9,861,760 (2010 est.)
|Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
|male: 430,634
female: 413,974 (2010 est.)
|Military expenditures:
|3.8% of GDP (2012)
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|Transnational Issues
|Disputes – International:
|in December 2007, ICJ allocated San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina islands to Colombia under 1928 Treaty but did not rule on 82 degrees W meridian as maritime boundary with Nicaragua; managed dispute with Venezuela over maritime boundary and Venezuelan-administered Los Monjes Islands near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics, guerrilla, and paramilitary activities penetrate all neighboring borders and have caused Colombian citizens to flee mostly into neighboring countries; Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica, and the US assert various claims to Bajo Nuevo and Serranilla Bank
|Refugees and internally displaced persons:
|IDPs: 3.9-5.5 million (conflict between government and illegal armed groups and drug traffickers since 1985) (2011)
stateless persons: 12 (2012)
|Illicit drugs:
|illicit producer of coca, opium poppy, and cannabis; world's leading coca cultivator with 116,000 hectares in coca cultivation in 2009, a 3% decrease over 2008, producing a potential of 270 mt of pure cocaine; the world's largest producer of coca derivatives; supplies cocaine to nearly all of the US market and the great majority of other international drug markets; in 2010, aerial eradication dispensed herbicide to treat over 101,000 hectares combined with manual eradication of 61,000 hectares; a significant portion of narcotics proceeds are either laundered or invested in Colombia through the black market peso exchange; important supplier of heroin to the US market; opium poppy cultivation is estimated to have fallen to 1,100 hectares in 2009 while pure heroin production declined to 2.1 mt; most Colombian heroin is destined for the US market (2008)
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Acerca de ORGANO™
"Todo comenzó con una extraordinaria taza de café" ORGANO™ comenzó en 2008 en Richmond, BC, Canadá, en una pequeña tienda con tan sólo tres empleados.
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Source: CIA – The World Factbook


text:
Game Of Thrones T-Shirt
Product Detail
Game Of Thrones royal printed T-shirt, has a round neck, short sleeves.
Fabric Composition: 100% Cotton
Neck: Round Neck
Fit: Regular Fit
Pattern: PrintedSize & Fit Information:
The model (height 6') is wearing a size LWash And Care
Machine WashCountry of origin
IndiaName & Address of Manufacturer
Crave Clothing Company Private Limited, 24/C, Dabhel Industrial Estate, Near Somnath Temple, Daman-396210, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, IndiaUnit of Measurement
Status Quo provides FREE shipping on orders above Rs. 500. A shipping charge of Rs. 50 is payable on orders below Rs. 500 .
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You can track your order once it has been dispatched from our warehouse. An email will be sent with a link and tracking ID.
FREE shipping on all the Returns.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Q&A: Traversi vs The Story of Two Worlds (V15)
Carlo Traversi finally found an actual "problem" in The Story of Two Worlds (V15). And the "problem" was that he couldn't send it as quickly or with the relative ease that he has grown accustomed to while trying the world's hardest boulder problems.
"It really started to get in my head," Traversi told Rock and Ice "and even as I continued to get stronger on the problem, my motivation waned. I felt like I had already climbed the problem so many times, it was getting harder to want the actual send."
Traversi's prowess when it comes to sending V15s quickly has become internationally known. In fact, just last month Traversi took a trip to Red Rocks, Nevada and dispatched the V15 arete Meadowlark Lemon in a matter of days. But The Story of Two Worlds still kept Traversi at bay.
"Punted off the easy finish of The Story of 2 Worlds today and I am definitely starting to feel the drain of such a mental battle," wrote Traversi on Facebook. "In the past I have gotten used to always being able to pull it together quickly in the clutch, especially on outdoor climbs. For some reason, this particular problem is hell bent on taking me for all that I have."
Traversi stuck with it, however, making a total of three trips to Cresciano, Switzerland, to finish off Dave Graham's testpiece, The Story of Two Worlds.
Rock and Ice caught up with Traversi to learn more about Traversi's hardest send.
How did your battle with The Story of Two World's begin?
After finishing The Dagger V13/V14 in 2010, I immediately began checking out the lower moves that comprise The Story Of Two Worlds. I managed to climb from the start of the Story into The Dagger fairly quickly, but didn't put much time into trying to finish the line that trip. It was my first trip to Switzerland and I didn't wanted to delve into any massive, time-consuming projects. However, after that trip the idea that The Story was possible for me always lingered in my head. A return was necessary.
Can you describe the problem?
The Story of Two Worlds is the low/sit start to The Dagger. It adds a 6 move V12 into The Dagger. But The Dagger is a fairly involved, long problem to begin with. So simply adding moves really takes things up a notch. The start hold situation is fairly complicated at this point. Each method has it's own story and rationale behind it. I'm not really willing to delve into that history. The important thing to me is that I climbed the boulder from where I wanted (and was originally told) to start it and this happened to be a few moves lower than where the first ascentionist [Dave Graham] started. I wanted to finish the battle from where I had always started it.
I know this problem put up a fight. What was happening? Was it mental, physical, or both?
I returned to Switzerland this past fall with the intention of finishing the problem as the temperatures cooled down in late November. I spent a day re-learning the moves and then the next day managed to fall off the finish. It then rained for the remaining 4 out of 5 days left in my trip and on the final day I fell off the finish a number of times. It was heart breaking to leave, but I accepted the failure and vowed to return when I was allowed back into Europe (Schengen only allows 3 months in, followed by 3 months out). When I returned to Swiss a few weeks ago, I set to work immediately and on the first day got close. And then I managed to fall off the last hard move for at least 4 more days. My beta was wired, my body was fit, but I was just making stupid mistakes. It really started to get in my head and even as I continued to get stronger on the problem, my motivation waned. I felt like I had already climbed the problem so many times, it was getting harder to want the actual send. Definitely one of the most difficult mental battles that I've gone through.
How did you finally break through?
I took a few rest days, healed some of the splits in my fingers that had been plaguing me, and returned fresh and ready to go. Sent first try of the day and it never felt easier. I actually made more mistakes on the send go than most of my other efforts, but I think mentally I was ready to finish it no matter what.
Is this you hardest repeat to date?
Yes. Considering the physical nature of the climbing and the mental struggle that it put me through, it definitely sits at the top of the list for now.
What's next?
There are more five star projects in Ticino than I've seen anywhere else in the world. I'm psyched on trying to finish at least a few of them before returning back to the USA next week.


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Today's News: Our Take - Singer Jenni Rivera Believed to Be Dead After Discovery of Wrecked Plane
Singer and reality star Jenni Rivera is believed to be dead after Mexican authorities found the wreckage of a missing aircraft, according to the Associated Press. Officials say there are no survivors.
Two pilots and four other passengers were also on board, Mexico's transportation ministry said in a statement.
See other celebrities we've lost this year
The plane took off from Monterrey, Mexico, at 3:15 a.m. and lost contact with air-traffic controllers about 60 miles away. The plane was scheduled to arrive in Toluca about an hour later. Rivera, 43, had a concert in the city Saturday night.
A Long Beach, Calif., native, Rivera released her debut album in 1999 and has since sold 20 million albums worldwide. The singer-songwriter, also known as Diva of the Banda, is best known for songs such as "La Gran Senora" and "De Contrabando." Rivera began starring in her own reality show, I Love Jenni, last year on Telemundo's mun2 network which was currently filming its third season. Rivera signed a deal with ABC last month to star in her own multi-camera family comedy pilot called Jenni, starring the singer as a middle-class Latina woman struggling to raise a family and run a family business.
Rivera, who filed for divorce from baseball player Esteban Loaiza in October after two years of marriage, is survived by five children.
View original Singer Jenni Rivera Believed to Be Dead After Discovery of Wrecked Plane at TVGuide.com
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There are many obstacles to ministry, and one of them is safety. The devil is often at work to bring accidents, disaster, or spiritual oppression on the minister and his family to keep him from being effective.
Please ask for God's divine protection to enable His ministers to be undistracted, and unhindered in proclaiming who He is.
Pr. 3:21b, 23-24 Keep sound wisdom and discretion...Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Lord God, You neither slumber or sleep. Your eyes are ever on Your children and You promise to give Your angels charge over them to guard and protect them. Thank you for Your watchful eye over Your servants.
I lift up
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and ask that You would guard and protect them today in all their travels. Surround them with your holy angels and guard them from accidents. I pray against any evil scheme of the enemy and ask You to strike down any such plan in the Name of Jesus. Thank You, Lord, for the promise to David in Psalm 89 that You would "crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him." May Your promised "faithfulness and lovingkindness" be with
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Color Options from Quilts and More Fall 2011
Matching Scarf Set
Web-Exclusive Pattern
Patty Young made two scarves using the fabric set provided for the Quilts and More™ Fall 2011 "Scrap Lab" challenge. Lightweight cotton shirtings allow the hand-pieced scarves to tie and drape with ease.
Initial Thoughts
Designer: Rachel Griffith of P.S. I Quilt
The writing's on the wall. Showcase strip-pieced Flying Geese and the monogram of your choice on a letter-perfect baby quilt.
Initial Thoughts Color Option
Large Flying Geese Wall Quilt
Stitch a wall quilt that will make a perfect gift for a fan of things with wheels! Combine dot and argyle prints with novelty prints from the Ready, Set, Go! collection by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman.
Make & Take
Designer: Monica Solorio-Snow of Happy Zombie
With just a few ingredients, whip up a handy carrier to tote cupcakes or casseroles to a potluck gathering
Make and Take Color Option
Casserole Carrier
Your hot dish will be something to crow about when you carry it in this spunky version of Make & Take. Project tester Kathleen Williams chose chicken and egg prints from the Metro Market collection by Ellen Krans for Robert Kaufman Fabrics to make this cheery tote.
Holiday Happenings
Designer: Monique Dillard of Open Gate Quilts
A pieced table runner in green, red, and cream sets a subtle tone for a season of festive gatherings.
Holiday Happenings Color Option
Autumn Splendor Table Runner
To capture the colors of the fall season, quilt tester Judy Sams Sohn combined two Kansas Troubles Quilters collections for this version of Holiday Happenings: Cattails & Clover for the blocks and Vine Creek for the border. Both collections are from Moda Fabrics.
Strip Ease
Designer: Bari J. Ackerman
Sew and flip fabric strips to a muslin foundation for an eclectic bag with a decidedly feminine flair.
Strip Ease Color Option
Floral Strips Bag
Project tester Mary Pepper chose the blue prints from the Persia Collection for P&B Textiles to make this version of Strip Ease. To make the bag even faster to sew, she made her version with two sew-and-flip sides (omitting the outer pocket).
Sort by Color
Designer: Lori Mason
With easy-to-make-and-use templates and careful color placement, you can create the illusion of stacked hexagons in a spectrum of hues.
Sort by Color
Fall Spice Bed Quilt
No striped fabric means you need just two templates to make this easy-to-sew version of Sort By Color. Quilt tester Karen Gilson chose autumn hues from the Chestnut & Vine collection by Faye Burgos for Marcus Fabrics for this bed-size beauty.
Motley Crew
Designer: Jennifer Schifano Eutsler
Fuse a pack of spotted hounds on an eclectic and colorful assortment of appliqué foundations.
Motley Crew Color Option
Easy Squares Quilt
If a splashy floral is more to your liking than a pack of canines, replace each appliqué block in Motley Crew with an 8-1/2" square of your favorite print. Quilt tester Mary Pepper chose multicolor plaid and black-and-white print sashing and border fabrics to complement the florals, all from the Floralicious collection by Michele D'Amore for Benartex for this simple quilt.


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'Wonder' director, author of inspiring best-selling book give a crash course in kindness
BOSTON — With her story of a fifth-grader ostracized by his classmates because of a severe facial deformity, R.J. Palacio's novel, "Wonder," swirls you up in a tsunami of emotions.
Palacio, otherwise known as Raquel Jaramillo, published the "humble little book" on Valentine's Day 2012. But her target audience wasn't the lucrative young-adult crowd. Rather, it was written for middle-school-agers as both a rallying cry against bullying and a teachable moment on celebrating differences and developing empathy.
Then the unexpected happened. The story of the boy named Auggie resonated so strongly, it made entire families weep. Parents and children were reading aloud together. Boys put down their comic books and PlayStation controls. "Wonder" seems to have made every child — and adult — that read it a better person. The book went on to become a worldwide sensation, selling more than 5 million copies in 45 languages. It sparked the #ChooseKind movement, a campaign built on the book's simple yet powerful message about tolerance and acceptance.
"Wonder" fervor continues (bring tissues) when the film adaptation, directed by Stephen Chbosky ("The Perks of Being a Wallflower"), comes to local cinemas loaded with star power: Oscar-winner Julia Roberts ("Erin Brockovich"), Owen Wilson ("Midnight in Paris"), Noah Jupe ("Suburbicon") Daveed Diggs (Broadway's "Hamilton"), Mandy Patinkin ("Homeland") and Jacob Tremblay ("Room") as main character, August "Auggie" Pullman.
"Everything that's happened since the publication of the book has been far more than anything I could have ever dreamed of. And, I dream big," Palacio said in a joint interview with Chbosky at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston.
The movie is as moving and uplifting as the book. It captures the sweetness of the story and hits all the highs and lows of Auggie's fifth-grade year at Beecher Prep, his first ever "regular" school. I cried three times — before the opening titles! I'm not alone. Palacio said "Wonder" makes her weepy, too. She said she shed many tears while at work on the novel in the tiny walk-in closet she converted into an office.
"I wrote the book mostly in the middle of the night because that was the only time that no one would bother me," Palacio said. "My routine was get up at midnight and write until 3 in the morning, and I did that for about a year-and-a-half. There were many times when I would find myself absolutely sobbing as I was writing. Your characters just take over. You set up a situation, but you don't know what's going to happen. The characters tell you."
She cites a scene set in the woods with Auggie and three of his classmates — Amos, Henry and Myles — when Auggie lifts his hand to high-five the boys, who up until now had never touched him. "He raises his hand in that night sky not knowing if they were going to reciprocate," she said. "I didn't know while writing that scene whether or not they were going to high-five him back. When they did, I was weeping. I was so glad."
Palacio said she was inspired to write "Wonder" after her son reacted negatively to seeing a young girl with a craniofacial condition at an ice cream shop.
"It was an awkward scene, and I wasn't really happy with the way I handled it," Palacio said. "My son started crying and I whisked him away, not to protect him from seeing the little girl, but to protect the little girl from seeing his reaction to her face. Afterwards, it just got me thinking a lot about what it must be like to face a world every day that doesn't know how to face you back."
On the ride home after that encounter, Palacio turned on the radio and heard Natalie Merchant's "Wonder." It was serendipity. "I started writing 'Wonder' that night," Palacio said.
"It's another one for Catholic guilt," says Chbosky, joking. "I don't care what anyone says, it leads to good stuff."
Chbosky said he's one of "those boys who read the book and was changed by it. I might be older but the book spoke to me. So in the process of reading it and adapting it … it's made me a better everything — father, director, person."
In adapting the movie, Chobsky had some tough decisions to make. The book is told through the shifting perspectives of six characters. Chobsky picked four for the movie and expanded the roles of Auggie's mom, Isabel (Roberts) and dad, Nate (Wilson).
"I wanted to reward the parents. For me, it was very personal the things that I added for Isabel," Chobsky said. "You know, I was fascinated by Mom's first day of school. We always show the kids' first day of school, but what about Mom, who's been home schooling him for 10 years? That was a little, quiet, private love letter to my wife and everything she's gone through since having my kids."
From the casting choices to what aspects of the narrative were left out or added, Chobsky said all his decisions were in service to the book and its messages.
"From the biggest star all the way on down to a production assistant, we all knew that we were doing something special and we just wanted to serve this story," he said. "I've done enough, written books, screenplays, directed before, and I just wanted to create an atmosphere that was inclusive of everybody's opinions because you can't make a movie about kindness without being kind. It's impossible. And there's going to be no yelling on the set, so I gained 20 pounds instead."
Palacio said she felt the warmth the first time she visited the set. "Everybody talked to me about it, saying 'This is really, really special. This is not typical.' People kept saying 'It's not usually this nice, this calm, this wonderful.' The kids all had such a great time. He was like their teddy bear, Pied Piper. It was just something very special about being on that set."
Chbosky said he hopes that feeling translates to audiences. "I love my business. I love movies. There have been a lot of bleak ones the past few years. I don't know what's going on out there, but I think someone needs to bring Hollywood a nice cauldron of soup and pass out cookies. With 'Wonder,' I wanted to do a fun one for the underdogs."
Palacio compared the movie adaptation to "giving over your child to be raised by other people." But she said she got a good sense after she met producers Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman.
"They wanted to make a movie about kindness," she said. "Our thoughts on how to do that very much aligned. I remember telling them 'I wrote this very small and humble book and I want to make a small and humble movie. If you're going to do it, please make it like that, understated.' Because if not done deftly by really good talented people it could become sentimental, over-dramatic. I did not want that.
"So when they brought Stephen on, it was the perfect match. There's a lot of emotion in the movie and Stephen's a master at restraining that emotion and knowing when to let it flow and when to narrow down the focus. He brought a writer's viewpoint to the story."
Palacio said she never set out to change the world with her story about Auggie Pullman. She was just hoping to make tuition money to pay for her two sons' school. "But if this is my legacy, it's not a bad one to leave behind ... To be the spokesperson for kindness and choosing kindness is not a bad thing."
— Dana Barbuto may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.


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UPDATE: John Thain's push for $10 million bonus is possibly orchestrated by aliens!
As previously reported by Weekly World News, John Thain is widely believed to be an alien at the center of an intergalactic conspiracy to bleed Earth's financial institutions dry. This accusation has only been further substantiated after Thain's demands for a $10 million bonus for 2008.
Apparently, Thain believes he deserves the money after diverting Merrill Lynch from an even bigger financial meltdown. Do these extraterrestrials have no shame?
September 15, 2008
NEW YORK, NY – During his career, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain earned the nickname "I Robot" for the mechanical and emotionless manner in which he carried out his instructions.
Many co-workers suspected that Thain merely resembled a human in appearance only and that behind the button-down shirt, hard-wired circuitry allowed him to perform his duties without giving rise to feelings.
Nearly everyone agreed that John Thain is not a people person.
Shocking evidence released today reveals that John Thain is not even a person.
The photo received by Weekly World News was taken in the early morning hours of September 12th, the same day that the heads of the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury moved to calm fears about the financial health of the country.
While Fed Chief, Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson called for new regulatory powers to shield the economy from the collapse of Wall Street firms, John Thain was deep in discussion with the UFO alien about the future of his firm Merrill Lynch.
Recent events now suggest that Thain is not a robot but in fact an alien at the center of an intergalactic conspiracy to rob Earth of vital minerals and financial institutions.
Stay tuned for additional news.


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Pinker on the Situation of Morality
Posted by The Situationist Staff on January 14, 2008
In Sunday's New York Times Magazine, Steven Pinker's cover story includes an accessible synthesis of some of the recent work in the mind sciences on the sources, consequences, types, meaning, and implications of morality. The entire article is worth reading. Here is a taste of what Pinker has to say.
* * *
It's not just the content of our moral judgments that is often questionable, but the way we arrive at them. We like to think that when we have a conviction, there are good reasons that drove us to adopt it. That is why an older approach to moral psychology, led by Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, tried to document the lines of reasoning that guided people to moral conclusions. But consider these situations, originally devised by the psychologist Jonathan Haidt:
Julie is traveling in France on summer vacation from college with her brother Mark. One night they decide that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love. Julie was already taking birth-control pills, but Mark uses a condom, too, just to be safe. They both enjoy the sex but decide not to do it again. They keep the night as a special secret, which makes them feel closer to each other. What do you think about that — was it O.K. for them to make love?
* * *
Most people immediately declare that these acts are wrong and then grope to justify why they are wrong. It's not so easy. In the case of Julie and Mark, people raise the possibility of children with birth defects, but they are reminded that the couple were diligent about contraception. They suggest that the siblings will be emotionally hurt, but the story makes it clear that they weren't. They submit that the act would offend the community, but then recall that it was kept a secret. Eventually many people admit, "I don't know, I can't explain it, I just know it's wrong." People don't generally engage in moral reasoning, Haidt argues, but moral rationalization: they begin with the conclusion, coughed up by an unconscious emotion, and then work backward to a plausible justification.
The gap between people's convictions and their justifications is also on display in the favorite new sandbox for moral psychologists, a thought experiment devised by the philosophers Philippa Foot and Judith Jarvis Thomson called the Trolley Problem. On your morning walk, you see a trolley car hurtling down the track, the conductor slumped over the controls. In the path of the trolley are five men working on the track, oblivious to the danger. You are standing at a fork in the track and can pull a lever that will divert the trolley onto a spur, saving the five men. Unfortunately, the trolley would then run over a single worker who is laboring on the spur. Is it permissible to throw the switch, killing one man to save five? Almost everyone says "yes."
Consider now a different scene. You are on a bridge overlooking the tracks and have spotted the runaway trolley bearing down on the five workers. Now the only way to stop the trolley is to throw a heavy object in its path. And the only heavy object within reach is a fat man standing next to you. Should you throw the man off the bridge? Both dilemmas present you with the option of sacrificing one life to save five, and so, by the utilitarian standard of what would result in the greatest good for the greatest number, the two dilemmas are morally equivalent. But most people don't see it that way: though they would pull the switch in the first dilemma, they would not heave the fat man in the second. When pressed for a reason, they can't come up with anything coherent, though moral philosophers haven't had an easy time coming up with a relevant difference, either.
When psychologists say "most people" they usually mean "most of the two dozen sophomores who filled out a questionnaire for beer money." But in this case it means most of the 200,000 people from a hundred countries who shared their intuitions on a Web-based experiment conducted by the psychologists Fiery Cushman and Liane Young and the biologist Marc Hauser. A difference between the acceptability of switch-pulling and man-heaving, and an inability to justify the choice, was found in respondents from Europe, Asia and North and South America; among men and women, blacks and whites, teenagers and octogenarians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jews and atheists; people with elementary-school educations and people with Ph.D.'s.
Joshua Greene, a philosopher and cognitive neuroscientist, suggests that evolution equipped people with a revulsion to manhandling an innocent person. This instinct, he suggests, tends to overwhelm any utilitarian calculus that would tot up the lives saved and lost. The impulse against roughing up a fellow human would explain other examples in which people abjure killing one to save many, like euthanizing a hospital patient to harvest his organs and save five dying patients in need of transplants, or throwing someone out of a crowded lifeboat to keep it afloat.
By itself this would be no more than a plausible story, but Greene teamed up with the cognitive neuroscientist Jonathan Cohen and several Princeton colleagues to peer into people's brains using functional M.R.I. They sought to find signs of a conflict between brain areas associated with emotion (the ones that recoil from harming someone) and areas dedicated to rational analysis (the ones that calculate lives lost and saved).
When people pondered the dilemmas that required killing someone with their bare hands, several networks in their brains lighted up. One, which included the medial (inward-facing) parts of the frontal lobes, has been implicated in emotions about other people. A second, the dorsolateral (upper and outer-facing) surface of the frontal lobes, has been implicated in ongoing mental computation (including nonmoral reasoning, like deciding whether to get somewhere by plane or train). And a third region, the anterior cingulate cortex (an evolutionarily ancient strip lying at the base of the inner surface of each cerebral hemisphere), registers a conflict between an urge coming from one part of the brain and an advisory coming from another.
But when the people were pondering a hands-off dilemma, like switching the trolley onto the spur with the single worker, the brain reacted differently: only the area involved in rational calculation stood out. Other studies have shown that neurological patients who have blunted emotions because of damage to the frontal lobes become utilitarians: they think it makes perfect sense to throw the fat man off the bridge. Together, the findings corroborate Greene's theory that our nonutilitarian intuitions come from the victory of an emotional impulse over a cost-benefit analysis.
* * *
When anthropologists like Richard Shweder and Alan Fiske survey moral concerns across the globe, they find that a few themes keep popping up from amid the diversity. People everywhere, at least in some circumstances and with certain other folks in mind, think it's bad to harm others and good to help them. They have a sense of fairness: that one should reciprocate favors, reward benefactors and punish cheaters. They value loyalty to a group, sharing and solidarity among its members and conformity to its norms. They believe that it is right to defer to legitimate authorities and to respect people with high status. And they exalt purity, cleanliness and sanctity while loathing defilement, contamination and carnality.
The exact number of themes depends on whether you're a lumper or a splitter, but Haidt counts five — harm, fairness, community (or group loyalty), authority and purity — and suggests that they are the primary colors of our moral sense. Not only do they keep reappearing in cross-cultural surveys, but each one tugs on the moral intuitions of people in our own culture. Haidt asks us to consider how much money someone would have to pay us to do hypothetical acts like the following:
Stick a pin into your palm.
Stick a pin into the palm of a child you don't know. (Harm.)
Accept a wide-screen TV from a friend who received it at no charge because of a computer error.
Accept a wide-screen TV from a friend who received it from a thief who had stolen it from a wealthy family. (Fairness.)
Say something bad about your nation (which you don't believe) on a talk-radio show in your nation.
Say something bad about your nation (which you don't believe) on a talk-radio show in a foreign nation. (Community.)
Slap a friend in the face, with his permission, as part of a comedy skit.
Slap your minister in the face, with his permission, as part of a comedy skit. (Authority.)
Attend a performance-art piece in which the actors act like idiots for 30 minutes, including flubbing simple problems and falling down on stage.
Attend a performance-art piece in which the actors act like animals for 30 minutes, including crawling around naked and urinating on stage. (Purity.)
In each pair, the second action feels far more repugnant. Most of the moral illusions we have visited come from an unwarranted intrusion of one of the moral spheres into our judgments. A violation of community led people to frown on using an old flag to clean a bathroom. Violations of purity repelled the people who judged the morality of consensual incest and prevented the moral vegetarians and nonsmokers from tolerating the slightest trace of a vile contaminant. At the other end of the scale, displays of extreme purity lead people to venerate religious leaders who dress in white and affect an aura of chastity and asceticism.
* * *
All this brings us to a theory of how the moral sense can be universal and variable at the same time. The five moral spheres are universal, a legacy of evolution. But how they are ranked in importance, and which is brought in to moralize which area of social life — sex, government, commerce, religion, diet and so on — depends on the culture. Many of the flabbergasting practices in faraway places become more intelligible when you recognize that the same moralizing impulse that Western elites channel toward violations of harm and fairness (our moral obsessions) is channeled elsewhere to violations in the other spheres. Think of the Japanese fear of nonconformity (community), the holy ablutions and dietary restrictions of Hindus and Orthodox Jews (purity), the outrage at insulting the Prophet among Muslims (authority). In the West, we believe that in business and government, fairness should trump community and try to root out nepotism and cronyism. In other parts of the world this is incomprehensible — what heartless creep would favor a perfect stranger over his own brother?
The ranking and placement of moral spheres also divides the cultures of liberals and conservatives in the United States. Many bones of contention, like homosexuality, atheism and one-parent families from the right, or racial imbalances, sweatshops and executive pay from the left, reflect different weightings of the spheres. In a large Web survey, Haidt found that liberals put a lopsided moral weight on harm and fairness while playing down group loyalty, authority and purity. Conservatives instead place a moderately high weight on all five. It's not surprising that each side thinks it is driven by lofty ethical values and that the other side is base and unprincipled.
* * *
The entire article is worth the read (click here). To give you a sense of what we've omitted, here is Pinker's concluding paragraph:
Far from debunking morality, then, the science of the moral sense can advance it, by allowing us to see through the illusions that evolution and culture have saddled us with and to focus on goals we can share and defend. As Anton Chekhov wrote, "Man will become better when you show him what he is like."
For those with more time still to spare, we've included the video below of Steven Pinker's 75-minute talk at Google about his book, The Stuff of Thought.
If you're interested in previous Situationist posts discussing the situation of morality, check out "Your Brain and Morality," "Why We Punish," "The Need for a Situationist Morality," "The Science of Morality," "Another Century of Genocide?," and "Law & The Brain."
4 Responses to "Pinker on the Situation of Morality"
January 14, 2008 at 6:26 am
[…] Pinker on the Situation of Morality « The Situationist (tags: ReadMe) […]
January 15, 2008 at 10:38 pm
While Steven Pinker has made a public career of debunking some of the received ideas of the discipline of psychology he shares more than a few himself. A baseball analogy will make the point, I think. All of the physiological mechanisms necessary in order to play baseball are encoded in our human genes. The physiologist who wishes to bring the game under his purview, then, could argue that baseball is encoded in the human physiognomy in human beings at birth. Viola! Now he is an authority regarding the game of baseball!
Yes, all of the building blocks of morality can be found in the components of the human genome, but those building blocks are no more "morality" than the firing of motor neurons are the game of baseball. Until one learns, through extended social training — for children we call this "growing up" and for societies "culturally evolving" — neither baseball nor morals are possible. Instead neurons exist (vice baseball) and a predisposition to rudimentary socialization (vice morality), and, as a result, Mr. Pinker's certainty that his discipline wields authority in the matter of morality is more than questionable.
The Times Magazine article does not seem to me to be one of Pinker's better. To use another analogy, he ingests a half-pound of sugar, a stick of margarine, two cups of flour, four raw eggs, etc., and tells us what a cake tastes like. I like to think that I might find the time to point out some the inconsistencies that result later in another comment.
January 18, 2008 at 4:23 pm
[…] January 18, 2008 at 12:12 pm · Filed under absolutism, morality, psychology Julie is traveling in France on summer vacation from college with her brother Mark. One night they decide that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love. Julie was already taking birth-control pills, but Mark uses a condom, too, just to be safe. They both enjoy the sex but decide not to do it again. They keep the night as a special secret, which makes them feel closer to each other. What do you think about that—was it O.K. for them to make love? (The Moral Instinct—via The Situationist) […]
February 22, 2008 at 12:01 am
[…] a few related Situationist posts, see "Law & the Brain," "Pinker on the Situation of Morality," "The Science of Morality," and "Your Brain and […]


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Motogiro America and the MEET at Monterey, 2008
After literally years of being asked when would the US have it's own Motogiro d'Italia they finally built it and I, like just about everybody else I knew, was signed up and ready to ride. Conducted under the umbrella of The MEET at Monterey which included a bike show, an auction, the Motogiro America and the RedBull MotoGP at Laguna Seca, there was lots to do and see. The route included the start on Cannery Row, a lap of Laguna Seca, then down thru Big Sur to Paso Robles and back to Monterey. The whole thing kicked off with a bike show in the Monterey Custom House Plaza, and while the headliners were pristine restorations from noted collectors, many of the entries would be heading out the following day for the 5 day ride. Join me for Motogiro America - Vicki's View......Read More
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Would you consider polling your readership for their pronunciation of aberrant? The OED2 gives only penultimate stress (the OED3 hasn't reached the word yet); m-w.com gives both initial and penultimate stress. My sense is that initial stress is far more common, partly because I've only heard that, and partly because of the frequent misspelling "abberant", which would be regular for initial stress. But there may be an AmE/BrE factor at work here.Unlike John, I only really know the penultimate stress version (aBERrant rather than ABerrant). Just to prove me exceptional (doesn't that sound better than wrong?), my mother has just pronounced it with first-syllable stress. On other recent occasions, I've heard the ABerrant pronunciation and assumed it to be from someone who's less than familiar with the word. I know it, and have feelings about it, because I had to learn for vocabulary quizzes in (AmE) 9th grade. Last week I went to the funeral of the teacher who made me so judg(e)mental about other people's pronunciations. Rest in peace, Mrs(.) Biddle!
I was interested to read the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel's take on the matter:
Traditionally aberrant has been pronounced with stress on the second syllable. In recent years, however, a pronunciation with stress on the first syllable has become equally common and may eventually supplant the older pronunciation. This change is owing perhaps to the influence of the words aberration and aberrated, which are stressed on the first syllable. The Usage Panel was divided almost evenly on the subject: 45 percent preferred the older pronunciation and 50 percent preferred the newer one. The remaining 5 percent of the Panelists said they use both pronunciations.So, that's America. What about the UK? The Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation offers the older pronunciation only--but the fact that the word has made it into the guide probably indicates some insecurity about how it should be pronounced. John Wells's Longman Pronunciation Dictionary lists both (older first) with no comment. He's graciously responded to my email on the topic, saying:
Our stress rules for Latin and Greek words give stress on the -err- because of the geminated consonant (i.e. double in Latin and in spelling). Compare "venerate" with single r. So penultimate stress is what we expect, and the only form given in the OED. However I have heard initial stress occasionally. I have no statistics on how widespread this might be.
So, what do you say (if you say it)? Please remember to say where you're from when you answer!


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For the latest updates to Global Public Square, including show information and Fareed's Take, visit the new GPS site on CNN.com.
I am Chuck. I am Hindu. I love India and Modi very much.
He is my true blue hero..
Watch out Chuck! Modi is a londay baaj.
i am rajput singh from India. I fukk Modi up his a zz.
I am Hindu. .I eat Hindu boogers from Bombay. .
I now live in Chicago. .Da Bears!
Modi is a wonderful leader. Long live Modi! Praise Hinduism
Banasy you NAILED IT!
India's parliament includes a record number of lawmakers who are convicted criminals despite campaign promises by prime minister-elect Narendra Modi to clean up government, research showed Sunday.
But newly-elected lawmakers from his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are criminals including murder, kidnapping, robbery and inciting communal disharmony.
Research by the Association for Democratic Reforms shows 186 members of the elected lower house of parliament, 34 per cent, are criminals, compared with 158 members in the dissolved legislature.
The association, an advocate for clean government, says 21 per cent of members of the new 543-member parliament are also criminals.
I am Pia. Yes. I am Hindu now.
I love India and Modi. I think Hinduism is wonderful. Let us all be Hindu.
To all hindus, get out of India and take a boat back to Africa and take that p ansy Modi with you. The rest can stay. We will rebuild India back to the great culture it once was ... but better. Not the e xcreta it is now. The b utt of jokes worldwide. We will call it Rainbow Republic.
Greetings. I am Pete. I love to be Hindu. Hinduism is great.
Long live Modi! Praise Hinduism
Modi eats Blue Saffron's s hitt.
All hindus are raypists.
India is a sewer treatment plant
I am Philip and a proud Hindu. Let us all praise India.
Hinduism is great. .
Nonetheless, the greatest of Modi and India lies in their love for eating Bkue Saffron's
s hitt.
Blue Saffron's s hitt is so tasty and creany that Modi snd most hindus consider it delicious.
Apple Pie is to Americans as Blue Saffron's
s hitt is to India and hindus.
Praise be to hinduism. Blue Saffron's s hitt on their flag.
Ya nailed it @Philip!!
Send Modi some s hitt from Blue's a zz.
Modi is a mother fukkin coksukker. He sukks pigs testicles slso.
We are demanding that an independent investigation by UN be held in India with respect to the genocide in Gujarat by Narendra Modi and his minions. Similar to what we have forced Sri Lanka to do. In the event that India does not agree then sanctions be imposed just like in Russia and Iran. Nothing more nothing less.
"We are demanding" derp blah derpity do Fuck off and eat another booger
It is the fallacy of democracy that unscrupolous elements get elected particularly in societies with a high illiteracy rate such as India. Modi is a case in point. A murderer, a stalker, a rapist and a genocidalist, Modi has the upbringing of an uncouth chai wala. He is now India's leader which is a travesty of epic proportions.
Eighty per cent of the "global total" who do not have access to toilets live in India, and hence are forced to defecate in the open. In actual numbers, eighty per cent translates to 1.1 billion. This makes India the number one country in the world where open defecation is practised. India is drowning in its own excreta.
We equate Modi with a low level dacoit, a murderer and a women basher who could not even attend to his wife's needs and walked away on their nuptial night after rayping her.
We demand that he face trial in the International Court of Justice for genocides in Indian Occupied Kashmir and Gujarat.
Demand all you want. You ain't gonna get sh it. You MF
Messrs. Terence, Bailey and Lee thanks for keeping the discussion clean and at a high intellectual level. One riff raff from India (presumably of hindoo denomination) is using highly offensive abusive language as IT cannot express itself intelligently.
Kiss me. I'm going to fukk you
Yeah I'm so fucking smart ain't I?
Long live Modi the great of India!
I eat Chicago poo poo and cow pee pee from India
I love fresh Modi poo poo
Modi looks like a baboon and can't speak a word of english as he is uneducated. Modi enjoys eating Blue Saffon's s hitt.
A donkey fukked Modi
So. You want me to fukk you?
Modi is a pariah whose legitimacy as India's leader would be questionable. He is a murderer with genocidal tendencies. A hitler of sorts.
A t hug of the lowest cadre. An usurper of women's rights and dignity. A stalker. A pedophile. Modi is a disgrace to South Asia.
Motel 6???
The unemployment rate in India has reached 65%. Most of the hindu riff raffs pick garbage at trash dumps and landfills. No wonder they smell like s hitt.
500,000 girls in Mumbai, India had abortion last year. Of these, 65% were under age 15. Also, more than half of them were raype victims. Ton of b@stards in India.
Rhaype is the building block of hinduism in India.
In 2014, 5412 incidents of violence against Christians have been reported. In 2013, 3120 such incidents were reported. In 2011 and 2012 there was a further increase of tensions in India and a total of 6000 incidents were reported consisting violence against Christians in India such as raiping of nuns, burning down of churches and prohibiting Christians from practicing their faith.
I pulled 100% of my statistics straight out of my ass.
Modi fukks goats.
Haggis is to Scotland what Blue Saffron's s hitt is to India.
I like eating sheep offal. Why not.