The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning "to cultivate", generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Different definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating, human activity. Anthropologists most commonly use the term "culture" to refer to the universal human capacity to classify, codify and communicate their experiences symbolically. This capacity is long been taken as a defining feature of the genus Homo. However, primatologists such as Jane Goodall have identified aspects of culture among our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.Goodall, J. 1986. The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior.

Defining "culture"

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L.A. Times - Latin America

Hurricane Norbert weakens slightly; Odile grows
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:32:00 -0700
Hurricane Norbert weakened to a still-potent Category 3 storm early today on a path expected to take it to Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula over the weekend.
'Ashes of Time' impeccably restored
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Also reviewed: 'Breakfast With Scot'; 'Fraude: Mexico 2006'; 'Talento de Barrio' and more Wong Kar Wai's beautiful but demanding 1994 martial arts epic "Ashes of Time" has been impeccably restored, with "Redux" added to its title, and boasts excellent subtitles that help the viewer understand that it is set in the parallel universe of its genre and unfolds in five parts according to Chinese seasons. Visually superb, its score enhanced by added music, "Ashes of Time Redux" is an elegiac, contemplative work with an elliptical narrative that is hard to follow.
25% of teen girls vaccinated for cervical cancer, U.S. says
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The CDC calls the rate 'very good' for a new vaccine such as Gardasil. Earlier data show, however, that only about 1% of Latina teens have received it. About a quarter of the nation's teenage girls received the controversial cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil last year in its first full year of distribution, federal authorities said Thursday.
5 officers gunned down in Mexico
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Five state police officers were killed in the western Mexican state of Jalisco by men who lobbed grenades and fired more than 800 bullets, officials said Thursday.
World Briefing
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Hurricane headed for south Baja
Alleged leaders of 6 Imperial Valley-based drug rings indicted
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Federal authorities announce that 35 people face charges of smuggling and conspiracy linked to a Mexican cartel. Federal authorities Wednesday announced indictments against the alleged leaders of six drug distribution rings charged with transporting cocaine and methamphetamine for one of Mexico's largest drug cartels.

UN News Centre - Americas

World Bank donates $25 million to help rebuild beleaguered Haiti
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The World Bank today announced $25 million in additional emergency grants for Haiti to support recovery and rebuilding efforts, and strengthen its capacity to cope with natural disasters, in the wake of a devastating series of storms that hit the Caribbean country.
Drug-related crime biggest threat to public safety in the Americas, warns UN
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Drug trafficking and the violence committed by its associated organized crime is the biggest threat to public safety in the Americas, according to the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Haiti faces challenges, but also signs of hope, says top UN envoy
Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The need to overcome obstacles in Haiti in the wake of a series of devastating hurricanes and storms has propelled a political breakthrough in the Caribbean nation, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.

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