Behavior
Nice guys do finish first, study confirms - Behavior- msnbc.com
At least when you're playing prisoner's dilemma under certain conditions where punishing people costs you. Still, nice to know.
Do three-strikes laws make criminals more violent? - By Ray Fisman - Slate Magazine
Yes. After all, if you're going to jail forever for your next crime, would you rather it was for jaywalking or pulling off a huge bank heist?
Clueless Guys Can't Read Women | LiveScience
"More often than not, guys interpret even friendly cues, such as a subtle smile from a gal, as a sexual come-on, and a new study discovers why: Guys are clueless."
And before you guess it's because most guys are horny, they also misinterpret actual flirting as being friendly. So actually, most of us just aren't sure what's going on most of the time.
Western and Asian observers judge facial expressions differently - International Herald Tribune
As you probably will guess, it's all about context for those crazy Asians. If one person is happy and everyone around him is not, Asians tend to rate his happiness lower than if he were alone. The reverse is true of Westerners. Well, ok, not the reverse. If you're really happy and everyone around you isn't, that doesn't mean you should be even more happy. That'd be silly. It's just the people around the person aren't taken into account as being part of that person's emotions.
Science
When Life Goes Cloudy - Olivia Judson - Evolution - Opinion - New York Times Blog
Some things actually do live in clouds. Warning: the author has a rather overblown writing style.
Scientist wins prize for 'virtual water' - Innovation- msnbc.com
He figured a way to include all the water that goes into a process or product. That's pretty handy, but why is this only now being recognized?
Growth hormone doesn't boost athletic abilities - Fitness- msnbc.com
Bad news for bodybuilders.
Food
Could we really run out of food? - MSN Money
The answer: we probably won't, but a lot of other people are screwed. Like everyone in North Korea.
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | N Korea's food crisis 'worsening'
And this time it's not just the peasants.
Study: Corn ethanol will worsen 'dead zone' - LiveScience- msnbc.com
Hooray! In addition to making more people starve, driving up the price of gas, and driving up the price of food, ethanol produced from corn will create a bigger dead zone than ever before in the Gulf!
Thank you Congress.
Islam
Outrage over cartoons still trying for Danes - International Herald Tribune
Round two. Some more genius Muslims decided to prove to the world that they were being slandered - that they are not violent - by trying to murder one of their critics.
Fortunately, they were caught. And in a show of solidarity, all the Danish newspapers too cowardly to print those infamous cartoons last time around are now printing them. Naturally, this has been followed by more inane calls to violence.
And speaking of silliness...
China
Foreign nations support China's handling of Lhasa riot_English_Xinhua
Xinhua is always good for a laugh. Yes, it is true that some foreign countries have approved of shooting protesters for the crime of wanting foreign occupiers out. Those include such luminaries as Russia, Belarus, and Vietnam. Actually, that is the entirety of the list. The others are all very vague, noncommittal attempts not to anger the Chinese.
Tibetans mourn five young women who died in riot_English_Xinhua
More reliable Xinhua news. I feel kind of bad about posting this one, because it really is very sad. It's about six girls - they took shelter in their shop to hide from protesters. The protesters set fire to the shop. Five of the girls were burned alive. Only one escaped.
That is horrific, and sad. I cannot approve of that. It's perfectly justified to fight against those who oppress you, but killing people like those girls is inexcusable.
Of course, it is Xinhua, so it never mentions why the protesters are angry, or how many of them have died. It only mentions the pure, good, Chinese girls burnt to death by an angry crowd of Tibetans. And for that I despise them even more. Using those girls' deaths like that is disgusting.
And speaking of those riots...
I hadn't expected to, but I now have some respect for Nanci Pelosi.
Visiting Dalai Lama, U.S. House speaker denounces Chinese oppression - International Herald Tribune
If she's willing to meet with the guy, even though she knows how much that'll piss off the Chinese, that says something about her convictions. Or her lack of responsibility. It could be either...but I'm hoping it's the former.
She said, "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression and (sic) China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world."
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | New Chinese rules on Dalai Lama
You know those silly Buddhists aren't sufficiently loyal to Marxism, so of course the People's Republic must choose their religious leader for them. Yes, their power extends so far that they can choose who the Dalia Lama will reincarnate as. Simply amazing.
Nice guys do finish first, study confirms - Behavior- msnbc.com
At least when you're playing prisoner's dilemma under certain conditions where punishing people costs you. Still, nice to know.
Do three-strikes laws make criminals more violent? - By Ray Fisman - Slate Magazine
Yes. After all, if you're going to jail forever for your next crime, would you rather it was for jaywalking or pulling off a huge bank heist?
Clueless Guys Can't Read Women | LiveScience
"More often than not, guys interpret even friendly cues, such as a subtle smile from a gal, as a sexual come-on, and a new study discovers why: Guys are clueless."
And before you guess it's because most guys are horny, they also misinterpret actual flirting as being friendly. So actually, most of us just aren't sure what's going on most of the time.
Western and Asian observers judge facial expressions differently - International Herald Tribune
As you probably will guess, it's all about context for those crazy Asians. If one person is happy and everyone around him is not, Asians tend to rate his happiness lower than if he were alone. The reverse is true of Westerners. Well, ok, not the reverse. If you're really happy and everyone around you isn't, that doesn't mean you should be even more happy. That'd be silly. It's just the people around the person aren't taken into account as being part of that person's emotions.
Science
When Life Goes Cloudy - Olivia Judson - Evolution - Opinion - New York Times Blog
Some things actually do live in clouds. Warning: the author has a rather overblown writing style.
Scientist wins prize for 'virtual water' - Innovation- msnbc.com
He figured a way to include all the water that goes into a process or product. That's pretty handy, but why is this only now being recognized?
Growth hormone doesn't boost athletic abilities - Fitness- msnbc.com
Bad news for bodybuilders.
Food
Could we really run out of food? - MSN Money
The answer: we probably won't, but a lot of other people are screwed. Like everyone in North Korea.
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | N Korea's food crisis 'worsening'
And this time it's not just the peasants.
Study: Corn ethanol will worsen 'dead zone' - LiveScience- msnbc.com
Hooray! In addition to making more people starve, driving up the price of gas, and driving up the price of food, ethanol produced from corn will create a bigger dead zone than ever before in the Gulf!
Thank you Congress.
Islam
Outrage over cartoons still trying for Danes - International Herald Tribune
Round two. Some more genius Muslims decided to prove to the world that they were being slandered - that they are not violent - by trying to murder one of their critics.
Fortunately, they were caught. And in a show of solidarity, all the Danish newspapers too cowardly to print those infamous cartoons last time around are now printing them. Naturally, this has been followed by more inane calls to violence.
And speaking of silliness...
China
Foreign nations support China's handling of Lhasa riot_English_Xinhua
Xinhua is always good for a laugh. Yes, it is true that some foreign countries have approved of shooting protesters for the crime of wanting foreign occupiers out. Those include such luminaries as Russia, Belarus, and Vietnam. Actually, that is the entirety of the list. The others are all very vague, noncommittal attempts not to anger the Chinese.
Tibetans mourn five young women who died in riot_English_Xinhua
More reliable Xinhua news. I feel kind of bad about posting this one, because it really is very sad. It's about six girls - they took shelter in their shop to hide from protesters. The protesters set fire to the shop. Five of the girls were burned alive. Only one escaped.
That is horrific, and sad. I cannot approve of that. It's perfectly justified to fight against those who oppress you, but killing people like those girls is inexcusable.
Of course, it is Xinhua, so it never mentions why the protesters are angry, or how many of them have died. It only mentions the pure, good, Chinese girls burnt to death by an angry crowd of Tibetans. And for that I despise them even more. Using those girls' deaths like that is disgusting.
And speaking of those riots...
I hadn't expected to, but I now have some respect for Nanci Pelosi.
Visiting Dalai Lama, U.S. House speaker denounces Chinese oppression - International Herald Tribune
If she's willing to meet with the guy, even though she knows how much that'll piss off the Chinese, that says something about her convictions. Or her lack of responsibility. It could be either...but I'm hoping it's the former.
She said, "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression and (sic) China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world."
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | New Chinese rules on Dalai Lama
You know those silly Buddhists aren't sufficiently loyal to Marxism, so of course the People's Republic must choose their religious leader for them. Yes, their power extends so far that they can choose who the Dalia Lama will reincarnate as. Simply amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment