first seen on Rachael Maddow's show

Census Worker Hanged: Bill Sparkman Found With "Fed" Written On Body (thanks, fountaingirl)

(no subject)

It's not lunacy, probes find water in moon dirt -- Was there a copyeditor involved in this title? *sigh* The article's content is decent, however (despite the fact that one of the scientists interviewed has a name that would befit an erotic dancer). Here's NYT's take.

A world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection -- "The vaccine--a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines--cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent."

gender and happiness

Blue Is the New Black

According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans' mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier.

Before the '70s, there was a gender gap in America in which women felt greater well-being. Now there's a gender gap in which men feel better about their lives.

As Arianna Huffington points out in a blog post headlined "The Sad, Shocking Truth About How Women Are Feeling": "It doesn't matter what their marital status is, how much money they make, whether or not they have children, their ethnic background, or the country they live in. Women around the world are in a funk."

(The one exception is black women in America, who are a bit happier than they were in 1972, but still not as happy as black men.)

I'm interested as to the factors that make black women the outlier. I wonder who, if anyone, is conducting in-depth sociological research . . . .

Edit: The Huffington Post article is much better than the one I've featured here. I don't agree with this author's implied attitude toward gender roles or her unsupported claims about inherent differences.

a beam in a field of darkness

Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK

An amateur treasure hunter prowling English farmland with a metal detector stumbled upon the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever found, a massive seventh-century hoard of gold and silver sword decorations, crosses and other items, British archaeologists said Thursday.

One expert said the treasure found by 55-year-old Terry Herbert would revolutionize understanding of the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people who ruled England from the fifth century until the Norman conquest in 1066. Another said the find would rank among Britain's best-known historic treasures.