the eye of Nova's mind

The psychology of hate: How we deny human beings their humanity

Why Must the News Be So Newsy? -- This is an interesting counterpoint to Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, which I've been rereading as it's now available in PDF.

The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary -- This is actually a very good read, inducing such questions as, "How does a married adult male not know that menstrual cycles occur only monthly?"

High-protein diets: Bad for the middle-aged, good for the elderly -- nuts & legumes are beneficial, though

Could a Gene Mutation Prevent Type 2 Diabetes?

Flies Are Turned on by Laser

Leave kids out of this name-calling class prejudice

Jobless Rate for Poor Black Teen Dropouts? Try 95 Percent

Understanding Out-of-Wedlock Births in Black America: Revisiting the controversial Moynihan Report

The British Are Coming--and They've Brought Newspapers: The Guardian is looking to expand in the U.S. market

To cut STD rate, California considers condoms in prison

It's Okay to Call a Guy Creepy: Women have a right to express that they don't appreciate a man's advances

Boys With Sisters Are Less Likely to Do Chores When They Grow Up

The cheapest way to diet? Drink at least a litre of water a day

Fried chicken takeaway called 'Hitler' opens in Thailand and comes complete with logo of Nazi leader in a bow tie -- KFC should absolutely sue for trademark infringement.

NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily | Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations -- Did everyone forget that the Bush administration assumed these powers in 2006?

Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

Whole Foods told to let workers speak Spanish

Brazil pulls 'happy prostitute' campaign after backlash

Man's murder plot recorded on phone call after he butt-dials 911 -- Even worse than the previous story!

Poverty as a Childhood Disease -- "Think for a moment of poverty as a disease, thwarting growth and development, robbing children of the healthy, happy futures they might otherwise expect." (NYT)

The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race -- Who thought agriculture was a good idea!?

Masturbation Is at the Root of the Culture Wars (thanks, supergee)

Rubbing alcohol as scotch? N.J. officials release details of 'Operation Swill'

A linguistic dissection of 7 annoying teenage sounds

Jewish zealots strike fear in flashpoint Israel town -- "An ultra-Orthodox man in Beit Shemesh, identified only as Moshe, admitted on Israel's Channel 2 television there were spitting attacks at young girls. 'That's right, they are immodest. It bothers me, I am a healthy person. It is proper to spit on a girl who does not conduct herself according to the Torah,' Moshe said."

Addendum to above: Israeli Girl, 8, at Center of Tension Over Religious Extremism (NYT) | See also Gender insanity -- Op/Ed in the Jerusalem Post

Pink Stuff: Little Girl In Toy Store Rails Against Gender Stereotypes

The Nurse-In: Why Breast-Feeding Mothers Are Mad at Target | Breastfeeding at Target: Moms Stage National Demonstration -- You may or may not want to read the responses to this article. Wow.

Girls on the Spectrum: Q & A with the Author of Aspergirls

So many news links I have not put up these many months. Hopefully, I am returning to my roots. For the moment, a hodgepodge.

Deaf man battling to join Army after auditing ROTC

Philip Glass Composes New Arts Festival

An Interracial Fix for Black Marriage

Genome of Marijuana Sequenced and Published

Less educated Americans turning their backs on religion

Philip Levine 'stunned' to be named next U.S. poet laureate -- I love his work. Lean, with bite & meat. Well-deserved.

Oh, it's been a while. I've been working the project & altered a few of my online habits, so I haven't been on LJ much lately. That soon will change: the project should end tomorrow.

I drop by, however, not for that update, but rather to mark the occasion of bin Laden's death.

It seems a lot of people are thrilled by this man's demise. I'm rather appalled at Americans cheering this event. We should be relieved that a dark chapter of our history has turned a page, if not been closed altogether. We as a nation needed psychological closure. Each of the families who lost someone needed that closure.

But to drink & celebrate? That is ugly. That is vulgar. That is low.

Finger Bone Points to New Branch of Humanity -- "A finger bone from Siberia now reveals a previously unknown group of ancient humans once existed there, one neither like us nor Neanderthals."

Neanderthals Fashioned Earliest Tool Made From Human Bone

Lost Civilization May Have Existed Beneath the Persian Gulf

Young Female Chimps Use Sticks as 'Dolls': Study finds correlation with human play

'Impulsive' Gene Identified in Finnish Men -- "The gene mutation affects the action of the neurotransmitter serotonin, a hormone known to be related to self-control, according to the researchers."

Kids With Autism May Lack Key Visual Skills, Study Finds: They have difficulty searching effectively for objects in real-life setting, researchers say

Imperfect Brain Cells Have Gender Biases -- "'It's the kind of thing you would not predict--that you would look at two identical faces and think they look different,' said Arash Afraz, a psychologist at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research."

Race, Sex Play Part in Hypertension Risk: Where you live also factors into the equation, study found

Chernobyl Woos Tourists with Promise of 'Negligible' Risk -- "The area around Chernobyl is scheduled to open to visitors next year."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says German multicultural society has failed

Mrs Merkel stressed that immigrants living in Germany needed to do more to integrate, including learning to speak German.

"Anyone who does not immediately speak German", she said, "is not welcome".

Wow. Most of the time I admire Ms. Merkel, but in this instance it seems like she's trying to compete for Arizona's governorship.

Barack Obama to announce $50bn infrastructure plan -- Finally. I can hear Rachael Maddow now.

Muslims Fear Losing Gains Amid Protests Over Center (NYT)

Thousands protest French clampdown against Roma

Targeting Blacks for Marijuana -- an official report for the Los Angeles area, released June 2010 (PDF)

Scotland announces minimum price for alcohol