The Moral Instinct - STEVEN PINKER

harm, fairness, community (or group loyalty), authority and purity — they are the primary colors of our moral sense

Gender Gap

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report

The US's standing.

Inattentional Blindness video

Notice anything odd in this video?

http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/23.html

try the next video (scroll down)













http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/12.html

In this video, 50% of the participants did not notice the change, even when questioned about it.

Asian voters in US 'got raw deal'

Many Asian American voters faced discrimination from voting officials during 2006 mid-term elections in the US, a civil rights group has alleged.

What's wrong with privatization?

Nobody likes a government run bureaucracy; they're wasteful, full of red tape and do-gooders.

The privatization of organizations which perform a public good may not be a great solution.

At Many Homes, More Profit and Less Nursing

Six prisoners had escaped in broad daylight from the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center and were still at large. The inmates had cut a four-foot hole in the prison's fence during outdoor recreation, then maneuvered through three rolls of razor ribbon without being detected. No alarm went off, and the officers patrolling the perimeter didn't notice anything amiss.

A meta-analysis of studies found little difference in cost to the public of private prisons:

Maahs, J. & Pratt, T. (1999). Are Private Prisons More Cost-Effective Than Public Prisons? A Meta-Analysis of Evaluation Research Studies. Crime & Delinquency, 45(3), 358-371.

Austrian Politician Calls Prophet Muhammad a 'Child Molester'

While in the US white/black racism has essentially gone underground (modern racism) in the US and Europe white/arab racism is the old fashioned variety -- proudly displayed.

A candidate campaigning for the Graz city council in Austria says it is time that Islam was "thrown back ... behind the Mediterranean," and alleges Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits."

But are you happy?

I found this on a weird news site

Sarkozy wants happiness included in economic growth measures

Which reallys isn't that weird. There's been a lot of research lately on subjective well being and national averages.

The different types of love

Rubes by Leigh Rubin

Hillary's challenge

Tom Toles
Female leaders face a double standard. Typical leader behavior is seen as extreme (as compared to male leaders) because the behavior deviates from the feminine gender role expectations. Any small amount of feminine gender role congruent behavior is seen as hyper-feminine as compared to the scheme for a leader's behavior.

Gloria Steinem on the Iowa Cacuses

Women Are Never Front-Runners
By GLORIA STEINEM
Published: January 8, 2008
Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House.

Economists Say Movie Violence Might Temper the Real Thing

A new study challenges conventional wisdom, suggesting that violent films prevent violent crime by attracting and keeping would-be assailants occupied.

I know why psychologists are upset about this study (other than the economists' encroachment into our turf): the conventional wisdom among psychologists is that catharsis does not work - watching violence does not 'get it out of your system.' Fighting this folk belief was a long and hard battle. I think many psychologists see this study as saying that catharsis works. Nope. It's saying that violent people like violence - either real or fictional. And fictional violence is so much easier to come by than the real thing so they go for the easy choice.