October 2007
7 posts
The Futile Pursuit of Happiness - New York Times →
September 2007
17 posts
Zimbabwe orders 'white firm grab' - bbc →
NZ police let public write laws - bbc →
Iran leader defiant in UN speech - bbc →
Anglicans to halt gay ordinations - bbc →
Mandarin 'takes more brainpower' - bbc →
UK India Mutiny ceremony blocked - bbc →
Being bilingual 'protects brain' - BBC →
Pot-bellied Jesus ad irks Church - bbc →
Church wedding for Muslim couple - Yorkshire... →
US family tries life without toilet paper - bbc →
Postmodern Decline - by Piss and Vinegar →
Postmodernism is a dead buzzword. Once it migrated its way to prime time, it was cashed in of any real value. Current historians, still in need of defining their own paradoxical nature, use the term to narrate the development of art, culture and philosophy since the end of the Second World War. This is partly due to the fact that it was a growth from, and a response to Modernism.
Therapeutic Value of Honey as a Skin Healer -... →
Mona Lisa smile secrets revealed - bbc →
“The elusive quality of the Mona Lisa’s smile can be explained by the fact that her smile is almost entirely in low spatial frequencies, and so is seen best by your peripheral vision,” Prof Livingstone said.
Commentary by Gadgit - The Secret behind the Secret behind Mona Lisa’s Smile
Contagious yawn 'sign of empathy' - bbc →
A susceptibility to contagious yawning may actually be a sign of a high-level of social empathy.
Although many species yawn, only some humans and possibly their close animal relatives find yawning infectious, suggesting the reason is psychological.
The research was presented at the British Association’s Festival of Science in York.
“Contagious yawning is a very interesting...
Drug 'may reverse liver disease' - bbc →
A cheap and readily available drug could reverse severe liver disease, even in patients who find it impossible to give up booze, research suggests.
Men bad for women's waistlines - bbc →
“Men are very bad for women really,” he said. If you are eating with a partner the evening meal is a social event…you may eat more and maybe more extravagant stuff Dr Haslam He said research showed women tend to gain weight once they cohabit and begin to share meals with men who intrinsically have higher energy needs and therefore appetites. “If you are eating with a...
Thailand's frenzy for amulets - bbc →
Thais have always been keen on amulets. Usually bearing the likeness of the Buddha or other religious figures, they are worn round the neck to bring good fortune.
But no amulet has ever been as popular as the Jatukam Ramathep.
August 2007
3 posts
'Blasphemous' balls anger Afghans - bbc →
'First India condom disco' opens - bbc →
India's model democracy - bbc →
July 2007
7 posts
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon - Wikipedia →
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (pronounced [ˈpruːd ɒn] in British English, [pʁu dɔ̃] in French) (January 15, 1809 – January 19, 1865) was a French mutualist political philosopher of the socialist tradition. He was the first individual to call himself an “anarchist” and is considered among the first anarchist thinkers. He was a workingman, a printer, who taught himself to read Latin so as to...
Sex discrimination rife and equality will take... →
Russia shuts down Allofmp3.com - Times Online →
Gift of a lifetime: Scotland's richest man to give... →
’Charity’, or a case of returning a bit of the loot?
Victoria Beckham show airs in US - bbc →
What kind of people does it take to ensure that a person who sings trivial songs and one who kicks around a ball can have all that their ‘fans’ cannot? - ed-infinitum
Wish for rain to wash away Homer - bbc →
The Apu travesty - Guardian →
June 2007
8 posts
The Australian face of Islam - sydney morning... →
Social sites reveal class divide - bbc →
Who will be beautiful in future? - bbc →
Banned video game is 'fine art' - gaming, bbc →
Shoot first, ask questions later? - gaming, bbc →
Is gingerism as bad as racism? - bbc →
A red-haired family claims to have been driven from their Newcastle home because of abuse. Why is the harassment of redheads dismissed as just harmless fun?
‘I took picture of Tower Bridge and was arrested... →
A chilling glimpse of ‘stop and search’ Britain Government ministers and police chiefs are demanding new powers to allow the police to stop and search people in the streets if they suspect them of terrorism. These powers echo the notorious “sus laws” of the 1970s. Then the laws created an atmosphere of fear as police targeted young black men. Those laws were abandoned after widespread rioting in...
Living in a porn-driven, 'look-at-me' culture -... →
It’s a prevalent sentiment in our look-at-me culture. But many wonder if it really is empowering, especially for younger women and girls who try to emulate what’s already on the Web.
May 2007
7 posts
Historical materialism - Wikipedia →
“Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human societies in the way in which humans collectively make the means to live, thus giving an emphasis, through economic analysis, to everything that co-exists with the economic base of society (e.g. social classes, political structures, ideologies).”
Obstacles to peace in the Middle East: Refugees -... →
Forty years after the Middle East war of 1967 and nearly 60 since the establishment of Israel, there is no Arab-Israeli issue that remains as utterly divisive as the fate of Palestinian refugees. In the course of Israel’s creation in 1948 and its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, more than half the Arabs of pre-1948 Palestine are thought to have been displaced. Today there...
Sugar and Slavery exhibition: were there really... →
Reality behind Turkey’s ‘defence of secularism’ -... →
Quick guide: Iran nuclear stand-off - BBC →
Don't take it personally - Guardian Unlimited →
Anyone stupid enough to do a computer’s bidding is not losing civil liberties so much as their marbles. Histories of television report early consumer resistance to the product because of a belief that the set might be watching the viewer. This neurosis about the tube soon disappeared - except in jokes about Soviet hotel rooms - but has now made a comeback in paranoia over online search...
We should back Chávez - Guardian Unlimited →
It’s not too late for Britain to stand against the Washington consensus on Latin America. Neoconservative forces, via compliant media outlets and Christian right groupings within the European parliament, are preparing their latest attack on Hugo Chávez and the government of Venezuela. The latest focus of the campaign is the decision of Venezuela’s broadcasting authorities not to renew...