Research published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that financial crises cause stress through an increase of the stress hormone cortisol (no surprise there), but also that cortisol significantly decreases risk-taking behaviors in those who are affected by it. While a decrease of risk-taking behavior might seem to be good, it […]
Continue reading →National Geographic had a reality show called Snake Salvation which followed the snake-handling adventures of Pastor Jamie Coots. Snake handling is an old Pentecostal Appalachian practice, drawn from a couple passages in the Gospels, that recommends holding venomous snakes as a test of faith. Well, this particular snake-handling Pastor, who had already lost a finger […]
Continue reading →A survey conducted by the National Science Foundation asked Americans some basic science questions to determine American science literacy. Guess what? One in four Americans didn’t know of or hold to a heliocentric view of our solar system—they didn’t know the earth went around the sun. Who knows what these unscientific Americans actually think is […]
Continue reading →There’s a 300-acre city in Virginia now that wasn’t there about six years ago. It has public transportation, a sports stadium, offices, and parking lots. It’s a ghost town though. No one lives here. It is a military training city that cost $96 million. Perhaps to make us all feel a little more comfortable, the […]
Continue reading →Racists need all the help they can get in substantiating their claims that race/genetics predispose people to their fate. They have this claim that your material trumps the immaterial. For instance, if you are black, they assume you are destined for crime, low education, and poverty. They make similarly broad-stroked generalizations about Hispanic people. But […]
Continue reading →The state of Virginia, like many states in the Union, had a statewide law prohibiting same-sex marriages. Had. Today a federal judge, Arenda Wright Allen, overturned that ban. For now, same–sex marriages are still on hold in Virginia until the appeals process on the ban is completed. That appeals process will likely end at the […]
Continue reading →According to Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood, the things women really need for Valentine’s Day are “birth control, cancer screenings, safe and legal abortion, well woman visits, breast exams, maternity care, preventive care, Planned Parenthood, to make our own health decisions, (really radical stuff).” So forget the chocolate and flowers, boys. What women really want […]
Continue reading →Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders produces a list of which countries in the world they think enjoy the most and least freedom of the press. Given the fact that the US has enshrined freedom of the press in the First Amendment, it would make sense if we were near the top every year. But we’ve […]
Continue reading →One of the reasons conservatives try to conserve the status quo is because they recognize that there may be unintended consequences to change. Conservative policy is based on the modest idea that, up to this point, we have been able to survive (if not thrive) with the systems and procedures we have been using heretofore, […]
Continue reading →During a speech to Palm Beach Atlantic University, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made some insightful and balanced comments concerning race: My sadness is that we are probably today more race and difference-conscious than I was in the 1960s when I went to school. To my knowledge, I was the first black kid in Savannah, […]
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