April 04, 2008
— Dave in Texas I'm surprised at the qualifier "financial" but perhaps they didn't include "global warming" in the grant request.
According to those who actually make a living researching these things that they research, young men are motivated by sex and money.
The study only involved 15 heterosexual young men at Stanford University. It focused on the sex and money hub, the V-shaped nucleus accumbens, which sits near the base of the brain and plays a central role in what you experience as pleasure.
This gives me an entirely different perspective on the location of the "base of the brain". It's a lot lower than I imagined. Also I think my "nucleus accumbens" is shaped more like a tiger than a V. A hot, sexy tiger.
Am I surprised that men find taking risks to be stimulating? Are you surprised? Why am I asking you?
I don't know. I'm an idiot and I don't see the missing element (a sammich!).
[Professor Camelia] Kuhnen said the same link could hold true for women, but they didn't test it because it is more difficult to find an erotic image that would appeal to many different heterosexual women compared to heterosexual men.
I just think she didn't want to admit it.
"Risk-taking is a natural way of increasing your relative success, but, of course, there's a downside to it, what we're seeing right now in the economy," [Professor of Economic Geniusness, Law, and Girl Anxiety Kevin] McCabe said.
Well, science has addressed the downside already. There's a little pill for that.
Posted by: Dave in Texas at
04:43 PM
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— Ace Second front:
U.S. forces are pushing Shiite militias farther from the Green Zone in an attempt to put the area out of range for rockets and mortars that have recently pounded the diplomatic and government enclave.The strategy, which targets the southern outskirts of the Shiite district of Sadr City, began as part of a wider crackdown on armed Shiite groups that left Iraqi leaders in disarray after strong resistance and protests from the powerful Mahdi Army militia.
But for American commanders, the showdowns offered an opportunity to move against the launch sites, known as "rocket boxes," which soldiers previously had not reached through the teeming Sadr City streets.
U.S. troops reinforced positions on the edges of Sadr City , an 8-square-mile slum with about 2.5 million people , and have battled their way into suspected launch sites.
"We've seized the 'rocket boxes' and pushed them north," said Col. John Hort, commander of the Third Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
The 107 mm rockets typically used by the militiamen could hit the Green Zone if fired from the southern edges of Sadr City, about 3.5 miles northeast of the zone. The rockets can be launched from mobile platforms. Mortars, too, can be done in a fire-and-hide style.
Militants used a few 122 mm rockets, which can be fired from far deeper inside Sadr City where there is no American presence, but they seem to have few of those weapons.
Trying to stop such attacks has "driven us mad," Hort said.
Thanks to CJ.
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03:40 PM
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— Gabriel Malor The fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica starts tonight. The show is back after over a year's hiatus. When we last saw them, we'd just had our minds blown by the identities of four of the Final Five cylons. Tonight's episode picks up right where we left off.
Feel free to discuss in the comments. I won't be checking in until after the show (Pacific time), so please behave.
Spoiler Policy: Anything from the miniseries and the show up to and including tonight's episode is fair game; no need to warn or in some way obscure text for anything that comes from that material. However, anything you may have heard about future episodes should be kept to yourself. Thanks.
DrewM. sends "What the Frak is Going on With BSG?", the 8-minute mildly amusing recap of everything that's happened up to this point in the series. I'm almost certain that it's narrated by the woman who plays Seelix. Anyways, the video is tucked below the fold for those who want to catch up. Thanks, Drew! more...
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01:59 PM
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— DrewM Who says public service doesnÂ’t pay?
Since leaving the White House, here's what the Clinton's have made and paid:
Cumulative Total (Gross) Income: $109,175,175Taxes Paid: $ 33,783,507
Charitable Contributions: $ 10,256,741
After Tax Earnings: $ 57,157,297
Mark Halperin at The Page has the early breakdown on where the money came from.
They did pay over 30 million in taxes. No word yet if they think thatÂ’s their fair share.
We all knew Clinton was loaded but does this amount of money hurt her in PA or NC?
Below the fold...a SluShop. Just how much is in that fishbowl?
*I changed the headline, the $109 million is over 7 years. Still, lots and lots of money. more...
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12:37 PM
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— Dave in Texas Accuses foreign-owned companies of "restricting local supply to boost prices and increasing exports to maximize profits".
I don't understand why he doesn't just threaten to kick Colombia's ass for paying more than he wants to for the cement, but I probably shouldn't suggest it. It's the kinda batshit crazy he really loves.
Posted by: Dave in Texas at
12:03 PM
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— DrewM Blackfive has some amazing video of US Special Forces fighting in Sadr City.
ThereÂ’s no time frame given for the video so it could have been part of the recent flare up or years ago. Either way, it makes you appreciate the bravery and skill of our guys even more.
Oh, and the way the infrared sights look on the night vision camera? Awesome.
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11:05 AM
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— Gabriel Malor With apologies in advance for any Paulbots who show up, this was simply too good an opportunity to let pass. Low hanging fruit 'n' all. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an article about Paul's campaign in Pennsylvania. It has plenty of quotes from worshipful Paulians, as if we needed more of that, but what caught my eye was the very end of the article:
Ron Paul and his people keep going on despite, or perhaps because of, what is a hopeless situation."If anyone's looked at what I've done for so many years, it's just sort of a steady determination," he said, when asked about his character. "I think if I should be compared to somebody, it might be called a true believer."
So my question is, does he mean this kind of true believer or that kind of true believer. The first describes a 1951 book on mass movements called "The True Believer" which remains in print today. Given the book's subject matter, I almost find it impossible to believe that Paul is not familiar with it:
The book evaluates and sometimes disparages Communists, Fascists, Nationalists, and early Christians. Part of Hoffer's thesis is that movements are interchangeable and that fanatics will often flip from one movement to another. Furthermore, Hoffer argues the motivations for mass movements are interchangeable: religious, nationalist and class-based movements tend to behave in the same way and use the same tactics, even when their stated goals or values are diametrically opposed.
One of the central theses of the book is that mass movements are made up of a group of people who have strong feelings of frustration directed at dominant majorities. These people are passionate about achieving a glorious future, which achieves such value in their minds that fundamental norms are occasionally dropped by the wayside for the greater good. A revolution indeed.
The second kind of true believer is described by Lamar Keene:
Keene used the term to refer to people who continued to believe in a paranormal event or phenomenon even after it had been proven to have been staged. It has since been applied, more loosely, to refer to any belief without empirical or logical foundations.
I think it's fair to say that either version works for Paul and his followers. Why is Paul still running? Why does he think that Republicans should work with him? And what does he plan to do when he finally drops out?
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10:48 AM
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— Ace
Only ten albino gators and crocs are known to exist.
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10:27 AM
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— Slublog You've got to wonder what
The billboard and press campaign, created by advertising agency Teran\TBWA and now running in Mexico, is a colorful map depicting what the Americas might look like in an "Absolut" -- i.e., perfect -- world.I'm sure it does tap into national pride. But at what expense? As commenter making absurd bitey faces says in a thread below "The issue is whether it is right to obliterate a country in order to increase marketing in another?" A marketing campaign based on national pride doesn't have to irritate the sensibilities of those in another large, alcohol-consuming country. The company has since "apologized" for the ad.The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California.
Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo saw the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México ceded to the United States to become modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.
The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S.
The In An Absolut World advertising campaign invites consumers to visualize a world that appeals to them -- one they feel may be more idealized or one that may be a bit "fantastic." As such, the campaign will elicit varying opinions and points of view. We have a variety of executions running in countries worldwide, and each is germane to that country and that population.Really? Okay, then. I took the liberty of creating an ad for you. I'm sure your Russian market will love it. more...
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09:34 AM
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— Ace And also, some porn and sexual assault.
A Boulder man was arrested early Thursday after police said he crashed a memorial service, grabbed the breast of the deceased woman's sister and showed her mother pornographic pictures....
Her mother, who hosted the memorial gathering, told police she didn't know Hernandez but wasn't suspicious when he came into her home because lots of people she doesn't know have paid their respects, Huntley said.
Upon entering the apartment, Hernandez went first to the kitchen and put his arm around the deceased woman's teenage sister "as if to comfort her," Huntley said.
But the woman told officers it made her uncomfortable.
"Then he reached down and grabbed one of her breasts," Huntley said.
The sister told police she didn't want to start a confrontation, so she left the kitchen. Hernandez then went near a display of pictures and memories of the deceased and pulled out a cell phone, Huntley said.
"She thought he was going to take a picture of the shrine with his cell phone," Huntley said. "But he showed the mother a pornographic picture instead."
He was forcibly ejected by other attendees, many of whom were also hoping to make it with the dead woman's family. Hernandez is being held on $20,000 bail for aggravated cockblocking.
Via Fark.
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09:01 AM
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