Google in China: The Big Disconnect
A fascinating New York Times magazine piece.
A blog devoted to teaching evolution, both in our schools and in our communities.
Motivated by Biblical teachings, Robert Sungenis has written a 1,000-page work that shows that the sun actually revolves around the earth. How long until some school district demands that its science teachers teach this controversy?
An interesting piece from the always worthwhile science section of the New York Times discusses the Bedouins, an ethnic group whose ancestors long roamed the Middle East and married their cousins. The Bedouins now have some serious genetic diseases. Money quote:
Bedouins do not carry more genetic mutations than the general population. But because so many marry relatives — some 65 percent of Bedouin in Israel's Negev marry first or second cousins — they have a significantly higher chance of marrying someone who carries the same mutations, increasing the odds they will have children with genetic diseases, researchers say. Hundreds have been born with such diseases among the Negev Bedouin in the last decade.
Researchers have found 700 regions of the human genome where genes appear to have been shaped by natural selection within the last 15,000 years. Taste, smell, digestion, bone structure, skin color and brain function all appear to have evolved relatively recently.
You no doubt know about Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-California), who was just sentenced to more than eight years in prison for taking bribes. I'm not going to rehash the whole story here, but I do want to point out the great piece of reporting that broke the whole thing wide open. When first confronted with the odd fact that a defense contractor had bought Cunningham's house for $700,000 more than it was worth, Cunningham said,
"My whole life I've lived aboveboard," Cunningham said. "I've never even smoked a marijuana cigarette. I don't cheat. If a contractor buys me lunch and we meet a second time, I buy the lunch. My whole life has been aboveboard and so this doesn't worry me."
We're winning.
Just to make sure we're all clear: If you're using a Yahoo account to promote Democracy in China, Yahoo will turn you in to the Chinese authorities.