I have no desire to cast imperative sentences your direction about voting, be it whether to do so, or who or what to vote for or against.  Who likes being told what to do?  But I will say that, if you are considering writing a post or comment about voting or politics today, I would appreciate it if you would do so.  I'm supposed to be spending the ( Read more... )

The only recent picture I have of myself, taken Sunday 20 July 2008:


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Check out this fascinating article describing how researchers are using virtual reality to study how different people interpret identical social situations.Paranoid thoughts are often triggered by ambiguous events such as people looking in one's direction or hearing laughter in a room but it is very difficult to recreate such social interactions," ( Read more... )

This idea about Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" in the Sistine Chapel sparked my imagination:Viewed purely as a singular work of art, this scene, unnamed by the artist, is arguably one of his greatest masterpieces. Reproduced in countless art books, posters, and postcards, it has become one of the most well-known images in the world. And now, ( Read more... )

I'm working on another short paper for my social psych class, based upon an article about "the Bush administration’s role in authorizing the illegal torture of prisoners in US custody at Guantanamo and elsewhere." So, naturally, I'm reading the actual memos written by Gonzales, Ashcroft, Powell, Bush, et al that led to the torture, and it's fucking ( Read more... )

[A short paper for my Social Psychology class: Psychologist, Author Mary Pipher Returns APA Award Over Interrogation Policy. What influenced her decision? Consider personal responsibility and conformity ( Read more... )

[U]pon review of the numerous California decisions that have examined the underlying bases and significance of the constitutional right to marry (and that illuminate why this right has been recognized as one of the basic, inalienable civil rights guaranteed to an individual by the California Constitution), we conclude that, under this state's ( Read more... )

Opponents carry injured home-run hitter around bases
Updated: April 30, 2008, 7:40 PM EST
(Original link here.)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the ( Read more... )

There's an error in the HTML for this page on the UCLA website, so I'm pasting it in here with a fix to make it more readable for myself.  I'm making it public in case anyone is interested.

( What is Cognitive Science? )

Yesterday, I came across an interesting post entitled Thoughts on Men and Rape.  In it, the author expresses his anger and bafflement at how rape is considered a women's issue, as if men have nothing to do with it, and that in his experience, when men discuss rape at all, it is in the context of being worried about being falsely accused of rape.  ( Read more... )