"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." - Orson Welles

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Conservative Protestants' Religious Beliefs Contribute to Their Low Wealth, Duke Study Shows - "In the study, Keister examines the wealth of members of conservative Protestant churches, defined as members of churches with relatively traditional religious beliefs who accept the Bible as the inerrant word of God, value personal conversion experiences and emphasize the importance of the Christian faith to social issues. Some of the larger denominations are Assemblies of God, Baptist, Churches of Christ, Church of God in Christ, Nazarene and Pentecostal. Wealth is defined as net worth, or total household assets minus total liabilities. Conservative Protestants have very low overall wealth: In 2000, median net worth for conservative Protestants was $26,000 compared to $66,200 for the entire National Longitudinal Study of Youth, the data used in the study."

1/97 Noncompliance Negates Treatment Advances - "While many advances have been made in treating schizophrenia, much of the improvement has been rendered virtually meaningless in actual practice because of the persistently large percentage of patients who fail to take their medication, a researcher says... It has been shown that persons with schizophrenia have the type of brain disorder that makes it difficult for them to learn from experience. "One of the symptoms of their illness is they don't know they're sick," according to Weiden."

'Praying' dog at Japanese temple - "Attendance at a Buddhist temple in Japan has increased since the temple's pet, a two-year-old dog, has joined in the daily prayers."

The Straight Dope: Who gets the most pleasure from sex, the man or the woman? - "We're going to confine this discussion to the physiological experience of orgasm. The more subjective aspects of sex, important though they may be, are too difficult for us scientists to quantify... Not only can't you have the ultimate O, if she doesn't have one, it's your damn fault. You want to give up and join the monastery, Cecil will understand."
Tiresias was indeed right. As for the more subjective aspects, when you dig your nose, what feels good? Your finger or the nose?

Health Sciences Authority - Is It Safe? - " Blood donations do not cause any weight gain. Our bodies only replace the blood donated - they do not overcompensate and produce excess blood or fat. We need more ladies to come forward as blood donors - currently, only 30% of donors are women."
Yeah, maybe only 30% of Singaporean women weigh 50kg or more. I love the part about weight gain - why not claim, like some more dodgy countries, that it promotes good health (one site claims that you lose 650 calories per pint, but I am informed that "an extensive search yielded no evidence to independently verify the accuracy of that statement")? Hurr hurr

Education and Development - "For example, we constantly find developing nations with numerous physicians specializing in heart diseases while preventive tropical medicine is considered a second-rate specialty. Architects are concerned with the design of national monuments and modern public buildings, while low-cost housing, schools, and clinics remain an area of remote concern. Engineers and scientists concentrate on the newest and most modern electronic equipment while simple machine tools, hand- or animal-operated farm equipment, basic sanitation and waterpurifying systems, and labor-intensive mechanical processes are relegated to the attention of "foreign experts." Finally, some academic economists teach and research totally irrelevant, sophisticated mathematical models of nonexistent competitive economies, while problems of poverty, unemployment, rural development, and education are considered less intellectually interesting. In all these diverse professional activities, performance criteria are based not on contributions to national development but rather on praise from the international community (professional mentors in the developed nations). The publication of an LDC scholar's paper in an international professional journal or the receipt of an invitation to attend a professional meeting in London, Paris, New York, or Moscow is often deemed more important than finding a solution to a local technological, agricultural, medical, or economic problem."

IWMF Courage Award Winners - "Marielos Monzon, a columnist for the daily Prensa Libre in Guatemala City, Guatemala, is known for her commitment to reporting on human rights violations in her country... She began receiving threats in 1998 when four gunmen came to her home and smashed the windows of her car. In June 2002, intruders again entered her house. This time they took her dog. At the same time, anonymous callers told her to stop reporting on human rights abuses or risk harm to her children"
Of course, this would not have happened if she hadn't reported on the human rights violations.

Women-only gym hours stir debate at Harvard - "Harvard University has banned men from one of its gyms for a few hours a week, a move to accommodate Muslim women who, for religious and cultural reasons, cannot exercise comfortably in their presence. The policy is already unpopular with many on campus, however, including some women who consider it sexist."
Next, they should set aside white-only gym hours for whites who feel uncomfortable exercising with people of other races, and straight-men-only gym hours for straight men who feel uncomfortable exercising with gays and bisexuals.