«我国互联网形态有特殊性。相对于国外的各种限制，中国的互联网是全世界最开放的。» - 周锡生

("Our country's Internet situation is unique. Compared to all kinds of restrictions in foreign countries, China has the most open Internet in the world." - Zhou Xisheng, Deputy Chief of Xinhua News Agency, Director-General of Xinhua News Net)

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We are born to believe in God - ""Children have a natural, intuitive way of reasoning that leads them to all kinds of supernatural beliefs about how the world works. As they grow up they overlay these beliefs with more rational approaches but the tendency to illogical supernatural beliefs remains as religion"... even ardent atheists may balk at the idea of accepting an organ transplant from a murderer, because of a superstitious belief that an individual’s personality could be stored in their organs"

Is Google Censoring Islam Suggestions? - "Confused about what Islam is? Join the party — it seems Google can’t figure it out either. Or, at least its search suggestion program can’t"

Singaporeans Seek Asylum Elsewhere - "Despite the prosperity, the decent health and education systems and the lack of crime, a steady trickle of Singaporeans have felt the urge to abandon their homeland and seek asylum in nations such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada over the last few years. (That of course doesn't count the thousands of Singaporeans who leave every year to settle elsewhere. By one estimate, the number who put the Lion City behind them is as high as 15 percent of annual births)... With genuine refugees from strife-ridden nations such as Afghanistan... most asylum seekers from Singapore are turned back... Meanwhile, the Singapore government continues to stick to its long-standing policy of refusing to accept refugees. It is one of the few countries that have chosen not to sign up to the UN Refugee Convention and has a long history of turning away even those in desperate need... Lee Kuan Yew... vetoed a 1979 proposal by Margaret Thatcher to buy a vacant Indonesian or Philippine island to house Vietnamese boat people. His concern was that this would create a "rival entrepreneurial city""

German cop faces firing after having noisy sex in church

He Lied, She Lied - ""Men tend to lie to gain career or professional status... Women tend to lie to gain social status." So while a man is busy underestimating operating costs or bloating sales figures, Reina says their female colleagues are more likely to be spreading office gossip that may not be true, or making up excuses not to attend a co-worker's dinner party... Women are also more likely to express exaggerated appreciation. Office hallways rebound with women complimenting each other on their outfits, hairstyles and work; men tend to keep it to a simple, "Good job, man"... women are more likely to be self-deprecating and express falsely negative evaluations of themselves in order to either fish for a compliment or seem less threatening... A man, no surprise, is more likely to aggrandize his achievement"

YouTube - 12 Days of Ris-Mas - "On the 12th day of Ris-Mas my true love gave to me: 12 months probation, 11 day safari, 10 ads from sponsorers, 9 English lessons, 8 khaki jins, 7 credit cards from 6 different people, 5 leopard preens, 4-giveness, 3-piece bigini, 2 polar disorder and a diploma in hospitallality"

Man beaten to death for using mobile phone in pub

Chimpanzees exchange meat for sex - "[She] studied chimps in the Tai Forest reserve in Ivory Coast... Dr Gomes thinks that her findings could even provide clues about human evolution. She suggests this study could lay the foundations for human studies exploring the link between "good hunting skills and reproductive success". "This has got me really interested in humans," she said. "I'm thinking of moving on to working with hunter-gatherers.""
Patriarchy has infected Macaques in Indonesia, Penguins in Antarctica, Shrikes (presumably in Eastern Europe) and now Chimpanzees in Côte d'Ivoire (insect mating might be too simple to describe as prostitution)

We’re Wired from Brain to Toe, So Why Aren’t We Illiterate Yet? - "When once we dined on Tolstoy, now we munch on Tweets. So goes the argument. Turns out, it’s wrong. Actually it’s been wrong for a few millennia, starting when Socrates predicted that we were all screwed when the oral tradition gave way to the written word... Enjoyment of literature has always been a moving target — hence, the Canon’s very center of gravity–Shakespeare–wrote plays for the barely literate rabble. Terrific irony... research on whether TV is detrimental to the intelligence of children depends almost entirely on where they live, in a socioeconomic sense... 'for children of impoverished parents... The more TV they watch, the better their grades'"
Theory is useless - you must look at empirical data. Which is why when the humanities try to talk about social science, you often get ridiculous results

Secrets of the Economist's Trade: First, Purchase a Piggy Bank - "Economists are often cheapskates... economics majors were less likely to donate money to charity than students who majored in other fields... One year, Yale University economist Robert Shiller, who'd never gambled in his life, found himself at a casino there. He says that was because Wharton economist Jeremy Siegel realized that by using coupons offered to conventioneers, they could take opposing bets at the craps table with a 35 out of 36 chance of winning $12.50 each. Over two nights, Mr. Shiller netted $87.50. He hasn't gambled since."

Contra Mundum: Confessions of an Anti-Choice Fanatic - "If current media is to be believed opposition to legal abortion comes from misogynist fundamentalist fanatics who want to impose their religious mores onto others. This string of pejorative terms is amusing; however, it does not actually address the more crucial question of whether laws against feticide (the killing of a fetus) are just... Those who attempt to ground humanity in the amount of brain development an organism has undergone face a dilemma... “by any plausible measure dogs, and cats, cows and pigs, chickens and ducks are more intellectually developed than a new born infant”"

Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues - "On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope... A user named Mike wrote on the fan Web site "Naviblue" that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie... "When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning""
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Noah's Ark was circular raft made of reeds, according to ancient tablet - "The tablet describes the Mesopotamian story, which became the account in the Old Testament of Noah's Ark in the Book of Genesis. In Mr Finkel's translation, the god speaks to Atram-Hasis, a Sumerian king who is the Noah figure in early versions of the ark story... Mr Finkel, the curator of the recent British exhibition on ancient Babylon, believes it was during the Babylonian captivity that the exiled Jews learned of the story of Noah and incorporated it into the Old Testament"

How To Wake Up Your Girlfriend (video)
This guy's not getting laid tonight

Letter From London - My American Friends - "When I finally got to America myself, I found that not only were the natives friendly and hospitable, they were also incredibly polite. No one tells you this about Americans, but once you notice it, it becomes one of their defining characteristics, especially when they’re abroad... racial intermingling in Britain is most conspicuous in the ethnically diverse makeup of the groups of yobs — Asian, black and white — who exercise their antisocial behavioral skills without any kind of discrimination as to whom they happen to be terrorizing"