The Kissing of Hands

Britain has a new Prime Minister, its youngest in 200 years.

Fat Isn't Evil

The Independent has a story covering a study of studies that implies that fat isn't so bad after all. It is added sugar and refined carbs that may be the evil in our foods.

• “Foods like cornflakes, white bread, French fries and sweetened soda all put undue stress on the endothelium, which explains for the first time why high glycaemic carbs can affect the progression of heart disease,” says Dr Shecter. His study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology last year.

Faster and Louder Music Makes You Eat and Drink More

Thedailybeast.com has this story, "How restaurants get you drunk." I had no idea, but this explains why more restaurants seem louder.

• In the mid-1980s, researchers at Fairfield University demonstrated that people increased their rate of chewing by almost a third when listening to faster, louder music, accelerating from 3.83 bites a minute to 4.4 bites a minute.

Dow Jones Index Drops 1000 points, What Happened?

The New York Times has many articles on what may have happened on May 6th, 2010 to the Dow Jones index. Here are the two articles I find most interesting:

• High-Speed Trading Glitch Costs Investors Billions
• Markets Plunge, Then Stage a Rebound
  

Disneyland Paris, not the happiest place on Earth

The Independent has a story on Disneyland Paris and two recent suicides by park workers.

Nick Clegg and the upcoming British Election

The Independent has a story about Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democratic party, writing about where Clegg came from politically and what chances the Lib Dems have in pulling off something historic.

• "Between mouthfuls, Clegg is patiently explaining to me that the Liberal Democrats' extraordinary opinion poll surge, by now extended for two weeks, is not some "inexplicable flash in the pan" and that "something was brewing" for some time."

A bit 'inside baseball' but worth a read.

Frank Rich in the NY Times on Arizona

Frank Rich, Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, writing about the new Arizona illegal immigrant law.

• "DON’T blame it all on Arizona. The Grand Canyon State simply happened to be in the right place at the right time to tilt over to the dark side. Its hysteria is but another symptom of a political virus that can’t be quarantined and whose cure is as yet unknown."

New Resorts in Singapore are Busy

Both Integrated Resorts (IRs) in Singapore are now (mostly) both open and are getting good business. ChannelNewsAsia has two stories this weekend about increased traffic on the SMRT and how the IRs will boost the Singapore economy.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I just started reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Looks promising. Here is the first sentence.

• It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.

Pharyngula Criticizes the Catholic Church

Pharyngula has a very good essay criticizing the Catholic church.

• I do think, though, that we can't let repressed celibate jerks dictate who can be parents, and deprive people who might want to be parents of the privilege simply because a priest does not approve of their love.