Friday, April 9, 2010

WEB BOHEMIAN (Friday, April 9, 2010)
(1)- FEAR STOPPER – University of Hiroshima scientists find a way to switch off the fear center in the brain by injecting a shot of lidocaine, an anesthetic, to the brain -- of goldfish, that is. Goldfish and human brains are similar.

(2)- NOT A NAME -- Moscow authorities refused a birth certificate to a boy, whose parents named him BOCh RVF 26062002. Officials refused to register the boy's name, which means Biological Human Object of the Voronin-Frolov Genus (DoB) June 6, 2002.

(3)- NOT SO GRUMPY -- Despite the curmudgeonly stereotype of older folks, scientists find older people view the world through rose-tinted spectacles, remembering the good times rather than the bad. It has to do with processing information.

(4)- STRANGE ART NEWS -- Critics tend to declare that Marcel Duchamp's urinal, entitled “Fountain”, is the most important artwork of the 20th century. Yet its standing as a collectable object has always lagged behind its value as an idea.

(5)- ANTI-SHAKESPEARE ON THE RISE -- Claims that Shakespeare didn't write those plays are on the rise with assertions favoring Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere or Christopher Marlowe. Blamed are the internet and conspiracy theories.

(6)- BEER LABELS -- Craft beers, loosely defined as local brews produced by traditional methods, offer a peek into the psyches of their creators. The labels for craft beers have become as quaint and curious and quirky as the beers.

(7)- MAKING SPEED TRAP MONEY -- The top forty speed traps in the state of Texas raked in a total of $178.4 million in speeding ticket revenue between 2000 and 2008 despite having a combined population of less than 56,000 residents.

(8)- PORTRAIT WOES -- Illinois lawmakers vote to deny former Gov. Rod Blagojevich money for an official portrait in the Statehouse. The House-approved measure now goes to the Senate. The bill allows Blagojevich to pay for his own portrait.

(9)- SUGAR REPORT -- For years, domestic sugar producers have profited from quotas limiting sugar imports, boosting prices to American users. Such protectionism takes from American consumers for politically powerful sugar producers.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

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