Big corporate money as a muzzle

In Canada, big corporate money is funding the environmentally horrific tar sands project and the equally despicable effort to muzzle scientists who would otherwise be reporting on the environmental disaster. IO9 reports:

Big money muzzles truth-tellers. "The Canadian government is currently under investigation for its efforts to obstruct the right of the media and public to speak to government scientists. These policies are widely believed to be a part of the government's unspoken campaign to ensure that oil keeps flowing from the Athabasca tar sands — even if it’s at the cost of free scientific inquiry, the environment, and by consequence, democracy itself."

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Meta-cognition documented in chimpanzees

Humans are not the only animals capable of meta-cognition: the ability to think about their thinking. A recent article in Science Daily demonstrates that chimpanzees are capable of meta-cognition:

[C]himpanzees named items immediately and directly when they knew what was there, but they sought out more information before naming when they did not already know. The research team said, "This pattern of behavior reflects a controlled information-seeking capacity that serves to support intelligent responding, and it strongly suggests that our closest living relative has metacognitive abilities closely related to those of humans."

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Early human-neanderthal ancestor remains identified

This is an incredible story. Scientists have identified a 30,000-40,000 year old hominid ancestor whose DNA indicates that it is part Human, part Neanderthal.

If further analysis proves the theory correct, the remains belonged to the first known such hybrid, providing direct evidence that humans and Neanderthals interbred. Prior genetic research determined the DNA of people with European and Asian ancestry is 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal.
Those were amazing times in Europe, where humans and Neanderthals co-existed. One wonders whether this co-existence was at all peaceful. Regardless, apparently I (along with many people of European and Asian ancestry) carry some Neanderthal genetic coding. When I am asked about my "race," I have sometimes (when I would not receive any sort of benefit or privilege for doing so) indicate "African." I've previously argued that we'd all be better off declaring that we are African, because the categories or "race" are as scientifically deficient as they are culturally divisive. But now, thanks to this new finding, I have the option of indicating that my "race" is Part-human, part Neanderthal, out of Africa via Europe, currently living in the U.S. Or something like that.

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The extent to which elements of Islamaphobia reside in new atheism

To what extent do elements of Islamaphobia reside in new atheism? Fascinating and intense exchange between Glenn Greenwald and Sam Harris. I'm tempted to sum it up, but I'll hold off, given that these two highly articulate writers have expressed themselves with precision. Here's the Al Jazeera article that ignited this debate.

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