Linkage

• Medieval medical books could hold the recipe for new antibiotics (The Conversation) Considering the fact that big pharma doesn't look for cures anymore, this might be a good source for future drugs.
• The Real Problem with Charles Murray and "The Bell Curve" (Scientific American Blog Network) Basically, the questions posed by the authors reveal that they are looking for a scientific justication for racism, because they are racists.^*
• Alabama Sheriff In Court For Starving Inmates, Paying Critic's Grandson To Install Keylogger On Her Computer (Techdirt) Support your local sheriff.
• New 'Perceptual' Ad Blocking Tech Doesn't Win The Ad Blocking War, But It May Put Advertisers On Their Heels... Permanently (Techdirt) Short version: Ads must attract eyeballs, and human physiology and psychology is a known, so you can identify, and block ads by using this requirement.
• States are moving to cut college costs by introducing open-source textbooks (Quartz) About f%$#ing time. Textbook pricing is a racket.
• A clinical psychologist explains how Ayn Rand seduced young minds and helped turn the US into a selfish nation (Raw Story) "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
• NYC property taxes favor rich and white homeowners, suit claims (NY Daily News) It turns out that property tax assessments favor the rich over the poor.  Hoocoodanode?
• Does Dental Disease Push Big Cats to Prey on Humans? (The Wire) Basically, bad teeth make it too hard for lions to gnaw on wildebeests.
•  107 cancer papers retracted due to peer review fraud (Ars Technica) Researchers were creating dummy email accounts and sock puppeting. Publish, or perish, or cheat.

Simon's Cat on Boxes


^*In any discussion of Charles Murray, it should be noted that he Burned a Cross on a hill next to the local police station. He claims not to know the significance ……… In 1960 ……… With both the civil rights movement and Klan terrorism in full swing. Bullsh%$. He's a man who has made a career out of being a professional racist.