Science vs Religion, one more time
Religion wins, hands down. The Scientific American concedes. :)

Harry Potter and Economics
I've been looking for excuses to procrastinate on reading the last installment of the HP series. Once I missed a class because I was so engrossed reading the 3rd book that I totally forgot my class schedule. Now here's for the bashing and possibly my excuse too. Continue until you finish reading the comments as well. Probably the odds are not exactly in favor of my not reading it. Here's a piece that says exactly the opposite about HP not making any economic sense. Talk about economics being a dismal science.

Engineer vs Philanthropist
Who contributes more for the society's well being? An engineer or a philanthropist? Bill Gates the software engineer or Bill Gates the Philanthropist? It depends how you calculate their contributions. This guy has it his way.

Lead Exposure and Criminality
If you're a fan of Freakonomics that attributes the drop in criminality in the US to the institution of abortion, here's even more freakish link to criminality: lead exposure. Surges in crime correlate with heights of lead exposure in population. The evidence appears to be more solid than what's used to support the Freakonomics thesis on the abortion-criminality link.

Politically Incorrect Truths
Psychology Today (not exactly up there in academic reputation) published this nonetheless amusing article on "truths" about human "nature": why suicide bombers are Muslims, why men prefer sexy blonds, and so on.