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We know that tall people live longer than short people and this may be one reason why: short male babies run more than double the risk of a violent suicide attempt as an adult, showing that our genes count more than we’d like to think they do. But CULTURE counts too!

The suicide findings are based on a study of over 300,000 Swedish men, who were tracked from birth to the date of attempted suicide. Short babies were more likely to attempt suicide as adults, no matter what height they reached in adulthood, compared with normal length babies. Short birth length also more than doubled the risk of a violent suicide attempt as opposed to a non-violent one.
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For months, websites around the world have been speculating that video artist Kris Avery would admit to creating the drones, but now Avery has said that he didn’t create them. He did create some drone videos, but they were done to illustrate how easy it would be to accomplish. He insists that he did not create any of the original images. Avery says, “The videos I created…all inspired by the original photos. I myself am totally unsure as to the origin of the images beyond what I already know…i.e. anonymous witnesses…” Don’t miss Dreamland this weekend, when Linda Howe interviews a NEW Drone witness.
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Can we train ourselves to be compassionate? A new study suggests the answer is yes. We can meditate in order to cultivate compassion and kindness, because meditation affects brain regions that make a person more empathetic to other peoples’ mental states.

Researchers used fMRI brain scans to prove that positive emotions such as loving-kindness and compassion can be learned in the same way as playing a musical instrument or being proficient in a sport. The scans revealed that brain circuits used to detect emotions and feelings were dramatically changed in subjects who had extensive experience practicing compassion meditation.
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What’s really behind the coming economic collapse? Some houses are now worth less than their copper pipes, which are being stolen from empty, foreclosed properties. But there are economists who think the REAL cause of the recession isn’t sub-prime mortgages, it’s that perennial problem: credit card debt.

Across the US, empty houses are being stripped of their copper, aluminum, and brass by looters. These metals are used in plumbing, heating systems and telephone lines. Chinadaily quotes Cleveland city councilor Tony Brancatelli as saying, “We’re in an incredibly unfortunate time where the nonferrous metals commodities market for scrap is at an all-time high. Houses are getting stripped pretty quickly once they go through the foreclosure process.”
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