Can anyone truly be surprised?  It’s yet another reason I find dogma and faith problematic dangers.  “New research published in the March issue of Psychological Science may help elucidate the relationship between religious indoctrination and violence, a topic that has gained renewed notoriety in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In the article, University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman and his colleagues suggest that scriptural violence sanctioned by God can increase aggression, especially in believers.”  I strongly suggest you go read the entire article to see how the study worked, who participated, and what differences in aggression were seen when it came to violence promoted by religious texts.  Disturbing doesn’t begin to describe it, yet it’s not at all surprising.

Weekend Cat Blogging is now available over at Kate’s place, so head on over there and enjoy an afternoon with plenty of cat company.

Trot over and sniff your way around Carnival of the Dogs.

This elicits a great deal of sorrow.  It’s a “video from 1933 of the last Tasmanian tiger, the thylacine. Thylacines, now extinct, were carnivorous marsupials that inhabited Tasmania until they were wiped out by a human campaign of extermination that lasted through the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries, although thylacines were never a threat to anyone.”

Don’t miss the latest edition of Good Planets, a stunning collection of photographs celebrating Earth.

Time in a Bottle: The four stages of life in one picture.  You’ll appreciate its brutal honesty wrapped in humor.