NEWS 2 USE - The I'm Sorry I've Been Neglecting You Version

Some of us have WIPs you know

Go Team Go

The team fielded by Ecuador in pursuit of the soccer World Cup has its own personal "witch doctor" who has hexed the English team, according to The Sun.

Think of the possibilities with introducing a paranormal element into the Harlequin NASCAR tie-in. Not that I don't already think that the Harlequin and NASCAR tie-in is paranormal. The only sport that should be legal is competition ballroom dancing. Latin and Standard.

PS: England 1, Ecuador, 0.

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Tell Me More, Tell Me More

According to research published in the American Scientist, the human brain is wired to deliver that burst of pleasure we feel when the proverbial light bulb goes on. When we grasp a new concept, the brain shoots us full of natural opiates.

The research also indicates that the pleasure from viewing art is similarly hard-wired. So now you know why that "aha" moment when your story comes together feels so damn good.

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Why Can We Go Crazy?

The emerging discipline of evolutionary psychology aims to explain why human DNA developed a cognitive, emotional and neurobiological system so prone to breaking down in the form of psychiatric disorders.

The blurb at Mind Hacks (I love them, love them, love them) is just the gateway to a web of links to learn more. As we understand how the brain's chemistry and cognitive functions work, science continues to blur the line between normal and abnormal psychologies. I remember reading not too long ago a great woo woo about how fine the line is between being creative and being crazy. Maybe our susceptibility to madness is just the risk of being such a creative species. So, if your alien species places even more value on creative thinking…

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From the Oh Gross! Department

While doctors brush them off as victims of a delusional disorder, growing numbers of Americans report an itchy, bumpy rash apparently caused by "Morgellons." Sufferers report a feeling of bugs crawling under their skin, described by one victim as "It gives you the sensation that you have worms under your skin or rats crawling on you." The itchy bumpy rash shows signs of parasitic activity or other type of infection.

It's just too weird to summarize here. Go read it yourself, Rense has a dozen articles. Icky, icky, icky! But a story gold mine!

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An Advertising Campaign for Space

Research shows that most people are disconnected with the idea of space exploration, have no idea of the goals of such a long-term enterprise and see little value in going beyond our atmosphere, let alone our solar system.

According to space exploration proponents, we need an advertising campaign for space.

Having formal training in marketing and advertising, my mind boggles at how those media manipulators might make the space shuttle sexy. What a great platform for a story: "what if a few marketing moguls made space exploration the #1 priority of Americans?"

Finally, from the Can't Resist Department

According to the July 2006 issue of Gourmet: The Magazine of Good Living, a new restaurant in Beijing "offers over 30 varieties of animal penises. The organs, often served with testicles, are thought to enhance virility."

So consuming male sexual parts=virility. So wouldn't that make orally enthusiastic straight women and gay men…mirror mirror on the wall, who's the most virile of them all?