Whales Evolved from Water-Loving Deer?

If you startled a deer, you might not expect it to jump into the nearest pond and submerge itself for minutes.

But that is exactly what two species of mouse-deer in Asia do when confronted by predators, scientists have found.

One other African mouse-deer species is known to do the same thing, but the new discovery suggests all ruminants may once have had an affinity with water.

It also lends support to the idea that whales evolved from water-loving creatures that looked like small deer.

link: BBC - Earth News - Aquatic deer and ancient whales

Poponomics: Charity and Truth

Pope Benedict XVI criticized the world's economic systems today and called for a new global structure based on social responsibility, concern for the dignity of the worker and a respect for ethics.

"Today's international economic scene, marked by grave deviations and failures, requires a profoundly new way of understanding human enterprise," Benedict wrote in his latest encyclical, which is the most authoritative document a pope can issue. "Without doubt, one of the greatest risks for business is that they are almost exclusively answerable to their investors, thereby limited in their social value."

In the sweeping document, Benedict denounced the private sector and blamed "badly managed and largely speculative financial dealing" for causing the current economic meltdown. He said that the primary capital to be safeguarded is people, and cautioned that economic systems need to be guided by charity and truth.

link: Pope Calls for New Economic Structure - washingtonpost.com

Your Computer is Trying to Kill You

Computer users are afflicted with more than back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome. People are also winding up in emergency rooms with cuts, bruises, sprains and fractures caused by computers and computer accessories. More than 90 percent of the injuries occur at home.

link: Vital Statistics - More Computers, Many More Injuries - NYTimes.com

Iraq: "No one can be openly gay and alive."

A new report by the BBC looks at the “deteriorating conditions for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people” in Iraq. In fact, all the LGBT Iraqis the team interviewed said that “life was easier for them when Saddam Hussein was in power, from 1979 to 2003. Some spoke fondly of an underground gay culture that flourished before the war in Baghdad.” Recent stories of violence include an Iraqi LGBT leader being gunned down and Iraqi militias gluing anuses of gay men and inducing diarrhea to cause death. “Homosexuality was generally tolerated under Saddam,” Hali, founder of Iraqi LGBT, said in 2007, adding, “Life in Iraq now is hell for all LGBT people; no one can be openly gay and alive.”

link: Think Progress » Home Page

Officials Accuse Taliban of Buying and Selling Children for Suicide Bombing

A top Taliban leader in Pakistan is buying and selling children for suicide bombings, Pakistani and U.S. officials said.

Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud has been increasingly using the children in attacks, the officials said. A video released by Pakistan's military shows the children training for the task.

In the video of a training camp, children can be seen killing and going through exercises.

Mehsud has been selling the children, once trained, to other Taliban officials for $6,000 to $12,000, Pakistani military officials said.

link: Pakistan: Taliban buying children for suicide attacks - CNN.com

Hmm -- How Much is That REALLY?

Depicts 28,000 42-gallon barrels, the amount of oil consumed in the United States every two minutes (equal to the flow of a medium-sized river).

link: current work

Burka-Filtered View of Afganistan

Afganistan seen through a woman's burka, by Aina-trained photojournalist Farzana Wahidy.

link: RESOLVE — the liveBooks photo blog » Afghanistan

Mousavi Defiant But Will Pursue Protest "Within the Framework of the Law"

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, appearing in public for the first time in nearly three weeks, vowed Monday that protests against the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "will not end" and predicted that the new government would encounter problems because it lacks legitimacy.

But the former presidential candidate, who maintains he was denied victory in the June 12 election by massive vote-rigging on behalf of Ahmadinejad, stopped short of calling for new street demonstrations, which the government has declared illegal and largely crushed in a massive crackdown. Instead, Mousavi indicated that the opposition would adopt new tactics, pursuing protest "within the framework of the law."

link: Mousavi Promises Protests Over Iran's Election Will Continue - washingtonpost.com