By Liz Claud
Photography Editor
1. Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, a prayer leader in Tehran, is quoted in Iranian media and the Associated Press as saying “Many women who do not dress modestly…lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes.”
2. Good Morning America reports that it is relatively easy to buy a new type of software on the internet that allows you to track someone’s cell phone as well as remotely listen in on phone calls, read texts, activate the speaker, and listen to conversations when the phone is off. So while texts, e-mails, and land lines (if you’re suspected of terrorism) have always had the potential to be public, now whispered conversations with someone directly next to you are available too, as long as you tote your cell phone around with you everywhere. But who does that, right?
3. The Situationist quoted Dr. Gene-Jack Wang, from the Department of Energy Lab this week. He confirmed in a Nature Neuroscience article called “Dopamine D2 Receptors in Addiction-Like Reward Dysfunction and Compulsive Eating in Obese Rats,” that fatty foods are addictive, and said “We make our food very similar to cocaine now.” American food companies were not happy with Wang’s implication that their food is like cocaine.
4. There is an Ohio billboard causing quite a ruckus this week. It’s like “got milk,” but more controversial. The billboard is of a young child with milk dripping from its mouth and the slogan “Breast Milk Satisfies.” That’s probably true, so what is the big deal? Apparently, it’s because it’s mom milk and doesn’t come from a cow. People are in a serious uproar about whether the Ohio Department of Health’s ad campaign is appropriate. In surveying citizens, Fox News discovered this: milk mustaches are okay, but if you have milk dripping down your chin you should, under no uncertain terms, be on a billboard. In surveying my roommates, the phrase “mom milk” makes them super uncomfortable.
5. TrueCrimeReports.com’s Pete Kotz reports that Heraldo Villanueva-Garcia and the 17-year-old with him were not the brightest bulbs when they broke into someone’s car. The car’s owner caught and chased after them, and fearing for their wellbeing, they called the police on him mid pursuit. The police arrived and apprehended 21-year-old Villanueva-Garcia and friend. They charged them with felony burglary and assault.
6. Not-so-fun fact for this week: Less than 10 percent of blind people in the U.S. read Braille.
Fun fact: The next time life hands you lemons, take a big whiff because their scent is now proved to be relaxing (caveat: lemon scented cleaning supplies don’t count, so don’t try it).
7. According to a study on PsychologyToday.com, looking at sick people can boost your immune system. In the study, called “The Psychological Immune System,” young adults were asked to watch 10-minute slide shows containing pictures of people who looked ill in some way or control pictures of people brandishing guns. The subjects’ blood samples were then tested for levels of Interleukin 6, which is produced by the immune system. People looking at the sick produced much more Interleukin 6. “It makes enormous evolutionary sense,” explains one study author. “Here’s one way to think about it: Immunological responses sure are useful, but they come at a cost (Inflammation ain’t fun, and IL-6 doesn’t grow on trees.) If you see a bunch of people around you who look sick, that’s a pretty good indicator that you’re in imminent danger of infection.”
8. This week, Jeffrey Lynn Graybill of Phoenix was accused of pretending to be “Dr. Richard Richardson” and soliciting sperm donors for a nonexistent fertility clinic. So far, two men have come forward to accuse him of fondling them during their appointment. Investigators believe that there may be more than two-dozen other victims in California and Arizona that Graybill fondled under the pretense of donating sperm. Although he had no medical license, Graybill allegedly advertised himself as a physician through internet listings on Craigslist and solicited potential clients, offering up to $4,000 monthly for sperm donations for “stem cell and other research.”
9. TheFrisky.com reports “Oklahoma’s State Senate has passed five bills restricting abortion, including one, which requires a woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound and listen to a doctor describe the fetus.”
10. Lisa Dinucci, an elementary French teacher in New Hampshire, is accused of avoiding the ignition lock system installed in her car after her first DUI, by having her young daughter blow into it for her every time she wanted to drive sloshed. She was charged with child endangerment.