Free Republic

Hey guys, want to look taller? Just pick up a handgun. Because a study finds that men are more often perceived to be big and strong when they hold a gun. The report is in the journal Public Library of Science ONE. More than 600 subjects looked at photographs of the right hands of four different white males, each holding a different object: A power drill, a handsaw, a caulking gun and a .45 caliber handgun. They then viewed silhouetted images of six men who varied in height and musculature and were asked to choose which man most closely...

She was probably already spending the money in her head as she lay in her cell patiently waiting for her imminent release. But it appears Casey Anthony needn't bother because she may not be 'cashing in' on the death of her daughter Caylee as much as was first predicted. It was thought that the accused child murderer could have raked in millions of dollars from TV appearances, interviews, penning her memoirs, a movie about the tragedy and even a career in the porn industry. And no sooner had she been acquitted on all counts except for lying to police than...

President Barack Obama should make the most of his "Daily Show" appearance on Wednesday night - charming the pants off Jon Stewart and the crowd, as he did when he showed up there two years ago. It's a terrific show, Stewart is a great interviewer and Obama makes good television. Then, the President should cancel all future trivial media appearances. While they may have kept him personally popular, in broad terms they've degraded the Obama brand. Obama's handlers were supposed to be smarter than this. They were supposed to use his celebrity strategically to advance his agenda. Instead, they've been...

President Obama's disappointing performance has indisputably brought enormous buyer's remorse to many of his fans, the feeling that the "purchase" (i.e., voting for Obama) was a mistake. And while little can be done until November 2012, it may be useful to analyze why thoughtful people were seduced and, furthermore, learn to avoid future hoodwinking. In a nutshell, the American public was lead astray by conflating outward appearances -- "he's seems so smart" -- with underlying substance -- "he is so smart." What we saw wasn't what we got. Having spent four decades in top research universities, I questioned Obama's alleged...

In the art-auction world, the trick to selling a bad painting is to put it in a terrific frame. That's the logic behind President Obama's West Point speech tonight. Condemned by his own vacillation to sketching a picture repulsive to multiple constituencies, Obama will use the impressive frame of West Point to lend his remarks an illusion of glorious leadership. The event will be impressive: The US Military Academy does pomp and circumstance well. The cadets will be immaculate and perfectly behaved, applauding on cue (no Joe Wilson "You lie!" shout-outs from this hyper-disciplined bunch).

We're still in the first hundred days of the joyous observances of Barack Obama's first hundred days, and many weeks of celebration lie ahead, so here are my thoughts: President Obama's strongest talent is not his speechifying, which is frankly a bit of a snoozeroo. In Europe, he left 'em wanting less pretty much every time (headline from Britain's Daily Telegraph: "Barack Obama Really Does Go On A Bit"). That uptilted chin combined with the left-right teleprompter neck swivel you can set your watch by makes him look like an emaciated Mussolini umpiring an endless rally of high lobs on...

This web page has a kind of a strange but interesting little visual test ~ can you tell by looking at a photo if the person is a Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer?

Why Men Prefer Pretty Faces So you think beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Think again. According to new research from the University of Exeter in Great Britain, the preference for pretty faces over ugly ones is embedded in our brains from the moment of birth and possibly prior to birth. Newborn babies come fully equipped with built-in preferences, including a preference for an attractive face, that help them make sense of their new environment, report the BBC News Online and Newsweek magazine. The Exeter researchers showed more than 100 infants two images that were placed side by...

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld bluntly warned Russia on Wednesday that if Moscow continues to "parade" its ties to Iraq, it will lose foreign investment and support from the West. Rumsfeld made the comments at town hall meeting with troops at Fort Hood, Texas, following a meeting with President George W. Bush. Asked about the news over the weekend that Russia has signed a high-profile trade agreement with Iraq, Rumsfeld said he thought it would wind up hurting Russia. "It sends a signal across the globe that that is what Russia thinks is a good thing...