WHY RATIONAL PEOPLE Buy Into Conspiracy Theories. "Apparently rational" would probably be more correct.

THE GREENING Of Gore's Bank Account.

15 THINGS worth considering about coffee.

SIGNS that you really need to improve America's education system.

BBC REPORTS that a new study shows no global warming in the last 15 years:

Scientists say the recent downturn in the rate of global warming will lead to lower temperature rises in the short-term.

Since 1998, there has been an unexplained "standstill" in the heating of the Earth's atmosphere.

Writing in Nature Geoscience, the researchers say this will reduce predicted warming in the coming decades.

But long-term, the expected temperature rises will not alter significantly.

The last bit is funny, though. They're asking is to believe them about the future... right after admitting they blew it about the past without knowing why.

SPAIN'S FORMER PM AZNAR suggests may challenge Rajoy:

In a rare interview on Spanish television since leaving power in 2004 and handpicking Rajoy as his successor in the center-right People's Party (PP), Aznar called on the government to cut taxes and create new jobs.

Although credited with bringing Spain's public finances under control, Rajoy has been under fire for failing to reduce a 27-percent unemployment rate and bringing an end to recession.

While declining to say if he would back Rajoy again, Aznar, who ruled from 1996 to 2004 and is widely credited with overseeing Spain's economic boom, said he would be willing to return to frontline politics if circumstances dictated.

"I have never hidden from my duty. I will do my duty (to) my conscience, my party and my country. Have no doubt about that," Aznar said on Antena 3 television when asked his intentions.

This would be a blow for Rajoy, who enjoys a comfortable majority in parliament and has little to fear from a weak socialist opposition but has been challenged in his party for his handling of the economic crisis as well as for his tepid response to corruption scandals involving senior PP members.

 

I WAS READING THIS EXAMPLE (via Instapundit) of how the NYT completely changed a story to remove its teeth so it couldn't bite, and couldn't help thinking that this is yet another example of why the Internet is shaking the news business top to bottom.

In the past, we would have only seen the 2nd version; there would have been enough time to revise it before sending it to print. Then comes the internet, with the rush to go on air ASAP, and sometimes — as in this case — the commissars are sleeping. Which means we can see how the sausage is made, and it's not pretty.

No wonder they're scared.

WHO INVENTED CLOTHES? A Palaeolithic archaeologist answers.

IF YOU WANTED PROOF THAT THINGS ARE GETTING UGLY:

El Corte Ingles SA hired Morgan Stanley (MS) to help reorganize about 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) of debt owed by Europe’s largest department store chain, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The retailer is renegotiating terms of its borrowings with lenders including Banco Santander SA (SAN), said the people, who declined to be identified before the deal is complete. The Madrid-based company wants to relax covenants governing terms of the debt, including an extension of maturity, said the people.

El Corte Ingles is grappling with a collapse in consumer confidence after Spain’s unemployment rate surged to 27.2 percent in the first quarter, the highest in at least 37 years. Efforts to tackle the European Union’s biggest budget deficit crimped economic growth, with retail sales falling almost 11 percent in March compared with a year earlier.

THINGS YOU BUMP INTO ON THE INTERNET: World's tiniest monkey eats a noodle (video)

SPAIN, MONEY, AND THE TELEGRAPH:

In the past week there has been an enormous uproar in Spain created by an opinion article published in The Daily Telegraph under the title "Spain is officially insolvent"

Do we really believe that an article is so important that it could change anything if what it says is untrue?

The article, let's be clear, says nothing new or that has not been written before in reports by Citigroup, Exane, JP Morgan or a handful of local analysts.

I live in London and work in the City and as a Spaniard it angers me often to see how my country constantly revises and changes economic data expecting no one will notice and praying we can hold our breath for another month. No, the lack of confidence of markets is not due to the foreign press, but to of our track-record.

So, on to the article, let me clarify some concepts without entering into hopeless patriotism. Spain is not yet insolvent , but if it continues to spend and avoids tackling its debt issues hoping that someone else solves its problems, it run the risk of becoming so.

Keep reading.

UH OH: Anonymous Cincinnati IRS official: “Everything comes from the top.”

AND THAT'S WHAT SOME PEOPLE call "a real democracy": Maduro admits to knowing “the IDs and all” of the 900.000 Chavistas who did not vote for him.

INTERESTING MAP of the world’s most and least racially tolerant countries.

HOW EUROPEAN stereotype one another, in one chart.

DUBAI TIMELAPSE: awesome video.

POSTUREO: Dimite el jefe de la agencia tributaria de EEUU por acosar a conservadores.

¿Por qué escribo "postureo"? Muy sencillo: porque el mandato de Steven Miller, que era el director interino del IRS (equivalente a la Hacienda de EEUU), se acababa en una semana.

SAY HELLO to the 100 Trillion Bacteria That Keep You Healthy.

HYPOCONDRIACS BEWARE: How to Convince People WiFi Is Making Them Sick.

DANIEL LACALLE: "The slump of bond yields seen recently is not the result of the successful policies of our governments."

AWESOME: Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi.

AN INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION of migration flows across the world. Great website.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

If you want to introduce someone to libertarian thinking, encourage them to try this experiment. Spend a few days reading nothing but technology news. Then spend a few days reading nothing but political news. For the first few days they’ll see an exciting world of innovation and creativity where everything is getting better all the time. In the second period they’ll see a miserable world of cynicism and treachery where everything is falling apart. Then ask them to explain the difference.

- Andrew Zalotocky

FROM THE 'scientists with too much time on their hands' department:

Carrying a guitar can increase the chances of you getting a date by a third, according to a study by researchers from the University of South Brittany.

The study found that women were 31% more likely to give their number to a man carrying a guitar - double the amount of people who would give their number to the same man when he was empty-handed.

But this technique only works if your [sic] a man, women are not seen any more or less attractive if they carry a musical instrument.

H. PYLORI REDUX? Antibiotics could cure 40% of chronic back pain patients.

HARD FACTS AND PROPAGANDA:

Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show.

Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.

Let alone Europeans...

"SMILE IF YOU'RE EUROPEAN. It’s all relative: why it’s not so bad to be European after all." Not yet, buddy; not yet. More seriously, he does have a point.

THE LATEST Evian commercial is really brilliant:

WSJ VS. RAJOY: "Madrid's attempts to take a bigger chunk from a shrinking pie aren't working out too well."

SPOT ON:

The Segway. The Bluetooth headset. The pocket protector.

What do these three technologies have in common? They all pretty much work as promised. They all seem like good ideas on paper. And they’re all too dorky to live.