| Odds of Three-Way Tie
Karpagam Rajagopal almost made game-show history on July 3, 2000. That's the day "Jeopardy" aired her second appearance, after she won $7,500 on the previous episode. Entering the final round of wagering, the library specialist from Fallon, Nev., known to her friends as "Jeeks," was tied with her opponents at $5,200. The other two bet everything, a typical strategy on the long-running, long-studied TV quiz show. But Ms. Rajagopal feared she might face a pop-culture question in the category "1962," which was 25 years before she emigrated to the U.S. from India. She bet $5,000. All three contestants correctly answered ... .
A tribute to my hero
A hot day in July. Long afterward, after the many tomes on American culture and the Super Bowl fly-fishing story for Page 2, the young reporter would remember with great clarity the older journalist's grace, his good manners, his capacity to put a writer at ease. The journalist was already a legend in the business by then, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from the Vietnam War as well as an iconic author on the greatest issues in American Cold War history, including the twin quagmires that were Vietnam and the 1979-80 Portland Trail Blazers. Yet, on this hot July afternoon in a Seattle shopping mall, David Halberstam found himself in that most uncomfortable of positions for an author -- alone at a book signing, utterly alone, painfully alone, so alone he could hear himself think, "I am all alone." .
Research finds that culture is key to interpreting facial expressions
The University of Alberta study reveals that in cultures where emotional control is the standard, such as Japan, focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotions. In cultures where emotion is openly expressed, such as the United States, the focus is on the mouth to interpret emotion.
Across two studies, using computerized icons and human images, the researchers compared how people from Japanese and American cultures interpreted images, which conveyed a range of emotions.
"These findings go against the popular theory that the facial expressions of basic emotions can be universally recognized," said Dr. Takahiko Masuda a U of A professor in the Department of Psychology. "A person's culture plays a very strong role in determining how they will perceive emotions and needs to be considered when interpreting facial expression"
These cultural differences are even noticeable in computer emoticons, which are used to convey a writer's emotions over e-mail and text messaging.
Bird choice sparks anti-Japanese sentiments
China's national bird selection is creating a flap with the public. It's not about the bird, but its name. The country's State Forestry Administration (SFA) suggested the avian symbol of China should be the dandinghe in Chinese, otherwise known as the Japanese crane, but people aren't happy with its associations with Japan. The SFA chose the endangered bird because in Chinese, Japanese and Korean tradition, the bird with its white feathers and red crest is a symbol of peace and long life. The state council will make a final decision. But in cyber discussions on billboards, many people are angry the SFA chose a national bird that has Japanese associations in its name, whipping up anti-Japanese sentiment. "It is definitely unacceptable," said Chenzhou Zhu, a wildlife photographer.
Learning from tragedy
The past week has been filled with stories, videos and commentary surrounding the massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech by Seung-Hui Cho, who later committed suicide.
Its a story that certainly deserved coverage, as do the stories of the victims as their families struggle to begin the healing process.
Theres been a lot of talk of the video and still photos mailed by Cho to NBC News and their subsequent use on television and in newspapers around the country. We agree that enough is enough. But we disagree with the reason why we dont need to see the video anymore, and we certainly disagree with a statement by Mark McGuire, a pop culture newspaper columnist. If you let your kids watch stuff like this, youre committing child abuse, McGuire said in a story written by the Associated Press.
Another lesson learned from the Virginia Tech massacre
There have been many lessons learned from the recent shooting spree at the campus of Virginia Tech University. Surprisingly, even some liberals are beginning to see the wisdom of citizens armed for protection of both self and society. But, are there still deeper lessons to learn than merely the necessity for sensible gun laws?
The roots of the Virginia Tech massacre began long ago. The loony Left has been suppressing self-preservation for decades by means of the popular culture that they attempt to control. Remember the Hippies? The more extreme of those extremists proudly proclaimed on the talk shows of the 1960s that they refused to take baths, "because it would kill germs, and 'thou shalt not kill.'" Those are the same people that proclaimed while Communist sympathizers hijacked airliners to Cuba, so that the passengers could be "liberated" from America that we should all just "make love, not war."
In the 1970s, the loony Left, assisted by Hollywood, used the opposite tactic.
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