Much of Brazil Also Still In the Bronze Age

In case the educated Americans among my readers were feeling bad, it might help to know that 89% of Brazil is as pig-ignorant about evolution as the majority of Americans. Oh well, at least 54% believe in a god-influenced form of teleogical evolution, de Chardin-style, which I can live with, I suppose. UPDATE: I have to admit, though, that Chad Orzel has a good point about this, if you look at the statistics in America over time. And this open letter makes some good sense about how the responses of those surveyed may tell us more about a great schism …

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Japan’s Crackdown, and The Dark Secret

It seems Korean’s not the only East Asian country cracking down on the sex trade: Japan is now conducting a crackdown on the trafficking of sex-slaves. Heartening news, especially considering it seems to have been motivated not by what I imagine to be an influx of young Korean women who left Korea because of the crackdown here, but rather by the US having placed Japan on a watchlist for its human trafficking problem. Meanwhile, the Japanese have expressed shock of the possibly raunchy life of the former first lady. Hmmm. Juxtaposition, anyone? I do think it’s ridiculous to say that …

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50 Book Challenge

You’d think it would be easy to take on the Fifty Book Challenge, wouldn’t you? Read fifty books in a year, and blog about them? I’m a slow reader, though. We’ll see. I’m thinking of taking up the challenge anyway, but it’ll mean cutting down on a few other things… then again, that might be good for me. via Crescat Sententia

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