Studies going back over 50 years have repeatedly arrived at the same conclusion — racists have lower IQs than non-racists. Interesting list of works cited.

“Studies going back over 50 years have repeatedly arrived at the same conclusion — racists have lower IQs than non-racists. The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of all members of the human race is 100 on the Stanford-Binet scale, as illustrated in the bell curves in the figure below. The average IQ of racists is up to 4 IQ points less than this (Montagu 1952 & 1988, Allport 1946, Frenkel-Brunswick and Sanford 1945). The reasons this is true are not entirely clear. Does racism attract the unintelligent or do the unintelligent default into racist mentalities? An exploration of this phenomenon can be most informative.”

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By now you’ve heard of the trick of putting Mentos into a 2 litre of Diet Coke? You’ve most likely seen the video below of 2 guys and their Venitian-esqe water show (you should have, it’s been viwed over 10 million times).

The cool thing about this video, is that it has boosted the sales of Mento’s by 15%. The Mento’s people couldn’t be happier and have in fact hired these guys to do more videos, and placed them on their website. They see the benefit of viral videos and are using it to their advantage. On the flip side, Coke put out some boring corprate speak press release that said something to the effect of “We encourage people to use our products responsibly and in the intended manner.”… blah blah blah – you get the point.

Although coke dosen’t necessarily need this video to boost it’s brand awareness, and some might even argue that it could hurt it, the fact is that viral videos are now having huge impacts on marketing and advertising campaigns.

Just last week there was another you tube video that had become viral.

I gotta admit that I was fooled on this. Even though I thought it was a bit fishy (mostly because I couldn’t believe there are people this materialistic), I chalked it up as genuine and just a poor reflection on our youth.

Then I find out this weekend that it’s part of a new promotion for Domino’s “$9.99 Anything Goes” promotion. They are offering any topping pizzas for $9.99 and giving away cars and other stuff through a partnership with ebay.

The luck person was able to “Buy It Now” for $9.99

To most Americans, an accent is something that only other people have, those other people usually being in New York, Boston, and the South. And of those other people, half of the ones you meet will swear they “don’t have an accent.”

Well, strictly speaking, the only way to not have an accent is to not speak. If you’re from anywhere in the USA you have an accent (which may or may not be the accent of the place you’re from). Take this short quiz and you’ll find out just which accent that is.

A dog may be man’s best friend. But one dog, Lady, decided she needed more friends — and she found plenty in the knot of toads living at the local pond. A suburban family’s secret struggle with an uncommon addiction comes to light in this personal essay by NPR’s Laura Mirsch.

Lady “was really perky, and happy, and generally excited to see you when you came in the door every day,” recalls Andrew Mirsch.

But that was before the Mirsch family moved into a new house.

“We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our backyard,” Laura Mirsch recalls.

Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and glassy-eyed.

“Then, late one night after I’d put the dogs out, Lady wouldn’t come in,” Laura Mirsch says. “She finally staggered over to me from the cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting toad.”

It turned out the toads were toxic — and, if licked, the fluids on their skin provided a hallucinogenic effect.

What followed was the Mirsch family’s quest to stop their cocker spaniel from indulging herself. But it wasn’t easy. Lady was persistent, and resourceful.

The situation seemed to resolve itself when the toads went into hibernation for the winter.

But when they returned, so did Lady — and with a vengeance.

“We couldn’t keep our dog’s addiction a secret any longer,” Laura Mirsch says. “The neighbors all knew that Lady was a drug addict, and soon the other dogs weren’t allowed to play with her.”

In the end, Lady seems to have found a way to manage her problem.

“She seems to have outgrown the wild toad-obsessed years of her youth,” Mirsch says, “and now only sucks on weekends.”

Click here to hear the whole thing.

Sacha Baron Cohen, also known as Borat in the film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”, won the award last night.

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Technology fetishists aren’t the only people itching to get their hands on an iPhone. Hackers want to play with Apple’s new toy too. “I can’t wait to get one,” said Maynor, a chief technology officer with Errata Security. “There’s already a lot of discussion going on, and it’s not coming out for another six months. People are salivating over it.

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*(or “I told you so”)

ESSEX FAUX-ROCKERS Koopa may well become the first ever unsigned group to score a place in the UK top 40 chart, thanks to recent alterations in the chart rules to include digital single sales even if no CD version is available.

The band’s single “Blag, Steal and Borrow” – which is only available for download – looks like it could hit the top 40 this Sunday according to early sales figures, reports the BBC.

Koopa seem pretty chuffed with the new chart rules: “It does give hope for genuine talent,” said singer and bassist Joe Murphy. “You can release a song and if you’ve got the fanbase and people buy it, you’ll get into the charts – it’s great.” He reckons that other unsigned bands will be taking advantage of the new rules too, which could redefine the way chart music is as a whole.

So yesterday was Steve Jobs keynote at MacWorld, and although the debut of the Apple iPhone is incrediable, I was a little let down at the end that there was nothing to rush to the store and buy. It was also 2 hours long and featured basically 1 product.

But that product is pretty freakin awesome!

NYT writer and Apple fan boy David Pogue had a chance to sit down with Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller for an hour and use the Apple iPhone. Although there are a few minor things he dislikes, he overall appears to love it. It can’t be June soon enough.

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Someone I know who works in shipping said they received a huge number of products that are all being sent to Apple Stores Monday Night. It is 5 times the normal amount he indicates. They weren’t able to open them though because they were in all sealed boxes. The link to the story has the actual convo that took place.

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So the funeral is over.

It was a pretty incredible event, escpecially for our little city. The turnout for the viewings where almost double what they where in DC, the roads where packed 10 deep all along the processions, the crowds where incredibly civil and respectful.

It was definately something I’ll never get to experience again, and although I didn’t really know much about Jerry Ford, I learned a great deal this week and found a new respect for him and what he did for this nation in a time of uncertainty.

Some Facts:

• Only person to hold office without having been elected either President or Vice President
• Was defeated for re-election by Jimmy Carter. The 2 became close freinds later.
• The Ford administration saw the withdrawal of American forces from the Vietnam War
• He put together the Helsinki Accords
• Laid the foundary for the Camp David Accords
• Pardoned Richard Nixon
• Was a WW2 Navy Hero
• Was the only president who achieved Eagle Scout status
• Played linebacker at U of M and helped the Wolverines to undefeated seasons and national titles in 1932 and 1933
• Got his law degree from Yale
• Was a Freemason
• Survived 2 asassination attempts
• Sat on the Warren Commission

Ive posted several pictures on my Flickr account of the 2 days events.

Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday that God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a “mass killing” late in 2007.

“I’m not necessarily saying it’s going to be nuclear,” he said during his news-and-talk television show “The 700 Club” on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

“The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.”

Robertson said God told him about the impending tragedy during a recent prayer retreat.

God also said, he claims, that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.

Robertson suggested in January 2006 that God punished then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke for ceding Israeli-controlled land to the Palestinians.

The broadcaster predicted in January 2004 that President Bush would easily win re-election.

Bush won 51 percent of the vote that fall, beating Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

In 2005, Robertson predicted that Bush would have victory after victory in his second term. He said Social Security reform proposals would be approved and Bush would nominate conservative judges to federal courts.

Lawmakers confirmed Bush’s 2005 nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. But the president’s Social Security initiative was stalled.

“I have a relatively good track record,” he said. “Sometimes I miss.”

In May, Robertson said God told him that storms and possibly a tsunami were to crash into America’s coastline in 2006.

Even though the U.S. was not hit with a tsunami, Robertson on Tuesday cited last spring’s heavy rains and flooding in New England as partly fulfilling the prediction.

As many of you might know, I live in Grand Rapids Michigan, and we are in the worlds spotlight today and tommorow as our former president and G.R. native Gerald R. Ford is laid to rest on the lawns of his museum here. This is a pretty big deal for our little city and the preparations are incredible.

An expected 600,000+ people will be converging downtown just a couple blocks from where I work today and tommorow. Already, roads are being blocked off, restaurants/hotels are full and newspeople carrying clipboards, cameras and microphones are everywhere, not to mention Pearl Street is closed down and full of about 40 sattelite trucks.

My son and I went down to the museum yesterday to see the make shift memorial at the museums entrance and where told that they would be performing a full dress rehersal. So we got to watch the colorguard, band, and even an empty casket being broght in just as it will be tommorow. My son even got interviewed by a Lansing TV station because of his cub scout connection with Fords eagle scout accomplishment.

As of writing this, a squadron of F-15’s just flew over setting off car alarms and rattling windows. The president will be flying in on Air Force II shortly and the plane will most likely fly right over my house.
The kids arent terribly impressed although I am trying to make an effort to have them stop for 5 minutes and pay attention to this piece of histroy in their own backyard.

More tommorow as the funeral presession rolls right infront of my office.

With Macworld San Francisco (MWSF) quickly approaching, MacRumors provides this Rumor Roundup as a summary of major rumors circulating around the Mac Web before the big event.

While Apple’s popularity continues to rise, the media coverage for Apple rumors reached an all time high this year.

• Apple Phone (or Not?)
• Mac Pro
• iTV
• Leopard
• New Displays
• iLife ‘07
• Video iPod, and Others?

Read more here and pray for an iPhone!