Link Collection

I really enjoyed this article about how so many power brokers in Washington are taking basketball seriously now because Pres. Obama plays basketball and that makes basketball a key way to try to get influence in Washington:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=090618/dchoops


Ground-up tires have been very popular for the surfaces of children's playgrounds and sports fields, but now EPA scientists are worried that shredded tires might contain carcinogens and other toxic chemicals:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/05/new-white-house-playgroun_n_211764.html


Caucasians were 88% of US voters in 1980 and 74% of voters in 2008...Reagan won big over Carter by winning 55% of the white vote, but McCain lost after getting 55% of the white vote last year:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/weekinreview/14harwood.html?_r=1


Study of bacteria on human skin found a surprising area for the greatest variety of bacterial colonies...the forearm!
http://fredcobio.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/my-delight-but-a-germophobes-nightmare/


Study found that all great apes (gorillas, chimps, bonobos and orangutans) laugh, with the similarities and differences in laughs across the species closely match the standard genetics-based evolutionary tree of primates:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090604-apes-laugh-tickle-chimps-gorillas.html


Czech hospitals are responding to the shortage of nurses by offering nurses who sign contracts with them bonuses of free plastic surgery and breast implants. It appears that the nurses prefer those benefits over the other offers of free cars or free German lessons:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901EEDB1439F937A25755C0A96F9C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all