Obama Stokes Lefty Pride In More Ways Than You Think

Like humans, they prefer one side over the other: Study

(NEWSER) - Parrots are left-handed … or at least, as left-handed as you can be when you don’t actually have hands. Australian researchers discovered that, like humans, nearly all parrots prefer to use one side of their body over the other: either their left eye and left foot, or right eye and right foot. About 47% of the birds they studied were lefties, 33% righties, and the rest ambidextrous, the Telegraph reports. Some young birds seemed to experiment with both sides before choosing one. More»

Thanks to one genius store in Britain, left-handed men will no longer suffer at the urinal

(NEWSER) - Male lefties of the world have long suffered inconvenience and embarrassment at the urinal, thanks to their underwear. One British store is making up for the indignity with a new line of undies featuring a horizontal, rather than vertical, opening—giving Britain’s lefties an alternative to boxer shorts, Reuters reports. “In our view, this is a vital step toward equality for left-handed men,” says a store rep. More»

Prez-elect's process a combo of 'discipline' and 'curiosity'

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama’s transition into the presidency has provided a window onto how he’ll operate as president, writes Peter Baker in the New York Times. Despite major challenges ahead, he has been “a font of cool confidence” throughout. But he’s “hard to label”—while he’s shown a bipartisan style, he’s also pushing for massive government expansion; and while he’s reached out for advice, he’s also centralizing decision-making in the White House. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama's cabinet picks may have elicited howls from the left, but he won't sell out his progressive supporters, E.J. Dionne, Jr. writes in The New Republic. For starters, Obama never was a true economic lefty—that was John Edwards' role. Like John F. Kennedy 45 years ago, Obama will probably push a progressive agenda through a team that conservatives can accept. More»

Its substance gave many fits, but VP's broad template got results

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama's “template” for exercising executive authority should draw from Dick Cheney, the most influential figure in the Bush administration, Steve Clemons writes in the Huffington Post. Cheney finessed followers “beholden to him” into positions throughout the vast intelligence and national-security bureaucracies, spreading his doctrine without needing “Rumsfeld-style ‘snow flake memos’” to explain what he wanted done. More»