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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: morality

morality stories: 11 news summaries

Obama to Recast Health Reform as Moral Issue

Focus on legislative details has bogged down debate, supporters worry

Aug 19, 09 7:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama is about to start focusing more on the moral aspects of health care reform, stressing the need to provide secure coverage to all Americans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The shift may reflect the concerns of some supporters that Obama has spent too much time talking about the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Senate • universal health care • health care reform • uninsured • morality • President Obama

(Newser) - Murderous children have haunted movies since the 1950s—but why, Jonah Weiner wonders on Slate. “The biggest reason for this is the most obvious,” Weiner notes. “What’s creepier than a 4-foot-tall killer in Spongebob pajamas?” But the personification of evil in a child reveals deeper-seated anxieties.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
parenting • film • children • fantasy • morality • horror movies • offspring • scary

They Don't
Call Him Fido
for Nothing

Dogs are ethical, full
of natural goodness, scientist says

May 16, 09 5:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Science is finally catching up to what dog owners have known all along: Canines are ethical. After thousands of hours studying dogs—once dismissed as "furry automatons," an author said—animal behaviorist Marc Bekoff concluded that they possess the capacity for empathy and compassion, the hallmarks of morality.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animal behavior • human • canine behavior • empathy • Harvard • emotion • dog • human nature • canines • morality

(Newser) - A year after a hit-and-run accident in downtown Hartford, Conn., captured international attention, and just days after the victim died of his injuries, police have made an arrest, the Courant reports. “The defendant appeared to have remained in the area for at least the past year and never made... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • Connecticut • hit-and-run • Hartford • society • apathy • morality • Angel Arce Torres

(Newser) - Lurking behind the mainstream film industry is a low-budget, high-return business poised to break through: the world of Christian filmmaking, NPR reports. Fireproof, a tale of marital woes and redemption, was the highest-grossing independent feature of 2008—a fact trumpeted at a Christian film festival in San Antonio last... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • Hollywood • Christianity • family values • evangelicals • morality • Christian film • Christian movies

Glossies

 Huckabee
 Keeps On
 Running 

Calls for great moral awakening

Jan 17, 09 11:31 AM CST
(Newser) - Almost a year removed from the presidential campaign trail, Mike Huckabee is as busy as ever, with a Fox News show, a book tour, and a crowded speaking schedule. Tagging along with "the most likable politician I've ever met" as he visits suburban New Jersey, AJ Jacobs of Esquire ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Wall Street • gay marriage • Mike Huckabee • homosexuality • Fox News • morality

 Psychologists: 
 Victorian Novels 
 Helped Us Evolve 

Victorian literature upheld cooperation, personal sacrifice

Jan 14, 09 6:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Victorian novels didn't just tout moralistic values of 19th-century British society, they helped altruistic genes flourish, a study claims. Evolutionary psychologists say classic characters such as Mr. Darcy and Count Dracula helped instill and promote a sense of right and wrong in society, the Guardian reports, specifically the notion that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Dracula • culture • English literature • Britain • society • morality • greed • progress • Victorian novel • classics • Pride and Prejudice • Middlemarch • Wuthering Heights

 Live Longer: Be Conscientious 

Researchers find industrious types live lengthier and less stressful lives

Nov 1, 08 10:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - The key to a longer life could lie in an individual's personality, the Los Angeles Times reports. University of California researchers analyzed 20 studies and discovered that conscientious people—disciplined, hardworking, and responsible folks—tend to live an average of 2 to 4 years longer than their more slapdash counterparts.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • psychology • morals • personality • longevity • morality

ANALYSIS

Sure, I'm Offended—
I'm Human!

People are extra sensitive these days, and science knows why

Oct 18, 08 7:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - From Larry David to John McCain, we’re all getting a little touchy these days, writes Emily Yoffe in Slate: “People are like tuning forks, ready to vibrate with indignation.” While economists argue humans are rational, “it seems we live in a culture devoted to retribution on... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • psychology • gossip • language • natural selection • morality • social behavior

ANALYSIS

Flip-Flopping Pols Are Just Channeling Inner Hypocrite

They know it's wrong, but benefits too great

Jul 1, 08 1:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Think all politicians are self-justifying hypocrites? You're probably right, John Tierney writes in the New York Times. As a recent psychological study demonstrates, all of us, given enough time and mental wiggle room, will succumb to the "self-halo effect," justifying in ourselves and our allies moral lapses we... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • politics • psychology • hypocrisy • morality

 Hit-and-Run Sparks 
 Soul-Searching 

Police chief blasts city amid violent incidents

Jun 6, 08 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - A video of a 78-year-old hit-and-run victim lying paralyzed in the street has residents of Hartford, Conn., wondering what's wrong with their city, their society—and themselves. The police chief blasted Hartford this week after a wave of appalling, headline-grabbing incidents, including the savage beating of the deputy mayor and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • Connecticut • hit-and-run • Hartford • society • apathy • morality

11 Stories


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