All posts by Rima Regas

On The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty,by Simon Baron-Cohen

ScienceOfEvil
Simon Baron-Cohen

From the Amazon description of this book:

“Borderline personality disorder, autism, narcissism, psychosis, Asperger’s: All of these syndromes have one thing in common–lack of empathy. In some cases, this absence can be dangerous, but in others it can simply mean a different way of seeing the world.

In The Science of Evil Simon Baron-Cohen, an award-winning British researcher who has investigated psychology and autism for decades, develops a new brain-based theory of human cruelty. A true psychologist, however, he examines social and environmental factors that can erode empathy, including neglect and abuse.

Based largely on Baron-Cohen’s own research, The Science of Evil will change the way we understand and treat human cruelty.”

The first few pages of this book can be read on Amazon.

 

About The #42 Blog

I’ve started and stopped a couple of blogs over the years. After a four-year break, here I am again, in the mood to write about the things that matter to me. This blog will be divided into a few sections:

– Education

– Health: primarily Diet, Epilepsy and the Ketogenic Diet, special diets (dairy, corn, gluten, and soy-free)

– Music: primarily Jazz

– Literature: primarily biographies and memoirs, but also pieces about the books that were influenced me in some way, over the years.

– My New York Times comments – and anything else that may catch my eye…

About me:

I suspended my career as a writer and technical editor of computer how-to books twelve years ago, to homeschool my daughter. She is now sixteen and about to begin her third year as a Fine Arts major at Cal State Fullerton. I have a strong interest in political science, philosophy (social ethics), and economics.  I am a huge fan of Jazz (Be-bop and Afro-Cuban).

I hope you enjoy my blog!

Cat on a Hot Stove

Maureen Dowd
Maureen Dowd

PRESIDENT OBAMA won big. So why did the moment feel so small?

At his victory scold in the State Dining Room on Thursday, the president who yearned to be transformational stood beneath an oil portrait of Abraham Lincoln and demanded . . . a farm bill. He also couldn’t resist taking a holier-than-thou tone toward his tail-between-their-legs Tea Party foes. He assumed his favorite role of the shining knight hectoring the benighted: Sir Lecturealot.

Curated from www.nytimes.com

 


 

Maureen,

Your hate has done nothing to help our country. Instead of focusing on those areas where President Obama could use some help answering tough questions and pushing for change, you have fallen in the same rut the far right is stuck in: blind hate for the black man and anything and everything he does do right.

President Obama was absolutely right to let Boehner hang by his own petard. He was absolutely right not to give in one inch on Cruz and De Mint’s extortion. He was absolutely right to let them go as far as they dared and allow them to earn the wrath of the general public. Then, when all was good again, he wasn’t professorial nor did he gloat. He was cool, calm, collected, and given how dire the situation was, quite matter of fact in pointing out the consequences of the GOP’s tactics.

To read the rest of my comment, click here.