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TV PREMIERES

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5 stars

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Mad Men

Sunday, 7/27 at 10pm on AMC
Get ready for the second season of this under-the-radar drama set in 1960 New York’s ruthless advertising world. The series follows Don Draper, the biggest ad man — and ladies man — in the business, and his colleagues at the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. As Don makes plays in the boardroom and the bedroom, he struggles to stay a step ahead of the rapidly changing times and the young executives nipping at his heels. Political correctness? Smoke-free offices? Sexual harassment awareness? None of it existed back then ... making this one juicy series.

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4 stars

Based on 738 ratings

Paranormal State

Monday, 7/28 at 10pm on A&E
Some college kids are into sports, others are partiers, and some are bookworms. This real-life series introduces viewers to a whole different clique: Penn State University Club The Paranormal Research Society (PRS), a group of students who seek to find the truth behind terrifying real life mysteries, hauntings and ghosts. Sure, PRS members are dealing with the usual problems of schoolwork, dating, and figuring out their futures, but they’re also drawn to examining "other" worlds as well. Each week, outside parties ranging from churches to ordinary families who are terrified by unusual events in their homes contact the team looking for help. Will they live up to their reputations?

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5 stars

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Eureka

Tuesday, 7/29 at 9pm on Sci Fi
“Eurkea” isn’t your average American small town. It’s actually a top-secret residential development created by people like Albert Einstein and President Truman to protect and nurture America’s most valuable “intellectual resources.” In other words, it’s secretly a town full of geniuses! When U.S. marshal Jack Carter accidentally finds himself in Eureka along with his rebellious teenage daughter, he ends up staying and becoming Sheriff of an unusual town with a lot to hide. Season 3 will delve deeper into the classified, inner-workings of the mysterious research facility Global Dynamics and will continue to explore the intertwined personal relationships of Eureka’s unusual residents.

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4 stars

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Lewis Black's Root of All Evil

Wednesday, 7/30 at 10pm on Comedy Central
So who's more evil: Paris Hilton or Dick Cheney? Is Oprah more evil than the Catholic Church? These were just some of the tough cases "Judge" Lewis Black had to preside over last season on this satirical "Root of All Evil" which turns comics like Greg Giraldo and Patton Oswalt into lawyers who must argue one side of the case. Expect a whole new gaggle of goofy trials this season when court is back in session and Lewis once again serves as judge, jury ... and executioner. Pop culture icons, beware!

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4 stars

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Pam: Girl on the Loose

Sunday, 8/3 at 10pm on E!
We all know Pamela Anderson is blonde, beautiful, and has a penchant for romances with rockers, but we're about to learn a whole lot more about the buxom bombshell thanks to this new reality show, "Girl on the Loose," which follows Pam as she works as an animal rights activist, an environmentalist, and a dedicated mom to her two sons. The intimate series gives viewers a true glimpse into her private life, and even stops what she's doing throughout the show to explain what she's thinking and feeling to her TV audience, offering her fans an intimate sense of her world. Whether Pam is flying by private jet to surprise Hugh Hefner on his birthday, holding a charitable yard sale or cooking dinner for her sons, her life is sure to make for an entertaining series.

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4 stars

Based on 354 ratings

Sunset Tan

Monday, 8/4 at 10pm on E!
Last season audiences were introduced to the bronzed and beautiful Sunset Tan including the tanning salon's successful co-owners Devin Haman and Jeff Bozz and their fun-loving (and often out of control) employees Erin, Janelle, Nick, Ania, Keely, Heidi, and "Olly Girls" Holly and Molly. The second season finds the gang throwing a swanky launch party celebrating the opening of their new Vegas salon with Janelle as its new manager. Meanwhile, the Olly Girls seek jobs outside of the tanning industry and Jeff and Devin reward the gang with a trip to a ranch in Nashville.

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0 stars

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Luke's Parental Advisory

Monday, 8/4 at 10:30pm on VH1
Remember Luther "Luke" Campbell, the front man in the controversial (and very crude) '80s rap band 2 Live Crew? Well, he's still around, but these days he's a suburban dad, a CEO of his own company, and is engaged to an attorney. This new reality series will follow Luke's day-to-day adventures as he parents his two teenage children, runs his media business and adult website (ah, some things never change) and plans his wedding with his straight-laced fiancée. One thing quickly becomes clear: Luke's still doing things HIS way ... and doesn't care what you think!

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4 stars

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Man vs. Wild

Wednesday, 8/6 at 10pm on Discovery
With little more than the clothes on his back, survival expert Bear Grylls goes deep into some of Earth's toughest, most remote environments on this ultra-adventure show. Whether he’s battling sweltering desert temperatures, icy, raging rivers, or hungry predators, Grylls is able to use techniques he learned as a British Special Forces soldier in order to survive. On past episodes Grylls has escaped quicksand in the Moab Desert, navigated dangerous jungle rivers in Costa Rica, crossed ravines in the Alps, and fended off sharks off Hawaii. On the show’s third season, the adventure man is ready to battle his way through even more of the extreme obstacles that nature throws his way.

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3 stars

Based on 5 ratings

The American Mall

Monday, 8/11 at 9pm on MTV
From the producers of the phenomenally successful "High School Musical" franchise, comes "The American Mall," a musical TV movie that focuses events occurring in a local mall. The story focuses on a young singer-songwriter battling to save her mother's music store and trying to win the affections of a musically gifted janitor. Her task won't be easy as a mean, rich girl who is the mall heiress plans to shut down the music store and steal the janitor boyfriend. Think "High School Musical" for an audience that's a tad bit older. Will MTV's "American Mall" be the next big thing for teens?

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4 stars

Based on 12897 ratings

The Hills

Monday, 8/18 at 10pm on MTV
It's time to head back into that wild world of “The Hills.” What's been going on with Audrina, Heidi and LC since we last saw them three long months ago? We're about to find out. When we left the ladies, Audrina and Lauren's friendship was threatened by new roomie Lo, and Spencer interrupted Heidi's business trip in Las Vegas. (Heidi, ever the professional, actually skipped out on a meeting with her boss thanks to him.) Season 4 promises to provide plenty more drama and will follow Lauren as she tries to advance her fashion career while trying to keep her up with her busy social calendar and maintaining her bonds with her BFFs.

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5 stars

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The Cho Show

Thursday, 8/21 at 11pm on VH1
Margaret Cho is the first to admit that her initial stab at her own TV show didn't go all that well. But she's finally back (13 years later!) with a new reality-sitcom and this time it's on her own terms. The series will follow Cho and her eccentric entourage as she fights to be herself in an industry that in the past wanted her to be something else entirely. The series will touch on all aspects of Margaret’s “anything goes” lifestyle, from the strained and awkward moments provided by her traditional Korean parents to the more irreverent and outrageous moments shared with her colorful cast of friends and colleagues.

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4 stars

Based on 494 ratings

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency

Tuesday, 8/26 at 10pm on Oxygen
Janice Dickinson, the outspoken author, TV personality and self-proclaimed "world's first supermodel" returns to the small screen for the fourth season of her reality show which follows Dickinson on her wild ride of running a modeling agency. As part of this season's new twist, Janice's models will all move into a Hollywood Hills mansion together, but in an twistier twist, Janice will move in with them! The diva-turned-den mother will confront a whole new set of challenges as she mixes her established models with some fresh faces. Also this season, Janice tries to shift from commercial to more high fashion clients, looks into building a plus-sized division, and finds herself working with a new business partner.

World's most expensive cities

In 1998, Moscow was in crisis. More than 100,000 Russians took to the streets as a slew of banks—and the life savings of millions of citizens—went bust.

But just a decade later, the global commodities boom has made Russia flush with cash, and Moscow has become a pricey place to live.

That's the finding in Mercer's 2008 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. Moscow tops the list with a score of 142.4, up 6 per cent from last year—and 42 per cent higher than New York, the most expensive city in the U.S. The Russian capital is followed by Tokyo; London; Oslo, Norway; and Seoul, South Korea.

Go to Forbes.com to view the slideshow

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New York fell from No. 15 to No. 22, thanks to the dollar's protracted woes. Los Angeles is the second-priciest city in the U.S., but Hollywood's denizens can't cry poverty just yet: At No. 55, Los Angeles is cheaper than the best neighborhoods of Lagos, Nigeria (No. 30); Almaty, Kazakhstan (No. 44); and Zagreb, Croatia (No. 49).

"The decline in the ranking of all U.S. cities is due to the weakening value of the U.S. dollar against most major world currencies," says Mercer's Mitch Barnes, a principal at the firm. "The dollar has been declining steadily for the past several years, which has resulted in an overall decrease in the cost of living in 19 U.S. cities, relative to other major global cities studied."

Behind the numbers

The survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the relative cost of over 200 items in each place, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. The survey is used to help American government agencies and multinational companies determine living costs for their expatriate employees, who usually demand a relatively high quality of life.

"Companies may assign high priority to expansion in these economies, but may have to deal with inflationary pressures due to competition for expatriate-level housing," says Yvonne Traber, a research manager at Mercer.

In the wake of the Federal Reserve's bailout of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the dollar has continued its slide, falling to a record low against the euro earlier this week. While that's bad news for Americans traveling abroad, it could mean that more international businesses will set up shop in the U.S., where posh cities are suddenly becoming much more affordable.

"The U.S. dollar's loss of value may serve to attract globally mobile executives to business centers such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles," says Barnes. "The difference in cost of living can be significant, particularly for those executives with families."

Most expensive meccas

As for Moscow, prices in the Russian capital show no signs of dropping. The global commodity boom continues to fatten the pockets of local tycoons, and the ruble has appreciated 8 per cent against the dollar since January.

Moscow is home to 74 billionaires, the most of any city in the world. Its three wealthiest citizens ( Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Lisin and Roman Abramovich) each possess fortunes in excess of US$25 billion. And Russia's super-wealthy are just getting started: 13 of the country's billionaires are under the age of 40.

Founded by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago, No. 3 London is an ancient stalwart when it comes to pricey cities. Though it slipped from last year's No. 2 spot, it remains extremely expensive—even a ride on one of the city's vaunted double-decker buses costs US$5.89.

And while Japan's economy is stagnating, Tokyo is as expensive as ever. For American travelers, the city's real estate prices are the highest in the world—a two-bedroom luxury apartment costs over US$5,100 per month, about US$600 more than a comparable pad in Moscow or New York.

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Top 10 Cars That Pollute the Least

2008 Lexus ES 350

What comes out of a car’s tailpipe is just as important as what goes into the fuel tank.

Fuel economy gets lots of play because of rising fuel costs, but exhaust emissions from motor vehicles have a huge impact on the planet and people’s health.

Internal combustion engines emit a host of harmful gases as a result of burning fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel, and ethanol. These highly toxic smog-forming emissions include carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and other particulate matter that create the dark smoke seen billowing from diesel trucks and the gray haze hanging over large cities.

In addition to those pollutants, which are harmful to human health, vehicles also emit what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls “greenhouse gases,” with carbon dioxide (CO2) being the main offender. Motor vehicles are the largest source of CO2 emissions, accounting for 51 percent of total emissions, according to the EPA.

Burning one gallon of gasoline emits 20 pounds of CO2.

CO2 and other greenhouse gases aren’t as immediately harmful to plants and animals, but scientists believe that they are causing global climate change as they collect in the earth’s atmosphere.

We have assembled a list of luxury and non-luxury vehicles that emit the fewest pollutants according to the EPA.

Hybrids fare well in both rankings. Three Lexus hybrids top our list of luxury vehicles that pollute the least.

But with hybrids often costing more than their conventional counterparts, is it worth it to shell out extra green to get a greener car?

At least 1,049 people think so.

That's how many affluent motorists took delivery of the $104,000 Lexus LS 600h L sedan in 2007. This model is the most expensive hybrid available and ranks third on our list of the 10 least-polluting luxury vehicles, behind two other hybrid Lexus models, the GS 450h sedan and RX 400h SUV, which grab second and first place, respectively.

The large and ostentatious Lexus LS 600h L, with its potent V8 engine and electric-motor powertrain, certainly isn’t a poster child for eco-friendliness. Especially considering that it averages only 2 miles per gallon better than the conventionally powered LS 460, which gets an estimated 19 mpg overall.

“Lexus hybrid buyers are very interested in comparative fuel economy and emissions, but they are not willing to sacrifice performance or luxury,” says Greg Thome, Lexus’ communications administrator. “We're appealing to a buyer that, in many cases, might not have seriously considered a hybrid in the past — we're finding that LS 600h L buyers are cross shopping $100,000 models from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.”

None of the competing sedans from other luxury automakers are currently offered as hybrids, but that’s about to change. Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have all announced plans to unveil hybrids, some as soon as 2009.

For now, though, Lexus is the only one offering luxury hybrids, and that’s why it took the top three spots in our list of luxury vehicles that pollute the least.

Looking at tailpipe emissions alone, hybrids have a clear and immediate advantage. The hybrid LS 600h L emits 70 percent fewer pollutants than the gasoline-only LS 460, and 90 percent fewer pollutants than similarly powered sedans from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, according to Lexus.

The main reason hybrids are so superior to conventional combustion engines when it comes to polluting is that a hybrids can automatically shut down their combustion engines in stop-and-go traffic when they’re at their least efficient and polluting the most. Some can even drive at low speeds using only battery power.

For those who shun hybrids, there are certain things to look for in conventionally powered vehicles that can dramatically reduce emissions — smaller, more efficient combustion engines, for one.

After the hybrids, cars with four- and five-cylinder engines come next on the list of luxury vehicles that pollute the least — cars like the Audi TT (fourth place), Volvo S40 (tied for seventh), and BMW 128i (tied for eighth) also made the cut.

2008 BMW 1 Series

Surprisingly, several sports cars — which tend to favor performance over efficiency — made the luxury-vehicle list, including the Porsche Boxster and Cayman in seventh place, the BMW Z4 3.0si, which tied for eighth place, and the Infiniti G37 Coupe, in tenth.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Avoider Study, which surveyed why consumers favored certain vehicles, while gas mileage played a prominent role in vehicle purchasing decisions, wanting an environmentally friendly vehicle was one of the least-cited reasons for choosing a particular model.

But if the industry's interest in eco-friendliness continues to grow, more and more models will likely be available as hybrids, and more consumers will be buying them. J.D. Power expects over 1 million hybrid vehicles to be sold in the U.S. by 2012. By then, there will be more than 80 hybrid models to choose from, according to Omotoso, from small cars to SUVs to pickup trucks, and everything in between.

“Environmental consciousness tends to come from wealthier, college educated people,” Omotoso says. “But as terms like ‘global warming,’ ‘dependence on foreign oil,’ and ‘carbon footprint’ become more common, more and more consumers at all income levels will factor in the environment in their vehicle purchase decision.”

You don’t have to pick the most-expensive hybrid or the smallest car on the lot to do your part. “Even marginal improvements in fuel economy can go a long way,” says Catherine Milbourn, press officer for the Environmental Protection Agency.

For instance, two visually identical cars that use the same engines can have different emissions outputs simply based on one model being all-wheel drive, and the other being rear-wheel drive. The rear-drive BMW 328i ties for eighth place on our list, with a Carbon Footprint of 8.3 annual tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The all-wheel-drive 328xi did not make out list because it gets worse fuel economy and emits 9.2 tons of greenhouse gases annually.

Milbourn suggests environmentally conscious consumers check the fuel economy and emissions ratings for all vehicles under consideration, as posted on the vehicle-related websites the agency maintains in conjunction with the Department of Energy: www.fueleconomy.gov, and www.epa.gov/greenvehicles.

Non-Luxury Vehicles

With luxury status out of the equation, hybrids still figure prominently when it comes to tailpipe emissions.

Small hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid rated the highest on the non-luxury list, but a few hybrid SUVs, like the Ford Escape Hybrid, which tied for fourth place, and Toyota Highlander Hybrid, in fifth, also placed well.

Hybrids are the top choice for low emissions today, but a few years from now, a similar ranking based on tailpipe emissions might turn up a list of all-electric vehicles.

That hypothetical list might contain the $98,000 Tesla Roadster, an all-electric sports car slated to go on sale this spring. Another potential contender is the Fisker Karma, an $80,000 four-door hybrid luxury sedan that can be plugged in and recharged, traveling up to 50 miles on emissions-free electric power.

But until those vehicles and others like them come out, choosing a hybrid is the easiest way to pollute the least.

About Our Rankings

Our two least-polluting lists, one for luxury vehicles and one for non-luxury vehicles, are based on examining each model's Air Pollution Score and Carbon Footprint ratings as determined by the EPA.

The Air Pollution Score represents the amount of health-damaging and smog-forming airborne pollutants a vehicle emits. Among these are hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde. Scoring is based on a 10-point scale, with 10 representing a zero-emissions vehicle, meaning higher numbers are better.

Carbon Footprint ratings estimate the tons of greenhouse gases each vehicle generates per year based on 15,000 miles of driving. These emissions include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and other compounds believed to be major contributors to global warming. One gallon of gasoline converts to 20 pounds of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.

The EPA’s ratings cited in our lists assume emissions generated not just by burning fuel while driving, but from fuel production and refining as well. Scoring is expressed in the number of tons of greenhouse gases produced each year, meaning lower scores are better.

The EPA considers a vehicle's Air Pollution Score to be more important because it is directly related to air quality, and thus has an immediate impact on human health. Therefore, we use it as the basis for our ranking. Carbon Footprint rating is included for every vehicle but was primarily used to break ties in our rankings.

It Gets Complicated

Many of the lowest-emission versions of some models aren’t available in all 50 states. Some specially certified “super low-emissions” (SULEV) or “partial-zero emissions” (PZEV) vehicles — which are rated at 9 and 9.5 on the Air Pollution scale, respectively — are offered only in California and the handful of other states that adhere to California's stricter air-pollution standards. They include Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

However, there are instances when a manufacturer sells the same version of the car that qualifies as SULEV or ULEV in other states and doesn’t bother going through the bureaucracy of certifying it as such in the states that don’t require it. In those instances, we use the highest EPA emissions ratings, being that, more than likely, consumers can purchase the SULEV- or ULEV-equivalent version of the vehicle in the states that don’t require this rating.

But in instances where a SULEV or ULEV vehicle is only sold in California and the other states mentioned above that have adopted its emissions regulations, we use the lower emissions score.

The best way to tell if a vehicle is SULEV or ULEV compliant even though it isn’t rated as such in the state where you live is to check what the EPA calls the “Underhood ID” to see if it matches that of the variant that officially qualifies as SULEV or ULEV.

Go to the EPA’s site to read more about this topic.

Finally, to qualify for luxury status, a vehicle must be made by a company commonly regarded as a luxury or premium automotive manufacturer.

This Weekend: Events Around Toronto

Jul 25, 2008

Looking for something to do in Toronto this weekend? We've compiled a list of some of the biggest events and festivals, along with some hidden gems that will keep everyone busy all weekend long.

Weekend hightlight: The Just For Laughs Festival returns to Toronto July 23-27 with six evening galas, three ethnic series, a street festival, a sketch show and free outdoor programming. READ MORE

FRIDAY: July 25

Summer Music Conference
This city-wide celebration is composed of seven distinct festivals.The goal of the event is to bring together fashion designers, musicians, clubbers, filmmakers and DJs in an environmentally conscious way.
READ MORE

ALSO ON FRIDAY
Rogue Fashion Week
Music Festival: Hippiefest
Weird Al Yankovic
We Will Rock You
more Friday events

SATURDAY: July 26

Wakestock
The four-day festival features professional wakeboarding challenges, lots of live music and more. Wakestock is the world's premier wakeboarding contest and Canada's largest action sports and music festival.
READ MORE

ALSO ON SATURDAY
On Stage: Lovers and Other Strangers
Hamlet Rock Musical: Something's Rockin in Denmark
Harbourfront Festival: What is Classical
Free Outdoor Concert: Youth Day
more Saturday events

SUNDAY: July 27

Masala! Mehndi! Masti!
This year's festival blends the modern influences of Bollywood, haute couture and cusine with 5,000 years of South Asian traditions.
READ MORE

ALSO ON SUNDAY
Sunrise Film Festival
Teddy Bears Picnic
Rogers Cup
At the ROM: Wedgewood: Artistry & Innovation
more Sunday events

COMING UP: NEXT WEEK
On Stage: Avenue Q
Chinese Lantern Festival
Irie Music Festival
For the Kiddies: YTV's WOW
more events

101 things that define Canada, and 20 that don't

101 things that define Canada, and 20 things that don't.

1. Maple Leaf

2. Hockey

3. Canadian Flag

4. Beaver

5. Canadarm

6. Canada Day

7. Peacekeeping

8. Pierre Trudeau

9. Universal health care

10. Niagara Falls

11. The Rocky Mountains

12. Wayne Gretzky

13. Parliament Hill

14. Ottawa

15. Frederick Banting and the discovery of insulin

16. The RCMP

17. CN Tower in Toronto

18. Quebec City

19. Terry Fox

20. Confederation

21. Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone

22. First and Second World Wars

23. Canadian Constitution/Charter of Rights/Bill of Human Rights

24. Multiculturalism

25. Stanley Cup

26. Calgary Stampede

27. Celine Dion

28. Canadian National Railway

29. Toronto

30. Vimy Ridge

31. Plains of Abraham

32. Sir John A. Macdonald

33. David Suzuki

34. Montreal

35. Wilderness

36. Tommy Douglas

37. Loonie

38. Freedom

39. Quebec

40. Maple syrup

41. Moose/caribou

42. Wildlife

43. Stephen Harper

44. Lester Pearson

45. Grey Cup

46. Olympics

47. Expo 67

48. Bilingualism

49. Vancouver

50. Avro Arrow

51. Democratic Nation

52. Quebec Winter Carnival

53. Banff National Park

54. Hydroelectricity

55. St. Lawrence Seaway

56. Curling

57. Remembrance Day

58. Tim Hortons

59. Maurice Richard

60. Trans-Canada Highway

61. Snow

62. Canada geese

63. Medical/scientific/technical inventions and advancements

64. Rene Levesque

65. Great Lakes

66. Chateau Frontenac

67. Immigration policy

68. Environmental conservation/concerns

69. Blue Nose

70. Oil

71. 1972 Summit hockey series

72. National Anthem

73. Bombardier

74. Montreal Jazz Festival

75. Jean Chretien

76. Don Cherry

77. War of 1812

78. 2010 Vancouver Olympics

79. Charlottetown

80. Repatriation of the Constitution

81. Friendly, polite country

82. Victoria Day

83. The Prairies

84. Discovery of the polio vaccine

85. Winter

86. Halifax

87. Queen Elizabeth

88. Hudson Bay

89. Anne Murray

90. Canadian beer

91. Pierre Berton

92. Victoria

93. Quebec referendum

94. Fleur-de-lis

95. National parks

96. Olympic Stadium

97. Juno Award

98. Rideau Canal/skating on the canal

99. Aid/helping other countries

100. Space exploration

101. Canadian elections

Below are a few aspects of Canadiana that didn't score enough points to be included in the Top 101, finally putting to rest "EH" as the great Canadian definer:

102. the Group of Seven

103. Legalization of same sex marriage

111. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

119. Afghanistan mission/ war

120. Basketball

138. Louis Riel and the 1885 Rebellion

141. The seal hunt

143. Quebec City founded

182. Signal Hill

186. The BlackBerry phone

206. Bobby Orr

225. "EH"

238. Meech Lake Accord

240. Gordie Howe

290. Taxes

316. Igloo

338. Invention of the zipper

340. Billy Bishop

374. Anne of Green Gables

381. Sir Sanford Fleming

Source: Dominion Institute of Canada

Sexy People Sound Better

Greg Soltis
LiveScience Staff
LiveScience.comWed Jul 16, 8:51 AM ET

People with voices deemed sexy and attractive tend to have greater body symmetry upon close inspection, suggesting that what we hear in a person can greatly affect what we see in them.

"The sound of a person's voice reveals a considerable amount of biological information," said Susan Hughes, an evolutionary psychologist from Albright College in Reading, Pa. "It can reflect the mate value of a person."

Hughes, whose new study is detailed in the June 2008 edition of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, cautions that an attractive voice does not necessarily indicate that this person has an attractive face.

A symmetric body is genetically sound, scientists say, and in evolutionary terms, in the wild, it can be an important factor when selecting a mate. But sometimes changes during prenatal development can slightly skew this balance. For instance, the length ratio between index and ring fingers, known as the digit ratio, is fixed by the first trimester, a time that corresponds with vocal cord and larynx development. If the hormone surge that affects vocal development also affects finger growth, there should be a connection between an individual's voice and digit ratio.

Hughes could not demonstrate a connection between voice attractiveness and digit ratio in her previous work, possibly due to vocal changes that occur during puberty. So in the new study, about 100 individuals listened to previously recorded voices and independently rated them on nine traits important during mate selection: approachability, dominance, healthiness, honesty, intelligence, likelihood to get dates, maturity, sexiness and warmth.

Study participants generally agreed on what made a voice attractive. But when Hughes used a spectrogram to analyze these voice ratings according to different acoustic properties such as pitch, intensity, jitter and shimmer, she could not find a common feature that made these voices seem attractive.

This indicates our perceptual system may be more advanced than expected.

"We can agree on what's an attractive voice yet I can't capture it with a computer," Hughes told LiveScience.said.

Investigating if a combination of these properties can define an attractive voice may shed light on a connection, she said.
10 Tips for a Healthy Voice Deep-Voice Men Have More Kids 10 Things You Didn't Know About You
Original Story: Sexy People Sound Better

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Fish pedicures: Carp rid human feet of scaly skin

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press WriterMon Jul 21, 9:08 AM ET

Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your tootsies in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away.

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

"This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet," Ho said.

He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they're sanitary.

Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.

But Ho doubted they would thrive in the warm water needed for a comfortable footbath. And he didn't know if customers would like the idea.

"I know people were a little intimidated at first," Ho said. "But I just said, 'Let's give it a shot.' "

Customers were quickly hooked.

Tracy Roberts, 33, of Rockville, Md., heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was "the best pedicure I ever had" and has spread the word to friends and co-workers.

"I'd been an athlete all my life, so I've always had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely," she said.

First time customer KaNin Reese, 32, of Washington, described the tingling sensation created by the toothless fish: "It kind of feels like your foot's asleep," she said.

The fish don't do the job alone. After 15 to 30 minutes in the tank, customers get a standard pedicure, made easier by the soft skin the doctor fish leave behind.

Ho believes his is the only salon in the country to offer the treatment, which costs $35 for 15 minutes and $50 for 30 minutes. The spa has more than 1,000 fish, with about 100 in each individual pedicure tank at any given time.

Dennis Arnold, a podiatrist who four years ago established the International Pedicure Association, said he had never heard of the treatment and doubts it will become widespread.

"I think most people would be afraid of it," he said.

Customer Patsy Fisher, 42, of Crofton, Md., admitted she was nervous as she prepared for her first fish pedicure. But her apprehension dissolved into laughter after she put her feet in the tank and the fish swarmed to her toes.

"It's a little ticklish, actually," she said.

Ho said the hot water in which the fish thrive doesn't support much plant or aquatic life, so they learned to feed on whatever food sources were available — including dead, flaking skin. They leave live skin alone because, without teeth, they can't bite it off.

In addition to offering pedicures, Ho hopes to establish a network of Doctor Fish Massage franchises and is evaluating a full-body fish treatment that, among other things, could treat psoriasis and other skin ailments.

Ho spent a year and about $40,000 getting the pedicures up and running, with a few hiccups along the way.

State regulations make no provision for regulating fish pedicures. But the county health department — which does regulate pools — required the salon to switch from a shallow, tiled communal pool that served as many as eight people to individual tanks in which the water is changed for each customer.

The communal pool also presented its own problem: At times the fish would flock to the feet of an individual with a surplus of dead skin, leaving others with a dearth of fish.

"It would sometimes be embarrassing for them but it was also really hilarious," Ho said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.yvonnesalon.com/

Buyer Beware: The Many Ways Retailers Can Trick You

Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Managing Editor
LiveScience.comMon Jul 21, 8:50 AM ET

Shoppers do crazy things. And retailers bank on it.

Several studies reveal how Americans shop in irrational ways, and increasingly scientists are figuring out how easily we can be duped. Retailers in turn use these tricks to get inside our heads, encouraging window shoppers to become real shoppers, driving purchases of sales items regardless of real value, and helping buyers feel good about the things they walk out with ... often for no good reason.

One new study finds that happiness with a purchase depends on the choices that were available on a store shelf and how the items were presented.

Study participants were presented products ranging from cordless phones to lawn mowers. The goods were presented in three ways:
One choice was clearly superior to the other two (asymmetric dominance) One choice was intermediate to the other two (compromise) Two options that were somewhat equivalent (control)

After participants made choices, they rated the products and their satisfaction. In five tests that shifted the products and setups, the participants' preferences were affected by presentation. The bottom line: A product presented as clearly superior to other products on a store shelf makes for a happy customer, regardless of the product's inherent qualities to some degree.

"A pen selected from a set in which it asymmetrically dominated another pen produced a more positive writing experience and a greater willingness to pay for the pen than if the same pen was selected from a set in which it did not dominate another option," conclude Song-Oh Yoon of the Korea University Business School and Itamar Simonson from Stanford University.

The study is detailed in the August issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.

A study last year by a separate group, published in the same journal, reached a similar conclusion. Study participants were presented with two sofas. Sofa A was softer, but Sofa B was more durable. Sofa A was preferred by the minority - 42.3 percent of the participants. Then both sofas were presented with three other sofas that had very low softness ratings. Preference for sofa A jumped to 77.4 percent.

Tricks of the trade

There are many ways retailers encourage you to open your wallet. None is more obvious than putting things on sale.

Researchers have known empirically for more than 20 years a "50% off" sign leads consumers to assume a price is attractive, even if they have no knowledge of the original price or reasonable prices for that product.

In fact, shoppers as a whole seem quite clueless about sales values.

Studies have also shown that frequent but modest discounts - such as the constant sales at a car dealership - lead to perceptions of greater value than less frequent but deeper discounts.

And when math is involved, most of us can't cope. For example: See if you can calculate the total savings in the setup: 20 percent off the original price plus an additional 25 percent off the sale price. How much is that item marked down? If you said 45 percent off, then you're math skills are as pitiful as the 85 percent of college students who also got this wrong in a study last year by researchers at the University of Miami and the University of Minnesota. The right answer: 40 percent off.

More tricks

Other tricks, such as this one documented in a study last year, are more subtle:

A salesperson can totally alter a window shopper's inclination to buy something by simply asking the right question. When a salesperson asks a shopper which of several items she prefers, the shopper tends to skip the whole "Should I buy it at all?" question and go straight to the "Which one should I buy?" phase. The study was done in simulated tests and in real-world retail situations.

"Stating a preference appears to induce a which-to-buy mindset, leading people to think about which of several products they would like to buy under the implicit assumption they have already decided to buy one of them," wrote Alison Jing Xu and Robert S. Wyer, Jr. of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "Consequently, they are more disposed to make a purchase than they otherwise would be."

Amazingly, the gimmick worked even in selling unrelated products. Just 2 percent of a control group bought candy in one test. But in a group who had been asked to indicate their preference among mp3 players, restaurants, and mobile phones, 28 percent bought candy.

Some tricks are downright nasty. One sales technique is called "disrupt-then-reframe."

Frank R. Kardes at the University of Cincinnati and colleagues found that by presenting a confusing sales pitch (such as telling a potential customer that a candy bar costs 300 cents) then restating the pitch in a more familiar way, they were able to increase sales of a candy bar in a supermarket. The same trick increased students' willingness to accept a tuition increase or to pay to join a student interest group.

Loyal shoppers

Any good salesperson knows that if you really want to sell something, you just need to know what the customer wants.

Another study by Simonson, the Stanford researcher, with Ran Kivetz of Columbia University, focused on loyalty programs, in which a consumer joins to gain discounts or some other rewards but is required to make a certain number of purchases.

People who liked sushi were offered one program that required them to buy 10 sandwiches, and another program with equal rewards that required them to buy 10 sandwiches and 10 orders of sushi. The study subjects were more likely to join the second program, even though it offered no additional benefit and required them to buy more.

The study "shows that people put too much emphasis on things that seem to fit them better than others, often leading to irrational choices," Simonson told LiveScience.
The Truth About Shopaholics Men as Addicted to Shopping as Women Bad Habits: Why We Can't Stop Original Story: Buyer Beware: The Many Ways Retailers Can Trick You

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Volcanoes blamed for mass extinction

Ninety-three million years ago, Earth was a reshuffled jigsaw of continents, a hothouse where the average temperature was nearly twice that of today.

Palm trees grew in what would be Alaska, large reptiles roamed in northern Canada and the ice-free Arctic Ocean warmed to the equivalent of a tepid swimming pool.

So our planet was balmy -- but hardly a biological paradise, for it was whacked by a mass die-out. The depths of the ocean suddenly became starved of oxygen, wiping out swathes of marine life.

The extinction was so spectacular that, helped by a suddenly sluggish shift in ocean circulation, the remains of the tiny victims littered the sea bed in thick layers, and over geological time became transformed into oil.

After the extinction, levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere dropped and Earth lurched into a sudden, but short-lived, period of cooling.

Earth scientists have pondered for years as to how this extraordinary "anoxic event" of the late Cretaceous took place.

The answer to the catastrophe, contend scientists from the University of Alberta, Canada, lies in fire fountains that erupted on the ocean floor, altering the chemistry of the sea and possibly of the atmosphere too.

Steven Turgeon and Robert Creaser, of the university's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, say the clue can be found in isotope levels of the element osmium, a telltale of volcanism in seawater, that were analysed in black shale rocks, drilled off the coast of South America and mountains in Italy.

The eruptions -- so violent that stacks of lava flowed out to form the bed of the Caribbean -- preceded the extinction by up to 23,000 years, according to their research, which appears on Thursday in the London-based weekly science journal Nature.

Two theories, which are not mutually exclusive, emerge to explain the chemistry of what happened next, says Tim Bralower, a geologist at Pennsylvania State University, who reviewed the paper.

One possibility is that the volcanoes spewed out metal-rich fluids that seeded the upper level of the ocean with micronutrients, he says.

Tiny plantlife on the sea surface, called phytoplankton, gorged on the food, and storing up carbon as they grew. They then sank to the sea floor and decayed, stripping the ocean of oxygen.

The other is that the volcanoes disgorged clouds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, stoking global warming to the extent that Earth's ocean circulation system ground to a near-halt. Beyond the surface layers, water was no longer turned over and anoxia resulted.

Bralower says that figuring out the post-volcanism scenario could help scientists wrestling with unknowns about global warming today.

The knowledge gaps include the impact of higher temperatures on marine circulation and whether controversial schemes to sow the ocean with iron filings, to spur phytoplankton growth and thus soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, would ease warming or cause oxygen starvation in the sea depths.

The fakest stars of reality TV

Bret Michaels is going to attempt to rock for some more love.

TV Stevie didn't make it through the Sweet 16 movie, but was delighted to see that "Rowdy" Roddy Piper had a role in the film. Email TV Stevie


It's clear that a more reputable TV columnist would take the opportunity of today's column to write about the much-ballyhooed Emmy nominations. But I'm far from reputable, and I really couldn't care less about the Emmy noms. I also have to assume that all 13 people who read this column on a regular basis agree with my ideology (at least to a degree) and also couldn't give a crap about any awards show that doesn't involve Mike Myers reuniting with Dana Carvey taking a trip in the old Delorean back to 1992 for a reprisal of Wayne's World.

So let's just ignore the Emmy nominations. I combed through them and was quite unimpressed by almost every decision, and the fact remains that there were perhaps four shows from the past year (Dexter, 30 Rock, Mad Men, The Tudors, The Office and perhaps Flight of the Conchords) that even approached worthiness for an award. Producers of the other 6,002 shows are probably more deserving of a horse-whipping than a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I mean, seriously, how can anybody care about an awards show that provides a trophy for something like "Outstanding Hairstyling For a Multi-Camera Series or Special"? It's not possible, and anyone who pretends that they care isn't just lying to themselves, but also making it possible for celebrities to prance around a red carpet while Joan Rivers (or, more recently, a faux-Joan Rivers) ask them who they're wearing.

No, I consider this to be insanity, and I won't be a party to it. I won't watch the Emmys, and, after this paragraph, won't mention them again until next year, when I once again bring up how much I dislike the entire process and once again take the opportunity to throw a few jabs at Hollywood from the comfort of my office in Toronto.

A more pressing matter involves our society's ongoing obsession with reality television, despite the fact that it's becoming more unreal than ever before.

Look, I'm not entirely naïve. I understand that "Reality TV" is only a label, and that it doesn't have anything more to do with reality than the unicorn that galloped through my backyard at 3 AM on Wednesday night. Normally, I'd say "whatever," and just tell people that there's no reason we should even bother with this nonsense, even though I'm as guilty as anyone for watching a ton of reality television (for the purpose of comedic irony and this job only, of course). But it's getting harder and harder to turn the other cheek to a genre that continues to explode before our very eyes.

According to David Lyle, president of the Fox Reality Channel (a channel that is inexplicably unavailable in Canada, by the way), the next 365 days (one full year for those scoring at home) will see the debut of 172 (!!!!) new reality shows on network TV and cable. 172...not 72...72 plus 100. Pardon me as I pause to clean up the blood that started spurting out of my eyes as I thought about that number.

An early version of a famous wig.

Clearly, some of these reality shows will be relatively harmless programming about people whispering to dogs or tormenting fat kids at a fat camp. I can accept those, as they often entertain me as I watch Slice while eating my supper.

It's the hybrid reality-celebrity-entertainment programming that concerns me. I know that most intelligent people can appreciate these shows on an ironic level without sustaining any significant brain damage. But the majority of people aren't intelligent (if you don't believe, just watch five minutes of Cops), and they're actually believing that these shows have something in common with reality. Since I'm not really a qualified sociologist (despite scoring a semi-solid B-minus in a first-year soc course), I can't definitively say how these shows are damaging society as a whole, but I truly believe that the effects aren't good.

The fakeness of reality television probably isn't a probem for most people. For people like me, however, it is a problem, because I view television as a meaningful prism through which I can potentially gain a greater understanding of real life. And, while I certainly don't expect television to be honest, close to honest, or even to display any qualities that resemble honesty (even in passing), I'd appreciate it if TV could at least be honest about its dishonesty. I wouldn't mind if reality TV pretended to be real as long as it could admit it was pretending.

I bring this up only because I recently got wind of the news that Bret Michaels is returning for a third attempt at finding his soul mate on Rock of Love 3, and he broke up with his girlfriend to make it happen.

At this point, it's clear that Michaels is a scumbag. In fact, that was obvious at the 30-second mark of the first season. He's doing this show to gain some sort of relevance, to have sex with strippers before ending their tour of love, and to "earn" a paycheque. Apparently, residuals from "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" aren't what they used to be.

The mystery of Rock of Love, as far as I'm concerned, is that producers have somehow managed to find three season's worth of skanks willing to touch Michaels and adopt his cornucopia of STDs. Do they actually have affection for Michaels, or is the lure of being on television enough to have women vie for the love of a man who could never love anyone as much as he loves eyeliner? This confuses me.

But a third season of Rock of Love!? It's like The Bachelor, only if ABC cast the same creepy dude to be the bachelor season after season. Would we really believe that the man's search for love was sincere? Do people even care about sincerity anymore?

Ambre Lake, who "won" Rock of Love 2, is pretending that her relationship with Michaels was actually real at some point, and is also pretending that she's heartbroken over their split, despite the fact that she's encouraging people to watch the third season.

I don't know about you, but if I just went through a painful breakup, I probably wouldn't be so into having people watch a show about my ex searching for a replacement. Does that sound like something that any real or semi-real person would ever do? Does this give off the impression that any part of any season of Rock of Love was anything more than a grab at cash and fame? I think not.

Ramsay should've stuck to Kitchen Nightmares.

I want to start a movement in which we all petition to have the name "reality TV" changed to "semi-scripted programming," because calling it the former is not only a leading cause of dementia to just about everyone in one of the red states, it's giving reality a bad name.

[Note: Within this new framework of TV classification, shows like Survivor and Amazing Race can be called "serial game shows," while shows like Deal or No Deal can be referred to as "in-studio game shows." Let's just leave "reality" out of this entirely.]

With all that freshly swirling about in my cranium, allow me to present a list of the top five fakest stars on reality television (excluding Bret Michaels, only because I can't write about him anymore without wretching, and wretching can cause poor spelling when combined with typing).

5. Gordon Ramsay (Hell's Kitchen version)
I'm a huge fan of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, so much so that I've actually sat through two full seasons of Hell's Kitchen despite not really enjoying one minute of it. On Nightmares, Ramsay is about as real as it gets for semi-scripted programming. He gets upsets and throws temper tantrums, but only when they're warranted. He's actually there to help people with their failing restaurants, and he seems truly sincere in his attempts to do so. The man is positively affable.

But the version of Ramsay seen on Hell's Kitchen is a completely different story, and the more I watch the show, the more tired his act becomes. To put it bluntly, this show is completely rigged, and Ramsay certainly doesn't care who comes out on top, except for the effect that decision will have on ratings. Whichever chef is chosen will get a job as executive chef at some new restaurant Ramsay is launching, but, other than cashing a fat cheque (no doubt written by the network) and facing his or her face in the dining room from time to time, there's a zero percent chance that the winner will be given any legitimate responsibility. At least not right away.

And, in addition to the show being quite fake, Ramsay himself fakes it up to a nauseating degree. He's constantly yelling at everybody in an attempt to make someone cry, and the winners of every challenge are chosen based on which decision would create the most drama. I get the distinct feeling that when the cameras finally turn off, Ramsay feels compelled to apologize to whoever he just yelled at while telling them not to take the whole thing seriously.

Only in America could Britain's most sincere reality star be corrupted so completely.

4. Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and anyone from The Real World (tie)
The Simple Life, along with Newlyweds, sparked the concept of fake reality programming, as far as I can tell. Paris and Nicole were at the forefront of the movement, one that saw people not caring how stupid or fake a show was, as long as it was on TV (and, in the case of Newlyweds, as long as it involved a blond with big boobs).

Twit and twitter.

You couldn't put together half a brain if you combined Hilton and Richie, and even if you added the smarts of every Hollywood wannabe to ever appear on The Real World, you'd still fall somewhere between Carrot Top and Paula Abdul on the IQ scale. Paris and Nicole are sufficiently ridiculed, however, so there's no need to waste even one more keystroke on them.

3. Jonny Fairplay and Omarosa (tie)
It's actually somewhat impressive that Fairplay and Omarosa both participated in the creation of a concept that's become what's now known as the reality TV villain. It's quite ingenious, to be honest, and you have to hand it to them for extending their 15 minutes into several years. I can respect that. They are innovators.

Yet, despite my admiration, on another level I despise them completely, because their actions on Survivor and The Apprentice paved the way for countless others to appear on reality television while playing a predetermined and premeditated character. They were both on the ground floor of turning the genre into something lesser than what it was meant to be, and although it made them both a vast pile of cash (I imagine), it prompted dozens of others to look like morons on television. And it almost made Janice Dickinson commit a homicide on The Surreal Life. Of course, if it had happened, that would have been truly awesome.

2. Flavor Flav
In real life, Flavor Flav is probably a decent guy. I suppose he loves every one of his 18 kids from 18 mothers, and even does his best to pay child support to at least three or four of them. Nevertheless, when it comes to reality television, Flav is both fake and ridiculous.

At this point, Flav has been featured in no fewer than five seasons of reality television, four of which were entirely devoted to his search for love. After appearing on The Surreal Life and cultivating a relationship with Brigitte Nielsen (although that was most likely rigged as well), the two starred in Strange Love, before Nielsen decided to rededicate herself to passing out drunk on a nightly basis, leaving the former Public Enemy drummer to find his next baby mama on three infuriating seasons of Flavor of Love.

The prized catch of reality television?

According to rumours, however, Flav was actually engaged prior to the third season, and only did the show because he'd already cashed the cheque written by VH1. This was the first time a washed-up celebrity ever underwent a search for love on reality television while simultaneously planning a wedding (to the best of my knowledge). Plus, Flav deserves even more of a special place in hell for helping launch a franchise that helped bring Bret Michaels back into the public eye.

1. Tila Tequila
In the history of TV, there has never been a less talented, faker (in body, hair and personality), and more not-gay-despite-claiming-that-she-is-gay nitwit than Tila Tequila. In fact, if she wasn't starring on endless seasons of A Shot at Love, she'd no doubt be available for a "date" via the back pages of NOW magazine as we speak.

It's hard to describe how intensely I dislike Tila Tequila, but when she was turned down by her prospective girlfriend at the end of season two, I found every fibre of my being wishing that reality TV was actually being real, if only just this once. Sadly, Tila Tequila can only cry crocodile tears. Boo hoo.

Dishonourable mention:

Heidi and Spencer - It's hard to get too down on these two dolts because they're so unabashedly fake that it's actually amusing. However, they're clearly the fakest reality characters ever, to the point that they're probably the only two dummies who set up "spontaneous" photo shoots with Us magazine on a weekly basis. They're phoney, they're obvious about it, they're famous, and they're rich, and if you're anything like me, you'd like to see them both take a long walk off a short pier. I just couldn't bump Tila Tequila out of the top spot. She's number one.

EXECUTEDTODAY.COM

Executed Today is a blog of history, sociology, biography, criminology, law, and kismet — an unrepresentative but arresting view of the human condition across time and circumstance from the parlous vantage of the scaffold.

So what is it?

Executed Today is a daily chronicle — each day the story of an historical execution that took place on this date, and the story behind it.

Why?

That’s a good question.

Why are you here?

What’s your definition of an “execution”?

The death penalty, as a subset within that vast category of “acts of violence homo sapiens do to their fellows,” blends insensibly into a dozen adjacent territories — murder, assassination, warfare, torture, low crime and high statecraft, even suicide.

If we know for certain that extinguishing life is an essential component of the death penalty, our everyday language nevertheless reflects ambiguity about how. We might speak of crime victims as being “killed execution-style” to evoke a sense of deliberation and even ceremony about the act; conversely, we might derogate the formal and official act of a state organ as a “summary execution” to underscore the absence of an appropriate juridical atmosphere. In situations of war and revolution where the legitimate authority of the state is contested, the water muddies still further.

I do not pretend to have demarcated my focus with a bright line; my standard, readily impeachable, is merely what I know when I see. Having said that, and reserving the right to stray occasionally into the disputed frontier marches, the scope of this blog intends to remain rather narrow: this is not an all-purpose chronicle of human cruelty.

What ax do you have to grind?

This blog is neither pro- nor anti-death penalty in general nor in any particular. Its interest is the perspective on humanity we gain through the window of this human institution.

But the subject invites ideology and fairness here demands the biases of the author. I am, personally, a death penalty opponent.

Nor is this the only bias worth considering. I am a westerner, to begin with — a modern English-speaker whose access to certain stories is limited by the tools at my disposal (this blog has been heavily researched online) and whose appreciation of certain stories’ import may not square with others who know them differently. It is, I hope, understood that the inclusion of any particular story at the expense of any other on any given day does not indicate disdain for the one not posted, even if other editors might have chosen differently. If I’ve chosen poorly, I may yet redeem myself: this blog is not limited to a single year.

The conceit of pinning biographies to calendar execution dates, so apt for the blogging form, likewise imposes a certain bias tending towards the western and the modern where, quite simply, we are more likely to know the dates. And for that matter, the dates that are best-recalled have a tendency themselves to track the exceptional few executions — the greatest heroes and villains, the princes of the realm, the milestones — in preference to more humdrum fare. To more fully tell the story of capital punishment in the face of these distortions, there will be occasional entries with uncertain dates … or dates affiliated with events other than the actual execution … or executions notable for not taking place … or less famous men and women put to death in less famous circumstances. But it is confessedly impossible to array such events in any objectively even-handed fashion.

Last but by no means least, the notion of glimpsing some understanding of the human condition through this peculiar institution is necessarily one doomed at the outset to a disproportionately sanguinary view. Whatever truth one might discern from such a perspective, it — thankfully — could hardly ever stand as the whole Truth.

A word about categories.

The metadata that classifies each post should be interpreted in its least judgmental form — although to be sure, there are some judgments one cannot help making. In general, however, the intent where there is ambiguity is to treat these categories without editorial preference as different windows onto the event, from different points of view afforded both by contemporary standards and by the distance of history. They do not in all cases answer literally to their parent category of journalistic inquiry. They are not necessarily even mutually compatible.

For instance, in the entry of Kevin Barry (profiled 1 November, 2007), both Ireland and England answer to “Where”: both had a stake in the event, although the hanging took place on the island of Ireland. From the Republican standpoint, Barry was a soldier — hence, the use of “Soldiers” and “Wartime Executions”; from the British standpoint, he was a criminal — hence, “Murder”, the formal charge that led to his hanging.

Although any category of this emotional subject is prone to controversy, “Wrongful Executions” merits a few words specifically: this batch is not meant to be a definitive claim from either a moral or legal standpoint, but to identify executions with a significant controversy. It refers to a social understanding (even if a contested one) that an incorrect determination, either legal or factual, informed the execution. The limits of this concept are necessarily fuzzy, but roughly speaking, when looking far backwards in time, it’s also been limited to situations where “wrongfulness” is a distinguishing characteristic of the execution, and where the “wrongfulness” is understood as such by the same cultural milieu that produced the execution. The Salem witch trials were immediately regretted, for instance, but to identify every witch-burning in medieval Europe as a “wrongful execution” seems redundant at best … and a misappropriation of an alien mindset at worst.

vive la France!

Happy Bastille Day; vive la France! I hope you’re skipping the granola this morning in favor of a croissant. And don’t forget that espresso –- in fact, inject a little revolution into your day and make it a double.

Bare-ly news | If you thought that the Orange County Fair was our neighboring county’s most buzzing weekend event, you missed news of the annual mooning of Amtrak trains in Laguna Niguel, California. Police had to break up the crowds baring bottoms…and more.

Miss Universe | Hundreds of millions of TV viewers watched last night as Miss Universe was crowned. For those of you who missed it, the winner was Miss Venezuela, 22-year-old Dayana Mendoza. Unfortunately, Crystle Steward, Miss USA, who tripped during the competition, seems destined to be a YouTube star for the wrong reasons, following in the footsteps, so to speak, of 2007’s Miss USA, Rachel Smith, who fell in last year’s competition.

Car rentals | Move over, Explorer. While free upgrades were once celebrated by car-renting travelers, nowadays people are requesting smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. And the SUV-packed rental agencies are running short.

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

A Bastille Day revolution

The French are increasingly indifferent to their national holiday.

It may not be surprising that Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz, a descendant of France's King Charles X (the youngest brother of the executed Louis XVI), wears a black tie every year on Bastille Day. Or that Marc de Gontaut-Biron, a member of an ancient noble French family, wears only royal blue, the color of the Bourbon flag, on July 14.

Or that Gontaut-Biron's circle of friends in Paris, many of whom still refer to the Republic as la gueuse (the tramp or beggar), escape to their chateaux every year on that day and drape their windows in black and shutter their doors as a symbol of mourning. Why wouldn't they feel that way? The storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris, on July 14, 1789, meant no good for the French aristocracy, which was overthrown in the revolution that followed.

But these days, it's not just the ancestors of aristocrats who have little interest in Bastille Day. Although Americans often think that July 14 is as important in France as July 4 is in the United States, the reality is that the holiday is of less and less significance as the years pass. Today, many French citizens, whether their ancestors went to the guillotine or not, do not take part in the celebrations, and for a variety of reasons.

Some complain about the holiday's militaristic nature. Georges Brassens, a self-professed anarchist often referred to as France's Bob Dylan, wrote in his anthem, "La Mauvaise Réputation": "On July 14, I remain in my downy bed/those military marches are of no concern to me/surely I am not hurting anyone/not listening to the sound of bugles." (That's a translation, of course.) Similarly, Maialen Berasategui, a fourth-year history student at the Sorbonne who says that Bastille Day is "too military for me," told me: "I'll bet there are more opponents from the anarchist groups than the royalists."

Of course, the holiday has always had militaristic overtones since it was first celebrated in 1790, just a year after the storming of the Bastille. On that July 14, a grand and solemn ceremony, meant to demonstrate France's history of military might, took place on the Champs de Mars, opposite the École Militaire. Soldiers from each of the new 83 departments of France assembled at 4 a.m. at the Bastille to march along the right bank of the Seine. Nearly 600,000 people came from all over France, spilling out onto the streets of Paris.

Even Louis XVI and his family appeared that day -- despite the anti-royalist sympathies of those who had stormed the Bastille the previous year. The royal children, Marie-Thérèse and her little brother, the Dauphin (who later would be tortured to death in the Temple prison), stood on their tiptoes to watch the festivities.

But militarism is not the only reason why Bastille Day is not what it once was. Another explanation for the growing reluctance to express the kind of patriotism usually associated with banner-waving and marching bands is the generational shift in France. Berasategui suggests that, these days, the issue is more one of indifference, rather than resistance, to the idea of Bastille Day.

"My mother grew up learning the French departments, rivers, etc.," she said. "But my generation grew up with the fall of the Berlin Wall. I learned European flags, populations, capitals and about the EU. We're changing, and the way we feel that we are French is changing too."

Americans travel to France in droves every summer to soak in what is unique to French culture -- the fashions, the cuisine and the elegant lifestyle. But as a member of the European Union, France may be losing its identity.

Last year, on July 14, Nicolas Sarkozy, the country's newly elected president, dispensed with the customary Bastille Day mass pardon of prisoners who have committed petty offenses. And he gave no presidential state-of-the-nation interview with the media. Instead, he said he wanted to make the world "look at France through different eyes."

To send that message, Sarkozy, a proponent of a united European militia, marched in a Bastille Day parade composed, for the first time, of soldiers from all 27 EU member countries. Is the party over?

Susan Nagel, a professor at Marymount Manhattan College, is the author, most recently, of "Marie-Thérèse, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter."