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In 1990, Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr. and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota published a striking finding: About 70 percent of the variance in IQ found in their particular sample of identical twins was found to be associated with genetic variation. Furthermore, identical twins reared apart were eerily similar to identical twins reared together on various measures of personality, occupational and leisure-time interests, and social attitudes.
Bouchard’s study, along with many others, has painted a consistent picture: Genes

For months, the United Kingdom has been roiled by student protests standing up to the coalition government’s attempt to sharply raise annual tuition at universities to up to 9,000 ($14,600). Now, a coalition of more than 90 artists, musicians, and creative figures have come together to make a statement of solidarity with the young protesters. The list includes some big names: visual artists Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, and Rachel Whiteread; Clash rocker Mick Jones, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie, and Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes; and fashion designer Stella McCartney. And the form of solidarity offered is not just abstract — it comes in the form of cash to pay the fines of persecuted and jailed students, thus encouraging further civil disobedience against the education fee hikes.
Artist Jake Chapman’s “Can’t pay your fees? We’ll pay your fines!” campaign looks to fund payment of the fines incurred by student protestors in the

I was in London this week, where the news was filled with images of Finance Minister George Osborne pausing outside 11 Downing Street with a replica of the red “budget box” that has been used to carry budget papers for the last 150 years. Inside the box: a new budget calling for the slashing of government programs and an embrace of massive debt reduction — even while the British economy continues to sputter. The next morning, in an editorial meeting at the Guardian, I listened as story angles were discussed: economic growth is slower than expected; unemployment remains higher than expected; the deficit will be higher than expected.

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Source:Associated Press
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the span of just a few days, the Charlotte Bobcats have somehow climbed back into playoff contention while the New York Knicks are facing questions about a potential monumental collapse.And Carmelo Anthony is as dumbfounded as anybody.
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With the New York Knicks reeling, coach Mike D’Antoni needs Carmelo Anthony in the game in crunch time, writes Chris Sheridan.
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•Knicks blog | ESPN New York
The suddenly surging Bobcats became the latest team to run past the struggling Knicks on Saturday night. Boris Diaw scored 20 points and Stephen Jackson added 19 despite a sore hamstring and another technical foul in 114-106 victory that moved Charlotte within a game of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.”We needed this so bad,” said coach Paul Silas, whose team stunned Boston a night earlier.Anthony had 36 points and led a comeback from a 20-point third-quarter deficit to make it a bit interesting late. But he got little help from a struggling Amare Stoudemire and couldn’t prevent New York’s sixth straight loss.Not even lineup changes helped the Knicks, who are 7-12 since acquiring Anthony and Chauncey Billups in a deal that was supposed to shoot them up the East standings. Instead, the Knicks’ lead over ninth-place Charlotte is down to 4½ games.”For the most part, these are teams we should be beating,” Anthony said. “We talk about that among each other — that some of these teams shouldn’t even be on the court with us. But they’re winning games and it’s just something we have to figure out.”The Bobcats built a 20-point third-quarter lead and withstood an Anthony-fueled rally that got New York within 110-106 with 1:34 left. The Knicks didn’t score again.Knicks Feeling The CrunchOver the last 10 games (in which the Knicks are 1-9), Amar’e Stoudemire has played more minutes and taken more shots than Carmelo Anthony in the fourth quarter, despite a worse shooting percentage and a lower plus-minus rating.Knicks’ Big Two In The 4th QuarterLast 10 Games
Anthony
Stoudemire
PPG
5.3
6.5
FG pct
40.0
37.9
FGA PG
3.5
5.8
Mins PG
7.4
10.8
+/-
Minus-24
Minus-43
powered by “We’ve got a lot of talent, but as you know, talent isn’t everything,” said Billups, who had 14 points and 10 assists, but missed 10 of 16 shots including a jumper late. “Camaraderie and cohesiveness and being a good team beats talent every day of the week. When we get to a point where we get that, combined with the talent, we’re going to be a very dangerous team.”The Bobcats appeared finished after a 23-point home loss to Indiana on Wednesday left them three games behind the Pacers for the last postseason slot while also surrendering the tiebreaker.Since then, Charlotte became the first East team to win in Boston and knocked off New York, while the Pacers have lost to lottery-bound Sacramento and Detroit in consecutive nights.”This is the best part of the season,” Jackson said. “This is what you play for.”Jackson, hobbled by a strained left hamstring that’s had him in and out of the lineup for the past month, had a key tip in and a layup late despite earlier picking up his 15th technical foul, one shy of an automatic one-game suspension.”I know I can’t get any more, but I think I went like eight games without getting one,” Jackson said. “I think I can finish this season and hopefully postseason without getting another one, hopefully.”Jackson shot 4 of 9 on 3-pointers and took advantage of New York’s woeful defense.Charlotte, the NBA’s second-lowest scoring team coming in at 92.8 points a game, tallied a season-high 64 points in the first half to take a 13-point lead. Diaw’s 3 early in the third made it 75-55.The Bobcats shot 47 percent, held a 46-39 rebounding advantage and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds. Stoudemire grabbed six rebounds to go with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting.”I don’t care how good your offense is, you’ve really got to score 120-something to beat a team like that,” Billups said. “And that’s just too much pressure on your offense. Our defense is what’s going to make or break us, I believe.”Coach Mike D’Antoni was more worried about offense before the game, saying his team lacks “pizazz.” With center Ronny Turiaf (ankle) sidelined, Landry Fields was also sent to the bench for a smaller, quicker lineup.Toney Douglas joined Billups in the backcourt and got the defensive assignment on Charlotte point guard D.J. Augustin. Shawne Williams also started and while the Knicks showed spark early on offense, they allowed the Bobcats to score almost at will.Anthony, who hit 13 of 25 shots, was on the bench early in the fourth before hitting consecutive 3-pointers to fuel the Knicks’ too-late spurt even as Charlotte played again without Tyrus Thomas (ribs).”It was whoever wanted it most,” Silas said, “and we obviously did.”Game notes Bobcats assistant Charles Oakley missed his third straight game and Silas said he’ll undergo a procedure next week for his back injury. Silas expects Oakley to miss another week. … Ex-Bobcats F Derrick Brown, waived right after the trade deadline, declined to talk about his departure and had little to say about his limited role since being claimed by New York. “That’s how the NBA is,” Brown said. … Silas wasn’t surprised the Knicks are struggling after the Anthony deal. “That’s kind of normal,” he said. “Any change is difficult. In time, it will be fine.”
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Source:Associated Press
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MILWAUKEE — At this point, those “M-V-P!” chants even follow Derrick Rose when he and the Chicago Bulls go on the road.The way Rose stole a game from the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday certainly made him seem worthy.Rose orchestrated a stunning 12-0 run by Chicago in the final three minutes, rallying the Bulls for a 95-87 victory.”The worst thing you can do is give me confidence no matter what I’m doing,” Rose said. “If I get any type of confidence, it’s going to be hard to stop me.”A large, loud contingent of traveling Bulls fans made Rose feel at home, chanting “M-V-P!” as the final seconds ran out — just as they did throughout the game.Rose finished with 30 points and a career-high 17 assists. And while the way he took over the game at the end was jaw-dropping, his passing was just as impressive.”It was an up-tempo-type game,” Rose said. “I was trying to make the right pass, put a lot of pressure on them and it was rolling for us.”With Chicago trailing 87-83 after four straight free throws by Carlos Delfino, Rose hit a pair of free throws and then fed Joakim Noah for a fast-break dunk to tie it.With the Bucks bobbling the ball on offense, Rose hit three straight shots in the final two minutes, then handed off to Ronnie Brewer for a game-clinching fast-break layup.”He’s done it all year and he’s got to continue to do it,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The thing I really respect about him is he’s never satisfied. He’ll keep driving. The important thing for him is to win. He’s not concerned about what he’s doing individually. It’s how the team is doing.”It was a tough loss to take for the Bucks, a strong defensive team that is scrambling to make the playoffs.”It’s really tough,” Jennings said. “Fading away, just fade-away jump shots, off balance. That’s why he’s one of the MVP candidates right now.”Bucks coach Scott Skiles was just as disappointed with his players’ inability to score inside as he was with their defense at the end.”We didn’t get much done,” Skiles said. “And then Rose just went off on us in the end.”Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago, while Noah scored 12 with 11 rebounds.John Salmons scored 25 for Milwaukee but shot 0 for 5 the fourth quarter. Delfino added 23 for the Bucks.Jennings scored 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting for Milwaukee.Michael Redd was back in uniform for the Bucks for the first time since sustaining a severe knee injury last January, but did not play.It was a must-have home game for the Bucks — even if a heavily pro-Chicago crowd certainly didn’t make it sound that way for much of the night.With the Bulls vying for the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference and tickets hard to come by at the United Center, a large horde of Bulls fans made the drive up I-94 to see their team play in Milwaukee.The traveling fans made their presence felt early, booing any home fan shown in Green Bay Packers gear on the scoreboard video display before the game, then booing the Bucks during pregame introductions.”It was kind of weird,” Jennings said. “You didn’t know whose house it really was.”More than anything, the visiting fans went wild for Rose; one woman held up a sign that read, “Future Mrs. D Rose.”A collective gasp filled the arena when Rose converted a pair of acrobatic layups in the first half, and fans continued to chant “M-V-P! M-V-P!” every time he made a big play.And he made plenty of them, especially when Chicago need him the most.”The challenge for us is to keep getting better,” Thibodeau said. “There are a lot of things that we have to improve upon. We’re still not where we need to be. We dodged a bullet. We trailed most of the game. It’s two games in a row defensively we were poor in the first half. We have to change that.”Game notes Redd said before the game that he’s willing to play whatever role Skiles sees fit; Skiles said Redd is in excellent condition, but his timing is a little off after being out so long. … The Bulls won all four meetings with the Bucks this year. … Bucks backup center Jon Brockman came down hard on his left shoulder midway through the second quarter but was able to return.
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“Did you know,” a bright-eyed young woman breathlessly exclaimed to me, “that when King James wrote the Bible, he didn’t actually put everything in?!” I was riding the D.C. metro a few weeks ago when she sat down beside me with this information. Since people don’t normally talk on the train (unless it’s a first date or someone you work with), I might have suspected that the conversation would take an odd turn. King James did not, of course, write the

The three monotheist religious traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have more in common than in contention. All three believe God is one, unique, concerned with humanity’s condition. Each takes up the narrative of the others’ — Christianity and Islam carrying forward the story begun in the Hebrew scriptures of ancient Israel that define Judaism.
Christianity affirms the vocation of Israel after the flesh, and Islam affirms the validity of the antecedent monotheist revelations, regarding Muhammad as the seal of prophecy and the Quran as a work of

The recent release of a draft strategic plan for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is simply the latest indicator of the challenge facing non-Orthodox Judaism in the United States. The USCJ press release was accompanied by data showing that the movement has lost 14 percent of its affiliated families since 2001, and twice that percentage in the northeast region.
Several months ago the Union of Reform Judaism announced an 18-month think tank to include all the major arms of the Reform Movement. It came on the heels of significant cutbacks in their national staff and the near closure of one of the campuses of Hebrew Union

When my daughter announced to my granddaughter, “Grandpa and Doug are getting married,” my granddaughter asked, “Oh? Who are they marrying?” My daughter responded that we were marrying each other. After a beat, my granddaughter said, “That’s weird.” Then, after another pause, she asked, “Will there be cake?”
I can’t fault my granddaughter for thinking same-sex marriage is weird; when I first heard several years ago that same-sex marriage was being proposed in Massachusetts, even though I had been “out” for many years, I thought it was pretty weird, too. No reference point existed for this significant social change.
All that my granddaughter needed was reassurance that our marriage was about a public statement of love and commitment — and about cake — and that her world wouldn’t