Personal Growth — February 26, 2009

In Response to Crisis, Haters Get Busy

The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual report on hate groups in the US, The Year in Hate, today. The findings show a marked rise in hate group membership since 2000 stemming from Latino immigration fears, the election of an African American president and the economic spiral.

A map of hate groups across the US shows high concentrations of fringe elements in the South and California, which counts 84 groups within its borders. The perception that the US-Mexican border is under attack has led armed nativist groups to form ad-hoc patrols in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Intelligence Report also documented nearly 5 million immigrants as holders of bad mortgages, a high number that fuels hate group propaganda.

Do big thinkers see hate groups as a viable force in America holding back progress and intelligent discourse? And is the media responsible for inflaming the illegal immigration debate? Send us your thoughts.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

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