It always comes as a shock when it’s revealed that two Hollywood coworkers never actually got along despite their charisma on screen. From Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in The Notebook to the disastrous relationship between Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan behind the scenes of Fifty Shades of Grey, actors have been able to repeatedly fool us into thinking there was some substance behind their portrayal, because—well—it is their job. But Hollywood rivalries and rocky relationships aren’t a completely new phenomenon. Classical Hollywood stars didn’t get along quite as well as you might think. 10 Bette Davis & Joan Crawford … Continue reading →

This story was first published on The Reading Room. Hollywood makes a habit of stealing our favorite books to make movies out of them. Sometimes that’s a good thing, like with these 20 great film adaptations, and sometimes it’s a bad one. But, for better or for worse, no book goes through the filmmaking process unchanged. Most of us don’t mind when small details from the books are changed (though some of us do – looking at you, Lord of the Rings fans.) But when the filmmakers drastically change the story or tone of the book, things can get weird. Take … Continue reading →

1. The Sitting-Rising Test What are you testing? This simple test, originally published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention, is an uncannily accurate predictor of mortality risk. Participants of the original study were found to die at similar ages to the other individuals with their scores – suggesting that the sitting-rising test is a solid determiner of all-cause mortality. How do you do it? For this test, you will need someone to observe you completing the simple task of standing up from a position sitting cross-legged on the ground, and then sitting back down again. Begin in a sitting … Continue reading →

GUALFIN, Argentina – Poor Janet Yellen. Usually, we reserve our pity for the poor, the downtrodden, and the hopeless. But today, we spare a thought for the clueless… and feel Yellen’s pain. Markets are tense. Investors seem to be holding their breath. Everyone is waiting to see what the Fed will do. There must be hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of well-educated adults sitting on the edges of their seats… eager to hear what this rather ordinary functionary will say. No Return to Sanity Will Janet Yellen proudly put the Fed on the side of the angels, … Continue reading →

Do you distrust the banking system? Prefer to do business in cash? Complain about the encroachment of Big Brother into every facet of your life? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’d better watch out. You’re a “person of interest” – and a growing number of businesses must report your “suspicious activities” to the feds. If they don’t, they can be fined and the responsible parties even imprisoned. These requirements originated in a law called the “Bank Secrecy Act” (BSA). Of course, this Orwellian law has nothing at all to do with protecting bank secrecy. Indeed, the … Continue reading →

A campaign has been launched to try and ban the development of ultra-realistic sex robots. Using sophisticated robotics to develop realistic human dolls capable of performing sex acts is “very disturbing indeed,” said campaign leader Dr Kathleen Richardson. Sex dolls are increasingly becoming more and more realistic, with many manufacturers now striving to build artificial intelligence into the products. But Dr Richardson – a robot ethicist at De Montfort University, in Leicester – is hoping to raise awareness of the issue and persuade those working on the advanced sex ‘bots to rethink their technology. The news comes weeks after Dr … Continue reading →

On Sunday evening, I was sitting on the couch — sick. I had missed church. I had missed some meetings. I had missed spending great time with my wife and our son. I also knew that I was going to have a long day on Monday, and that I was going to miss a great gathering of Libertarians — Circle Rothbard. I turned on the television, and instantly I felt myself losing brain cells. I found a movie that I have seen before: The Blind Side. I watched part of it, but then I decided that I would write this post, since … Continue reading →

USA –-(Ammoland.com)- A lot of neato stuff happened in 1950, along with some serious unpleasantries. North Korea invaded their southern sibling, starting a tragic war masquerading as a police action. On the more positive side of things, the first self-service elevator was installed by the Otis Corporation. Zenith introduced the first television remote control and appropriately named it the Lazy Bones. Charles Schulz invented Charlie Brown, and more importantly, Snoopy. James Dean got his big break starring in a Pepsi commercial. Oh, and Remington introduced the 870 Wingmaster Shotgun. Since introduction in January 1950, Remington has sold some number bigger … Continue reading →

Having a wider face has been linked with higher levels of attraction and aggression, and now research has suggested it may also be a sign of psychopathy. A study of students and prison inmates found that men with a higher facial width-to-height ratio were more likely to exhibit what’s known as ‘self-centred impulsivity’. They also showed signs of ‘fearless dominance’ as well as a tendency to blame other people for problems. Self-centred impulsivity is a category of traits including Machiavellian egocentricity and is the tendency to consider only personal needs, with a disregard for the interests of anyone else. Those … Continue reading →

Going into Thursday, everyone – and we do mean everyone – is scrambling to predict which asset classes are most susceptible to a Fed hike. As we explained over the weekend, there’s quite a bit of ambiguity this time around and not just because a third of Wall Street has never seen a rate hike in their professional careers. The prolongation of ultra accommodative monetary policies across the globe (to the point that what was once “unconventional” might now fairly be classified as thoroughly “conventional”) and the failure of the Fed to normalize while it had the chance, has served … Continue reading →

Most economic statistics don’t lie, but they mislead. The statistics produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are pretty good, according to prevailing economic theory and statistical theory, but they are misleading to a fault. This is not because the government rigs the statistics. It is because objective statistics cannot deal effectively with subjective value. But subjective valuation is the essence of economic theory. This was discovered in the early 1870’s. The statisticians still have not come to grips with this development. They try hard, but the labor theory of value is wrong. They fail. Let me prove this to … Continue reading →

The sun has set, your eyes are heavy and all signs point towards you falling asleep. You get into bed for what you hope will be a restful evening so you can be energized in the morning, but instead you’re left tossing and turning all night. Not only do you wake up the next day groggy, but this vicious cycle continues night after night. Lack of sleep impairs your energy levels, but it can also have serious health consequences; therefore, it’s important that you get to the bottom of your sleep predicament. There are many reasons why people have trouble … Continue reading →