Scientists say there’s a biological reason why some people favor big government, oppose the death penalty and think Sarah Palin is the devil – it’s called the liberal gene.
“We hypothesize that individuals with a genetic predisposition toward seeking out new experiences will tend to be more liberal,” scientist James Fowler writes in the latest issue of the Journal of Politics.
People with the DRD4 gene would be more exposed to a wider variety of lifestyles and beliefs – making them more liberal, Fowler and his team suggest.
But simply being born with the liberal gene doesn’t make one a liberal.
The eggheads found that the more friends a person with the gene had in high school, the more likely they were to lean left.
“It is the crucial interaction of two factors – the genetic predisposition and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence – that is associated with being more liberal,” the researchers report.
The NAACP Image Awards is the nation’s premier event celebrating the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts (motion picture, television, recording, and literature), as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.
Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron have created this video weighing in against Prop 23, the initiative that would rollback California’s climate change law. It’s their first teaming since “True Lies,” but the references are to “The Terminator.” Also weighing in against it are Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Redford.
The climate law, AB 32, is a central part of Schwarzengger’s legacy, and he has said that he sees California leading the way for other states, and Washington lawmakers, to follow. In an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Schwarzenegger called members of Congress “wimps” for failing to take on oil companies and pass comprehensive climate legislation.
He said, per the Los Angeles Times, “We need to go to Washington and say, ‘Look what happened. You, because oil companies have spent money against you, they have threatened you, you backed off the energy policy and the environmental policy in Washington,’ ” Schwarzenegger said. “What wimps. No guts. I mean, here, you idolize and always celebrate the great warriors, our soldiers, our men and women who go to Iraq and Afghanistan, and they’re risking their lives to defend this country and you’re not even willing to stand up against the oil companies. I said, ‘That’s disgusting.’ You promised the people you’d represent them. You didn’t promise the people you’d represent the oil companies and the special interests.”
George Clooney has lined up independent funding for “The Ides of March,” a political drama which he will direct and co-star in with Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.
Exclusive Media Group and nascent Cross Creek Prods. will finance and co-produce the project, which starts shooting in February in Michigan and Ohio.
Exclusive, the parent company of Los Angeles-based Spitfire Pictures and Newmarket Films, is headed by Guy East and Nigel Sinclair; Cross Creek, a nascent private equity firm with a reported $40 million in funding, is run by Brian Oliver. They will join Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smoke House and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, which are producing.
The film is based on Beau Willimon’s politically themed play “Farragut North.” Clooney and Heslov have adapted the screenplay with Willimon.
Clooney is set to play Governor Morris, a candidate running in the presidential primary race for the Democratic Party ticket, with Gosling cast as his press spokesman. Giamatti plays a rival campaign manager, Tomei appears as a New York Times reporter, and Wood plays an intern for the campaign.
Despite Jon Stewart’s best efforts, Barack Obama played it pretty close to the vest during his appearance tonight on The Daily Show, knowing that nobody’s laughing when it comes to the economy, Afghanistan and next week’s midterm elections.
When Obama said the administration had accomplished things that “some folks don’t even know about,” Stewart asked whimsically, “What have you done that we don’t know about?
“Are you planning a surprise party for us, filled with jobs and health care?”
Maria Shriver may be eyeing a return to TV once her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, leaves the California Governor’s office.
Shriver, who spent 16 years at NBC before becoming California’s First Lady, left the network after “executives became uncomfortable with her working as a journalist while she was the state’s first lady,” according to a 2008 Los Angeles Times article.
That article also revealed that Shriver was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of an exit agreement with the network.
Tuesday morning on the “Today” show, Shriver hinted that she may be looking to return to TV once her husband’s term is up in January.
When asked by Matt Lauer how she plans to spend her free time following her stint as first lady, Shriver responded, “I hope with you, Matt.”
“I’m not sure Arnold would love that, but we’ll have to discuss that later this morning,” Lauer responded.
Don’t know squat about many of this year’s elections contenders? You may find yourself more familiar with some of their friends and family.
AP
1. Joe DioGuardi, the GOP candidate in New York’s special election Senate race, is the father of former “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi.
AP
2. Alex Sink, the Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is the great-granddaughter of Chang Bunker, of the famed Siamese twins Chang and Eng.
Getty Images
3. Linda McMahon, the Republican contender for the Senate in Connecticut, is married to WWE Chairman of the Board and CEO Vince McMahon. She stepped down as the company’s CEO last year.
Getty Images
4. Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic candidate for governor in New York, is not only the son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and brother of ABC’s “20/20″ correspondent Chris Cuomo, but he is also dating Food Network celebrity chef Sandra Lee.
AP
5. John Hickenlooper, Colorado’s Democratic candidate for governor, is the cousin of George Hickenlooper, an accomplished film director with credits including “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse,” the internationally acclaimed documentary about the making of “Apocalypse Now.”
Getty Images
6. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is married to Nancy Bass Wyden, the co-owner of New York’s Strand Bookstore.
AP
7. Rand Paul, Kentucky’s Republican candidate for the Senate, is the son of GOP Rep. Ron Paul, who is up for re-election in Texas’ 14th congressional district.
AP/ U.S. Senate
8. Sen. Richard Burr of South Carolina is the son of the Rev. David Horace Burr, who claims he is a 12th cousin of Aaron Burr, the former vice president who killed Founding Father Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel.
9. Christine O’Donnell, Delaware’s Republican and tea party candidate for the Senate, is the daughter of Daniel O’Donnell, a TV actor who once played Bozo the Clown
10. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., is the son of former NPR President Douglas Bennet and brother of Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief James Bennet.
The Commissioner’s Trophy isn’t the only thing on the line when the Texas Rangers play the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series — two hometown mayors have each stepped up to the plate to make a serious bet on the outcome.
TMZ has learned … San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (right) and the mayor of Arlington, TX, Robert Cluck (left), have agreed to make a wager on the series.
Here’s the deal — each mayor has agreed that the loser will provide a day of community service in the winner’s town while wearing a jersey of the winning team.
But there’s more — the losing mayor will also ship the winning mayor a bunch of delicious hometown goodies. If SF loses, Newsom has agreed to ship Dungeness crab, sourdough bread, Ghirardelli chocolate and Anchor Steam beer.
If Texas loses, Cluck has agreed to ship over BBQ food from a local joint called Spring Creek BBQ … said to be the best in TX.
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Oct 29 2010
