Daily French Roast

Anne is reading …

CNN’s John King should not have lead with an opening question to Newt Gingrich about his first wife’s ABC News interview in which she alleges that Gingrich asked her for an open marriage, with the understanding that he would continue his relationship with current wife Callista. The Daily Beast reminds us that “not since Bernie Shaw asked Michael Dukakis how he’d react to the rape and murder of his wife has an opening question so defined a presidential debate.”

Gingrich vehemently denied her account of their marital showdown, reported in yesterday’s preview to last night’s ABC Nightline Brian Ross interview. While we don’t buy Newt’s crusade as Mr Reborn Catholic Morality guy, his private history shouldn’t have been the lead off question in the debate.

Gingrich seized the opening moment, nearly shouting that he was appalled that CNN would lead with that question. The anti-liberal, anti-media audience went wild as Gingrich called King’s question “close to despicable” and the handiwork of a “destructive” and “vicious” media dominated the rest of the night.

South Carolina Values Voters

The Daily Beast brings us up to date on all nastiness surrounding last weekend’s evangelical powwow in Texas. In a mess that is equal in mismanagement to the Iowa caucus results (and these guys want to tun the country????), “religious leaders favoring other candidates now say that the meeting of more than 100 religious activists was manipulated to favor Santorum” as a prelude to tomorrow’s South Carolina primary.

Against this tense political backdrop emerge reports that James Dobson—an iconic religious figure who espouses family values—took the microphone between the second and third ballots to denounce Callista Gingrich, questioning her fitness to be first lady because she was a “mistress” to the former House speaker for several years.

We don’t know how the vehemently prochoice Dobson — who praised Karen Santorum — reacted when he got the news his perfect prochoice mama First Lady had lived unmarried with one of the country’s most prominent abortion doctors for six years, when abortion was illegal.

More DFR

Healthy French Roast

UCLA researchers have discovered a possible molecular mechanism behind coffee’s preventive effect on type 2 diabetes. Science Daily writes:

A protein called sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) regulates the biological activity of the body’s sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen, which have long been thought to play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes. And coffee consumption, it turns out, increases plasma levels of SHBG.

Cognition in Older Adults

Engagement in cognitively challenging tasks led to an increase in openness to new experiences, researchers found. (Credit: Thompson-McClellan)In a stunning piece of research, it’s believed that a non-drug intervention in older adults can change the psychological trait of openness — along with agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and extraversion — considered to be one of five major personality traits.

Openness and a willingness to entertain challenging intellectual or cultural pursuits has already been positively correlated with cognitive abilities.

“There are certain models that say, functionally, personality doesn’t change after age 20 or age 30. You reach adulthood and pretty much you are who you are,” he said. “There’s some truth to that at some level. But here you have a study that has successfully changed personality traits in a set of individuals who are (on average) 75. And that opens up a whole bunch of wonderful issues to think about.” via Science Daily

Research on Gay Parents