Redtracker: LA Catholic Cardinal Barred from Public Ministry | Gun Control Reduces Violence Against Women

1. Bonobo empathy innate.  “Our findings suggest that for bonobos, sensitivity to the emotions of others emerges early and does not require advanced thought processes that develop only in adults,” say researchers observing bonobo behavior in the Congo.

Science Daily reports that researchers also found that the minority of bonobos in the sanctuary — raised by their mothers rather than as orphans — were more likely to comfort other members of their group than orphan bonobos.

2. Vermont Senator and Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy effectively tied the Violence Against Women Act to a hearing on gun violence today. Promising to bring the Leahy-Crapo Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act to the floor soon, Leahy confirmed that 38 percent fewer women are shot by their partners partners in states that have background checks. 

Baltimore Police Chief Jim Johnson testified that when females are killed, more than 50 percent of the time, it’s by a spouse or household member. A gun in a home with a history of domestic violence increases the change that a person will be victimized by gun violence by 500 percent. via Huff Po

Politico reports that ex-NRA president Sandy Froman said that the NRA has “changed its position” on universal background checks, because it “doesn’t work”.

Rowan Barnes-Murphy for NYTimes3. As Fall 2013 fashion shows ready for launch beginning Feb. 7 with New York Fashion Week, the global flue epidemic has struck fear into the industry, reports yesterday’s New York Times Style section.

” … with this season’s flu panic, the fear is approaching hysteria. Stressed-out designers recoil in horror if someone coughs within earshot. Frail models shiver their way between fittings, terrified someone will spy their runny noses. And frenemies everywhere are reconsidering the wisdom of the double-cheek kiss, the standard greeting of the global fashion tribe. Air kissing seems safe for now.”

Cardinal Mahony removed from public church duties. 

4. Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony — now retired — has been banned from performing any public duties in the church, while Santa Barbara Bishop Thomas J. Curry has stepped down. The announcement was made by Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez Thursday afternoon, in response to the priest abuse scandal, writes the LA Times

Gomez’s statement follows a recent release of internal Catholic church records. The records showed an unflinching look at 15 years of Mahony and Curry discussing ways to conceal the molestation of children from law enforcement. Those records are a tip of the iceberg in terms of what is to come in a public release.

5. Women & IQ. It’s only six months now that IQ tests have come down on the feminine side of the argument, finding that women now score higher on IQ tests than men. New Zealand researcher and IQ testing expert James Flynn has tracked the evolution of the rise of female test scores against those of men, the closing of what was once a five-point gap and now the move ahead by women in IQ testing.

“Over the last 100 years, everyone in the developing world has been gaining about three IQ points, but women have been gaining faster,” Flynn told ABC News. “This is the result of modernity. In every country where women have an equal chance of modernity, women have caught men [in IQ testing].”

Business Insider shares 5 Easy Ways To Feel More Intelligent. There’s much good advice in this article, although I’ve taken comment exception to the argument that smoking increases IQ.