Today on the list: Why you can’t really get to know more than 150 people, why Democrats should be jealous of Greens and why a Maryland man faces 16 years in prison for shooting a video.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

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Sixteen Years in Prison for Videotaping the Police? The ACLU of Maryland is defending Anthony Graber, who potentially faces sixteen years in prison if found guilty of violating state wiretap laws because he recorded video of an officer drawing a gun during a traffic stop.

Why Praising Children for Their Intelligence Doesn’t Work The self-esteem movement taught us to think that compliments gave children self-esteem, and the bigger the compliment the better. In fact, the self-esteem gurus were telling us to dole out praise for our children’s talents as often as possible. This really sank into the public psyche and even became plain old commonsense. …

Pentagon Can’t Account for $8.7 Billion in Iraq Funds The Defense Department is unable to account for $8.7 billion of the $9.1 billion in Development Fund for Iraq monies in received for reconstruction in Iraq.

Democratic Party Has Become the Bernie Madoff of Politics It’s not easy being Green but it sure is easier than being a Democrat these days.

Bringing El Sistema to the U I have never seen Symphony Hall erupt the way it did that night in 2007, with Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra onstage.

(Gay) Life, on the Small and Big Screen Lisa Cholodenko’s film lived up to the hype. “The Kids Are All Right” is tremendously moving, the first film about a family headed by a same-sex couple that treats our existence as a fact and us as human beings.

Does Language Influence Culture? Do the languages we speak shape the way we think? Do they merely express thoughts, or do the structures in languages (without our knowledge or consent) shape the very thoughts we wish to express?

Verbed! Not every noun wants to stay that way What do these words and phrases have in common? Friend, Google, TiVo, log in, contact, barbecue, unlike, concept, text, Photoshop, leverage, party, Xerox, reference, architect, parent, improv, transition, diligence, host, chair, gift, heart, impact?

Group Size, Robin Dunbar, and the Magic of 150 Your brain is hard wired to pay attention to about 150 people. Try to have a relationship with any more than that, and your life will turn to pure crap.

Great photo set: When Mad Men Ruled

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