A person can feel only sad, happy, afraid or angry, according to a recent study; a new video by Brigham Young University-Idaho warns about the “grave peril” that masturbation poses; meanwhile, Google is “setting itself up to own the 21st century.” These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have 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.

New Research Says There Are Only Four Emotions
Conventional scientific understanding is that there are six, but new research suggests there may only happy, sad, afraid/surprised, and angry/disgusted.

Pentagon Investigates Thousands of Soldiers in Massive Fraud Case
When a retired Army colonel and an enlisted soldier from Albuquerque, N.M. were charged last year with defrauding the National Guard Bureau out of about $12,000 the case drew little public attention.

Mormon Video: Help Your Friends Fight the ‘Great War’ on Masturbation
The Housing & Student Living Office of Brigham Young University-Idaho, a college owned and operated by the Mormon Church, recently released “Wounded on the Battlefield,” a dark new video warning its students of a grave peril.

The United States of Agnostics
Gallup has released new data on religious observance in the United States, with one major takeaway: Nothing much has changed.

What’s Wrong With Choosing to Be Gay?
Many gay activists insist that they were born this way, hey. But what about those who choose otherwise?

Can Volunteers Hurt the People They’re Trying to Help?
Volunteering is considered almost sacred in modern society.

The Case for Socialized Law
Maintain and refine, maintain and refine. That’s how progressives talk about the welfare state these days.

Google Has Launched a For-Profit Privacy Invasion Into Our Electronic Lives
No longer content to vacuum up, scan, index and sell analytics based on the content of our texts, emails, searches, locations and more, Google now has a new target: tapping, mapping and colonizing the networks wiring our lives.