Wednesday Whatever

* Empathy fail: Science proves the kids aren’t all right. Via MeFi.

* Science also proves conservatives really just need a hug.

A study at University College London in the UK has found that conservatives’ brains have larger amygdalas than the brains of liberals. Amygdalas are responsible for fear and other “primitive” emotions. At the same time, conservatives’ brains were also found to have a smaller anterior cingulate — the part of the brain responsible for courage and optimism.

* How it works: Upton once considered a “moderate on environmental issues,” but has worked hard to refashion himself as a hard-right defender of pollution in recent months. Some Tea Party groups tried to block Upton from taking the gavel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, attacking his past support for energy-efficient light bulbs. Upton previously claimed that “climate change is a serious problem” and that “the world will be better off” if we reduced carbon emissions. However, in the course of the past two years — as he received $20,000 from Koch Industries — Upton has shifted to oppose not only cap-and-trade legislation but any form of limits on climate pollution whatsoever, instead supporting investigations against climate scientists and lawsuits against the EPA and its supposed “unconstitutional power grab that will kill millions of jobs”… Via Benen.

* Sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression: Another take on life in Yazoo City, c. 1960. Also via Benen.

* Arnold Schwarzenegger: worst governor ever?

* And you can have my smoking ban when you take it from my cold, dead hands.