Like Army, Judiciary Marches on Its Stomach

According to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a sample of eight judges was 65% likely to parole prison inmates at the beginning of a session or directly after lunch, but increasingly unlikely to do so over time to the point that the judges are almost 0% likely to grant parole before lunch.

"Hungry judges dispense rough justice" [Nature.com] by Zoë Corbyn (April 11, 2011)
"Supporting Information: Danziger et al. 10.1073/pnas.1018033108" and the abstract of "Extraneous factors in judicial decisions" [PNAS]

Not Transiting in Transit

What it's like to be one of 28 people stuck in a New York subway elevator for over an hour.

"The Horror of Being Trapped in a Subway Elevator" [Gawker], by Brian Moylan (April 11, 2011)

"Sex trafficking victim wins substantial damages from Home Office" [Guardian.co.uk] (April 11, 2011)

A Divided Commemoration of Polish/Russian Plane Crash

In Warsaw there were two conflicting ceremonies yesterday for those who died on April 10th, 2010, when an airplane carrying Poland's president and his wife, scholars, legislators, military, and others crashed in Smolensk, Russia. Tensions are being fed by the question of blame and the revived history of distrust regarding the country's neighbour to the east.

Commemorating Smolensk: A nation divided [Economist] by G.C. (April 11, 2011)

Côte d'Ivoire

Human Rights Watch's detailed news release on the deteriorating situation for villagers in the Ivory Coast here. (April 9, 2011)

Windy City

Today a powerful spring wind has been sweeping in through Berlin, reminiscent of the one which Mary Poppins employed to carry away superfluous nannies. I was a little disgusted to find that according to the Institute for Meteorology at the Freie Universität, the peak windspeed (Windspitze) has been 21.7 m/s.

After a minuscule calculation:

(21.7 * 60 * 60) / 1000

we arrive at 78.12 km/h, or 48.54 mi/hour, or 42.18 knots, which still sounds (to me) unimpressive.

But, on the Beaufort Scale [NOAA], it is considered a strong gale, force 9, which

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April in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

An earthquake hit Las Choapas, in the Mexican state of Veracruz at 13:11 GMT, and was recorded at a depth of 167 km and at a force of 6.5 on the Richter scale. (Later upgraded to 6.7 by the Servicio Sismológico Nacional.) It apparently caused no damages but it was felt in several cities; in Mexico City people left their buildings to investigate.

In the meantime a 7.1-magnitude earthquake has also struck beneath the sea east of Japan, in the region affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami. It was strongly felt on land and disrupted the electricity supply to the Onagawa nuclear power plant, but the tsunami warning was cancelled soon.

"Temblor de 6.5 grados sacude la Ciudad de México [El Universal]" by eca (April 7, 2011)
"Sismo fue de 6.7 grados, corrige Sismológico" [El Universal] by sma (April 7, 2011)
"Japan hit by new earthquake" [Guardian] by James Meikle (April 7, 2011)