Let’s establish something guys: The United States isn’t stupid.

…So why is Time Magazine treating us as if we are?

Each week the international news periodical chooses several different covers to distribute to different world audiences.

Looking at a selection of American covers over the years it appears the folks at Time have a low opinion of  America’s high intellect.  

We’ll cut Time some slack. After all, the US is a very specific region. We care more about China then we’ll ever care about TinTin .  It’s smart business to put emphasis on local stories that resonate more with our population.

 But it’s time to draw some lines…

How about when Putin took the lead in the Syria debates? We got a cover about college sports.

An impending epidemic? Nah, Americans are more interested in Vegas

 What should Americans be anxious about? Certainly not Egypt. 

And don’t even DREAM of talking about a Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo is Voldemort -that is to say- we don’t talk about it. Heaven forbid Time offend anyone’s delicate sensibilities!

See, we know that everyone who buys the magazine is going to get the same information inside, but that doesn’t hide the fact that they are concealing stories that (under any other circumstance) could be thought-provoking.

The American community is a diverse community. Our people, our culture, our ideas, they are the very products of globalization. Don’t we deserve a magazine that’s just as diverse as we are?

(To see all the varying covers feel free to browse Time’s website)

Stand aside cocaine… you now have competition.

A recently conducted study by a neuroscience student at Connecticut College determined that Oreo cookies are literally as addictive, if not more addictive, than cocaine.

Now you’re probably thinking: How did this student conduct this research and how can I be a test subject.

Jamie Honohan, a recent graduate and leader of the project, decided to study how the overwhelming presence of unhealthy foods in low-income residential areas contributed to the nation’s obesity problem.

The team used two groups of rats as test subjects (despite offers by some of his student colleagues).

Some were injected with cocaine and others were fed bits of an Oreo cookie. The rats were then placed in a maze with a rice cake on one side and either cocaine or Oreos on the other side. As it turns out,

the students found that the rats who had been fed Oreos spent as much time on the Oreo side as the rats who had been injected with the drugs spent on the drug side, indicating that the link they made between the “pleasurable effects” of Oreos/drugs and that specific environment was equally strong.

Not only would the rats eat the creamy center of the cookie first, but a larger number of pleasure neurons were activated in the rats by the Oreos than the cocaine.

Watch out the next time you break open a container of Oreos- you might eat one too many.

Mac apps will soon be available through the Volume Purchase Program, allowing businesses and educational institutions to purchase multiple copies of your apps at once. To make your apps available through the Volume Purchase Program, simply agree to the latest Mac Developer Program License Agreement and all attached Schedules, and make sure your tax and banking information is set up in iTunes Connect. You can also offer a discount for educational institutions by marking the "Discount for Educational Institutions" box. Learn more.

When OS X Mavericks becomes available later this fall, apps running on OS X Mountain Lion or later can no longer use temporary sandboxing entitlements for composing email with Apple Mail. Please update your apps to use Scripting Targets instead. To learn more, read Adopting Scripting Targets for Composing Mail.

American Studies Assistant Professor Nicole King is leading a talk on a case study from her book Sombreros and Motorcycles in a Newer South: The Politics of Aesthetics in South Carolina’s Tourism Industry.

The event is part of the museum’s late nights for young adults series. King will discuss Alan Schafer and the significance of his legacy, including how he created South of the Border.

The talk is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at The Jewish Museum of Maryland on Wednesday, October 23rd.

For more information, click here.

Childhood obesity has doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 17% of children and adolescents age 2-19 are obese.

The Department of Public Policy, Hilltop Institute, Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, and The Annie E. Casey Foundation sponsored “The Public Policy Implications of Reducing Childhood Obesity”, a conference that was held in downtown Baltimore Friday morning.

Several panelists took part in a discussion about the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and possible solutions for the problem.

Public Policy Professor Adele Kirk laid out statistics that showed nearly 1 in 6 children are obese, and although there have been recent signs of progress, she said there is still plenty of work to be done.

“These levels remain extremely high and they don’t appear to be going down rapidly, if at all,” Kirk said. “The stakes are high.”

The panelists, which included Public Policy Professor Adele Kirk, University of Iowa Economics Professor David Frisvold, Maryland Deputy Secretary for Public Health Laura Herrera, and Baltimore City Commissioner of Health Oxiris Barbot, all provided insight on childhood obesity and the challenges that lie ahead in confronting the problem.

The Department of Public Policy Forum was held in downtown Baltimore at the World Trade Center building.