Wednesday's Daily Brief

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 Arianna Huffington: Introducing HuffPost UK... And Why We're Excited to Be Joining Britain's Thriving, Innovative Media Culture Arianna Huffington: I am delighted to be in London today for the first Huffington Post launch outside of North America: Welcome to HuffPost UK. Britain has always held a very special place in my heart, having gone to college and started my career here. Indeed, my time in the UK set the course for the rest of my life -- leading all the way, in fact, to the creation of The Huffington Post in May of 2005. We are arriving here in the midst of a rich and thriving media culture marked by great innovation. We look forward to adding HuffPost UK to the mix, and to our real-time 'digital water cooler' -- which embraces the best of the new (immediacy, transparency, interactivity) and the best of the old (fact-checking, accuracy, fairness, and an emphasis on storytelling) -- becoming the spark for many interesting conversations. So check out HuffPost UK and let us know what you think. UK Police Widen Hacking Inquiry After Fresh Allegations CRIME Casey Anthony Verdict: Jury Finds Florida Mom Not Guilty Of Murder POLITICS Former Pawlenty Colleagues, Mentors Don't Recognize The Man Running For President WORLD Pakistan Panel Wants Bin Laden Family Held GREEN Massive Phoenix Dust Storm Drastically Reduces Visibility BLOG POSTS Ricky Gervais: Happy 10th Birthday to The Office I had David Brent as a character from about 1995 I'd say. (The first "sketch" I had for him was basically the scene where he interviews his new secretary in episode 5.) And he is based on people I'd met throughout my adult life. Keli Goff: Is Religion a Greater Political Barrier Than Race? President Obama's first few years in office appear to have confirmed a fundamental shift in the role identity politics play in a candidate's so-called electability. Racial identity is no longer the greatest barrier to elected office. Religious identity is. Sam Harris: Drugs and the Meaning of Life One of the great responsibilities we have as a society is to educate ourselves, along with the next generation, about which substances are worth ingesting, and for what purpose, and which are not. Timothy Karr: Google vs. Facebook: Should Human Rights Factor in Your Choice of Social Network? Question: What would billionaire Mark Zuckerberg lose by refusing Chinese demands that he censor Facebook? What would he and his company gain from being more principled? Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D.: 8 Easy Ways to Make Your Brain Perform Better While many of us want to improve our brain health, we aren't always sure what exactly we need to do, or -- more likely -- simply can't imagine putting one more "must-do" item on our list.

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