Source: Yahoo News

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy faces dismal approval ratings and has been dogged by corruption scandals among his ministers. Critics say his high-profile crackdown on the Roma is an attempt to change the subject and attract voters who favor far-right candidates. They also say it’s inhumane.

They are shocked, too, that Mr. Sarkozy has proposed a list of crimes for which naturalized foreign-born people would lose their French citizenship. The list includes endangering police, female circumcision, polygamy, and domestic slavery. (In the United States, a push is on to drop automatic citizenship for US-born children of illegal immigrants.)

The French president’s actions against the Roma and his proposals relating to foreigners – and also his support for a burqa ban on Muslim women – have divided the country and his government. In the US, too, a new anti-illegal immigration law in Arizona has roiled American politics in advance of this fall’s elections. 

Source: sciencedaily.com

“This brain imaging study of individuals who were still ‘in love’ with their rejecter supplies further evidence that the passion of ‘romantic love’ is a goal-oriented motivation state rather than a specific emotion” the researchers concluded, noting that brain imaging showed some similarities between romantic rejection and cocaine craving. “The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that romantic love is a specific form of addiction.”

The study also helps to explain “why feelings and behaviors related to romantic rejection are difficult to control” and why extreme behaviors associated with romantic rejection such as stalking, homicide, suicide, and clinical depression occur in cultures all over the world, the researchers wrote.

“Romantic rejection is a major cause of suicides and depression. We have known very little about it. Understanding the neural systems involved is extremely important both for advancing our basic knowledge of intense romantic love in general and of response to rejection in particular,” said Dr. Aron. “The specific findings are significant because they tell us that the basic patterns seen in previous studies of happy love share key elements with love under these circumstances; they also tell us that what is unique to romantic rejection includes elements that are very much like craving for cocaine.”