Lefties of the World Unite!

After all the doom and gloom of recent days something more hopeful, at least for 10% of us. It seems there is a preponderance of left-handed people in positions of power - and it's about to increase. Both candidates in the US Presidential Election - Obama and McCain - are southpaws as the Americans would say. Or ciotogs to you and me. Ok to me and 1 in 10 of you. Five of the last six US Presidents have been left-handed. There's a great debate about the reasons and implications of this here.

Though it's still a bit of mystery why ciotogs should predominate like this, this article has a stab:

Studies have shown that whereas righties favor the left hemisphere of their brain, which controls language, left-handers are more likely to have bilateral brain function, which could allow them to visualize problems more broadly and with more complexity. A higher percentage of mathematicians and scientists are left-handed, and the same is true for artists.

Being left-handed not only makes you a better scientist or artist, research also suggests it helps you be more successful at sport, and obviously at politics. I find the research strangely convincing ... ;-)