inkbluesky

another laundry day

Child Abuse May ‘Mark’ Genes In Brains Of Suicide Victims

A team of McGill University scientists has discovered important differences between the brains of suicide victims and so-called normal brains. Although the genetic sequence was identical in the suicide and non-suicide brains, there were differences in their epigenetic marking – a chemical coating influenced by environmental factors.

All of the 13 suicide victims in the study had experienced abuse as children.

“It’s possible the changes in epigenetic markers were caused by the exposure to childhood abuse, although in humans it’s difficult to establish causality between early childhood and epigenetic markers, in the way we have established this in animal subjects,” said Moshe Szyf, a professor in McGill’s Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. “The big remaining questions are whether scientists could detect similar changes in blood DNA – which could lead to diagnostic tests – and whether we could design interventions to erase these differences in epigenetic markings”.

Social scientist have known for years, at least statistically that abused children were much more likely to become child abusers themselves and predisposed to emotional problems. A horrible cycle to be sure. The idea of a genetic diagnostic tests does raise some concerns about privacy and how far authorities can go in intervening.

rusty truck

Congress’ Top 10 Fossil Fools - Who stands between us and a clean-energy future? These guys

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The aggravating state of human behavior, first - 5 Psychological Experiments That Prove Humanity is Doomed

The Asch Conformity Experiment (1953)

Yet, sadly, 32 percent of subjects would answer incorrectly if they saw that three others in the classroom gave the same wrong answer. Even when the line was plainly off by a few inches, it didn’t matter. One in three would follow the group right off the proverbial cliff.

One, peer pressure isn’t something that people become immune to even though high school should have taught them that at the very least. Not too much of a shock though, eschewing all peer pressure at work can  be detrimental to your future prospects with the company. Most corporations have eerily similar cultures to high school. On the other hand who wants to live their lives as a lemming. Finding a balance that doesn’t make us feel like complete sell outs is probably why pop psych books sell so well. - The photo at the link of the anti-authority road rebel bikers all dressed alike is funny.

On the other hand is the near shock that there are some deeply honest Homo sapiens out there, Lost and Found, $4 Million Violin

Lost and Found, $4 Million Violin. Philippe Quint, Grammy award winning Russian violinist left his loaned 1723 Kiesewetter Stradivarius violin in a taxi on the way back from the airport April 20th. Taxi driver, Mohamed Khalil, got in touch the next day to return it…

spring hat

Democratic Senator puts ISPs on notice: “think twice” before screwing up Net Neutrality

Wyden delivered his ultimatum at a Computer & Communications Industry Association conference in DC, where he cast the entire network neutrality debate in terms of a legislative compromise. Years ago, Congress began protecting ISPs from the twin threats of regulation and taxation; in return, ISPs were expected to deliver an unimpeded connection to the Internet. A move away from a neutral ‘Net would undermine the “very philosophical underpinnings of what we fought for for the last 15 years,” according to Wyden. If that happens, he sees no reason for Congress to continue sheltering ISPs.

The closest I’ve come to feel like jumping on a jet and tracking down a corporate president was last year in my dealings with an ISP. One thing these guys should not have is more power. I was literally one phone call away from not just calling a lawyer, but seeing about filing criminal charges.

Magic trick costs teacher job

Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.

But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land ‘O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.

“I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers.  He says, ‘Jim, we have a huge issue, you can’t take any more assignments you need to come in right away,’” he said.

When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell and went much farther than he’d hoped.

“I said, ‘Well Pat, can you explain this to me?’  ‘You’ve been accused of wizardry,’ [he said]. Wizardry?” he asked.

The school plans a barbeque and witch burning next week.

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Some of the far Right blogs, news columnists and of course Fox and a few talking heads at CNN have tried to paint Rev Wright as a little extreme. Interpreting one sermon that has had snippets run over and over again as Wright blaming America for 9-11. That interpretation seems debatable, but what is not debatable is that far Right Republican ministers did explicitly blame America for 9-11 and these same right-wingers that are condemning Weight never said a word to condemn the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, The Violent Language of Republican Pundits Poisons Our Democracy

Speaking in the days after the events of 9/11 on the 700 Club, the flagship daily broadcast of his Christian Broadcast Network, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell blamed the death and destruction on liberal groups in America:

FALWELL: The ACLU’s got to take a lot of blame for this.

ROBERTSON: Well, yes.

FALWELL: And, I know that I’ll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, “You helped this happen.”

ROBERTSON: Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government. And so we’re responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, is the court system.

All covered in the legal realm by free speech protection, but where was the cultural outrage. Where was the endless loops of this video on mainstream media networks. Why are the same people that support the Robertson’s ( who was once a Republican presidential canidate) applying a different standard to Wright.

You may already be familiar with many of these tips, but then again there might be one or two you haven’t heard before, 50 Ways to Help the Planet. If most of us stopped running the faucet while brushing your teeth that could save the U.S. the total amount of water that New York City uses in a year. Plant a tree - I planted a few trees with relatives when I was a kid. There is something incredibly gratifying about seeing the tree you planted grow as you grow up. One of them was a weeping willow that is huge now.

aspen blues

China farms the world to feed a ravenous economy

Laos’ communist regime touts rubber as a miracle crop that will help lift the country from the ranks of the world’s poorest nations. China is expected to consume a third of the world’s rubber by 2020, become its largest car market and put 200 million vehicles on the road.

In Inner Mongolia, Pushing Architecture’s Outer Limits

Not long ago, residents of this region 350 miles west of Beijing lived in elaborate tents called yurts. Now, with a population of 1.5 million, many live in homes that would make New Yorkers jealous. According to Bao Chongming, the regional vice-mayor, they have the second highest per-capita income in China (trailing only Shanghai, the country’s financial capital) and an annual economic growth rate of 40 percent.

Ordos officials decided that the old urban center, Dongsheng, was too crowded, and set out a few years ago to build a new one, Kangbashi, 20 miles away; its population is projected to reach 100,000 by the end of 2008 and five times that number by 2010. And it is sprouting satellite developments, including Mr. Cai’s cultural district.

I was tempted to steal one of the photos (desert by Doug Kanter) from the slideshow to this story. Generally people think of deserts as being lifeless,but they’re a unique biome. Though it is true that deserts are distinguished by their lack of rainfall, so that leaves routing water to these new insta-cities from somewhere else.

A couple years ago there was a lot of buzz including one of Sin City’s directors Robert Rodriguez about how everyone could now be a film maker because of the software available for composting and other effects and digital hardware. So far that doesn’t seem to have panned out ( stupid pet tricks on YouTube don’t count), but in case you’re still trying to make a career in film and pay your rent, Getting Paid: Sites that Help Filmmakers and Video Producers Make Money

On the other hand go to one of the Ivy league schools. Go to work as an executive at one of the oil companies. You gave to be able to answer the phone and read a spread sheet, but you’ll never break a sweat - Exxon posts $10.9 billion profit

The oil giant earned $10.9 billion in profits, up 17 percent from the previous year. The amount was short of the all-time record Exxon set the previous quarter but high enough to put it on the defensive amid consumer ire and congressional indignation.

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