steve2470
steve2470's JournalWho wants to read some good news ?
Last time I checked in at the DU Lounge, my cholesterol was too high and I was starting a statin drug. Many of you offered help and support, thank you very kindly. I'm taking hemp oil every day now and doing my best to exercise every day.
The good news: Total cholesterol is DOWN to 160, yippee! You want it to be 200 or lower, so I'm very happy about that. Only fly in the soup is, my good cholesterol is only up to 35, when it needs to be 40 or higher. The doc nudged me to exercise daily (doing it), lose weight (trying trying), maybe drink half a glass of wine per night (no thanks), and eat more fish (gladly). He wasn't thrilled about hemp oil (I don't think he had ever heard of it), but he didn't push me to stop it either (good for you, doc).
You have any good news to share ?
Florida considers bear hunting after spate of suburban attacks
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/04/us-usa-florida-bears-idUSKBN0L80UU20150204(Reuters) - After a 20-year ban, Florida may bring back bear hunts to control a growing population of black bears that is increasingly seen as a menace in suburban neighborhoods.
Four people have been injured in bear attacks in Florida since 2012, mostly in the central part of the state built on former bear habitat near the Ocala National Forest.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, meeting on Wednesday in Jacksonville, plans to discuss reopening bear hunting season as a way to manage the population, which animal rights advocates oppose as unnecessary and unpopular.
Most encounters between people and bears result from homeowners leaving food out in the open, enticing bears to come into their neighborhoods, the state wildlife agency said in a report describing the current situation.
OT, but you MUST see the photo of the reclining bear at that link. I always smile when I see it!
Downton Aaron: Illinois congressman breaks silence since office makeover
http://abc7chicago.com/news/downton-aaron-il-congressman-breaks-silence-since-office-makeover-/504754/WASHINGTON, D.C. (WLS) --
The ABC7 I-Team has Illinois congressman Aaron Schock responding to calls for an ethics investigation after his office was redecorated and ended up resembling the "Downton Abbey" TV show.
Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, says he's never been an "old crusty white guy" - and those are his exact words. The 33-year-old congressman from Peoria claims he's never seen Downton Abbey on TV and that he didn't realize his Capitol Hill offices actually looked like something fit for a royal highness.
The story of his lavish office makeover has simmered since Tuesday, when the I-Team showed you the pictures taken by a Washington Post reporter. Now, for the first time, Schock is talking.
ABC News reporter asks: "What shade of red do you think this is?"
Schock: "I don't know. It's bright."
10 myths about psychology: Debunked
http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_ambridge_10_myths_about_psychology_debunked/transcript?language=en0:11
You've heard of your I.Q., your general intelligence, but what's your Psy-Q? How much do you know about what makes you tick, and how good are you at predicting other people's behavior or even your own? And how much of what you think you know about psychology is wrong? Let's find out by counting down the top 10 myths of psychology.
0:29
You've probably heard it said that when it comes to their psychology, it's almost as if men are from Mars and women are from Venus. But how different are men and women really? To find out, let's start by looking at something on which men and women really do differ and plotting some psychological gender differences on the same scale. One thing men and women do really differ on is how far they can throw a ball. So if we look at the data for men here, we see what is called a normal distribution curve. A few men can throw a ball really far, and a few men not far at all, but most a kind of average distance. And women share the same distribution as well, but actually there's quite a big difference. In fact, the average man can throw a ball further than about 98 percent of all women. So now let's look at what some psychological gender differences look like on the same standardized scale. Any psychologist will tell you that men are better at spatial awareness than women -- so things like map-reading, for example -- and it's true, but let's have a look at the size of this difference. It's tiny; the lines are so close together they almost overlap. In fact, the average woman is better than 33 percent of all men, and of course, if that was 50 percent, then the two genders would be exactly equal. It's worth bearing in mind that this difference and the next one I'll show you are pretty much the biggest psychological gender differences ever discovered in psychology. So here's the next one. Any psychologist will tell you that women are better with language and grammar than men. So here's performance on the standardized grammar test. There go the women. There go the men. Again, yes, women are better on average, but the lines are so close that 33 percent of men are better than the average woman, and again, if it was 50 percent, that would represent complete gender equality. So it's not really a case of Mars and Venus. It's more a case of, if anything, Mars and Snickers: basically the same, but one's maybe slightly nuttier than the other. I won't say which.
2:14
Now we've got you warmed up. Let's psychoanalyze you using the famous Rorschach inkblot test. So you can probably see two, I dunno, two bears or two people or something. But what do you think they're doing? Put your hand up if you think they're saying hello. Not many people. Okay. Put your hands up if you think they are high-fiving. Okay. What if you think they're fighting? Only a few people there. Okay, so if you think they're saying hello or high-fiving, then that means you're a friendly person. If you think they're fighting, you're a bit more of a nasty, aggressive person. Are you a lover or a fighter, basically. What about this one? This isn't really a voting one, so on three everyone shout out what you see. One, two, three. (Audience shouting) I heard hamster. Who said hamster? That was very worrying. A guy there said hamster. Well, you should see some kind of two-legged animal here, and then the mirror image of them there. If you didn't, then this means that you have difficulty processing complex situations where there's a lot going on.
more at link above
Class, NOT race popping up again in GD....
in this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6178841
GOP Party Chairman Really Doesn't Want To Talk About Abolishing The IRS (also John Birch Society)
from: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251394227
GOP Party Chairman Really Doesn't Want To Talk About Abolishing The IRS
Posted: 02/03/2015 5:56 pm EST Updated: 28 minutes ago
WASHINGTON -- It's prominently featured on the Republican Party's website, with its own page and even a petition for the cause: "Stand With The GOP And Fight To Abolish the IRS."
But on Tuesday, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus dodged question after question about whether he thinks the tax agency should be eliminated and if the position laid out on his party's website -- one that's been used to rally the tea party and raise money -- is official GOP policy.
"I think clearly people need a simplified tax code, a flatter code," Priebus told one reporter, when asked if he supports abolishing the IRS. "We need to obviously follow Paul Ryan's lead of balancing the budget and getting control of our debt problems."
When the reporter asked again, the GOP Party chairman didn't even try to answer.
"Listen, I'm coming out here to do one quick thing here," he said, trailing off. "I'm already late...."
More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/reince-priebus-republicans-abolish-irs_n_6607656.html
Labor unions: what reforms are needed, IF ANY ?
Note: Before you chastise me, please know that I am an ardent supporter of unions. Unions protect working people and have benefited this country over the years. Are any reforms needed, or are all necessary laws/regulations already in place ? I am ignorant on this topic, so I'm going to sit back and read. Thank you kindly in advance.
