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| August 09, 2012 | Dubious Forever. | 2 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 09, 2012 | Latest Pictures From Mars. | 1 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 09, 2012 | Loonies On the Loose. | 4 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 09, 2012 | Much Is Explained. | 1 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 08, 2012 | Romney's Offer To America. | 1 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 08, 2012 | Kitty-Kam Kontroversy. | 1 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 07, 2012 | What This Blog Section Needs... | 2 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 06, 2012 | The Day In Review. | 1 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 06, 2012 | Touchdown! | 3 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 06, 2012 | Random Poll. | 1 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tea Party Takeover |
As the nation watched, Texas Republicans chose the unchained, unaccomplished, and unqualified former Solicitor General, Ted Cruz, over the decade long Lieutenant governor, Air Force Veteran, and former Texas Land Commissioner, David Dewhurst. Why? Because Cruz was a real conservative, meaning they trust that Cruz would keep the government in stalemate to avoid giving the Democrats a seat at the table. "The Tea Party" is slowly taking over the state, and they have big plans. Cruz's victory over one of Texas' most powerful conservatives shocked onlookers throughout the country, except here in Texas. We saw this coming, and the Tea Party's radical agenda is being sent to Washington, and the situation might be even more daunting here in Austin. Most notably, relatively moderate State Rep. Jeff Wentworth was thrashed in the Republican runoff for HD-25 by Tea Partier Donna Campbell. If Campbell wins the general election against Democrat John Courage, she will join what right wing clown State Senator Dan Patrick describes as "the most conservative Senate in the history of the state", with the capability to "block any legislation that we want to stop." Patrick is known as the mouthpiece of the far right of the Texas Senate, as well as getting a vasectomy performed on air . Even more disgusting than Patrick's live vasectomy is the agenda of Patrick and his Tea Party allies. The crowning achievement of the right wing legislature last session was their discriminatory and infamous Voter ID bill. According to State Senator John Whitmire, School vouchers are on top of their agenda this coming session. Many will view vouchers as a relatively benign step compared to Voter ID, but its effects could be much more destructive. The Anti Defamation League, a civil rights group fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, note that around 80 percent of these vouchers would go to schools with narrow minded parochial agendas, where religion permeates and defines the classroom. Religion has a very important place within our society, but not our classrooms. School vouchers are the beginning of the end of public education. Voucher programs may help some families pay for tuition costs, but these schools will still be much too expensive for poor Texan families. School vouchers are an affront to two great American values: universal public education and the separation of church and state.Throwing the white flag to improving public education is surrendering to the dream of equal opportunity, and Texas Republicans are intent on using all their capital to make sure this happens. It is important to remember that the consequences of a Tea Party victory amount to more than embarrassing TV interviews. Their agenda has put a gun to our nations head time and time again and the complacency of Texas Democrats has allowed it to happen. As chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, Gilberto Ginojosa, so eloquently put it, "the inmates are running the asylum." It's due time that we progressives wake up and take back the keys before it's too late. |
Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but stressed men prefer heavier women -- at least according to a new study.
In this study, published Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers at the University of Westminster in London subjected 41 men to a stress-inducing task. After this task, the researchers asked the men to rate the attractiveness of female bodies ranging from emaciated to obese.
Compared to a control group of 40 men who did not undergo the stress task, the stressed men rated a significantly heavier female body size as the most attractive, and they rated heavier female bodies as more attractive in general.
"Our body size preferences are flexible and can be changed by environment and circumstance," explains Martin Tovee, one of the study's authors. "We need to understand the factors shaping body preferences."
In this case, it appears that stress alters the classic stereotype that men prefer thin women in general.
Researchers not directly involved with the study said the finding is consistent with what past work has shown regarding the way stress influences our perceptions.
"Stress, both acute and chronic, has profound effect on how we process new information both cognitively and emotionally," explains Dr. Igor Galynker, associate chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Beth Israel Medical Center.
In fact, earlier research has shown that men also prefer heavier body sizes when resources are unpredictable or unavailable. Certain evolutionary theories suggest this may be because when times are tough, a thin woman may be ill, have irregular periods, and may be unable to support pregnancy.
"If you live in an environment where food is scarce, being heavier means that you have fat stored up as a buffer and that you must be higher social status to afford the food in the first place," Tovee explains. "Both of these are attractive qualities in a partner in those circumstances."
The study also found that the stressed men gave higher ratings to a wider range of female figures than did their unstressed counterparts. This may have implications about how we choose the people to date and marry. For example, do men in high-stress jobs look for overweight mates, or are their standards lower?
"In this case, mate selection criteria may become more liberal as a way of preserving the species," explains Scott M. Bea, clinical psychologist and assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. "We have some proverbs that reflect this idea such as, 'Any port in a storm.'
"This is probably not just true of physical attractiveness or mate selection. For instance, if one is homeless, we might accept lodging that others would view as inferior."
As for how this research might be useful, understanding how different factors influencing peoples' body shape preferences and ideals may prove valuable in the treatment for body image disorders. After all, if body shape preferences are flexible, thinness may not be the ideal body type that we think it is.
"The information from this article could be useful in therapy of anxiety and eating disorders," Galynker says.
"The information could be an alternative to thoughts such as, 'I am fat; no man would find me attractive.'"
PR Newswire
Says American Bird Conservancy's campaign of misinformation detracts from the real threats to wildlife
BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Alley Cat Allies, the only national advocacy organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats, today criticized the American Bird Conservancy for grossly misinterpreting new research being done at the University of Georgia and using it to support misleading claims that cats are one of the main reasons for bird species decline.
University researchers used "kitty cams" to follow 55 pet cats in suburban Athens, Georgia. In one week, the cats caught five birds. As the research team's graduate student, Kerrie Anne Loyd, told Alley Cat Allies, "We studied pet cats, not stray cats and feral cats…We did not attempt to extrapolate wildlife captures beyond our study community."
"The American Bird Conservancy's propaganda is just more of the same—spreading fictions about outdoor cats and making wild 'extrapolations' about their imagined impact on other species," said Becky Robinson, president of Alley Cat Allies. "They've used unpublished data to fuel their extremist agenda of killing cats. But there just isn't evidence that shows cats have any negative impact on bird populations.
"What the evidence does point to is people—habitat loss, pollution, and urban sprawl are the top reasons that bird populations are declining."
Robinson noted that the American Bird Conservancy's campaign to eradicate cats is shortsighted and ineffective. "Killing one species to save another can never be the answer," she said. "People are interested in humane approaches for cats, and it's time that everyone in the animal-loving community acknowledges that."
About Alley Cat Allies
Alley Cat Allies is the only national advocacy organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats. Founded in 1990, today Alley Cat Allies has more than 260,000 supporters and helps tens of thousands of individuals, communities, and organizations save and improve the lives cats and kittens nationwide.
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Here is what I found on my Kat-Kam with narration...LOL!
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