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With the economy in the dumps and everything in sight seeming to be overpriced or at least that is what it seems like, gas hits the $4 dollar mark officially today. This comes the day after Associated Press reports that unemployment rate has reached 1986 levels. There are more people with no jobs and many more with underpaid positions who can not afford the $4 per gallon gas to get them to their low paying jobs.

Of course we can thank Republicans for raising the minimum wage since 1997 to $6.50, since they were so eager to it. I wonder how big this mess would be had they fought Democrats on this measure. Another field that Republicans have been wrong about is Health Care.

Interesting enough the relationship between Quality of Health care and Quantity of Money Spent on that Health care does not have a logical correlation. One would thing the more money you throw into the system the better results it should have. Doctors in the U.S. make money from prescribing treatments ergo they prescribe people with pharmaceutical drugs at higher rates. The end result does not prove any more satisfactory- just more money in the bank for the prescription drug companies. This simple minded strategy and Republican thinking has proven to be flawed. It seems MORE is not always better.

Tell that to the Bush Administration who are hell-bent to privatize our Education system. They have done everything in their power to sabotage the American Public School System. Beginining with the "No Child Left Behind Act" they standardized public schools across the board. They teach to the test per se. Their end goal is to make the public education system horrible so they can push privatization of the system. It seems that private is not necessarily better. A study found last month that public schools are just as good as private schools. I do not expect this to hold up if Republicans have their way.

So, if you happen to find yourself a bit depressed about not finding a job because of the economy, don't worry. Your student loans were not that bad of an investment if you went to a public institution of higher education. Hop into your car and spend the $4 to drive yourself to the local drug store so that you can continue to pop those pills that help "treat" your depression. At least be happy . . . the cure may be just around the corner, this November.

Individuals with conservative ideologies are happier than loopy liberals a recent study found, because they’ve been conditioned to rationalize social and economic inequalities. In spite of marital status, income or religious allegiance, right-wingers affirmed more life satisfaction than lefties, but they also scored highest on the tendency to explain away and justify inequalities. "It is not really that big a problem if some people have more of a chance in life than others," they believe, or, "This country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are." Conservatives support the idea of Meritocracy, meaning that if you climb the ladder of success through hard work, whatever position in society you reach is perceived as completely fair.

If your mind-set doesn't justify status gaps, however, you might feel frustrated and disheartened, according to New York University’s Jaime Napier and John Jost in the journal Psychological Science. "Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater [mental] toll on liberals than on conservatives," the researchers write, "apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light."

The results mirror a 2006 Pew Research project where 47% of U. S. conservative Republicans described themselves as "very happy," while only 28% of liberal Democrats indicated such a state of brainwashed bliss.

And incidently, a U.S. General Social Surveys study has revealed that people tend to become more liberal as they age, putting to rest another long accepted myth, mister right-winger.

And finally, researchers at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School have determined that "Regardless of how much income each person [makes], those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not.” 

Lawsuit Challenges Immigration Raids in New Jersey - Immigration agents systematically entered homes and made arrests without proper warrants during raids to round up immigration fugitives in New Jersey, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. The lawsuit, brought by lawyers at the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall Law School in Newark, will provide a constitutional test of law enforcement methods often used by immigration agents since May 2006 when they began operations across the country to track down and deport immigrants who had been ordered to leave by the courts.

Olympics 'worsening China rights' - China's human rights record is getting worse, not better, because of the Beijing Olympics, a rights group says. According to Amnesty International, China is clamping down on dissent in a bid to portray a stable and harmonious image ahead of the Games in August.

80,000 Jobs Cut in March; Unemployment Rate Rises - The economy shed 80,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of rising unemployment, presenting a stark sign that the country may already be in a recession. Sharp downturns in the manufacturing and construction sectors led the decline, the biggest in five years. The Labor Department also said employers cut far more jobs in January and February than originally estimated.

Back to pencil and paper for 2010 census - Technology problems will force the government to count all of the nation's 300 million residents the old-fashioned way in the 2010 census -- with paper and pencil.

Gene links smokers and lung cancer - Three new studies analyzing the genetics of lung cancer have identified two inherited gene variations that raise white smokers' chances of getting the disease by as much as 80 percent compared to tobacco users without the genes. All smokers have a tenfold greater risk for lung cancer than nonsmokers, but less than 20 percent of smokers eventually develop the disease. Scientists believe heredity is why some smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer.

I briefly saw this following report on CNN while I was at the bank earlier today and thought it was intresting enough to share. How the researchers tricked the entity into funding this research is beyond my comprehension but the hypothesis that was tested was "Does the endurance of sexual intercourse impact the pleasure?" Researchers concluded not at all. Pleasurable sexual intercourse among both parties regardless of sex or sexual orientation can be achieved between 3-13 minutes. This does not include sexual foreplay which would add more time of course.

This sort of debunks the myth that longer is better right? No, not really. You still have to fulfill your partner. Researchers only concluded that most couples are able to achieve that end goal within that given time range. This counters the long standing notion that the longer you go the better. On the contrary just like you could be terrible in 1 minute you can be horrible for 60 minutes.

There was an intresting comment that I had to share. Marianne Brandon, a clinical psychologist and director of Wellminds Wellbodies in Annapolis, Md states, "There are so many myths in our culture of what other people are doing sexually. Most people's sex lives are not as exciting as other people think they are." I never thought of other people's sexual lives or compared them. I guess I enjoy mine so much that I do not care what other people are up to . . . or not.

[Note: I think it is funny that a Viagra Advert is juxtaposed next to this article at USA Today] 

Consumer spending hits lowest point in 17 months - Consumers, jolted by a credit crisis, job cuts and soaring energy costs, turned in the weakest spending performance in 17 months in February, further evidence that the risks of a recession are increasing. The Commerce Department said today that consumer spending edged up by just 0.1 percent last month, the poorest showing since September 2006. And if the effects of inflation are removed, spending was flat in February, the third consecutive month of sluggish activity.

China Law Could Impede Microsoft Deal for Yahoo - Microsoft’s hostile-takeover attempt against Yahoo may encounter an unexpected hurdle in August after a Chinese antimonopoly law takes effect that will extend the nation’s economic influence far beyond its borders. The law, which goes into effect on Aug. 1, is intended to strengthen an existing set of antitrust regulations the Chinese originally established in 1993.

Ledger's Joker could be biggest posthumous movie role -  Heath Ledger's frenzied reinvention of the Joker had fans and colleagues buzzing. His dreadful clown face was seen online by millions, and stood as the goosebump-raising image upon which nearly all early marketing of "The Dark Knight" hinged. Now the Batman archfiend stands as Ledger's next-to-last performance. And while it's not the first, "The Dark Knight" has already emerged as arguably the biggest movie featuring a posthumous role in Hollywood history.

Cuba lifts curbs on mobile phones - Cubans are to be allowed unrestricted access to mobile phones for the first time, in the latest reform announced under new President Raul Castro. Some Cubans already own mobile phones, but they have had to acquire them via a third party, often foreigners.

Human noses 'can detect danger' - Our noses can quickly learn to link even subtle changes in smell with danger, claim scientists. Volunteers who could not differentiate between two similar smells found they could do it easily after being given a mild electric shock alongside one.

Steve Benen enlightened me today of the fight at capitol hill to do away with abstinence only education. In fact, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, a religious right organization, claims that, "“Liberals Want Federal Abstinence Education Cut."

It's true! Their report states, "President Bush’s 2009 budget proposal includes $204 million to support Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE), but dozens of liberals in Congress want all abstinence money axed from the budget." Their concern to "defend" the mis-education of sex to our teens comes at time that the CDC reports 1 in 4 teen girls has a sexually transmitted infection (STI). 

I have always been an advocate for quality education in our publics schools and that is not limited to sex. Benen adds, "It’s quite simple: the evidence that abstinence-only is more effective doesn’t exist." It doesn't take a genius to figure that our either. One only needs to do research for about a day to gather evidence to counter the administrations claims.

ABC News reports, "the Journal of Adolescent Health found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 50 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received abstinence-only education. The study also found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received no sex education at all." It's quite evident that Bush Administration has fudged everything the past 8 years and his approach to "abstinence-only" education is one of them. The reason why the CDC found such alarming ratings of STI's among teen girls should be a wake up call to all Americans but in particular parents that the last 8 years of abstinence only education has not been cutting it. 

Beijing rebuffs Olympics critics - China's foreign minister has strongly criticised "anti-China forces" he says are determined to politicise this year's Beijing Olympics. In recent weeks human rights groups and a number of Hollywood personalities, including Steven Spielberg, have stepped up criticism of China's record.

Spitzer Resigns, Citing Personal Failings - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, reeling from revelations that he had been a client of a prostitution ring, announced his resignation today, becoming the first governor of New York to be forced from office in nearly a century.

Leaving it all behind, to bike around the world - In 2002, at the ages of 62 and 48, Pat and Catherine Patterson decided to leave it all behind. They sold their real-estate business and their cars, gave their furniture to their children, and put their home up for rent. Strapping their remaining possessions to two bicycles, the couple set off to bike around the world.

Euro tops $1.55 for first time - The euro has set a new record high against the US dollar, passing $1.55 for the first time.

Study: 1 in 4 teen girls has an STD - A virus that causes cervical cancer is by far the most common sexually transmitted infection in teen girls aged 14 to 19, while the highest overall prevalence is among black girls -- nearly half the blacks studied had at least one STD. That rate compared with 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-American teens, the study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

According to a BBC investigation it has concluded that British folowed closley by Americans eat the most fast food than any other country. It observed a trend of obesity throughout the world except Asia. It claimed that, "45% in the UK" would not give up fast food due to the taste. Obesity related illness pose a great threat to healthcare systems worldwide.

This article was an intresting read as it shed light unto health practices around the world. Although I am not suprised by the finding, since it was the U.S. that practically coined the world and concept, it makes sense why we love our fast food. The fact that many countries outside of the U.S. and U.K. have the same relationship to fast food speaks of the globalization and commercilization of western ideals throughout the world. I would be a hypocrite if I were to claim that I do not eat fast food but as with anything one must consume it with moderation. Our ancestors in the past were much active than we are nowadays. You can attribute that to technology but that does not excuse the fact that we should assume a lifestyle with excercise. Its a new year . . . do something about it!

A new study revealed that Emergency Room doctors are prescribing stronger pain-relivers to white patients who complain about pain than minority patients. Linda Simoni-Wastilla of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Pharmacy speculates that, "doctors' suspicions that minority patients could be drug abusers lying about pain to get narcotics." She then claims that blacks are least likely to abuse prescription drugs than whites according to research that she has conducted. The way a patient reacts to pain plays a role. Dr. Mark Pletcher, co-author of the Univeristy of Califronia, San Francisco study claims that, "Minority patients may be less likely to keep complaining about their pain." The study was conducted over 13 years and will be published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.