littlemissmartypants
littlemissmartypants's JournalListening to the music you love will make your brain release more dopamine, study finds
By ERIC W. DOLAN February 2, 2019
Snip...
This study shows for the first time a causal role of dopamine in musical pleasure and motivation: enjoying a piece of music, deriving pleasure from it, wanting to listen to it again, being willing to spend money for it, strongly depend on the dopamine released in our synapses”
...snip...
Much more at the link.
https://www.psypost.org/2019/02/listening-to-the-music-you-love-will-make-your-brain-release-more-dopamine-study-finds-53059
Listening to the music you love will make your brain release more dopamine, study finds
By ERIC W. DOLAN February 2, 2019
Snip...
This study shows for the first time a causal role of dopamine in musical pleasure and motivation: enjoying a piece of music, deriving pleasure from it, wanting to listen to it again, being willing to spend money for it, strongly depend on the dopamine released in our synapses”
...snip...
Much more at the link.
https://www.psypost.org/2019/02/listening-to-the-music-you-love-will-make-your-brain-release-more-dopamine-study-finds-53059
N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper proposes offshore wind study in budget
Elizabeth Ouzts March 12, 2019
The proposal to legislators asks for $300,000 to study the state’s potential role in the offshore wind industry.
A small line item tucked into North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s $25 billion budget proposal would have a big impact on wind energy’s future in the state, industry experts say.
If approved by state legislators, a one-year, $300,000 study will analyze the state’s potential to manufacture, ship and service offshore wind turbine components: enormous towers, blades and other specialized parts that are now imported from Europe.
Mid-Atlantic and New England states that have conducted their own such assessments are starting to corner the nascent U.S. offshore wind market, said Katharine Kollins, the president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition.
“This has already been done by a number of states who are much further ahead in Northeast,” Kollins said. The study, she said, “is really just about North Carolina keeping up with other states and maintaining competitive advantage.”
More at the link.
https://energynews.us/2019/03/12/southeast/n-c-gov-roy-cooper-proposes-offshore-wind-study-in-budget/
Commentary: 4 Ways To Reduce Plastics And Other Single-Use Disposables In Your Kitchen
Commentary: 4 Ways To Reduce Plastics And Other Single-Use Disposables In Your Kitchen
March 10, 20197:00 AM ET
The 40 days of Lent, which began last week, are a time when many Christians around the world decide to voluntarily give up bad habits or luxuries. This year, it might be time we all consider how to give up – or at least reduce – our reliance on disposable products.
A year ago, I decided to create a more environmentally friendly and sustainable kitchen, focusing particularly on reducing my use of disposable products such as plastic sandwich bags, aluminum foil and paper towels.
It's worth the effort: Americans toss 185 pounds of plastic per person each year while also going through 13 billion pounds of paper towels as a nation. Aluminum foil sounds like a "natural" alternative to a lot of people, but it can actually take a hundred years or more to biodegrade. If composting kitchen scraps or reusing old coffee grounds for a body scrub seems like a step too far, there are a few simple ways to reduce the environmental footprint of your kitchen without sacrificing modern conveniences.
I'm not going to sugarcoat my experience. It takes commitment and a willingness to change long-held habits. In creating my sustainable kitchen, I tried a lot of different alternative products and some plain old common sense; the result, however, has been worth the effort. I'm recycling more and relying less on single-use products. The kicker: I'm saving money too.
More at the link.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/03/10/701684123/commentary-4-ways-to-reduce-plastics-and-other-single-use-disposables-in-your-ki
TILLIS IS MORE VULNERABLE THAN HISTORY SUGGESTS
BY ALEXANDER H. JONES | MAR 11, 2019
The pattern of North Carolina Senate races has been fairly stable since the decline of the “Solid South.” The elections are always hard-fought–by some measures, the most competitive in America–but Republicans prevail more often than not. 2014’s race followed that trajectory, putting GOPer Thom Tillis in office after a savage $120 million brawl. History would seem to point toward his reelection if the 2020 race obeys established trends.
At least from a superficial perspective, Tillis occupies a similar position to his senior colleague, Richard Burr, four years ago. He’s a Republican incumbent in a presidential year. Historically, that’s been a pretty good place to be in North Carolina Senate races. But next year’s election isn’t bound to be a replay of Burr’s last run. For one, Burr is a quietly gifted vote getter–whereas Tillis ran well behind expectations in 2014. The dynamics of national politics may also be different.
Furthermore, historical patterns in North Carolina show signs of breaking down. During the years when they congealed, NC was not competitive at the presidential level. It’s now at least a second-tier swing state. As goes the top of the ballot, downballot races usually follow. Democrats can and may turn the state blue in 2020, which would place Tillis’ reelection bid in serious jeopardy.
The 2016 governor’s race provides further evidence of change in North Carolina’s political culture. No incumbent governor should lose in a growing economy. Yet Pat McCrory nevertheless fell to Roy Cooper, ensuring his historical discredit. At the same time, McCrory’s party gained ground on the Council of State. NC politics is just getting incredibly competitive and unpredictable.
More at the link.
https://www.politicsnc.com/tillis-is-more-vulnerable-than-history-suggests/
Gov. Cooper Names Supreme Court Associate Justice
Gov. Cooper Names Supreme Court Associate Justice
Raleigh
Mar 11, 2019
Today, Gov. Roy Cooper named Judge Mark Davis as Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
“I know Judge Davis is dedicated to his work and to serving the people of North Carolina, and I know he will continue to serve with distinction as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court,” said Gov. Cooper.
Judge Davis intends to hear oral arguments when the Supreme Court convenes on April 8, 2019, and will be on the ballot in 2020 to serve an eight-year term.
Judge Davis was appointed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2012 and was elected to a full eight-year term in 2014. Prior to that, he served as a Special Deputy Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice for five years. He spent thirteen years as an attorney with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, now Womble Bonds Dickinson, where he was a member of the firm in the Litigation Section, and also served as General Counsel in the Office of the Governor for approximately two years.
More at the link.
https://governor.nc.gov/news/gov-cooper-names-supreme-court-associate-justice
Your Brain Is Constantly Searching for Problems to Fix
Your Brain Is Constantly Searching for Problems to Fix
When something becomes rare, we tend to see it in places more than ever.
By David Levari
Why do many problems in life seem to stubbornly stick around, no matter how hard people work to fix them? It turns out that a quirk in the way human brains process information means that when something becomes rare, we sometimes see it in more places than ever.
Think of a “neighborhood watch” made up of volunteers who call the police when they see anything suspicious. Imagine a new volunteer who joins the watch to help lower crime in the area. When they first start volunteering, they raise the alarm when they see signs of serious crimes, like assault or burglary.
Let’s assume these efforts help and, over time, assaults and burglaries become rarer in the neighborhood. What would the volunteer do next? One possibility is that they would relax and stop calling the police. After all, the serious crimes they used to worry about are a thing of the past.
But you may share the intuition my research group had—that many volunteers in this situation wouldn’t relax just because crime went down. Instead, they’d start calling things “suspicious” that they would never have cared about back when crime was high, like jaywalking or loitering at night.
More at the link.
https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/qvmdkw/your-brain-is-constantly-searching-for-problems-to-fix?utm_source=vicefbus
A State-by-State List of the Lies Abortion Doctors Are Forced to Tell Women
A State-by-State List of the Lies Abortion Doctors Are Forced to Tell Women
In 26 states, abortion providers are required to carry "informed consent" brochures devised by conservative politicians, who say they're simply trying to help women make a difficult decision. But others are forcing doctors to give inaccurate info.
By Callie Beusman
When she worked at an abortion clinic in South Dakota, Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper was legally required to tell prospective patients that there was a chance that abortion would increase their risk of breast cancer and suicide.
Immediately afterwards, she'd tell them that neither of those statements had any actual basis in medical science. "What I would say was, 'The state requires me to give you this information. ... snip.
More at the link.
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/nz88gx/a-state-by-state-list-of-the-lies-abortion-doctors-are-forced-to-tell-women
He's stupid and a bad actor, in every sense of the word.
Who cares what he wants. I certainly don't. F him and the golf cart he road in on. I'm tired of wasting my time (Thanks, Auntie Maxine!) on his bullsh*t.
I am officially done.
Hidden FDA reports detail harm caused by scores of medical devices
https://www.tampabay.com/investigations/2019/03/07/hidden-fda-reports-detail-harm-caused-by-scores-of-medical-devices/By Christina Jewett, Kaiser Health News
Mar. 7
Dr. Douglas Kwazneski was helping a Pittsburgh surgeon remove an appendix when something jarring happened. The surgical stapler meant to cut and seal the tissue around the appendix locked up.
Kwazneski later turned to the Food and Drug Administration’s public database that tracks medical device failures and “there was nothing,” he said. Yet when he surveyed leading surgeons on the matter, he discovered that more than two-thirds had experienced a stapler malfunction, or knew a peer who did. Such failures can have deadly consequences.
Kwazneski had no idea the FDA had quietly granted the makers of surgical staplers a special “exemption” allowing them to file reports of malfunctions in a database hidden from doctors and from public view.
“I don’t want to sound overdramatic here, but it seemed like a cover-up,” said Kwazneski, who practiced in Pasco County, Fla., from 2016 through earlier this year.
More at the link.
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