Author: diverseskills

WHOOPS: Daily Kos tries trashing Trump for exhaustion, trips over Hillary collapsing at 9/11 event

President Trump has been in a whirlwind of activity since taking office, so it’s no surprise that traveling around the globe is wearing on him. Of course the media likes to pretend it’s because he’s incapable of his office but even a person half his age would likely need a rest.But go on, tell us more about his exhaustion. 96351Read more: http://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2017/05/22/whoops-daily-kos-tries-trashing-trump-for-exhaustion-trips-over-hillary-collapsing-at-911-event/

Our 9 Favorite Feature Stories This Week: Joni, Justice, And Jetrosexuals

This week for BuzzFeed News, Andrew McMillen explores the high-flying world of planespotters. Read that and these other great stories from BuzzFeed News and around the web.

1. Things Are Looking Up For Planespotters, The World’s Most Obsessive Aviation Geeks — BuzzFeed News

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BuzzFeed News

Airports are places to get in and out of as quickly as possible for most people. Yet they’re heaven on earth for planespotters — or “jetrosexuals” — who defy suspicious glances in the name of fanatically filming and sharing our most misunderstood mode of transportation. Read it at BuzzFeed News.

2. People are Animals, Too — Mosaic/BuzzFeed News

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BuzzFeed News

A compelling piece by Peter Aldhous on the ways in which our own minds get in the way of examining those of animals. “If we want to understand the diversity of animal minds — and by doing so perhaps understand ourselves better, too — we have to judge them on their own terms.” Read it at Mosaic or BuzzFeed News.

3. The Public Life and Private Doubts of Al Sharpton — The Washington Post

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Photograph by Jahi Chikwendiu for The Washington Post

In the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and others, Eli Saslow gets a rare glimpse into the life of America’s most influential civil rights leader — for now. “I got a radio show, a TV show, a direct line to the president, and what good is all that if I still can’t get something done when they choke a guy out on tape?” Read it at The Washington Post.

4. The Hidden Victims of Campus Sexual Assault: Students with Disabilities — Al Jazeera America

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Illustration by Edel Rodriguez for Al Jazeera America

Students with disabilities make up 11% of the US undergraduate population, yet are largely left out of the current national dialogue surrounding campus sexual assault. Azmat Khan investigates the universities and systems that are failing to hear them. Read it at Al Jazeera America.

5. The Life, Death, and Rebirth of BlackBerry’s Hometown — Fusion

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Photograph by Gabriella Peñuela for Fusion

Kevin Roose visits Waterloo, Ontario to discover how the Canadian tech hub has reinvented itself after the fall of its star company. “In 2007, people would hold their chins up when they said they worked at BlackBerry…In 2011, the chins were down.” Read it at Fusion.

6. Joni Mitchell, the Original Folk-Goddess Muse — New York Magazine

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Photograph by Norman Jean Roy for New York Magazine

Folk legend Joni Mitchell spends a day with Carl Swanson to reflect on life as a musician and muse — on her own terms. “Basically, at this time, I’m trying to fix my legacy. It’s been butchered. It’s been panned, and scanned, and colorized.” Read it at New York Magazine.

7. Weed Businesses Can’t Put Their Money in Banks, So They Put It in Bongs — BuzzFeed News

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Photograph by Macey Foronda for BuzzFeed News

Shut out of legitimate financial institutions, marijuana entrepreneurs are finding unusual ways to park their cash. Amanda Chicago Lewis reports on the budding industry of luxury bongs. Read it at BuzzFeed News.

8. When Taking Anxiety Medication is a Revolutionary Act — BuzzFeed News

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Illustration by Andres Guzman for BuzzFeed

A beautiful essay by Tracy Clayton on what it’s like to live with — and treat — an anxiety disorder. “If I had to describe what having anxiety feels like, I’d say that it’s kind of like walking through the world beneath tornadic skies without an umbrella, unsure if you’ll be able to find shelter if things get bad.” Read it at BuzzFeed News.

9. The Bro Code: Booze, Sex, and the Dark Art of Dealmaking in China — ChinaFile

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AFP / Via Getty

James Palmer reports from China where, in the absence of secure and legal ways of making deals, many businessmen build trust by spending late nights in brothels and with booze. “If you go out together, you really get to know a guy…You see how he handles his drink, you see how he deals with women.” Read it at ChinaFile.

Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for our Sunday features newsletter, and we’ll send you a curated list of great things to read every week!

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Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/anitabadejo/our-9-favorite-feature-stories-this-week-jetrosexuals

Peak STUPID: Psychologist on board with movement to BAN best friends in school

It’s been quite a week for those in the mental health profession and those in government and the media who like to pretend they are. Yes, the narrative of the week, kicking off with President Trump’s North Korea tweet on Tuesday and continuing through the weekend (and surely into next week), is that Trump is mentally unfit for office and must be removed.With that in mind, consider this unrelated entry from psychologist Barbara Greenberg, who writes in US News that “the word ‘best’ encourages judgment and promotes exclusion,” and so children should be banned from having best friends in school. Charles-Linden-sig-300x155Read more: https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2018/01/06/peak-stupid-psychologist-on-board-with-movement-to-ban-best-friends-in-school/

Think The Genes You’ll Pass On Are Predetermined? Not Quite…Here’s What We Know

We all have a unique genetic code that gets passed down to the next generation.

Our genetic sequence affects everything from eye color to body shape to intelligence in our children. Because there are only so many combinations of traits with a partner, there are some genes we can be sure we’ll pass on, and some that we can hope wind up as part of our offspring’s DNA.

The study of epigenetics, however, aims to understand the inherited traits that can’t quite be explained by simple DNA sequencing, and it’s completely fascinating.

One common example of epigenetic research focuses on the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Descendants of Holocaust survivors have different levels of stress hormones, and it may make them prone to anxiety disorders. This suggests intergenerational trauma can be passed down and affect people who haven’t even experienced that trauma themselves.

Flickr / AJC1

Read More: Scientists Found Tissue Remains In A Dino Bone…Could ‘Jurassic Park’ Be Real?

These genetic changes may indicate the body trying to adapt to a similar environment as their parents. Because genetics is a complicated science, these traits can seem to “skip” generations. For instance, food availability and gender can impact grandchildren whose genetic codes have adapted to allow for food scarcity or unavailability.

Flickr / Andy Leppard

Scientists stress that they are just beginning to understand the effects of epigenetics and that trying to create real-world results from this data is a far-off dream.

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“If you are looking for it all to be logical and fall into place perfectly, it isn’t going to yet,” Rachel Yehuda, an epigenetics researcher says.

(via Scientific American)

Read More: 7 Surprising Reasons Why You Should Stop Chewing Gum ASAP

Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/epigenetics/

These Are The Top Five Most Common Phobias. So Why Do People Have Them?

Have you ever wondered why some of the same things scare so many people?

Everyone has their own set of different fears, but some are much more prevalent than others. For example, countless people are afraid of spiders and snakes. According to a survey by YouGov, these are just two of the most common phobias that plague the people of Great Britain — but what causes them in the first place?

In the survey, 2,088 adults were asked whether certain things scared them. They were also asked to rate those fears as “very afraid” or “a little afraid.” Here are the top five most common phobias among them, as well as a few possible explanations behind them.

1. The most common phobia out of the bunch was a fear of heights, or acrophobia. Of those surveyed, 23 percent answered that they were very afraid of heights, and 35 percent said they were a little afraid. Studies have linked this fear to vertical perception. According to researchers, those with an extreme fear of heights overestimate vertical distances, but a solid cause-effect relationship hasn’t yet been proven between the two.

Wikimedia Commons

2. The respondents’ second biggest fear was snakes, with 21 percent stating they were very afraid and 31 percent being only a little afraid. Multiple studies have found that this fear may be innate and not learned, suggesting that some of us may just be born afraid of the reptiles.

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3. In third place on the list is a fear of public speaking, also known as glossophobia. Twenty percent of those surveyed were very afraid of speaking in front a crowd while 36 percent were a little afraid. Depending on the person, general and social anxiety could explain this fear, as many are afraid that their audience is judging them.

Wikimedia Commons

4. Spiders. What’s not to love about their adorably terrifying little faces? Not much, according to 18 percent of respondents who reported being very afraid of them as well as the 24 percent who were a little afraid. Much like “Jaws” inspired more people to fear sharks, arachnophobia may stem from the media’s portrayal of the creepy critters. The fear may also be innate, like with snakes.

Wikimedia Commons

5. At number five is claustrophobia, or the fear of being closed in a small space. Fourteen percent of the people surveyed said they were very afraid while 29 were a little afraid. One study found that people who project their personal space beyond an arm’s reach are more likely to experience claustrophobia, suggesting that sufferers underestimate horizontal distances.

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Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/common-phobias-explained/