Psychiatric Illness in the Clergy?

A post on Mind Hacks was discussing psychoanalysis of clergy members. The author found a 1969 article about several monks who underwent psychoanalysis, only to discover about themselves that they felt that they desired a married life to a life of God.
The incident that inspired the ‘69 article occurred in 1961. It was decided that [...]

Swine Flu

So if you haven’t heard of the latest pandemic, it’s swine flu! While I’ve heard everyone talking about it, I haven’t heard anyone really describe what it is, how it’s different from other kinds of flu, etc. Has anyone heard of why it’s “swine” flu? I know they said that the genetic material of the [...]

ADHD Medication Equals Higher Test Scores?

A study done with children from kindergarten through 5th grade studied how taking certain medication for ADHA has increased their scores on reading and math compared to those not on medication. Their scores were still significantly lower than those without ADHD, but this study was done to show if the medication would help with bettering [...]

No Stricter Gun Laws After 10 Years?

Of course there has to be a post on the 10th anniversary of the Columbine shooting. I was trying to watch the news all day, especially for this, on what different updates there were about if there were going to be any news on the gun laws from the shooting that happened at Columbine. Obviously there [...]

turn off tv week

this article suggests way to cut back time spent watching tv.
The average American watches over 35 hours of TV a week[1] and the average Brit over 25.[2] If you find yourself addicted to the “boob tube” and want to break the habit, or if you’re just celebrating TV Turnoff Week[3] the key is to wean yourself [...]

Gotta Have a Blog on 420!

I donno, maybe I just want to talk about weezy.
So I guess the movement to legalize pot is alive and kicking and this year a bunch of them think that they are getting closer and closer to achieving their goals.  You can check out this article, it talks about what is happening but honestly, I don’t see anything revolutionary [...]

drug monitoring

A post on Mind Hacks was discussing a new controversial issue- drug monitoring by microchip. A small microchip is swallowed, and internally measures drug levels in the body, and physical issues such as respiratory rates, and heart rate.
The microchip can be used to ensure compliance to prescribed meds (like anti-psychotic drugs), or to monitor illegal [...]

fashion focus

I read this article on Everyday Sociology today about Michelle Obama. It discussed how much focus is placed on her fashion choices, as opposed to relevant issues. She was criticized for wearing a sleeveless dress to her husband’s inauguration, that it wasn’t designed by an African American, or manufactured by an African American. Really? Who [...]

100% Problem Solving Nonsense

Helping Psychology explains how people need to come together to solve any kind of problem. It also tells that some people do not want to be involved in coming together to help solve a problem and conform to groups because they may not trust everybody in the group.  They also tell why if everyone was [...]

The Internet: a source of instructions for ANYTHING

Okay, I don’t know how significant this post is, but I thought that it was hilarious (and sad…).
I found this post on Everyday Sociology. Three female college students wanted some extra cash, so instead of getting a job, they decided to rob a local dollar store in Ohio. They entered the store, armed with BB [...]

No more sprinkles!!!

We as Americans are a society of consumers. I wonder just how dependent we are on commercial goods. Working for Starbucks and now Heritage it is amazing to see how people can become so furious if they aren’t able to have their mocha or a piece of lemon loaf. It seems to be that the [...]

create a persona to change an attitude

Dana Jennings has an aggresive form of prostate cancer. In his blog With a Buzz Cut, I can Take on Anything he describes how cutting his hair helped him gain the strength to go through cancer treatments. The short buzz cut, changed his attitude, by making him feel stronger.
In a time of utter vulnerability — having already weathered [...]

What Comes Next?

Once again, with this year’s G-20 Summit coming up (and the abundance of material for protesting banners) political activists, environmental groups, but also regular people, are all meeting in London to “greet” international leaders.

Protesters gathering on Saturday were calling for jobs, fair distribution of wealth, and a low-carbon future. They carried banners and posters reading [...]

Suicide Forest

Japan was already one of the top nations with a high suicide rate. Now with the economic situation, suicides have increased.  In the forest below Mt. Fuji, known as the suicide forest, there is now a prevention program in place due to the increase of suicides there. Signs are posted in the forest advertising help for credit card [...]

Breastfeeding is not Obscene

Mark Belling is a talk show host on a Milwaukee radio station. He recently caused an uproar with his segment concerning a local breastfeeding bill in which he referred to breastfeeding mothers as “sows”. The radio website has since removed the segment in which he made the statement, but here is a quote from the [...]

Nine-Year-Old’s Abortion in Brazil

This article inTime Magazine discusses the backlash of an abortion performed on a 9 year old rape victim.  Abortion is illegal in Brazil and as a result the family and doctor were excommunicated by the Catholic Church.  I was surprised by many aspects of this article: Abortion in Brazil is illegal except in cases of [...]

The World of Cell Phones

People in the world are becoming used to technology, even if it is a little cell phone that they can carry around. Excite.com reports taht 4.1 billion people in the world have subscriptions to cell phones. This is a a 4 billion person increase from 2002, when cell phones were just starting to get hot. I [...]

Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty

Dove’s new campaign although inspiring and promotes a more realistic body image is still an advertisement trying to sell the  Dove product.  This article appeared in Business Week.
Remember the first ads for Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, when it flaunted its defiance of the beauty and fashion industries with images of love-handled and cellulite-prone “real” [...]

Diet and Hunger

Psychology Today reports on diet and health in people and how they try to maintain their weight, but still are not able to do it properly with all the fast foods and cravings people have. I know some people who have struggled with this and I am sure that other people do as well. I [...]

China’s Tibet Policy

Thought I might bring up Tibet this time around.  Been a while since I had heard anything on the current situation-looks like things are just as messy as ever.
In The Economist this week they ran an article called, “Another Year of the Iron Fist.”  It is nothing too in depth, just a reminder of the [...]

Why shouldn’t we kill?

After our discussion in class on the death penalty, I happened upon an AlaskaDispatch.com opinion piece on the issue in Alaska and the complexities that this author identifies, “Alaska death penalty debate far more complex than meets the eye.” The first portion of Wev Shea’s article outlines an horrendous case where he tried and attempted (but failed) [...]

Genuine Talent or Political Correctness?

The 2009 Academy Awards event this Sunday was in many ways impregnated by a sense of self-controlling polite modesty (with the contenders half-expecting Slumdog Millionaire to win all of the awards), with winches of indisputable grief (the whole audience was left in mourning tears when the late Heath Ledger was awarded the Oscar for his [...]

Octomom it is…

I caved.
Admittedly, I haven\’t been following all of the sensationalized accounts of the sperm donor, the ex-husband, the mother and their fighting, the home issue…but a Newsweek opinion piece this week by Dr. Mark Evans, director of Comprehensive Genetics in New York, caught my attention and seems to address an underlying issue within this artificially [...]

Education in Games?

I found this to be interesting, since this is one of the most talked about issues by parents. Some people say that certain games have some educational value by using technical skils such as problem solving, mathematics, problem-solving skills, etc. This comes from Excite.com, which I look at everyday to find something new. This is [...]

Possible Cell Phone Ban for 18 and Under

Mostly everybody, some probably not, know that it is illegal to drive while talking/texting on the phone. I personally do both and I know a lot of other people who do the same thing. There are also some people who I know who refuse to talk while driving, especially down south where the traffic is [...]

One-Child Policy in China

So what are everyone’s thoughts on this action?  If you are ethnic Han living in urban China you are only allowed one child.  If you have more than one you will be fined an amount determined by the government.  It also seems that in some cases abortion is pressured and sterilization is forced.
The rule has [...]

Trying to Live on 500k in New York City

I just heard a discussion on the radio of this article:  You Try to Live on 500K in This Town, which appeared in the NY Times recently. 
At first I thought it was more of a satire, who could possible not be able to live on 500k???  However when you start adding it up….
PRIVATE school: $32,000 [...]

Postsecret

I have to admit, for the last three years of my life I have always looked forward to waking up on Sunday morning. Why is that you ask? My favorite website Postecret gets updated every Sunday morning with new secrets from random people around the world. It seems kind of odd to think that millions [...]

Roe v. Wade

I ran across a fellow WordPress blogger’s post discussing “How to Stump Anti-Abortionists With One Question” and figured the timing is especially appropriate for some reflection on the topic (not the topic of how to stump Anti-Abortionists, silly, the topic of abortion) on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, while the annual Pro-Life Rally is being held on the [...]