A Reminder: NO Nation "Owns" The Land It Sits On

"The population of Europe has been replaced by migrants three times in the past 45,000 years. New research shows that the current risk of developing various diseases varies according to how much of a person’s DNA originates from the various prehistoric migrants."

Click on the link below for an interesting and informative look at the history of migration in one area of the planet and how it relates to some diseases:

Prehistoric population turnover influences the risk of various diseases for modern Europeans

No, The Religious Are NOT More Moral. In Fact - - -

Phil Zuckerman's book "What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life" is one of the best counter-apologetics to the claim that one must be religious to be moral.

Click on the link below for his video presenting the main evidence for countering this claim:

Are Religious People More Moral than Atheists? Here are the Facts

A New Drug To Prevent Heart Disease?

"Doctors have long known that inflammation plays a significant role in triggering heart attacks and strokes. Now for the first time, an anti-inflammatory drug is on the market to prevent these cardiovascular events.

“It is a game changer,” says Ian Neeland, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Prevention at University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute.

“We’ve known that low-grade, systemic inflammation is a powerful determinant of recurrent cardiovascular events. Colchicine is the first drug we have on the market for inflammation that reduces this risk,” says Dr. Neeland."

Click on the link below for the details:

First Drug To Prevent Heart Disease Is Approved

Be Careful What You Rub On Your Skin

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use certain over-the-counter analgesic (pain relief) products that are marketed for topical use to relieve pain before, during or after certain cosmetic procedures, such as microdermabrasion, laser hair removal, tattooing and piercing. The agency issued warning letters to six companies for marketing these products in violation of federal law."

Click on the link below for the details:

FDA Warns Consumers to Avoid Certain Topical Pain Relief Products

CBD: Question The Claims About It

Highlights

•Cannabidiol (CBD) products have varying amounts of CBD, from none to much more than advertised.
•CBD products may contain other chemicals than CBD, some of which may be harmful.
•Sixteen RCTs for pain used pharmaceutical CBD in oral, buccal/sublingual, and topical forms.
•Fifteen of the 16 RCTs were negative: no greater pain-relieving effect for CBD than for placebo.
•Meta-analyses link CBD to increased rates of serious adverse events and hepatotoxicity.

Click on the link below for the details:

Cannabidiol (CBD) Products for Pain: Ineffective, Expensive, and With Potential Harms

The 2nd Amendment To The US Constitution: Conservatives Are Lying

Click on the link below for a 10-minute video debunking everything conservatives believe about the 2nd Amendment:

This Maga DUMMY Just Failed The Easiest TEST

Religious Nationalism: A Pandemic Within The USA Going Unnoticed

"Author and journalist Katherine Stewart joins us today to discuss her reporting on religious nationalism, as well as the organization and structure behind these efforts, and what we can do in the face of it all.

"Be sure to check out the recent film God and Country which is based on her 2020 book, The Power Worshippers!"

Click on the link below for a podcast that interviewed a true expert on the matter:

God and Country with Katherine Stewart

A Historical Look At Revolutions

"Fareed Zakaria is the host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS and a foreign affairs columnist at the Washington Post. He joins Preet to discuss his new book Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, and how this current moment of global political fracture mirrors societal upheavals of the past."

Click on the link below for a podcast putting today's global turmoil in perspective:

Revolutions, from 1600 to Trump

An Example Of The Character Of Most Atheists

"Robert Richert was an all-American boy who ended up in the jungles of Vietnam during the war. But there’s more to his memoir Apple Pie Atheist than just a young man trying to survive a tumultuous time. Richert chats with Jim and describes the nightmare that was Vietnam while also reflecting on religion, morality, and courage. Yes, there are atheists in foxholes, and thoughtful ones at that."

Click on the link below for a podcast presenting an example of why there ARE atheists in foxholes:

There Are Definitely Atheists in Fox Holes

Roger Ailes: The Bastard Behind It All

"Roger Ailes did more to degrade the tone of public life in America than anyone since Joseph McCarthy."

Click on the link below for a biography of the main influencer of forming the present Republican Party:

A short biography of a bully

How Does Trump's Character Compare To Other US Presidents?

"Historian Michael Beschloss on how Trump’s challenges in the courtroom line up against a larger history of presidential legal woes."

Click on the link below for a podcast presenting a historical view of many Presidents regarding legal events and character flaws:

What’s Past is Prologue for Presidential Norms

Conservatives: Get Over It, Immigration Is Good And Needed

"While immigration remains a hot-button political issue that focuses on illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, it is crucial to move the discussion to a serious analysis of the importance of immigration for the nation’s demographic and economic growth, and how broad policies such as comprehensive immigration reform can address our future needs. The new census projections should play a central role in those discussions."

Click on the link below for the details "THEY" don't want you to know (to borrow a phrase from the pseudoscientists):

New census projections show immigration is essential to the growth and vitality of a more diverse US population

Cooperate, Be Nice, But Also Don't Be A Pushover: The Key To A Successful Society

One of the clearest divides between conservatives and progressives is how differently they view cooperation and self-interest. Click on the link below for a video debunking this binary:

What Game Theory Reveals About Life, The Universe, and Everything

Deregulation: A Base Motive Of Republicans

The controversy over medical abortion pills (actually, the non-controversy as it is safe and effective) is just one issue that Republicans/Conservatives/MAGAs are using to attack and remove ALL government regulations. Let's be clear, they want to replace EXPERTS with political appointees who will carry out their agenda. 

A key tool to implement this change is to change laws.  Click on the link below for links exposing this effort:

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-supreme-courts-assault-on-government-could-make-the-far-rights-dreams-come-true/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-chevron-deference-oral-arguments-federal-regulations/

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/supreme-court-launches-latest-salvo-in-war-on-federal-government

https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/01/supreme-court-appears-ready-end-deference-federal-agency-expertise/393404/

It's Not "MIS"information, it's "DIS"information From Conservatives

"Misinformation is spreading on social media as some fight to stop what they call censorship. The Supreme Court is now grappling with how the First Amendment applies to the online world."

Misinformation: wrong information by mistake.

Disinformation: wrong information by design.

Click on the link below for a 15-minute "60-Minutes" segment parsing out the difference and exposing the dishonesty of Republicans/conservatives/MAGAs:

The Right to be Wrong 

The Truth About Medication Abortions

The conservative media, per usual, is spreading disinformation. This time, it is about medication abortions. Click on the following links from independent medical sources for the truth:

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/medication-abortion-your-questions-answered

https://www.aamc.org/news/what-medication-abortion-your-questions-answered

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/search/research-news/18556/

Feminism & Equality: A Different Perspective

"Equality has been at the heart of civil rights movements for decades but what we have failed to see is that in striving for equality we cannot help but reinforce the unquestioned preexisting structures of society which, themselves, may be at fundamental odds with true freedom for all."

Click on the link below for an in-depth look at what the feminist movement may be overlooking in striving for equality:

Forget Equality, Embrace the Feminism of Freedom

PTSD And Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Quackery

"Today we're going to unravel a specific type of psychotherapy, and it's one that presents the researcher with formidable walls to scale of both support and criticism. Some psychotherapists are firm believers; some are firm detractors. The therapy is called EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is controversial as the day is long, and yet it enjoys broad recommendations in most of the world's major guidelines. It also has plenty of criticism of its effectiveness. And it has a wildly unscientific origin story, which never bodes well for any kind of treatment. So now let's dive in and find out if EMDR is for real or phony.

"EMDR is one of a number of treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a potentially serious and debilitating condition in which certain traumatic memories can trigger anything from nightmares and anxiety to an uncontrollable emotional breakdown to a complete dissociative episode. The idea is to reduce the emotional distress associated with traumatic memories, and when used as an adjunct to other therapies, EMDR does this by attempting to get the brain to reprocess those memories via bilateral stimulation. Whether bilateral stimulation can actually do that is mainly where the controversy around EMDR lies. The stimulation is usually guided eye movements back and forth, but can also be tactile or auditory: tapping or holding a buzzer in each hand, or hearing tones played through headphones alternating between left and right. A typical EMDR session would include the patient recalling and talking about their traumatic memory while the therapist moves a pointer from side to side in front of them, for the patient to follow with their eyes. If you were uninitiated and saw this happening, you might well be inclined to wonder what kind of freaky woo you had just walked into."

Click on the link below for more:

EMDR: Looking Past the Pain

Transphobia: An Evil From Conservatives

"We break down some of the pseudoscience the trans panic is built on, look at the political drive to erase trans people, understand how the language of panic shifts over time, and present an alternate view of societal healing for a healthier humanity."

Click on the link below for a podcast exposing the willful cruelty of today's Republicans/conservatives:

Debunking Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, Groomers, and Detransitioning Misconceptions

Ice Bathing: An Ancient Practice Without Evidence

"But the more we study ice bathing, the more we learn that athletes have it backward: regular immersion in cold water markedly inhibits recovery from strenuous exercise. Muscle soreness is a consequence of doing physical activity to which you’re unaccustomed. That could be a gym session, a run, or a repetitive household chore that took longer than you expected. Just as a rubber band becomes frayed if you continually stretch it under load, your muscles sustain minuscule tears if they’re stretched too far or exert too much force. The subsequent damage causes a few days of swelling, inflammation, and soreness. It’s actually a normal and essential part of the muscular adaptation to exercise, associated with something called the overload principle. In any case, if the stress is applied regularly and with enough recovery, the muscles adapt by laying down new structural proteins, like a construction crew assembling steel beams to support the infrastructure of a building.

"Ice bathing fundamentally inhibits this process. In a collaboration between scientists in Australia and Norway, researchers found that cold-water immersion after hard exercise suppressed signaling pathways associated with recovery, an effect that lasted for several days. Another study, this time from the Netherlands, showed that ice bathing attenuated the muscle’s uptake of dietary proteins—nutrients considered important for the growth and maintenance of cells."

Click on the link below for more:

Why Are We Still Ice Bathing?