April 27, 2022

New study finds strong links between 'doomscrolling' and anxiety

New study finds strong links between ‘doomscrolling’ and anxiety

Spending increased amounts of time on your phone can increase feelings of depression, isolation and anxiety

In recent years, a phenomenon called “doomscrolling” — where people seek out and binge negative news in order to find answers during uncertain times — has been a mark of social media.
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A study recently published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior found that doomscrolling was strongly associated with anxiety, poor self-control and the fear of missing out — called FOMO. Additionally, the study found that males and younger generations were more likely to doomscroll than women and older people.

Especially for those who are affected by depression and anxiety, doomscrolling can become an echo chamber of negative news. According to a 2020 study, excessive media consumption increases these feelings. Yet a 2021 study found people feel compelled to stay informed in order to regain some sense of control over the situation and appease anxieties.

For your mental health.

Instead of looking at negative news, helpguide.org recommneds you intentionally seek out positive or hopeful stories, and spend time cultivating your happiness by searching for topics and stories that make you feel positive. Finally, it wrote, consider unfollowing certain social media accounts that do not contribute to your mental well-being.

https://www.ajc.com/pulse/new-study-finds-strong-links-between-doomscrolling-and-anxiety/DSZVTBVK6ZH3HB5E3F4FO5DI5Y/

April 27, 2022

North Dakota's longest serving senator resigns, texted jailed child porn suspect

As Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, a landscaper accused of possessing child pornography, sat in a North Dakota jail in August 2021, he texted with people on the outside. Among them: one of the most powerful senators in the North Dakota legislature, according to jail records obtained by the news outlet Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.


All told, state Sen. Ray Holmberg (R) and Morgan-Derosier exchanged 72 text messages as Morgan-Derosier was being held on the child pornography charges, the Forum reported — although it remains unclear exactly what they communicated about.

Now Holmberg, the state’s longest-serving senator, who was first elected more than four decades ago, has announced his resignation.

“Recent news stories have become a distraction for the important work of the legislative assembly during its interim meetings,” Holmberg said in a statement to The Washington Post. “I want to do what I can, within my power, to lessen such distractions.”

He said he would step down June 1.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/state-senator-to-resign-after-report-he-texted-with-child-porn-suspect/ar-AAWBDnR

April 26, 2022

Truck driver tries to push through street takeover in san bernadino..crowd take the furniture

April 26, 2022

Its a sad day for Devin Nunes. 😁

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Devin-Nunes-has-Fox-interview-17124867.php

Former President Donald Trump’s Twitter competitor Truth Social is not doing well, and news that Elon Musk is nearing a deal to acquire the bird app will probably only compound Truth Social’s woes.

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But according to Nunes, Truth Social is not struggling, actually. He went on to claim, offering no evidence, that Truth Social has more engagement than Twitter

April 25, 2022

College Applicants are Avoiding Schools in Anti-Abortion/Anti-Trans States.

Prospective college students once interested in schools in states like Texas and Florida are now scratching those options off their lists, college counselors across the country told Politico in a recent series of interviews.

“Students have told me, ‘I really want to go to Texas [the University of Texas at Austin], but I’m taking them off my list,’” college admissions consultant Christina Taber-Kewene told Politico. Taber-Kewene is based in New Jersey and primarily works with students living in the Northeast. “They’ll say, ‘I don’t want to go to school in a state where I won’t have reproductive rights access.’” She added that some students have told her they “don’t want to send money to a state” that’s banning abortion.

Venkates Swaminathan, founder and CEO of the college consulting company LifeLaunchr, told Politico he’s seen a “much greater number of students who say they don’t want to go to public [schools] in Florida,” and that “students will say they don’t want to support that state and don’t feel safe there.” Florida’s recent anti-LGBTQ law known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law may not directly impact universities in the state, as it focuses on K-12 education, but institutions of higher education in conservative states often face threats and punishment from their state governments over speech issues. It doesn’t help that the “Don’t Say Gay” law has increasingly become synonymous with the state of Florida itself.


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Politico’s interviews mirror surveys of college-educated workers from shortly after Texas’ near-total abortion ban, S.B. 8, took effect last September. Per the findings, 75% of surveyed women said the law would discourage them from working in Texas, and 73% said they wouldn’t even apply for a job in a state that passed a ban like Texas’—the same was true of even 58% of surveyed men. Relevant to Politico’s reporting on prospective college students, 73% of all surveyed Gen-Zers said they wouldn’t accept a job in a state that was hostile to reproductive rights.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/college-applicants-are-avoiding-schools-in-anti-abortion-and-anti-trans-states/ar-AAWzZhW

April 25, 2022

Bouncer punches man for no reason (he was drunk and dancing outside). He died today

April 25, 2022

U.S. Supreme Court allows high school admissions policy in race dispute (liberals justices win)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to block an elite Virginia public high school's admissions policy - designed to increase its racial and socioeconomic diversity - that was challenged by a group that said the rules discriminated against Asian Americans who make up the majority of its student body.

The justices denied a request by the group, Coalition for TJ, to reinstate a federal judge's February ruling that stopped Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria from using the recently devised admissions policy.

Three conservative justices on the nine-member court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, said in the brief court order that they would have granted the request.

The case is the latest front in a legal battle in the United States over school admissions policies involving or affecting the racial composition of campuses.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/u-s-supreme-court-allows-high-school-admissions-policy-in-race-dispute/ar-AAWAmeH

April 25, 2022

Dollar Tree Manager fired for sign:"Don't hire Gen Z's. They don't know what work actually means."

A Dollar Tree manager in Bremen, Indiana was fired from their job after posting a controversial sign outside of the store last week, according to NBC affiliate WNDU.

The handwritten sign had been seen by a number of people entering the store, allowing them to take pictures of it and post them online.

"I apologize for us closing AGAIN," the sign said. "My 2 new cashiers quit because I said their boyfriends couldn't stand here for their entire shift.

"Don’t hire Gen Z’s. They don’t know what work actually means. NOW HIRING! *Baby Boomers ONLY, thanks!"

According to the Pew Research Center, someone born between 1997 and 2012 is considered in Generation Z, while a person born between 1946 and 1964 is considered part of the Baby Boomer generation."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/dollar-tree-manager-fired-after-posting-controversial-sign-outside-store/ar-AAWABiG

"We are aware that an unauthorized sign was posted at our store for a brief period of time. The handwritten message was absolutely not approved by or condoned by our Company," Guiler said in a statement.

April 25, 2022

historic conviction. First time ever an Air Force General has been convicted of sexual assault

For the first time, an Air Force general has been convicted of sexual assault. Two-star Gen. William Cooley was found guilty in a court-martial of forcibly kissing a woman in a verdict described as "historic" by outlets including NPR and the Washington Post, and in a news release from the Air Force itself.

The woman Cooley assaulted was his own sister-in-law, who allowed media outlets to describe her as such but not to name her or provide other details that might identify her. Cooley was convicted of forcibly “kissing her on the lips and tongue, with an intent to gratify his sexual desire,” per the New York Times, and he was acquitted of charges that he groped her and forced her to touch him over his clothes.

The assault took place after a family barbecue in the summer of 2018, says the Air Force. The woman told investigators that Cooley had been drinking and asked her for a ride home, during which he told her that he fantasized about having sex with her. At one point, she said he “pressed her up against the driver’s side window, forcibly kissed and groped her through her clothes,” per the Air Force statement.

Cooley, who was previously relieved of his command of the Air Force Research Laboratory, faces up to seven years in prison and dismissal from the military when he is sentenced on Monday.

https://www.newser.com/story/319739/air-force-general-convicted-of-sex-assault-on-sister-in-law.html

April 25, 2022

This City's 'Historic Deluge' of Abandoned Cars Has No Fix in Sight

This City's 'Historic Deluge' of Abandoned Cars Has No Fix in Sight

Included in backlog of 34K vehicle complaints in Philly: speedboats, campaign van, Tastykake trucks


The city of Philadelphia is more than happy to offer info on how residents can file a report on abandoned cars in the metro area. "Glad you asked!" reads the city's page devoted to "one of our most frequently submitted service requests." And they're not kidding on that "most frequently submitted" part: Per an analysis by the Philadelphia Inquirer of data from the city's 311 nonemergency call center, there's a "historic deluge" of abandoned-car complaints currently in limbo—more than 34,000 of them, in fact, without a good system in place to handle the backlog.

The average number of cars towed before the pandemic began came out to about 10,000 to 12,000 cars a year, but towing activity has since dropped, while complaints of vehicles neglected within the city's boundaries spiked fivefold between April 2020 and the beginning of 2022.

After a report is filed, it might now take six months to see a vehicle towed; in 2020, it took about two months. And it's not just forlorn SUVs and sedans left lingering, though there are plenty of those: The Inquirer also documented abandoned speedboats; cherry pickers; flatbed trailers; trucks used by snack company Tastykake, headquartered in the city; and a campaign van once used by Scott Wagner, who ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2018.

One of the possible causes cited by the city for the rising number of complaints includes high unemployment during the pandemic that may have led people to simply ditch their wheels, as well as more people idling at home to report the abandoned vehicles.

There also haven't been enough cops to handle the complaints and authorize removal of the vehicles, with many police officers reassigned to other units for more pressing matters during the pandemic, such as fighting crime—a fact residents say is ironic, as the abandoned cars are often broken into and used for prostitution or drug deals.

https://www.newser.com/story/319752/philly-has-a-pesky-problem-34k-of-them-in-fact.html