Patricia Ange's Blog, page 9
August 4, 2018
Unevenly distributed: Twins in developing countries — ScienceDaily
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Scientists are fascinated by twins. Even though twins are born at the same time and generally raised under similar circumstances they still may develop differently. For their research on inequality between girls and boys in developing countries, researchers have determined how many twins were born in 76 developing countries.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929074035.htm
Social media is full of interesting or quirky “facts” about Africa. Twitter account Africa Facts added one to the mix when it tweeted a claim about twin birth rates and yam consumption.
“Yorubas have the world’s highest twin birthrate [sic] because of their high yam comsumption [sic] rate. Eating yam increases the chances of having twins.”
It’s unclear who runs the Africa Facts account or what they do. Their website simply claims to “provide interesting and useful facts about Africa
Les Moonves, Brad Kern, and the Limits of #MeToo
#ToxicCulture #AbusiveBoysClub
#SexismAtWork
#RacismAtWork
#HostileWorkEnvironment
Last December, Variety reported that a CBS showrunner repeatedly talked about an actress he hoped to cast mainly because an important executive at the network wanted “to fuck her.
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According to multiple witnesses who heard showrunner Brad Kern make that statement a couple of years ago, the executive in the anecdote — the one who wanted the actress cast so he could sleep with her — was CBS CEO Leslie Moonves. In a statement, a representative for CBS said that the network “is not responsible for the things allegedly said by Brad Kern, but there is no substance to the comment whatsoever. Statements such as that will certainly be a subject in the ongoing investigation to Mr. Kern now underway by an independent law firm.”
http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/les-moonves-brad-kern-limits-of-metoo.html
Broward schools failed Parkland shooter, report says – Sun Sentinel
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In the year leading up to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the killer was stripped of the therapeutic services disabled students need, leaving him to navigate his schooling as a regular student despite mounds of evidence that he wasn’t.
When he asked to return to a special education campus, school officials fumbled his request.
Those conclusions were revealed Friday in a consultant’s report commissioned by the Broward public school system. Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ordered that the report be released publicly, but with nearly two-thirds of the content blacked out.
The school district said the alterations were needed to comply with the shooter’s privacy rights, but the method the district used to conceal the text failed. The blacked-out text became visible when pasted into another computer file.
Some people pull out their hair, bite their nails, or pick their skin — here’s what psychologists think is behind these behaviours INSIDER
What are BFRBs? – Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
Most of us are guilty of biting our nails now and then. We tend to pass them off as bad habits, but what if you simply couldn’t stop?
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Around 3% of the population have body-focused repetitive behaviors (or BFRBs), which mean they constantly engage in self-grooming like nail biting, hair plucking, and skin picking.
It’s not the same as having a tic or a nervous habit. Rather, these behaviours are complex disorders that “cause people to repeatedly touch their hair and body in ways that result in physical damage,” according to The TLC Foundation , an organisation devoted to helping those with BFRBs and spreading awareness.
August 2, 2018
White liberal racism: Why progressives are unable to see their own bigotry.
There have been a lot of disturbing poll results over the past several years, but none more than this one: According to a 2016 survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, 57 percent of white Americans believe that discrimination against white people is “as big a problem” in America as discrimination against minorities.
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July 28, 2018
Immigrant Youth Shelters: “If You’re a Predator, It’s a Gold Mine”
Using state public records laws, ProPublica has obtained police reports and call logs concerning more than 70 of the approximately 100 immigrant youth shelters run by the U.S. Health and Human Services department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. While not a comprehensive assessment of the conditions at these shelters, the records challenge the Trump administration’s assertion that the shelters are safe havens for children. The reports document hundreds of allegations of sexual offenses, fights and missing children.
https://www.propublica.org/article/immigrant-youth-shelters-sexual-abuse-fights-missing-children
July 26, 2018
Why Victims of Sexual Abuse Are More Likely to Be Obese – The Atlantic
Victims of childhood sexual abuse are far more likely to become obese adults. New research shows that early trauma is so damaging that it can disrupt a person’s entire psychology and metabolism.
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https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/12/sexual-abuse-victims-obesity/420186/
July 25, 2018
Frat Boys talk Brock Turner, misogyny and pledging rituals – BBC Three
#WhitePrivileged Brock Turner, still not accepting responsibility for his actions is appealing his conviction for sexual victimization. In the era of #MeToo, should #BrockTurner after serving less than six months in jail, be able to also remove the label of sexual offender?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/9c8e4918-43ec-4e20-aac3-5b1c1296854b
July 2, 2018
Virgin Group’s Richard Branson on universal basic income
Richard Branson.
David Gelles of The New York Times.
report published in January, the global charity Oxfam found that 82 percent of the growth in global wealth in the previous year went to the top 1 percent of individuals ranked by riches. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent had no increase in their wealth, the report says.
June 30, 2018
Can manufactured homes help the housing crisis?
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