pamibe

As a former member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, I haven’t had much use for unions and their members. I was less than impressed with my fellow union workers, and went on to self-employment as a contractor.

But sometimes, union members have the right attitude.

I wish Obama would stop trying to pimp Biden out…

LSD for a happy, healthy brain?

Two new scientific studies reveal hallucinogens are good for your mental health

LSD and ketamine, two powerful hallucinogens, are also potential cures for depression, OCD, and anxiety. Two studies published this week, in Science and Nature, confirm that hallucinogenic drugs stimulate healthy brain activity, even promoting the growth of neurons.

Ketamine and depression

The study in Science, released today, focused entirely on the drug ketamine. Used frequently as an animal sedative, ketamine can also be used to sedate humans and is also taken recreationally because of its hallucinogenic and euphoric effects. Molecular psychiatrist Nanxin Li and colleagues dosed rats with modest amounts of ketamine, and observed that the drug boosted signaling between neurons in the brain, and even led to healthy growth of synapses. (Chronic depression can be linked to inhibited synaptic growth.) Ultimately, they concluded that ketamine might be useful in treating depression because it increases brain activity instantly – so there is no need to wait weeks or months for the drug to take effect.

For some it’s called ‘self medicating’.

Researchers have found that stress in middle age could lead to dementia later on in life. As if we all don’t have stress! And the focus group participants were all women. Wonderful!

Psychological stress in middle age could lead to the development of dementia later in life, especially Alzheimer’s disease, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Based on data from a study which followed women for 35 years, this is the first research in Sweden to indicate a link between stress and dementia.

The research, published in scientific journal Brain, is based on a major population study of women from Gothenburg. A representative sample of women were examined for the first time in 1968 when aged between 38 and 60, and then re-examined in 1974, 1980, 1992 and 2000.

A question about psychological stress was included in the 1968, 1974 and 1980 surveys and was answered by 1,415 women.

“Stress was defined as a sense of irritation, tension, nervousness, anxiety, fear or sleeping problems lasting a month or more due to work, health, family or other problems,”

Science Daily

I’d wager that even in tribes of indigenous natives, the sort that dot the pages of National Geographic, even their women have stress. Relationships, food, health problems. It’s universal to the species.

If they’re going to flush money, they could at least do a study about something important, like why dogs feet smell like Fritos!

Directly across the news of that study was yet another one also pertaining to women: Fat Around the Middle Increases the Risk of Dementia. As if we hadn’t been buffeted about enough today.

Women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older, reveals a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy.

“Anyone carrying a lot of fat around the middle is at greater risk of dying prematurely due to a heart attack or stroke,” says Deborah Gustafson, senior lecturer at the Sahlgrenska Academy. “If they nevertheless manage to live beyond 70, they run a greater risk of dementia.”

Science Daily

That study posted in something called ‘Neurology’.

Next thing you know they’ll fund a study to find out why women get so fat after they have sex!

So I guess if I’m stressed and carrying a few extra pounds around my middle – and by the way, nature sort of dictates we women do that - then I should be drooling within 10 years. We’re all terminal, it’s just a matter of time.

They can sod off.

All this hilarity reminds me of Suzette’s recent post in which her doctor thinks Miz S might be at risk for stroke.
Thinks. Might. A plane might fall on her house, too. Or mine. Or yours.

I’ve got another doctor’s appointment this coming Monday. Dr. Cohen’s going to think things as well, but I know this damn gall bladder is coming out if I have to use hubby’s tools to do it.
That’s just another one of those inevitable things.

with fresh sneaker tracks. I have a great idea for these two structures:

Via No Sheeples Here

I’ve come upon many things while cleaning out the filing cabinets… and shredded most of it. Some stuff they’ll just have to toss when I’m gone, like my grade school report cards. Kindergarten and 1st grade are missing, probably lost in the move from California to Texas – but 2nd through 8th are here, carefully ensconced in these sweet blue holders, throwbacks to a simpler time.

It was painfully apparent as early as the 2nd grade that numbers and I are not boon companions. I ‘tried hard’ but there it is. Must be terribly frustrating for parents as well as teachers when a child just doesn’t ‘get it’.

The entire ‘poor Pam can’t do math’ ordeal was incredibly discouraging for me; I not only had math homework to fight my way through but tutors employed by my Mom, who only had the best intentions. It’s not easy to watch your child struggle with anything.

I still have nightmares about those sessions and the people who presided over my after-school time. Some were kind, some were as frustrated as I, others didn’t care and droned on as I wished for an afternoon snack. My stomach growled a lot during tutor meetings. It’s funny what you remember.

Mrs. Who has a post up about teachers and it covers the correlation between parents involvement with their children and the child’s performance at school. Teachers are some of the most underpaid, under-appreciated people on earth. But a parent has the first responsibility. I could read before Kindergarten because my Mom worked with me – and she and my father were always available for homework help. It matters.

I just wish someone had explained math to me a bit better. Only two people have truly helped me put numbers in perspective: hubby and Teresa of Technicalities, who told me about visual-spatial learning. There have been glimmers of light since, so thanks to both of those wonderful people.

But binary is out, Mike, my dear. I have enough trouble with the regular stuff.

If my dog looked like these Democrats I’d shave his ass and make him walk backwards!

Crazy Nancy wants an investigation into the people who object to the victory mosque at Ground Zero. Because it’s just got to be a political conspiracy. Everything is a political conspiracy with these people… maybe because it’s all they know.

“There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded,” she said. “How is this being ginned up that here we are talking about Treasure Island, something we’ve been working on for decades, something of great interest to our community as we go forward to an election about the future of our country and two of the first three questions are about a zoning issue in New York City.”

For some reason she seemed to care less about Reid’s opinion. Well, she probably already knows where he gets his money…

She won’t be renewing her contract so she can regain her First Amendment rights.

Schlessinger said on “Larry King Live” tonight that she has decided “not to do radio anymore” so she can say the things she wants to say.

“The reason is, I want to regain my First Amendment rights,” she said. “I want to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I’m sort of done with that.”

ABC

Obviously you can’t say anything you like on radio; that’s why the watchdogs at the FCC will rain fire down your gullet should the f-word escape.

I do think it’s hilarious that ABC writers and editors cannot bring themselves to print a word in full:

Their exchange heated up after that. When the caller said she couldn’t believe Schlessinger was “on the radio spewing out” the N-word, Schlessinger said she “didn’t spew out” the N-word and repeated, “n****r, n****r, n****r is what you hear on HBO.”

Nigger is not one of Carlin’s seven dirty words, those made almost innocuous after the advent of premium cable. We’ve elevated it to new heights of profanity, so why don’t we knock it off its pedestal? If we put it there, we can take it down.

Dr. Laura will be fine; meanwhile, we’re still stuck with the word.