This explains a lot

Dancing makes you feel good and help bond with others

From: University of Oxford

Dancing in time with others raises your pain threshold, Oxford University researchers have found.

A team from the University's Experimental Psychology and Anthropology Departments wanted to see whether our feelings of social closeness when dancing with others might be linked to endorphins – the body’s 'feel good' chemicals.

Endorphins are neurotransmitters that form part of the brain’s pain control system, but they are also implicated in social bonding. 

Welfare Reform Solutions for Low-Income Workers

The upcoming presidential race has brought out the worst in some candidates when it comes to the topic of low-income workers and wage inequality. Erroneously, some have tried to link poverty to immigration, dishonest practices and shear laziness. 

The truth of the matter is that social welfare and welfare reform is a complex, dynamic issue that is only made worse by political rhetoric.

Trying a Fossil Fiend

Villains like former coal CEO Don Blankenship make it easier to get riled up over climate change.

By Emily Schwartz Greco

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders wants the Justice Department to investigate and potentially prosecute ExxonMobil for corporate fraud.

The Vermont senator is alarmed by reports that the energy giant spread doubt about climate change despite knowing since 1977 that global warming was both underway and fueled by its own operations. 

Bankrolling a disinformation campaign helped stymie climate action and “may have caused public harm,” Sanders said in a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

A tobacco-style case against the whole oil and gas industry on racketeering charges may sound unlikely, but prospects are growing. And all heavily compensated executives who run fossil-fuel companies should heed the federal trial of a de-throned coal king in Charleston, West Virginia.

Prosecutors accuse Don Blankenship of conspiring to violate health and safety laws and to cover up that wrongdoing. The former Massey Energy CEO was also indicted for lying to shareholders and financial regulators about his company’s safety practices after an explosion killed 29 men at its Upper Big Branch coal mine in 2010.

How to use that extra hour

10 Things GOP Candidates Can Do With The Extra Hour On Sunday

By CHARLES TOPHER 

Daylight Savings Time comes to an end on Sunday, just in the nick of time for Republican candidates. With the primaries inching closer every day, they need all the time they can get to prepare for the next round of mud-slinging, poor-hating, minority-bashing, hate-fests that are just around the corner.

An extra hour on Sunday isn’t something that the Republicans can afford to waste, so in the interest of comradery here are some suggestions on how they can spend that time wisely:

Trick or Treat!

For more cartoons by Mike Luckovich, CLICK HERE.

I hate it when this happens....

First rule: no jokes about the judge

Temple University law professor to discuss humor and the law at URI Honors Colloquium, Nov. 3

Elizabeth Rau

KINGSTON, R.I.,– Back in the 1990s, Pepsi ran a promotional campaign encouraging consumers to collect points from Pepsi labels to redeem prizes. One of the prizes was a fighter jet. 

An ambitious guy came up with the 7 million points and waited for Pepsi to make good on its promise. Pepsi refused, claiming the ad was a joke. The dispute ended up in court, which ruled in favor of Pepsi. Why?

Laura E. Little, a law professor at Temple University, says Pepsi’s offer was too unbelievable to support a legal case. She should know. Little, the Charles Klein Professor of Law and Government at Temple’s Beasley School of Law, is an expert on the legal regulation of humor. 

She’ll share her wisdom with the University of Rhode Island Nov. 3 during a talk for the Honor’s Colloquium, which focuses this year on The Power of Humor. The talk will start at 7 p.m. in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road, on URI’s main campus.

Those unable to attend the lecture can watch it live online at URI Live! 

Last minute party?

From Fake Science

Saving the ocean

MYSTIC AQUARIUM ON A MISSION: Bringing Awareness to Predicted Global Coral Bleaching Event The US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting another strong El Niño, resulting in the third global bleaching event since 1998. What is a Coral Bleaching Event? Coral bleaching occurs when corals become stressed as a result of warmer than normal water temperatures and excessive sunlight. This causes the corals to produce toxic compounds and expel brown algae grown within the body tissue, turning the coral an unnatural white color. As ocean temperatures rise, coral bleaching is one of the most visual indicators of thermal stress due to climate change. Limited coral bleaching is reported each year, especially during the warmer summer months when ocean temperatures rise. Global bleaching usually spans across many oceans and tends to be associated with the likes of El Niño conditions, affecting entire reef systems, not just a few individual corals. Within a few months, a coral-dominated reef can change to an algae-dominated reef as a result of a global bleaching event - a process that can take decades or longer to reverse - especially in association with other stressors like overfishing and run-off from poor land use practices. A coral's ability to recover often depends on how healthy it was before the event. How can you help?  Unfortunately, we cannot stop an El Niño event that is already in motion. However, you can take steps to minimize stressors that could further damage coral reefs and other marine life. Make a conscious effort to reduce the amount of trash you produce. Minimize your carbon footprint by driving less. Use appliances and vehicles that are energy efficient. If you are a boater, pledge to keep fuel, sewage and trash out of the water. Learn more about coral bleaching at www.GlobalCoralBleaching.org. Together, we can make a difference to protect our ocean planet.

Oddballs Like These Make Hillary’s Odds Good

In the first Democratic debate, Clinton was a politician in complete command of her gifts.

By Donald Kaul

Eight years ago in New Hampshire, when the question of Hillary Clinton’s likability came up during the Democratic presidential debate, Barack Obama said, memorably:

“You’re likable enough, Hillary.”

That condescending comment earned him the scorn among some liberals that he deserved. But it rang true, even to many Democrats.

There was something stiff and artificial about the former New York senator back then. Eventually, it cost her the nomination.

Well, it seems she’s been to charm school. The Hillary we saw in the first Democratic presidential debate was a politician in complete command of her gifts.

She had an answer for everything and for everybody. She beat back the mild attacks of her fellow Democrats almost dismissively and dodged the more determined assaults of the feral CNN interrogators. 

She saved her best for her Republican foes, excoriating them for their hypocrisy in bleating about big government while attempting to use that government to control our lives.

Who inspires you?

On Leaders and Demagogues

By Robert Reich

Among the current crop of candidates for president of the United States, who exhibits leadership and who doesn’t?

Leadership isn’t just the ability to attract followers. Otherwise some of the worst tyrants in history would be considered great leaders. They weren’t leaders; they were demagogues. There’s a difference.

A leader brings out the best in his followers. A demagogue brings out the worst. 

Leaders inspire tolerance. Demagogues incite hate.

Leaders empower the powerless; they give them voice and respect. Demagogues scapegoat the powerless; they use scapegoating as a means to fortify their power.

Leaders calm peoples’ irrational fears. Demagogues exploit them.

My list of great American leaders would include Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Frances Perkins, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lots of tricks. No treats.

For more cartoons by Tom Tomorrow, CLICK HERE

Love those beavers!

URI scientist: Beavers remove nitrogen from rivers

Ponds and slower streams created by the rodents serve as nitrogen sinks
Todd McLeish

KINGSTON, R.I. – October 26, 2015 -- A research team from the University of Rhode Island has found that beavers help prevent harmful levels of nitrogen from reaching vulnerable estuaries. 

By creating ponds that slow down the movement of rivers and streams, the animals aid in removing nitrogen from the water.

According to URI Professor Arthur Gold, who led the study published last week in the Journal of Environmental Quality, nitrogen levels have been increasing in Northeast waters for years. 

The use of nitrogen fertilizers has risen and urbanization has brought in influences from septic systems. This nitrogen is released into small streams and ponds and eventually travels to estuaries, where rivers meet the sea. 

High levels of nitrogen in these water bodies stimulate algae blooms, and as the algae die and decompose, oxygen is consumed from bottom waters, creating low oxygen levels that can lead to fish kills. 

Don’t Let Them Blind You with Their Science

Organic farming can be cutting-edge, too.

By Jill Richardson

When I first began researching agriculture, I had no idea how organic farming worked. I saw it as a somewhat backward yet non-toxic and desirable way to grow food.

Organic farmers didn’t use fertilizer, I figured, so maybe the plants would be smaller. And they didn’t use pesticides, so I’d have to settle for some damage to my food — and I’d pay more for the privilege.

As for the people who thought organic agriculture produced better, healthier food than conventional farming, I figured they were nuts. That sounded like magical thinking to me. Did organic farmers grow food using fairies and rainbows?

The notion that organic farming is at odds with modern science is an attitude I’ve heard repeated many times, even by organic activists. “We just need to go back and grow food how we used to,” they’ll say.

Today, I fundamentally disagree. Organic agriculture is best achieved using cutting-edge science and technology.

Obama’s Unholy Trade Policy

There's a reason Pope Francis has condemned "free trade" pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

By Manuel Perez-Rocha

Pope Francis waxed radical on several big issues in his speech to Congress last September. He condemned the arms trade, called for climate action, and challenged lawmakers to protect the most vulnerable among us.

It was wonderful. But for some reason, there was one looming issue Francis chose not to confront: the Obama administration’s corporate-friendly trade agenda.

I wish he had.

Just weeks after the pope’s historic visit, the United States and 11 other countries announced an “agreement in principle” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP — a huge “free trade” pact that could undermine crucial labor and environmental protections in countries making up 40 percent of the world’s economy.

The Vatican’s thinking on the matter is no secret.

When the pope visited Bolivia in July, he delivered an unmistakable invective against economic policies that exploit the world’s poor. “Neocolonialism,” Francis said, “takes on different faces” — including “some treaties named as ‘free trade.'”