But not in January

How 'Dry January' is the secret to better sleep, saving money and losing weight

University of Sussex

New research from the University of Sussex shows that taking part in Dry January -- abstaining from booze for a month -- sees people regaining control of their drinking, having more energy, better skin and losing weight. 

They also report drinking less months later.

The research, led by Sussex psychologist Dr Richard de Visser, was conducted with over 800 people who took part in Dry January in 2018. 

The results show that Dry January participants are still drinking less in August. They reported that:

Moderate drinking not harmful for older patients with heart failure, study suggests

Patients should check with doctors, but daily glass of wine doesn't appear harmful

Washington University School of Medicine

A new study suggests that people over age 65 who are newly diagnosed with heart failure can continue to drink moderate amounts of alcohol without worsening their condition.

The study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, showed a survival benefit for moderate drinkers compared with those who abstained from alcohol. 

On average, survival for moderate drinkers was just over a year longer than abstainers, a difference that was statistically significant. 

However, the findings do not suggest that nondrinkers should start imbibing after a heart failure diagnosis, the researchers emphasized.

Children abused in Trump prison camps

Prosecutors Mull 'Assault' Charges After Videos Show Children Being Dragged and Hit at Arizona Immigration Detention Center

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams

Maricopa County prosecutors in Arizona are considering potential criminal charges after reviewing footage of children being dragged, hit, and shoved by staff members at a detention center near Phoenix.

On Monday, the prosecutors received a report documenting an investigation into the alleged abuse after videos, first published by the Arizona Republic, provoked outrage.

Released to the public over the weekend, the footage showed at least three children being dragged and shoved by staff members at Hacienda del Sol in Youngtown in mid-September, a month before the detention center was closed.

One video showed a staff member pulling a child into a room and then shoving and hitting the child, while other videos showed staffers dragging two other children.

We should all unite behind this

America’s New Year’s Resolution: Remove Trump

By Robert Reich

After his first bizarre year, his apologists told us he was growing into the job and that in his second year he’d be more restrained and respectful of democratic institutions.

Wrong. He’s been worse.

Exhibit one: the “Wall.” After torpedoing Mitch McConnell’s temporary spending deal to avert a shutdown, he’s holding hostage over 800,000 government employees (“mostly Democrats,” he calls them, disparagingly) while subjecting the rest of America to untoward dangers.

On-site inspections at power plants have been halted. Hazardous waste cleanup efforts at Superfund sites are on hold. Reviews of toxic substances and pesticides have been stopped. Justice Department cases are in limbo.

Meanwhile, now working without pay are thousands of air traffic controllers and aviation and railroad safety inspectors, nearly 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents, 42,000 Coast Guard employees, 53,000 TSA agents, 17,000 correctional officers, 14,000 FBI agents, 4,000 Drug Enforcement Administration agents, and some 5,000 firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service.

Economic forecast for 2019

For more cartoons by Brian McFadden, CLICK HERE.

How do you get Trump to change a lightbulb?

Leaving Facebook, for a price

Real-life auctions reveal consistent value for users that exceeds Facebook market value

Tufts University, Health Sciences Campus

How valuable is Facebook to its users, and how can you measure the value of the site when access is free? 

Three economists and a social media researcher pooled their work and expertise to assess Facebook's value to its users, in contrast to its market value or its contribution to gross domestic product.

Using a series of auctions -- in which people were actually paid to close their accounts for as little as one day or as long as one year -- the researchers found that Facebook users would require an average of more than $1,000 to deactivate their account for one year. The study is published in PLOS ONE.

Facebook, with more than two billion global users, is among the social media websites that provide access at no cost, so the auctions created by the research team posed the question in reverse: What amount of money would you require to give up your Facebook account for some fixed period of time, ranging from one day to one year?

Mortality rates rising for Gens X and Y, too

Reduced US life expectancy is not just the Baby Boomers

Duke University

Declining life expectancies in the U.S. include Gen X and Y Americans, in addition to the older Baby Boomers. But the causes of premature mortality vary by race, gender and ethnicity, according to a new study from Duke University.

"We identified late-Gen X (38- to 45-year-olds) and early-Gen Y (27- to 37-year-olds) as age cohorts with elevated mortality patterns, particularly for non-Hispanic whites, said study co-author Emma Zang, a Ph.D. candidate at the Sanford School of Public Policy. 

"That is in addition to the rise among the already much-discussed Baby Boomer generation."

Trump lies about dead children

"No empathy. No compassion. No sorrow. No regret. He doesn't even pretend to care about the death of two innocent kids."

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams

In his first public comments on the deaths of seven-year-old Jakelin Caal and eight-year-old Felipe Gómez Alonzo in U.S. Border Patrol custody, President Donald Trump on Saturday falsely blamed the Democratic Party and Caal's father—rather than his own inhumane anti-immigrant policy agenda—in an attempt to score political points amid the ongoing government shutdown.

"Any deaths of children or others at the border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can't. If we had a Wall, they wouldn't even try!" Trump wrote. 

"The two children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn't given her water in days."

"If you ever wondered how a person without a heart would act and speak," Trita Parsi, founder of the National Iranian American Council, wrote in response to Trump's comments.

In addition to condemning the president's tweets as an "absolutely disgusting" display of immorality, commentators were also quick to note the total lack of accuracy of Trump's outburst, which came as the government shutdown appears set to continue into January with no end in sight.

Happy New Year, Donald

Welcome in 2019

Pine needles from Christmas trees could be turned into paint and food sweeteners

New process could lead to reduction in carbon footprints

University of Sheffield

Abandoned Christmas trees could be saved from landfill and turned into paint and food sweeteners according to new research by the University of Sheffield.

Christmas trees have hundreds of thousands of pine needles which take a long time to decompose compared to other tree leaves. 

When they rot, they emit huge quantities of greenhouse gases which then contribute to the carbon footprint of the UK.

Cynthia Kartey, a PhD student from the University of Sheffield's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, has found that useful products can be made from the chemicals extracted from pine needles when processed.

The major component (up to 85 per cent) of pine needles is a complex polymer known as lignocellulose. The complexity of this polymer makes using pine needles as a product for biomass energy unattractive and useless to most industrial processes.

It's not too late to get your damned flu shot!

Trying to get people to agree? Skip the French restaurant and go out for Chinese food

Why sharing a plate leads to better negotiation outcomes

University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Here's a new negotiating tactic: enjoy a family-style meal with your counterpart before making your opening bid.

When people in a business negotiation share not just a meal but a plate, they collaborate better and reach deals faster, according to new research from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

In the study, "Shared Plates, Shared Minds: Consuming from a Shared Plate Promotes Cooperation," forthcoming in Psychological Science, Chicago Booth Professor Ayelet Fishbach and Cornell University's Kaitlin Woolley, a Booth PhD student at the time of the research, asked: could the way a meal is served and consumed boost cooperation?

Sharing plates is customary in Chinese and Indian cultures, among others. Because the custom requires people to coordinate their physical actions, it might in turn prompt them to coordinate their negotiations.

Save the Post Office

DON’T LET THEM TAKE YOUR POST OFFICE AWAY

By Jim Hightower 

This spring, President Trump created an inter-agency federal task force to propose structural reforms in the U.S. Postal Service.

In only two months, the task force (comprised entirely of top Trump officials) zapped out a down-and-dirty report with this key recommendation: “Prepare [USPS] for future conversion from a government agency into a privately-held corporation.”

Privatization! Are they not aware that our public postal agency is enormously popular and important to… well, to the public?

A February Pew Research poll finds that an astonishing 88 percent of Americans give the Postal Service a thumbs up. 

Even the president’s executive order setting up the task force conceded that the post office “is regularly cited as the Federal agency with the highest public approval rating.”