Signing up for a genetic test to learn about your ancestry could also hand you a crystal ball to foretell your future. But it may be information you’d rather not know.
The test can indicate if you carry what geneticists call, “doomsday genes.” Are you predisposed to late-onset Alzheimer’s? Prone to the progressive muscular deterioration of Parkinson’s? Or, if you’re a woman, do you carry the BRCA gene, often a precursor of breast and ovarian cancer?
Genetic testing has been available at doctors’ offices and hospitals for almost 20 years. But now it’s as simple as purchasing a kit from a “personal genomics and biotechnology company” such as 23andMe for $199 and mailing back your cotton cheek swab in the enclosed wrapper. These kits are frequently advertised on TV and are extremely popular.
Knowing your ancestry, be it African, Asian, European or Native American, is one thing. But learning early about future disabling diseases is another. Those who provide their sputum — and more than 2 million people do — can get ahead of the curve and buy life insurance if the results show the future looks short. Or they can obtain long-term care (LTC) insurance if it’s likely they’ll spend their final years in a nursing home, where annual costs now average nearly $100,000.”
01) Humanism and the Challenge of Race: with Dr. Anthony Pinn (TTA Podcast 367)
“Dr. Anthony Pinn is a Harvard-educated author, professor, and expert on theology and religious studies. He speaks with Seth Andrews about atheism and humanism, race in relation to (and beyond) the church, black religious history, and the challenges and opportunities of Humanism in the 21st Century.
01) New Survey Shows Young People Are Staying Liberal and Conservatives Are Dying Off
“For obvious reasons, the broadly liberal demographic trends in American politics have received much less attention since the 2016 election. Yet the fact remains that America is politically sorted by generations in a way it never has before. The oldest voters are the most conservative, white, and Republican, and the youngest voters the most liberal, racially diverse, and Democratic. There is absolutely no sign the dynamic is abating during the Trump years. If anything, it is accelerating.
The most recent Pew Research Survey has more detail about the generational divide. It shows that the old saw that young people would naturally grow more conservative as they age, or that their Democratic loyalties were an idiosyncratic response to Barack Obama’s unique personal appeal, has not held. Younger voters have distinctly more liberal views than older voters.”
Two former staffers at InfoWars have accused founder and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of discrimination and sexual harassment, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday. Jones allegedly bullied staffers, made anti-Semitic and racist comments, and groped one worker, according to two Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints obtained by the publication.
Rob Jacobson, a former video editor who worked for the site for 13 years, alleges his co-workers and managers called him The Jewish Individual and The Resident Jew, and that Jones regularly humiliated and belittled him. As the Mail reports, The abuse got so bad that one member of staff photo shopped Jacobson’s face on to the image of an Orthodox Jew under the words THE JEWISH INDIVIDUAL DEMANDS YOUR HOT TOPICS and printed it out for all to see. Jacobson, who was eventually fired, is planning to sue Jones for discrimination, harassment, and unfair dismissal, in addition to his EEOC complaint.”
01) Twitter launches another bid to tackle bots and abuse after years of promises
“Dorsey suggested that the health of conversations could be measured using indicators developed by the media analytics firm Cortico, which include: shared attention (is there overlap in what we are talking about?), shared reality (are we using the same facts?), variety of opinion (are we exposed to different opinions grounded in shared reality?) and receptivity (are we open, civil and listening to different opinions?).
“We don’t yet know if those are the right indicators of conversation health for Twitter,” Dorsey noted, inviting others to submit proposals for how the company could reduce the toxicity on its platform.”
I don’t know what the solution is…other than people who use online services, deciding to be humane and decent towards others…
No matter where you go, or what you do…there are always those people out there, who make it their aim to abuse you…or even screw you over for their own satisfaction.
“Ex- Musical Director and ‘Angel’ tells of her experiences during the tours with Corey Feldman. Please give her story your undivided attention. Not just Margot, but many other individuals endured horrible conditions and received very little in return. Her story is just the atrocities perpetrated against one individual. Corey Feldman continues to be a menace to our entire society and this needs to stop.”
02) Corey’s Angel, ex-bassist Mara Moon Speaks Out!! Exclusive.
” I did NOT leave the tour because I was in fear of my life from outside people. My safety and health were jeopardized by my employer, Corey Feldman practically every day I was on tour. I was not comfortable with what I was being asked to be a party to and it did not sit well with me. From the onset, Corey had expressed to everyone on tour that he was going to start a campaign in order to generate some funds. This was not a spur of the moment afterthought when the tour fell apart. He had this in mind from about October 14 in Reno, NV. To be honest, I did not have a full understanding of what he was doing but in my gut, it did not sit well. It felt dishonest and I didn’t like being asked to be part of it. At that time, I expressed my concerns that, logically, reasonably, that if he felt he needed additional security because that was his reason for needing to start this fundraising campaign, than what kind of danger did that present for myself? I was met with indifference because as was stated to me by Corey, “you’re not in danger. You aren’t a household name”. The verbal abuse and condescension was ongoing. On one occasion, I had lost pieces to my Lolita costume and was forced through being yelled at to find pieces in a lost and found of undergarments. I was yelled at to “just wear them” and had them thrown at me when clearly they were soiled with either menstrual or fecal matter. My safety both physically and mentally were constantly under assault. I was met with that tone, as though I was collateral damage or that I should be grateful for this opportunity whenever I brought any concerns about circumstances or conditions during the tour. I felt like I had my hopes and dreams held over my head.
[…]
The tour was a very unstable and unsettling experience. I was subjected to domestic altercations between Corey, Courtney and Darci, “their girlfriend”. They were violent in the sense that there was loud yelling, arguing, door slamming and it was all fuelled by drugs. Yes, there were drugs. I have a hard time reconciling Corey putting forth a drug free image when in fact, THEY were arrested for drugs being in the RV we were travelling in. Again, by contract, I was guaranteed a drug free environment. I have a reasonable expectation of such. Corey tried to silence me with an NDA knowing full well he was not honest about his lifestyle to me upfront. This is so low considering how many concessions on my life and safety he asked me to make, without notice. I had to rent a car because the driver that was hired was driving erratically and I had gotten hurt. The sleeping arrangements in this RV were less than ideal for a group of adults. With all the trauma and chaos, I eventually couldn’t drive and had to have a friend fly into Texas to drive me back to L.A to get my belongings and then back home to Ohio. “
According to some…Corey Feldman is a horror to deal with, in real life.
01) Study: A Lot of Teens Are Sexting. Too Many Teens Are Sending Unsolicited Sexts.
“… a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics finally gives us a clearer picture of what’s happening. A team led by researchers from the University of Calgary performed a meta-analysis of past major studies on sexting, and the group concluded that about 1 in 7 people under the age of 18 have sent a sext, and about an entire quarter of the teen population has received one. It also notes that about 1 in 8 report sharing a sext without the sender’s consent or having their own sext shared without consent.
“A sizable number of teens are engaging in sexting,” Sheri Madigan, an assistant professor of child development psychology at the University of Calgary and lead author on the study, tells Mother Jones. “It is becoming a normative component of teen sexual behavior and development.”
Their analysis surveyed 39 independent studies conducted between 2009 and 2016, which in total include more than 110,000 participants.
In addition to pinpointing its prevalence among teens, the team found that sexting has, unsurprisingly, become more frequent in recent years and that older teens are more likely to sext than younger ones. Beginning in 2009, the number of teens who have sent a sext has increased by an average of 2.6 percent each year—and with each year a kid ages (between 12 and 17), the popularity of sending a sext increases, on average, by 3.7 percent, according to data Madigan shared with Mother Jones.”
“Digital sexuality”?…I like that.
I agree with this article…this should be part of sex education.
…And forty percent of all teens are sexually active, is believable…It’s likely way higher, if you include private masturbation.
It seems the worst problem with sexting culture, is one of privacy respect.
…It also appears that many of these teens are so enthusiastic about sending a sext, that they don’t bother getting the recipients consent prior to the sext…
…a clear sign of people starving for sexual attention, if you ask me.
01) Waking Up with Sam Harris # 118 – The View From Trumpistan (with Preet Bharara)
“In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Preet Bharara about President Trump and the Russia investigation.
Preet Bharara is an American lawyer who served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. His office prosecuted cases involving terrorism, narcotics and arms trafficking, financial and healthcare fraud, cybercrime, public corruption, gang violence, organized crime, and civil rights violations. In 2012, Bharara was featured on TIME‘s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” On April 1, 2017, Bharara joined the NYU School of Law faculty as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence. He is Executive Vice President at Some Spider Studios where he hosts a podcast, Stay Tuned, focused on questions of justice and fairness.
01) DNA Testing Could Kill Insurance Industry
