Video Games Can Cause Mental Health Problems
January 24th, 2011
ParentDish.com
By: Honey Birk
Although most kids don’t become addicted to video games, you may still want to keep a sharp eye on your child’s gaming habits.
A study released this week in the journal Pediatrics followed more than 3,000 elementary and middle school kids in Singapore over a two-year period, looking at the problem of obsessive, or pathological gaming, and identifing the risk factors and personal characteristics involved.
Overall, kids who become pathological gamers tend to be more impulsive, have lower social competence, are less empathic and are less able to regulate their emotions, according to the authors.
Once players became pathological gamers, their grades suffered, as did their relationships with their parents. In addition, they also began to be exposed to more violent video games, which the authors say, is a concern in light of previous studies that have linked short-term and long-term effects of violent games on aggression.
In fact, the study finds kids who began playing more violent games began to have more aggressive fantasies and engaged in more aggressive behaviors. They also were more likely to be victims of aggression, the authors say.
This study is the first to show that gaming predicts other mental health disorders and is not just associated with them. So, although kids who are depressed may retreat into gaming, the gaming increases their depression and vice versa, the authors report.
“Although children do use games as a coping mechanism, it is not simply a symptom of other problems,” the researchers write. “Youths who became pathological gamers ended up with increased levels of depression, anxiety and social phobia.”
Yet, those who stopped their pathological gaming ended up with lower levels of depression, anxiety and social phobia than did those who remained pathological gamers, according to the findings.
The researchers also note that most pathological gamers in the study were still pathological gamers after two years, which suggests pathological gaming is not just a “phase” kids go through.
Kids who become pathological gamers started out playing for an average of 31 hours per week, compared with 19 hours for those who did not. However, the amount of gaming alone was not enough to define pathological gaming, the authors note.
Click here for the full report from ParentDish.com
Court Considers Whether Ambien Sleep-Driving Counts as OUI
January 24, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
January 24th, 2011
WhitefishBayPatch.com
By: Jeff Rumage
Kelly Davis was pulled over in the middle of the night for swerving and hitting a curb, and even though she failed a sobriety test, her defense attorney says she shouldn’t be cited with operating while intoxicated.
That’s because the 22-year-old college student had taken two to three Ambien sleep-aid pills and went “sleep driving,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during a municipal trial Wednesday night.
With her sweatpants on and her cat perched on her shoulder, Davis was not on the way home from a bar or a party.
“She was in sweatpants. It was the middle of the night” when she left her apartment on the east side of Milwaukee and went sleep driving, Mastantuono said.
There was no indication Davis was doing anything recreational that evening, Mastantuono said.
Davis was cited for operating left of center and operating under the influence of a controlled substance. The citations could cost Davis up to $1,000 in fines and points off her license.
At the municipal trial, Elizabeth Miles, a village prosecutor, said Davis was in no condition to drive, and that village statutes do not broach the issue of whether she intended to drive or not.
She also said Davis took two to three times the amount of Ambien prescribed to her.
“She decided to take two, maybe three pills; two, maybe three times the prescribed dosage, and now we see what the results are,” Miles said.
Mastantuono said the medication was still within therapeutic range. He said Davis was “involuntarily intoxicated,” and since citations are aimed at deterrence, it would be inappropriate to cite someone who had no intent in the first place.
“It’s clear to me this is somebody that, yes, shouldn’t be on the road operating the vehicle, and I agree with that, but no, as to the question of whether she was acting on her own volition or decision-making,” he said.
Municipal Court Judge Paul Christensen said he will present his oral decision within 30 days.
The issue of intoxicated driving is close to the heart of Paul Jenkins, a Mequon man who was at the trial. His stepdaughter, Jennifer Bukosky, was killed in 2009 after a driver under the influence of prescription pills smashed his sports utility vehicle into the back of her vehicle at a red light in Oconomowoc.
Bukosky was pregnant at the time, and her 10-year-old daughter also died in the crash.
Jenkins has advocated for the reform of driving under the influence laws, and he said statistics show first-time offenders are more likely to cause fatal accidents.
“There’s not a whit of difference between the two (accidents),” Jenkins said. “This was a first-time offender that got lucky for herself and others that nobody was hurt.”
Click here for the full report from WhitefishBayPatch.com
FDA Probing Seizures Reported After Flu Shot
January 24th, 2011
MSNBC.com
By: Lisa Richwine
U.S. health officials are investigating a rise in reports of a type of seizure following vaccination with a Sanofi-Aventis SA flu vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.
The febrile seizures, or seizures related to a fever, have primarily been reported in children younger than 2, the FDA said in a statement on its website.
The FDA said 42 cases of febrile seizures had been reported as of Dec. 13 and it and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were investigating if they could have been caused by the vaccine, called Fluzone, or if other factors were involved, the FDA said.
Having a fever can cause a seizure in some children. About 4 percent of young children will have at least one febrile seizure in their lifetimes, the FDA said.
“In the cases reported, all children recovered and no lasting effects have been seen,” the FDA said.
An FDA spokeswoman said 36 of the cases reported to its vaccine adverse event reporting system were in babies and toddlers aged 6 months to 2 years, with 10 serious cases. She said 38 of the febrile seizures occurred within a day of getting Fluzone.
Experts stress that just because something happens soon after receiving a vaccine, it does not necessarily mean the vaccine was the cause.
The FDA spokeswoman said the vaccine surveillance system did not detect extra reports of febrile seizures after the 2009-10 seasonal flu vaccine or the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine.
The CDC recommends everyone older than 6 months get a flu vaccine annually. That recommendation has not changed, the FDA said.
The Sanofi-Aventis flu shot is the only one recommended for infants and children ages 6 months to 23 months during the current flu season.
The company said it was working with the FDA to investigate the cases.
“At this point no correlation between influenza vaccine and febrile seizures has been established. Adverse events after vaccination may be causally related to vaccine or may be coincidental,” Sanofi-Aventis said in a written statement.
The risk of severe illness from influenza is higher among young children, especially under age 2. About 9 out of 10,000 children ages 6 months to 23 months land in the hospital each season for flu-related problems, the FDA said.
Shares of the French drugmaker were up 2 cents at $34.12 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Click here for the full report from MSNBC.com
Finding Lost Money Online Works
January 24th, 2011
WalletPop.com
By: Sarah Gilbert
I don’t believe in get-rich-quick schemes. Once I hit puberty, I dismissed the idea of searching for lost treasure as a waste of time. I refuse to play the lottery. I even gave up on the tooth fairy at the tender age of six (“she’s imaginary,” I told my parents, handing them the lost teeth with the jaded eyes of a second-grader). So when I started working on a story about finding lost money online, I shook my head at the computer. “Sure, money is just out there, waiting for me.”
I started working through a list of sites to search for unclaimed assets. I started at MissingMoney.com where I searched the states I’d lived in over the past two decades; it could just be that I had a bank account I hadn’t quite settled out or a pay stub from some long-forgotten waitress job. Virginia (where I went to college and worked after business school) turned up nothing; so did Pennsylvania (business school); North Carolina (my first real job as an investment banker) and New York (Wall Street and a few years sharing a condo with an ex-boyfriend, who absolutely would not forward my mail). Many states have proprietary unclaimed cash sites and do not submit their data to MissingMoney.com or its partner site, Unclaimed.org, including my residence for the last nine years, Oregon. While I was searching Oregon’s site, I hit pay dirt.
My first success was a listing for “refunds due” at one of my old office addresses. Even though I have a common name, it was a small office and I know it had to be me. Sadly, the amounts are listed as “under/over $50″ in Oregon (in most states, it is under/over $100), and this one was under. Could it be $7.50? $49.99? I called the state.
The answer was, of course, can’t say. State and government officials won’t give any information out beyond what’s listed on the various websites, the better to keep would-be swindlers away. There is a lot I have to do to prove my identity, including filling out the “Unclaimed Property Inquiry Form” that the online search will create for you if you assert to be the Sarah Gilbert (or whomever) named. You must include a copy of your driver’s license, Social Security card and (here’s the kicker) proof you lived at the address in question. “If you know, send a copy of something that proves your connection to that asset; for instance, for a checking or savings account, send a copy of that bank statement.” For all I know, it could be a refund for a printer I purchased on behalf of the company, a receipt I probably don’t have.
What I do have, thanks to my tendency to keep far too many things in the way of receipts, pay stubs and old bills, are plenty of documents with my name and address at the old job. I asked the woman at the State of Oregon — if I have no idea what it might be, how could I send the documents? Can my claim be processed without them?
“Yes, but it is a lot easier with the documents,” she said. It will speed up matching me to the unclaimed asset, and satisfying whoever is weakly “looking” for me that I’m the rightful owner of the $4.95 or $36.72 or whatever. I wondered, if indeed I’m able to get certified as the Sarah Gilbert in question, then what?
A response to my inquiry, she said, will take 30 to 90 days; after that, the check will be in my hands “in a couple of weeks at most.” A long time for those of us used to Paypal and direct deposits; not too long for those of us who remember waiting for a tax refund a dozen years ago.
Click here for the full report from WalletPop
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 1-22-11
Today, Kevin explains how the internet is causing even more censorship than ever before and how collective thoughts are creating the future!
Self Help:
Water Filtration System
Protect Yourself
Cell Phone Protector
Video:
Bob Basso As Thomas Paine
Truth About Multi-Level Marketing
Health:
Action Alert: FDA Is Going After Vitamin C
Feds Admit Too Much Fluoride In Drinking Water
Autism Risk Higher With Second Child
More Young People Are Entering Nursing Homes
Wealth:
Big Banks To State: Stop Bugging Us About Foreclosure Documents
How To Profit From Soaring Food Demand
Government:
Government Removes Mother, Father From Passports
Media:
Actor to News Host on Arkansas Bird Death: ‘Call a Veterinarian, Not Me’
Science:
Magnetic North Pole Shifting Towards Russia
NWO:
Wife Of White House Aide Found Dead In Burning Car
Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man
Mark Twain’s Books Get Censored
Dead Birds Falling From Sky Puzzling Investigators
Dead Fish Cover 20-Miles of Arkansas River
WikiLeaks Acquires Details of Thousands of Swiss Bank Accounts
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become Kevin’s Friend on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click Below to Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 1-21-11
Today, Kevin gives you his advice on how to lower high blood pressure and what to do if you have bad body odor.
Self Help:
Weight Loss Cure
Lose A Pound A Day!
Natural Deodorant
Oral Chelation
Rid Your Body of Candida
Get The Toxins Out
Health:
The Truth Behind Genetically Modified Food
Garlic & Vinegar Miracle Cure-All!
Government:
CIA Is ‘Out Of Control’
Wealth:
Where Are The Jobs Going?
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become Kevin’s Friend on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click Below to Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 1-20-11
Today, Kevin exposes the truth behind negotiating at pawn shops and how award shows are just 100% shams.
Self Help:
Healthy Hair Dye
Stay Away From Teflon
Get Rid Of Emotion Pain
Protection From Toxins
Health:
College Kids Are Depressed
Toxic Chemical Threatens New York City Public Schools
Corruption:
WikiLeaks Exposes Pfizer’s Tactics to Cover up Deaths of Children
WikiLeaks Acquires Details of Thousands of Swiss Bank Accounts
Science:
Woolly Mammoth To Be Cloned From Frozen DNA
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become Kevin’s Friend on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click Below to Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 1-19-11
Today is your lucky day! Kevin has spent days researching and talking to experts around the world about the Iraqi Dinar. Get an insider’s look into this controversial investment. Find out if you should be jumping on the Iraqi Dinar investment bandwagon or running away from it as fast as possible!
Wealth:
Social Security Is Far Worse Than You Think
Media:
Wikileaks Has Secret Cables on Murdoch, News Corp.
Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become Kevin’s Friend on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click Below to Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!
Social Security Is in Far Worse Shape Than You Think
January 19th, 2011
Daily Finance
By: Charles Hugh Smith
For years, politicians and policymakers have reassured the American public that the Social Security system, which sends monthly checks out to 53 million beneficiaries, is safely solvent — and will be for decades to come. But federal spending and income data from the Treasury Department reveal that the Social Security program is already deep in the red, with outlays exceeding payroll tax revenues by $76 billion in 2010 alone.
This stunning shortfall calls into question the rosy fiscal forecasts made by the Social Security Administration (SSA) about the program’s future solvency.
The annual report of the Social Security Trustees, published in August 2010, forecast that the primary Social Security program, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (OASI), would not exceed its tax receipts until 2018. Unfortunately, it happened in fiscal 2010, which ended in October. That year’s outlays for the OASI fund were about $580 billion, while receipts came to only $540 billion — a whopping $40 billion shortfall.
Add in the deficit from the second Social Security fund, Disability Insurance (DI), and the gap between total SSA outlays ($707 billion in 2010, according to the Treasury) and tax receipts ($631 billion) grows to $76 billion — more than 10% of the program’s expenses.
Short-Term Estimates Were Way Off the Mark
The SSA trustees had estimated a $41 billion deficit (excluding interest income), but the final deficit came to $76 billion — almost twice what they had guessed. Just as troubling, their estimate for total SSA income in 2010 (which included both Social Security payroll taxes and interest paid by the Treasury on the Social Security Trust Funds) was $791 billion — a number that overshot the actual total income of $741 billion (tax receipts of $631 billion plus interest income of about $110 billion) by $50 billion.
That the trustees could miss estimates only a few months into the future by such huge margins calls into question the accuracy of their long-term projections, which are stated in the report:
“Social Security expenditures are expected to exceed tax receipts this year for the first time since 1983. The projected deficit of $41 billion this year (excluding interest income) is attributable to the recession. This deficit is expected to shrink substantially for 2011 and to return to small surpluses for years 2012-2014 due to the improving economy. After 2014 deficits are expected to grow rapidly as the baby boom generation’s retirement causes the number of beneficiaries to grow substantially more rapidly than the number of covered workers. The annual deficits will be made up by redeeming trust fund assets in amounts less than interest earnings through 2024, and then by redeeming trust fund assets until reserves are exhausted in 2037.”
SSA’s estimate for total income in 2011 is $855 billion — fully $114 billion more than the program’s actual income in 2010 ($741 billion). With employment stagnant, is a 15% jump in payroll taxes remotely plausible?
Click here for the full report from Daily Finance
WikiLeaks Has Secret Cables on Murdoch & News Corp.
January 19, 2011 by Andrew
Filed under Government
January 19th, 2011
AOL News
By: Theunis Bates
Not content with riling the U.S. government and military, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange warns that he has a stash of potentially damaging secret documents on the world’s most powerful media mogul: Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.
In an interview in this week’s issue of Britain’s left-leaning New Statesman magazine — carried out by veteran war journalist and outspoken Assange supporter, John Pilger — the anti-secrecy campaigner said he had “504 U.S. embassy cables on one broadcasting organization” and “cables on Murdoch and News Corp.,” his multinational media company.
Assange didn’t specify what might be in the documents, but said they were part of an “insurance” package that would be released “if something happens to me or to WikiLeaks.”
Assange is fighting an attempt to extradite him from the U.K. to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sex crimes allegations. The WikiLeaks boss has denied the accusations, and his lawyers argue that their client could be handed over to U.S. authorities after arriving in Sweden. Once in American custody, they claim, Assange could be imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, or even sentenced to death.
The 39-year-old Australian has already attempted to deter the U.S. from taking such a step by making a digitally locked “insurance” file available to anybody who wants to download it. In the event of anything ill happening to Assange or his website, a code would be released that would open the presumably damaging files. His British lawyer, Mark Stephens, has previously referred to the batch of documents as a “thermonuclear device” for the “electronic age.”
That information bomb is primarily intended to scare off U.S. authorities who have been angered by WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of secret diplomatic and military papers, but Assange might also be using it to settle some personal grudges. Murdoch’s Fox News is one of his fiercest critics, and WikiLeaks noted in a press release earlier this week that one of the station’s commentators — Bob Beckel — had called for people to “illegally shoot the son of a bitch [Assange].” Assange said that public figures who make such inflammatory statements “should be charged with incitement to murder.”
Click here for the full report from AOL News
