The award-winning professor who celebrates October 7 in his classroom. The post Hamas Loyalist Professor: Jeffrey McCully at Moraine Valley Community College appeared first on Frontpage Mag.

Why everything is woke and everything is the same. The post The Woke Culture Factory appeared first on Frontpage Mag.

The horrors of China’s Cultural Revolution are an urgent warning to us. The post Communist Cannibals appeared first on Frontpage Mag.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is attempting to restrict what her former special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, can tell congressional investigators in Washington this week about the Georgia 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies. On Monday, the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee released an October 11 letter from Willis stating her office told Wade, who left the RICO case earlier this year after a romance between him and the DA was revealed, about certain restrictions it wanted to place on his closed-door testimony. Willis wrote that Wade has been informed her office was asserting “all legal protections and privileges related to information that he possesses about ongoing criminal prosecutions” and he was “instructed not to answer any questions that seek to solicit information about his role or underlying evidence” in the case. To Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Willis said, “I am concerned that your demand for Mr. Wade’s testimony would force him to improperly divulge confidential information that is protected.” She also raised concerns about Wade being pressed to violate State Bar of Georgia rules governing the conduct of attorneys. pic.twitter.com/u67WiZh9oj — House Judiciary GOP ?????? (@JudiciaryGOP) October 14, 2024 Jordan and his panel wants testimony from Wade concerning his relationship with Willis. Wade left the high-profile case in March after a judge gave him and Willis an ultimatum for one of them to step down for the prosecution to continue, citing the “appearance of impropriety.” MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28 In an odd twist last month, the judiciary panel said it asked the U.S. Marshals to help locate Wade after issuing him a subpoena following his failure to appear for a previously-scheduled hearing, according to local NBC affiliate 11Alive. Ultimately Wade agreed to appear for a hearing, which is set for Tuesday, while his lawyer reportedly bemoaned the “vitriol and anger” his client was facing. The House Judiciary GOP account on X posted a copy of the October 11 letter it received from Willis, as well as one she sent to Wade with directions not to speak about his role in the 2020 election case. “FANI WILLIS demands NATHAN WADE not answer questions at his deposition tomorrow before the Judiciary Committee,” the account said. “What is she trying to hide?” Willis and Jordan clashed earlier this year over another subpoena from the judiciary panel demanding the district attorney provide records about the potential misuse of federal funds weeks before the worker was fired. Willis rejected suggestions of wrongdoing, but said she was cooperating. Trump, who is running for the presidency again, has pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case. A challenge over the judge’s decision that allowed Willis to stay on the case when Wade stepped down assured a trial would not start before Election Day like the district attorney reportedly wanted. Some of the charges have been tossed out at different junctures this year. The former president is also fighting charges in other cases.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Pruning trees is necessary to keep them healthy, but like most important thing in life, timing is critical. Trimming at the wrong moment can cause stress, disease, and even death for trees. Knowing when not to prune is critical to ensuring that they grow for years to come. Pruning during extreme weather: a risky move Pruning during summer heatwaves or extreme winter cold is harmful. Extreme heat, according to Ken Wickham, an ISA-certified arborist with Joshua Tree Experts, may elevate a tree’s stress, making it more susceptible to pests and diseases. “Pruning in excessive heat can place additional stress on an already stressed tree,” he explains. Similarly, winter trimming, particularly during periods of intense cold, can be hazardous. Frost can permeate pruning cuts, causing dieback or weakening of the tree. According to Lisa Tadewaldt, founder of Urban Forest Pro, “If you prune too far into winter or in the heat of summer, the tree can react negatively and die back or die completely.” While trees are normally dormant in the winter, it is still critical to avoid trimming during excessive cold. Why spring isn’t always ideal Springtime may seem like the greatest time to prune, but many experts advise against it. During the spring, trees are actively developing, expending energy to generate new leaves and shoots. Pruning can interrupt this process and produce unnecessary stress. According to Basil Camu, an ISA-certified arborist and proprietor of Leaf & Limb, “Pruning at this time can cause stress and reduce the tree’s ability to heal.”  This is also a time when trees are more vulnerable to fungal infections, which can enter new pruning wounds. Spring trimming can induce excessive sap bleeding in trees such as birch and maple, weakening them even further. Avoid late summer pruning Pruning can also be damaging throughout the late summer and early fall. Pruning during this phase interferes with trees’ ability to store energy for the winter. Scott Seargeant, an international consulting arborist, highlights this, saying, “Pruning during this time reduces a tree’s ability to make and store food for the upcoming growth season.” Furthermore, late summer trimming might stimulate new growth that will not have time to harden before winter, making it susceptible to frost damage. Exceptions for emergency and light pruning Though it’s important to avoid major pruning during these high-risk seasons, minor trimming is generally fine. Removing broken, diseased, or dead branches is possible at any time of year, especially if it is for the tree’s health or safety. So, when’s the best time to prune? Most deciduous trees do best when pruned during their dormant period, which lasts from late winter to early spring. Pruning evergreen trees is best done in late winter or early spring before new growth begins. Following these general guidelines will help your trees stay healthy and resilient.The post To prune or not to prune: expert advice for healthy tree growth first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Psilocybin, the primary component found in some hallucinogenic mushrooms, is still making waves in mental health research. As scientists look for novel treatments for depression, psilocybin is emerging as a promising contender. A recent study by Monash University researchers adds convincing evidence to the expanding body of research highlighting psilocybin’s potential for treating major mental health symptoms such as low optimism. In a landmark study, the researchers discovered that rats administered psilocybin showed enhanced optimism and were more motivated to perform reward-related tasks. If these effects are replicated in humans, psilocybin could be an effective treatment for one of the primary symptoms of depression. “These exciting results show the mechanisms of how psilocybin may work to increase optimism in an animal model, which we hope may translate to humans as well,” said Professor Jakob Hohwy, co-senior author of the study and a professor at the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies (M3CS). Understanding the science behind psilocybin The researchers used a computational model to look into how psilocybin influences the brain’s information-processing systems. According to information processing theory, the brain functions like a computer, accepting input, processing it, and giving an output. Scientists seek to adapt treatments for psychiatric diseases, including depression, by studying how psilocybin affects certain parameters in this model. The study, published in Translational Psychiatry, comprised giving a single dosage of psilocybin (1.5 mg/kg) or saline to rats aged eight to nine weeks old. The rats were next assessed in a reversal-learning task, which required them to adapt to shifting reward-stimulus connections across 14 consecutive sessions. This exercise assesses cognitive flexibility, which is commonly hindered in those suffering from depression. Optimism bias and cognitive flexibility: key findings One of the study’s most noteworthy findings was that psilocybin increased rats’ optimism by encouraging more involvement with their surroundings. The rats administered psilocybin tended to achieve more rewards during the task than the control group, and they remained motivated throughout the experiment. In contrast, the control group engaged in fewer frequent tasks and spent considerably more time in their cages, indicating a withdrawal from reward-seeking behavior. These findings are consistent with what experts refer to as “optimism bias”—the propensity to overestimate the frequency of favorable events while underestimating negative outcomes. The psilocybin-treated rats demonstrated this tendency by “forgetting” more about previous unfavorable outcomes after obtaining a reward, implying that the medication may help lessen loss aversion, which frequently affects people suffering from depression. “Rats given psilocybin had more losses than the control group but still engaged more with the task, meaning they were less deterred from engaging despite the possibility of a loss,” the study’s authors wrote. This decrease in loss aversion could be essential to understanding how psilocybin restores optimism in people suffering from depression. Future directions in psilocybin research While the study provides fascinating insights, more research is needed to see whether these benefits can be repeated in humans. The potential for psilocybin to treat key symptoms of depression, such as apathy and decreased optimism, is quite promising, but the path to human use is still in its early stages. “Insights into the mechanisms of psilocybin allow us to unpack who may benefit from psychedelic therapies as well as who these treatments may not be beneficial for,” said Beth Fisher, who led the study with Hohwy. “With many people around the world affected by depression, our ultimate goal is to help build an understanding of how psilocybin might be used to treat core symptoms people experience.” The researchers’ next step will be to perform human trials to see if psilocybin may safely and successfully promote optimism in those suffering from depression. If the findings apply to humans, psilocybin could be a powerful new tool for treating a mental health crisis that affects millions across the world. Source study: Translational Psychiatry—Psilocybin increases optimistic engagement over time: computational modeling of behavior in ratsThe post Psilocybin shows yet another anti-depressive benefit: boosting optimism first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

The disrespect to UConn is REAL

During Trump's presidency, CNN promoted itself as the "Facts First" network that was all about transparency and accountability. But one defamation suit later, CNN's lawyers are redacting from public view any mention of its company journalism standards. Associate Editor Nick Fondacaro offers his latest reporting on the Zachary Young lawsuit. CNN's lawyers didn't care if would look funny if they hid all their journalism standards from the public. It's not "Facts First," it's "Redacts First." Today, Nick published a new piece on how The New York Times published an article critical of the salmon industry in Chile. Not exactly a top story for Americans. But it's the latest exhibit in how "mainstream" media cooperate with progressive activists who were freelancing while funded by something called the "Earth Journalism Network," which is all about the climate "crisis." CBS struggled with internal campaigning against morning host Tony Dokoupil for suggesting leftist author Ta-Nehisi Coates might find his anti-Israel screed in the backpack of an extremist. Then Coates gave an interview to Trevor Noah where he energetically imagined how if he had been raised in Gaza, he might be able to consider participating in the slaughter of innocent Israeli civilians (and a few Americans) on October 7.  Then, on ABC's The View -- Nick's most regular and most nauseating beat -- Whoopi Goldberg announced a "correction" of Rosie Perez, that when Ronald Reagan said "tear down this wall," it was about Germany, not Russia! Sunny Hostin blamed the press for Harris still being tied with Trump, because "Kamala Harris has been running a flawless campaign." Really? Last week, Hostin asked Harris if she would do anything differently than Biden. Harris said “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” At least her colleague Sarah Haines said that was a flawed answer.  Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.   

The quest for longevity is as old as human history itself. Who doesn’t want to live a long, vibrant life, free of illness and full of vitality? For the past two decades, people around the world have bought books, watched documentaries, and enrolled in wellness programs sold by the man they're convinced holds the key to postponing mortality.'The shared characterization of blue zones seems to be poverty, a poor lifestyle, and pressure to commit pension fraud.'He's Dan Buettner, the National Geographic explorer who's claimed to have found the fountain of youth in far-flung "Blue Zones" — places like Okinawa, Japan, and Loma Linda, California — boasting greater-than-average populations of people who live to be 100 and beyond.By popularizing and packaging this concept under his own brand, Buettner has turned these Blue Zones into a veritable fountain of money.However, there’s just one problem with Blue Zones, and it’s a rather big one. The entire concept is built on questionable claims and even more questionable research.Blue Zones or BS?Dr. Saul Newman, a no-nonsense data scientist, enjoys nothing more than tearing down the myth of Blue Zones, exposing them as little more than a glorified wellness scam. The acerbic academic's takedown is far more compelling than Buettner's feel-good narrative. Newman’s work, which recently earned him an Ig Nobel — an award given for research that first makes people laugh and then think — delivers a clear-eyed critique, highlighting the many problems with Buettner's baby.Newman tells Align that these zones are directly “linked to lifestyle ideas that do not resemble the lived experience or dietary intake of people who actually live there. The shared characterization of Blue Zones seems to be poverty, a poor lifestyle, and pressure to commit pension fraud.”Fake agesNewman points out the glaring statistical inconsistencies that Buettner conveniently glosses over. For starters, in Okinawa, one of Buettner's poster-child regions, authorities have uncovered rampant abuse of the pension system. Many of the supposed centenarians were either dead or had faked their ages to cash in on benefits. When these fraudulent records were corrected, the number of centenarians plummeted. Similarly, in Ikaria, Greece, another so-called Blue Zone, investigations into pension fraud revealed that, surprise, many “centenarians” were nowhere to be found. In Costa Rica, meanwhile, Newman notes that "42% of centenarians were found to be lying about their age. Once corrections were made, Costa Rica’s old-age life expectancy plummeted from world-leading to near the bottom of the pack.”You really can’t make this up. Unless you’re Buettner, of course.But it gets worse.Okinawa, far from being a land of longevity miracles, now has the highest obesity rate for young people in Japan, along with elevated mortality rates among middle-aged residents. So much for that magical diet of tofu and fish keeping everyone spry well into their golden years.Buettner’s Blue Zones don’t even boast the longest lifespans in their respective countries. There are regions in Japan and Italy that far surpass Okinawa and Sardinia in terms of average life expectancy.Plant-based put-onNewman's critique doesn’t stop at just exposing fraudulent records and statistical misdirection. He also targets Buettner’s entire methodology, which is, at best, sloppy and, at worst, deliberately misleading. Take Buettner's "revolutionary" Power 9, little more than a recycled wellness checklist, cloaked in the mystique of exotic locales and clever branding. His approach, while dressed up as innovative, merely parrots well-known health tips. None of these ideas are new. Some are downright silly. He advocates for a plant-based diet. Recent research suggests that plant-based diets may in fact harm rather than help long-term health. Veganism, the most extreme form of plant-based living (or dying), is linked to serious health risks, including nervous system damage, skeletal and immune dysfunction, blood disorders, and mental health issues — all stemming from critical micro and macronutrient deficiencies. Many plant-based foods, including popular meat-free alternatives like sausages, burgers, and nuggets, are often marketed as healthy options, yet they fall into the category of ultra-processed foods.Drinking and thriving?Buettner regularly promotes daily alcohol consumption as part of his longevity blueprint. But according to Newman, “There’s no amount of drinking that’s actually good for you.” He’s right; there’s not. In other words, if your health strategy involves drinking a glass of wine every night because some centenarian in Sardinia supposedly does it, you might want to rethink things. Buettner’s success isn’t due to the scientific validity of his ideas but rather their sheer marketability. People love the notion of ancient, hidden wisdom that unlocks the secret to a long, healthy life. Buettner has masterfully tapped into our fear of death, turning Blue Zones into a lucrative empire that now even sells citywide "community" health programs. Quite an achievement, considering the whole concept is based more on fiction than fact.Back to basicsThe reality is that good health doesn’t require a passport to a Blue Zone or adherence to some mystical set of lifestyle rules. It’s pretty basic, actually: Eat well, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, spend time in nature, and stay connected with your community. These habits are backed by decades of solid research, not folklore repackaged by a car salesman with a very fine tan.However, despite being thoroughly debunked by experts like Newman, the Blue Zone charade persists, moving forward like an unkillable zombie racewalker. Singapore — a nation currently grappling with an obesity crisis — has just been declared the latest addition to the zonal family.If you're still tempted to buy into the Buettnerian fantasy, it’s important to remember that behind every self-help guru's success story lies at least one inconvenient truth. In this case, it’s that Blue Zones are a neatly packaged myth designed to sell you products, not prolong your life.As Newman puts it, "If you want good health advice, don’t buy a self-help cookbook that puts other cultures through a blender. Go talk to your doctor."Or, you know, a trusted friend. A pastor. A Haitian migrant. Literally anyone but Dan Buettner.