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This article really doesn’t tell me much about dogs.
“The dogs given oxytocin were better able to complete simple tasks than those given a simple saline spray, the researchers found.”
The big news for me is this hormone oxytocin. The article says it’s linked to bonding in humans. This suggests to me that it may play a role in why some individuals, perhaps some populations, are more prone to monogamy and others to promiscuity. And there may possibly be ways to encourage the more desirable trait.
There is a fascinating article at Wikipedia linking this stuff to all sorts of desirable traits in humans. The downside is that it seems to promote affinity for in-groups vs. out-groups, as people display for example in racism and xenophobia.
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Ken Jacobs: Americans are spending $153 billion a year to subsidize low wage workers Michael R. Strain: No, food stamps aren’t subsidies for McDonald’s and Wal-Mart
These are both good pieces.
Strain’s is better.
I think the minimum wage debate needs to be informed by Jacobs’ facts. Even in what I’ve heard lately on the radio, it’s not, as yet, even on the part of some pretty well-informed people. On the other hand, I am not of a mind to villainize any one industry; or any industry at all.
The demonstrators who demand $15 an hour seem to me not to know what they’re asking for. $15 an hour is my goal, my career goal.
I note the current deafening silence from all elected officials and candidates concerning the creation of living-wage jobs.
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Jondrew Megil Lachaux and Kellie Cherie Phillips:[1][2] 2015-04-04 – Police seek couple in probe of death, injury of children 2015-04-10 – Man, woman arrested after corpse, severely abused kids found Mitchelle Blair:[1][2] 2015-03-24 – Detroit mother arrested over children’s bodies in freezer 2015-03-26 – Filing: Teen says mom killed her siblings found in freezer 2015-03-27 – Autopsies determine children found in freezer were slain The autopsy results are the only news in the third article. 2015-04-08 – Mom of 2 kids found in freezer removed after court outburst Provides details about the children’s fathers. The state is seeking to remove all parental rights. Dainesha Stevens:[1][2] 2015-03-27 – Mom of toddler found dead in backpack in creek pleads guilty 2015-03-30 – Man charged in death of toddler found in backpack in creek This case was mentioned in a previous post. Still unexplained is why she left Maryland. Jerice Hunter:[1] 2015-03-25 – Prosecutor: Mom of missing 5-year-old treated her like trash Giseleangelique Rene D’Milian:[1][2] 2015-03-26 – Police in California make arrests in death of weeks-old baby 2018-01-09 – Woman sentenced for killing abducted baby in bizarre plot Paul Trapani and Melissa Trapani: 2015-03-26 – Officials: Children Found In Deplorable Conditions “Six children and their parents were living inside. Documents state the oldest four kids had flea bites and the youngest two — a 5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl — were found naked, locked in a bedroom. *** The children were taken to a hospital for treatment. While there, court documents state, an evaluation showed the two youngest children didn’t know their names or respond to basic instructions.” Jessica McCarty: 2015-03-23 – Florida mother skips hearing on charges of murdering two children Authorities had had contact with this home before. The article includes a mug shot from 2009. 2015-03-24 – Mother charged with fatally attacking 3 children in Florida She left a note and appears to have been distraught. Nelson and Analiz Osceola: 2015-03-25 – Stepmother, father arrested after Florida three-year-old found dead in box Raymond and Melissa Brittle: 2015-03-19 – Maryland man gets 40 years in fatal abuse of 2-year-old Robert Watkins’ mother had entrusted him to the Brittles’ care. “Frederick County Circuit Judge G. Edward Dwyer … cited statements from Brittle’s own adolescent son that Brittle began beating Robert Watkins weekly after the boy moved into their home in early 2013. The frequency increased to at least once a day in the month before Robert died from devastating brain injuries on Sept. 8, 2013, the boy told police.” Dorian Harper and Wanda Larson: 2015-03-18 – Man admits he abused, beat, chained boy up; gets 6-10 years The couple aren’t married. “Larson was the boy’s guardian and a Department of Social Services supervisor in Union County. Larson faces similar charges. She lost her job and has pleaded not guilty. No trial has been scheduled. At the time of the arrest, four other children were living in the home — ages 7 to 14. Larsen had adopted them all and was in the process of adopting the 11-year-old.” “The abuse came to light when a sheriff’s deputy was called to investigate a report of a loose pig. While the officer tracked the pig’s whereabouts, he found the boy chained to the front porch holding a dead chicken. Then the other four children opened the home’s front door, letting out Harper’s dogs. The deputy knew something was terribly wrong — the children were filthy, prosecutor Daniell Chunn said. So was the house, ‘covered in dust, urine and animal feces,’ an investigator said. The children were removed from the house. They told investigators they were abused and forced to beg for scraps of food. They said Harper seemed to take out most of his rage on the 11-year-old.” “Prosecutors and investigators said that eventually, the boy was chained up all day. At night, he’d sleep on the floor with the others, chained to part of a railroad tie. The boy wasn’t given a blanket, but the other children made sure he was covered and gave him food when Harper wasn’t looking. During the day, the boy was chained to the porch.”
[1]Recall Choose your name. [2]Apparently none of these children were produced within marriage.
Reblogged 2021-07-08.
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