Monday, January 20, 2020

Most people reach peak for being miserable around age 47

The dreaded midlife crisis may come about because it coincides with life’s peak time for misery, a study released this week says, according to a report. That peak time would be around age 47, Dartmouth College researcher claims in a study, after examining trends in 132 countries to compare the relationship between well-being and age. A typical individual’s well-being reaches its minimum point in midlife. His study revealed each country has a “happiness curve” or that happiness follows a U-shaped trajectory. People generally reach peak unhappiness in midlife, with greater experiences of happiness in youth and old age. The majority of people in all 132 countries studied even after controlling for other influences upon life happiness and satisfaction such as income, education level and marriage the theory holds true. This supports the theory age has an effect on overall happiness despite everything else going on in a person’s life. In the U.S., there was a slightly larger gap between peak male and female unhappiness, according to the report. Happiness among American males reaches a minimum in their early 50s, whereas women experience peak unhappiness in their late 30s, the report said. In Europe, reported life satisfaction for both men and women hits its lowest point around the mid-40s. (Fox 29)

Best and worst US airlines

For the third year in a row, Delta finished at the top of the rankings, with Alaska Airlines and Southwest tied for second place. American Airlines tanked at the bottom of the list of nine U.S. air carriers. While Delta averaged 36 flight cancellations a day in 2019, American averaged 159, per the data. Another stark comparison? Delta bumped nine passengers from its flights over the most recent 12-month period, while American bumped over 15,000. (The Wall Street Journal)

HOA forcing orphan teen to move out of grandparents’ home

An Arizona teen who recently lost his mother and father is now being told he can’t live with his grandparents because of their homeowner’s association. The Fifteen-year-old parents died two weeks apart while the family was living in California. The teenagers grandparents live in Arizona in a community for people 55 years old and older. The HOA says he must move out by this summer. The grandparents received a letter that said, “The board must balance the interests of all parties involved, not just the them.” The HOA’s lawyers said that the youngest a resident can be is 19 years old. They said the HOA could have legal troubles if they don’t enforce this rule. (KNXV)

Bill filed to ban sanctuary cities in Oklahoma

A bill has been filed to prevent sanctuary cities in Oklahoma. Senate Bill 1459 would make any city or town that enacts a sanctuary policy ineligible for state funding through agencies or grants. A sanctuary city has laws that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation or prosecution despite federal immigration law. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, no city in Oklahoma presently identifies as a sanctuary city. (KJRH)

Even when sober, frequent marijuana users are dangerous drivers, report finds

Even when sober, some heavy marijuana users are dangerous drivers, a new study suggests. The bad driving appears to be isolated to those who started using pot before age 16, researchers revealed. The theory is that early marijuana use changes the brain, leaving people more impulsive and more apt to make rash decisions. In the new study, which tested participants in a driving simulator, researchers from McLean Hospital in Boston found that sober cannabis users who started using the drug in their teens had more accidents, drove at higher speeds and cruised through more red lights compared to people who had never used marijuana. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, but there has been relatively little research on its health effects, particularly on teen brains. For the experiment, the researchers recruited 28 regular, heavy cannabis users (23 males and five females) and 17 non-users (six males and 10 females) whose driving abilities would be tested in a simulator. The participants’ average age was 23. Those in the cannabis group reported having used the drug at least five out of the previous seven days and at least 1,500 times during their lifetime. They were told to abstain for at least 12 hours before their study visit to ensure that they weren’t high at the time of the test. (NBC News)

Man tells police he mixed his mom’s cremated remains with marijuana

A 26-year-old man is accused of selling drugs that were mixed with his mother’s ashes. Police in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, said a man admitted to investigators he cut the drugs using his dead mother’s cremated remains, but he didn’t explain why. Investigators said they received a tip about he and his 21-year-old girlfriend were selling drugs out of their apartment. According to a criminal complaint, investigators sent an informant to the apartment twice and was able to buy marijuana. A few days later, police returned and searched the apartment. Investigators said they found 70 grams of marijuana, a small amount of MDMA, bongs and a drug scale. According to the complaint, the man tried to explain the “large amount of unknown powder and vegetable material located in the apartment,” saying he “mixed these substances for a variety of reasons.” He explained that his mom died a little more than a year ago, and, according to the complaint, “Schroeder indicates he took some of her ashes and mixed them with a variety of substances, some of which he ultimately ingested.” The complaint doesn’t indicate if he mixed the cremated remains in any of the drugs he’s accused of selling. The couple face felony drug charges. There’s no explanation in the complaint for why he allegedly admitted to ingesting his mom’s ashes. (WISN)

Student’s rainbow shirt and cake a ‘lifestyle violation,’ school expels her after seeing picture

A ninth-grade girl says her Kentucky private school expelled her for “lifestyle violations,” including a photo of her wearing a rainbow shirt and sitting in front of a rainbow birthday cake. The 15-year-old smiled in a rainbow t-shirt and blew out candles on her rainbow birthday cake as her mother took a photo to post to her social media. The photo was shared on social media and viewed by staff at the teens private school, Whitefield Academy. In the following days, the girl would be contacted by the school head and subsequently expelled. Whitefield Academy claimed the rainbow photo was the most recent of two years worth of what they call “lifestyle violations.” For the school, the picture was the last straw. In the email to the girl,  the head of the school said the picture “demonstrates a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy’s beliefs.” The school code of conduct addresses sexual orientation saying the school will discipline off campus behavior if it isn’t in line with the school’s beliefs. The family filed an appeal, and while the school refused to meet with her, they agreed to change the expulsion to a voluntary withdrawal so that it will not show on the girls record. “You know we teach our kids what would Jesus do,” the mom said. “What would he do here?” The mother has enrolled her daughter in public school. After nearly four years making friends and settling in at Whitefield, it has been a tough transition, but she said the teenager is getting a lot of support. (WAVE)

An Oklahoma lawmaker wants to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within a 1,000 feet of places of worship

State Representative Jim Olsen from Roland, Oklahoma, said a constituent, who’s a Baptist church pastor, approached him, suggesting new dispensaries be banned near churches and other religious sites across the state and has authored House Bill 2779. The measure wouldn’t affect current dispensaries near churches but would prohibit new ones. He said zoning is necessary to preserve the character of a community. The state already forbids dispensaries from operating near schools. It seems logical to add churches, too, he said. The idea has received widespread support among his mostly rural constituency, but it has drawn considerable criticism and profanity-laced messages from ardent medical marijuana supporters in urban parts of Oklahoma. The legislator said he didn’t know why policymakers haven’t already banned dispensaries from operating near churches. (McAlester News)

Lights From Marijuana Farm Create ‘Purple Haze’ In The Sky

Lights from a medical marijuana farm filled the sky over Snowflake, Arizona, with a bright purple glow on a recent foggy morning. A woman was on her way to work at Copperstate Farms, the largest medical marijuana wholesaler in the state, recently one morning when she noticed the strange phenomenon. She took a picture of the scene about 6:30 a.m. “The purple lights are always there but don’t usually light up the sky like this,” she said on her social media post. “It had snowed that morning and was still very foggy and cloudy. The purple glow is a result of UV lights from nearby medical marijuana farm Copperstate Farms and the snow clouds overhead,” the post said. Copperstate Farms, which includes 40 acres of greenhouses, uses a combination of red and blue ultraviolet lights that are used to help grow pot plants, according to a company spokeswoman. The light reflected off the snow on the ground, lighting up the clouds above, according to The Weather Channel. (Navajo County, Arizona Facebook)

Senate Passes USMCA, New North American Trade Pact

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a successor to the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA. The three countries had signed the agreement in 2018 but faced opposition from Democrats in the House over enforcement of working conventions in Mexican factories. Some key provisions include country of origin rules for auto parts, an opening of the Canadian dairy market, extending the terms of copyrights, and more regulations for Mexican workers. (The Wall Street Journal)

Monday Sputters In With:

• Camcorder Day
• Inauguration Day
• Martin Luther King Day (3rd Monday)
• National Crowd Feed Day (Always on Martin Luther King Day)
• National Cheese Lovers Day
• National Day of Service
• National Disc Jockey Day
• Penguin Awareness Day
• Rid The World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day (3rd Monday)
• Robert E. Lee Day (3rd Monday)