Journalists’ brains show a lower-than-average level of executive functioning, according to a new study, which means they have a below-average ability to regulate their emotions, suppress biases, solve complex problems, switch between tasks, and show creative and flexible thinking.
The study, led by Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and leadership coach, analysed 40 journalists from newspapers, magazines, broadcast, and online platforms over seven months. The participants took part in tests related to their lifestyle, health, and behaviour.
Why liberal conspiracy theories are flourishing in the age of Trump.
Updated by Zack Beauchamp@[email protected] May 19, 2017, 8:30am EDT
President Donald Trump is about to resign as a result of the Russia scandal. Bernie Sandersand Sean Hannity are Russian agents. The Russians have paid off House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz to the tune of $10 million, using Trump as a go-between. Paul Ryan is a traitor for refusing to investigate Trump’s Russia ties. Libertarian heroine Ayn Rand was a secret Russian agent charged with discrediting the American conservative movement.
These are all claims you can find made on a new and growing sector of the internet that functions as a fake news bubble for liberals, something I’ve dubbed the Russiasphere. The mirror image of Breitbart and InfoWars on the right, it focuses nearly exclusively on real and imagined connections between Trump and Russia. The tone is breathless: full of unnamed intelligence sources, certainty that Trump will soon be imprisoned, and fever dream factual assertions that no reputable media outlet has managed to confirm.
Twitter is the Russiasphere’s native habitat. Louise Mensch, a former right-wing British parliamentarian and romance novelist, spreads the newest, punchiest, and often most unfounded Russia gossip to her 283,000 followers on Twitter. Mensch is backed up by a handful of allies, including former NSA spook John Schindler (226,000 followers) and DC-area photographer Claude Taylor (159,000 followers).
There’s also a handful of websites, like Palmer Report, that seem devoted nearly exclusively to spreading bizarre assertions like the theory that Ryan and Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell funneled Russian money to Trump — a story that spread widely among the site’s 70,000 Facebook fans.
SECAUCUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — An unusual sighting in a Secaucus pond has people flocking to the area, hoping to get a glimpse and find out how it got there.
Smack in the middle of industrial buildings is the Secaucus duck pond, where something appears to be lurking deep in the water.
“I noticed at the water’s edge, there was about a 2.5-3 foot alligator, and at first I thought it was like a rubber thing, but it was sitting with its mouth open in the open position,” DPW supervisor, Gary Sgambati told CBS2’s Reena Roy.
Sgambati said he spotted the creature two weeks ago, just a few days before the town’s popular fishing derby.
“By the time I got my phone to snap the picture, he just darted under water on me,” he said.
Yesterday, a bill made it out of an Assembly committee which could be a cash cow for a lot of towns. Part of a package of bills called “Antwan’s Law,” it would allow towns to establish permanent lower speed limits near schools. Right now you have school zones during certain times when schools are in session. Another part of this package triples the fine you pay. Interesting.
“Antwan’s Law” is named for Antwan Timbers Jr., a 17-year-old high school student who was struck and killed while walking on Route 130 in Burlington City last year. Sounds like the law makes sense, right? A student walking home at the end of his school day gets hit because some jerk is speeding, and it shouldn’t be allowed.
What if I told you Antwan was tragically killed at around midnight, not when school let out, and by a drunk driver? The school was closed. Empty. An equally tragic story, yes. But he wasn’t walking home from school. He was walking with a friend near a Wawa that happened to be near the school.
Wyckoff NJ, Wyckoff Police, Fire, and EMS responded to a multi-vehicle crash in front of The Barn Restaurant, 359 Sicomac Avenue on Friday evening, 05/19. Non-life threatening injuries were reported by the occupants of a pickup truck traveling on Sicomac Avenue that appeared to have been broadsided by a vehicle leaving The Barn’s driveway/parking lot. Two (2) vehicles in the crash sustained damage requiring their removal by tow trucks. Wyckoff Fire department disconnected the battery from a damaged sedan, and contained a minor crash related fluid spill. A field sobriety test was administered to a driver involved in the incident. No word as to whether any summonses were issued, nor if anyone was taken into custody.
Amazing how simple it is for some people to just accept regulation and the loss of service
The water issue only exists due to weak management and poor leadership
We can debate non stop about rain runoff etc but simply put.RW water Is a service provider who can no longer provide a service. We lose countless gallons due to leaks, we have wells shut down with no published plan to correct, and the argument about storage tanks is non existent.
That anyone is willing to accept paying more for less is simply amazing. Nature has provided plenty of water, Ridgewood is unique in that we don’t know how to manage the resource.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that Ridgewood Residents have reported being the target of a telephone kidnap scam. The scam works by a caller claiming a relative has been kidnapped and not to contact anyone because they are being watched. The caller then demands money in a threatening manner. This is a widely used phone scam called the virtual kidnap scam according to the FBI and has been reported nationwide over the past several years. Don’t become the victim of a scam. Report suspicious activity the Ridgewood Police Department.
Ridgewood NJ, A teenager who became ill while at the Ramada Rochelle Park and was hospitalized at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and was diagnosed with measles, a highly contagious disease, the state health department said Friday.
The 16-year-old, who was traveling in the United States with a tour group from Asia, may have exposed others at those locations between May 12 and 15.
According to Valley the staff took steps to control the spread of infection as soon as the patient arrived last Saturday. The patient arrived at the hospital from 9 a.m. on May 13 until 1 a.m. Sunday, May 14, she said. The health department said exposure may also have occurred on Monday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Anyone who came in contact with the teenager may develop symptoms as late as June 5.
Measles is spread through contact with an infected person’s mucus or saliva or through the air when someone coughs or sneezes.
If you suspect you were exposed please contact a health provider. Valley is informing all patients who were treated at the hospital during the specific times the patient was there, as well as employees, physicians and volunteers.
The public is invited to attend the meeting, or watch it live on Fios channel 33, Optimum channel 77, or on the “Link in Live” tab of the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Face it – – Its an issue we need to deal with and not stick our heads in the sand over – – we don’t have enough water to sustain what we are doing. It was a key issue brought to the attention of Mayor Airbag when he forced through the tenement buildings in downtown Ridgewood and now we will have to pay the price of providing water to over 500 new families when they move to town.
They’re Ridgewood residents and it’s not simply a choice. I think they’re being as diplomatic as the law alllws them to be.
They have to adhere to the law and the ordinances in place. Pay attention to the whole picture. They’re doing what they can. But where was your outrage and outcry long before now. When things could have been done.
You’re too late. And you’re not correct.
That said. Sure. Go to the meeting and speak. I think it would be refreshing to see some people in attendance at a planning board meeting. I go and I watch. Never anyone there.
photo courtesy of the Ridgewood High School Alumni Association
May 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, So it safe to say this is really happening!, hundreds of people who love and support Ridgewood High School will gather under this beautiful tent on Veterans Field to celebrate 125 years of excellence. It will be a total and complete celebration of a place that has educated thousands .
Food stations, hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and speciality drinks — along with musical entertainment — will help celebrate Ridgewood High School’s 125th anniversary at the “Party in the Park” on May 19
Word is they are dangerously close to selling out, there is still room for a few more. Same day registration will be open. Party in the Park 2017.
Glen Rock NJ, Glen Rock PD, FD, and EMS personnel rushed to aid the driver of a silver colored Nissan Rogue after it crashed into a large tree in front of 44 Radburn Road, Glen Rock on Friday morning, 05/19. The vehicle flipped after hitting the tree, causing damage that pinned the driver inside. The victim was freed by Glen Rock FD members and then transported by a Glen Rock EMS ambulance to The Valley Hospital. Injuries to the victim appeared to have been non life threatening. A paramedic team from The Valley Hospital was also at the scene. A flatbed tow truck removed the wrecked Nissan. Glen Rock PD is investigating the accident’s cause.
Ridgewood NJ, The James Rose Center, a nonprofit landscape research and study foundation, is housed in what was the home of the late landscape architect James Rose.
Unfortunately during a wind storm last year, a large tree uprooted and caused significant damage to the roof garden and adjacent structures . The damage also revealed other structural problems with the home leading to expensive repairs that are necessary to make the property safe.
If you do not know James Rose was a real character . A true iconoclast . Along with Garrett Eckbo and Dan Kiley, James Rose was one of the leaders of the modern movement in American landscape architecture. I had the opportunity to meet him many times in the late 70’s and very early 80’s. He would always make an impression .Love him or hate him , you would never forget him. Rose was known for his out spoken hi-jinks and his cavalier way of making you feel like an idiot. He was brilliant, creative and someone who always thought out side the box. That would however get him in trouble from time to time .I credit him with my appreciation of gardening and landscaping.
I had a landscaping business at the time and he gave me a signed copy of his book , “Gardens Make Me Laugh” which fundamentally altered the way I looked at the world. It is most likely the single most obnoxious gardening book ever written. The off beat book had an over sized influence on my life. The book is loaded with gardening and philosophy antidotes and is also one of the main reasons I was never accepted into the college of my choice . I used the book for all my college essays and apparently admissions offices did not share Mr. Rose’s and my sense of humor. However during my early college days I actually got a job based on the fact that I knew who James Rose was .
His most famous quote , “The problem is you live here” is one of the guiding principles of the Ridgewood blog to this day
To make a donation : https://jamesrosecenter.org/donations/donate/
photos by Boyd Loving
May 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Thursday, May 18th was Touch-A -Truck an interactive day of fun for children at Memorial Park at Van Neste Square Adults and children are invited to take a seat behind the wheel of a real police cruiser, climb aboard a fire truck, explore up-close a fleet of the other emergency and public works vehicles you’ve only seen at a distance. The event was a free treat for children of all ages .The event is sponsored by the Village of Ridgewood and the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce.
