TresSugar

Are "Blue Balls" Real?

DearSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0700

I'm sure many of you can relate to being persuaded into having sex because your guy claimed he'd have painful blue balls if you didn't. So is this just a lame way to try to seduce you, or are blue balls an actual issue?

Let's first talk about what they are exactly. It's a slang term for aching testicles, which occur when a guy gets aroused but doesn't have an orgasm. When he becomes sexually excited, blood rushes to his genital area and the arteries carrying blood enlarge, but the veins are more constricted. This uneven blood flow traps blood in his penis which causes him to have an erection. His testicles enlarge about 25 to 50 percent, but once a man ejaculates, his arteries and veins return to their normal size rather quickly. If he doesn't ejaculate, however, there will be a lingering, heavy or aching sensation in his testicles, known as blue balls - the name comes from the bluish tint that appears when blood engorges the vessels in his testicles.

So are blue balls harmful? To find out, read more.

Experts say the discomfort is minor and it doesn't last long, but this feeling is likely exaggerated because it's coupled with the disappointment of not being able to orgasm. You should know that in no way do blue balls cause any physical complication or harm to his business, and you shouldn't feel like it's your job to cure him. It's become a socially accepted idea that when a guy has sex, he has to orgasm, but try not to feel pressured into going all the way or pleasing him so he's sexually satisfied if you're not ready to take that next step.

Source

Flashback: Candid Camera

GiggleSugar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:00:00 -0800

Talk about peer pressure! If everyone stands facing the wrong way in an elevator, will the "other" guy follow the crowd and face the wall, too? Herd mentality can be a very scary thing.

Should Celebrities be Allowed to Smoke on Film?

DearSugar — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 10:30:00 -0700

Yesterday was recognized as World No Tobacco Day 2007, and with tobacco being the second leading cause of death in the world, Hollywood still tends to glamorize it. While smoking on the silver screen has been highly debated over the past few years, what are your views on the subject? Do you think banning smoking from the big screen will take away from the drama of the storyline or do you think smoking should in fact be banned, since it portrays a negative image to young men and women who look up to these celebrities as role models?

Bauer-Griffin, Flynet, Source

Interspecies Peer Pressure

GiggleSugar — Sun, 20 May 2007 01:00:00 -0700

C'mon and just stand up, will you? Everybody's doing it.

Source

Obama's Changing Americans' Behavior With Science

CitizenSugar — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:00:09 -0700

Remember hearing "record turnout is expected" before last year's election? Time reports it was the work of 29 of the world's most influential behavioral scientists, psychologists, and economists. They knew people are more likely to do something if they think others will do it. Like vote!

Now the president is using the team to put policies in place and funnel stimulus money into programs that will help America help itself. How so?

It's easier to say yes than no: Excited for the automatic-enrollment pension plans? I'm sure. Well, it's because the government doesn't want to pay our assisted-living rent when we're 90. A 2001 study showed only 36 percent joined 401(k) plans when they had to opt in, but 86 percent stayed in when they were automatically signed up.
You'll spend the extra cash in your next paycheck: Beginning this month, $116 billion worth of payroll tax cuts, compliments of the stimulus package, will roll their way into paychecks. Why the paltry change when Obama could have given out $600 checks like Bush? Not because it didn't work, though true, but because Obama knows why it didn't work: people spend when they get a few extra dollars and save lump sums.

To see the other two, read more.

Knowledge is powerful: Might as well just turn the heat down now. Pretty soon smart meters will tick away, telling us how deep our carbon footprints are on the future's sandless shores.
Because we would jump off the bridge: Peer pressure works. It got AIG executives to give up bonuses, and now it's going to persuade Americans to stay in automatic pension plans and live on less energy. Why? Because people will assume it's what they're supposed to do and that everybody else is doing it.

And that's really what it's about - creating new social norms, the change of all changers. Financial responsibility, healthier lifestyles, and everyday environmentalism will ultimately lighten America's burden of itself. Do we need subtle nudges from the government? Or is it too creepy and sinister for you?

Source

Supreme Court May Review Life Sentence Given to 13-Year-Old

LibertySugar — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:30:41 -0800

What crime would a 13-year-old have to commit to warrant a life sentence? For Joe Sullivan, a conviction for raping a 72-year-old woman was good enough. Twenty years later, his lawyers are asking the Supreme Court to throw out the sentence as cruel and unusual punishment.

The New York Times reports that only eight people in the world are serving life sentences for a crime committed at the age of 13, and all of them are in the United States.

When striking down the death penalty for teenagers in 2005, the Supreme Court said that compared to adults, teens are less mature, more impulsive, more susceptible to peer pressure and more likely to change for the better over time. Do you think the same logic should be used to abolish life sentences for teens, giving Joe Sullivan a chance to someday appeal to the parole board?

Source

Study Finds Alcohol Related Deaths Huge For Native Americans

CitizenSugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:30:25 -0700

A new federal report released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention claim that nearly 12 percent of deaths in the American Indian and Alaskan Native population are alcohol related. This statistic when compared to the national average of 3.3 percent for the US as a whole has been a “call to action."

The study examined all alcohol-related deaths between 2001 and 2005 and found the two leading causes of alcohol-related deaths among the Indian populations were traffic accidents and liver disease. This study however, may still be low as other alcohol-related deaths like tuberculosis, pneumonia, and colon cancer, all of which are usually associated with alcohol abuse, were not included.

The largest number of tribal deaths related to alcohol consumption, nearly a third of the total numbers, occurred in the Northern Plains. The lowest numbers were in Alaska. Although the study did not research regional causes that might cause such a disparity, one researcher offered: “It may be a function of social perceptions of alcohol in that particular region.” Meaning, one assumes, that peer pressure does not always end with adolescence.

Source

Ever Wondered Why Asians Seem Like Better Students?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:00:28 -0700

A group of eight students at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles hunkered down in a room to talk about a touchy subject: What's behind the Asian math-whiz-valedictorian stereotype - and why do other ethnic backgrounds appear to come up short in the classroom?

Long thought to be traceable to socioeconomic backgrounds that theory no longer makes the grade. At Lincoln High School both the surrounding neighborhood and student body are 15 percent Asian - why then do Asian students make up 50 percent of the Advanced Placement classes, and teachers can’t remember the last time a Latino was valedictorian?

The students' talk about the difference was frank. When talking about a Hispanic student who was good at math one said, "I think Carlos is Asian at heart," and described one Asian student who didn't get good grades as, "Mexican at heart." The students squashed the economic background reasoning, agreeing that of their school, the Latino and Asian students came mostly from poor and working-class families.

Looking further at census data, 84 percent of the Asian and Latino families in the area earn below $50,000 - stumping the fact that the Science Bowl team is 90 percent Asian, as is the Academic Decathlon team.

To see possible reasons for this, read more.

The students say that Asian parents are more likely to pressure their kids to excel academically. "My parents are always like, 'If you don't do well in school, then it's all going to be worth nothing,' "
Peer expectations also enforce the stereotype. "They expect me to be smart. Even if, like, I do everything wrong on purpose, they still copy off of me - as if I'm right just because I'm Asian."
Research studying the Mexican work ethic found that labor and education occupy the same pedestal of importance, and in some cases work is even more valued, "In Latino families, being able to work to provide defines your manhood, your worthiness."

Do these reasons seem plausible? Is it possible to figure out why stereotypes exist?

Source

Pretty and Cheap - Proms Get a Budget-Friendly Makeover

CitizenSugar — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:00:52 -0700

Though Cinderella might have been the quintessential rags-to-riches story ending in a lavish ball, the current mean-stepmother economic reality has many prom-goers tightening their cummerbunds, and embracing a cheap and charming alternative.

It hasn't been uncommon for modern teens to spend anywhere between seven hundred and a thousand dollars on just the prom dress - a lavish spectacle egged on by shows like MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen - but as more and more families are finding it harder just to pay rising fuel and food costs, the clock is striking midnight on luxuries like pricey prom-wear. To see how proms are getting an '08 budget makeover, read more.

Several foundations offer lower cost ball gown alternatives, like the Chicago-based Glass Slipper Project. There's big demand for their rainbow of donated dresses that go to those who can't afford first hand gowns. (Not to mention that the reuse has a positive impact on the environment as well as wallets.) San Francisco’s Princess Project is also seeing a big surge in the numbers of people seeking low cost prom dresses. Yvette Nichols, board president said: “Girls are traveling two hours, just to come and find a dress.”

Historically teens might have been embarrassed to shop second-hand for such a milestone outfit in an American adolescent’s life, but many are finding this situation as a nice break from the pressure of spending more than your peers. The penny-pinching is having a positive effect on budding values systems. A senior at a high school in Arizona said: "It is kind of a bragging thing. . . to spend $300 on a dress, but for me, it’s almost embarrassing to spend that much.”

Are the leaner economic times inspiring a return to sanity? Could this be the reality check that's just the antidote to an out of control consumer culture? Will organizations like this make it trendy to be thrifty?

Source

Dear Poll: Can Friends Be Bad Influences?

DearSugar — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:00:00 -0700

Since I know that peer pressure was supposed to end with high school graduation, it continues to amaze me how much people’s friends can influence them. In fact, sometimes it seems like we’re all just products of the people we’re around. Yes, I’m sure it’s true that we’re drawn to those with similar interests, but isn’t it also true that friends can change our perspective on things, sometimes for the worse? Regardless of age, can friends still be bad influences?

Source