TresSugar

Gays With Guns Target Families in Anti-Gay-Marriage Ad

CitizenSugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:30:47 -0800

At nearly six minutes, this made-for-Internet ad is inciting the blogosphere with every click. Fifty-eight seconds in, you'll find the target of outrage: A family sitting on a porch blowing bubbles at each other (because that's what families do?) is seen through the lens of a sniper. Overhead an announcer says the following:

Marriage between man and woman is held up as the ideal in all of civilized society because of its profound stabilizing influence on our culture as well as the economic benefits of strong and in-tact families. But today that ideal is under an unrelenting attack. . . . Outside forces are working tirelessly to redefine marriage away from God's design to favor the desires of adults over the needs of children for the naturally balanced model of a mother and a father

The ad is on a site called wv4marriage.com, which ironically looks like a Craig's List solicitation at first glance. It appears to be paid for by CampaignSecrets.com, a Georgia firm that describes itself as "focused exclusively on electing Republicans to local office." The president of West Virginia's Family Policy Council said the council used the Georgia firm for its affordable rates, which is a relief because if you watch the ad you'll see it certainly couldn't be for its camera work!

To see it in full, read more.

Citizen Recap: 30 Days Working in a Coal Mine

LibertySugar — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:00:49 -0700

Did you think I forgot to watch the season premiere of 30 Days, with all of Tuesday's Democratic nomination wrap up, and the accompanying speech mania? Well, don't worry, because even though this recap is a day late, I still caught the episode which had filmmaker Morgan Spurlock working under the earth's surface for 30 days as a West Virginian coal miner.

Morgan spent his 30 days living with 35-year veteran miner Dale Lusk and his wife Sandy. Every morning before Dale left for the mines at around 2:00 a.m. he wrote Sandy a love note, just in case a disaster prevented him from returning home that day. The episode helped explain what motivates miners like Dale to take such risks - and the biggest incentive seemed to be cash. Dale, who has no college degree, makes over $100,000 a year.

Morgan slowly became accustomed to the dark, and labor-intensive life of a miner. To find out more about his experience, read more.

In fact, he soon appreciated the tranquility and novelty of working beneath the earth's surface. But, near crises shocked Morgan out of his false sense of security, as did the reality that many miners, and some he had built relationships with, face debilitating health conditions like black lung.

Coal mining makes up 50 percent of America's energy supply. This episode reminded me that when I work or play on my computer, with my television, or anything else that requires electricity, I am depending on the routine and dangerous efforts of a West Virginian Coal miner.

Did you catch the episode? Stay tuned next week for 30 Days in a Wheelchair . . .

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Awaiting Results: Clinton Climbs On Top in the Mountain State

CitizenSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:32:45 -0700

That counting didn't take long! CNN just projected that Clinton will win the biggest piece of the 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia, and by a wide margin.

According to exit polls, almost as many of Hillary Clinton's West Virginia supporters would vote for John McCain as would for Barack Obama. If Obama were the Democratic nominee, 36 percent of Clinton supporters said they would vote for him, while 35 percent said they'd cast their vote for McCain instead. Only five more contests remain up for grabs until the June 3 finish line.

What does this mean? Does this give Hillary a bump? Does this race not count because it was expected - or is a win, a win?

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Awaiting Results: The Coolest Maps in the World!

CitizenSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:25:00 -0700

While we wait for the results out of West Virginia, go check out these maps. I cannot stress enough how geeky rad these pixilated hot-spot vote maps from the Daily Kos are. And there's a million of 'em. Watch the colors shift over time, election by election. And it's all Dems baby. On the map, "red represents Clinton votes, green represents Edwards votes, and blue represents Obama votes." Hmm. The whole thing looks pretty red to me. . . ? Check back here for results as soon as they're called!

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Happy West Virginia Primary Day!

LibertySugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:15:24 -0700

John Denver might as well have written his "Ode to West Virginia" song for Hillary Clinton, who expects to be West Virginia's victorious mountain mama today.

Watch this video montage and take a trip down memory ~~lane~~ country road with Hillary Clinton and John Denver. And while you're at it, test your knowledge of West Virginia with this quiz!

Take the quiz

Jury Convicts Man For Rape of Sex Workers

TresSugar — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0700

The argument that a woman who does sex work cannot be raped did not sway a jury in West Virginia. This week, the jury convicted Thomas H. Gravely of multiple counts of sexual assault on three prostitutes. The women testified that the father of five threatened to kill them as he attacked them, and jurors viewed a taped confession during which Gravely admitted to holding a knife to their throats and strangling them while he had sex with them.

The defendant did not testify, but his attorney gave a dramatic closing argument, calling the victims "tramps" and "whores." He said:

I would be horrified if any of the women in my life were raped, but I'm talking about decent, honorable women. Not whores who have sex with many, many men for money.

The attorney said that convicting Gravely of rape would lessen the dignity of every woman because the sex workers had turned sex into something disgusting. I guess the defense attorney forgot that "every woman" includes sex workers, too. Thankfully, the attempt to dehumanize the victims did not succeed and Gravely was convicted of the horrible crimes.

Mindfulness: It's Not Just For Spiritual Woo-Woo Types

TresSugar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:30:00 -0700

Imagine taking a morsel of food, say, an almond, and savoring it very carefully, giving it your full attention. If someone told you that doing everything you can with that kind of attention would help reduce your stress level at work, relieve bodily symptoms like back pain, and keep you from bad habits like smoking, you might think they were nuts.

Yet that’s exactly what the practice of mindfulness does say practitioners like Buddhists, and increasingly, there’s clinical research to back it up.

What is mindfulness? It’s the act of being aware of the moment - of what you’re thinking and feeling, both emotionally and physically, from one moment to the next. There can be a spiritual component, but anyone, regardless of their religion, can benefit.

Awareness of the moment is supposed to move us away from both regret for the past and anxiety about the future. And in addition to those thoughts that often cloud our mind, throw in a job full of emails, ringing phones and irritating co-workers and the modern person’s stress levels are sky high. To hear about a study proving its effectiveness in reducing stress, read more

When stressed-out historian and former professor Lillian Waugh at West Virginia University was invited to participate in a study on mindfulness, she was part of the group that was taught techniques to cultivate it - yoga poses, breathing methods and stretches. Waugh's group improved in ways that the other group, who were only handed informational pamphlets on stress, did not. Her group had significantly fewer daily hassles, psychological distress and significantly fewer medical symptoms as a result.

"We taught them how to recognize sources of stress, how stress impacts them, and then what they could do to come out of the vicious cycle of stress reactivity," says lead researcher Kimberly Williams.

I’ve practiced meditation pretty regularly for about year, and although I can still be a stress case, thanks to that simple idea - just to pay attention to the moment without panic - I can get myself out of almost any overwhelming moment if I remember what to do. Just because something is simple, however, doesn’t mean it’s easy. But if practicing mindfulness techniques can relieve all those stress symptoms, it’s definitely better than lighting up, drinking or freaking out.

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Who Will Be the Next President? Watch the Results With Us!

CitizenSugar — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:21:46 -0800

Election Night is finally here! We've followed the 2008 Presidential campaign trail from primaries, conventions, debates to every hilarious and unexpected moment in between. East Coast polls have started to close, and we'll be here updating you on the electoral votes as they come in using predictions from pollster and major networks. Join us as we wait for the next American president!

Senator Barack Obama

338

Senator John McCain

156

You can check out all the major headlines of the night right here, and I'll be filling in the results for each state as they come in. To see results, read more.

State	Electoral Votes	State	Electoral Votes
Alabama	9	Montana	3
Alaska	3	Nebraska	5
Arizona	10	Nevada	5
Arkansas	6	New Hampshire	4
California	55	New Jersey	15
Colorado	9	New Mexico	5
Connecticut	7	New York	31
Delaware	3	North Carolina	15
D.C.	3	North Dakota	3
Florida	27	Ohio	20
Georgia	15	Oklahoma	7
Hawaii	4	Oregon	7
Idaho	4	Pennsylvania	21
Illinois	21	Rhode Island	4
Indiana	11	South Carolina	8
Iowa	7	South Dakota	3
Kansas	6	Tennessee	11
Kentucky	8	Texas	34
Louisiana	9	Utah	5
Maine	4	Vermont	3
Maryland	10	Virginia	13
Massachusetts	12	Washington	11
Michigan	17	West Virginia	5
Minnesota	10	Wisconsin	10
Mississippi	6	Wyoming	3
Missouri	11

Does Your Personality Match Your State of Residence & Mind?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:00:00 -0700

Think you can judge a person by the state they live in? It might not be such a crazy notion according to new research on the geography of personality. Controlling for factors like race, income, and education, the study profiled 600,000 Americans with a 44-question personality test that evaluates five traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness.

Using those results and cross-checking them with stats on crime and health seem to seal the deal on one's state of mind lining up with one's state of residence. High amiability means lower crime, high anxiety points to poor health and lowered life expectancy.

Of course the results spark questions like whether certain states encourage specific personalities by culture, climate, or common history - or whether we just choose to live where we feel most at home. Those questions aside, the results and the interactive maps? Fun times! Very nicely done, Wall Street Journal.

To see some of the most unusual findings, read more.

North Dakota was pegged the most outgoing state in the union.
Despite Puritanical stereotypes, New England ranked at the bottom of the "conscientious" scale.
Scoring well on the "openness" scale strongly correlates to liberal social values and Democratic voting habits - however three of the top ten "open" states (Nevada, Colorado and Virginia) tend to swing Red.
Most conscientious? Florida. (Maybe there's a tie between living in a coastal paradise and pitying others who don't?)
Anxiety isn't just tied to high-powered jobs and a fast lifestyle. States stressed by poverty, like West Virginia and Mississippi also proved highly neurotic.

Where does your state stack up? Is it possible to make generalizations about the personality of an entire state's population? Do you match yours?

How to Help Meal Delivery Programs Hit by Food, Fuel Costs

CitizenSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:30:23 -0700

It's easy to see the economic toll on food and fuel in our own everyday lives - but the effect is trickling down past commuters and bargain shoppers to silver citizens who rely on meal delivery programs to survive. Advocates for the elderly nationwide are concerned that many seniors are going or will go hungry soon - and blame the 20 percent increase in fuel and food prices over the past year, as well as leveling or reduced government subsidies and a failing economy.

According to the Meals on Wheels Association of America, nearly 60 percent of the 5,000 programs have lost volunteers, most of whom say they can no longer afford gas. This has resulted in the elimination or consolidation of entire routes and nearly 38 percent are now serving frozen instead of hot meals. Another 30 percent are reducing personal visits from five to one day per week. To see how some states are fighting back, and what you can do to help, read more.

In West Virginia, where nearly 15 percent of the population is above 60 years of age and more than two-thirds live in rural communities, lawmakers have furnished an extra $1 million to aid agencies with food and gas. Without this assistance, the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services would be forced to eliminate nearly 113,000 meals and allow 100,000 fewer trips for doctors appointments.

Many states are facing similar hardships for the poor and elderly and in some cases like New York, they won’t be able to provide extra funding - forcing the city to cut back on services. Meetings are currently underway there to decide who will no longer receive meals and visits. In California, senior programs are facing a 10 percent cut in funding.

In the meantime, you can help a senior citizen continue to receive the food aid they need. Check out Meals on Wheels to find out how to how to donate your time, money, or start a new program of your own!

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