John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, has done some surprising things lately. First, he did an end run around his state’s Legislature — controlled by his own party — to proceed with the federally funded expansion of Medicaid that is an important piece of Obamacare. Then, defending his action, he let loose on his political allies, declaring, “I’m concerned about the fact there seems to be a war on the poor. That, if you’re poor, somehow you’re shiftless and lazy.”
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked a judge's ruling that found the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy was discriminatory and took the unusual step of removing her from the case, saying interviews she gave during the trial called her impartiality into question.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the rulings by U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin will be stayed pending the outcome of an appeal by the city.
The judge ruled in August the city violated the Constitution in how it carried out its program of stopping and questioning people. The city appealed her findings and her remedial orders, including a decision to assign a monitor to help the police department change its policy and the training program associated with it.
During arguments, lawyers in the case said the police department hasn't had to do anything except meet with a monitor since the judge's decision. But the city said police officers are afraid to stop and frisk people now and the number of stop-and-frisks has dropped dramatically.
The three-judge appeals panel, which heard arguments on the requested stay on Tuesday, noted that the case might be affected in a major way by next week's mayoral election.
Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio, who's leading in polls, has sharply criticized and promised to reform the NYPD's stop-and-frisk technique, saying it unfairly targets minorities. He said he was "extremely disappointed" in Thursday's decision.
The appeals court said the judge needed to be removed because she ran afoul of the code of conduct for U.S. judges in part by compromising the necessity for a judge to avoid the appearance of partiality. It noted she had given a series of media interviews and public statements responding to criticism of the court. In a footnote, it cited interviews with the New York Law Journal, The Associated Press and The New Yorker magazine.
The judge said Thursday that quotes from her written opinions gave the appearance she had commented on the case in interviews. But she said a careful reading of each interview will reveal no such comments were made.
The 2nd Circuit said cases challenging stop-and-frisk policies will be assigned to a different judge chosen randomly. It said the new presiding judge shall stay all proceedings pending further rulings by it.
After a 10-week civil trial that ended in the spring, Scheindlin ruled that police officers violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of people by wrongly targeting black and Hispanic men with the stop-and-frisk program. She appointed an outside monitor to oversee major changes, including reforms in policies, training and supervision, and she ordered a pilot program to test body-worn cameras.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented plaintiffs in the case, said it was dismayed that the appeals court delayed "the long-overdue process to remedy the NYPD's unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices" and was shocked that it "cast aspersions" on the judge's professional conduct and reassigned the case.
The city said it was pleased with the federal appeals court ruling. City lawyer Michael Cardozo said it allows for a fresh and independent look at the issue.
Stop-and-frisk, which has been criticized by civil rights advocates, has been around for decades, but recorded stops increased dramatically under Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to an all-time high in 2011 of 684,330, mostly of black and Hispanic men. A lawsuit was filed in 2004 by four men, all minorities, and became a class action case.
About 5 million stops have been made in New York in the past decade, with frisks occurring about half the time. To make a stop, police must have reasonable suspicion that a crime is about to occur or has occurred, a standard lower than the probable cause needed to justify an arrest. Only about 10 percent of the stops result in arrests or summonses, and weapons are found about 2 percent of the time.
Supporters of changes to the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program say the changes will end unfair practices, will mold a more trusted police force and can affect how other police departments use the policy. Opponents say the changes will lower police morale but not crime.
The judge noted she wasn't putting an end to the stop-and-frisk practice, which is constitutional, but was reforming the way the NYPD implemented its stops.
The teaser was great, but the official trailer is better. The movie is directed by the excellent Phil Lord and Chris Miller—who made Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs—and stars Will Arnett as Batman plus Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman.
The happy, goofy days of Jon and Kate Plus 8 -- when the overwhelmed but cheerful spouses Jon and Kate Gosselin seemed bonded for life as they minded their brood of eight small children -- feels like a lifetime ago. In the latest update with Jon three years after their marriage ended, the former TLC star confirms in a new Oprah Winfrey interview that he and Kate are virtual strangers.
"I don't really have a relationship with Kate. It's more texting, custodial stuff. I wish her the best in all that she does," Jon, 36, says. Now making ends meet as a waiter at a restaurant in rural Pennsylvania, Jon and Kate, 38, now share custody of twins Cara and Mady, 13, and 9-year-old sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel -- but it sounds like the former spouses are quietly at odds.
For her part, Kate told Bethenny Frankel last month that she felt "sadness and empathy and pity" for her ex, and hinted that co-parenting remains something of a strain. "Without going into to much detail, we are making the best of it," she said. "I definitely want them to know that I did not want to hinder or stand in the way of that relationship with him."
Add Jon in the OWN interview: "[We have] two different totally parenting styles, two different totally everythings. Which is a shame. Because it affects me. But it really affects my children."
Apple's incredibly popular handset, the iPhone, has earned it multiple awards from J.D. Power, but the tablet market may not be playing out the same for the iPad maker. According to a recent study conducted by J.D. Power, which took place between the months of March and August, Samsung tablets are ...
The Kardashian/Jenner family rented out a theme park on Oct. 29 to celebrate Kendall Jenner's upcoming 18th birthday. The birthday girl -- flanked by amicably separated mom and dad Kris and Bruce Jenner, big sisters Kim and Khloe, birthday girls Kendall, plus brothers Rob Kardashian, Brody and Brandon Jenner -- enjoyed a goofy afternoon filled with crazy rides, games and pictures to document the fun at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif.
Newly-engaged Kim, who like her family members posted social media updates from the bash, shared this Keek video while on a roller coaster. "Alright, I hope this isn't too scary," said the 33-year-old reality star as the caboose slowly inched its way up a steep incline. "We better not drop our phone." Like a true pro, even as the screaming commenced, the mom to 4-month-old North West managed to keep her phone and subsequently shared the experience on social media.
Although her fiance Kanye West was unable to join the somewhat-private affair, Kardashian reciprocated the rapper's lovey-dovey, recent interview with Ryan Seacrest in her Oct. 30 appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. "I'm very happy right now," she shared. The star also confessed to Leno how the fat-shaming she endured while pregnant with her first baby was damaging to her soul.
"It changed how I am in public," said the bombshell. "I've tried to live more of a private life."
Direct link established between stimulus-response learning and substance abuse
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Marie france Coutu marie-france.coutu@douglas.mcgill.ca 514-835-3236 Douglas Mental Health University Institute
Findings from Douglas Institute neuroscientist
Vronique Bohbot, PhD, neuroscientist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, found that the region of the brain involved in stimulus-response learning is directly linked to the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. More specifically, she discovered that people who resorted to stimulus-response learning smoked more, had double the consumption of alcohol and were more likely to use cannabis. Her findings have been published in the most recent issue of Hippocampus.
We rely on one of two strategies to navigate through our surroundings. One is called the spatial strategy, where we use visual cues and landmarks to develop cognitive maps that enable us to know where we are and how to get where we want to go. This process occurs in the hippocampus. The other is the stimulus-response strategy, which is a kind of auto-pilot: after travelling along the same route on a regular basis, we end up taking it out of habit. This process occurs in the striatum.
People who resort to stimulus-response learning have a more developed striatum and would consume more alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Factors such as routine, stress and reward-seeking behaviour also contribute to stimulating the striatum, at the expense of the hippocampus. "The literature indicates that children engage in stimulus-response strategies from a very young age," Vronique Bohbot explains. "Reward-seeking behavior in childhood, especially for immediate rewards like candy or playing action video games, stimulates the striatum and encourages stimulus-response strategies during navigation. This would predispose the child to drug seeking behaviour."
Previous studies have shown that an atrophied hippocampus increases the risk of developing a mental illness such as schizophrenia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or Alzheimer's disease.
Vronique Bohbot will present her research results on November 13 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, where she will talk about the importance of improving spatial navigation skills to maintain a balance and increase chances of a healthy cognition.
###
Link to Dr. Bohbot's published study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hipo.22187/abstract
Vido: http://www.douglas.qc.ca/videos/243
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Direct link established between stimulus-response learning and substance abuse
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Marie france Coutu marie-france.coutu@douglas.mcgill.ca 514-835-3236 Douglas Mental Health University Institute
Findings from Douglas Institute neuroscientist
Vronique Bohbot, PhD, neuroscientist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, found that the region of the brain involved in stimulus-response learning is directly linked to the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. More specifically, she discovered that people who resorted to stimulus-response learning smoked more, had double the consumption of alcohol and were more likely to use cannabis. Her findings have been published in the most recent issue of Hippocampus.
We rely on one of two strategies to navigate through our surroundings. One is called the spatial strategy, where we use visual cues and landmarks to develop cognitive maps that enable us to know where we are and how to get where we want to go. This process occurs in the hippocampus. The other is the stimulus-response strategy, which is a kind of auto-pilot: after travelling along the same route on a regular basis, we end up taking it out of habit. This process occurs in the striatum.
People who resort to stimulus-response learning have a more developed striatum and would consume more alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Factors such as routine, stress and reward-seeking behaviour also contribute to stimulating the striatum, at the expense of the hippocampus. "The literature indicates that children engage in stimulus-response strategies from a very young age," Vronique Bohbot explains. "Reward-seeking behavior in childhood, especially for immediate rewards like candy or playing action video games, stimulates the striatum and encourages stimulus-response strategies during navigation. This would predispose the child to drug seeking behaviour."
Previous studies have shown that an atrophied hippocampus increases the risk of developing a mental illness such as schizophrenia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or Alzheimer's disease.
Vronique Bohbot will present her research results on November 13 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, where she will talk about the importance of improving spatial navigation skills to maintain a balance and increase chances of a healthy cognition.
###
Link to Dr. Bohbot's published study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hipo.22187/abstract
Vido: http://www.douglas.qc.ca/videos/243
[
| E-mail
Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Apple's incredibly popular handset, the iPhone, has earned it multiple awards from J.D. Power, but the tablet market may not be playing out the same for the iPad maker. According to a recent study conducted by J.D. Power, which took place between the months of March and August, Samsung tablets are ...
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