Anna Hunt, Staff
Waking Times

One of the most common over-the-counter drugs used to reduce pain may also be decreasing your ability to be empathetic. Moreover, it may also stifle the magnitude of positive emotions such as joy.

A study out of Ohio State University has found that participants who took acetaminophen were less empathetic when they learned about the misfortunes of others. Acetaminophen is the common ingredient in Tylenol and is also present in hundreds of other medicines, both over-the-counter and prescription, according to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA).

A substantial body of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research suggests that observing others experiencing pain, activates brain regions that are also activated during one’s own experience of pain. Therefore, the study’s researchers, Dominik Mischkowski, Baldwin Way and Jennifer Crocker, wanted to understand if something that reduced one’s pain also affects how one perceives others who are experiencing pain.

by James Holbrooks via Anti Media

Washington, D.C. — As protests continue to break out all around the nation over President Donald Trump’s desire to scrap Obamacare, Politico reported Tuesday that many politicians are beginning to worry about their own personal safety — to the point where some are having private sessions to discuss the matter.

Citing sources who were in the room, Politico writes:

“House Republicans during a closed-door meeting Tuesday discussed how to protect themselves and their staffs from protesters storming town halls and offices in opposition to repealing Obamacare.”

Some of the suggestions, the news outlet reports, include “having a physical exit strategy at town halls, or a backdoor at congressional offices to slip out of, in case demonstrations turn violent; having local police monitor town halls; replacing any glass office-door entrances with heavy doors and deadbolts; and setting up intercoms to ensure those entering congressional offices are there for appointments, not to cause chaos.”

by Arjun Walia, Collective Evolution

The concept of Karma, which dates back thousands of years, is taught by various cultures throughout human history. Despite its proliferance, the idea of karma seems to be generally misunderstood and frequently tossed around without any real understanding of its true meaning.

What is Karma?

In the Bhagavad Gita (one text out of many from multiple cultures that speak of Karma), there are constant dialogues about how to attain what’s referred to as “moksha,” which is the release from the cycle of rebirth. It is a sort of transcendent state or freedom from the world we currently know — a world in which our senses deceive us. It’s a state of bliss that can only be attained when we have freed ourselves from the web of karma. Once we reach that point, our soul is ready to move on to another experience that goes beyond rebirth.