Decades ago, ecstasy — yes, MDMA — was used in marriage counseling

A revival is occurring, and we sure can use it.

Photo credit: Stephan C Archetti / Keystone Features / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
  • For the first decade after it was synthesized, MDMA was used in individual and couples therapy.
  • Many therapists spoke against the criminalization of MDMA in 1985 due to the drug's therapeutic potential.
  • A revival has occurred in recent years, with the government allowing clinical trials to move forward.
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Animals feel pain. Why do people believe they don't?

The psychological disconnect between humans and other animals puts all forms of life at risk.

Equine intern Emma Saric monitors and supports a horse suffering from what is known as Kissing Spines, where sections of bone attached to the vertebrae are too close together and impinge on each other. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
  • As part of the EU Withdrawal Bill, British MPs refused to recognize animal sentience.
  • Yet it is well-documented that animals feel a range of feelings, including pain.
  • The delusional idea that only humans experience emotions has lead to a variety of catastrophic problems, such as mass factory farming
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Child abuse cases quadruple when report cards are sent home on Fridays

Florida researchers offer schools a simple message: Send home report cards earlier in the week.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
  • Researchers discovered a four-fold increase in verified cases of child abuse when report cards were sent home on Friday as compared to other days.
  • Corporal punishment is legal throughout America, including in many public and most private schools.
  • A child is hit, on average, every 30 seconds in American public schools.
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How financial literacy impacts youth prostitution, AIDS, and women’s survival

Financial literacy programs turns girls into powerful economic contributors.

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  • Around the world, girls are in positions of extreme vulnerability and risk. How can we increase the survival and empowerment of girls and women who have no education, who are married off as children, forced into prostitution, and who live in regions where AIDS/HIV is common?
  • One proven strategy is financial literacy programs, from as early as age six. It is the bedrock of change. When girls understand finance, savings, and how to think assess opportunity and risk, it is proven to impact seemingly unrelated areas of life, such as understanding their risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, explains Judith Bruce.
  • Invest in the poorest girls in the poorest countries early, says Bruce. Financial literacy affects their future decisions on health, education, and gives them their own economic agency. This benefits flow on to their children and will build a better, safer world.
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Smart dress groped 157 times in under 4 hours

Technology proves what women know and men may not want to hear

(Ogilvy)
  • Schweppes commissioned research into how often women are touched by strangers
  • A sensor-equipped dress designed by Ogilvy captured the party experience of three women
  • The experiment confirms for men what women have known all along
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