Human Behavior

Grey’s Anatomy: 10 Worst Times A Character Cheated, Ranked – Screen Rant

While romance is a huge part of Grey's Anatomy, there have been plenty of times where the surgeons have crossed the line in the name of 'love'

Relationships on the hit ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy have always been complicated, reflecting the myriad complexitiesthat human beings face in daily life. Whether falling in and out of love, holding a candle for someone who's beyond reach,as well asthe dark, murky side of relationships, Grey's has shown it all.

RELATED:Grey's Anatomy: 5 Characters Who Give The Best Romance Advice (& 5 Who Give The Worst)

The characters in this series, which is as much a relationship drama as it is medical, have been deeply in love but they have also cheated on their partners and been unfaithful at various times. Some of these creative decisions completely threw the arc while a few made somesense in the broader context. One must remember that infidelity, however undesirable, is still a very human behavior. However, that's not to say that the randomness didn't take anyone by surprise.

Alex Karev in season 1 of Grey's Anatomy was an arrogant and selfish jerk, who grossly lacked any social etiquette. It was no surprise then that he cheated on Izzie Stevens with the nurse Olivia after he let the pressures of the relationship get to him.

Although Izzie and Alex weren't formally together at the time, they were building to something good. Izzie was also the person who convinced everyone to give Alex a second chance after she saw a softer and more vulnerable side to him. In that light, the fact that Alex fooled around with other women while giving Izzie hope, was not cool.

Dr. Nathan Riggs appeared only for rather a short time at Grey Sloan Memorial. He was an ex-colleague of Owen Hunt's at the military, and the fianc of Owen's sister, Megan.

Megan and Nathan were both revealed to have cheated on each other. But Megan's side of the story was never really shown explicitly, whileNathan was berated time and again by Owen for having cheated on his sister. He was even revealed to have gifted Megan a necklace belonging to the woman he had cheated with. Although he did move heaven and earth for Megan after she was found alive, his history of cheating couldn't be erased.

Kate Walsh joined the medical drama as Derek's wife, bringing up the third angle of the love triangle that Meredith and Derek found themselves in. But even as the thorn in Meredith's flesh, Addison soon went on to be a beloved character and fans couldn't get enough of her.

RELATED:Grey's Anatomy: 10 Characters We'd Love To See Return in Season 17

Addisonwas said to have cheated on Derek with his best friend Mark Sloan prior tothe timeline of the show itself. She then came to Seattle to put things right with Derek. However, their marriage was soon cut short when Derek cheated on her with Meredith. Of course, had Addison never cheated, the entire MerDer storyline might never have happened, but keeping that aside, it was pretty low of her to have an affair with her husband's best friend.

Owen proclaimed his love for Cristina more than once and he did indeed love her, choosing her over Teddy whom he had always had feelings for.

But when Cristina decided not to have children and even aborted Owen's child, the latter decided to hurt her by cheating. He hooked up with a friend of a patient, and later on, he has a long, traumatizing conversation about his unfaithfulness with Cristina. Seeing that Owen and Cristina were the second lead pair for a long time on the show, Owen's indiscretion was indeed disheartening.

One major case of infidelity happened before the series had started but continues to have a big impact, even today.

Meredith's mom Ellis, had had a long drawn out affair with Richard Webber, even though she was married to Thatcher Grey. Ellis and Richard were in love but their relationship destroyed Meredith's childhood and her relationship with her biological father, Thatcher. Moreover, Maggie Pierce turned out to be Ellis and Richard'sdaughter. Although the revelation shocked everyone, it was nice to see Meredith discover she had more family.

If Ellis cheated on Thatcher then naturally Richard cheated on Adele too, only he did it more than once. His wife was sweet and gentle, forgiving him for his affair with Ellis Grey.

RELATED:Greys Anatomy: 5 Times Richard Webber Was An Overrated Character (& 5 He Was Underrated)

Richard might always be the "Chief" to all at Grey Sloan, but his behavior towards Adele was intolerable. Fans will always agree that Adele deserved better.

Callie and Arizona were a lovely couple and fans rootedfor them through all the ups-and-downs. From Callie's accident while she was pregnant, to Arizona having her leg amputated after the devastating plane crash in the season 8 finale, these two had indeed been through a lot.

But what didn't make sense was Arizona cheating on Callie with the craniofacial surgeon Lauren Boswell (played by guest star Hilary Burton). While Arizona did struggle in the aftermath of the plane crash, fans couldn't understand what made her cheat.

Another cheating scandal that occurred in Grey-Sloan has to beTeddy cheating on Owen with Tom Koracick. The usually cool-headed, rational Teddy suddenly decided to throw all caution to the wind when she began a physical relationship withTom, whom she was casually hooking up with before Owen proposed to her.

Teddy's uncharacteristic behavior has had fans in an uproar. Of course, Tom seems to actually care for Teddy so if the writers decide to make Koracick beat his current illness, then he might have a chance with Teddy after all.

One of the worst and most heartbreaking instances of infidelity onGrey's has been Derek's moment with his research fellow, Renee.In seasons 10 and 11, Meredith's dream relationship with Derek went through a rough patch as the latterleft for DC.

RELATED:Grey's Anatomy: 5 Times Meredith And Derek Were The Perfect Couple (& 5 Times They Weren't)

Meredith feared the worst and she was almost right, for Derek did end up kissing Renee - although it's possible this kiss opened his eyes and drove away any confusion he might have had regarding him and Meredith. He did come running back to Seattle, but for MerDer shippers his little moment with his Research Fellow was devastating. Of course, Derek did fall for Meredith while he was still married to Addison, but to see him on the verge of cheating on Meredith herself never went down well with fans.

Probably the worst case of infidelity on Grey'sthat was not just uncharacteristic of those involved but also completely meaningless in the individual story arcwas George O'Malley cheating on Callie.

George was goofy, adorable, and good through and through, so his sudden decision to sleep with Izzie while still being married to Callie seemed bizarre. True, he and Callie weren't exactly the perfect couple, but that didn't seem to justify the story arc where he acted on his impulses with Izzie. Especially as Callie had given him absolutely no reason to hurther.

NEXT:Grey's Anatomy: Why Season 1 Was The Best Season Of The Show

Next How I Met Your Mother: 5 Characters Wed Want To Be Friends With (& 5 We Wouldnt)

Surangama, or Sue, as she is called by many, has been writing on films, television, literature, social issues for over a decade now. A teacher, writer, and editor, she loves nothing better than to curl up on a lazy afternoon with her favorite book, or with a pen and a notebook (a laptop would have to do!) and a foaming cuppa tea on the side.

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Grey's Anatomy: 10 Worst Times A Character Cheated, Ranked - Screen Rant

Human Behavior

Human Connection Will Always Be at the Center of Hospitality – MarketScale

Driven by consumer desires for new experiences, innovative technologies and environmental impacts travel is changing. Host Sarah Dandashy explores the technologies and logistics that power travel and the brands that build unforgettable experiences.

Bashar Wali is the quintessential hotelier with a long history in the hotel industry. He is the CEO and Founder of This Assembly, Partner at Provenance Hotels, and Founder and CEO of Practice Hospitality (a Hotel Management company that he fondly refers to as a Nurture Company).

More than just the business of hotels, Wali always emphasizes the human element of the hospitality industry. While acknowledging that hotels can offer many unique experiences, he said what truly matters is how hoteliers make guests feel. Wali has even done a TEDx on Human Connection.

The business that were in is hospitality. And the clear distinction is service is what you deliver, and hospitality is how you make people feel, Wali said.

And he has a point. All too often, hoteliers focus on the bottom line and forget what the real essence of hospitality is.

Why are hotels successful? It is because they know their why. They know their purpose, and they think long term.

I want to be able to say, look, we are in the business of creating an incredible place for people to work and an incredible place for people to call home away from home, Wali said.

And that, as Wali said, defines success.

Looking ahead, Wali shared a few of his thoughts on the future of the industry. Instead of focusing on trends, he dove into the notion of human behavior and understanding how we, as humans, shift and influence future changes.

Of course, Wali shared a bit on what hoteliers should be focusing on moving forward. First, the booking process should be smoother. Hoteliers need to focus on being better retailers. Secondly, hoteliers should also remember that they are in the feelings business. If they focus on anything else, hotels just become a commodity. And hotels are so much more than thatthey are an experience.

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Human Behavior

What makes people believe in conspiracy theories? – RADIO.COM

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) Conspiracy theorists are often dismissed on social media. But some QAnon supporters were among those who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, and a growing number of Americans believe in conspiracy theories. So why do people believe these ideas when facts show they arent true?

Many conspiracy theories are dangerous, said psychologist Dr. John Grohol.

When you get into the strongest believers, it can really start looking like someone who has been indoctrinated into a cult, said Grohol.

He studies human behavior and technology and said people who believe conspiracy theories put information together that doesnt make sense in order to fit what they want to believe.

And they tend to be more fearful, anxious and narcissistic.

People who tend to think their view of the world is the one that matters most. People with narcissism engage in more paranoid thinking. And they tend to believe that the actions of other people are targeted toward them, he explained.

There are more people buying into these falsehoods because of social media.

So if you have that kind of out-there theory, you can find other people who share that same belief far more easily than you could have 20 years ago on the internet, he added.

Since the pandemic, people have been more isolated and spending more time online, which is also contributing to the problem.

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What makes people believe in conspiracy theories? - RADIO.COM

Human Behavior

What Fairytale Are You? Take This Quiz To Find Out – Book Riot

Flatiron Books, publisher of Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert.

A gorgeously illustrated collection of twelve original stories by the New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country. Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twiceand still lives. Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans alike, Tales from the Hinterland will include gorgeous illustrations by Jim Tierney, foil stamping, two-color interior printing, and two-color printed endpapers.

Carl Jung and Bruno Bettelheim popularized the application of fairytales to psychology and personality traits. In The Uses of Enchantment, Bettelheim uses Freudian psychology to describe the existential quandaries children are working through based on their favorite fairytales. Children reading Cinderella, for example, are working through the Oedipus complex and sibling rivalry. In Snow White, children are beginning to notice how they cause parental turmoil and are starting to separate themselves from the parental unit. According to Bettelheim, phallic symbols pervade fairytales, such as the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk. Its since been revealed that Bettelheim abused the children placed under his care and plagiarized much of his work from psychiatrist Julius Heuscher. Despite this, his work remains popular and has influenced both fairytale scholarship and therapy practices.

Carl Jungs research into archetypal images in myth and fairytales and how they relate to dreams and the subconscious sprouted a field of psychoanalysis and folklore scholarship perhaps best exemplified in Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales by Jungian psychologist and Carl Jung student Marie-Louise von Franz. In Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales, Franz explores the lessons about human behavior and thinking tucked away in fairytales, and how important it is to acknowledge these stories as being part of a persons core being.

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Today, fairytales have successfully been used in therapy sessions, from couples therapy to childrens therapy to narrative therapy. (If you want to read a fictionalized account of how fairytales are used in therapy, check out this beautiful Charles Yu short story published in The New Yorker: Fable.) And beyond the scholarly implications of using fairy tales as personality indicators, their universality and familiarity make them both an easy and fun way for anyone to assess their and other peoples personalities.

Whether you prefer dark and twisted fairytales or their Disney counterparts, this quiz will assign you a fairytale and tell you a little bit about your greatest strengths and weaknesses in the process.

And if youre looking for more fairytale content, check out these posts:

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What Fairytale Are You? Take This Quiz To Find Out - Book Riot

Human Behavior

Cybersecurity sales: Do you have what it takes to succeed? – Help Net Security

Technology is at the heart of the world economy, and were moving into a new age of business where its technology not people is becoming the differentiator, says Terry Greer-King, VP EMEA at SonicWall.

Though he started his working life in electronics engineering, the world of sales and marketing really lit a fire, and hes been growing his career for years by purposely seeking sales experience across as many mediums as possible.

Currently the VP EMEA at SonicWall, Greer-King landed the position at the network security company after a string of top cybersecurity leadership roles at CheckPoint, Cisco and Akamai.

A sale of a cybersecurity solution is not quite the same as in many other areas of technology, because the risk and therefore the opportunity is constantly evolving, he told Help Net Security.

Sales success should be based on helping customers protect themselves in line with their view of risk and associated profile. Nirvana has yet to be achieved, through, so there is constant sales opportunity to continue to work with customers to constantly adjust their defenses. This extends to connecting as far as possible not just on current state, but projecting the future and considering risk as an integral concern along with how a business transforms digitally.

Also, we should keep in mind that as the cybersecurity industry has grown from identifying particular threats and developing and marketing appropriate solutions, the bad actors have been developing their industry as well, so protection is not as straightforward as implementing specific technology solutions.

The bad guys are extremely agile and motivated, which means that nothing about the cyber world should be fit and forget. My advice to customers is to constantly check and validate their defenses against what should be a constant appraisal and rating of risk. In short, cybersecurity is an ongoing, unending process, and defense is a combination of human behavior and technology that should be deployed in a considered way.

As the potential reward for malicious behavior increases and the drive towards digital transformation accelerated by the remote working requirements of the pandemic restrictions continues, the future looks even more challenging. The requirements to secure and protect will become ever greater.

It is crucial that cybersecurity transcends from a bolt-on fix to being at the core of business thought and strategy, he points out. Technology is moving to the centre of all that we do. Consequently, we are becoming increasingly reliant on it and its security.

With a career in sales and customer-facing functions that stretched across many markets industrial automation, personal computers, office automation, networking, and cybersecurity Greer-King says that one of the keys to success is to be constantly growing your knowledge.

Ive learned much over the years, often through failures. It seems to me that if you dont fail, youre not pushing hard enough. Another challenge, of course, is to reflect and learn from the experience. Learning is gradual, but will happen only if youre open to new things, able to listen and are constantly pushing boundaries, he told Help Net Security.

Another thing thats essential for a successful career in sales is an appreciation of interdependence.

Independence is a trait often looked for in particular functions like sales, but it focuses on the self. Success, on the other hand, is built though cooperation and teamwork. I think one of the greatest lessons I learned through the years is that you have to make sure youve got smart people around you smart people, aligned with the overall strategy and working towards a common goal, can achieve great things.

Finally, he says he has benefited hugely from a year-long senior leader development program in recent years, which taught him that successful leadership isnt just about strong leadership from the top, but also hinges a lot on ones ability to adapt to circumstances and people.

Leadership requires listening, motivation, implementing process, guiding, mentoring and so much more, he concluded.

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Cybersecurity sales: Do you have what it takes to succeed? - Help Net Security

Human Behavior

Privileged Behavior: Mental illness is not why Trump became emotionally untethered from humanity – Milwaukee Independent

For years, people have been talking about Donald Trumps mental state, throwing around the term mental illness as a lazy catch-all for his erratic behavior, inexhaustible cruelty, and inexplicable recklessness. In the wake of the election, a growing choir has assembled singing the same refrain.

This has always struck me as particularly damaging, because it assumes something dangerous: that all mentally ill people are vengeful, bigoted, unrepentant sociopaths. We are not.

As one of the 51 million Americans who battles a brain affliction, I can attest to the reality that the vast majority of us are not oblivious to the feelings of other people or unaware of the results of our actions we are in fact, highly sensitive to them. It is precisely our illness that makes us feel the pain around us deeply, that causes us to notice the fractures and grieve the wounds of the world that many people are unaware of.

We are more emotionally tethered to humanity, not less.

Those of us navigating the daily minefield of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorders, do so while being profoundly burdened to be sources of healing and restoration here, to be agents of equity and fairness. We war with our demons while simultaneously fighting for other people in peril. Our illness and our kindness coexists every single day.

Mental illness does not make people more prone to racism, it doesnt make them predisposed to misogyny, it doesnt increase their enmity toward humanity. Donald Trumps life is not characterized by such things because hes mentally illbut because hes a really terrible human being who lacks empathy of any kind.

Simply calling Donald Trump mentally ill assumes that his predatory behavior, his inability to accept reality, and his complete lack of accountability in these days are a product of a brain affliction. They are not. They are a symptom of sustained and stratospheric privilege.

Trump is the product of a life continually shielded from accountability; one where money and power have always afforded the luxury of buying or suing or lying or intimidating his way out of any responsibility for his criminality or any consequences of the injuries he causes. His entire existence has been spent in the cloistered penthouse opulence of gold-plated privilege, where reality is whatever he can pay for. He has never been inconvenienced by the truth in the way that he is now and soon will be.

This is why were here: why nearly two months after a historic election loss, a sitting president is still titling at windmills of fraud and generating flagged tweets and assailing the courts and its why hes calling Secretaries of State, trying to muscle his way into overturning the will of the people, like a cut-rate film noir mobster shaking down a store owner.

It is not just because he is mentally ill that he is willing to discard democracy and obliterate the law (and ignore a pandemic all the while), it is because he has never had to lose (even when he has lost) and he has never had to reckon with a reality not of his own making.

Not only that, it is because he is buttressed by a cadre of similarly privileged human beings who recognize that they live in the same fragile house of cards and that their survival is tied to his. They not only recognize his desperate machinations, they share them. It is not a collective mental illness on display in his party, it is simply a shared vile, ugly, garden variety lust for power that will hold on to it at any cost.

Yes, Donald Trump has undiagnosed and or untreated mental illness, but these things do not explain him. His wealth, his whiteness, his upbringing, and an experience of the world that has made him impervious to other peoples suffering, explain him.

I hope we can be more precise when talking about Trump and people like him, because the twenty percent of the world afflicted with mental illness deserve better than to be compared to a man whose complete lack of goodness and profound contempt for other human beings is something we will never be afflicted with.

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Privileged Behavior: Mental illness is not why Trump became emotionally untethered from humanity - Milwaukee Independent

Human Behavior

Wonder Woman 1984: 5 Ways Cheetah Is A Sympathetic Character (& 5 Ways Shes The Worst) – Screen Rant

Cheetah is the latest to join the ranks of DCEU villains - but is she a truly bad person, or do fans feel sympathy for her?

In a change from the norm, the DCEU brought a story where the traditional aspects of good versus bad were subverted. Wonder Woman 1984 might have received mixed reviews, but the characters were well executed asthe audience is inclined to feel sympathetic even for the villains.

RELATED:Wonder Woman 1984: 10 Questions About Steve Trevor, Answered

Barbara Ann Minerva was presented as a person with low self-esteem who happened to get her wish fulfilled before this twisted her into becoming the Cheetah. Due to this backstory, there are many aspects of Barbara thatare sympathetic and relatable. Still, that doesnt mean it absolves her from blame for the bad things she did, which need to be pointed out as well.

After wishing for the natural abilities Diana possessed, Barbara found herself a confident, strong, and charming woman. Unlike Diana, though, Barbara became arrogant over these attributes and became the opposite of Diana in personality.

It proved that Barbara had an inherent darkness to her that Diana didnt and that the Dreamstone might have just pushed this aspect of Barbara out in the open. She didnt appreciate how the Dreamstone gave her the confidence she lacked, instead deciding that being charming and sought-after was the only important thing.

The DCEU version of Barbara is very different from the comic book Cheetah, who was a nasty piece of work from the beginning. The movie Barbara couldnt catch a break, as she was always overlooked and underappreciatedin life.

She knew more than her fair share in her line of work and was a pleasant person to be around in general, yet her lack of confidence led to people ignoring Barbara altogether. This is something thats relatable to many people, as Barbara developed a severe inferiority complex.

It would be incorrect to claim that Diana was a completely good person, seeing as she did have several selfish moments herself. However, she decided to do the right thing eventually, while Barbara actively worked against Diana in order to preserve her own wish.

She could have accepted that it wasnt her place to benefit from the Dreamstone when millions suffered but decided to side with Maxwell Lord to take Diana down. Due to her actions, the world came very close to being irreparably plunged into chaos.

To be fair, while Barbara did deliver a beatdown to Diana, she didnt go all-out and eliminate her opponent altogether. Due to her former friendship, Barbara retained a sense of attachment to Diana that allowed her to show mercy after shed won.

RELATED:The Suicide Squad: 5 Characters Most Likely To Die (& 5 With The Best Chance Of Survival)

Had she been completely evil, Barbara would have finished the job right then and there to prevent Diana from doing anything in the future. Her decision to let Diana live is an indication that Barbara did have an appreciation for the kindness Diana had shown her.

Despite becoming an apex predator, perhaps the worst thing Barbara did in the movie was to twist Dianas sentiments. When she became worse and embraced her evil side, Barbara claimed that Diana never understood her and wanted to stop her from being happy.

Its clear that Diana genuinely did want to be Barbaras friend when they first met and her kindness toward her had nothing to do with pity. By throwing Dianas good nature right in her face, Barbara cut herself from the one person that hadnt belittled her.

There are movies similar to Wonder Woman 1984 where characters have to deal with heavy themes and this one brought up the issue of harassment. Its a shame that Barbara had to lose her faith in people so quickly after gaining her newfound powers, as a man harassed her to no end.

It was the recollection of this event that ultimately caused her to reach murderous lengths when she later savagely attacked the man. Its entirely possible that Barbara wouldve turned out like Diana had she not had to suffer such abuse.

By the end of the story, everyones wishes were renounced when Maxwell Lord gave up his powers. This left Barbara back into her old form after her corruption into the Cheetah. Rather than display any measure of repentance, she only seemed sad about losing her powers.

Even Maxwell Lord made his regret known, but Barbara didnt feel the same way since she didnt approach Diana later on when things were back to normal. It appears as if she might have remained in her bitter way and continued being a darker personality afterward.

Barbara had never had any connections to understand how human behavior worked, being easily manipulated even by cheesy behavior from Maxwell Lord as she had never felt desirable beforehand. It was after she realized she might lose the Dreamstone wish that she became a baddie.

RELATED:10 Things About Wonder Woman You Need To Remember Before WW84

This situation was the result of Barbara being manipulated by Maxwell Lord rather than her being an evil person from the start. All in all, it wasnt her fault that she was thrust into such a scenario, not when she had no clue where it was all headed.

Barbara sealed her transition into becoming the Cheetah when she wished to become an apex predator. She still had a chance to renounce her wish and do right, especially since she was in such close proximity to Maxwell Lord, but dived completely into her dark side.

By giving in, the Cheetah entered the list of DCEU villains, one who had the best shot at avoiding this status. Had Lord been successful in stealing the life force of the people in the world, Cheetah would have been just as culpable since she was the one protecting Lord at the time.

Watching Barbara feel important was one of the best moments of Wonder Woman 1984, as she finally achieved her wish of being accepted. At the heart of it, all she ever wanted was to be considered a person worthy of notice and thats really not a bad thing.

Despite Barbara going to terrible lengths in the pursuit of such a wish, one can sympathize with where she was coming from as acceptance is an intrinsic part of a person. Had she received this feeling earlier, the Cheetah might never have come about.

NEXT:Man Of Steel: 10 Reasons It's Better Than You Remember

Next Lilo & Stitch: The Main Characters Ranked, By Likability

Saim Cheeda is an entertainment writer covering all of Film, TV, Gaming and Books. He's been a writer for Valnet since 2017, contributing 500+ articles for The Gamer, The Things, Game Rant, Comic Book Resources and Screen Rant. Apart from freelance writing, Saim is a lifestyle blogger, co-owning the blog 3 States Apart.http://3statesapart.com

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Wonder Woman 1984: 5 Ways Cheetah Is A Sympathetic Character (& 5 Ways Shes The Worst) - Screen Rant

Human Behavior

Clergy gather in Newport to process grief from Capitol attack – newportri.com

Laura Damon|Newport Daily News

NEWPORT The lead pastor of Evangelical Friends Church of Newport in Middletown wept silently in his office when he saw the images of the chaos that erupted in Washington on Wednesday, when a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol building.

I was devastated, Rev. Paul Hoffman said in a virtual prayer rally Thursday afternoon, live-streamed on Facebook from the Community Baptist Church in Newport. He was among other local clergy members who spoke at the event, to offer words of comfort and prayers.

We want to process our grief, Hoffman said, while explaining the purpose of Thursday's prayer rally. Not in destructive ways, but in constructive ways. Healthy ways.

Images of our Congress-people and their staff huddled in the chamber, this should never happen. And we pray that it never happens again, Hoffman said.

We want to show you a positive, faith-filled, Christ-centered example of what it looks like when things are broken, Hoffman continued. Unity is not uniformity.

Rev. Lauri Smalls, the transitional pastor of Community Baptist Church, sang God Bless America before she spoke.

To God, she said: Youve given us this wonderful gift of being American, a group of people made up of different ethnicities and opinions. God, you have woven us into a wonderful fabric, but we have forgotten that…We have forgotten that our neighbor is our friend.

Other clergy members spoke of the nuances of human behavior, the frustrations of some groups of people, and their own conflicting feelings. Love for their country juxtaposed with a frustration and anger towards it.

Hoffman, in a prayer, said: We have been politically polarized…we have been divided. And despite different tribes and tongues…different educational backgrounds…our desires and our hearts are the same.

Father, Hoffman continued. We recognize our culture cannot change until we change.

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Clergy gather in Newport to process grief from Capitol attack - newportri.com

Human Behavior

Around Town: Negativity kills – VVdailypress.com

By Pat Orr| For the Victorville Daily Press

I spend a great deal of space ruminating about political decisions, laws and the people who make them. This tends to skew my perspective to the negative. As a moderately conservative person in a state run by ultra-liberals, my view of most state government decisions is not rosy. I told my editor if this pandemic ever receded, I would like to do more local stories with a positive slant. Those are hard to come by when everyone is locked up and not circulating.

I overheard my WFL (wife for life) talking with her sister-in-law on the phone the other day. They observed that both I and her brother were doggedly negative, while they saw themselves as most always seeing the brighter, more positive side of an issue or problem. I countered with No I am just a realist. My WFL laughed. Wait I protested, I am positive. I am positive that things are terrible.

This exchange led me to the ugly realization that 2020 and all that year put us through has forever changed the attitude from sweet to sour for a great many on this planet. Add to the pandemic worries strife over race, riots, several contested elections, personal and business financial woes, and the result is a tough time to stay cheery. I decided to investigate this further. Is there a downside to being a pessimist besides being a drag at parties?

As it happens, like every other human behavior, there are academics studying the issue. Also, as it happens, your emotional well-being and health can be affected by the way you feel about life and what it presents you daily.

University of North Carolina Psychologist Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson found that All emotions whether positive or negative are adaptive in the right circumstances. The key seems to be in finding a balance between the two.

Research has found a link between an upbeat positive mental state and lower blood pressure, reduced risk of heart disease, healthier weight and longer life. Fredrickson, and others, have found a link indicating that those who savor positive emotions activate new reward pathways deep in the brain and help produce lower levels of a stress hormone.

To reinforce the validity of these findings, Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania looked at the flip side of the equation by doing extensive research on individuals aged 25 to 65 who were rated as pessimists those who routinely have a dark view of events both personal and public. Seligman found that the pessimists' health deteriorated far more rapidly as they aged.

Researchers at Yale and the University of Colorado found pessimism to be associated with weakened immune response to tumors and infection in their own studies. That could have a profound impact on how one should approach contracting any new disease or infection, like COVID-19. There is proof that staying positive helps you beat your health challenges.

Research aside, how do you set about remaking your attitude? Well, naturally, there is quite a large industry willing to teach you how to think positively. Norman Vincent Peale wrote a top selling self-help tome in 1952 that became the signpost of a new era in self-awareness. Subsequently, there has been intensive work by psychologists and physiologists into the science behind staying positive. There is also a great deal of guru-like fakery in the field, too.

In reviewing the current literature (and there is a lot of it), I found some useful tips.

Find an activity that calms and centers you. It may be walking, taking a bike ride, meditating, doing a crossword puzzle or using an adult coloring book (no kidding, they are big now). The motto here is, When the mind ceases, the soul is allowed to speak. Find a way to get away from your thoughts.

Practice the advice from the Disney movie Frozen and sing Let it go over and over. Holding onto negative thoughts and replaying them in your head continually reinforces a dark view toward new situations and issues.

Separate fact from fiction. Surprisingly, negative self-talk those things we beat ourselves up over promote a negative outlook on life. I am always going to be fat. I am too weak to quit smoking. I will never get a good job. An attitude change can often produce surprisingly successful results in the I can never category.

Get a pet. If you are a regular reader of this column, you may remember how I extolled the virtues of having a dog as a friend, companion and psychological counselor. In 2020, the adoption rate for dogs increased by over 30%. Last year, Australian researchers studying the link between pet ownership and mental health found that loneliness decreased in the group that got a dog by 40%.

Dogs also made their owners get out and be more active as a side benefit. Any pet you are comfortable interacting with will work. A parrot, gerbil or bunny are examples. You may need to be more persistent to strike up a long-term conversation with most cats, but they still nuzzle, and that is the whole point.

Help others. Find a way to volunteer. Nothing brings an upbeat attitude into your life faster than helping someone else in need. Volunteering causes the one you are helping to be optimistic and it may just infect you.

Learn something new or indulge a passion. Finding a new hobby or learning a new skill is a way to feel good about achieving something. A sense of achievement is important. For some, just planning and scheduling your day, then ticking off items as you complete them is enough to brighten an attitude. It feels good to finish something you set out to do, no matter how simple the task. You may need to force yourself to remember how good it feels to just feel good about the day you have had.

One of my friends shared her plan over Facebook recently, declaring she would do these two things to make her day go better: Will not watch the news and will not get on the bathroom scale.

Whatever it takes for you, work to make 2021 a positive year. It will be good for your health!

Contact Pat Orr at avreviewopinion@gmail.com.

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Around Town: Negativity kills - VVdailypress.com

Cell Biology

IsoPlexis secures $135M to boost its single-cell protein analysis tech – FierceBiotech

As single-cell analysis technologies continue their rapid developmentpromising a cells-eye view of protein interactions and signalingIsoPlexis hopes to establish itself as a provider of next-generation biology tools with $135 million in new financing.

Backed by Perceptive Advisors, the companys series D round includes $85 million in equity securities plus a $50 million credit facility, alongside support from Ally Bridge Group, funds managed by BlackRock and other investors.

IsoPlexis immediate plans are to expand its global sales and customer support teams, increase its commercial capacity and grow its R&D staff as it builds out its product development strategy, according to co-founder and CEO Sean Mackay.

Last November, the company debuted its IsoSpark instrument, with a tabletop footprint that aims to provide single-cell proteomics capabilities to large and small laboratories alike. IsoPlexis said it plans to begin shipments this month.

The major use of proceeds is to be able to meet the demand in the right places, for cancer immunology, cell and gene therapy and COVID, Mackay said in an interview with Fierce Medtech.

The second use of proceeds is really around the product road map, where we have in-licensed things to interrogate more aspects of single-cell biology, which includes the phospho-proteome, he added, referring to the bodys wide range of secreted proteins used to transmit messages to other cells and coordinate immune responses.

RELATED: Mission Bio raises $70M to scale single-cell cancer R&D platform

Using antibody-based proteomic barcodes, IsoPlexis hardware can tag and analyze hundreds of individual cells at once and classify each by the range of functional proteins they release.

This can help predict how certain patients may respond to checkpoint inhibitor-based cancer therapies or develop drug resistanceor give a better understanding of how the immune system may react or overreact to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, including through a partnership with researchers at Yale University.

RELATED: Merck joins Seattle consortium to uncover COVID-19's molecular workings

Weve come out with papers showing that if you can measure more of these proteins concurrently with each single cell, you can start to resolve and treat the aberrant signaling pathways that were engaged, Mackay said.

What we hope to do is continue to popularize the need to look at the phospho-proteome, because the early data is so promising, he added. I think our platform opens up some new modalities to be able to answer critical questions about truly networked intracellular biology and how to interact with targeted inhibitors.

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IsoPlexis secures $135M to boost its single-cell protein analysis tech - FierceBiotech