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POPSWhy George Orwell wrote 1984 Orwell served in Burma as a member of The Indian Imperial police, saw poverty and failure, but the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Hitler, and the NAZIs, gave him a political direction, and his work after 1936, was to warn against the establishment of a totalitarian state. There is more at the site, with more background. Orwell died Seven months after 1984 was published, due to the effects of tuberculosis, and an allergic reaction to a new medication. While he was in Hospital, writing 1984 they took away his typewriter, but he continued to write longhand with a ballpoint pen, despite his failing health
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POPSAtheists Need to Chill Michael Shermer makes a point that needs to be made. Atheists need to remember what they stand for , not merely what they are against . Ridicule and contempt have no place in science, and haters should not tarnish its reputation by association. In the words of the greatest consciousness raiser of the 20th century, Martin Luther King, Jr., in his epic "I Have a Dream" speech: "In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline." If atheists do not want theists to prejudge them in a negative light, then they must not do unto theists the same.
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POPSHow Hatred Transforms Your Brain "What is surprising is the degree to which hatred is associated with logic and planning. The researchers write in their paper: What seems not to be in doubt is that this cortical zone involves the premotor cortex, a zone that has been implicated in the preparation of motor planning and its execution. We hypothesize that the sight of a hated person mobilizes the motor system for the possibility of attack or defense. In addition, the involvement of the frontal pole consider to be critical in predicting the action of others, arguably an important feature when confronted by a hated person . . . it is more likely that in the context of hate the hater may want to exercise judgment in calculating moves to harm, injure or otherwise extract revenge."
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POPSKilling the Buddha a fascinating and interesting read:from the article: "It is as yet undetermined what it means to be human, because every facet of our culture—and even our biology itself—remains open to innovation and insight."
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POPSInterventionism, Not Muslims, Is the Problem
Thus, rather than ceasing its policy of interventionism after 9/11, which is what the U.S. government should have done even while pursuing the perpetrators through criminal-justice means, it did the very worst thing possible — it continued and even expanded its policy of interventionism in the hope of killing those whose differences with America’s values had risen to the level of rage as a result of U.S. interventionism. Not surprisingly, that only fueled more anger and rage. So, what should the U.S. government do now? It should do what it should have done after 9/11: Exit Afghanistan and Iraq and the entire Middle East. Bring all the troops home. Everyone seems to know this, but America. I read a lot of hate against Muslims on CM and I find that highly troubling. It's a crock. Muslims DON'T hate us, they are NOT the enemy and if the US just left other countries alone, the "War on Terror" would be over. Don't buy into it.. Bring the troops home.
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POPSMuch like love, hatred is often blind Religious and politically-based hatred: many religious and political wars that have occurred throughout history Terrorist attacks are almost always related to political arguments, religious disagreements or both. Religious and politically motivated atrocities have traditionally been inspired by greed, envy and fear.
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POPSWhy hate Gore? Granted, giving Gore the Nobel Prize may well be a political stunt somewhat out of proportion with the relevance of his actions. On the other hand humorless extreme conservatives have even more distorted notion of Gore. Their obsessive hatred of him is even more surreal than the hype. Why do they care so much about him? Why froth at the mouth over just one politician? Klugman provides some interesting answers, but also seems a little to simplistic. I have long been puzzeled on the vhemence with which conservatives react against environmentalism, and I don't think its as simple as pure greed.
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POPSTrolls and Other Nastiness A very provocative article on freedom on speech vs. downright nastiness, hatred and harassment. Is uncensored speech the most free, or is free speech enhanced by civility?
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POPS'Interbeing':Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism
Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world. 5 Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. 6 Do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and transform them when they are still seeds in your consciousness. As soon as they arise, turn your attention to your breath in order to see and understand the nature of your hatred. 7 Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. From the book 'Interbeing':Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism by Thich Nhat Hanh
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POPSFree your heart from hatred... The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up! Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from hatred. 2. Free your mind from worries. 3. Live simply. 4. Give more. 5. Expect less.
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POPSDear Republicans: An angry but heartfelt rant More: I'm sick of your rewriting of history. You've bleated so loud and long that Reagan was a great president, that the New Deal didn't work, that cutting taxes increases revenues, that you actually have the people believing this bullshit… I'm sick of your dragging the center ever further to the right. How many whackjob fringe ideas have you dragged into the mainstream? …you push these ideas through your corporate media and you do it so long and loud that they become part of the accepted political landscape and because it is easier to tell a lie than to debunk one, we never get away from this rancid shit… I'm sick of your casual criminality…all I've heard from my rightist friends for days is Chappaquiddick, Chappaquiddick, Chappaquiddick. Your fucking golden boy raped the Constitution…and you bastards are obsessed with a fucking accident a Democrat had decades ago? Plus much more, too long to clip.
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POPSIslam and Homophobia - The Gay Sons of Allah The reason I clipped this....well that should be obvious.... No one has the right to murder and torture another person. No one. So what is it that Christians are doing to gay people? Reading them Bible verses? Oh, hells bells, that's "emotional terrorism," I forgot.
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POPSProjecting Pain on to Others See also Fromm's 'The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness' Individuals with a deep hatred of themselves will project their loathing onto 'suitable targets of destruction'
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POPS"Terrorist!" "Kill him!" - Anger growing at McCain rallies "Kill him!" shouted at Palin rally as Palin stokes Ayers paranoia; journalists taunted as Palin blames media for her weak interviews; "Terrorist!" shouted after McCain implies Obama is other than he seems. "Country first?" By stirring up hatred and suspicion?
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POPS"Cynical Shyness": Violence of the Loner Don't know anything about this idea, but certainly would make sense if factored in with other markers of social inadequacy and emotional furnaces such as repressed homosexuality, sexual and social powerlessnes and so on. While the research is on the horrifying instances of killers, I wonder whether the "cynically shy" isolated loner is common to a less extreme defree degree in 'everyday' manifestations of hatred, malevolence, violent language and despair>
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POPSSilence That Man! He's Telling The Truth!!! "I would ask the congressman to ... tell us what he meant," said Rudy. A fair question and a crucial question. When Ron Paul said the 9-11 killers were "over here because we are over there," he was not excusing the mass murderers of 3,000 Americans. He was explaining the roots of hatred out of which the suicide-killers came. Lest we forget, Osama bin Laden was among the mujahideen whom we, in the Reagan decade, were aiding when they were fighting to expel the Red Army from Afghanistan. We sent them Stinger missiles, Spanish mortars, sniper rifles. And they helped drive the Russians out. Osama bin Laden in his declaration of war in the 1990s said it was U.S. troops on the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia, U.S. bombing and sanctions of a crushed Iraqi people, and U.S. support of Israel's persecution of the Palestinians that were the reasons he and his mujahideen were declaring war on us. (from article)
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POPSShamefull Religious Intollerance That people would be so transparently discriminatory is honestly surprising to me, although it shouldn't be. There is no right to force non-Christians to recite Christian prayers in American public schools. There is no right to put God in the plege. Just like I have no right to force Christians to leave offerings before the statues of the Buddha. But don't get me wrong. This isn't about Christianity. Christianity no where condones this abhorrent and intolerant behavior. This is about the power of discrimination, and it is an addictive social phenomenon. These people would do the exact same thing with another religion. Christianity was just the most convenient vehicle for their hatred at the time. Apparently we still need to change a lot about our society before we can live with our neighbors in peace.
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