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POPSGot any nude photos of your baby? Shred them. Now! Several people, all of whom I'd objectively call "innocent," have been investigated by the FBI, humiliated, arrested, and effectively destroyed by scandal when photo-developing and computer-repair shops discovered that they had photographed their young children naked. One father lost custody of his kids for taking a photo of them mooning him. The argument is: "we all have to view innocent photos through the eyes of a pedophile, for the good of the children." Effing scary. I mean, I've taken several pictures of my son in the bathtub, and according to this article, that makes me effectively guilty of child pornography. Better take those shots off of Snapfish.com.
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POPSChinese Factory Worker Can't Believe The Shit He Makes For Americans
"Sometimes, an item the factory produces resembles nothing I've ever seen," Chen said. "One time, we made something that looked like a ladle, but it had holes in its cup and a handle that bent down 90 degrees. The foreman told us that it was a soda-can holder for an automobile. If you are lucky enough to own a car, sit back and enjoy the journey. Save the soda beverage for later." Chen added: "A cup holder is not a necessary thing to own." Chen expressed similar confusion over the tens of thousands of pineapple corers, plastic eyeshades, toothpick dispensers, and dog pull-toys that he has helped manufacture. "Why the demand for so many kitchen gadgets?" Chen said. "I can understand having a good wok, a rice cooker, a tea kettle, a hot plate, some utensils, good china, a teapot with a strainer, and maybe a thermos. But all these extra things—where do the Americans put them? How many times will you use a taco-shell holder? 'Oh, I really need this silverware-drawer sorter or I wi
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POPSThe way the brain buys Scientists used to assume that emotion and rationality were opposed to each other, but Antonio Damasio, now professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California, has found that people who lose the ability to perceive or experience emotions as the result of a brain injury find it hard or impossible to make any decisions at all. They can’t shop. ergo we shop with our hearts..;-)
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POPSThe Great Wall of Israel Ever heard of it? Neither have I. Makes for interesting, if depressing reading. Probably makes the anti-immigrationists jealous in this country, though. What a waste!
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POPSThe science of shopping IT MAY have occurred to you, during the course of a dismal trawl round a supermarket indistinguishable from every other supermarket you have ever been into, to wonder why they are all the same. The answer is more sinister than depressing. It is not because the companies that operate them lack imagination. It is because they are all versed in the science of persuading people to buy things—a science that, thanks to technological advances, is beginning to unlock the innermost secrets of the consumer’s mind
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POPSBarbara Ehrenreich on the criminalization of poverty There are a lot of Kafkaesque stories in this piece, like that of wheelchair-bound 62-year-old homeless veteran Al Szekely, who was imprisoned after a nighttime raid on a homeless shelter. His crime? He had an outstanding court summons for criminal trespassing -- he'd gotten a ticket for sleeping on a sidewalk. In other words, " hey arrested a homeless man in a shelter for being homeless." The truancy discussion strikes me as the most vicious part, though.
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POPSKids are Depressing I am one of the happy people! I have cats instead! *LOL* Just kidding! (not really) but I know there are some people, who can suffer tremendously from a lot of "child-related" illnesses, varying from post-partem depression to stress to empty nest syndrome. This study is not new, but it surprised me nonetheless to read. I would actually have guessed the opposite was the case.
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POPSTo whom it may concern: I resign More: I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colours, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams,the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow. So.... here's my cheque book and my car keys, my company badge, my credit card bills, and all 32 of my computer passwords. I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, cause, TAG!! YOU'RE IT!!
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POPSA Degree in English Roman writers composed some of the world’s most thrilling verse and were masters of historiography, oratory and philosophy. But diploma Latin is some of the most depressing and long-winded legalese you can find. Hiding behind the lovely calligraphy are maddening syntax and appalling neologisms. How do you say the name of every college town in Latin? You shouldn’t have to. (Nor should you have to struggle to read the text in the illustration that accompanies this piece, so let me help you out. It says: “I can’t understand this either.”)
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POPSThe Daily Show vs. Blovation Fest 2008! I've been watching the Daily Show since its first episode, and I started taking it serriously when Jon upped the IQ quotient by replacing Craig Killborne. Now the show pretty much only does indie film makers, political wonks, and third world presidents. How cool is that? The only people who do more serious interviews are Charlie Rose and Bill Moyers, and actually, Bill Moyers described Jon as "The Mark Twain of our time." But why did I clip? for the "Blovation Fest" Quote, which by the way, will be the festival of avant garde noise-punk music I attempt to put on this fall. ;)
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POPSThe Law of the Conservation of Violence
Edward S. Herman's article on Z-Net, touches some important points: Can we expect a "way different" (and peaceful) international policy , if Obama wins? Do the Democrats promise to put an end to that "muscular foreign policy" which have harmed America's image for years? An interesting read. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the campaign trail called for a larger army to meet U.S. "defense" needs. Now Obama wants us to take on a bigger commitment to violence. This will keep the arms cargo ships and planes busy and the bomb factories and plane and missile factories working at full capacity. Of course, those wanting infrastructure improvements and resources will have to wait and "hope" for a better future after our enemies are defeated and full hegemony and stability are established. They need a good dollop of "vision." The law of conservation of the level of violence thus rests on the structure of power and its reflection in politics. If you want to compete
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POPS$100 billion more for an unwinnable war: Congress caves to GWB Sanchez says that IF America commits AT LEAST 100,000 troops for 6 or 7 years and IF there is dramatically improved US and Iraqi leadership we may be able to salvage a stalemate. WTF. "A Congressional study has found that despite billions spent on training, Iraq has just 6,000 troops willing to operate independently from the coalition forces - with the rest refusing to fight unless backed by US firepower. The study indicates it will be years before Iraq has an army capable of battling the rebels." Hilary, Obama and 12 other senators voted against the $100billion bill, but were outnumbered by the hawks and the spineless. It's so, so frustrating and depressing to watch America go down the tubes this way.
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POPSways you can improve your own mental health replace the word mental health with wellbeing and I'm happy the world mental health brings up negative images and is taboo. I wonder how many pyschiatrists have stressed moments I wonder how they themselves cope with the conditions that they diagnose in others. Also l wonder how many people involved in the development of this tablets feel,It must be depressing work.
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POPSNuclear Nightmares- 20 Yrs since Chernobyl There isn't anything I can or want to clip other than what you see above. In order to view the photos and their details, you have to visit the site. In reviewing this website, to visit it is the only way to get a true sense of the life after Chernobyl. Although, highly clipworthy (IMHO), it deserves direct traffic. Credit given where credit is due. This website is NOT enjoyable nor is it highly graphic. But can be a bit depressing. One has to wonder why, why, why! There is some information at the site that basically states this area is and will be radioactive for hundreds of years yet. Place your mouse over the pictures to force a description of each photo. There are "back" and "next" buttons. Difficult to see due to the dark background of the website, but they are there. I added the tag "global warming" for the reasons you'll read on the last page of this website.
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POPSWhat a wonderful world?!?! Couldn't help but clip these 4 excerpts from news stories on the home page of CNN. The direction this world is headed is nothing short of depressing. World leaders seem inept when it comes to making actual progress towards a better world, as they instead focus entirely on their own image and power. I am hopeful that the pathetic nature of these leaders in conjunction with greater exposure and awareness caused by the Internet will someday lead to a change in the right direction.
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