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POPSDoes Religion Make You Nice?Does atheism make you mean? It is at this point that the "We need God to be good" case falls apart. Countries worthy of consideration aren't those like North Korea and China, where religion is savagely repressed, but those in which people freely choose atheism. In his new book, Society Without God, Phil Zuckerman looks at the Danes and the Swedes—probably the most godless people on Earth. They don't go to church or pray in the privacy of their own homes; they don't believe in God or heaven or hell. But, by any reasonable standard, they're nice to one another. They have a famously expansive welfare and health care service. They have a strong commitment to social equality. And—even without belief in a God looming over them—they murder and rape one another significantly less frequently than Americans do.
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POPSNever unfollow someone just because they unfollowed you "In fact, a 1996 study found that people in communal relationships were more likely than those in exchange relationships to view demands or offers of reciprocity as a betrayal. If, on the other hand, the ex-follower isn't a friend, you have an exchange relationship: a mutually beneficial trade in links, information, and follower counts. Funny thing is, the unfollowing doesn't really change that. Sure, you can't count the person as a follower, but you can still get perspective and yucks in 140-character bursts. Meanwhile, you contribute to their influence and follower tally. And while having a huge network is good for the ego, being in the know beats being popular any day." I guess the same goes for CM. :-)
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POPSChomsky: If US was a true Democracy!
On all these topics, White House policy is completely at odds with what public opinion wants. But the media rarely publish the polls that highlight this persistent public opposition. Not only are citizens excluded from political power, they are also kept in a state of ignorance as to the true state of public opinion. There is growing international concern about the massive US double deficit affecting trade and the budget. But both are closely linked to a third deficit, the democratic deficit that is constantly growing, not only in the US but all over the western world. The US press sometimes publishes even my work, and the US is not a totalitarian country. But anyone who fails to fulfil certain minimum requirements does not stand a chance of becoming an established commentator. One of the big differences between the propaganda system of a totalitarian state and democratic societies go about things. Exaggerating slightly, in totalitarian countries the state decides the official li
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POPSFighting For The Welfare State This makes me really proud to be Danish. Anyway, why ARE we so happy? Well... we all know how we are all are in the grip of the worldwide economic crisis at the moment, right? Well, despite this, a huge number of Danes are now calling for the government to please let us pay more taxes! "Please raise taxes, so we can afford more!". :p .Now... I know this might seem odd and counter-intuitive to some, but please lend me your ear and I'll try to explain.... :) In a society like for example the US, where Wall Street reigns supreme and the gap between rich and poor just grows every day, how can it be expected that there is anything in it all, for the little guy? Capitalism is all good and fine, but money shouldn't be the goal, but merely the means. It's not about how much you have, but how much you give.
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POPSHerd Mentality From mere survival perspective, standing out has a high price tag. so the the path of less friction is sought and as it seems is hard wired in our brains. I do believe it is an important knowledge that can be used to in order to question, to doubt the reality within and without :)
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POPSHappy Birthday Ronald Reagan (Thanks for Ruining America) The continuing fallout from Reagan's policies – the meltdown of the financial sector, widening income inequality, the emergence of lockdown America, the obscene inflation of CEO compensation, the end of locally owned media, market crashes, blackouts, drug-company scandals, rampant greed and materialism -- is all around us. As D.H. Lawrence once wrote in another context, "The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins."
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POPSFor All You Wingnuts Take a look at corporate welfare and the business of war profiteering for a change instead of trying to turn greedy I don't wanna pay my fair share of taxes bitching and moaning loud-mouthed asses into some kind of a hero for your own get rich aspirations.
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POPSPlease Help Scientists By Participating In National Orgasm Day July 31st So, Britain, privatize your National Health Services and cut the welfare - tell those people in Manchester the steel industry is never coming back so they should get other jobs. Then you could put money toward science studies that really count, like this. After all, this is not a gender-specific issue. Having British women famous for lack of orgasms really doesn't make the men there look all that great either.
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POPSIraq...Dollar...Euro...Oil ....join dots.... "The war was now the second-most expensive in US history after World War II and the second-longest after Vietnam, he said. "A few days' funding would be enough to provide health insurance for US children who were not covered, he said. "The public had been encouraged by the White House to ignore the costs of the war because of the belief that the war would somehow pay for itself or be paid for by Iraqi oil or US allies.
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POPSShock greets Schwarzenegger's proposal to end welfare Not "end welfare as we know it" – end welfare . More: That's hard for Michelle — a San Jose mother of a 2-month-old — to believe. The loss of CalWORKS would mean no diaper money, no rent payments and no independence from her baby's father, who she said abused her and kept drugs in the house. Her $584 monthly grant has allowed her to receive child care, attend DeAnza College and buy groceries while she works her way to self-sufficiency. Michelle, who is 26 and did not want her last name used, echoed other CalWORKS clients interviewed who said quite simply that the assistance keeps their families off the streets. "CalWORKS is a lifeline between whether we eat or not and whether we have a roof over our head or electricity and gas," said Vivian Hain, a Berkeley single mother of three who testified about Schwarzenegger's proposal before state legislators Wednesday.
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POPSToo Poor For Bankruptcy "Are we one nation? Or are we just interest groups? Can we rescue Wall Street and ignore Main Street?" "The new President promises change and I wish him well and I hope for the best. But I won’t hold my breath because no one hates Americans more than other Americans."
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POPSWhere's My Country Dude? "Americans believed in their country, believed in each other, carved pumpkins on Halloween and worried about their sons being drafted. But they never tortured anyone--it just wouldn't occur to them-- and if the police stopped them or knocked on the door, they’d better have a damned good reason."
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POPSMan sentenced after leaving water bottles for immigrants They charged him with littering!? This is what they come up with? The attorneys all know this is bogus. The real reason he was arrested is because they consider him an enemy of the state, for being a humanitarian. Because, as everybody knows, it is an “obvious conclusion that the defendant and No More Deaths wish to aid illegal aliens in their entry attempt”. It couldn’t possibly be that they don’t want to see humans die in the desert for lack of water, no, it must be a dastardly and criminal attack against US policy. Then they back up their ridiculous ‘reasoning’ with this statement “animals could eat the plastic and others could get feet or antlers caught on the bottles”. Incredible. Yes folks, we now have proof that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have more concern for the welfare of animals than they do for humans. Way to tow the party line you government robots.
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POPSMark Morford: The gang rape and 30 Republican senators who don't give a damn about battered women
More: Turns out, when faced with such vileness, all filters fail. All balance is thrown off. You thought you had some sort of way to process and attain perspective? You are proven wrong. So perhaps all we can do is ponder how pathetic and sad these various senator's lives must be, how these bitter old men will now go home at night and announce around the dinner table that, yes, today they worked very hard to help improve the welfare of the nation by essentially enabling rape and sexual abuse, tried their darndest to prevent women who've been viciously attacked from having much legal recourse. And lo, Satan will chuckle happily. Then maybe these senators will try and hug their wives, or their daughters. And maybe, if there's any justice in the universe, their wives and daughters will slap them as hard as humanly possible, lock them in a shipping container, and never let them touch them again.
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POPSThe Right Was Right Now that the elections are over we can all focus on what really matters: calling each other names. This time around we have someone on the Right pretending to be someone on the Left and thence presenting the Democrat's "new manifesto" to Congress. I figured this would be pretty stupid... and it is. But it's so patently absurd that it actual moves into the realm of humour. Afterthought: It's either that or someone really on the Left making fun of people on the Right for their paranoia about what will happen when the "godless, heathen, french-hippie communists" take over. I didn't bother to do enough research. Either way, enjoy. Or don't.
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