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POPSSwearing at Work Good for You Perhaps not earth shattering news, but a reminder that much of our talk is not to convey information but to maintain group solidarity, identity etc. and answer our most basic psychological needs.
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POPSGirls entering puberty by the age of six - but are drugs the answer?
"Early puberty has even been linked to watching too much television. A few years ago, Italian scientists found that children who watched three hours a day produced less of the sleep hormone melatonin - low levels of the hormone play an important role in the timing of puberty. But perhaps more worrying is the theory that it's exposure to environmental chemicals which is causing the drop in the age of puberty. These chemicals mimic the effect of hormones, disrupting the normal timing of sexual maturing. Whatever the cause, growing numbers of children are being deprived of childhood and are turning, physically, into mini-adults at an increasingly young age. But without the emotional maturity to deal with these changes, they are vulnerable to exploitation. In Britain, it is now estimated that up to at least one in six children under ten is affected. Indeed, there is a belief that schoolgirls as young as six are entering puberty".
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POPSWho Will Cry For Innocent Iraqis? Half of Iraq's population are children. Children! Who can condone dropping bombs on babies and tormenting children, no matter how "noble" they may think the cause? Who can know of Iraq's suffering and still proudly wave the flag, droning off hollow words of security, democracy and freedom? How can anyone, anyone keep supporting this terrible murderous war? How??
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POPSWhy We Laugh And Cry I'm the type of person who can laugh and/or cry at just about anything. It makes me happy to do both. Sometimes people can say to me, "Oh, don't cry" but I most often feel and say "Oh don't worry, it's a good cry" and this article explains why it always apparently feels so good afterwards doing either. We have emotions and responses to them for a reason. Use them and we may just live longer, healthier and happier lives because of it! :)
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POPSchildren lost the right to roam in 4 generations The article reflects our changing habits and our relationship with our environment. I agree completely about the necessity of outdoors, nature, plants, our good ol' earth. Ever been fishing? To a quiet golf course? A hike? How does it rejuvenate you? I am working on making my backyard a kind of restful, naturalist place for me to go and be refreshed.
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POPSOrganic Bees NOT Dying Does size matter? Have we just pushed bees too far? Have they simply just reached their biological breaking point, further aggravated by external stresses?
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POPS Brain overload: can no longer think wisely "Every day, just to keep up to date, that grey lump between your ears has to shovel ever bigger piles of infotainment — tottering jumbles of global-warming updates, web gossip, refugee crises, e-mails, fashion alerts, Twitters and advertisements. Now research suggests that we may have reached an historic point in human evolution, where the digital world we have created has begun to outpace our neurons’ processing abilities"
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POPS'Torturer's Dicks got Hard with New Ideas'. She didn't have a Dick!
On December 2, Detainee 063 was in an isolated, plywood interrogation booth at Camp X-Ray. He was bolted to the floor and secured to a chair, his hands and legs cuffed. He had been held in isolation since August 8, nearly four months earlier. He was dehydrated and in need of regular hook-ups to an intravenous drip. His feet were swollen. He was urinating on himself. The pattern was always the same: 20-hour interrogation sessions, followed by four hours of sleep. Sleep deprivation appears as a central theme, along with stress positions and constant humiliation, including sexual humiliation. These techniques were supplemented by the use of water, regular bouts of dehydration, the use of IV tubes, loud noise, nudity, female contact, pin-ups. An interrogator even tied a leash to him, led him around the room and forced him to perform a series of dog tricks. He was forced to wear a woman's bra and a thong was placed on his head. Author Philippe Sands is a UK Queen's Council
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POPSYou CAN Die Of A Broken Heart I have seen animals pine to death over the loss of a beloved companion, so why should people be any different? Old article, but interesting nonetheless.
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POPSHunger Can Make You Happy The researchers think that hunger-induced happiness is an adaptive measure. Getting food, especially in the wild, requires concentration, clear-headed perception and often cooperation.
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POPSIntelligence and rhythmic accuracy go hand in hand “All in all, this suggests that a factor of what we call intelligence has a biological basis in the number of nerve fibres in the prefrontal lobe and the stability of neuronal activity that this provides,” says Fredrik Ullén.
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POPSDepression can be Good for You There is serious depression that needs help. There are poverty, abuse, bad circumstance that need addressing. But for most of us, a bit of depression, the article suggests, is a catalyst for refelction, change and growth