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POPSHow Advertising Manipulates Our “Caveman” Brains (& How to Resist) Fortunately, there are ways to go about PROOFING YOUR BRAIN. 1. Change your mindset to “postmore” by challenging culture’s ingrained assumption that “more” of everything is automatically better. 2. Grow your gratitude. Our poor, starved, frozen ancestors would cry tears of joy if they suddenly landed in our culture of abundance. Fostering our appreciation of this bounty can also block the consumerist “cool” pressure to deride so many of our fine, workable possessions as “so last year”. 3. Be enough. We’re constantly told that we aren’t rich enough, glam enough, cool enough, networked enough, etc. This has a powerful insidious effect on our primitive, socially competitive brain circuits. It’s like a toxic substance that turns rational brains into needy toddlers wanting “more, more, more!
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POPSThe Earth Will Be Just Fine, Thank You Despite its many flaws, I’m a big fan of human civilization. I marvel at our capacity to organize matter and information, at our ability to learn from mistakes and pass that learning down to subsequent generations. Civilization—writing, cities, trade, the whole lot of it—makes us unique on this planet and, as far as we can tell so far, in our part of the universe.
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POPSRediculous Propaganda from FEMA FEMA is a disaster all its own. The next president will need to give them a serious overhaul! Of all the people who shouldn't be afraid to face an ugly situation, it's FEMA's job to face disasters, not create them! Scolding is not enough for this. They should all lose their jobs. Immediately. Once again this shows that the administration only cares about pats on the back and looking out for its own interests, not in actually getting things done. Which is probably why in the last 6 years, Bush has achieved nothing except for ardent self-congratulation. These people are totally insufferable politicians! On a side note, the state department is having trouble filling positions at the Iraqi embassy. I can't think of a better place for Bush and his cronies to serve their retirements. Maybe they might actually do something for their country!
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POPS White Radical Evangelicals Get a Pass "Thus, white evangelical Ministers are free to advocate American wars based on Biblical mandates, rant hatefully against Islam, and argue that natural disasters occur because God hates gay people...By contrast, black Muslim ministers like Farrakhan, or even black Christian ministers like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, are held with deep suspicion, even contempt. McCain is free to hug and praise the Rev. Hagees of the world, but Obama is required to prove over and over and over and over that he does not share the more extreme views of black Ministers."
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POPSQuake aftermath in Dujiangyan, Sichuan -pics Remember, for the vast majority these are ONE CHILD parents. The loss of any child is unbearable but to lose your only one is imaginable. Let us judge the Chinese government on how they deal with the aftermath of this disaster that diminishes the scale of Katrina. Yet we still remember the aftermath of Katrina and how the Bush government didn't deal with its largely man-made disaster.
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POPSWhat Cats Know About War Read the rest at the source. In a place where we could do little else... the tally became a measure of one small thing we could do to favour life over death. Animals are often forgotten victims of war and disasters. Hats off to all who will spare a thought for the poor animals who get caught up in the miseries of mankind too. Good luck Scooter and family! .:)
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POPSThe Water Shortage Myth "No, there is plenty of water. The problem is that the vast majority of Earth's water is contained in the oceans as saltwater, and must be desalinated before it can be used for drinking or farming. Large-scale desalination can be done, but it is expensive. "
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POPSWhat is the worst environmental disaster in history? Despite the relatively small amount of oil released, several factors contributed to the spill's severity: timing, location, abundance of wildlife and substandard cleanup efforts. In comparison, one of the largest oil spills in history, the rupture of an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that released 140 million gallons (3.3 million barrels) of oil, caused relatively little damage because it happened in the open sea where currents and winds contained it until it disintegrated.
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POPSChernobyl: worldwide effect
One major result of the Chernobyl accident that would cause as much agony to the incident was the spread of radiation. A definite effect of the spread of the radiation was the damage it had on the Eastern European agriculture. The EC (European Community) immediately put a 90 day ban on agricultural goods from Eastern Europe. This was initially thought of as political strategy from the US as well as other Western countries. This caused the Soviet Union to take the responsibility to pay for all the damage done to the Eastern European agriculture. All the costs would eventually be analyzed in the short and long term by WHO (World Health Organization). The main factor that caused a lot of contamination and caused most of the European Countries to be concerned was the plume or cloud of smoke and debris that would travel through Europe. The countries that were affected the most are Eastern parts of Poland as well as parts of the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany). Most of the contamin
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POPSStanding Up to Conservative Bullying
Here's a bit more to explain the brinkmanship and absolutism: "Brinkmanship is being used to force the federal government to write a blank cheque for the pipeline, and indemnify Exxon against ecological disasters and further cost increases..." "Absolutism (Bush-style "you're either with us or you're with the terrorists" framing) is being used to bully Canada into committing to keep our troops in the midst of the anarchy and civil war in Afghanistan. The PR from the military is increasingly using the term 'enemy' to describe anyone in Afghanistan who opposes the continued presence of foreign troops in their country. The ideologically rabid Harper Conservative minority government routinely uses the "if you don't support our war, you don't support our troops" line to disparage anti-war groups. And today a military spokesman lambasted the Canadian media for daring to publicize opinion polls showing Canadians' strong opposition to the war, saying it was "demoralizing our troops".
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POPSCorporation Armies. Private Enterprise Wars & Disasters This article has a humorous tint to it and a lot of fun with words, yet the same words that can make you laugh also point to new 'capitalistic imperialism,' that could make you cry (if tears are still possible). It seems that the bold and righteous ideas of America's founders have been twisted into a John Wayne movie where the Cattle Baron pulls all the strings. (If I read this article correctly, that's the idea). I think.
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POPSDisasters Go to site. Its really quite interesting to discover just what happened during the year of your birth, or any arbitrary year . Grab a tiny bit of history
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POPSExplosion Kills Several in Manila Mall That mall is near our office. HR did a headcount when news of the explosion came. Our office is located at the center of the business district so we're used to rallies being staged in the vicinity every few months... Disasters like this don't happen everyday though. I hope those who were hurt are being treated well.
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POPSDoctors without borders Also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres they take health care where it is needed, anywhere in the world. Politics is not an issue. They provide medical care, and health services to people who are victims of war, starvation and disease, who otherwise would have had no hope.
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