35
POPS25 Greatest Science Books of All Time The Origin of Species (1859) Darwin's masterwork is, undeniably, The Origin of Species , in which he introduced his theory of evolution by natural selection. Prior to its publication, the prevailing view was that each species had existed in its current form since the moment of divine creation and that humans were a privileged form of life, above and apart from nature. Darwin's theory knocked us from that pedestal. Wary of a religious backlash, he kept his ideas secret for almost two decades while bolstering them with additional observations and experiments. The result is an avalanche of detail—there seems to be no species he did not contemplate—thankfully delivered in accessible, conversational prose. A century and a half later, Darwin's paean to evolution still begs to be heard: "There is grandeur in this view of life," he wrote, that "from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
19
POPSOn Stupidity Similar critiques in UK. It may be itself an example of populism - simplifying things overmuch - and certainly the full two articles require careful reading.
15
POPSBush: Biggest Spender Ever !!! Worst EVER !!! Top WASTER Defence Under Bush it's grown on average by 5.7% a year. Under LBJ it rose by 4.9% a year. Both numbers are adjusted for inflation. "Including costs for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, defence spending under Bush has gone up 86% since 2001" Chris Hellman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Current annual defense spending — not counting war costs — is 25% above the height of the Reagan-era buildup, he said Homeland Insecurity Spending also has soared, to about $31 billion last year, triple the pre-9/11 number. Bush's super-spending is about far more than defence and homeland security. The 2002 farm bill, 2003 Medicare, 2005 highway bill and education.
13
POPSA real jewel: The 50 greatest arts videos on YouTube Many more inside like: Vladimir Nabokov discusses Lolita, 1950s; David Lynch interviewed on Scene by Scene, 1999; Jackson Pollock drip paints outside his East Hampton home, 1951; Andy Warhol's Blow Job, 1963 Maria Callas in Zeffirelli's Tosca, 1964 and more...
13
POPSI Want My Country Back "I love America, and I can't stand quietly by while the land of peace and liberty is being destroyed. I love the America of the Constitution and limited government - not the America of the Patriot Act and the Orwellian Department of Homeland Security. I love the America that Washington and Jefferson said should be far removed from all the age-old quarrels of Europe and Asia, while trading benevolently with people all over the world - not the America that has troops in a hundred countries while our own government prohibits us from peaceful trading with dozens of countries."
12
POPSPoverty Is Poison "America’s failure to make progress in reducing poverty, especially among children, should provoke a lot of soul-searching. Unfortunately, what it often seems to provoke instead is great creativity in making excuses. Some of these excuses take the form of assertions that America’s poor really aren’t all that poor — a claim that always has me wondering whether those making it watched any TV during Hurricane Katrina, or for that matter have ever looked around them while visiting a major American city."
11
POPSRemember: Saddam Was Our Man NY Times OpEd from March 14, 2003. The United States also sent arms to the new regime, weapons later used against the same Kurdish insurgents the United States had backed against Kassem and then abandoned. Soon, Western corporations like Mobil, Bechtel and British Petroleum were doing business with Baghdad -- for American firms, their first major involvement in Iraq. This history is known to many in the Middle East and Europe, though few Americans are acquainted with it, much less understand it. Yet these interventions help explain why United States policy is viewed with some cynicism abroad. George W. Bush is not the first American president to seek regime change in Iraq. Mr. Bush and his advisers are following a familiar pattern.
11
POPSThe Haunting Artistic Genius of Martin Ramirez The second article is well worth reading in its entirety to see how Ramirez destabilizes our expectations and categorizations. He is a hauntingly phantasmagoria artist. He is visually accessible yet emotionally elusive. We can see the beauty in the world of his art, but it is mysterious. His art seems to have the melancholy peacefulness and yet haunting menace of De Chirico. The fact that a full 1/3rd of his oeuvre, representing his late style and artistic evolution have just recently been discovered is a staggering windfall.
10
POPSGreat Quotes Part 4 last few; "I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write." - Voltaire (1694 - 1778) "Ah! Don't say you agree with me. When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong." - Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) "I was reading the dictionary the other day. I thought it was a poem about everything." - Steven Wright
10
POPSBrave New World-Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) Aldous Huxleys vision of the Future, where a World State dictates that individuality be sacrificed for the sake of 'stability. The clip contains an introduction to the first chapter, with direct links to other chapters.
Most Pops
see Most Pops
14
Clips
Latest Pops
Latest Comments
Tags
Print
Save
Turn on live update