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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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POPSDress-Like-a-Whore Day? I remember egoldstein saying something about this before. I still wouldn't trade a great Wonder Woman costume for anything. I like men who know their comic books. :)
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POPS12 Myths about Hunger More: Reality: There is no theoretical or practical reason why freedom, taken to mean civil liberties, should be incompatible with ending hunger. Surveying the globe, we see no correlation between hunger and civil liberties. However, one narrow definition of freedom - the right to unlimited accumulation of wealth-producing property and the right to use that property however one sees fit - is in fundamental conflict with ending hunger. By contrast, a definition of freedom more consistent with our nation's dominant founding vision holds that economic security for all is the guarantor of our liberty. Such an understanding of freedom is essential to ending hunger.
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POPSAntarctic peninsula marine life The first comprehensive inventory of sea and land animals around the South Orkney islands off the tip of the Antarctic peninsula has revealed a region rich in biodiversity, with more species than the Galapagos
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POPSLiving in the Age of Abundance Puts the marvel of modern American life in perspective. Review by George F. Will of Brink Lindsey's new book, The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America’s Politics and Culture . Ever since mass affluence, a phenomenon without precedent in the human story, exploded upon postwar America, social and political theorists have wondered, and worried, about the moral and even the spiritual consequences of material conditions. Putting scarcity behind us has been pleasant, but has it been good for us — meaning good for our souls? (Also see How Rich are You? )
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POPSWho is the greediest? Communists or Capitalists?
Although I do not believe that socialism and capitalism necessarily conflict, this article raises a very interesting point. To talk about a slightly different point, I think Communism definitely does make people more greedy and materialistic. Communism (and to be more specific, I refer specifically to Marxism, and large-country model Communism, namely Stalinism and Maoism) is much more complex than simply being the opposite of capitalism, thus it doesn't offer a true counterpoint to capitalism free of other complicating variables. But, even if its not perfect, it provides some valuable insight. From my experience studying the Chinese culture and the way it changed in the last 50 years, communism breeds nothing but greed, materialism and elitism. Most alarmingly it creates a sense of entitlement without the sense of responsibility. It is the freedom of capitalism that saves it. We should be very careful to ensure that our markets are in fact free. Otherwise we are no differen
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POPSLarge methane release could cause abrupt climate change “This is a major concern because it’s possible that only a little warming can unleash this trapped methane. Unzippering the methane reservoir could potentially warm the Earth tens of degrees, and the mechanism could be geologically very rapid. Such a violent, zipper-like opening of the clathrates could have triggered a catastrophic climate and biogeochemical reorganization of the ocean and atmosphere around 635 million years ago.”
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POPS4.5 lessons from Twitter though David Weinberger Posted this on March 24 the points he mentions are highly relevant. the most important issue here is indeed the social assymetry twitter allows, as I see it , it is the ambient awareness and ambient intimacy that is developing that is of importance here, the web's awareness to itself starts with scaling in an assymetric state of affairs.
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POPSBeauty of the beetroot Scientists have discovered that beetroot has a remarkable effect on lowering blood pressure. Maria Fitzpatrick tries a medically approved new juice
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POPSSermon on the Mount - borrowed/derivative/plagiarized ???
"Christians often associate parables exclusively with Jesus and believe that he invented a new method of teaching. But anyone familiar with the Talmud will recognize Jesus' parables as the common form of rabbinic expression in the Second Temple period. Jesus was a trained rabbi who thought like a rabbi, taught like a rabbi, and spoke like a rabbi. "Jesus instructs us to love our enemies, it is based on the biblical precedent of Exodus 23: 'If you meet your enemy's ox or your enemy's ass going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. "Jesus famously says: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." This pronouncement is actually a classic rabbinic statement. "Ann Coulter's stomach-turning comments about how Jews "needed to be perfected" by becoming Christian demonstrates not only her own bigotry but her abysmal ignorance of the teachings of Jesus. Judaism was the faith practiced by Jesus for his entire life, and from which he never wavered."
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POPSFamous Quotes "Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." ~James Madison "Yes, we did produce a near perfect Republic. But will they keep it, or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the surest way to destruction." ~Thomas Jefferson "The nobility of the soldier willing to give a life for country and God lies silent and still amidst the broken promises of leaders. Send them not to futile sacrifice on shores so far from home. But keep your word to all that serve that none shall die in vain." ~ R Raitano, fellow medic, Vietnam era "A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil that good may come from it." ~Wm. Penn
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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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POPSWhere are we heading? And then we see how the poor get poorer and the rich richer. some of it is because of different priorities and beliefs. I for once do not understand why to bring more when you have less.
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POPSA Brief History of Economic Time The underlying expectation -- that the present is supposed to be better than the past -- is a new phenomenon in history. No 18th-century politician would have asked "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" because it never would have occurred to anyone that they ought to be better off than they were four years ago. (Also see Living in the Age of Abundance .)
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POPSThe true miracle of Israel Israel's existence is portrayed as a resurrection of sorts: from near-annihilation to a "miraculous" rebirth. In the United States, Christian Zionists see their allegiance to Israel as a religious duty. When an American politician, for example, is accused of not standing "fully behind Israel," the accusation stands on its own, like a biblical command that has survived the test of time and reason: Thou shalt stand fully behind Israel. As the 60th anniversary of the so-called birth of Israel draws near, a most impressive -- albeit grotesque -- misrepresentation of that history will be offered in abundance , omitting how Israel was delivered on top of the ruins of hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages. The killing and ethnic cleansing that became known as the Palestinian Catastrophe -- or Nakba -- was not the work of invisible and miraculous seraphs, but rather well trained and well-armed Zionist gangs and their supporters.
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POPSThe Best Job in the World Find out more about the responsibilities of the job, employment benefits, selection criteria, and view the key dates. You can also read about the selection process, research how to apply, and get answers to frequently asked questions.
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