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POPSTerrible Life Lessons From Your Favorite Christmas Movies Movie: A Christmas Carol (1951) Bad Lesson: People Will Like You Instantly If You Give Them Money Movie: Home Alone (1990) Bad Lesson: People in the Chicago Suburbs Never Call the Police for Any Reason Whatsoever Movie: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) Bad Lesson: Sometimes Chevy Chase Makes Good Movies Movie: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) Bad Lesson: If People Were Mean to You as a Kid, That Excuses ANY Malicious Criminal Behavior You Might Commit When You’re an Adult Movie: It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Bad Lesson: If You’re in Need of a Moment of Clarity – Why Not Give Suicide a Try? Movie: Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Bad Lesson: If Enough People Say Something Is True, Eventually, It Becomes True Movie: A Christmas Story (1983) Bad Lesson: Toy Safety Warnings are Pointless and Should Be Disregarded Immediately.
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POPSChina’s Asset Bubble It is a matter of time. What will it mean to the Chinese Government? Will it buckle under the weight of massive dissatisfaction? Or will it mean some dark years for the Chinese people? What will it mean to the US Dollar? Will China unload the dollar thus massively devaluing the currency in order to keep their economy afloat? But would they if they are so dependent on foreign trade? And what will it mean to the world economy. Will the world economy be firm enough to absorb Chinese economic contraction? So far, China's economy has been one of the few bright spots. If the world economy is not strong enough China's asset bubble burst may lead to another global recession.
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POPSMcAfee SiteAdviser Changes Rating for Clipmarks Surprising...This changed on the latest McAfee update. This is a big deal. For those who have McAfee anti-viral software, and the Firefox add on website monitor, the browser add-on now flashes RED when loading Clipmarks (like spam or phishing sites that you quickly avoid), which always used to be GREEN and safe. This will chase away new users, and possibly current ones if they believe the site is compromising their security and privacy.
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POPSBanks Get Into the Unemployment Biz Ye gods, do their little tick-tock minds ever quit? And why are we privatizing social programs? And why are our state legislators permitting the banks to abuse the unemployed through inquiry and withdrawal fees? More below: "For now, those without jobs who are trying to stretch every dollar from unemployment insurance are finding the banks eager to nibble away at even those modest sums."
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POPSThe Sad Illusion Of Happy Customers Best Buy is not being picked on here, it could be them or anyone else. As a regular part of my work I have to trudge through large retail stores all the time and my biggest complaint is the lack of help. If you want us to buy, then have enough informed sales people to help us and get us through the lines quicker! "It's not rocket science. To make customers happy, all you need to do is offer high-quality goods at competitive prices and staff your stores with a sufficient number of well-trained personnel to ensure a smooth shopping experience."
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POPSThe Human Element I've known many sportsmen/women who love nature and hunting. Their efforts actually strengthen the deer herd by keeping the buck/doe ratio in check, keeping the deer population from being over bred and diseased, supplemental feeding of the right vitamins and minerals throughout the year, etc. I've picked up countless deer antlers in the woods and used them for all kinds of projects. The vile people who spot-light or run these animals on ATV for antlers or whatever make me ill. I'm an owner of a ATV and I ride it on my property ONLY. Anything else is disrespectful of other's and it affects those people who are responsible. Is there a solution to some who will break the law for material gain? It's the human element I suppose. One I abhor.
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POPSMarine reservist attacks Greek priest with tire iron, says "He's a terrorist!"
More: An exterior surveillance video of Tuesday's chase captured the two men in motion… "You see a very short, small man running, and an enormous, large muscular man chasing after him." This is what police say happened at 6:35 p.m. Monday: The priest's GPS gave him the wrong directions, leading him off Interstate 275 and into downtown Tampa. He followed a line of cars into a garage at the Seaport Channelside condominium to ask for help. He found Bruce, whose back was turned, bending over the trunk of his car, and he tapped his shoulder before saying, in broken English, "please" and "help." That's when Bruce reached for the tire iron. Police say that by the end of the chase, he had hit the priest four times… say that the priest was disoriented when they found him at the corner of Madison and Meridian avenues, but a translator at Tampa General Hospital helped him communicate. And that the GPS corroborates the priest's story.
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POPSWorld in Motion - Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2009 In the space of 20 weeks, the world’s biggest photo contests, Digital Camera magazine’s Photographer of the Year, received a massive 101,000 online entries from 126 countries.The overall £10,000 prize winner will be announced at the exhibition of winning and commended entries, taking place at Mall Galleries, London. The exhibit will be open to the public from the 9th – 13th December. A full list of the shortlisted entries across all 10 categories can be seen now at PhotoRadar.com - http://www.photoradar.com/news/story/digital-camera-photographer-of-the-year-shortlist-announced
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POPSScientist spying for Israel busted by the FBI
An affidavit suggests why FBI agents posed as agents of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to conduct the sting operation. From 1998 to 2008, the complaint alleges, Nozette was a technical adviser for a consultant company that was wholly owned by the Israeli government. Nozette was paid about $225,000 over that period, the court papers say. Then, in January of this year, Nozette allegedly traveled to another foreign country with two computer thumb drives and apparently did not return with them. Prosecutors also quote an unnamed colleague of Nozette who said the scientist said that if the U.S. government ever tried to put him in jail for an unrelated criminal offense, he would go to Israel or another foreign country and "tell them everything" he knows. The complaint does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf violated U.S. law. In Jerusalem, Israeli government officials had no immediate comment. The affidavit by FBI agent Leslie Martell s