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POPSWash U Shuts Down Freedom Memorial on 20 Year Anniversary of End of Communism- It Was Too Offensive Video
“We’re hoping to elevate the thinking of students about the connection between socialism, tyranny, and murder. Too often, we tend to think about state control in the abstract. This event is an opportunity to show the student body what socialism really is,” said junior Dirk Doebler, student leader of Young Americans for Liberty and lead organizer of the event. “We’re just twenty years away from the collapse of the Soviet Union’s despotic enslavement of hundreds of millions of people, yet everyone seems to forget that socialism killed over 150,000,000 people in the 20th century. All that gets lost in the convenient narrative our professors would have us believe. With this event, we’re striking down false notions. We’re speaking truth to power.” This event aims at showing the horrors of the implementation of that idea. ** There is more video to come of the university shutting down the gulag.
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POPSWhat Americans owe to those who serve "Each November we are asked to pause and honor them, which is, or should be, an honor in itself. After the events of the last week at Fort Hood in Texas, with their reminder of the sacrifices that the men and women of the military make for us, Veterans Day will hold special meaning this year."
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POPSWhat We Can't Accept "A corpse is a stark reminder that human beings are inescapably embodied creatures, and that a life is the sum of what has been performed and spoken by the body — a mixture of promises made and broken, deeds done and undone, joys evoked and pain inflicted. When we lift the heavy weight of the coffin and carry the dead over the tile floor of the crematory or across the muddy cemetery to the open grave, we bear public witness that this was a person with a whole and embodied life, one that, even in its ambiguity and brokenness, mattered and had substance. To carry the dead all the way to the place of farewell also acknowledges the reality that they are leaving us now, that they eventually will depart even from our frail communal memory as they travel on to whatever lies beyond. People who have learned how to care tenderly for the bodies of the dead are almost surely people who also know how to show mercy to the bodies of the living."
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POPSDisplays of the Dead Some of these sites result from a phenomenon that has naturally (or supernaturally?) mummified the dead, while others consist of artful arrangements of bones and skulls done by a creative monk in his spare time. In addition to such collections of human remains, many saints whose bodies have been miraculously preserved are on display in churches. (There's also a Buddhist example of the miracle in Siberia.) Such displays of the dead certainly appeal to travelers with a taste towards the macabre, but they can also provide reflective travelers with a powerful reminder of the impermanence of life. Whatever your reason for checking out the dead on display, the sites below are widely recognized as among the best in the world. Also listed are individual preserved bodies of saints and other famous figures. More info here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/02/sicily-crypts/gill-text
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POPSAn Egregious Tragedy Has Taken Place ... into its clutches. It didn't happen to my child but it did, to someone who lived in my community. His name was Adam Walsh and he was a year younger than my own. The Walsh's horrible story, could have been mine. I, many times frequented the same place as Adam and his mom and I forever shuddered to think it my child who was cut from the herd and open to attack. We as a society should warn our children and ourselves that we are but one or two seconds from something so heinous that our lives would never recover. Whenever our children leave the safety of our sight, we should tell them, "Never allow a stranger to talk lies, in order to hurt you. Scream, cry, run and fight if need be, not to be taken by anyone.” Every child, every young person who falls victim to the savages amongst us, must be a reminder that we live in a jungle of predators but worse, these fiends look like us, so we have to be even more vigilant than jungle prey.
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POPSBe a Stud in Bed You might have been getting bored with your typical intimate sessions in bed, and wonder if it could never get any better. Chances are your partner is feeling the same way towards you. It’s time you make new strategies.
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POPSIt Has The Stench Of Opportunity By reducing the amount of the potent greenhouse gas released into the air, the projects also potentially could turn cow dung into dollars, if a climate bill before Congress becomes law. "Agriculture and agribusiness is what Greeley is all about," Biggi said. "We needed to take that strong traditional economic base and ... merge it with emerging renewable energy and technology." Waste may be the new energy crop in these parts. But elsewhere, communities are looking anew at power sources such as the sun and wind that may exist in their own backyards.
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POPSEndangered Bird Becomes Internet Sensation: Sirocco the Kakapo Hits the Big Time Sirocco was featured in a recent BBC series entitled "Last Chance To See," profiling some of the thousands of species of animals in the world that are threatened with extinction, mostly due to human incursion and our effects on wild habitat. A report last summer by the International Union for Conservation of Nature asserts that "nearly one third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds and nearly a quarter of mammals are threatened with extinction." As the Kakapo Conservation website reminds us, "6 billion people on earth; only 124 kakapo." Not a good ratio, and one repeated thousands of times over, around the world. Sirocco is named for a warm Mediterranean wind. Let's hope he wafts into human conscience with a renewed sense of wonder for the amazing and gorgeous creatures on this planet, and a reminder of our responsibility for them.
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POPSAfghanistan - NOT a 'good war' "And of course, it is costing the people of Afghanistan more than anyone. Perhaps one of the most jolting things about watching the film is seeing image after terrible image of civilian suffering: desperate families mired in refugee camps, pain-stricken schoolgirls attacked with acid by the resurgent Taliban, countless injured men, women and children who are the "collateral damage" from errant U.S. bomb strikes. It is a punch-to-the-gut reminder of just how sanitized this war -- which Obama has always called the "right front" of the so-called war on terror -- has been".
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POPSNo More Gridiron Warriors for Christ The administration at this school did the right thing. But if it wasn't for someone speaking out their arrogant practice of public show-boating of their religion would have continued.
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POPSMarching to world domination: Why the West should be worried about China Personally, I feel China with its ever growing power over the west (financially) will do what ever other powerful nation will do - want to dominate! As we fall apart (deliberate) and the dollar drops out of the picture they will have a clear shot at this posturing.. Russian will be right along with them.. Point being we are fading and fading fast - everyone knows it but us!!
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POPSChicago's loss: Is passport control to blame? Sounds far more plausible to me than claims that Michelle Obama was being "like Marie Antoinette". More: The exchange underscores what tourism officials here have been saying for years about the sometimes rigorous entry process for foreigners, which they see as a deterrent to tourism. Once the news came out that Chicago lost its Olympic bid, the U.S. Travel Association didn’t miss an opportunity to point that out, sending out a critical press release within hours.… International travel to the U.S. declined by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009 according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. To lure visitors back, U.S. Travel has been pushing the Travel Promotion Act, which recently was passed in the Senate and is awaiting action in the House, to create a campaign to strengthen the image of the United States abroad.
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POPSDerailing for Dummies The page is sarcastic--and funny--but it's worth a read and it's a great reminder to check your privilege. Your life experience isn't everyone's, honor that. Read the whole thing here: http://www.derailingfordummies.com/
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POPSReminder: Roman Polanski raped a child More: Polanski was "demonized by the press" because he raped a child, and was convicted because he pled guilty. He "feared heavy sentencing" because drugging and raping a child is generally frowned upon by the legal system. …The point is not to keep 76-year-old Polanski off the streets or help his victim feel safe. The point is that drugging and raping a child, then leaving the country before you can be sentenced for it, is behavior our society should not -- and at least in theory, does not -- tolerate, no matter how famous, wealthy or well-connected you are, no matter how old you were when you finally got caught, no matter what your victim says about it now, no matter how mature she looked at 13, no matter how pushy her mother was, and no matter how many really swell movies you've made. Roman Polanski raped a child. No one, not even him, disputes that.
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POPSReminder: Roman Polanski Raped a Child "I understand the victim's feelings on this. And I sympathize, I do. But for good or ill, the justice system doesn't work on behalf of victims; it works on behalf of justice"... The point is not to keep 76-year-old Polanski off the streets or help his victim feel safe. The point is that drugging and raping a child, then leaving the country before you can be sentenced for it, is behavior our society should not -- and at least in theory, does not -- tolerate, no matter how famous, wealthy or well-connected you are, no matter how old you were when you finally got caught, no matter what your victim says about it now, no matter how mature she looked at 13, no matter how pushy her mother was, and no matter how many really swell movies you've made... Polanski raped a child. And rushing past that point to focus on the reasons why we should forgive him, pity him, respect him, admire him, support him, whatever, is absolutely twisted.
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POPSPast "Terror Plots"--A Review of False Cases, Propaganda A timely reminder of previous "terror plots" that you heard announced, which turned out to be fanciful allegations. Watch the "plot to bomb Disneyland" and more examples. Then remember it was reported this week that "wedding" was an alleged code word for terror event there is also a reference to a “wedding,” which American agents believe is a code word for an attack. --just like in this film (7:45 minute mark)! Right, if you are paranoid or watch too much 24. This is the same FBI.
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POPSVoluntary Debt Agreement A Voluntary Debt Agreement is the best possible way to resolve your debt situation completely without getting yourself into further debt with a so-called debt consolidation loan. IVAs are structured plans which wipe out the larger portion of your debt immediately and then divides the reminder into manageable chunks to be paid off every month
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POPSTaking a Stand Article was interesting. However, it switched gears a bit in the last half where the author hits on the other issues like UN Protocol and complaints from leader(s) about the UN Charter vs what is really taking place within.