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POPSTeaching hate - Proof ignorance exists among parents This photo and others like it make me very angry. Anger towards the parents that are using their children to promote hate and intolerance. Bigotry and hate are yet alive and well in our society and we need to ban together to aid in eliminating it. The photo is sad. The photo is a lie. I can hear Jesus now saying, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." And I am sure that these children have no clue what they are depicting by wearing these (rags) shirts. Shame on the parents or guardians of them! POP ME IF YOU AGREE!
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POPSFor the first time, everyone can see the whole world "Google Earth has introduced 21 layers of data from various organizations that provide information about specific ocean sites." I find this collaborative work inspiring, in relation to how humanity can unite in creating a win win situation for all.
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POPSWhy kindness has become our forbidden pleasure? "What is to be done? Nothing, many would say. Human beings are innately selfish and that is that. Newspapers bombard us with scientific evidence to back up this pessimism. We read about greedy chimpanzees, selfish genes, ruthless mate-selection strategies, even about meerkats - those famously cooperative creatures - who instead of looking out for their fellows spend most of their time "watching their own backs". Richard Dawkins of "selfish gene" fame lays it on the line: "Human society based simply on the gene's law of universal ruthless selfishness would be a very nasty society in which to live. But unfortunately, however much we deplore something, this does not stop it being true ..." Yet Dawkins does not despair: "If you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously and unselfishly towards a common good, you can expect little help from biological nature. Let us try to teach generosity "
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POPSReality Lord of the Flies Drop a bunch of kids in an abandoned town and see if they get crazy enough to make some must-see TV. Yes, it's exploitative and a frightening snapshot of our voyeuristic society, but how can you not watch this?
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POPSCan the Singularity Save Us From Ourselves? Persons who believe firmly in the inevitability of The Singularity might be surprised to learn that the default human society is the closed society, resistant to change. Most of them have never known anything but open societies, born of western civilization’s restless urge to expand intellectual horizons. They live in an exceptional time, in an exceptional society, yet somehow believe it to be the human default. That type of blindness comes from forgetting to study history.
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POPSConscience versus Belief and Dogma Although those with deep beliefs and expressed values do any amazing job of advertising their compassion and calls for justice in the names of far away people, only conscience cam motivate love for the person next door. Who is my neighbour?
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POPSThe power structure of Bronze Age societies was based on social networks I actually find this demonstration highly important and pertinent to our modern day situation on the web. It appears that evolution of civilization favors a society organized around the tribal concept (our modern day equivalent being the loosely knitted, groups or indeed tribes on the social networks). It seems that the future heralds a return to tribalism on a global scale via the web.
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POPSFemale Fighters: We Won't Stand for Male Dominance Back in 1998, the fighters say, their now-jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan declared the group "a women's party." It was initially difficult to accept, says Karim, a 42-year-old male member of the PKK. Today, the PKK's ideology revolves around a belief that global crises and injustice are a result of millennia of male-dominated rule. Here, the women run their own assaults and have their own command structure. All tasks are shared, both on and off the battlefield. Discipline is paramount to survival, they say, and weapons are always clean and never out of reach.