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POPSThe Superstitious Right Fights Good Science on Global Warming We could go on and on detailing the ludicrous inanities of American politics in the age of Bush (himself Exhibit A), but really my favorite has to be the case of global warming. In a society devoted like no other to the politics of fear, we have somehow managed to forget the one thing we should probably fear most.
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POPSPrimitivism Another viewpoint and value system than the current all-will-be well, if only we rush a faster and learn to accept all that is new and shiny. Or at the very least: food for thought.
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POPSIraq: the new plan A deeply significant political commentary (no pun intended). Note the look on the American's face as he contemplates the significance of the new plan he's been handed.
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POPSPoliticians weighing renewal of Net access tax ban Another reason to pay close attention to politics; as the saying goes, we can't avoid death and taxes, but we can be more aware of how they are forced upon us unnecessarily by politicians. Unnecessary death by war, poverty, guns...and unnecessary taxes on Internet access. Is nothing sacred? Regarding sales tax on online purchases, shouldn't they be based upon the sales tax rate in the seller's location rather than that of the buyer, as if the buyer physically went to the seller to buy the item?
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POPSThai politics laid bare by a rapier wit The jaded view of Thai politicians sounds like an apt description of our own politics, at least in the US and Canada, although things here may not be as grim as they are in Thailand. More from the source: "The new constitution. Can it really bring a positive change for Thailand? One fervently hopes, but history shows that every time new ideas and ways of life arise, a backlash of the old ways rears its head and gobbles the change. Indeed, those who are superior to us in background, breeding or station have absolutely no desire to see any changes at all. In fact they would prefer that we did not even discuss such things and are prepared to take any necessary measures to ensure that the rest of us desist from doing so."
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POPS"Are We Rome?" - Book Review "Are We Rome?" is an essay in polemic, not scholarship, and Mr. Murphy does not set out to analyze the deep structural forces of Roman or American history. Instead, he makes a tour of contemporary American politics, and speculates about Roman parallels to very upto-the-minute problems. In many ways, Mr. Murphy's argument is less about America in general than about the Bush administration in particular. Thus he worries about the transfer of government functions to private contractors like Halliburton, seeing an analogy to the Roman system of patronage.
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POPSResponse to the type of propaganda that allows Bush to get away with murder This morning my brother forwarded me a piece of shameless propaganda, purportedly created by a fifteen-year-old girl. Here is the message being disseminated: "Lizzie Palmer who put this YouTube program together is only 15 years old." "There have been over 3,000,000 hits as of this morning." "In case you missed it, here it is." "The link below is the hottest thing on the internet and on Fox News today ." http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay=1 Quite a "Foxy" fifteen-year-old, no doubt. Damn that Faux News! Above is my heartfelt reply to my brother and to all the other people to whom he had forwarded the video when he sent it to me--and to you.
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POPSThe Devil & Reverend Falwell I offer the late Reverand Falwell the best eulogy I can craft for him: He was a great man, who accomplished much. He opposed civil-rights. He opposed gay rights. He opposed women's rights. He opposed all independent political thought beyond his own opinions. He united thousands of otherwise well meaning Americans behind an agenda of hate and intolerance. He wanted to destroy anything that was different, and pushed our government from defending liberty into attacking it. I have seen people enobled by the purity of their faith, but he was not one of them. He became as grotesque and monstrous as the venomous ideas he believed in. The greatest tragedy is that he died without ever using his power and influence for the good of mankind, and instead expended that precious capital on petty politics.