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POPSSeamus Heaney Reflects On His Life In Verse The two poems can be found at the source, along with an interesting reading (/interpretation) by John Lundberg. There is also a link at the bottom of the post if you wish to read more of Seamus Heaney's work.
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POPSFantastic food and more: No Reservations Philippines Great sampling of Filipino food and people. Carlos Celdran and other fun guides could've been there but Ivan Man Dy, Claude Tayag (and his intelligent and charming wife), and our beloved Market Man , Joel Buenamira did a good job taking Tony Bourdain around.
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POPSDo Our Political Beliefs Have a Biological Basis? It's a golden rule of democracy that people are free thinkers. There's just one problem: we aren't wired that way—not, at least, according to a new study that probes past the rational mind in search of a biological basis for our political beliefs. The results seem to suggest that our ideas about the world are shaped by deep, involuntary reactions to the things we see.
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POPSThe joy of taking some time out Embrace the faff. Stare out of the window. Bend paperclips. Stand in the middle of the room trying to remember what you came downstairs for. Pace. Drum your fingertips. Move papers around. Hum. Look at the garden.Go to the shed with the intention of tidying up and instead fall asleep. Make mental notes. Read every single word of the newspaper - even the job ads - before getting down to work. Lose yourself in erotic reveries. Pat your pockets. Resolve to be more organised in future. Be useless.
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POPSCulture Machine: Generating Research in Culture & Theory The aim of Culture Machine is to seek out and promote the most provocative of new work, and analyses of that work, in culture and theory from a diverse range of international authors. Culture Machine is particularly concerned to promote research which is engaged in the constitution of new areas of inquiry and the opening of new frontiers of cultural and theoretical activity. It is also committed to the generation of possibilities for new scholarship and research.
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POPSThai school offers transsexual toilet Thailand is well known for its tolerance of transgender men, and they are very visible in everyday life. Sex-change surgery has become a speciality of the Thai health industry, and it is relatively inexpensive; patients come here from all over the world for the operation. Despite their high profile in Thailand, transsexuals complain that they are still stereotyped - they can find work easily enough as entertainers, in the beauty industry, the media, or as prostitutes, but it is much harder to become a transgender lawyer or investment banker. And their biggest complaint is that they cannot change their legal status. Despite a proposal during the drafting of a new constitution last year, to allow them to change the gender on their identity cards, this has not yet been approved. What the third toilet looks like .