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POPSFor the first time in history, the majority of the people on our planet live in cities "The sheer scale and speed of the current urban expansion make it unlike any of the big changes that have punctuated urban history. It mostly consists of poor people migrating in unprecedented numbers, and then producing babies on a similarly unprecedented scale. It is thus largely a phenomenon of poor and middle-income countries; the rich world has put most of its urbanization behind it."
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POPSThe Deadly Game Of Gaming in 2005, after a 50-hour Starcraft session. All we can say is we hope he won. The man, identified only by his family name Lee, sat down to play the online battle simulation game Starcraft at an internet cafe in the southern city of Taegu last Wednesday morning and stayed there for the next three days, stopping only for brief naps or toilet breaks. South Korean newspapers reported that Lee had recently been fired from his job because he spent too much time playing computer games. When he failed to return home by Friday, however, his mother asked his former colleagues to find him. When they reached the cafe, Lee told his friends that he would finish the game and go home. He died a few minutes later. Computer games are enormously popular in South Korea and professional gamers can earn big money through sponsorships and television stations devoted to broadcasting matches. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article553840.ece
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POPSThe Greying of Canada Will there be a national strategy to cope with the massive numbers of aging Canadians or creation of a national home-care program for seniors? "The older we get, it seems, the longer we want to live – and, indeed, are living. Like almost every other developed country, Canada is greying, big-time, as the population bulge known as baby boomers closes in on senior status, with the first wave turning 65 in 2011. They will live longer than their forebears; not only has Canadian life expectancy doubled in the past century, to 82 for men and 85 for women, but many more of us will live to be 100." "I tell old people: you have to pay attention to what you like, what gives you pleasure. I love clothes. I love food. I still cut out recipes even though I can't cook any more. I love to read. If you love reading, you've got it for life. I'm grateful to my friends and my children. I know there are grand gardens around the city but I couldn't be happier with my little garden."
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POPSGimme That Ole Tyme Religion At another site this barbaric act was compared symbolically to the passing of proposition 8 in California. No one was stoned in California yet both acts were the result of breaking religious sexual taboos.
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POPSThe Reign of Lame Falls Mainly on McCain The winner is Obama because now he can start hanging out in public with Bill Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright again. John McCain is a winner because he can resume buying more houses. And for only the second time in her adult life, Michelle Obama was proud of her country. And we're all winners because we will never again have to hear McCain say, "my friends." After Bill Clinton won the 1992 presidential election, Hillary Clinton immediately announced that, henceforth, she would be known as "Hillary Rodham Clinton." So maybe Obama can now become B. Hussein Obama, his rightful name. For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president. Starting tomorrow, if not sooner.
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POPSAsking ‘Why Do Species Go Extinct?’ 
A. In 1978, I went to Hawaii, supposedly a tropical paradise. I am an enthusiastic birder, and I looked forward to getting into the lush forest to view the abundant flora and fauna the islands were famous for. Here you had this rich island chain, out in the midst of the Pacific, full of wondrous birds and plants — a place supposedly richer in natural diversity than even the Galápagos. I had brought with me field guides to the fauna and flora, all published in the early 1970s. Yet once in the Hawaiian forest, I had a shock: my books were listing species that were extinct — or about to become so. I was in the forest six days a week and I kept thinking, “If I give it enough time, I’ll certainly see most of the species still left.” But I saw very little. In fact, in Hawaii today, I’d say there are only about 10 remaining native land bird species, with another 10 clinging to survival. So suddenly this extinction business seemed very real. Whenever you’d meet biologists over coffee, th
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POPSObama-Farrakhan Ties Are Close, Ex-Farrakhan Aide Says White said Obama was “part of the Chicago scene” where Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. and radicals would go to each other’s events and support each other’s causes. “Even though Chicago is the third-largest city in the country, within the black community, the political and militant nationalist community is very small. So it wouldn’t be uncommon for to show up at events together, or at least be there and communicate with each other,” White told Newsmax. The Anti-Defamation League has denounced Farrakhan and his Nation of Islam as a “hate group.” Farrakhan has called Jews “bloodsuckers,” “satanic” and accused them of running the slave trade. He has labeled gays as “degenerates.” In a 2006 speech, the ADL again condemned Farrakhan when he said: “These false Jews promote the filth of Hollywood that is seeding the American people and the people of the world and bringing you down in moral strength. …
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POPSAtheists combat religion on buses "Religion is accustomed to getting a free ride - automatic tax breaks, unearned 'respect' and the right not to be 'offended', the right to brainwash children," Professor Dawkins said. "Even on the buses, nobody thinks twice when they see a religious slogan plastered across the side. This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think - and thinking is anathema to religion." His outspoken comments are backed by BHA chief executive Hanne Stinson, who said the advert would be welcomed as a "breath of fresh air" by many. "If it raises a smile as well as making people think, so much the better."
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POPSEx-Muslim Tells Pope Islam Is The Religion Of War
the general interest of Christianity and of Western civilization itself” that the Pope make a pronouncement in “a clear and binding way” on the question of whether Islam is a valid religion. The Catholic Church’s dialogue with Islam is based on the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (”Nostra Aetate”), which urged esteem for Muslims because “they adore the one God,” strive to follow his will, recognize Jesus as a prophet, honor his mother, Mary, “value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.” The council called on Catholics and Muslims “to work sincerely for mutual understanding” and for social justice, moral values, peace and freedom. Allam told Pope Benedict he specifically objected to Cardinal Tauran telling a conference in August that Islam itself promotes peace but that “’some believers’ have ‘betrayed their faith,’” using it as a pretext for violence.
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POPS The Hypocrisy Of The Messiah: Slum-Dwelling Family Members The US press has repeatedly rehearsed Mr Obama’s extraordinary odyssey, but the other side of the family’s American experience has only been revealed in parts. Just across town from where Mr Obama made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, some of his closest blood relatives have confronted the harshness of immigrant life in America. A second relative believed to be the long-lost “Uncle Omar” described in the book was beaten by armed robbers with a “sawed-off rifle” while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court.
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POPSStar Restaurateur Becomes Marathoner I really enjoyed this mini-profile of Joe Bastianich, the business partner to chef Mario Batali. After years of eating at Batali's pace (and gaining 45 pounds), he decided to train for a marathon. While he could manage the grueling training schedule, he just couldn't give up his favorite foods. So his marathon "diet" has included rib-eyes, cured pork jowl and wine. Would you run a marathon if it meant you could still indulge in a few vices?
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POPSMilitary Recruitment Center Vandalized
Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed "The Fighting Quaker" and "Old Gimlet Eye", was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. In his 1935 book, War Is a Racket, Butler presented an exposé and trenchant condemnation of the profit motive behind warfare. His views on the subject are well summarized in the following passage from a 1935 issue of "the non-Marxist, socialist" magazine, Common Sense – one of Butler's most widely quoted statements: "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the r
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POPSRoyal Highness Bloomberg, Railroads Citizens Isn't this so like Venezuela, or any other banana republic? Next Bloomberg will be Mayor-For-Life. Hey, with a democrat house, senate, president and soon to be supreme court, these weasels can even extend term limits for our new socialist presidency. People, you are getting railroaded. Obama is a trojan horse.
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POPSLearn Spanish Abroad Learn Spanish at Spanish School in Argentina, Chile and Peru. Learn Spanish Abroad with accommodation.
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POPS$5-Million Prize to Borswana Uncorrupt former president. The cash prize, worth 3.75 million euros paid over 10 years, Mogae will also receive 200,000 dollars a year for life thereafter. The foundation which awards the prize was created in 2006 by Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese telecommunications mogul. Joaquim Chissano, the former president of Mozambique, was the inaugural winner. The prize is awarded to African former heads of state or government who have left office within the last three years.
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