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POPSThe Reality of Ayers There is a quote from a movie and book whose title escapes me "The past is like a foreign country. People do things differently there." To people who grew up in the 60s and 70s although people who did what Ayers did were wrong and on the fringes, we understand the anger. Think of people's anger today at terrorism and remember that many were that angry at the US government. Think of parents who wouldn't let there children watch the news because of the death and destruction that came every day. Think of riots at political conventions and in the streets of cities across America. Think of the fear of nuclear attack from a volatile and powerful Russia. What Ayers did was wrong and should, by all rights have been punished. It was not, however, today.
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POPSPerino: Jobless should just return to the workplace The Bush administration’s refusal to extend a helping hand to those punished by the economy it created is nothing new: Last month, the White House threatened to veto a second stimulus package over opposition to an expansion of food stamps benefits.
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POPSWicked Sufferings of Hell Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is an afterlife of suffering where the wicked or unrighteous dead are punished. Hell is almost always depicted as underground. Hell is tra
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POPSWhere is the Hope? Comment on this... Not a particularly palatable topic, but well written, and a sad indictment upon the good people that may still be living in the US for delusional hope, that all can be justified. The whole darn business seems to be one friggin' mess and pack of contradictions from topic to topic, scenario to scenario ... what kind of nightmarish society is being created in the name of freedom and so-called democracy? More like "demonocracy" ... it would seem!
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POPSAn Outrage in Iraq Unless Arabs and Israelis enter into dialogue with one another, there is no prospect for peace in the Middle East. Yet here is a man, a visionary man apparently, who grasps this truth but will be punished for it by the "democratic" government in Iraq. This is an outrage.
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POPSWhat I Like About Palin by David Warren The Ottawa Citizen I cannot think of better illustrations of the way women and blacks are reduced to stereotype by the American media, and all the other institutions of "political correctness." We see the same thing up here in Canada, with respect to women and our "visible minorities." They must not deviate from a script in which every female role model is a feminist and abortion enthusiast, every "visible" the heroic victim of oppression, demanding societal compensation. How better to cripple the individual aspirations of women and minorities? To them, the stark facts of Ms. Palin's reaction to a Down's syndrome pregnancy, and to her daughter's unseasonable one, shines as day to night against Mr. Obama's, "If my daughter makes a mistake, I don't want her punished with a baby." But there is good news, which comes through Sarah Palin herself, who, from what I can see, is ready for the trial-by-ordeal.
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POPSSaving the Internet Comcast floated the idea of a 250 gigabyte cap in May and mentioned then that it might charge users $15 for every 10 gigabytes they go over, but the overage fee was missing in Thursday's announcement. Curbing the top users is necessary to keep the network fast and responsive for other users, Comcast has said.
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POPSMostly African American Children are Assaulted Legally in Schools
Just as slavery, Jim Crow laws and the subjugation of women in the USA are looked upon as primitive and embarrassing practices, I believe that corporal punishment in schools will someday be looked upon as a strange and inexplicably cruel practice. It will also be looked upon as another vehicle of racism as this study indicates. What will the conservative critics say in response? That African American children misbehave more in schools and, therefore, deserve the punishment? But isn't that what they say about higher incarceration rates for African Americans? So what is the picture that emerges from those who rationalize these institutional racist practices? In my view, it tells us that (their denials notwithstanding) conservatives believe that from childhood to adulthood African Americans are naturally more disposed to violate cultural norms, to act out in an anti-social manner. It's a racist orientation masquerading as a pro law and order stance. Corporal punish
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POPSMaking an Arguement for Misspelling Love the title of this article. "Most teachers expect to correct their students' spelling mistakes once in a while. But Ken Smith has had enough. The senior lecturer in criminology at Bucks New University in Buckinghamshire, England, sees so many misspellings in papers submitted by first-year students that he says we'd be better off letting the perpetrators off the hook and doing away with certain spelling rules altogether."
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POPSPresident Saakashvili, "We are Giving Final Adios to the Soviet Union” 
It has indicated that it feels Mr Saakashvili, whom it accuses of war crimes, should resign, and that it is disinclined to negotiate directly with him. ” Saakashvili, however, has declined to play the loser. Speaking before flag-waving crowds the Georgian President announced that his country, in consultation with Parliament, had decided to leave the Commonwealth of Independent States and had urged the Ukraine to do the same. CNN quoted him as saying, “we are giving final adios to the Soviet Union.” A senior Russian military commander said the halt in the Russian advance into Georgia did not mean all operations would end.”If we have received the order to ceasefire, this does not mean that we have stopped all actions, including reconnaissance,” General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said. … Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday ordered a halt to the military offensive against Georgia saying it had been punished but could be hit again. …
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POPSTaxation: Our Rulers Carnival Of Theft And Plunder But there is a case to be made for a kind of windfall profits tax: A tax on windfall political profits is indeed desirable. Our rulers cannot legally take home personally more than a minor share (in salary and perks) of the income they steal from us through taxation. But they "profit" from taxes nevertheless by using billions and billions of dollars to buy votes from various political constituencies in order to perpetuate their political careers. Then, in many cases, after spending years in Congress giving away our hard-earned dollars to various undeserving individuals and groups, they retire to earn large salaries from those very groups or to become lobbyists for the groups and use their political connections to keep this carnival of theft and plunder going. That is how our rulers profit personally from tax revenue.
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POPSFree Speech A Casualty Of 'Hate' Powers What had happened is that one of the chapters of Steyn's New York Times' (and for that matter Canadian) No1 bestseller America Alone had been excerpted and published by Canada's largest weekly magazine. The Canadian Islamic Congress, through the agency of three law students, brought complaints against Steyn and the magazine before the federal human rights commission, and also before two provincial ones. (That's another Orwellian aspect to all this; there is no rule against double, triple or any other multiple jeopardy, as there is no limit to how many complaints can be lodged before different tribunals for the same words.) Since then more has come out that makes these Canadian tribunals or commissions seem even more like kangaroo courts than they already did, which is saying an awful lot. The Canadian Human Rights Commission it would not go ahead with the Steyn prosecution (though the Canadian Islamic Congress has just indicated it will appeal that decision)
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POPSOrganized Religion Preaches Love but Practices Unacceptance This article is a good example of the negatives of organized religion. While many of them preach love, kindness, and peace, in practice they do nothing but reinforce nonacceptance of anyone or anything that does not conform to the religion's teachings and standards. I understand the psychological role or organized religion in our society, but I continue to stand by the belief that organized religion has been the cause of the great majority of the major wars, conflicts, and hatred in our history. Starting with the crusades and going up through to the terrorism we see in the world today. Religions reinforce that anyone or anything outside of their teachings are "wrong" and that those who don't "believe" are not worthy and should be punished. I firmly believe we won't have world peace until organized religion becomes a thing of the past.
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POPSShould Conyers Impeach or Write Another Book About Bush's Crimes? Three years ago, Conyers' staffers on the Judiciary Committee produced a book about Bush and Cheney's impeachable offenses. Some of us helped them do it. After all, they were in the minority and couldn't do much more than write books. But now? In the majority? Now, should they be accepting that Congress no longer has subpoena power? Now, should they be accepting that Congress no longer has the power to legislate? Now, should they be accepting that Congress has no power of the purse? Now, should they be devoting tax dollars to the pointless vanity of doing what anyone else can do: writing yet another book on Bush and Cheney's latest impeachable offenses
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POPSSenator Brownback: China Preparing Olympic Spy Attack “The Chinese government has demanded that these hotels allow the PSB to install software programs and hardware devices on the hotel networks,” Brownback said. “These measures are designed to assist the PSB to spy on the Internet activities of guests and record websites visited, searches entered and even keystrokes. The text alludes to harsh punishment for failure to comply with the order, including loss of license to operate a hotel in China.” The senator also provided a document that shows one hotel warning its guests that his Internet activity could be monitored. Brownback did not identify the hotel chains, citing concerns that they could be punished.
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POPSMultilateralism Comes With A Price We must work with our allies, but we also must recognize that multilateralism comes with a price. Coalitions can dilute effectiveness. The European concept of multilateralism is Washington's obeisance to European positions. Western Europe exists in a bubble of stability and affluence, unable to fathom how dangerous extremist ideology in Tehran and Pyongyang can be. Multilateral organizations are not the answer; at best, they are ineffective soap boxes, at worst cesspools of venality. Rose petals and well-digging have never stopped bombs, racism or genocide. A strong military has. Obama says, "Let us remember this history." Let us hope he first learns it. Leadership is about more than rhetoric.
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POPSWhy Am I Being Punished for Being Responsible
I understand there's a crisis in the financial sector, and we can't let financial institutions go under due to poor decisions around mortgages. But when I read about legislation that will put borrowers who took out exotic mortgages on houses they couldn't afford, into more affordable loans with a reduced principle, it makes me mad. I was responsible when I got my mortgage. I did my homework, got into a fixed loan on a house I knew I could afford. Could I have done an ARM and gotten a bigger house - sure, but I was responsible and only got into what I could afford. Now, people who weren't responsible are having their mortgages reduced and their rates permanently lowered. Why isn't this available to me? If this is the plan, I say require people to pay back the reduction in principal and interest from any money they make when they sell their house. Otherwise you're just reinforcing bad behavior knowing the gov will save you if you make a stupid decision.
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