Word: phenomenon
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...networks call this phenomenon a reaction against mean reality shows and in favor of ones on which good things happen to nice people (see also American Idol). "We started off in a cynical place," says Three Wishes executive producer Andrew Glassman. "We explored what happens when animals attack and human beings are treated like lab rats in a social experiment. But people seeing wishes and dreams come true will always resonate." And ABC reality chief Andrea Wong points to network research that shows people are looking for programming to feel good about amid news of war and terrorism...
...Also missing is an attempt to explain Mao's enduring popularity in China. In a conversation with TIME, Chang ascribes that phenomenon to "brainwashing." But nearly three decades after his death, as New China races toward the industrial and military glory of which Mao could only dream, the man remains as well liked as ever. His visage beams benignly across Beijing's Tiananmen Square, long lines of visitors creep past his preserved corpse nearby, and restaurants are decorated with Mao memorabilia. Perhaps in a time of galloping economic modernization and social upheaval, Chinese crave the reassuring continuity provided...
...Your story on China's shopaholic consumers highlighted an important phenomenon that is changing our country and the world [May 16]. But despite the economic benefits, I have reservations about this development. The new obsession with money, fashion and materialism may be good for business, GDP growth and China's international image. But when we drink Coke and wear Nike, we can't help but lose some of our cultural identity. Foreign companies don't care what happens to China; they just want to make a quick buck. It's up to Chinese people to be responsible consumers. Otherwise...
...stopped believing in God in my 20s after my doctoral studies on St. Thomas Aquinas. You could say he miraculously cured me of my faith," he says. He takes issue with other leading liberals' use of the word "fundamentalist" to describe Pope Benedict XVI's views. "Fundamentalism is a phenomenon that exists in Protestantism and Islam, among those who take the sacred texts literally," muses Eco. "Catholicism never experienced that because there was always the Church as a mediator to explain the texts." He adds that it is too early to judge Benedict's intentions: "They say the office changes...
When people feel rich, they spend--whether their wealth is actual or merely on paper. We saw that phenomenon at work during the stock run-up of the '90s. It's called the wealth effect, and it's even more potent with housing. Over the past three years, the wealth effect from rising home values accounted for a third of all growth in consumer spending, according to Eric Belsky, executive director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. He says consumer spending was single-handedly responsible for keeping us out of recession for two years...