*promote the problem!

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Monday, June 25th, 2012 6:41am PDT - promote requested by seltar.

Not a movie. It's the new TV show by Aaron Sorkin.

uggg. everything was not GREAT in the past. utter bullshit. we are just repeating the same mistake today.
this generation is a direct product of the past generations.

"No, I'm gonna hold you to an answer on that." Really...go fuck yourself.

I think this is gonna suck, and I had such high hopes for it to.

>> ^criticalthud:

uggg. everything was not GREAT in the past. utter bullshit. we are just repeating the same mistake today.
this generation is a direct product of the past generations.


Ya, that is kind of the old man syndrome, things were great, then the kids fucked it up...with their text messaging and their carbonated soda water! I do hold that there are a lot of great things about america, we just don't shine on the hill as much because the world is a smaller place now...you can see glimmers and dust all the more easy...and all over the world. China has manned space flight, we just retired our space program (basically)...but we can do nearly anything on the internet, and China can't even get a full google result that isn't tampered with. There are lots of great and shit things about most every country in the world in the first world, and it has been like that for a long time. More countries come into the first world all the time, that the pool of comparison gets larger and larger.

Most of the commentary he gave was just a bunch of talking point non-sense, just as the arguments for "American greatness" are the same. Greatness starts with people, not nations, and we do have a lot of great people in our present, and our past (and great in different ways, some in science, some in social justice...From Einstein to MLK). It is to them we owe greatly, and not all of them were born here...what would our sciences' look like today without the infusion of German minds after WW2? What strikes me about the future is that great people + the internet can have ramifications that ripple farther than ever before in history. You might see great people and research sweeping across the world instead of just enriching the host nation. That is the promises I see in the what I deem the second information age.

Disappointed that Aaron Sorkin has gone the way of the "Old Man Syndrome," where things "used to be better" until the younger generation came along and effed it all up... The reality is that the younger generations are stuck with the mess that their forebears have left for them, so if you really need to blame someone for the mess we're in, start with yourself, old man.

Still, the show has potential and, unless we dissolve the nation state, we're in to recreate the 20th century, and we all remember how great that was the 1st time!

Adding video to channels (News, Politics) - requested by Trancecoach.

What country is the best? Somewhere in Scandinavia I'd wager...

That was great! If everyone in the US thought like that it would be no.1 in everything. God knows it has the rescources to be and then some.

Tolstoy said 'Anyone who says things are worse now than they were before is a fool.'

But it has to be said that right wing mercenaries knocking over democracies and looting their countries used to be done in the dark, not in broad daylight. And when the much vaunted new LIBERAL president is sending killer robots to blow up funerals without feeling he has to explain himself it's difficult to say nothing has changed..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/25/jimmy-carter-drone-strikes

>> ^criticalthud:

uggg. everything was not GREAT in the past. utter bullshit. we are just repeating the same mistake today.
this generation is a direct product of the past generations.

Hubris?

I don't get the reference you guys are referring to about "the young generation fucking it up"..

He's just saying that things have been moving downhill for a while. And I think we all know that to be true. You've been coasting (downhill) on your earlier discoveries and successes, and now you're suddenly realizing that you're starting to hang behind the rest of the world.

America isn't the greatest country in the world anymore, and it's not the young generations fault, but it is and will continue to be their problem.. so it's time to start dealing with it! It's time to start caring about the things that matter again.

Make your government hear your voices! Demand that companies can't buy politicians! Demand that the government works for the people, not against them!

The people are what make America, and they should be treated with respect.
"Innocent until proven guilty" has turned into "You're a suspect until you have proven your innocence"

God damn it.. I used to want to move back to America.. Now I'm scared to visit.. FIX IT, Please!

What exactly IS "freedom" anyhow?

Freedom from wage slavery?
Freedom to "vote" for one of two of what is essentially the same party-Party being what the politicians get to do with OUR money?

Money. They make it and tell us what it's worth and that we have to HAVE it or what? No freedom.

Freedom to watch each successive generation become number, number, etc. as critical thinking dissafuckingpears.

Rah rah America, used to enjoy being here.

The US was the best country in the world for a short period of time, technologically at least, but that's also connected to the fact that the rest of the world hadn't caught up. The rest of the world have now caught up and overtaken them, and the US is declining.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'newsroom, america, Aaron Sorkin, HBO' to 'newsroom, america, Aaron Sorkin, HBO, Jeff Daniels' - edited by messenger

I actually would argue it slightly differently, @GeeSussFreeK. The US didn't go to shit because the kids are in charge. The US went to shit because the old men are STILL in charge.

We refuse to adapt...we refuse to change. As the video illustrated, we continue to cling onto the fantasy of USA #1!!! As if cheering it incessantly makes it so. We continue to cling to old ways of thinking.

If we actually did get younger people into the mix more, things WOULD change for the better. Sure we're going to make mistakes along the way, but that's life and that's how you learn. The myth is this idea that we're never going to make a mistake, that we're always going to be the best.

Even if we didn't have this empire crumbling phenomenon that we're currently experiencing now. You can't ALWAYS be on the top. it's inevitable that some nation would come along and eventually do better than us.

Wise people know what their strengths AND WEAKNESSES are and strive to address those weaknesses, not just pretend they don't exist.

was hoping for someone to start slow-clapping towards the end, 80's style!

I would argue that the US is still the best country in the world as far as Freedom of Speech is concerned. It was a really hard and constant battle, it wasn't given to us and we earned it. There's tons of European countries where you'll get arrested for denying the Holocaust...just stupid to give the state that power.

My one sentence answer is "We're unafraid to air our faults in public".

I'm still anxious to watch more of this simply because of Aaron Sorkin.

The show isn't all didactic ranting (as well founded in this case as I think it is). The West Wing is the greatest television ever produced. Give the man more than four and a half minutes and I'm sure we'll be pleased.>> ^Trancecoach:

Disappointed that Aaron Sorkin has gone the way of the "Old Man Syndrome," where things "used to be better" until the younger generation came along and effed it all up... The reality is that the younger generations are stuck with the mess that their forebears have left for them, so if you really need to blame someone for the mess we're in, start with yourself, old man.
Still, the show has potential and, unless we dissolve the nation state, we're in to recreate the 20th century, and we all remember how great that was the 1st time!

I actually watched the show last night when it aired and I was disappointed.
And I'm not alone, as this article, this article, and this article have all lambasted the first four episodes.

". . . at it's worst, the show chokes on its own sanctimony."

But worse than that is that Sorkin could've done so much better.


>> ^RhesusMonk:

The show isn't all didactic ranting (as well founded in this case as I think it is). The West Wing is the greatest television ever produced. Give the man more than four and a half minutes and I'm sure we'll be pleased.>> ^Trancecoach:
Disappointed that Aaron Sorkin has gone the way of the "Old Man Syndrome," where things "used to be better" until the younger generation came along and effed it all up... The reality is that the younger generations are stuck with the mess that their forebears have left for them, so if you really need to blame someone for the mess we're in, start with yourself, old man.
Still, the show has potential and, unless we dissolve the nation state, we're in to recreate the 20th century, and we all remember how great that was the 1st time!

I think the US is changing, but it's not changing for the better. More fundamentalist, more corporate driven, more entrenched, more divided... That's change.

I think the cinematography is a bit too heavy handed.

I loved The West Wing even thought it got smug and condescending at times. It was forgivable for the most part. Then came Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and my desire to forgive dropped to absolute zero. If that was Sorkin unleashed, then he needs a co-writer that can take him down a few notches.

I would call America the Greatest,but I judge Greatest by different criteria.

Resources,and the management of them,basicly. How self sufficient a country can be if the raw materials the land posesses were properly utilized. We have farmland,oil metal and other harvestable materials ,industry and tecnology ,and the space for a huge population. If our corporate masters had an interest in it,we could provide ourselves the highest standard of living for all citizens if these phenomenal potentials were focused to that end. What other country commands such wealth of assets? And imagine our Gross National Product if we STOPPED tossing money at these other nations.America need Noone in the end.

But,I dream. America was an interesting experiment:give common people the Vote and they'll vote for the happiest Fiction they are shown,and soon our politicians will just do away with that illusion of choice and bring us into the new Corporate Feudalism where we'll be serfs enthralled to the yokes of global conglomerates.

If we'd stop worrying about trying to be "the greatest" and just be great, we'd be far better for it. Besides who cares what comparisons others make. Do we have freedom? Are we reducing poverty as a people, are we taking social responsibility and not giving it all to the government to do a mediocre job with? Are we exporting and competing industrially? DO we take a moral stand? He's right. All of these things have made the US great in the past and can still make it great.

The other thing we need to do it stop understating the current value of our countries. The US is still great and so are many other nations. We simply need to stop making it a race and prosper our own back yards.

>> ^TheDreamingDragon:

And imagine our Gross National Product if we STOPPED tossing money at these other nations.America need Noone in the end.
But,I dream. America was an interesting experiment:give common people the Vote and they'll vote for the happiest Fiction they are shown,and soon our politicians will just do away with that illusion of choice and bring us into the new Corporate Feudalism where we'll be serfs enthralled to the yokes of global conglomerates.


I agree with the corporate feudalism.. With dubya the republicans already rediscovered medieval European monarchy.

As for tossing money at other nations though, 50c in the dollar is tossed in the form of explosives and shrapnel. It doesn't make friends. And that's why there is such a need for security, and THAT's why control is being lost to fear at the political level. (nothing demented right wingers like more than a red alert situation).

It's never too late to stop killing people. Eventually, they will stop trying to kill you. Then you save half your money!

When America picked Rome as its role model, it was destined to die the same way.
It had potential, but corruption is a constant threat and no where near enough is being done to battle it.

I am truly shocked how divided your country has become, and how much of a threat and actually enemy to the worlds freedom after 9/11.
You havent learned a bit. Still waging wars everywhere, support totalitarian regimes (and even install them) even if its just behind the curtains. You ask yourself why "terrorists" are attacking you? You should ask yourself instead why so few are attacking you.

Believe me, I really loved the US for the most of my life. I always wanted to live there. I loved having American soldiers stationed in my country. But not anymore. A few years after 9/11 I got my ignorance armor removed by force and realized youre just as bad as the other hypocrite countries that call themselves civilized, democratic and free. But since you have so much power and exploit it all the time, youre actually worse.

I really wish you would return to your former values and actually uphold them. But looking at how corrupt your country has become, my hopes are extremely low. Just by looking at how you let the perfect opportunity pass by not voting Ron Paul - again, hurts me so much. Seeing people here and elsewhere spewing out propaganda that was indoctrinated into them reminds me of myself a few years ago. I can only feel disgust when thinking about that. In an age of information theres still so much misinformation and bias... Its sad. No wonder corruption is blooming like never before.

And yes, I am pretty sure some indoctrinated individuals will jump at me now for my last 2 sentences and mentioning Ron Paul. Save your breath, I have tried to talk to people like you for years and I was one of you. You will only learn the hard way - just like me.

You know why we aren't? We are becoming Oppenheimer more and more every day.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Looking forward to watching this show.

*controversy

Adding video to channels (Controversy) - requested by MrFisk.

>> ^Yogi:

I would argue that the US is still the best country in the world as far as Freedom of Speech is concerned. It was a really hard and constant battle, it wasn't given to us and we earned it. There's tons of European countries where you'll get arrested for denying the Holocaust...just stupid to give the state that power.


Your ENTIRE media is controlled by, at most, 3 men. Those 3 men tell 300 million people what reality is. Dissenting views are scorned, misrepresented, or ignored.

What good is free speech when then only way to talk to more than a few people at a time requires, literally, millions of dollars?

YAY! Your government cannot pass any law that hinders your opinions in any way. If you can't exercise that right because someone else yells louder than you can, is it even important to have?

The US government doesn't need to silence the masses. Rupert Murdoch et al do it for them.

>> ^Payback:

>> ^Yogi:
I would argue that the US is still the best country in the world as far as Freedom of Speech is concerned. It was a really hard and constant battle, it wasn't given to us and we earned it. There's tons of European countries where you'll get arrested for denying the Holocaust...just stupid to give the state that power.

Your ENTIRE media is controlled by, at most, 3 men. Those 3 men tell 300 million people what reality is. Dissenting views are scorned, misrepresented, or ignored.
What good is free speech when then only way to talk to more than a few people at a time requires, literally, millions of dollars?
YAY! Your government cannot pass any law that hinders your opinions in any way. If you can't exercise that right because someone else yells louder than you can, is it even important to have?
The US government doesn't need to silence the masses. Rupert Murdoch et al do it for them.


You're bringing up a separate issue though. I was making the point that yes our government cannot hinder our opinions and that is more alive than ever. I used an example talking about what that means in relation to unpopular views. It simply staggers me that someone can be put in jail for their opinion in other countries because I am the beneficiary of a lot of hard work to earn our free speech.

Wasn't it just last month that a guy was jailed in England for making a racist tweet about Fabrice Muamba (the black footballer who collapse of a heart attack)? He said something racist and that's unpopular so he was put in jail. That's amazing to me, how could the government be given that power to decide what is out of line? What if they decide criticizing the government is out of line? That's a big deal, and it was an important battle over decades.

Now your separate issue you bring up is a very important one. It's sort of like giving someone freedom without giving them any ability. "Yes you are free to go make a million dollars...goodluck." You're correct in that it doesn't really work and that it's not fair. Our media system is awful and most americans know that, that doesn't prevent us from going around them much of the time through other mediums though. Your point is made but it maybe should be directed at someone who was arguing that we're perfect, rather than that we have freedom. I would love to discuss this with you though because I think you paint a bit of a bleak view...you just have to POST A VIDEO!

@Yogi, @Payback, is this about a different definition of freedom? Yogi's is perhaps more narrow that Payback's. You can say what you like without going to jail - that's freedom in a sense. Perhaps Payback's point is that despite this 'freedom', if the voice of 3 people is what you hear, is there freedom of speech in a practical sense?

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Sift of the week!

>> ^kymbos:

I think the US is changing, but it's not changing for the better. More fundamentalist, more corporate driven, more entrenched, more divided... That's change.


I think you're right. the fundies are surging, corporate influence is rising. These things aren't very sustainable though. We know this because it's happened before. Theocracies don't work and are in opposition to freedom. Plutocracy doesn't work and is in opposition to freedom. Just because we seem to have forgotten history doesn't make it any less true.

America does really have the whole sleeping giant thing about it. We're lazy, we ignore stuff, we let stuff slide. We see this stuff coming but do little to stop it. But eventually the fundies and the plutocrats will cross a line and that's when people will finally push back...and push back hard.

When that will happen though..who knows. So yeah, things are going to get worse before they get better. But that's how it usually works. I tend to consider it a given that there is going to be a 2nd American Civil War before I die.

The US is going through the same as every other succesful human society ever has:

1 Creation by strong commited men instilling solid rule of law
2 Corruption through centralized control of a larger and larger population combined with exponential inheritance until the great-great grandchildren of the most aggressive rule by default over a drastically enlarged population
3 Systematic failure concealed and compensated for by militarization and seizing foreign assets by force (war)
4 Dissent due to (perceived) immoral behaviour and ever-reducing opportunity for those outside the 'elite'
(i.e inheritees driving million dollar sports cars at 17 while working seniors go hungry)
5 Move toward police state system to maintain control and security leading to resentment and polarization of politics
6 Technological advantage in warfare eroded over time by ambitious imperial contenders
7 Ability to respond to change compromised by corrupted power system and entitlement of ruling families

and finally either
8a neutralisation into nostalgia
or
8b collapse into chaos

Marcus Aurelius said:
"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too."

If there ever was a society that could beat the system it probably is the US. But it better get its shit together pretty soon.

Hey, I'm all for the discussion, but now, after watching the first episode, I have to call foul on the "old man" criticisms. Or at least clarify why I think that shouldn't matter if we're talking about the story of the show.

The character is starting to become a crotchety old man. And it seems like the show is about him and his team trying to put on a good news show despite where we are with our media and him having a temper.

I would agree that there were some problems with the first episode. Parts of the script and acting were over the top. The documentary style is annoying, with the sudden zoom-focusing like they do in "the office" and "Parks and Rec". But, I think it has the potential to be on par with West Wing or Sports Night. It just needs to find it's stride.

I liked how they referenced real events that were all occurring in 2010 to frame the action. And, even if they were overly cheesy at times, bother Jeff Daniels and the chick (sorry, not looking her name up) are good. Bits of their personality and dialogue remind me of older, classic Sorkin.

All of those are good things and it seems to me a lot more promising than "Studio 60" was. Studio 60 was a pile of crap from the first episode. I really tried to like that one and it was just too melodramatic.

I watched the first two episodes -- I really like the series. To me, its about trying to move a news show in a new direction. Not dwell on what has happened, but report on new "news." He doesn't blame the young or intend to be a crotchety old man. He genuinely cares about people and wants to report on the story.

He even talks about his "melt down," which we just watched, and how he wants to run a show. I think it is really clever. To steal a line from the show, " [we] weren't looking to right the ship, you are building a whole new one."

I'm looking at this from a worker's man view. I'm sure the ny times and new yorker won't like, but I'm okay with that. We can always change the channel. That's why I like videosift -- tons of options.

This is what happened:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Harbinger-ancient-mystery-Americas/dp/161638610X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341555040&sr=8-1&keywords=harbinger

>> ^Fusionaut:

What country is the best? Somewhere in Scandinavia I'd wager...


My bet right now would be Denmark.
But, with their education system I think Finland will be next.

>> ^garmachi:

I think the cinematography is a bit too heavy handed.


Absolutely Agreed!!

I watched the first episode last night and, overall, I liked it.

But the overuse (in my book, any use is overuse) of the really, really stupid "shaky-cam" leaves me nauseated. And the spinning pan shot used to show off the new set is almost as bad.

Story! Characters!