Thanks for upgrading to charter, Tim, and for helping to keep the Sift running.

You're all set to rock and roll for the next 30 days!

Unknown.

If the ECB pulls ELA, the Greek banking system goes belly up. Again, consequences unknown, but Deutsche Bank for instance didn't seem particularly stable during the last months, so the denial of any contagion risk might have been premature. Additionally, Draghi is tasked with maintaining the stability of the Euro and taking away Greece's last lifeline might just be too far out of his mandate, even for him. Keeping ELA up without increasing the limit will achieve the same result within days though.

If Greece fails to make its payment to the IMF tomorrow, it's at the discretion of Lagarde whether she pulls the plug. Info has been somewhat contradictory, but there should be a 30 day window before the board has to call it a default.

If a default is triggered this week, it's up to the ECB and the EC again. They have shown unwillingness to let things go bust, all the recent months of muddling through should be testament to that.

They cannot have a failed state within Europe without feeding right into the anti-European parties on both ends of the spectrum; they cannot throw Greece out of the EZ; they cannot revitalise the Greek economy without doing a 180 against their own ideology; they cannot let Syriza pull Greece out of the shit without encouraging Podemos. It's an impasse alright.

Should the Greek people vote against the proposal, a proposal that is no longer on the table, it'll be back to negotiations. Should they vote in favour of it, and should it still be available to them at that time in the first place, Tsipras might even get a majority for it in parliament, but Syriza will blow apart right then and there. The left wing cannot agree to further enslavement.

If, however, everything goes sour and Greece does indeed exit the EZ, introduce a new Drachma, the whole shebang, then we're in uncharted terrorities. The situation in Greece would deteriorate even further, given how much they rely on imports, especially of fuel. And the EU, already shaky from the tens of thousands of bodies floating in the Med, the falling standard of living for tens of millions and the sustained unemployment of an entire generation; this fecking union cannot turn the cradle of democracy into a failed state and survive. The governments might be ok with it, but the French people would rip this shit to shreds one way or another, and rightfully so.

Well, it actually already did...I think they said these inmates had to have zero behavioral incidents for 30 days prior to this event in order to attend. And they said they were shocked by the high number that qualified.

But I also get what youre saying...a longer term study for the after-effects would be interesting too.

As Samuel Clemens said, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

This 3 minute and 47 sec video can't begin to tell the full story.

One reason so many people in the US go to prison is because there are so many recidivists. You don't go to jail in the US unless you have committed a major felony crime or you are a repeat offender.

That's why those in prison for "mere" drug possession actually have a higher arrest rate for violent crimes than those in prison for burglary, robbery or even drug trafficking, according to innumerable studies, including one in the Journal of the American Statistical Association.

We now have more diversionary programs available than ever before. If you commit a theft crime, you get the opportunity to make recompense and/or attend a program. Same with DUI, take a 3 day class or get locked up for 3 days.

Another reason many black men get locked up is because they commit a lot of violent crimes. Violent crimes will almost always get your ass locked up.

I know a fellow in Oregon who used to be the prayer leader for the Seattle Seahaws, a white man, who to my knowledge has never committed a violent crime, yet he is a repeat offender on DUI driving laws. He was recently committed to prison for 3 years.

And as for these 'get tough on crime' laws...the last one passed in Ohio did just the opposite, making repeat felony thefts a misdemeanor. The lawyers in your local legislators know how to title a crime bill...most of which are an effort to save money, not fight crime.

Also, prison guard unions don't send people to prison, judges do.

As for fewer prisoners in China...they just shoot their offenders in the head...saves quite a bit on housing prisoners.

Making crack cocaine a stiffer penalty crime...well, crack is more addictive than cocaine. So why doesn't Al Sharpton get behind the decriminalization of crack cocaine? Probably not enough money in it.

If you want to make a point about people in the US being incarcerated compared to other countries, I'm going to need to see some numbers on the recidivism rates in those countries, not just some surface facts that don't tell the full story.

it's rather like some countries that don't count neonatal deaths unless the child has survived for 30 days...you can't compare that to numbers from countries that count neonatal deaths at 2 hours.

I disagree with the insinuation that that is intuitive...

I think to answer @Zawash 's concerns, the seven riffle shuffles is probably close to the "sweet spot" because even a card on the very bottom or very top will likely move at least 1-2 places away from those extreme positions (top or bottom) in a single shuffle. Then, on the second shuffle, it is likely to move even further -- the probable "distance moved" is even higher and goes up rapidly away from the extreme edges. By the time that you've riffle shuffled 7 times, it should easily have shifted far enough away from either extreme end to be sufficiently "random".

Sorta like the old elementary school math question of would you rather have a million dollars NOW, or one penny today and then double that amount each day for the next month. We tend to underestimate the value of option 2 (over $5 million after 30 days, $10m+ for 31) because our brains are much better at grasping/predicting geometric growth than exponential growth.

That doesn't have anything to do with "inability to perform a proper riffle shuffle", just a very human tendency to underestimate exponential changes over a few iterations.

30 mosques in 30 days blog

You have been gifted a 30 day chartership by an admiring, gorgeous sifter. Enjoy!

Your wrong @eric3579. There is no protection for the wealthy--it only looks good to them but everyone is less safe for these policies.

But I must correct one injustice (among a few others) that John was wrong on. Most, and by most I mean most, solitary confinement of inmates does have both appeals policies inside the jail/prison and Judaical recourse. It is not foolproof, but lawsuits have vindicated many people. As such, this forced policies in place when confining an inmate.

Not to mention that many prisoners are mentally unstable as is--just like many homeless are. I am not saying to punish them. The medications they receive in prisons and in jails really are helpful in keeping them functioning in general population these days and should be the first reliance. They really do go above and beyond in many jails/prisons. However, someone who would rip out his own eyeball or shove a pencil up his penis, someone known to be violent, or even those severely handicapped and who would be abused, they must be protected. This guy doesn't point out this--instead it's generalized as ALL torture.

Imagine your son being raped in prison violently by someone with mental illness, just because he couldn't be justified as a danger for his entire stay... Happens every day, and so do the lawsuits. It's an impossible balance really.

And indefinite is a misnomer. 30 days is a common number of maximum days a person can be held in solitary for disciplinary infractions. While this doesn't seem like a lot of time, I understand it's a LIFETIME to spend alone in a room that is abysmal. However, it is definitely not indefinite.

Additionally, the total ratio of inmates incarcerated in general population versus is about 5%. That's pretty small considering the totality of circumstances and general population inmates whose crimes are serious in nature.

As someone who has studied this issue indepth for the last 7-8 years I can say the jail/prison system is a failure on multiple aspects. It causes more crime. It hurts people who would be better served elsewhere. It is racially biased. In most cases there is no way out. However, in the dawning of the age of cameras, much has changed for the better. The fact that guards are charged with crimes for obvious abuse is one. The fact that solitary confinement is now working well is another. Prison populations are expanding less and less.

We should expand upon the good, instead of focus on the bad.

Hi Zawash- You've been gifted a 30-day charter membership by an admiring Sifter. Enjoy!

You've been gifted a 30-day charter membership from an admiring sifter.

Oh, happy day.

Hi Fred! You've been gifted a 30 day charter membership by a rock star of a sifter. Enjoy!

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

Hi chicchorea - you've been gifted a 30 day charter membership from an appreciative Sifter. Cheers!

True enough regarding peeps wanting that "feel-good" response continually-Superficial adjustments anchored in emotion are short-lived.
To address ant's question, one's outer world (physical presentation, expression, habits, interests, etc.) manifests as a window into one's inner world -A dishevled appearance reflects internal conflict, chaos. The steps taken to adjust by creating one or several new habits (grooming, healthy diet, etc.), while at the same time discarding deleterious habits (addictions, shit-think, harmful associations), will alter a human forever. The hardest thing for this man to deal with are his routines that brought him to this point of rescue. Adjusting them radically at this stage in the spiral may be the jolt needed.

Definitely, he'd benefit greatly from he support of others who have made similar journeys.

30 days is enough to meta-program oneself-A good general rule of thumb: While trying to adjust or discard actions, attitudes, habits, etc., is to simultaneously adopt a completely new beneficial daily action or exercise to accompany the elimination of another.

Yeah--except he IS getting jail time... Not that your response is ignorant, but who in their right minds didn't think he would be arrested? Who even considered it? I can tell you who. People who don't watch social change and are stuck in the past. Within even the last few years enormous strides have been made to stomp out people like this guy. Yet this video makes no difference, it doesn't provide proof...even though it does...

The problem people see is that the benefit of the doubt still has to go to the officer in most cases. When it's proven he/she has acted out of line to an obvious illegal extent, what happens in this video is pretty standard.

Let me give you an example of this in a different light. The officers arrive on scene. No video footage was take. Their "man" says, "Hey, she attacked me so I cuffed her." Her "friends" speak up. And what would they say? Of course, she didn't provoke him in the least! Every time, never fails. If officers took the approach, without evidence, that the other officer should lose the he-said she-said then how could any officer be justified if it wasn't on camera? They couldn't, if you think about it.

Anyways, back to the example. So obviously the officer should be given heavier consideration than the woman and her posse. However, upon inspection, they find the off duty officer has a gun--which he cannot have in such an environment as an establishment that serves alcohol (I don't think anyone can have a gun in a bar.) Plus her story starts to add up. She has injuries, he does not. All this evidence is collected.

What happens next? Well, you can't arrest him there in a he-said she-said. The evidence is sketchy at best for now, and that pesky shit we call due process? Yeah, protects him too... So you get the evidence, then say, "You know what? We think you were out of line. Perhaps criminal. But due process means we might will not get a conviction. 30 day suspension for the gun in an alcoholic state. 15 for conduct unbecoming. And reference to anger management counseling."

Of course the people scream bloody murder. Why isn't he fired?! Well, the same laws that protect you also protect him. And he did, in this example, get a pretty bloody ass from all the days off. And if he was charged but got off? Well, they would scream bloody murder for that too--even though a jury of regular people found him/her not guilty... (And he could sue the agency if they fired him for the charges he was found not guilty on.)

Sorry for the rant. I just think some people need to see the shitty from both sides, but also what has changed. I for one smile when ass-tards like this go to jail. And I think, "Wow, the system has changed so much from when I was a kid."

Thanks for re-chartering for another 30 days and continuing to support VideoSift. You're all set to go!