Language, culture, food, is almost the same. If you can read one language you can read the other. It is harder when speaking to understand everything because of the accents. The variations in habitat have more of a cultural impact than nationality. But I must say I meet people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark who are fiercely nationalistic even though we share so much history and culture but I don't find that to be the norm and saying Sven is a Norwegian name is certainly not accurate. It is a name much older than the current nations as are most names and cultures in Scandinavia.
-Karl (free man, Nordic)

Armchair Warriors - the Sissy Hawk Brigade

A Sissy Hawk Cheer:
“All-out war is still our druthers,
Fiercely fought, and fought by others!”
-Calvin Trillin, Obliviously On He Sails : The Bush Administration in Rhyme

>> ^marinara:
How does the leader of the House Of Representatives Progressive Caucus treat Obama?
He defies him and refuses to vote for the bill without the public option.
I paraphrase the Congressional Progressive Caucus:
No public option, No bill.
Do I consider Obama enemy no. 1? Please! You are making me laugh!!!
But he's in my way and he's not one of us.
And I'm not a racist.


I've been calling members of the CPC myself, asking them to take that exact stance.

I wouldn't say that I did so because I felt a need to make a stand against Obama, but because I wanted to make sure Obama got a bill with a public option in it to sign, like he wants.

Speaking purely about the political machinations, I don't think a veto threat from Obama would have improved the likely legislation from the Congress. It just would've turned conservadems from having soft opposition into having stern opposition. Doing things this way leaves the door open to arm twisting later. So I can't really get worked up into a froth about his refusal to issue his own "no public option, no bill" threat.

I certainly am not going to call him a traitor to the progressive cause, or declare him not "one of us" over it, or anything else he's done up to this point.

I do wish he'd embrace some of his own sappy sayings like the Audacity of Hope, and the Fierce Urgency of Now, rather than the Naive Hope for Bipartisan Unicorns, and the Fierce Urgency of Whenever he seems to be practicing.

If he wins anyways, I'm willing to forgive it. If he gets rolled, I'm not. Right now we don't know what kind of record he's ultimately going to have, but so far he's 1 for 1 on major legislation (teh stimulus), and I suspect he'll win on this one too.

Turns out people in the US won't see this movie...

"Good God, what is this country coming to?

It seems the film Creation, a major-production biopic about Charles Darwin starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, won't be seen in the United States because no distributor with the guts to stand up to the religious right in this country can be found:
The film was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival and has its British premiere on Sunday. More..It has been sold in almost every territory around the world, from Australia to Scandinavia.
However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.
Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.
The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".
Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning producer of Creation, said he was astonished that such attitudes exist 150 years after On The Origin of Species was published.
"That's what we're up against. In 2009. It's amazing," he said.
"The film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it's because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up.
"It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There's still a great belief that He made the world in six days. It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules.
"Charles Darwin is, I suppose, the hero of the film. But we tried to make the film in a very even-handed way. Darwin wasn't saying 'kill all religion', he never said such a thing, but he is a totem for people."
No wonder conservatives believe liberals lack the courage of their convictions. We prove them right every other day"
- http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6fe_1253048366

Seems like Joe Wilson tried to hop on the "outburst" bandwagon so many of his party's supporters have used as of late. Rather than properly debate, let's yell. I'm glad his condemnation was swift and fierce from both sides. Political posturing to be sure, but at least condemned publicly.

>> ^EDD:
I voted no. I really don't want this to be implemented, at least not yet. Definitely not yet. I will remind everyone that we have Sift Talk for discussions and news stories that haven't yet been covered in video form so as to get sifted. If they're good, people award quality points for them - this happens all the time, and for now I think this is enough.
As far as long-term strategy goes, business practice has shown that it's best to move into new areas with preexisting (and fierce!) competition when you're the clear leader in your own field. As much as I like the Sift, I don't feel like we're there yet.
As far as branding goes, I don't think VideoSift -> The Sift would be perceived as THAT big of a change. Besides, we're already using both.


Perhaps we could just expand and refine Sift Talk's features? Make posts votable? And then somehow make sure it didn't become messy. Tabs for choosing newest or hottest, perhaps.

imo, the channel view thing is already a bit weirdly implemented. Not straightforward enough to get back to the front page.

Also, the very equal vote count reminds me, it would be nice if comments that had a lot of both up- and downvotes, but hovered near zero, was marked somehow. Glowing red hot or something.

I voted no. I really don't want this to be implemented, at least not yet. Definitely not yet. I will remind everyone that we have Sift Talk for discussions and news stories that haven't yet been covered in video form so as to get sifted. If they're good, people award * quality points for them - this happens all the time, and for now I think this is enough.

As far as long-term strategy goes, business practice has shown that it's best to move into new areas with preexisting (and fierce!) competition when you're the clear leader in your own field. As much as I like the Sift, I don't feel like we're there yet.

As far as branding goes, I don't think VideoSift -> The Sift would be perceived as THAT big of a change. Besides, we're already using both.

My dad broke his leg something fierce and sat waiting for x-rays for 4 hours in a bunch of pain... :-/

I've had a bunch of stuff done for free, but there a long waiting period.

This happened to a girl on our way to high scool. We hit a snow bump, and she thumped her head on the ceiling something fierce. Had to get an ambulance and everything. She was alright though, just a concussion.

Psych: To the right of the video.

^demon_ix
"My point wasn't that he was fully committed to peace, or that he even agreed to anything new in the negotiation. It was simply that our "republican" prime minister said the words Palestinian state, despite fierce opposition from his own party to that phrase. Now if Abbas can declare that they recognize Israel's right to exist (no Palestinian leader has ever done so), they might be able to sit down and talk...

Until that happens, nothing in this situation will change, since I can't really see how you make peace with someone who publicly declares he wants you dead."

I don't disagree with anything you said. But where I might see things differently is the context of the speech. Netanyahu gave a speech geared at the United States. That was the whole purpose of the speech.
The problem of the speech was that it came across like he was lobbying for permission to take aggressive actions in the future.

As I said, acknowledging Palestine as a state on the condition that they give up sovereignty over the use of the sky (and also the sea and most underground water resources), is a useless statement. It basically translates to we will accept the definition of a Palestinian state, as long as we can control you.

Max Weber came up with a great insight in that the government has to have a monopoly on violence for the sovereignty of a state to work. That means for any sort for functional democracy no political party should be able to have their own army or anyone with arms solely representing them. Otherwise the outcome is always violence and civil war. It also means an impossible state to negotiate with.

>> ^geo321:
I get your point. Small gestures or moves can lead to big breakthroughs. But Netanyahu's speech on Sunday (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fe0_1245083098) seemed like a non-starter to me. Conditioning that Palestine needs to give up sovereignty in order to be recognized as a state is a terribly ironic position. He has to know this will not fly with the most moderate of Palestinians. Unfortunately I get the impression that peace is not Netanyahu's priority, and his settlement expansions or "natural growth" policies are going to aggravate the situation. That is unless the US gives them a hard push, which doesn't seem likely.


My point wasn't that he was fully committed to peace, or that he even agreed to anything new in the negotiation. It was simply that our "republican" prime minister said the words Palestinian state, despite fierce opposition from his own party to that phrase. Now if Abbas can declare that they recognize Israel's right to exist (no Palestinian leader has ever done so), they might be able to sit down and talk...

Until that happens, nothing in this situation will change, since I can't really see how you make peace with someone who publicly declares he wants you dead

I'd beat them up something fierce. Kill is probably over the top... probably.

>> ^quantumushroom:
If I was her father, I'd kill every last one of them. The End.

tis a type of hag moth caterpillar....it can have a pretty fierce stinging rash ability if touched.... DONT TOUCH IT

Who needs enemies when you have potatoes as fierce as that?

Niggas got me steamin, bout to flip my lid
Fuck around, and I proceed to blow your back out, kid
(Boom!) Not to say I'm on a violent tip
But my hand stays on my gun, in case you start some shit
Cause I been rhymin since way back when
Straight up and from the heart is how it's always been
Now punk niggas wanna test me
But all that tiggedy-tiggedy tongue-twistin shit don't impress me
It's just a phase, and you know damn well
That you'll fall off in a minute, cause that shit don't sell
Funny how you think you could surpass me, or outlast me
With that bullshit style, you're fallin fast, gee
See, I suggest you go back where you came from
(Your mic, and my mic) Come on, don't play, son
See, the days of payin dues is over
I'm a little fed up, and it's time that I show ya
We battle one time, you're dead, no sequel
(Your mic, and my mic - come on yo, no equal) --> Q-Tip

The wiggedy-wicked Psycho Les drops it like a lunatic
Steady back-breakin bitches with my super dick
Hat's on the jim, sometimes I nut in em
St. Ides fucks up their eyes, and I bend em
Down, while I'm flowin to this nutty sound
Open up the knapsack, check out what we found
H-h-horns, bass, lines
Beats get chopped in the Nut Shop, we don't waste time
Yo, I'm 'cold lampin' like Flavor
Floatin at the top while you're sick, and 'nothin can save ya'
Just like the Biz said
Remember - uugh! - styles I drop to be, what is it?
(The shizzit) Word to your mama
I bend your girl like a comma
Due to Lambada, I think I gotta
Stop, because the bitch said, "(???)"
So I nutted, and I got out
(Boom!) No matter how hot you claim to be, you can't roast this
Nut, what's up? You wanna get eaten up like a hostess?
'Cup', 'cake', you know my words are lethal
(Your mic, and my mic - come on yo, no equal)

Every line I connect, my literature's perfect
Per minute, per second, and yo, you gotta reck-
On with Fashion, cause by the way I'm rippin things
Whoever thinks I take a loss has hamstrings
Young dames, I shoot em and Jimmy aims to knock her
Sex with this flex, best thing tends to lock up
Yeah, really bad ass, smokin past you niggas
The chicks I stick shit with, I love your figures
Triggers, I pull em with no remorse for bodies
Fash pumps the hotties, chumps pump with shoties
Shoot em up, bang-bang! Miss targets rarely
Mics I touch up, I fucks em daily
Barely another who can test the cool Fash
Asses I kick in the ashes, dumpin trashes
So don't riff, cause I flow swift like the Nile, son
Tame is for plain Jane fame, I'm a wild one
Auto-matic-ly I let loose the
Fierce MC-i-n-g force in me
Cool Fash, sendin a blast to rap people
(Your mic, and my mic - come on yo, no equal)