Recreational genealogy seems have a strong pull, but it seems almost as meaningless as astrology.

You only share 12.5% of your genes with each of your 8 great-grandparents, and genes can have very different effects depending on which other genes are present. If you want to know who you are, look at yourself, not your great-grandparents or anybody else.

Bands should hire these awesome grandparents to dance to their rivals' songs. It'd be the kiss of death among the ever important awkward-teenage-rebel segment of the metal crowd.

Hey Net, I agree with you and am in pretty much the same area as you... I would like, however, to point out what runs your opponents' mindset. Fear. Now, remember, fear is natural and is even necessary to survival. We are running into the problem of a world with finate resources, and that world is getting ever smaller. America is losing its once mighty grip on the things we have had for so long we assumed we were entitled to the wealth.

Now, blame is thrown all around except back at those who hurried along the process to begin with (Voters and their demands for low taxes and high services... Humans and their undending need to consume, etcetera...) So, social security has been raided to pay, money borrowed, etcetera. The Oceans overfished. Dead zones. Farm land is being compacted... Our debt is soaring... And the piper has to be paid at some point.

We must realize all our blank checks were foolish. This cannot be blamed on the half-black president--though he is a reasonable target. This must be blamed on our grandparents and parents and so on and so forth. And of course--us! Most of our generation does not undersand why things happen the way they do and yet, they are all about fixes... Sad...

>> ^NetRunner:
@<A rel="nofollow" class=profilelink title="member since June 27th, 2008" href="http://videosift.com/member/Winstonfield_Pennypacker">Winstonfield_Pennypacker, @<A rel="nofollow" class=profilelink title="member since August 1st, 2008" href="http://videosift.com/member/GeeSussFreeK">GeeSussFreeK, if the President asks for something from someone, and they voluntarily agree to it, how is it some sort of breach of executive power? He didn't exert any legal authority at all.
For example, BP's own press release says they agreed to establish the fund.
Now, if you guys have some sort of actual evidence that BP was resistant until Obama threatened them, making this a coercive agreement, bring it forth.
Otherwise you're just making bullshit accusations based on your own misguided ideas of who Obama is, based on lies trumped up by the propaganda arms of the corporate overlords (i.e. conservative media) to make it seem like BP is some sort of victim in all this.

@spoco2 ^ - Sometimes thoughts like that give me pause on IVF, etc. also. But hey; when my grandparents or great-grandparents were the "current" generation, a very non-trivial percentage of kids that were born didn't survive into adulthood due to disease, accidents, etc. I figure modern medicine and the march of progress has already destroyed natural selection, so we'll just have to trust it to be able to handle the unintended consequences / fallout of that as well. Either that, or Zombie Apocalypse = nature reboot.

Had a friend in middle school, moved away before high school but kept in touch, whose parents were both immigrants. The friend and his brother both used to swear a lot, the parents would as well. The friend and brother did it because their parents didn't mind it, and I don't think the parents minded it because it wasn't their first language and they weren't wired to be righteously offended by English swear words. Sure they understand them for the most part, but they didn't react the same as people whose only/primary language was English.

Every parent I met until high school (15-18) didn't want their kids using even borderline swear language and sometimes not even then. But his parents really didn't care in the least...they also took a completely different view on drinking and sex when it came to their kids too. They could drink and wouldn't get in trouble as long as they called for a ride, but they'd get their ass kicked royally if they drove drunk or rode with someone who was. And they'd let them have porno mags, I think there was a little limitation there in that they didn't want them having the super hardcore stuff...but even that rule kinda went out the window as they approached 18. Both were a little unruly growing up, but they controlled themselves better in more out of control situations. And both went on to college and careers, despite a learning disability that wasn't caught until late in high school for one of them. And both are close with their parents and normal well rounded and well liked people.

A lot of what is done today is just too controlling an environment for growing up and maturing in. Thus a lot of young adults spend their early to mid 20s figuring out stuff their parents or grandparents probably learned by the age of 20.

>> ^silvercord:

You don't need to go overseas to find flying insects this big with a stinger -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cicada_killer
We've got these all over the Midwest, and they are intimidating as hell.
You beat me by 7 hours. This was the first thing I thought of after seeing this video. I remember seeing cicada killers on my grandparents' ranch and being thoroughly creeped out and fascinated by them.

>> ^Krupo:

This is absolutely horrific. Thanks Dubya and Cheney - hope you enjoy your oil or whatever it was you wanted to get out of this.


How easily people forget that it's not just a president and vice president feeding off of the war. There are business men and women, senators and congresspersons from both sides reaping the benefits of an unpopular conflict. Completely expected when military drives government as it has been for the last 50 years. Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents should have listened to Ike.

Oh it's hilarious! The little girl is saying "fucking niggers". What a treasure. Show this one to the grandparents.

now i know how my grandparents felt. about stuff.
i think the vid is from kingston. Does it matter, I swear i aint gonna buy a ticket there.

Cheers & Thanks!
I am now the proud owner of a couple new sifts!


In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
Someday, somehow, I will... I think I'll just head on over to your pqueue...

In reply to this comment by Sagemind:
I Hate when that Happens - Why didn't it come up when I submitted it?
Hey @Fusionaut - You owe me one

Dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Delightful-Older-Couple-Perform-Charming-Duet-at-Mayo-Clinic

Maybe that haven't realized that a vast majority of tendencies we have are garnered from previous information: instinct, friends, parents, teachers, grandparents, books, tv, etc... All of these things use information that was previously there. I would suggest that many "moral" rules we live by are altruistic via instinct or domineered by somebody's else opinion and power.

Sadly I think willed leaders and war are the biggest force at play; at least during the very beginnings of our species. Religion is just more of the same. It gets just as much "right" as it does "wrong" (relativity and all that).

<sup>[citation needed, same with the other stuff; if you go back too far you find that it's based off of instinct]

edit-- Also, if you truly understand evolution and look at what we can teach to other animals you're forced to conclude that the same is true for humans.
-- expressio unius est exclusio alterius</sup>

the fundamental thing here is that the family is so large that its unlikely that all of them would piss you off

for example a western family is normal parents , kids , maby grandparents

if in a western family u had parents kids grand parents cusens and half cusens then it would be easy to get on with most the people as its unlikely that they would all be able to piss you off or be realy anoying.

also in a western society not all of them but some u have a good medical service and a responsible community that helps people out so a family structure like this is not needed to the same extent.

if there was a blind man in uk for example im sure loads of people would help them out , for a start they would probably have a guide dog. I know that if i see sum one that looks particularly old or frail or ill then i keep my eye out to see if they need help , im sure Manny people do that in the uk .

I'm of Italian ancestry. My great grandparents were from Castellammare di Stabia and Torre del Greco. Are you saying I'd be right to fly over to Naples and started ordering people out of their homes at gunpoint?

--- Spoiler alert! - Stop here if you don't want the answer yet! ---
Yes, that's exactly what you're saying.
>> ^TerryF:
Yet now you all contribute to destroy this land and then rage against a nation that is merely reclaiming its long lost identity and lands.

I'm pretty sure liberalism (aka the focus on individual freedom) started in France and well before Ayn Rand's grandparents were alive.

I guess I'm a genius then. At last, confirmation!
>> ^imstellar28:
I read something about IQs that I hadn't really thought of before. If you look at a distribution of IQs:
http://i45.tinypic.com/dyumad.gif
You see that:
68 out of 100 people have an IQ between 85 and 115
2 out of 100 people have an IQ above 130
2 out of 100 people have an IQ below 70
And if you note what an IQ score represents:
70- Mentally Disabled
80 Borderline
90 Low Average
100 Average
110 High Average
120 Gifted
130+ Genius / Very Superior