Okay, now that I'm able to properly respond...

I'm leaving the Sift for a week to take care of personal things, but I needed to bring this up. There's a bias on this site. Not that I don't rub people the wrong way, because I do. I can be a huge asshole, and I don't like it sometimes. But there's a total bias and it's bullshit. I've noticed people who get targeted are those in opposition to a certain ideological position. Specifically the left. And at one point I was part of the bandwagon. Look at the recent hobblings and bannings. Those in the majority band together and pick on people all the time, but let one person on the other side make a colorful comment and all the sanctimonious assholes come out of the woodwork to play the victim. Their mean comments get upvotes and praises. Ours get us hobbled or banned.

And my comment, which I refuse to apologize over because IMO wasn't that terrible and probably fitting, wasn't unprovoked. I'm no nationalist, but he (as always) mocked the culture of the US in this comment. It didn't bother me as much as my comment bothered him, but so what? In a not-so-subtle way I was cluing him into his nation's recent culture. Of killing Jews. Which is what Germany did within the last century. People shouldn't throw stones in glass houses, that's all. If he wants to play the nationalist card, then let him be a big boy about it. They may not like their recent "culture" but I don't particularly like ours either. But then again I'm not being a Nazi about others mentioning it.

Anyway, people have said a lot fucking worse on here than my trite and stupid comment. And I've had worse said at me. And who cares? I'm okay with it. DFT wants to spin a narrative about my film, taking personal shots at me, label me a narcissist. No problem. You even upvoted that comment. Volumptuous wants to call people jerks. Great. The world keeps turning. You don't have to lift the hobbling. I'll display it as a dirty reminder. Because although I do believe you try to be fair, I don't think you are at all. It's like Nazi Germany in here. Hail Siftler.

In reply to this comment by dag:
Calling a German citizen a Nazi without provocation is at best a supreme example of Godwin's rule - and at worst deeply insulting and insensitive.

Things you do and say on VideoSift matter. I refuse to let this place become an anonymous nihilistic drainpipe you can holler down. This is your official, non-expiring warning for a personal attack - and an apology might be in order.

>> ^PoweredBySoy:

This proves a conspiracy and coverup? You people are idiots. And obviously bored.


Love how all the sock puppet probies come out of the woodwork to nay-say whenever a 9/11 video appears on the sift.

Can't wait for the plethora of structural engineers that are members here to follow...

I would be with you 100% if it was the governments/big corporations/banks who were reaping what they sow. But it's not. It's the locals who are losing their businesses, cars, homes... even lives. That's why I have nothing but despise for these thugs. The protest about Duggan's death was a peaceful march, but when night came the dregs of society (and not only poor society I might add) came out of the woodworks and took over, and it has been nothing but pathetic criminal opportunism since.

http://videosift.com/video/London-looters-don-t-give-a-f-ck-about-people-s-homes-burnin

>> ^peggedbea:

there's even something deeper to the looting. like how all the worlds politicians and public official have been looting the public coffers and living off of bribes from corporations while gutting entitlements and vital social services. i don't doubt the looters are probably douchebags, but you can reap what you sew, governments.
>> ^hpqp:
@Yogi: see the video below, it's the same street the night before. The people who wrecked this street were simply profiting from the situation to steal stuff, nothing more.
edit: embed fail: http://videosift.com/video/News-Reporter-Confronts-London-Looters

Verily so about the minimizing part. But my content wasn't so much minimizing as it was pointing out a need for more (I should say unique or more useful) information. Besides that, I don't think the variation is significant--it is proven women are discriminated against so what if the data is off by a few percentage points? With that said, it is a good and valid statistic, even if imperfect; and, it does prove that discrimination happens. That isn't minimizing.

Could I have phrased that a bit clearer? I doubt it...anything that remotely smells like "minimizing," regardless of if it is true or not, is enough to bring out the illumination!

As far as waterboarding... Let me make an example of how I communicate sometimes.

"Yeah, waterboarding is horrible but it doesn't happen often." <<<< I don't see that as minimizing. I think it is trying to state a truth... However, everybody would scream that I am minimizing the truth and should be waterboarded
However, this is minimizing >>>>>>"I don't see what the problem is. It's just a dunk and leaves no lasting physical damage." Vastly enormous difference.

Waterboarding is torture. Period. It's a psychological beating. But does it happen often? (I don't know enough about the frequency of use, I just used the statement as an example for debate.) Just suggest that it doesn't and the lynching begins. "Once is too much!" Agreed, but once is still not often.

I think we look at comments and generalize...

berti's stats, no matter where they came from have one relative fault--they don't point anything new that would change a perspective. Two things have changed my perspective.

1-The comparisons of jobs between women versus men, and women versus women. Last one being the most important. And 2-the exclusion of part-time work.

>> ^NetRunner:

@Lawdeedaw data is fun.
I'm glad you found my data so useful, but honestly BLS is where you wanna go for any labor-related stats, and some of the charts berti pointed to were using the BLS datasets I pointed you to.
To try to explain why people are coming out of the woodwork to protest, I'd point to this passage of your post:

I just used my wife and I as an example of how skewered statistics could be. I know there is real wage discrimination and this post in no way disputes or marginalizes it; however, it does make me wonder how inaccurate studies can be. I know women are kept down in jobs so they cannot rise.
I just think the truth lies somewhere in the middle--women are discriminated against, but not as much as we like to make it out to be.

This kinda thing just rubs us lefties the wrong way. People are constantly trying to minimize the issues liberals care about. We hear it from Heritage about poverty (it's not so bad, they have TV's!), we hear it about waterboarding (it's just a dunk in water!), and we hear it about global warming (see, it still snows in winter!).
We're extra sensitive to people doing that on issues we think we've already convinced the public are a problem, like the gender wage gap.

@Lawdeedaw data is fun.

I'm glad you found my data so useful, but honestly BLS is where you wanna go for any labor-related stats, and some of the charts berti pointed to were using the BLS datasets I pointed you to.

To try to explain why people are coming out of the woodwork to protest, I'd point to this passage of your post:

I just used my wife and I as an example of how skewered statistics could be. I know there is real wage discrimination and this post in no way disputes or marginalizes it; however, it does make me wonder how inaccurate studies can be. I know women are kept down in jobs so they cannot rise.

I just think the truth lies somewhere in the middle--women are discriminated against, but not as much as we like to make it out to be.

This kinda thing just rubs us lefties the wrong way. People are constantly trying to minimize the issues liberals care about. We hear it from Heritage about poverty (it's not so bad, they have TV's!), we hear it about waterboarding (it's just a dunk in water!), and we hear it about global warming (see, it still snows in winter!).

We're extra sensitive to people doing that on issues we think we've already convinced the public are a problem, like the gender wage gap.

When the catholic priest talks about clowns coming out of the woodwork I cannot help imagining a bunch of pedobear priests approaching a Sunday school in zombie fashion: "kiiiddddzzzz!"

The jews perhaps?
>> ^bareboards2:

Mean-spirited, illogical, irrational and thinks they are funny. I wonder who this could be?

>> ^spaceman:
Thank you for the apology..
>> ^bareboards2:
I have discovered I have a new talent -- I piss off certain members and they come out of the woodwork with their sockpuppets.
I apologize to any Jewish Sifters out there -- spaceman is just trying to get banned or get me mad. I'm sure it isn't personal.
This saddens me. Somebody has a problem with me personally, and they get out their AK47 to take down others indiscriminately.
I'll never get used to the random cruelty. I don't want to get used to the random cruelty.

>> ^spaceman:
I like how that fucking jew shooshes the camera man midway through when he completely interrupted the kid in the beginning..

Mean-spirited, illogical, irrational and thinks they are funny. I wonder who this could be?


>> ^spaceman:

Thank you for the apology..
>> ^bareboards2:
I have discovered I have a new talent -- I piss off certain members and they come out of the woodwork with their sockpuppets.
I apologize to any Jewish Sifters out there -- spaceman is just trying to get banned or get me mad. I'm sure it isn't personal.
This saddens me. Somebody has a problem with me personally, and they get out their AK47 to take down others indiscriminately.
I'll never get used to the random cruelty. I don't want to get used to the random cruelty.

>> ^spaceman:
I like how that fucking jew shooshes the camera man midway through when he completely interrupted the kid in the beginning..

Thank you for the apology..
>> ^bareboards2:

I have discovered I have a new talent -- I piss off certain members and they come out of the woodwork with their sockpuppets.
I apologize to any Jewish Sifters out there -- spaceman is just trying to get banned or get me mad. I'm sure it isn't personal.
This saddens me. Somebody has a problem with me personally, and they get out their AK47 to take down others indiscriminately.
I'll never get used to the random cruelty. I don't want to get used to the random cruelty.

>> ^spaceman:
I like how that fucking jew shooshes the camera man midway through when he completely interrupted the kid in the beginning..

I have discovered I have a new talent -- I piss off certain members and they come out of the woodwork with their sockpuppets.

I apologize to any Jewish Sifters out there -- spaceman is just trying to get banned or get me mad. I'm sure it isn't personal.

This saddens me. Somebody has a problem with me personally, and they get out their AK47 to take down others indiscriminately.

I'll never get used to the random cruelty. I don't want to get used to the random cruelty.


>> ^spaceman:

I like how that fucking jew shooshes the camera man midway through when he completely interrupted the kid in the beginning..

I don't care for Alex Jones. He tends to go way overboard, but he's at least right that our government has lied to us - so is it so hard to believe the official story isn't exactly how they told it? That story of Osama's death does sound like bullshit, doesn't it?

So many government apologist jumping out from the woodwork. Government absolutely is a religion.

Don't put words in my mouth..I don't recall ever agreeing with sarah palin on anything..im not a republican, im an independent.

And I'm not looking down on you..i was responding to the fact that you decided to mock my beliefs instead of adding something to the discussion. and im people like you..christians are not better than anyone..the difference is, we're (trying to) follow Gods will.

>> ^Boise_Lib:
>> ^shinyblurry:
I see the intelligentsia of the sift is starting to come out of the woodwork..utterly provocative boise_lib.
>> ^Boise_Lib:
shiny: how the world will look from jubus's lap as you watch all the sinners burn.
blurry: your view of the world of science

Ahh, I'm crushed that an intellectual such as yourself--who agrees with such luminaries as Sarah Palin--is looking down your nose at me.
I'll read the bible (again) to see how I should deal with the people who are different than me. During 6000 years you would think that you guys could have rid the world of the likes of me.

>> ^shinyblurry:

I see the intelligentsia of the sift is starting to come out of the woodwork..utterly provocative boise_lib.
>> ^Boise_Lib:
shiny: how the world will look from jubus's lap as you watch all the sinners burn.
blurry: your view of the world of science

Ahh, I'm crushed that an intellectual such as yourself--who agrees with such luminaries as Sarah Palin--is looking down your nose at me.

I'll read the bible (again) to see how I should deal with the people who are different than me. During 6000 years you would think that you guys could have rid the world of the likes of me.

I see the intelligentsia of the sift is starting to come out of the woodwork..utterly provocative boise_lib.

>> ^Boise_Lib:
shiny: how the world will look from jubus's lap as you watch all the sinners burn.
blurry: your view of the world of science

It's not a strawman argument, it's a fact; no argument needed. And I didn't say that all whites or even a majority are racists. I do think that most Americans of any color are apathetic, and would rather watch (and catch on phone video) a person suffering distress, than help. Apathy is all you need, not outright hostility, but today there is plenty of both.

Sure, you and I can make the distinction between reasonable public and private services. But what about these state politicians who are passing birther bills (various states), trying to privatize their health care systems (LA), and trying to nullify federal laws they don't like (various states). Not to mention the tea-idiots in Washington. I don't trust these fools to get those nuances, and I thank god every day that the federalists won out way-back-when. Because as much as some of these people say the federal government is too big and intrusive, they don't care if at the state/local level, things are run by fiat.

Since they don't get nuance, I get very nervous when on one hand, some politicians want everything privatized, then others say that private entities can serve who they want. A nice one-two punch.

>> ^blankfist:
>> ^longde:
Even in 2011 you can walk into a restaurant or public establishment and not get served due to race.
With the number of racist kooks that have come out of the woodwork since Obama's election, it's not hard to believe that given the opportunity, a segregationist belt could emerge in this country again.
I think many libertarians don't care about that because, since it is a white majority country and most libertarians are white, they won't have to live with the negative consequences of a libertarian policy that removed anti-segregationist regulation. >> ^blankfist:
>> ^longde:
I liked those ideas, but I still don't think I would be confortable living in his ideal america. I'd be sitting in the back of greyhound, and using separate bathrooms at Walmart.

That's ridiculous. No way. Segregation would never happen again. Never. Even if you repealed every law in the land.


I'm talking about segregation in terms of public services and places, not refusal of private services. Think more Rosa Parks and the segregated school systems from the 50s and 60s. I think the majority of people believe that segregation is bad, so you won't see it among most private companies.
So, it is hard to believe that a "segregationist belt" would emerge if given the opportunity. And it's a copout to say that the majority of people in any party are white, because the US population is so. Means nothing and it's a straw man argument. I could say that the majority of Democrats are white, but that's just statistical numbers.
Also, just because you're white doesn't make you a racist.