Though I'm sure the same happens with every language everywhere. It's only ever profitable to limit the intellectual intake of our own populations. Luckily, there are the various functions of globalization which as much as people want to point out its obvious flaws, allows the common people to bypass their shitty countries and their shitty censors.

Oh common people 3 of the top 15 videos are now ads.... boo

Poor people don't need education or doctors. Gotta keep those common people stupid and afraid.

Otherwise nice guy :-)

Heh, I made a similar argument years ago to a friend of mine but I wasn't so harsh on the common people.

I don't think it is so much that people are sheep as it is the fact that the system is designed to keep people as preoccupied as possible with their own survival so that they simply can't afford to be truly political activists.

Think about it--in the U.S. you can be legally fired from your job, for example, for expressing political opinions your boss disagrees with. It isn't a freedom of speech issue because freedom of speech only prevents the government from censoring your speech--not private business. Hell, it doesn't even have to be a political opinion. When someone wears an ostensibly "offensive" Halloween outfit and pictures of it show up on the Internet, they can be fired without having any kind of recourse.

Now you add on top of that how the middle class has been eroded away. A lot of families need dual incomes just to survive. That means you also need to pay for childcare if you have kids. Prices have increased but wages haven't kept pace. Now add debts on top of all this, whether it be from college loans, credit cards, car payments, mortgages, or whatever.

What you get from all this is a society where, as bad as things are in Washington, it's not bad enough for people to risk their already precarious circumstances by boycotting work to attend protests or engaging in some other form of extreme activism that would probably be required to effect real changes. A lot of people are one bad circumstance away from, if not bankruptcy, then at least a drastic lifestyle shift where they'll lose most of their personal belongings and possibly dreams (like having their kids go to college).

So things plod along pretty much the way they always have, with those in power continuing to consolidate that power and see how far they can push it. Barring college students with pretty much nothing to lose (they have both the free time and probably economic freedom to protest and engage in political activism), the best most people can do is gripe about things on the Internet.

Your video, Shatner - Common People, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

How many violent criminals are in Norway's prisons? According to TYT, the U.S. has almost 10 times as many homicides as Norway, so I think it's safe to assume that U.S. prisons hold a much higher percentage of violent criminals. Coincidentally, violent criminals are far more likely to be repeat offenders.

Poverty is another factor to consider. Poverty and crime are directly correlated. Many people commit crimes out of desperation. After being released from prison, their situation doesn't change. Regardless of your skills, finding a job as an ex-convict isn't easy (hell, finding a job as regular citizen isn't easy these days) and the likelihood of getting one that actually pays more than minimum wage is pretty low. If "freedom" means living in a shithole apartment and barely surviving by doing tedious, demeaning and low-paying work (or even taking multiple jobs), is incarceration really any worse? You'll still be doing tedious work but you won't have to worry about paying for rent, water, electricity, food, gas, healthcare, insurance, etc.

So, what would happen if we made American prisons as nice and cushy as the ones in Norway? Would crime actually decrease? Or would criminals simply see prison as a mild slap on the wrist? Or even a step up from their current situations? If our current prisons aren't scary enough to deter people from breaking the law, would a spa-like prison be any more effective? Hell, there are already recorded cases of people intentionally getting arrested in the U.S. so they can go to prison and not have to worry about living on the street. If our prisons were as nice as Norway's, these cases would only become more common.

People like to focus exclusively on recidivism rates but those aren't the only statistics that matter. And if you really only care about recidivism, you should be all for the dealth penalty. After all, death row prisoners have a 0% recidivism rate.

My background: I come from an upper middle class background in the UK. I went to a normal primary school, did very well and ended up passing the exams for the local private school. I was from a pretty well off family but my parents never stopped me being friends with anyone and I had friends from all walks of life. When I was in a normal school with lots of normal kids I got on well with most of them and it was all good.

I was thrown out of the posh private school after a year and a half because it was full of the sort of little fucking shits that bitches like this drag up. Every time one of them started braying all I wanted to do was shut them up. I had a lot of fights and was gotten rid of.

After that I went to the only school in the city that would take people who were expelled from another school. The friends I made there, in the shit hole school, are some of the best people I know. Good, honest, successful people.

This bitch makes my blood boil. I'm sure in her circles she's celebrated for her honesty, because everyone knows you shouldn't let your children play with 'common' people.

I've dipped a toe in both worlds at school, and since then I've been a keen dinghy sailor, which is a scene that attracts people from all backgrounds. I know lawyers, doctors, teachers, directors, lorry drivers, sound engineers, metal workers, mechanics, beach bums and stoners who all sail and I know for a fact that the money in the bank has nothing to do with what you're like as a person.

I certainly wouldn't want my kids hanging around with hers.

Fucking hell I'm angry right now!

The heyllll you talkin' bout, can't flow together? The entire basis of "power moves" in breakdancing is being able to sustain rotational momentum while nearly seamlessly chaining them together. I would be of the opinion that is one form of flow.

Not trying to be a dick, but if you're really saying that nothing new has been invented in the past, I think you have to regain some perspective, and you're also missing a lot of nuance. 15 years ago people doing straight windmills would be somewhat impressive. It wasn't much more than five years ago that air tracks (0:38) became common. People were not doing that shit in the 90s. And certainly not doing it on just one elbow, while grabbing their other leg and sipping a cold Coke all at the same time.

People do moves, and then other people figure out ways to add a little something on top of those moves, and so on and so forth. I think there is definitely an artistic aspect to it, in that there's an exploration there of the limits of the human body, and dancers have taken things much further over time.

I think to some extent breakdancing has been played out, when it kind of resurged in the 2000s. It's also frequently taken out of its larger context of hip hop dance, where it's just one aspect of many different styles.

Anyway, yeah, I guess I'm kind of defensive about breakdancing.
/former breakdancer

>> ^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!

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.

There's a question that causes debate among many believers, and that is the age old question... Are Jesus and God the same? Well, it does say that "for God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son", so naturally you would think the answer is a simple no.


On the contrary,

John 8:58

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.

Jesus not only claimed to pre-exist Abraham, but He took the divine name, I am, for Himself:

Exodus 3:13-15

13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’

The jews knew exactly what He was saying, which is the reason they were trying to kill Him

Jesus claimed to be equal with God:

John 5:17-18

17Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” 18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God

And again:

John 10:30-34

I and my Father are one.

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

Again, the jews were trying to kill Him because He claimed to be God.

Here again, Jesus claims the divine name for Himself:

Mark 12:35-37

And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?

For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

Notice that He is referring to David as the "Lord" and Himself as the "LORD". The "LORD" is God.

Jesus often referred to Himself as the Son of Man..who is the Son of Man?

Daniel 7:13-15

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed

The Son of Man is the rightful heir to the divine throne who will rule, forever, and only God receives worship:

Matthew 4:10

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Jesus received worship many times, never correcting them:

Matthew 2:2

Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Matthew 14:33

And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!

Matthew 28:9

And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.

John 9:35-38

Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

Scripture also declares that He is God:

John 1:1;14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth

John 20:28-29,

"Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed

Heb. 1:8, "But of the Son He says, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.'"

The reason God became a person is what the gospel is all about. If you're asking how, I think that would be a trivial thing for God to do. Jesus came as a man to reconcile men back to God. All men are sinners, and we have a corrupt nature predisposed to sin. We've all broken Gods laws, and the wages of our sin is death. Jesus, however lived a perfect, sinless life, which qualified Him to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. He took all of our sins upon Himself and took the punishment that we deserved on the cross. In this, He reconciled the two natures. We have a sinful, corrupt nature which is separated from God..but He brought the righteousness of God into it by becoming a man and imbued into mans nature, so that we could once again have fellowship with God..but it is only through His righteousness that we are justified. That is why He is the way, the truth and the life.









>> ^lurgee

Lots of religious discussion in the last half dozen years or so. Maybe notice it more because I'm older, but it seems more prevalent.

I saw a quote somewhere else by Napoleon Bonaparte, so I looked up his quotes and found two I thought were interestingly applicable to the current climate.

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
Napoleon Bonaparte

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Napoleon Bonaparte

We're coming off of the biggest financial crime of our lifetimes, with no one being punished. And they aren't even trying to stop it from happening again, they are fortifying the regulations that made it possible for it to happen in the first place and attempting to add more craziness with SOPA/PIPA to solidify control over the only location everyone can have a say and organize -- the internet.

So, I have to call into question all of this religious posturing that is becoming the forefront of the debates and "hot topics" in most traditional media coverage. Anything regarding rights of gays = religion based arguments, abortion = religion based, etc......everyone is affected by the economic meltdown and financial theft that occurred. And they address it by skipping back to "Those damn gaaaaaaayyyyss" or "ABORTION --- RAWRRR" and anytime they can't flip over to those we get the piracy! and It's your fault for buying a house during the bubble! oh and OWS rapes people so you can't believe in any of that.

And the OWS argument makes me laugh, because they'll have you believe the whole movement is made up to allow rape to occur and it's a legitimate reason to call their ethics and argument into question. But when Gingrich was asked a question in the debate allowing him to respond to his cheating on his wives and leaving at least one of them in a bad situation, it was applauded when he refused to answer and how that was bad form to question his morality based on those acts. When you could say, he just wants to be President so he can get more on the side with the secret service to facilitate or some other overly dismissive thing they do to the OWS.

The whole process is insulting, they speak of stability but create controversy to take focus away from issues that going unaddressed whom 70% or more of the citizenry agrees needs to be addressed. And I suspect it's not because they don't see there's issues, it's because they want those issues to remain....it makes it easier to stay rich if you can exploit them.

>> ^Ryjkyj:

The thing that most people have a hard time understanding about anonymous is that they're not an organized group. Anyone can really do anything under the name and give anonymous credit for it. That is why they are simultaneously non-threatening and yet scary, and especially unpredictable.
We seem to have this idea that revolutions (I'm not saying there is one going on) are always organized around a single, well thought out idea. But if you traveled back to the time of the American revolution, you wouldn't here a bunch of people screaming "no taxation without representation!", shit, 90% of the people were illiterate back then. Everyone would've had they're own idea, but all shared a common sort of "direction", or a need for change.
I think that's what anonymous is. It's just a bunch of people who have a little bit in common.


Quite well put. This is why the top 1% establishment fears them and tries to discredit and shut them down at every opportunity. The beast has no head to tie a noose around. It cannot be killed. They simply represent the grievances of the downtrodden, and that is a powerful force to reckon with. Arrest one, there are a 1000 more. They are not necessarily connected or related to each other, but are conscious of each others struggles. They are the common people. Young and old. Male and female. Agree with them or not, there are many and they won't simply go away by being ignored by the mass media. It will only fuel the fire.

Demands are great, but they have no means to enact or enforce them - so what now?

They will continue to be ignored. The elite don't get their hands dirty with the common people. They just carry on with business as usual and pay the police to clean up the mess.

According to wikipedia, people exclusively consumed raw milk prior to industrialization.

Yeah, and the average lifespan as below 40; and epidemics and plagues were common. People did alot of things that wouldn't pass muster today.

And even some claim that raw milk can be produced hygienically without the dangerous pathogens. I wouldn't know one way or another, but I'd also suspect you don't either, right?

You're using the same line as climate change deniers and anti-vacination advocates: Use layman's ignorance to deny established science, engineering or medical fact/procedure. I can use that technique to cast doubt on any complex scientific/medical/engineering issue (which in the states, is practically every technical subject).

The bottom line is, with the issue of raw milk, like anti-vaccination, it's not about curbing individual rights, but reducing the public safety risk. You can catch infectious diseases from raw milk. I have a right to not be exposed to some disease-ridden fool.