So what exactly are you suggesting to improve this "bad" system, that we disallow probie members from voting altogether? Or that if a video reaches near the top of the "all time" list that we then delete all its probie votes? Or perhaps we should disallow voting altogether to really even the playing field?

Our system works very well the way it is, and that is supported by the always continuing growth of the Sift. But if this "bad system" is really that unbearable, you're more than welcome to pack up and make videotroll.com, videocu.lt, or videobomb.com your permanent online video residence where maybe their functionality and user base is a bit more to your liking. Of course, you could always start your own site where every bit of it functions exactly as you've always dreamed. Imagine the possibilities...

Or if it's not outside the realm of possibility, you can just try your best to accept this site and our executive decisions half as much as you enjoy tearing people apart. (Does there really need to be drama and conflict associated with everything you do on this website? I wonder, is this practice the same for you on every website you patronize?)

Side note: Dunno if anyone here watched Survivor Gabon, but you remind me very much of Randy and Corinne. I actually wouldn't be a bit surprised if it turned out you really are Randy.

"A prune-size bit of tissue tucked under the frontal lobes, it controls gut feelings and habits; it's what drives a recovering smoker to yearn for the feel and taste of cigarettes. The "reward circuitry," a network of neurons at the core of the brain, also plays a role. Nicotine boosts the brain's levels of dopamine, the "feel good" neurotransmitter. Another, as yet unknown, chemical in tobacco smoke acts like an antidepressant, blocking an enzyme that breaks down dopamine. So smokers get a double dose of the stuff—and about half end up addicted, essentially, to their own brain chemicals.

Remove the nicotine, though, and the body can't maintain the high dopamine levels on its own. In the brain of a smoker who's trying to quit, receptors start "screaming," says Dr. Norman Edelman of the American Lung Association, "crying out to be satisfied." Smokers often say a cigarette calms them, but by the time they're addicted, the nicotine rush simply halts the first symptoms of withdrawal. "The addiction is why you're nervous in the first place," says Edelman. Longtime smokers also have to end a behavior that's "entrenched in their daily lives," says Corinne Husten, head of the CDC's Office of Smoking and Health. Add in the stresses of, say, running for president, and it's all too easy to slip.

It may seem drastic to call a smoker an "addict" but, says Chris Cartter, who runs QuitNet, the world's largest quit-smoking program, "a lot of doctors view this as on par with overcoming a heroin addiction." The withdrawal isn't as ugly, but it's not pretty, either: shortly after quitting, the typical longtime smoker becomes cranky, has trouble sleeping and making decisions, and gains weight. Usually, the first weeks are the worst, but for some people the symptoms can drag on for a year or more.

That's assuming, however, that the smoker is taking the cold-turkey approach, which there's little reason to do these days. Nicotine gum, approved in 1984, is the oldest anti-smoking aid. (Obama chews it throughout the day.) It's about as effective as the newer patches, inhalers and nasal sprays, all of which placate those screaming receptors without being addictive themselves. Other options include Zyban, which is also marketed as an antidepressant, and Chantix, introduced last year, which eases withdrawal and blocks nicotine's effects."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17193908/site/newsweek/

OK, here's the list:

# Iggy Pop
# Kanye West
# Chris Martin
# Kris Kristofferson
# Patti Smith
# Terrence Howard
# Flea
# Q-Tip
# Adam Levine
# Chris Rock
# Justin Timberlake
# Kate Moss
# Sir Peter Blake
# Sheryl Crow
# Dennis Hopper
# Woody Harrelson
# Amy Lee
# Tommy Lee
# Dixie Chicks
# Mick Jones
# Sharon Stone
# Bono
# Shelby Lynne
# Anthony Kiedis
# Travis Barker
# Lisa Marie Presley
# Kid Rock
# Jay Z
# Keith Richards
# Billy Gibbons
# Corinne Bailey Rae
# Johnny Depp
# Graham Nash
# Brian Wilson
# Rick Rubin
# Owen Wilson