he went so fast it seemed Nature had to catch up with rendering the sprites.

Do enlighten me: How do you think "dominant corporation(s) or collusion thereof [will] strongarm retailers?" That simply won't happen. Rather, there will be fewer barriers to entry for other widget manufacturers to enter the market, either independently or working for competing "dominant" corporations when they discover that it's more profitable to not be "paid off" but to compete in the market instead.

A dominant corporation cannot buy every possible competitor. That's absurd. And there will always multiple "dominant" corporations, and not just one, or one and a number of "start-ups." Where there is Coke, there will be Pepsi. Where there is Apple, there will be Samsung. In a free market, monopolies and cartels cannot exist except in the very short term and at an eventual loss (unless they have the primary monopoly of the government to back them up).

If there are patents, there's no free market. A free market, by definition, must exclude all patent, trademark, copyright, and other such IP law. So, you may have picked the worst example.

Free markets without patents is not a problem at all. Not for the market and not for consumers. Companies may just be more careful about spies. They certainly wouldn't be incentivized (like they are now) to spend $millions just to hold patents on products that are never produced, only to corner the market and "strongarm" competitors (like they do now).

Companies like Bed, Bath & Beyond have been trying to price upstarts out of the market for years, decades even! And they're still not able to get rid of competitors! Same can be said about Walmart. Many stores other than Walmart sell TVs, even at higher prices, and remain competitive. Other stores sell linens besides BB&B. So, you have a distorted view of how markets actually work. No one corporation can monopolize the sale of any goods or services. That's just incorrect (unless the government helps them to do so). It just doesn't happen.

There's no such thing as a "natural monopoly." Name one. In Texas, for example, there are competing utility providers, and people can choose which energy service to use. This is in contrast to CA, where most of us are forced to "choose" PG&E over zero other alternatives.

"Restriction of information/prevention of rational, informed consumers"

I'm sorry, but anyone who has been involved in business knows this is complete horseshit. If you have a better product/service (the only way to outdo the competition), you will let the customers/market know right away.

And there's no scale at which markets collapse. The same forces of the market apply to big, small, and medium businesses. There is no arbitrary size for which these forces do not apply. And keep in mind that without government granted privileges, corporations would be much smaller than they are now, because competition would make it easier for competitors to participate, thereby forcing a re-allocation of resources to accommodate the market's demands.

So, yes you most certainly "overstated" your case. All markets can be free, regardless of size. Whether it's a small farmer's market or Whole Foods. The same market forces apply. They all have to court voluntary customers through service, price, quality, etc. Again, anyone who has had to work with marketing will know this.

BTW, things like "price dumping" are circumvented all the time. Does Rolls Royce care that Hyundai sells cheaper cars? Does Mercedes care that a Prius is less expensive?

Target makes money because Walmart is cheaper, not in spite of it!
And everything Walmart sells, you'll find many other stores selling it, even though Walmart might sell it cheaper.
The local natural food store in my neighborhood sells, more or less, the same things as Whole Foods. None of your objections pose any real problems in the real world.

I don't see Walmart buying every other TV seller, or even trying to do this. Microsoft tried but, so what? They failed, because they could not buy every single competitor in the software world, could they?

Even in Somalia, to use @enoch's example, in the telecommunications industry (to pick one that saw growth), no one even remotely managed to do any of the things you say could happen. In 20 years, no corporation did any of these things. Why not?

Because they couldn't.

And did "dominant" corporations take over all small retailers and sellers? No way, not even close! They couldn't. Only regulations can really kill all small retailers (and they do it all the time). Your outrage is gravely misplaced. Do the countless bazaars and sellers of Turkey, India, or Thailand get taken over by "dominant" corporations?

Hint: No.

Only when government meddles, do the big corporations wipe out the little ones, and sometimes each other.

In any case, Coke will not eliminate Pepsi (or Sprite, or Dr. Pepper, or A&W), government or no government.

There is a flaw in your premise which suggests that somehow a capitalist system is susceptible to the "evils of man," but a "government" (no matter how limited) is not. Man is either evil or Man is not evil, regardless of the system in which Man functions. A system of government regulation can either be exploited or not, so a government imposed regulation thus becomes a mechanism for that manipulation.

Capitalism, by contrast, does not require the governmental oversight to impose the regulations that the market imposes upon itself. Such a system (despite the prevalent perception, of late) does not, in and of itself, generate the kinds of crony, kleptocratic monopolies that we have seen on the rise for the past 30+ years. That is, sadly, the effect of government -- the original monopoly -- whose regulations and hybridized (private/public) contractual agreements with the private sector create these imbalances and inequities throughout society. As far as I can tell, only the implicit competitions of the free market present the kinds of price restrictions that cannot be circumvented.

Note that capitalist competition does not mean a system of 'survival of the fittest' and it does not entail the strong surviving at the expense of the weak. In fact, the pattern seen throughout a competitive market is that of a "leader" challenged by a "second-place" (Coke then Pepsi), followed by a more distant third (other colas) and then a variety of many others (Sprite, 7-Up, A&W, etc.) Competition in capitalism differs considerably from that seen in the animal kingdom because humans, unlike animals, can increase the supply of what they need to survive, while animals cannot (with possible exceptions like bees making honey). In fact, capitalist competition does the opposite, it allows those who would otherwise not survive (because they cannot produce for themselves, or those too weak to compete) to survive by partaking in the market of increased supply. Even if those people are unable to hunt or farm for themselves, they can still feed themselves with the abundance of food produced by capitalist competition, which is a competition to produce more and better of whatever the market needs (with an accurate reflection of supply and demand in the price, which is very different from the kinds of "blind" economic calculations necessary in a centralized system of government). And to have such an abundance of production/supply, you need capital investment. There's no other alternative.

In any case, read the article I posted. Let me know what you think.

Same here. I can't stand the ugly pixelated sprites. This one has many addons.

My assumption is that people don't do these things because they are intrinsically better (even though I can accept that they could easily be), they do it to make themselves seem important and special.

Eating sushi in "the correct way" is also not popular, the wrong way is popular - who's the one trying to avoid conforming to the peasantry now?

People make fun of this video, because it's not about teaching you how it should be done, it's about him showing off all the fancy things he knows about sushi and talking japanese; Look I'm so cool, I do it the right way. It reminds me of that hilarious application video that was spoofed by Michael Cera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Is_Nothing_(video_r%C3%A9sum%C3%A9)

If the main point is to teach people to do something right, then teach it nicely - it's even more compounded by the level of self-importance in this thread.

Some times there's a correct way and there's another perfectly fine way - I know, shocking. People don't all like the things you like, oh gosh, say it isn't so.

You, @NinjaInHeat and @arekin (and I suppose the guy in the video) are the three amigos who want to cram the "correct sushi" down everyones' throats - I am not trying to force you to eat the regular rice-cake sushi that normal people do, you can do what you want.

In essence what you would call "correct sushi" is an entirely different dish than what is normally known as sushi, so it's sort of a silly argument in the end.

I guess my main point of contrition has nothing to do with sushi, but to do with the way in which it is presented. It stinks of aristocracy - people who know the right way and therefore snub their nose at all the others who clearly "just don't get it" - well fuck, there's not really much to get, you like to eat it in a certain way - whoopdefrickingdoo.

"You know, real hambruger is hand picked from the kobecow and processed right in front of you. And be careful to only use a light touch of ketchup as a pallate cleanser, and to convey the intended feelings of camaraderie that the chef wanted you to feel with him and his cultural heritage.. and be sure to drink plenty of Sprite - this is the way to properly enjoy hamburger, otherwise you might as well just eat some raw fish or something like a fucking retard who don't even know that you only lightly dip the corner of the bun in grey poupon mustard".

Bah humbug.

And that's how they make CokeSprite Zero.

Funny ya mentioned that...a very evocative number with a simple melody, ripe for parody:

When you're alone and you are getting a boner,
You can always go, downtown
A pocket of Franklins', tap the buffet like Homer
Seems to help I know, downtown

Strollin' down the sikewalk with a forty and a fatty,
Hand-job on the subway from a teenager named Patty,
How can you lose? The skirts, are much higher there,
You can forget what her name is, maybe tug on some hair, when you're

Downtown, things will be great when you're
Downtown, ten-minute dates, when you're
Downtown, every thing's waiting for you....

Don't hang around and let your problems surround you
There are nudie shows, downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go
where you don't need clothes, downtown

Listen to her moaning, on your silent Motorola,
Motion to her horny friends, before the night is over, happy again...
The lights are so dim in there,
You can diddle for hours, and nobody cares

So go
Downtown, where all the sprites, delight
Downtown, maybe you'll start a fight
Downtown, where did you park your car now.....?

Downtown

And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you,
Someone who is rough like you who forcefully commands you,
To take off her thong, so maybe I'll see you there
We can forget all our morals, and get all the stares

So go
Downtown, things will be great when you're
Downtown, in a neighboring state, you go
Downtown, you've already burned your town down
Downtown, downtown, downtown, downtown

Downtown REDUX, Choggie Kendall, ©2013

Coke dominates. Fanta is quite popular along with Sprite and Pepsi.

What is totally awesome though is Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Try it if you get the chance (served cold).

Two aren't precedent because they have substance beyond the sexuality, and the third one is dead. The only focus of this piece is naked hot chicks. The policy is in place to keep single-purpose fap material elsewhere. I mean, is this enjoyable for any other reason?

And there's precedent for this too. There was a video with two or three hot topless women having a snowball fight. It was considered unfit for the Sift. (I searched now but couldn't find it again.) Even actual porn has been accepted, because it was a funny parody. This is nothing but boobs. I like that line to be clear.

*controversy>> ^xxovercastxx:

@messenger
http://videosift.com/video/Skittles-Taste-the-Rainbow
http://videosift.com/video/BANNED-GERMAN-SPRITE-AD-BJ
http://videosift.com/video/Mr-Tree-This-gets-a-10-on-the-weird-O-meter
I think there's precedent for this sort of thing.

@messenger

http://videosift.com/video/Skittles-Taste-the-Rainbow
http://videosift.com/video/BANNED-GERMAN-SPRITE-AD-BJ
http://videosift.com/video/Mr-Tree-This-gets-a-10-on-the-weird-O-meter

I think there's precedent for this sort of thing.

>> ^PlayhousePals:

But I'm a Pepper =o/


I was a Coca Cola, Mountain/Mt. Dew, Dr. Pepper, etc. No diet. Now my old body hates sodas and gets aches.

>> ^deathcow:

I have no doubt that killing people like this and watching their glowing white (infrared cam) body parts get spread over a 400 sq ft area will mess (some of) these pilots up for life!! Just watching the videos alone is enough to make me freaked out.


I was thinking about this the other day. You've of course heard stories of the complete separation from their victims when you talk about bombadiers. I was wondering if stationing Drone pilots thousands of miles from their targets does the same thing. Does it become a video game, just sprites on a screen that don't hold any meaning. It's something to think about but I'm not so sure because as our technology has advanced to keep the "pilots" away from the entire battlefield, the optics has advanced to bring the close up images of the battlefield right to them. It must be an odd feeling, I can't imagine.

Also the people who flew those planes into the World Trade Center are braver than these Drone Pilots. So what the fuck does that say about bravery?

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a...


... loofah by the foreman of the Sprite!

There was some Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites in there.
>> ^braschlosan:

How is this Skrillex? I hear Pon De Floor by Major Lazer

I've never heard of or seen footage of the sprites they talk about at the end of this video! I'm 31! I feel like I missed out on them for my whole life now... I've seen so many awesome thunderstorm and lightning photos, but arrrgh..