Irishman, it's an injustice to the complexity of the situation to continually describe one side of this conflict as 100% correct.

It's easy to say from a distance that it'd be fine to live under the domination of a larger military power, but the countries that actually have to do that feel quite differently, which is why Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine have all rallied behind Georgia.

Military conflicts are always stupid.

That's everything and more of what I was trying to say with that video.

Great post.

In reply to this comment by MINK:
>> ^quantumushroom:
I can appreciate a prank, but these morons want to be "political".


you don't appreciate politics?



In that case:
If you don't like fast food, you're free to not buy it or eat it.


and if you don't like the advertising are you free not to open your eyes when they pollute every corner of every street and build enormous inflatable signs?



You're also free to preach the virtues and benefits of living a healthier lifestyle.


and if your marketing budget isn't quite as big as McDonald's?


If you're a person so weak-minded that you must be told how to live by government or loser vandals like these to save you from yourself, you're not worth saving.


But giving everyone hospital treatment because they ate the wrong food is WAY efficient, right?

And is it "Strong Minded" to eat McDonalds after being exposed to a million M logos?

fat, sugar and salt are practically narcotics when combined with advertising... and you see nothing wrong with that... and you'd happily have a mcdonalds advert on every paving stone in your street because hey, that's the american way?

Outdoor advertising is pollution and it is bad for your health. I notice the effect immediately when I return to the UK from Lithuania. How the fuck can you relax when every surface around you is covered with a desperate message imploring you to buy something?


So. Fuck outdoor advertising. It is totally unecessary. Everyone knows what McDonalds is. The only reason they need to advertise is to brainwash you into thinking you are getting that big fat tasty burger from the photo, and then they can give you the lump of shit and you STILL smile.

>> ^quantumushroom:
I can appreciate a prank, but these morons want to be "political".


you don't appreciate politics?



In that case:
If you don't like fast food, you're free to not buy it or eat it.


and if you don't like the advertising are you free not to open your eyes when they pollute every corner of every street and build enormous inflatable signs?



You're also free to preach the virtues and benefits of living a healthier lifestyle.


and if your marketing budget isn't quite as big as McDonald's?


If you're a person so weak-minded that you must be told how to live by government or loser vandals like these to save you from yourself, you're not worth saving.


But giving everyone hospital treatment because they ate the wrong food is WAY efficient, right?

And is it "Strong Minded" to eat McDonalds after being exposed to a million M logos?

fat, sugar and salt are practically narcotics when combined with advertising... and you see nothing wrong with that... and you'd happily have a mcdonalds advert on every paving stone in your street because hey, that's the american way?

Outdoor advertising is pollution and it is bad for your health. I notice the effect immediately when I return to the UK from Lithuania. How the fuck can you relax when every surface around you is covered with a desperate message imploring you to buy something?


So. Fuck outdoor advertising. It is totally unecessary. Everyone knows what McDonalds is. The only reason they need to advertise is to brainwash you into thinking you are getting that big fat tasty burger from the photo, and then they can give you the lump of shit and you STILL smile.

awww poor obama had to answer a retarded question live on camera?

he's running for PRES EEE DENT, you know?

I think answering a question usefully under pressure and without stuttering is one of the job requirements. Fuck, it's a job requirement for working in Burger King ffs.

It's not easy to answer in that situation? Err... yes it is, you just pause, and calmly deliver your answer. you have the microphone. what's the problem. maybe you can't think of anything to say and you are too worried that the people pulling your strings will get upset by your answer so you say something bland and raise a few rounds of applause and get the hell out of there, eh?

by the way, i know some people are retarded and think that criticising Obama is like automatically supporting McCain, but for the record I think they are both unconvincing public speakers and wouldn't vote for either of them, seeing as "public speaking" is about all i want a president to do. but fuck it i live in lithuania. thanks for the F16s.

hmmm some interesting points for me to try to answer...

first of all jonny, i have caught and eaten my own mackerel and trout, and it was fucking fantastic. I wouldn't do it now, because the idea of the poor thing flapping around suffocating to death in a bucket kinda makes me sad, and it's unnecessary. In fact, fishing as a child might have subconsciously freaked me out enough to make me vegetarian later.

About "fake meat" being tasty... well i don't really eat that stuff, it's processed and expensive anyway, and full of salt and sugar. that's why it's "tasty". actually since i stopped eating meat, everything else became more tasty because my tastebuds aren't overpowered by the animal fat. So different kinds of rice, potatoes, pasta, porridge... they start to taste much much nicer after a while. Obviously compared to meat they taste like cardboard, but i don't compare them to meat. Problem solved. Your brain adapts. I think this is a big problem for people who try to convert. You have to stop craving animal fat and start smelling the difference between jasmine and basmati. It's worth it.

As for "limited alternatives available" i just totally don't get this point. Why replace the meat? Just stop eating it, and eat twice as much of everything else. I have no idea why people need a "substitute". stuff an eggplant for fuck's sake. Eat a whole bucket of salad. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

It drives me insane when I am at some kind of wedding in Lithuania and the kitchen is like "you don't eat meat? do you eat chicken?" and i am like "NOTHING WITH EYES OR LEGS" and they are like "maybe fish?" and i say "FISH HAVE EYES" and they say "oh shit, what the fuck do you eat?" and I am like "EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE PLATE YOU RETARDS!".

Fact is, there's only a few kinds of meat, but thousands of vegetables. There's a cafe I go to where the only veggie option is "potato pancakes without meat"... i.e. just fried potato, nothing else. But if you order meat you get 3 different salads and some boiled rice!!! WTF! That's vegetarian food you idiots! Give me that with my pancakes!!!

The ONLY problem I have eating (even in pork obsessed lithuania) is (as someone mentioned above) when very hungry and the only choice is chemical potato chips or a meat sandwich from a petrol station or something. That sucks. I just hope they have peanuts and a banana.

about kronos' hunting friends: I do indeed think this is the only way to eat meat. The problem is hardly anyone is lucky enough to be able to do that, and if we all did that, the maximum population of the earth would be quite small. So you have to kill humans as well to make that plan work. But in the meantime, go ahead, fuck the supermarket.

And another one for jonny... my choice has no impact? Er.... my choice reduces meat sales. I don't know how to put that more simply to you.
I have a friend who has also cut out red meat after seeing me eat no meat every day without dying. UK meat sales are down. More and more Lithuanians are going veg, especially the pretty girls. My example has an impact. Small maybe, but hey, i am really not into the idea of paying thousands to a corrupt lobbyist so that they can go to a corrupt parliament and try to stop the meat industry mafia. Not gonna work. Simply don't buy, and they will produce something else. Maybe a chain of vegan restaurants.

Gradually, we are all going to go veg, and get back to the "natural" system of only eating meat occasionally, and paying much much more to have it produced properly. Meat is not healthy if you eat it at every meal in the place of a variety of vegetables.

Climate change and population pressure is going to force us to cut it out anyway, not to mention the amount of oil it takes to produce one cow. put solar panels on them!!!

At least we don't have to live in Lithuania.

^drivers aren't "temporarily adjusting" in lithuania, they've had a system of turning off the traffic lights at night for years, and the system of pedestrians having priority is an old system.

They are also very bad drivers and there's a lot of accidents on the motorway, but in town i feel safe stepping out on to the road, because i know the rules mean that everyone is watching out, and i know that fundamentally nobody wants to kill a pedestrian. So it's cool. All you cynics are just soulless robots who have forgotten the amazing capacity of the human brain.

Heck, some of you even sound PROUD that this "wouldn't work" in your town. Riighht.

>> ^MINK:
lithuania is trying to create a signocracy. she used to be so pure and chaotic.
when friends come to stay they are freaked out by the method of crossing the road, i.e. cars don't stop unless you actually start walking across the road, but if you look confident enough, they ALWAYS stop.
pedestrians have priority over cars turning right or left at crossroads, so that means drivers ALWAYS look for pedestrians.
It makes total sense to have less signs, but for some reason we prefer to have a system that LOOKS organised but kills people, instead of trusting ourselves.


I love doing that in Toronto. I can stop 4 lanes of traffic. Of course, sometimes I'm shepherd to 100 first-year university students who I'm instructing to crouch down and tie their shoes.

Well, haven't done it recently, but it was awesome when we did.

lithuania is trying to create a signocracy. she used to be so pure and chaotic.
when friends come to stay they are freaked out by the method of crossing the road, i.e. cars don't stop unless you actually start walking across the road, but if you look confident enough, they ALWAYS stop.
pedestrians have priority over cars turning right or left at crossroads, so that means drivers ALWAYS look for pedestrians.
It makes total sense to have less signs, but for some reason we prefer to have a system that LOOKS organised but kills people, instead of trusting ourselves.

that advert is shit on so many levels. and yes, it actually stopped me visiting the sift so much. gah. not since the Dove ad got a million upvotes have I been so annoyed with an advert.

Oh, there's that ad council one on myspace: "We worry about our children's health and environment, we're Childsafe Advocates." ...that's fucking annoying, i am in lithuania so myspace delivers me only the "not for profit" ads, and they are SHIT.

no i will not pay for either VS or myspace. why not? not worth it. that's why.

From 2050:
"Republic of Lithuania. That's terrorist talk! And I don't care for Valdas Adamkus one bit - he's been on that throne for over 40 years! Time to bring the american way of thinking to them. In the name of God, they will be a 'democracy', and incidentally we could use all that precious rainwater."

In other news, go Japan. Make the oil business look bad.

looking forward to the water wars, starting in the year of our lord 2050.

lithuania is definitely going to be invaded. she is literally "floating under a sea of rain". i expect the arrival of "democracy" and "freedom" in 2051. they will build a pipeline from here to oz dag, don't worry.

^yeah but we don't wear padding when we play football.

and anyway lol, it's mad living in lithuania where people don't even realise water conducts electricity. my english safety training is really restrictive out here.

i went to a building site to inspect a property, and it's a mess, and there's people working everywhere, so i ask for a hard hat, but I have to walk thru the building site unprotected to get to the little cabin containing the hard hats! MENTAL.

our studio flooded, and there's plugs all over the floor, and this girl is trying to pull the plugs away from the water. she's standing in water, trying to touch plugs. i had to shout at her military style to get her to stop. she said "it's ok". MENTAL.

big straps around a PA system are held with a big metal buckle that looks like the jaws of death and holds a lot of tension. one of them got stuck and i saw a guy just stick his hand in and poke around, trying to get it unstuck. he made a joke about losing his fingers while he was doing this. he actually turned around and took his eyes off the buckle to see if i was laughing at the joke. MENTAL.

i could go on.

Clam down MG, Eklek is from Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada (French-speaking), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroes, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, or Vietnam, so it's okay for him/her to use this convention.

I asked the internet.

Well if I wasn't lazy I'd go find em all, but I am lazy so lets just suffice it to say that from my observations that using star points (or sift dollars or siftys), as an exchange medium has been shot down by a majority of the community. I don't think you need to discard your post but I'll sum up how this goes when it's brought up:

Dag:
"How does everyone feel about sift dollars!?"
Mink:
"No! Changes are terrible, I live in Lithuania."
MarineGunnrock:
"Let's ban him for suggesting it!"
Swampgirl:
"I think it might be fun, we should try it."
Gorgonheap:
"Currency would change the focus from sifting videos to hording cash. blah, blah, blah, (something insightful and intelligent.)... And that's why Hillary Clinton is just like Adolf Hitler."
Choggie:
"Blimey Mate, the pip two is full blown horse sheit. No dun-bar forest will whack me own mum ketchup fish."
Lucky:
"Why don't we try it for a while?"
25 following members:
"NO!"
Siftbot:
"Awarding dag with one star point for this contribution to Sift Talk - declared quality by siftbot. And one day you will all bow before me!"