Seriously? That's your response? Some people agree with bob so it's ok to post racist shit? Allow me to post child porn then, allow me to post some WBC "god hates fags" shit. Some people agree with that shit, so by that logic, it must be allowed. Your guidelines say don't post racist stuff, but I must have missed the part that said "unless some people agree with it, then it's ok"

You're worried about group think? on the internet???? HAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHA! You're tilting against windmills on that one because you're a little late to the party, dag. Besides, if racism not being tolerated is group think, then sign me up! EVERY site...EVERY SITE leans a certain way, dictated by the particular community (even a dying community like ours). If this nonsense of "some people agree with it" exemption is your new excuse, then you're no better than CNN or other media outlets, who allow all sorts preposterous shit to air, because they're trying to pretend to be 50/50 on every issue, and don't debunk things that they know are incorrect...because hey..some people believe it, so it's ok. Or is it just to feed the controversy and get more clicks? Cuz that's another thing the press does. They don't care about reality, they just want that sweet ad revenue.

I don't get what the problem is, you've banned people for racist stuff before, why is it so difficult now? These are your own rules dag. When are you going to enforce them? If you're not going to enforce them, then take those rules down. If you're not going to do that, then you might as well shut this site down, or just revel in the apathy that surrounds this site and enjoy your sycophantic upvotes?

You've got ample evidence, you've got a slew of clearly racist videos, you've got him abusing the ignore system in regards to @newtboy, and all you have to do is look at his comment history to see more reasons to get him out of here.

Do your job!

The fucking sad thing is, I love seeing the videos where cops are doing the right thing. That cop that was dancing in the gay pride march, the guys that help out the cyclists when the motorist does the wrong thing, the cop that defended the people handing out flyers in the airport etc.

These people are good guys and girls, honest people doing a fucking hard job.

But if they speak out when they see the sort of shit that get's put up every other day around here, they get harassed etc. If they stay silent, they become complicit. Having worked in a public service job for a long time, I intimately understand the awful drag of complacency and apathy where you see shit happening for so long and nothing you do seems to make a difference, but it still becomes a choice of letting it happen, or continuing to fight.

Ya know, George is right, and what he was doing in pointing this out was important.

But just once, I'd like to hear someone who stands up and says "the system is fucked" ... follow it up with "and here's how we unfuck it".

I know a whole bunch of ways that won't work (apathy, armed revolution, wishful thinking), but I'm damned if I know any that will...

Don't succumb to apathy!

http://billmoyers.com/2014/11/21/8-ways-get-money-politics/

http://www.fairvote.org/reforms

Though personally, I think we really need to implement the Condorcet Method (which I admit needs a sexier name).

http://www.princeton.edu/~cuff/voting/theory.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RtOCvFqIKk

Dunno why this got downvoted because it's bang on the mark. A government only has power as long as it's allowed to govern. Does anyone think a government would continue to function if 100 million American's just up and decided they weren't going to pay taxes any more until shit got sorted out? Or actively rise up?

It's waaay to easy to shift the blame because people are apathetic and lazy. It's the government, thanks Obama, get on a forum somewhere and rant their ass off and what changes? Not a damn thing. And when the voters aren't willing to take the responsibility for watching over their democracy, is the government going to volunteer when they are already balls deep up the ass?

BK33, I believe that you believe the shit you are peddling, which is far more tragic than if you were just a troll. Both parties are too blame for taking advantage of citizen apathy, but citizens are to blame for letting things get that way in the first place.

American's are always big on their rights. Well, with rights comes responsibility. BK33, you don't want to take any responsibility, you'll end up with no rights, simple as that.

I was in one of the areas that does ACT instead of SAT. I took the test when I was a freshman and got a 29 (out of 36, quite a high score), and never took it again -- I think due to a mixture of apathy and fear that my score would go down, although that wouldn't matter because you always submit your highest score.

I went to a local state university even though a 29 on the ACT is high enough to get some attention from prestigious universities. Personally, I was NOT impressed with the state of post-secondary education in the US. I'm "glad" that I went and got my degree, but only because it is expected and pretty much a requirement for getting most jobs.

I did learn some stuff, about 25% of which I feel was actually relevant to my field of study (Computer Science). If I was interested in paying the university for actual knowledge obtained as opposed to paying them for a piece of paper that opens doors to jobs, I could have packed all the relevant classes into 1-1.5 years and gotten the same amount of knowledge out at a small fraction of the cost (less than 1/4). University education felt extremely inefficient and arbitrary to me.

I don't think I'd have been any more impressed with an ivy league university education. Pay a LOT more, deal with the same inefficiencies, and end up with roughly the same amount of actual knowledge gained -- but an admittedly more (arbitrarily) valuable piece of paper to wave at job recruiters.


The situation is only getting worse for the Gen Y's and Millenials behind me. Higher expectations / requirements for college degrees in jobs that have no business requiring them, much higher tuition even at state universities, etc. I don't have any solution or advice other than suggesting that people take as many credits as possible from cheapo junior / community colleges and then transfer those to the cheapest in-state university they can.

So basically, I guess that I think that the SAT (or ACT) is actually less broken than the entire post-secondary education system at large in the US. A mere symptom of a much more severe underlying problem.

I understand your discomfort with my phrasing. My beef is with the electoral college system.

While I was getting my degree, I took some really good American History and Government classes at college. The prof in the Govt. class really went into depth explaining the electoral college to us, and to me the shittiness of that system was just shocking. For example: (none of this is news to a truly informed voter or an interested person with an internet connection, but it WAS news to me when I was ~20 years old, and I think it still would be news to a really high percentage of US voters)

* First is the very idea of an electoral college. The only way to become president of the US is to win the most electoral votes. But voters don't cast electoral votes, the people of the electoral college do. OK, the electoral college is supposed to follow the votes/will of their state/constituents (more on that next), but the fact remains that literally/practically, our votes as citizens don't matter. Only the electoral votes count. So yes, in the most literal sense ... NONE of our votes "matter".

* In general, the "electors" (the people on the electoral college) are supposed to cast their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote in their state / district. I think 2 states (Nebraska and Maine?) divide up their suggested electoral votes to be as close as possible to the actual proportions of the popular vote, but that's a whole other issue. Anyway, in general the electors are supposed to cast their vote for the popular vote winner in their state. BUT, that process isn't automatic. The votes that actually matter, the electoral votes, are cast by fallible human beings -- and they might "go rogue" and vote against what they are "supposed to" do. That is called a "faithless elector". That would be bad enough if it was just some weird loophole that technically exists but has never actually happened in practice, but actually faithless electors happen fairly frequently. The only upside is that they haven't ever changed the outcome of an election. Yet.

* When we're young and in civics type classes in school, we're brainwashedtaught about Democracy as a very simple, will of the public, one man one vote system. The electoral college shits all over that. One can win the popular vote but lose on electoral votes, and that actually has happened multiple times (not just to Al Gore). In my opinion, the electoral college creates a laundry list of problems (swing states are the only ones that matter, so campaign there and ignore everybody else, etc. etc. etc.), has very few benefits (any supposed benefits of the system are tenuous at best), and is completely contrary to the core concepts of Democracy.


Without the electoral college, a blue vote in Kansas would matter, as would a red vote in Massachusetts. Or a vote for a 3rd party or independent, anywhere. With the electoral college, edge cases like any of those can be safely and easily ignored by candidates.

I think it is unlikely that Kansas would turn blue, even if all of the democrats voted. That being said, we're not a complete LOCK for red; heck, out of the 10 most recent Governors we've had before we turned into Brownbackistan it is an even split between Democrats and Republicans with 5 each. And actually the Democrats had significantly longer total number of years in the office.

So basically, I don't actually think that a vote cast on a losing candidate is "pointless", I just think that the electoral college system does a really good job of making sure that some votes are more pointless than others. It amazes me that there wasn't a MUCH bigger stink made about it when Gore "lost" in 2000, but I guess voter apathy can overcome any challenge to the system.

I'd like to add something humorous here but honestly, I'm still trying to process how big a pack of cunts you'd have to be to seriously defeat a bill no one would honestly oppose, put forward purely to show how democracy works.

Actually, in retrospect, it pretty much describes what happens to real common sense legislation. Congrats kids, you're now prepared for the apathy you'll feel when you can actually vote.

great comment on the racism by numbers video!
i truly struggle to understand people who either willingly or unwittingly over-simplify complex cultural systems.

it smacks of comfortable ignorance.

racism is evolving to classism and while not necessarily a new dynamic,it is one that goes against the very heart of human progress and ideology.

quid pro quo....
certainly not the ordinary citizen,but then who?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_prison_state_of_america_20141228

a frighteningly cynical but also quite probable consequence of the corporate state.
human greed juxtaposed with apathy and indifference.

Who let the torch passed fall in the tall grass?
Fire alarm wire’s disarmed, what do you call that?
Call it predictable political cliche
So when the movie ends, the revolution’s dead. Replay
the sequence of events that led to these deep divisions;
I’ve realized that all the wrong people are in prison.
The children wanna know if I believe in the Reptilians!
I tell em ‘I don’t know’ but on the TV I see lizards.
When action was in fashion you were such an easy mimic!
Bumpersticker quote lifting, crib note statistics,
Grasp for the straw man, born again cynics
Fair-weather firebrand; spark my suspicion.
We knew you were the type to take the fight like a gimmick,
and rock the t-shirt when your sweat wasn’t in it.
The clock is still ticking for the victim of the future,
You’re waiting til’ they look like you to ever choose but–
Chorus:
Which Side Are You On?
Which Side Are You On?
(Damn)
Which Side Are You On?
(Ask the Industry.)
Which Side Are You On?
(Ask an Emcee.)
Verse 2:
Who wrote the greatest lines of our generation,
but couldn’t get from under their own small-minded hate trip?
The same rappers say they’re trooping the frontlines,
and casually use the word ‘Faggot’ as a punchline.
That’s not a man, that’s not a tough guy.
That is a sucker and a fraud to the culture!
Hip Hop is folk music grown from the struggle and
half these fools could put the mic down and run as a Republican.
Fuck ‘em then; they learn from their own wrong.
Homophobes don’t go to my shows, we too strong!
And if you’re in the front row, harassing girls during a song
I will reach and ask you exactly–
Chorus:
Which Side Are You On?
Which Side Are You On?
Verse 3:
I’m on the side of poor people getting organized;
I’m on the side of Choice where it is in short supply;
I’m on the side of those the system doesn’t authorize;
L-G-B-T We are on the side of Pride,
Justice and Equality;
Egypt to Wisconsin when they march against the Policy;
If you bringing down a King I’m on your side probably.
Kids’ll give me shit for this it really doesn’t bother me.
They were not around when we were wrestling with poverty.
So I follow none and ask no-one to follow me
Use your own mind, use your heart and your anger
Check yourself because Apathy is a cancer
And let your action be the answer.
Chorus
Which Side Are You On?
(Ask your government)
Which Side Are You On?
(Ask your media)
Which Side Are You On?
(Ask yourself)
Which Side Are You On?
Sample:
Don’t scab for the bosses,
Don’t listen to their lies.
Us poor folks haven’t got a chance
Unless we organize.

@newtboy
told ya he was pissed.
i admire this mans passion.
in fact,i applaud it.

while i do not agree with his attack therapy tactics and do not subscribe to his over-all conclusions.i absolutely ADORE how he calls out the cognitive dissonance of the american voter.

because he is right.

how can you subscribe to a law that makes prostitution illegal,yet porn legal?
or the guy who deals crack or meth as being a criminal? yet opiates are,by far,the leading cause of death in regards to controlled substances.so who is the bigger criminal?

and what,exactly,IS a criminal?is it because the state says so?if you subscribe to that,then i am a criminal.

i found his condemnation of the christian church to be the most delicious.
jesus christ was an insurrectionist,a radical,a dissident and a dissenter.a zealot in the face of the powered elite.

so how can you fight a war of aggression in jesus christs name?
how can you state that god blesses america with over 2.4 million people incarcerated?or to categorize and demonize those who may be different i.e:gay,lesbian or atheist and yet still call yourself a christian?

i giggled with delight when he pointed out that the very same people who are championing those insurrectionists,dissidents and agitators of the past as somehow being representative of their morals and ethics,are the very same people they are demonizing today for breaking the rules.

this man is so pissed off and i love it.
he says things that will make conformists extremely uncomfortable,and we NEED to be a bit uncomfortable.if only to shake off the apathy and lethargy.

as for the taxes argument..meh..i dont subscribe to the "privatize everything" ,because some things should not be profit driven,but i also do not subscribe to the 'taxes pay for essential services",unless wars of aggression,corporate welfare and big-agribusiness subsidies are considered "essential".

our democracy is broken,our government dysfunctional and serves only to keep the balance of the status quo on top..and fuck the regular dude.

can you REALLY say your government represents you?
ok,go ahead and vote.here are your choices:chocolate or vanilla but both are made by hagen daaz.

you really should watch to the end..he just gets madder and madder.
truths can often be uncomfortable,but that never changes the fact that they are truths.

and goddamn i love your optimism! just cant share it on this issue,though if you could bottle it up i am betting you would make a fortune.

ill have three bottles of newt please...to go.

yeah........
ill upvote for discussion purposes and to bring to light that climate is not a one dimensional argument.

so when i see these very targeted and one dimensional arguments using people with credentials (usually NOT in the field they are commenting on) sounding very reasonable...my alarms start going off.something is not quite right.

i call it the apathy argument,which is not really an argument at all but rather a political strategy.they dont actually have to WIN the argument,they just have to sound reasonable enough to make you think "well..maybe" and now you are a neutralized participant.

the gruber incident is now getting some serious airplay lately and everybody is sooo offended.
i am offended as well,but for different reasons.
calling the american voter "stupid" or any other human society stupid is an inaccurate term.

they are ignorant in most cases,and that is by design.

to deny that there are immensely powerful monied institutional forces attempting to muddy the argument for their own,specific interests and goals,while the fate of humanity can go fuck itself...now THAT...is stupid.

political arguments dressed up as as science really piss me off.

Dwindling optimism that it recaptures the feeling that made the LOTR movies so much better than the first two Hobbit movies.

Apathy towards 3D and discontent at HFR.

anytime my man.
your voice and input has been sorely missed.
sometimes this site does appear to be one giant circlejerk and the hornets nest should be poked from time to time.

all the great agitators left (you being one of them) and y'all left me to carry the water.
and lets be honest...i dont have the skills to get peeps to lose their shit quite as deftly as you do.
choggie was great but he was too passionate and would devolve into a giant rage machine.
i miss that fucker as well,our own little mysanthrope.

complacency and apathy can be just as destructive as rage and anger.

there are some intelligent and thoughtful people here on the sift but with nobody challenging their conceptions and worldviews they end up spending the majority of their time smelling their own farts and calling them good.

so i hope your visit is not a short one.
these people NEED you.
they just dont know it yet.

i mean look.
you post a single video.
4 downvotes
3 upvotes
38 comments!!!!!

you are still the master my friend.