So it's been two years. I hope everyone is doing well. A little older, a little wiser? Better, faster, stronger, smarter?

It looks like @NetRunner and @dystopianfuturetoday are still up to their old haunts. Learn anything in the last two years? History impart any lessons? A lot has happened since then. War, recession, inflation, destruction, pollution, the devaluing of the dollar.

Maybe meet up in another two years to see if anything more has changed? That is, if it is even possible. By then, we may have already lost net neutrality and the world wide web will a corporatized splash screen. "Choose your website from the following options." Worse yet, this site could be bought out by DynCorp and transformed into another corporate puppet ala Digg.com.

That is, if any of us even have jobs or savings to pay the internet bill. What with the massive inflation from the multi-trillion dollar "bailouts," handouts, QE3, QE4, QE5 etc. Ever pay attention to your supermarket bill over the years? What will the dollar be worth in two years if it has already decreased in value by upwards of 50% in the last few years? How about employment after the looming double-dip, recession, or second great depression. How many of the posters here will even have jobs anymore?

One thing is for certain, there is nothing special about American labor. China is in the lead in education, America is barely in the top 20. The average salary in America is somewhere in the $40,000 range. In China, less than $7000. I hope you've enjoyed the run while it lasted. Be prepared to swallow your pride along with your massive pay-cut as you realize the only thing sustaining this country is reckless consumerism. What do they tell you every Black Friday? Spend, Spend, Spend? Buy what you can't afford so you can be paid what you don't deserve. Nothing exists in nature "above unity," not even the American dream.

Forget the economy, what will our government be like in 2 years? Already, we sell little boys to afghan leaders and our presidential candidates threaten journalists with murder. Perhaps worse is all of our presidential candidates are identical. "Do you want the red or blue pill? They both taste the same." We torture our own citizens with solitary confinement for 6 months without trail. We've killed over 1 million civilians in Iraq, 15% of the way to our own holocaust. Corporations lay waste to our environment with no consequence. When they commit fraud, we give them billion dollar bonuses instead of criminal charges.

The internet is the primary source of dissent and "free thought" in the modern era. Two things diametrically opposed to corporate and governmental dictatorship. You forget because your mind doesn't think on large time scales, but the internet is just a baby. How long has it really been around, 20 years? That's not even old enough to drink alcohol. You've already seen what governments can do to the internet in China. You've already seen what corporations can do to the internet in Canada. How long before that becomes the norm and not the exception? You take it for granted what you have, then they turn your head while they steal it piece-by-piece. How often did you turn your head, when it wasn't yours they took?

"They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Yeah, things have been going quite well "as is." Keep you finger's crossed for the next new political "savior" and I'll see you in another 2 years...maybe.

He has some good points. He's very right about the Repubs and the Dems being flip sides of the industrial-complex coin, they're all corporate puppets to one degree or another and the system will never be fixed as long as everyone believes it's a two party game.

>> ^Xax:

Uhhhh, you lost me, Penn. And lose that stupid hand camera... what were you thinking?


No offense (which really means I have ever intention of offending), but if he "lost you", then maybe you need to watch it again and pay attention to what he says. What he said was pretty clear and makes sense. Try listening to his opinions, as the show isn't about the camera work or cinematography. I hate it when people try to undermine someone on a nonsensical point while ignoring the substance at hand. Rather than judging him on the content (what he said), which you missed because apparently you were unable to keep up or understand his point, you attack the way in which it's filmed. This is a weak way to argue.

Seth said something along the lines of: The tea party people want what is against their own self interest, making them corporate puppets. He then said, what they [the tea party] want would be good for him, as in Seth's own self interests. In saying that, while saying he disagrees with the tea party movement, he's doing exactly as he claims the tea movement is doing. Despite the fact that movement would serve his own self interest, he's disagreeing with them/against them...therefore what he is for is against his own self interests.

Get it? He's doing the same thing he claims the tea party people are doing, but calling them puppets for it. If this was Back to the Future, he'd have created a paradox and destroyed the universe.

Being that I rarely what television, when I first saw Maddow and Olbermann, I thought they were a fresh viewpoint. Now that I know they're corporate puppets, I don't even watch their videos anymore.

I don't mind that their videos take up a portion of our site, though. It's always good to know the company you keep, choggie. And the videos that are being sifted are a great litmus test for where majority stands.

upvoting this so hard, it epitomizes everything i think about john mccain.

he was a terrible student, an awful pilot, an incompetent senator, and he will be an even worst president than bush if elected. he has been failed at everything he ever attempted in life and only managed to secure the nomination by selling out everything he believed in and becoming a corporate puppet.

Don't you see, if McCain gets elected it will be just another term of Bush.

Obama has to win this election. And not because he's a democrat, or because he'd be the first black President but because he's the only one talking about fixing a broken system and using positives and hope instead of negatives and fear to motivate the country. Hillary is just another Republican disguised as a Democrat and is killing her party's chances in November by resorting to their dodgy campaign tactics and McCain is just another Corporate puppet in a suit.

The US is still the last remaining super power. That'll change soon but how soon will depend on if there is another four years of a Republican administration or one led by Obama. The world, not just the US needs a new leader that can inspire a bit of hope. As a kid I used to look at America and see that whilst there are dark parts to it, it brings a lot of light to the world as well, the last 7 or 8 years has simply seen the darkness drown out the light and helped turn me into the cynical young man I am today.