It's a little gray, but I'm going to go ahead and say this is the taxmaster *meme in action.

Two of my faves.

If you like Jon Brion, do yourself a favor and check out his side-project with Jason Faulkner called The Grays back in the mid-90's.

They only released one album, but it was simply amazing.

Well, I'm about to get down voted into oblivion, but I have to state this as bluntly as possible.

This is the most perverted kind of propaganda that can be trotted out by someone, and it sickens me to see it. Glen is absolutely correct in every fact he points out, and is in that respect, doing nothing but telling the truth and educating his audience with things they likely didn't know before, and should have. It would seem that should be an unqualified good thing then, but it's not.

What makes this offensive propagandizing to me is the absolutely deliberate omission of equally true, relevant and significant facts that Glen can't help but be aware of. His sole purpose for the omission is that it suddenly shifts things from black and white into the gray that audiences don't like as much.

I'll start from the most important point, and the very premise of the talk, why do they hate us? There is a bigger question though that is even more illuminating, and it is why to they(jihadist terrorists) hate and kill their fellow Islamic countrymen and neighbours? The fact here is that jihadi terrorists before 9/11 and even more so since, have killed tens and hundreds of times as many middle eastern muslims than they have white western infidels. Glen points out plenty of reasons people can have to be upset with America over it's past actions, which is legit in itself, but NONE of those reasons explain why these jihadists target there own fellow middle eastern muslims for the exact same violence and retribution America faced on 9/11. The fact this makes plain is that the jihadi terrorists will hate not only us, but everyone who is not willing to join them unconditionally. They are not the misunderstood, historically slighted and unjustly maligned people Glen's talk might lead people to think of them as. They(jihadi terrorists) do not deserve our sympathy or apologies, their countrymen and neighbours that are their biggest victims do.

Glen also goes on to list the deaths from sanctions on Iraq as an American crime. Apparently Saddam's horrific(then American approved) war on Iran, his genocide of the Kurds, his extensive use of chemical weapons in both, his complete seizure of Kuwait and his genocide of Iraqi Shiites are not relevant to the discussion of placing sanctions on his country. In Glen's discussion, despite this laundry list of crimes against humanity, Saddam is entirely innocent and not in anyway to blame for the children starving in his country while he continued to build himself new palaces and kept his personal guard and secret police forces well equipped and well fed. How is one to take this seriously?

Finally, Glen omits a terrifically important American crime in East Timor that Bin Laden listed. No, sadly it's not our tacit support for the pro Islamic genocide of the people there in the past, but it was America's support for an end to that genocidal repression and support for a free and independent East Timor. This was listed near the very top of American crimes. When Zarqawi blew up the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, he was very clear that it wasn't for Iraqi children dead at the hands of American sanctions. It was because Sérgio Vieira de Mello(killed in the blast) helped over see the transition to a free East Timor.

I'm afraid I am beyond disappointed by talks like this, I find them offensive and contemptible.

Not another one! These videos are just adding to my future household.
It used to just be kittens and puppies that I couldn't get enough of, but my wishlist for cuddly pets has grown to include Fennec Foxes, Gray Squirrels, Slow Lorises, Sloths, Capuchin Monkeys and now Otters.

God damn you internet....

Notice that Kofi said he edited his post?
It wasn't gray when Mobius made that comment.

I think that was meant to be sarcasm. Notice the gray font.

This is what i would get. I could place text in the comment box but the posting options were grayed out and did not work. It seems to be working now. Perhaps it was a glitch in the matrix.

Seems like Epic is going the way of id. They're not showing anything new in content, but have definitely incorporated elements from other games, as I see influence of Metal Gear and Dishonored here.
Yeah I know this isn't an official announcement for a new franchise and is just a tech demo, but I still wish their art director would realize there are other materials in the world than "gunmetal gray".

In the spirit of Godwin, I propose a new internet law that describes the inevitability of the MSNBC false equivalency whenever a comment or topic criticizes FOX news.

I love ya, choggie, and VS is way better and more interesting with you here, but this dog just don't hunt.

I think the days of intrepid journalism are largely over for most of the news sources you mentioned, but there still are pockets of resistance to the inanity that passes as news in America. Regardless of whichever political ideolgy you most identify with, you cannot dismiss MSNBC as opposite but equal to FOX. MSNBC is most definitely liberal/progressive, but they wear it on their sleeve, and their spin is backed by facts and reality. FOX spins everything, and completely misinforms it's viewers fans by simply making shit up, not to mention the ubiquitous fear-mongering, the subliminal programming of their crawl, the always-angry, paranoid, petty, spiteful, and shrill talking heads, and the daily memo'd bullet points that are regurgitated verbatim and hammered into the brains of their veiwers all day long from show to show. The dolts on FOX and Friends have got to be the three DUMBEST people ever to thousand-yard stare into a camera. FOX is "news entertainment" at best.

There are infinite shades of gray between black and white, and MSNBC is definitely biased, but you can't say it isn't factual (the vast majority of time). If there was a true "equal but opposite" version of MSNBC, I would watch it. Unfortunately, FOX serves only as a source of amusement for me. "No Spin Zone" makes me giggle every time Papa Bear says it. It's brilliant parody.

That said, we agree that Americans are largely low information because low information is exactly what we get from the news sources readily available. But the "truth" is out there if one cares enough to go look for it.

For starters...
Al Jazeera
CBC News
BBC News
Christian Science Monitor
Reuters

I met him in a swamp down in Dagobah
Where it bubbles all the time like a giant carbonated soda
S-O-D-A, soda

I saw the little runt sitting there on a log
I asked him his name and in a raspy voice he said "Yoda"
Y-O-D-A, Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I've been around, but I ain't never seen
A guy who looks like a muppet, but he's wrinkled and green
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I'm not dumb, but I can't understand
How he can lift me in the air just by raising his hand
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I left home just a week before
And I've never ever been a Jedi before
But Obi Wan, he set me straight, of course
He said, "Go to Yoda and he'll show you the Force"

Well I'm not the kind that would argue with Ben
So it looks like I'm gonna start all over again
With my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

So I used the Force
I picked up a box
I lifted some rocks
While I stood on my head
But, I won't forget what Yoda said

He said, "Luke, stay away from the darker side
And if you start to go astray, let the Force be your guide"
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

"I know Darth Vader's really got you annoyed
But remember, if you kill him, then you'll be unemployed"
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I heard my friends really got in a mess
So I'm gonna have to leave Yoda I guess
But I know that I'll be coming back some day
I'll be playing this part 'till I'm old and gray

The long-term contract I had to sign
Says I'll be making these movies till the end of time
Oh with my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Graffiti art has been big here since Katrina. It also has been controversial. There was a ANTI-graffiti vigilante, The Gray Ghost, who painted out graffiti around the city. He made the mistake of painting over a legitimate mural.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2011/08/04/vigilante-vigilante-the-gray-ghost-speaks

He and Banksy got into it.

http://weburbanist.com/2010/09/11/banksy-vs-the-gray-ghost-in-new-orleans/

Entertaining, but that has nothing to do with the word "reinforce."

If the writers or producers had looked up the word in a dictionary of synonyms, they'd see "reinforce" discussed under "strengthen," not under "protect," or under "pad."

*fail on the part of the writers and producers.

Some of the highlights:
• At one point, the show interviews one of Hugh Hefner‘s ex-girlfriends holding a Carl’s Jr. cheeseburger because the burger chain sponsored this hot steaming pile of disaster.

• Macy Gray (remember her?!?!?!) dropped by to give what seems like a completely stoned performance of that song that won her a Grammy 12 friggin’ years ago.

• On multiple occasions, Kennedy and/or the show’s producers ask on a hot mic whether the show is currently live (hint: it was) while liberally peppering in some profanity for the sake of it. The first few seconds of one return from commercial break began with Kennedy on-stage looking around confusedly while off-camera voices asked “Where’s my stage manager?” and declared: “Don’t fucking give me shit.”

• The control room couldn’t seem to figure out how to press the right buttons and so interviews were cut off mid-sentence, camera shots sometimes never changed, random Carl’s Jr. ads ran during the middle of broadcast, and a video of Jamie Kennedy at a comedy club took about 10 seconds to load.

• One random woman in the crowd figured out how to read teleprompter behind co-host Stu Stone and mimicked his read for an entire two minutes. Sheer brilliance.

• Some guy dropped a big ol’ “motherfucker” live on-air.

• Oh hey, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (remember THEM?!?!?!?!) must’ve time-traveled from the 1990s to perform a few songs, seemingly missing the memo about “not cursing on air,” because… umm… they cursed. A lot.

• Kennedy channels the 2003 film that made him relevant for 10 whole minutes — Malibu’s Most Wanted — and tries his best at hitting on a drunk black woman: “You should go white, because it’ll keep your vagina very tight.”

• The show ends with a spontaneous fight on-stage behind the hosts… and then silence as the credits roll. Perfection.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/kdoc-los-angeles-had-the-most-spectacularly-disastrous-new-years-special-in-the-history-of-television/

Evolution at work. No more bottom feeding. In a few thousand years with the help of some radioactive muck they've been feeding on they'll be like slimy gray reptile cats. They've already got whiskers growing!

@dag said "If you have been here six years- more than likely you know the ropes and how things function here and should therefore have more power to change things than someone who has been here for less time."

Change what, dag? What can a new person to the Sift change?

As for the Sift now having more nuance than before, I say phooie on that. I still remember how completely flummoxed I was by all the bells and whistles and promotes and power points and it was all so overwhelming, I lurked for years.

In my opinion, this limitation feels like a punishment for success. Somebody charges in, susses things out quickly, and starts posting quality videos? How is that a problem?

I've seen this before -- sifters who can't get a video into the Top 15 resenting the success of others. Instead of working on their skills to figure out what OTHER SIFTERS WANT, they grouse. I see this limitation as the ultimate grouse against success.

I also know it is a fact that success breeds success, and it can be hard to get noticed. Creating the Talent Scout badge should obviate that -- if a Sifter helps noobs, they will get rewarded for it (dang, where was that badge when I was heavy into my helping newcomer phase?)

I guess I am too much an American -- we love our capitalist system where efforts are rewarded, for the most part. A slogging along, almost communist system grates -- two years before you can earn something. Dang. Although the flip to this is -- if you have real, honest to god money, you can buy your way into power points. Which means this new system is the opposite of egalitarian.

The world is not a dull gray place where everyone is the same. @Drax with his silver tongue? Good lord, that is amazing. @punkinandstorm with her deep reserves of charm and smarts who figured this site out in record time, on top of a great eye for an interesting vid? @eric3579 who has a beautifully tuned sense of quality and works hard to maintain the excellence? @mintbbb who also can spot a winner vid at 25 paces? @kymbos, who delights me with his point of view? @radx who privately keeps me informed on the most amazing worldwide events that otherwise I wouldn't hear about?

Everyone brings something to the table here, in this rich tapestry that is the Sift. I love it here. Mostly.

But I get back to my first question -- how can a noob "change" anything? What are they changing?