I disagree. No good apple would join the police because they know it's a system that encourages abuse.

A good apple who wants to be part of a profession that helps their community does not turn a blind eye to the bad apples. At best you have a lot of benign apples who aren't rotten themselves but are OK with the other rotten apples because....
...why?

They like the prestige?
They enjoy the sense of power?
They have Leem Neesons Action Dreams™ of taking out the bad guys? Cops and robbers fantasies with life and death stakes where the Sneetches on both sides are barely distinguishable by stars on their bellies?

If you want to stop police shootings you start by taking away their guns. If you don't want to police the streets without a gun then you don't belong in that role.

Can I ask you an honest question: why back the Trump horse?

I'm assuming that as a conservative, there's things you want accomplished in government. At least, I think you do. I get the whole "some men just want to watch the world burn" deal, if that's your goal, but if you want something more substantial it doesn't seem like Trump is getting you there. Sure, it's fun to piss people off, but that shtick only goes so far. What have you really accomplished here? Hillary ain't locked up; Mexico ain't paying for the wall; the economy's in ruins and has been since September of 2019; China's ascendant and the trade deal is totally dead; Russia's more powerful than ever; our allies are alienated and American global prestige is in complete tatters; the Left is more invigorated than any time since the early 70s and the Right is so devoid of ideas or accomplishments that they're reduced to "Sleepy Joe" and trying to tar opponents as Communists as if it's suddenly 1952 again.

Literally, what did you win with Trump?

Your video, Penn Jillette Reviews Magic Tricks in Prestige,Arrested,etc., has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Some pretty nasty stuff was done to discredit AC current during the 'War of Currents', such as Edison electrocuting several animals.

I also agree the casting choices seem poorly made, my mental image of Tesla certainly doesn't include him playing pool.
I think Bowie's portrayal in Nolan's The Prestige was great though.

Edit: Turns out I was wrong. Tesla was quite the pool shark.

Haha, yeah. I hear those hypocrite "environmental activists" talking like that too all the time. Especially with the last part you can expose them easily. Buying a new car to save the planet...
Buying a used one is actually the best way to go, if you really care about the environment. But that doesnt offer as much prestige, of course.
Gotta love seeing these public AGW shills too, like Neil deGrasse Tyson, driving around in a 2.5 ton Audi long version with 450 HP.

Remember kids: If youre a hypocrite, nobody with at least half a brain will believe you anymore in anything.

So what he's saying is that my bed is the same as the ending of "The Prestige"?

I loved him as Tesla in The Prestige. I wish he'd done more acting in general, I always liked seeing him on screen, great charisma. The first time I ever noticed his existence was in Labyrinth, though. I knew him as an actor first, one could say.

Don't have to. I have white privilege.

Not really seeing any disagreement in your statement though...

You own an EVO or WRX. Do much rallying? Driven in Pike's Peak? Do you, as the "Bellend" in the video does, just bomb around town acting like you're the shit because you're going fast and getting decent gas mileage?
If you don't do any of that... you're a hipster. You completely wasted your money for "prestige". An EVO or WRX deserves to be driven. It's what they're designed for. At least the douchebag is getting close to using the tool properly.

It's like people who buy 1000cc twin turbo crotch rockets. Either they drive like retarded psychopaths, or they just like that people THINK they drive like retarded psychopaths.

Putting anything "race day" on the street without racing it is sad. Racing it on the street is stupid.

If -and I doubt it- you've actually purchased your vehicle, and you use it properly, congratulations, you're an exception. Nothing is black and white, but if you see one of those cars driving around town, it's a hipster or a douchebag behind the wheel, and you, as the exception, KNOW I'm right.

But really, the importance of attending college is not for prestige, but for learning. Sure, going to a prestigious school and graduating will give you a jump on your career, but as a couple years pass, this becomes less important when compared to the experience you earn.

I went to a community college out of high school for my first 2 years because it was the cheaper way to get my GEDs. I then transferred to UCSD for the next couple of years for my major. The quality of education was slightly better (there were a couple of GEDs that I had to retake as they didn't fully transfer, so I'm comparing those classes to their community college counterparts), but not excessively so. After that, I transferred to CSUSM, a less prestigious university, to finish up. (For a mix of reasons, primarily financial.) The quality of education I got from both the universities was identical, with some exceptions. (UCSD had more resources due to its size, CSUSM had a better individual focus, since it was smaller.)

After graduating, I was able to get great jobs, although I never put UCSD on my resume (because my degree was technically from CSUSM.) And each successive job can be attributed to the experience I earned from the previous jobs.

The point is, it isn't necessary to go to the most prestigious schools to get a good, career-building education. I have the first-hand experience to confirm that.

Sam and Jason have a new show of their own starting soon. This was announced before Jon's replacement was named, which means it must have been planned several months before Jon even made the subject public. This also explains why at least Jason (don't know about Sam) went on the record fairly early saying he was not interested in taking over TDS.

This also raises the issue that some people may want to host 'their' show, but not TDS, a show with a very specific tone/theme, and quite time-consuming at that. People only think of the prestige, but filling in after a guy with a big rep and who was is own producer might not be the most comfortable of things. Especially if like Jon you end up with the sum total of 1 side project in 16 years.

That doesn't mean the TDS staff may not have been talking backstage early on (I can imagine them seeing Colbert, then Stewart walking away, or starting to talk about it, and some thinking to themselves that maybe it's time for a change), but they probably decided what to do on their own, way before any decision for TDS was definitive.

@newtboy With contentious topics like this, the conversation is barely "adult".

It's nitpicky and tangential because everyone thinks they alone are adding some great insight to the discussion.

@Babymech hopped on the "Anita doesn't owe anyone anything" cart.

@Trancecoach was closer to base but then got all "you see, it's really the blacks that are the problem"

@ChaosEngine choose the "well youtube comments are generally insulting & abusive.. therefore it's okay to block valid criticism too!"

Great, what does that have to do with the message of the speaker.
Or my point of "hey, why are you completely avoiding the overall message of the speaker"

Furthermore, what's the difference between Baby's condescending tone and my outright insults?

Both are belittling & incongruent with "adult" behavior/conversation.

Ultimately, he too is trying to swat down argument/opinion that doesn't mesh with his.

Regardless of my brash way of speaking, my points are still valid.

I do my research. I don't talk about topics I'm ignorant on.
And as I said, I was once a fan of Anita Sarkeesian and her videos.

Then I ran into her bullshit.

There's tons of evidence on youtube that points out Sarkeesian's hypocrisy.

So if you're uninformed, why not take it upon yourself.. to educate yourself.

You folks are barely any better then lantern or bobknight with your knee-jerky devils' advocate defense of a pseudo-intellectual prestige-hound who is unscrupulous in the way she pursues her agenda.

Next you're gonna tell me that somehow Bill Cosby isn't a date-rapist.

"Well you know, it was only 25-30 women with identical experiences/anecdotes. ..MJ is still definitely a pederast tho."

My point here is:

You all frame this video with your personal opinion BEFORE analyzing the entirety of it's message & context.

I get that, because it's a pot-stirrer.
But seriously, if you just think it out:

A - Gamergate is first world problem bullshit
B - It has garnered unwarranted hype and a counter-cult of white-knight SJW supporters.
C - It's being conflated with an ACTUAL very serious set of issues.
Online Harassment. Slut shaming. The depiction & plight of genders in pop culture. etc.
D - Actual victims & movements, ON BOTH SIDES, are being undermined by this frenzy.

Juxtapose that with the brutal home invasion & sexual assault..

Then ask yourself if the nitpicky personal opinion you're about to express maintains the situation & context.

Otherwise, you end up expressing terrible mindless thoughts like @Babymech.
in effect - "regardless of her peer's brutal rape.. she has no right to expect an outspoken proponent of women's rights.. to respond to her.. or call attention to the most disparaged & vulnerable/easily victimized members of society, female sex workers"

This is why the videosift community can barely be taken seriously.

It's like 4chan flamewars for boring old people.

..now everyone is on my case for [aggressively] pointing this out.



PHO PHO PHO PHO PHO Bun cha gio, mmm.

Exactly.

This is Mercedes Carrera's point.

She is outraged because Sarkeesian - the new face of female empowerment in the gaming world - was completely non-responsive when Carrera reached out to her.

Full Stop.

@Babymech completely missed this point.

Then went on a red-herring tangent, dragging the thread down with him.

As for my jabs at Anita..

The reason you've barely heard about Sarkeesian is because - until recently - she was just another starving artist youtube personality.

When I first stumbled across her Feminist Frequency videos, I too was duped by her ostensibly critical analysis of female tropes in pop culture media.

So for the uninitiated - Stephen Colbert, Mercedes Carrera, yourself - Sarkeesian seems like:

"Wow, the next generation of Women's Rights Advocates is fierce."

But just like any other ego-tripping prestige hound, the flaws in her arguments began to bubble up.

Other youtubers - commenters & personalities alike - started calling her on her bullshit.

In response, she disabled the comments on all of her videos.

That was just the start of a series of shitbag tactics to cover up her bullshit.

So yeah, unless you're familiar with Sarkeesian's brand of - lalala, I can't hear you cause I'm too busy empowering my wallet with bullshit lectures about first world problems - kabuki theatre..

You could be forgiven for thinking that she's actually promoting a level-headed positive message.

When in reality..

She generates stylized drama for the purpose of furthering her own narrative & career.

Can't let all those Women's Studies courses go to waste, can she.

Anywho..

The point is.
Cytherea deserves the support of anyone that truly cares about the empowerment of women & equality of genders.

Oh man, there was some really cool and interesting stuff there.

And then .... Interstellar?? I'm with you on Nolan; I think he's great. I loved Inception, The Prestige, Insomnia, Memento. I even think The Dark Knight Rises is unfairly maligned (it's not as good as The Dark Knight, but it was never going to be).

But Interstellar was terrible... IMO his worst movie. It squanders a great premise and some amazing visuals on a story that's all over the place.

Put it this way, Prometheus was the closest I've ever come to walking out of a movie. Its stupidity was just offensive. By the end I was rooting for the alien, the rolling spaceship, anything to kill the main characters and end its god-awfulness. But by the end of Interstellar, I was just bored.

It's certainly not the worst movie of 2014, but it was the biggest disappointment for me.

Oh, and any top 10 of 2014 that doesn't include the Lego Movie is missing its soul

There already are reasonable restrictions.

(I can't really ask to be exempt from laws that don't even exist. But I can ask for those new laws to not be written.)

Consider this.
Maybe /you/ are not special.
Maybe /you/ are not in this world to do with other people's lives how /you/ see fit.
Maybe /you/ should take the very advice you would give to violent offenders, and just leave people in peace.


Yes, this country has clusterfuckish problems.
But guns are not the cause.

We have a very high percentage of uneducated people. For example, my high school, in one of the nicest areas of the entire country, with the super easy U.S. curriculum, with the super relaxed and curved U.S. grading policy, 30% of kids that entered never graduated. And that's one of the better examples in the country.

The problem isn't even the education system. It's cultural. Kids show up to socialize, and smart kids get made fun of. Often they have no parental pressure to perform either. No amount of money can fix that kind of schooling, because it's not a schooling problem.

They don't just miss out on an education that helps them obtain gainful employment. The concepts of empathy and solidarity are essentially omitted.

There is a proverbial horde out there, many under strong financial pressures. Having the same consumer impulses that most people here have, they resort to augmenting their incomes with questionable activities.

The median *individual* income in the U.S. is around 26k / year. Half the population makes less than that... The cheapest unassisted rent in my area is ~800/month. Go to new york, and you could be paying 1600/month each with 3 other people for a rat hole. After water, electricity, food, fuel, you'd be wiped out. Any emergency (broken down car, medical expenses, whatever), and you are in the hole.

The nice areas you see on TV are a minority. Most of the country is a po-dunk shit hole, full of people that get desperate the moment things go bad. Which leads to restricted activities, and that tends to lead to violent encounters.

We have a very high percentage of arrested/jailed people.
When you're arrested, even if not convicted, you're not acceptable by a large proportion of jobs. The police even call your employer right away to let them know you've been arrested. You are essentially marked.

Like I said, 1 in 18 men are in the system. That's a LOT of people. Other than those on parole, they aren't working. Those that are working aren't making much money (on account of the undereducation and arrest record), and will likely be back in the system.

BTW, more than half of them are in jail for an activity that never even involved another person.
Most are there for harmless stuff.

Once these people do get out of jail, if they weren't already under financial pressure, they likely now are, and will stand a good chance at reinforcing the problem population.

(eg. Person with their life more or less in order goes to jail for having a bag of drugs, then they get out, can't get a job, and they need to resort to sketchy crap to make ends meet. Maybe get into violence, but often just return to jail.)

But, it's not by accident. Our jails are for-profit, with people in government making money from the jailing industry. Either by campaign contributions, lobbying, or by having financial stake in the companies.

The most self-serving thing the government can do, is keep the problem going, and tell people that they should rely on the government to fix it by getting tough. Then the govies make money on the jailing side, and they reinforce their public mandate.

The jailing companies themselves put inmates to work making cheap goods (ever bought a t-shirt that was made in the U.S.? It was probably inmate labor.), and then 'charge the inmates rent', effectively paying them a penny a day. Modern slavery.

All along the way, the taxpayers are paying the bills, and it's just a giant trough to feed from.

I hope you can imagine why I'm averse to making more ways to jail people that aren't being a problem.

It's also why I'm inclined to make drugs legal (pretty much try Portugal's approach). So as to bring that trade into the light, and end the gangster turf wars (which are a high proportion of the gun violence).

A lot of this could be fixed long-term by social engineering, using media to elevate the prestige of education and productivity. But we know that that is not going to happen when there is no money to be made on it.

-scheherazade

*isdupe, Why sadly? I care not for votes or prestige! The game IS the payoff-