>> ^CrushBug:
What cracks me up is that hospital births are a relatively recent concept. Women have been birthing on their own for thousands of years. A birth is a natural event, not a medical problem to be solved.

Antibiotics are a relatively recent concept. Before that people died of all kinds of infections we would laugh at today. Modern medicine is a "recent concept." The average life expectancy, a few hundred years ago, was thirty. Should we go back to that, just because it's "natural"?

I'm not saying people shouldn't be allowed to give birth however they want -- but don't claim that it isn't inherently more risky than giving birth in a hospital. "Natural" doesn't necessarily always mean better.

Moving this video to persephone's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

What's Ron Paul's position on home birth, Blankie? The libertarian position would seem to be at odds with him being a mainstream obstetrician.

>> ^blankfist:
I agree 100% with this blog. No one should have a place in choosing where a woman should or should not give birth. It should be a choice all women make for themselves. It's your body; it's your choice.

^ I started counting females I've seen active at least somewhat recently (within the last few months) and came up with this list (excluding those you listed):

thepinky, swampgirl, oxdottir, nomino, persephone, LadyDeath

MikesHL is news to me. I seem to remember Krupo being mentioned as one of the ladies at one point, but I don't think that's right. I think either pigeon or raven is female as well; Pigeon is active, raven is not.

So we've got 15-17 now.

>> ^JiggaJonson:
I don't understand why any woman would want to give birth to a child outside of a hospital setting. What would a midwife do if the baby was born and had some kind of medical emergency? Probably go to a hospital or call an ambulance.

The funny thing is, that stats on home birth emergencies point to a fraction of 1% of there being an emergency. Also, if there is any risk to the child or mother, a midwife will not let you have a home birth, because it is at risk. What cracks me up is that hospital births are a relatively recent concept. Women have been birthing on their own for thousands of years. A birth is a natural event, not a medical problem to be solved.

The same thing goes for the mother, my mother almost died while giving birth to my youngest sister because of excessive bleeding; and she WOULD HAVE if she was at home.

Probably not. The midwives would not have let your mother birth at home or they would have recognized the signs early and moved the birth to a hospital. You cannot actually say what would have happened because you already have judged home births, so you cannot come to any other conclusion.

I'm all for your right to chose, but I've been arguing for healthcare in the US for a while here, if i were in Australia I'd take advantage of the healthcare that you already enjoy.


Both of my children were water births at home. In town here, there are many home births each year. In the province, I believe the last home birth death was over 20 years ago and it was revealed that even in a hospital, the baby would have died. So, basically we have been having home births with a 100% "survival" rate (since your view is negative) for a very long time.

I am very sorry to hear that you are not allowed to birth at home. My wife and I and the thousands of other home birthers (and their children!) support you!

woah... persephone is active again?

For me parts of the sequels seemed very poorly executed. Compounding that was it was impossible to tell in advance after only seeing the second movie. For instance the Merovingian seemed like such an interesting and mysterious character in the second film, but he amounted to nothing interesting by the end of the third.

Mentions of ghosts and vampires (or was it werewolves) by the oracle, having no real part to play in the movies.

Persephone's just one kiss scene in part 2, it seemed like such a pivotal and dramatic scene yet it didn't amount to anything really.

There's just all these elements.. especially in the second movie that don't play out. That goes for the conclusion of the series itself.

Then came the ultimate answer to all of this.. the MMO that was made in corelation with the developers of the film. The Merovingian becomes a faction in the game. I believe the whole ghosts and werewolves thing becomes relevant in the game (I haven't played it). The resetting of the world.. well.. you need that in place if you want to have a game taking place in the world. I seriously think it's their plans for the MMO that weakened the over all plot of Matrix 2 and 3, though part 2 is a VERY fun action movie.

Another big element... there's barely any gun fights in the sequels. I know The One has no use for guns, nor are they effective against him, but come on... they could have had one mega gun fight somewhere in the story. There's a short shoot out in the third movie at least, that's actually one of it's redeeming qualities for me.

The other point someone made about the part 2 and 3 answering so many questions about the world is relevant too. They also seriously fucked up the setting when Neo used his powers outside of the matrix. That's when the tightly constructed universe of the first became a notch closer to a generic super-hero movie.

...nothing in the Matrix movies is as bad as what Indiana Jones 4 did for THAT series however. /derail >.<

This video clearly shows that taking the early chapters of Genesis as a straightforward account is deeply flawed.

But where both most atheists and Fundamentalist Christians go wrong is that the passage is very clearly not intended to be read that way. Part of the reason this is obscured in the modern consciousness are the translation choices made. "Adam" and "Eve" are just transliterations from the original Hebrew. If the names were actually translated, we would be reading about Man and Life.

Another part of the reason is that we moderns tend to be unused to the mythical mode of expression and thought. Just as Hades' kidnapping Persephone was intended by the Greeks to be symbolic and allegorical of the changing of the seasons--and of deeper truths revealed in the Eleusinian Mysteries--and not a literal truth, so too is Genesis intended other than as an account of factual events.

>> ^persephone:
But what does a pooter look like?


http://thepooter.com/

Moving this video to persephone's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.

Moving this video to persephone's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.

Moving this video to persephone's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.

This isn't obscure..it's just old Persephone is right, every karaoke box night I attended..this song was sung.

>> ^K0MMIE:
This is a site about posting videos, it's not a fucking summer camp where the counselors should help us resolve our naughty behavior.

I couldn't have put it better myself, K0MMIE. You are absolutely right - this place is first and foremost about posting and watching excellent videos. And there are very few sifters I can name that posted more outstanding videos than choggie. That the two of you had a personal grievance with each other should not be any of our concern. Neither dag nor Lucky are camp counselors ready to make you feel better when somebody punched you. What they can do is give you medical attention when needed (e.g., deleting abusive downvotes). But I don't really care if you had a personal problem with him. Or if anyone else did. He (and any number of others) pissed me off directly and personally at times, but I did not ask you or anyone else to intervene. Because, like you said, this isn't summer camp.

I know that I rub a lot of folks the wrong way. I'm arrogant, occasionally loud-mouthed, and even self-righteous at times. But I've played by the rules, even while trying to change them or at least ensure they are applied consistently. So what makes me different? I haven't contributed nearly as many quality videos as choggie. Why is my presence tolerated when his is not? I'm sure I've poked some folks in the eye just as nastily as he has, only, like the naughty school kid that doesn't get caught, I've done it in a way that doesn't violate certain rules. Is that really the distinction we want to make? And is it a distinction that has ever been consistent at VideoSift?

As much I rail against the arbitrariness of VideoSift justice, I'm not so blind that I can't see the reason for it. We're all human and react differently from day to day. What I'm asking everyone to do is to take a step back, detach yourself from the personal emotions you have invested here, and consider swampgirl's proposal from a neutral position, if not from her own POV.

Dag - I can't imagine having the weight of this community on your shoulders. I understand your desire to spread that power out to as many points as possible. But you have to remember - you created this, and it is your responsibility so long as you want it to be your site. I don't think swampgirl is trying to frame this as dag v. choggie. I believe she is asking you to use that demonstrable wisdom in setting yet another new precedent (which we seem to do on a weekly basis). I am somewhat disturbed by the revelation of direct personal emails in which he not only insulted you, but persephone as well. That crosses a line for me that is hard to forgive. So I understand your position. But again, that doesn't really have anything to do with the site itself. It's a personal issue between you and him.

There is an argument to be made about whether or not he is capable of acting with any responsibility in this kind of community. Are the contributions he makes worth the disruption he causes? My only answer to that is to look at the sift as a whole. There are a lot of members who contribute far less than he ever did, but occasionally cause just as much grief. Again the only difference is the violation of a particular arbitrary rule and how such violations are being handled that month.

It's also worth pointing out that the grief he caused was often in the purpose of trying to open others' minds. Getting smacked with a bamboo staff is sometimes necessary, however unpleasant. The problem with choggie is that when the recipient of such a smack doesn't get it, he just keeps hitting them harder. Admittedly, it's not terribly effective.

Ultimately, I think his contributions far outweigh his disruptions. AFAIK, he has never done any irreparable harm to the site (though he may have caused some to certain users). His contributions, on the other hand, are irreplaceable.

1. My grandmother tried to convince my 17 year old mother to have me aborted, but failed.

2. I flew in a plane for the first time when I was two and remember the air steward taking my unfinished glass of juice, because it was almost time to land.

3. I have been in close contact with dozens of venomous snakes, but never been hurt.

4. I fell in love with Persephone and her story, listening to an audio cassette in my school library at the age of 9.

5. I wasn't satisfied with my parent's explanation for the word 'rape' when I heard it on the news at the age of 6. I could tell they were lying.

6. I was the cultural representative of my school in senior year.

7. I was the first in my family to go to University.

8. I was the first woman in my family to delay marrying until after the age of 17.

9. I climbed Uluru not long after Azaria Chamberlain was taken by a dingo.

10. I used to sail 12ft Thorpes on the Brisbane River. My crew was a beautiful transvestite called Alison.

11. I dreamed of being multi-lingual as a child.

12. I love foreign languages and wish I could have kept up my German and Spanish as well as I have my Japanese.

13. I was a hostess in a Yakuza bar in Osaka for one night only.

14. I love being pregnant, giving birth and being a mother.

15. I wish I had had a lesbian relationship at least once.

16. I let my art lecturer sleep with me once because I believed it was an honour to be in his bed.

17. I drove solo across Australia once, never getting a flat or hitting a roo.

18. I meditate and am learning Chi Gung.

19. I sometimes talk to the dead and they tell me helpful stuff only they and their relatives know.

20. I know that our limited perception of reality is the reason we experience fear, anger and hatred.

21. I keep dream journals for my children. I have recorded their dreams since they first learned to talk about them.

22. My daughter reads my mind and lets me know she can do it, by bringing up whatever subject I am silently thinking about at the time.

23. I know that people I encounter are really me in another form.

24. I don't read/listen to the news/t.v. any more.

25. I will walk across Australia next time.