Oh no! Michael Crichton is one of my two favorite authors. My first book of his, A Case of Need, may have been influential in pushing me back towards medicine. Definitely on my list of top five favorites. I think Congo is the only book of his I didn't really like - probably because it was too scary for a middle schooler.
I still sleep with the lights on after reading scary books sometimes. It can stay on the bookshelf.

*dead

We talked about female circumcision in one of my classes earlier this year... the teacher read part of a memoir from a girl raised in some African tribe who went through her circumcision at the age of five. Just listening to the story made me sick to my stomach.

- The practice is never done by a doctor. It's usually performed by a medicinewoman of sorts, who carries her dirty, rusted, bloody, dull razor blade with her from town to town. The "patient" is given no anesthetic. In the case of the little girl we read about, her mother put a gag in her mouth and tied it behind her head. Then she sat there and watched her daughter nearly die of blood loss. The girl slipped in and out of consciousness for three days.

Actually, I just found a site with some interesting statistics. It says that in Egypt, only 0.3% of these surgeries are done in hospitals. Nearly 80% are done in the home.

Path.org tells us "The highest maternal and infant mortality rates are in FGM-practicing regions. The actual number of girls who die as a result of FGM [female genital mutilation] is not known. However, in areas in the Sudan where antibiotics are not available, it is estimated that one-third of the girls undergoing FGM will die. Conservative estimates suggest that more than one million women in Centrafrican Republic (CAR), Egypt, and Eritrea, the only countries where such data is available, experienced adverse health effects from FGM. One quarter of women in CAR and 1/5 of women in Eritrea reported FGM-related complications. Where medical facilities are ill-equipped, emergencies arising from the practice cannot be treated. Thus, a child who develops uncontrolled bleeding or infection after FGM may die within hours."

It's disgusting, and as much as I value the religious or cultural beliefs of others, this should be outlawed. It's akin to torture, and women suffer life-long effects.

Dead for me, too.

>> ^spoco2:
I'm a bit iffy on the whole powerpoint thing.
What does it actually do for ME, a lowly gold star member? I can't use it to promote or quality anything. So if you're removing these abilities to get star points but handing out power points that are pretty much useless unless you have the star points anyway, isn't this just further helping the 'videosift elite' rather than those that are clawing their little ways up the chain?


I agree with spoco. Before, I could attempt to craft witty comments in an effort to get prettier jewelry by my name. Now, I craft witty comments, and end up with something that really doesn't help me, nor could it really help anyone else. * beg and * dead are the only two invocations I can call - do I really want a power point for fixing a dead video, just so I can use it to pimp my own lame ones?

[A: no.]

That's a feature that really caters to the gold100s and above. What about something for the lowly members who still contribute, but this isn't our life?

>> ^dag:
As for the dupeof invocation - it's a big messy transaction that has the potential to wreak a lot of havoc. We would like to extend it to diamonds but to tell the truth - as a community, in the past, we've voted up people to that level who probably would use it to break the Sift. Sad but true.


I disagree. What Lucky said made more sense - the nonsense about someone using to "break the Sift" is ridiculous. I'll assume you're talking about Choggie, since you have made your thoughts on him more than clear. He liked to throw temper tantrums and discard shit he didn't like - not steal other people's votes.

Why don't you just make it something that has to be seconded? The way it is now, "dupes" are currently discarded without being watched, just because of the title or the thumbnail. What's to say the same isn't going to happen with dupeof? That's probably a better idea than having one person with a lot of power do it - lower it to silver or bronze diamond, and make it something that has to be seconded. It would also eliminate a lot of the "accidental" dupeof invocations Lucky was talking about.

>> ^Drachen_Jager:
Also, Krupo, the official transcript reads "Ass", I'm sure he slurred it to make it sound like he could have been saying "house" but as you say, the french accent would make it "'ouse" not "Ass".


I've seen three other transcripts of this exchange online, and this is the only one that says "ass."

It's also by no means "official." It's from DailyKos, an american liberal website, and the transcript was provided by one of their users. It's just another guy with nothing better to do than listen to that nonsense 15 times.

This is so cute! My TA showed it in one of my Family Dynamics classes. I was told it's from "When Harry Met Sally," though I've never watched it so I'm not sure...

http://www.videosift.com/video/Sue-Johanson-30-years

is dead.

I agree with eric. He apologized and said he'd never do it again after you pointed out his mistake, bt. I don't see the point in making a new account if he plans on staying.

Pasties showing over the top of the dress = trashy and not at all hot.

http://sexuality.videosift.com/video/Exclusive-Pics-from-Porn-Nailin-Palin

It's dead.

That's disgusting. She should not only be fired, she should be barred from teaching. How in the world would anyone think this is acceptable?

1) She joined what was basically a game of truth or dare with her students.
2) Stripping wasn't even her "dare." Showing kids pole dancing moves, while still unacceptable, is a hell of a lot different than taking your clothes off.
3) They're FIFTEEN, you nasty whore!

I have a friend whose mom (Mary Kay Letourneau) was released from prison when we were in high school. Her crime - sleeping with one of her students. I honestly don't see how this is any more acceptable.

Awww, makes me miss my cockatiels I had growing up.

ahahaha! Born in Kenya? Seriously? Of all the possible things to say that could be somehow justified or understood (baby killer, socialist, etc. - hateful, but understood) you pick one that absolutely is not true. You fail.