Latest News Talk Posts at VideoSift.com

How about something new?

xxovercastxx (http://news.videosift.com/member/xxovercastxx) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:45:08 -0700

(15 comments - 251 views)
People mostly sift politics and news videos that reaffirm positions they already have. It's fine to express your opinion, even via someone else's words, but it feels like 90+% of the top videos since the 2008 election campaign started have fallen into this category.

I get it, really. Bush was wrong and Obama is right. The Republicans are idiots and the Democrats are saviors. Fox News couldn't find their way out of a paper bag (because paper bags are all recycled now and recycling is part of the Muslim, Marxist, Liberal Hippie agenda).

You've all made your point, now can't we get some videos that teach/show us something new? Maybe ease off the frivolous news for a while? I could go back to watching TV at this rate.

- xxovercastxx

Held by the Taliban - David Rhode

xxovercastxx (http://news.videosift.com/member/xxovercastxx) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:08:52 -0700

(5 comments - 271 views)
David Rhode is a reporter who was held captive by the Taliban after securing an interview with one of their leaders.

I wanted to sift this but it's a javascript embed, so no dice.

Part 5 will, presumably, be posted tomorrow.

video: http://projects.nytimes.com/held-by-the-taliban
article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/world/asia/18hostage.html

- xxovercastxx

Murder suspect disapproved of his victims liberal views

Duckman33 (http://duckman33.videosift.com) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:04:05 -0700

(5 comments - 229 views)
From: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/14/BAL81A4SU0.DTL

(10-13) 15:31 PDT EL CERRITO -- A man stabbed and bludgeoned his sister and her husband to death in El Cerrito in 2006 because he thought the couple were too liberal, were raising their children wrong and because they hadn't invited him over for Christmas, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Edward Wycoff, 40, of the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights coldly planned the slayings, including getting Lasik surgery and using night-vision goggles so he could find his way around the house where Julie Wycoff Rogers, 47, lived with her husband, Paul Rogers, 48, prosecutor Mark Peterson said.

He also purposefully picked the date for the killings - Jan. 31, 2006 - Peterson said in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. That was 20 years to the day after Wycoff's grandmother, whom he hated, left his home after breaking her hip, the prosecutor said.

Wycoff regarded his grandmother as "evil" and thought his life improved considerably after she left, Peterson said. Because he believed the couple had also been making his life miserable, he chose that date to break into their home on Rifle Range Road overlooking Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, stab them repeatedly with a knife and bludgeon them with a wheelbarrow handle, Peterson said in his opening statement in Wycoff's murder trial.

Although Wycoff was also armed with a gun, he didn't use it because he didn't want to boost the cause of gun-control supporters, the prosecutor said. Wycoff, who is serving as his own attorney, told jurors that he still hates the couple "a little." "They owe me a life," he said. "This has ruined my life, and Julie and Paul owe me for that."

Wycoff agreed with the prosecutor that he resented members of Paul Rogers' family for their liberal politics, and that he thought the couple were at times "too easy" when they disciplined their children. He also said that "it wasn't just Christmas" when he wasn't invited over. It was also Thanksgiving in 2005, the year his and Julie Rogers' father died. "When someone does that, they hate you - they're out to destroy you," Wycoff said.

Peterson said Wycoff had planned to adopt the couple's three children after he committed the killings. The prosecutor played for the jury the 911 call made by Eric Rogers, then 17, after the killer broke into the home about 4:30 a.m. The boy's sister, Laurel, then 12, could be heard screaming in the background. The children tried to help their father, who told them, "I love you all" before dying, the prosecutor said. Eric Rogers brushed his father's hair, telling him, "I love you, papa." Peterson said Julie Rogers' last words to police were, "Kids OK?" The children were not harmed. A third child, then 15, was not living at the home at the time.

In an interview from jail after the slayings, Wycoff, who is 6 foot 5 and weighs 300 pounds, said he had tried to disguise himself during the killings by wearing a motorcycle helmet and attaching a ponytail with his late mother's hair. In a poem, Wycoff wrote, "My sister, I gutted her like a fish," Peterson said. "And in fact, he did," the prosecutor added, "and he's proud of it."

Wycoff was arrested after he turned up at a hospital in Placer County, seeking treatment for a gash on his leg that he probably sustained while breaking into the home, Peterson said. Wycoff is charged with two counts of murder along with the special circumstance alleging that he committed more than one murder. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

Wycoff's opening statement indicated he would try to justify the killings to the jury, rather than deny he committed them. At the close of his remarks, Wycoff told the "few fans" in the gallery to contact his advisory attorney, David Briggs, if they wanted autographs.

- Duckman33

So, Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama ...

radx (http://news.videosift.com/member/radx) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:13:59 -0700

(4 comments - 243 views)

The US president, Barack Obama, was today awarded the 2009 Nobel peace prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

The Nobel committee said "only rarely has a person such as Obama captured the world's attention and given his people hope for a better future".

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population," the citation said.

The committee said Obama, who only took up the presidency in January, had been acknowledged for his calls to reduce the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons and working for world peace.

"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."

The first African American to hold the country's highest office, Obama has called for disarmament and worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process. He is currently considering whether to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan where the US is mired in an eight-year-old conflict.

The prize worth 10 million Swedish crowns (£880,000) will be handed over in Oslo next month.

Source: Guardian

I'm inclined to add it to the parody channel as well, since next to the news was an article about a US threat to Iran.

- radx

Gore Vidal Criticizes The USA

marinara (http://news.videosift.com/member/marinara) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:34:18 -0700

(3 comments - 206 views)
If you don't respect Gore Vidal, one of the giants of commentary, you won't like this.
Gore Vidal is a hyper-educated anti-academic, and also controversial. He would be in America's brain trust, if we had one, and ....
I hope reading Gore Vidal bashing the USA resonates with you as well as it did with me.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/obama-is-incompetent-and_b_311796.html

- marinara

the BUSH admin BLOCKED efforts to prevent housing crisis

enoch (http://news.videosift.com/member/enoch) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:59:27 -0700

(2 comments - 134 views)
from raw story:
Federal regulators in the Bush administration blocked attempts by state governments to prevent predatory lending practices that resulted in the financial crisis now stalking the American economy, a new study from the University of North Carolina says.

In 2004, the Office of the Currency Comptroller, an obscure regulatory agency tasked with ensuring the fiscal soundness of America's banks, invoked an 1863 law to give itself the power to override state laws against predatory lending. The OCC told states they could not enforce predatory-lending laws, and all banks would be subject only to less-strict federal laws.

Now, a research paper (PDF) from UNC-Chapel Hill's Center for Community Capital shows that those anti-predatory lending laws had actually worked. States that had stricter regulations on issuing mortgages were found to have fewer foreclosures.

"We believe that these findings are remarkable, since they suggest an important and yet unexplored link between [anti-predatory lending laws] and foreclosures," the study's authors state.

The study may be the first scientific evidence to back up claims made by many critics that the Bush administration and earlier administrations allowed last year's financial crisis to happen by not enforcing common-sense regulations on lenders.

the article in full:
http://rawstory.com/2009/10/study-bush-blocked-efforts/

- enoch

Roman Polanski finally arrested

yourhydra (http://news.videosift.com/member/yourhydra) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:42:53 -0700

(16 comments - 1069 views)
Roman Polanski’s fugitive days are over. The Academy Award-winning director is under arrest in Switzerland and vowing to fight extradition to California to face charges in connection with a 1977 sex crime involving a 13-year-old girl. Swiss police arrested Polanski Saturday when he arrived in Zurich for a film festival, where he was to receive an honorary award.

The 76-year-old had been living in France for decades to avoid U.S. authorities. You may recall, he declined to attend the Academy Awards in 2003, when he won Best Director for “The Pianist.” That’s because he would have been arrested once he set foot on U.S. soil.

Let’s rewind to 1977. That’s when Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor. He was 43 at the time. The incident happened during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson’s home. Nicholson was not at home. Polanski fled before he could be sentenced.

There have been several attempts over these past three decades to settle the sex case, but Polanski has always refused to come back to the U.S.

The movie director started a new life in France. He got married and is the father of two children.

Do you think Polasnki should fight extradition or face justice in California?

Prosecutors have argued it would be a miscarriage of justice to allow a man to go free who “drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl.”

He also has a lot of supporters who think the case should be dropped, including the victim.

Now 45, married and known as Samantha Geimer, she made her identity public years ago, because she said she was disturbed at how the criminal case was being handled.

She sued Polanski in civil court, which led to an undisclosed settlement. In court documents filed earlier this year, she said, “I am no longer a 13-year-old child… Every time this case is brought to the attention of the court, great focus is made of me, my family, my mother and others. That attention is not pleasant to experience and is not worth maintaining over some irrelevant legal nicety, the continuation of this case.”

taken from -http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/28/evening-buzz-fugitive-filmmaker-arrested-fighting-back/

Another perspective-

She was not drugged but given some champagne.
She was a fully developed model, and he was her photographer.
She consented
She wasn't a virgin to begin with
Anjelica Huston, who was Nicholson's g/f at the time thought the girl was 20.

further details here -http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/free-roman-polanski-wtf/

- yourhydra

New Jersey fucking sucks

RhesusMonk (http://news.videosift.com/member/RhesusMonk) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:00:56 -0700

(8 comments - 357 views)
Apparently the wack-job hairstyle and inimitable nose are not enough to identify this mystery rock legend. Read the hilariously disappointing story below.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090815/D9A30C6G1.html

- RhesusMonk

We need a calling here - are these dupes?

brycewi19 (http://news.videosift.com/member/brycewi19) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:48:42 -0700

(9 comments - 354 views)
EDD posted this recently:
http://www.videosift.com/video/America-your-president-has-class#comment-828217

But griefer posted this two days earlier:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Obama-And-Helen-Thomas-Have-The-Same-Birthday-Wish

Same event, but, because it was covered by about two dozen photographers there, it was bound to be caught at different angles.

Should this be considered a dupe or do they stand alone?

- brycewi19

Give BB&T Liberty, but Not a Bailout

blankfist (http://blankfist.videosift.com) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:23:54 -0700

(1 comment - 225 views)
From an article at The New York Times:

OVER much of the last four decades, John A. Allison IV built BB&T from a local bank in North Carolina into a regional powerhouse that has weathered the economic crisis far better than many of its troubled rivals — largely by avoiding financial gimmickry.

And in his spare time, Mr. Allison travels the country making speeches about his bank’s distinctive philosophy.

Speaking at a recent convention in Boston to a group of like-minded business people and students, Mr. Allison tells a story: A boy is playing in a sandbox, only to have his truck taken by another child. A fight ensues, and the boy’s mother tells him to stop being selfish and to share.

“You learned in that sandbox at some really deep level that it’s bad to be selfish,” says Mr. Allison, adding that the mother has taught a horrible lesson. “To say man is bad because he is selfish is to say it’s bad because he’s alive.”

read the article at The New York Times

- blankfist