Great song. I'd never seen the video. It gives me an entirely new perception of the lyrics. 'Worst Case Scenario' was a life changing album for me and the guys I played music with when it was released ('94).

Very cool! Amazing human-like reactions when it's knocked off balance.
The Flaming Lips song is a nice touch.

I'm a lurker to Sift Talk. Though I visit videosift frequently and upvote videos and comment occasionally.

My first video went down like a lead balloon and my second just made it out of queue and was promptly downvoted. I'm still learning what other users find sift worthy.

"...a world where the bigger the lie, the better..."

AnimalsForCrackers, your timing is excellent. I was just discussing this very concept moments ago with a friend. I was speculating that while the Internet has made information more available for all of us to fact check public figures and outrageous claims, it has also created a new method for spreading persuasive disinformation on a large scale. I do think that some are incredibly effective at doing this, and it works on even those of us who are wary and perfectly clever.

At the most obvious levels, this is evident to those who pay attention, in viral advertising, product placement and cross marketing methods. I speculate that it runs much deeper than that however. Political and ideological propaganda may be much more sophisticated than many of us realize. Some organizations know how to read the demographics represented on popular interactive sites, as well as the traditional media, and know how to best deliver content that is effective at framing the debate, getting certain buzzwords into the public sphere, informing us how current events make us feel, so on.

Andrew Keen discusses the viral marketing aspect of this a bit in this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN_n7I0PM3w
Though he doesn't get into anything nearly as broad (or arguably, paranoid) as what I've suggested. Though he does question what Google might do with the vast aggregate information collected on users.

As someone who came from very modest means, my exposure and access to classic literature, science, philosophy, the arts, et cetera, in my formal academic experience pales in comparison to the easy access to knowledge that I presently enjoy, thanks to the Internet. I actively apply myself to intellectual pursuits and use every resource I can get my hands on to expand my worldview. Certainly the Internet has opened up avenues that weren't readily available to me back when I was in college.

I do have concerns about the level of intelligent and sensitive discourse in our culture, but I feel that's a social issue rather than an information issue. Sadly, it often appears to me that many gravitate towards ingesting some pretty insipid and shallow content or expressing shrill and combative opinions. But then, who am I to judge? I'm just another idiot expressing his opinion in a sea of opinions. In the end I just want to enlighten and edify myself and hope for the best. I'd rather not become an elitist champion of the web 2.0 on the opposite end of the spectrum of Mr. Keen.

That's why I read 'The Cult of the Amateur'. To challenge my own ideas. It's a healthy exercise. Some of his points are well reasoned, in my opinion. Though his book won't make my top 20 list this year.

The U.S. has a weakened global influence as a result of the mismanaged pre-emptive war in Iraq and by lowering our human rights standards. It is not in our national security interests to strain our relationships with our allies.

Military rule alone doesn't make a great empire.

This is a satirical sketch created by the comedians John Clarke and Bryan Dawe titled, 'The Front Fell Off' based on a real incident. Specifically an oil spill that occurred off the coast of Western Australia on July 21st, 1991 when the Greek tanker Kirki lost its bow, spilling 17,280 tons of light crude and subsequently caught on fire.

http://www.myspace.com/clarkeanddawe

A transcript of the full interview can be read here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4992558/

I'll always upvote profoundly sincere expressions of wisdom, acceptance of others and unconditional love. Great post.

Great post.

When will mankind learn?

A really outstanding panel of speakers (Gore Vidal, Lewis H. Lapham, Barton J. Bernstein, Robert Higgs and Thomas Gale Moore).

I'm glad you posted this. Thanks.

I feel that people should read as many books as they can. Comparative religion, evolutionary biology (including critical analysis), world history, natural science, political science and everything they can to expand their knowledge and world views. Then consider their own ideas and remain flexible. Sticking to any one set of dogmatic beliefs has its pitfalls.

Yeah, it be so much cooler if he had a cat playing a piano on stage with him? Oh, wait, that be just ridiculous. Or, perhaps he needs to reduce it down to 30 second sound bites with some hip music for a culture with permanent and willful Attention Deficit Disorder. Better yet, he should speak like an intelligent, educated individual and to take his time to fully articulate his positions and the premise of his book.

I've just completed reading 'The Assault on Reason' and I felt it was excellent. This 34 minute speech is a reasonably concise overview of its premise. The book took me a staggering twelve hours to read, oh my! I even enjoyed the didactic parts.

Thanks for posting this. I feel that more people need to become aware of how the Bush administration has granted itself powers far exceeding those explicitly allowed in the United States Constitution.

It goes well beyond the details of this video clip, as disturbing as this is. While many of us focus on the slight-of-hand squabbles of partisan politics (oversimplified red state vs blue state ideologies) and inane pop culture nonsense, the constitutional foundations and principles of the U.S. are being trampled upon by a small group of highly motivated individuals who do not appear to hold traditional Republican values.

The Bush presidency has recently and with little media attention, granted itself extraordinary authority without congressional approval or oversight. The "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive" was signed May 9th, 2007. It contains the following directives:
National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD-51
Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20

Combine this grab for power with George W. Bush's extensive, unparalleled and unchecked use of signing statements, his administration's history of disregarding outside intelligence sources in favor of its own sources, and tendency for absolutist world views, and I feel there is a frightening possibility that we will see a dramatic event orchestrated by the administration to avoid relinquishing the presidency via democratic elections in 2008. I suspect that our best hope for avoiding such an outcome will come primarily from Republicans who have grown weary of the neo-conservative agenda.

My intention is not to inflame. Please consider reading as much as you can about these issues from as many sources as possible.

RE: Two minutes of hate...

That crossed my mind too. It was pretty uncomfortable.
Though, many feel that Andrew Card played an instrumental role in selling a war to the U.S. public based on fabricated premises with horrific and hateful consequences a great deal more significant than two minutes of booing and catcalls.

The students of University of Massachusetts Amherst who protested Andrew Card receiving an honorary degree were expressing their displeasure after their initial organized attempts to persuade the university to abandon the decision fell on deaf ears. They were well within their rights of free speech and protest is not always comfortable.