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The Rational Response Squad is a group of atheist activists who impact society by changing the way we view god belief. This site is a haven for those who are pushing back against the norm, and a place for believers of gods to have their beliefs exposed as false should they want to try their hand at confronting us.
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Disturbing. I thought at first this was going to be "water torture"...I had the wrong idea of what water boarding was! EEK. I wonder if he had a few shots of bourbon before?
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/
Wow.
It's pretty cool that he did this. Too many folks have a 'chinese water torture' idea of this technique...I know I did! Even though I knew how it was done. Seeing this made me anxious.
Nice job, Mr. Hitchens and VF.
Pardon the profanity, but that took fucking guts. What we just saw was the greatest thing a skeptic can do, to challenge his or her own internal convictions by any means available. That man voluntarily underwent torture. Whatever else you can say about Hitchens, there's a skeptic who is unwilling to remain ignorant, even of torture. To seek that kind of knowledge takes a rare person indeed.
“It is true that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It is equally true that in the land of the blind, the two-eyed man is an enemy of the state, the people, and domestic tranquility… and necessarily so. Someone has to rearrange the furniture.”
Obviously it IS torture. The people normally having it done to them don't have the option of ending it early. They should force Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft and all others who supported it to undergo at least one session of it.
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
...Okay, so I'm insensitive:
That looks rather tame. Hasn't Hitchens ever been given a 'snow job' while wearing a ski-mask? It seems like the experience wouldn't be much worse.
Of course, I think any form of torture at all is inhumane (waterboarding or otherwise)... but I can't see myself reacting that badly to something like what this video demonstrates.
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
The next time you have a shower, place a towel over your face and let the water stream over it.
I didn't last as long as Hitchens did.
I dunno...a 'snow job' is just smashing dry snow in your face, right?
This is liquid going up your nose while your feet are higher than your head. Seems pretty intense to me.
Snow? What is that exactly? I know it's the stuff that Santa lives around. However, I've never seen that shit down here in central texas.
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Well, not really. A snow job is where one person hold your arms behind your back, and another presses you face-first down in the snow until you bawl your head off and the teacher comes running.
I'm going to try the shower thingy tonight.
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
I've heard of "snow balling". But that's a completely different thing from what I've heard of.
WARNING: Does not involve snow at all...
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Wow. I had no idea what water-boarding was.
I believe him when he says he couldn't take it anymore. A guy with his reputation would want to hold out as long as he could. I was really surprised that it was so quick.
Like he said, if it was happening for real, he wouldn't have been allowed to give up so easily. Horrifying that people are still getting tortured.
Zen-atheist wielding Occam's katana.
Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51
No, but I'll bet he's been given a blow job while draining a hip flask.
"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell
OKay, I looked this up and I'm curious, does this 'waterboarding' torture the victim by evoking the reflexes and sensations although they actually have good ability to clear the airway periodically and survive the event? is that right? I mean, even that is quite sinister really, to deliberately induce primal panic in a person, but is that the extent of it?
Theist badge qualifier : Gnostic/Philosophical Panentheist
www.mathematicianspictures.com
So.... what claim or statement had Hitchens made that brought about this challenge and his acceptance of the torture ?
I must've missed it.
He tends to side with the neocons - and he said it wasn't torture so they challenged him to submit to it.
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
Wow, didn't know he'd said that about it not being torture.
Thanks, Matt... and congrats on your 6000 posts.
Basically. The towell over his face is completely soaked so there's no way for air to get in. I doubt you would actually asphyxiate to the point of death, but not being able to catch and hold your breath is pretty terrifying (think about being repeatedly dunked while swimming).
"Faith, Faith is an island in the setting sun,
but proof, proof is the bottom line for everyone."
Proof, Paul Simon
Nothing this hard should taste so beefy.
I don't know about him claiming it wasn't torture, but my understanding is that Vanity Fair asked him to undergo the process and write about it.
"Faith, Faith is an island in the setting sun,
but proof, proof is the bottom line for everyone."
Proof, Paul Simon
Nothing this hard should taste so beefy.
Further to that, I believe that when this is actually being done to torture someone that someone is not aware of what is going to happen. There is a certain terror you might experience, having your head tied up within a black bag and knowing only that something unpleasant (distinctly understated) is going to happen.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
Can't believe how politically edited to appear 'neutral' that clip was. I saw the same film and an interview with Hitchins on the BBC last night.
In it he very clearly said
He had changed his mind, water boarding is torture
Torture is unacceptable in all circumstances
The way the clip was shown he appeared undecided I assume not to upset an American audience.
To be honest I'm more shocked by the editing that the video clip. I guess it shows how information being presented can totally distort everything.
Do you have a link to the non-americanized version?
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
An acquaintance operates a site called fistofblog.com. I couldn't link to the actual post due to the filter here at work but they posted it a few days ago. At this point it's a couple pages in.
"Faith, Faith is an island in the setting sun,
but proof, proof is the bottom line for everyone."
Proof, Paul Simon
Nothing this hard should taste so beefy.
I got that one from ComedyJesus. So....urhm...no.
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Still, I have to admire Hitchens' cojones to go through that for a story.
Newsnight version (through it does seem to include a different edit of Vanity Fair)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll3BYYpe7kE
Kevin, were you expecting something like from an action movie? I don't think he faked his reaction afterward, when he said what it was like.
“It is true that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It is equally true that in the land of the blind, the two-eyed man is an enemy of the state, the people, and domestic tranquility… and necessarily so. Someone has to rearrange the furniture.”
I am amazed at this! How can anyone want to subject themselves to this?
ORIGINAL STORY HERE
By Ritsuko Ando
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man with a black hood pours water on the face of a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit strapped to a table: no, it's not Guantanamo Bay naval base, but New York's Coney Island amusement park.
The scene using robotic dolls is an installation built by artist Steve Powers to criticize waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique the United States has admitted using on terrorism suspects, but that rights group say is torture.
"Waterboard Thrill Ride" beckons a sign along with cartoon character "SpongeBob SquarePants" who appears tied down and exclaiming: "It don't Gitmo better!"
The public can peek through window bars and feed a dollar into the slot to bring the robotic dolls into action, one more attraction in the beachfront amusement park in the New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.
"Anyone can see this is painful from 50 feet away," said Powers, who had previously been painting signs and storefronts in the area. "I wanted people to understand the psychological ramifications of this."
Marion Tracey, 57, from New Jersey, said she found the installation disturbing. It made her think of her father who had nightmares after returning from World War II. "In all wars, horrible things happen," she said. "I'd rather not see it."
Alex Soto, 23, said he thought it was a good thing for people to learn about waterboarding, but he added: "It is pretty twisted."
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/
The thing is (and I know I'm repeating myself) if it's not torture, let's see the people who advocate its use have it done to them for a few hours without hope of reprieve until it's over.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Very nice!
Could you imagine a world where if you inflict pain and suffering against another human, you would be subjected to the same thing as punishment.
Behead a stranger - a stranger beheads you
Rape and kill someone - be raped and killed
Use waterboarding as torture - be waterboarded
It works!
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/
That sort of defeats the purpose of torture.
How so?
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/