at the request of BoneRemake (because my "m night shyalaman is an idiot" rebuttal wasnt long winded enough =P):

sixth sense was "meh" for the following reasons:
"These souls who for whatever reason are not at rest are also not aware that they have passed on. Theyre not part of consciousness as we know it. they linger in a perpetual dream state; a nightmare from which they cannot wake." this may sound familiar. it may sound familiar as the general premise of The Sixth Sense and central to the "twist" (if you could even call it that) ending.

it may also sound familiar as a line from Poltergeist, and also being the central premise of the conflict resolution.
speaking of poltergeist, the open cabinet drawers scene in sixth sense is directly lifted from the moving chairs scene in poltergeist. you may call this an homage, i call it half-assed hackery.

his color reference as hints are just too obvious. theyre vague and ambiguous at first, but once you start noticing em it becomes plainly clear. as for the whole "twist" BRUCE WILLIS IS DEAD OMG YOU FOOLED ME YOU OLD TOSSER i felt it took away from the movie. when i originally went to see the sixth sense with my dad i went to see a tense psychological thriller that would chill me. and for the first 20-30 minutes or so, it did not disappoint..... until my dad and i figured out willis was dead (the "i see dead people" scene gave it away for us). we were dumbfounded at first, wondering what in the hell this had to do with furthering the plot, but we didnt need to wonder anymore once the movie became about bruce willis being all emo about being dead. and the big reveal at the end, considering we already knew, really just made us both scoff. simply put, it was a pretty scare and intense movie when it was about the boy, then it became boring and stupid when it does a 180 and becomes about bruce willis. thats my opinion anyway, tomaytoe-tomawtoe

now having said all of that, there is one, and only one thing, i like about shyalaman: his vision as a director. He's not a genius or anything, but he's pretty damn good. he has a real knack for framing, tone, and pacing. probably the only thing i like about sixth sense was his ability to add tangible tension through masterful pacing and mood setting.
....i take that back. theres two things i liked about sixth sense. the overall directing, and the anniversary dinner scene. that scene really did add an ambiguity to the whole dilemma of willis being dead. on one hand the scene must play out as an emotionally drained wife frustrated (and even pissed off) at her husbands increasing distance. simultaneously she must convey a mournful widow still in grief over her husbands death on their anniversary (and the anniversary of his death if im not mistaken). that scene is legit. but credit must be given to the actress and her portrayal more so than shyalaman because she nailed it beautifully.

whether he makes shitty films or not, sixth sense rocked the boxoffice and gave him some arguably deserved limelight. but his subsequent films proved that he is a one trick pony. his movies became exponentially more and more transparent, more and more boring, and more and more stale, lacking anything of substance. (with the exception of Signs arguably. i personally didnt love it, but i kind of liked it and its a solid enough film if you disregard the shit ending) the fact that his handle of "the twist ending filmmaker" is a passive aggressive insult shows this.

m night shyalaman as a filmmaker just.......sucks. theres really not a better or more concise way to put it. as a director, however, he really does shine......which brings us to devil, a movie in which he wrote and produced but did not direct. so basically the one thing he's actually good at, he didnt fucking do in that movie........and it shows.....its utter shite. at the risk of sounding pretentious, the twist ending (cuz you know theres fucking gonna be one, its a shyalaman movie for christ sake) is so limp and stupid, you can figure it out just from watching the damn trailer (i did).

and as far as the michael bay (barf) comparisons, i think the only difference is this: michael bay knows what he is. he knows exactly what kind of movies he makes. In cinema, motion pictures come in two forms: Films (art form) and movies (entertainment). Michael bay makes the latter, and he knows it, and everyone who watches his movies knows it. shyalaman makes movies masquerading as film. seriously, when your go to device is the plot twist, and you have one in each and every one of your god awful movies, they really lose the "surprise" appeal which utterly defeats the purpose of it in the first place and thus, deserves to be mocked

there, that a thorough enough rebuttal for ya, you crusty bastard? =P

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

I love to see a person who is passionate about what they believe in. That kind of thing always gets mad props from me. Kudos guy. Golf clap.
But the sad reality is that there are precious few in the teaching profession that have this kind of passion. And even the rare teacher who DOES have the passion has a heckuva time working in a system that is more concerned about the welfare of the teacher's union than the education of students. I could go on for hours about screwed up teachers, regulations, and all the other garbage that cumbers our educational system. It’s all well and good to stick up for the good things, but it ends up ringing pretty hollow when you know there’s a mile of manure beneath the pretty green-grass rhetoric.
For example… I’m no fan of lawyers. But if I was a lawyer, you how I could respond to his last question?
“You what to know what kind of difference I make? I make drunk drivers go to jail when they kill kids, but walk away from the accident. I make teachers who have sex with their students tremble when I’m on the other end of the phone. I make laws that protect widows, the elderly, and orphans. I make companies clean up their messes, and pay the people they hurt with their negligence. I make government officials talk about the laws they try to sneak through the system. I make rapists and murderers go to the electric chair. I stare right in the face at all the scum, sleaze, and filth in society that YOU’RE too scared to even talk about. I hold the powerful accountable. I make the guilty pay. I defend the innocent guy who society never gave a chance. That’s the difference I make, pal…”
See – it isn’t too hard to list all the GOOD things done by a profession while desperately ignoring the slime, crap, and bologna. Golf-clapping his passion, but not impressed with his method.


lawyers don't make laws
defense lawyers make ALOT more than prosecution
and they are just as likely to deny someone their just dues, and protect those in the wrong... probably more likely, because thats where the money is at

trying to put law and education in the same boat has 1 major flaw
there's no money in teaching...
its much more likely to find corruption where there is money
its much more likely to find character where this isn't

I love to see a person who is passionate about what they believe in. That kind of thing always gets mad props from me. Kudos guy. Golf clap.

But the sad reality is that there are precious few in the teaching profession that have this kind of passion. And even the rare teacher who DOES have the passion has a heckuva time working in a system that is more concerned about the welfare of the teacher's union than the education of students. I could go on for hours about screwed up teachers, regulations, and all the other garbage that cumbers our educational system. It’s all well and good to stick up for the good things, but it ends up ringing pretty hollow when you know there’s a mile of manure beneath the pretty green-grass rhetoric.

For example… I’m no fan of lawyers. But if I was a lawyer, you how I could respond to his last question?

“You what to know what kind of difference I make? I make drunk drivers go to jail when they kill kids, but walk away from the accident. I make teachers who have sex with their students tremble when I’m on the other end of the phone. I make laws that protect widows, the elderly, and orphans. I make companies clean up their messes, and pay the people they hurt with their negligence. I make government officials talk about the laws they try to sneak through the system. I make rapists and murderers go to the electric chair. I stare right in the face at all the scum, sleaze, and filth in society that YOU’RE too scared to even talk about. I hold the powerful accountable. I make the guilty pay. I defend the innocent guy who society never gave a chance. That’s the difference I make, pal…”

See – it isn’t too hard to list all the GOOD things done by a profession while desperately ignoring the slime, crap, and bologna. Golf-clapping his passion, but not impressed with his method.

I watched some of your video..I may finish it at some point. I have to give it credit, it's quite a sophisticated attack vehicle for atheism. It attempts to decontruct the mechanisms for faith but so far it has some glaring errors. In the video covering prayer in the deconstruction process, it has a fundemental misunderstanding of Gods omniscience and the purpose of prayer. While it is true that God knows our needs before we ask

Matthew 6:8

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

it isn't true that God has already decided a matter before we ask about it.

Genesis 18:17-25

Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Now this is a special case, but Abraham negotiated with God and He decided what to do based on that negotiation. It is the same with prayer. The Lord may be set to do one thing, but may change His mind based on intercessory prayer done by one or several Christians. He may impart a blessing upon someone that normally wouldn't have received it if no one had asked about it.

Prayer is more than just asking for things, it is about communion and growth. Your friend made the mistake of making the Lord completely impersonal, by thinking he was just receiving commands from the master control. Ironically, he thought this was bringing him closer in his personal relationship with God when it was actually driving him apart. This is what happens when people think they know better than God.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing.

Luke 6:28

bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

etc

I feel bad for him, specifically because of this scripture:


Hebrews 6:4-6

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

It is quite shameful what he has done, and I can tell you there is more to this story than he is saying. It's not that I doubt the essential truth of his story, that he was once a devout Christian. That much was obvious to me the first time I heard him speak and looked in his eyes. There is just another spirit at work here which doesnt match the atheistic mindset. It's hard to say what his agenda is but it's not pro-atheist. It's pro-something else, but whatever it is, it's anti-christianity. The pretense of respect he is giving God is just a subterfuge..he doesn't have any respect for God what so ever..it's just to make the medicine go down smoother. The repetitive music is another clue to the disingenuousness of the presentation.

As for me, I don't fit any of his criteria. I was once just like you. Blind to the spirit, a strict materialistic, and suspicious of all religion and all supernatural claims. I rejected most of it as outright nonsense. I grew up that way and saw no reason to change.

One day God tapped me on the shoulder and let me know He was there. Your guess is as good as mine as to why. It's not as if I deserved to know. If I had to guess it would be that I was honestly interested in what the truth was, and I was willing to change my ways if necessary. It was more important for me to know the truth than to be right.

To convince myself God isn't there I would have to give myself a lobotomy. I would have to gouge my eyes out and pour superglue in my ears. I would have to do it deliberately, in spite of Him..meaning, I would have to deliberately deceive myself but I am fairly certain He wouldn't let me forget.

In reference to your scenerio, I think you make a mistake about Gods omniscience as well. God doesn't have absolute foreknowledge in this scenerio. For instance in Gen. 15:13-18 God predicts that the fourth generation of israelites will reach Cannan. But it is actually the fifth generation that reaches it because of disobedience. This means His prediction was based on probability.

For a being to truly have free will, their actions must to a certain extent be unpredictable to God. After God had Abraham prove his loyalty to Him by going through with sacrificing Issaic, God said "Now I know you love me". The verse suggests that until that moment, God didn't know that for sure.

This isn't to suggest God doesn't have foreknowledge at all. He obviously does, since He prophicies about things hundreds or thousands of years away and they come true. It is to suggest that God limited Himself for our sake. We have evidence of this in the person of Jesus Christ. Though He was God, He put aside His power and capability and knowledge to be fully submitted to the Fathers will. He depended on the Father for everything. Not just as an example, but for His mission to be accomplished through His revelation of the Father to the people.

It goes to the ontological argument, of what is the greater being. The one who cannot do anything original because everything he could do has already been done in His mind, or the one who can craft something even He couldn't fully anticipate. I go for option 2. It doesn't make sense for God to get mad at someone for doing something He already knew was going to happen.

My theory is the scenerio itself is certain. It has a beginning, it has an end. What is inbetween He may have certain ideas about, but obviously open to modification. He may plan for every possible scenerio but never quite know which will unfold because He has given us a measure of unpredictability.

So in this scenerio..

God creates a perfect world, giving man a blank slate for good or evil

Man chooses evil, God enforces the rules, death comes into the world and creation falls

Man is corrupted from sin and does continual evil that God is always trimming back and correcting

God works within the evil man creates, but it reaches the point of no return..

God is ready to give up on humans but finds one human he can work with

God resets the world, gives man another chance through Noah

Man is up to his old tricks but God sends His Son into the world this time to redeem Creation

Jesus imputes His righteouness and sinless nature into humanity, restoring them, takes our just punishment onto Himself and dies on the cross for our sins

He rises again breaking the power of death over humanity (which came from sin) and giving everyone the way to eternal life

God sets a date to judge the world, and will send His Son back when the church has spread the gospel to the four corners..

Jesus returns, comes back for His church and destroys the kingdom of the antichrist.

God judges the world and repays each according to their deeds
After the judgement, God destroys the corrupt creation and remakes it entirely new, and this time it will be permanently perfect. Thanks to Christ, the ones who believed in Him will have perfected natures and will sin no more and live forever in paradise

If you want to talk about greed and self-interest that is fine. I am a student of the human nature, and have many logical proofs I can offer even from a secular perspectives. My communication can always use fine tuning, however, I endevour that people should know the truth, because though they may stubbornly reject it at this point, will at some point need it, and more than that, just plain need to hear it. You discount the power of God completely, but I know He is always at work and the truth will facilitate that every time. I also appreciate that you noticed the unfair treatment I am receiving from other sifters. There is no reason to downvote these videos. They are well made and aren't masquarading as anything other than what they are. It's not as if they're in danger of becoming popular. They sin when they do this, and this is written about them:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident [b]within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not [c]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
I do dig Ecclesiastes - easily the most raw, human and cynical chapter of the good book.
http://videosift.com/video/Scorpion-vs-Black-Widow-Intense-sheesh?loadcomm=1#comment-290039
In short, here is why I think the main, overarching plot of the Bible is silly.
Summary:
God creates flawed humans.
Flawed humans do flawed things.
God punishes all present and future humans because of the flaws in his prototypes.
After many generations, God drowns 99.9% of his land dwelling creatures save two of each. (not sure why the fish get off so easy)
Despite this massive genocide, humans are still flawed.
God impregnates a human virgin woman - in a committed relationship - without consent - who gives birth to a human/God hybrid son. (Kinda weird and rape-y to be honest)
The son is tortured and 'dies for our sins'. (What does that even mean, couldn't God just forgive us without this cruel theatrical charade that so few people of the world are physically able to witness?)
Jesus comes back from the dead (which isn't really that big of a deal, considering he is a part God).
Finally, after all of this violence and suffering, God decides to destroy the world, and take those who believe in him to heaven, and to punish those with skeptical or scientific minds with eternal suffering.
I mean, I guess I can understand mass murder, if God thinks so little of us that our destruction is no more tragic than Atari burying thousands of copies of E.T. in the desert. But if we are insignificant ants, then why the strict moral code that forbids murder? Are we unique and special creatures, or just crash test dummies to be toyed with?
None of the actions of God seem wise for a being of such knowledge and power. The Bible sounds like mythology. It sounds like a combination of campfire stories, moral parables, juicy pulp fiction, dirty jokes, political posturing, medical advice and pre-scientific speculation. It sounds like an anthology of the best of the best literature of early human civilization.
If God were real, why doesn't he just openly and clearly communicate it? Why all the rites and rituals? "Hey, dft, this is God you atheist schmuck.... or should I say ex-athiest schmuck. Put down the pork and put on your beanie!" That would be clear and to the point, and if done convincingly, would add a pretty decent guy to the ranks of his faithful.
Also, his followers are so hung up on pride, that they miss a good chance of making a connection. I told you that I don't believe in Satan, but that I do oppose the greed and ruthless self interest that your Satan seems want to champion. If you cared more about the principles of the bible than the principals in the Bible, wouldn't you be serving your lord better? Shouldn't you nurture the things we have in common and downplay the stuff I think is absurd? Baby steps. Religionists have no strategy or common sense when it comes to apologetics. You argue with me as if I believe in God and Satan.
Anyway, I've made these points so many times, and they just bounce off the framework of faith, just as your points bounce off my framework of reason. There will be no headway because our criteria for belief run so contrary. I think it's cool that you fight for what you believe in so passionately, and wish people wouldn't downvote your videos to the point that they are killed. I do think you could come up with more productive styles of argument.
I'd be curious to get your opinion on this video: http://videosift.com/video/Why-I-am-no-longer-a-Christian-Must-Watch

I do dig Ecclesiastes - easily the most raw, human and cynical chapter of the good book.

http://videosift.com/video/Scorpion-vs-Black-Widow-Intense-sheesh?loadcomm=1#comment-290039

In short, here is why I think the main, overarching plot of the Bible is silly.

Summary:
God creates flawed humans.
Flawed humans do flawed things.
God punishes all present and future humans because of the flaws in his prototypes.
After many generations, God drowns 99.9% of his land dwelling creatures save two of each. (not sure why the fish get off so easy)
Despite this massive genocide, humans are still flawed.
God impregnates a human virgin woman - in a committed relationship - without consent - who gives birth to a human/God hybrid son. (Kinda weird and rape-y to be honest)
The son is tortured and 'dies for our sins'. (What does that even mean, couldn't God just forgive us without this cruel theatrical charade that so few people of the world are physically able to witness?)
Jesus comes back from the dead (which isn't really that big of a deal, considering he is a part God).
Finally, after all of this violence and suffering, God decides to destroy the world, and take those who believe in him to heaven, and to punish those with skeptical or scientific minds with eternal suffering.

I mean, I guess I can understand mass murder, if God thinks so little of us that our destruction is no more tragic than Atari burying thousands of copies of E.T. in the desert. But if we are insignificant ants, then why the strict moral code that forbids murder? Are we unique and special creatures, or just crash test dummies to be toyed with?

None of the actions of God seem wise for a being of such knowledge and power. The Bible sounds like mythology. It sounds like a combination of campfire stories, moral parables, juicy pulp fiction, dirty jokes, political posturing, medical advice and pre-scientific speculation. It sounds like an anthology of the best of the best literature of early human civilization.

If God were real, why doesn't he just openly and clearly communicate it? Why all the rites and rituals? "Hey, dft, this is God you atheist schmuck.... or should I say ex-athiest schmuck. Put down the pork and put on your beanie!" That would be clear and to the point, and if done convincingly, would add a pretty decent guy to the ranks of his faithful.

Also, his followers are so hung up on pride, that they miss a good chance of making a connection. I told you that I don't believe in Satan, but that I do oppose the greed and ruthless self interest that your Satan seems want to champion. If you cared more about the principles of the bible than the principals in the Bible, wouldn't you be serving your lord better? Shouldn't you nurture the things we have in common and downplay the stuff I think is absurd? Baby steps. Religionists have no strategy or common sense when it comes to apologetics. You argue with me as if I believe in God and Satan.

Anyway, I've made these points so many times, and they just bounce off the framework of faith, just as your points bounce off my framework of reason. There will be no headway because our criteria for belief run so contrary. I think it's cool that you fight for what you believe in so passionately, and wish people wouldn't downvote your videos to the point that they are killed. I do think you could come up with more productive styles of argument.

I'd be curious to get your opinion on this video: http://videosift.com/video/Why-I-am-no-longer-a-Christian-Must-Watch

>> ^Boise_Lib:

Love RedLetterMedia, but Plinkett missed the redeeming quality of this movie. Hot Widow (A WILF?).
hot widow often seen hugging a hot teen...

Love RedLetterMedia, but Plinkett missed the redeeming quality of this movie. Hot Widow (A WILF?).

The Rake's Song
I had entered into a marriage
In the summer of my twenty-first year
And the bells rang for our wedding
Only now do I remember it clear
Alright, alright, alright

No more a rake and no more a bachelor
I was wedded and it whetted my thirst
Until her womb start spilling out babies
Only then did I reckon my curse
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright

First came Isaiah with his crinkled little fingers
Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn
Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery
Mercifully taking her mother along
Alright, alright, alright

What can one do when one is widower
Shamefully saddled with three little pests
All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life
So my burden I began to divest
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright

Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath
Isaiah fought but was easily bested
Burned his body for incurring my wrath
Alright, alright, alright

And that's how I came your humble narrator
To be living so easy and free
Expect you think that I should be haunted
But it never really bothers me
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright

Hazards of Love 3
Father I'm not feeling well
the flowers me you fed
Tasted spoiled for suddenly
I find that I am dead
But father don't you fear
your children all are here
singing ooooh the hazards of love

Father turn the water down
the basins overflown
the water covers everything
and me left all alone
but papa here in death
I have regained my breath
to sing ooooh the hazards of love
to sing ooooh the hazards of love

Spare the rod, you'll spoil the child
but I prefer the lash
my sisters drowned and poisoned
all of me reduced to ash
and buried in an urn
but father I return
singing ooooh the hazards of love
singing ooooh the hazards of love
the hazards of love
the hazards of love

I found the joke to be perfectly timed dark humor, which I usually don't like. But in this case, amidst the horror of the news story and my hatred for the people who perpetuate the cycle of violence, I also thought the grieving widow was unexpectedly attractive. If the joke had been about something else, perhaps implying that the victim got what he deserved or something else belittling the seriousness of the incident itself, I might agree about the trolling. But the joke was tangential, and spot on. Put me in the category for "Humor makes the bad times more bearable".

@GenjiKilpatrick - Calm down. It was a joke. You either think it's funny or you don't. Your outrage is entirely misdirected. You have been distracted by a tasteless joke. And now you want to kill my family? Sheesh.

Let me try to put it another way, if it's possible to find humor in the darkest of situations, I say go for it. I might not do so myself (and I'm pretty sure you don't) but, there are plenty of comedy routines about the holocaust and slavery and many other horrible points in humanity. It's called Dark Humor.

I cringed when I read rottenseeds comment but, I found humor in the notion that he (or she) was ready to date this so recently widowed woman (And don't kid yourself that there aren't actually people like that out there). Dark humor gives you the power to laugh in the face of the thing people fear the most (Look at me, waxing philosophical).

As you have so vehemently proven, it's not for everybody.
But I love you anyway.

Apparently the dividing line between poor and not poor was whether you had a garden or not, a place to corral animals.

If you had a garden, then you had a source of food. If you had a pig, and a cow, and chickens, you were doing just fine.

My dad lived in a two room shack, with the porch screened in for additional sleeping quarters. In these three rooms lived his widowed mother, her newly married brother and young wife, and five kids, the oldest of whom was 8 when his father died. Uncle Buck would wake up in the winter and have to shake the snow off his blanket - it had drifted in through the porch screen, accumulating on him as he slept.

But they weren't poor. They had a garden and a rifle and a means to feed themselves.

Now my dad has a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, thanks to the GI Bill and WWII.

The world is an amazing place, isn't it?

In reply to this comment by mentality:
>> ^bareboards2:

Seeing this vid prompted this story from my dad -- He grew up on a dirt farm in Oklahoma during the depths of the Depression. One of their sources of food was my dad's ability to kill squirrels for the stew pot.
He was 15-16 years old, out hunting. Saw a squirrel in the crook of a tree, just its head popping up. He got it with one shot, picked up the body and stuffed it in the back pocket of his overalls and started walking home.
Halfway home.... his pocket started wriggling. He had just creased its head, grazing the hair right between its ears. Knocked it unconscious but otherwise it was fine.
He says he built a cage for it, where it lived for months before escaping. Took up residence in the roof, until it eventually disappeared.
I was surprised it didn't end up in the cooking pot, but as dad says, they weren't poor. The folks living in a cave in the riverbank were poor.


I'm guessing that if he could afford guns and ammo (even if it was just a .22), then you weren't that poor.

>> ^entr0py:

>> ^criticalthud:
yeah, just don't disagree with the "official" version. you'll be ostracized. I'm still amazed at how it is generally accepted that our government lied to get us into Iraq but told a sparkling truth to get us in and keep us in afghanistan.
whatever fits the narrative

The difference is evidence. None of us should have an implicit trust that our government always tells the truth, but we do have reasoning skills. Many of the claims leading up to the Iraq war turned out to be demonstratively false.
But looking at the killing of Bin Laden, there is substantial evidence that it is true. There's the testimony from Bin Laden's widow and daughter, who were there at the time. There's the videos that the US has released which were taken from the compound. They show Bin Laden there and match photos journalists have since taken of the interior. There's the fact that al-Qaeda has accepted his death officially. And finally there's how easily it could all be disproved if it weren't true.


he never acknowledged it himself, as far as my research goes. i can't really think of a reason why he wouldn't had he actually masterminded the greatest attack on american soil.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/
and then, i believe shortly before we invaded Afghanistan, the government proffered this "confession" video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhctMpvszqQ&feature=related
I have a difficult time believing that is a video of bin laden. And if isn't, then there are many questions to ask. But it is fairly easy to conclude based on the past and present actions of our government that bin laden was simply an violent extremist that fit the terrorist narrative very well. Part that narrative would have required the aggrandizing of both he and his rather loosely based network ("al queda", a U.S. term) in order to support the mass buildup in both the military industry as well as the security industry (and providing a distraction from the stripping of the civil rights and wealth of the citizenry). Bin Laden has been an exceedingly profitable figure for many interests.
Lately however, with popular rebellion marginalizing small scale terror and an un-winnable effort by the U.S. to create a profitable infrastructure in Afghanistan, bin laden's value likely decreased to that of an election chip.

>> ^criticalthud:

yeah, just don't disagree with the "official" version. you'll be ostracized. I'm still amazed at how it is generally accepted that our government lied to get us into Iraq but told a sparkling truth to get us in and keep us in afghanistan.
whatever fits the narrative


The difference is evidence. None of us should have an implicit trust that our government always tells the truth, but we do have reasoning skills. Many of the claims leading up to the Iraq war turned out to be demonstratively false.

But looking at the killing of Bin Laden, there is substantial evidence that it is true. There's the testimony from Bin Laden's widow and daughter, who were there at the time. There's the videos that the US has released which were taken from the compound. They show Bin Laden there and match photos journalists have since taken of the interior. There's the fact that al-Qaeda has accepted his death officially. And finally there's how easily it could all be disproved if it weren't true.

"On your arrrrm.... your arrrrrm.. arrrrrrm.. there's a black widow on your arrrrrrrrm... arrrrrmmm.... your arrrrrrrm... it's right there on you ar-... FUK IT, I'LL GET IT!!! ..........dang, lady."

His opening statement up until about the 30 second mark I agree with. With the Public Relations industry you have certain things BORED into your brain. One of those things that allows State Capitalism to function soo well is you have to not care about anyone else. So you don't care about say the poor widow and whether she has enough to eat, make sure you vote against welfare. Or you don't care about whether a child going to school isn't starving all day during classes so you don't pay taxes for their breakfast or lunches. It's an anti-human characteristic so this kinda compassion has to be drilled out of your heads and it's very difficult to do, they've had some success.

They do this by changing words or misrepresenting facts, and it's certainly not just Fox. For example take the phrase "Job Killing Bill." There really has never been such a thing so what you do when you hear that phrase is replace it with "Profit Killing Bill" because that's what is being talked about. It's not about jobs for the top 1%, it's all about profits. You need it drilled into your head that you're working for just yourself, but you're working for them.