christopher hitchens was a rabid supporter of waterboarding being used as an interrogation technique.
he would engage in debates on all the news shows admonishing anyone who believed waterboarding to be a form of torture.
his usual premise was the tired "what if you had only so much time,and KNEW there was bomb" argument.
that was BEFORE he allowed himself to be waterboarded.
i never saw a faster turn-around in someones viewpoint.
one minute waterboarding was acceptable to obtain information..the next?
torture.
christopher hitchens is now an avid anti-waterboarding advocate.
the video is here on the sift somewhere of hitchens getting waterboarded.
it would be interesting to see hannity put his money where his mouth is,
doubt we will ever see that happen,but it would make for good TV.

and 50 points to jiggajonson for the quote "shitting myself with glee"
..classic!

Hey, No worries, I actually expected "someone" to make a comment, how could you not! I've never read anything else by him, and I'm not really making any plans to either, but I enjoyed this one!

In reply to this comment by EDD:
Hey, I'm not hating I haven't read it, I've merely heard Hubbard's stuff is sub-par from friends who are avid sci-fi readers. Personally I'm very much into sci-fi and fantasy movies, but very much NOT into those kinds of books. I'm just weird like that.

In reply to this comment by Sagemind:
Ya, I knew someone would say something about that! Hey, I like sci-fi and fantasy stuff. Battlefield Earth is a a great Sci-fi read. It's not not like I listed Dianetics or something. It is what it is - A "fun" read where the good guys, the humans win - Have you read it?? Perhaps you should!


In reply to this comment by EDD:


P.S. Oh and I think I speak for us all when I say - Sagemind - WHAT. THE. F*CK??

>> ^Sagemind:
I have to give two lists!

FICTION:
Clive Barker - Imagica
David Farland - Runelords
Dan Millman - Way of the the Peaceful Warrior
Frank Hurbert - Dune
John Fowles - The Magus
Alexander Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo
L Ron Hubbard - Battlefield Earth
Jack L Chalker - Lilith: A snake in the grass
Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel’s Dart
Jack Kerouac - On the Road

Fuck that dude is way too psyched up about this. Must be an avid LiveLeak viewer.

>> ^Fade:
>> ^spoco2:
The part on 9/11... I have a friend who is SO frigging into the conspiracy theory, and it hinges on the most flimsy of 'evidence', and YES he was a Ron Paul supporter, AND he believes in UFOs..

And the flimsy evidence that Usama Bin Laden and 19 Hijackers did it managed to convince you?
I don't know about you but I didn't see any evidence that proved he/they did anything. Heck even the FBI doesn't think there's enough evidence to connect him to it.


I'm not saying particularly that Bin Laden etc. were responsible. What they are claiming is that the buildings collapsed due to a planned demolition and that the planes hitting the buildings were merely a coverup to hide it. I don't know who brought down the towers other than it was those piloting the aeroplanes into them that did it... having a 767 smashing into it at high speed can do that to a building.

What's wrong with being a Ron Paul supporter. Seems to me if everyone had listened to him in the 80's we wouldn't be in the shit right now.

I know bugger all about his policies really, but I just found it funny that in this video the guy connected the two... and I thought 'hey, yeah, he is an avid supporter of him too'. Nothing against RP, don't know enough to have anything against him.

And UFO's are real. The designation is a fairly normal term. It means unidentified flying object. Not believing in them is like not believing the sun will rise.

Oh, don't get all semantic. You know exactly what I'm talking about. The belief that there is some enourmous coverup that intelligent aliens have landed/crashed here, somehow met ONLY the US government and they are using their tech for weapons research.

I have no doubt there is other life out there, what I don't believe is that they have come here, only been seen by yokels etc. and left it at that. There are SO many things you can see in the sky that can be misconstrued as an alien spacecraft. Until I see incontrivutable proof of, or meet an alien (or ghost for that matter, same deal there) I won't believe in them... there's no proof at ALL that they exist.

Yeah, the Dragonlance series is amazing. I have no patience for Lord of Rings, at least in book form, though.

In reply to this comment by Zifnab:
Well I'll give it a go. In no particular order:

1. Dragonlance Chronicles - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This is the series that really got me hooked on reading way back in high school and I still really enjoy it today.

2. Wheel of Time - RIP Robert Jordan. Brandon Sanderson is going to complete the final book (A Memory of Light) for RJ as the novel was incomplete at the time of his death.

3. Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein. Along with most of Heinlein's other work.

4. Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling.

5. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien.

Plus many more, as you can see I'm an avid reader of fantasy. I also really enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, and some other's that I can't think of at the moment...

Well I'll give it a go. In no particular order:

1. Dragonlance Chronicles - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This is the series that really got me hooked on reading way back in high school and I still really enjoy it today.

2. Wheel of Time - RIP Robert Jordan. Brandon Sanderson is going to complete the final book (A Memory of Light) for RJ as the novel was incomplete at the time of his death.

3. Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein. Along with most of Heinlein's other work.

4. Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling.

5. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien.

Plus many more, as you can see I'm an avid reader of fantasy. I also really enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, and some other's that I can't think of at the moment...

Though at times brilliant, I entered the theatre for the film, an avid reader of Tolkien, but leaving was in part disappointed for the ways Peter Jackson's interpretation diverged (increasingly for each of part of the trilogy) from the original work. I reconciled this in myself by accepting that these movies were not The Lord of The Rings but someone's homage to them.

Jackson's adaptation is not without flaw, but all in all, he did as well as anyone could.

I have have achieved a bachelor of science in geology and am an avid WoW player. This pressed just about every one of my geek buttons. Well done!

Hi, my name is Arvid, and I live in Oslo, Norway. I have just finished a degree in physics from the University of Oslo, but I can't seem to let go of the student life just yet. I enjoy sifts that mess with my head, such as these.

I discovered VideoSift because Fedquip kept referring to it on his old AOL blog. I lurked here for over a year before finally signing up this autumn. For a norwegian, I have an almost unhealthy interest in american politics, and I deeply regret the decline and death of http://newsbloggers.aol.com.

On my freetime I am a musician. I have played the Euphonium since I was eight, but have in recent years switched mostly to Trombone. I mostly play and listen to jazz, first and foremost in a Big Band. I was a member of a now dead 30's swing band, and I am soon starting a new band to play some more modern jazz. I sing in a choir as well. My muscial heroes are among others Bach and Bartok, Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, Pink Floyd and Steely Dan.

I read both fantasy and classics, and my favourite authors are Kurt Vonnegut jr., George R. R. Martin, Tolkien, Dostoyevski and Gert Nygårdshaug. My username is a witness to my geeky past, as it is the Sindarin translation of my real name.

I catch onto minor hobbies sporadically as well. I used to game a lot, but this has cooled off lately. I was an avid Guitar Hero player, and got to be pretty good. I have been into sailing. I have been into fencing. I enjoy walking and skiing in the majestic norwegian mountainscape. In the summer I play with the Diabolo. My latest fad is Origami, which I used to do when I was a teenager and have just now picked up again. I have also been an extra in some norwegian music videos and minor film productions. I am the emo-looking guy playing accordion in this video.

I follow both norwegian and international politics with interest, and I have a blog in norwegian about politics and science which I update very sporadically.

Oh, and I am the older brother of Haldaug, who has a higher integrity as a sifter than me. That is why I have higher ranking than him, even though he has been a member longer than me. So go to his pqueue if you want to find some musical/thoughtful/absurd gems.

edit: Forgot to mention my favourite beverage, Brakspear Oxford Gold organic ale. Try it out.

Oh believe me I have plenty of experience with fundie nutjobs. Been through 3 usernames at freeconservatives.com and I'm an avid reader of fstdt.com

There are 2 types, the Loud and Proud, and the Serene and Gentle. Both equally as nutty.

Have any of you actually tried to have "the talk" with you parents/grandparents? Did you find out how pointless and futile it truly is? Me too. The idea that young people have that they can "change" old peoples views who have been set in their ways for decades is not only incredibly naive but in my opinion selfish. I dont dare to hold myself as superior to them, they are avid fox news watching, palin lovin, southerners, and i still refuse to look down on them for all the sacrifice they made for me and the wisdom (in other areas) they have. I disagree with them sure, but i wont judge them, thats the way they are and i accept them for it.

I don't know what everyone's complaining about. She's just an avid reader; she has read everything. Do you think between both Biden and Obama they've read every single magazine and newspaper? No way.

I think she was afraid if she picked one Katie would ask a follow-up question, like "Spell cat."

Is it sad that i thought the sarcastic video Paris Hilton did against McCain was funnier than this one? Plus you cant change old peoples view points no matter who you are, believe me. My parents are avid Fox News watchers, so just imagine how effective those conversations are.

I'm not trying to biased and bash Christianity. But as an avid classical film lover I really thought the religious part of the movie didn't fit with the whole story.

It was so alien and foreign, often giving the story unnecessary pause from progressing smoothly. Turns out that The original author of the book had already written the story of Ben-Hur and later added on the religious side due to his 'enlightenment' from a conversation with a preacher from a train ride.

As an avid footbag player I got to admit: The stuff these guys are doing is VERY GOOD