It's parents like that, turning kids into adrenaline junkies that the kids grow up to be base jumpers and shit. That kid is going to need to jump off a skyscrapper by the time he's 14 to ever get an adrenaline high ever again lol.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

So, are you timing out trying to reach dag.videosift.com right now, or was it just a momentary thing?
In reply to this comment by marinara:
timeout, so there is no http error.
also i can't ping dag.videosift.com, but i can ping www.videosift.com
PING dag.videosift.com (216.18.199.34) 56(84) bytes of data.
^C
lemme guess, that's not your ip. no?

In reply to this comment by dag:
What's the actual error returned to your browser?
In reply to this comment by marinara:
i'm getting timeouts on some of your domains like dag.videosift.com. (maybe some of the others)
the problems continue, so its not on my end.

In reply to this comment by dag:
Just don't touch EZTV for the love of all American expats who still want their cheesy American sitcoms.

timeout, so there is no http error.
also i can't ping dag.videosift.com, but i can ping www.videosift.com
PING dag.videosift.com (216.18.199.34) 56(84) bytes of data.
^C
lemme guess, that's not your ip. no?

In reply to this comment by dag:
What's the actual error returned to your browser?
In reply to this comment by marinara:
i'm getting timeouts on some of your domains like dag.videosift.com. (maybe some of the others)
the problems continue, so its not on my end.

In reply to this comment by dag:
Just don't touch EZTV for the love of all American expats who still want their cheesy American sitcoms.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

What's the actual error returned to your browser?
In reply to this comment by marinara:
i'm getting timeouts on some of your domains like dag.videosift.com. (maybe some of the others)
the problems continue, so its not on my end.

In reply to this comment by dag:
Just don't touch EZTV for the love of all American expats who still want their cheesy American sitcoms.

i'm getting timeouts on some of your domains like dag.videosift.com. (maybe some of the others)
the problems continue, so its not on my end.

In reply to this comment by dag:
Just don't touch EZTV for the love of all American expats who still want their cheesy American sitcoms.

After realizing what I'm missing out on currently am reading The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy which is one of those books making me cry laughing.
Hitchen's God Is Not Great is definitely worth the read for his articulate mind alone.
And I can't really say I'm finished reading The Wheel Of Time while the last book is still missing.
For all the fantasy-junkies out there: Robert Jordan.
I came across a lot of critics that his books are boring and slow paced, which is absolutely, mind bogglingly deranged to say in my opinion.
For what I know of the fantasy world one of the most interesting and best thought out universes in existence.

Bill Gates - and all the ProgLibDytes on the forum - entirely miss the point.

You could take every single member of the top 5% of the United States and immediately confiscate 100% of all their wealth, income, assets, property, and leave them penniless paupers in the gutter. It would not so much as balance the Federal Government's budget for one QUARTER, let alone a whole fiscal year. The problem is not that taxes on the rich are too 'low' (they certainly aren't). The problem is that government spends too much money on crap that government has no business spending so much as one thin dime on (IE all the social programs). Government has over-promised on too many things to too many groups for far too long. They foot a bill too long for their purse and can't pay it - no matter how much it taxes the rich, corporations, or anyone else.

Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Warren Buffett's secretary (also rich), Hollywood, and all the other rich idiots with their crocodile tears about not being taxed enough... Every single one of these hypocrites has the address of the National Treasury, and can write out checks giving every penny they earn to the government. They can fire thier accountants tomorrow and not use all the exemptions they fight so hard to maximize. They don't need thier taxes raised. They could pay higher taxes this very instant under current law.

So why don't they? Simple. They know government is a terrible place to put money.

Gates is dumping money into private philanthropical efforts - which shows that he hasn't completely lost his wits (even though he's talking like a total moron in this clip). No one believes that giving the government more money is a good idea. The US government is one of the most wasteful, and least efficient organizations on the planet. Bill Gates knows this. So it isn't hard for him to figure out that "the nation" would be better served dumping his money in an incinerator rather than pay the Feds more tax money.

So what's with these hypocritical screeds that rich sleazeballs like Buffett? The answer is also quite simple. They are doing nothing more than mouthing platitudes specifically to assuage all you ProgLibDyte peons with your class warfare pitchforks.

It is quite amusintg, really, just how easily and thoroughly people on the left like the Sift are duped. All Gates has to do is go on a show here, or a show there, and say a few of the correct leftist catchphrases. Then suddenly all the lemmings are literally knocking each other over to be the first in line to start french kissing Gates or Buffett's duodenum.

See - that's what's so funny. You ProgLibDytes don't care that Gates is laughing his way to the bank, and that he will NEVER pay a cent more in taxes than he has to. Oh no. That doesn't matter. All that matters to all you agenda slaves is that he blathers the right sound bite at you. Then your ideological addictions get thier nice little junkie fix, and you're putty in his hands, laughing at you because he knoew (A) he isn't going to pay more taxes and (B) all he has to do is keep shunting a few bucks at the right leftist radicals and he will have political protection payola shielding him for life. And all he needs too keep the racket going is a bunch of you simpletons brainlessly following your left-wing marching orders so he has a permanent audience to sing to. How's it feel knowing you're the intellectual equivalent of Bill Gates' used condom?

you guys never served in the military did ya?
because if ya did you would know that even the thought of smashing a gun butt to drill sarges face would never happen.
you were too busy trying not to piss yourself.

welcome to boot camp MAGGOTS!
this is the place we strip you of any self identity in order to build you in to a lean,mean fighting machine.

you are 18.
this is your first time away from home and you got some testosterone junkie in your face like he just found out you slept with his childhood sweet-heart.

so,yeah.
slamming him in his face is the last thing on your mind.
thinking you may have made a bad decision by joining?
weeeell,thats pretty high up on the "wtf did i do?" list.

@TheSluiceGate
hey thanks for the response my friend.(though in bullet form..blech)
i now have a clearer picture in what you were trying to convey,and if i have your stance correct:

1.you found this video to be a glorification of drug addiction and not the religious aspects.

i disagree and your previous comments do also.i disagree that this was a glorification of any kind but rather ones mans courage to put himself out there and explain where he was and what helped him walk away still breathing.nobody goes around and broadcasts how they are an addict and have lost control of their lives.i feel this video is more of public service for those who may suffer and silence and feel they are alone,which is quite common among addicts.we can disagree on this...our perceptions just differ.as for the religious aspects may i just point to your last paragraph.notice anything?

you are free to chastise this man for his conversion to christianity and putting his recovery on giving himself over to jesus.that is not only your choice but your right but please dont say your premise was not influenced by the religious aspects when it obviously was.you said so in your own words.

2.you are an atheist and disagree with my use of "redemption" because of its religious connotations and would prefer "recovery".

i can agree that "recovery" is also an apt term to use but it does not convey in a complete sense what "redemption" conveys.
you dont "recover" from guilt and shame.
you are "redeemed" and this does not have to have anything to do with religion but it does has EVERYTHING to do with brutal honesty.to have the courage to face oneself with eyes wide open and accept the choices...AND consequences.this is a process that needs to happen to start the healing process which can only begin with forgiveness.
to forgive oneself.
this does not,by implication,necessarily mean that jesus has to come in to your life.
or buddha.
or allah.
or the great spirit.
but usually for addicts it is something outside themselves.this could be a person you greatly admire and respect which could help fascillitate a similar outcome.
hence my captain crunch reference.

i would also like to address that your disagreement with me is actually an agreement.
while i agree with your assesment on my over-simplification let me just point out:
emptiness=psychological
pain=physical
my over-simplification was to shave off all the myriad redundancies to reveal the nugget/core.

3.you are not some big meanie.

my apologies if i implied that you were in any capacity.i chose my words carefully in order to provoke you into revealing your TRUE motivation and in that context i succeeded but allow me to apologize for the manipulation.
i didnt want to respond in a presumptuous manner,even though i had suspicions to your true dislike of this video.

and here was my general thinking.
why would somebody find a video where a man admits,on VIDEO,how he almost killed himself due to his addictions and lost that which was most dear,and his consequent "recovery",be perceived as a bad thing?
and the only conclusion i could come up with was the "jesus" factor as being the bitter pill.
just look at the views to votes ratio.you are not exactly alone my friend.

would you feel the same way if this man had started recovery from meeting a distinguished scientist? or philosopher?
who helped him see the world differently and hence gave him the courage to face what he needed to face?
i presume (falsely maybe) that you and many on this site would have cheered this man for his courage but since this man gave his life to jesus and credits jesus for his recovery he is relegated to the silly bin.
my response is:whatever works for ya.do it and do it NOW.if that means jesus or the FSM then by all means...have at it.

i AM an ex-junkie.
and i dont mean i had a small "problem" but i was the rip-snorting we-are-going-for-a-fucking-ride kinda junkie.
the wake up across state lines on the beach-how the fuck did i get here kinda junkie.
i assist those who wish to be clean.
i let them stay in my spare room so they can go through detox (worst experience a person can endure imo).
i do not judge.
i do not preach.
i make it ok.
because i am fluent in the language of the broken and forsaken because i was once just like them.
this is mainly where my "nobody can do it alone" comment was inspired.because a junkie cannot get clean by him/herself.their self loathing is too dominant and the desire to numb themselves from their own past too strong an impulse to ignore.

so when you see a junkie you may (rightly so) see a person who has made some bad choices.maybe you hope they will seek treatment and get better but they need to accept responsibility.
i agree with that, but you judge them while not understanding THEY have already judged themselves and their judgment is so much harsher than you could ever imagine.they believe themselves to be less than nothing and execute that verdict with a raging self-hatred everytime they use.which then becomes a never-ending cycle of guilt and shame.

i attempt to break that cycle for those who seek to become healthy and whole again.sometimes i succeed but more often i fail.
so if jesus is a part of somebody finding the strength and courage to face their demons then who are we to judge?

i do hope you take this comment in the spirit it was written.
with honesty and respect.i truly appreciate your contributions to this subject (which is obviously close to home for me) and indulging my curiosity with how an atheist views subjects such as these.
it would be interesting to see how many votes a video similar to this would get if there was no reference to jesus or god.

thank you TSG.

Hi Enoch, my comment was more aimed at the production style of the video itself and how it glorified this ex-junkie, not necessarily about the religious aspect at all. But seeing as you asked...

"this is about redemption"

I think it's about a man who was taking drugs that stopped taking drugs. You can call this redemptive in a loose sense. I think "recovery" would be closer to the mark, and also is free of any irrelevant religious connotation.

"in my travels i have come to the conclusion that those who suffer from addiction (of any kind) are battling an emptiness or pain within themselves,in one form or another."

I don't agree. There's a myriad of reasons while people become addicted to things ranging from the psychological to the physical. Yours reason is, however, possibly one of them - but to say that this is the main one is an over simplification.

"that is the beauty of this story. This man found his redemption in the form of jesus christ.
he found forgiveness in christ. Would you deny him this for the simple fact he started on the road to addiction years ago? Who cares if he found salvation in jesus or a talking box of captain crunch.
the fact that he found something that helped give him the strength to deal with his addiction should suffice,no matter what vehicle it was that helped him to defeat his own personal demons.
"

I'm glad he didn't die and has turned his life around by whatever method. But what now if, clear of his crisis, he realises that the pillar of his recovery is a fictional deity. Hopefully he wouldn't falter in his sobriety, but if Jesus really is as important in the equasion as he seems to be here then there could be a problem. He should be putting himself and his daughter first, not jesus. Brian Welsh and his daughter, unlike jesus, actually exist.


"have you been a junkie?
are you speaking from experience?"

No I've not been a junkie, but I've seen how drug and alcohol addiction and it's effects on peoples lives around me. This is not, of course, the same as being a junkie, but why do you ask?

"should we abandon all those who make bad choices to their own devices?"

This is falsely reductive statement. Just because I think the tone of this video is all wrong, and that it falsely deifies this ex-junkie doesn't mean that I think people who suffer from addiction should not be treated.I don't think anything I've said implied that.

"Because i have found that nobody can experience this journey we call life alone and those that have convinced themselves they can are deluding themselves."

Not sure of the relevance of this statement, but anyway... Yes of course life is much better and easier when we are not alone - as it is also if one was recovering from addiction.

I do however think that, in terms of deluding oneself, believing that there's a supernatural deity that's going to save you from all harm is one of the ultimate delusions. And a very dangerous one.

@TheSluiceGate
while i agree with your basic premise that choices have consequences.i think you missed the point of this video.
this is about redemption.

in my travels i have come to the conclusion that those who suffer from addiction (of any kind) are battling an emptiness or pain within themselves,in one form or another.
nobody decides to aspire to be a junkie,or an alcoholic and they certainly do not desire to die a slow and painful death,causing massive heartache for those that love them.

the downward spiral is a slow decent into a personal hell and what makes it even more arduous and self-incriminating is that the junkie (at one point) becomes fully aware of the spiral and the self-defeating cycle.they know they cant stop and that creates such a tsunami of guilt and shame it drives them back to the very thing that is destroying them.

that is the beauty of this story.this man found his redemption in the form of jesus christ.
he found forgiveness in christ.
would you deny him this for the simple fact he started on the road to addiction years ago?
who cares if he found salvation in jesus or a talking box of captain crunch.
the fact that he found something that helped give him the strength to deal with his addiction should suffice,no matter what vehicle it was that helped him to defeat his own personal demons.

have you been a junkie?
are you speaking from experience?
should we abandon all those who make bad choices to their own devices?
because i have found that nobody can experience this journey we call life alone and those that have convinced themselves they can are deluding themselves.

>> ^carneval:

to most dubstep junkies, Skrillex really isn't dubstep; he's more electro glitch. True dubstep is much more sedate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPOZzE1sABo&feature=related
What many people call dubstep nowadays is frequently referred to as "brostep," a term with derogatory intentions. I'm not divided much; I like the older classic 2-step/ambient style dubstep, and I can dig the newer "brostep" with outrageous bassy drops.
FWIW one of the "founders" of brostep, Rusko, thinks that many artists are going way too far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEuFTBG0Rbg
In reply to this comment by direpickle:
I thought Skillrex was the worst dubstep had to offer. Imitation Skillrex is way worse. D:



http://www.explosm.net/comics/2565/

to most dubstep junkies, Skrillex really isn't dubstep; he's more electro glitch. True dubstep is much more sedate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPOZzE1sABo&feature=related

What many people call dubstep nowadays is frequently referred to as "brostep," a term with derogatory intentions. I'm not divided much; I like the older classic 2-step/ambient style dubstep, and I can dig the newer "brostep" with outrageous bassy drops.

FWIW one of the "founders" of brostep, Rusko, thinks that many artists are going way too far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEuFTBG0Rbg

In reply to this comment by direpickle:
I thought Skillrex was the worst dubstep had to offer. Imitation Skillrex is way worse. D:

In reply to this comment by kulpims:
*promote


thanks man!