f13.net

f13.net General Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: K9 on December 16, 2011, 03:05:01 AM



Title: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: K9 on December 16, 2011, 03:05:01 AM
Dies aged 62 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/16/christopher-hitchens-dies-aged-62?intcmp=122)

The world has lost a truly great mind.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Merusk on December 16, 2011, 03:14:59 AM
Incoming flood of political cartoons trying to have the last word in -1..


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: K9 on December 16, 2011, 03:18:03 AM
The Best of Christopher Hitchens (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQorzOS-F6w)

also

(http://i.imgur.com/CQ8l5.jpg) (http://imgur.com/CQ8l5)


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: NiX on December 16, 2011, 06:48:12 AM
Always liked his point of view and arguments. Led to me questioning why I was being sent to Catholic schools and eventually becoming atheist. I'll have to steal my girlfriend's e-reader and read his book.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Jherad on December 16, 2011, 07:04:28 AM
Always liked his point of view and arguments. Led to me questioning why I was being sent to Catholic schools and eventually becoming atheist. I'll have to steal my girlfriend's e-reader and read his book.

Pretty much the same story for me. He was a big influence on my questioning Catholicism and then religion/'faith' in general.

I didn't always agree with his views, but he was a great mind and the world is poorer for him having died. I'll miss his debates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kuzYwzGoXw
(Hitchens starts towards the end of part 1)




Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: rattran on December 16, 2011, 07:46:41 AM
Sad, an entertaining man gone. Forever.


Or burning in hell, if his detractors are correct. In which case, I'll see him there!


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: bhodi on December 16, 2011, 08:36:54 AM
http://www.theonion.com/articles/fumbling-inarticulate-obituary-writer-somehow-losi,26890/

He had weird ideas about Islam and imperialism but damn if he didn't stand up for his beliefs. Don't forget about his voluntary waterboarding. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58)

Here's another link you should read.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/hitchens-201201


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Paelos on December 16, 2011, 08:50:32 AM
I didn't know who this was when I read the title. Guess that shouldn't shock me.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: ShenMolo on December 16, 2011, 09:19:47 AM
Such a great thinker, writer, and speaker.

Find some of his speeches & debates on Youtube if you can.

He had that great quality of liking and enjoying the company of those who disagreed with him but who were intellectually honest.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: bhodi on December 16, 2011, 09:49:39 AM
And Cyanide & Happiness did a tribute thing. (http://www.explosm.net/comics/2645/)


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Ingmar on December 16, 2011, 11:23:05 AM
Deeply mixed feelings about the guy, so I will just say I'll miss the parts I liked.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: MahrinSkel on December 16, 2011, 11:26:27 AM
I think I would have loved to have a drink with him, and hated to know him much longer.  He was one of those people who sees the world without the normal filters, and apparently didn't like what he saw much.

--Dave


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Bzalthek on December 16, 2011, 12:41:34 PM
normal filters, in this case, being mass delusion and fantasy.

I kinda thought he was an asshole, but I respected his determination and intellect.  I think he was a necessary voice, and I don't think we got many people like that left.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: HaemishM on December 16, 2011, 12:42:49 PM
He WAS an asshole, being an asshole was his entire cause. That doesn't mean he wasn't a deep thinker and a ballsy guy.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Ruvaldt on December 16, 2011, 12:47:04 PM
Definitely an asshole, but also one of the greatest essayists of our age.  Perhaps you can't be one without being the other.

I'll miss him.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: HaemishM on December 16, 2011, 01:10:24 PM
You kind of have to be an asshole to tell someone their entire belief structure is total horseshit in an intellectual manner.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: TheWalrus on December 16, 2011, 02:00:29 PM
Hey, it's scary to walk without crutches you never really had in the first place.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Soln on December 16, 2011, 02:57:07 PM
His debate in TO with Tony Blair on the existence of Cod was terrific.   I plan on reading his work on Orwell.   He wasn't a toady and was highly literate.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Bzalthek on December 16, 2011, 09:15:11 PM
The existence of Cod is not debatable.  I ate some last night.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: lamaros on December 16, 2011, 09:46:23 PM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/16/christopher-hitchens-obituary?mobile-redirect=false


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Morat20 on December 17, 2011, 08:10:11 AM
Deeply mixed feelings about the guy, so I will just say I'll miss the parts I liked.
I felt he was an asshole, a contrararian who often felt violently disagreeing with common beliefs was deep thought, and moslty surfed on a few really good pieces -- his writing of the last decade or so was rarely up to his previous levels.

On the other hand, I respected him for his 180 on waterboarding after deciding to try it himself -- especially given the tenor of times, his prior statements, and his audience it took a lot of guts to come out and be brutally honest about what it was like and what he thought.

So the good with the bad.


Title: Re: Christopher Hitchens RIP
Post by: Surlyboi on December 19, 2011, 11:40:08 AM
Complete and utter asshole. But when presented with facts contrary to his opinions, open-minded enough to accept the new information and move on.

There was a ton of shit about him that I didn't like, but goddammit, the man had my respect.