Christopher Hitchens diagnosed with cancer

[Coito ergo sum]

Addiction can classify as a mental illness.

A person may become an addict as a result of self-medicating, but addiction? Illness it ain't.

Well it sure ain't "wellness", so what is it then?

Semantics?

Whether it's illness, disease or unwellness, we were discussing whether or not drug addiction deserved the same sympathy as other illnesses or diseases.

Wouldn't it depend on the circumstances?

If woman becomes drug addicted because she went through a series of violent rapes, was beaten and abused, then was involved in a car accident, lost a leg, and had someone steel her dog and pee in her cheerios, suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and taking solace in marijuana and booze, I would sympathize quite a lot. If a frat boy had led a charmed life, but started recreational drug use for no reason and let it get out of control, causing himself to spiral into a vicious circle of drug use and gambling, wasting away his fortunes for cheap thrills, then I wouldn't be quite as sympathetic.

[Robert_S]

If woman becomes drug addicted because she went through a series of violent rapes, was beaten and abused, then was involved in a car accident, lost a leg, and had someone steel her dog and pee in her cheerios, suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and taking solace in marijuana and booze, I would sympathize quite a lot. If a frat boy had led a charmed life, but started recreational drug use for no reason and let it get out of control, causing himself to spiral into a vicious circle of drug use and gambling, wasting away his fortunes for cheap thrills, then I wouldn't be quite as sympathetic.

I'd still be sympathetic to the extent that the frat boy accepted the propositions that he made some highly regrettable and dumb decisions and that being drunk is not a licence to be an asshole.

[Coito ergo sum]

I blame Darwin.

I blame God

No I blame cigarettes

Esophogeal cancer is sexist, by nature, discriminating against men in that 3 times as many men develop it as women. It's a very misandric disease.

30% of this kind of cancer is linked to acid reflux, and if Hitch had "Barrett's Esophagus" then he was 50 times more likely to get it.

He tended to be overweight, and that was a risk factor. Obese men are 50 times more likely to die from it.

Smoking doubles the risk.

[Coito ergo sum]

If woman becomes drug addicted because she went through a series of violent rapes, was beaten and abused, then was involved in a car accident, lost a leg, and had someone steel her dog and pee in her cheerios, suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and taking solace in marijuana and booze, I would sympathize quite a lot. If a frat boy had led a charmed life, but started recreational drug use for no reason and let it get out of control, causing himself to spiral into a vicious circle of drug use and gambling, wasting away his fortunes for cheap thrills, then I wouldn't be quite as sympathetic.

I'd still be sympathetic to the extent that the frat boy accepted the propositions that he made some highly regrettable and dumb decisions and that being drunk is not a licence to be an asshole.

Well, the difference I was trying to illustrate was that someone who gets a raw deal thrust upon him or her is more deserving of sympathy than one who brings it on himself or herself.

[Trolldor]

On topic again.

Hitchens at his clearest, most persuasive, most emotive.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5cxwq6Q ... re=related[/youtube]

[Coito ergo sum]

...It's an interesting feeling to think in the moment that each day might be your last.

By "interesting" you surely mean "shit"?

That would seem to be the easy answer, but I don't think it is, based on what I have talked about with people who are dying and now dead. Once you have really accepted you will die, it's actually kind of a relief for many people as well as a new journey of self-discovery.

Seems like that would be the kind of journey Hitch would want to take as well.

I know this will sound very weird but of all the things I could die of, I hope it's not dementia or Alzheimers. I want to be aware of the process of my dying. After all, I only get to do it once.

Whether we want to or not, we're going. We've gotten on the roller coaster, and we will be riding it to the end. No matter what.

It is the uncertainty of what it will be like that gets us nervous about dying. And, it's the process that scares us too, seeing as it can be unpleasant and painful.

One of the things that eased my anxiety about inevitable demise is to imagine times past. Say, an old movie. Picture the people in an old black and white movie as being alive, and try to juxtapose that with the fact that you were not alive when the movie was being made. You weren't around. You were completely oblivious to the goings on. And, did it bother you? The answer, of course, is no. Not being alive is what? Being dead, right? All of know exactly what it's like to be dead. It's like it was for us when Bogie and Bergman were filming Casablanca. We were dead then. And, it was fine.

We're dead to most of the stuff that goes on in the universe. Not just most of it, almost all of it. In fact, the number of places we have absolutely no perception of (and hence are the equivalent of dead). The percentage of the universe that we are oblivious to is 99.999999999999999999...........9999999999999%, almost infinity.

Death is not being there.

Think about that

[maiforpeace]

Most recent interview with the Atlantic.

[Coito ergo sum]

August 14, 2010
The author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything says it is "touching" that many Christians are praying for his healing, both body and soul.

Iconoclastic atheist Christopher Hitchens, whose columns appear in the Chicago Sun-Times, has been stricken with esophageal cancer, a disease that leaves few survivors.

Conservative Catholic writer Thomas Peters has challenged readers of the American Papist website to join him in praying one Hail Mary a day on behalf of Hitchens for salvation and that "God will be with him at the hour of his death."

Hitchens told evangelical broadcaster Hugh Hewitt that he remains convinced these prayers "don't do any good, but they don't necessarily do any harm. It's touching to be thought of in that way."

Hitchens has warned his admirers that if he should cry out to the Almighty, they should ignore it.

"If that comes it will be when I'm very ill, when I am half demented, either by drugs or by pain and I won't have control over what I say," he told CNN.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/reli ... 15.article

This makes me sad.

[Coito ergo sum]

Writer Christopher Hitchens — and his family, friends and fans — is grappling with his recent bad news: A cancer diagnosis and the additional bad news that it had spread from his esophagus to his lymph nodes.

http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1 ... ears_.html

Ugh...I had not heard the cancer had spread to his lymph. That really sucks.

[Coito ergo sum]

Next month, leading atheist Christopher Hitchens is scheduled to debate leading agnostic David Berlinski on the topic, “How Atheism Poisons Everything” in Birmingham, AL.

http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php ... onth-13359

[Coito ergo sum]

[maiforpeace]

August 14, 2010
The author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything says it is "touching" that many Christians are praying for his healing, both body and soul.

Iconoclastic atheist Christopher Hitchens, whose columns appear in the Chicago Sun-Times, has been stricken with esophageal cancer, a disease that leaves few survivors.

Conservative Catholic writer Thomas Peters has challenged readers of the American Papist website to join him in praying one Hail Mary a day on behalf of Hitchens for salvation and that "God will be with him at the hour of his death."

Hitchens told evangelical broadcaster Hugh Hewitt that he remains convinced these prayers "don't do any good, but they don't necessarily do any harm. It's touching to be thought of in that way."

Hitchens has warned his admirers that if he should cry out to the Almighty, they should ignore it.

"If that comes it will be when I'm very ill, when I am half demented, either by drugs or by pain and I won't have control over what I say," he told CNN.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/reli ... 15.article

This makes me sad.

Actually, I find it a bit funny. I can just imagine CH crying out "Oh my fucking god" during an orgasm, so it makes sense he would qualify his calling out to the Almighty if he becomes half demented from pain or drugs.

Otherwise, this article reminds me of why I respect him so much - he has the humility and graciousness to be generous towards people who are praying for him.

[Coito ergo sum]

August 14, 2010
The author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything says it is "touching" that many Christians are praying for his healing, both body and soul.

Iconoclastic atheist Christopher Hitchens, whose columns appear in the Chicago Sun-Times, has been stricken with esophageal cancer, a disease that leaves few survivors.

Conservative Catholic writer Thomas Peters has challenged readers of the American Papist website to join him in praying one Hail Mary a day on behalf of Hitchens for salvation and that "God will be with him at the hour of his death."

Hitchens told evangelical broadcaster Hugh Hewitt that he remains convinced these prayers "don't do any good, but they don't necessarily do any harm. It's touching to be thought of in that way."

Hitchens has warned his admirers that if he should cry out to the Almighty, they should ignore it.

"If that comes it will be when I'm very ill, when I am half demented, either by drugs or by pain and I won't have control over what I say," he told CNN.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/reli ... 15.article

This makes me sad.

Actually, I find it a bit funny. I can just imagine CH crying out "Oh my fucking god" during an orgasm, so it makes sense he would qualify his calling out to the Almighty if he becomes half demented from pain or drugs.

Otherwise, this article reminds me of why I respect him so much - he has the humility and graciousness to be generous towards people who are praying for him.

It just makes me sad that he's so ill. Damnit.

[Coito ergo sum]

http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1 ... again.html

[Xamonas Chegwé]

My mate, Mike, just went into hospital to have a third of his throat removed for the same condition. He is lucky. They caught it in time to perform a horrific, but hopefully life-saving, operation. He goes under the knife tomorrow lunchtime and they won't finish hacking into him until the evening. Poor sod.