I cannot believe there is an unedited version of the Beheading!

[mauchow]

Uuuuuuuughh.

I feel like barfing.

[BishopMVP]

Of course there is. You can find whatever video you want on the internet.

[mauchow]

I really wasn't expecting it to be unedited. I had watched the version Yahoo! had, and they just stopped as he brought his knife out, whereas this one they showed the wholed damned thing! Even holding the head at the end!

*Here Come The Nightmares*

[JeeberD]

Someone posted a link on a different board. I don't have the balls to click on it...

Edit: And I don't have the balls to click on that one either...

[BishopMVP]

That might be one of the links you want to hxxp, or even not link to. If someone wants to find it, they can.

[samifan24]

Who would put that up on their server space? The fact that they're hosting the video is disgusting in and of itself.

[Draft Dodger]

Someone posted a link on a different board. I don't have the balls to click on it...

Edit: And I don't have the balls to click on that one either...

I have the balls to.
I just don't have the desire.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I have the balls to.
I just don't have the desire.

I have neither.

[Samdari]

I have neither.

I think this is me too.

[Maple Leafs]

Explain to me why someone would want to watch that?

[Draner123]

Oh MY GOd i Can't Beleve they actually have that out there its so unnerving to watch. I wanted to barf! :mad:

[Fritz]

for something you find disgusting you have gone to some effort to promote, hype, and make the vid accessable.

[Fritz]

dola

when did barf come back into use?

[mauchow]

for something you find disgusting you have gone to some effort to promote, hype, and make the vid accessable.

I'm in no way promoting this.. I would rather be pissed on! This is beyond outrageous, and if you want to watch it, watch it, if you don't. THEN DON'T!

[Draft Dodger]

I'm in no way promoting this.. I would rather be pissed on! This is beyond outrageous, and if you want to watch it, watch it, if you don't. THEN DON'T!

it's one thing to post the link.
it's another to graphically describe the link, even for those who chose not to look. I could have done without that bullshit attention grabbing on your part.

[EagleFan]

I can;t believe some idiot would even post that. You would figure that the animlas who have no regard for human life would post it, but now for others to do so is just plain disturbing.



Those animals deserve to be tortured beyond belief when found.

[mauchow]

I didn't realize an uproar would be created by a bunch of words.. I had deleted that post though. My apologies.

[Draft Dodger]

I didn't realize an uproar would be created by a bunch of words.. I had deleted that post though. My apologies.

thank you

[EagleFan]

Let me clarify. The idiot in question in my post is actually the person whose site is hosting the video. Though posting a link to it comes in a close second (thuogh not my original target).

[mauchow]

thank you

but it would help now if samifan deleted his quote...

[Suicane75]

Perhaps you should delete the link as well, it just isn't neccesary.

[mauchow]

Perhaps you should delete the link as well, it just isn't neccesary.

Done deal..

But I don't understand what's wrong with it being there, if someone wants to see it, they have a right too.

[JonInMiddleGA]

1) I can't believe that there's anyone who "can't believe" this is online. I believe we've reached the point that virtually anything, and I do mean anything, is pretty much available online somewhere.

2) Blood & gore really don't bother me much. That said, I have zero interest in ever seeing this particular footage. (and before anyone asks or even wonders, I've have an equally zero interest in seeing the footage if the roles were reversed).

3) I'm not gonna rip on mauboy for posting a link to it, if he hadn't, there would have been requests for it I'm pretty much certain. And if he hadn't posted it, someone else would have. It's out there, it's (apparently) not hard to find, there's plenty of stuff worse than that out there somewhere.

[Radii]

Put me in JonInMiddleGA's camp on this one, all 3 points.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Put me in JonInMiddleGA's camp on this one, all 3 points.
Y'know, I'm almost willing to bet that there's a "welcome to the darkside" joke in there somewhere http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif

[sterlingice]

Put me in JonInMiddleGA's camp on this one, all 3 points.Me, too. Eww... I feel so dirty. :D

SI

[samifan24]

1) I can't believe that there's anyone who "can't believe" this is online. I believe we've reached the point that virtually anything, and I do mean anything, is pretty much available online somewhere.


Since you took a shot at me, allow me to clarify: I cannot believe that someone besides those responsible for the attack itself, or those who side with them, would host the video on their server space for pure shock value. I'm not saying I never thought it would show up, it's just that I thought we had some level of decency and respect for Nick Berg's family, and that the only website pathetic enough to host something like this (not to mention all the negatives associated with such a link) would be reserved for the militant groups associated with those who brutally murdered Nick Berg.

[samifan24]

but it would help now if samifan deleted his quote...

Done.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Since you took a shot at me,
Huh?

I was referring to the f'n subject line which beings " I cannot believe ..."
And I don't believe you had anything to do with the subject line.

But if you want to volunteer yourself for some constructive criticism ...

1) If you really thought that this wasn't going to show up only, and in a wide variety of places, then you might want to consider consulting someone specializing in reality therapy. "Decency"? "Respect" -- Umm ... hello ... this is the internet we're talking about here. If that ever existed in great quantity on the 'net (as we now know it), it sure hasn't been around in quite a while. And if you believe it does, then I suggest you hit FOFC less and surf more until you get a better picture of what I'm talking about.

2) See Francis for further instructions.

[cody8200]

I definetely dont want to see this video. I saw the other one with the 3 us soldiers being hung on the bridge...it was horrible. I wont be watching any more real life deaths ever again.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Who's Nick Berg, and why was he beheaded? I seriously don't know. I don't follow the news.

[bbor]

I want to see the video of the mother f'ers that did this getting their lives extinguished.

I generally 'hate' no man,but this is one case were i come real close.

[JonInMiddleGA]

PT - This is actually a "remembering Berg" story, so it's a little out of sequence of the actual timeline, but it oughta cover the essentials.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040512/D82H8G5G0.html

[samifan24]

Huh?

I was referring to the f'n subject line which beings " I cannot believe ..."
And I don't believe you had anything to do with the subject line.

But if you want to volunteer yourself for some constructive criticism ...

1) If you really thought that this wasn't going to show up only, and in a wide variety of places, then you might want to consider consulting someone specializing in reality therapy. "Decency"? "Respect" -- Umm ... hello ... this is the internet we're talking about here. If that ever existed in great quantity on the 'net (as we now know it), it sure hasn't been around in quite a while. And if you believe it does, then I suggest you hit FOFC less and surf more until you get a better picture of what I'm talking about.

2) See Francis for further instructions.


I could do without the condescending sarcasm. :rolleyes:

[Mantle2600]

ive never had problems with gore and torture i thought, till i saw passion of the christ, which made me cringe a little bit, so I just dl'ed this movie, and it is the most disturbing thing I have ever seen, I feel so bad for this guy and his family. Ugh. I hope these people get fu**** up for this, it is just to sick. I can see me shooting someone to protect myself but I could never see me stabbing someone, and the ass holes cut his frickin head off. if I go to hell, I hope I at least get a chance to torture these assholes while im there.

[Craptacular]

Part of me wants to watch the video so I can realize what pure hatred for another person would feel like. I have the same feeling I had when they dragged those bodies through the streets and hung 'em from a bridge, with kids celebrating. As soon as we found out about it, we should have sent a few billion dollars worth of Tomahawk cruise missiles that way.

[mauchow]

I've been hearing that it may be fake...

I know, I know, say what you want, "They've found the remains..." The government can say anything they want to fabricate something...

Now, back to my point...

During the video, the second after the killer pulls out his knife, the camera goes blurry and zooms in on one someone's clothes.. So you can't see anyhthing but junk.

10 seconds later it's zoomed back out. Okay, no biggie, right?

Well, if you look at the clock at the bottom right, it zooms forward in time 11 hours(someone over at OOTP pointed this out..)

Man.. If I could believe that it was fake, that would be wonderful.

[Pumpy Tudors]

PT - This is actually a "remembering Berg" story, so it's a little out of sequence of the actual timeline, but it oughta cover the essentials.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040512/D82H8G5G0.html

Thanks.

[SFL Cat]

I don't watch snuff videos. Just one more reason these people deserved to be hunted down and killed.

[The Afoci]

When it comes to these crazy people, it is us or them. I choose them. Now, the challenging part is to educate the non crazies to show them we aren't trying to kill everyone when that is all they are shown.

[stevew]

I accidentally clicked on a link on the drudgereport. Not the video, but stills from it. Gross.

[pjstp20]

I haven't watched the video but Ive been to the websites that have a link to it. I love how they justify displaying this atrocity by saying it's our patriotic duty to watch, so we can understand what we're up against. Meanwhile its mostly conservative websites promoting their agenda. How about respecting the Berg family and not display their sons death to the public. Is it that important to fuel your hype machine?

[chrisj]

As soon as we found out about it, we should have sent a few billion dollars worth of Tomahawk cruise missiles that way.

While I hate to see something like that happen - I have to apoint out that you <i>have</i> already done that. That's part of the reason many Iraqis are upset with the American government.

[Tekneek]

People need to see this kind of stuff. They need to know what happens in this world, and what kind of people we're dealing with in those parts of the world. I felt the same way about the Daniel Pearl video. It is important to know what these enemies are up to and the kinds of things they will do.

[Tekneek]

How about respecting the Berg family and not display their sons death to the public. Is it that important to fuel your hype machine?

Oh, this was a private matter? How did it get all over the news and where did the video come from? I don't think it is fueling a hype machine, it is demonstrating a harsh reality that more people need to know about (not fewer people).

[JonInMiddleGA]

I could do without the condescending sarcasm. :rolleyes:
And I could do with not being accused of something I didn't do

Since you took a shot at me ...
Hence my follow-up reply.

[Suicane75]

People need to see this kind of stuff. They need to know what happens in this world, and what kind of people we're dealing with in those parts of the world. I felt the same way about the Daniel Pearl video. It is important to know what these enemies are up to and the kinds of things they will do.

I think we do know what happened, the guy got beheaded.
You don't need to see it to know what happened or be angry about it.

[Tekneek]

Videos and pictures are far more effective against humans because that is how our mind works. It's one thing to read about the concentration camps the Nazis had, but it is completely different to actually see pictures and video of what was found there. We might not consider it to be as bad as it was if we had no clear idea of just what it was like. I can read descriptions of it and think it is bad, but actually seeing it really drives it home. When it comes to these bad things, I can't really clearly "see" what it was about, because I've never seen it before. I would not understand just what it was like for the WTC to collapse if there were no videos or pictures of it. I don't want somebody else filtering these items for me. I want to know what these people are doing to our people, just like I want to know what our people are doing to them. Ultimately, it's ok if you don't want to know how savage they can be, but I want to know and don't think you should be deciding whether I can or not.

[Blackadar]

People need to see this kind of stuff. They need to know what happens in this world, and what kind of people we're dealing with in those parts of the world. I felt the same way about the Daniel Pearl video. It is important to know what these enemies are up to and the kinds of things they will do.

I'm not justifing these killings in any way. But anytime someone comments on "those kind of people", please remember that those kind of people don't consider themselves terrorists, but patriots. We were also considered terrorists 230 years ago when fighting the Brittish.

And while these are certainly atrocities, we've committed quite a few over there ourselves. It's the glass houses sort of thing that I'm pointing out here.

Back to the original discussion...

Everything's posted on the web. I remember seeing some really distrubing 9/11 footage - jumpers shown "landing" (imploding? impacting?), bodies on fire falling, the aftermath on the ground, etc. If you're going to look for it, you can find it now - for better or worse.

[Tekneek]

I'm not justifing these killings in any way. But anytime someone comments on "those kind of people", please remember that those kind of people don't consider themselves terrorists, but patriots. We were also considered terrorists 230 years ago when fighting the Brittish.

And while these are certainly atrocities, we've committed quite a few over there ourselves. It's the glass houses sort of thing that I'm pointing out here.

You won't get any argument from me on those points. I think we need to be able to see the acts of all sides anytime we can. Without the Internet, we would not have access to this information. Information is freedom.

[samifan24]

Everything's posted on the web. I remember seeing some really distrubing 9/11 footage - jumpers shown "landing" (imploding? impacting?), bodies on fire falling, the aftermath on the ground, etc. If you're going to look for it, you can find it now - for better or worse.

Ok, I want to explain my previous comments, because I know some of you think I am an out-of-touch idiot for saying that I was shocked that someone might post it, so here goes: I'd like to believe that the only people who would post something like this are sick people to begin with (not a shot at mau, by the way). I'm talking about the people who might post this video on their server space. The only reason I can see a person posting this, unless they're part of the militant group which carried out the beheading and actually believed it was "right" and justified, is to say "hey look, I got that Iraq beheading video, come check it out...you know you want to!" That sort of thing is so vile it makes me sick.

First of all yes, it is not a private matter, I wasn't debating that. I believe that if someone wants to watch the video, they have every right to do so. What surprised me is that there are so many disgustingly insensitive people who would host this on their server space just to shock others or, as others have said, to draw attention to themselves. Maybe the words didn't come out as I intended them originally, but I didn't like the implication or assumption that I was so out-of-touch to think that this video would a) show up on the internet and b) be posted by someone other than a member of one of the militant groups. My reasons for being surprised are outlined above, hopefully you can see some method in my rambling. I'm sorry for getting pissed off at Jon and others, I just didn't like the way you all assumed I hadn't put any logical thought into what I was saying. The bottom line is that I am as disgusted by the act and the video, which I have not seen, as the rest of you and want justice for the militant dogs who did this to Nick Berg.

[Cecil Fielder]

seeing as how my opinions in the Michael Moore thread were received, it's probably best for me to stay out of this one...

but let me just say that by getting angry and wanting "revenge" and feeling the desire to "see the people that did this put to their death in a violent and bloody manner" only excaborates the problem. have thousands of years of responding to violence with violence in the name of "revenge" not taught us a lesson yet?

lay down your arms, and love your brother. that's the only solution if we want to evolve as a species.

[Franklinnoble]

seeing as how my opinions in the Michael Moore thread were received, it's probably best for me to stay out of this one...

but let me just say that by getting angry and wanting "revenge" and feeling the desire to "see the people that did this put to their death in a violent and bloody manner" only excaborates the problem. have thousands of years of responding to violence with violence in the name of "revenge" not taught us a lesson yet?

lay down your arms, and love your brother. that's the only solution if we want to evolve as a species.
Yeah, I agree, but there's one problem

Militant Islamic extremists simply don't play nice with others. Their strict and literal interpretation of the Koran commands them to convert the infidels, and those they cannot convert are to be beheaded and crushed... They simply cannot live peaceably with anyone who's not an islamic fundamentalist.

Therefore, they are quite simply rabid dogs that must be dispatched Old Yeller' style. Period.

[Cecil Fielder]

solution: outlaw religion. it's the source of every problem and conflict in the history of man. how to implement this non-violently is something i have not yet figured out. once i do, I plan to take over the world. :)

[Franklinnoble]

solution: outlaw religion. it's the source of every problem and conflict in the history of man. how to implement this non-violently is something i have not yet figured out. once i do, I plan to take over the world. :)
Hmm... difficult solution to implement, indeed. Besides, most religions are inherently non-violent... it's the radical few that give the rest a bad rap.

[corbes]

Hmm... difficult solution to implement, indeed. Besides, most religions are inherently non-violent... it's the radical few that give the rest a bad rap.
I dig what you're saying, but even Buddhists and Hindus fight each other.

[Cecil Fielder]

I think it's time to call on the Super Best Friends.

http://www.planearium2.de/pics/pics-504-6.jpg

[Noop]

Hey guys I didnt see the video but I would like to say something but I am afraid people will misunderstand me. So can I give my opinion without this turning into a FOFC' style gangbang session on Noop? Or maybe can we create a new thread as to why these people are doing this to noncombants?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ok, I want to explain my previous comments,
And, FWIW, I think you deserve a brief explanation of why I reacted the way I did to our little "sidebar" in this thread.

Candidly, I ran across your "since you took a shot at me" post in the midst of a more heated set of exchanges in another thread.

You reacted because you thought I was firing at you, I reacted strongly because (in the midst of the other) I felt like "Crap, it ain't enough I catch shit for things I actually say, now I'm catching hell for something I didn't do". My next thought was roughly along the lines of "well fuck that shit, let me give you something to actually be pissed about."

So, best I can tell, you thought I was torching you when I wasn't, I thought you were torching me for no good reason, and the reality was/is that neither of us was really posting for the primary purpose of flaming either of us.

AFAIC, as far as the personal back & forth goes, you & I just had a misunderstanding that's cleared up now with no hard feelings & no further worries.

I'm sorry for my part in the skirmish & apolgize to you for it.

Jon

[CamEdwards]

Wow, Cecil Fielder's post has made an impact on Jon.

I'm scared.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wow, Cecil Fielder's post has made an impact on Jon.

I'm scared.
Hey, I'm as hard-nosed as they come, but I don't wanna tangle with the Super Best Friends unless it's absolute necessary http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[The Afoci]

Or maybe can we create a new thread as to why these people are doing this to noncombants?

Because they stand no chance of winning by killing troops because they get slaughtered everytime they try. They believe, and probably rightfully so, that the only chance they have is to kill civilians and for the Media to latch on to the killings and turn the public against the war. Each brutal murder they commit gets 1,000,000,213 times the coverage of every school that is built, every city that gets a stable food and water source, every step in the right direction to making Iraq the free and thriving country it has a chance to be.

[Noop]

Because they stand no chance of winning by killing troops because they get slaughtered everytime they try. They believe, and probably rightfully so, that the only chance they have is to kill civilians and for the Media to latch on to the killings and turn the public against the war. Each brutal murder they commit gets 1,000,000,213 times the coverage of every school that is built, every city that gets a stable food and water source, every step in the right direction to making Iraq the free and thriving country it has a chance to be.
Thank You.

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040513/D82HL6580.html

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - The al-Qaida-linked Web site that first posted a video of American civilian Nicholas Berg's beheading was shut down Thursday by the Malaysian company that hosted it - because it was drawing too much traffic.

A senior officer of the company, Acme Commerce Sdn. Bhd., said Thursday it was not aware that the site, www. al-ansar. biz, may have been connected to al-Qaida or that offensive material had been posted on it. If it had, the company would likely have shut it down earlier, said Alfred Lim, Acme Commerce's business manager.

"We are a legitimate business, in no way related to al-Qaida," Lim told The Associated Press. "We have no control over what our clients put on their Web sites."

Malaysia is one of the Islamic world's most progressive countries with aims of completing its transformation from a rubber- and tin-producing colonial backwater into a technology-driven society by 2020. It strongly opposes the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but is an ally in the fight against terrorism and has detained scores of terrorist suspects.

The al-Ansar site was operated by a client who rented space on a Malaysian-based Web server owned by Acme Commerce, Lim said, although he was not sure exactly when the client began renting the space.

Lim said Acme Commerce disabled the site Thursday morning because it had attracted "a sudden surge of massive traffic that is taking up too much bandwidth and causing inconvenience to our other clients."

The company also began getting calls from Web surfers who had traced the site's server on the Internet and drew officials' attention to the content for the first time, Lim said.

The video, which was posted on the site Tuesday, showed the slaying of Berg, 26, of West Chester, Penn. His body was found in Baghdad on Saturday.

[Hurst2112]

Basically this is a fuck you... blow me... type respone to all those mofo's.... and if your offended by this the good... I don't give a fuck anyway. I'm Noop bitch!! Breath Easy.

How long have you had that bullshit quote? I susspect you won't have it too much longer.

[samifan24]

Because they stand no chance of winning by killing troops because they get slaughtered everytime they try. They believe, and probably rightfully so, that the only chance they have is to kill civilians and for the Media to latch on to the killings and turn the public against the war. Each brutal murder they commit gets 1,000,000,213 times the coverage of every school that is built, every city that gets a stable food and water source, every step in the right direction to making Iraq the free and thriving country it has a chance to be.

Well said.

[Noop]

How long have you had that bullshit quote? I susspect you won't have it too much longer.
Bullshit? Read the quote that is my respone to you.

[BishopMVP]

How long have you had that bullshit quote? I susspect you won't have it too much longer.He's had it for at least a month or too. You can turn off signatures in your profile.

Nice post Afoci.

[Hurst2112]

I haven't noticed it til now, but that doesn't make it any less vulgar. I could turn it off, but that would mean that I couldn't see anybody else's sig (from my understanding).

Either way, it's pretty tacky. But if it gets your rocks off, so be it.

[BishopMVP]

I haven't noticed it til now, but that doesn't make it any less vulgar. I could turn it off, but that would mean that I couldn't see anybody else's sig (from my understanding).

Either way, it's pretty tacky. But if it gets your rocks off, so be it.I don't like it either, but it doesn't bother me. I wasn't suggesting that you should turn em off, just letting you know you could as an afterthought.

[Franklinnoble]

I've had sigs turned off ever since people started using f'ed up whizbang font pictures in theirs.

Goddamned annoying, I tell you.

[BishopMVP]

I've had sigs turned off ever since people started using f'ed up whizbang font pictures in theirs.

Goddamned annoying, I tell you.
_________________________________
Programmers and/or horse racing fans - read my latest dynasty. (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?t=24922)How ironic. (I think)

[Hurst2112]

How ironic. (I think)


HA! I get it. That's funny, sort of.

[Tom E]

I think the execution video should be available to those ADULTS who CHOOSE to view it...

Everybody has diffrent reasons for wanting or not wanting to view the material and not all are bad...

[Franklinnoble]

How ironic. (I think)
I *LIKED* the sig lines before the graphics showed up. If I could view them in a standard-sized monocolor font, I'd gladly turn them back on.

[BishopMVP]

I *LIKED* the sig lines before the graphics showed up. If I could view them in a standard-sized monocolor font, I'd gladly turn them back on.I don't think anyone has graphics anymore, but the only one I remember was HM I think. So I might have no idea what you're talking about.

On the original story, the Top 10 search terms at Lycos

1. Nick Berg video
2. Nick Berg Beheading
3. Nick Berg and Iraq
4. Nick Berg Execution
5. Nick Berg Beheading Video
6. Nick Berg Killing
7. Nick Berg murder
8. Nick Berg assassination
9. Nick Berg decapitation video
10. Execution of Nick Berg.

[Franklinnoble]

I don't think anyone has graphics anymore, but the only one I remember was HM I think. So I might have no idea what you're talking about.

On the original story, the Top 10 search terms at Lycos

1. Nick Berg video
2. Nick Berg Beheading
3. Nick Berg and Iraq
4. Nick Berg Execution
5. Nick Berg Beheading Video
6. Nick Berg Killing
7. Nick Berg murder
8. Nick Berg assassination
9. Nick Berg decapitation video
10. Execution of Nick Berg.
Weird. I've turned the sigs back on, and I don't see them anymore. I gotta stop drinking the bong water or something.

You left off #11...

11. Nick Berg and Paris Hilton Sex Tape

(*** Disclaimer - I'm not being insensitive, just making a satirical commentary on the sick and twisted web surfing habits of America)

On another note... who the f*ck still uses Lycos anymore? I thought everyone had gotten with the program and jumped on the Google bandwagon...

[Draft Dodger]

I've never seen a graphic in a signature.

[BishopMVP]

On another note... who the f*ck still uses Lycos anymore? I thought everyone had gotten with the program and jumped on the Google bandwagon...Paris Hilton is #2 after all his combined. You'd figure they'd want a hot chick if they're looking for porn. I just used Lycos because Google only releases weekly figures for search terms.

[Franklinnoble]

Paris Hilton is #2 after all his combined. You'd figure they'd want a hot chick if they're looking for porn. I just used Lycos because Google only releases weekly figures for search terms.
Don't underestimate the power of the "billionaire slut" fantasy....

[Noop]

Hurst honestly I can't see how it bugs you or anyone for that matter because you could simply just click past my post. Anyway if you have one you would like to see it is now possible :)

[judicial clerk]

All I have seen are pictures of Berg sitting in a chair wearing pink longjohns or something and then Berg bound and sitting on the floor in front of a bunch of hooded guys.

Did the captors attack him or ritually chop his head off with an ax or what? What was Berg doing, did he resist?

[Franklinnoble]

All I have seen are pictures of Berg sitting in a chair wearing pink longjohns or something and then Berg bound and sitting on the floor in front of a bunch of hooded guys.

Did the captors attack him or ritually chop his head off with an ax or what? What was Berg doing, did he resist?
Yes, they cut his head off.

He was singing Billy Joel acapella. I can almost understand why they did it...

[judicial clerk]

I needed that laugh after reading about what happened to Berg.

Maybe Bergs captors will meet Captain Chontosh soon and then we will not need to worry about them anymore.

[JeeberD]

I've never seen a graphic in a signature.

MC, ardent (I think), and I used them for a while several months ago...

[SFL Cat]

I refuse to watch a snuff video, but I've heard from people who have watched it that he didn't put up much of a struggle. I've also heard experts who analyzed the footage say that there appears to large gap of time between when Berg makes his statement, and when the pigs actually murder him. His lack of struggle makes me think that perhaps they drugged him during the interim.

[JonInMiddleGA]

from Radio & Records.com (aka R&R magazine)

Portland, OR Morning Hosts Fired
Over Berg Beheading Comments
http://radioandrecords.com/images/red_square.gifKNRK condemns Marconi Show segment
Marconi and sidekick Tiny, hosts of KNRK's Marconi Show, were fired yesterday by the Entercom Alternative after reportedly airing on Wednesday's program the audio of the beheading of American tower engineer Nicholas Berg by Iraqi insurgents, accompanied by inappropriate comments. In a statement, Entercom management said, "KNRK has terminated the employment of The Marconi Show. The airing of a segment on Wednesday morning regarding the execution of Berg was insensitive, inappropriate and repulsive." Berg, 26, was the owner of Prometheus Methods Tower Service of West Chester, PA. Before heading to Iraq on March 14, he built a 850-foot tower for Citadel's Country WHWK/Binghamton, NY.

[Flasch186]

im so glad i can resist the urge to watch this. I feel a certain shame that it is even out there and that curiosity tempts me, but i guess sheer maturity can keep me away surprisingly easily. Its a shame that its even out there as it will be now forever and certainly somebody's kid si going to see this.

[Tekneek]

I've also heard experts who analyzed the footage say that there appears to large gap of time between when Berg makes his statement, and when the pigs actually murder him.

I have not seen this Berg one, but that sounds similar to the Daniel Pearl one.

[Tekneek]

Its a shame that its even out there as it will be now forever and certainly somebody's kid si going to see this.

Anyone who is too young to understand what it is about should not be using the Internet without supervision.

[Franklinnoble]

MC, ardent (I think), and I used them for a while several months ago...
Thanks... now I don't feel like an absolute lunatic.

[Maple Leafs]

from Radio & Records.com (aka R&R magazine)

Portland, OR Morning Hosts Fired
Over Berg Beheading Comments
http://radioandrecords.com/images/red_square.gifKNRK condemns Marconi Show segment
Marconi and sidekick Tiny, hosts of KNRK's Marconi Show, were fired yesterday by the Entercom Alternative after reportedly airing on Wednesday's program the audio of the beheading of American tower engineer Nicholas Berg by Iraqi insurgents, accompanied by inappropriate comments. In a statement, Entercom management said, "KNRK has terminated the employment of The Marconi Show. The airing of a segment on Wednesday morning regarding the execution of Berg was insensitive, inappropriate and repulsive." Berg, 26, was the owner of Prometheus Methods Tower Service of West Chester, PA. Before heading to Iraq on March 14, he built a 850-foot tower for Citadel's Country WHWK/Binghamton, NY.Apparently Sean Hannity played it as well on his radio show (although with lots of advance warning and obviously without joking about it in the background).

[PilotMan]

The idea that I would even want to watch sickens me. I get bad enough visuals in my head just thinking about it. I certaily do not want to see it.

I am so fed up with sensationalism in news. If they wanted to find big stories they are here in the US. There are more than enough F-up people who live here.

I bet that last night someone was killed in Compton. And noone will ever care. People die all the time in the US, much more than the number of US soldiers, or civilians in Iraq. A life is a life no matter where or how, or for what reason. We are all the same in the end.

Between politicians, media, the great propiganda machine, they only care about what will sell papers and make money. It blows me away.

In the end, a life is a life. Why does everybody care now?

[Tekneek]

The problem is that even the police here don't really investigate every murder. That's where the devaluation starts, IMHO.

[Maple Leafs]

Interesting article from Salon.com, offering one explanation as to why so many people want to see the video.

Earlier this week when, like millions of others, I logged on to the Internet and accessed a site with video of the young Pennsylvania businessman Nicholas Berg being beheaded, my hand hovered above my mouse momentarily. Do I double-click or don't I? Do I really want to see a man being beheaded or don't I? In the end, I decided that I didn't need to see a decapitation, that I could easily imagine what it would look like, and that images of Berg's death would not inform or deepen my understanding of Iraq or terrorism or the American mission or of brutality generally. I would just be another voyeur.

But millions, I am sure, did not share the same compunction or, if they did, double-clicked anyway to see what amounted to a snuff film. As far as do we or don't we, it wasn't lost on many of us that at the same time Nick Berg was being beheaded continuously on the Internet for anyone who cared to watch, members of Congress were looking over grisly photographs of abuse from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq -- photographs that the Pentagon would not release publicly, on the basis that no good could come of doing so, and much harm could. No one but the congressmen and senators, the Pentagon decided, needed to see these images.

Whenever particularly gruesome photographs or videos are either made available or embargoed, a moral debate automatically rages over the effect on the American psyche. On the one side are those who argue that these images should not be viewed. At best they can only inure us to atrocity, coarsen our sensibilities, desensitize us. By framing the violence as television and distancing us from it, they make us more willing to tolerate the heinous. At worst they trivialize it and turn it into just another prurient entertainment, the Nick Berg Show.

On the other side are those who argue that viewing cruelty is admittedly awful but may be necessary because it compels us to face evil more forcefully than anything else possibly can, compels us to see how the world really operates and what is really at stake, not just in Iraq or in the war on terrorism or in any specific situation but in life itself. Just as Thomas Aquinas believed that one needed evil to understand good, so too may one need tragedy to understand the human condition. Otherwise one lives in a gloss. This was the argument deployed when the horrific images of the Holocaust were first being released 50 years ago. One needed to see them because one's imagination could not comprehend the enormity of the crime. One needed to see them to bear witness.

And so the issue has been framed once again with the Nick Berg tape and the Abu Ghraib photographs. We should see them. We shouldn't see them. But as this debate continues, there is another possibility -- the possibility that images like these neither inure us nor sensitize us and that this dichotomy may even be an antiquated way of thinking about them. There may be an entirely different and new sensibility at work that beckons one to see the horror without experiencing any moral or psychological aftertaste. That sensibility is the irresistible urge to feel <I>knowing</I> -- to see what other people in the prow of culture are seeing. You watch Nick Berg being beheaded or you go on the Internet to see the unpublished photos from Abu Ghraib because you know other people are doing so and you don't want to feel left out.

Ours is certainly not the first generation to value knowingness. Those supposedly "in the know" have always been a kind of information elite, and more democratically speaking, gossip, in large measure, is predicated on the notion that a good many people want to know what's going to happen before it is publicly announced or just want to know what others hope to hide. But in a society like ours where there is a glut of information -- so much to know and so many venues from which to know it -- knowingness has become one of the newest and most powerful forms of status. Talk to any teenager and you are likely to be staggered by how much he or she knows -- the music of the most obscure rock stars, the dating habits of the most obscure television performers, the names of the most obscure clothing designers -- virtually all of it, by the teen's own admission, useless in any intrinsic sense but useful in the sense that it is empowering among other teenagers. Knowing all this cultural effluvia is like being captain of the football team or head cheerleader. Not to know is to be condemned to eternal geekdom.

But knowingness is not just a status; it is a force that is increasingly driving the culture. If Marshall McLuhan was wrong, as I believe he was, and technology does not determine culture so much as culture determines technology, then the Internet might be regarded as a knowing machine designed expressly to satisfy the ever-growing community of individuals who need to know in order to empower themselves. One can find anything on the Internet, from the Paris Hilton tape to the Taguba report to the Nick Berg decapitation, and those who watch these tapes or read these documents have the satisfaction of knowing that they have joined a new band of cognoscenti. Indeed, the images on the Internet seemed to advance the Abu Ghraib and Nick Berg stories not because seeing is believing or because everyone wants visuals but because mainstream print outlets don't have the same cachet of knowingness as the Internet, where you have to navigate your way to the plum -- itself a form of knowingness. So the Internet not only provides the opportunity to see what one could not see elsewhere; it plays to an emerging sensibility that regards finding and then watching these images not as horrors to be shunned or terrible realities to be viewed but as pieces of information one must see because not to see them is to be left out, which is why the hand may not linger long over the mouse before double-clicking. It is less voyeurism than a kind of validation. <I>Man, have you seen the Nick Berg tape?</I>

All of this wrests Nick Berg and Abu Ghraib from the old moral context and categories. There may have been a time when knowing led to knowledge, which made considerations about the cultural and psychological impact of what one saw or read seem appropriate. But now knowing is an end in itself, and a debate over the effects of watching abominations may be irrelevant in a society where information no longer exists to be assessed but only to be accessed.