Comedian George Carlin dies in Los Angeles at 71

Yahoo ^ | 6-23-08 | Yahoo

[jmc813]

OS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71. ADVERTISEMENT Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters. Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine about seven dirty words you could not say on television. A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of his "Filthy Words" routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

[ExSoldier]

I always liked him, but as I aged and found Jesus myself, I finally heard the bitterness and rage he felt towards Christianity. That took the humor off his schtick for me. I guess he's explaining himself right now ... although it's waaaay too late. ~sigh~

[My hearts in London - Everett]

This Christian doesn’t believe in praying someone into Heaven. If he rejected Christ in this life, God is not “all-forgiving” now that he’s on bended knee before Him now. The time to gain forgiveness from God ended when Carlin took his last breath here with us. God is not “all-loving” either. He hates sin. He turned His face from His own son at the cross.

[KDD]

George Carlin Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat? That somehow we're gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun?

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!

We're going away. Pack your shit, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.

You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet's doing. You wanna know if the planet's all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.

The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, "Why are we here?" Plastic...asshole.

So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that's begun. Don't you think that's already started? I think, to be fair, the planet sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And the planet can defend itself in an organized, collective way, the way a beehive or an ant colony can. A collective defense mechanism. The planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet? How would you defend yourself against this troublesome, pesky species? Let's see... Viruses. Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh...viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.

Einstein said the following on the subject of the existence of God and I think it fits rather well here:

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

Someone can be agnostic/athiest and still not run rampant murdering people. Just because they don't fear godly retribution doesn't change their motivation to be good, well-meaning members of society... they just find that imperative from a different internal place. The same goes for belief in anything, really. George Carlin had a God given talent...He was but the clay...just as you and I are.

[fagin62]

I must respectfully disagree with you. I do believe that God is all-forgiving and all-loving. Guess I just don’t buy into the “my way or the highway” view of Christianity (i.e. the Inquisition and all that sorta thing)...Reckon I prefer the “Judge not that ye be not judged” and the “Love thy neighbor as thy love thyself” form of Christianity as preached by Jesus Christ Himself.

[My hearts in London - Everett]

We are clay to be molded. Unfortunately, Mr. Carlin didn’t allow God into his life to mold him into anything more than the lump he started out as. Yes, he had a God-given talent and he wasted it instead of using it to glorify God which is the purpose of any talent God sees fit to bless us with.

[My hearts in London - Everett]

Quite all right. I don't mind that we disagree. But Christ is the One who said that the gate to heaven is narrow, wide is the way that leads to destruction. Matt 7:13 ;~)

[KDD]

You are arrogant to presume the will of God or to even begin to understand his works. Paraphrasing God

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the World"?

If you know in your bible where that comes from then read the chapter...and ponder on it. Hyper judgemental religious ideologues find not the wisdom in God's words that Job did.

[My hearts in London - Everett]

Where did I presume the will of God or to even begin to understand his works in any of my posts? If you would be so kind as to point it out to me?

[Judges Gone Wild]

He was just as miserable and bitter as a young man.

One of the things he said that I liked — “It’s easier to put on fuzzy slippers than to carpet the whole world.”

R.I.P. George

[Mila]

"Oxymorons will never be the same."

Later today, in his memory, I might have some jumbo shrimp.

[Mila]

"He turned bitter after his wife died."

I noticed that too. I think he always had an edge, but it got much sharper and more cynical after her death.

[Sacajaweau]

Saw the man years ago in Rochester, NY. My side hurt from laughing so hard. He was brilliant!!

[Loud Mime]

Carlin’s voice carried influence; he knew that. He also knew that he had a bad heart that could pop at any time.

Such acts are judged appropriately.

[Mila]

"My point is simply that I can't judge him and you can't judge him...Only our all-loving and all-forgiving God can judge him. "

Your above statement sums it up perfectly.

[4yearlurker]

Rest in peace Al Sleet. You made me laugh many a time. I even bought your early records.

[ninonitti]

Unless he repented, he is in torment tonight.

Good to know we have the Psychic Soul Weatherman on board this thread......what's his forecast for tomorrow?

More torment with intermitent pangs of remorse?

[ninonitti]

Truth is, Carlin hadn’t been funny for a quarter century. And his attacks on God, Jesus Christ, people of the Christian faith, along with conservatives and most everything else to do with traditional American values, was sickening.

Read these words: George Carlin Dead.

Do you feel better now or still sick?

[SkyPilot]

I always thought he was a brilliant comedian.

His material about food had me laughing for days.

"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview. Carlin told Playboy in 2005 that he looked forward to an afterlife where he could watch the decline of civilization on a "heavenly CNN."

Strange, and sad. I wonder who he thought created the afterlife where he could watch this "heavenly CNN."

Poor guy.

[ninonitti]

LOL thanks Mila. That hit what for me was the man’s essence- he listened to language, he slowed the tape down and really paid attention to what we do and say on a daily basis without a second thought about what’s really going on.....he saw the man behind the curtain.

[MarkL]

He wanted to offend people, so nasty commments (and, the comment above was not nasty) are the tribute he would want.

Funerals, memorials, and tributes are for the survivors, NOT the deceased. Though some believe it's for them to pontificate: See Fred Phelps. Let's not try plumbing the depths, the way they do on the Huffington Post or DU.

Mark