why that was nice

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

No, I live in Charleston. Skateboarding is definately outlawed at the Battery, because so much time and money went into making it the tourist attraction it is. She was doing her job, and the skaters out here don't listen anyway. He's lucky she just pushed him rather than pistol whip him into the bushes HA.

Whether they listen or not, they still should get a warning before action, PERIOD! Should we just shoot thieves, instead of warning them to freeze? It sounds fun, yes, but C'mon.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark, satirical vision in works including "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle" was shaped by the horrors he witnessed during World War II, has died at age 84.

Vonnegut died on Wednesday after suffering brain injuries following a fall weeks ago, said Donald Farber, Vonnegut's friend, lawyer, agent and manager.

Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction, but his 14 novels were classics of the American counterculture, resonating with the U.S. antiwar sentiment during the Vietnam War era.

The author's Web site, updated after his death, displayed a simple black-and-white image of a bird cage -- a symbolic element in his writing -- empty with an open door. "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922-2007," the page read.

"He was a beautiful man," Farber said. "I never hung up the phone without having laughed, he always left me laughing, no matter what the circumstances of the world."

"I last spoke to him the day he fell," Farber said. "He was in good spirits. Every time he spoke with me no matter what the circumstances in the world, he had a funny angle on it even if it wasn't a funny thing."

Despite battles with severe depression, Vonnegut was known for his witticisms.

"I've had a hell of a good time," Vonnegut once wrote. "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different."

Irwyn Applebaum, president of the Bantam Dell publishing division of Random House, said, "By all counts he was one of the great writers of the 20th Century and continued to be one of the great writers in the 21st Century."

Bantam Dell publishes some of the author's seminal works, including "Breakfast of Champions," "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," which made him a literary idol in the 1960s and 1970s, especially to students.

A defining event in Vonnegut's life was the firebombing of Dresden, Germany by Allied Forces in 1945, which he witnessed as a young prisoner of war. The bombing killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians.

Dresden was the basis for "Slaughterhouse-Five," published in 1969 against the backdrop of war in Vietnam, racial unrest and cultural and social upheaval.

"There is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre," Vonnegut wrote.

Vonnegut became a cult hero when the novel reached No. 1 on bestseller lists and even more popular among many young Americans when some schools and libraries banned the book for its ****** content, rough language and depictions of violence.

The novel featured a signature Vonnegut phrase, "so it goes," which became a catch phrase for Vietnam war opponents.

After the book was published, Vonnegut went into severe depression and vowed never to write another novel. In 1984, he tried to take his life with sleeping pills and alcohol. His mother had herself committed *******.

Vonnegut mixed fiction and autobiography in his work, which also blended elements of science fiction and touched on authoritarianism and the dehumanization of man by technology.

Fans said he invented a new literary type but some critics accused him of recycling themes and characters.

"Cat's Cradle" was published in 1963 and initially sold only about 500 copies but it remains widely read today in high school English classes.

Vonnegut's last book, published in 2005, was a collection of biographical essays, "A Man Without a Country."

A fourth-generation German-American who was born in Indianapolis, Vonnegut is survived by his second wife photographer Jill Krementz, their daughter and his six other children. Two of his children are published authors.

Mark Vonnegut, named after Mark Twain whom his father admired and bore a striking resemblance to, wrote "The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity" about his own descent and eventual recovery from mental illness. He speculated the illness was partly hereditary.

Daughter Edith Vonnegut, an artist, wrote "Domestic Goddesses," which takes issue with traditional art imagery in which women are shown as weak and helpless.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR2007041201159.html

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Breakfast of Champions

 

[jimmclrk1 10+ year member]

R.I.P.

Edit: Quit making it lower case.

 

[jimmclrk1 10+ year member]

As an English major, I really am sad. Almost as sad as the day HST took his life.

 

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

I didn't even know who he was.

 

[jimmclrk1 10+ year member]

I didn't even know who he was.

That's why the terrorists hate us.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

So it goes.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

Juan is an immigrant. He arrives in America and immediately begins looking for employment. Before finding a job, he must secure food, clothing, and shelter. He may do so from funds brought with him from his native country, or he may depend upon the kindness of family, friends, or charitable organizations here in the United States. In either case, because such transfers are voluntary, no American is harmed.

If Juan resorts to theft, however, the story is different. Some Americans are indeed harmed. But criminal law is the appropriate tool for dealing with such thievery. Restricting immigration on the grounds that a handful of immigrants behave criminally would be like denying drivers licenses to everyone just because a small percentage of people drive recklessly. More focused and less ham-fisted means are available in both cases for weeding out the bad apples from the good.

Juan, however, is no thief. He’s a worker. Suppose that Juan has no skills of any value to any American. He can do nothing that any American is willing to pay for. In this case, Juan will eventually return home. No American is harmed. (Actually, Juan would probably not come to America in the first place. People so destitute of skills are unlikely to leave home in search of work in a foreign and highly competitive economy.)

But Juan is extremely unlikely to lack any skill for which Americans are willing to pay some mutually agreeable wage. Readers who doubt this claim should consult that cornerstone of economics called the theory of comparative advantage—a theory, by the way, that exposes the senselessness of identifying people economically as being "above average" or "below average." The theory of comparative advantage makes clear that everyone is above average at some tasks and below average at many others.

When Juan finds employment, not only is Juan made better off, but so, too, is his employer. Consumers are also made better off, for the higher output or lower cost that Juan’s availability makes possible for his employer is shared with consumers through reduced prices or improved product quality. Nothing to complain of so far.

Some people, however, are harmed by Juan’s availability—namely, American workers who compete with Juan. If Juan’s most marketable skill is nearly identical to the most marketable skill possessed by Sam the American, Juan is a potential rival for Sam’s job. Because of Juan, Sam’s income may fall.

Protecting Sam from income loss, though, is inappropriate. To prevent Juan from entering America is to do nothing more virtuous than to protect Sam from competition. But it is also to prevent George and Bill and other Americans from freely dealing with Juan, who is someone they would otherwise choose to deal with! To restrict immigration is to deny to Americans their freedom of association. Sam, then, becomes a monopolist under immigration restrictions. If Sam suffers income loss when these restrictions are lifted, he is no more worthy of our solicitude than is any other monopolist whose monopoly privilege unravels.

Immigration opponents also fear that open immigration means overcrowding. This worry is overblown. First, the United States is sparsely populated. Second, owners of private property have incentives to keep their properties from being overcrowded. The proper solution to overcrowding is privatizing those property holdings not yet privatized, not forcibly stopping productive people from coming to our country.

Manhattan is one of the most densely populated spots on earth. Yet it is also one of the wealthiest. New Yorkers often complain of crowds, but no one is compelled to live in that city. The reason people live there is because economic opportunity in New York is vast. Living in close contact with lots of people is a price that many of us voluntarily pay for the opportunity to take advantage of the wealth-producing capacities of an extensive division of labor.

New York and Los Angeles are crowded but wealthy. Oklahoma and Mississippi are sparsely populated but much poorer. This fact alone is ample evidence of the great economic benefits of immigration.

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

that was a good read

 

[quest51210 10+ year member]

Great work! this a personal essay or borrowed? very insightful, truthfull, and intelligent manner of putting such a subject. almost doesnt belong on here

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

its 100% original work.

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

Nonetheless, it's not my original work //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[quest51210 10+ year member]

great job, i remember from threads many moons ago when no one else had the balls to step up with me. if you dont mind i copied and pasted this over at another forum i get on. will supply the link if you wish me to.

 

[marleyskater420 5,000+ posts]

enter jmmk and that loser from Danville to tell us why because Bush says no, we should follow, and blowing this nice thread into something horrible.

Alas, wonderful read and a very intelligible way to bring light to this issue.

 

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

But i did read somethin kinda like this b4