Well, let me start by saying to you, with deadly seriousness, that I am opposed to:

• Jingoism
  
• Nationalization of labor and industry
  
• Government taking care of you from cradle to grave (depending on the definition of "take care of" and "you")
  
• Blindly following law without questioning it
  
• Lack of accountability for anyone
  
• Torture
  
• Murder, mass or otherwise
  

In your hypothetical situation, I would mostly be concerned that the man stood trial for the murder, robbing me would be a secondary concern. I might forgive it if the initial plan was to save two children, but then someone killed a member of his family, and he used the second half of the money for revenge instead. Probably not though.

The problem with the analogy is that you're anthropomorphizing government as a single person, who makes unilateral decisions, and whose actions and mindset I have no control over.

Perhaps to you that's an accurate description of government, but to me it's not. Maybe I'll feel differently the next time a party that's antithetical to me comes to power, but I suspect I'll never feel powerless to affect my government again.

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Obviously I jest when I compare you or any Democrat/Republican to Nazis. There's a distinct line between the two, but there are also some similarities that are scary. Jingoism is one. Nationalization of labor and industry is another. The idea of compulsory duty or debt to a government that will take care of you from cradle to grave is yet another.

But the worst is this blind affectation of righteousness toward following what is the law without questioning it. When someone cries out against an atrocity perpetrated by the government, the answer from most statists and bureaucrats is typically "but it's the law", as if to imply that the mere existence of the law is justification within itself for any atrocity it reaps. Or, that because it's the law (of the collective) the statist or bureaucrat has no individual accountability for their actions.

As if to say... "I'm just doing my job." Or "I took the Jews from the train to the showers, because it was my job. I wasn't the one who ordered them murdered, so I am not accountable."

In that regard, yes, there are dangerous similarities. For instance, our Federal income tax (extorted money) goes to fund torture and murder of innocent people in the Middle East, but you defend this system that steals our money (our labor, our time, our energy) to pay for this.

If I stole a hundred dollars from you at gun point, used fifty of it to pay for a drug to save a sick child's life, but spent the other fifty to have a man murdered, would you not still want me to pay for my crime of stealing the money? Let alone the crime of murder? Wouldn't you want to ensure that I was never able to steal your money again? And that even though I did save a child's life, it doesn't justify the means? Would you not agree?

Obviously I jest when I compare you or any Democrat/Republican to Nazis. There's a distinct line between the two, but there are also some similarities that are scary. Jingoism is one. Nationalization of labor and industry is another. The idea of compulsory duty or debt to a government that will take care of you from cradle to grave is yet another.

But the worst is this blind affectation of righteousness toward following what is the law without questioning it. When someone cries out against an atrocity perpetrated by the government, the answer from most statists and bureaucrats is typically "but it's the law", as if to imply that the mere existence of the law is justification within itself for any atrocity it reaps. Or, that because it's the law (of the collective) the statist or bureaucrat has no individual accountability for their actions.

As if to say... "I'm just doing my job." Or "I took the Jews from the train to the showers, because it was my job. I wasn't the one who ordered them murdered, so I am not accountable."

In that regard, yes, there are dangerous similarities. For instance, our Federal income tax (extorted money) goes to fund torture and murder of innocent people in the Middle East, but you defend this system that steals our money (our labor, our time, our energy) to pay for this.

If I stole a hundred dollars from you at gun point, used fifty of it to pay for a drug to save a sick child's life, but spent the other fifty to have a man murdered, would you not still want me to pay for my crime of stealing the money? Let alone the crime of murder? Wouldn't you want to ensure that I was never able to steal your money again? And that even though I did save a child's life, it doesn't justify the means? Would you not agree?

In reply to this comment by NetRunner:
Since you like to call me a Nazi every other comment, answer me this; were the Nazis bad people because:

a) They used fiscal stimulus to rapidly rebuild their economy after the Great Depression

OR

b) They tortured and killed millions of people

"Look, the place that cradled me is burning!"

I wonder if it's the sense of home he feels in the Law that he relates to in this music. At another point in the film, he describes the joy he receives in practicing it. The Law which, ironically, is now the thing that seeks to destroy him.

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before," Bokonon tells us. "He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-- Kurt Vonnegut jr., "Cat's Cradle"


Just once I would like to persuade the audience not to wear any article of blue denim. If only they could see themselves in a pair of brown corduroys like mine instead of this awful, boring blue denim. I don't enjoy the sky or sea as much as I used to because of this Levi character. If Jesus Christ came back today, He and I would get into our brown corduroys and go to the nearest jean store and overturn the racks of blue denim. Then we'd get crucified in the morning.
-- Ian Anderson, of Jethro Tull

Fairly similar to the TOME about procrastinating. And damn, it looks like Lev's dad is a total cradle-robber.

Hello, my name is Farthead2000 and I live in fear. My government is smarter than me. I like that. I hope it remains the brilliant entity that coddles me from cradle to grave.

I fear snake oil practices because I live in a community where no business medical or otherwise lives or dies by its reputations, so I see no value in any medical practices outside of what my government dictates as safe and wonderful for me and my hooker friends I visit on occasion.

Oh. But that's cool right? I mean, as long as they're receiving expensive checkups where they pass those savings on to me?! Awesome! I'm so awesome. I love myself. I am Farthead2000. I love little boys.

Your video, TED Talk: William McDonough: Designing Cradle to Cradle, has made it into your personal Highest Rated Videos listing. Congratulations on a job well done. For you contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Reminds me of the paperclip Iphone cradle
http://www.deanying.com/PermaLink,guid,a99a1c06-b55b-4001-afeb-46a707055ecc.aspx

Kurt Vonnegut jr. is indeed the master. It's hard to pick just five, so this list might be a little random, but here are five books I have enjoyed immensely:

1. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut jr.
2. 1984 by George Orwell
3. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
4. Mengele Zoo by Gert Nygårdshaug
5. The Brothers Karamasov by Fjodor Dostojevskij

I especially like the religious themes in Cat's Cradle; that's why I picked it out to be on the list. But I have yet to read a Vonnegut book I didn't like, so many others could be there as well.

I really recommend Mengele Zoo to anyone who hasn't heard of it. It paints a horrible picture of the exploitation of South America, and has a main character you instantly fall in love with.

What the heck, I'll throw in a few more:
Everything by Tolkien, the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, The Eyes of the Dragon and the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, The Knights Templar series by Jan Guillou.

Seems that we like Kurt Vonnegut...

1. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
2. Eunoia by Christian Bök.
3. The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
4. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
5. Hard to decide, perhaps The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris or "What If?" edited by Robert Cowley.

surprised to see this many Camus fans. here's mine:

1 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
2 The Fall - Albert Camus
3 Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut JR
4 Animal Farm - George Orwell
5 Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse

I'd give Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and honorable mention, but only because I'm still reading it; great book so far though.

Looking back on it, all are fairly quick reads; great for a weekend or light reading.

... this is clearly a medley of Vonnegut's writings (e.g. Cat's Cradle, Welcome to the Monkey House) and is enjoyable as a time capsule of the early 70's as well. Knowing that the written word is stronger for sure, it is still worth the opportunity to watch (especially if you are sick at home ).

*long

Hmm, looks like an accident to me. Seems like the cop is trying to get the kid under control and maybe felt that he was trying to shake loose so he pulled him back to straighten him out. I see the cop trying to get a hold of the kid on his way down, but not really succeeding He even tries to cradle the kid's head in his arm. The cop's story seems mostly accurate - from the video it does look like the cop pulls on the kid, not that he came back at him, but it's hard to tell for sure.

On a side note it looks like the happy couple is expecting Drunken Moron Jr. soon. Good for them, if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that teen parents are on the path to success

oh gosh, cradle.

what? if i had any dani filth poster hanging in my bedroom as a teenager. noooooooooooooooooooooo.

oho.

We - we are the ones
We'll seal your fate, tear down your state, go get yo' guns
We - we came to fight
It's yo' disgrace, smash up your place, that's just polite

Once upon a time when crack was gold
And hip-hop was not yet platinum sold
I scoured the streets for stacks to fold
My mood like my hair was relaxed and blowed
I hated police and my teachers were beasts
My heat in the trunk of the classic Caprice
The one university, I knew the deal
So I cooked it, bagged it, put it on sale
Now philosophically you'd be opposed
to one inhaling coke via mouth or the nose
But economically I would propose
that you go eat a dick as employment froze
And I felt like an abandoned child
Left to fend for myself in the wild
While every courtroom, judge and gavel
were there to bury me under the gravel
Or at the bottom of the finest malt ale
Observe; you'll find without fail
That in every neighborhood and penitentiary
There exists many others who are similar to me and

We - we are the ones
We'll seal your fate, tear down your state, go get yo' guns
We - we came to fight
It's yo' disgrace, smash up your place, that's just polite

In later years I lost some peers
Who mixed burners with Belvedere
And took shots from gung-ho cashiers
The world was cold yet hell was near
So I seek for a kilo
And my stack got a little bit taller like Skee-Lo
A street CEO
There was all of this hell well and not one hero
The intensity was fortified
As I clenched five digits on the forty-five
Barely down at the retail store I would detail more
But I don't wish this action to be glorified
There was a plan I was eager to listen
To not sleep in the park in the fetal position
Having to wipe off canine fecal emission
Otherwise I'd survive without legal permission
It's an equal division and then we go to prison, which is a little decision
All I wanted was a Regal to glisten
And my kids would have meat in the kitchen and complete ammunition
It's a given once the people are driven that

We - we are the ones
We'll seal your fate, tear down your state, go get yo' guns
We - we came to fight
It's yo' disgrace, smash up your place, that's just polite

Get your work up! Get your work up!

We are born from the mildew, the rust, the heathenous lust
The dreams in the dust, the evidence flushed
The grieving is just, they're thieving from us
Insulted and cussed, this evening we bust
Appears unstable and under the table
We like free speech but we love free cable
We're taught from the cradle the Bill Gates fable
Which leads to high speeds in Buick LeSables
We have no excuses just great alibis
And poker faces you can't analyze
Our politicians sell our soul and our cries
With blood on their hands they can't sanitize
We're the have-nots, but we're also the gon'-gets
Not just talkin 'bout the Lex with the chrome kits
You can get that by yourself with the four-fifth
Let's all own shit then toast with Patron hits