The other day I was asked to do the now common act of taking off my shoes at the airport security screening. As I deposited my shoes in the tray, a sense of utter absurdity washed over me. I have to take my shoes off and have them scanned by an X-ray machine because some guy tried to blow up… return to article
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Reader Comments (23)Page 1 of 1 pagesJuhhuuuu!
Another Portrait!!
Ein weiteres Portrait!!
Dankesch?n.
Thank you Mr Vonnegut and Mr St.eadman.
Greetings to all the people on this potatoshaped planet,
Viele Gr¸?e an alle Menschen auf diesem Kartoffelplaneten,
sincerely,h?fflichst,St.pertschi
Posted by stoove on Apr 15, 2003 at 5:02 AM Our media-hacks are jumping around as gleefully as the Nazis must have been the day after the fall of Warsaw. If our government shoots reporters from Al Jazeera, how long is it before they kill them all?
Posted by pk on Apr 15, 2003 at 1:53 PM Vonnegut has this series going.
He’s still writing good stuff.
Posted by Buzz on Apr 16, 2003 at 10:47 PM Vonnegut has this series going.
He’s still writing good stuff.
Posted by Bob on Apr 16, 2003 at 10:48 PM are you keeping up with the bazzar news.there are some interesting news in lufa about the nra that is,was,always will be startling.I think uou have this site.hope all is well goob.fj
Posted by tdw on Apr 28, 2003 at 9:56 AM I love his answer to my question. So deep and blunt. Amazing
So it goes
Posted by Kevin Hatton on Apr 28, 2003 at 7:32 PM Thank you, Mr. Vonnegut.....
You always make me smile…
I think Mark Twain was right.
With each passing day of insanity
on this poisoned planet of perils,
I can only pray that the good and
decent folks take some action to
combat the true enemy of our country....those who will not act
and those who will not react.
Posted by Loree Levine on Apr 29, 2003 at 7:52 AM Kurt’s answer to charles about getting a shot gun, has me laughing out loud. Our war in Iraq was no victory. No one wins through killing. Kurt is a great writer and a sensible guy. KV for vice Pres!
Posted by bill gittlen on May 1, 2003 at 2:32 PM I love kurt
he always puts things just as they .....nothing more and nothing else.........which is exactly what everything is........thank you and please continue
Posted by Alex Recchio on May 1, 2003 at 7:56 PM The supposed airport security is nothing but a farce and a waste of taxpayer money. Ordinary morons are content with this joke and believe that searching a wheelchair-bound grandmother’s purse is going to prevent a highly unlikely terrorist attack.
These same people do not want to profile people who may commit these acts more often than others, they feel this will upset people and cause bad feelings and increase the sales of Kleenex.
What really matters today in the U.S.; the imploding economy, corruption and extortion in Washington, the government condoned devastation of our environment, the homeless, elderly and poor, widening gap between the top 5% and the rest of us, etc. does not appeal to the public at large. As long as American Idol is on the shit box and People magazine is in the rack in the bathroom, the sheep do not fear the shears.
Posted by Brian on May 2, 2003 at 5:10 PM Soon the American people will understand the full meaning of the old Russian proverb that says"What did the trees say to each other when the Axe came into the forest? Don’t worry the handle is one of us!Your country has been taken from its citizens and given to people who think all ‘voters’ are fools to be manipulated for the benefit of a tiny group of murderous power junkies.Rise up America!You have a lot of repairs to do to your foundering ‘ship of state.Regards to all those crazy,creative,iconoclastic Americans,the ones we foriegners really love.Denis Foley.
Posted by Denis Foley on May 4, 2003 at 9:04 AM “Airport security” is an oxymoron.For an airport to be secure no aircraft or passengers can be allowed on the premises,or overhead.The I.R.A. paralysed Heathrow and all other near London airports with non-explosive mortar rounds and rail and tunnel traffic for days with ‘rail-bangers’,a type of fog warning device.The whole point of anti-regime activity is to go where there is no security and disrupt rather than destroy.’Control’ is the target of serious guerrillas,not the controllers.Regards to all kindly folk.Denis Foley.
Posted by Denis Foley on May 4, 2003 at 8:51 PM I enjoy Kurt Vonnegut’s writing very much.
Does Mr. Vonnegut like to drink beer?
Posted by Frenk on May 6, 2003 at 6:00 AM Charles must be paranoid, his address is withheld, he knows it’s only prudent, some anthrax could be mailed.
Posted by David Sholts on May 7, 2003 at 9:16 PM I am reminded of the statistics professor who asked his class how one might improve one’s chances of avoiding a plane with a bomb.
The answer of course, if take a bomb with you.
The chances of getting on a plane with two bombs are zero.
Posted by Peter Gillespie on May 15, 2003 at 12:45 AM Peter, your statistics professor is wrong. You do NOT change the odds by carrying a bomb. And the chance of having 2 bombs on one plane is not 0. Please study some real probability. The odds of someone else having a bomb is not affected by you...the odds of someone else having a bomb remain exactly the same, just as the odds of getting a straight flush dealt now is not dependant on what happened the last deal in any way, shape or form (assuming a fairly shuffled deck).
Vonnegut, well written story...very enjoyable. These neo-Clausewitzians are a dangerous breed indeed.
Posted by Chad on May 15, 2003 at 5:47 AM Mr Vonnegut,
I am extremely confused. I have a copy of Martian Timeslip which was published posthumously. Please explain. For the last few years I thought that you had died in 1996.
Mind you, between the years of 1992 and 1997 I thought that the astronomer Patrick Moore was dead also. In that instance, as it is now, it was very comforting to know that I was wrong and he had been slyly enjoying his years in the land of the living.
I hope life is good! (And apologies if I’ve made you consider mortality)
Posted by jonathan on Jun 22, 2003 at 7:19 PM johnathan,
Mr. Vonnegut is very much alive. See also:
http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/vnames/Vonnegut+Kurt+Jr
Posted by anadis on Jul 22, 2003 at 11:11 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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