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?!? What Usenet were *you* on? This current tiff is a model of tact, charm, decorum, and, importantly, proper grammar and spelling. Adam…
20 May 2009, 01:47
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However, in order to determine what the legitimate function of government, as defined as "to protect the rights of the individual," is, surely we need an exhaustive list, don't…
20 May 2009, 01:27
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Concisely put. What are the rights of the individual? Adam…
20 May 2009, 01:02
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...Except that Moe can afford better things than we can. Including weapons. If you view me-as-a-person purely as me-as-a-device-for-earning-money, you may have a point. Thou…
20 May 2009, 00:52
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Hey, I'll take a crack at this one. The short answer is, "Money comes from trust." Money initially comes about because direct barter is *really damn inconvenient*, and things…
20 May 2009, 00:35
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Isn't that the engine that drives the whole thing? Since I know you have a tendency to narrowly-construe if it suits your argument, I will amplify: Traditional "extortionate" t…
20 May 2009, 00:12
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Oh, actually, the IRS will refund you money if they audit you and they think you overpaid. I've only ever had it in the context of an audit where I *did* owe them money, but w…
20 May 2009, 00:08
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That's exactly what I was saying: for the people who work to earn it. At least, for *me*. I was arguing from my own experience: the marginal value of the $30,000 between an i…
19 May 2009, 23:09
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He didn't call it the War of Yankee Aggression, now did he? Adam…
19 May 2009, 22:38
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Ah, but here is our fundamental disagreement: I don't think "extortion" is any closer to "plain reality" than "dues." I am, in fact, arguing that the reverse is true. But then …
19 May 2009, 22:00
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Ah. So "extortion" can, in your world, be a good thing, or at least a necessary evil. This was confusing to me. I prefer to consider taxation neither theft nor extortion, but …
19 May 2009, 21:48
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If he is standing naked at the edge of a cliff, I for one don't want to....oh, wait, that'd be HR anyway. (Block? Giger?) Adam…
19 May 2009, 21:35
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I don't see how you can get from the position that all taxation is theft to the position that some governments are legitimate without giving up on the first one. Adam…
19 May 2009, 21:29
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I am merely offering Somalia as the closest approach to the ideal of a complete lack of functional civil society and to a Hobbesian all- against-all of which I am currently awar…
19 May 2009, 21:14
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Of course, "fund it to the same degree," and "robbing from the rich to give to the poor," each themselves admit multiple interpretations. One way of "funding it to the same degr…
19 May 2009, 21:09
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It is my choice to go live somewhere else without these restrictions, if I like. Like Mogadishu. Adam…
19 May 2009, 20:46
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Can one not make the case that societies in which people DO respect the integrity of private property are the result of those in which benefits for all are increased on the bac…
19 May 2009, 20:36
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Let us say, rather, that my personal consent is only relevant as part of the input to the process by which taxes are levied. In other words, I get one vote, and my personal pr…
19 May 2009, 20:06
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This one's easy. The government provides services I find beneficial, such as police and fire protection, maintained roads, public education, and so forth. On balance, the amoun…
19 May 2009, 19:39
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How do you define "criminal", or "theft", without a legal code against which to define those actions? How do you enforce a legal code in the absence of a government? How do you…
19 May 2009, 18:26
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Grimli. Oh, no, that's *how* shot Gloin. Adam…
13 May 2009, 20:23
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The first time you see a horse's skull with pomegranates for eyes, it's really cool. The fifteenth time, not so much, Adam…
07 May 2009, 03:29
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There's a joke waiting to be made here about "the beast with two backs." Can't quite find it. Adam…
04 May 2009, 22:55
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Hey, random Oreb sighting! http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=532 Panel 3. Well, sorta. Adam…
24 Apr 2009, 17:25
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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog (or presumably other canid), it's too dark to see. But perfect for meditation. Adam…
24 Apr 2009, 03:12
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Been awfully quiet around here lately. Did everyone get eaten by a werewolf? Adam…
24 Apr 2009, 03:03
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It should come with a warning label of SOME kind, though. Adam…
17 Apr 2009, 18:12
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_Moby-Dick_ works like that too. The scene with Baldanders at the inn is, of course, a direct homage. Also, if you're looking at me in confusion, yes, _Moby-Dick_ is funny. …
15 Apr 2009, 14:17
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You're selling Short Sun and maybe AEG short. (I didn't like Pirate Freedom either.) I think *that's* a mistake. Adam…
14 Apr 2009, 14:10
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I'm pretty sure the intended allusion was the second, but I would be greatly surprised if Mao didn't have the first in mind when penning the second. Adam…
03 Apr 2009, 18:38
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Yes, he's obviously incorrigable. Adam…
02 Apr 2009, 14:01
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If there's one person I'd worry about trying to apply the Two Apricots to me, it's probably Harlan Ellison. So it's probably for the best. Adam…
01 Apr 2009, 19:00
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I can take him. As long as I can keep him at arm's length anyway. Adam…
01 Apr 2009, 18:55
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If you are going to insist on a radically-stupidified-and-insulting caricature, yes, that is what I mean. Your inability to, for instance, pay for police protection or legal c…
01 Apr 2009, 00:57
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There's a continuum here. It is the government's job to make sure that something unpleasant happens to Bob if he kills me simply because he has the ability to (being stronger)…
31 Mar 2009, 21:50
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To protect the weak from the strong. Adam…
31 Mar 2009, 21:39
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I figured I'd have help. It was supposed to be a get-together, right? Adam…
31 Mar 2009, 19:18
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Oh, I wasn't going to GIVE them to him. Just throw them. Certainly not AT him! Adam…
31 Mar 2009, 16:16
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I was thinking a sofa, or maybe a fridge. Adam…
31 Mar 2009, 14:18
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Gene Wolfe saying "LOL" is no more likely than a Wolfe character saying "STFU." Adam…
30 Mar 2009, 18:49
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Yabbut raising taxes on the poor doesn't help either because they ain't got no money. I am of the strong opinion that, rather than inviting the CEOs of the 15 biggest banks in…
28 Mar 2009, 02:31
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I see that someone understands how I felt about 2001-2008. Adam…
27 Mar 2009, 02:32
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Or of, you know, strange magic to do with traveling through mirrors. Adam…
21 Mar 2009, 02:17
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If they're Antennae then they're on the Neighbors' heads, and therefore the Trees Are Their Hats. Adam…
20 Mar 2009, 19:00
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So, it's not hyacinths. Oh. Hyacinth. Um. Anyway, so, it's not hyacinths, but as long as we're doing temporally-reversed scenes, how about when the monster drowns the littl…
20 Mar 2009, 16:44
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..... That's beautiful. And it might even be right. I mean, as well as being Godly Fishers Of Eyeballs spreading the Gospel. Adam…
20 Mar 2009, 02:48
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OH GOD I GOTTA GO POST THIS TO CROWLEY'S BLOG NOW. Adam…
20 Mar 2009, 02:45
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Touch?, Dr. Boots. Adam…
20 Mar 2009, 02:45
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Didn't Jesus say, I will make you a fisher of eyeballs. Adam…
19 Mar 2009, 22:39
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I can't think of anyone else who was dead for three days and then wasn't. Adam…
19 Mar 2009, 17:47
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