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Yes. David, you know, I wish I didn't have to say this, but you are very loud, very emotional, and very wrong. I was thinking more of health care for disabled veterans - did you k…
01 Apr 2009, 13:46
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7 May, right? So this year he will be 78, in 2010 he will be 79, in 2011 he will be 80. Do you think we'd get permission to throw this here shindig? The timing is excellent. …
01 Apr 2009, 05:21
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Well, I wasn't actually: I was referring to what is generally referred to as redistribution of wealth. In my first sentence above, where I describe police services as a proper func…
01 Apr 2009, 02:18
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If you will recall, we began this discussion by asking what the government was authorized to spend money upon. My answer to this was threefold: the military, infrastructure and big…
31 Mar 2009, 23:14
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But the government is normally the strongest entity around. How does that work? .…
31 Mar 2009, 21:45
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If you would have peace, prepare for war. What do you think the main purpose of government is, David, if not to maintain the military? .…
31 Mar 2009, 21:37
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I'll bring my trebuchet. .…
31 Mar 2009, 20:58
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(A) Whose money is it? My point of view is that it belongs to the rich people and as their property should be disposed of in the manner in which they choose. There are other points…
31 Mar 2009, 19:16
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No one expects you to control the behavior of anyone except yourself. As I say, gaurantee your own behavior and let others do the same for theirs. .…
31 Mar 2009, 19:03
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I like Jerry Friedman's take on this.... .…
31 Mar 2009, 17:38
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Absolutely. As someone pointed out to me in private mail, it would be absolutely required that we had the man's permission for me to be willing to do it. So it might be appropriat…
31 Mar 2009, 17:36
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Well, I don't know anything about doing this. I know I could organize logistics for a dinner/conference. I am wary of committing myself to large amounts of work that I am unfamilia…
31 Mar 2009, 17:34
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Wow, you're strong! Unless we're talking doll furniture or something.... .…
31 Mar 2009, 17:29
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What specifically is a festschrift besides 'a celebration of the writing' as I translate it from the German? Is there a specialized meaning of the term that I am unaware of (as I a…
31 Mar 2009, 17:27
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Is that what it is called? I like the sound of that! .…
31 Mar 2009, 17:25
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Very excellent. Since we have more than two years to plan this out, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be a success. .…
31 Mar 2009, 17:24
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I'm fairly sure that Gene Wolfe has all of the household furniture that he needs. I was thinking more of like a dinner in his honor and perhaps people thanking him for writing all…
31 Mar 2009, 15:51
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That is how it is done, mostly. Exceptional individuals might do it in one generation. It does happen. Not very often. It sure didn't happen with Barack Obama (upper-middle class …
31 Mar 2009, 12:24
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As far as I know, estates are only left by natural persons, that is, they are not paid by businesses. Estate taxes are basically a means of limiting social mobility: the idea is t…
31 Mar 2009, 10:23
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Oh, I m sure we would all be on our best behavior. If you don't feel that you can control yourself, by all means, stay away. I've done this kind of thing before, it can work out w…
31 Mar 2009, 10:17
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Matt Keeley writes: I thought that was a very lively conversation. I certainly did learn a lot from it. .…
30 Mar 2009, 19:46
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I was going to say, that is a remarkably ignorant attitude he's got there, but it isn't remarkable at all, is it? Just ignorant. Looking forward to that.... .…
30 Mar 2009, 19:29
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Next year he is 80. Perhaps we should descend upon Barrington bearing tribute.... Quite seriously, why don't we get a hotel there sometime around his birthday and throw a big thi…
30 Mar 2009, 19:23
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Waaaaaaah.... MONGO STRAIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!…
29 Mar 2009, 06:58
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David Stockhoff asserts that there is no corporate income tax. Tax rates around the world vary considerably both in their statutory rates, and in their effective rates after all o…
28 Mar 2009, 22:13
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It means that the wealthiest 1% of Americans account for 21.20% of public moneys, the next 4% account for another 15% or so, and the bottom half of taxpayers account for 3%. What …
28 Mar 2009, 05:08
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Not that class warriors were ever swayed by facts, but from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_federal_income_tax_is_paid_by_the_wealthy: Some quick statistics: The top …
28 Mar 2009, 03:40
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This is why 'raising taxes on the rich' doesn't work, for those of you who have been paying attention. .…
28 Mar 2009, 01:45
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It has been growing on me, how clever this novel is. On the surface, it is not only a pulp novel, it is a *bad* pulp novel, with a poor editing job: why the author and editor can't…
27 Mar 2009, 10:27
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Sorry, I've stopped participating. .…
27 Mar 2009, 06:00
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Dan'l lives in Alameda County, California. I live in Trinity County, California. .…
26 Mar 2009, 22:00
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Unplug your computer. Don't plug it back in. .…
26 Mar 2009, 20:48
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It's pretty much bankrupt up here. Still a lot better place to live than where you are. Do you really believe this? Come on, man. I know you got blinders to make a carriage horse…
26 Mar 2009, 20:46
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Or like discussing politics with someone who cannot say anything at all without adding terms of abuse? Have you ever tried to argue without insulting your interlocutor? It is refr…
26 Mar 2009, 20:33
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No, people will pay less taxes and therefore have more money and therefore go bankrupt less often. Every penny of taxes is robbed at gunpoint from a citizen, mind you. You're jus…
26 Mar 2009, 20:27
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A good practical place to start. You can only make a new tax if you remove two others: you can only raise a tax if you reduce other taxes by twice the amount. .…
26 Mar 2009, 19:25
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Cut two taxes when you lay one sounds like an excellent rule. .…
26 Mar 2009, 14:22
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Ah yes, lost R'lyeh resurfaces. Cthulhu phthaghn! .…
24 Mar 2009, 16:54
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It shows tht the Gods exist in more than three spatial dimensions. .…
21 Mar 2009, 00:13
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I feel I might have offended you, and I feel bad about this. I certainly did not mean to do so. You are probably absolutely right. I do intend to check it out, and it is because y…
19 Mar 2009, 18:16
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May be. You are not selling it well. .…
19 Mar 2009, 17:34
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I don't know much about Gurdjieff's system. I am aware of it, I haven't done any work with it, I don't remember too many details. I have been meaning to read "Beelzebub's Tales" f…
19 Mar 2009, 17:23
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He is one of three or four people who I can have a conversation with on this level. The idea that he was humoring me never crossed my mind. I have watched him humor people (and you…
19 Mar 2009, 15:14
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It doesn't. I am in total agreement with your comment. .…
19 Mar 2009, 15:05
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Yes, thank you. I believe I have fixed it above. .…
19 Mar 2009, 15:03
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These three guys got together at an SF convention and were hanging around talking. No one realized it was an historic moment (well, I sort of did, but I didn't figure that anyone w…
19 Mar 2009, 14:54
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A decent gunsafe, structurally attached to the house, is not so very expensive, especially when you consider how much cash value even a small gun collection can run to. .…
19 Mar 2009, 12:32
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There are multiple time dimensions. The level of the World that we inhabit includes three spacelike and one timelike dimension. This is a selection (sort of) from the 'next level …
19 Mar 2009, 12:12
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There's another aspect of Gene Wolfe's politics which is mentioned prominently in many of his stories, and that is his intense distrust of government. I assume that this is less co…
19 Mar 2009, 12:04
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Catholicism isn't anywhere near as Satan-obsessed as Protestantism. In my opinion, anyway. .…
19 Mar 2009, 11:56
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