-
Below. Neither. Just the facts. I agree that it is a tricky question and one central to any serious debate about the 2A. But the People plainly are thought to defend themselves…
04 Jul 2010, 13:39
-
Good catch. Perhaps being Cook is not actually a duty. Since the Porter is old, he may not actually do much work either. But this means they could just as well be full brothers. …
04 Jul 2010, 12:07
-
Of course fascism hadn't been invented yet. Nor had lynching and armed race riots. But I agree that the 2A did not have individual self-defense against muggers and burglars in m…
04 Jul 2010, 11:48
-
They could also just be titles---whoever is the cook is Brother Cook.…
04 Jul 2010, 11:31
-
Amen to that.…
04 Jul 2010, 03:32
-
Of course that's rather a silly question to ask people in a survey: are guns A-OK, or should only the army and police have them---even pistols, that favorite weapon of well-regul…
04 Jul 2010, 03:30
-
Presumably they never became journeymen---maybe they were lousy torturers.…
04 Jul 2010, 03:09
-
Yes, that's not at all surprising. And indeed they are relatively unencumbered.…
04 Jul 2010, 03:04
-
What view is that, exactly?…
03 Jul 2010, 21:34
-
I don't understand. You're right about "megatherian" and the linguistic pattern it fits. But what's your point otherwise? Do you think Wolfe didn't know someone had come up with …
03 Jul 2010, 18:57
-
Or, the argument could be purely literary. Anybody NOT heard of the "Lives of the Saints"? It's not much of a stretch to combine that with an interesting coinage for the Beast o…
03 Jul 2010, 17:38
-
Or he could be any hierodule or alien.Or he may know who Severian is, and his special connection to it. Or he could simply be speaking in vernacular.…
03 Jul 2010, 17:34
-
Why couldn't it be a joke?…
03 Jul 2010, 11:57
-
I tend to think of them as Lovecraftian horrors. But I like this too: fallen hierogrammates?…
02 Jul 2010, 21:16
-
I didn't mention "special" motivation. For all I know they're bored. In which case, still---why Urth?…
02 Jul 2010, 21:15
-
I thought they were killed by Yesodis with energy blasters.…
02 Jul 2010, 19:19
-
Nice idea. I always wondered what their motivation was, in taking an interest in Urth among all the planets and races that might be out there. That would explain their interest i…
02 Jul 2010, 19:17
-
Correct. I didn't know there multiple visors though. He'd still have to be facing the sun to give him a reason to have the visor full down. Now here might be an excuse to make u…
02 Jul 2010, 18:53
-
Absolutely. Nor any blanket condemnation of city governments who try to keep violent crime down by banning deadly weapons too small to use to any military effect even in the 18th…
02 Jul 2010, 18:44
-
Or to defend the State state vs the Federal state, at most.…
02 Jul 2010, 17:43
-
You have a point about finding specific photos. Even though Wolfe was in publishing and no doubt knows more than a little about how and where to find images, there was no Web gal…
02 Jul 2010, 17:36
-
That's exactly what I think. If everything else fit, these would not be problems.…
02 Jul 2010, 17:06
-
Exactly my thought. Dystopian government is an old SF theme. Depicting evil government agents says nothing about your beliefs.…
02 Jul 2010, 16:43
-
Here's another partial match, in which the astronaut holds the staff and his visor is gold. The shadows could be cropped out. http://www.apolloarchive.com/apg_thumbnail.php?ptr=2…
02 Jul 2010, 16:41
-
As I've said, I can accept the composite theory if I must, but I have reason to doubt it. However, since it's supposedly a painting, there may be a real painting or illustration …
02 Jul 2010, 16:30
-
Yeah, except it's not rising over anyone's shoulder. I suppose I should clarify that I think it's plain that "visor of gold" doesn't mean that at all. It just needs to be dominat…
02 Jul 2010, 16:24
-
No, the passage doesn't say how far, small, or high Urth appears. But even in the best candidate it is almost over the astronaut's head.…
02 Jul 2010, 14:55
-
I support the right of the Guild to fire its guns each year on Catherine's Day.…
02 Jul 2010, 14:06
-
I'm not sure why this isn't enough: The intent of the second amendment is to allow the citizenry to defend themselves. And that's all I'm going to say.…
02 Jul 2010, 14:01
-
It may even show the armored figure's glove on the flagstaff.…
02 Jul 2010, 13:57
-
It's true that the figure holds the flag. But you have to allow for some poetic license as far as visor color and earth distance. At any rate, we are closer to the image than we …
02 Jul 2010, 13:55
-
You can apologize all you want!…
02 Jul 2010, 03:14
-
Inclusive of such a perspective, I should have said.…
02 Jul 2010, 03:13
-
I was referring to the photo in the link. I think that's the photo in Rudesind's gallery, or a painting of it, or a printout on really tough paper and ink. The reason I believe …
02 Jul 2010, 02:47
-
That's it! Or very close.…
02 Jul 2010, 02:10
-
So you think the Yesodis are operating a time-travel historical-intervention scheme, from a perspective at the end of Urth's universe?…
02 Jul 2010, 02:03
-
That's true. So perhaps this painting is not something Wolfe made up, but rather a painting by a person he made up, in Borgesian fashion. Either way, it is a study in symbols/ico…
02 Jul 2010, 01:59
-
Links!…
02 Jul 2010, 01:56
-
Well argued. Extra points for use of Tolkien. Under #3, presumably, such a being might have enormous powers but feel just as lost as humans. Under #1, such a being might feel sig…
01 Jul 2010, 12:53
-
#1 could be phrased more strongly, deleting "more or less" and using the words "infallible" and "definitely in direct contact." That would be more distinct. As I understand it.…
01 Jul 2010, 12:35
-
Exactly. Similarly, but beyond the scope of this list, is Yahweh lawfully in charge of a creation he created, or not? 2 x 2 = 4 possible variations: lawful creation, lawful gove…
01 Jul 2010, 12:33
-
That's what I want to find out.…
01 Jul 2010, 12:27
-
I thinl we all did. But can you find the image? Was it perhaps National Geographic?…
01 Jul 2010, 12:26
-
No one said anyone was pretending anything. It was a general theoretical observation.…
01 Jul 2010, 12:01
-
Jeff, no one said pulp covers were more inspirational than photos. But if you eliminate Apollo 11 photos and Alan Bean, what's left?…
01 Jul 2010, 11:55
-
No, the definition of usurping demands it. So does the concept of a local archon pretending to be the Outsider. You can explain it any way you want, but that's the concept. Thin…
01 Jul 2010, 03:09
-
Yes, exactly. That's why I went in search of art that wasn't published in the traditional sense, but that Wolfe may have seen. The best candidate was painted after 1980. F&SF had…
01 Jul 2010, 03:07
-
The question, then, is whether such delegation occurred---or not.…
01 Jul 2010, 03:03
-
Precisely.…
01 Jul 2010, 02:42
-
I'll make the quote marks bigger next time.…
01 Jul 2010, 02:38
Urth Net