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True, but I was more struck by Able's rather flat interpretation of his universe---where is he, WHEN is he, the sequence of events that make up the plot---than his interpretation o…
12 Nov 2009, 18:23
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John Crowley's /Engine Summer /may use that concept. There's little to go on, but it's either that or vast amounts of energy spent keeping the angels' city up. And you'd need to wa…
12 Nov 2009, 02:59
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That makes sense. Does it explain why Abel is so hard to follow? Certainly his material is bound to be looser, less subject to "modern" analysis. I was struck by Abel's lack of int…
12 Nov 2009, 01:59
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I was fortunate enough to read TFHoC first, as far as novels. I started noticing Wolfe as a writer of short stories. I sympathize with the complaint that the narrative of TWK is h…
10 Nov 2009, 18:41
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Certainly, plant species with male and female PLANTS are not good candidates for staple food crops, nor for the co-evolutionary process that produced humanity's staple crops. The…
04 Nov 2009, 13:16
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Unfortunately, the only cutthroat animal I can think of is a trout! Regarding the other animals/tribes: Should we take them as (a) animals (b) evolved animals (c) "devolved" huma…
22 Oct 2009, 14:59
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Chris, you're definitely crazy. But only because you have laid eyes on things Man was not meant to see, and uncovered secrets Man was not meant to know. So you should just go wi…
03 Jun 2009, 16:38
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I did not say that at all. You merely assumed it, because you substitute assumption for thought. And that's what gets you called a wingnut, not the other thing.…
20 May 2009, 12:30
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You know more about this than I do, I'm sure. Do U2 pay NO tax, or do they simply move a large portion of it offshore every year, like any corporation? A loophole is a loophole, un…
20 May 2009, 12:28
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I find that one of the more haunting of his novels. That and Peace, and Free, Live, Free.…
20 May 2009, 12:25
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James, if you don't stop thinking in circles, you'll never get out of the Forest.…
20 May 2009, 12:23
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Sorry, when did I say the American Civil War was justified? It was not. See, I've read up on it a bit. BTW, in my last post, I meant to add a ";)" after I called you a wingnut. Y…
20 May 2009, 01:24
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Oops, I spoke too soon. Welcome, wingnut!…
20 May 2009, 01:20
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John, you are the peacemaker, so I bow to your authority as such. I will make no more war against Daniel and his people. But, really, if you don't know about something, you Google…
20 May 2009, 01:18
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Yes, I saw that one. Ah, the eternal wisdom of Dilbert.…
20 May 2009, 00:42
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No, thanks. But I suggest you try reading things that don't reinforce your existing beliefs. You may learn something.…
20 May 2009, 00:38
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below, as briefly as possible ...…
20 May 2009, 00:34
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Always with the gay stuff.…
19 May 2009, 22:29
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Below…
19 May 2009, 22:20
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I always try to keep that in mind when I read your posts.…
19 May 2009, 22:11
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Thank you for this.…
19 May 2009, 22:10
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Of course you have.…
19 May 2009, 22:08
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Yeah, Mao and Washington would have found much in common.…
19 May 2009, 22:06
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Somalia's economy is not "based on" piracy. It was based on fishing and herding before global shipping killed all the fish. Read newspapers.…
19 May 2009, 21:32
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The key term here is not "voluntary" and it's not "consensual." It's "consent"---as in "the consent of the governed." It's nothing like what you are thinking of. Google that phras…
19 May 2009, 21:21
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Art Laffer, huh?…
19 May 2009, 21:16
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Well, let's see. I just voted for a tax increase. I have helped elect people who raised taxes, because they said they would raise taxes. As a result, I will pay more taxes. I want …
19 May 2009, 19:39
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Below…
19 May 2009, 19:12
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Adam, please don't heckle the comedic stylings of our very own Josh Geller. He's on a roll!…
19 May 2009, 19:09
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I hardly think that state legislatures allowed payday loans because they sympathized with poor people suffering at the hands of loan sharks. After all, such people don't have an as…
19 May 2009, 18:09
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CARNIVOROUS trees, then. Of course. One big fly trap. I think one key to understanding Green and Blue is that, for some reason, all the major "plant" life on both planets is carni…
19 May 2009, 18:03
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It's not a question of not seeing it---it's a question of seeing something else that is much more interesting. Wat's crimes are only one form of the corrupting nature of groups and…
19 May 2009, 15:21
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Exactly. And apparently it doesn't hurt to repeat that literature is not simply a conversion of ideology into story and plot. Insisting otherwise has long since stopped being amusi…
19 May 2009, 15:15
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I think there is more to it than just how sneaky his propaganda is. Sure, Wolfe is propagandizing, as always---but he doesn't just propagandize for a narrow segment of the politica…
19 May 2009, 14:30
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If Mao said it, it must be true.…
19 May 2009, 14:10
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Steven--- Interest rates of 35%, the max now allowed in the US, is usury, because it exceeds 20%. It is most commonly found in credit card and payday loan "fine print."…
19 May 2009, 14:09
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You certainly have a point about good propaganda. And although I don't think your counterargument that governments are often unethical really holds much water (fish sometimes fall …
19 May 2009, 13:58
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Daniel, you really don't know how things work, do you? ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 18:05:22 -0400 From: Daniel D Jones <ddjones at riddlemast…
19 May 2009, 13:51
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And some people in the US would like to call the US a Christian state. What a state calls itself, especially a revolutionary state, is often a lie---but at least kingdoms don't p…
18 May 2009, 21:34
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There's no question that Robin Hood is a symbol, although usually satirical, of the redistribution of wealth at gun or swordpoint. Wat is that too and, necessarily, a demagogue---w…
18 May 2009, 21:29
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All of which is perfectly correct but has little to do with actual socialism and more to do with paranoid Randian fantasies of it. In short, a straw man.…
17 May 2009, 13:56
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I think you're both right. However: (1) I'd say more precisely (I hope) that the novel demolishes the idea of a Robin Hood as any kind of ideal, and makes it clear that such benev…
17 May 2009, 13:54
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Brief responses below, because I think we are not necessarily in disagreement:…
17 May 2009, 13:37
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I don't recall the novel well, but I'm skeptical that one can so confidently read direct criticism of socialism and bureaucratic government in it. They are modern ideas that may be…
16 May 2009, 13:13
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You're right. And hybrid corn is tetraploid. It's been a long time since college.…
30 Apr 2009, 21:39
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I think that's an excellent and provocative summary. I think Wolfe ponders questions of belief like yours constantly, always focusing on the precise details of who and what perfect…
30 Apr 2009, 17:47
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The accusation, Sir, is that you believe Blue to Ushas---not that you believe it to be Urth. Answer the question, heretic, or the squassations shall commence anew!…
30 Apr 2009, 17:35
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ah! Thanks. So these are also stone circles, literally.…
30 Apr 2009, 17:32
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I think part of the answer must include some loosening of our terms, especially soul vs body and plant vs animal. For example, if a soul can be a tree, then it won't be a tree as w…
29 Apr 2009, 16:02
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In diploidy, the number of genes is doubled. Sometimes the result is all-around greater viability, as with corn, and sometimes it is the opposite. Either way, it doesn't mean doub…
29 Apr 2009, 13:46
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