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The correct data can be found here: http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/wp1.pdf (pp. 22-24) Total tax rates by quintile are: 1: 13.0%, 2: 23.2%, 3: 28.2, 4: 31.3%, 5: 34.5%…
28 Mar 2009, 05:46
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Guns per capita, U.S.: 0.9 (my original link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_countries_by_gun_ownership) Guns per capita, Switzerland, including Army guns in private homes…
19 Mar 2009, 15:37
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No way have I read enough Scots lit to have an opinion on who's "best", but I really like Alasdair Gray and James Kelman in the Scottish and Extremely Scottish divisions, respectiv…
18 Mar 2009, 22:23
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The text of the proposition was: "Shall it be City policy that the City should explore and facilitate the acquisition of Alcatraz Island from the United States Government to trans…
18 Mar 2009, 20:54
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See, that wasn't so hard.…
18 Mar 2009, 16:27
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"In some 2001 statistics, it is noted that there are about 420,000 assault rifles stored at private homes, mostly SIG 550 types. Additionally, there are some 320,000 assault rifl…
18 Mar 2009, 15:00
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Maybe I should have made "My understanding is there isn't much correlation in either direction between gun ownership rates and murder rates." my first sentence instead of putting…
18 Mar 2009, 08:51
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Is there any reason to think that isn't included in the ownership figure?…
18 Mar 2009, 08:37
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Quite so. But brunians' claim was that gun ownership reduces murder rates.…
18 Mar 2009, 08:35
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So you don't have any evidence, then. Glad we got that straight.…
18 Mar 2009, 08:29
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And yet, we have a (slightly) lower murder rate than Tucson: http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=San+Francisco&state=CA http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Tucso…
18 Mar 2009, 08:19
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Is anyone else going to Potlatch two weekends from now? http://potlatch-sf.org…
13 Feb 2009, 18:48
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In Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality stories, the "Old Strong Religion" (by which he means Christianity, if not Catholicism specifically) is an underground cult.…
11 Feb 2009, 18:15
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Firefox didn't work for me, but Safari did. Your drawings exactly match my visualization of shadow-generating topography, so we are not in disagreement about geometry.…
29 Jan 2009, 02:26
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Maybe we do have a geometric disagreement after all, because this makes no sense to me. As crooked as the valleys/highways may be, areas where the sun is invisible when directly ov…
28 Jan 2009, 03:07
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When has anyone not agreed that, given miracle shiprock capable of assuming any shape without structural penalty, shaded areas would be possible? The quote says "[b]eyond the blac…
28 Jan 2009, 02:53
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You're assuming that Wolfe thought of the Whorl as a goofy cartoon landscape, and didn't bother to mention it in the text. With Earth-style mountains and valleys, there would b…
26 Jan 2009, 00:03
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You're assuming that he's at the same "latitude", and that the overhang is pointed directly at him. And even in that case he won't be able to see much of the latter scenario (a v…
25 Jan 2009, 23:05
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Which shade would be invisible from almost anywhere in the Whorl, even if shiprock is strong enough to enable such cliffs.…
25 Jan 2009, 22:16
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And I should add that even in this unlikely scenario you wouldn't see the shadow from Nightside, you'd see the topside of the overhang.…
25 Jan 2009, 21:56
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Not me... Neither of these would put the valley into shadow. The sun is always directly overhead, and only an impossible, cartoonish overhang can block it from a significant porti…
25 Jan 2009, 21:25
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There's no evidence that it would be any harder, and it would add a lot of value: the landscape wouldn't turn to rubble when spin was applied. Mountains made of rock can't exist at…
25 Jan 2009, 19:42
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But it must. If it doesn't point straight up, it can't be fully symmetrical, as one side will be longer than the other.…
25 Jan 2009, 19:28
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How not? The pseudogravity gradient caused by the Whorl's rotation is perpendicular to the Long Sun at all points.…
25 Jan 2009, 18:19
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I don't think those are part of the 1000, though, are they? Actually, it's hard to tell if they're extras or pulled out for special attention. Maybe it will be clearer when the l…
23 Jan 2009, 06:45
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The Guardian (UK) has published a list of 1000 "books that everyone should read," and BoTNS made the SF section: http://tinyurl.com/dfk9dz The list is a bit Anglocentric, and (pe…
23 Jan 2009, 03:24
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Explanation: http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=11404 Forum: http://genewolfebookclub.com/index.php…
11 Jan 2009, 18:39
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You should come down to my local green/art spot, the amazing and little-known Cayuga Park/Playground, not far away from you: http://sanfrancisco.about.com/od/sfparks/ig/Cayuga-Par…
08 Jan 2009, 01:40
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Yes to the first, maybe to the second--I love it, and re-read it regularly, but it's easy to imagine someone not liking its mannered and somewhat goofy style. If you like other wis…
30 Dec 2008, 02:44
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Tim Walters wrote: [stuff about the Hugos] I should add that anyone who wants can join as a non-attending member for a relatively low fee, and vote. (Please read all the nominee…
19 Dec 2008, 05:44
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Surprisingly few Worldcon members actually vote. "Memorare" lost 182-146-124 on the first round (due to the Hugo's instant-runoff rules, it came in fourth rather than third). Al…
19 Dec 2008, 05:39
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Just remembered another Dying Earth entry: the excellent, strange, and relatively obscure _Earthchild_ by Doris Piserchia.…
18 Dec 2008, 16:49
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I have and like the book, but I didn't know that it was connected to this list (or did you mean the Crowley list)?…
18 Dec 2008, 02:31
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John Clute's _Appleseed_ is great for that vertiginous total-immersion feeling. (Add me to the list of readers who needed a few shies before leaping the hurdle of _Gravity's Rainb…
18 Dec 2008, 02:00
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I agree that their surface is less confusing than Wolfe's, but I get something new every time I read them; and I would love to see the fine spelunkers of this list unleashed on the…
17 Dec 2008, 23:17
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For that, I would recommend John Crowley, especially _Engine Summer_ and _Little, Big_.…
17 Dec 2008, 18:17
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Yes, very much so. _The Eyes Of The Overworld_, set in the same milieu, is also excellent.…
15 Dec 2008, 18:14
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Aside from the aforementioned Smith and Hodgson: H.G. Wells, _The Time Machine_ John Campbell, "Twilight" Brian Aldiss, _Hothouse_ (aka _The Long Afternoon of Earth_) Richard Lupo…
15 Dec 2008, 17:17
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delany-list at yahoogroups.com (has been active in the past, not very right now) And there's a John Crowley list, but it's really dead: johncrowleyreaders at yahoogroups.com…
05 Dec 2008, 07:15
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I thought someone cited a quote describing such cooling upthread, but can't remember the details. I'll check my older e-mail when I get home. If not, then obviously it ceases to b…
04 Dec 2008, 03:10
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Offer? I just met her! None, as far as I know. Do you have any suggestions?…
04 Dec 2008, 03:07
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I've been deliberately using the utterly vague term "gazillion." I don't think we're meant to put a number on it.…
04 Dec 2008, 00:51
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Of one layer of sediment, maybe. Of a whole cliff's worth? No. I meant textual evidence for human-caused cooling of Urth's core, not of the civilization's "ironically ignorant nat…
04 Dec 2008, 00:50
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Nope. Otherwise the artifacts would be fossilized. You can't build a cliff that tall out of it without it collapsing. But for me this is somewhat beside the point. If the scene d…
04 Dec 2008, 00:28
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Not really. And the hard part is turning dirt into rock. None of them have fused into rock yet, or come anywhere near the height of that cliff, or been worn away by erosion *after…
03 Dec 2008, 23:54
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Well, yes, exactly. That takes a gazillion years, not 20,000, and is more powerful for representing a gazillion years of human futility rather than 20,000. I thought you (or someb…
03 Dec 2008, 23:00
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I don't have time to look for a pull quote right now, but I'm pretty sure that somewhere he makes it clear that it's far, far in the future, far enough for the sun to have weaken…
03 Dec 2008, 17:17
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What's the artistic point of the cliff scene, world-famous for its evocation of deep time, if not to show that a gazillion years have passed? What's the artistic point of mentioni…
02 Dec 2008, 23:45
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Could've been worse: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7718587.stm…
24 Nov 2008, 20:09
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Not too far off: http://www.freshmanforlife.com/search/label/Blotchmen And on the science-fiction/music tip, this is the funniest thing I've seen in a while: http://www.youtube…
09 Nov 2008, 17:22
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