mycroft says

and yours as well I suppose...

Just livening the conversation here since I have no idea what turn it took.

posted 4 hours ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

fu manchu says

if length was a factor in anything it would be in the length of your sentence Fu Manchu knows

posted 1 day ago

mycroft says

Well that was a long book and I was glad to discover that it is one of the longest novels ever written.

posted 5 days ago

jim h says

By golly, Ms Boltvolt, the face does look familiar. Must don my thinking cap. This is going to pester me like a blowfly til I figure it out.

JH

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

jim h says

I agree with what you said about coercion and subsidy, although I think that free enterprise needs some controls. Apparently in the airline industry deregulation has lead to poor customer service, at least here in the U. S.

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

drjayeshsharma says

of course i know all about the caste system, & come take a look, all the government imposed solutions are making the problems worse. i can talk ad nauseam about it, but this is not the forum. the point is who do u trust to make the amends, the beaurocrats? what historical basis is there for believing in them doing the right thing?

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

(read drjayeshsharma’s review)

drjayeshsharma says

right, jim. Who decides? thats the biggest question isn't it? the answer by religious right is bible/qoran/geeta.... whatever. the socialists say government. capitalists say markets, which is a short hand for saying no one in particular, but lets each exercise our independent judgments in a free society without either coercion or subsidy. Individual decisions made by consumers & producers alike lead to a price for goods & services, how much your goods are valued determines how rich you are. Economics 101

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

(read drjayeshsharma’s review)

jim h says

Poet,

I grew up among three cultures: white, black, & Choctaw. Why, I used to roll old tires down red dirt banks with Frog and Goat at dusk with the crickets ramping up and the smell of cotton poison lingering in the cooling heat haze... Ok, so I'm off topic.

Punitive damages? Off-hand I can think of two problems with good intentions: the law of unintended consequences, and I forgot the other one. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has reparations, in a sense, in the form of gambling -- oops! I mean gaming. Every year the Chief & other officials of the tribe split the proceeds among all the members. It probably varies from year to year, but a man I knew got a check for $400.00 a few years ago (which is probably typical of what the rank and file get) and proceeded to drink and gamble it away. My aged mother bailed him out of jail because she depended on him for yard work but also because he was her friend. Of course it was his choice to spree the money away, and perhaps other members of the tribe used their cut in more responsible ways. Also, in Mississippi, punitive damages awarded in several lawsuits against physicians drove more than a few of them out of the state, and Mississippi needs all the doctors it can get. Liability insurance for doctors also went through the roof. But no matter. The plaintiffs were no doubt happy, and the lawyers were glad to do their part, for a modest fee, of course. So, sure -- why not? Let American taxpayers bankroll reparations for African Americans and Native Americans. But why stop there? Why not reparations for all other hyphenated-Americans? God knows the Irish (I'm Scots-Irish) were discriminated against for years and years and years. I'm thinking Congress could divert all the money for foreign aid into a reparations fund, although, as much as the U.S. government seems to give away each year, it would be a mere drop in the bucket if you're talking punitive damages. So let's go borrow more money from the international banks. A few billion more won't make any difference since Uncle Sam is already up to his eyeballs in debt, as are many of "we the people." Maybe reparations would stimulate the economy! So if there's to be reparations, let's start with Native Americans, since they were here before Europeans or Africans and have been shafted every which way but loose (as Clint Eastwood might say). Then African-Americans. But strictly a lump sum, cash & carry settlement. No punitive damages!

Okay, that's my rant and I'm sticking to it, but your arguments are compelling.

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

(jim h’s previously rated this books 5 stars)

jim h says

Ms. Boltvolt,

As you sally forth from your fortress to slay dragons, fools, windmills, etc., be sure to cover your flanks. By the way, I take it that the photo of your fierce visage is inspired by Tibetan Buddhist iconography. Am I right?

JH : )

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

jim h says

Linda,

I can't see how "individualism" in and of itself is any more (or less) a value than "selflessness." Both can have bad consequences. In the past few decades in America, individualism, self-expression, "do your own thing," and "me first" has proliferated as "community" has fragmented. This flowering of individualism doesn't seem to be based on reason. By the way, I see that you've read Castenada. Me too!

JH

JH

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

(jim h’s previously rated this books 5 stars)