Introduction
Hi folks, I've just re-joined Brin-L after an extended absence, so I'd better reintroduce myself. :) I'm Patrick Sweeney, an author & publisher in the adventure game industry, a newspaper copy editor, and, of course, a fan of science fiction & Dr. Brin's work. I first joined Brin-L about 3 days before Dr. Brin left the list a few years back, and over the months that followed a couple of posters aggravated me so much that I finally asked myself, "Why exactly am I letting a Brinless Brin-L raise my blood pressure?" Then tonight I ran across a link to the list while checking out Dr. Brin's bio in Wikipedia, and I'm happy to see that he's back while the more irritating folks appear to be gone, so I've signed back up. I'm looking forward to chatting with you all. Patrick Sweeney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
The Radioactive Boy Scout
Hi folks, I'm currently re-reading "The Radioactive Boy Scout" by Ken Silverstein. It's the true story of a teenager near Detroit who tried to build a breeder reactor in his back yard shed in the 1990s - the EPA eventually had to clean it up. It's an interesting read, though the author has a strong anti-nuclear stance. Anyone else read it? I originally read it along with "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" for an obsessed prodigy two-fer. :) Patrick Sweeney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Radioactive Boy Scout
I enjoyed "Bobby Fischer Goes to War." It focuses on the 1972 match with Boris Spassky in Iceland, of course, but also covers the careers & psychologies of the two chess masters, U.S.-Soviet relations, and a lot more. It skips analyzing the arcana of the chess matches except to explain a revealing blunder or pivotal moment, so it's accessible even to people with only a passing interest in chess. A great read. Here's the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060510242/102-8102077-3649715?v=glance&n=283155 Patrick Sweeney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Human-Animal Hybrid Ban
Hi folks, Does this mean a big-screen version of "Manimal" is out? Patrick Sweeney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Senate Hearing on Wiretapping
Hi folks, Or how about this exchange: .. BIDEN: Thank you very much. General, how has this revelation damaged the program? I'm almost confused by it but, I mean, it seems to presuppose that these very sophisticated Al Qaida folks didn't think we were intercepting their phone calls. I mean, I'm a little confused. How did it damage this? GONZALES: Well, Senator, I would first refer to the experts in the Intel Committee who are making that statement, first of all. I'm just the lawyer. And so, when the director of the CIA says this should really damage our intel capabilities, I would defer to that statement. I think, based on my experience, it is true -- you would assume that the enemy is presuming that we are engaged in some kind of surveillance. But if they're not reminded about it all the time in the newspapers and in stories, they sometimes forget. (LAUGHTER) ... They sometimes forget? Is this al Qaida or the Keystone Kops? For that matter, if al Qaida's this naive & inept, why even bother with a War on Terror? Just, you know, plant a pie truck near their base or scatter banana peels around. Problem solved. ___ Patrick Sweeney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: A Real Free Market in Health Care
When you reach a point where the suggested solution to ridiculously overpriced health insurance is to take out an insurance policy on your insurance ... perhaps it's a sign that you ought to consider some other system. Patrick On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 12:24 PM, John Williams wrote: > One thing that is often discussed in reference to health insurance is > that if someone is unexpectedly afflicted with a chronic condition, > their health insurance premiums will usually increase drastically. > Health insurance for someone diagnosed with a chronic condition might > go from $2,000 a year to $10,000. Many people would be unable to pay > the higher amount, and cite this as a reason for making health > insurance non-voluntary with a very large risk pool. > > However, having health insurance premiums unexpectedly increase is the > sort of personal risk that can itself be insured against. Sometimes > called "health status insurance", such insurance pays out a lump sum > or as an annuity if an event occurs that drastically raises health > insurance costs. > > Here is an article discussing health status insurance: > > http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9986 > > ___ > http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: A Real Free Market in Health Care
On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 1:47 PM, David Hobby wrote: > I'd guess that Patrick is expecting health insurance > to have health status insurance already built into it. One would think the whole point of health insurance is to provide you with health care (more precisely, the funds to acquire such) should you fall ill. Both of us are playing the odds. I'm betting that I'll need some expensive procedure I can't afford on my own someday; the insurer bets I don't. But if I do fall ill, for the insurer to raise my rates rather than provide the agreed-upon care seems like dirty pool. And to suggest that I ought to insure my insurance policy (and perhaps to be certain, I ought to insure the insurance on my insurance?) seems like a sign of massively broken system. For anyone but the insurers, at least. Patrick ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Passive-Agressive posting (was Re: The Role of Government in a Libertarian Free Market)
It's a put-on. And it's a put-on anyone who's been on the Internet for more than 5 minutes has seen dozens of times. The repetitive "I'm just asking questions to try to understand," the feigned cluelessness, the detached pose, the deliberate obtuseness ... it's all carefully calculated to do one thing and one thing only - get the other person to blow his top so you can disregard them as being "irrational" or "rude." It's kind of like playing with that old Eliza computer program. Anyone remember that? Patrick On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 1:49 PM, Jim Sharkey wrote: > Doug wrote: > >>Now see, I guess I dont understand what passive-aggressive means because I >> would think that his confrontational, >sometimes sarcastic style has any >> passivity to it. > > I see it differently, perhaps. "Passive-agressive" may not be the right > clinical term here, but I find repeated statements such as "I"m just asking > questions" and intimations of it being the other persons' faults for how > they interpret what you're writing as a way to irritate someone and present > a point of view without *really* presenting it. It may not be a textbook > definition, but that's how it strikes me. > > I'm not saying JW does this regularly, it's just something I get exposed to > on a lot of lists and it pushes my buttons, so it's certainly possible the > fault lies within me. Erik used to do it to people here all the time (JVB > was *especially* prone to rising to that particular bait(, and that was one > of the reasons I could barely stand to read even his quality posts. > > Jim > Confessionals Maru > > Click for a wide selection of quality scales. > Scale > Click Here For More Information > > ___ > http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com > > > -- ___ Patrick Sweeney Firefly Games | www.firefly-games.com ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: DeLong on health insurance reform
> What exactly do you propose for everyone in the world who cannot > afford basic health care such as childbirth assistance and infant care > and vaccination? Watch those goalposts shift! I'll play. You say taxes are theft of freedom. There are people who are taxed more than those of us in the United States. Therefore, you believe they have lost even more freedom than we have. What exactly do you propose for everyone in the world who pays higher taxes? What are you, personally, doing to increase their freedom? Until you have freed everyone else in the world from taxes, you don't get to talk about the US any more. Sorry. Just applying your own rules to you. It's only fair. Patrick ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: DeLong on health insurance reform
On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 8:29 PM, David Hobby wrote: > John Williams wrote: >> >> On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 2:50 PM, David Hobby wrote: > > ... >>> >>> Yes, I AM prepared to make you pay your share >>> to keep people from dying >> >> Really? Would you literally come to my house with a gun and force me >> to give you money, telling me that you know better who it should be >> spent on than I do? > > John-- > > No, that's what governments are for. I agree with > you, they do tax by force. So? Someone else asked this in an earlier conversation, but does anyone else on the list ever have the government come to their house with a gun and force them to file their taxes? It's never happened to me. How much in back taxes do you have to owe before the government sends the IRS SWAT team to your house, I wonder? Patrick ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
