Summers, Summers, Summers; turns me upside down
 

It's good to have you around, especially since dtb became scarce.

We interrupt this economics discussion for a cheap political shot.
 

That's Ty's job- if you count tabloid work as reporting.

bad news, club
 

We didn't "need" to build railroads. We didn't "need" to build schools. You almost never "need" to build something new, in a new place, in order "to maintain our way of life." I understand that you guys would rather that the Constitution not permit governments to act by eminent domain in any but the most improbable case, but that is not and never has been what the constitution says. What we have here is an incipient case of conservative judicial activism.

Shall we return to Justice Scalia's favorite place, the plain language of the Constitution? "No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Perhaps you guys should propose an amendment so that it reads, "....and unless needed to maintain the American way of life."

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But is this a limited right? Can the government say, "Ty, you are smart. We want your sperm so women will stop going down to the Sperm-mart and buying Hank's. [Insert Holmes Quote Here.] Here's $20."

Will you then have no recourse?

And another thing that pisses me off
 

And another thing that pisses me off
 

See, you can do this so the entire thing isn't underlined.

bad news, club
 

I don't know what you mean by a limited right. If I were defending myself in that instance, I would first hire Burger to try to get me a higher price. I would then hire you to try out the Fourth Amendment ("The right of the people to be be secure in their persons ... shall not be violated ....").

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As much as I hate to do it I have to agree with the dinasour. As long as you are being compensated for your property I think the power of eminent domain should be farreaching. In our society, only allowing emminent domain for really limited circumstances is unrealistic. Like the prior example, if a company is going to build a plant in the community but can only build it on a certain site, the government should be able to take it for the benefit of the community. You could have one insane person that could screw the entire community. On the legal side, you only have the right to be legally compensated for your property. You do not have a absolute right to hold onto it. Our legal system has a long tradition of making people "whole" again through monetary compensation. As for your Tom Seaver card, if the government can get one some where else, then no it should not be able to take it. But what if you were holding the last original copy of the Declaration of Independance. Shouldn't the government be able to take it.

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Wow. Spanky's been here -- what, a week? -- and already he regrets agreeing with you.

This land speed record beats even Hank, who became disillusioned only when he realized that "ball popper" didn't mean what he thought it meant.

Good work, Ty!

bad news, club
 

If I were holding the last original, you should argue that it is actually government property. How did I get it? (By the way, is there more than one original of the Declaration?)

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This goes way beyond legal argument into the realm of personal philosophy. For instance, were I not willing to sell my family home in order that the rest of the group of people who have decided to live near me can have a chemical plant, I could never conceive of saying that I was "screwing the community." Maybe I was being unwilling to give up my property in a way that would benefit them, but, they have no vested right to my property. To "screw" someone implies, to me, that I am depriving them of that which is theirs. There's only one screwee in your hypo.

My opinion, which I think is the obvious answers, which is not backed up by anything, is there are less woman scientists simply because women are not encouraged to be scientists. I don't think you need a bunch of cross cultural studies. It is the same reason more African Americans are involved in professional sports, Asians are more represented in Engineering fields, and there are a lot of Jewish doctors. In each of these minicultures, the kids are encouraged to go into these prospective fields and they do. I don't think there is any credible evidence to show that there is any innate difference intellecutally between men and woman, asian and africans etc. I have a gazillion white trash relatives in the midwest, and none of them encourage their daughters to be scientists. They are all encouraged to work at Hooters.

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How many have a treasure map on the back?


FWIW, I'm on a substantive politics-post hiatus. Spanky has my proxy.

bad news, club
 

Perhaps, but viewed it in terms of relative power, if the government takes your property, given the size of the government relative to you, the power relationship really is unchanged. OTOH, If the government takes your property and gives it to a private citizen, the marginal power shift is greater.

efs

I think you mean "fewer" not "less."

And, wow. I think there are innate differences in the way men and women are wired -- certain genes linked to X vs Y chromosomes, certain stuff triggered by estrogen/testosterone/etc.

Slave, good to know your views on -- hey, why are they African Americans, but then it's Asians (not Asian Americans) but then it's "Jewish" not "Jews" or "Jewish Americans"? Please let us know, or have your agent tell us.

bad news, club
 

IIRC, there were upwards of a dozen "originals" of the Declaration. They were copied out longhand at about the same time from TJ's text (and others inclusing Adams), and sent around to be published in the various colonies. I have a vague notion that several survive.

S_A_M

eta: P.S. You know eminent domain is an interesting issue when Bilmore, club, GGG and I line up more or less on one side, with Spanky and Ty on the other. Burger -- who knows?

bad news, club
 

How come you're not inviting him to the meetings?

bad news, club
 

So property is power? I totally agree, which is why I'm so into redistribution, especially in light of the right to leave property (i.e. power) to your kids, but I'm heartened to see you state it so explicitly. This is what makes me think there is hope for you yet.

My hypo donut store regularly stocked only one jelly filled, whereas you had several.

bad news, club
 

That's twice in the last few months.

Burger is the consummate devil's advocate.

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Of course it is power, it is our primary power.

And by the way, I wasn't going to say anything, but since you timmied Spanky I feel I must. A few pages back you used "sex" when you should have used "gender."

Larry Summers' problem is that he's smarter than most people, but not smart enough to avoid making clear that this is one of the many things he knows.

Um, I never stocked my hypo donut store, I listed what kinds I like. And I only like one kind of jelly donut -- raspberry. I had one this morning, damn you.

bad news, club
 

I don't subscribe to the PC crap on that, and I'm surprised you do, Mr. Straight Shooter.

Main Entry: 1sex
Pronunciation: 'seks
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin sexus
1 : either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionar...tionary&va=sex


So, if property is power, you feel that it's OK to have people start out in life at totally different levels of power, merely because of who their parents are, with no mechanism for redistribution? Perhaps instead of being hopeful, I should become reconciled to the prospect of you being beyond redemption. You should get Slave's horns.

Delivered to your desk for "evidence" purposes?

And be careful- I knew an alcoholic who bought a beer store and about depleted the inventory in 4 months time.

bad news, club
 

Get your facts straight newbee, paigow did not screw the entire community, just slave, once and he wanted for it.

And the politically correct term is "koo koo".

He has so much animus against him stored up on the faculty that he was just a bomb waiting for an issue-fuse. They still hate him for Cornell.

bad news, club
 

Isn't it really a "render unto Cesar" issue?

Freedom is not about property. As long as we receive compensation for property, why shouldn't the government have it? It is only property.

It is only when that property is inextricably intwined with other rights, like freedom of speech, that I would restrict eminent domain. So I would not permit the government to, for example, "purchase" all copies of Ulysses, because it would be a public benefit to burn them.

Haven't see you guys in a while. Have I missed anything interesting?

No. I purchased it, and a glazed donut and and apple fritter last night at a purveyor of donuts. I did not buy the store, though.

bad news, club
 

Aside from having killed off all of the people who think things like "Freedom is not about property", it's been slow.

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4 years is long enough. Come back, slave!

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Dude, he's holding the Chairman position this month. Chairs don't need invitations.

On the upside, play your cards right and you may start getting the evites again starting in April.

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People have to leave here in shifts. When the imbalance gets too bad, you come back to hot debates about which side of Marx's butt should be kissed first.

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Although technically correct, the way in which you used it made the sentence ambiguous - the use of "gender" would not have.

Of course. Unfortunately we are not and never will be equal in all ways. Do you also propose taking parts of my brain and giving them to GGG? Or taking some of Hank's inches and giving them to Sidd?

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Or Coulter's.

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I have a good example. The Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) was built in the the 1960s. It was originally supposed to be 1.6 miles long. They bought he necessary land and built it. After it was built they realized it could only be effective if it was 2.1 miles long. The problem was where it needed to be extended was land owned by a famer who would not sale (land had been in the family forever etc. etc.) Many jobs were on the line (and lots of dinero) so the farm was seized so the Accelerator could be extended. SLAC by the way is a completely private organization. Should the courts have prevented this exercis of eminent domain?

bad news, club
 

Look hard at the Constitution. There are specific protections for things like speech, worship, guns, etc., but not for property in general. In the Declaration, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" replaces the Lockian "Life, Liberty and Property".

Well, now and then, we rise from the dead and return. Sorry to hear it has been slow.

bad news, club
 

Not to be a timmy, but your use of "some" in this sentence is ambiguous. Read too broadly, the sentence would certainly lose its tethering to reality.

bad news, club
 

I stand corrected

bad news, club
 

Just like a Republican. Rob from the poor to give to the rich.