Subject: ackanomic digest V2 #246
From: [email-masked] (ackanomic digest)
To: [email-masked]

ackanomic digest        Monday, August 11 1997        Volume 02 : Number 246

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 00:20:38 -0600 (MDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: AckaPhysicist's Report

Sorry that this has come out so much later than I promised.  Tamson House
is kind of chaotic at the moment, and I kept losing the room where I had
the translation.  But here it is, at long last.  (I _did_ lose the sheet
with the references, so it's not as copiously footnoted as the last one.)

"The Life Cycle of The Amber Banana Tree"
prof woodisgood, prof kangarooney
1st Life Institute

There are very few native life forms currently existing in the alternate
universe known as U2.  There are many speculations as to why this is the
case.  Obviously there _were_ intelligent life forms here at one time,
though it is possible that these were of extra-universal origin, as we
ourselves are.  And perhaps they left the universe through some means,
since we have found little or nothing in the way of remains.

The so-called Amber Banana Tree may not itself be native to U2.  The lack
of any other organisms in its ecosystem is pointed out as proof that it
was transplanted from elsewhere.  But the fact that the Tree does survive
(perhaps not thrive, though it does bear fruit)in the absence of other life
forms does not mean that it always has.  It may have evolved, or been
engineered, from some life form that did require interaction with other
life forms.

However, its life cycle, in the absence of pollinating arthropods, or even
other life forms of the same type to reproduce with, is fascinating.

The Amber Banana Tree appears to be able to exist indefinitely in a more
or less regular cycle.  It bears fruit at irregular but nonetheless
predictable intervals, the "Amber Bananas" that gave it its name.
The Bananas are only superficially edible; it has been speculated,
but not yet tested, that the substances of the Bananas, and of the
Tree itself, are "reflected" from the substances of our own universe.
However, the Bananas are reputed to have other properties when eaten;
these will not be mentioned in this paper, being unworthy of further
mention in any reputable journal.

The phenomenon called "Acid Rain", however, can bring about a great
change in the state of the Tree.  Specifically, when struck by Acid Rain,
the Tree "withers".  Its hard, woody trunk and branches seem to oxidize
and rot into softer substances almost instantaneously, and the Bananas
themselves become nothing more than shriveled husks as the interior
"meat" is dissolved.

However, the Tree contains within the center of its trunk a large enclosed
nodule.  This nodule is made of much harder material than the trunk of the
tree, a substance which has been dubbed "ironwood", but which may be closer
to the limestone used in eggshells.  It is impermeable under normal
conditions, but when softened by Acid Rain, it develops fissures and can be
pried open.  Inside is a single large seedlike object which will produce a
new Tree if planted in the soil of U2.

So Acid Rain can allow the Tree to reproduce, by freeing its seed from its
hard casing.  But how can this be a "cycle" if the Tree must wait for Acid
Rain to occur?

The substances found in a sample of Acid Rain were recently studied.  There
is a remarkable correspondence between those substances and the substances
exuded from the leaves of the Amber Banana Tree in its usual processing of
nutrients and oxygen, and none of those substances are found anywhere in
the lithosphere, or anywhere else in the atmosphere, of U2.  In other
words, Acid Rain could not exist without the Amber Banana Tree providing
the substances that make it up.

However, there is much evidence that before the recent Acid Rain, possibly
caused by our own attempts to study the cloud of suspended particles below
the main disc of U2, there had been no Acid Rains for quite some time.  The
effects of Acid Rain on the lithosphere of U2 are slight, but detectable.

The Amber Banana Tree must thus be at an extremely degenerative point in
its evolution.  It evolved to a state where it was self-sufficient, but
required Acid Rain to reproduce.  And then, somehow, it started to fall
short of actually causing Acid Rain to occur on its own, requiring some
kind of external intervention for this to happen.

Perhaps in the past there were more Amber Banana Trees, and the emissions
of many such Trees were sufficient to cause regular Acid Rains.  Or, if the
Tree is an engineered lifeform, this might be a built-in safety measure
designed to keep the Tree from reproducing too greatly(which might also
explain the fact that it only produces one seed at a time).  Perhaps the
substances now causing Acid Rain were used by the former inhabitants of U2,
and the Trees were cultivated.  Perhaps the sole Tree remaining in U2 at
this moment is the only one which has not fallen prey to some chance
mutation or fault in its system of extracting nourishment from its
surroundings.

There have also been some suggestions that the Tree is not a plant at all,
but a sessile animal lifeform.  The fact that its seed is so similar to an
animal's egg is one factor, and there are others as well, which I will not
go into here.  Suffice it to say that this lifeform is worthy of further
study, and I would urge the 1st Genetic Institute to perhaps undertake some
effort to produce more Trees through some means.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Genesis:Entangled
Current Book--Terry Pratchett:Small Gods
You say the magic's gone, but I'm not a magician

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 23:07:30 -0800
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Joining

Howdy,

I'm Mr. Lunatic Fringe, Registrar of Ackanomic.  Well, Actually, I'm not.
I'm a computer generated message sent out to you by voice command.  I'm
glad you have expressed an interest in joining Ackanomic.  Before you join,
I just need to get the following info for the record books.

If you have already answered any of these questions in your original query,
please feel free to disregard them here.

Question #1 -
What is you choice of an Ackanomic name?

Question #2 -
What is your real name?

Question #3 -
Would you like to be a voting or a nonvoting player?

Question #4 - The Market Research Question -
Where did you find out about Ackanomic?

Oh, it's standard practice to subscribe you to the normal e-mail lists.  If
you would prefer to be subscribed to the digest version instead (less, but
bigger messages) please let me know.  Of course, we can always change that
later.

So, Any questions?  Don't worry.  Mr. Lunatic Fringe will respond to them
personally.  No more of this automatic reply stuff :)

Mr. Lunatic Fringe
Registrar with a robot

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 23:15:39 -0800
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Uh, Oh

I think I might have just sent out a "So you want to join..." message to
all of Ackanomic.  Please accept my apologies.  Earlier tonight I wrote up
a script which would send that message in response to "Sign me up"
messages.  It's voice activates, and replies to the frontmost message in
Eudora when I say the words "respond new player" out loud.  Well, silly me.
Just to test things out I said

"Respond New Player"

Not a big deal.  The script did it's thing just right!  Set up the message,
and queued it.  I was going to erase it before it got sent, really I was,
but here comes the rub. Right as I was getting to the good bit's of
Alfvaen's report, my other half walked into the room and said "Can I check
my mail?".  Harmless you might think... Feh!

The computer instantly translated this as "Check Mail" and connected to the
POP server.  Within seconds, the "respond new player" message was zipped
out across the globe!

Just a note of explanation from...
Mr. Lunatic Fringe

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 01:35:53 -0700
From: Joshua Nave <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Uh, Oh

Phil Ackley wrote:
> 
> I think I might have just sent out a "So you want to join..." message to
> all of Ackanomic.  Please accept my apologies.  Earlier tonight I wrote up
> a script which would send that message in response to "Sign me up"
> messages.  It's voice activates, and replies to the frontmost message in
> Eudora when I say the words "respond new player" out loud.  Well, silly me.
> Just to test things out I said
> 
> "Respond New Player"
> 
> Not a big deal.  The script did it's thing just right!  Set up the message,
> and queued it.  I was going to erase it before it got sent, really I was,
> but here comes the rub. Right as I was getting to the good bit's of
> Alfvaen's report, my other half walked into the room and said "Can I check
> my mail?".  Harmless you might think... Feh!
> 
> The computer instantly translated this as "Check Mail" and connected to the
> POP server.  Within seconds, the "respond new player" message was zipped
> out across the globe!
> 
> Just a note of explanation from...
> Mr. Lunatic Fringe

Heheheh...

There seems to be a public health crisis in Acka...  Mr Lunatic Fringe
appears to be infected with Snowgod's disease!!

Narf

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 08:07:02 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: re acka trade liscence

Karma wrote:
> Excellent! This is what was concerning me.
> I make an organization called "Canines Tattoo Parlor" It's actually a =
> store, I will make tattoos for people and will buy them back after 3 =
> days if not satisfied at 3A($) less than the original price.=20
> I buy a trade liscence for whatever price it is, and so it is so =
> (located at K9 on the map)
> - Karma=20

At first I was going to say this didn't work, because it had the same name
as Karma's building.  But the building is spelled Parlour, so the names are
different, and the org creation did indeed work.

However, the org has to buy the trade license, so Karma must first transfer
money to it and then have the org buy the license.  (Possibly he has
already done this later; I have not caught up on all messages.)

/dev/joe

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 10:10:59 -0400
From: [email-masked] (Chuck S Smith)
Subject: Re: re acka cfcj

>Karma, karma, karma.  Were you never a new player?  Do you never
remember a
>time when you may have lacked in the social graces?

I lack in social graces???  Oh well...you're right I am new to Acka.  I
don't even have the full list of rules yet.  I don't have web access. 
:-(  Don't send them to me.  That's my mentor's job.  I don't want to get
20 copies of the rules...I get enough mail...

On Saturday I went to Hersheypark and returned to find 75 new
messages...go figure...

>How about a time when the entire mailing list got to see the email you
sent to >your mentor, Malenkai?

lol

>I am hereby calling a Politeness Moon on Karma.

Sounds good to me.  ;-)

- --Just playing around,
	Chuck (Whiz)

Hey Remember!  This game IS for fun!  :-)  I'm having fun!!!

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 08:54:39 -0600 (MDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: re acka trade liscence

> At first I was going to say this didn't work, because it had the same name
> as Karma's building.  But the building is spelled Parlour, so the names are
> different, and the org creation did indeed work.
> 
> However, the org has to buy the trade license, so Karma must first transfer
> money to it and then have the org buy the license.  (Possibly he has
> already done this later; I have not caught up on all messages.)

Hmm.  I suppose you're right there.  And I just fixed that last night
because it wasn't showing up on the PE page because of a typo...

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Fiddler On The Roof:Sunrise, Sunset
Current Book--Terry Pratchett:Small Gods
I swear by the shelters of the stars(a mighty oath, if you but knew it)...

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 12:41:17 -0400
From: jordan james <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: re acka cfcj

- ------ =_NextPart_000_01BCA654.8614B920
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

- -----Original Message-----
From:	Chuck S Smith [SMTP:[email-masked]]
Sent:	Monday, August 11, 1997 10:11 AM
To:	[email-masked]
Subject:	Re: re acka cfcj

>Karma, karma, karma.  Were you never a new player?  Do you never
remember a
>time when you may have lacked in the social graces?

I lack in social graces???  Oh well...you're right I am new to Acka.  I
don't even have the full list of rules yet.  I don't have web access. 
:-(  Don't send them to me.  That's my mentor's job.  I don't want to get
20 copies of the rules...I get enough mail...

On Saturday I went to Hersheypark and returned to find 75 new
messages...go figure...

>How about a time when the entire mailing list got to see the email you
sent to >your mentor, Malenkai?
I deny this, big blanket denial! Are you denying me my acka rights to CFCJ? I 
Thought I can call for one if I want but dictate if you must.
- - Karma

lol

>I am hereby calling a Politeness Moon on Karma.

Sounds good to me.  ;-)

- --Just playing around,
	Chuck (Whiz)

Hey Remember!  This game IS for fun!  :-)  I'm having fun!!!

- ------ =_NextPart_000_01BCA654.8614B920
Content-Type: application/ms-tnef
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

- ------ =_NextPart_000_01BCA654.8614B920--

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 13:12:21 -0400
From: jordan james <[email-masked]>
Subject: re acka dangle

I invite those with the monopole to my Tattoo parlor to reattach it, tea and crumpets are free
Also to my house and I will assist in the process since my wings need a workout
- - Karma

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 18:49:14 +0000
From: "Matt" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Phoebe (Vynd)

[snip of stuff well worth reading]
> With that, Phoebe climbed back into her Matchbox.  Soon a team of ants
> trotted out from the front of the box, picked it up, and clambered off
> down the wall with it, leaving me alone on the balcony once more.
> 
> 
> 
>                                - Vynd

LOL!

This message describes exactly the sort of thing that I hoped Phoebe 
would say to the players who found her. Spot on.

Bascule

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 13:37:30 -0600
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: re acka dangle

>I invite those with the monopole to my Tattoo parlor to reattach it, tea
and crumpets are free
>Also to my house and I will assist in the process since my wings need a workout

Well, you don't need wings to help with a Monopole, but I'm willing to bet
that both of our winged squads are fully rested again by now.  What other
public buildings are there to be reattached?  I would, myself, not wish to
participate in a reattachment of the Senate(let it dangle, I say), but maybe
the Ackanomic Afterlife, or the Free Market, or something...

In any case, I am taking my Gravitational Monopole over to Karma's house
and affixing it.  I just dare the Officer In Charge of Random Things to
say that it doesn't work.  I'm infallible!  I push the red button.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/)
Current Album--John Cougar Mellencamp:The Lonesome Jubilee
Current Book--Terry Pratchett:Small Gods
Telemann once yodeled to Bach, "Flounder is critical with wine."

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 13:42:53 -0600
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: RE: re acka cfcj

>I deny this, big blanket denial! Are you denying me my acka rights to CFCJ? I 
>Thought I can call for one if I want but dictate if you must.

You may indeed submit a CFCJ.  It should adhere to the required format,
though, or the Clerk of the Courts is entirely within the Rules to ignore
it.  Look at the rules in 700's somewhere.  (They're still up on /dev/joe's
page...)

Which reminds me--does anyone plan on stepping forward for Web-Harfer?  I
have had zero nominations so far, and I'm certainly not equipped to do it
myself anymore.  People have volunteered disk space, but somebody needs
to have the central page with all the links...

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/)
Current Album--John Cougar Mellencamp:The Lonesome Jubilee
Current Book--Terry Pratchett:Small Gods
Making your day more daylike.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 15:31:22 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Snakes

I am making the following public statements:

"The Giant Peach looks like a snake to me."
"Buzz Lightyear looks like a snake to me."
"Guido looks like a snake to me."
"Melvin's Map looks like a snake to me."
"Periodic Table looks like a snake to me."
"Today's Lunch looks like a snake to me."
"The Celestial Temple looks like a snake to me."
"The Grand Proxy looks like a snake to me."
"Flash Gordon looks like a snake to me."
"A Bottle of IBC looks like a snake to me."
"The Cosmos looks like a snake to me."
"There Can Be Only One! looks like a snake to me."

I guess I'm seeing things.

ThinMan

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 15:34:39 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: More Vulcan Action

I am proposing the following action:

  Vulcan gives its Spell Book of Chorg to Malenkai.

I am approving this action.
(It still needs to be approved by ThinMan, Malenkai, and Vynd, or wait 7 days
with no objection, before Vulcan officially offers it to Malenkai; then
Malenkai has to accept the offer.)

/dev/joe

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 21:57:51 +0100
From: "Gavin Doig" <[email-masked]>
Subject: acka: land purchase

#transfer RexBank, Rex Mundi: 50 A$: land purchase.
Approved.

#award Rex Mundi: -50 A$: Land purchase.

After withdrawing some money from the bank (and may I say what friendly
service they provide ;-)) I am purchasing the land at L5.

Next, I offer this land to the Church of Azpiazu, to further its glorious
cause.

Rex Mundi.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 16:54:29 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: More Vulcan Action

/dev/joe wrote:

> I am proposing the following action:
> 
>   Vulcan gives its Spell Book of Chorg to Malenkai.
> 
I approve this action.

ThinMan
Vulcan

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 19:09:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Snakes

On Mon, 11 Aug 1997, Bollinger, John C. wrote:

> 
> I am making the following public statements:
> 
> "The Giant Peach looks like a snake to me."
> "Buzz Lightyear looks like a snake to me."
> "Guido looks like a snake to me."
> "Melvin's Map looks like a snake to me."
> "Periodic Table looks like a snake to me."
> "Today's Lunch looks like a snake to me."
> "The Celestial Temple looks like a snake to me."
> "The Grand Proxy looks like a snake to me."
> "Flash Gordon looks like a snake to me."
> "A Bottle of IBC looks like a snake to me."
> "The Cosmos looks like a snake to me."
> "There Can Be Only One! looks like a snake to me."
> 
> I guess I'm seeing things.
> 
> ThinMan

Watch out for snakes!

                           - Vynd

[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 19:11:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: More Vulcan Action

On Mon, 11 Aug 1997, Joseph W. DeVincentis wrote:

> I am proposing the following action:
> 
>   Vulcan gives its Spell Book of Chorg to Malenkai.
> 
> I am approving this action.
> (It still needs to be approved by ThinMan, Malenkai, and Vynd, or wait 7 days
> with no objection, before Vulcan officially offers it to Malenkai; then
> Malenkai has to accept the offer.)
> 
> /dev/joe
> 

Well heck!  I sure do approve of that.

                             - Vynd

[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 19:11:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: More Vulcan Action

On Mon, 11 Aug 1997, Joseph W. DeVincentis wrote:

> I am proposing the following action:
> 
>   Vulcan gives its Spell Book of Chorg to Malenkai.
> 
> I am approving this action.
> (It still needs to be approved by ThinMan, Malenkai, and Vynd, or wait 7 days
> with no objection, before Vulcan officially offers it to Malenkai; then
> Malenkai has to accept the offer.)
> 
> /dev/joe
> 

Well heck!  I sure do approve of that.

                             - Vynd

[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 17:15:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: re acka dangle

> What other public buildings are there to be reattached?  I would,
> myself, not wish to participate in a reattachment of the Senate(let
> it dangle, I say), but maybe the Ackanomic Afterlife, or the Free
> Market, or something...

(Hey, whatever feelings you may have against the Senators, we should
not direct them against the Building itself.)

It's my recollection that we have yet to actually reattach the Hall of
Elders, since we only discussed doing it before we were rested.

I am flying to where the Hall of Elders is dangling and waiting for
two others to join me in reattaching it.

breadbox

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 17:19:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: re acka cfcj

> Which reminds me--does anyone plan on stepping forward for
> Web-Harfer?  I have had zero nominations so far, and I'm certainly
> not equipped to do it myself anymore.  People have volunteered disk
> space, but somebody needs to have the central page with all the
> links...

I could assistant-Harf any web pages associated with Proposals without
too much difficulty. I don't think I can volunteer for more than that
at this point, though. I have no idea what kind of time commitments I
am free to make in the long term.

breadbox

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 22:14:50 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Elder Nomination

> 11 + 1, ends 8/11/97 00:36

Chaos is inducted into the [dangling] Hall of Elders, unless we have
more than 23+ active players.

Malenkai
Speaker

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 22:17:28 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Politeness Moon

A Politeness Moon has been called against Karma for the content
requoted below.  The vaid responses are:

Yes, it was polite
No, it was not polite

> > Chuck sent a statement to a player which was supposed to be
> > Private but wasted bandwith by sending it to everyone
> > Now his 'apology" was smug and pompous and he eats cats
> > I believe he should have a sentence laid on him like a sincere
> > Apology without the carniverous cat eating comparison in the repentance

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 18:31:09 -0800
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: re acka dangle

>I am flying to where the Hall of Elders is dangling and waiting for
>two others to join me in reattaching it.
>
>breadbox

I am already at the hall of elders.  I am ready to do some reattaching.

Mr. Lunatic Fringe
Author of destabilizing rules

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 20:56:52 -0600
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: re acka dangle

>> What other public buildings are there to be reattached?  I would,
>> myself, not wish to participate in a reattachment of the Senate(let
>> it dangle, I say), but maybe the Ackanomic Afterlife, or the Free
>> Market, or something...

>(Hey, whatever feelings you may have against the Senators, we should
>not direct them against the Building itself.)

Yeah, call me petty.  :-)

>It's my recollection that we have yet to actually reattach the Hall of
>Elders, since we only discussed doing it before we were rested.

What I recalled was that Karma and two other winged players went and
reattached it, but I'm in DOS mode right now and don't have access to
the email archives on my Linux filesystems.  :-/

>I am flying to where the Hall of Elders is dangling and waiting for
>two others to join me in reattaching it.

As soon as I find out what happened to Karma's house, I'm going over to
the Ackanomic Afterlife and waiting for two others to join me in reattaching
it, unless it turns out that the other Winged Squadron didn't reattach it
after all.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/)
Current Album--Daryl Hall:Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine
Current Book--Steven Brust & Megan Lindholm:The Gypsy
In a solemn ceremony, they giggle viciously.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 21:05:58 -0600
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Elder Nomination

>> 11 + 1, ends 8/11/97 00:36

>Chaos is inducted into the [dangling] Hall of Elders, unless we have
>more than 23+ active players.

Okay, let me do an official count, from the Scorekeeper page:

Malenkai, Niccolo Flychuck, /dev/joe, Guy Fawkes, breadbox--that's 5.
Vynd, mr cwm, Rex Mundi, Techno, Robert Sevin--that's 10.
Karma, Alfvaen, two-star, Atilla the Pun, AZTEC GOD--that's 15.
CarsesraC, Red Barn, fnord, ThinMan, Dread Pirate Roberts--that's 20.
Antimatter and Mr. Lunatic Fringe, that's 22.  No, wait, that's 23, I
forgot Calvin N Hobbes.

Now, if it is actually 11+1, that's 12, which is greater than 23/2 unless
we consider that to be rounded up to 12.

I should point out that of the "active" players:

Guy Fawkes, mr cwm, and Red Barn are on Vacation.
Atilla the Pun, CarsesraC, and Calvin N Hobbes are on Ice.
And I haven't seen as much as a twitch from AZTEC GOD, fnord, or Dread
Pirate Roberts in weeks.  (The Speaker may consider this an official
R257 request to rattle their cages...)  So that's a pretty damn good
turnout, all things considered.

Anyone want to change that from "half of all active players" to "half of
all active non-vacationing players"?

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/)
Current Album--Daryl Hall:Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine
Current Book--Steven Brust & Megan Lindholm:The Gypsy
If love is blind, lingerie makes great Braille.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 21:11:31 -0600
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: acka: land purchase

>#transfer RexBank, Rex Mundi: 50 A$: land purchase.
>Approved.
>
>#award Rex Mundi: -50 A$: Land purchase.
>
>After withdrawing some money from the bank (and may I say what friendly
>service they provide ;-)) I am purchasing the land at L5.
>
>Next, I offer this land to the Church of Azpiazu, to further its glorious
>cause.

Bless you, my Child.  The Church of Azpiazu accepts this generous offer.
(Thinks--should kaas of land be marked in some way on the PE page?  Ick.
Prosthetic Foreheads are bad enough.)  Now all we need is A$100 to build
a nice little chapel there.  Maybe we should hold a Raffle.

I am announcing that as a recognition of his generous efforts on behalf of
the Church, both publicly and privately, I am ordaining Rex Mundi as a Priest
of the Church of Azpiazu.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/)
Current Album--Daryl Hall:Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine
Current Book--Steven Brust & Megan Lindholm:The Gypsy
Put your money where your foot is

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 23:11:24 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Elder Nomination

> I should point out that of the "active" players:
> 
> Guy Fawkes, mr cwm, and Red Barn are on Vacation.

If they are on vacation, they are not active players.

Malenkai

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 23:16:00 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Phobe (fnord)

fnord has found Phoebe
while looking under the rug
in the East bedroom

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 23:21:52 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 437 Appeal Verdict

CFJ 437 has been overturned to false, with a penalty to the original
judge of one point.

Clerk of the Courts
trying to taste the difference between a lemon and a lime
- ------------------------------------------------------------------

Call For Judgment 437
  Subject: Similarity II
Initiator: Malenkai
    Judge: Mr Lunatic Fringe (declined)
2nd Judge: Karma (declined)
3rd Judge: Rex Mundi (selected Jul 21, 1997, 19:04h EDT)
Judgement: TRUE
   Appeal: FALSE

Statement:

It cannot be determined with finality whether the Church of Seleya is
eligible for a Seat in the Synod.

Malenkai's Reasoning:

This is not a PWCFJ, although it could easily be reworded to be.  Its
the situations, and not the wins, that I find intersting, and by making
winning *not* an outcome, the air can be cleared.  This is just for
fun.

Rule 1303, section 10b, says:

> b. A Church is not eligible for a Seat in the Synod if the total M
> Similarities with all the Churches which are members of the Synod is
> equal to or greater than 80.

CFJ 429 established that self-similarity was undefined.  This rule
establishes eligibility based on, in part, a test that involved calculation
of self-similarity.  Thus the eligibilty cannot be determined with
finality.  What than means, I'll leave to someone else to decide.

Note that none of the other churches, indeed any church, is eligible
either.

Rex Mundi's Reasoning:

I concur with Malenkai's reasoning.

Mr. Lunatic Fringe's Appeal Reasoning:

Whilke I have nothing against Malenkai's or Rex Mundi's reasoning, and am
unable to find a compelling arguement in opposition myself, I am
unsatisfied with the results of theis CFJ because it just *seems* wrong.  I
am taking this oppritunity to appeal it to the Supreme Court where our wise
justices can mull over the matter a little more.

Niccolo Flychuck's Appeal Reasoning:

As I've stataed before, CFJ 429 established no such thing. The reasoning
for that CFJ may have mentioned this, but the CFJ statement was very
specific, and refered to no Organization other than TMBSG.

I find this a real stretch of one's logical imagination to apply this
reasoning to any Organization. Especially from a player who is so strict
about other things, such as, when is there truly a precedecne conflict.
Arguing that is no more that trying to pull the wool over our collective
eyes :)

As far as the eligibility clause quoted by Malenkai, there are a couple of
different eligibility clauses in the Synod rules, each for a different
purpose, and that is why this specific definition of eligiligy cannot be
reasonably applied to anything other than the clause in which it is
present.
That clause is specifically about eligiblity to join the Synod. It is
unnquestionable that the Church of Seleya is not eligible to join the
Synod, because it already has a Seat (that's another condition)

Supreme Court's Reasoning:

Let us first get two issues out of the way.

One: Given the precedent of CFJ 429 (namely, the phrase "[f]or any two
Organizations X and Y" that appears in section 4 of Rule 1003
"Organizations" does not permit X and Y to be the same Organization),
it is clear that the "orgsim" relation between any given Organization
and itself is undefined by this rule. Since no other rules provides a
definition for this particular case, such a relation is undefined by
the Rules as a whole. As a direct consequence, the H, L, and M
Similarities of any Organization with itself are all also undefined.

Two: One of the appealers raised the issue that the Church of Seleya
is automatically not eligible for a Seat in the Synod simply by virtue
of the fact that it already has such a Seat. In other words, that
section 10b of Rule 1303 "Synod" uses "eligibility" only in the sense
of being able to obtain a Seat, and is not a qualification that is
necessary to uphold after the Seat has already been secured. However,
section 10c immediately following describes a process by which an
Organization "becomes ineligible" and thereby "loses its Seat in the
Synod". There is no indication anywhere that the two uses of the
concept of eligibility were meant to be interpreted differently, and
so the Court does not consider this argument to be compelling.

And so, the issue at hand is the fact that the M Similarity for a
particular Church pairing is not defined by the rules. The question
is, then, how this affects the Church of Seleya's eligibility to
maintain a Seat in the Synod. The Court has considered two possible
interpretations.

The first interpretation sees section 10b as instructing us to find
the total for a set of numbers, one of which is undefined. Note that
it is not indeterminate: that would imply that the sum exists but the
Rules do not give enough information to calculate it. This value is
instead flatly nonexistent. Since addition with undefined values is an
operation that is also not defined, the final sum must in turn be
undefined as well.

Under this interpretation, the Church of Seleya would actually not be
ineligible by section 10b. That section only requires this sum to NOT
be greater than or equal to 80. An undefined value clearly cannot be
greater than, equal to, or less than 80, so the Church of Seleya
cannot be denied eligibility on these terms.

The second interpretation, on the other hand, sees section 10b as
instructing us to find the total M Similarities with all Churches in
the Synod. The subtle difference here is that because this one value
is not defined - is, in fact, nonexistent - it is excluded from being
part of the calculation in the first place. That is, since there is no
such thing as a Church's M Similarity with itself, it cannot be
included in the phrase "the total M Similarities".

Under this second interpretation, the Church of Seleya once again
would not be denied eligibility by section 10b.

Therefore, since both interpretations lead to the same conclusion, the
Court rules that the original verdict is overturned.

(After some consideration, the Court has chosen not to comment on
which of the two interpretations should be preferred. Such a reasoning
would only be applicable as precedent to a narrow range of future
situations. This sort of ambiguity is best dealt with on a
case-by-case basis, rather than attempting to synthesize some sort of
Universal Solvent. And while the two interpretations lead to different
outcomes with respect to other Churches, Rule 1303 has already been
altered to remove the ambiguous wording under judgement. The Court
has therefore decided to let this side issue wait for its own CFJ.)

Penalty to the original judge: 1 point.

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End of ackanomic digest V2 #246
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