XPost: soc.culture.baltics, soc.culture.czecho-slovak, soc.culture.russian   
   XPost: soc.culture.nordic   
   From: ddfr@daviddfriedman.nopsam.com   
      
   In article ,   
    Markku Grönroos  wrote:   
      
   > "David Friedman"  kirjoitti   
   > viestissä:ddfr-EB3686.11101914082008@CA.NEWS.VERIO.NET...   
   > >   
   > > 2. Your evidence that he is barmy mostly consists of his holding views   
   > > that disagree with yours.   
   > >   
   > No, that is not the point. He has been told by people who know about the   
   > Finno Soviet trade that what he says about it is baloney. Skim the thread   
   > from the start and you will see the light.   
      
   On Usenet (or elsewhere) the fact that one has been told something does   
   not imply that it is true. James corrected one error, although it took   
   him a while. But, so far as I can tell, the question of whether the   
   trade was actually biased in favor of Finland or in favor of Russia is   
   still open, despite confident assertions of the former.   
      
   > > 3. Your evidence that he is very ill ...  .   
   > >   
   > What more evidence you need apart from what he has crossposted to these   
   > groups. He illuminates insanity. Should be apparent to anyone following this   
   > thread.   
      
   I think not.   
      
   On the other hand, your saying over and over again that he is a   
   homosexual--with no basis at all--does suggest some sort of obsession on   
   your part. You probably aren't crazy, but you have provided rather more   
   evidence of being unreasonable than he has.   
      
   ...   
      
   > >> I am not a   
   > >> shrink.   
   > >   
   > > And yet you are confident of you online diagnosis, despite the obvious   
   > > bias in diagnosing as mentally ill someone who is disagreeing with you.   
   > >   
   > In a trivial case one doesn't have to be. That was my point in the first   
   > place.   
      
      
      
   > >> He needs professional guidance and help. Doctors provide it. I don't   
   > >> know whether the modern day psychiatry can cure the poor sod. It can heal   
   > >> the sick though. Somehow he/she should realize his/her state of mental   
   > >> condition and seek help. Mental illness is a tragedy. It is nothing to be   
   > >> made fun about.   
   > >   
   > > And yet that is what you are doing. It is perfectly obvious to anyone   
   > > reading the thread that your oft-repeated claims that he is gay and   
   > >   
   > He sounds gayish.   
   > >   
   > > mentally ill have nothing to do with any desire on  your part to help   
   > >   
   > I urge him to seek help.   
   > >   
   > > him--they are merely insults by someone with a limited imagination and   
   > > very little to say on the substance of the argument.   
   > >   
   > The substance is the Finno Soviet trade....... You kind of forgot this.   
      
   On the contrary. You have forgotten it, since your posts contain little   
   or nothing on that subject, just repeated assertions that James is crazy   
   and homosexual, plus irrelevant digressions on the U.S.   
   > > ...   
   > >   
   > >> The American military [in]capacity is not irrelevant.   
   > >   
   > >   
   > > It's relevant only to the extent that you think of all questions as "my   
   > > group vs your group," hence believe that the proper response to anyone   
   > >   
   > And which group you have in mind?   
      
   I suspect that you see the argument as your group being the Finns, the   
   other group being Americans, and the argument a fancy version of   
   "Americans are better than Finns. No, Finns are better than Americans.   
   No, Americans are ...  ," which would be a good deal less interesting   
   and educational than what people in the thread have actually been   
   arguing about. But no doubt other interpretations are possible.   
      
   > > saying anything unfavorable about your group is to say something   
   > > negative about his group. That's an unfortunate pattern, on Usenet as   
   > > elsewhere, and one that makes serious discussion more difficult.   
   > >   
   > Unfavourable and horse manure are two different things. Finns profited a lot   
   > about the bilateral trade between the Soviet Union.   
      
   Perhaps--but that's assertion, not evidence or argument.   
      
   You are ignoring my point, which was that your digression on the U.S.   
   military was irrelevant, except to the extent that you interpret   
   arguments on the history of Russo-Finnish relations as all equivalent to   
   "my country is better (worse) than yours."   
      
   So perhaps you could justify your "The American military [in]capacity is   
   not irrelevant" on some other basis?   
      
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