Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-24 Thread Bruno Marchal


On 23 Oct 2012, at 14:04, Roger Clough wrote:


Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz) is  
the thesis that we cannot
prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from  
Descartes' proposition

that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism).



Descartes was not solipsist. The 1p is solipsist from the 1p view, but  
this does not enforce it to be solipsist, as we can believe or guess  
in some thing which we cannot prove.






If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we cannot  
prove that objects outside

us exist .


Even if solipisism is false, we cannot prove that something exists  
"outside us". But we can guess it. Assume it, and then we can prove it  
in the theory which assumes it, by a one line proof.





But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that we cannot  
observe the
passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless there  
is some fixed inextended substrate
on which to observe the change in time.  Thus there must exist a  
fixed (only necessarily over a small
duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality.  A similar  
conclusion can be made regarding

space.


No problem with this, if we want to believe in some notion of time.




Here is an alternate account of that argument:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-transcendental/#RefIde

"Dicker provides a compelling initial representation of Kant's  
argument (Dicker 2004, 2008):


1) I am conscious of my own existence in time; that is, I am  
aware, and can be aware,
that I have experiences that occur in a specific temporal order.  
(premise)


2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific  
temporal order only if I perceive
 something permanent by reference to which I can determine their  
temporal order. (premise)


3) No conscious state of my own can serve as the permanent  
entity by reference to which

I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise)

4) Time itself cannot serve as this permanent entity by  
reference to which I can

determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise)

 (5) If (2), (3), and (4), are true, then I can be aware of  
having experiences that occur in a
specific temporal order only if I perceive persisting objects in  
space outside me by reference
to which I can determine the temporal order of my experiences.  
(premise)


(6) Therefore, I perceive persisting objects in space outside me  
by reference to which

I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (1�5)"


That is not rigorous, and contradicted by comp, as we know that if  
comp is correct, time and space are construct of the mind. The  
argument is locally correct, but does not bear on what is ontological,  
only epistemological. As such it makes some sense.


Bruno


http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~marchal/



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Re: Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-24 Thread Stathis Papaioannou
On Thu, Oct 25, 2012 at 12:58 AM, Roger Clough  wrote:
> Hi Stathis Papaioannou
>
> OK, but I think you are still left with the "I".
>
> "I doubted' still means there's an I present.

There's an "I" present but not necessarily a world to contain it,
which is what Kant set out to prove.


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Re: Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-24 Thread Roger Clough
Hi Stathis Papaioannou  

OK, but I think you are still left with the "I". 

"I doubted' still means there's an I present.



Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net 
10/24/2012  
"Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen 


- Receiving the following content -  
From: Stathis Papaioannou  
Receiver: everything-list  
Time: 2012-10-23, 17:51:43 
Subject: Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism 


On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 11:04 PM, Roger Clough  wrote: 
> Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism 
> 
> Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz) is the 
> thesis that we cannot 
> prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from Descartes' 
> proposition 
> that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism). 
> 
> If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we cannot prove 
> that objects outside 
> us exist . But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that we cannot 
> observe the 
> passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless there is some 
> fixed inextended substrate 
> on which to observe the change in time. Thus there must exist a fixed (only 
> necessarily over a small 
> duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality. A similar conclusion 
> can be made regarding 
> space. 

I cannot doubt that I exist *at this moment*, but I can doubt that I 
existed before, or that any other moments have or will exist. 


--  
Stathis Papaioannou 

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Re: Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-24 Thread Roger Clough
Hi Russell Standish  

I agree. 

Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net 
10/24/2012  
"Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen 


- Receiving the following content -  
From: Russell Standish  
Receiver: everything-list  
Time: 2012-10-23, 18:20:35 
Subject: Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism 


On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 02:47:12PM -0700, meekerdb wrote: 
> On 10/23/2012 2:39 PM, Russell Standish wrote: 
> > 
> >> 2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific temporal 
> >> order only if I perceive 
> >> something permanent by reference to which I can determine their 
> >> temporal order. (premise) 
> >What motivates this premise? 
>  
> I think it is implicitly assuming that experiences have no 'fuzz' in 
> their duration, they are discrete like states of a Turing machine 
> computation. I'd say we perceive temporal order by overlap between 
> successive experiences. This is consistent with the idea that an 
> experience is not just a state of a computation, but a bundle of 
> states that constitute the same stream of consciousness. 
>  
> Brent 
>  

Whilst I'm sympathetic to that model, I can also imagine comparing 
one's current state, or a memory of one's current state, with a memory 
of a previous state, which is a discrete state model that is in 
contradiction to 2). I think this model implies one cannot be aware of 
the totality of one's state (ie that a subconsciousness exists), but 
does not entail the existence of an external world. 

As some whit put it, information is the difference that makes a 
difference (ie you have to compare two states in order to process 
information at all).  

Cheers 

--  

 
Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) 
Principal, High Performance Coders 
Visiting Professor of Mathematics hpco...@hpcoders.com.au 
University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au 
 

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Re: Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-24 Thread Roger Clough


ROGER: > 2) I can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific 
temporal order only if I perceive 
> something permanent by reference to which I can determine their 
> temporal order. (premise) 

RUSSELL: What motivates this premise? 

ROGER: >  The permanent entity could be the first event.


(previously) > 3) No conscious state of my own can serve as the permanent 
entity by reference to which 
> I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise) 
> 

RUSSELL: Even assuming 2), what motivates this premise? 

ROGER: Temporal order means that, besides images of perceived events, recording 
an intuition of time passing is necessary.


(previously) > 4) Time itself cannot serve as this permanent entity by 
reference to which I can 
> determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise) 
> 

RUSSELL: Well, I don't accept an objective concept of time anyway, so I have 
no problem with this, although I don't see why this should hold, 
assuming an objective (eg Newtonian) concept of time is valid. 



> (5) If (2), (3), and (4), are true, then I can be aware of having experiences 
> that occur in a 
> specific temporal order only if I perceive persisting objects in space 
> outside me by reference 
> to which I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise) 
> 

Yes, I can see this follows. 

> (6) Therefore, I perceive persisting objects in space outside me by reference 
> to which 
> I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (1?5)" 
> 
> 
> Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net 
> 10/23/2012 
> "Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen 
> 
> -- 
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-- 

 
Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) 
Principal, High Performance Coders 
Visiting Professor of Mathematics hpco...@hpcoders.com.au 
University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au 
 

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Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-24 Thread Bruno Marchal


On 24 Oct 2012, at 02:01, Stephen P. King wrote:


On 10/23/2012 5:47 PM, meekerdb wrote:

On 10/23/2012 2:39 PM, Russell Standish wrote:

I have not met this argument before. I have comments interspersed.

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 08:04:35AM -0400, Roger Clough wrote:

Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz)  
is the thesis that we cannot
prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from  
Descartes' proposition

that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism).

If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we  
cannot prove that objects outside
us exist . But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that  
we cannot observe the
passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless  
there is some fixed inextended substrate
on which to observe the change in time.  Thus there must exist a  
fixed (only necessarily over a small
duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality.  A similar  
conclusion can be made regarding

space.

Here is an alternate account of that argument:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-transcendental/#RefIde

"Dicker provides a compelling initial representation of Kant's  
argument (Dicker 2004, 2008):


1) I am conscious of my own existence in time; that is, I am  
aware, and can be aware,
that I have experiences that occur in a specific temporal  
order. (premise)



OK

2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a  
specific temporal order only if I perceive
 something permanent by reference to which I can determine  
their

 temporal order. (premise)

What motivates this premise?


I think it is implicitly assuming that experiences have no 'fuzz'  
in their duration, they are discrete like states of a Turing  
machine computation.  I'd say we perceive temporal order by overlap  
between successive experiences.  This is consistent with the idea  
that an experience is not just a state of a computation, but a  
bundle of states that constitute the same stream of consciousness.


Brent

   I agree.


Me too.

Bruno


http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~marchal/



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Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-23 Thread Stephen P. King

On 10/23/2012 5:47 PM, meekerdb wrote:

On 10/23/2012 2:39 PM, Russell Standish wrote:

I have not met this argument before. I have comments interspersed.

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 08:04:35AM -0400, Roger Clough wrote:

Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz) is 
the thesis that we cannot
prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from 
Descartes' proposition

that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism).

If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we cannot 
prove that objects outside
us exist . But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that we 
cannot observe the
passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless there 
is some fixed inextended substrate
on which to observe the change in time.  Thus there must exist a 
fixed (only necessarily over a small
duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality.  A similar 
conclusion can be made regarding

space.

Here is an alternate account of that argument:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-transcendental/#RefIde

"Dicker provides a compelling initial representation of Kant's 
argument (Dicker 2004, 2008):


 1) I am conscious of my own existence in time; that is, I am 
aware, and can be aware,
 that I have experiences that occur in a specific temporal 
order. (premise)



OK

 2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific 
temporal order only if I perceive

  something permanent by reference to which I can determine their
  temporal order. (premise)

What motivates this premise?


I think it is implicitly assuming that experiences have no 'fuzz' in 
their duration, they are discrete like states of a Turing machine 
computation.  I'd say we perceive temporal order by overlap between 
successive experiences.  This is consistent with the idea that an 
experience is not just a state of a computation, but a bundle of 
states that constitute the same stream of consciousness.


Brent

I agree.

--
Onward!

Stephen


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Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-23 Thread meekerdb

On 10/23/2012 3:20 PM, Russell Standish wrote:

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 02:47:12PM -0700, meekerdb wrote:

On 10/23/2012 2:39 PM, Russell Standish wrote:

 2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific temporal 
order only if I perceive
  something permanent by reference to which I can determine their
  temporal order. (premise)

What motivates this premise?

I think it is implicitly assuming that experiences have no 'fuzz' in
their duration, they are discrete like states of a Turing machine
computation.  I'd say we perceive temporal order by overlap between
successive experiences.  This is consistent with the idea that an
experience is not just a state of a computation, but a bundle of
states that constitute the same stream of consciousness.

Brent


Whilst I'm sympathetic to that model, I can also imagine comparing
one's current state, or a memory of one's current state, with a memory
of a previous state, which is a discrete state model that is in
contradiction to 2). I think this model implies one cannot be aware of
the totality of one's state (ie that a subconsciousness exists),


Because otherwise you would only be aware of the passage of time when you consciously 
remembered and compared two states?


I certainly agree that subconscious thought/information-processing must exist.  Conscious 
thought can only account for a small part of our thinking/awareness.  It seems to roughly 
correspond to what we can put into words or otherwise communicate.  That's why I think its 
appearance was associated with the (cultural) evolution of language.


Brent


but
does not entail the existence of an external world.

As some whit put it, information is the difference that makes a
difference (ie you have to compare two states in order to process
information at all).

Cheers



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Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-23 Thread Russell Standish
On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 02:47:12PM -0700, meekerdb wrote:
> On 10/23/2012 2:39 PM, Russell Standish wrote:
> >
> >> 2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific 
> >> temporal order only if I perceive
> >>  something permanent by reference to which I can determine their
> >>  temporal order. (premise)
> >What motivates this premise?
> 
> I think it is implicitly assuming that experiences have no 'fuzz' in
> their duration, they are discrete like states of a Turing machine
> computation.  I'd say we perceive temporal order by overlap between
> successive experiences.  This is consistent with the idea that an
> experience is not just a state of a computation, but a bundle of
> states that constitute the same stream of consciousness.
> 
> Brent
> 

Whilst I'm sympathetic to that model, I can also imagine comparing
one's current state, or a memory of one's current state, with a memory
of a previous state, which is a discrete state model that is in
contradiction to 2). I think this model implies one cannot be aware of
the totality of one's state (ie that a subconsciousness exists), but
does not entail the existence of an external world.

As some whit put it, information is the difference that makes a
difference (ie you have to compare two states in order to process
information at all). 

Cheers

-- 


Prof Russell Standish  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Professor of Mathematics  hpco...@hpcoders.com.au
University of New South Wales  http://www.hpcoders.com.au


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Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-23 Thread Stathis Papaioannou
On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 11:04 PM, Roger Clough  wrote:
> Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism
>
> Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz) is the
> thesis that we cannot
> prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from Descartes'
> proposition
> that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism).
>
> If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we cannot prove
> that objects outside
> us exist . But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that we cannot
> observe the
> passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless there is some
> fixed inextended substrate
> on which to observe the change in time.  Thus there must exist a fixed (only
> necessarily over a small
> duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality.  A similar conclusion
> can be made regarding
> space.

I cannot doubt that I exist *at this moment*, but I can doubt that I
existed before, or that any other moments have or will exist.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou

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Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-23 Thread meekerdb

On 10/23/2012 2:39 PM, Russell Standish wrote:

I have not met this argument before. I have comments interspersed.

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 08:04:35AM -0400, Roger Clough wrote:

Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz) is the thesis 
that we cannot
prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from Descartes' 
proposition
that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism).

If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we cannot prove that 
objects outside
us exist . But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that we cannot 
observe the
passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless there is some 
fixed inextended substrate
on which to observe the change in time.  Thus there must exist a fixed (only 
necessarily over a small
duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality.  A similar conclusion can 
be made regarding
space.

Here is an alternate account of that argument:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-transcendental/#RefIde

"Dicker provides a compelling initial representation of Kant's argument (Dicker 
2004, 2008):

 1) I am conscious of my own existence in time; that is, I am aware, and 
can be aware,
 that I have experiences that occur in a specific temporal order. (premise)


OK


 2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific temporal 
order only if I perceive
  something permanent by reference to which I can determine their
  temporal order. (premise)

What motivates this premise?


I think it is implicitly assuming that experiences have no 'fuzz' in their duration, they 
are discrete like states of a Turing machine computation.  I'd say we perceive temporal 
order by overlap between successive experiences.  This is consistent with the idea that an 
experience is not just a state of a computation, but a bundle of states that constitute 
the same stream of consciousness.


Brent




 3) No conscious state of my own can serve as the permanent entity by 
reference to which
 I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise)


Even assuming 2), what motivates this premise?


 4) Time itself cannot serve as this permanent entity by reference to which 
I can
 determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise)


Well, I don't accept an objective concept of time anyway, so I have
no problem with this, although I don't see why this should hold,
assuming an objective (eg Newtonian) concept of time is valid.


  (5) If (2), (3), and (4), are true, then I can be aware of having 
experiences that occur in a
 specific temporal order only if I perceive persisting objects in space 
outside me by reference
 to which I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise)


Yes, I can see this follows.


 (6) Therefore, I perceive persisting objects in space outside me by 
reference to which
 I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (1?5)"


Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net
10/23/2012
"Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen

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Re: Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-23 Thread Russell Standish
I have not met this argument before. I have comments interspersed.

On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 08:04:35AM -0400, Roger Clough wrote:
> Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism
> 
> Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz) is the thesis 
> that we cannot
> prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from Descartes' 
> proposition 
> that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism). 
> 
> If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we cannot prove that 
> objects outside 
> us exist . But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that we cannot 
> observe the 
> passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless there is some 
> fixed inextended substrate 
> on which to observe the change in time.  Thus there must exist a fixed (only 
> necessarily over a small
> duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality.  A similar conclusion can 
> be made regarding
> space.  
> 
> Here is an alternate account of that argument:
> 
> http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-transcendental/#RefIde
>   
> "Dicker provides a compelling initial representation of Kant's argument 
> (Dicker 2004, 2008): 
> 
> 1) I am conscious of my own existence in time; that is, I am aware, and 
> can be aware, 
> that I have experiences that occur in a specific temporal order. 
> (premise) 
>

OK
 
> 2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific temporal 
> order only if I perceive
>  something permanent by reference to which I can determine their
>  temporal order. (premise) 

What motivates this premise?

> 
> 3) No conscious state of my own can serve as the permanent entity by 
> reference to which 
> I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise) 
> 

Even assuming 2), what motivates this premise?

> 4) Time itself cannot serve as this permanent entity by reference to 
> which I can 
> determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise)
> 

Well, I don't accept an objective concept of time anyway, so I have
no problem with this, although I don't see why this should hold,
assuming an objective (eg Newtonian) concept of time is valid.

>  (5) If (2), (3), and (4), are true, then I can be aware of having 
> experiences that occur in a 
> specific temporal order only if I perceive persisting objects in space 
> outside me by reference 
> to which I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise) 
> 

Yes, I can see this follows.

> (6) Therefore, I perceive persisting objects in space outside me by 
> reference to which 
> I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (1?5)"
> 
> 
> Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net 
> 10/23/2012 
> "Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen
> 
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Prof Russell Standish  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Professor of Mathematics  hpco...@hpcoders.com.au
University of New South Wales  http://www.hpcoders.com.au


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Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

2012-10-23 Thread Roger Clough
Kant's Refutation of (Problematic) Idealism

Problematic Idealism (Berkeley's idealism, not that of Leibniz) is the thesis 
that we cannot
prove that objects outside us exist. This results directly from Descartes' 
proposition 
that the only thing I cannot doubt is that I exist (solipsism). 

If solipsism is true, it seems to raise the problem that we cannot prove that 
objects outside 
us exist . But Kant refutes this thesis by his observation that we cannot 
observe the 
passing of time (in itself inextended or nonphysical) unless there is some 
fixed inextended substrate 
on which to observe the change in time.  Thus there must exist a fixed (only 
necessarily over a small
duration of time) nonphysical substrate to reality.  A similar conclusion can 
be made regarding
space.  

Here is an alternate account of that argument:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-transcendental/#RefIde
  
"Dicker provides a compelling initial representation of Kant's argument (Dicker 
2004, 2008): 

1) I am conscious of my own existence in time; that is, I am aware, and can 
be aware, 
that I have experiences that occur in a specific temporal order. (premise) 

2) can be aware of having experiences that occur in a specific temporal 
order only if I perceive
 something permanent by reference to which I can determine their temporal 
order. (premise) 

3) No conscious state of my own can serve as the permanent entity by 
reference to which 
I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise) 

4) Time itself cannot serve as this permanent entity by reference to which 
I can 
determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise)

 (5) If (2), (3), and (4), are true, then I can be aware of having 
experiences that occur in a 
specific temporal order only if I perceive persisting objects in space 
outside me by reference 
to which I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (premise) 

(6) Therefore, I perceive persisting objects in space outside me by 
reference to which 
I can determine the temporal order of my experiences. (1?5)"


Roger Clough, rclo...@verizon.net 
10/23/2012 
"Forever is a long time, especially near the end." -Woody Allen

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