RE: Proposal 196:G

From: Leonhard, Christian (Christian_Leonhard_at_ADP.com)
Date: Fri Nov 15 2002 - 08:18:13 PST


Jesse Welton wrote:
> If 196:3 requires all rules (as opposed to all
> future rules) to be shorter than those before them,

You almost persuaded me here, but 196:3 actually reads "I recommend that we
should [...] make all eulogies shorter
than those before them." The "we should do" construction, in my mind,
clearly renders this an implicit mandate for future behavior (as constrasted
with a claim that "all rules must be shorter than all previous rules"). It
is ambiguous, I will grant you, but isn't it customary to grant rules
leniency in interpretation, where possible?

Christian

-----Original Message-----
From: Jesse Welton [mailto:jwelton_at_pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu]
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2002 11:08 AM
To: frc_at_trolltech.com
Subject: Re: Proposal 196:G


"Jeff Weston (Sir Toby)" wrote:
>
> I really hate to throw yet another proposal out there, but I feel I need
> to establish this precedent with regards to the requirement of 196:3.
> 196:3 states: "make all eulogies shorter than those before them". Since it
> doesn't state the all eulogies must be shorter than the one eulogy
> immediately before it, we must assume that the eulogy must be shorter than
> the combination of ALL eulogies that came before it.

This seems like an extremely forced reading to me.  It's like saying
that I'm shorter than my parents, because their combined height is
greater than mine.

> Below, I've provided a character count of all of the rules up to and
> including 196:8. Carriage returns have been treated as a character for
> this count.
>
> 196:1  - 462
> 196:2  - 1016
> 196:3  - 438

Hmm, this brings up another issue, though: In what way is 196:2
shorter than 196:1?  If 196:3 requires all rules (as opposed to all
future rules) to be shorter than those before them, then for 196:3 to
be valid, 196:2 must be shorter than 196:1.  If there is no
identifiable way in which 196:2 is shorter than 196:1, one solution is
to treat 196:3's suggestion as non-binding.  Another is, as Alan
suggested, to apply the restriction strictly to the eulogistic portion
of each rule.

-Jesse

--
Rule Date: 2002-11-15 16:08:37 GMT


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--
Rule Date: 2002-11-15 16:18:37 GMT


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