We have for years been building a society in which everybody plunders everybody, and while we are weary of being plundered, we enjoy the plunder.
Jerry PournelleBureaucracies are progressive. meaning they have a burning fear that someone. somewhere, is doing something without permission.
Jerry PournelleAnd that's another piece of advice I'll give junior writers; when you get to the point where they take you to lunch, let the editor suggest where to go.
Jerry PournelleThe hard part of writing at all is sitting your ass down in a chair and writing it. There's always something better to do, like I've got an interview, sharpening the pencils, trimming the roses. There's always something better to do. Going to a writer's club?
Jerry PournelleAs a means of subsidizing lawyers the present nuclear regulation system is well designed - but is there not perhaps a cheaper way of rewarding legal diligence? It would probably be cheaper to give each law school graduate a guaranteed salary of $50,000 a year on the condition that he (or she) not practice law.
Jerry Pournelle