Dear Ben,

My apologies, but my reply to your essay(s) is taking far longer than I have
expected. This wouldn't ordinarily be a probelm, as I have plenty of
experience with quickly finishing things at the last minute (and a last
minute effort this certainly *isn't*) -- but I have also found myself
becoming far more attached to the polemical quality of the reply than I
anticipated I would be. I have scrapped two 1/3 finished versions already,
and it is only quite recently that I have found what I feel to be the core
contradiction of your arguments. Exposing this contradiction has required
some quite detailed analyses of your own writings, both concerning the
debate itself and concerning other things that you have written about. This,
as well as thinking about and responding to the many questions you have
raised for me to answer, is taking some considerable time. What I am saying
is that I'm not a perfectionist, but for the sake of submitting a reply that
is worth taking the time to read, I will not submit it until I feel it is
relatively complete. My feeling is that in a case like this it is better to
submit something that is rigorous and complete, rather than something
half-finished but on time -- in any case, these issues are not about to be
resolved "overnight", and this being the case I don't see why we should be
in such a hurry to establish and meet deadlines (though I am trying to get
this finished as quickly as I can). For you, the fact that the US might soon
be going to war might be a reason to get a move on -- for me, especially
given the wave of mass protests that swept the western world last weekend,
this is a reason to be spending more time participating in the groups and
actions we are concerned with, than debating the state on the internet.
Nevertheless, I will have the reply finished as soon as I possibly can -- I
hope by the end of the month, but I cannot guarantee it.

Apologies and Regards,
Daniel