From the Editor
Bruce M. Peret

Another year is upon us, and a number of interesting developments are happening in the scientific community, particularly in the field of astronomy. Many of the new discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope, now “rocking the astronomical world,” are easily identified within the Reciprocal System. Two things of particular interest are the discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, not slowing down as predicted by the “big bang” theory. This, of course, is a fundamental principle within the Reciprocal System theory—we just call it “progression of the natural reference system.” We also have the advantage of knowing that this acceleration will not leave “huge voids” between galaxies—because incoming matter, in the form of cosmic rays, gamma ray bursts and background radiation, will eventually create a great deal of matter, stars, and galaxies to fill in those “voids.”

The second interesting discovery is that no matter how far the telescopes reach, they keep finding the same distribution of galaxies and types of galaxies that they see in the immediate vicinity. They have had to triple the size of the universe upon the initial observations, and I have just read an article where they now theorize an “expotential expansion,” which would put the limits of the universe well beyond mans’ ability to observe. The steady-state reciprocal exchange between the Material and Cosmic sectors continues to be the most viable explanation of modern astronomical observation.

On the Editorial front, I have taken over the copying and mailing of Reciprocity from Frank Meyer in Minnesota, which will now be done from Tennessee. We are in process of getting our bulk rate permit for the local post offices here, but it takes time, and the next couple of issues may be mailed book rate, or first class, depending on cost. This means that only members in good standing will be receiving Reciprocity (including information requests), so please keep your membership current.

Member Numbers and Expiration Dates

When you renew your membership, please send an E-mail to the Editor (bruce.peret@pobox.com), so I can update the mailing database immediately, as notification from the secretary can sometimes take months. Your membership status can be determined by the mailing label on the envelope. The upper left corner contains two pieces of information: your membership grade (a single letter), followed by your member number. The right side contains your membership expiration date, or “(life)” if you are a lifetime member.

Membership grades are:

R Regular, annual membership
C Contributing
U Supporting
L Lifetime
S Student / Science Club (free)
T Trial membership (free, 6 months)
P Prisoner Study Group (free)

We currently continue to mail Reciprocity for 6 months after your membership has expired, so please keep track until we can get some type of “renewal notification” mechanism in place.

Back Issues

I have now finished the Back Issues Bound Set, and they are now being checked for omissions and other typesetting problems. They should be available for purchase by June 1, 1998. This will be announced on the Reciprocal System Research site, and via e-mail. If you wish to be on the e-mail announcements list, please send me an e-mail. Postcards will be sent to members without internet access.

The Ethics of Taxation?

During a discussion on Larsonian ethics at the last conference, I was challenged to find the law requiring US citizens to pay income taxes. Checking the Internet, I found a man who claimed to be “the foremost expert on taxation in the United States”—Irwin Schiff. Calling his office in Nevada, I was quite surprised to be told that there is no law, income tax is voluntary, and that Mr. Schiff, himself, would donate $5000.00 to ISUS, if any member could find this supposed “law.” I spent the last few months at the local Law Library, IRS Office, writing, e-mailing, and calling my Representatives and various government agencies, only to get hung up on, and ignored. I can’t find this “law”—if you can, call Irwin Schiff at 800-TAX-NOMOre, and have him make his check payable to “ISUS, Inc.”!