You know what a polygon with infinite side is? It's a
circle. And circles have a measurable perimeter, the
circumference. My point? Don't automatically assume
that fractal geometry produces an infinite length. I
am not committing to either an infinite or finite
length as both could be easily argued, though I tend
to support the finite length side more. I don't think
it could be argued that Ellis Island is a fractal
boundary, however.
I tend to take the Ellis Island boundary as a true
state boundary. First of all, even if a previous
treaty existed, I feel the current situation does not
show anything other than a true state boundary. The
supreme court would not make a judgement on the
subject if it was only a jurisdictional boundary and
not a true boundary. Besides, there are quite a few
official maps, though not the USGS topographical maps,
that identifies the boundaries as state, so why
shouldn't we? Secondly, we should not automatically
assume that a separate mention of Ellis Island
jurisdiction in an old treaty means a non-state
boundary. A separate mention was needed because Ellis
Island was beyond the original main boundary. We
don't know the motivation of the original writers, but
the separate mention can easily be an indication that
Ellis Island is a true enclave, though the wording is
different from the rest of the boundary. Thirdly, we
have tended to take for a fact what is the easiest
practical solution to a somewhat convoluted idea of
law. Andorra is assumed to be a separate country,
though one of its leaders is the French President.
All dominions in british commonwealth are thought to
be countries and not protectorates though their leader
is the Queen. We have assumed boundaries between the
Germanys though they were only a zone divider. Do you
ever hear anybody saying that the MANY border is not a
state border as Massachusetts is actually a
commonwealth? No. So, instead of hiding behind
obscure terms, let's just deal with the fact that for
all intents and purposes especially taxes, Ellis
Island and Liberty Island is in New York and a border
exists. To not think of the two Islands as part of
New York is about as much splitting hairs as arguing
for infinite length of boundaries. It is completely
different from Guantanamo Bay as a lease exists there.
Even Honk Kong was generally assumed to have a
boundary with China even though much of it was leases
and I have heard of no leases in Ellis Island.
Arif
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