Re: Not always joking, it seems

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:23:09 GMT, Gene Ward Smith <gene@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:

>mike weber <fair****tfan@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in 
>news:0arpr3h9dvikelnruajgobbqrm58icpfj2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> Never mind.  You just can't see it, can you?
>
>Your illiteracy is your problem; don't blame me for it.
>
>> Was or was not your initial statement (essentually) that he
>> couldn't/wouldn't have committed the murder if he hadn't 
>had a gun?
>
>Yes, that is one of the many factors which, if changed, would 
>have resulted in no murder.

Any factor which, if absent, prevents the event from happening is a
cause - or, if you want to be pedantic, a pre-condition.