So then why only question those amendments? Why not assemble a constitutional congress and reevaluate the entire thing? Congress has the power to do it, I think it is probably time they do so. That would probably settle things pretty quickly, as it would encourage the conservative southern states to team up and leave the union so that the north can prosper.

I for one don't expect that this country as we know it will last more than another 20 years. And I would much rather see it dissolved peacefully than violently.

I'm not sure why we should be so worried about lack of Wi-Fi when most of us don't have access to high speed rail, period. The only current high-speed line on the Amtrak system is on the east coast, which connects the biggest east coast cities but does nothing for anyone else. We can't really start comparing Amtrak to actual high speed rail until we start connecting more cities at speeds greater than what the average Hyundai can achieve. There is plenty of demand from passengers tired of requisite anal probes at the airports, it is time to produce a real plan and go forward. NYC->Chicago would be a great start for one.

Oddly enough I didn't notice the h->k substitution in your message, I had to go back to find it. That might mean I'm due to have my eyes checked again - once I can find an ophthalmology office that can correctly bill me, that is. Clearly, all the bullshit - complete with collections calls that never should have happened - is well worth it to live in a country free from evil, evil, socialism.

The last part of that in particular is why I keep ending up voting for democrats instead of third-party candidates. If the GOP get their way I will be unemployed, so even though I don't approve of what the democrats have actually done for most of their "action", I will keep voting for democrats to try to slow down the GOP effort to destroy my ability to work and contribute to the world.

I must confess to having not read every one of your recent chapters closely. Interesting fiction but I just haven't had much time for fiction lately.

That is, apart from the political fiction that permeates slashdot discussions.

Which is another argument for classifying Obama as another Republican - or at the very least, another conservative.

I'm not entirely sure how to distinguish between the second and third types.

Thank you for getting to that, I noticed earlier today that I was able to add someone to my friends list again. Any idea what broke it in such a peculiar way?

And while I have your ear (if you're reading this, that is), can you tell me why I never get moderator points any more? I used to get them at least once a month or so, but it has probably been two years now since I last had any points. Similarly if you could enlighten us as to why some people (apparently) receive 15 points at a time while I pretty much always received only 5, that might be interesting to hear as well.

Thank you

Thank you. I'm a little puzzled as to why so few people are saying this. From my vantage point it seems that the "liberal" media is still afraid of the Tea Party and the GOP in general.

I presume you meant evade, yes? :) Although invading taxes might be interesting, too. Of course being as the conservatives in congress keep finding ways to further remove power from the IRS, which makes it that much less likely that a tax cheat will get caught.

Sure, they are opposed to "government waste", but of course only for the conservative definition of waste - which of course is only applicable when discussing spending that they are philosophically opposed to.

Their god didn't write the bible, so they don't need to know anything of it.

If so, they are epically slow learners then when it comes down to the greenhouse effect.

Smitty and I have been having communications issues that seem to be - at least in part - driven by our political leanings. That said, if the pictures he has linked to that he tells us are of himself at various political rallies are accurate, then he certainly does not outwardly appear to be rich.

I sent an email to slashdot with the same information as well. The error message was the same as what gmhowell posted as a reply to his own message (and not particularly informative).

The Tea Party being scrutinized by the IRS has nothing to do with their sense of "Contstitutionally conscious". The Tea Party is openly encouraging members to break the law by not paying taxes. Frankly I am being kind by comparing the Tea Party to draft dodgers, but I thought perhaps extending an olive branch would be useful here.

Tea Party rallies? Tea Party rallies do not welcome people of my type (non-conservative). I go instead off of what people who do attend them - including you - say of their goals.

Blaming the victim? Hardly. The "victim" here is endorsing illegal activity. When one openly endorses an illegal activity one should expect to be scrutinized for the possibility of committing same illegal action.

It's stuck in a tree, in British Columbia.

Brought to you by "Iron Man" Ivan Stewart. I don't want any regular off-road when I can have super off-road.

It is time to drop this terrible profit-driven heatlhcare model completely in this country. Fewer people get good care every year, and the people at the top who are in charge of denying care get more rewards every year as a result. The profit motive does not lead to good or accessible care; the rest of the world knows this and it is time the US wakes up to that obvious fact.

Ultimately, this terrible system is part of what keeps the US unemployment rate up. Plenty of people who are looking for work would be happy to work part-time - and are capable of living on part-time pay - but cannot take part-time work because they cannot get health care with only part-time work. If health care was guaranteed as a right - as well it ought to be - then these people would be able to work as they wish, rather than as they are required.

While the new Blacberry is outside my current price range, I would really like to see RIM survive as a company. I do believe they can add something of value to the smartphone market if they can find a way to right their ship.

Well that is your problem right there, your servers are drunk. Next time give the beer to your webmaster, rather than your webserver, instead.

That is almost universally prohibited under NIH funding regulations.

I'm not sure what would be awesome about owning a monkey with AIDS.