Don't think about it as raising your taxes. He's just encouraging the IRS to have some more constructive engagement with the citizenry. Just remember that when they extend the open hand, you'd better put some money in it. Unlike the State Department, the IRS means business.

Most so called fact checks are pretty useless. This has been a theme of James Taranto (WSJ) for some time. He pointed out many AP (?) fact checks from last year's campaign regarding Republican statements that Obama would raise taxes. Their response was that this was false, because Obama said he wouldn't.

You probably mean that the Schrodinger equation describes the shape of the orbitals.

I guess I'm less glad to understand that your political bias makes you assume odd things about those with whom you disagree.

If anything, the failure is Hansen's. He's not doing science any more. His mind is made up, and believes that his models are more correct than observations. Though perhaps your statement is more a reflection on the sad state of climate science than on Hansen.

You may also recall the Bush Administration trying to silence James Hanson the NASA scientist.

Well, I remember the stories in the media which had lots of quotes from Hansen saying the administration wasn't allowing him to speak to the media. Anyways, the GP was talking about climate scientists. Why drag Hansen into the conversation?

The closest example I can think of was the privatization of social security, though I don't think it ever even got to the point where there was an actual bill. Though I suspect that if the media had been as critical of the current health care reform, or cap and trade, or stimulus, they might have shared the same fate as Bush's attempts at reforming social security.

Yeah, when you have two monitors, it seems to only want to use the primary monitor's resolution. I've found, however, that if I tell that monitor to be bigger than it really is, and make sure that the task bar is set to autohide before I make my connection, I can get it to be the correct size. After the connection is made, I can set the primary monitor back to its normal resolution. I've never even tried to get it to span.

A bunch of "things aren't broken why fix them" arguments combined with some vaugely offensive, jingoistic, BS that the US is the "only country that believes in free speech".

I think that's misrepresenting TFA slightly. I thought his point was that an international body would certainly have members whose idea of free speech is really pretty poor (TFA has some examples).

But in all seriousness, how many countries have free speech at least as robust (or more so) as the US does?

Anyone else get that warm tingle of cognitive dissonance?

No, mostly cognitive incoherence.

As far as humble beginnings, etc, go, I'd have to say that Clarence Thomas at least equals, but probably blows right by Sotomayor.

I wonder how a "wise latina" stacks up against a "wise African-American?" Wait, no I don't.

I really don't know much about LISP, but I'm having a hard time understanding why "performing a pass over each function" rules out being a "pure interpreter." Maybe we just have different definitions of what that means. Could you please clarify?

• Ha ha!
• D'oh!

Yes, I know. It's just that carbon footprints aren't significant.

I disagree, unless your rates are significantly different. Even then, 1hr is pretty insignificant.

Yes, I'd keep it.

And then I'd ask the ACLU to defend me against the bill of attainder / ex post facto nature of the law.

When that didn't work, I'd find a civil rights legal organization still interested in the Constitution, and ask for their help.