The Hall of Fire

It's such a geeky story, too, in a way. Not very much to debate. While there is a bit of a media circus going on - well, why not, it's a big story! - the situation was approached in an engineer's way, for the most part. OK, here's the problem, how can we solve it in the shortest possible time. Look...

Phelps is a RL equivalent of an Internet troll, doing his utmost to cause trouble and then crying, "But I didn't break any rules!" when taken to task. Ironically, on some boards trolls actually attempt to use the First Amendment as an excuse. Never works. Because most message boards are p...

I suppose it comes down to whether one feels one should assume the different races appear identical except where explicitly stated otherwise. I think it would be more interesting if there were subtle physical differences between the races. Nothing too major, otherwise we'd have to wonder why Tolkie...

Making movies, especially those which cost hundreds of millions of dollars, are a business in which the primary goal is to make even more money then they cost to make and distribute. I would say: while movies are a business, that shouldn't be the audience's concern. No doubt you're right about the ...

As I recall, as of Thursday people can't be cut from their insurance because they get sick; they can't be removed on technicalities unless fraud can be proved; and there are no longer lifetime limits on coverage. Those are three insurance-company "death panels" that used to kill people bu...

Just out of curiousity, what exactly is this northeastern liberal elite and what are the schools they attend? Mostly the Ivy League. Not sure about the liberal aspect. but the northeastern elite was the subject of a series of posts by the west-coast libertarian, Conor Friedersdorf, at Andrew Sulliv...

Ah, but should we be true originalists? Do we have to support a "living constitution" just because that's what the founders wanted?

Forgive me for being so contrary, yov, but that simply is not true. The constitution was deliberately written to be broad and flexible to accommodate social or technological change over time. Edmund Randolph ... John Marshall ... Thomas Jefferson ... Is it originalist to cite the opinions of the fo...

Why is it hard to understand that different projected incomes don't matter when choosing which budget costs less? I'm for less spending, not "spending a smaller percentage of what we might have in the future." Now I understand. I was comparing the gov't. to a business or n.p.o., where gro...

The problem with the CBO numbers is that they are only allowed to base their conclusions on the data (however faulty or not) they are given. For example, when you hear about the Clinton surplus, this is based on CBO analysis. But the data is incomplete, and in reality there was no surplus, when a t...

As far as the CBO is concerned, I find most everyone making financial predictions is motivated by wanting certain results (much like climate scientists), so I prefer to look at real numbers rather than predictions. So if you were given two budget options, how would you, without waiting ten years fo...

As far as the CBO is concerned, I find most everyone making financial predictions is motivated by wanting certain results (much like climate scientists), so I prefer to look at real numbers rather than predictions. So if you were given two budget options, how would you, without waiting ten years fo...

Hal, since taxes were higher from the 1950s through the 1990s than they are now, why was unemployment not consistently high then? The top marginal income tax rate was lower than now from '88-'92 (28-31%). Thanks for the correction, Infidel. So hal, since: 1. Taxes were higher from the 1950s through...

Seriously? Again? reconciliation is to pass a budget. Health care reform is not passing a budget. Reconciliation was designed to be used for budget measures that reduced deficit spending. Those massive tax cuts were about as opposite to that goal as could be imagined. Yep. From last January, in an ...

Thanks for the clarification, Voronwë.

Hal, since taxes were higher from the 1950s through the 1990s than they are now, why was unemployment not consistently high then?

What taxes and by how much? The ones Bush Cut, and by a lot. Yes, the temporary tax cuts passed at President Bush's behest ten years ago are due to expire, as they were promised to do. These cuts contributed significantly to increasing the size of the deficit, but as Karl Rove said, "Deficits ...

Given that the amorphous nature of the Tea Party, I wonder: have its members put forward a plan for the budget to cut taxes and spending? I see that the House Republicans' "Pledge to America" would actually increase the deficit more than the President's budget would, but I am led to unders...

Voronwë_the_Faithful wrote:...what the MPAA is trying to do is actually against the law in New Zealand.

Well, it could be a bad law.