This week the Dish declared independence and you can read Andrew's announcement and all our other coverage and explanation of the move here. We also hope you'll consider joining us as a founding member. Friday on the Dish, Andrew rounded up more reaction to our new business model and how it might evolve, got interviewed by David Carr, asked readers to weigh in on whether or not we should round our subscription rate up to $20, and answered PM Carpenter's concerns over the possible editorial consequences of directly relying on readers' support. In other independence coverage, Ann Friedman evaluated the importance of building a relationship with readers and we addressed the mystery of our mega-donor, as well as acknowledged the Dishheads of Arizona. Andrew also marveled at an animated Maurice Sendak interview, responded to President Reagan's love of Reader's Digest, hoped Iran would again turn Green during this year's election, and pointed out how similar Obama's presidency has thus far been to both Reagan and Eisenhower's (and later the WSJ agreed about Barack being the new Ronald). In political coverage, Ambers and Ezra tried to guess what the GOP's post-fiscal cliff strategy would be, Joe Biden worked the chamber as readers gauged his influence, Brian Resnick taught us about the Presidential Autopen, and Sam Harris pleaded for some common sense to untangle America's political deadlock. We also went through how the fiscal cliff deal will affect the wealthy, analyzed the state and sustainability of the US welfare system, examined the polarizing effects of Congressional-district gerrymandering, and charted the number of abortions state governments have been restricting. Looking overseas, Frank Dikötter looked at China's resource trade policies with the developing world, Evan Osnos wanted the US government to better back up American journalists in China, and Derek Thompson surveyed the economic disaster of Latvian austerity. In assorted coverage, Alyssa suggested ways to de-glorify violence in pop culture, Jack Shafer considered the ethics of publicizing gun-ownership data, Richard Gunderman appreciated the transcendence of music, Keith Humphreys shone a light on America's gradually-declining prison population, and Maria Konnikova tried to experience the benefits of Sherlock Holmesian mindfulness. Also, Douglas McCollam shared what Brando said to Capote, Dean Karlan advised us how to best make our charitable contributions count, Walter Russell Mead believed in the greenness of telecommuting, Alec Foege wanted us to start tinkering with our stuff again, and Henry Wiencek panned Jon Meacham's Jefferson biography for going too easy on the president's slaveholding. We looked into whether or not dating sites were making us less monogamous, viewed Facebook's efforts to capture some of the self-deleting photo market, watched backwards fireworks in our MHB, admired Bali through the VFYW, and noted how the Internet had accidentally shaved Andrew's beard in our FOTD. The rest of the week is after the jump:]]>