Toyah

Read about it, here. I can't recommend Michael Totten's articles highly enough. He isn't reporting from a hotel in a green zone...he's going places I can't even imagine going, making friends and talking with people that I can't imagine talking to. If you haven't read his reports before, you should start!

Here's a very persuasive article on what will happen with the congressional election this year. Specifically, the author argues that the House will only change hands when the Senate does; the Senate is unlikely to change hands, so therefore the House is also unlikely to change hands.

Being very much a conservative, I should be happy about this. I am---but only because I think the Democrats would do worse, which isn't much consolation. I'm seriously (that's less than "very) disappointed in the results from Republican control of government, but Democrats have yet to convince me that they would do better (so far, I think they'd do worse). I wish there was a serious 3rd party alternative, but there isn't, and the nature of the American political system seems to discourage 3rd parties except in very special circumstances (like, say, an impending civil war).

So, it appears that conservatives are stuck with the GOP, and must change it from within.

Would you guess that Chernobyl and the Korean DMZ have two of the richest natural ecosystems on the planet?

Things like this demostrate, I think, that the world is not quite so close to being destroyed at the hand of man as we usually hear. Chernobyl also demostrates that the natural world can recover from something even so catastrophic as radioactivity.

Good stewardship by man is always required, but nature is pretty good at taking care of itself, too.

In other, completely unrelated news, I've resurrected an old hobby: Lego-building! Legos have changed significantly since we were kids, in good ways and in bad. My creation (eventurally, creations) can be seen here: Wrenstone Castle.

It does matter, according to this:

But the effect of our innate ability and need to imitate goes way past teenage phone tricks. Spend time with a nervous, anxious person and physiological monitoring would most likely show you mimicking the anxiety and nervousness, in ways that affect your brain and body in a concrete, measurable way. Find yourself in a room full of pissed off people and feel the smile slide right off your face. Listen to people complaining endlessly about work, and you'll find yourself starting to do the same. How many of us have been horrified to suddenly realize that we've spent the last half-hour caught up in a gossip session--despite our strong aversion to gossip? The behavior of others we're around is nearly irresistible.

This is true...in my previous job, a lot of my co-workers were habitually negative or angry, and it did rub off on me. I had to make a concious decision not to become negative and angry myself, but it was hard.

Hi there Gents,
I thought I'd just let you fine fellows into some good news from VA. I am indeed packing this show up and heading to DC. I have accepted a position to clerk for the Honorable Robert J. Yock of the United States Court of Federal Claims. YAY! In addition to clerking for judge Yock, I will also be working on a History of the Court project, which I am really excited about. My Hillsdale, history degree had a big part in my getting this job. I had to interview with 3 different judges for this position and all three said "oh Hillsdale, excellent school!"

I will probably be starting with the Court by the end of April - I'm just trying to find a place to stay in DC at the moment.

For those who may not know, the USCFC is a limited jurisdiction, trial court, that hears monetary claims against the Fed Govt not arising in tort. The big three areas they hear are Govt Contracts, Tax cases, and Takings Clause cases. They also have jurisdiction over assorted other various types of cases in a hodgepodge of jurisdiction - much of which will be the subject of my historical research.

Anyway, that's what's up with me.

This is a question Debbie and I were discussing last night. It's one I've been pondering for a couple of years and haven't found a good, satisfactory answer to yet. So, I'll throw it out here and see what y'all think:

Is marriage better than co-habitation, the same, or worse? Why?

I have comments to make thereon, but I'm afraid they might predjudice fhe question, so I'll just leave it there. Discuss!