Nothing Aside

A New Focus

Recently I've noticed that many of my posts are focused on domestic politics, elections, social issues and the like.  All of these things interest me enormously, but my true passion is for foreign affairs, international events, and all of those seemingly insignificant political happenings in places most people haven't heard of. 

Why don't I write about these things?  Frankly, I don't know.  I read about the government unrest and chaotic revolution in Kyrgystan and follow it closely, but then don't do anything with that knowledge.  I follow the events in Iraq as politicians debate with each other, collude against each other and argue against each other over who will represent them in the coming constitutional period.  It is all very interesting to me, but I tend to keep it to myself. 

Honestly, it is easier to write about the latest ridiculous quote by a politician or assess which candidate will be able to connect best with Real People in Iowa or New Hampshire, but that's easy for anyone with half a political sense. 

What I hope to do with this space is to write about what I find to be most fascinating.  My goal will be to engage the international events, foreign affairs and American national policy which keeps me going.  From time to time I am sure I will end up writing about gay marriage, Russ Feingold's shot at the White House or whatever happens to be the topic of the day, but ultimately that kind of stuff isn't my top priority behind the scenes.  My readers (both of you) deserve to see the best I have to offer.

Comps

As of 11:00am this morning, my political science major has been completed.  Saturday was the big day, with morning and afternoon sessions of the comprehensive exam, and the results came in this morning (I passed).  So, for all practical purposes, I'm done with the hard part of college.  Now, all I need to do is pass my History of Photography class and apparently they will give me a Bachelor's Degree.  Nice deal. 

Email Change

Please note that the contact email address for this blog has changed from [email protected] to [email protected].  Please adjust your address book accordingly.  As always, letters and comments are welcome. 

Journal Googling

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Google?  I had no idea Google Scholar even existed until today.  And boy, is it helpful.  For those of you who are students, Scholar is something like JSTOR or EBSCOhost in its ability to find journal articles quickly and effectively.  Try it out.  It's an invaluable resource.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog site. I was getting tired of the old blog program constantly messing up and occasionally being difficult to use. Here on Typepad I can do a lot more with the blog. I can post photo albums, display recommended books in a much easier fashion and control incoherent commenters better than before. The program is easier to use and, I think, looks much better.

The title of the page requires some background to be understood. You can read why I chose "Nothing Aside" here. The top title banner image may change in style from time to time as I create new banners.

Also, new and old readers alike should make themselves familiar with my new comment policy.

The content of the page will remain largely the same. Archives will be easier to use since they are now categorized as well as by date. My old blogspot page will remain up so the archives will still be out there.

On the right column you can use the links to get to the most recent posts and most recent comments and on the left are listed the same news links and blog links as well as candidates who I support.

I also have an "About" page which has the same bio as before, but has, ahem, an Amazon Wishlist now. Just so you know...

Anyway, I hope you like the new site.

About the Title

In 1988, at the height of the Iran-Iraq war, a Secret memo with a particularly egregious phrase circulated at the State Department. It coldly stated the following:

"Human rights and chemical weapons use aside, in many respect our political and economic interests run parallel with those of Iraq."

It is our duty to never let this type of moral bankruptcy happen again. Never again; nothing should be "aside" to the United States.

Comment Policy

Please note:

Sensible and sagacious debate is welcomed and encouraged on this blog. Reasoned dissent opinions (and, of course, supportive opinions) help create a constructive discussion and can offer me and my readers new insight and a fresh perspective on the issues addressed on this blog. Occasionally such debate provides a spark for a new and innovative idea. Such debate, therefore, is decidedly and wholeheartedly welcomed.

However, crass and insolent commenters should note the following:

Offensive, inflammatory and/or profane comments will not be tolerated and rhetorical incoherence will not be respected. Such comments will be deleted.

Furthermore, wholesale copying and pasting of articles, large amounts of data, content from another blog or other similar spamming is inappropriate and ill-advised and such comments may be deleted.

If the above rules are repeatedly disregarded, the offending commenter will be banned from the site.

If you have questions regarding this policy, please email me your concerns.