Partisan Politics Edition!

Fellas,

First off, I'm sorry it's been so long! My best excuse is that my fascination with Newt Gingrich's recent campaigns for President of the US and also possibly of the Moon was occupying all my time.

Anyway, some links/ideas:

1. Anyone interested in going to LIGO? Cool factoids about LIGO:
              a. It's built to detect gravity waves from collapsing stars and to expand our knowledge of the universe and the beautiful planet upon which we live.

              b. It's so sensitive, it can sense when planes are landing at Seatac. From Hanford.
              c. It's housed inside the largest vacuum chamber in the world. You can't go in that part unless you tell me about how much you liked Twilight.
              d. Smart people work there for science and it's government run, ergo the Tea Party hates it.

              e. It's only a few miles from the world's first fully functional nuclear reactor! Yup, built in 1943 and still more advanced than Syria's and North Korea's nuclear plants.

2. We had a recent FHE at Town Hall! It was really good, I think. Anyway, a brother who is to remain anonymous pointed out that many of the events/lectures at that august institution were of a leftish orientation. Perhaps. So in his honor, I hereby offer a few Town Hall events that are not even remotely left wing:
              a. A lecture on nuclear reactor design and super-efficient power sources!
              b. A lecture on how to cook like a man! Hint: cornflakes will not be a topic of conversation.
              c. A lecture by one of my favorite authors, Dan Ariely, on irrationality and human behavior. Dan wrote two very influential books that I've quoted from in at least one sacrament meeting talk.

3. Democrats love cities more than Republicans, and both sides of the spectrum love Seattle. Another thing we all can agree upon: our generation is the one that will suffer for the recession, and we're already paid about half what our parents were at our age. But cheer up! Seattlites have the highest wage growth of anywhere in the US. Enrichissez-vous!

Last but not least,

4. To prove that I have the capacity for thinking across the wide spectrum of political discourse in this great nation, I'd like to call your attention to this column by George Will, eminent political analyst and baseball pundit. And sworn enemy of blue jeans. Say what you will about the man's sartorial preferences, but he knows how to rock a bow tie.

Joking aside, you may not agree with everything he's written (and he's taken a turn towards the right in recent years), but this column is remarkably insightful. I hope we all agree with the man on this one.

On that note, the topic of this week's Elders' Quorum lesson will be on acceptance and love.