Some will notice a few differences with the site. For starters, I have moved the comments to the sidebar, and through email only at this time. I have a few reasons for this which I will touch on later. I have also added Google Ads. I'm not sure why, because I don't even know how to use it. But I thought what the heck, I'll give it a shot. Also at the bottom of the page is a Google search bar for those who might want to scroll through the site and not have to use the archive link on the sidebar.

I have noticed that most of the visits this site receives are people doing searches for particular topics and land here either through Google or MSN. The most popular searches that land people here are "FDR," "Stalin" and "Republican Economics." I'm not sure why, because I have written very little about either, but I figure for those coming to the site looking for particulars the Google search engine will help; that and it comes along with the Google Ads which I don't know how to work.

I have moved comments for various reasons. Right now I think people have so much going on in their lives and are busy with their own reading assignments and just life in general that sometimes it can seem like a chore to leave comments. Not to mention that usually I find myself answering comments plus emails and think that maybe combining the two will also help out with my very little available time.

But, I have to say that I have always enjoyed the comments on this blog and truly the comment section of this blog was probably the best part. I am sad to see that go. So I think what I will do is every now and then bring the comments back and other times when I'm just rambling off on political things I will turn them off. Maybe this will help everyone out.

I do appreciate the people who read this site and I want to give them the opportunity to voice themselves. This way I think it gives all of us more time to concentrate on our priorities and allow people to use their spare time for contributions. Or if y'all don't like it, send me a note and I'll change it back to the way it was.

Also, on a personal note, which is unusual for this site, I am in the process of switching jobs. In the next couple weeks I will be leaving politics and entering the world of academia. I'm excited about my new job and it's the very reason why I went to grad school. It will be a welcomed change of pace for me. The college is 10 miles from my house and the time off is unbelievable. Politics was fun and more than I ever imagined. I met a lot of interesting people and learned more about government and campaigns than I ever knew existed. It has given me a lot of good contacts and opened my eyes to exactly how detached the people are from their government. My future hopes for this blog are to make people realize that they are the boss and that if they don't like what they see, change it. Complacency is a scary thing, and you know what they say about idle hands.