The Victorious Opposition

I’ve been enduring a massive attack of allergies in the past week.  It’s left me either too miserable to think clearly or too stoned on antihistamines to write so I’ve missed out on blogging about a few stories in as timely a manner as I would have liked.  Let’s just put them all together.

First, I noticed last week that House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner demanded that Obama fire his economic team for the obvious reason that it sucks.  Boehner obviously feels that Geithner & Co. has not demonstrated any leadership in a time of crisis and has supported spending billions of dollars to little effect.  Of course, I have many of the same complaints about Boehner and am already dreading the fact that the House GOP will still be led by him next year and that they will be the majority.

Murkowski was defeated by a Tea Party candidate in Alaska partly thanks to her support of TARP and Boehner had voted against a majority of his own party to support it as well.  I like to see these Tea Party candidates winning nominations against RINO’s but if we’re going to have the same borrow-and-spend Republican leadership in charge at the end of the day, it’s not going to matter.

Conclusion: Fuck Obama’s economic team.  Fuck John Boehner too.

The next story I missed out on while in a Sudafed haze was that the CIA has begun identifying Yemen and Somalia as the big al-Qaeda threats.  Well, I’ve mentioned before that I consider the Somali threat to be overrated.  Yemen, on the other hand, is a bona fide haven for AQ and the CIA is right to focus on it.

Allow me to take this opportunity to point out that we’re still pouring blood and treasure into Afghanistan for no apparent reason, despite knowing full well that AQ is in Pakistan and Yemen.  Realistically, the Taliban is no more and no less a threat to us than al Shabaab in Somalia.  In the countries where AQ is, we either scale back our military forces (Iraq) or we use targeted drone strikes (Yemen, Pakistan).  In those countries where AQ isn’t we send a hundred thousand troops to promote women’s suffrage and forbid them from shooting at anyone.

Conclusion: Fuck Afghanistan.

Finally, The State Department released its report on Human Rights Violations in the United States to the UN.  You know, that awesome organization for good that places countries like Libya on Human Rights committees, accepts kickbacks from Saddam’s regime in the Oil-for-Food scandal, and sends peacekeeping troops to rape hell out of every impoverished female they can get their hands on.

The Obama Administration partly based its findings on the existence of the Arizona immigration law that is extremely popular with Americans.  Notably, the DOJ did NOT sue Arizona on account of human rights violations but on a constitutional technicality.  If that state is a human rights violator, then I suppose that we should be nation-building in Arizona with a multi-national force.  Damn it, we will bomb them into modernity!

This is the kind of thing that isn’t just going to doom Obama in 2012.  It has the potential to permanently shut Democrats out of the Presidency for the remainder of our lifetimes.  Look at America right now: have we ever been this afraid for the future of our country?  I don’t mean like in the Civil War or Great Depression; I mean in your lifetimes?  Right now, our national self-esteem sucks and the last thing we need is our jackass president wriggling on a bunch of dictator’s jocks while giggling about how the US is filled to the brim with a bunch of lowlife bigots.  It’s not true.  Further, we are morally superior (not just equivalent or inferior as Obama believes) to the vast majority of nations within the UN and certainly more so than the completely hopeless UN organization itself.

After this stunt, it’s impossible to imagine that anyone will make the mistake of comparing Obama with Reagan or Lincoln ever again.  It was always bullshit, of course.  That Obama does things like this and then wonders aloud why more and more Americans think he’s different and that he has other interests in mind above those of the wellbeing of the US is probably the most amazing aspect of all.

Conclusion: Fuck Obama.  Fuck the State Department.  Fuck the UN.

August 19, 2010 is my official day of reckoning; orientation starts at 8AM (zomg that’s early). There are various social/introductory events all that week, starting on Monday. First day of class is August 23. For the first semester, I have Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure and Legal Rhetoric (legal research and writing, primarily), I’ll have about 14-16 classroom hours each week, but I expect to be at school 9-5 (or later) Mon-Fri. My plan is to try to treat school like a full-time job, spending my non-class time in the library or elsewhere studying, in the hope that I can do school at school, and when I go home, I’m home. We’ll see how well that plan works out for me.

The Law School is off the main AU campus by about 3/4 of a mile. This being inside the city, parking is a big hassle. First-year law students aren’t allowed to park at the school; we have to park on the main campus and take a shuttle to the school. This means a commute that would be ~30 minutes outside rush hour will be more like 90 minutes - the drive becomes ~60 minutes in rush hour, and I have to allow time for the shuttle. Unfortunately, taking the Metro would be worse. Because of the hub/spoke nature of the DC Metro layout, I’d essentially have to take one line downtown and then another one back out to school. And Metro parking is a disaster - an expensive disaster. When the new Dulles Metro extension opens up there will be a Metro stop barely half a mile from my house, but it’s not scheduled to open until the end of 2013 (at which point the value of our house will likely go way up - a mile from the Beltway and half a mile from a Metro stop).

At least my earliest class is 10AM this semester (well, I’m still waiting for my Legal Rhetoric schedule, but I can’t see that being early in the AM, since many sections of it are taught by upper-class law students).

I’m in the process of scoping out the best prices for my books. Between the campus bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and 3 online textbook sites, this is a big PITA. I’m getting back in practice with Excel putting this all in a spreadsheet - no one site has all of them in stock, and prices are all over the place. I always buy new books, and then maybe sell them at the end of the term. I don’t buy used books that someone else may have marked up. There are a lot of places doing textbook rentals now, but I can’t see that working for me - it means you can’t mark anything in the book, and odds are high that I’ll want to keep a decent number of them for reference, at least until I’m through the bar exam. Books are going to be in the range of $6-800/semester it appears.

I haven’t been around here much because I’m spending most of my time doing stuff I won’t get to do for several years. I just got access to the beta of the next World of Warcraft expansion, which I won’t have time to play any more once school starts. I’ve been rereading a bunch of Dragonlance books. Getting stuff done while I still have time like getting the roof inspected and getting a crown replaced (ow). I’ve got one or two more articles I’d like to try to write, but every time I sit down to do something serious, I just wind up cruising the web or playing a game.

I’m looking forward to this new adventure. The only thing that has me really concerned is the fact that each course (other than legal writing) bases its entire grade on a single final exam. That’s not a system I’ve ever had to deal with. But I’m taking a pragmatic view to this whole thing. I don’t intend to compete with anyone except myself in this process - I’m going to do the best I can do and not worry myself over what other people are doing, class rank, etc. I expect I’ll do fine, once I get into the discipline of studying. I need to do well enough to set myself up for some things that come in the 2nd and 3rd year, like getting on Law Review, trying to get scholarships and externships, etc.

Frugality, that loaded word that conjures up images of penny-pinching cheapskates who tip 10% at restaurants, has been making a return to vogue status over the last few years.  Pulling out a coupon when I’m paying for dinner would have been social suicide 5 years ago, but now I find that Sarah gets a little twinkle in her eye every time she sees me saving money that we can spend on ourselves elsewhere.  It’s actually *sexy* now, whereas 5 years ago the sexiness was in how much you spent, not in how much you saved.  The best part of all is that her and I haven’t really changed out lifestyle—we go out to eat, we hit sporting events, we travel…etc—but we sure have changed our awareness of what we were spending our money on and, in many cases, OVERspending our money on.  In most facets, I think we are actually doing more and living better than we were pre-recession while spending less money to do it.

I’ll share some of my successes below the fold…

So I had a phone interview with a corporation in another city which shall remain nameless.  It was a job I had applied for over three weeks ago, had written off, and was surprised when they contacted me.  I fit and even slightly exceeded the qualifications they were asking for and even have a particular credential that they said is “preferred.”  I thought the interview went pretty well since I nailed all of their questions and had a few questions of my own that one of the interviewers seemed to respect.  The pay was just slightly below what I was asking for and I loved the benefits package (relocation costs included).  About an hour after the interview, I sent a gracious “thank you” email to both interviewers (an HR rep and the department head).

Imagine my surprise when I checked Indeed.com an hour ago and noticed that the company had actually reposted the job again on their website almost immediately after I talked to them.  I can handle being beaten out for a job by a candidate with more education, stronger experience, connections within the organization, better hair, a bigger penis, or whatever.  But to actually lose out to nobody when I know that I was a powerful candidate for a position and to have the decision be made so quickly after the interview is just a big “fuck you” that I was not expecting.  The worst rejection I ever got was last year when a snotty HR recruiter asked me all of three questions and sent a rejection email twenty minutes after we got done.  This wasn’t that bad, but Lord, it wasn’t good.

You expect businesses to be highly selective about hiring during a recession, but the sheer amount of asshole behavior I’ve witnessed as a job hunter from HR departments is a national disgrace that is almost ruining my faith in capitalism.

UPDATE: I brought up the one job I had interviewed for that sent a rejection email almost right after the interview.  A funny thing I forgot to mention is that I’ve seen that same job posted about four times now over the past year.  Apparently, they’re as shitty to work for as they are to try to work for.  I don’t know how many of you among the VO readership work in a hiring position, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned is that the way a business treats candidates is a huge indicator to those candidates as to whether or not you are somebody even worth working for. 

In the company I talked to today’s case, they kept me waiting for three weeks to just get a preliminary interview.  When I asked the recruiter who called to set up the interview how soon they needed to fill the position, I was told “ASAP!”  To me, that indicates either rotten planning or that they had their hearts set on a candidate who told them to FOAD at the last minute, which shows poor judgement.  Worse still is that they’re preparing to restart the hiring process.  How is it okay to waste your employer’s time and resources when you’re rejecting clearly qualified candidates?  I have to wonder about a corporate culture that thinks that way.

At any rate, I never feel bad when I get rejected by an employer that treats me badly.  Call it sour grapes if you like, but I think I probably dodged a bullet.

Last week, Manwhore announced at the end of a bitterly-fought thread over unionization for public service employees that he “quit” and didn’t want to be where he wasn’t wanted.  This wasn’t entirely surprising, as there had been sort of an ever-increasing angry tempo in his writings about cops, unions, and the state of California in recent weeks. 

I can’t really claim to know why MW thought he had to go.  I really haven’t talked to him via IM and email much in recent months (not for any particular reason, I’m just busy) but maybe I should have been so I could see this coming.  At any rate, if you’re wanting news and updates about what’s going on with him, I got nothing.  I don’t know why he felt the need to make such an extreme grand gesture nor do I know what he hopes to gain from doing it.

All I can affirmatively say is that I hope he comes back when he gets things sorted out and I hope it is soon. 

Last Saturday marked yet another milestone in the VOs attempt to organize intelligent, motivated individuals into a collective community dedicated towards protecting the North American way of life.  Schedules finally aligned and I had the good fortune of meeting Santino and his wife in Ann Arbor.  We started, of course, at the Arbor Brewing Company before continuing the Unofficial VO Brewery Bar Crawl to the Jolly Pumpkin, a more recent addition to the city.  After staring down towering plates of food at ABC, the Toronto Contingent decided to forgo the American tradition of overeating themselves into obesity and packaged the remainder for the road—a display of prudence, indeed.  As was my experience with “The Thrills” last August, I was quickly impressed with how easily the conversation flowed between the three of us and could have easily spent the rest of the evening with them.  It seems to me that we have a very unique thing going on here at the VO and the more I meet the residents, the more I grow to appreciate what a special thing that is.

Thank you both for making the effort to meet up!  I look forward to catching a Blue Jays game this summer or a Maple Leafs playoff game sometime in 2028. 

Here’s a shot of Santino and I (not necessarily in that order) from ABC below the fold…(photo by beannie)

UPDATE: Added Pfluffy and Santino from a recent meeting around Thanksgiving.  (photo by beannie?)

You come in here with a skull full of mush, and if you survive, you’ll leave thinking like a lawyer

—Prof. Houseman, “The Paper Chase”

So, after ~14 months of preparation, testing, planning, application and waiting, I’ve finally decided. I’ll be attending American University Washington College of Law in the Fall.

Final tally:

• Accepted: American University and University of Maryland
• Waitlisted: William & Mary, George Mason, University of Virginia
• Declined: George Washington, Georgetown, University of Pennsylvania
• Still waiting to hear: Washington University (they sent a status update a couple weeks ago)

(There’s a focus-group question down at the bottom that I’d like some feedback on. Just pointing that out now in case you decide not to read through all of this )

Found this the other day, talk about scaring the bejesus out of you.

Conventional wisdom says you need to save $1 million for retirement.

That target may be easy to remember, but it falls short of the true cost of what’s required for post-career comfort. Longer life spans, the threat of inflation and the uncertain future of Social Security benefits make this long-touted savings advice inadequate for most, advisers say.

————-

Generation Y (ages 18 to 26) needs to save at least $2 million, according to 77% of advisers. Forty percent put the figure at $3 million.

Nearly half of advisers (46%) said Generation X (ages 27 to 42) should at least double the $1 million goal. Twenty-two percent suggested more than $3 million.

For Boomers (ages 43 to 64), 35% recommended $2 million to $3 million. Thirty percent suggested $1.5 million to $2 million.

Why take any chances? As long as we are throwing large sums of money around, why not make it $5 million, or 10?

Other than slapping people with the reality that you need to save for your retirement, I see nothing useful with assigning arbitrary numbers to retirement goals, first off, nobody has a clue what the collective economy as well as each individuals will be like come retirement time, and second, the amount of money you will need is hugely dictated by that amount that you will spend, and who has a handle on that?

Some predictions can be made with a modicum of accuracy, such as, taxes will be higher, that you can take to the bank. Also, inflation over time will erode your nest egg, but to what extent, nobody can predict.

If only these conditions could be managed by the individual alone, he could plot a truer course, but circumstances beyond our control will modify the results. Things like the economy, how much the government goes into debt, how much money it prints, what percentage of your paycheck is required for the essentials like food and clothing, how strong are America’s businesses ( will people invest in them as will the rest of the world), or will government interference in the form of onerous taxes and undue regulation stifle innovation and productivity, and most importantly, what percentage of our paycheck will be needed to keep the IRS off our back and our butts out of jail.

There was probably no one as anal about retirement as I was, knowing 4 years from the month when I was going to say “adios” , and I read all the recommendations from all these adviser guys, who’s job is to scare the crap out of you so you will give all your money to them to invest for you.but in the end, no magic number or arbitrary figure was reached. It was an impossibility because my spending habits could not be predicted.

Some basic generic advice is sound, such as, start a 529 plan for your kids college as soon as possible, get long term care medical coverage,  and when you leave the work force make sure your debt load is minimal ( pay off your house and chuck the expensive car payments). Other than that, live within your means and you will have a happy retirement.

Debt needs to be carefully considered as well as leaving money for the kids.

I will quibble with this last part. There is a financial adviser that has a radio show in the Bay Area that I use to listen to years ago, he always said that the goal is to spend your last dollar the day you die, I like this for a couple of reasons. Death and estate taxes are just plain wrong, the government should not tax the same income twice, so for this reason I say screw them and don’t leave anything to tax. The other is dependency. I know too many instances of rich kids who expected an inheritance, a free ride, to insulate them from the realities of life, and consequently lived a lifestyle of consumption and dependency instead of productivity. I expect my kid to make his own fortune just like I made mine and will move him in that direction, helping him along the way.

So don’t let these cosmic numbers get you down, you can all get there, and let me tell you, “there” is pretty cool.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I started having problems with my shoulder again last summer - pain, range-of-motion limitations and weakness. After a couple months of ibuprofin and getting back into my home PT program didn’t help, I went back to the orthopod. Went back on the high-dose anti-inflammatories, and did a month of physical therapy. Which got the pain under control and resolved the range of motion problems, but my shoulder is still crazy weak - I basically can’t lift more than 10 lbs or so if my arm is away from my body (i.e. no deficit if I lift something straight up at my side, but insanely weak if I have to lift or carry anything with my arm outstretched). We did another month of PT, with modest improvement of strength.

The big concern was that I had a rotator cuff tear. When I had my surgery in 2008, there was a tiny hole in one of the rotator cuff tendons, but they decided not to repair it, since repairing a tendon requires immobilization, and the problem we were in there to fix (the impingement) required that I get moving as quickly as possible after surgery. So there was concern that rather this hole had progressed into a significant tear, which would require another surgery and horrible long recovery. With school coming up, and the end of COBRA coverage expiring at about the same time, we decided we needed to figure this out quick, and if I absolutely had to have the surgery, to get it done ASAP.

So at the end of December I had an arthro-MRI done on my shoulder (a combination of an arthrogram with an MRI). This was a two-part procedure, done by two doctors in adjacent suites in one of the office buildings at the local hospital. For the first part, using a flouroscope, they injected a contrast dye into the shoulder joint (cool to watch, not a lot of fun to experience). Then over to the other suite for an hour-long series of MRI scans of the shoulder joint. The arthrogram is used for this because if there were a tear, the dye would flow into the gap between the tendon and the bone, and be highly visible.

Fortunately, there’s no issue that requires surgery. Unfortunately, my arm is still crazy weak. It’s improving - very, very, very slowly. So we’re sticking with anti-inflammatories, routine stretching, and weights three times a week to try to get it better. For the time being.

Anyhow, back on point. Let’s look at the billing, insurance payments and out-of-pocket payments for this. Since I’ve still got my old employer-sponsored insurance, via COBRA, it’s a good plan - an Aetna PPO with a modest deductible and co-insurance post-deductible.

With neither of us having had a paycheck since the end of 2008, other than brief severance packages and one short-term contract for my wife, she finally got a job offer today.

Whew.

It’s not a big payday; she’s taking a significant cut as part of changing careers, getting out of the lab and into medical writing/editing. But it’s a decent wage, and it moves her into her new career path, with a decent company, with decent benefits.

And it means I’ll be going to Law School in the fall.

Things are going to be tight - this will cover the basics and not much else. We’ll be taking on a lot of student loans and other debt to pay for school. But we have enough resources to sort that out. Discretionary spending will be low for the next 3-4 years at least, though.

Still waiting for word from William & Mary. Current tally: accepted at American and University of Maryland; waitlisted at UVA (surprising because I expected to be declined outright) and George Mason (surprising because I expected to be accepted); declined at Georgetown and George Washington (unsurprising; GWU was a stretch at best and Georgetown was never really in the cards). Still waiting on answers from Penn and Washington University as well as W&M.

This is certainly a relief, let me tell you. Of course, Law School is now real, which is scary as sin…

I was busy yesterday but I wanted to post something about Dr. King, and how important he was as a role model to the black community (and to all of us) as not only a man of peace, but a man of equality (color blind society) and a man of God.

Not to turn this into a religious screed, but there is a line is a Christian hymn ,” Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his site, Jesus loves the little children of the world”. This not only gives us a glimpse of what “Heaven” will be like (if you believe such things) but it gives us a blueprint for the order and society that which is described by Dr. King in his description of “the promised land”, that time and place here on earth where a man is judged, not by the color of his skin, but by the quality of his character. And it should come as no surprise that we are not there, yet.

Even the ushering in of our supposedly post racial president as brought no closer to Dr. King’s vision, hence we have a hasty rushing to judgment ,“The police acted stupidly”, and the existence of a racial czar Charles Ogletree who uses race as an ATM.

Even if you vote for Obama, you’re still probably a racist

It is also striking to pose a figure like Dr. King against that of say a Rev. Wright, which do you think furthers the cause of The Promised Land?

Today we still have the race hustlers that pretend to be spiritual leaders but have abandoned “the will of God” in pursuit of their 30 pieces of silver.

It is encouraging to see how far these King apostles (apostates more like it) have fallen, not only in the eyes of the black community but even with guilty white liberals. They have been exposed in their failings, from doing God’s work, to only doing their own, and what will enhance their image and wealth.

Only God knows what truly is in a man’s heart, but these spiritual pretenders (and some white evangelists should pay attention as well) should not forget that no man bypasses judgment day, where you get the chance to filibuster before The Big Guy, where a true accounting will result.

I wonder if Dr. King looks down and is pleased by how far we have come from the days of fire hoses and police dogs, or whether he is saddened that there are still people that don’t get the concept, we are all God’s children, and special in his eyes.

Although this year has ended on a high note with the birth of Thrill Jr, the previous 12 months have been an utter rat-fuck.

This has been a horrible year for my me, my family, and the United States of America.  The death of my brother-in-law’s infant daughter (I don’t think I mentioned that on the VO but it was extremely brutal), unemployment, underemployment, illness, and all other manner of chaos.

However, it is over and I’m still standing.  This is not a weepy post but a defiant one.  I think it’s the tough times and the hardships that really define generations and even our individual identities.  Struggling and suffering test you and remind you of what matters most in life.  For that reason, I thank 2009.  At the end of 2008, I was worried because I knew I was losing my job.  2009 taught me not to fear and it made me tough and vicious. 

I eagerly await 2010 and will step forward without fear.  It’s time to bury last year’s failed expectations and stagnation and look ahead to better days.

I wish all of you a Happy New Year and ask you to go forward with one word in mind: Charge!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get completely fucking hammered in the comfort of my own home.

I meant to tell everyone sooner, but Mrs Thrill gave birth to our son and second child, Thrill Jr, on Monday afternoon!  Both she and the baby are doing very well and they’re coming home this evening.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support.  Here’s the picture I’m planning to put on the Christmas cards:

No doubting the paternal lineage of that one, what can I say…

Merry Christmas!

It use to be that Santa’s only needed to be plumb, somewhat jolly, and not be listed on any sex registry, but in today’s environment having some motivational or family therapy training can go a long way.

As a longtime Santa Claus at a suburban Chicago mall, Rod Riemersma used to jokingly tell children they would get socks for Christmas if they were naughty.

This year, he stopped telling the joke. Too many children were asking for socks. “They’ve probably heard their parents say, ‘Geez, I wish I had some money to get them clothes,’ ” says Mr. Riemersma, 56 years old.
The Santa Index

A wintry measure of hard times can be found this holiday season on the knee of white-bearded, red-suited men around the country. A couple of years ago, children were shooting for the moon, asking St. Nick for Xboxes, iPods and laptops. But with the economy still fragile, many children are requesting basics such as shoes, library cards and even eyeglasses, say dozens of Santas who work at malls or on the party circuit.

“Kids will hear the E-word, but it’s not Elmo,” says Tim Connaghan, who runs a Los Angeles Santa-training school. “It’s the economy.”

How sad is that?

And the stress level is compounded, first by kids worrying about the basic essentials of life and then by bread winners feeling ashamed because the bread is not being won and and their jobs of providing for their families has gone wanting. In this land of plenty it seems that what is bountiful is worry, grief, and uncertainty.  Kids have enough to worry about today (and they have it much harder than when we were growing up).

Sometimes even the best training can’t keep Santa from being caught off guard. Mike Smith, who works as Santa at the Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, Ohio, says a 5-year-old girl wearing a Dora the Explorer sweat shirt last month hopped in his lap and asked, “Can you turn my daddy into an elf?” “Why?” he asked.

“Because my daddy’s out of work, and we’re about to lose our house,” she said.

A candy cane or some Christmas cookies is not going to solve that problem.

Some would argue that in our disposable society, kids have been basically spoiled, asking for ridiculous outlandish items that would seem unthinkable 20 years ago, and if a cold slap of reality removes the pathos of instant gratification and gets them into focusing on what’s important in life, then they will turn out more well rounded and better equipped to deal with real life.

“While visions of sugar-plums socks danced in their heads”..............no thanks.

Although the death of opulence in anything may not be bad, some of my most cherished memories of family has always revolved around Christmas, and not just the loot, but it was the time spent with family.

This year, although we will be spending less, the traditions established in our house will not be wanting. The decorations have all gone up. The stockings have all been hung including one for the dog and the cat ,this year we made personalized stockings for our two chickens (pets for the kid but I like the fresh eggs) and our two squirrels that live in our willow tree in the back. I figure if we feed them, then they are part of the family. I did have to draw the line at the two deer that have invoked eminent domain in our open space in back, the fact that I haven’t called Ted Nugent on them should be merry enough.

So what say the rest of you guys? Has there been any deviation from the usual holiday festivities this year and how are you all coping with any changes?

I would also encourage those that can to not forget those truly in need and maybe give something to the toys for tots drive at the local firehouse, or feed the Salvation Army kettle at the stores. This morning outside of Safeway I was chatting with a Salvation Army volunteer and asked her about donations this year. She told me they were still good, people will dig a little deeper over Christmas. Reading stories like this about kids asking for shoes or socks, these Tiny Tim’s need some hope.

I just received acceptance to American University’s Washington College of Law, which is my second-choice school. They have very good programs in both Intellectual Property/Technology Law and in Constitutional/Public Interest Law, including the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. They’re also within reasonable commuting distance from home - a couple miles off the DC Beltway, just across the border between Maryland and NW DC.

They also have dual JD/Master of Public Policy and JD/Master of Public Administration degree programs to which I can apply during my 1L year, using my JD application (i.e. I don’t have to take the GRE and do another separate applications process). If I decide to go that route (it would add another year to my program).

The fiscal realities of all of this are starting to sink in. OMG…