Macro and Micro Consistency...

When it comes to national politics, there are a few things that I care about more than anything else. This helps shape my voting patterns.

I am extremely concerned with national security, particularly as it relates to the existential threat to Western Civilization posed by militant, fundamentalist Islam. As a corollary to that, I am concerned with weaning ourselves off of Middle Eastern oil and finding alternative energy sources. I'm tired of having us fund both sides of the war.

At home, I am concerned with these two topics as well. I spend a lot of time thinking about the safety of my kids and my home. I also spend a lot of time looking into how I can minimize our energy expenses.
From a security perspective, I am installing motion detectors for outdoor lights (all hooked up via the X10 system) and going to put some bars on the windows in the basement. We do have a security system, but maybe I'm paranoid here, I just feel like the extra layer is worth it. It's one of those ounce of prevention, pound of cure scenarios.

On the energy front, I've investigated solar (not feasible because my southern exposure is blocked by huge, beautiful trees), wind (not really a good idea for home and not cost effectives), geothermal (having a guy come over to give me an estimate on a home heating/cooling system), and reading about some others. I'm concerned about electricity and natural gas prices in the long run and want to see if I can become energy independent (or at least that's the goal.)

Feels good to be aligned from the court-side and skybox perspectives.