Chad got his job, too.

In his words: "Keep your head but we going to be neighbors again."

Ah, the irony...

Islam reading assignment draws fire

The lawsuit against UNC was filed July 22 in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, N.C., by the Virginia-based Family Policy Network, which calls itself a socially conservative Christian educational organization.

The suit contends that it is unconstitutional for a publicly funded university to require students to study a specific religion.

In light of evangelicals' support of school vouchers and insisting that the phrase "under God," (added in 1954) is now inseparable from the Pledge of Allegiance, this stance seems ironic if not hypocritical.

Eric Alterman: Altercation

An interesting historical look at the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, a bad constitutional shift that's still affecting international policy today.

Officially employed

I officially got the offer. It was a little less than I was hoping for, but a little more than I expected. I start Aug. 26. Thank goodness!

Jobs jobs jobs

I should find out in the next couple of hours whether I got the Investor's Business Daily job. In the meantime, I've gotten nibbles from the Bakersfield Californian (that's a smallish city two hours north of LA) and Bloomberg.

Andrea got a job!

Andrea got an offer from the San Jose Mercury News on Friday, after being the only candidate out of the last six who could pass a Macintosh production skills test. It's not the ideal position -- it's a non-creative, on-call, no-guaranteed-hours situation -- but it is a foot in the door of a respected daily, and more importantly, income. She plans to continue looking for a job in Southern California, but she's understandably eager to start working again.

My interview with Investor's Business Daily went pretty well, too. I regret saying one or two things, such as revealing that I didn't appreciate Orange County politics -- before knowing out the interviewer's political affiliation. But Murray seems to think I have a good shot. It turns out that getting laid off is indeed a black mark of sorts (a good manager doesn't lay off the best workers), but IBD reached some former editors I hadn't put on my list of references and got glowing reviews. I hope that mitigates the perception created when Carole and (the appropriately named) Dick laid me off. I should know by Tuesday.

And Chad thinks his interview went well, too. So maybe all four of us (including Chad's wife, Susan) will get our Disneyland wish of living in Southern Cal.