Finding temporary housing in London was easier, I swear it.

A couple of days after arriving not knowing anyone, I went by a grad student dorm that was too gloomily Jane Eyre-ish, then found a listing through the university I'd be attending. Toting an indispensable A-Z (pronounced A to Zed), I found my way to a cozy home on a quiet working-class street where I rented a tiny room and kitchen with a shared bath from an Irish family with a little dark-haired boy who had deep pink cheeks and impossibly blue eyes. Read more

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The Tea Party takeover of Tarrant County Republicans is nearly complete.

With four days to go, candidates from the party's libertarian faction seem poised to wrest two Texas House seats away from established Republicans, and a Ron Paul campaigner could win her first full term as party chairwoman. Read more

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Try as I might, I cannot conjure up one defining moment that occurred in a classroom during my years of public schooling. This does not mean that important lessons weren't learned from teachers. It's just that the jewels that stayed glued in my crown of knowledge have little to do with parsing sentences, calculating the area of a triangle or knowing who was fighting whom during the War of 1812 -- and a lot to do with respect, courtesy and teamwork.

High school graduation time always makes me think back to the teachers who left indelible marks on my mind. Read more

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People who say there shouldn't be such a fuss over the Texas voter ID law are so sweetly naive.

It's no big deal, they say. We get asked to show a driver's license all the time, from when we write a check or pay for something with a credit or debit card to when we check in at the doctor's office. We do it without a second thought to show we are who we say we are. Read more

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A threat on a college campus or one to public officials must always be taken seriously.

We saw that happen when rock guitarist/conservative activist Ted Nugent last month made disparaging -- and, some say, threatening -- remarks about the Obama administration and liberal members of the Supreme Court. The comments came at a meeting of the National Rifle Association, no less. Read more

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