My reasons for emigrating are certainly not economic, since British academics are paid far less than American ones.  A professor of business economics in America earns somewhere around $180,000/yr. on average.  A British one would be lucky to see half of that.  (I can certainly live with that.  God knows most people live on far less.)  I'm emigrating for political reasons, partly -- though it's not like Tony Blair is a huge departure from George Bush these days -- but also because I've always wanted to live and study in the UK and spend time in Europe.  I would've preferred London, because I love large cities, but it's so incredibly expensive to live there these days.

The entire visa process is a mess out in California, and I can't stand Diane Feinstein.  I wish Cindy Sheehan had decided to run against her.  everytime I see Feinstein on "Meet the Press" or "Face the Nation," she spends an hour debating without actually saying anything important.  Feinstein is like Hillary Clinton, but even more of a Republican-lite piece of garbage.  I don't know why we can't get any strong, liberal Democrats to run in ultra-liberal California.  The state is a lock for Democrats.  If you win LA and San Francisco, you've practically won the state already -- and the Democrats always crush the GOP in those two cities.  And yet we keep getting these weak-kneed Know-Nothings in the House and Senate.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin