I had a pretty busy week. Manelisi (the SABC correspondent) did at least seven stories this week. Yesterday I had a shoot in the Rayburn building on Capital Hill and Ron Paul was there to liven things up. James Baker, Warren Christopher and someone who I didn't recognize were there to propose changes to the way the president interacts with congress when deciding to go to war. Ron Paul clearly disagreed with their proposal and he engaged James Baker in a heated debate.

Emily and I have a new intern named Mima. She came with us to the political conventions, so we know she is a good worker. We convinced her to go to Sudan and join SVP after her school semester ends. Now her parents, who are friends with Simon, are asking him about us and trying to find out how these crazy people convinced her to go to Africa. They are clearly not pleased with us.

I've been studying my chess books and playing games against my computer, but I have not improved much. I found out that the US Chess Center is a couple blocks from my office and they hold tournaments regularly. I'm going to play there when I have some time.