Quick 8: Welcome to The 8 Things

1. It appears that I have a number of new readers to the site and I just wanted to say Hello and Thank You for visiting.
2. Our gimmick is that everything written about is presented in groups of eight. There's no specific reason that I do this ... gimmick means gimmick. Still, eight seems like a good number in that it's not too small and not too big.
3. It took me awhile to get a handle on what I'd like this blog to be, but over the past few weeks, it has become obvious to myself that I'm getting closer to a format that I'm more comfortable with. If you skim through my archives, you'll see that the nature of the blog has changed at least three times. Now though, I have a good idea of what I would like the blog to accomplish and I expect that it will get better and better at it's mission.
4. What is that mission? The 8 Things is focused on learning. Most of us on the web are just regular schmoes who cannot claim any particular expertise in the arena of politics. Yes, we know what's in our hearts, but the facts and figures elude us. Well, I didn't want to be guy who just parroted the things written on many of the excellent liberal blogs. I want to know things myself. The purpose of The 8 Things is to share many of the things that I'm learning in my personal quest for knowledge.
5. One focus of the blog will be on the process of learning itself. Perhaps this doesn't seem to fit in with the general liberal nature of the site, but I think that anyone who chooses to educate one's self will inevitably find themselves drawn to liberalism.
6. I also love to read and for every appropriate book I read, I will be posting to the site a list representing some aspect of that book. I will not be regurgitating every talking point from a book, nor will I try and communicate everything to be learned from every book. Instead, I will simply provide a themed listing of something I've learned that I hope will encourage you to check the book out yourself.
7. I don't understand enough. I don't know enough. Therefore, most of the rest of my posts will come simply from research. As I try to learn something new, I will share with you the fruits of my labor. I will present graphs if I think they make the point more simply. Commentary will be sprinkled throughout my posts. I come at this with a point of view and that is not something that is going to change. This site is not fair and balanced. 
8. I want to hear from readers. Please leave comments. If I've written something and you've enjoyed it, I would love to hear from you. Hell, if you need to set me straight, since I am not, after all, an expert, please leave a comment or drop me an email. The only way I will get better at this is with feedback. I can use it to determine what works and what doesn't work at the site.