Conference central

A clutch of hotels near the zoo where the gibbons sing and the pandas frolic - the Marriott, the Omni, and the Hilton - are conference ground zero in DC. 7000 political scientists converged there to discuss the bases, the distribution, the exercise of power, in theory, in reality, in narrative, and in numbers. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the weather was beautiful. Blasts of fresh air and sun hit us as we concentrated on hard times in the world. This week it's us, next week it's the fly biologists, the following week its the economists, the boilermakers, and on and on.