Ciao!

Viva Salam Pax

In his latest post, Salam Pax defends himself from accusations that he might not have been anti-Saddam enough. And he does so quite eloquently, I might add.

Iraq slowly fades from the media radar. But he's been there from the beginning and had a clear grip on the situation. Sure, he opposed the war — as much as he opposed Saddam. I certainly didn't expect him to "go out and throw flowers at the incoming missiles."

I always thought Salam brave. Heck, publishing a critical blog from Baghdad was damn heroic! I'm glad to hear things are slowly getting better for him, his family, and the people of Iraq. And while many of us might've disagreed on the means, I hope we all agree on the desired outcome: democracy in Iraq.

Posted by Miguel at 03:24 PM | Permalink

Flee the scene

Sickness is fading away. Popping double doses of DayQuil capsules and drinking a gallon of orange juice always seems to do the trick. That's always the case w/ me. I resist sickness as long as I can — stay in a state of denial. Until my entire system crashes and my head feels like its filled w/ cotton stuffing. Then I overmedicate, crawl into bed for 15 hours, and come out on top again.

I suppose I should just take better care of myself all around. You know, take some vitamins or echinacea or gingseng -balboa whatever the new health fad is. But vitamins cost money and I'm a cheapskate. I mean, I get the flu maybe once or twice a year. And the cost of two day's medication costs less than a year of vitamins and nutritional supplements. So there you go: cost-benefit analysis argues against preventative measures.

My trip to the library was a wild goose chase. Several articles I hoped to find weren't available. They're in semi-obscure journals Waldo Library just doesn't carry. So inter-library loan it is.

On the plus side, I bumped into Genoveva, the very cute Spanish grad student I sometimes run into on campus. I love that rich Castillian accent. I'm supposed to call her to go out for coffee. Ah, spring!

On the minus side, I had to flee my department to avoid a silly colloquium. Apparently, Senator Carl Levin was speaking to the department. I can't even really remember what the topic was supposed to be; I only know I wasn't all that interested. Nothing against the senator, I just have better things to do w/ my afternoon than listen to him drone on about whatever.

Yeah, I know, I'm a political science grad student. But, you know what? I just don't find politics all that interesting most of the time. That is, I find electoral systems and the structures of party systems fascinating. I enjoy theoretical discussions about the meaning of democracy. But I find campaigning droll and I've little interest in US domestic politics.

Yeah, the senator's probably well-connected. But how's that help me? He can't give me a tenure-track position at an East Coast liberal arts college. And I don't want a staff position on Capitol Hill.

So I quickly checked my mail and ran away before too many people saw me and guilted me into attending.

Posted by Miguel at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

London Detective

So my friend J Edmund tracked down Warren Ellis. If you don't know, Warren Ellis is one of the best contemporary comic book writers. Actually, he's just plain a great writer.

I'm finally recovering from the hectic pace of the Moped Army BBQ. And I came down w/ a cold. So now I'm hunkering down w/ OJ and DayQuil. I need my energy for two things: A) poker night and B) catching up on research projects tomorrow and all weekend.

Posted by Miguel at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Miguel at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The cutest niece in the world

Novalí is the cutest niece in the world. And not just because she's my niece. My brother, Sam, just posted pictures from their Memorial Day visit to my parents'. Enjoy!

Posted by Miguel at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vindication

The Moped Army BBQ is over. It was a great success. In addition to the out-of-towners from the last few days, members from the Ann Arbor (The Guns) and Bethlehem, PA (Blue Shirt Holiday) showed up. That means every branch of the Moped Army but two were represented.

I'm sure they'll be tons of news and photos about the event at the Moped Army website in the next few days. So check back there. I'm too tired to post much, and I've too many pictures to pic from right now.

But let's get to the real news: the "no rules" cross-town rally race.

We lined up on the intersection of Walnut & Portage, facing west, just before 4pm. There was a light breeze and fears of an impending rain on the horizon. The sky was a canopy of dark grey clouds. Engines revved, wrists twisting at the throttle. Itching. Waiting for that light to turn green. Waiting. And then an explosion of buzzing two stroke as forty-some bikes tore off left, right, and straight ahead. It was on.

I rode The Motron, and together we tore up Walnut hill in a tense pack. All tucked in racing position: feet up off the pedals on the narrow foot rests, crouched low over the handlebars. Motron had the acceleration, but not quite the top end. We slipped back. Ahead were the powerhouses: Dan on the Milani, Wayne on the Panther, Devin on the Califfo (damn that Califfo!), and Megan on the Tomos Bullet.

We raced up to a four-way stop at Burdick. No cars, and the pack went through. We came to Rose. No cars, and the pack went through. I was slowly gaining back some ground on the flat — but not much. We were nearing Bill's Lock Shop, the first checkpoint. Park was coming up. And suddenly, Motron & I got our break. The pack stopped! A car and a motorcycle rolled down Park.

I was on the outside (left) and still racing at the pack ahead of me when I saw it: the coming break in traffic. The others were at a full stop and the final car would soon pass them. If I could only swing out to the far outside and go through as soon as the car passed me, I'd never have to slow down. Full throttle. Straight through Park. And that's when it all came together. The sky opened up and I could feel a light kiss on my forehead.

The Motron catapulted me past a startled pack. Westnedge — and Bill's Lock Shop — was just one block away. And only one person was handing out flyers. Jackpot! I was already on the far left, w/ a clear view of Westnedge traffic. All clear. A hard stop across the street, grab a flyer, and go.

I turned left onto Westnedge, racing against oncoming traffic in the left-hand parking lane. No cars were parked. All clear. Plant my right leg on hard asphalt, and a sharp snap turn onto Cedar. Back across Park and racing towards Rose, Devin and Wayne hot on my tail (Dan had gone back down Walnut). A swooping turn onto Rose (it turns into a two-way at that very block) and full throttle to Lovell and the Public Library.

Again, only one person was handing out flyers. And I got there first, just ahead of Devin. I whipped The Motron back around and tore up Lovell. Crossed Kalamazoo Mall, headed towards Henrietta, which was under construction. No heed. Zipped between orange cones — cutting Devin short — taking the inside turn around onto South. After zipping through Portage, it was a smooth downgrade to the Whistle Stop.

But. There was no one there w/ flyers. No one. I hesitated, relaxed the throttle. Motron coughed, wanted to race. Devin and I scanned right, then left. And, again, Lady Luck kissed my forehead. I saw him first. Hit full throttle and dragged my left foot on a hard turn towards E Michigan and that final flyer.

I took it in my hand and tore back around down Pitcher. This was it. It was my race to lose. I tucked that final precious flyer into my jacket pocket, patted all three flyers, balled up into a chaotic mass, in my pocket. Just for a split second. After all, I did have to get back into racing tuck. And Devin (w/ that damned Califfo!) was hot on my tail. Slowly gaining.

He was on my left. Lucky. I saw him from my only side mirror, and merged ahead of him. Timed it just right so that I cut back into the inside turn as he came back around. And we raced like this, Motron fighting a frenzied rearguard action against the Califfo. We fought the whole quarter mile back down Pitcher, merging back onto Portage and to the finish line.

Motron crossed a bike's length ahead of Devin and his Califfo. My fist pumping in the air as the crowd roared. Sweet, sweet victory! And against the Califfo! Vindication for last night's disaster.

It didn't matter that Dave actually won the race (he took the reverse route). I still came in second. A clean sweep for Team Minarelli. Dan crossed soon after, and joined Dave and I as we jumped up and down, arms around each other's shoulders: "Minarelli! Minarelli! Minarelli!"

Here's a map of the race route I took. The red dots are the flyer locations; the "X" is the start/finish line.

Posted by Miguel at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Like a banshee out of hell

OK, so the relay race didn't go as well as expected. First, we had some trouble getting out there. We did have, after all, just over 50 mopeds. Some breakdowns and left-behinds were inevitable. But we all eventually ended up at the spot.

Team Sachs had technical problems, which meant the first scheduled heat (we had nine teams of four riders broken into three preliminary heats) was bumped to go first. That was the heat w/ the most powerhouses. Let there be no doubt. I was a bit nervous about facing Caleb (former Team Minarelli member), Ana, Kelly, and Brian Phillips. But the real competition was the team comprised of Chad, Devin (my God, that Califfo!), Brandon and Lester. It was the Califfo thad did Team Minarelli in. I've never seen a moped move so fast.

I rode the first leg of the race. I lost Caleb about a quarter of the way into my lap — started gaining on Lester (I'm geared all top end, no acceleration). My bike was just a tad faster, but he kept taking the inside curves and I couldn't quite slide in. So I had to race him on the ouside turns, finally overtaking him w/ just less than half a mile to go. I extended the lead to maybe 30-40 yards.

And then Dave faced the Califfo. And it was all over. Chris and Dan gained back some ground. But just not enough.

The cops showed up just after our heat finished. They asked us to leave; we all headed out of the Tech Park and made our way to food, drink, sleep.

Too bad. If Team Sachs hadn't broken down, only that heat would've gone. And if we'd managed to get all the other heats to go, I've no doubt Devin's team would've mopped up. And easily. It's not so bad to lose to the tourney champs.

Instead, Team Minarelli has to bear the shame. But tomorrow is a new day. And another race. This time, hometown advantage plays a role. And this time. We're takin' it to the next level.

Posted by Miguel at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

And so it begins

Moped Army BBQ weekend is now in full effect. Yesterday afternoon we got a phone call; Tim from the Mosquito Fleet branch of the Moped Army arrived at the train station and needed to be picked up. He was the first out-of-towner to show up. We got him on a moped and went out for food.

Posted by Miguel at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Vive la resistance

How do you know when the war's over? When the French surrender. And, to give them credit, they lasted longer than I would've expected. But the Security Council finally lifted sanctions on Iraq. Which is what they'd been pushing for all along. Until we suggested it — then France had to oppose. It's a matter of principle, you understand.

• Bush: "We need sanctions on Iraq to pressure the regime to comply w/ disarmament."
  
• Chirac: "But sanctions only hurt innocent Iraqis. They die of malnutrition and worse. We should lift the sanctions."
  
• Bush: "OK. So let's try something else. How about we threaten to depose Hussein?"
  
• Chirac: "Non! We must give the sanctions more time."
  
• Bush: "But I thought sanctions hurt innocent Iraqis?"
  
• Chirac: "Perhaps they do, who knows. But we must abide by UN resolutions."
  
• Bush: "But last time you voted you gave Hussein one final chance to comply."
  
• Chirac: "You misunderstood me."
  
• Bush: "Why don't we threaten to use force to end the stalemate?"
  
• Chirac: "Non! We do not condone the use of military force to achieve political objectives."
  
• Bush: "But you just invaded the Central African Republic!"
  
• Chirac: "Yes, but that was to protect the legitimate government."
  
• Bush: "But all you did was capture the airport and evacuate Europeans. In the end, Bozize's coup succeeded."
  
• Chirac: "Let's get back to Iraq."
  
• Bush: "Well, we've decided to attack Iraq if we have to. And quickly, to minimize civilian casualties if we can."
  
• Chirac: "We will oppose you."
  
• Bush: "But you voted for the resolution!"
  
• Chirac: "You misunderstood our vote."
  
• Bush: "But I thought 'yes' means 'yes'?"
  
• Chirac: "Non! 'No' means 'no', but sometimes 'yes' means something else."
  
• Bush: "Well, we've made up our mind."
  
• Chirac: "But you haven't tried all diplomatic alternatives. Force should be the last resort."
  
• Bush: "Of course! But I thought we all decided that the last resolution was the last straw."
  
• Chirac: "Non!"
  
• Bush: "But you voted 'yes'!"
  
• Chirac: "You misunderstood."
  
• Bush: "Well, we're going to war."
  
• Chirac: "We oppose this war. Give the sanctions more time!"
  
• Bush: "But I thought you opposed the sanctions?"
  
• Chirac: "You misunderstood."
  
• Bush: "But with sanctions, only innocent children die. In war, mostly soldiers and dictators die."
  
• Chirac: "Sometimes existentialist poets die, too."
  
• Bush: "What?! Fine, but can we agree that we should find a way to end the sanctions?"
  
• Chirac: "Perhaps, let me think about that."
  
• Bush: "If we go to war, remove Hussein, then we can lift the sanctions."
  
• Chirac: "Non! A war against Hussein would be unilateral and unsanctioned."
  
• Bush: "But you voted for the resolution!"
  
• Chirac: "Non! You still misunderstand."
  
• Bush: "And you invaded Central African Republic unilaterally. You didn't even give anyone warning."
  
• Chirac: "That was different."
  
• Bush: "How?"
  
• Chirac: "Let's get back to Iraq."
  
• Bush: "OK. Now that the war's over. We should lift the sanctions."
  
• Chirac: "Non!"
  
• Bush: "Come again?"
  

Oh, and read this.

Posted by Miguel at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My dirty little secret

Mom, I have to make a confession. I've been eating cake for the last two days. Pepperidge Farm German Chocalate Cake is my hands-down favorite cake. Ever. I specifically request it every year for my birthday.

Don't worry, Mom, I've been eating regular meals, too. But I couldn't resist picking it up at Meijer (tip, never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach). And there it sat in my fridge. And you know I can't pass up on cake. So now it's 3am and the last piece of cake is gone.

Posted by Miguel at 03:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Pop is not a dirty word

Preparations for the Moped Army BBQ are underway. I spent a few hours making up a list of local restaurants for the out-of-towners. Tomorrow I'll get them printed up and ready. Should be a fun weekend.

Also got some new music in the mail. Most of it's older stuff I never got and two compilation albums from March Records (my favorite record label if you're curious). But I'm pretty excited. Here's what I got:

Spring, The Last Goodbye Ben Kweller, Sha Sha Cinnamon, Vertigo Brittle Stars, Brittle Stars V/A, Sweater Weather V/A, Pop American Style

Annie & Sophie are enjoying the new CDs, too. They're dragging discarded plastic wrappers all over the apartment. Funny how the simplest things can brighten their day.

Posted by Miguel at 11:41 PM | Permalink

Greasy hands and a haircut

For the record, yesterday's post about slavery had less to do w/ slavery per se and everything to do w/ my philosophy on ethics. That is, I'm a ethical universalist. I don't believe ethics are contextual. I think all humans are similar — we can rationally determine a human ethical system. Anyhow, that was the point about yesterday's post. No, Dan, it had nothing to do w/ my volunteering to lend a hand at your shop this week.

Posted by Miguel at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On slavery and ethics

A few nights ago, in a discussion on ethics, I brought up the example of slavery. Essentially, I argued that slavery is immoral now and always has been. That is, our perception of what is ethical and moral change over time, but that doesn't make things we find repugnant today ethical in a time when it was socially acceptable.

Posted by Miguel at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Gone so long I forgot my name

Wow. I've not posted in days. Hmph. So what did I do all this time? Besides work and staying up late and work and drinking coffee and work and staying up late and did I mention work?

Saturday. Simon & Meredith hosted their official housewarming party at their new loft apartment. The place is an old, early twentieth century firehouse. Actually, their loft is in the old hayloft. It's amazing. It's all brick walls and extremely high ceilings.

The food was spectacular, especially the homemade guacamole and the Chinese "hapi" snacks (complete w/ wasabi peas!). Everyone had a great time. Well, everyone except for poor little Birdie. She hid under the bed the entire time. She's not really good w/ strange people — and probably still shook up by the move from Chicago.

Sunday. Decepticon Moped Army members got together to swarm the streets of Kalamazoo. Taking time for some tough gangsta photographs (see above). Things are heating up for the upcoming Memorial Day BBQ. The high point of the day was getting Bay's bike up and running — after sitting outside all winter long. All it needed was some gas; it roared like a champ all the live long day. That Cimatti City Bike refuses to die.

Later that night, there was a show at 1977 Mopeds. I got there just in time to catch The Beauty Pill. I really enjoyed their sound. Very DC-rock: tight, simple guitar, minimalist drumming, and extremely political. I'm glad there's a new post-Space show venue.

I left before Berwer played. Nothing against Berwer. But I've heard them many times before and I really needed to get back to my coffee and work. Plus, by that time I was pretty whipped.

Monday. Not much. Got up through the letter "E" in the APSA's (American Political Science Association) member directory — looking for political theorists who're Berkeley PhD grads from 1960s to present. Don't ask; it's really boring.

Posted by Miguel at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Cod and curry

Dinner at Aparna & Sabi's along w/ Kevin and Katia. Of course, the food was delicious — especially the cod. These rare little get togethers between us are always fun. And always plenty of wine at first, then coffee later.

Conversation got a little heated once the topic of The War came up. Kevin and I certainly didn't see eye-to-eye on that one. Which is fine; disagreement between friends isn't the end of the world. So long as no one dogmatically assumes the other's views are ridiculous. In the end, many of the arguments I posted here in the last several months got rehashed — along w/ some new ones.

As we were leaving (around midnight), Sabi gave me an article to read. It's from The New York Times Magazine, by Paul Berman, about the philosophical underpinnings of Al Qaeda. I've not yet started reading it, but I look forward to it.

Posted by Miguel at 01:54 AM | Permalink

Posted by Miguel at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

High school reunion

I got an email today about my ten year high school reunion. Problem is: I'm not really sure I even care. I mean, I think I'm supposed to, but I just don't.

High school was pretty much a blur for me. I slept through most of it. If you ever want to know what a bad public school system looks like, check out Saginaw Public Schools. I can count the good teachers of my AA high school (that's about 1,500 students) on one hand.

I'll tell you the story of Mr. Mott. He was the secretary of the teacher's union — which means he was pretty much un-fireable. He taught honors government and economics. He was an absolute joke. Almost every day we played Trivial Pursuit or otherwise just wasted time.

I don't think he ever even did anything. Once, I decided to test him. We had to write a paper about a president. So I did. But halfway through the paper, I started copying out of the encyclopedia — word for word — the entry on dinosaurs. He never mentioned it; he gave me a "100." What a joke.

I won't even get into the principal who used to get drunk and hit on cheerleaders at football games. Or the disciplinary principal who'd lost his license after too many drunk driving tickets. Or the coaches who allowed keg parties on school grounds.

So, yeah, I spent most of my junior and senior years sleeping at my desk, waking up to take fill-in-the-bubble standard tests.

I avoided most people. Saginaw's not a cultural mecca. I had friends, but mostly from the surrounding townships. I mostly lost track of anyone from my high school about a month into the summer after my graduation. The only other person I still keep in touch w/ isn't going to the reunion either. So. Why should I?

What I really wonder is: Why should anyone wanna go to their high school reunion. I mean, if you have friends from the "old days," then you already keep in touch and get together (at least once in a while). Why get together w/ random people you probably never met and have nothing in common w/ except for growing up in the same town?

Silly.

Posted by Miguel at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Careful what you ask for

I got the call this morning: The Motron is ready. And is it ever. It's got more power than I'd ever imagined. A bit too much, perhaps. The top speed isn't quite as high as Lucia's (though still high), but it's acceleration and thrust is undeniable. LeoVinci exhaust, 16.16 Dell'Orto carb, and Sava MC 10 racing tires. Thanks, Dan!

I wasn't used to the power — and took a bit of a spill. In a sharp right turn, I pulled a rookie mistake: I second-guessed myself. Committed to a sharp turn, I tried to widen my turn's arc. W/ an engine that didn't want to slow down, I quickly ran out of driveway.

I dumped the bike (or did it dump me?), slid away from it on the asphalt. The Motron roared, crawling on its side along the driveway. I reached back over myself to shut the engine off. No major damage, just a few scrapes, a very sore right hand, and a tear in my cords.

Oh, yeah, I'm gonna like The Motron.

Posted by Miguel at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blog catch-up

Moxie has declared this her "reader appreciation week" — and it's a doozie. Once, she left a kind comment on my weblog, so I know she read it at least once. Sigh.

Lileks ponders whether — as the Indymedia.org types blather about — we live in a totalitarian state. I'll let you read and figure it out.

Posted by Miguel at 02:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Like Waco in reverse

There's NO WAY this story isn't funny. I heard it first on The Daily Show — so I had to check The New York Times. Here it is. Texas Democrats, in an effort to block their state's Republican majority from passing a redistricting bill — get this! — crossed the border into Oklahoma, bunkering in at a local Holiday Inn. The pathetic part: they had dinner at Denny's.

Say what you will about Texa's redistricting bill — and, to be fair, redistrictings are highly political, contentious events — but key to the democratic process is a willingness to play by the rules. It seems Texas Democrats are unwilling to play by the rules governing democratic competition: primarily, sometimes you lose and you have to accept that. Let's be honest, this kind of behavior is just shy of falling under the category of "coup" (which isn't good).

Is this the future of the Democratic Party? Will it turn intself into a cultish movement that retreats into little compounds? That kind of behavior won't help unseat Bush.

Posted by Miguel at 01:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Busy, busy, dizzy, dizzy

This whole week I feel like I've fallen behind. I'm busy all the time. It just doesn't seem like I'm getting much done. And I've slacked off in my blogging &mdash both posting and reading.

Posted by Miguel at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Content analysis & blueberry tort

Coffee and pastries w/ Kevin & Katia is always fun. I'm so glad they're back from Eatern Europe. They were in Poland, Russia, and the Czech Republic doing research on various things (Kevin's a historian, Katia's a political scientist) for over a year now.

Posted by Miguel at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Definition of "stupid"

Go to the library to request a book. It's checked out, due back w/in a day or two. Put in a special request asking library to hold book when it comes in. Go home. Wait a week. Lose patience. Order book from Amazon.com. Book arrives in mail. Along w/ overdue notice from library — for same book. Find book sitting on livingroom bookshelf.

OK, to be fair, I get to check out books from Waldo Library (on campus) for entire semesters. And for some reason, Models of Democracy wasn't in my "library" pile. Still, trés stupide, non?

Posted by Miguel at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Rainy morning nite

So. I'm trapped at The Fourth Coast Café in the rain past 4am. I don't much feel like walking home in a monsoon — even if it's only a block. I'm quickly running out of things to do here. As good a reason to catch up on my blogging as any.

Last few days I've been working to crank out a website for Dr. Rhodes. I'm no Simon King, but I'd like to think that I can design & build a halfway decent website. So this is what I've gotten done so far. Much of the actual content isn't up yet. But the design elements are in place; she should be able to update it on her own. I'm showing her the site at our meeting tomorrow (er, this afternoon) at Waterstreet Coffee Joint.

I'm also working on another project on the role of theory in the discipline w/ Dr. Hauptmann. It seems a recurring theme of hers. She's looking at whether or not any rational choice theorists think of themselves as doing "positive theory" (e.g. William Riker). She tends to view political theory as derived from "the canon." Whereas I view political theory as empirically driven — a more "scientistic" view.

Aside from that, I'm also working my way through Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis by Ruth Wodak. I need a solid outline for how I want to structure the data collection — and perhaps also the analysis — of my archival work in Bolivia. I'll be going through 20 years worth of newspapers. No sense wasting time there on things I can develop here.

Fortunately, my friend Katia recently returned from Poland, where she did similar work — text analysis of elite public discourse — and can give me excellent tips (both theoretical and practical). Katia and her husband Kevin host one of their very delicious Russian teas Monday evening. So I get a discussion on methodology and scrumptious treats. It's a win-win.

One of my best friends, Corine, is also planning on coming into town on Monday. So this looks like shaping up to be a great week. I just hope I finally have the CD I was hoping to have for her birthday ready by then.

Finally, and I'm also now officially a comic book reader. So Wednesdays are now "new comics day" for me as well. If anyone's interested, this is what I'm reading:

Global Frequency. Most people I know read it and recommended it. And, yeah, it's that good.

Robotech. I used to wake up at 6am to catch it on TV back in 1986. It's an amazing story line. So it's more a "fun" comic for me than anything else.

Batman. Of course! He's always been my favorite character. I just wish Frank Miller wrote it more often.

Gotham Central. This one I picked up because it looked interesting. It's basically just cops in Gotham solving crimes. Batman hardly ever shows up — and you don't want him to.

Human Defense Corps. Another comic focused on human heroes. It's essentially a special forces unit that takes care of business on Earth when the JLA isn't available.

Superman: Red Son. It's no secret I don't like Superman. Mainly because I think he's sort of a gullible "gee-golly-gee" schmuck who'd be nothing w/o his superpowers. But a three-issue story that asks "what if Superman was raised in 1950s Russia, not the US?" should be good.

Posted by Miguel at 06:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Salam Pax is back

It seems Salam Pax survived the war and is posting again.

Posted by Miguel at 04:40 PM | Permalink

Catfight

I didn't get much sleep today. I argued w/ my cats. They won.

Posted by Miguel at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Like Raoul Wallenberg in reverse

The French government, allegedly, gave fleeing Baath officials false passports so they could flee to Europe. Unilateralism? International law?

Posted by Miguel at 12:53 PM | Permalink

Doh!

I just saw a preview for an upcoming FOX-17 News story about some schmuck who actually fell for one of the oldest email scams in history. I'd like to be sympathetic. But come on! Even if you didn't know it was a common email scam, the text of the message itself gives it away.

If the family of an exiled Nigerian dictator offers to share ill-gotten millions w/ you if you email them your bank account number — and you believe them! — you're a certified idiot. You have to pass a driver's test to drive a car. Maybe they should give IQ tests before you can go on the internet.

Posted by Miguel at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

On travel and infectious diseases

Well, I only got a tetanus shot today.

Posted by Miguel at 06:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ontology

My friend Dave Brzezicki has a great post on the nature of the Self and Star Trek transporters. It's based on a conversation we had just before playing poker on Thursday.

Posted by Miguel at 02:12 PM | Permalink

Meanwhile, back in Baghdad

There's a great article on the fall of Baghdad in the upcoming issue of The New York Review of Books. Here's an interesting excerpt:

Now some of Ahmed's friends were surrounding us and giving their opinions on what was going on, about the future, and about what they thought of various exiled politicians, including Baqir al-Hakim, who is in Tehran, and Ahmed Chalabi, who has US backing, and was about to arrive with a number of his fellow exiles in Nasiriya. There were, unsurprisingly, many conflicting opinions. Hakim was a good man, some thought; Chalabi was, or was not, a crook, others thought; the Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was a traitor for making a deal with the Americans, and so on. Ahmed said he hoped the Americans would set up a transitional government without these men, and with technocrats instead. "For example the minister of health should have experience in his field." It struck me that it was a stunning event that this discussion, which already seemed quite normal, was now taking place in Baghdad. "When was the last time we could have talked openly like this?" I asked Ahmed. He took a while to reply. "When I was student in 1967," he said.

Posted by Miguel at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ah, the moral UN

More looting. Except this time it's at the UN! Diplomats looted cafeterias and restaurants on Friday — even taking silverware. Oh, my! And these clowns wanna run Iraq?

Back on the topic of Iraq ... There's a party at Ali Baba's in Kalamazoo this Friday night. The place is owned by Iraqis and serves good falafel and other Middle Eastern fare. A banner at their place announces: "Join us in celebrating Iraq's freedom." Below it: "Ask us about the war in Iraq." There's a $5 cover, but there'll be music and belly dancers. I'm gonna check it out.

Posted by Miguel at 11:43 PM | Permalink

The world needs superheroes

I was away from the internet for most of the weekend. Which is a good thing, I suppose.

Posted by Miguel at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

World conquest on a Friday afternoon

It went down this afternoon. The quest for world domination. You can't put Bill, Dan, Dave, Eric, and myself in one place and not expect a game of Space Risk.

It started innocently enough. I occupied South America and a few other outposts.

But things slowly spun out of control. Eric Gielow consolidated his position in North America even as Dan began massing red troops in Europe, Bill was about to grab all of Asia, and Dave had firm control of Africa. Everyone had their piece of turf. I was being squeezed out.

I decided to take my chances on the moon. Bought a Space Commander and took my forces up, occupying the entire planetoid.

A customer came in to buy a moped. Dan took a break to show him a Kinetic TFR. Meanwhile, the generals sat and pondered the world's fate.

Eric and Bill made a risky alliance, presenting Dan's European red army w/ a two-front war. Bill was about to consolidate Asia ... but Eric had North and South America. Which enemy was the bigger threat? In the end, he split his forces, heavily reinforcing the Ukraine.

Though I was peacefully exploring the moon, Evil Bill — living up to his reputation — bypassed attacking Dan and laid siege to my brave blue forces on the moon. I was cut off, encircled, fighting for my survival. Dejected, spiteful, I invested in a Nuclear Commander and lobbed nuclear weapons down on Earth. It was just enough to keep the balance of power off-center. Just enough to eventually retake the moon — and second place at game's end.

That left Eric in charge of the game. It was his to win or lose. He was next to last in turn order, and only Dan could break the game wide open. But Eric was crafty. He destroyed Dave, took Europe (another continent!), left the remains of Bill's army untouched — both as a buffer between him and Dan and to make Bill a juicy target. At the end of his turn, he reinforced his West Coast underwater colonies. Preventing Dan from flanking him. Brilliant.

As the game ground to a halt (Space Risk has only five turns), Dan massed his last army to break through Bill's forces on round five. This was it. Could Dan make yet another amazing come-from-behind Risk victory?

No. Here you see the remains of Dan's crushed assault on Bill's red fortress in Siam.

Here you see Eric mocking us in his victory. No other general was available for a photo op.

Posted by Miguel at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Photo evidence

My phone rings this afternoon while I'm sitting at my desk. It's Evil Bill. In Kalamazoo. Not Japan.

Never mind that it's raining and I've a website to code. I head to Dan's shop to see my good friend, back in town for 48 hours. Just long enough to take some of his money at poker night, stalemate a round of chess, plan a game of Space Risk for tomorrow, and watch X2 the night's it's released.

In just over 24 hours, he heads back to Japan.

Posted by Miguel at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Life's too good

I'm making slow progress ripping my music to Kaneda. I've gotten through the B's (yes, I keep my CDs in alphabetical order) and I've already used up 2.47 gigabytes. Yikes.

Posted by Miguel at 04:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)