Ciao!

Merde! Un plus grand faux pas

A major world power and permanent Security Council member unilaterally sent a military mission into Brazil w/o prior notification. Guess who?

"This sort of operation would not have happened without me being informed, and I was not informed," Mr Chirac said, before being shown a photograph of the French military plane at the airport in Brazil.

Posted by Miguel at 10:47 PM | Permalink

Shameless self-promotion

My little blog virtually exploded a few days ago after USS Clueless linked to two of my posts. To all the new readers: Welcome and thanks for stopping by.

Posted by Miguel at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Why Bush is a fascist (but Saddam is not)

1. Most Americans have no understand of what living in a dictatorship (or specifically a fascist regime) really means.

2. From A, many "activists" (a subset of the American population) have convinced themselves that "fascism" means "political ideals I disagree with".

3. From B, these same "activists" assumed that Bush is a fascist, since Bush holds "political ideals they disagree with".

4. From movies and popular history, many Americans believe (incorrectly) that fascist regimes always cooperate.

5. From D, the conclusion is made that if Bush (a "fascist") opposes Saddam, then the latter can't be a fascist.
   

Posted by Miguel at 03:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

I've no idea why this hasn't gotten more attention. Ok, to be fair, I've got a pretty good idea. But someone conducted a survey of Iraqis about their post-war attitudes.

Posted by Miguel at 03:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My brother, Sam, is complaining about a sore throat and severe fever. The funniest line:

"Medicine makes no sense to me, doctors cured my mom's cancer, but can't tell me why my throat hurts. Where's the logic in that?"

My friend, Josh Upson, is similarly plagued. Question: Why don't you guys just have your tonsils removed already?

Posted by Miguel at 09:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

On cultural relativism

I'm not a cultural relativist. I steadfastly believe that cultures can be evaluated along objective criteria. I dislike the too-typical argument that cultures should be judged by their own standards. The argument that we have no right to criticize other cultures about their policies and social practices is unsound. It's not a leftist argument (socialism is premised on a condemnation of bourgeois capitalist culture; liberalism is premised on an attack on feudal culture).

Posted by Miguel at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (69)

Oh, yeah. Day By Day is back after a brief hiatus.

Posted by Miguel at 05:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Steve Den Beste has perhaps the best and most comprehensive analysis of the Iraq war (and the general "war on terror" situation). It's written in the form of a numbered outline and spells out, essentially, the reasoning behind current US policy and a preliminary evaluation of its success (as measured along the original argument). It's simple and utterly rational. And the infamous WMDs and UN resolutions play a small role — this is a meta argument.

Also, here's a post on Nazi guerrilla resistance after the Second World War — which lasted until late 1947. It puts the current Iraqi "resistance" in historical, comparative perspective.

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Update: In defense of Den Beste, I've posted a critique of cultural relativism.

Posted by Miguel at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

A story about keys

The door buzzer startled me out of bed at 8:40am. Bay Jo was at the door, w/ Katie, and immediately apologized for waking me up so early. See, anyone that knows me knows that I am not a morning person. You're not really supposed to call me before noon. Heck, some days I wake up in the middle of the afternoon. Of course, the other side of this is that you can usually find me up and awake around 5am.

Posted by Miguel at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You carry Kalamazoo in your heart

J. Edmund is back in America. I've had a great time hanging out w/ Evil Bill (back from Japan). But now I have two formerly "exiled" friends back in the good ol' US of A. Unfortunately, I'm leaving for a year in just over a month.

Posted by Miguel at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I haven't posted about the death of Hussein's two sons, Uday and Qusay. Mostly because I don't really have anything to contribute. Sure, I'm glad those sick psycopathic rapists and mass murderers are no longer a threat to anyone. But I'm also disappointed they won't go to trial.

Thankfully, Winds of Change has a great discussion. Joe (at Winds of Change) challenged "liberal" bloggers (loosely defined) to chime in w/ their opinions. The end result is a fairly representative sample of self-proclaimed liberal bloggers (pro- or anti-war) weighing in w/ their perspective. Its' certainly worth a read.

Posted by Miguel at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Posted by Miguel at 11:03 PM | Permalink

Ethical principles be damned, to the barricades!

Finally, Indymedia.org speaks. But it wasn't so pretty. I've been monitoring Indymedia.org (the flagship darling of many so-called "peace" activists) for any mention about Iran's pro-democracy movement and the brutal repression against it. For months, nothing. Finally, this:

Posted by Miguel at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Long live the bourgeoisie!

It's become a common practice to use "bourgeois" and "capitalist" as a form of slur hurled in anger — especially by the Indymedia.org, radical activist crowd. I've never quite understood that, actually. Even in my most "socialist" days (though I was a Saint-Simon socialist, not a Marxist one) I held a great deal of respect for the bourgeois. After all, even Marx himself referred to them as a truly revolutionary class (read Chapter One of The Communist Manifesto). So. What's so good about the bourgeoisie?

Posted by Miguel at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

The Scrabbler

I haven't really been all that "busy" lately as much as just not spending time on the computer. Mainly, I've been spending quite a bit of time w/ Bay Jo and Upson (and others). You know, conversations about various topics, watching assorted comedy television, ice cream, losing my keys, winning a game of Scrabble, stuff like that. So that's why I haven't posted much lately ... though I've had a few ideas ... mainly sparked by the weekend's conversations.

In the meantime, check out recently uploaded photos of my adorable niece.

Posted by Miguel at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"That island of England breeds very valiant creatures"

I'm not pro-Bush. But you can put me squarely in the pro-Blair camp! His speech today before Congress was powerful. A brief excerpt:

There is a myth that though we love freedom, others don't; that our attachment to freedom is a product of our culture; that freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law are American values or Western values; that Afghan women were content under the lash of the Taliban; that Saddam was somehow beloved by his people; that Milosevic was Serbia's savior. Members of Congress, ours are not Western values. They are the universal values of the human spirit, and anywhere -- (applause) -- anywhere, any time ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same: freedom, not tyranny; democracy, not dictatorship; the rule of law, not the rule of the secret police.

The spread of freedom is the best security for the free. It is our last line of defense and our first line of attack.

James Lileks and Andrew Sullivan have great analyses of Blair's speech.

Oh, for the record, I'm well aware that Tony Blair was born in Scotland, that he's the prime minister of Great Britain, not England, and that it's actually the British Isles. But the title of this post comes from Shakespeare´s Henry V. That's why it's in quotation markes.

Posted by Miguel at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Coffee & books

Yesterday, while spending the day w/ my friends Bill (back from Japan after a year's absence) and Bay, I shared an interesting discussion about economics, globalization, and corporate capitalism (among other related topics). Bill argued that corporate capitalism and globalization tends to have a negative effect. He gave the usual reasonings — such as a lack of diversity and a homogenization (i.e. "Americanization" of world culture). Bay and I weren't convinced. So, we spent much of the day drinking coffee and debating the positive consequences of economic globalization.

Posted by Miguel at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Also, reports of Iraq as a Vietnamesque quagmire are premature. Of course, it might turn into another Vietnam. But that's not yet certain. For perspective, keep in mind that SS guerrilla units fought (and killed) Allied troops in post-war Germany as late as 1947.

Posted by Miguel at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Where's ANSWER now?

Peter Beinart asks some important questions about the consistency of the left's interest in human rights. Excerpt:

ANSWER is symptomatic of the left in general. A LexisNexis search going back to 2000 finds not a single reference to the crises in Congo, Liberia, Sudan, or Zimbabwe from Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Michael Moore, Michael Lerner, Gore Vidal, Cornel West, or Howard Zinn. In Congo alone, according to the International Rescue Committee, five years of civil war have taken the lives of a mind-boggling 3.3 million people. How can the leaders of the global left--men and women ostensibly dedicated to solidarity with the world's oppressed, impoverished masses--not care?

Posted by Miguel at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What does freedom mean?

If you're not reading Blue Bird Escape, you should. It's the blog of a young Iranian girl who's recently arrived in Europe. Here's her latest post:

Posted by Miguel at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Goodbye, Hello

Caleb & Marci left town this morning (Monday) for the UP (that's Michigan's Upper Peninsula). I met them for a goodbye breakfast at Main Street Grill, along w/ a few other close friends.

Posted by Miguel at 03:08 AM | Permalink

Random news

There's an interesting editorial in Uganda's New Vision on America's role in Africa.

Posted by Miguel at 12:18 PM | Permalink

Posted by Miguel at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Welcome EconoPundit

I don't usually announce new links to my blogrolls (the list of links to other bloggers on the left column). But there's a new EconoPundit who's quite remarkable. Read especially his Marxist analysis of "class" struggle — between goods-producers and service-producers.

Posted by Miguel at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(Not so) indirect links

What do the IRA (Irish Republican Army), Palestianian suicide bombers, and Colombian Marxist rebels have in common? Nothing. No common ideology. No common leadership structure. No common enemy. So why was an IRA bomb expert arrested in Israel? And why are three IRA members on trial in Colombia?

This is the danger of international terrorism. This is the reality — they do cooperate.

Posted by Miguel at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer bicycles & old friends

I've been enjoying my new bicycle. A few years ago, I only rode bicycles. Everywhere. About ten miles a day. I was in much better shape, had more energy. My 5-speed Schwinn Collegiate isn't as agile as my old 18-speed mountain bike, but it's also a lot more casual and fun. Each time I hop on it I hear The Smith's "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before" echo in my ears.

I rode out to Portage and back. I rode through the Oakland neighborhood. I rode through Downtown. It's amazing. No noise — I can hear every bird chirping, and stop to investigate just what kind, where. I love it.

Corine and I talked today, making plans for a trip out to Chicago to visit. She was in Michigan for a friend's bachelorette party in Grand Rapids. I can't wait for the chance to go out to Chicago and spend a whole weekend w/ her (oh, I also plan to visit my niece and my friend Vanessa if possible). Corine's one of my oldest and dearest friends and one of the few who fully understands (and shares) my Objectivist ethics.

Sometimes I get nostalgic for the old Mount Pleasant days. We'd sit together at The University Cup for hours, around a tiny marble top table, silently reading together. Many people assumed we were boyfriend & girlfriend. Others assumed we were brother & sister. They were wrong. We were neither; our relationship was much closer.

Posted by Miguel at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Bear witness

This is what the fight for democracy in Iran looks like. The pictures are of college dorms after pro-Ayatollah forces moved in to "discipline" student activists. This is what happened to one of the students. Over 4,000 people have been arrested in the last month.

Still no mention of this on Indymedia.org.

Posted by Miguel at 03:30 AM | Permalink

Saddam + Osama

Here it is. And here's some more. Make of it what you will.

Posted by Miguel at 10:44 AM | Permalink

Liberator, the movie

I've been emailing over the past year and a half w/ Marcus Whitfield, a British screenwriter. He's working on a film about Simón Bolívar (known throughout Latin America as "El Libertador" for his role in the Spanish American wars of independence). It's still in early pre-production (the preliminary release date is late 2005). I just found out that Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter 3) is expected to direct the multinational project. I'm really excited. And not just because I've been fascinated w/ Bolívar's life and political philosophy. But also because I'm listed as one of the "consultants" on the script's historical accuracy (my first formal thesis was on Bolívar's political thought). I honestly never thought the project would get this far.

Posted by Miguel at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I ♥ Mom & Dad

I don't believe in unconditional love. It's not something "magical" that happens, like in Hollywood. In contrast, it's also not a "chore", something you struggle for against all odds. Rather, love is a rational choice (not a "feeling"), a mutual agreement, a social contract, a market exchange. This, by the way, applies to all kinds of love, whether they be erotic (or "Romantic"), fraternal, paternal, or Platonic.

Posted by Miguel at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

When the telephone rings, my heart sings

God bless you, Alison Gies. It's always great to hear your voice and just talk. It feels so good to get things off my chest, and you're such a good listener. Of all my ex-girlfriends, you're the hands-down best. Thanks!

Posted by Miguel at 12:52 PM | Permalink

Please tell me

What do you do when a close friend is miserable because of a specific situation? What do you do when you have to watch an emotional train wreck, daily? What do you do when someone you care for has his heart shredded to ribbons in a manure spreader, daily? What should you say?

I guess nothing. I guess you're supposed to just bite your lip and say nothing.

I'm sorry. I just had enough of watching train wrecks.

Posted by Miguel at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Azadi, Arak, Eshgh!

Because of my moped adventure, I didn't blog on 9 July, when the blogosphere joined Iran's pro-democracy movement in solidarity. I'm still catching up on the news, largely ignored by the major media. Utterly ignored, if not counter-protested against (?!), by Indymedia.org types. You'd think they'd support students opposing a feudal theocratic regime, non?

Anyhow, Winds of Change (whose "staff" includes Iranian Girl) has a great round-up (i.e. lots of links).

Blogging is a crime in Iran. It's subversive. Pass it on.

On the plus side, Salam Pax (who now has his own Guardian column) reports on the tiny, growing Iraqi blog community (covering the political spectrum). Blogging is no longer a crime in Iraq.

Posted by Miguel at 01:46 AM | Permalink

The death march

Simon rescued us and we're now safe and sound in Kalamazoo. So, yeah, we didn't quite make it all the way to Seattle on mopeds.

Posted by Miguel at 01:13 AM | Permalink

Last entry (for a while)

Tomorrow is the big day. Dan, Dave, and I are leaving for Seattle. On mopeds. We've given ourselves ten days to reach the soggy coast. It'll certainly be an adventure. So I won't be blogging for about two weeks. Sorry. You'll have to wait until I get back for the photos and stories.

But if you want to follow another moped cross-country trip, check out Avery Bloom's weblog (requires Flash). He's posting pictures and a journal. And while he's taking much longer (two months to go from New York to California then back to Colorado), he's doing it Alone. Wow.

I hope we both make it.

Posted by Miguel at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Ah, lovely days

Today was a great day. Lunch w/ Aparna & Katya at Golden Chopsticks. We talked about Watership Down, current movies, making jam, oh, and some political science stuff. An early afternoon Korean buffet is always a good change of pace.

In the afternoon, I finally picked up my 1970s green, five-speed, Schwinn Collegiate Deluxe. I spent most of the afternoon enjoying a lazy bike ride through the Vine Neighborhood and Downtown.

Late afternoon, I met up w/ Dr. Hauptmann and we chatted about cats, summer vacations, catalogs & typologies, and my dissertation over coffees and fruit smoothies at Water Street Coffee Joint.

Now I think I'll go sit at the Fourth Coast, read comics, drink coffee, look for a chess game, and maybe even smoke a cigarette. Maybe.

Posted by Miguel at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you're interested, my friend Stephanie's been posting pictures of Singapore, her home. It looks lovely.

Posted by Miguel at 03:48 PM | Permalink

I ♥ America

Dinesh D'Souza (an immigrant from India) wrote a column for the San Francisco Chronicle titled "10 things to celebrate / Why I'm an anti-anti-American." My favorite line: "America is the only country in the world where we call the waiter "sir," as if he were a knight." You should read it (it's much better than what I write below).

I know that patriotism is a little gauche among members of my generation. After all, post-modernism gives much reason to criticize American values. And, yes, there are things worth criticizing. But. There's also something more.

This was the first country founded on a universalist Idea. Not on divine right. Not on ethnic self-determination or "blood" brotherhood. Not on brute force (sure, force was used to defend those ideas, but only after much hand-wringing).

Look at the "Declaration of Independence" carefully. Look at what it says. In a few words, it spells out the core of modern, liberal, democratic political theory: All men (and women, too) are political equals. We have intrinsic rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (our "property" or "the product of our labor"). Governments were made — by men — to secure these rights and rely on popular legitimacy. If they don't, we're entitled to make a new one.

Think of what that means. What it really means. It's something we so much take for granted now. And yet it's a dream largely unfulfilled in most of the world.

Notice that the so-called "Founding Fathers" didn't appeal to God. Sure, they mention the "Creator" and "Nature's God" — but that's not nearly the same thing. They didn't write: "Lord God, Jehova, gave us these rights." Rather, these rights are ours, by the very fact that we are human beings.

Notice also that they didn't limit these rights to an ethnic group. Or people born of some "fatherland". They claimed that all men were created equal.

So. Why do I love America? Why am I "patriotic"? It's easy. I believe in the Idea.

This is a country founded on immigrants of all types. The fact that we have no "culture" (something many critics bemoan) is our strongest asset. We are open to the world! There are no outsiders here. Our "culture" includes falafel, taco, pita, pizza, bagel, pastie, and sweet potato pie. Our "religion" includes Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, B'haism, and Shintoism. America is amazing because it allows everyone to make his/her own destiny and identity. And that's a good thing.

¡Feliz cumpleaños América!

Posted by Miguel at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It began with an Idea

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Posted by Miguel at 03:31 AM | Permalink

I may've brought pecan sandies to poker night. Twice. But I've never tended my flower garden.

Posted by Miguel at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Don't tread on me/us/them

Liberians are calling for the US to send troops to restore peace to their country and remove Charles Taylor (indicted by an international court for war crimes) from power. I wonder why they haven't asked the United Nations to intervene? Or France? (Oh, wait, Chirac's France is active in Africa — and the aborigènes aren't happy about that.)

Posted by Miguel at 06:31 PM | Permalink

Let's go!

And suddenly, it's more than just a pipe dream. I've worried about crossing the Rocky Mountains. But US-12 — from Missoula to Lewiston — is also the Lewis & Clark Bicycle Trail. What bicycles can do, mopeds can, also.

Posted by Miguel at 02:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

100 favorite songs

A few Fourth Coast regulars, sitting at the bar, challenged themselves to make a list of their 100 favorite songs. The list didn't have to be ranked. Here's mine, in alphabetical order:

"Adieu Mon Coeur" - Edith Piaf
"Allison" - Slowdive
"Ask" - The Smiths
"Baby Blue Sedan" - Modest Mouse
"Bizarre Love Triangle" - New Order
"Boqueron" - Sulma Yugar
"Brass In Pocket" - The Pretenders
"Brick" - Ben Folds Five
"The Best Thing" - Ivy
"Boys Don't Cry" - The Cure
"Bright As Yellow" - The Innocence Mission
"Brown Eyed Girl" - Van Morrison
"Can't Help Falling In Love" - Lick The Tins
"Ceremony" - Joy Division
"City Of New Orleans" - Arlo Guthrie
"Close to Me" - The Cure
"Country Roads" - John Denver
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" - Simple Minds
"Dreams" - The Cranberries
"Dress Sexy At My Funeral" - Smog
"Edelweiss" - Christopher Plummer & Julie Andrews
"The Edmund Fitzgerald" - Gordon Lightfoot
"Esa Noche" - Café Tacvba
"Everything You Say" - Holiday
"Free" - The Martinis
"The Freed Pig" - Sebadoh
"From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea" - The Cure
"Gangster Of Love" - Steve Miller
"Gigantic" - The Pixies
"Goodbye Saigon" - Billy Joel
"Head On" - The Jesus & Mary Chain
"Helter Skelter" - The Beatles
"Here Comes Your Man" - The Pixies
"Homeless Club Kids" - My Favorite
"How Blue Can You Get?" - B. B. King
"Huele A Peligro" - Myriam Hernandéz
"I Go Crazy" - Flesh For Lulu
"I Wanna Be Adored" - The Stone Roses
"If I Had Words" - James Cromwell
"If You Leave" - OMD
"IMpossible" - Figurine
"In Between Days" - The Cure
"In Your Room" - The Bangles
"It's A Crime I Never Told You About The Diamonds In Your Eyes" - Black Heart Procession
"It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - REM
"Ixtepec" - Café Tacvba
"Just Like Heaven" - The Cure
"Just What I Needed" - The Cars
"Kalamazoo" - Luna
"Last Days Of Disco" - Yo La Tengo
"Leave A Clean Camp And A Dead Fire" - Juno
"Long Black Veil" - The Chieftans (w/ Mick Jagger)
"Losing My Religion" - REM
"Love" - The Sundays
"Lovefool" - The Cardigans
"Lucy Doesn't Love You" - Ivy
"Lunita Camba" - Gladys Moreno
"La Marseilles"
"Makin' Whoopee" - Louis Armstrong
"Martinis On The Roof" - Superchunk
"Need You Around" - The Smoking Popes
"Never No More" - Patsy Cline
"No One Else" - Weezer
"Obsoletion" - Barcelona
"Ojala Que Llueva Café" - Café Tacvba
"One" - U2
"Our Lips Are Sealed" - The GoGos
"Our Way To Fall" - Yo La Tengo
"Pianoman" - Billy Joel
"Pie Jesu" - Sarah Brightman
"Polonaise" - Chopin
"Pretty Baby" - Blondie
"Pretty Woman" - Roy Orbison
"The Queen Is Dead" - The Smiths
"Redemption Song" - Bob Marley
"Regina" - The Sugarcubes
"Revolution" - The Beatles
"Run Letter" - Throwing Muses
"Say Something" - James
"Sesame Street" - Jean 'Toots' Thielemans
"Sexual Healing" - Marvin Gaye
"The Sound Of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Sunday Girl" - Blondie
"Sunday Morning Coming Down" - Johny Cash
"Superconnected" - Belly
"Superheroe 82" - Cecilia Ann
"Sweet Jane" - The Cowboy Junkies
"Take On Me" - Aha
"Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset" - Modest Mouse
"These Are Days" - 10,000 Maniacs
"These Things" - Looper
"Tripping Me Up" - Brittle Stars
"Volaré" - Dean Martin
"Walkin' In Memphis" - Marc Cohn
"Waltzin' Matilda"
"Wonderwall" - Oasis
"You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)" - The White Stripes

Posted by Miguel at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)