Ciao!

Google Scholar

Google's academic search engine — Google Scholar — finally launched in beta (hat tip, MB). Here's the engine's FAQ. It's basically a Google (free) version of LexisNexis (not free); you can search for online peer-review, academic journals by key word, or specific author/article. It even includes articles offline that're referenced in other journal articles. Bottom line? An awesome resource.

Posted by Miguel at 07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The last day of Thanksgiving

Arus hosted a grad students’ Thanksgiving celebration this year. It’s always fun to get together for these oh-so-American holidays w/ a motley mix of East European & Post Soviet grad students, a few Africans, and some token Americans sprinkled in. We even took turns going around saying what we were thankful for (my first time this holiday, actually). The food was great, as was the post-dinner “Eastern coffee” (Armenians won’t call it “Turkish coffee”).

Posted by Miguel at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Kalamazoo at night

Posted by Miguel at 07:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After Thanksgiving

This was one of the smallest, simplest Thanksgivings I remember. We're in that awkward family transition where it's too difficult to gather together w/ extended family (since all our aunts & uncles are grandparents themselves). So we called Gramma & Grampa Coates in Florida, then called Andy out east. And, of course, a call to little Novalí in Chicago.

Posted by Miguel at 07:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Albion Thanksgiving

Sam picked me up and, after last-minute trip to Meijer (neither of us had a peeler for the yuca), we headed to Albion for Thanksgiving.

Posted by Miguel at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

White out

A light sleet began around 10am, by noon it was coming down a bit harder, and by now it's snowed the better part of the day. Today wasn't just Kalamazoo's first snowfall — it was our first blizzard.

Posted by Miguel at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Guess where I disappear to

I'm going out on a limb here to assume everyone has a favorite LOC (Library of Congress) section. Right? Most of my personal books are JC 423. But my current favorite's a toss up between the JL 966 & JC 311. Of course, JA 1-26 is always a popular destination.

What's your favorite?

Posted by Miguel at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Fundraiser time

Since it's Chrismahanukwanzakah time, I'd like to promote a project. So. I've joined the Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge, sponsored by Spirit of America, which aims to raise funds that go directly to Iraqi people. Projects include things as varied as sewing machines for Ramadi women's cooperatives, books for children's libraries across the country, and support for Arabic language bloggers. I've decided to support the Iraq School Partners project, which will partner Iraqi schools w/ American schools in friendship programs.

You can also join Team Ciao & help beat big name bloggers out there. We're underdogs, but I think we can do it.

-----
NOTE: Also, if you're looking for a really good blog on Iraq, you should read Kevin Sites. He's a freelance reporter (currently for NBC) covering the the front lines in Iraq; he broke the Marine shooting story (which he caught on camera, up close).

Posted by Miguel at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A day's schedule

This is why Mondays are my worst writing days.

Posted by Miguel at 08:59 PM | Permalink

Reagan v. Kennedy

Just finished watching a History Channel documentary on the Kennedy assassination. Hosted by Peter Jennings, the documentary argues that conspiracy theories about who shot JFK are based on bad evidence and, mostly, wishful thinking. It's especially highly critical of the Oliver Stone film for taking "creative license" w/ the facts of the case.

Posted by Miguel at 02:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Songs & rankings

Recently, Rolling Stone published an oh-so-pretentious "500 Greatest Songs" list. While these choices are, of course, always a matter of personal aesthetic preferences, I much prefer this counter-list (developed from an open thread here). At the very least, the second list is just much more interesting — and diverse!

I compiled a "100 favorite songs" list last year. It desperately needs an updating, but there it is.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for albums I ordered from March Records: The Sprites, Starling, Spiders, Tiger, and Sprites; Embellish, Wake Me Up!; Club 8, The Friend I Once Had.

Posted by Miguel at 01:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fakesgiving weekend

Tonight was the annual Beta/Gamma Fakesgiving dinner. Sam was back in town from Albion, and we met the others at Ellsworth Hall. It was a good time, as always. I enjoy hearing about all the different careers of these fine alumni.

Posted by Miguel at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

9/11 Commission Report

Slade Gorton, was on campus today to give a presentation on the 9/11 Commission Report. The former GOP senator was a member of the bipartisan committee. I sat in the back, taking attendance as my students rolled in for their extra credit.

First, I found Gorton's remarks remarkable in their simplicity, directness, and forthrightness. Of course, people who expected him to support their pre-drawn conclusions or opinions about 9/11 were disgruntled — as such people tend to be. But here's a rundown of Gorton's remarks:

Posted by Miguel at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's been a month, but I'm finally ready to start writing again. Basically, I've been kicking around a way to bridge democratic theory literature w/ nationalism literature for the sake of my dissertation on Bolivia. I decided to post the closest thing to a "draft" on the matter on dBlog. True to my "Dahlist" leanings, I'm using Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy as the axis where the two literatures meet — mostly based on heavy-handed criticism of Dahl (and the bulk of democratization literature) for taking the "nation" part of "nation-state" for granted.

Posted by Miguel at 03:29 PM | Permalink

Marriage & the State

My weekly Herald column runs today (it's online here). This week, it's on the same-sex marriage issue. Below's the original version:

Posted by Miguel at 07:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Death to the Pixies (not yet)

The band broke up in 1992 — just about the time I was formally introduced to them. One of my five favorite groups, one that w/ five years & five albums shook up & influenced a generation of indie musicians. The Pixies, literally, came out of nowhere, developing an enormous volume of material in such a short life-span, then disintegrated into clashing egos (mainly Frank Black's) & a host of side projects (my favorite, of course, was The Breeders).

Posted by Miguel at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In about 20 minutes Bay, Bill, and I are gonna see The Pixies. Booyah. .:from Treo

Posted by Miguel at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

WiFi printing at UCC

Lesson learned today: If you wanna print from your laptop wirelessly on Western's campus, ignore any instructions the lab staff wants to give you. First, because they have no actual "instructions" to give. Second, because someone that doesn't know what a printer que is shouldn't be giving remote printing instructions.

Posted by Miguel at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Brief notes on the US electoral college

I promised Marco an explanation of sorts concerning the quirky American electoral system known as the "electoral college". I guess it's time I delivered.

Posted by Miguel at 01:50 PM | Permalink

A vacation for myself

Decided to stay in today. Well, I don't think getting the mail or taking out the trash count as going "out", does it? Crawled out of bed at 4pm, and stayed in my pjs all day, eating pasta & preparing to watch a History Channel documentary on Alexander the Great. Then, an early bedtime & a second day of sleeping in. It's past due.

I'll see y'all Monday.

Meanwhile, go read about how "cracker" culture's invading the Blue states at Iowahawk. It's the funniest thing I've read all week.

Posted by Miguel at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Santa Cruz 1, Mesa 0

After a paro that paralyzed the city of Santa Cruz, turning the 1.4 million metropolis into a virtual ghost town, Bolivia will have a national referendum on regional autonomies. President Mesa said so. After months of back-and-forth between leaders of the comités cívicos from Santa Cruz, Tarija, and other eastern departments vs. the central government, there's finally going to be a referendum. It's currently planned for April 2005.

The Comité Cívico de Santa Cruz demanded a December referendum, but was told it'd have to wait until April, following a formal announcement in January. That would ensure the 90-day campaign period. Nation-wide municipal elections are already scheduled for December.

This is perhaps the last major fallout of the 2003 October "guerra del gas" that overthrew Goni. The October protests, centered around La Paz & the altiplano, demanded radical changes to the economic policies, and a halt to natural gas exports. In response, the gas-rich departments of the eastern lowlands (mainly Santa Cruz & Tarija) re-launched their historical demands for political autonomy. The eastern provinces are also doing better economically than the western altiplano. Thus, the ethnic, economic, and ideological cleavages overlap & enforce each other. Dangerous.

If you want more coverage on this, Eduardo Avila has more here.

My personal opinion? I think regional political autonomies are about the only reasonable solution left, if Bolivia's will continue to exist as a nation-state. The internal divisions in the country are too strong, and unable to oppose the mounting pressure for democratic decentralization. And since I support democratic decentralism, I support movements to increase the rights of local communities to order their own futures. Overly-centralized states are no longer viable in the 21st century.

Posted by Miguel at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Random thoughts (blah, blah, blah)

Stumbled upon an interesting little Flash site dedicated to Colorstrology, which uses 12 colors instead of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac (Greek) or 12 animals of the years (Chinese) to tell you something about yourself. Interesting. Because I certainly don't want to drape myself in cayenne (April). And I don't enjoy spending time by the ocean (day 7). Then again, what does Pantone know about me?

Posted by Miguel at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Planning

Flipping through Lonely Planet's condensed guides for London & Barcelona, trying to figure out some sort of daily routine for the day-and-a-half I'll spend in each city. I've gotten suggestions for London, and I'll be there one full day plus one morning (that second afternoon, I head out to the airport and then to Rome). But I've little idea what to expect/do in Barcelona. Or should I just wing it? Suggestions welcome.

Posted by Miguel at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Caught up, now new rules

It took longer than expected, but I finally got my students' papers graded. All but the two submitted via email (still have to print them). It took longer for one main reason: I decided to take a nap first, rather than later.

Posted by Miguel at 01:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Busy, back soon

I've decided to take a break from the internet until tomorrow evening. Maybe I'll have something interesting to write about by then. And by that point, I should have all my papers graded, and recorded. I should have a solid outline for a chapter of my dissertation. I should have a clean (and vaguely organized) apartment. Come visit me at the Rocket Star tomorrow morning if you want.

Posted by Miguel at 05:35 PM | Permalink

To Democrats: adopt a Republican friend

My latest Herald column is up. It suggests Democrats adopt a Republican friend, in order to better understand each other. Here's the online version; the unedited version's below (not being able to mention "pot" in a college paper is extremely ironic).

Posted by Miguel at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Sunday out & about

A bright, sunny late autumn day. So I went for a walk downtown. Picked up the new copy of Reason from Michigan News Agency (still no recent MacAddict copy). Stopped at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum's "Children Just Like Me" exhibit to visit Bay. The Beth & Jeff & Sebastian family and the Mark & Hillary & Lily & Avery family showed up just as I was leaving, so I watched Sebastian & Lily (who, rumor has it, are "dating") run amok. Then back to The Rocket Star for soup, before speedily running away from a youth poetry slam. But I met up w/ Angie (from Saginaw) for some coffee & conversation, and now back home to watch Band of Brothers, Disk 3. Whew. So how was your day?

Oh, and because I missed out on it. Here's some awesome pictures of the world's awesomest niece in her Holloween costume.

Posted by Miguel at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Checkmate x3

To be fair, I didn't know there was a chess tourney today. A phone call startles me out of bed, Dan on the other end, telling me to hurry down to The Rocket Star to "vindicate" myself from my piss-poor showing last month. Large coffee mug in hand, wearing yesterday's clothes, I plodded through three defeats in a row. Ouch.

But I did get a nice, much-needed relaxing night home last night. Did some laundry. Gave Sophie some much-needed playtime (enough so, she even sat in my lap after). Watched Band of Brothers, Disc 2. I wonder what Netflix has in store for me tonight?

Posted by Miguel at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Immigrant Song

I thought I'd try a roundup of immigrants (or sons-of-immigrants) elected this week. We all know Barack Obama (his father's from Kenya), of course. The Democrat's new shining star is the bright hope for the party's future. But there were others. Interesting to note that many immigrants or second-generation Americans were elected from southern states.

Posted by Miguel at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Lessons from a game or RISK

On Tuesday, my International Relations class (PSCI 250) played a modified game of RISK. It's an in-class activity I developed 2+ years ago; it's quite a popular & valuable class exercise.

Posted by Miguel at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Kalamazoo City, Precinct 3

If you wanna see how Kalamazoo County voted you can view tabulated results here. My voting precinct is Kalmazoo City #3. Here's all the things we voted on (in my precinct):

• President
  
• US House of Representatives 6th District
  
• State House 60th District Representative
  
• State Board of Education (2 positions)
  
• University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 positions)
  
• Michigan state University Board of Trustees (2 positions)
  
• Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 positions)
  
• County Prosecuting Attorney
  
• County Sheriff
  
• County Clerk-Register of Deeds
  
• County Treasurer
  
• County Drain Commissioner
  
• County Surveyor
  
• County Commissioner District 3
  
• Justice of State Supreme Court
  
• Judge of Court of Appeals
  
• Judge of 9th Circuit District Court
  
• Judge of 8th District Court - 1st Division
  
• Judge of County Probate Court
  
• State Constitutional Amendment on Gambling
  
• State Constitutional Amendment on Same-Sex Marriage
  
• City Charter Amendment 1 (requiring city residency to hold city offices)
  
• City Charter Amendment 2 (changing city tax law)
  
• City Charter Amendment 3 (changing city tax law)
  
• Kalamazoo Transit Authority Milage

Each precinct, town, county, and state voted on completely different things, often using different ballot procedures. I'll write more about the interesting US electoral system later, contrasting it to simpler proportional representation (PR) systems.

Posted by Miguel at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fire Rumsfeld & Ashcroft

There are rumors — and rumblings among GOP rank & file — suggesting Bush might dump Ashcroft & Rumsfeld, to be replaced by moderates (rumors hint McCain & Giuliani). So. If you want this to happen, email/phone/write your local representative. Both McCain & Giuliani are socially liberal Republicans who're a world of difference from Ashcroft & Rumsfeld. And many GOP rank & file are already thinking along these lines. Let your local Representatives know that you want this, and that you'll remember in 2006, when they're all up for re-election. Or give them suggestions for other names you might prefer. Be polite (it ensures they'll pay attention to you), but let them know. Just a suggestion.

Posted by Miguel at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

All over but the crying

Despite an army of Kerry lawyers descending on Ohio, Iowa, and God-knows-where-else, it seems clear Dubya won (Kerry conceded later today). We just have to face it. He even did better than in 2000, winning the popular vote by something like 3 million votes.

Posted by Miguel at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Todos Santos

My friend K8 sent me some pictures of Todos Santos in La Paz, Bolivia. It's similar to the more well-known Mexican Día de Los Muertos (both simultaneous to Holloween). In the mainly-indigenous tradition, families gather in cemeteries & leave little food gifts for their ancestor's spirits (note picture at right).

Posted by Miguel at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Bolivia's regional question

It was bound to happen. Citizens in Santa Cruz, Tarija are set for a 24-hour strike on 11 November (La Razón, El Deber), demanding a referendum on the issue of regional autonomy. The decision was made by departmental civic committees (comités cívicos) after the asamblea de la cruceñidad (a Santa Cruz "popular assembly") voted to push the government to grant the department greater autonomy & appealed to other regions for support.

Posted by Miguel at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Voting day

I just voted. Stood in line for over an hour. Walking home now. There's a lady w/ a Texas ID insisting they let her vote. Other than that, moving like clockwork. .:from Treo

-----
UPDATE 1: I don't wanna write much about the election, but I wanna at least give my impression of my precinct. I wrapped up class, bought a scone & latte, and headed down to the Vine Street Alternative School to vote. There's a few pictures up on my moblog.

The lines were remarkably long, despite November rain & drizzle; I stood in line almost two hours. Election monitors were pleasant, and politely helped people fill out their voting application forms, as well as asking people to put away (or hide) campaign buttons & stickers. Most voters were young (my precinct's in Kalamazoo's major "student ghetto").

Two anecdotes spoke to the integrity of voting staff at my predominantly-Democrat precinct: As I voted, a little old white lady was clearly confused about her ballot, and a young black election worker helped her mark a straight ticket Republican ballot, then read her all six ballot proposals, before helping her feed the ballot into the electronic tabulator (they were seated next to me so I overheard them). In contrast, a woman w/ a Texas driver's license tried to vote ahead of me, and the staff refused to let her intimidate them into voting (I overheard the phone conversation to the Secretary of State office, and the staff telling her she wasn't actually registered to vote anywhere in Michigan). Meanwhile, other staff walked the long line, making sure students were at the right precinct, sending them to the right one (usually the Bernhard Center on campus) if they weren't.

-----
UPDATE 2: Various versions of this are floating around the blogosphere. Here's mine. After I walk away from the ballot box tomorrow, and the results come in, I pledge to:

Support the president, even if I didn't vote for him.
Criticize the president, even if I did vote for him.
Uphold standards of civilized, liberal discourse.
Remember I have a right to vote, but not a right to have my candidate win.
Remember those who voted differently are neither uninformed nor immoral.
Put ideals over partisanship & work to make America better.

Posted by Miguel at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Advice welcome

I took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test today. I thought it'd be a test just to qualify for OCS (Office Candidate School). Instead, it's the basic test everyone who's thinking of joining the military takes. I tested w/ a group of high school seniors & recent graduates (and at least one dropout). Certainly an interesting three-hour experience.

Posted by Miguel at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Not quite The Simpsons' version

Finally saw The Shining last night. I'm a pretty poor judge of "scary" movies, since I'm so rarely scared by them (The Ring was a notable exception). W/ few exceptions, I found the acting either hammed up & heavy-handed, or wooden & static. Which mostly meant I didn't care about any of the characters (I wished, out loud, that they'd all die early into the movie). But I did learn a few things.

Posted by Miguel at 03:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)