Ciao!

Anniewatch

For all who know & love her, I'm happy to report that Annie's doing much better today than yesterday. When I went to feed her & Sophie this morning, she actually got up instantly & limped over to the bowl. Yeah, she's still limping, but not nearly as badly as yesterday. And, unlike yesterday, she got up instantly to run to her dish (yesterday she didn't get up, the first time she's ever done that). Also, she no longer winces when I touch her leg.

I still have an appointment for Tuesday w/ the vet. But if she's better in the next few days, I'll cancel. After all, the vet said it's probably just a sprain that she'll have to slowly heal (since she's still leaping up/down from things).

Posted by Miguel at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sick cats & bad eyes

Took Annie to see the vet today. After a substantial exam & X-rays, the vet couldn't find a reason for her limping. No arthritis. No torn ligaments. No cancer or other disease. Just. Limping. She gave my cat a shot of ketofen. It's now twelve hours later, and Annie's limping worse than before. I've made another appointment for next week, which I'll cancel if she improves. Sadly, I can't really afford to spend any more money on my cat's health care.

At least Annie doesn't seem to be in pain. And despite the awful limping, sometimes I'll suddenly find her perched on top of my dresser (a good 3 ft leap). And she still jumps up onto the bed & couch to sleep. So I've no idea what could be wrong. A sprain?

Sophie is still as obnoxious & healthy as ever. So that's good news.

I also went to see an optometrist & discovered why my eyes are constantly tired. My prescription has changed. A lot. W/o my glasses, I can barely make out the second line on the eye chart (I sort of guessed at it) w/ my right eye — and I can't even see the top "E" w/ my left eye. As a temporary fix, I ordered the cheapest frames ($18) and the cheapest lenses ($70) from Walmart Optical.

Here's hoping a full-time, post-graduate school job comes up soon enough. My cats & I need better health care.

Posted by Miguel at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Annie's limping

I've noticed her limping for a while now, but didn't have the chance to take her to a vet. Plus, I kept hoping it would just go away. But Annie just seems to be getting worse. So I guess it's time to see the vet. Here's hoping it's nothing serious.

Posted by Miguel at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Evo presidente

Technorati tag: Bolivia

I've not been posting about the hoopla surrounding this weekend's inauguration of Evo Morales as president of Bolivia. The inauguration was one of the most unique (it included the first ever ceremony of its kind in the archaeological site at Tiwanaku) and most expensive ($1.5 million) in recent Bolivian history. But Barrio Flores, MABB, and others (see Global Voices) have done an outstanding job w/ interesting blog coverage. The international media was all over it, and I'm sure you heard various things on NPR or the BBC.

I wish Evo (and Bolivia) well, though I'll readily admit I'm skeptical. Evo's rambling two-hour off-the-cuff speech didn't help much. Nor the fact that his first ever public speech in indigenous language was handed to him in text, rather than natural and free-flowing (as his Spanish speeches). Nevertheless, he's not nearly as crazy as some think, nor as inspirational as others hope. We'll see what the next months/years bring.

(BTW, I don't continue to refer to him as "Evo" out of disrespect or out of personal admiration. I've deliberately adopted an informal tone for all posts. I tend to refer to various political or public figures by nicknames or shorthand.)

Anyhow, the week ahead will be Evo's first as official head of state. He's sure to make some cabinet announcements soon. Though we already know he's eliminating the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs. He's also creating a new Ministry of Sport (w/ an eye to the 2008 Olympics). The rest of this month & most of the next will be his honeymoon period. I'm going to wait & see.

Meanwhile, I'll be starting my dissertation's chapter on the 1985, 1989, and 1993 Bolivian elections, while polishing up an overview of 1982-2006 Bolivian politics.

Posted by Miguel at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Catching up

Back from a good visit in Chicago. Sorry I don't seem to post much any more. But there's a practical reason for it: job search. But I'll try to make a point to post more about Kalamazoo life, as I once did. And perhaps some other thoughts/ideas that pop into my head. Also, I'll probably keep the Bolivia blogging down slightly, now that the elections are over. In part, because other bloggers out there do an excellent job. But also because I spend several hours per day writing & thinking about Bolivian politics for my dissertation. I'd rather put my best efforts there.

Unfortunately, dissertation writing leaves little time for wild & crazy adventures to write about. Most of my free time is spent cooking, watching Law & Order reruns, or the occasional balance ball exercises.

That said, this weekend I went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago w/ K8 & a some friends (well, a friend & her year-old baby). I'd not been to the Shedd in almost twenty years. Not since my parents took us kids on what I think was our first real "vacation" since we moved to the US. Certainly, our first family trip outside of Michigan. I remember how wild & amazing the city of Chicago was, how I thought (for years later) that I'd love to live in a place like that, and just how awestruck we were to see all those skyscrapers, museums, and a real subway.

So, yeah, going to the Shedd was a bit of a nostalgia trip for me. It was a great time, even if the penguins weren't available. My favorites were the mammals (of course). Even if the dolphin show was something of a let down. But I can definitely see why some people love scuba diving.

Also, a bit of good luck today. A 1945 wheat penny today in some spare change from a quick trip to get groceries.

Posted by Miguel at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's been an unseasonably warm winter. Hitting the upper 40s just a few days ago. Today, in mid-January, it's a rainy 51 degrees. I won't say I miss winter blizzards, but it'd be nice if winter looked like winter.

But it's given me a good chance to go running. One of my new year resolutions was to get (back) in shape.

I also leave in a few hours for a weekend in Chicago. And I think I'm expected to watch a Bears game. Just as long as I get to watch Battlestar Galactica.

Posted by Miguel at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My thoughts on Evo (part 3)

Technorati tag: Bolivia

This is the third installment of thoughts on Evo's upcoming presidency. The focus here is on style, rather than substance. In part, following this (better) discussion about Evo's clothing.

Posted by Miguel at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

My thoughts on Evo (part 2)

Technorati tag: Bolivia

This is the second installment of thoughts on what I think his victory & upcoming presidency might mean.

Posted by Miguel at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A note on Bolivia's prefectures

Technorati tag: Bolivia

A series of articles in today's La Razón focus on the relationship between prefects & municipal governments. One piece discusses the precarious balance between prefects & departmental councils (Consejo Departamental). I mistakenly assumed that there was no departmental legislative body, since previously the departmental council has played a limited role in political decision-making.

Posted by Miguel at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My thoughts on Evo (part 1)

Technorati tag: Bolivia

It's been a several days since Evo Morales was announced as the clear winner in Bolivia's presidential election. So I thought I'd put together a small sets of thoughts on what I think his victory & upcoming presidency might mean. This is the first installment.

Posted by Miguel at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Back in the saddle

Coming down from a holiday season is difficult. Especially if the holiday "break" is drawn out over nearly three weeks. But back to work I am, trying to return to my pre-holiday pace towards finishing my dissertation in the next few months. The last few days have involved me slowly going over the first three chapter drafts w/ care, fixing minor bugs here/there, filling gaps (a paragraph here, a sentence there), and all around getting the first half of the project polished for review.

The other difficulty of post-holiday time is resuming my normal day-to-day routine. No more DVD binges, no more sleeping in until hungry, no more readily available Christmas cookies & other snacks. Time to make my own coffee in the morning, and my own lunch & dinner during the day.

Posted by Miguel at 09:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Holidays part 2

I didn't really post much during the holidays, what w/ being busy doing holiday stuff. But a quick roundup of the Chicago holiday experience.

Posted by Miguel at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Television in 06

I'm interested in four TV shows this viewing season. So I figure I'll spell them out here briefly, perhaps someone else is watching, too.

The West Wing

I've only been watching The West Wing for the last year or so, but am kicking myself now for not watching it sooner (here's the wikipedia entry). But the last season (and the current one) are still going strong, w/ some great "insider" looks at the American political process. Especially now that it's an "election year" w/ the interesting Santos (Jimmy Smits) v. Vinick (Alan Alda) campaign. I'm also curious to see how the show adapts to the recent & sudden death by John Spencer, the actor who played Leo McGarry (Santos' VP running mate & a longtime favorite character). That's Sunday nights.

The Shield

Of course, longtime favorite, The Shield (here's the wikipedia entry). This season the guest star is Forest Whitaker, playing a tough & smart Internal Affairs investigator who's out to finally bring Vic (our favorite dirty cop) down. That's Tuesday nights.

Lost

I only got into Lost (here's the wikipedia entry) over the holidays. K8 (who'd also not seen the show before) decided to get the Season 1 DVD set, and we set to watching it over two weeks. A group of plane crash survivors on a mysterious South Pacific island that certainly has polar bears & perhaps also ghosts of some type & was part of military-scientific para-psychological research. Oh, and the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 mean something, somehow. Wow. We both got hooked. That's Wednesday nights.

Battlestar Galactica

I've been watching BSG since the start, and it's been an amazing roller coaster ride through the best scifi I've ever seen (here's the wikipedia entry). Seriously, it's on almost every TV critic's top 10 list. And if you're looking for a gritty human drama (often directly allegorical of the post-911 world), you should tune in. Right now, the less than 50,000 human survivors (all that's left of the human race) are on the brink of a civil war. That's Friday nights.

Posted by Miguel at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Final election results in

Technorati tag: Bolivia

The final, official National Electoral Court results of are finally in, and there's a few minor surprises. While early returns had some of the minor parties winning a few seats in the lower house, that didn't happen. Instead, only four parties are represented in parliament: MAS, PODEMOS, UN, and MNR.

In the lower chamber (House of Deputies), Evo Morales' MAS does, in fact, have a comfortable majority, w/ 77 72 of 130 seats (or 59% 55% of the seats). That's a rather comfortable margin over the opposition: 38 42 seats for PODEMOS, 8 seats for UN, and 7 seats for the MNR. (Until I saw the final, official list, I thought MAS was short of a majority by one or two seats, mainly because I thought several minor parties had won some seats, which are now clearly MAS seats.)

Interestingly, the vast majority of the MAS deputies were elected from "uninominal" single-seat districts (SSDs). A little over half of the legislature (70 seats) is elected from such district contests, where the candidate w/ the most votes (not necessarily a majority, just more votes than anyone else) wins the seat. 50 45 of the 77 72 MAS seats are from SSD contests. Theoretically, these deputies are more closely linked to their district (w/ incentives to keep their constituents happy), than to their party.

It should also be noted that MAS didn't win a single SSD contest in Beni or Pando, and only one in Tarija. On the other extreme, it swept all 15 of the La Paz SSDs, and all but one of Cochabamba's 10 SSDs.

Also, while the MNR is clearly at its lowest historical point, it still managed to win 7 seats, sending back the firebrand deputy from Santa Cruz, Roxana Sandoval, as well as a few other veterans. The MNR's presidential candidate, Michiaki Nagatani, is also an elected "plurinominal" (not elected from SSD, but rather from the compensatory seats) representative from Santa Cruz. So he's likely to stay in the political limelight for some time to come.

In the upper chamber (the Senate), MAS doesn't have a majority, w/ only 12 of 27 seats (or 44% of the seats). In contrast, PODEMOS captured 13 seats; UN & the MNR each won a single seat. This means that the senate is currently dominated by the opposition.

I say "currently", because Evo Morales has launched negotiations w/ the MNR & UN to form a sort of coalition government (or at least some sort of partnership) that would give the new president a majority in the senate (12+1+1=14). This would be quite a coup for both the MNR & UN, since they'd have disproportionate power w/in any such coalition (since their single seats are the difference in an up or down votes in the senate). But is an MNR-Evo reconciliation even possible? We'll know in a few weeks.

Of special interest regarding party systems: This is the smallest number of parties (either total parties or "effective number of parties") in any post-democratization Bolivian legislature. In fact, it's awfully close to a two-party system (a "number of effective parties" value of 2.2).

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CORRECTION: I miscounted the seats in favor of MAS during the original posting, please note the corrections. The error was completely mine, I was using CNE figures (before the Bolivian papers posted them) & simply miscounted them. Also, I forgot to mention that MAS only has a slim majority in the lower house; constitutionally, certain kinds of laws require a special two-thirds majority (which would require UN & MNR deputies to side w/ MAS).

Posted by Miguel at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Radio guest

Technorati tag: Bolivia

I'm scheduled to be on as a guest on Open Source, a public radio show w/ Christopher Lydon, talking about the recent Bolivian elections tonight at 7pm EST. You can listen on these public radio stations or the KUOW live stream. Not sure if there'll be a podcast. The other guests are Jeffrey Sachs & Jim Schultz.

You can also visit the show's blog post, where you can comment on the topic: "Latin America's New Socialism" (the show hasn't aired yet & there's already several comments).

Sorry about posting this so late. I just found out about this today before noon, as I was on my way to drive to Chicago & back, dashing to make it back in time for the on-air interview. I made it w/ 30 minutes to spare. Whew.

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UPDATE 1: I just got off the hour-long show, which (I didn't realize at first) will be on PRI (Public Radio International). I was nervous, didn't get to put my two cents in as much as I'd hoped (but perhaps more often than I should've), but it was a great experience. And I got to hear Jeffrey Sachs say on at least one occassion "I agree w/ Miguel ..." See. Dreams do come true.

UPDATE 2: There is, indeed, an mp3 cast you can listen to (or download).

Posted by Miguel at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

2006

The new year's started, it's been a great two plus weeks of vacation (w/ some very light work throwin in once in a while). The Bolivian election was interesting, but holidays made final results even slower than normal (the final final results still aren't in). There was little snow, some rain, grey skies, but a good time all around.

But there's some good stuff to look forward to this year. More later, w/ some goals & resolutions & all that stuff. But my first goal is to finish my dissertation (yes!). My second goal is to land a tenure track job (yes! yes!). Let's see how it goes, eh?

Posted by Miguel at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)