Ciao!

Day 18

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

The World Cup has gone insane. Seriously. It's bad enough that the referees are inconsistent — except in their penchant for an incredible number of yellow & red cards. But this is madness. I missed the game (see post below), but Portugal v. Holland ended w/ only 9 players on the field for each team. 9 players!

Posted by Miguel at 09:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Engagement weekend

Last weekend was spent back in Saginaw, Michigan. My parents threw K8 & I a lovely engagement reception, where the fiancé's parents finally meet the (very ) extended Coates family. I think everyone had a great time, and it was nice to finally have both sets of parents in the same place for the first time. I also had a great time seeing (too briefly, alas) family & friends. As always, the visit was too brief, too quick, and ended too soon.

The drive, of course, was tiring. Chicago is far from Saginaw. And w/ highway construction in full swing, traffic sometimes came to a crawl — or even to a complete halt. But taking alternate route on the way back saved time, and allowed a brief stop in Saugatuck.

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

Day 14 (and losing)

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

So the US goes home from the World Cup after losing to Ghana 2-1. Who do I blame? Bruce Arena (the coach), Landon Donovan, and DeMarcus Beasley. Bruce should've known better than to not start Eddie Johnson, who played so well in previous games. And players like McBride, Convey, Reyna, Olsen, Lewis, and others played their hearts out. If only Donovan & Beasley hadn't played like they were sleepwalking ... maybe ... maybe. It's only small consolation that the other highly-ranked squad in Group E — the Czech Republic (ranked 2nd in the world after Brazil, the US was ranked 5th) — also didn't qualify out of the group.

Posted by Miguel at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Day 13 (and moving)

Too much World Cup action has happened in the last few days to keep up w/. Besides, that's what sports pages/blogs are for. Besides, I just (temporarily) moved to Chicago, which also took up some of my time. But I've managed not to miss a single game of World Cup action (yet) — the simulcast games don't count as "missed".

Anyhow, so far it's shaping up nicely. Holland v. Argentina is this afternoon; both advance, so they're playing for 1st/2nd place. The other advances are: Germany, Ecuador, England, Mexico, Portugal, and Sweden.

As for the move. The cats are doing well in their new home. Sophie's still extremely nervous, but poking her head out to explore once in a while. Annie's already rather comfortable, and apparently spent last night sleeping w/ K8's roommate.

Posted by Miguel at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Day 9

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

The US is still alive in Group E. Yes! Despite some of the worst officiating in the entire tournament (I wouldn't be surprised if the ref is suspended), the US pulls off crucial a 1-1 tie against Italy, despite playing w/ only 9 men for much of the game. But what a performance. The US really dominated most of the game, totally shutting down the Italian offense & breaking down their defense. If they'd been allowed to keep 11 (or even 10) players on the field, we'd easily see a route of the Italians.

Posted by Miguel at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Day 8

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

It's been a crazy couple of days. Germany qualified for the second rounds. But they're second in their group — to Ecuador. Wow.

Posted by Miguel at 08:49 PM | Permalink

Day 6

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

In a word: Spain. They could very well go all the way to win this thing.

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

Day 4

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

Today was a day of welcome surprises & gut-wrenching heartbreaks.

Posted by Miguel at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Day 3

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

A quick recap on the World Cup at the end of Day 3. BTW, the BBC News has perhaps the best World Cup info website (complete w/ RSS feeds).

Posted by Miguel at 05:12 PM | Permalink

Day 2

Technorati tags: soccer World Cup

A quick recap on the World Cup at the end of Day 2.

Posted by Miguel at 08:23 PM | Permalink

And it begins

The World Cup kicks off in two hours w/ Germany v. Costa Rica. So excited. I think we're headed down to Small Bar to watch. Then, after the second game (Poland v. Ecuador), I take Amtrak back to Kalamazoo.

Oh. I'm going to make a final four prediction now, though it could easily turn out to be wrong. But. I predict: Brazil, Germany, England, and USA. I also expect Brazil to beat Germany in the final match.

Posted by Miguel at 10:45 AM | Permalink

History remembers (even if we forget)

The war started by a monumental intelligence failure that led to an aerial attack, and led to an invasion of a foreign country that had little (if anything) to do w/ the original attack. (The war, many argued, also served as a distraction from troubles at home; it also led to an unprecedented curtailment of civil liberties & racial profiling.) Regardless, the "multilateral" force was made up mostly of US & British troops, unless you count the token participation of tiny countries like Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, and others. After some early cheering & flag-waving by the "liberated" locals, the situation disintegrated into prolonged fighting w/ no clear end in sight. Despite promises of victory, the fighting led to an incredible number of casualties — including far too many civilian deaths ("collateral damage"). And local militias (which we helped arm) began exacting vendettas on their former political masters. Years later, the cost of rebuilding would have to be borne primarily by American taxpayers.

Oh. I'm talking about D-Day. 6 June 1944.

Posted by Miguel at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Marriage & the state (reprise)

Technorati tag: same sex marriage

About two years ago I wrote an op-ed piece on marriage & the state. I think it's still exactly what I'd want to write about the subject today. I've reproduce it below:

Posted by Miguel at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Peru's election (Chavez' loss)

Technorati tags: Peru election Hugo Chavez

In many ways, I think the election of Alan Garcia as president of Peru in Sunday's runoff election was rather predictable. After all, in a two-way race between a radical nationalist & a social-democrat populist, there wasn't much choice for anyone in the center or center-right other than to back Garcia. I was actually surpirsed Humala picked up as many votes as he did to make it a close contest.

Posted by Miguel at 11:27 AM | Permalink