Year: 2006

A real LOTR fan.

Last May, I briefly discussed an announcement by Fox to create an Institute for Social Protection, with the implied intention of extending social security to the poor and working poor not covered by IMSS or ISSSTE.

Today’s discussion will be even briefer (given that I have a job talk to attend, class to prepare, and presentation for a local Lion’s Club to finish), but it appears Fox has been working on his proposal.

Meanwhile, in other news, the IMSS union is still claiming that more staff are needed, and other unions are mobilizing against the ISSSTE reforms.

Presidential candidate Lopez Obrador blames the emigration from Mexico to the U.S. on poor economic policy and unemployment in Mexico.

President Fox (who cannot run for re-election) disputes this claim and asserts that 85% of Mexicans that go to the U.S. have a job.

The Church in Mexico questions the efficacy of building physical barriers to entry into the U.S. and asks Bush to reconsider. Fox’s Secretary of State agreed that walls will not solve the problem. Even author Sergio Pitol chimes in to criticize immigration policy. (That La Jornada has a short article about his comment on immigration reflects more about the newspaper than about the author, I think.)

Attempts to reform the pension system for ex-Presidents has been blocked by the living ex-Presidents, according to La Jornada. The article claims that Mexican ex-Presidents receive more than 5 million U.S. dollars in benefits, if you include their staff, compared to the roughly half a million U.S. dollars received by U.S. ex-Presidents.

The dissident Teachers’ union (CNTE) has said it will go on an indefinite strike if a pension reform proposal to the ISSSTE is submitted to Congress. The article is not even close to “fair and balanced.”

…go outlet mall shopping. Or so the Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education seem to imply by blocking off three hours for “Outlet shopping with friends” at their annual meeting, “Developing, Supporting, and Advancing Women in Higher Education.”

Hmmmm…..I think I’ll pass.

I know I’m behind on this one, but the thought of Bush with a Shuffle (though it looks more like a Nano from the photo, especially since he can read off his playlist) made me smile. Does he otherwise use a Mac or PC? And if he can get his PC to work with his Nano, why can’t some of my relatives?

Today is the beginning of the new semester, and I’m at my desk wondering where the last two/three weeks went. It seems that a lot of time was spent getting somewhere, and too little time spent enjoying the destination. I guess this is true for many families where parents divorce and everyone lives far enough apart to make visiting necessary but time consuming. Getting a five day cold/flu doesn’t help either.

Luckily, I had time to attend the SPSA meetings last week–see a few panels and meet a few folks. I didn’t see Munger or meet Steven Taylor, but as Chris pointed out, we had a nice breakfast at IHOP. (Who said I don’t know the bumpin’ Atlanta spots?) If I get minor demerits for being a Tar Heel, do I get bonus points for being a Longhorn? I bleed more burnt orange than baby blue, even during basketball season.

Now, I must scramble to finish syllabi, grant forms, and turn in my third-year review package. When I come up for air, I’ll post about more substantive issues.

Paulie has been hanging around the Southern Political Science Association book area. He belongs to The Nation rep who is also attending the conference. Paulie is friendly and wears a sweater covered with lefty buttons.

That it’s good to be a Longhorn lately? Man, that was an amazing football game, and I don’t even like football.

Shep’s BBQ in Palestine, Texas. It’s the only reason to even slow down as you head through town, as far as I can tell.

Of course, the post below shows one of the other reasons I miss Texas: family.

Good Tex-Mex is somewhere on that list as well.