indifference

-tonight i've been reading up on the issue of illegal migrant workers in the u.s., and various political responses and plans. it's a big deal. here's a great take from a political angle: The impetus for addressing this issue is not coming from the political strategists, who see it as too problematic to make a good wedge issue. The pressure is coming up from the grassroots. That makes it really interesting. US politics always gets intriguing when it escapes the management of the professionals and reflects the actual concerns of regular citizens. i like that a lot. this is actually happening. In Los Angeles, an estimated 500,000 protesters objected to a U.S. House bill that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.

-the question of xenophobia is an interesting one, and is also something that i grappled with a lot this spring while arguing about internationalization at sfu.

-i live in the official neighbourhood of kensington-cedar cottage. i sent an e.mail to the city yesterday, asking to be kept informed of futrure planning meetings of the future of the broadway/commercial transit village. i use that corner almost every day of my life.

-leonid brezhnev spent the last five years as leader of the soviet union completely doped up on tranquillizers. he would do business from his hospital bed. politburo meetings would last for 20 minutes at most. the word of the year: gerontocracy. i means "rule by old people".

-a joke: "in america, you can always find a party. in soviet russia, the party always finds you". apparently that's from a 1980's beer commercial.