Where is the change?

Where is the change? These two articles outline the problems with Obama’s choices so far. First of all, the choice of Hilary as secretary of state does not signal a departure from conventional foreign policy considerations. The retention of Gates and appointment of Clinton might in fact signal the return to the politics of the first Bush administration (not all a bad thing actually).

“Ironically, Obama is likely to show more fidelity to George H.W. Bush's approach to foreign affairs than did the former president's own son. That's change, maybe even change we can believe in, but it's not the change so many expected.”

This article also supports Richardson for secretary of state. The main argument should be, and is, that he is the most qualified to be secretary of state. He has served in a previous cabinet level post, was ambassador to the UN, served in the House, and was special envoy to many international problem spots. On top of that, the choice of Hilary over Richardson is insulting to Hispanics who choose to buck institutional leadership and go with Obama. It’s a slap in the face to so many who stuck their necks out for Obama. It is also a slap in the face to Latin America, which might have received greater engagement with Richardson had he been appointed.

“This isn't about Richardson, who might be very happy heading for ribbon cuttings in Toledo while Clinton heads for blue-ribbon summits in Tel Aviv. This is about something larger. Richardson is the nation's only Hispanic governor and the most prominent Hispanic elected official in the country. And the way he was treated doesn't say much about Obama's respect for the Hispanic community. Nor does the fact that Obama seems to have filled his top four Cabinet posts — justice, treasury, defense, and state — and couldn't find a single Hispanic to put in any of them. America's largest minority took a chance on Obama despite the fact that the president-elect had no track record in reaching out to them and didn't break a sweat trying to win their votes. They deserve better.”

Is this really what we voted for? While I support the choice of Gates on practical grounds, it will not be the choice that will push for withdrawal from Iraq like so many expected and hoped. Clinton is an effective choice for the State department if Obama wants a free hand to deal with internal economic problems, but she does not represent the choice that many of us hoped for when we were expecting a new and different vision of American external relations. So I will ask again, where is the change? Why should we have hope if things will just remain the same with the same old people in charge? Don’t go to D.C. in January 2009 to celebrate the election of our first black president, go to D.C. to celebrate the retention of the old guard and the state quo.

Latino Scholarships

FREE LATINO SCHOLARSHIP WEBSITE RECEIVES OVER 110,000 UNIQUE VISITORS IN FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THE YEAR
Los Angeles, CA. Latino College Dollars, a website offering interactive, no-cost information about scholarships available to Latino students, received over 110,000 unique visitors in the first eight months of 2008.

"We are continually updating the website," said Corina Espinoza, Director of the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) Kids to College program. "And the 2008-09 directory will be coming out in late October."

Latino College Dollars currently offers over 325 sources that students may contact for college scholarship information. The website grew from a TRPI research project assessing information available on the web to Latino students. "Curiously, we found that half of the websites on Latino scholarships were not functional," stated Wendy Chavira, Associate Director of Operations at the Institute. "However, the remaining websites offered relevant information. Rather than saving the information, we decided to publish it."

According to TRPI research, lack of information on college financing options is widespread among Latino youth and parents. Latinos lag behind in college preparation, resulting in only 7.2 % of Latinos between the ages of 18-24 enrolled in a 4-year college institution.

Please click here to visit TRPI's Latino College Dollars website.

Click here to view the 2007-2008 directory.

TRPI encourages organizations offering scholarships for Latino students to contact the Institute to be included in the next Latino College Dollars directory.

Link Fixed

I fixed the link to this Tuesday reading on Latinos and Soccer. Sorry for the error. In future coudl someone please tell me early!

Why Republicans Should Attack Latinos by Frum

Here is the recent David Frum article that outlines how to save the Republican party by attacking immigrants. He is basically saying that the middle class is being harmed by Latinos and the Republicans need to protect the middle class against the immigrant wave.

"The poverty rate for post-1970 immigrants and their native-born children is almost 50 percent higher than for the native born. No mystery why this should be so: one-third of adult new immigrants have not finished high school. And there is reason to fear that this poverty will become entrenched: barely half of Latino students complete high school on time; 48 percent of births to Latino women occur outside marriage. IN SHORT, the trend to inequality is real, it is large and it is transforming American society and the American electoral map. Yet the conservative response to this trend verges somewhere between the obsolete and the irrelevant. Conservatives need to stop denying reality. The stagnation of the incomes of middle-class Americans is a fact."

Chavez and FARC

Emerging Rivals, Venezuela and Colombia
FARC and Terrorism in LA Times
"But when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proposed this month that Colombia's largest rebel group be recognized as "belligerents," not terrorists, the reverberations reached to Washington and Europe, and relations between the two Latin American nations plunged to what one observer called perhaps the lowest point in their history.

But the Colombian government bitterly protested what it viewed as interference in its affairs. Colombian officials worry that Venezuela might take the further step of recognizing the rebels as a "state in formation," a status that France and Mexico granted the Sandinista rebels during the Nicaraguan civil war in the late 1970s.

Such a move would mean "giving the FARC diplomatic immunity, asylum rights, Venezuelan passports, and freedom from extradition," said former Colombian Defense Minister Rafael Pardo, now a consultant based in Bogota, the capital. "They would be giving the FARC a legitimacy, and that's very grave."

FARC rebels are thought to hold captive for barter or ransom about 700 civilians they have kidnapped in the last decade. Over the course of a 40-year war, they have killed hundreds of local and national politicians who didn't share their views.

In many areas of Colombia where they control the drug trade, rebels force poor farmers to grow coca. They burn vehicles that use roads they say are off-limits and deploy car bombs that sometimes kill passersby."

Columbia's Big and 'Bad' Military

Los Angeles Times article on Columbia
Key points:
"Seven years and $4.35 billion since the advent of a massive U.S. aid program, the Colombian military has been transformed from an outmatched "garrison force" that had yielded huge swaths of terrain to leftist guerrillas, to an aggressive force that has won back territory."

"The transformation, however, has had a dark side. Soldiers and police officers have committed rising numbers of human rights abuses, even as U.S. training intensifies, rights groups charge. During the five-year period that ended in June 2006, extrajudicial killings increased by more than 50% over the previous five years, according to figures compiled by human rights groups."

According to statistics compiled by the Colombian Commission of Jurists, a human rights group, the armed forces committed 1,035 extrajudicial killings in the five-year period that ended in June 2006, compared with 685 in the previous five years.

Diversity = Good

Here is a link to an interview with Scott Page of UMich about his research on diversity and success. This type of work seems to strike a nice balance with the Putnam research that shows that diversity decreases political participation.

Lets Split Up Families

I am a little upset that conservatives always seem to go back and forth on their principles when it involves Latinos. Lately they have been against family provisions typically involved in Visa applications. The whole point was to keep families together. I though the traditional family unit was important for conservatives. I guess that only applies to people who are not Brown.

"He also said he will walk away if Menendez and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) win passage of an amendment that would more than double the number of green cards available under the bill for the parents of U.S. citizens. Kyl said conservatives believe today's family unification system is being misused by illegal immigrants, whose U.S.-born children are citizens."

Should I even remind everyone that 'amnesty' was originally signed into law and supported by the great Republican icon Ronald Regan?

McCain is actually funny

McCain is coming up big with me lately. First off all, he actually seems to have a sense of humor and a good memory of facts. I thought the whole "Maybe his solution will be to get out his small varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his lawn" comment directed towards Romney was just a joke. I didn't know there was background to the whole incident.

"Then, with a chuckle, he made his cutting quip that referenced two embarrassing episodes for Romney in the past six months.

Romney has faced criticism for calling himself a lifelong hunter even though he joined the National Rifle Association in August and officials in four states where he has lived said he never took out a hunting license. Defending himself, he said in April, "I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter, small varmints, if you will."

Also, The Boston Globe reported late last year that several illegal immigrants, including at least one from Guatemala, worked at the lawn care company that worked on Romney's two-and-a-half acre property in a Boston suburb for a decade. His aides have said that Romney was not aware of the workers' status, and that the owner was in the country legally."

Btw: I am not happy with the Dems for delaying the bill in the Senate. The more time this takes, more ridiculous amendments will be added to the bill.

Immigration Reform

Lots of news today regarding a new immigration reform initiative.
"Immigration is a tough issue for a lot of Americans," Bush said. "The agreement reached today is one that will help enforce our borders, but equally importantly, it will treat people with respect. This is a bill where people who live here in our country will be treated without amnesty, but without animosity."

I am not sure how all this is going to pan out since the bill still needs to be composed in a final form and voted on. At least if the Reps and Newt are pissed, something good must be happening.
"The pact could shatter at any moment. Immigration is among the most complex and emotional issues that Congress confronts. Senate debate, scheduled to start Monday, will determine if the bipartisan coalition can fend off Republicans opposing legalization and Democrats wary of a massive new temporary worker program that would start at 400,000 low-skill workers a year and could rise as high as 600,000."

Some suggest this is proposal will weaken American security, yet when was the last time a terrorist has come through the Mexican border?
"The president is so desperate for a legacy and a domestic policy win that he is willing to sell out the American people and our national security," Tancredo said."

"Mr. Dobbs opened the program by calling the deal an apparent victory for “the pro-illegal-alien lobby.” The administration was “hellbent on creating a North American union without the consent of the American people,” he said, and the plan could “threaten national sovereignty and security as well.”

But the idea of a points systems for skilled labor seems to ignore the need in America for unskilled labor. Bringing only those with an education will make it tougher for American workers to get high paying jobs. Bringing unskilled laborers fills a demonstrated need.
"The proposal also would shift the criteria for permanent residency away from immigrants with family in the U.S. and toward those with skills that could help the economy. About 40 percent of "guest worker" visas would be earmarked for applicants with in-demand skills or job experience, advanced degrees and English language skills who would be expedited ahead of others seeking a work visa. "

It also seems unfair that those who want to be become permanent citizens in the future will have to return to their home countries for a year. I would think that we should want the money and the industry of these immigrants to contribute to the American economy, not their homeland.

"David Guerra wants to be legal, but he says the path to citizenship offered by the Senate on Thursday would be too risky and too expensive, and could end up driving him deeper into the shadows. Guerra's wife and children in El Salvador depend on the $300 he sends home each month from his job as a day laborer. Key provisions of the legislation would require him to return home to apply for residency, pay a $5,000 fine and spend thousands more in application fees."



Overall, there seems to be lots of contradictions and bad ideas, but something is better than nothing...right?

Immigration FAQs

Details of immigration proposal

The Devil Made Me Do It

Do you know why Latinos are coming to America? It is not because of the jobs, schools, or great tv shows like Grey's Anatomy, but because the devil made them do it. It is all part of his insidious plan to bring down America from the inside. Nevermind that most Latinos are devoutly religious...And students ask why I study International Relations instead of internal domestic politics, I present exhibit number one.

Satan behind illegal immigration, Utah County Republican claims
"In order for Satan to establish his 'New World Order' and destroy the freedom of all people as predicted in the Scriptures, he must first destroy the U.S.," his resolution states. "The mostly quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants does not focus the attention of the nations the way open warfare does, but is all the more insidious for its stealth and innocuousness."

New Approach to Diversity in Faculty Hires

Typically when we seek to hire diverse candidates, a hiring committee adds a name to the short list of someone who might be a minority. This new approach sounds like the best option, instead department should seek to hire any minority they deem of suitable quality, regardless of field. In this way departments might be able to increase the numbers of minority profs (which is important if the student pool is diverse) who have a better chance at tenure.

New Approach to Diversity

"Which is more important — that a department have all of its disciplinary subfields represented or that it diversify its faculty?...But as a small liberal arts university in a rural setting, Colgate has a hard time holding on to minority professors — and so needs to keep hiring them as well as trying to encourage more of them to make their careers at the university. Roelofs has asked departments to flop the second and third criteria. Excellence will stay on top, but diversity would generally trump subfield choice."

Miss Mexico

I don't even know where to begin with this one.

Latinos and the Military

Apparently Ken Burn's new WWII documentary fails to mention the contributions of Latinos during World War II. I know my own grandfather was proud of his service and medals. Here is a paper on Latinos and the military, comments to follow.
The U.S. Military and Latino Populations: Accommodation and Resistance

Why are there so few faculty of color?

This article looks at the reasons why there are few minorities teaching full time with Ph.D.s. I have faced many of the same problems, which include:

• Less financial backing, so the idea of taking this fairly lengthy period of time to work on a Ph.D. is probably more difficult (I am still poor)
  
• Lack of mentoring (not me, Vasquez has always been great)
• Insufficient interest among senior faculty in some topics and journals that minority candidates are disproportionately drawn to (and how many IR faculty cover Latino issues?)
  
• The saddling of young minority hires with extra responsibilities to be mentors to minority students and participate in committees (not complaining here, its a duty)
  
• Feelings of isolation among minority faculty
  

International Latino Politics

We are falling behind in Intro to IR, so I am going to have to cut the lecture on Latinos and the National Interest. The paper this lecture was going to be based on can be found here. I apologize, I understand some of you were actually looking forward to covering this topic. In the future I will be teaching a course called International Latino Politics. My temp syllabus can be found here. I am not sure when I will teaching this.

Tortilla Crisis!

Anyone who knows me and my eating habits knows that this recent tortilla price crises troubles me deeply. It may seem like a joke, but global trade patterns do have an effect on people's daily lives. The issue here is raising prices for oil have put ethanol in demand, which as driven up the price of corn.
FYI: my favorite food is a lobster burrito with rice and beans.

A Culinary and Cultural Staple in Crisis
Mexico Grapples With Soaring Prices for Corn -- and Tortillas

"Mexico is in the grip of the worst tortilla crisis in its modern history. Dramatically rising international corn prices, spurred by demand for the grain-based fuel ethanol, have led to expensive tortillas. That, in turn, has led to lower sales for vendors such as Rosales and angry protests by consumers.

The uproar is exposing this country's outsize dependence on tortillas in its diet -- especially among the poor -- and testing the acumen of the new president, Felipe Calderón. It is also raising questions about the powerful businesses that dominate the Mexican corn market and are suspected by some lawmakers and regulators of unfair speculation and monopoly practices."