What Did We Learn On the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11

• Try other days when you want to join the "mile high" club.  At least, that was the twitter rumor for the various alerts.

• That when football's opening day coincides with 9/11, the US Air Force sends A-10s for the flyovers since the F-15's and F-16's might have other things to do.  Maybe I am wrong to infer this, but the A-10's over the game in Baltimore were an unusual sight.  Maybe they just wanted a slower flyover?

• Football is once again very much like war.  We like to think we can predict outcomes (and some folks do pretty well at that), but we play the games rather than just simulate since the underdog often wins.  In war as well, the favorite often loses.

• More people complained about 9/11 coverage this year.  And that is what makes democracy great--the ability to complain without consequences.  Sure, we can be spoiled--other folks have much worse problems, even in this nasty economic period.  But the ability to complain without much repression is really the American way and that of the other democracies.  I certainly hope that democracy sprouts in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and elsewhere, even if it has short term costs for the foreign policies of other places.  But I am also realistic that not all regime change really  change the nature of the political system.  Sometimes, it is just about replacing one dude with another.  Time will tell if the changes of 2011 will significantly improve the lives of the folks who fought for them. 

9/11 A Decade Later

Yes, lots of folks are posting lots about the last ten years.  Why should I be any different?  See my Current Intelligence column and ponder whether my post is either current or intelligent.

The Circle of Crap

I have used this phrase "the circle of crap" for quite some time to describe the cycle of buying used stuff, passing it on via the garage sale and so on.  Apparently, it has other meanings as well--see here, here and here. 

When I was a grad student in San Diego, most of our furniture, especially a very large couch and a huge coffee table (also known as Steve's folly), were found via garage sales and listings in newspapers.  We held onto some of this stuff even beyond San Diego.  We eventually got rid of much of it with our own garage sales, so that the pieces went from one to another to another in an endless sharing of used stuff--hence, the circle of crap.   

This phrase has been most useful when with my wife and daughter as they eye something--a used hunk of furniture or whatever.  I remind them that this thing is part of the circle of crap, but that we do not need to participate.  Sure, I feel guilty when it comes to toys (thanks a lot, Pixar!), but I tend to have an anti-hoarding compulsion* thanks to my father's notable anal retentiveness.  He refused to participate in the circle of crap--he held onto every hunk of crap that came his way.  Until I put much but nowhere near all of it in a dumpster when they were moving from the suburbs to the city. 

*  My wife would note that I have kept t-shirts from high school, but I do that mostly to irritate both Mrs. Spew and the Spew kid as the shirts still fit me.

I mention this phrase now because we are holding a garage sale this weekend with heaps of crap begging to re-enter the circle and move on to someone else.  Most of it is stuff that my daughter has not used in years (anyone want some Barbies?).  And no, I don't want to put it up on e-bay since that would require us to hold onto to the stuff.  It is hard enough getting my wife to agree to get rid of stuff (she wants to make it perfect before it enters the crap-stream) without the excuse of "it will sell eventually."  If the stuff does not sell, we will give it to charity** or chuck it, depending on how crappy the crap is. 

** We have already donated all our dog stuff, including meds, food, beds, etc. to an animal shelter now that our dogs have moved on to join Dumbledore and Dobby.

We just need to do this two or three more times, and the house will start to be less cluttered.  Indeed, I think I can see the floor.

Telling 9/11 Stories

Lots of people are tired of the tenth anniversary stories about September 11th, 2001.  So, skip this entry, but this post is a tale of two interviews.  I met separately with two students today representing different McGill newspapers: the McGill Tribune and Le Délit. The former is an independent (not supported by the student association) student newspaper, and the latter is the francophone student newspaper.  The two students had different agendas: one wanted my tale of the big day since I was in the Pentagon at the start of that day; the other wanted my take on how 9/11 facilitated American imperialism more or less.  [Updated: Here is the link to the Le Delit story.   Here is the Tribune story.]**

*  The piece is a polemic or an editorial.  It does a nice job of trivializing my point about imperialism, but the context is mostly clear if translate.google did its job well enoughf or me. 

**  The second piece gets a few things wrong:  The Metro stop was never closed, but the escalator that went directly into the building was.  Near the end of my year, they finished building an above ground entrance so that you can take the escalator up and then walk into the building.

The latter was significantly influenced by a conference held in Montreal yesterday, which apparently included conspiracy theorists, Al Qaeda deniers (folks who either deny AQ exists or consider it an arm of the US), and critics of American imperialism.  As folks who read this blog could guess, I was a bit more engaged in the second interview than the first, as I:

• am always suspect when I hear the word imperialism since it is the perfect embodiment of the idea of conceptual stretching--a term used to mean so many different things that it has lost all meaning.
• am quick to call anything approaching conspiracy theory about 9/11 as utter b.s.  Yes, the US had supported Afghans and others who fought the Soviet Union in the mid 1980's, but I do believe AQ declared war on the US before 9/11.  
• am quite fine with people being critical of the US and its foreign policy.  I have made it abundantly clear that I was not a big fan of the Bush administration or its invasion of Iraq.  I just do not find it credible on any level that those guys would kill three thousand Americans (and risk many more lives) just to get some justification for the war they wanted.  Did they use 9/11 to their advantage?  Absolutely.  But did they create it?  No.
• am willing to accept that "we brought it on ourselves" with our foreign policy.  I don't find it offensive to suggest that American foreign policy made the US a target for transnational terrorism.  That does not mean that I think it was ok and fine for civilians to be targeted, but I understand the processes that led to the choices made by the adversary. Being a superpower involved the Middle East made the US a target, especially by supporting despotic regimes (that would be Saudi Arabia and Egypt).  I am not saying we should not have supported them (that is a complex issue for another post), but that the policies had foreseeable consequences and tradeoffs.
• I am pretty sure that AQ and its ilk would have targeted the US even if Israel was making deals with the Palestinians.  I do think the Palestinian cause does matter to folks in the Arab world, but I also think that AQ and others have used the cause rather than sincerely have the condition of the Palestinians as their main objective.
• am frustrated that we have to hear this crap again.  But then, those who do not engage in reality-based thinking tend not to have a learning curve.  Harsh, but there it is. 

And, yes, one might guess correctly which student journalist was asking the questions about my experience and which one was asking about the conspiracy stuff.  Francophones may have a higher percentage of skepticism about American intentions (I believe the polls bear this out), but, to be clear, I have had plenty of anglophone Quebeckers report beliefs that buy into the conspiracy theorists.  It is not strictly along linguistic divides.  But it does reflect a national divide.  That is, I doubt that I would get quite as much conspiracy theorizing about 9/11 in the US from college students, although I am know some of it does exist wherever the reality-averse dwell.

Will this post attract comments from the reality-averse community?  Perhaps, but it is my blog, and I can use this occasion to repeat my usual statements about September 11th, such as:

• We saw it with our own eyes.
• AQ claimed credit for it.
• The conspiracy theorists require us to believe that the Bush Administration was super-competent and the FBI and the CIA could get along.
• Occam's Razor, baby.
• Thinking that a small group of Arabs could not possibly do this might just be a bit racist.

Serving Parasites

McGill is chock full of strange traditions.  When a student defends his dissertation, the university assigns a professor far outside of the student's discipline to serve as pro-dean.  The job here is to keep the train moving along, as I discussed the last time I did it.  This time, the student was seeking a PhD in Parasitology.  Yep, parasites.  While the entire discussion flew over my head, I did find a few pieces of this experience interesting.  First, the phrase "parasitic lifestyle."  That could describe graduate students or more likely full professors, but actually described the parasite's feeding/living tendencies as far as I could tell.  Still, I love that phrase.  Reminds me of Newt Gingrich for some reason. 

Anyhow, I do find these experiences interesting precisely because there is so little I understand.  It turns out this education process does mean that people develop a tremendous amount of expertise in their field, which means that outsiders have a hard time understanding them.  That's ok as long as the experts can talk amongst each other and that other folks exist that can translate for them. 

I have been more conscious the last few years (well, since my year in the Pentagon) about the need to translate results into language people outside the discipline can understand.   Of course, I have spent most of the past few years talking to folks in uniform, so that is just a different hunk of jargon.  OMLT's arcs of fire, AOR, SOF and all the rest.

So, there are two lessons du jour: a reminder to figure out how to communicate to non-specialists and not all nematodes are beneficial.

No Need for a Flux Capacitor

2015 is just around the corner:


There has been  a heap of stories about how how we are catching up to our sci-fi movies.  I cannot wait for hoverboards.  Oh wait, there are already here.

More American than Most?

I wonder sometimes about whether the folks who served in the US armed forces during the era of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and before that might just be among the best Americans.  They sacrificed even more than the average grunt/marine/squid/AF person (what is the equivalent of grunt for the USAF?), having hide basic parts of their identity while risking their lives for their country. 

This piece in GQ does a nice job of showing what these men experienced.  Yes, it focuses on the males because, hey, it is GQ (G standing for Guy, right?).  Still quite moving.

A key quote: "if you want to hide, the Marine Corps is one of the best places to do that, because nobody wants to admit they are standing next to a gay guy. Nobody wants to admit that they have gone to war with gay people."

Another one:  "But I loved what I did, I loved my job, and I didn't want to tell anyone. I said, 'It's going to be my secret.' I knew I was not going to be happy in a way, but I knew this was what I wanted."

Ok, a couple more: "One of the boyfriends tells me how difficult it was when his partner was recently in Afghanistan. "If something happened," he points out, "I wouldn't have got a phone call. I would have known nothing about it at all. If he didn't call for two days, I was freaking out."

"Nobody joined up to be 'the unit gay guy,' but that's who you're going to be, and I think it's incumbent on us who are senior to basically identify ourselves so that younger kids can look and say, 'Hey, it is okay.' Because we didn't have that."

 Just some very, very moving passages.  Read the whole thing.

First Day of Classes

While classes started at McGill last week, today was my first day of teaching due to APSA and Labor Day.  I am teaching two courses--an upper level class on the International Relations of Ethnic Conflict and the big Introduction to International Relations class.  The big course is at 4:30, which is much later than I have taught it in the past.  Worse, the class before mine is the big Intro to Comparative Politics class, so many of the students will be sitting in their second monster lecture class in a row.  The good news?  IR is inherently more interesting.  Sorry but them's the facts.  Plus I have much more experience than the other guy in the art of teaching huge classes plus I am willing to stunt-ucate. 

The challenge is to bring enough energy at the end of the day, while the students are dragging (and so am I).  The key I have found before and continues to work: to play some energetic music before the class starts.  Turning it off signals the start of class as well.  Today, I played "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel to suggest that the dynamics of today did not just spring out of nothingness but are part of larger processes that might just be recurring.  I also played Angels and Airwaves' "The Adventure" to suggest that the class is, indeed, an exciting journal.  

For Friday's lecture on Theory, I will replace the opening song with a video.


Shows nicely that this is not really a theory but an ideal type.

I really do enjoy this class--heaps of fun stuff to play with, including lots of minds that are new to poli sci.  Alas, it is likely to be the last time I teach it for the foreseeable future, but more on that later.

What Does One Do With a Political Science Degree?

There is a song for English majors, thanks to Avenue Q, but not for Poli Sci types.

This figure is suggestive:

Popular Jobs for Political Science Majors

Methodology Jobs ranked by popularity among graduates. Annual pay for Bachelors graduates without higher degrees from all colleges.  See full methodology for more.

See here for the longer list.

What this really shows is that the major does not create a set path (interesting to note that lawyer is not listed here).  Lots of sales type positions listed as well.  No mention of being a multimedia star for ESPN. 

The basic implication is that Political Science provides a set of skills that are handy for a variety of jobs: to think analytically, to argue, to write, etc.  The other implication is that Political Science is a good default major--it is for those who do not have a clear idea of what they want to do but is relatively easy: read a lot, but not much math.  Usually Political Science has the least prerequisites and requirements.  So, it can be a path for the confused or the lazy.  No, I am not insulting my students, just identifying my own basic traits.  Actually, it is also a good major for people who want to understand the world around them.  Not the biological world or chemical world but the world of politics, which matters in the workplace, at home, and everywhere else.  Does not hurt that the usual one stats course requirement does not require calculus.

A Day Versus A Year

I was interviewed by a couple of newspapers last week about 9/11 because I am a rare commodity: someone in Montreal/Canada who was in the Pentagon that day.  The hardest question I got was how that day changed me.  Why?  Because I spent an entire year in DC, doing something very, very different and living among very different sorts of folks, and those experiences tend to resonate with me more than the one day.   

I left the Pentagon for a meeting across the river at the State Department after the first two planes had hit in NY (and having seen the second one do it while watching CNN from within the Pentagon).*  I was on the bridge in between when the plane hit the Pentagon.  The next hour or two focused on watching the shuttle try to get to its destinations (State, Old Executive Office Building, Pentagon) amid the chaos.    What stands out the most was the guy setting up a camera pointed at the White House, preparing for a plane to hit it perhaps.  So, at that point, I was just an observer-passenger, not really making any decisions.

* For an audio tale of my day, go here for an interview with the CBC.

Then we, the two Army officers and I, got back to the Pentagon.  We walked around two sides of it to get into it since we had classified documents that none of us wanted to take home.  After we did that, the Colonel (who is now a Major General) drove me to the Metro and I got home via metro and then my car.  I proceeded to say hi to my wife, and then watched the coverage for hours.  So, again, observer, not actor.

End of Summer

How can you tell it is the end of summer in Montreal?

• The students are back, many asking questions that, well, can be answered if they read the syllabus.  Of course, with cutbacks and environmental changes, we now only post the syllabi online.  Ooops.
• Someone is on strike.  This time, the staff at McGill.  I guess getting reimbursed for various trips will have to wait.  More importantly, I have a ready excuse when students ask me to bump them up the waitlist (because their needs are more important than those in front of them [where is the Crimson Bolt when you need him].  
• It has gotten cool quickly.  Seasons just jump on you in Montreal, especially as things head towards winter (yes, token Winter is Coming mention here). 
• Deadlines are upon us.  
• More silly rankings are out.  
• Concussion football season is here.
• Requests for recommendations are catching up to the requests for referee reports for journals.

I actually do like fall a great deal--I start teaching tomorrow (missed first class due to APSA), and I like interacting with the new crop of folks.  Sure, I whine about the end of summer, but one of the best parts about this business (other than not having bosses, the joy of tenure, and now elite frequent flier status) are the changes of pace.  Nothing stays the same for too long.  Students come and go (even graduate students, although it can take them six or seven years), any course only lasts fourteen weeks or so, and then onto a new group and a new set of topics.  

I never forget that I have a cool job that has been well-worth the sacrifices: having to leave San Diego in the quest for employment, residing in West Texas for six years, and so on.  On to the show.

What I Learned at APSA 2011

Seattle rocks.  Indeed, it does.  A great place to have a conference.  The city is beautiful, the beer is abundant, the panhandlers are aplenty (one had a very honest sign of $$ for weed), the convention center is very nice, lots of great food.  And great weather.  Next year at New Orleans is not so attractive.

I hope this conference convinces APSA to try some other cities: Denver, Pittsburgh, maybe St. Louis or Kansas City, and perhaps others.  Suggestions?

I learned that there is a building momentum for ultimate at the ISA.  If you are interested, let me know.

I learned that word does get around quickly.  More on that later.

I learned that John Yoo is not popular but neither are those who would interrupt him.  Lots of gnashing about this on the various blogs.  I personally do not go out of my way to hear a torture-justifier speak, would not mind a protest of same, but also would not want to have his free speech denied (as I would not deny free speech to a white supremacist, holocaust denier, or 9/11 truther).  Again, I would not listen, and, indeed, I successfully did not.

I was reminded that baseball is a great game for a group of friends to enjoy, and that football is actually the perfect spectator sport, as in watching the spectators.  We had plenty of Raiders fans near us, and they were entertaining, if universally, well not that bright.  Especially since some continued to wear jerseys from really awful players (JaMarcus Russell anyone?!).  One Raiders fan seemed to have a maximum of five teeth left.  Glad that we had several fans between us until late in the fourth quarter.

I learned that NFL cheerleaders have really great hair.

I knew that Boeing was based in Seattle, of course, but was amused to see that their factory/airstrip was incredibly long and right next to the highway.  I was thrilled to see AWACs planes being born as they play key roles in my book with Dave.  You can see them with the blue round dishes in this pic.  In fact, almost all you can see are the dishes.  Better view on the drive from the airport to the city but I was not expecting the sight, so I didn't have my camera ready.

I learned that I have great friends, old and new, although I missed many of the old ones who didn't come to Seattle.  They missed out, not on me, but on a great city.

Oh, and I learned I hate my data plan.  I had to turn my android off and be twitter-less for most of my time there.  My addiction got me jones-ing for some tweets.  Very sad.

APSA 2011 Day 3

Seattle remained beautiful.  No rain, just sunny and no need for these "umbrella condoms" [phrase used by a Seattle-based friend].

This conference proved one thing above all others--APSA needs to go outside the rotation of SF-Boston-Chicago-DC.  How about Denver?  Next year in New Orleans seems like a bad idea--hot, humid and deep in hurricane season.  I am seriously thinking of not coming to next year's conference.  However, given that I am a conference addict, I probably will sweat and dodge hurricanes.

Yes, conferences are worth the trip.  Today, I chaired a roundtable of political scientists who spent some time doing policy, getting nostalgic for my joint staff days.  I chatted with a Canadian publisher about a potential spinoff of the NATO and Afghanistan book--using the Afghanistan experience to figure out Canadian politics and such.  I met with one of my grad students to talk job market stuff.  Lots of jobs this year, so I am optimistic.  Easier for me than for the students.  And I bumped into a bunch of folks. 

Now I just have to catch up on a heap of tweets and newspapers and other stuff.

APSA 2011 Day 2

Again, not much blogging since I cannot use my smartphone in the US without paying $$.

My first panel on ethnic stuff went well.  A nice range of papers: our paper on a very preliminary set of data on diasporas, a paper on Kosovar diaspora, one on de facto states (Abhkazia), impact of ethnicity on mediation of conflicts (apparently ethnic fractionalization makes mediation easier), and a paper on how states react to secession with a focus on Pakistan.

Otherwise, heaps of meetings with former grad students, colleagues in the field and friends from grad school.  Plus a book room tour.  I really need to read faster. 

Seattle remains beautiful and sunny. 

I have no reactions to whatever is going on in the world since I have no clue.  Talk amongst yourselves while I am out of touch.

APSA log, Day -1

First day in Seattle was great.  The city is beautiful, the weather was great, and I went to a very good ballgame with some friends.

First observations:

• Lots of panhandlers and young folks wearing official looking vests and then also asking for money or time or something.  But best one was the guy whose sign read "$$ for weed."  I appreciate that kind of honest.
• Indeed, I think I finally know where the word grunge came from.  Lots of young folks who obviously are just scraping by while trying to make it or not.
• Saw something I have never seen before--a stand at the convention center that held bags one would grab for a wet umbrella.  I will have to take a picture.
• Using the standard--uphill is direction x and downhill is the opposite direction does not work so much since the downtown seems perched on a series of hills so that one can go downhill in a couple of different direction.

APSA and the Slow Blog Week

Heading to Seattle tomorrow so I don't know how much blogging I will do.  Should be a good time as I have never been to Seattle.

Hope to see my readers at the conference--I will be at the bar.

Ultimate APSA

I have been asked to see if there is interest for an ultimate game at APSA in Seattle. 

Is there much?  It may be too late, but I will beat the bushes to get a game organized for ISA in San Diego.  But let me know if APSA ultimate makes sense to you.

The Accountable Bush Administration

Thanks to Steven Metz's tweet.

When Do I Like Rankings?

When my school comes out ahead, of course!  Jeez, you guys should know me by now.

The Washington Monthly ranks universities in the US according to: their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).  Quite distinct that the focus is on the public good or, as some folks would put it, the greater good.

So, these priorities, rather than just citations, or entering test scores or ultimate team performance,  make a lot of sense if you want to argue about, say, public funding of higher education.  So, it is probably a good thing that the evidence suggests that the system most in crisis--the University of California system--is well-represented at the top (five of the top ten)--justifying perhaps efforts to save the system.  And at the tippy top: UC San Diego, my graduate alma mater.  I have always been proud of UCSD.  I bought low-ish, as it was an up-and-coming department in an up-and-coming school, and sold high as it now has a much better reputation.  I am not sure I could get into that program now.

Anyhow, what I like about this set of rankings, besides it boosting my old grad school, is that it directly addresses the questions of legislators and not of parents. We have enough of the latter, but not too much of the former that are any good.  Given that state funding has been dropping for some time--even before the current crisis, it is nice to have a reminder what universities do, especially public ones.  They provide key public goods--such as allowing people to move beyond their origins via education, serving their communities, and providing some knowledge that improves our world.

 I am sure it would be hard to measure, but I would be curious about the economic impact of universities.  UCSD was surrounded by bio tech, computer tech and other advanced knowledge-based industries--and it was not an accident. Those businesses grew up around UCSD, not the other way around, although they do feed off of each other.

So, I like rankings that illustrate what universities can do, not just in terms of paying profs more or keeping young adults off the streets.

Plus Ca Change

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  You betcha.  Francois Legault has been getting a lot of play here in Quebec as a possible leader of a potential new provincial party.  Polls suggest it would win the next election.  So, why I am less than thrilled about this potential threat to the lame Liberals and the PQ?  Because Legault and his folks issued their first statements: focusing on immigration and protecting French.  With the bridges and tunnels falling apart, these are the priorities of the new party?

But anti-immigration, even as softly phrased here, is an obvious strategy given how well it played out two elections ago in Quebec.  And protecting French?  Ooh la la.  Playing to divide the PQ.  Sure.  I get both tactics, but how about starting out by really changing Quebec politics by focusing on the, um, issues that are affecting people today.  Not immigration and not language, but the economy and the infrastructure?

No, I am not naive.  Anything but.  Still, I can be disappointed by the strategies folks deploy.  And I am.