odd reason for migration

This is weird.

I just read a study based on a survey of over 9,000 migrants in Mumbai.  The top 3 reasons for migration:  employment, marriage and family feuds.

Family feuds are number 3??  There is an interesting story in there somewhere.  The study is detailed, but didn't elaborate on this particular finding. 

The Census of India does not list family feuds as a reason for migration.

voting twice

Part of the controversy over the results of the 2000 election was about people who were registered to vote in two states and had actually voted twice.

This morning, I realized that I too could engage in this deception.  It is surprisingly easy for some people to vote twice or more.  All you need are residences in two or more states, which I don't think is very uncommon. Most students enrolled in a university out of their home state could do it. I could do it, since Tristan and I recently moved to North Carolina... its only my scruples that stop me.

I've already voted in Maryland. Since my polling place is near our condo in Baltimore, and I am staying with my parents in Potomac, I sent away for an absentee ballot, filled it out and sent it in. So there's one vote.

Vote number two, if I wanted, could be cast when I visit Tristan in North Carolina this weekend. I could show up at an early voting center in Orange County, where you can register and vote at the same time.  To prove my address, I can use a non-state issued form of identification, like an electricity bill.  Tristan could also use his Carolina student ID.

We are both registered voters in Maryland. But unless there is a national registry of voters-- and I don't think there is, since voter registrations are done by states-- there is nothing preventing us from registering twice.

Its very worrisome that the only thing preventing me (and many others) from casting two votes is either honesty or ignorance.  After looking into this briefly, I learned that some double voters have been prosecuted... though I bet many others fall through the cracks.  Voting twice can get you 5 years in prison.

US foreign policy in Asia

Yesterday I heard a talk by a McCain adviser about the candidate's position on foreign policy toward Asia.  I can't refer to him by name because his talk was off the record.

He said that one of his biggest worries for US strategic relationships with Asian countries is how the United States' handling of the North Korea nuclear weapons issue has affected our credibility with Japan and South Korea.  I think he was referring to the controversy regarding how the United States tried to cover up the fact that Pakistan (a U.S. ally) was a middle man in a transfer of nuclear material between North Korea and Libya.  Or maybe he was referring to the Bush administration's general diplomatic process.  But his point was that there is a trust problem that U.S. diplomats need to address.  He said that whatever the U.S. does next, its actions have to be lock-step with Japan and South Korea, implying that maybe he thinks the United States has been working at cross purposes with these countries lately.

He also told an interesting story about his conversation with a high level Bush administration person, who you have definitely heard of but I won't name because he said it was off-the-record.  He had called to question that person's planned absence at a summit of Southeast Asian countries.   He described various reasons why it was important for this official to show up, which sounded fine to me.  And that official said something along the lines of "If you want Southeast Asia to take you seriously, you have to show you're serious on the Middle East peace process."  Meaning that the Middle East was sort of a vehicle for the United States to be effective in diplomacy in other regions as well.  

I was surprised because it sounds like a dangerous approach, pinning diplomatic success in Asia to progress in a very difficult conflict.  But the McCain guy didn't offer commentary on that... just that it was an interesting window into how some members of the foreign policy establishment think.

article about Muslim women in America

I followed some Washington Post links and ended up at this blog post about dating among Muslims in America.  It discusses some issues raised by the fact that, on the one hand, dating is discouraged in Islam, and on the other, there is a demographic reality of single Muslim women in America for whom, for a variety of reasons, the traditional paths of meeting their partner aren't necessarily successful or desirable.

I found the subject matter itself interesting, but I also liked the article because it was a vivid and non-stereotypical snapshot of conservative Muslim values and experiences in the US.  That is a topic I don't have much first hand experience with, I think because Bohras are more liberal than other Muslims in many ways.  For example, most of my married and engaged bohra friends and relatives had an opportunity to date their intended before making a commitment.  I forget that experience is unsual among many Muslims, even in the US.

I liked the rest of the blog too.  Her latest post links to an excellent opinion piece by Tariq Ali about Asif Ali Zaradari's unfortunate ascendance to the Pakistani presidency.

productivity

I have mixed feelings about going back to India for several months next year.  It was pretty hard to be away from home sometimes, and while life was fast paced and interesting, it was also pretty stressful.  But there is one sense in which it was much easier to be in Bombay.  My work was easier to do, and it came naturally.  Here, it is more of a struggle.

I miss the extreme productivity of my two and a half months of fieldwork.  It was day after day of learning new things, interviewing people, taking notes.  And when I got back home, it was necessary to write for a couple of hours, just to make sure that I wouldn't forget the events of the day.  I felt so pressed for time that everything was urgent, and I was constantly productive.

Now I'm back to the unstructured and self-directed part of dissertation work.  Its harder than I remembered.  Its strange, because my existence here in Carrboro is much more comfortable than in Bombay.  There is nothing exhausting about my days.  Living in the clean suburbs of North Carolina, in a quiet apartment complex with a pool, an air-conditioned car and fast internet, is just easier.

But I have no appointments to keep or schedule to follow, unless I set one for myself.  And for me, that is similar to telling myself that I will get to the gym every day.  Its a nice sentiment, and sometimes it works, but on balance, its more of an ideal than a reality.  I wish I was again engaged in collecting my data... that was tangible and unambiguous, and now I am finding it difficult to be creative.  I'm back to staring at my screen for hours and reading tangentially related stuff for inspiration or distraction. 

I'm enjoying it too.  But who knew work would be harder once I had more time and more amenties.