Cliopatria wishes a speedy recovery to Michael Berube, who had an emergency appendectomy on Thursday, the 19th.

If you have the stomach for it, you ought to read Tim Golden,"In U. S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths," New York Times, 20 May. This is behavior beyond disgraceful.

Warren Hoge,"Swedes Dispute Translation of a U. N. Legend's Book," New York Times, 22 May, reports that knowledgeable Swedes have long believed that W. H. Auden's translation, Markings, of Dag Hammarskjold's memoir seriously distorted the diplomat's intentions.

Both Daily Kos and Instapundit are recommending that you act now to contact the Federal Elections Commission to comment on its proposed regulations of internet communications. The FEC needs to receive all comments by 3 June.

When a reader of the private listserv, H-AmStdy, asked for a short list of famous lost things for an article he is preparing, the suggestions ranged from the obvious (the manuscript of Phillis Wheatley's second book, Robert E. Lee's Special Order 191, the golden tablets on which the Book of Mormon was said to be inscribed) to the shocking (King Philip's crippled hand that was displayed in a jar of brandy in New England bars, his jaw that Cotton Mather is said to have pulled from his head when it was impaled on a pole in Salem, and Nat Turner's scrotum, which was said to have been made into a coin purse and displayed in the ante-bellum South).

Although she makes the common error of confusing the Industrial Workers of the World with the International Workers of the World, Dr. History reminds us that this is the centennial year of both the Industrial Workers of the World and Rotary. They were both founded in Chicago in 1905. Shouldn't there be a comparative study of working class and middle class organization in that coincidence?

Whether you are a"Star Wars" geek or not, you can enjoy the"Grocery Store Wars." Thanks to Josh Chafetz at Oxblog for the tip. But, speaking of grocery store wars, how about this museum spoof over at Barista? While you're there, he's got a great shot of a beautiful old horse-drawn omnibus and some good ideas for promotingaudiences for blogs.

Greg James Robinson - 5/22/2005

Yes, there might be in interesting comparative study between these two organizations. But then, you never know, if we are looking at 100th anniversaries, it might be interesting to do a comparative study of two men born in 1905--Henry Fonda and Jean-Paul Sartre--and the amazing coincidences in their lives. Both were precocious yet both first achieved fame only in their early 30s. Both served in the Second World War, and were identified with wartime roles they played (Fonda as Mr. Roberts, Sartre as a resistant). Both had a celebrated collaboration with a Nobel-Prize winner which was not renewed (Fonda with John Steinbeck in THE GRAPES OF WRATH, Sartre with Albert Camus). Both turned from their more famous work after the war to work in the theater, and both had many affairs with actresses. Finally both had best friends before the war who turned into conservatives afterwards (Jimmy Stewart for Fonda, Raymond Aron for Sartre). Both worked on disappointing films with John Huston (Fonda on TENTACLES and ON OUR MERRY WAY, Sartre on FREUD) So you see there islots of material to work with!

Russell Arben Fox - 5/22/2005

Thanks for the link, Ralph. My class (the last one I'll teach at ASU, as it turns out) is mostly mapped out, but I'm still struggling with the "technology" section. I've received some good suggestions: Blade Runner, AI, etc. Any additional insights would be welcome.