Sally Greene's"Field Trip: Carrollton, Mississippi," Greenespace, 11 August, recalls a heavily armed white mob's massacre of two dozen African Americans in the courthouse at the county seat north of Jackson in 1886. The firearms' damage to the courthouse was so extensive, Greene reports, that it was not fully repaired until 1990. Thanks to Eric Muller at Is That Legal? for the tip.

William T. Vollman's"‘Friedrich Nietzsche': The Constructive Nihilist," New York Times, 14 August, reviews Curtis Cate's new biography of Nietzsche. See also: Brian Leiter's reading of Vollman's review as a work of"palpable""ignorance."

Mark Leibovich,"The Senator Has the Floor," Washington Post, 15 August, is an amusing piece about New York's Senator Charles Schumer. Do not get between Schumer and a microphone or a camera!

History Carnival #14 is up at Philobiblion. Natalie Bennet, the host, has done a beautiful job. An especially nice catch is Mena's"If Bloggers Had Been Around Throughout History." Go, enjoy it and others at Philobiblion. And let Natalie know how much you appreciate her efforts!

Jim Williams - 8/16/2005

Thanks for providing the link to the entertaining article on Chuck Schumer. He comes off as an amusing egomaniac, but he has been a very effective Senator and is quite popular both upstate and downstate.