Cliopatria

• Nov 26, 2005
  

  A Different Kind of Japanese American First

  by Cliopatria

  I have just been looking at an unusual Supreme Court case involving Japanese Americans. The case (from 1890-91) concerns Jugiro Shibuya, an Issei sailor living in Brooklyn who killed another in a brawl, and was convicted of muder and sentenced to death under New York's then-brand new electric chair law. His lawyers argued before the court, claiming that the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment, but the Court refused to accept that argument, and rejected the appeal without opinion. The
  

• Nov 26, 2005
  

  Howard N Meyer: Oil & Iraq

  by Cliopatria

  To the Editor,

  The fine letter of Eric Margolis, noting the absence of"oil" from the reviews in"Special Issue: Iraq" inspires another: Absence of the phrase"International Law" from the same set of reviews, and (very likely) from the books reviewed and from the letters published (Book Review Nov. 30) is likewise a"Symptom of Denial" regarding the probable violation of the United Nations Charter perpetrated by invading Iraq.

  Howard N Meyer

  

• Nov 26, 2005
  

  History Carnival Notice

  by Cliopatria

  The next History Carnival will be hosted on Thursday 1 December by Laura James at Clews, The Historic True Crime Blog.
  
  Email nominations for recently published posts about history (a historical topic, reviews of books or resources, reflections on teaching or researching history) to Laura at: Laura4991[at]prodigy.net, or use the submission form provided by

• Nov 26, 2005
  

  Semantics and History: Did Japan "Invade" Korea?

  by Cliopatria

  Well, the obvious answer to that question is yes, but that's not the invasion we're talking about. Over on Frog in a Well: Korea, there's a lively discussion on the case of the Japanese teacher disciplined for making her clas
  

• Nov 25, 2005
  

  The General, The Bodies, The Sorrows, The Blogs

  by Cliopatria

  (cross-posted from Blog Them Out of the Stone Age)
  
  After some weeks spent mostly under the radar, Stephen A. Ogden's English 340: First World War Literature students at Simon Fraser University have begun openly posting the URLs to their group blogs. Here are links:
  
  C. S. Forester's The General
  A blog discussing

• Nov 25, 2005
  

  On Our Constitutional Crisis

  by Cliopatria

  For the last three years, the Bush administration has taken the position that the Constitutional rights of American citizens can be suspended by executive authority; and, for three years, the administration has avoided the Supreme Court's judgment of that position in the case of Jose Padilla. Its action in the Padilla case signals the administration's intention to avoid the Supreme Court's judgment on the merits of its position for the foreseeable future. The administration's public presentation
  

• Nov 24, 2005
  

  The Problem from Hell

  by Cliopatria

  A question (or two) that I'm not equipped to answer: Is it possible that conditions in Iraq might lead, over time, to an attempt at a genocidal solution to the problem of political and religious divisions? How might the Iraq of 2007 or 2008, with the United States gone, compare to pre-genocide Rwandan or Balkan society?
  
  A precise and narrowly framed question, I know, but I still wonder if anyone has given serious consideration to the possibility.
  
  
  

• Nov 24, 2005
  

  Some Remembered Things

  by Cliopatria

  This time last year at Cliopatria, we were having a discussion about Thanksgiving as an"invented tradition." My recollection is that we agreed that all human traditions have an origin or origins and that, perhaps, it's better to think of them as" constructions of social memory." At the Volokh Conspiracy, Jim Lindgren quotes from the only prim
  

• Nov 23, 2005
  

  Dis vs. D'Is

  by Cliopatria

  While cheerfully toddling my way through the newest Flashman, I noticed in passing that the old scalawag is still calling Disraeli "D'Israeli."  So what's that about, you ask? You'll need to go back several novels for the "editor's" explanation: "His extravagances of dress and speech, his success as a novelist

  

• Nov 23, 2005
  

  NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 11, #45; 23 NOVEMBER 2005)

  by Cliopatria

  1. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ADVANCES PLAN TO CREATE A WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY
  2. NARA FUNDING BILL ON ITS WAY TO THE PRESIDENT FOR SIGNATURE
  3. ROSA PARKS STATUE AUTHORIZED
  4. CONGRESS AUTHORIZES BATTLEFIELD STUDY ACT
  5. BITS AND BYTES: History Coalition Joins Call for Posting of Katrina Documents; Early American Collections Digitized
  6. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: No Closer to Cracking the Kennedy Case” (Washington Post)

  1. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ADVANCES PLA
  

• Nov 23, 2005
  

  Thanksgiving

  by Cliopatria

  For most of my life I have been haunted by the hymn, “Come ye thankful people come.” (If some one knows of a choral version online, please let me know.

  For most of that time, I only knew the melody and the first few lines:

  Come, ye thankful people, come,
  raise the song of harvest-home
  all is safely gathered in,
  ere the winter storms begin:

  But there was something in it—a sense of people hu

  

• Nov 23, 2005
  

  More Noted Things

  by Cliopatria

  There's only one more week for nominations for The Cliopatria Awards. We have some strong candidates, but additional nominees are welcome in all categories. We have the fewest nominees for Best Group Blog and Best Writing, so give it some thought.

  Several history bloggers, including

• Nov 22, 2005
  

  Scare Quotes Scare Me

  by Cliopatria

  When the AHR comes, the first things I read are: the table of contents, the Asia book reviews and the"Communications to the Editor" in the back. The first is mostly an exercise in futility, as there's an average of one article per issue that I feel obligated to read. The second is an obligation: I'll get longer reviews of most of the same books in my JAS and JJS, but it's interesting to see who gets what kind of attention. The third is a

  

• Nov 22, 2005
  

  On Torture

  by Cliopatria

  Jason Vest,"CIA Veterans Condemn Torture," National Journal, 19 November, profiles the disgust of old CIA hands with torture and its unproductive results. Much of the skepticism draws on the story told in Merle L. Pribbenow,"The Man in the Snow White Cell," Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 48, #1, 2004, a remarkable account of torture's failure to e
  

• Nov 21, 2005
  

  Scattershooting after having really enjoyed the Cincinnati Indianapolis game.

  by Cliopatria

  It looks like the backlash from the Kelo decision has stalled the development that led to the suit. One homeowner is even repairing his roof. (Registration required.)

  It looks like debate on the Iraq War is finally beginning to occur in Congress. Given our present level of disco

  

• Nov 21, 2005
  

  Eastern State Penitentiary: Pennsylvania's Eastern State Penitentiary is a historic site that can't keep visitors out

  by Cliopatria

  Within the dank, antiquated confines of Eastern State Peniten-tiary, Alphonse "Scar-face" Capone lived for eight months in relative luxury.
  
  Capone's cell, in the prison's "Park Avenue" section, had two skylights and was furnished with Oriental rugs, oil paintings, a cabinet radio, and a desk. No wonder the Chicago gang leader, convicted in 1929 of carrying a concealed weapon, told a Philadelphia Public Ledger reporter that he was "very comfortable" in h
  

• Nov 21, 2005
  

  Image and Mirage

  by Cliopatria

  I was reading Cranky Professor last night and learned from him that images of the Prophet Mohammad are not prohibited in all branches of Islam. For evidence, he links to portrayals of the prophet by a number of Muslim artists. Believing that they are universally prohibited, he says, is a"zombie error" than will. not. die. Michael has much to teach me because he is a specialist in early Islamic art. I had tho
  

• Nov 21, 2005
  

  Things Noted Here and There

  by Cliopatria

  Mark Grimsley's"Prepping the Pedagogical Battlefield," at Blog Them Out of the Stone Age discusses the very practical ways in which his blog helps him prepare for next semester, when he teaches"The History of War" to 150 students at Ohio State.

  At Horizon, Martha Bridegam and Ben Brumfield are on a roll, with delightful posts about the new film on Edward R.

  

• Nov 20, 2005
  

  Some Recommended Things

  by Cliopatria

  Eric Ormsby,"The Boundless Chaos of Living Speech," New York Sun, 16 November, and Jonathan Yardley,"Amazingly Enough, The First Great Dictionary was Basically the Work of One Man," Washington Post, 13 November, recall that this is the 250th anniversary year of the publication of Dr. Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the