Cliopatria

• Jul 22, 2005
  

  A Strange Career of Alleys, Avenues, Boulevards, and Interstates ...

  by Cliopatria

  Clay Risen,"Strange Career," Boston Globe, 17 July, looks back at C. Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow after 50 years. On the one hand, Woodward's Strange Career was enormously important to us in the civil rights movement, because he showed tha
  

• Jul 21, 2005
  

  The Gold Ticket

  by Cliopatria

  The movie will not be out in the UK for a couple of weeks, and I am not sure what to think about it -- when I first encountered"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when I was eight or so, it was my very favorite book. Nonetheless, I thought this was a great story about a real Charlie in a chocolate factory in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.
  

• Jul 21, 2005
  

  Things Noted Here and There ...

  by Cliopatria

  Christopher Hays,"The Case for a Democratic Marker," In These Times, 21 July, is an interview with Rick Perlstein about the idea in his new book, The Stock Ticker and the Superjumbo: How the Democrats Can Once Again Become America's Dominant Political Party.

  Scott McLemee's"Gone Fishing," Inside Higher Ed, 21 July, helps us to understand

  

• Jul 21, 2005
  

  Breaking London News

  by Cliopatria

  Breaking even as I write this (12:36 London time) -- three London tube stations being evacuated as the result of "an incident." We'll see if it amounts to anything.

  Update: 1:20 London Time Acording to the BBC, the three stations (Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street, and Oval) plus a bus have been evacuated after a small"dummy" detonation. Channel 4 is updating right now this same news. Obviously we know very little, but Londo

  

• Jul 21, 2005
  

  Charges of "Plagiarism" as a Political Tool ...

  by Cliopatria

  At the risk of sounding naive, it seems to me that in the last two years the charge of plagiarism has become simply one weapon among many in larger political struggles. I don't know that that was the case when Stephen Ambrose, Donald Cuccioletta, Philip Foner, Doris Kearns Goodwin,

• Jul 20, 2005
  

  New HNN Pseudonym Policy

  by Cliopatria

  After considerable internal (and external) discussion and consideration, HNN has altered its comment policy:

  Pseudonyms may be used only with prior permission from HNN. Permission may be granted to bloggers who have been using a stable pseudonym for a substantial prior period, or to posters with a credible fear of professional or personal retaliation for their views. The real, verifiable name of the poster must be made known

  

• Jul 20, 2005
  

  More Noted Things ...

  by Cliopatria

  President Bush's nomination of Judge John G. Roberts of the D. C. Court of Appeals dominates the newspaper headlines this morning. There will be hearings on and debate about the nomination, particularly perhaps on Judge Roberts' attitude toward Roe and stare decisis. The early betting, however,
  

• Jul 20, 2005
  

  The Roberts Nomination, The Fight to Come, and a Call for Sanity

  by Cliopatria

  So we now know the name of the person who will be subjected to much scrutiny over the next few weeks and months: John Glover Roberts Jr., a conservative judge from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The bloggers are pounding away, trying to discern something from a record that, if not inscrutable, is at least a hard one from which to glean telling Constitutional beliefs. Conservatives seem to be lining up behind the President’s man, while many liberal groups are preparing for
  

• Jul 19, 2005
  

  Harry Potter Blind Spots

  by Cliopatria

  I don't like Harry Potter. Actually, my problem isn't with Harry Potter himself, who's doing the best he can given the world he lives in and the plots he lives with, but with J.K. Rowling. Don't get me wrong: the books are fun reads (though I would have plotted them very differently, even given these general outlines) and the magical elements of the milieu are quite entertaining; I'm a great fan of wordplay and satire, which are the best elements of Rowling's writing. My wife is a big fan, as

  

• Jul 19, 2005
  

  Deep Throat

  by Cliopatria

  This is from today's Romanesko:

  A Times editorial on the CIA leak case says no reporter can choose the circumstances for upholding a principle."It doesn't matter whether we think a source is a good person or has good motivations. A reporter promises confidentiality, and the paper backs up the journalist because otherwise the public will not learn what it needs to know. ...Reporters cannot apply ideology when protecting their sources, any more than civil liberties lawyers can defe

  

• Jul 19, 2005
  

  St. Andrews

  by Cliopatria

  I'm at the British Open and cannot even convey how amazing the experience is.

  A couple of things that have happened:

  I ran into Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe and Around the Horn (inter alia) fame. Not only did we talk about the Sox, he also said"don't you worry about Jay Mariotti" when I told him not to let Mariotti get away with his nonsense. So we are on the same page on that front.

  Meanwhile at dinner last night, Nick Price crossed our path on his way to the ba

  

• Jul 19, 2005
  

  Things Noted Here and There ...

  by Cliopatria

  On Professional Ethics: Joshua Frank,"Accusations and Smears: An Interview with Ward Churchill," Counter-Punch, 18 July, is the first half of a two part interview with WC. It's a perfectly fascinating document. Churchill takes Jon Weiner's argument, that the historians' scandals of the last 15 years are nothing but political, beyond Weiner's own claims. Churchill is incorrect at many points and the interview so offended M
  

• Jul 18, 2005
  

  What Book Are You? ...

  by Cliopatria

  
  You're Alice's Adventures in Wonderland!
  by Lewis Carroll
  After stumbling down the wrong turn in life, you've had your mind opened to a number of strange and curious things. As life grows curiouser and curiouser, you have to ask yourself what's real and what's the picture of illusion. Little is coming to your aid in di