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Cliopatria

  • Apr 5, 2005

    Three Passing (Liberal) Thoughts

    by Cliopatria

    1. In honor of the passing of Pope John Paul II, US flags are to be flown at half-staff"until sunset on the day of his interment." A number of states have followed suit. Do we regularly honor foreign leaders' at death with flag lowering? Or is it specifically because the Pope leads (spiritually, of course) American Catholics, and if so, has the US so honored other religious leaders, foreign or domestic? Is it because

  • Apr 4, 2005

    When Did the White House Press Get Their Own Room?

    by Cliopatria

    Elisabeth Bumiller, in the NYT (4-4-05):

    ...The press room was born in its current location - attached to the West Wing and just steps from the Oval Office - in 1969, when the Nixon administration covered an indoor lap pool to make space for reporters who until then had jammed into an office inside the West Wing. The national security adviser now uses that space, and if current reporters are surprised at how phys

  • Apr 4, 2005

    Picking a Pope

    by Cliopatria

    From what I am learning about the selection of a Pope, it would appear that the process is quite similar to our selection of presidents.

    In the early 19th century!

    It's not very democratic, but at least it results in the selection of a leader on the basis of his resume, the interests of the institution he serves, and his overall philosophy and agenda.

    We used to elect presidents this way. Party bosses convening at a conclave (aka: a political convention)
  • Apr 4, 2005

    Little Eichmannism ...

    by Cliopatria

    At Horizon, Bobby Farouk found an interesting thing in Neil Postman's 1987 address,"The Educationist as Painkiller." There, the NYU critic argued that the work of those of us in education was to combat stupidity or, what he called,"balderdash." Among the many forms of it that he identified – Pomposity, Earthiness, Euphemism, Word Magic, Sloganeering, and Superstition -- Postman called one"Eichmannism".

  • Apr 3, 2005

    More Noted Things ...

    by Cliopatria

    The Papacy: With all due respect to the strength of Pope John Paul II, one of the books I intend to read in the next few days is Garry Wills's Papal Sin: The Structures of Deceit. I'm a fan of Garry Wills from way back and I suspect that the book is all the more powerful because Wills is a devout Catholic. And the subject is all the more important because of the doctrine that the church, itself, is embodie
  • Apr 2, 2005

    Mugabe's Win is Zimbabwe's Loss

    by Cliopatria

    If it is not official it is pretty close. Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF has bullied and stolen its way to a two-thirds majority. This means that Mugabe is effectively president for life, that he will be able to hand-pick his successor, and that he (and his party, as if there is a worthwhile difference at this point) will be able to change the Zimbabwean Constitution at will.

    I thought it would happen, I was more than willing to be proved wrong. From Machiavellian standpoint, Mugabe makes for a

  • Apr 2, 2005

    De Pluss ...

    by Cliopatria

    If you're having trouble imagining what Jacques Pluss is about, you can listen to him on National Socialist Movement radio. The contempt for our"judaized" institutions and African Americans in general is clear. I listened long enough to hear him confuse Rumpelstiltskin with Rip van Winkle. Sorry, Professor Pluss, you're off the payroll. Sieg Heil. The volk over at Free Repu
  • Apr 2, 2005

    The Forms of Our Deviance ...

    by Cliopatria

    I suppose yesterday's example of Jacques Pluss represents one form – though a particularly startling one – of our deviance: ideological deviance. For the most part, I'm in favor of protecting ideological deviants. That gets difficult when the deviation manifests itself in wholesale smears of ethnic communities. Then, it seems to me, you may have a dysfunctional faculty member to remove.

    At

  • Apr 1, 2005

    Some Noted Things ...

    by Cliopatria

    History Carnival: History Carnival #5 is up at ClioWeb. While you are enjoying its feast, tell Jeremy what a great host he is. As he points out, History Carnival #6 will be hosted by Jonathan Dresner here at Cliopatria on or about 15 April.

    A Nazi Out The House: Apparently,

  • Apr 1, 2005

    Poetic Landscapes and Real Environments

    by Cliopatria

    In March issue of American Anthropologist, Christopher Fischer and Gary Feinman hypothesize that environmentalists can learn about the degradation of landscape and its restoration from history.
    Past successes and failures in environmental manipulation can inform modern land use and serve as potential guides for policy makers, as well as the general public.

    Civilizations have all dealt with changes in the environment tha
  • Apr 1, 2005

    Brilliance and Fame ...

    by Cliopatria

    Yesterday, one of our readers called my attention to the fact that Cliopatria made the Washington Post. Yes, she did. Check it out. Page 3 of 4. Top o' the page. So, she is famous and, so, am I; and, so is HNN and so is Rick Shenkman. But, if you go over to Chapati Mystery,
  • Apr 1, 2005

    My Pyloric Valve ...

    by Cliopatria

    I'm not knocking John Holbo's The Valve already, but the title reminded me of my favorite literary character, Ignatius J. Reilly. Have you read John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces? If not, do yourself a favor and make it a very high priority. It is, by far, my favorite comic novel and Reilly my favorite comic character.

    Years ago, when I first read it, on page after page, To

  • Mar 30, 2005

    Is Laura K. Krishna a Plagiarist?

    by Cliopatria

    This post at a group blog of comedians is making the rounds. Apparently, a college student solicited a paper on Hinduism ["5 pages on a topic in hindu either the gods or yogas or caste or anything about the religion"] over AIM from the comedian/blogger Nate Kushner [his AIM profile listed a hobby of"Eating Hindu Sculpture"].

    Mr. Kushner played along and wrote a farcical paper ["if a Shudra watche