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Cliopatria

  • Mar 9, 2005

    Social Security: Is There a Crisis?

    by Cliopatria

    We feature a page on HNN about Social Security that will tell you about all you need to know about Social Security: http://hnn.us/articles/9988.html

    But is there a crisis? There's no doubt Social Security is facing a shortfall. All are agreed it amounts in half a century to about 25%. To bridge the gap all you'd have to do is move up retirement age by a few years and the gap disappears.

    So is there a crisis? No.
    <
  • Mar 9, 2005

    Checkpoints

    by Cliopatria

    This is outside my usual area, but I am compelled to bring to the attention of the readers of this blog a Frontline report called"A Company of Soldiers" that was broadcast February 22. It shows clearly the casual way in which checkpoints are being manned by U.S. forces in Iraq and why innocent civilians are dying at the hands of American soldiers.

    Toward the beginning of the report, which can be streamed online, a camera c

  • Mar 9, 2005

    Who's Afraid of Western Civilization

    by Cliopatria

    As anyone who reads Cliopatria’s comment threads knows, I often disagree with KC Johnson’s highly critical and I think sometimes speculatively unfair characterizations of his targets. In the case of a petition by UNC faculty regarding a planned donation by the Pope Foundation to support a minor in Western Civilization, I think there are many legitimate reasons to insist on due diligence above and beyond what might be expected with a grant from the Mellon Foundation. That to my mind is a pragmat
  • Mar 9, 2005

    Bollywood Asia

    by Cliopatria

    If"India" as a geographically constitued entity was a colonial construction,"South Asia" is a post-colonial one. With the recent thawing of relationship between India and Pakistan, there is a lot of talk about the EU-ization of South Asia. Removal of trade and travel barriers across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal is not the only incentive for such daydreams. Just as important to those advocating such steps is the"unity" of a cultural and civilizational India that existed before nationalis
  • Mar 8, 2005

    The Luddite within

    by Cliopatria

    Today, we had our monthly noon Social Sciences Division faculty meeting.  As usual, I stayed quiet, though I perked up a bit during a brief discussion of the new Internet filters.  (All of my colleagues are adamantly opposed.)

    But then we launched into another discussion about creating "smart classrooms."  This has nothing to do with real teaching, mind you.  A "smart classroom" is one filled with all sorts of technological gizmos:  DVD playe

  • Mar 8, 2005

    Liberalism and Religion

    by Cliopatria

    I was very intrigued by E.J. Dionne’s thoughtful piece in a recent issue (Feburary 28, 2005) of THE NEW REPUBLIC, "When the Religious Right Was Left." His opening paragraph says it all:

    Preachers," the critic declared, "are not called upon to be politicians but to be soul-winners." As it happens, this is not some secular liberal denying faith's legitimate influence on politics. The words are Jerry Falwell's. His scorn-- he made the statement in 1965--was di
  • Mar 8, 2005

    The Corrie Award

    by Cliopatria

    In the too-strange-for-fiction category, Eugene Volokh reports that the winner of the second annual"Rachel Corrie Award" (for, of all things," courage in the teaching of writing") has been selected. Corrie, a student at Washington's Evergreen College--an institution known for its"advocacy" curriculum--was the anti-Israel activist killed in the Ga
  • Mar 8, 2005

    Thinking About the 1790s

    by Cliopatria

    The bestseller lists are filled with books about the Founding Fathers, as if we needed to be reminded in these days of polarized politics of the foundations of our government. Maybe we do, maybe don't.

    But we can indeed benefit from studying the decade of the 1790s, the decade which figures in so many of these books about Hamilton, Washington, Jefferson, Adams and the others.

    In many ways it is the decade which offers the most relevant lessons for us in our time, des
  • Mar 8, 2005

    International Women's Day: Ain't I a Woman?

    by Cliopatria

    Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

    That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any
  • Mar 8, 2005

    History Carnival: come along, and bring your friends

    by Cliopatria

    The event: History Carnival, #4.

    Date: 15 March.

    Venue: Blogenspiel

    Email the host, Another Damned Medievalist (another_damned_medievalist AT hotmail DOT com), with recent blog posts about history that you think ought to be included, whether of your own writing or that of friends and acquaintances.

    And if you've been debunking myths, demolishin
  • Mar 8, 2005

    Noted Here and There ...

    by Cliopatria

    Nuclear Option: Even if you think use of the"nuclear option" to end the threat of a filibuster in the United States Senate would be a serious mistake, you might be interested in knowing that a) the House once had filibusters and b) there's an interesting story about how they were ended. Credit: Thomas B. Reed. John A. Barnes has the story on"Reed's Rules<
  • Mar 7, 2005

    Zimbabwe's Big Man

    by Cliopatria

    On March 31 there is an election scheduled in Zimbabwe. It will be buried beneath all of the headlines emanating from the Middle East, but this is a crucial moment for sub-Saharan Africa and for democracy.

    Robert Mugabe, the only President Zimbabwe has known in its almost-quarter-century of existence, has proven to be one of the last and most resilient of Africa’s scourge of “Big Men” for whom power and kleptocracy and appalling disregard for the welfare of those over whom they rule are de

  • Mar 7, 2005

    University of Colorado

    by Cliopatria

    Ralph at Cliopatria beat me to the punch on the breaking news, but University of Colorado President Betsy Hoffman is apparently set to resign according to SI.com. Let us be clear -- no football scandal (or series of scandals), no resignation. But it will be interesting to see what happens amongst the conservative commentariat and blogospher
  • Mar 7, 2005

    CU Chancellor Resigns ...

    by Cliopatria

    Local media in Colorado are reporting the resignation of University of Colorado Chancellor Betsy Hoffman as of 30 June. Here are the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News stories and related links. Thanks to Chris Levesque in comments for the tip.
  • Mar 7, 2005

    Latest from UNC

    by Cliopatria

    Scott Jaschik at Inside Higher Ed has the latest on the UNC/Pope Center grant controversy, with two new items that cast further doubt on the Group of 71's motives. The current president of the faculty senate and the former dean of the UNC Law School, Judith Wegner, termed the negotiations around the grant"pretty standard stuff," adding that she has"no reason to believe that there is anything nefarious going on."
  • Mar 7, 2005

    Historical Judgement

    by Cliopatria

    "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." -- L. P. Hartley
    Eric Muller is trying to apply criminal law conceptions of cultural difference to historical difference:
    This Essay will argue that the criminal law's treatment of culture can help us think in a principled way about the wrongdoing of prior generations. There is an important similarity between cul