Noted Here and There ...
Blog Them Out of the What? The title of Mark Grimsley's new blog, Blog Them Out of the Stone Age, is gonna be a challenge for space on Cliopatria's Blogroll, but it's a good indication of his intentions for the future of doing military history. And when he tells you about George A."Custer and the Art of the Blog," you know that he's serious. Grimsley understands that, in many ways, the notion of a radical academy is an illusion, especially when you're talking about historians. We're a stodgy crew. But, mark his word, we are called to profess and how better to do it than with a blog? The day is coming when you will be judged by your fruits and a history department chairperson will say unto you:"Young man, we like your credentials and your campus visit was terrific, but where the hell's your blog and your website?" Or,"young lady, the job would have been yours, but for lack of a website and a blog." That is, if he or she is being straightforward with you.
Faith and History: For years, no one but religionists and theologians would touch the subject. When Cliopatria last engaged it, almost a year ago now, there was a huge donnybrook. The battle waxed so hot and heavy there for a while, I recall, that even Chris Pettit of all people tried to calm the waters. Increasingly, however, serious historians are engaging the issues. Historians don't get much more serious than Penn's Bruce Kuklick, Columbia's Richard Bushman, and Wheaton's Mark Noll. They're engaged in"Believing History." Kuklick argues that the same historical rationality that causes many non-Mormon historians to wonder at Bushman's acceptance of Joseph Smith's revelations should cause all historians to wonder at the miraculous faith claims of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Monotheist Indifference?Sepoy at Chapati Mystery wonders why Muslim scholars, who so actively translated Greek, Aramaic, Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian texts, were so slow to translate Hindu texts. Like, a millenium is slow, he suggests.
No Real Danger Here:"The Manolo he does not wish to go all Foucault on you ...."
Recruitment Difficulties: A Pentagon study suggests that recent military recruitment failures are severely compounded by a steep decline of African-American volunteers. From 23.5% of volunteers in fiscal 2000, they are down to 13.9% in the first four months of fiscal 2005. The latter figure is more in keeping with the African American percent of the American population, but the 40% decline in African American recruits is a big share of the overall recruitment decline and a step away from a major traditional means of social mobility for African Americans.
Get This Man Some Relief!: I'm still trying to understand Scott McLemee's line,"... if the only way to get publicity were to perform as a circus geek, it would be dangerous to be a chicken in the vicinity of David Horowitz." I'm collecting signatures on a petition to David Horowitz to get McLemee and the rest of us into the Net. We want in, David! No more of your exclusionary blacklisting schemes. We will not go quietly into that dark night!
America and Iraq: Jim Henley puts the killing of an Italian secret service agent by American soldiers in Iraq into a larger context. His"Understanding Neo-Imperialism" at Unqualified Offerings should be read in its entirety, but here's his powerful conclusion:
Here is the Highest Law in Iraq today: Thou shalt not frighten an American soldier. Not"kill," not"attack." Put in fear of his (or her) life. This is a capital crime subject to immediate arraignment, instantaneous investigation and summary execution of sentence. If your most important goal is to safeguard the lives of American troops, this law makes perfect sense. It was not propounded by Iraqis, though, who were not even consulted about it and have, still, no veto power over it. It was not adopted with the consent of the governed. How did that come about? We decided. No country where such a law obtains is"free" in the sense that the US is free, or, well, Italy is free. No Iraqi jury, nor even Iraqi bureaucrat will pass judgment on the actions of the soldiers at that checkpoint. Americans will.I could not have said it better myself and you will not even understand it until you realize that those who claim to be conservatives in contemporary America are anything but that.
It is dangerous for a people to arrogate that much power to themselves, even, or especially, when they see themselves as Doing Good. When we still had conservatives in this country, they knew that.