Things Noted Here and There

by Cliopatria

Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig,"Web of Lies? Historical Knowledge on the Internet," First Monday, December 2005. Cohen and Rosenzweig argue that internet-found information is more likely to be correct than not; and Cohen's H-Bot is more candid about the likelihood of its yielding a correct answer than most of us. Thanks to Jeremy Boggs for the tip.

Juan Cole,"10 Things Martin Luther King Would Have Done About Iraq," Informed Comment, 16 January, recommends that we apply the thought of the man we honor to the issues of our day. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

Niall Ferguson,"The Origins of the Great War of 2007 – and How It Could Have Been Prevented," The Telegraph, 15 January. Ferguson anticipates how historians will look back on the Great Gulf War of 2007-2011. Professor Doubledip reproduces it for the west coast at"Tomorrow's War Today," LA Times, 16 January.

If Samuel Alito is confirmed to the United States Supreme Court, it will have a Roman Catholic majority for the first time in its history. Joseph Bottum,"Alito and the Catholics," Weekly Standard, 23 January, reflects on the institutional decline and cultural triumph of American Catholicism. Another thoughtful piece on the Court is Jon D. Hanson and Adam Benforado,"The Drifters: Why the Supreme Court Makes Justices More Liberal," Boston Review, January/February 2006. Thanks to Richard Jensen of Conservativenet for the tip.

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Jonathan Dresner - 1/16/2006

The "history of the future" mode is a time-honored one, particularly in science fiction. But with columns like this, it does become a cliche, a writerly tic...

And you're right, early 20c futurism is riddled with this kind of alarmist dystopic "I told you so, someday" writing and it didn't end up well, did it?

Nathanael D. Robinson - 1/16/2006

I am surprised that Ferguson would not have the prudence to withold a piece like this. He should know that before WWI, British, French and German pulp writers encouraged the nationalist zeal of populations by imagining future continental wars. The fiction of future wars oriented public opinion about the feasability of fighting and the realities encountered on the ground.

There is something comical about the tone of the piece: people in 2006 were blind to what speculative historians and science-fiction writers of the day wrote. Look into my crystal ball ...

Louis N Proyect - 1/16/2006

Niall Ferguson's op-ed piece is far more outrageous than anything that Ward Churchill ever wrote. Israel seizes land in the Middle East on the basis of Biblical authority and Ferguson has the nerve to prattle on about theocracy in Iran? Meanwhile, Israel already has nuclear weapons to defend its land grab while according to Mohammed ElBaradei "there is no evidence that Iran is building such weapons according to seen any concrete proof that what Iran is doing is directly linked to the weapon program."

Jonathan Dresner - 1/16/2006

Apparently, if you're a columnist with no new ideas, you rehash your old ones with a little change of tense.

And it's not even well done: the junk about liberals is just weak and the preemption tag line just belies the fact that he hasn't come to terms with reality. It's not even funny, or trenchant or anything. It's pitifully one-dimensional. Which may well be what historians like Ferguson are producing in twenty years....