Sunday Notes
Richard Salit,"Of Art and Theft, Rockwell, MLK, and Spielberg," Providence Journal, 24 September, offers an explanation of what Steven Spielberg's possession of a stolen Norman Rockwell painting has to do with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (!) Hat tip.
Nathanael Deutsch,"Save the Gnostics," NYT, 6 October. Iraq's Mandaeans survived"the rise of Islam; the Mongol invasion; the arrival of Europeans ... and, most recently, the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein ...." During the American occupation of Iraq, however, the Mandaean population has been decimated. In 2003, there were 60,000 Mandaeans in Iraq. Now, fewer than 5,000 remain.
Last year, National Review's John J. Miller set off a contra temps when he revealed that the University of Wisconsin had a $1,000,000 endowment for an Ambrose-Hesseltine Chair in Military History, but had no plans to fill the position. Wisconsin has had no military historian since 1992. Ultimately, the department conducted a search to fill the chair, but it resulted in no hire. The department indicated that it expected to renew the search this year. Well, its search announcements are up and the department is only seeking to fill a position in East Asian/Korean history. Like last year, the department could reverse field and renew the search. Unless it does, Stephen Ambrose's ill-earned endowment will continue to accrue interest.
Finally, Ted Olsen,"The Death of Blogs," Christianity Today, 25 September, concludes:
... some of us can't help ourselves. Nearly as common as the abandoned blog is the"final comments before I reclaim my life" post. Followed by"an update to something I said in my final comments." And,"Well, I couldn't let this story go by." And on it goes.
One of the best resignation letters came from Alan Jacobs in Books & Culture."Right now, and for the foreseeable future, the blogosphere is the friend of information but the enemy of thought," he wrote in"Goodbye, Blog" (May/June 2006). A year later, in addition to writing a regular column for Books & Culture, the Wheaton College literature professor blogs thoughtfully at twodifferent sites.
We're all better off because Alan reconsidered. Hat tip.