Yesterday I avoided Twitter almost entirely. I went to bed early last, and am only now looking at the key results in the pre-dawn hours. But since it may have been a late night for most readers of the Duck, we’ll keep things short today. I am heading off to the...
Context here. On proper dragon-chaining technique, see this must read.
In the same weekend that parents around the nation watched their high-school and college students graduate and spread their wings for brighter shores, Game of Thrones served us up a season finale...
[Note: This is a guest post by Geoffrey Dancy, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tulane University] Nearly every civil war negotiation or democratic revolution is now accompanied by a...
As promised, this is my post announcing that we've sent an email out with the ballot for the 2013 OAIS awards.We believe that we sent one to everyone that requested one before the deadline, as well as to a list of people that we generated internally. If you did not receive one and requested one, my apologies. Please email us about getting one (but check your spam filter first). As the voting period lasts until January 31, we can also accomodate late requests for ballots. But the window is closing, so do let us know if you want one. Some information about the ballot: We have some brief survey...
This is a guest post by Peter S. Henne. Peter is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University. He formerly worked as a national security consultant. His research focuses on terrorism and religious conflict; he has also written on the role of faith in US foreign policy. During 2012-2013 he will be a fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. So I’ve reviewed several manuscripts for journals in the past year, probably the result of always saying yes. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to do it, and actually enjoy it—at least for now. But I’ve had some concerns about the...
Is the tide turning on the idea of austerity? Philip Pilkington takes issue with this week's New York Times feature story on how well the Latvians are enduring austerity. The IMF thinks Latvia has gone too far. Last week, IMF Director Christine Legarde warned Germany to go slower in making cuts. And, yesterday, it (the IMF) acknowledged in a new paper that "“Forecasters significantly underestimated the increase in unemployment and the decline in domestic demand associated with fiscal consolidation,” -- a finding that it began to unroll last fall. Former EC Commissioner Lord Mandelson warns...
That's what Forbes claims in an article that's generating much mirth in academic social-media circles. University professors have a lot less stress than most of us. Unless they teach summer school, they are off between May and September and they enjoy long breaks during the school year, including a month over Christmas and New Year’s and another chunk of time in the spring. Even when school is in session they don’t spend too many hours in the classroom. For tenure-track professors, there is some pressure to publish books and articles, but deadlines are few. Working conditions tend to be cozy...
Happy New Year! I hope you are still enjoying a wonderful break. The holidays for me always mean one thing: a lack of Internet access. As a duck-ling who is from Deliverance/mayonnaise/4-H country, I’m particularly attuned to the argument UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur, Frank La Rue, made a couple of summers ago about the human right to Internet access. Of course I need unrestricted access to my favorite websites – how else am I supposed to procrastinate/ignore in-laws! But, is Internet access really more than that? Like La Rue contends, could the Internet actually be an...
Partisanship Blogging Warning. This post contains no academic content. What follows is a series of block quotes designed to illustrate the title of the post. This is simply remarkable.... First, Erick Erickson at RedState: The McConnell Tax Hike raises taxes on people making over $400,000.00, but it also raises taxes on the middle class. “More than 80 percent of households with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000 would pay higher taxes.”* Not only does the McConnell Tax Hike stick it to the middle class, it raises taxes $41 for every $1 in spending cuts. Those spending cuts are ephemeral...
Some sex, gender, and women highlights and lowlights for the week: In the post "2012: The year in sexism" Laura Bates lists the sexist 'lowlights' of each month (from Rush Limbaugh's slut comment to Todd Akin's 'legit' rape gaff). The Huffington Post has some high and low gender moments of its own- the high point is Carey Purcell's "Fifty Shades of Feminism: a response to E.L. James Fifty Shades of Grey." Parcell summarizes many of the criticisms already waged against the series, but with a refreshing tone. Speaking of feminism, if you missed the Atlantic article about why Katie Perry's...
Sure we know we don't stick to New Year resolutions (apparently only 8% of resolutions are fulfilled) but they're fun to make, right? In addition to the top 5 New Year's resolutions that most people don't keep (losing weight, quitting smoking, going on a diet, stopping a bad habit, and getting more exercise) some of us make professional resolutions. So what do you think are the top 5 Academic New Year's resolutions you're likely to break? Here are my guesses/my unrealistic resolutions- feel free to weigh in with yours: 1. Write Every Day This is like the resolution that never quits. I don't...