Some random findings for the day.... Putin's idea of transparency. Look for more private security firms profiting in the post-Benghazi world... Also, the IDF's use of Twitter during its recent operation in Gaza was just the beginning. The Naval Postgraduate School is working on Dynamic Twitter Analysis Network. Isn't the world supposed to end today? If you are reading this tomorrow, this will help explain why. Salman Hameed and Kevin Anderson...
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Gerard van der Ree on The Hydrogen Sonata: “Learning From Utopia”
Three particular themes stand out when reading The Hydrogen Sonata as a utopian narrative. The first is that whatever happens, politics seem to be an inevitable feature of human life. Second, that however advanced technology may become, nothing beats human communication. Third, that purpose is essential.
Chris Brown on The Hydrogen Sonata: “A Triumphant Return to Form”
General Warning: this is emphatically not a spoiler-free Forum! Hence all of the text all of the contributions will be safely below the fold, and only the identifying information for the author of the contribution will be here for even causal browsers to see. Chris Brown is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics. Ten books published over twenty-five years, many brilliant and not one of them a real turkey – such...
Sex is Better Thursday Afternoon Linkages
Here's your daily roundup of sex/gender links. First, NPR has reported that sexual assaults have spiked at military academies (a 23% increase with continued evidence that victims are resisting litigation). Yikes. A well-known anti-gay Ugandan (the land of the new and terrible anti-homosexuality bill) pastor used vegetables to graphically demonstrate his interpretation of gay sex (and why it is wrong). The video on Huff Post is like a car crash....
A Christmas present: a Forum on Iain M. Banks’ new novel
Introducing a new Duck of Minerva forum!
Some Thoughts on the Korean Election: Left Blew a Good Chance to Win
This pic is from the TV election coverage on the Korean version of CNN. That would be the two main candidates (the liberal Moon Jae-In on the left, and conservative Park Geun-Hye, who won, on the right) as dancing electronic cartoon avatars. Yes, they do look like boogying Nintendo Miis, and yes, they are the most bizarre, hysterical election graphics I have ever seen. Who says political science is boring? So Foreign Affairs solicited me for a...
Crooked Timber Petition
As I sorta implied below, you don't need to agree with Erik's political views or his manner of expressing them to recognize that the President of the University of Rhode Island's statement is all kinds of appalling. The good folks at Crooked Timber have put together a petition to that effect. Go sign, if you'd be so kind. Meanwhile, Glen Reynolds explains the underlying dynamic of this kind of attack. Except he's one of the enablers of the...
Podcast No. 16 – Interview with Robert Farley
The sixteenth Duck of Minerva podcast features Robert Farley of the University of Kentucky and Lawyers, Guns and Money.
Why no Cuban Spring?
I am currently at the Social Science Research Center in Berlin to present a paper on norm suppression. While here, I had the opportunity to learn more about some of the work being done by the Civil Society, Conflicts, and Democracy research unit. Listening to these folks talk about the stability of authoritarian regimes reminded me of some thoughts I had when I recently travelled to Cuba to present another paper. In addition to prepping for...
Duck Takeover of Foreign Affairs on Schedule
Robert provides Foreign Affairs a "snapshot" on the South Korean election -- which Park won today. An excerpt: For all the talk of the "pivot" to Asia in the United States, the idea is not widely discussed in South Korea. And South Koreans are not all that interested in containing China. Although Korea was a tributary state of China for nearly a millennium, China never terrorized it the way Japan did. A January 2012 poll from...
Academic Administrative Fecklessness
I wasn't going to post anything about the cyber-intimidation campaign being directed at Erik Loomis, as that seemed like a job for Big Important Liberal Blogs and not for the Duck of Minerva. But now the issue has strayed directly into our territory. In brief, Erik Loomis is a history professor at the University of Rhode Island and a long-time blogger. His highest-profile gig is at Lawyers, Guns & Money. In the immediate aftermath of the...
New Podcast @ New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy
I already mentioned that this podcast was coming, but now it is out. From my summary at New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy: When I agreed to host New Books and Science Fiction and Fantasy there were a number of authors I hoped to interview, including Michael Gordin. This might come as a surprise to listeners, because Michael is neither a science-fiction nor a fantasy author. He is, rather, a prominent historian of science at Princeton...