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Richard Holbrooke
I am sure there will be many views and probably a few forthcoming books on the life of Richard Holbrooke. To be sure, he was a tough and skilled diplomat. It is well known that at times, he was arrogant, self-absorbed, self-promoting, and occasionally petty. And at other times, he was engaging, generous, and charming. He was always smart and hard working.I first met him shortly after his first visit to the Bosnian war in 1992. He went to...
The Constitutionality of the Individual Mandate
Perhaps because I am not a lawyer, I found the section of Judge Hudson's ruling dealing with taxation powers difficult to make sense of. Hudson argues that Congress did not intend to use its taxation powers, because (1) it removed the word "tax" from many points in the document and (2) it invoked commerce-clause powers in its preface to Section 1501. I don't entirely understand how this is relevant to the constitutionality of the "mandate." If...
‘Tis the season
This year began with a human tragedy of horrific proportions -- the earthquake in Haiti. We may never know precisely how many people died, but the government in Port-Au-Prince estimated 230,000 in February. The news did not improve as the year progressed. Consider this ANI news report from Saturday about flooding in Pakistan -- and keep in mind that floodwaters have not yet receded in some areas even though the worst flooding occurred months...
7/7 five years on: Conflicting memories make an official record difficult
Aldgate station plan, London undergroundA month into the official inquest into the ‘7/7’ London bombings of July 2005, it is clear that the governmental imperative to arrive at a clear, authoritative and final account of what happened on the day might prove impossible because of the unreliability of human memory. This was an event in which cameraphone footage from the scene was reaching the BBC within 20 minutes of the first of four explosions,...
Feminist IR 101, Post #4: Common Myths about Feminist IR (and the ‘truth’)
Here are some common misperceptions of feminist IR; the "truth" is below the "fold" ...1. Feminist IR is a paradigmatic alternative to other IR paradigms - there's realism, liberalism, constructivism, poststructuralism, and then ... feminism. It is its own "ism," and therefore should be a chapter in each textbook proposed as a dialogue with and/or critique of International Relations. 2. Feminists are whiners - either the field of IR see, e.g.,...
To science or not to science — is that a question?
Dear American Anthropological Association:According to recent reports, you are considering dropping the term "science" from your long-range planning document. You propose replacing it with the phrase "public understanding," and also including a long litany of the variety of things that fit under this umbrella:This includes, but is not limited to, archaeological, biological, social, cultural, economic, political, historical, medical, visual, and...
Svalbard blogging
From the comments thread on the A/V Club's review of Voyage of the Dawn Treader (NSFC):
Lego Antikythera Machine and musings prompted thereby
Massively cool.And here's the earlier Lego Difference Engine:Anyway, the juxtaposition of these two computers intersects (oddly enough) with one of the themes in the Steampunk debates I alluded to earlier. Steampunk extrapolates from the real (and imaginary) technology of the Victorian era. Cosma Shalizi identifies that period (i.e., the Industrial Revolution) as the true "singularity," prompting Patrick Nielson Hayden to remark:I hope Shalizi...
Course: Interstellar Relations — The Politics of SF
I'm teaching a seminar on science fiction and politics next semester, which I am really, really looking forward to. PTJ's been teaching a similar course for years, but this is the first time I've had the opportunity offer it. Given the discussions of the SF genre in general, and steampunk in particular (e.g.), that have been making the rounds, I thought it might be interesting to see get feedback on the syllabus from our readers. I've designed...
On the Wikileaks Manifesto
I hope most of you following the Wikileaks story read Aaron Bady's essay at zunguzungu last week, in which he examines two early essays attributed to Julian Assange and provides his explanation of Assange's broader theory. It's a sophisticated read with at last glance 567 comments - the sort of blog post political theorists will (or should) assign to their graduate classes.I also think Bady makes some mistakes in his interpretation of Assange's...
Facelift.
Thoughts, please.