A popular 10th grade world history book by Elizabeth Ellis.Image Source. Earlier this week Al West wrote two short posts about world history and world history books that I found interesting. World history books? Mr. West does not like them: “Usually, they’re lacking in archaeological nous, have little or no accurate prehistoric content (a big […]
Renowned tech security specialist Bruce Schneier* has declared it is “time to take the internet back”: “The US government has betrayed the internet. We need to take it back“ Bruce Schneier. The Guardian. 5 September 2013. Government and industry have betrayed the internet, and us. By subverting the internet at every level to make it a vast, […]
Image Source. On year ago President Obama declared “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.” Chemical weapons have been used. Some suggest that America will […]
British have invaded nine out of ten countries – so look out Luxembourg Jasper Copping. The Telegraph. 2 November 2012. A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe. The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the […]
A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. TOP BILLING “How To Lose a War: A Primer“Mark Safranski. Zenpundit.com. 28 July 2013. Since Pakistan is now attempting to get its victory over the United States in Afghanistan formally ratified, now seemed to be a good time to reflect on the performance of American […]
Why does the Chinese public support the Communist Party of China? Many assert that the Chinese government retains its legitimacy through high growth rates. Few stop to consider what evidence supports the contention. Truth be told, there is not much. The Chinese people like to bargain. I have heard Chinese call bargaining an art; others […]
Beginning tomorrow the author of this blog shall be traveling on the other side of the “Great Firewall.” While I am sure I shall be able to leap the Firewall should desperate need arise, the occasion of my journey will allows little time for blogging. Expect e-mails sent to the Scholar’s Stage account to be […]
The ten most controversial (i.e. most prone to edit wars) articles in the English, German, French, Spanish Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew language Wikipedias: Source: Taha Yasseri1, Anselm Spoerri, Mark Graham1, and János Kertész. “The most controversial topics in Wikipedia: A multilingual and geographical analysis” Upcoming chapter in Global Wikipedia: International and cross-cultural […]
Which is worse – the tyrant who lives afar or the tyrant who lives next door? Tyranny from local powers is often worse than the tyranny of more distant despots. Yet local tyrannies, as oppressive as they may be, face limits to their power that larger tyrannies need not fear. Man will wield power. Its form may change with time and place, […]
In my review of Michael Lotus and James Bennett’s America 3.0 I stated that French anthropologist Emmanuel Todd (whose work is cited extensively in said work) “is the most under-rated “big idea” thinker in the field of world history.” Craig Willy’s most recent blog post explains why: “Emmanuel Todd’s L’invention de l’Europe: A critical summary“Craig Willy. […]