Liberty and Power is hosting the Carnival of Bad History for August. We are honored to perform this task. Fortunately, we have a lot a good material to work with this month. Here are the submissions:

Prejudice is the ultimate "quagmire" faced by historians as they write their accounts. Abu Sahajj explores Jane Tompkins' approach to this issue.

What does Ayn Rand have to do with booksignings at Colonial Williamsburg? Edward Cline has the answer.

Joe Kissell calls attention to the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, a document written in code of over two hundred pages from the thirteenth century. It drawings of women, and doodles leading Kissell to wonder if it is a lost student notebook. Is it real or is it fake and, if so, why do we care?

Another internet urban legend bites the dust. This time it is a bogus ceremony for folding old glory. Millard Fillmore's bathtub has the lowdown here and here.

At Frog in the Well, Jonathan Dresner considers it absurd to weave together modern concepts of international law and distant historical events to justify (or challenge) the current legal status of Taiwan.

Sergey Romanov has several posts on Holocaust-related issues. He asks what the Soviets knew about Auschwitz and discusses recent attacks on Holocaust survivors and shows how the Babiy Yar and other controversies (here , here and here) illustrates how Holocaust revisionism is really another name for Holocaust denial.

Chuck Russell finds that making submissions to Carnival is a great way to get noticed by search engines. I'll have to remember this.

Morgen Jahanke notes that the success of the Da Vinci Code has spurred sales of books on similar themes.

In a tongue-in-check open letter to Capital One, Jeffrey Cohen rises to the defense of the Vikings and other "barbarians" in that company's commercials.

Finally, Mark H. Delfs tells us how K-Y Jelly got its name.

Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 at 1:03 AM | Comments (2) | Top

Friday, August 18, 2006

Sheldon Richman

The Constitution Within

In recent columns I've argued that a free society depends ultimately on people having a proper sense of just conduct. This means more than the words they recite or put on paper. Most crucial is how they act and expect others to act. For this reason it is futile to put undue emphasis on written constitutions as the key to liberty. The real constitution is within -- each of us. If the freedom philosophy is not inscribed in the actions of people, no constitution will help.

Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 at 4:35 PM | Comments (0) | Top

Sheldon Richman

Middle East History

Here are links to two articles on the Israel-Arab/Palestine conflict that I wrote in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in 1991. Both are relevant today:

"US Journalists Consistently Ignore Israeli State Terrorism" and

"Who Wanted Peace? Who Wanted War? History Refutes Israel's US Image"

Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 at 4:33 PM | Comments (0) | Top

David T. Beito

"Libertarian" Talk-Show Host Needs "Help" (Warrantless Wiretaps)

I made the mistake of listening this morning to Neal Boortz, a self-described libertarian radio call-in host who is also a consistent defender of Bush's foreign policy. He was talking to a pro-administration lawyer (I didn't catch his name) who waxed outraged about the ruling against the NSA's warrantless wiretaps.

As expected, Boortz provided a sympathetic ear. The conversation suddenly took an unpredictable turn, however, when Boortz asked the lawyer to "help me." Boortz said he needed to come up with an "answer" to a common criticism of the wiretaps. Why, he asked, did Bush need this authority since the law gave him unchecked power to wiretap for up to 72 hours?

The lawyer seemed dumbfounded by the question, mumbling something to the effect that he was not an expert on that issue and that others knew better than he. Finally, he struggled to regain his righteous indignation. He pronounced that it was "obvious" that any restriction on NSA power was illegitimate because "the president's" motivation in such cases was always the protection of national security and could never be criminal.

Boortz, who built his ratings base by portraying President Clinton as a power-mad, raping, enemy of liberty, meekly backed off and that was that.

Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 at 1:23 PM | Comments (0) | Top

Thursday, August 17, 2006

David T. Beito

The Great Fundamentalist Crack-up on Foreign Policy?

Maybe not yet but some hairline cracks can be detected. This trend deserves more attention from antiwar critics. While still a small minority among their brethren, more mainstream fundamentalists than ever are questioning the basis of American foreign policy in the Middle East. An example is Stephen Sizer, the author of Christian Zionism: Road-Map to Armageddon?

Sizer rejects the bloodcurdling, and melodramatic "end times" scenarios of premillennialists like Hal Lindsey as based on a flawed interpretation of Biblical prophecies. He subscribes to a theology that most of these prophecies either do not apply to current events or were fullfilled thousands of years ago. Sizer urges fundamentalists to build bridges to Arab Christians who he sees as potential peacemakers in the conflict between Muslim and Jew.

Read More...

Posted on Thursday, August 17, 2006 at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | Top

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Mark Brady

The British State to Pardon (a few of) Its Victims

The Guardian carries the news that the Defence Secretary will seek a pardon for the 306 men who were shot for cowardice or desertion during the First World War. Parliamentary approval is required. For more of the story, go here.

Coincidentally, I believe that during a debate on this topic in the House of Commons, the Reverend Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, whom Lord Carrington called "the bigot of all bigots", supported a pardon.

The pardons are also likely to affect former soldiers from other Commonwealth countries—such as Canada—and their families now living there.

To date New Zealand, France and Germany have pardoned soldiers who were shot in the same way. May we expect the United States to do so in the not too distant future?

Last year the UK government said it would scrap the death penalty for military offences in the armed forces. The forces have not carried out the death penalty for more than eighty years, but it still applies to five offences: misconduct in action, assisting the enemy, obstructing operations with intent to assist the enemy, mutiny, and failure to suppress mutiny with intent to assist the enemy. It was last used in 1920 when Private James Daly of the 1st Battalion of the Connaught Rangers was found guilty of mutiny at Jullunder in the Punjab.

Posted on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 at 12:23 AM | Comments (0) | Top

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

David T. Beito

What Did the Soviets Know About Auschwitz and When?

For more, see here.

Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at 2:52 PM | Comments (2) | Top

Monday, August 14, 2006

Kenneth R. Gregg

Gottfried Dietze, RIP

Gottfried Dietze (1920-7/10/2006), classical liberal historian, died recently in Washington, D.C. He devoted his life to his teaching at Johns Hopkins, and his scholarship on the nature of liberty, the rule of law, and government.

Read More...

Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 at 6:08 PM | Comments (0) | Top

Common Sense

Celebrating Joyce Appleby

I recommend the current HNN "History Doyens" piece on Joyce Appleby. She influenced many libertarian-oriented historians that attended grad school in the 1980s and 1990s. Two choice selections:

"Since we toss around complex with the same abandon as nuanced, I'll define how I think of complexity in history. Complexity in human affairs arises from the fact that human beings are never single-minded in their efforts and decisions, and events never slide along a predictable cause and effect continuum. Getting across this point has always been more important to me than raising consciousness about past injustices or rallying students to the heroism of dissenters and reformers."

"A hundred and fifty years ago, historians exalted the nation's commercial values as proof of democratic vigor; since the Progressives they have focused more upon those groups that failed to benefit from a profit-driven economy. Perhaps now, as the twentieth century closes, we may be ready to explore the social complexity of our entrepreneurial system while shedding the celebratory and compensatory burdens of our predecessors."

Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 at 2:45 PM | Comments (0) | Top

Anthony Gregory

LvMI in the WSJ

Congratulations to the Mises Institute for this great write-up in the Wall Street Journal! An excerpt:

The Mises Institute counts free-marketers from more than 30 states and at least 23 countries among its faculty. Its students' homes are equally far-flung: Poland, Peru, Argentina, Canada, France and China this summer alone. "Every one of them is an idealist in a very courageous way," Mr. Tucker said. "A lot of people think it's silly to be an idealist these days. But Mises always taught that ideas are the only weapons we have against despotism."

Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 at 2:07 PM | Comments (1) | Top

Sudha Shenoy

Armed Forces & Empire: Some Interesting Figures

1. It was said ‘the sun never set on the British Empire’. ‘Because’ -- as one wag put it -- ‘God didn’t trust the British’. Be that as it may, it is obvious that the British armed forces during the Imperial period must have been far, far larger than in the late 20th century -- correct? Since they had that far-flung, global Empire to ‘defend’. Well, have a look (the figures cover the British Army, the Royal Navy, & the Royal Marines):

1861, British armed forces, total: 281,611
As % of labour force: 2.64 %
Numbers at home (= 41.53 % of total)116,953
As % of labour force: 1.10 %

1891, British armed forces, total: 270,644
As % of labour force: 1.85 %
Numbers at home (= 50.42 % of total)
136,459
As % of labour force: 0.93 %

In sum: as the British Empire expanded to its fullest extent, & at its very peak: the total numbers in the armed forces _fell_ (fell) by some 4 %; the numbers stationed throughout the Empire _fell_ (fell) by some 18.5%; the numbers stationed _at home_ rose (rose) by about 16 %. As a proportion of the labour force, the total armed forces _fell_ (fell) from 2.64 to 1.85 %. Some ‘Empire’.

Read More...

Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 at 9:57 AM | Comments (14) | Top

David T. Beito

Poll of Members by Historians Against the War: My Response

I am a longtime member of Historians Against the War, a group formed in 2003 to oppose the Iraq War. Joining is extremely simple and does not cost a cent. All you have to do to do is sign this statement.

The steering committee of HAW is now polling members on whether HAW should take “positions on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, U.S. threats to Syria and Iran, the so-called 'global war on terror,' and the socio-economic impact of empire on the United States."(Go here to respond). Here is my answer.

Let's stick to a narrow gauge approach. Going beyond this on the Israel question will threaten to needlessly divide our membership and cut us off from potential allies. While individual members of HAW should be free to make such connections, the organization itself must remain focused on the unifying goal of opposition to the Iraq war. I write this as a long-time opponent of U.S. aid to Israel.

For similar reasons, a narrow gauge approach makes even more sense on highly divisive domestic issues related to the "socio-economic impact of empire in the United States." No matter what "positions" HAW endorses, the effect will be to push away members and potential members.

For example, if HAW calls for more domestic spending on government programs or increased economic regulation, it will alienate antiwar conservatives and libertarians who support smaller government, freer markets, and lower taxes. Many of these conservatives and libertarians regard the Iraq war as an illustration of the dangers of an expanding "welfare/warfare state."

While we should never be afraid to express individual opinions on these questions, it would be a fatal strategic mistake for any of us to try to impose our views on the other members by forcing HAW to take a "one size fits all" organizational stand.

Please note that a change in HAW's policy will only detract from the stated goal of HAW leaders to build bridges to conservative and libertarians and show greater sensitivity to their concerns.

Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 at 9:41 AM | Comments (2) | Top

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Amy H. Sturgis

TV Watchers Watch TV

From Vinay Menon of The Toronto Star, Aug. 10:

In our culture of default victimhood, those who advocate nanny-state regulations enjoy playing the blame game because it advances their own special interests. TV is a reliable scapegoat.

Read the article.

Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 at 11:56 AM | Comments (0) | Top

Friday, August 11, 2006

Common Sense

"What is Left? What is Right? Does it Matter?"

The current issue of _The American Conservative_ attempts to define the modern American right. I found the essay by Kirkpatrick Sale especially interesting. See http://www.amconmag.com/

Posted on Friday, August 11, 2006 at 8:53 PM | Comments (0) | Top

Chris Matthew Sciabarra

Ayn Rand at 100

A new book entitled Ayn Rand at 100, edited by Tibor Machan, makes its debut on Wednesday, August 16, 2006. And it is being published by the Liberty Institute in India!!! The book synopsis states: "Eminent authors discuss the impact [Ayn Rand] has had on their contribution to philosophy and, most importantly, Rand’s Indian connection."

A reprint of one of my Rand Centenary articles appears in the anthology, along with an essay by one of my L&P; colleagues, Roderick Long. Here's the Table of Contents:

Preface : Tibor R. Machan: Ayn Rand at 100

Chapter 1: Bibek Debroy: Ayn Rand -­ The Indian Connection

Chapter 2: Tibor R. Machan: Rand and Her Significant Contributions

Chapter 3: J. E. Chesher: Ayn Rand’s Contribution to Moral Philosophy

Chapter 4: George Reisman: Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises

Chapter 5: Robert White: Ayn Rand’s Contribution to Liberal Thought

Chapter 6: Roderick T. Long: Ayn Rand and Indian Philosophy

Chapter 7: Chris Matthew Sciabarra: Ayn Rand - A Centennial Appreciation

Chapter 8: Fred Seddon: Ayn Rand - An Appreciation

Chapter 9: Elaine Sternberg: Why Ayn Rand Matters: Metaphysics, Morals, and Liberty

Chapter 10: Douglas Den Uyl : Rand's First Great Hit, The Fountainhead

Cross-posted to Notablog.

Posted on Friday, August 11, 2006 at 5:13 PM | Comments (0) | Top

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Protagoras

Free Floyd Landis!

Here.

Posted on Thursday, August 10, 2006 at 5:16 PM | Comments (0) | Top

David T. Beito

A Research Motherload Now Available

This is great! Ralph E. Luker reports that the public, via Worldcat, now has wide open online access to countless items in over 10,000 libraries around the world. See here to partake.

Posted on Thursday, August 10, 2006 at 10:50 AM | Comments (2) | Top

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Mark Brady

Jackie Mason Defends Mel Gibson

Neil Cavuto interviews Jackie Mason. Jackie Mason gets it right. Perhaps we can now move on.

Posted on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 at 2:23 PM | Comments (6) | Top