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As I Was Saying ...

I am guilty of having fed a troll. I do it, occasionally, to get their attention, because I've only ever known one troll who had any sense of restraint. Properly fed, your garden variety troll grows increasingly outrageous until the blustering name-calling exceeds all level of civil discourse and we do not need to be bothered by him, again. Dealing with a garden variety in this case, I had to go to the mat over him and he is history, as they say.

But a word of advice to Cliopatria's readers: my colleagues and I post here without compensation. They are extraordinarily smart, busy academic people. I expect you to treat them with respect. If you demean them, you put your access to HNN's comment boards at risk. Call Miriam Burstein, Rebecca Goetz, or Sharon Howard "Babe" or "Hun" and, if they don't beat me to it, I will serve you to them for lunch. I've seen one of my respected former colleagues frost a troll for addressing him by his first name without permission. Similarly, you had better be a very good friend of mine to refer to me as "Ralphy." At 66, with four earned degrees and a Pulitzer Prize nomination, I'm used to my wife's use of it in pillow talk. Apart from her, the last person who called me that died 50 years ago. We're here for serious and not-so-serious consideration of academic life and historical issues. If you have no significant interest in history, if you are here only for partisan cheap shots or personal abuse, go elsewhere. It's that simple. Now ..., two reminders and some good bets:

Nominations for The Cliopatria Awards close on 30 November. Only five days left to place your nominations. The amazing David Tiley hosts History Carnival XLIV at Barista on 1 December. You can use the form to place nominations of the best of history blogging since 15 November.

William H. McNeill, "Conspicuous Proliferation," NYRB, 21 December, reviews Max Boot, War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today; and "It Took a Frenchman," The Economist, 23 November, reviews Hugh Brogan, Alexis de Tocqueville: Prophet of Democracy in the Age of Revolution: A Biography. Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily for the tips.

Rob MacDougall, "Bon Appetit," Old is the New New, 23 November, is Rob's "Yanksgiving" meditation, but, if you're like me, you're still feeling the after effects.

Shaun Mullen, "The Biggest Organized Crime Family in New Jersey," The Moderate Voice, 24 November, on when it is time to close a thriving academic institution. Thanks to Margaret Soltan at University Diaries for the tip.

Posted on Saturday, November 25, 2006 at 3:15 AM | Comments (21) | Return

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