Things Noted Here and There
Our colleague, Manan Ahmed's Chapati Mystery has been nominated for Best South Asian Blog in the Asian Blog Awards competition. We know it is, so go over and vote!
Our colleague, KC Johnson's new blog, Durham-in-Wonderland, focusing on the rape charges against Duke lacrosse players, is a remarkable popular success, averaging several thousand hits a day. More importantly, KC's research has influenced major journalists, including the New York Times' David Brooks and National Journal's Stuart Taylor. If I were in trouble, I can't think of a historian whose persistent support could be more valuable than KC's.
Bad History Department: Cliopatria's contributing editor, Jim Cobb, calls Donald Rumsfeld on bad history in an editorial in this morning's AJC. Here, in case you missed it, is a full text of the speech. Rumsfeld draws other nominations for the next Bad History Carnival from Derek Catsam, Kevin Drum, Hiram Hover, and John Prados. Five strikes and you're out, Don. Resign! Thanks to Jim Cobb and Glenn Reynolds for the tips.
Too Quick to Publish Department: You may have heard from Eric Alterman or Martha Bridegam that"A. N. Wilson is a shit." Some of us who labor for years over a book -- weighing and testing evidence (and, er, wasting time on other things) -- can't help but think that this was a very well-executed hit.
Finally, from our Military Affairs Bureau: Nat Macon at Whig Hill caught Stonewall Jackson engaged in a counterfactual exercise – or something like that; and, thanks to Mark Grimsley,"a nuclear explosion at sea can enliven your whole day."