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Monthly Archives: August 2005
Precautionary Principles
It is hard to know how, when, whether and how much to plan for future events. I teach a course on the history of concepts of the future and the specific post-1945 growth (and decline) of a form of expertise … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
12 Comments
Show Some Class
Living in Zimbabwe for about a year and a half in two separate stays, one in the early 1990s, one near the end of the same decade, I found that there were a number of basic things about the government … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Politics
3 Comments
Image of Africa Syllabus
Here’s the syllabus for one of my fall courses. I’ve taught it before, but this is a fairly substantial fiddling with some of what I’ve done in the past. It’s a topic also that I’ve really changed my pedagogical orientation … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Africa, Popular Culture
12 Comments
Constitutional
There are really only a small handful of historical cases where constitutions have actually exerted real authority over later generations, have actually organized or channeled social and political conflicts. Mostly modern constitutions are like bad peace accords between fundamentally antagonistic … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Politics
2 Comments
Non-Issue
Much discussion of men who can’t handle seeing their wives give birth. It’s one thing to have a hang-up and want to work it out in therapy and all that. If I know you and you’ve got that hang-up, I … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellany
4 Comments
Timothy the Grouch
I’m going to be a bit of a grumpus about The Ministry of Reshelving. There’s a simple reason to object to this strategy. The simple reason is that some folks on the left simply don’t seem to grasp that any … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
15 Comments
Intelligent Design: A Small Point, a Medium Point and a Big Point
Lots and lots of good responses recently out there about the problem of “intelligent design” and its assault on science, reason and educational standards. I have three contributions to the ongoing discussion. 1) Increasingly advocates for intelligent design who aren’t … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellany, Politics
35 Comments
She’s a Riot
South Africa’s Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka comments that South Africa can learn a lot from Zimbabwe’s land reform, namely, how to do it faster. South Africa needs a bit of “oomph”, she says, and maybe should get some colleagues from … Continue reading
Posted in Africa
2 Comments
Keep On Snitching
The latest and most depressing challenge for anti-violence activists in Philadelphia. Those shirts, following on the infamous Baltimore DVD aimed at witness intimidation, really move me to some irrational feelings of anger. There’s no excuse for walking around with that … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
10 Comments
Mistakes Were Made
The shuttle’s coming back tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on weather, if they have no other problems. Let’s pray that they don’t. After it returns, who knows? Best case scenario, NASA spends a few more millions, fixes the foam problem more … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
21 Comments