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Cover of the Measure of Earth The Enlightenment Expedition That Reshaped Our World by Larrie D. Ferreiro

Figuring Out the Shape of the World

Review of Measure of the Earth: The Enlightenment Expedition That Reshaped Our World, by Larrie D. Ferreiro (New York: Basic Books, 2011)
… one requiring an almost obsessive attention to detail, a commitment to exacting measurements, and above all a patient … to measure accurately a degree of latitude at the equator. Comparing it with another measurement of latitude made in … of adventurers, officers, and scientists were assembled to complete a task intended to take only three years. Instead, …
An image of Kuwait’s oil fields after they were set ablaze by retreating Iraqi soldiers during the First Gulf War

Oil Empires and Petro-Anarchies

Review of Empires and Anarchies: A History of Oil in the Middle East, by Michael Quentin Morton (London: Reaktion Books, 2017)
Wedding rings.

Getting Government Out of Marriage, and Vice Versa

… ban against it is traditionally based on the words of a medieval German rabbi and remains restricted to Jews resident … so that all Jews could go back to biblical ways. The Ten Commandments are mute about gay marriage. Males in a … with horror — stoning to death for the sin of filial disobedience, separating the slave from his wife as a condition …
Undated photo of the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany.

Democracy-Building Will Be Tougher This Time

… had literate, talented, industrially and technologically competent populations, a huge help in building a modern … officials today talk of a one- or possibly two-year commitment in Iraq. After World War II the vanquished … that we do. So even if, theoretically, we could build the complex infrastructure needed for democracy and the …
 Monte Albán

A Postcard From Oaxaca, Mexico

… mountain views, Oaxaca City also offers vistas of Mexico's complex history. In 1521, Hernán Cortés sent Captain José … Mill). Oaxaca's rugged terrain means that many indigenous communities remain isolated: roughly 50% of the state’s … in Mexico: the Sierra Sur mountain range keeps indigenous communities in relative isolation. (Photos courtesy of Kelly …
Zbigniew Brzezinski at Camp David in 1978.

Meddlers Hamstring Iraq Policy

… as the voice of prudence, the realpolitik strategic thinker compelled to inform the naive, idealistic newcomers from the South about national interests and … conduct ignorant and misplaced. Instead of opposing the commander in chief directly, Brzezinski cited administrative …
soldiers patrolling in Iraq

The U.S. Invasion of Iraq, 10 Years Later

… the country at the cost of approximately 155 U.S. soldiers killed. Yet, despite this initial military success, … with a willful misleading of the public, and a war that committed a democratic nation’s armed forces to a … In the coming years, another photograph of a U.S. soldier, Lynndie England, giving a thumbs-up of her own next to …
The Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C.

“What I Did On My Summer Vacation,” by the President

… year from about late June through early November at the Soldiers’ Home, an institution for disabled military veterans … view of wartime Washington. On most mornings, Lincoln commuted into the city, but during hot summer months his pace slackened noticeably. The Soldiers’ Home provided the president and his family with a …
Plumes of smoke billow from the World Trade Center towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, after a Boeing 767 hits each tower during the September 11 attacks.

Security May Be Too Expensive

… John Ashcroft asks for authority to hold non-citizens incommunicado indefinitely if the government regards them as a … a specific phone number is obsolete in an age when people commonly  have multiple telephones and e-mail. He argues … before the right to an attorney and other basic rights come into force. The security of the United States, he says, …
Col C.B. Winders shooting a gun in the 1910s.

Reconstructing the Second Amendment

… Amendment does not prohibit robust gun regulation, it compels it. Today’s gun rights ideology is antithetical to … about an obligation citizens owed to their government and communities to contribute to public defense. They also …

Punishing the Past: Presidential Elections in Times of Crisis (1932, 1968, 2008)

… for the political party whose policies promise the best outcome. But if we had any way to make such calculations—if we … Protestants. For these Protestants, God was not so much a supernatural creature but was immanent in our social life, … an unknown who ascended to the presidency when Roosevelt died in 1945. He then accidentally presided over the end of …
A 1939 reconstruction of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Treaty of Waitangi

… free consent of over 500 rangatira (chiefs) and the tribal communities they represented. A 1939 reconstruction of the … from a British colony to an independent nation-state, becoming increasingly diverse, with over a quarter of its … Day now needs to serve as a symbol for all these different communities. In contrast with many other countries, New …
Exiles carry a poster against the communist government of Cuba, in a demonstration in Miami

Cuba in Focus–Again

… the exiles and the U.S. government joined in a powerful common cause to dump Castro, who, in the peak Cold War … pro quo. Slowly, however, the view of the Cuban-American community is changing, partly because Cuban immigration has … from other Latin American countries — economic betterment. Compared with the earlier exiles, whose families would be …
Spraying Pesticides - NARA 1940

Fifty Years After “Silent Spring,” Let’s Not Roll Back Environmental Protections

… by killer chemicals unwittingly unleashed by the scientific community. “Future historians may well be amazed by our … New Yorker serialized “Silent Spring,” a California reader complained to the magazine’s editor that “Miss Rachel … of insecticide manufacturers probably reflects her communist sympathies,” adding, “As for insects, isn’t it …

Las raíces del estado de fallido venezolano

… entre 1974 a 1979  que en toda su historia independiente . De hecho, durante este tiempo,  Venezuela gozaba … y Buicks y la clase alta famosamente se lanzaba de compras a Miami donde eran conocidos como los del “dame … Cientos de miles de venezolanos han tomado a las calles para protestar contra el gobierno y exigir elecciones. …
War News from Mexico (1848).

“Hostilities” and War Powers: Let’s Choose the Constitution

… Nadler of New York warned that "if we don't want to become an empire instead of a republic," Congress must …  Congressman Nadler disagrees.  "The president is becoming an absolute monarch," he said.   As a Democrat, … continued funding wars because the safety of American soldiers is always at stake.   But why appeal to a law approved …
The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

With God on Our Side

… he proclaimed that “our nation is chosen by God and commissioned by history to be a model to the world.” This … notwithstanding the fact that Spanish missionaries had accomplished this two centuries before. But not all American …
Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” Speech.

How Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” Speech Still Matters

… didn't move beyond their own self interest and embrace a common good. He called on Americans to unify themselves … a war. "Every act of energy conservation is more than just common sense — I tell you it is an act of patriotism."   … the House in late June. Many conservative politicians have complained the bill would wind up taxing citizens for the …