Dispatches from Vilnius

I always associated sugar with sugar cane until I came to Europe, but sugar beets are a major source of sugar in the world, and taste good to boot.  Surprisingly, it wasn't until 1747 that it was discovered that sugar could be derived from Beta vulgaris by a German chemist, Andreas Margraff.  You can read more about the wonders of this beet root at this Univ. of Nebraska website .

  I have to hand it to Douglas Brinkley for taking US Rep. Don Young to task on protocol and drilling in the the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Here's a clip from the heated exchange before the House Natural Resources Committee.

This is perhaps Faulkner's most haunting work, especially given that it is narrated by that tormented soul, Quentin Compson, when asked by a Harvard classmate to tell a story about the South.  What follows is a narrative like no other, casting the South as if from the pages of the Old Testament.  I was hoping to find Shelby Foote's 1936 review, but this is the closest I got.  The book cast quite a spell on me when I read it some years ago, and would love nothing more than to read the original edition again.

BLUFFTON, Texas - Johnny C. Parks died two days before his first birthday more than a century ago. His grave slipped from sight along with the rest of the tiny town of Bluffton when Lake Buchanan was filled 55 years later.   Now, the cracked marble tombstone engraved with the date Oct. 15, 1882, which is normally covered by 20 to 30 feet of water, has been eerily exposed as a yearlong drought shrinks one of Texas ' largest lakes. Read more ...

More on how seeds changed the world.  This is a book by Henry Hobhouse, first published in 1985, and now expanded to included six socially significant Seeds of Change .

I've added this excellent website to the list of other sites on the sidebar.  It is a great resource and really seems to promoting American History in education, which is sorely needed.

Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich tried to evoke the famous Lincoln-Douglas debate in an attempt to put substance before politics, laying out approaches to governance, rather than simply offering soundbites.  From what little I watched , it seemed a mostly self-congratulatory evening with the two candidates trading compliments more than barbs, and making every attempt to appeal to their Tea Party audience.  A far cry from the debates Lincoln and Douglas staged for an Illinois Senate seat in 1858, where the two had profoundly different views on slavery, with Lincoln setting the stage for his eventual presidential run in 1860. Sadly, it seems history is moot these days.  Candidates often evoke the past without any real knowledge of the events they allude to.  This is especially true of this event, which was really nothing more than a high-priced fundraiser ($200 a ticket) featuring two of the GOP presidential candidates.

This stamp was issued in 1975 to honor 40 years of the Wagner Act .  It seems that for the last 40 years the Republicans have done everything in their power to try to roll back this legislation.  They took a big blow in Ohio , where more than 60% of the state voted against Kasich's new bill that would have greatly restricted collective bargaining.  It seems Americans are finally waking up to what is happening.  Mississippians also rejected a bill that would have stated life begins at fertilization.

This month's reading group selection is 1493 by Charles Mann, which takes the reader on a very personal journey of the afermath of Columbus' "discovery" of America.  Mann covers much of the road himself, similar to Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel , illustrating how profoundly the discovery of America reshaped the global map.  Not just in terms of geography, but it terms of "ecological imperialism" and the advent of "globalization" with the discovery of silver and its use as currency in exchange for Chinese silk.  Feel free to discuss the issues raised in this book.

A book that explores Columbus' theory of the earth being pear-shaped , like the Virgin Mary's breast, and many other theories concerning the location of the Garden of Eden ; )

The Guggenheim is one of my favorite modern buildings.  This was one of the shining moments for Frank Lloyd Wright, as his exploration in circles was not one of his best periods in architecture.  When the museum explored the possibility of an addition, the city quickly moved to give the building landmark status, so that whatever was done to it could not impact the original design in any detrimental way, so Gwathmey Siegel essentially treated the addition as a stage house, giving the museum a very theatrical quality.  Here's a wonderful book , published a couple years ago, that illustrates the creative process behind the building of the museum.

We've all seen how the Tea Party has busily been reinterpreting the Constitution to suit its interests, often treating it as commandments handed down from the Mount.  Not to mention all the quotes they have been attributing to the Founding Fathers, which you won't find in Bartlett's Quotations.I saw this zinger, "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible,"  attributed to George Washington.  It seems most within this movement have never read the Constitution nor have the first inkling of its origins, much less the religious dispositions of our Founding Fathers. I got into some arguments with old chums on Facebook over the supposed "divine right" of the Constitution, noting that only once is "Lord" mentioned in the Constitution and that to signify the year of our Lord, not in any direct reference to the Bible, which they firmly believe the Constitution is derived from. When I tell them that they would be more com...

Here's a short piece on the assassination attempt of Theodore Roosevelt, prompting Teddy to quip, "It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose," in the speech he still insisted on giving.

Although Columbus pretty much kept a straight line, following the 30th Meridian, he had no real idea where he was at, even after four voyages.  So, it seems only fitting that we meander with Columbus as he skirted the coastline of the Caribbean in search of a passage to the Orient, believing at one point that he had found the sacred nipple of the Virgin Mary, as he could think of no other reason to account for the fresh waters streaming from the Orinoco.  It was really amusing reading Boorstin's The Discoverers . ............. The image is of Gerard Depardieu as Columbus in 1492 .

Hacker and Pierson refreshingly break free from the conceit that skyrocketing inequality is a natural consequence of market forces and argue instead that it is the result of public policies that have concentrated and amplified the effects of the economic transformation and directed its gains exclusively toward the wealthy. Since the late 1970s, a number of important policy changes have tilted the economic playing field toward the rich. Congress has cut tax rates on high incomes repeatedly and has relaxed the tax treatment of capital gains and other investment income, resulting in windfall profits for the wealthiest Americans.  From Foreign Affairs

Ever since 2003, one had the feeling Steve Jobs' days were numbered, and the recent announcement that he had stepped down as Chairman of Apple carried a very ominous ring to it.  His long battle with pancreatic cancer is over. Walter Isaacson is the latest biographer to tackle the story of Steve Jobs .  The book is due out late next month.  It was tentatively titled iSteve , but it seems the publishers wanted to give Jobs full respect. Listening to the CNN memorial this morning, I heard "genius" and "visionary" tossed around a lot, but it struck me that Steve was first and foremost a good businessman.  He knew the value of good packaging, good advertising and cultivating a strong and committed market for his product.  What started out as an everyman's personal computer became a highly successful niche industry, as Apple computers became prized possessions.  The long waiting lines in front of his Apple stores for the latest igadget are testimony to his ...

Speaking of "Rogue Republics," that must have been the way the fledgling United States with its Articles of Confederation was seen by Great Britain.  After a long war and much hemming and hawing between the states it was finally decided that these Articles needed to be revised.  Of course, the state legislatures which appointed the delegates were stunned to see a whole new Constitution presented for ratification, which resulted in some fierce political lines being drawn that remain to this day. We read Pauline Maier's impressive account of the Ratification , but perhaps even more interesting is how the country held together between 1777 and 1789, the pride many of these states took in their charters and the constitutions they had drawn up, which they didn't want infringed upon in anyway.  Bernard Bailyn and Gordon Wood have written extensively on the subject.  I'm a big fan of Bailyn's The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution .  He gives the even...

Seems that The Golden Age is a continuation of Rivers of Gold , charting the Spanish influence in the Americas from 1520 to 1558, during the reign of Charles V, taking in Pizarro's Conquest of Peru.  Hugh Thomas seems to have a very well developed understanding of Spanish history in the Americas, having written quite a number of books on the subject.

Seems every state wants independence these days.  I found this interesting book, The Rogue Republic , on the Internet the other day.  West Florida shared a similar short-lived independence like Texas before joining the Union.  Always got a kick out of the fact that when acquiring the Louisiana Purchase, the Jefferson administration thought West Florida was part of the deal, only to find out it was still in Spanish hands.  Nothing a little "rebellion" couldn't cure.  This was their "marching song," West Floriday, that lovely nation, Free from king and tyranny, Thru’ the world shall be respected, For her true love of Liberty.