University of Nebraska Press

This Week in History: July 21-25, 2008

Well bloggers, it’s been awhile. You try and try, but sometimes life (or in this case summer classes) just gets in the way.  What’s important though, is that we’re together again and that even though we haven’t seen each other, history has prevailed. This week we’ve got everything from Jesse James to Praibha Patil, and a little Italian fascism just for fun.  Ready to pick up where we left off?

July 21, 1873: Jesse James and the James-Younger gang attempted and succeeded in pulling off the first successful train robbery in the American West.

Well I think it’s safe to say that Jesse James was a rebel of sorts (rebel, robber, murderer…you know) but if you’re interested in another kind of “bad boy” then please check out REBEL: The Life and Times of John Singleton Mosby by Kevin H. Siepel, which chronicles the life of this bipartisan Commander.

July 22, 1882: American Painter Edward Hopper was born today.
If you fancy yourself an art connoisseur   then please take a look at Beyond Madness: The Art of Ralph Blakelock by Norman A. Geske.

July 23, 1929: Fascist Italy bans the use of foreign words.
In the wake of a burgeoning bilingual culture, Americans are well versed in the foreign word controversy. If you find that you’re an advocate of words, regardless of their origin, then you may enjoy the book of poetry Modern Archaist by Osip Mandelstam.

July 24, 1783: Simon Bolivar, the South American liberator is born today.
There is so much to South American culture, the politics, literature, food, entertainment and sports. If the latter is what really appeals to you the please take a look at Venezualen Bust Baseball Boom: Andres Reiner scouting on the New Frontier by Milton H. Jamil.

July 25, 2007: Pratihba Patil is sworn in as the first women president in India.
The position of women in politics has risen considerably in the past 50 years. For a look at Lincolns first female mayor please take a look at Mayor Helen Boosalis: My Mother’s Life in Politics by Beth Boosalis Davis.

Ok, bloggers that’s enough history for today check out the UNP website for more titles.  Join us next week for a little Trivia and a few Links!

Tuesday Trivia: July 21, 2007

Well bloggers it hotter than … (well, you know) outside. So to try and get our minds out of the heat this week’s Tuesday Trivia is going to take a look at UNP’s new book, Authentic Alaska II: Voices of the Far North, edited by Susan B. Andrews and John Creed.  Showcasing writers from the Arctic Ocean to the Southeast Alaska rainforests, their stories account for the diverse and unique culture this state has to offer. Their sometimes intimate pieces touch on everything from Global Warming to a mothers fight for her son to go to college. This sequel to Authentic Alaska features both native and non native writers from primarily rural communities. If nothing else then reading this book in the dead heat (like today) might cool you down just a bit!

A.    Alaska is derived from the word Aleut meaning what?
B.    5% if the state speaks one of how many indigenous languages?
C.    The Highest point in Alaska is what?
D.    True or False: Alaska is one of two states not boarded by another.
E.    Alaska is the largest state in the US and covers how much ground?
F.    In 1964 the “Good Friday Earthquake” killed how many people.
G.    80% of Alaska’s state revenues comes from what?
H.    True or False: Alaska has one of the highest individual tax burdens in the country.
I.    How many volcanoes reside in Alaska?
J.    True or False: It was purchased from Russia in 1867 for less than 2 cents per acre.

Ok, bloggers check back tomorrow for the answers!

Author Guest Blog: Beth Boosalis Davis

Reaching for the Brass Ring

By Beth Boosalis Davis, author of Mayor Helen Boosalis: My Mother’s Life in Politics

Flat on my back and sick as I’d ever been, I managed to write on the back of a nearby dental reminder card a specific timetable to do something I’d never before considered – write a book about my mother, Helen Boosalis, and her political life. Days later, after I recovered, I studied my scratchy bedside notes expecting to dismiss them as some delusional sickbed rant. Instead, I realized writing my mother’s story had not come out-of-the-blue but rather from a desire buried deep within. Perhaps my illness had knocked me into a rare state of stillness, a state where something deeper than the next to-do item on my list could command my attention.

Even with clarity of purpose I still had practical matters to consider, such as the fact that I knew nothing about what was involved in writing a book.  I may not have doubted the goal but I certainly doubted my ability to achieve it. That’s when I recalled advice my mother was given when she hesitated to jump into her first race for mayor:  “the brass ring may not come round again.”  I had my timetable, I had my parents still with me, I had my husband’s support.  Time to reach for the brass ring.

I didn’t presume to think I could just sit down and type out a book, no matter how familiar the subject.  First I converted a little-used 8 X 9 feet space to a “room of my own” for writing.  I started journaling, and on my daily walks along Lake Michigan I practiced by writing three descriptions of the lake each day. I bought several books on writing and even read a few, hoping the rest would be absorbed through osmosis. 

"Tuesday Trivia: February 12, 2008"

                                        

   “Cold War Tuesday”

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, Between Panic and Desire  by Dinty W. Moore is the “Insouciant” and “hilarious” tale of coming to terms with the events of the postmodern world. For Moore, those dealings happen to be the Kennedy assassination, the Cold War and all it’s intricacies, and of course standing on top of the world trade center and dropping acid. So for today’s Tuesday Trivia we are going to take a nod from Dinty Moore and explore our knowledge on the more lighthearted side of the Cold War. Convinced it doesn’t exist? Well then that “A for effort” is flying right out the window….


See if you can channel your Cold War history and fill in the blanks:
A.    Vladimir Putin
B.    Hungary- East Germany
C.    Vladvostok
D.    Russia, Soviet Union, and Siberia
E.    Hungarian
F.    George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev
G.    Stalin

1.    Boris is an engineer in *********. He works every day from 5 AM till 1 PM at a heavy machinery factory...
Every day he prepares to go to work and packs the necessary things...
One morning he searches in his bag...
Boris: "Let's see... aaah... Kommunist Party Membership Book, Kommunist Seminar Notebook, Pravda Newspaper, Kolhoz Membership Book...".
He goes to work and just before entering, he remembers something, looks into his bag and...
Boris: "I forgot the little hammer and the little sickle!"

2. The elder **********, and ********* are flying in a jet, arguing about which country has better life standards and stronger economy.
After a long discussion, ********* throws a Ruble our the window and says: "Today, I made a man happy!"
******* throws out 2 one Dollar bills and tells him: "Well, I made two people happy today!"
Hearing this, the two pilots start chatting with each other: "Shouldn't we throw them both out and make the whole World happier?"

3. *** dies. He then goes to hell (of course).
In heaven, angels are awakened by a huge noise at heaven's door... Saint Peter opens the door and what does he see... a crowd of devils creaming desperately.
Saint Peter: "What is wrong with you, what are you doing here?"
Devils: "We are the first group of immigrants from hell! We request political exile in heaven! Since ***** is down there with us, the whole hell has went nuts!"

4. The Iron curtain is a barbed-wire fence stretching from ****** to East ********* with guard towers and constantly patrolling communist border guards beside it who shoot everyone who attempts to escape through it into the free western World.
Future ******* cops are learning chemistry at their academy and they are asked by the lecturer who is testing their intelligence: "Tell me a transparent metal!"
Quickly, one of them jumps up and says: "Barbed wire fence!"

5. Following the ************* Revolution in 1956, the Soviet tanks rolled out of *********. The country was again free and democracy prevailed. ********** celebrated liberty for about 1 week. Then, the Soviet tanks came back in much larger numbers... The terror starts again...
Everyone is running for their lives, escaping to the free western countries.
Animals too... rabbits, eagles, snakes, and other species, all run in despair shouting to the other animals "Run for your lives! The red army is coming! Run as fast as you can!"
A fox suddenly stops and starts thinking... "Hey! Wait a second... The Communists are red, I'm red. They're cunning, I'm cunning too! I could have a good future in the next government!"

6. The Cold War is over.
Communism tumbles and the mighty Soviet Union dismantles.
Russia's red flag is swapped for newer white-blue-red one.
15 years after the regime change, Russia faces economic problems, poverty.
Coca Cola calls ****** ******* and they make him a deal: "Mr.President, we can get you a great deal that would triple your GDP! We would pay twice the amount Russia earns if you'd switch back to the old red flag and write Coca Cola on it".
****** laughs and replies: "No can do, koz' we already got a deal with Aquafresh for our current flag".

7. Newspapers in the ********** always acclaim ******** inventions, sportsmen, etc., considering them superior to anything that the Americans create.
******* communist newspapers are full of phrases like: "The best sportsmen at the Olympics were the ****** sportsmen...", "The first man is space, ******** hero, Yuri Gagarin... ", "The best tank in the World, the T-72...", "The biggest country in the World is the **********...", "The coldest winters are in ******...", "We, ******** have the most powerful nuclear weapons...", "***** vodka is the strongest drink in the World..."...and so on. Everything ******** is the best, fastest, strongest.
An international dwarf competition is organized. Each country brings its shortest men to the contest...
At the beginning of the contest, the ****** ambassador keeps a speech: "Ladies and gentlemen! Without any doubt, the ********* dwarf is the biggest dwarf in the whole World!"
...no wonder they didn't understand why they lost the competition...

Answers, along with the website where you can enjoy more politically inappropriate jokes, will be posted on tomorrow’s blog- but don’t cheat now. Remember bloggers, Big Brother is always watching….

Podcast Interview with David Starkey

Check out this podcast interview with David Starkey, editor of Living Blue in the Red States from The Marketplace of Ideas radio show out of Santa Barbara, California:

http://www.colinmarshallradio.com/marketplace

Happy listening!

A Question of Humanity: Is There a Place for Torture in Civilized Society?

Attorney general nominee, Michael Mukasey made the news recently by refusing to acknowledge waterboarding as an illegal form of torture during a Senate committee interview. Citing that the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act's ban on waterboarding is not inclusive of the CIA and its activities, Mukasey claimed ignorance as to the nuances of the law regarding "enhanced" CIA interrogation procedures. Democrats are now lining up in protest of his appointment and many are calling his response short-sighted and irresponsible. President Bush staunchly maintains his support of the nominee and Vice President Cheney has called the use of waterboarding in interrogation procedures a "no brainer," but the uproar in Congress and in the public arena indicates that the issue is not so black and white.

Henri Alleg, author of The Question (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), experienced waterboarding first-hand during the Battle of Algiers. In 1957, Alleg was a French journalist and ardent supporter of Algerian independence. That June, he was placed under arrest by French paratroopers and interrogated for one month. He was questioned under torture—at one point he was strapped to a plank and had his head, wrapped in a rag, placed under running water. He was forcibly held in this position until his lungs filled with water and his body went into convulsions. Only at that point was he was released, at which time the captain interrogating him punched him in the stomach to release the water Alleg had inhaled so that he could continue the interrogation.

In these post-9/11 times, it would be simple enough to turn a blind eye to waterboarding and other methods of torture, declaring Machiavellian law: let the end justify the means. But the question for Alleg and for many others is: How can anyone who considers him/herself a civilized member of society engage in this or any form of torture? Whatever the gain, is it worth the cost to our humanity?

To read other articles tying Alleg's The Question to the current issue of waterboarding and Mukasey's confirmation hearings, please visit these links:

"Waterboarding is torture - I did it myself, says US advisor" by Leonard Doyle for The Independent: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3115549.ece

"Logic Tortured" by Dana Milbank for the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/01/AR2007110102342.html

For more information on The Question, please visit http://nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/The-Question,673057.aspx

Author Charlyne Berens on Nebraska's Unicameral

his year marks the 70th year in Nebraska’s experiment with a one-house legislature. The tale of this adventure in governing will be featured in a presentation by Dr. Charlyne Berens , College of Journalism and Mass Communications professor at the University Nebraska-Lincoln and UNP author, at noon on Thursday, February 15 at the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Museum of Nebraska History, 15th and P Streets, Lincoln.

“The Nebraska Unicameral:  Still Progressive After All these Years”  is based on the research Dr. Berens did for the University of Nebraska Press book One House: The Unicameral’s Progressive Vision for Nebraska. When Nebraska citizens in the 1930s voted with proponent Senator George W. Norris for a unicameral legislature, they were hoping for a more open, responsive, responsible, and non-partisan legislative body.  Dr. Berens will look at the record to see how that progressive dream became reality.   

The 12 noon presentation is part of the Brown Bag History Forum at the Nebraska State Historical Society's Museum of Nebraska History, 15th and P Streets, Lincoln. The brown bag lecture is open to the public free of charge, and will be re-broadcast on 5CityTV in the Lincoln area with support from the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation.

For more information visit www.nebraskahistory.org or call 402.471.4754. 

Charlyne Berens is also the author of Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward.

An Evening on Chuck Hagel

n October 26, 2006, the University of Nebraska Press and the Joslyn Castle Institute for Sustainable Communities hosted a discussion on the book Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward with author Charlyne Berens.  Michael R. McCarthy, co-founder and manager of the McCarthy Group in Omaha, and Geitner Simmons, editorial page editor of the Omaha World-Herald, participated as panelist at the event.

To listen to a recording of the live event, please download our podcast.