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THE « GETTYSBURG JBERGUHY The Literary Journal of Gettysburg College Vol. XII. GETTYSBURG, PA., NOVEMBER, 1903 No. 6 CONTENTS THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATION'S PRINCIPLES . 174 JOSEPH E. ROWK, '04. ROOSEVELT AND MALTHUS 180 W. W. BARKLEY, '04. "THE RAVIN' " SCHOOLMASTER 1S4 B. A. STROHMEIER, '06. POLITICAL INDIFFERENCE 185 THE ANALYSIS OF A NURSERY RHYME . 188 JAMES G. DILLER, '04. A VISIT TO McKINLEY'S TOMB 191 BRUCE COBAUGH, '05. THE HOUSE WE BUILD i93 EDITORIALS . 196 EXCHANGES 199 174 'J'HE GETTYSBURG MEKCURV. THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATION'S PRINCI-PLES. JOSEPH E. ROWE, '04. TIME continues to roll on in its eternal course. Nations are only born under the doom of decay. Men rise to heights of greatness, are cut off in the twinkling of an eye, and pass forever from this earthly habitation. But there is one principle whose evolution the vicissitudes of fortune have failed to arrest. It is the development and growth of government. From time immemorial men have lived under some sort o f government; its genesis antedates all history. As far back as the great Aryan migrations there existed established laws, but even these were not the first in the history of the world. Many centuries had passed away since the mighty Nimrod or the queenly Semiramis held sway in Babylon; the Israelites had al-ready grown into a great nation, and the valley of the Nile had become both the "cradle and the tomb" of kings. Even the most primitive and most degraded peoples recog-nize some sort of leadership or control. From the Bushman of Australia, and the Hottentot, down to the American Indian, there is the same idea, though vastly different in degree, of rul-ing and of being ruled. Slowly has the evolution of government progressed, but, as surely as there is a God from whom it flows, no obstacle has impeded its steady advance. It has grown under the law of "the survival of the fittest," and its triumphs are but the re-sults of natural law. The civil ideas which have been evolved from a less complete to a more perfect and more practical sys-tem were as irresistible in their course as decrees of fate. There seems to have been that same great but awful force at work for the development of the ideal nation which, to a great extent, "shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will." When con-ditions favored the established principles, epochs of peace and prosperity ensued; when circumstances were adverse, wars and revolutions necessarily arose to restore the equilibrium. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 175 The path of their triumphal march down through the ages reeks with blood; where they have been opposed desolation reigns. The once glorious empires of the East are only dis-covered in their buried ruins; the pyramids are monuments of the dynasties which built them ; the crumbled statuary and art of Greece are but symbolic of her decay; and the ruins of Pompeii are the only vestiges of glorious Rome. Every at-tempt and apparent success to crush out the idea of further de-velopment in the governmental realm has virtually been a throwing of oil upon the fire glowing in the hearts of patriotic people. The pious Aeneas, exiled by fate, founded a nation greater than the victor of his fatherland. Carthage tried to crush aspiring Rome and only brought about her development. Pilgrims, deprived of liberty and exiled from the Old World, founded a mightier and freer commonwealth in the New. In this governmental evolution there have been two distinctly opposite principles warring against each other—Liberty and Unity. The spirit which has animated the heroes of liberty is active in its plans, uncontrollable in its measures and irresistible in reaching its goal; its doctrine is Radicalism. On the other hand, unity has been developed under the stern but careful plan of deliberation and statesmanship; its doctrine is Conservatism. Liberty is the harder to repress and was first evolved ; unity is the more difficult to maintain and its completion was last. The Goddess of Justice, determining the destiny of nations, holds in her hands a huge balance; on the one side is liberty, on the other unity. An uneven amount of either disturbs the equilibrium in the affairs of a nation; only a complete balanc-ing and blending of both can assure stability. The struggle which has shaken the world for so many centuries arose, first, from an excess of one and, then, of the other; the great beam rose and fell, and in turn the glory of nations grew resplendent or faded away. Every nation has been founded upon the plan of remedying one defect or the other. The people, furious at the remembrance of former injustice, drove Tarquin from the streets of Rome simply because he had been called king, but their freedom soon led to anarchy. Rulers of the Middle 1' 176 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. Ages, fearing such outbreaks, kept the people in virtual servi-tude, and the French Revolution was the inevitable reaction. The momentum of hatred for tyranny had so accumulated that no earthly force could withstand it. The equilibrium of the French nation was disturbed and it did not regain itself until Napoleon arose, who tried to force the great beam to the oppo-site extreme of one-man power. But France was not the only country in the world to groan beneath the horrors of revolution. In England there had been an almost continual contest between the King and Commons. The Magna Charta and the Declaration of Rights were both proclamations of liberty. James I brought about the "blood-less revolution of 1688," and later, George III forced the American Colonies into rebellion. But our forefathers felt the great importance of freedom. They fought with an invincible determination for liberty. For-mer examples of oppressed liberties made them desperate, and they sallied forth to meet the foe with the battle cry, "Give me liberty or give me death !" Thus, the seed, implanted in the heart of man from the be-ginning of the world, blossomed forth into newness of life. It had at last fallen upon good ground, taken deep root, and brought forth the blessings of liberty to all succeeding genera-tions. The United Colonies of America became free and inde-pendent states—the goal of liberty's evolution was reached. But unity was lacking. So long as there was a common foe, the States were as impenetrable as a Macedonian phalanx. But now there was no longer a common cause, and it looked as if there would be many little nations, each trying to main-tain its own place in the great struggle for existence. The States were jealous of one another, and bitter quarrels soon arose. Under the Articles of Confederation, the nation had no head. Congress could indeed pass laws, but could in no way enforce them. Conventions were called, but the States even refused to send representatives. Conditions grew worse and worse; so much so that the historian declares, "Instead of be-ing a united and friendly people, the States were fast growing THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 177 to be thirteen hostile nations, each ready to draw the sword upon its neighbor." Finally, in 1787 a convention was held in Philadelphia, the object of which was to form "a more perfect union." But the difficulties to be surmounted were indeed perplexing. The populous States insisted that representation in Congress should be apportioned according to population; the smaller States were equally emphatic in maintaining that each State, large or small, should have equal power. They finally compromised. There were to be two houses embodied in Congress: the one, whose representatives were to be apportioned according to pop-ulation ; the other, whose delegates were to be two from each State, vested with equal power. Thus, it is a blending of prin-ciples which lies at the foundation of our government. Accordingly, under the new Constitution, our nation entered upon a career of great success and national development. Dur-ing this period the Louisiana Purchase more than doubled our area. The pirates of Tripoli were disposed of with impunity. The war of 1812 proved beyond doubt the great power of American arms, whilst not one battle was lost by us in the war with Mexico. There had come into the heart of every true American a common national pride and devotion to country. So long as the foe was external the States fought together like brothers. But, in the near future, there were times to come when the foe would not be common. From the very foundation of our republic an awful tempest had been gathering its threatening clouds. Eminent men no longer .feared destruction or dismem-berment by any European power, but looked forward with great anxiety at the inevitable causes of internal disorder. Even in Jefferson's time the storm was already so menacing that he said: "In contemplating the future welfare of my country, there are troubles which startle me as a fire-bell in the night." It broke forth in its fury in the year 1861. The South claimed the right to secede. She looked upon the election of Abraham Lincoln as-a great step toward the abolition of slav-ery which, as she thought, meant her ruination. Eleven States f 178 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. seceded and set up a government of their own under the title of "The Confederate States of America." But the integrity of the country had to be maintained. War was declared; not to abolish slavery, but to prevent the disasters of permanent sepa-ration. The first gun was fired from Fort Sumter on April 12th. It is said to have been heard around the world, for it heralded a conflict which concerned not only our nation but the world. Men on both sides were inspired, not only by the prestige of the principles which they upheld, but by the love of home, country and family. The one represented freedom in the ex-treme, the other unity or common welfare. Both realized the vast importance of victory; each knew that defeat meant utter failure. They fought with the desperate valor of a wounded wild hart, which turns once more to make a final and supreme effort against its foe. Four long years of war left the country in desolation and ruin, which before had been the peaceful habitation of ttscbild-ren. For a long time the destiny of our beloved republic hung in the balance. Bull Run raised the fervor of the combatants to a white heat. Antietam favored the non Unionists. But, led on under the heat of passion and by the glory of victory, their "vaulting ambition o'erleaped itself." The Mason and Dixon line was crossed and the cause of secession was fighting against fate. But the valor of her constituents was mighty, and their spirit invincible. The crisis came. Something had to be immediately done or all would be lost. Fifteen thousand men rushed forth on open ground to dislodge the Unionists. Cannon after cannon ploughed through their gallant ranks, but on they came unfaltering. Even the cannon's mouth—the High Water Mark was reached, but their ranks had been mowed down and the cause of secession forever lost. The evolution of the ideal governmental principles was com-pleted, and the stability of our nation proven by test. She had long since shown her shores impregnable to a foreign foe, but now it was proven to the world that America, unlike the na-tions of the past, was not to be rent or overthrown by internal THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 179 disorder. The civil world was at last given a breathing spell, for the combating forces seemed glad to discontinue the con-flict and forget their quarrels. And now there is no longer a North, South, East or West, but all are blended into one in-separable compact—the United States of America. Her principles have spread throughout the world. They have leaped across the Atlantic and modified, if not completely changed, the spirit of the mother country; they have given new life to the sturdy mountaineer of 'Switzerland ; they have brought peace into Italy's sunny climes, and have made Greece long for a second "Golden Age." And it is only a matter of time, of progress, and of civilization until the world will recog-nize the efficiency of America's governmental principles, which are, in the words of her greatest statesman: "Liberty and Union now and forever, one and inseparable!" • Ever judge of men by their professions. For though the bright moment of promising is but a moment, and cannot be prolonged, yet if sincere in its moment's extravagant good-ness, why, trust it, and know the man by it, I say,—-not by his performance; which is half the world's work, interfere as • the world needs must with its accidents and circumstances: the profession was purely the man's own. 1 judge people by what they might be,-—not are, nor will be.—BROWNING. "Sow a thought and you reap an act, Sow an act and you reap a habit, Sow a habit and you reap a character, Sow a character and you reap a destiny." 180 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. ROOSEVELT AND MALTHUS. \V. W. BARKLEY, '04. The attitude which President Roosevelt has recently taken toward 'the increase of population in the United States, apparently challenging the theories of certain political econo-mists, particularly Mr. T. R. Malthus and his followers in Eng-land and America, puts before us a question worthy of our earnest consideration. Is it wise or unwise to advocate a con-tinuous increase in the population of our country ? In order to determine the wisdom of Mr. Roosevelt's position regarding this matter, we must go to our authorities, viz: Mr. Malthus and certain other political economists—to obtain a basis for our decision. The object of Mr. Malthus' investigations (1798-1803) were to find means for the improvement of society and to deliver it from its wretchedness and .poverty. He inquired into "the causes that had impeded the progress of mankind toward hap-piness," and offered a corrective for the same. Mr. Malthus advanced a theory (which is popularly known as the Malthusian Doctrine) in which he tried to prove that society could not hope to provide enough food to sustain all its members and that poverty, therefore, must be the inevitable outcome of a persistenee in increasing population, and that no blame could reasonably be attributed to society for its poverty. The Malthusians hold that population has a tendency to in-crease faster than subsistence, and that under such conditions some people, in the course of time, will not have sufficient food to maintain themselves, and poverty must be the inevitable re-sult, irremediable, unless the race in question adopts some means to prevent the possible increase of population. If the race fails to provide the necessary restriction, nature will step in and provide it for the race. Vice, disease, war, pestilence and famine—all these and more means may be adopted by na-ture to do her work of reducing numbers. In such a sifting process as this nature will make her selection and the fittest must ultimately survive. The above is a brief statement of the Malthusian Doctrine ^ THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. l8l It has been substantially adopted and supported by many mod-ern political economists whose opinions we have consulted. The Malthusians show that the birth-rate among any people, when procreation is allowed to run free and unrestricted, will always be in advance of the death-rate, hence, there will be a continual rise in population. The possibilities of this increase are very large, according to the law of geometrical progression. The probabilities are considerable. The facts of history indi-cate that the birth-rate is almost always in the advance, in a higher or lower degree, in an undisturbed state of society. Population then increases steadily. We said that it increases or has a tendency to increase faster than subsistence. This conclusion is based upon the great law of Diminishing Returns in Agriculture. This law needs no proof or explanation. Walker proves it conclusively in his Economy. Briefly it is this: "There is a limit to the amount of labor and capital which can be advantageously employed or expended upon a given area of land." Subsistence increases according to the law of arithmetical progression in contradistinction to the law of geo-metrical progression, according to which population increases. It is easily seen, therefore, that, as population increases, subsist-ence pet capita decreases. If population be carried beyond the limit of sufficient production lor the maintenance of the whole bod)' of society, poverty will ensue among a people. In a crowded community, such as the above continued in-crease in population will lead to, the pressure will come first upon the man with the large family and will force him to struggle hard against the scarcity of food and comforts; dis-ease and starvation must finally come. We have illustrations of this among barbarians and some modern Oriental nations, such as India and China, where they experience frequent fam-ines. Improvements in the arts of agriculture, domestic man-agement and government may withstand this pressure for a time, but, no matter in what direction, or how great the im-provement may be, population will ultimately, under the above circumstances, reach the point where the products of the soil will not support it adequately. So, the only sure and reason-able remedy for such a condition of scarcity, according to Mai- 182 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. thus, is prevention of reproduction to an extent sufficient to insureamplesubsistence/ifrcapita forall. Malthus wouldemploy rnan's reason and prudence and make it a moral restraint in-stead of reducing numbers by means of vice and misery, which, as we have seen, become inevitable results unless the former method is adopted. Evidently, France has adopted this Mal-thusian theory and practices it. The population of France is decreasing, and there is a growing sufficiency of subsistence and comfort for the whole nation. However, it is a question among many whether France is not doing this at the expense of her moral and physical well-being. It seems to be leading her into gradual degeneration. After all, France is hardly a good illustration of the practicability and good common sense of what Malthus taught regarding prudence and moral restraint as a means of checking the too rapid increase of population. Now returning to the question asked at the start, we may inquire again whether President Roosevelt is right in encour-aging the enlargement of families and the consequent growth of the total population of our country. What reasons can he produce? Has America yet reached the point in her econ-omic development where the Malthusian precaution is needed to check population ? If she has, how can we account for President Roosevelt's attitude ? There are reasons, perhaps, outside of the field of political economy that prompt Mr. Roosevelt to take the position he holds, but, assuming that he accepts the doctrine of the Malthusians, there is, nevertheless, sufficient ground to justify his attitude. He certainly would not advocate recklessness and imprudence in a matter of so great importance to the welfare of his country. In the first place, I do not believe that the United States has yet reached the point of Diminishing Returns in Agricul-ture, taking the country as a whole. That it is rapidly ap-proaching that point is not to be doubted. As it is, however, the prevention under consideration is uncalled for. With our present population, we have hardly reached the limit of our highest economic usefulness and the greatest returns per capita, with our vast areas of farm land under cultivation and still capable of much greater returns by the addition of more la- THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 183 borers. I refer particularly to the broad expanse of arable land in our Great West. Undoubtedly, we have not yet reached the limit where we cannot advantageously add more laborers in agriculture. Surely there is no room for apprehension and fear. What poverty there is now in our country is largely due to shiftlessness, ignorance, laziness and vice. There is still a splendid chance for all who will take advantage of our educa-tional system and then go to work. Mr. Roosevelt is right from a moral standpoint also. The increase of population ought to be encouraged in our country. There are those among the wealthy and educated classes in the United States, holding erroneous ideas about "Social Standing," who deprecate large families and who consciously avoid them. This ought not to be true. It would be a blessing for our country if more children were born to the wealthy and cul-tured and fewer to the poorer classes, the ignorant and vicious. We need more citizens reared in the upper strata of society among our best people and fewer in the lower strata. Mr. Roosevelt is right and has given his country a splendid ex-ample in the honest pride he takes in his own large family. France is wrong. Without doubt she is carrying the Malthu-sian Doctrine to wicked extremes. We need to rid ourselves of the sinful tendencies abroad in France which are wasting her morals and reducing her national strength. We need to exercise prudence and reasonable restraint at all times and shun conscious and wicked checks to the increase of our population. The honor, hope and pride of a mother are her children. This is Mr. Roosevelt's opinion and he would have no father and mother consider them a disgrace, a dishonor or a burden. f» 184 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. "THE RAVIN'" SCHOOLMASTER. B. A. STROHMKIKR, '06. ONCE upon a school-day dreary, As I waited weak and "skeary," 'Waited nervously the verdict from the teacher's judgment seat; While my eyes were nearly sapping, Suddenly there came a tapping As of something loudly rapping, Rapping on my breeches' seat. 'Twas the music of the raw-hide as it mercilessly beat Tunes upon my breeches' seat. How the dust flew out those patches, As I felt the raw-hide's scratches ! Yet I didn't necessarily have to skirmish or to dance. Strange the sound those whacks were making As the Prof, great paiiis was taking To appear to have me aching ; But he didn't have a chance, For the force of all the muscle he could use could not advance Past my armor-plated pants. Suddenly there came a silence, And I stood in grim defiance, While the goggle-eyed Professor squinted at me long and hard. He was tired out and panting. And I thought I heard him chanting Words that told that he was granting I his record sad had marred. Then he started, paused, and said these words which cut me like a sword, "Hand me out that weather-board !" Robbed of all my former po.wer, Like a nation's final hour— Like a Sampson with his hair off—I grew weak and weaker still. Then a bright thought struck me : "Mister, I know that you court my sister, And I'll tell Pa that you kissed her, Hit me even with a quill!" Fire flashed his eyes ; but that was all—he dared not do his will. Glory hallelujah Bill! W THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. I85 POLITICAL INDIFFERENCE. SECOND only to the claims of religion are the claims of country. This does not mean that the Christian should desecrate holy places with political harangue, or that he should become the willing servant of a political boss, but that he should discharge his political duties to free government in a manner befitting a noble, religious life and consistent with the patriotic ideals of our forefathers. The government that maintains liberty of thought, word and deed as a fundamental principle, and recognizes education and Christianity as the only safeguards of public liberty, has a just claim upon every citizen for patriotic vigilance of all political rights. If it is true, as has been said, that "the standard of personal morality in America is higher than in England, that of com-mercial morality probably a little lower, and that of political morality quite distinctly lower," let it not be said that it is a defect in our system of government, or that it is wholly a fault of those who are faithless and incompetent in office, for, here, every citizen, no difference what his race or creed, has equal power with his voice and vote, and can claim no exemption from the just responsibilities for the evils of the body politic. Ours is, in fact as well as in theory, a government of the peo-ple, and its administration is neither better nor worse than the people themselves. It was devised by patriotic men who faith-fully gave it their wisest thought, and so perfectly is its frame-work fashioned that an accidental mistake of the people, or the perfidy of an official, or the enactment of profligate laws are all held in such wholesome check by coordinate powers as to enable the chief executive to restrain or suppress almost every conceivable evil for the welfare of the nation. To achieve the highest results in our system of government, it is necessary that the citizens throw aside the theories and idealities of the philosophers for the practical guidance of the ship of state. But alas! he who is best fitted for governing f» 186 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. men too often loves it least, and he who is least fitted for teach-ing men moral and political truths too often turns his back upon his duty for the sake of more pleasurable occupations of litera-ture, art or science. If the reputable citizen refrains from bearing a just responsi-bility in our political conflicts, and thereby voluntarily surren-ders the safety of his person and things, as well as the good order and well-being-of society, into the hands of those who are least fitted for governing men, turn and place the responsi-bility where it belongs and do not blame the thief and adven-turer, for they are but plying their trade, and rob public rather than private treasure because men guard the one and do not guard the other. How often have we not seen good men swiftly invoking the avenging arm of Justice for an injury done to private property, but who are criminally indifferent to the public wrongs done by those who, in the enactment and exe-cution of the laws, directly affect their happiness and pros-perity? Do not excuse the indifference of the good citizen by saying that politics have become polluted. Such a declaration would be a confession of guilt, and he who utters it becomes his own accuser. If it be true that the politics of a state or municipality bave become degraded, who is to blame for it ? Surely not the country or ward politician, for they are a small minority in every community and in every party. If they have gained control of the political organizations, and thereby have secured their election to offices of high trust, it must have been with either the passive or the active assent of the good citizens who hold the actual control of the government in their own hands. Does not the official, who shames his constituents with disgraceful acts, owe his election to the silent assent or positive support of those who claim to be patriotic and intelli-gent citizens, but who lay aside their political duties because of some private interest ? If incompetent appointments have been made through the influence of some political boss, it is due to the fact that honest and good citizens have not protested with a manliness that would point to a sure and swift retribution for such wrongs and, at the same time, have not demanded a per- THE GETTVSBURG MERCURY. 187 manent and practical civil service whereby all dishonor, dis-honesty and incompetency in office would end. Can our presi-dents and governors be wholly responsible for the low standard of our officials? No; for if good men concede primary polit-ical control to those who wield it for sdftsh ends, and thereby make the appointing powers depend tit i-ir both counsel and support upon the worst political eU iiient, u ho is to blame when public sentiment is outraged by the selection of unworthy men to important offices ? The fruits are but the natural, logical results of good citizens refusing to accept their political re-sponsibilities. There is not a blot in our body politic to-day that the better element of the people cannot remove whenever they resolve to do so. There is not a defect nor a deformity in our political administration that they cannot correct in the legitimate way pointed out by our free institutions. If our country is to reach the ideal pictured for it by the framers of the Constitution, it must have the active support of those upon whom the burden of government should rest. It must have behind it more men like Nathan Hale, who was sorry that he had only one life to give his country. It must have the influence and best thought of every American scholar and not the scheme of the demagogue or the trickery of the partisan politician. Three millions of men lie buried beneath American battle-fields to give us that which we seem to prize so lightly : Politi-cal Freedom. But "that these dead shall not have died in vain," that the Utopia of Thomas More's imagination may become a realization, and "that this Republic, under the guidance of A1T mighty God, will live and prosper through the ages," we must bear our burdens patiently, accept our responsibilities courage-ously, and discharge our duties intelligently and with fidelity. "NASHY." 188 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. H THE ANALYSIS OF A NURSERY RHYME. JAMES G. DIJ.LER, '04. OVV often, in the care-free hours of childhood, have we repeated that alliterative verse of linen-book poetry,. with its halting meter and quaint simplicity of language: "Hickory, dickerv, dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, The mouse ran clown. Hickory, rlickery. dock.'' And yet, how many of us have ever discovered in this bit of seemingly senseless doggerel the hidden story of an appar-ently triffling incident, with all its philosophical suggestiveness and condensed moralizing upon the great truths of life? Lest the casual reader should condemn this writing as non-sensical at the very outset, let us begin at once to interpret the jingling and apparently meaningless and disconnected lines. Have you not always considered the first line, "hickory, dick-ery, dock," as merely a mechanical contrivance of words to-rhyme with the word "clock" in the line immediately follow-ing? Doubtless you have, and have regarded it as a useless corruption of our language made to subserve a trivial end. Hut stop to think, and to your surprise you realize that that very mechanical meter, with its abrupt ending, is a most accurate adaptation of words to imitate the ticking of a clock. This ticking of the tireless time-piece attracted the attention of a diminutive rodent, and gives us material for a bit of mor-alizing upon the next line, "the mouse ran up the clock."' Frightened, no doubt, at first, he overcomes his trepidation and hesitatingly approaches in the direction of the monotonous sound. Alas ! how many of us yield, as did the little mouse, to misdirected curiosity and flee, as he did, affrighted from that which was not meant for us to know! Incidentally, we call at-tention here to another concealed bit of information. The clock must have been one of the old-fashioned variety, with long, pendant weights exposed to the open air, else our little THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 189 friend could not have reached it in the course of his investiga-tions. The next line is of special value in our analysis, inasmuch as it gives us the time of this historic occurrence, the narration of which has doubtless entertained the younger generation since the days of the horn-book A, B, C. It may have been either broad-daylight in the early afternoon when, we are told, "the clock struck one;" or it may have been the hour immediately succeeding that— "—very witching time of night. When churchyards yawn." Hut our insight has already become sufficiently keen by our experience of the first two lines, so that we readily conclude it must have been one o'clock at night when his mouseship pur-sued his nocturnal meanderings. Had it been one o'clock in the afternoon, the bustle of the kitchen in clearing away the remnants of the mid-day meal, together with the presence and wide-awake activity of the dog or cat, would have entirely pre-cluded the possibility of the mouse performing his perpendicu-lar tight-rope-walk on the rope or chain of the hanging clock weights. And, now, the last line of pure English in this classic bit of nursery lore gives, perhaps,a larger scope of meaning than any of those preceding. Having accomplished his perilous ascent, and explored the intricate labyrinth of wheels, pinions and oscillating pendulum, he hesitates whether to retrace his steps or to delve still far-ther into the unexplored mysteries of this queer contrivance. But suddenly, close to his velvety ear, there breaks upon the silence of the night a loud, jarring sound, half stunning him by its proximity, and throwing him into a state, of quivering terror as he crouches behind the farthest clock wheel and lis-tens to the ebbing, throbbing waves of sound vibrating with the detonation of the stroke through the metallic fabric of the works. Then, the innate instinct of self-preservation asserting itself, he makes a dash for safety, half sliding, half tumbling down 190 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. the clock-weights' chain and scurries away to his dark abode. Does he not typify all too well that over-ambitious spirit which strives to attain impossible ends, and to climb to heights where the atmosphere is too rare when the summit is finally reached, and the baffled, disappointed and heart-sick seeker is glad to return to his allotted place in the universe, just as the frightened mouse besought his subterranean retreat ? The last line, a repetition of the first, is intended to show how the clock went on ticking, in its accustomed manner, after the mouse had fled. Even so the great world goes on. Man is born—a diminutive mouse in the vast mansion of creation— he explores for a brief time, as the mouse did, mysteries too great for his feeble comprehension, and then returns to that place whence he came. And now, dear reader, have you not formed a better opinion of this doggerel rhyme which haunted your childish memory; and have you not conceived for it that appreciation which it so richly deserves ? 1 "A soul to fear its maker and to feel The finer things of life in their full measure ; A soul to hear God in the twilight calm And see him in the varied hues of dawn. A heart to hold some loves that closer lie Than aught of earth comparable ; a heart That spells its charity in words of deeds, A mind to commonsense, and those high acts That, welded, shape great Labor in its glory ; An arm to wield and mould all that these three Design, contrive—this constitutes a man.-' - ** # THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 191 ■*• A VISIT TO McKINLEYS TOMB. BRUCE COBAUGH, '05. AT the end of a short avenue which leads from the main wes-tern street of Canton, Ohio, lies the beautiful West-lawn Cemetery. To the many visitors it is of special interest as being the burial place of our late President McKinley, and it is for the purpose of visiting his tomb that we pass through the large gate at the entrance on a Sunday afternoon in July. On entering we are greeted by a pleasant surprise as we note the natural beauty of the place, for it is a veritable park. We cannot help but contrast it with other burial grounds we have known, many of whose chief characteristics are the long rows of cold marble and granite with their intermittent spaces laid out with mathematical precision, as if old Mother Earth were jealous of giving one man more than an alotted resting place in her spacious bosom. Nor do we experience that cold un-comfortable feeling that often passes over one on entering a cemetery. On the contrary, as we stroll along the winding avenue which leads through the cemetery, we pause as our attention is attracted to some new beauty of the place. To our left rises a ridge covered with trees. Here the stately oaks are sighing softly in the summer breeze. From their branches comes the songs of their feathered tenants in joyful melody as if inviting all to rejoice. We pause in the shade of a large oak and listen while nature speaks with an eloquence that can never be surpassed. Descending below, to the right, is a slope whose gently un-dulating surface is covered with green. It is bounded below by a brook whose clear waters sparkle in the sunlight The bank is covered with willows which dip their overshadowing branches into the stream. Here and there along its course are ponds in which swim the little sunfish among the floating lilies. We follow a short path from the main avenue and this brings us to the object of our visit. On the eastern slope of the wooded ridge is the exterior of the ** 192 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. large vault. In the .stone front with its solid arch and massive pillars, hangs the heavy iron gate that guards the entrance. It gives one an impression of stability and its general appearance is plain. We can approach no nearer than a distance of about fifty feet for it is guarded day and night by armed sentries who are pacing to and fro about the tomb. As we gaze on the walls which enclose his mortal remains, our thoughts turn back on McKinley's life. Thoughts of his public career come to our mind. We think of how he rose step by step from one position to a higher by proving himself worthy of promotion. His ability as a statesman, his election to the office of chief ruler of our nation and the integrity with which he served his country are among our thoughts. He seems to us a true American in the highest sense of the word. No less than these, however, is his great example of charac-ter. Again, we think of his death, his patience in suffering and the spirit of forgiveness which he showed for the man who gave him a mortal wound. And his calm resignation in the dying hour along with his trust in God make him a worthy example of a true Christian spirit. The sun is sinking behind the treetops and we have time to stay no longer. We return with thoughts of our visit that will ever be pleasant in our memory. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 193 THE HOUSE WE BUILD. IN the land of the East there once lived a king who gave to twelve of his subjects a sum of money with the command that each should build him a house. Each man took the allot-ted sum and set out to obey the command. Eleven bought the cheapest materials in the market and constructed their buildings on the simplest plan, so that they might save some money for their own use and complete their tasks; but the twelfth secured the most durable materials he could find and with painstaking care built his house as nearly perfect as pos-sible. When the buildings were finished, the king issued a de-cree that each subject, for the rest of his life, should live in the house which he himself had constructed. Imagine the chagrin of the eleven when they found that they must dwell in such unstable structures. Repairs soon became necessary as part after part gave way, and in a short time the buildings, too weak to stand the wear of time, collapsed. But the twelfth subject dwelt in his substantial home until the end of his days. Although this is only a legend, there is hidden vVithin it a truth which is applicable to mankind. Each individual must rear a building for himself—that unseen and uncomprehensible being or spirit—to dwell in. Perhaps we are carrying this on unconsciously, nevertheless, each day has its effect upon these structures. Either we are fashioning pillars and supports which will make our house a strong and beautiful one—fit to contain the noblest aims and purposes—or we are, by living lives of in-difference and ease, rearing such a structure as one finds on a neglected farm, which can contain nothing securely and which every adverse wind threatens to destroy. And there is no ex-change of property, no rental, sale or giving away. Each man must keep his own building and live in it as he himself has built it. Our acts, our thoughts, our feelings, our resolves, our aims and the influences which we receive from associates, books and surroundings are as really the material for our buildings as the t 194 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. lumber and nails for the carpenter. And just as essential for us is a plan. Each one should have a definite ideal as he takes up his work of art. For such an ideal, observe nature in her perfection as she manifests herself in the snowflake with its per-fect arrangement and whiteness, the globe of dew in its round-edness and purity, the new blown rose in its fresh beauty, the magnificent forests in their strength and grandeur,and the lofty mountains in their towering might. And the human body in itself, in its harmonious structure and workings, is a model for perfect symmetry and order. One of our writers speaks of it thus:— Not in the world of light alone, Where God hath built his blazing throne, Nor yet alone in earth below, With belted seas that come and go And endless isles of sunlit green, Is all thy maker's glory seen. Look in upon thy wondrous frame, Eternal wisdom still the same. One should carefully consider both the exterior and interior of the building which he erects. The exterior, while not most important, should receive some care. Have a good strong frame secured by temperate living and proper exercise, an erect form. A clear interior structure, with its furnishings, is import-ant, not only because it is the character, or at least what makes the character of the individual, but because it affects the exterior and makes it what it is to a very great extent. Our houses are more or less transparent, and one without can tell the nature of the man who lives within. On the outside we post the signs which describe the resident. Ruskin says on this subject: "There is no virtue, the exercise of which, even momentarily, will not impress a new fairness upon the features, neither on them only, but on the whole body." In the furnishings let a good strong individuality form the centre piece and let it secure for itself an appropriate setting; let it secure those qualities which make us noble and images of the divine. Let earnestness, enthusiasm, tenderness, a love for THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 195 beauty and harmony, observation, unselfishness and determina-tion be essentials in the equipments. If a man wished to build a perfect house, he would give his attention to every detail and try to make it complete. So in rearing our house, let us not polish and adorn one part to the neglect of another. The young girl who strives only for grace in a ball room and popularity in the social world, and the young man who develops only his muscles in athletics, are building very deficient houses. Symmetry and proportion are two qualities necessary to a beautiful building. In this work of building, we may often improve our own structures by helping our companions as they toil. While we are supporting a pillar or repairing a broken part for them, what is our surprise to find a new beauty in our own, while rough edges have become beautifully rounded curves. How delightful it is to live in a country that is adorned with beautiful and well constructed buildings ! In us lies the ability to adorn or mar the world by the structures which we rear in it. In addition to their improving our surroundings, they serve as incentives to others in perfecting their own buildings. The poet Holmes gives us an inspiration in the words: "Build ye more stately mansions, O my Soul, While the swift seasons roll. Leave thy low vaulted past, Let each new temple nobler than the last Shut thee from Heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell, By life's unresting sea." "ORLANDO." THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Entered at the Postoffi.ee at Gettysburg as second-class matter VOL. XII GETTYSBURG, PA., OCTOBER, 1903 No. 5 Editor-in-chief LYMAN A. GUSS, '04 Exchange Editor M. ROY HAMSHER, '04 Business Manager F. GARMAN MASTERS, '04 Asst. Business Manager A. TY. DTT.LENBECK, '05 Associate Editors M. ADA MCLINN, '04 BRUCE P. COBADGH, '05 C. EDWIN BUTLER, '05 Advisory Board PROF. J. A. HIMES, L-ITT. D. PROF. G. D. STAHI.EY, M.D. PROF. J. W. RICHARD, D.D. Published each month, from October to June inclusive, by the joint literary societies of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. Subscription price, one dollar a year in advance; single copies 15 cents. Notice to discontinue sending the MERCURY to any address must be accompanied by all arrearages. Students, Professors and Alumni are cordially invited to contribute. All subscriptions and business matter should be addressed to the Busi-ness Manager. Articles for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY, GETTYSBURG, PA. EDITORIALS. What a great thing it is ! What a commendable TRUTH trait of character! What a power in everything! And yet how often debased, how often contaminated, how often distorted! It is our purpose to briefly set forth herein a few facts bear-ing directly on the welfare of this college; to reconstruct cer-tain distortions of the truth, which have been circulated by yel-low journalism to our detriment; and to assure our friends and supporters that Gettysburg is a college of gentlemen and not of "hoodlooms," as certain press manipulators, with clouded vision, would make us. During the past two months, there have been evil and ma-licious reports scattered broadcast, within no small radius of THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. I97 our college community, in which the boys of Gettysburg have been deprecated as a gang of rowdies, rogues and general roustabouts ; have been designated in all sorts of terms, border-ing on the villiainous; have had epithets, becoming anything but gentlemen heaped upon them in profusion; and have been characterized as an aggregation of degenerates. If these things were true, ours it would be to "grin and bear," but no individual, without a word of protest, much less a body of loyal college students, can see such maledictions afloat and such slander indulged in with impunity. We labor with righteous indignation under the knowledge that the good name of our college, undefiled for decades, is being vitiated without provocation. Therefore, we refute with vigor these monstrous prevarications. To the friends of Gettysburg we would say that the reports referred to above are not true, are utter falsehoods, and are not warranted. Instead of all kinds of devilment, which these vile, disgraceful recitals portray, such a state of affairs is non-exist-ent almost in totality. Class spirit, college spirit—all kinds of spirit, we are loath to confess, is at a lower ebb than it has been for a number of years, and, consequently, the real and only ex-cess, conducted by the student body, is thereby removed; for, be it known, that there by no means exists an organized quota of students in the college whose aim and object is the destruc-tion of property, and the debasement of their fellow-students. Such personalities Gettysburg does not support. To be sure, occasionally, a sudden outburst of college en-thusiasm does impel prudence a little beyond the limit, but never, within the time during which we have been flailed with the confounded misstatements of a debauched press, has it been carried to an end approaching that which these enlarged, in-flated, falsified and perverse specimens of a journal of the "yellow" type would have you believe. To the source of this polluted literature we consider it be-neath our dignity to directly refer. It suffices to state the facts connected with its origin and promulgation. These we offer to you as explanatory of these disseminated articles so liberally 198 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. savored with prevarication. We trust they may serve to right your estimate of our college; to reinstate you in your former attitude of good will toward us, if you have fallen therefrom by the great injustice done, and being done, us without cause, real or sham; to lead you "to believe that we are not "hood-looms," but men, such as Gettysburg has merited and owned in the past, and yet finds perpetuated in our persons. We ask you to discount these reports, which appear at our expense, with a reduction of one-half or three-fourths, which they will readily bear, and then the residue may, perhaps, be taken at par. These remarks may seem somewhat eulogistic, but we are given to self-laudation only in case of stringent necessity. This is one such case. What we want you to believe, alumni and friends, is that Gettysburg is a college, not composed of men of ideal character,but equally on a level basis with our contemporary institutions. We are not tainted and debased in character, in a class of our own, but whole and sound as any. The Pennypacker press muzzle was met with derision and denunciation when it became law. It was fairly paralyzed with a storm of opposition. And yet there is quality in that piece of legislation. While its operation, for the most part, is out of harmony with American principle, it could be made to operate with admirable results in specific cases. It is not our intention to justify the "muzzier," but would it not justify itself in our instance ? It would purge e\^il from the local press, perchance. Shall we try it? DIALECT 1'ne fed °f writing stories in various dialects, STORIES. particularly that of the Negro, the Irishman, the Westerner or Backwoodsman, is becoming very contagious. These stories, while they are comical and interesting and serve the purpose intended perhaps well enough, may become very detrimental to our language and especially so if they continue to multiply. The colloquial form of the English language is now ungram- THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. 199 matical enough, as every one will acknowledge, but what it might become if these corruptions are acquired, I should fear to state. For example the colloquy of the Westerner put into the speech of our fairly educated men of today would be unbecom-ing and distasteful, to say nothing of its effect. While this illustration may be an absurd one, yet it is not far in advance of the result of dialect writing. If we are given this species of literature we are going to acquire more and more of this kind of language. Another example only too realistic is that of the college student whose corrupt terms and phrases are understood only by himself and those associated with him. How often when speaking to an outside man does he find himself uttering these corruptions, which are, it may be, Hebrew to his hearer. This is an example of how easily we may acquire the lore of the different dialects if they are thrust upon us for our constant amusement or edification. Our tongues would be confused far more than the tongues of historic Babel. To the student of English, dialect stories, when they exceed the limit in number and quality, should be especially repulsive and, by heeding them with little or no regard, the student will be justified, the'offender punished, and the dignity of our English preserved. EXCHANGES. The most delightful bit of optimism, for it does seem to savor of the optimist, that we have noticed in our last month's reading, has been penned with regard to the college publica-tions. Hear some of the soul-cheering words of the Georgetown College Journal's ex-man, who has been so highly esteemed as to be re-elected to office: "They bring to us a message of the thousands of college men and women of this country who are giving their time to the study of letters and are becoming writ-ers of good English. We do most emphatically believe in col-lege journalism; and it is our firm conviction that out of the 200 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. humble efforts that the college editor is to-day making will come the great American novel, and the great American epic, and the great American essay; in short, will come the great American literature, a golden age, that will outshine all that have gone before it." May college journalism result in a de-velopment of our literature equal to the expectations of our sanguine friend. There is much in the college magazine that does not warrant such expectations. But there are some col-lege men who, although their literary efforts are now making but a feeble light, are, nevertheless, blazing a pathway for grander and nobler things in literature. The Carthage Collegia?i has this interesting preface to its last number, which is intended, no doubt, for critics who become cynical in their observations:— "Kind reader, ere you turn away From viewing this small booklet's pages, And judge, perchance, correctly too, That they who wrote it are not sages, Think well, before you place it on the shelf, You might have written it yourself. Forget the weak, the poor, and of the rest, Though it be poor, remember thou the best." If there were made a classification of the college magazines into those seemingly making a special effort to present college news, with one or more literary articles to fill up the space, and those devoted principally to literary work, we would, no doubt, place such magazines as Tlie Monthly Maroon and University of Virginia Magazine in the second class. They belong to the part of college journalism that will result in the "Great Ameri-can Literature." The Ursinus Weekly has just come out with its first Literary Supplement of the year. The essay on "Seventeenth Century Lyric Poetry" shows a knowledge of the spirit of that time. The writer compares the songs of the "light-hearted" Robert Herrick with the "deep, sonorous" notes of Tennyson in an in-teresting manner. The exchange editor seems to have a good word for every one.

The definitive reference on the most current economics of development and institutions. The essential role that institutions play in understanding economic development has long been recognized across the social sciences, including in economics. Academic and policy interest in this subject has never been higher. The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions is the first to bring together in one single volume the most cutting-edge work in this area by the best-known international economists. The volume's editors, themselves leading scholars in the discipline, provide a comprehensive introduction, and the stellar contributors offer up-to-date analysis into institutional change and its interactions with the dynamics of economic development. This book focuses on three critical issues: the definitions of institutions in order to argue for a causal link to development, the complex interplay between formal and informal institutions, and the evolution and coevolution of institutions and their interactions with the political economy of development. Topics examined include the relationship between institutions and growth, educational systems, the role of the media, and the intersection between traditional systems of patronage and political institutions. Each chapter-covering the frontier research in its area and pointing to new areas of research-is the product of extensive workshopping on the part of the contributors. The definitive reference work on this topic, The Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions will be essential for academics, researchers, and professionals working in the field

Einleitend erläutert der Autor zunächst seinen modell- und strukturtheoretischen Ansatz. In diesem Kontext definiert er die Begriffe "Selbstbestimmung" und "Patronage" als außenpolitische Kategorien, wobei auch eine Trennung der Träger des außenpolitischen Geschehens in Großmächte sowie Klein- und Mittelstaaten erfolgt. In der praktischen Anwendung des skizzierten Ansatzes diskutiert der Verfasser - für den Zeitraum seit dem 2. Weltkrieg - fünf Optionen der außenpolitischen Entwicklung Südosteuropas: 1. Zugehörigkeit zum Sowjetblock mit der Patronagevormacht UdSSR, 2. Zugehörigkeit zum Westblock mit England bzw. den USA als Patronagevormacht, 3. Zugehörigkeit zur Bewegung des Dritten Weges der Blockfreiheit, 4. Bemühungen um regionale Zusammenschlüsse, 5. Außenpolitik der totalen splendit isolation. Am Fallbeispiel Albanien kontrastiert er abschließend die Periode der Patronage (1912/48-78) mit der der Selbstbestimmung (seit 1978). (BIOst-Klk)

Introduction -- Part I. Historical Perspectives -- Vertebrates of Upper Mesopotamia: Present Evidence and Archaeological Data -- Fishing Gears and Methods: A Comparison of Ancient Mesopotamia and Other Ancient Worlds -- Ichthyological Characteristics Available in the Fish Images Existed in the Art of the Ancient Mesopotamia -- The Effectiveness of Ancient Mesopotamian Medical Practices: The Example of šūšu-Licorice -- Part II. The Abiotic Aspects of the Tigris–Euphrates River System -- Management of Water Resources Using Storage Reservoirs -- Estimation of Irrigated Agricultural Area and Water Consumption in Iraq -- The Nature of Tigris–Euphrates Rivers Flow: Current Status and Future Prospective -- Streamflow Alteration Impacts with Particular Reference to the Lower Zab River, Tributary of the Tigris River -- Ecohydrology in Iraq: Challenges and its Future Pathways -- Oil Pollution in the Shatt Al-Arab River and its Estuary 1980–2018 -- Pesticides in the Waters, Sediments, and Biota of the Shatt Al-Arab River for the Period 1980–2017 -- Surface Water Salinity of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Shatt al-Arab Rivers -- Renewable Energy for Water–Energy Nexus in Euphrates and Tigris River Basin: A Literature Review -- Impacts of Dams on Aquatic Biodiversity, Fisheries, Fishes and Their Environment: Problems that Could Be Present in Iraq with Recommendations -- Water, Politics and Dams in the Mesopotamia Basin of the Northern Middle East: How Turkey Instrumentalises the South-Eastern Anatolia Project for Political, Military and Strategic Interests -- Dams and their Impacts on Fishes in Iran -- Part III. The Biotic Aspects of the Tigris–Euphrates River System -- Preliminary Review of the Aquatic Biodiversity in Al-Kahla River, Missan Province, Iraq -- Freshwater Fish Biodiversity in Iraq: Importance, Threats, Status, and Conservation Challenges -- Effect of Climate Changes on the Freshwater Biodiversity in the Mesopotamian Plain: Recommendations for Avoidance and Plans for the Future -- River Corridors as a Refuge for Freshwater Biodiversity: Basic Information and Recommendations to the Policymakers for Possible Implications in Iraq -- Biodiversity of Fungi in Aquatic Environment of Iraq -- Potability of Drinking Water in Basra-Iraq -- Algal Studies in Iraqi Inland Waters. A Review -- The Distribution of Epilitic Diatoms in the Turkish Part of the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin -- Plant Biodiversity in Shatt Al-Arab Estuary and Ecological Variations -- Medicinal Plants of Shatt al-Arab River and Adjacent Area -- The Role of Plants as a Canopy in the Inland Waters: Basic Information for Application in Iraq -- The Zooplankton Fauna of the Turkish Part of the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin -- Kinds and Distribution of Icthyoplankton in Shatt Al-Arab River -- Rotifer Diversity in Iranian Waters: A Review -- Biodiversity of the Freshwater Amphipods in Iran -- The Freshwater Molluscs of the Mesopotamian Plain -- Freshwater Annelida of Iraq -- A Critical Checklist of the Inland Fishes Native to the Euphrates and Tigris Drainages -- Fish Fauna of Shatt al-Arab River, Basrah, Iraq: A More than Quarter a Century of Changes -- The Common Carp, Cyprinus carpio: Effect on the Environment and the Indigenous Fish Species in Iraq -- The Good and the Bad in Releasing the Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella in the Freshwater System: Recommendations for the Policymakers in Iraq -- The Avifauna of Tigris and Euphrates River Basin -- The Feasible Approaches to Assist Migratory Birds Visiting the Southern Reaches of Mesopotamia -- A Proposal for Establishing Bird Observatory Centre in the South of Iraq -- The Potential Role of Waterbirds as a Vector in Dispersing Invertebrates and Plants in the South of Iraq -- The Wild Mammals of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Basin -- The Amphibians and Reptiles of Euphrates and Tigris Basin -- A Preliminary Pictorial Guide to the Herpetofauna of Tigris and Euphrates River Basin -- Policy Guidance for Sustainable Aquaculture in the Inland Waters of Iraq -- How Possible to Use the Desert Area in Iraq for Aquaculture Industry: Basic Facts and Recommondations -- Aquaculture Industry in Iraq: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives -- Towards an Improved Tilapia Farming in Iraq: Recommendations for Future Application -- Information and Recommendations of Aquaculture Stress and its Source in Hatcheries: The Iraqi Aquaculture Industry Investors -- Exotic and Invasive Freshwater Fishes in the Tigris-Euphrates River System -- Part IV. Water Resources -- The Ecology and Modelling of the Freshwater Ecosystems in Iran -- Enhancing Rural Women's Participation in Fisheries in Iraq -- The Impact of Destructive Fishing Gear on the Fish Biodiversity in the Inland Waters of Iraq -- Evaluating Variations in Fisheries by Means of Fishers' Information: Suggested Methodology to Improve Small-Scale Fisheries in Rivers in Iraq -- A Possibility to Apply a Traditional Fisheries Enforcement Programme in the Inland Waters of Iraq -- Market-Resource Relations and Fish Seller Livelihood as Seen in Inland Waters of Iraq -- The Potential Impact of Deformities in Fishes upon Aquatic Production: Case of Iraq -- The Impact of some Social Taboos on Fisheries in Iraq -- Inland Water Fishes and Fisheries in Iran -- The Possibility of Introducing an Inland Fisheries Education in Iraq -- The Marine and Diadromous Fisheries of Iraq -- Part V. Stress of the Environment of the Two Rivers -- Fish Deformities in the Freshwater Fishes of Iraq: A Short Review and a Study Case on the Indian Catfish Heteropneustes fossilis -- The Phenomenon of Fluctuating Asymmetry: As Fish Welfare Indicator Represented by Case Study from the Freshwater Fishes of Iraq -- The Studies on Sediments Pollution by Different Types of Metals in Turkey -- Macroplastic and Microplastic in the Freshwater Environment of Southern Iraq: Evidences Obtained from Freshwater Fish Species -- Heavy Metals in Freshwater Invertebrates of Iran: A Review on the Bioaccumulation and Effects -- Fish Parasites of Tigris and Euphrates River Systems -- The Parasites of Fishes of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers: Iraq and Turkey -- Ornamental Fishes: A Looming Danger for Inland Fish Diversity of Iraq -- Part VI. The Health of the Human Community Inhabiting Freshwater Zones -- Aquatic Snails as a Vector of Diseases to the Human in Iran -- Death by Drowning in Rivers in Iraq -- The Dangerous Catfish Species in the Freshwater System of Iraq: First Time Reports on Cases of Envenomation -- Fish Species of the Order Cypriniformes as a Source of Ichthyootoxin and Ichthyogallotoxin in Iraq: Cases Reports -- First Reports on Cases of Hallucinatory Fish Poisoning (Ichthyoallyeinotoxism) and Scombrotoxic Fish Poisoning in Iraq -- Part. VII. Conservation -- Freshwater Management and Conservation in Iran: Past, Present, and Future -- The Need of Biodiversity Conservation Strategies in Iraq: The State of Protected Areas -- Benthic Macroinvertebrates of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Turkey -- Freshwater Ecosystem Conservation in Iraq: Recommendations for Management -- Utilising Phenotypic Difference to Regulate Protection Value: A Scheme for Application of a Novel Approach to the Inland Water of Iraq -- Hatchery-Reared Fish Stocks Released into the Wild: A Conservation Problem as Seen in a Case Study from Iraq -- Part VIII. Social Perspectives -- Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? An Appraisal of the Four Decades of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) -- Part IX. Food Security -- How Possible to Build Rice–Fish Farming in Iraq in order to Support Food Security Plan: Positive and the Negative Aspects -- The Importance of Non-commercial and Small-Sized Fish Species: A Proposal for an Additional Revenue to Iraq -- Sociocultural Aspects Influence Food Consumption Habits in Iraq: Management of Food Security -- A Preliminary Investigation of Determinants of Food Security in Rural Areas of Basrah Province, Iraq.

After his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996, Bill Clinton vented his fury before his staff about his visitor's apparent presumptions about the balance of power in the bilateral relationship. "Who the f**k does he think he is?," Clinton reportedly bellowed. "Who's the f**king superpower here?" Twenty-seven years later, another American president should be asking himself the same question about the very same Bibi Netanyahu and the country he leads. Forgive me for not taking seriously the repetitio ad nauseam statement that "the Biden administration has been working hard to change Israeli policy." Too many defenders of our policy towards the tragedy of Gaza usually add the comment that it is not "politically feasible" to issue a demand and then crack down on the Netanyahu government if it does not comply for fear of the backlash from the powerful so-called Israel lobby. Are Biden's apologists telling us that the United States, and by extension its president, is a powerless weakling reduced to begging the leader of a small country that owes the U.S. for its very existence to do far more to protect the lives and welfare of the inhabitants of Gaza, who have suffered three months of —in Biden's own words — 'indiscriminate bombing'? The situation in Gaza is now so bad that the UN's humanitarian chief declared the Gaza Strip "uninhabitable" as of last Saturday.Biden is president of the United States, still the most powerful country in the world by almost every measure and a country without whose support Israel has no future. A firm public demand to cease and desist immediately would have enormous domestic political repercussions in Israel — far less in the United States. Biden would not have to publicly threaten to cut off weapons deliveries; a few words delivered in private to Netanyahu and a few members of his war cabinet would probably suffice. Most of Netanyahu's government would desert him. Even the most hawkish of the Israel Defense Forces' leadership would not want to test an American president's resolve. Netanyahu's refusal would accelerate the departure of secular Israelis from the country — alongside many Haredim, especially those who hold U.S. passports. A decisive American president can do anything he wants, whether or not a powerful lobby opposes him. Eisenhower did it, forcing David Ben Gurion to withdraw from Sinai in 1956. Carter did it, in his "walk in the woods" at Camp David in 1978, forcing Menachem Begin to abandon Sinai settlements and agree to a peace treaty with Egypt. Reagan did it in June 1982, forcing Begin to order a ceasefire in Beirut. George H. W. Bush did it in 1991, withholding $10 billion in aid after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir refused to stop settlement construction. Israel caved in each case. No one believes Netanyahu is made of the same stuff as Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin nor Yitzhak Shamir.Biden seems not to understand that his stance supports Netanyahu's political survival, not the long-term interests of Israel. Bibi does not care how much damage he does to Israel as long as he stays out of jail. He has sacrificed the Jewish homeland to his personal interests. He and his government have presided over a slaughter of innocent civilians unprecedented in any of Israel's previous wars. Their rhetoric reinforces the view gaining currency across the globe that Israel has decided to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from their homeland; South Africa has brought a case of genocide before the International Court of Justice which is scheduled to take it up later this week.Israel's war against the Palestinians has reignited the perception among the vast majority of countries in the so-called Global South that the Palestinians are the new manifestation of the conflict against colonialism and imperialism. UN votes demanding a cease-fire have grown increasingly one-sided against Israel, further isolating the U.S. in the process. If Israel's bloody campaign against Gaza does not end soon, the Abraham Accords between Israel and four Arab countries may survive in name only; popular revulsion against Israel in those countries will rob them of any value. Biden owes it to Israel, a country long dear to his heart, to stop Netanyahu's recklessness and that of his nationalist-religious extremist allies.Netanyahu has no plan for the post war. Instead, it appears that he has a plan to keep the war going as long as he can, possibly by attacking Lebanon (which Biden "firmly" opposes), not to mention depopulating Gaza by forcing its now-homeless inhabitants into Sinai or deporting them elsewhere (which Biden also "firmly" opposes). Left unchecked, Netanyahu's intransigence will drag the United States into military actions we do not need; American hawks are now demanding we bomb the Houthis. Tomorrow, it might well be hostilities with Iran.Biden's continued, full-throated support for Netanyahu mystifies. His initial embrace of Israel and unconditional material and moral support were to be expected. It was an emotional reaction to the horrors of October 7. While Biden has earned a great deal of praise for his handling of the Ukraine war, Israel's war in Gaza has shifted American attention from Ukraine. In effect, the American president has become bogged down dealing with a war marginal to American interests and diverting attention and resources from a conflict whose outcome is a vital interest to the United States. Biden's policies have caused others to see America as either weak or complicit. He has allowed Netanyahu to get away with "flipping the finger" to the United States, a serious blow to the prestige of the superpower.The Gaza war has also dealt a serious, if not mortal, blow to Biden's reelection. Given its large Arab-American population, Michigan is lost. Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin also have significant Muslim and Arab populations. He is about to lose the Armenian vote unless someone cracks down on the hoodlums who have viciously attacked Armenian clergy in Jerusalem. As a politician rooted firmly in the 1990s — especially the 1992 Clinton-Bush face-off — Biden may fear the loss of Jewish support in the coming election. That fear looks misplaced. A recent survey indicates that nearly half of young Jewish-Americans do not support his current policies towards Israel, while Christian Zionists, who form a significant part of the Republican base, are unlikely to vote for Biden in any event. One also wonders why Biden, if politics are indeed the driver of a misguided policy, would support a foreign politician who has demonstrated his hostility towards every Democratic president since 1993.Biden has a very short window within which he can cut off Netanyahu before he can carry out his apparent war aim to depopulate Gaza and carry the conflict to Lebanon and possibly beyond — a conflict, in other words that could very well drag American forces into another endless Middle Eastern war. A quick and decisive decision, combined with real diplomacy to exploit the crisis and craft a workable solution to 75 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, would recover America's reputation.Now is the time, in other words, for the superpower in this relationship to assert its own interests.

Last week saw former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin retire from politics after a poor election showing, and join the Tony Blair Institute, where she will be "advising political leaders on their reform programs." The news raised some eyebrows for several reasons.For one, former British Prime Minister Blair's long history of advising authoritarians for money, as well as the Institute's own funding from the Saudi government, already sits awkwardly with the non-profit's original rationale of at "articulat[ing] a vision of liberal democracy that can garner substantial support," as well as "progressive values." Also there is Blair's leading role in the invasion of Iraq, which sits squarely at odds with Marin's hawkishness on Russian President Vladimir Putin's similarly illegal and disastrous invasion of Ukraine. Over her tenure, Marin rejected U.S. President Joe Biden's suggestion of giving Putin an "off-ramp" to end the war, offered to transfer fighter jets to Kyiv, and declared she would back Ukraine's war effort for as long as 15 years, because a lack of military victory would lead to "decades of this kind of behavior."But there's also the fact that Blair's institute was until recently at least partly funded by sanctioned Russian billionaire Moshe Kantor, a figure with close ties to the Kremlin and the largest shareholder in the strategically significant Russian fertilizer company Acron. As prime minister, Marin was one of the leading supporters of Western sanctions on Russia, calling for them to impact "the everyday lives of ordinary Russians," and vowing that Finland would grit its teeth through the "long winter" their blowback would cause. Thanks to those sanctions, Fins paid €5 billion more in electricity costs over 2022 and the country tipped into a recession, even if a mild winter meant predictions of blackouts didn't materialize. This was all meant to be worth it to defend the "values of a free and democratic world." Yet here Marin is, taking a paid position with an institute partly funded by a sanctioned, Kremlin-connected billionaire, and run by someone responsible for an illegal invasion of his own. Marin is not the only Western hawk who has displayed such hypocrisy. Since August, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has been embroiled in a potentially career-jeopardizing scandal over her husband's business interests, when it was revealed a trucking company he co-owned continued to do business in Russia long after Moscow's invasion began. Worse, the company was part of the supply chain providing Russian security forces with tear gas — which means Kallas and her husband were indirectly profiting off the Kremlin's repression of anti-war protesters. Yet Kallas has been a strident hawk on the war. She has labeled calls for negotiations "very dangerous," has repeatedly called diplomacy to end the war mere "appeasement," banned tourist visas for ordinary Russians while urging others to do the same, and demanded tighter sanctions while admonishing local companies to find a "moral compass" and avoid deals that would let Moscow circumvent sanctions. Thanks to those sanctions, Estonia saw the EU's single biggest price hikes for food and fuel.Others may not have financial ties to Russia, but have histories of cozy relations with Kremlin-connected oligarchs or even Putin himself. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson took a hardline position on the war, insisting it could only end through total military victory instead of peace talks, vowing to "squeeze Russia from the global economy, piece by piece," and traveling to Kyiv to scuttle a reportedly tentative peace deal in the war's early months, preferring to inflict more military damage to Russia. Johnson, whose party received a deluge of Russian-connected donations since he became prime minister in 2019, has long been close with Russian oligarchs. He helped make the UK a destination for oligarchs to park their cash free from accountability, and had several personal relationships with them. That includes Evgeny Lebedev, son of an oligarch and former KGB spy who helped Putin win power and tried to help him win Western support for annexing Crimea. Johnson personally intervened on the younger Levedev's behalf to get him peerage in the House of Lords, despite a security risk warning from MI6. Johnson isn't alone among British prime ministers. Blair himself has engaged in hawkish rhetoric on the war, arguing for military defeat of Moscow as a way toward peace. Yet he had a close and friendly relationship with Putin when he was in 10 Downing Street, tacitly backing and admitting to sympathizing with the Russian leader's war in Chechnya, and even refusing to rule out advising him in exchange for money.In the United States, Hillary Clinton has been a vocal liberal hawk, suggesting early on that Ukraine be turned into an Afghanistan-like quagmire for Russia, and declaring the best way for the war to end "is for Ukraine to win." Clinton herself was once embroiled in a Russia-related scandal: while her office was responsible for helping approve a deal that gave Russian state atomic agency Rosatom control of large percentage U.S. uranium reserves, her husband, former president Bill Clinton, received a $500,000 speaking fee from a Kremlin-connected bank that promoted the stock of the Canadian mining company being purchased by the Russian firm.Putin, whom Clinton visited at his home on the trip, personally thanked Clinton for the speech. Back in 2006, he himself lamented that, even as he expressed unease about Putin's authoritarianism, the U.S. government was being too critical of the Russian leader. Even some ultra-hawkish columnists once started out with far less strident positions on Putin. Atlantic columnist Anne Applebaum, who recently wrote that "even the worst successor imaginable, even the bloodiest general or most rabid propagandist, will immediately be preferable to Putin," once wrote about the Russian leader's "bold and unexpected decision" to ally himself with the United States after September 11 and argued that the Russian military's friendliness with U.S. adversaries and Putin's disinterest in a free press didn't mean "we shouldn't cooperate with Russia." Chess champion Garry Kasporov, who recently all but accused Biden and his team of being in cahoots with Putin for being nominally open to the idea of negotiating, once called Putin and his coterie "people with whom the West could do business," and explicitly justified his Chechen war. Explaining that the Chechen rebels were "bandits" and needed to be cracked down on for the government to "win support for painful economic reforms," he urged the West to "not demand that Mr. Putin immediately halt the Chechen operation" or threaten cutting off financial assistance over it. It's striking that at a time when McCarthyite accusations are rife in Western debate on the war and on the subject of diplomacy specifically, so many of those who have taken the most uncompromising positions publicly either have a history of more pragmatic stances, or of their own financial and personal connections to Kremlin-linked figures and Putin himself. It raises the question of how sincere the maximalist rhetoric and drive for escalation over diplomacy really is, and whether at least some hawks are engaging in risky and reckless behavior they don't fully believe — perhaps as a form of overcompensation in a jinogistic climate.

Vietnam is seared in American history and memory like almost no other distant nation since World War II. Seen as the first domino in the supposedly relentless march of communism across Southeast Asia, it later caused the downfall of a president and left a trail of tears and recriminations in its wake that echoed all the way until the Gulf War in 1991. And it opened a window — even if for a brief few years — for serious questioning at home of both the means and the ends of U.S. foreign policy.
How times have changed! The lavish welcome accorded to President Biden in Vietnam is just the latest sign of the dramatic shift. Clearly, Washington is eager to deepen ties with Vietnam with China on its mind. But if Washington thinks Hanoi will, at some point in the foreseeable future, align with Washington on countering China on the security plane, it would be sadly mistaken. Vietnam indeed has a China strategy, but it is not America's China strategy. Being clear-eyed about this can open doors to thinking about the true payoffs of the relationship.
Vietnam upgrading its relations with the United States to the level of "comprehensive strategic partnership" merely means ties have drawn level with a similar status bestowed earlier to China, India, Russia, and South Korea. China is also Vietnam's biggest trade partner by far. Though Hanoi has welcomed the U.S. Navy, it has also hosted similar visits from Japan and India, among others. And unlike some other U.S. partners in Asia, American defense sales to Vietnam remain limited and confined to lower-value products. Vietnam conducts military exercises with foreign powers, but they are dominated by a focus on disaster relief and peacekeeping, or come in very expansive almost-multilateral formats such as RIMPAC. Hanoi, which has a sharp maritime dispute with Beijing, is nevertheless not pursuing a geopolitical alignment with Washington so much as a hedging strategy involving all of Asia's major powers.
The real story of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship is geoeconomics. Vietnam — which Washington shamefully bombed and strafed practically back to the stone age in the 1960s and 70s — is now, incredibly, Asia's new economic tiger. Even more remarkably, it has become the United States' 8th largest trade partner in goods and looks set to overtake the U.K., (currently seventh-largest partner) very soon. U.S. bilateral trade in goods with Vietnam reached $139 billion in 2022, a 20-fold increase in 20 years.
Washington's emphasis on moving supply chains away from China aligns with Vietnam's desire to attract as much trade, investment, and manufacturing as possible. Vietnam also possesses the world's second-largest rare earth reserves, a key asset in a time when the global energy transition is taking off. Vietnam saw a surge in solar installations recently and signed up to a U.S.-led initiative to reduce its dependence on coal. Vietnam has also joined the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and is a part of both the CPTPP and RCEP trade agreements. Clearly, there is a serious convergence of geoeconomic interests, and both sides are acting on this recognition.
But while Vietnam looks toward a rapid rise, its feet appear firmly planted. The anchor is provided by its famous "Four No's" policy: no siding with one country against another, no military alliances, no foreign military bases, and no using force or threatening to use force in international relations. This does not preclude having military relations with other powers, but even in those, balance is pursued.
Vietnam keeps its powder dry — for instance it has developed its own potent maritime militia to counter Chinese maritime assertions. But if there is one state in Asia that demonstrates both resolute strategic autonomy and committed non-alignment, it is Vietnam. It would take a huge strategic error by China to change that.
President Biden denied that countering China was the motivation for his visit. The United States was not trying to start a "new cold war," he said, and was focused on "stability" in Asia. But Washington's actions speak louder than words. The Philippines is a case in point. In recent months, the United States has expanded its military footprint in the Philippines and doubled down on deep military coordination, also involving its other allies, with Manila. This has enhanced chances of a great power war and is also turning out to have divisive impacts on Filipino domestic politics.
Of course, Chinese intrusive actions — most recently trying to stop Philippine resupplies to its troops perched precariously on the Second Thomas Shoal and asserting a new, illegal 10-dash line map — are contributory factors. And, of course, the Philippines is also exercising its own agency in all this. But the asymmetric realities of power in the Washington-Manila alliance give reasons to suspect U.S. "agency" is much more consequential in the dramatic U-turn in the trajectory of the alliance. Biden's skipping the ASEAN and East Asia summits in Jakarta and going to Hanoi instead also sent the unfortunate signal that Washington is focused more on building up potential China-balancers than prioritizing ASEAN centrality.
Despite the vociferous denials, the logic of a new cold war with China is very much alive in many quarters in Washington. The United States should resist this logic, which includes seeing Vietnam's own serious maritime rifts with China as an opportunity to bring Hanoi over to "our side." Aiding Vietnam's economic rise, and encouraging supply chain diversification where sensible, is important to pursue. It will create opportunities for American businesses and workers, deepen bilateral ties and automatically help create a more multipolar Asia, reducing chances of absolute Chinese dominance. But we will likely not see enhanced military interoperability and heavy-duty exercises between Washington and Hanoi. In their bilateral relations, Hanoi's terms will set the bar, also because Vietnam has its own concerns about U.S. policies that mirror China's. Hanoi remains very wary of Washington's "democracy v. autocracy" rhetoric and so-called values-based interventions. "Color revolutions" and the "politicization of human rights" even made it to the joint statement by Chinese and Vietnamese leaders during General Secretary Trong's visit to Beijing in November 2022.
Vietnam's rise is also a sign of how a middle power in Asia and the Global South can find the will to not remain hostage to the suffering of two genocidal wars (against France and the United States) and another damaging invasion (by China), even though Hanoi effectively won all these wars. Vietnam is a case study in channeling past trauma into a laser-like focus on rise — "don't get mad, get rich." This is being achieved by the one-party state through a deliberate emphasis on external multi-alignment, investing in the capacities of its people, and a focused embrace of trade and investment.
The United States, in contrast, let its own victory in the Cold War go to its head with disastrous invasions and coercive projects to remake entire regions. And today, the impulse is to wall off major trading powers and adversaries and pursue forward presence to deter rivals. Much of the American political class is also deeply fearful of trade agreements. These are two very different countries, but Vietnam provides America an antidotal geopolitical model worth reflecting on.

Fourteen years flies by, eh?  I started blogging after peak blogging declined and while twitter was hip and fun and snarky.  Now, twitter is toxic, ok, it's owner is toxic, and blogging is hip again although folks tend to call it Substack.  I went from writing about anything sometimes four times a day to now writing far less frequently--sometimes four times a month.  I write less partly because I can just refer to an old post rather than rewrite the same thing over and over again.  On the occasion of the 14th anniversary, I thought I would write something to keep up my monthly totals and to consider some of the ironies relating to my first post long ago and in a city not so far away (I am convinced that I write less because I am complaining about Quebec and its politics far less).In my first post, I was reacting to two pieces I read and that were getting much play: one by Joseph Nye arguing that political scientists are not policy relevant and one by Francis Fukuyama about the need to get rid of tenure.  Let's take those in turn.  I argued in the original post that the interest and willingness to engage the policy world varies among scholars, and that there are plenty of folks doing so.  Since then, the Bridging the Gap folks have not only produced many cohorts of folks interested in doing so, but this organization is now taking the next step with some others, pondering about the do's and don't's and the ethics of engagement.  DoD is populated by a bunch of political scientists these days, while DND (the maple version of DoD) killed their engagement program, the Security and Defence Forum, and then started a new one, Mobilizing Insights for Defence and Security or MINDS, that now funds nine networks on a range of topics.  We built the Canadian Defence and Security Network to foster greater engagement among the different parts of Canada's defence and security community, and after four years, I think we have been quite successful.Of course, the question is whether policy-types listen to the academics or are they just checking boxes?  Hard to tell ultimately, but I do know that two of Arbour's recommendations came from one academic, and she consulted many during her review.  I also know that crises provide opportunities for outsiders to engage, and, yes, the Canadian military has been crisis mode for at least two years.  Anecdata is just that, but I have found that folks in government do listen to our BattleRhythm podcast, as I get calls when I say stuff that is out of date.   Tenure is also in the news, as GOP-dominated state legislatures are attempting to wipe out tenure in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and elsewhere.  People have always doubted whether the academic freedom that tenure was designed to protect was actually protected and deployed.  That is, people wondered whether academics might be trained to be uncontroversial through the probation period which then sticks, that profs do not really need academic freedom because they never really make use of it.Dan Nexon commented on my first post, and it was most prescient:those who say that the "free speech" issue isn't so important anymore only think that because tenure has protected it for so long. Abolish tenure, and things will get ugly very, very quickly.Well, we may have a "natural experiment" where profs in GOP-dominated states will have different pressures/constraints to compare with those elsewhere.  Fukuyama was wondering if tenure caused stagnation as it reduced the incentives for profs to produce and to push.  He wasn't wondering about the punishment that may visited upon those who dare to dare.  Given how partisan, how ideological this current anti-tenure effort is, can we doubt at all that those in tenure-less places will have toe the line for fear of getting fired?  Just mentioning racism, which is an important topic in any number of history and social science classes, might be enough to get one fired, not to mention researching those in office right now who are white supremacists.  So, yeah, tenure is more relevant than ever, and the concern that it might cause some folks to become deadwood is far offset by the real threat of ideological conformity imposed by the far right that now dominates too many political systems (watch out, Albertan profs, you may be next).  Finally, one of the themes of that first post was that I was originally miffed about folks generalizing about profs, but then I realized I am a professional generalizer.  I take ideas that I know well and apply them all over the place, to see what is common and what is not so common.  The funny thing is that I have recently taken umbrage at generalizations hurled at my kind--that some folks question the integrity of profs because they engage the policy community and even take money from the government, gasp!  As a good prof, I should be less concerned about folks thinking critically of my kind and more concerned with them doing the work as they criticize. That is, read our stuff and judge then if we are shills for whoever.  I do have 14 years of stuff right here.  Of course, some might think that this is a Steve Bannon-esque strategy of flooding the zone with shit.  Maybe? There are many things people don't understand about professors, but two of them are:a)  we don't pocket grant money--we use it to pay for research assistants (students), travel, access to data, equipment/software, and the like.b) we spend our entire careers being criticized--the most valued publications are those that go through peer review, and peer review is often pretty brutal.  So, we tend to develop thick skins, as rejection is inherent in our enterprise, as I keep saying (I am 0 for 2 this spring in sabbatical fellowship applications, waiting to hear about a third).  Of course, those are two generalizations that are mostly true but not always.  I hate when folks question my integrity, that kind of criticism does rankle.  So, my skin is not always as thick as I would like.  I am also easy trolled.  But that is a topic for another day.  Perhaps before the next anniversary.One last thing: even though I have been doing this for fourteen years, I am always a bit surprised that people read my musings here.  The typos in many posts should remind folks that this outlet is for the half-baked.  The spew is only semi-finished.  Which may be for the best as my mistakes and my omissions have led to lots of interesting conversations.  Thanks for reading and engaging me.  While this thing may have started out as narcissism--my ideas are really important--this blog has really helped me engage my curiosity, learning much stuff along the way. 

The instrumental use of Muslim women's experiences as a symbol and justification for Western countries interventions is not a new business and was not employed for the first time in the post September 11th "war on terror" campaigns. Indeed, the production of stereotypes of Muslim women in political platforms can be tracked back to different colonial enterprises. Clearly, as Lughod (2002) has highlighted, the consistent resort to a cultural framing through the equation women/religion/suffering has always been a tool to hide political and economic interests and consequently to bury more complex political and historical developments. In the academic sphere, debates on Muslim women also widened. However, as Lila Abu-Lughod (2002) contended, the efforts were almost put solely on denouncing the great violent and oppressive contexts where those women were living under the barbaric violations perpetrated to them by Islamist movements. Otherwise, if a scholar tried to problematize the cultural framing of Muslim women's questions, she (or he) would very likely be accused of cultural relativism (Lughod, 2002).
Therefore, a sole and unproblematic focus on the suffering of Muslim women is not only futile, but also contributes to reify the old Orientalist perceptions on Islam and Muslim women, and to provide intellectual foundations for Western imperialist wars. The objective of this article, on the contrary, is to raise another set of questions, which I believe to be more urgent. These questions aim at both unpacking Muslim women as a discursive category, and understanding the major challenges their experiences impose on secular feminist conceptions of agency. I contend that addressing these questions is more urgent for different reasons. Firstly, I argue vigorously that apart from the obsessive and somehow blind criticism that religion is inherently patriarchal and consequently oppressive to women, scholarship especially from within feminist theory remained oblivious to a more systematic and self-reflexive engagement with religion and Muslim women. In addition, I argue that surprisingly, even in a period of post-Orientalist deconstruction, which supposedly would have already dismissed those essentialist and repressive accounts of Muslim women and Islam, subtle but very important remnants can still be found on the so called "corrective" postcolonial feminist scholarship on Muslim women.
Indeed, there is a plurality of work on Muslim women in the social sciences. However, they are scattered and apparently separated by their own agendas and claims, with very few attempts at dialogue or debate. Hence, a systematic account of this diversity has been missing, one which could provide an up to date appraisal of the state of scholarship and activism on Muslim women, and build a firm foundation for advancing knowledge both of the subject itself and on interdisciplinary efforts like the one I advance here. Therefore, while doing a systematic and critical literature review, oriented specifically by an interdisciplinary approach, I expect this article to fill part of this gap and raise crucial questions in order to build knowledge of the intersection between Muslim women's studies and feminist theory. It is here where more research is certainly needed in order to reduce the gulf that exists between both areas.
The introduction of this article outlines briefly the ways through which Muslim women have been approached as a discursive category, constructing stereotypes of Muslim women in political platforms, as well as on the academic stage. Politically, the production of stereotypes can be tracked back to different colonial enterprises and more recently to the interventions by Western countries that comprised the "war on terror" campaign. On the academic stage, these stereotypes were reproduced in the sole efforts to denounce the great violent and oppressive contexts where those women are living, as previously mentioned.
The first section is concerned with the exclusion of religion and more specifically of Muslim women's experiences from history and feminist knowledge production, including IR feminist studies. I acknowledge that the ontological and epistemological openness in feminist and gender studies in international relations and other areas ensured the recognition of the existence of differences and of multiple "layers" of identities which affect sexed bodies in distinct ways. These were crucial to challenge Eurocentric narratives as the only legitimate source of knowledge production. However, I put forward in this section that despite a greater plurality in feminist studies, there is still a silence from feminist theorists regarding religious women's experiences, and hence, the importance of religion to women (Salem, 2013). Using the work of Phyllis Mack (2003) I argue that one of the reasons for this gap resides in the metanarrative of secularization, which is the basis of secular feminist scholarship. Within this analytical framework, I analyse how the conceptions of agency and emancipation underlying the different strands of secular feminism are limiting to the different voices and experiences of Muslim women.
The second section addresses the challenges Islamic feminism imposes to feminist notions of agency. As religion is seen as inherently patriarchal and oppressive to women, Islamic feminism or any other effort to pursue gender equality from within an Islamic framework would be taken as contradictory or incompatible. By locating the struggle within a religious framework, and at the same time claiming for the existence of what seems to be the untouchable foundations of Islam, Islamic feminists are cast away from secular feminisms. I argue that those experiences of activists and scholars make serious challenges to the notions of agency based on rationality and secularity as the only pillars whereby women can struggle for and reach gender equality. As a result, Islamic feminism(s)'s experiences also help to unsettle and complicate some binaries which feminist theory has been contributing to reify, such as secular/spiritual; reason/obscurantism; science/religion; freedom/oppression; modern/backward.
In the third section, the article discusses some of the piety women's movements anchored on Saba Mahmood's work on pietistic agency, firstly in order to highlight the inability of most feminist scholarship in capturing the diversity of Muslim women's voices; second to denounce the perilous nature of encapsulating women's agency solely within "the entelechy of liberatory politics". These movements advance very different agendas and orientations from the Islamic feminist ones. Those agendas are precisely what denounce the subtle but very important remnants of Orientalist assumptions, particularly its adherence to secular-liberal values, and the teleological conceptions of modernity (Lakhani, 2008).
I conclude the article arguing that rather than neglecting the important achievements feminism promoted in the lives of women in different parts of the world, the main intention of this work was to provincialize (to borrow the expression from Chakrabarty) the secular and liberal accounts of agency, feminism, empowerment, freedom and so on, locating them in the historical, political and cultural context that produced the desires that animate them.

One of the important issues in the formation of a park environment is the identification of the human needs, which must be realized within the boundaries of this environment and which change under the influence of both personal and socio-cultural factors. The importance of studying the socio-cultural aspect is due to politics of memory, which is the object of scientific interest of a number of scientists, however, the state policy on in relation to the Soviet heritage in modern Ukraine has not yet become the subject of thorough scientific research. The objectives – to identify the role of socio-cultural aspect in the formation of requirements for the environment of park objects of different functional purpose. The study involved 60 people, aged 22 to 74 years. Identification of the influence of socio-cultural factor, in particular Soviet ideals, on the formation of requirements for the park environment necessitated the division of respondents into two age categories: young people – 22-34 years old (born after or shortly before the end of the Soviet period in Ukraine); people of ripe years - 46-74 years old (childhood, youth and / or middle age of whom passed during the Soviet Ukraine). A free associative experiment was applied in the study. The socio-cultural aspect in identifying the requirements for a city recreation park is traced in the proportion of respondents who noted the expediency of placing components of monumental and sculptural design. This fact may be a consequence of the socio-cultural influence of the Soviet concept of park space formation, aimed at the memorialization of revolutionary events, and from the second half of the twentieth century. - World War II, and which assumed the placement of monuments in almost every landscape object, which contributed to the creation of an appropriate association between the park environment and its monumental decoration. The features of the historic park environment have significant differences between age groups. Young people paid special attention to the need for historic plantations, while people of ripe years did not single out plant groups. The expediency of placing elements of monumental and sculptural decoration within the historic park (as well as the city park) is more noted on the part of people of ripe years. The most significant difference in the proportion of respondents who paid attention to a certain feature of the historic park environment as being important is the reflection of historical events, which was noted by 56.7% of young people and only by 21.1% of people of ripe age. Most of the respondents' attention is focused on the monumental and sculptural design, where, as in previous cases, the proportion of older respondents is greater than that of young people – 36.8% and 26.7%, respectively. All the respondents noted the need to place these components in the memorial park. An interesting aspect is the emphasis of both groups on the importance of matching the coloration of the park environment to with the theme of the park, which was not the case within the historic park. Both age categories are relatively unanimous in their discussions about the need for "thematic", "restraint" and "memorial" (embodiment of memory) environment of the memorial park. However, the solemn nature of the park space is emphasized by 26.3% of people of ripe years and only by 10% of young people, which may also be evidence of the influence of the principles of organization of memorial parks that dominated in Soviet Ukraine. The main needs within the park environment of respondents of all age categories are signs of physical comfort, in the second place is the need for self-identification, in particular ethnic, regional and socio-cultural. The city's recreational park for young people is an object of communication at the level of everyday communication and representation of the cultural heritage of the society. For older respondents, the attractiveness and functionality of the park environment is a priority after comfort. A dominant conscious need within the historic and memorial parks for people of ripe years is to preserve cultural heritage, and for young people - to obtain information about historical events. ; Дослідження фокусуються довкола людини як суб'єкта сприйняття паркового середовища, яке змінюється із плином часу під дією соціокультурних чинників та спрямовані на виявлення вимог респондентів різних вікових категорій до паркового середовища різного функціонального призначення (історичного, меморіального, міського парку відпочинку). Для проведення дослідження було залучено 60 осіб, віком від 22 до 74 років. Виявлення впливу соціокультурного чинника, зокрема радянських ідеалів на формування вимог до паркового середовища зумовило необхідність розподілу респондентів на дві вікові категорії: молоді люди – 22-34 роки (народилися після або незадовго до закінчення радянського періоду історії України); зрілі люди – 46-74 роки (дитинство, юність та/або середні роки пройшли за часів Радянської України). Встановлено, що основною вимогою до міського парку відпочинку є комфорт рекреації незалежно від віку респондентів. Для молодих людей міський парк відпочинку є важливим об'єктом комунікації, як на рівні повсякденного спілкування, так і об'єктом культурного надбання соціуму, для зрілих – пріоритетним, після комфорту, є привабливість та функціональність території. Наявність національних прикмет у межах міського парку відпочинку важлива для однакової частки (близько 11%) респондентів обох вікових категорій. Для меморіального та історичного парку важливими є інформативні функції паркового середовища, однак шляхи забезпечення останньої відрізняються відповідно до вікової категорії. У зрілих людей це, насамперед, матеріальні компоненти культурної спадщини, у молодих – інформаційні якості паркового середовища. ; Дослідження фокусуються довкола людини як суб'єкта сприйняття паркового середовища, яке змінюється із плином часу під дією соціокультурних чинників та спрямовані на виявлення вимог респондентів різних вікових категорій до паркового середовища різного функціонального призначення (історичного, меморіального, міського парку відпочинку). Для проведення дослідження було залучено 60 осіб, віком від 22 до 74 років. Виявлення впливу соціокультурного чинника, зокрема радянських ідеалів на формування вимог до паркового середовища зумовило необхідність розподілу респондентів на дві вікові категорії: молоді люди – 22-34 роки (народилися після або незадовго до закінчення радянського періоду історії України); зрілі люди – 46-74 роки (дитинство, юність та/або середні роки пройшли за часів Радянської України). Встановлено, що основною вимогою до міського парку відпочинку є комфорт рекреації незалежно від віку респондентів. Для молодих людей міський парк відпочинку є важливим об'єктом комунікації, як на рівні повсякденного спілкування, так і об'єктом культурного надбання соціуму, для зрілих – пріоритетним, після комфорту, є привабливість та функціональність території. Наявність національних прикмет у межах міського парку відпочинку важлива для однакової частки (близько 11%) респондентів обох вікових категорій. Для меморіального та історичного парку важливими є інформативні функції паркового середовища, однак шляхи забезпечення останньої відрізняються відповідно до вікової категорії. У зрілих людей це, насамперед, матеріальні компоненти культурної спадщини, у молодих – інформаційні якості паркового середовища.

Uno de los rasgos más notables de la época de la globalización, es, sin duda, el lugar central que ocupa la memoria en la cultura y la política de las sociedades occidentales. En efecto, a partir de las dos últimas décadas del siglo XX ha surgido una, casi obsesiva, preocupación por el pasado y, particularmente, por la memoria de los hechos histórico traumáticos. Tal fenómeno puede atribuirse, entre otras explicaciones, a que el mundo global, surgido del final de la guerra fría, a despecho de las optimistas primeras especulaciones, resultó un escenario violento, de genocidios, conflictos étnicos, nacionales y religiosos. De este modo, los principales protagonistas de la historia reciente pasaron a ser los emigrados, refugiados, genocidas, víctimas y victimarios y, tal como lo plantea Andreas Huyssen, el Holocausto se ha convertido en la matriz interpretativa universal de los hechos de violencia masiva (Huyssen, 2002, p. 13-22). Por otro lado, y relacionado con lo anterior, ha surgido un renovado interés por la memoria y la justicia sobre los criminales del nazismo. En este proceso, el cine ha tenido un papel relevante a través de un considerable número de películas de ficción y documentales que retomaron con asiduidad el tema, a partir la década 80, profusión que contrasta con la etapa anterior. Según nuestra hipótesis, así como el Holocausto se convirtió en un tropos universal a la hora de explicar las grandes masacres y genocidios de la era actual, la cultura de la globalización volvió a la Shoá, formulando una fuerte crítica a toda la generación que siguió al evento –principales potencias, líderes políticos, instituciones– por haber sacrificado el pasado en función del presente y del futuro y haber consagrado el olvido, el silencio y la impunidad, durante varias décadas. Dentro de este contexto de revisión del pasado nacionalsocialista y la preocupación por la justicia en relación con los perpetradores del que participa, notablemente, el cine, el presente trabajo se ocupará del filme Laberinto de mentiras (Ricciarelli, 2014), de sus vínculos con el contexto histórico de producción y los nuevos significados que construye en torno a aquellos hechos traumáticos sucedidos al promediar el siglo anterior. Nuestro enfoque considera al cine como fuente de la historia, en el sentido que da cuenta del contexto histórico en el que surge, sus preocupaciones, sus discursos (Ferró, 1995) y, por otra parte, apunta al análisis de sus representaciones para detenerse en los nuevos sentidos que le atribuye a ese pasado (Rosenstone, 1997). ; One of the most remarkable features of the era of globalization is, without doubt, the central place that memory occupies in the culture and politics of Western societies. Indeed, since the last two decades of the 20th century, there has been an almost obsessive concern for the past and, particularly, for the memory of traumatic historical events. Such phenomenon can be attributed, among other explanations, to the fact that the global world, which emerged from the end of the Cold War, despite the optimistic first speculations, turned out to be a violent scenario, of genocides, ethnic, national and religious conflicts. In this way, the main protagonists of recent history were emigrants, refugees, genocide victims and perpetrators and, as Andreas Huyssen puts it, the Holocaust has become the universal interpretative matrix of the acts of mass violence (Huyssen, A., 2002, p. 13-22). On the other hand, and related to the above, there has been a renewed interest in memory and justice over the criminals of Nazism. In this process, the cinema has had a relevant role through a considerable number of fiction films and documentaries that took up, with assiduity the theme, from the 80s, a profusion that contrasts with the previous stage. According to our hypothesis, just as the Holocaust became a universal tropes in explaining the great massacres and genocides of the current era, the culture of globalization returned to the Shoah, formulating a strong criticism of the entire generation that followed the event–main powers, political leaders, institutions– for sacrificing the past in terms of the present and the future and having enshrined oblivion, silence and impunity, for several decades. Within this context of revision of the National Socialist past and the concern for justice in relation to the perpetrators, of which the cinema plays a significant role, the present work will deal with the film Labyrinth de Lies (Giulio Ricciarelli, 2014), of its links with the historical context of production and the new meanings it builds around those traumatic events that took place at the middle of the previous century. Our approach considers the cinema as a source of history, in the sense that it gives an account of the historical context in which it arises, its concerns, its discourses (Ferró, Marc, 1995) and, on the other hand, it aims at the analysis of its representations to stop at the new senses that attributes to that past (Rosenstone, R., 1997). ; Uma das características mais notáveis no tempo da globalização é, sem dúvida, o lugar central que ocupa a memória na cultura e nas políticas das sociedades ocidentais. Realmente, a partir das últimas duas décadas do século de XX surgiu um quase obsessivo interesse pelo passado e, particularmente, para a memória dos fatos históricos traumáticos. Esse fenômeno pode ser atribuído, entre outras explicações, a que o mundo global, surgido no fim da Guerra Fria, resultou um cenário violento, de genocídios, conflitos étnicos, nacionais e religiosos. Deste modo, os personagens principais da história recente se tornaram emigrados, refugiados, genocidas, vítimas e vitimadores e, como analisa Andreas Huyssen, o Holocausto se converteu na matriz interpretativa universal dos fatos de violência massiva (Huyssen, 2002, p. 13-22). Por outro lado, e em relação com o anterior, surgiu um renovado interesse pela memória e a justiça sobre os criminais do nazismo. Neste processo, o cinema teve um importante papel através de um número considerável de filmes de ficção e documentais que retomaram assiduamente o tema, a partir da década dos 80, profusão que contrasta com a etapa anterior. Segunda nossa hipótese, assim como o Holocausto se tornou um tropo universal à hora de explicar os grandes massacres e genocídios da era atual, a cultura da globalização voltou à Shoá, fazendo uma crítica forte a toda a geração que seguiu o evento –potências, líderes políticos, instituições– por ter sacrificado o passado em função do presente e do futuro, e ter consagrado o olvido, o silêncio e a impunidade durante várias décadas. Neste contexto de revisão do passado nacional-socialista e a preocupação pela justiça em relação com os perpetradores do qual participa notavelmente o cinema, este trabalho se ocupará do filme Labirinto de mentiras (Ricciarelli, 2014), dos seus vínculos com o contexto histórico de produção e os novos significados que constrói ao redor a aqueles fatos traumáticos que sucederam no século passado. Nosso enfoque considera ao cinema como fonte da história, no sentido que dá conta do contexto histórico no qual nasce, seus preocupações, seus discursos (Ferró, 1995), e, por outra parte, aponta à análise de suas representações para deter-se nos novos sentidos que atribui a esse passado (Rosenstone, 1997).

Vadym Illenko's creative work as a cinematographer and director was not yet considered in detail aside a few publications, including those that consider his early works as film director. Vadym Illenko's filmography can be chronologically divided into several periods, which correspond to the periodization of Ukrainian cinema. The first, Thaw period was very intense for his creative output; it included seven films which Vadym Illenko has shot as a cinematographer (Journey to Youth, Simple Thing, Military Secret, Coming to You, Oleksa Dovbush, Chasing Two Hares, Only Statues Keep Silence), as well as two films he directed (Veronika's Return, Southern Cross is Above Us). During this period, thanks to the cultural politics of the Thaw, the film industry was growing and new fresh forces entered cinema. The Thaw films often portrayed romantic persons as main characters; this was the case of Vadym Illenko's directorial debut. This film affirms such traits as nobleness, selflessness, and sympathizes with the characters that are ready to prefer the uncomfortable conditions of life for the sake of moral comfort. In other words, this film fits to the ethos of the Thaw. Soviet cinema of 1950s was eager to address the topics of underdeveloped areas, and Vadym Illenko's creative biography illustrates this trend. His films of the period featured adventures of alpinists, mysterious fortress in Crimea, marine rescue ship, virgin land, Antarctica. Vadym Illenko also took part in creating the most popular Ukrainian comedy of this period - Chasing Two Hares.The central for the second period of Vadym Illenko's creative biography was the work on the film The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, which testified his innovative approach to cinematography. Particularly important was the complicated search for color chord, which was achieved only due to professional obsession of cinematographer. Vadym Illenko's camera work in this film can be treated as an anthology of the best accomplishments of Ukrainian school of cinematography and is equal to the attainments of the world cinematography. The successful formal experiment was facilitated by the late Thaw, which was relatively prolonged in Ukraine. Yet, Vadym Illenko also made completely different kind of cinematography in films Postal Romance, White Bashlyk, as well as in his directorial work Cuckoo with Diploma.The third period (There Far, Beyond the River…, Feast of Backed Potato, School and others) was a period of Stagnation when there was a great pressure to make ideologically correct films which generally were deprived of any artistic merits.The fourth period (Ivan A., directorial work Pass it Over…) belongs to Perestroyka time with its creative freedom and possibility of realize long nurtured projects.Finally, during Independencetime Vadym Illenko worked as cinematographer on the film Hetman's Gems directed by Leonid Osyka (based on the novella Whirlpool, 1993, by Bohdan Lepky). This film is the last work of talented filmmaker Leonid Osyka. It depicts the period of Ruin, whenUkraine due to the internal squabbles was losing its power and statehood achieved during Bohdan Khmelnytsky's time. The cause of the squabbles, according to the authors, laid in the inability of every individual person to see beyond its private interests, in individualism which excludes love to the near ones and wider state interests.In 1991 Vadym Illenko co-authored screen play, directed and made cinematography of his best film The Last Bunker. The film revisited the events of Soviet time from the new perspective, which is free of the ideology enforced by the Communist Party. This film was an adaptation of the novella In Front of Tribunal by Leonid Borodin, based on the real story told to the author during his imprisonment in Soviet labor camp in 1960s. The internal struggle and moral opposition among perpetrators of Soviet repressive state apparatus faded onto background in the film. National resistance against Russian perpetrators was foregrounded. Vadym Illenko's film reveals the ways of criminal conduct Russian perpetrators, for example, how they kill Ukrainian intelligentsia while dressed as representatives of Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The film shows the war after the war, and the struggle between the unequal forces: a powerful, efficient repressive apparatus of NKVD-MVD on one side, and a national resistance to Russian occupation inWestern Ukraine on the other. Vadym Illenko made everything to stay true to the harsh reality of that struggle. There are no open battles in the film; the armed struggle was not possible by 1947. The struggle was conducted as an underground terror, UPA warriors were destroying representatives of NKVD-MVD and their collaborators; and in the film this is shown from point of view of the latter. The film exposes slyness and perfidy of experienced captain Shytov, who is ready to sacrifice the local population and even his colleagues in the sake of his career.The last work on Vadym Illenko's filmography is an adaptation of the novel Helli and Nock by Olaksander Granin. Vadym Illenko turned to the work of romantic writer in the pragmatic time proving that the person with realistic and sober thinking was able to contain the trust in strong and pure hearts.For a long time Vadym Illenko stayed in the shadow of his brother, Yuri Illenko, an ambitious and successful director and cinematographer, a prizewinner of international festivals. Yet, Vadym Illenko also experienced a moment of success. It happened during the 1990s, the disadvantageous period for film production that almost halted in Ukraineand in the whole Post-Soviet space. During this time the comedy Chasing Two Hares, which Vadym Illenko shoot as a director of photography, became extremely popular.Vadym Illenko was highly prized for his professional qualities and reliability, which he proved from the very beginning of his career in the second half of 1950s. He successfully shot films in extreme circumstances, for example such films as Journey to Youth and Oleksa Dovbush. Vadym Illenko's cinematography exposes a wide pallet, yet his work is recognizable. He always inspires optimism with the help of visual means; he always tries to give chance to the characters to improve the drawbacks. When human impasse and repentance is shown, as in the film Nonsense based on Chekhov's story, there is a prospect for hope opened in the field of vision. Vadym Illenko didn't overaccentuate violence in the films which displayed cruelty; he was able to relate such episodes to the environment, which affirmed universals and eternity of existence. As a director Vadym Illenko tended to assert his trust in humanity, indestructability of goodness. Vadym Illenko affirmed eternal values even when he shot the ironic, sparkling comedy Chasing Two Hares. Vadym Illenko was considered as an authority, yet he was a humble person. He never flaunted his professional abilities preferring to prove them in his work. ; Постановочно-складні, експериментальні й жанрові фільми українського кіно радянських часів кінооператор Вадим Іллєнко знімав, маючи репутацію високого професіонала і людини, цілком відданої своїй справі, що і поєднувало все зняте ним. І якби він зняв усього два фільми — «За двома зайцями» та «Вечір на Івана Купала» — його ім'я увійшло б в історію українського кіно. Він же зняв дев'ятнадцять. А крім того, поставив шість картин як кінорежисер, серед яких пальма першості належить стрічці «Останній бункер». Аналіз операторського і режисерського спадку майстра і становить зміст статті.

Vadym Illenko's creative work as a cinematographer and director was not yet considered in detail aside a few publications, including those that consider his early works as film director. Vadym Illenko's filmography can be chronologically divided into several periods, which correspond to the periodization of Ukrainian cinema. The first, Thaw period was very intense for his creative output; it included seven films which Vadym Illenko has shot as a cinematographer (Journey to Youth, Simple Thing, Military Secret, Coming to You, Oleksa Dovbush, Chasing Two Hares, Only Statues Keep Silence), as well as two films he directed (Veronika's Return, Southern Cross is Above Us). During this period, thanks to the cultural politics of the Thaw, the film industry was growing and new fresh forces entered cinema. The Thaw films often portrayed romantic persons as main characters; this was the case of Vadym Illenko's directorial debut. This film affirms such traits as nobleness, selflessness, and sympathizes with the characters that are ready to prefer the uncomfortable conditions of life for the sake of moral comfort. In other words, this film fits to the ethos of the Thaw. Soviet cinema of 1950s was eager to address the topics of underdeveloped areas, and Vadym Illenko's creative biography illustrates this trend. His films of the period featured adventures of alpinists, mysterious fortress in Crimea, marine rescue ship, virgin land, Antarctica. Vadym Illenko also took part in creating the most popular Ukrainian comedy of this period - Chasing Two Hares.The central for the second period of Vadym Illenko's creative biography was the work on the film The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, which testified his innovative approach to cinematography. Particularly important was the complicated search for color chord, which was achieved only due to professional obsession of cinematographer. Vadym Illenko's camera work in this film can be treated as an anthology of the best accomplishments of Ukrainian school of cinematography and is equal to the attainments of the world cinematography. The successful formal experiment was facilitated by the late Thaw, which was relatively prolonged in Ukraine. Yet, Vadym Illenko also made completely different kind of cinematography in films Postal Romance, White Bashlyk, as well as in his directorial work Cuckoo with Diploma.The third period (There Far, Beyond the River…, Feast of Backed Potato, School and others) was a period of Stagnation when there was a great pressure to make ideologically correct films which generally were deprived of any artistic merits.The fourth period (Ivan A., directorial work Pass it Over…) belongs to Perestroyka time with its creative freedom and possibility of realize long nurtured projects.Finally, during Independencetime Vadym Illenko worked as cinematographer on the film Hetman's Gems directed by Leonid Osyka (based on the novella Whirlpool, 1993, by Bohdan Lepky). This film is the last work of talented filmmaker Leonid Osyka. It depicts the period of Ruin, whenUkraine due to the internal squabbles was losing its power and statehood achieved during Bohdan Khmelnytsky's time. The cause of the squabbles, according to the authors, laid in the inability of every individual person to see beyond its private interests, in individualism which excludes love to the near ones and wider state interests.In 1991 Vadym Illenko co-authored screen play, directed and made cinematography of his best film The Last Bunker. The film revisited the events of Soviet time from the new perspective, which is free of the ideology enforced by the Communist Party. This film was an adaptation of the novella In Front of Tribunal by Leonid Borodin, based on the real story told to the author during his imprisonment in Soviet labor camp in 1960s. The internal struggle and moral opposition among perpetrators of Soviet repressive state apparatus faded onto background in the film. National resistance against Russian perpetrators was foregrounded. Vadym Illenko's film reveals the ways of criminal conduct Russian perpetrators, for example, how they kill Ukrainian intelligentsia while dressed as representatives of Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The film shows the war after the war, and the struggle between the unequal forces: a powerful, efficient repressive apparatus of NKVD-MVD on one side, and a national resistance to Russian occupation inWestern Ukraine on the other. Vadym Illenko made everything to stay true to the harsh reality of that struggle. There are no open battles in the film; the armed struggle was not possible by 1947. The struggle was conducted as an underground terror, UPA warriors were destroying representatives of NKVD-MVD and their collaborators; and in the film this is shown from point of view of the latter. The film exposes slyness and perfidy of experienced captain Shytov, who is ready to sacrifice the local population and even his colleagues in the sake of his career.The last work on Vadym Illenko's filmography is an adaptation of the novel Helli and Nock by Olaksander Granin. Vadym Illenko turned to the work of romantic writer in the pragmatic time proving that the person with realistic and sober thinking was able to contain the trust in strong and pure hearts.For a long time Vadym Illenko stayed in the shadow of his brother, Yuri Illenko, an ambitious and successful director and cinematographer, a prizewinner of international festivals. Yet, Vadym Illenko also experienced a moment of success. It happened during the 1990s, the disadvantageous period for film production that almost halted in Ukraineand in the whole Post-Soviet space. During this time the comedy Chasing Two Hares, which Vadym Illenko shoot as a director of photography, became extremely popular.Vadym Illenko was highly prized for his professional qualities and reliability, which he proved from the very beginning of his career in the second half of 1950s. He successfully shot films in extreme circumstances, for example such films as Journey to Youth and Oleksa Dovbush. Vadym Illenko's cinematography exposes a wide pallet, yet his work is recognizable. He always inspires optimism with the help of visual means; he always tries to give chance to the characters to improve the drawbacks. When human impasse and repentance is shown, as in the film Nonsense based on Chekhov's story, there is a prospect for hope opened in the field of vision. Vadym Illenko didn't overaccentuate violence in the films which displayed cruelty; he was able to relate such episodes to the environment, which affirmed universals and eternity of existence. As a director Vadym Illenko tended to assert his trust in humanity, indestructability of goodness. Vadym Illenko affirmed eternal values even when he shot the ironic, sparkling comedy Chasing Two Hares. Vadym Illenko was considered as an authority, yet he was a humble person. He never flaunted his professional abilities preferring to prove them in his work. ; Постановочно-складні, експериментальні й жанрові фільми українського кіно радянських часів кінооператор Вадим Іллєнко знімав, маючи репутацію високого професіонала і людини, цілком відданої своїй справі, що і поєднувало все зняте ним. І якби він зняв усього два фільми — «За двома зайцями» та «Вечір на Івана Купала» — його ім'я увійшло б в історію українського кіно. Він же зняв дев'ятнадцять. А крім того, поставив шість картин як кінорежисер, серед яких пальма першості належить стрічці «Останній бункер». Аналіз операторського і режисерського спадку майстра і становить зміст статті.

Uno de los rasgos más notables de la época de la globalización, es, sin duda, el lugar central que ocupa la memoria en la cultura y la política de las sociedades occidentales. En efecto, a partir de las dos últimas décadas del siglo XX ha surgido una, casi obsesiva, preocupación por el pasado y, particularmente, por la memoria de los hechos histórico traumáticos. Tal fenómeno puede atribuirse, entre otras explicaciones, a que el mundo global, surgido del final de la guerra fría, a despecho de las optimistas primeras especulaciones, resultó un escenario violento, de genocidios, conflictos étnicos, nacionales y religiosos. De este modo, los principales protagonistas de la historia reciente pasaron a ser los emigrados, refugiados, genocidas, víctimas y victimarios y, tal como lo plantea Andreas Huyssen, el Holocausto se ha convertido en la matriz interpretativa universal de los hechos de violencia masiva (Huyssen, 2002, p. 13-22). Por otro lado, y relacionado con lo anterior, ha surgido un renovado interés por la memoria y la justicia sobre los criminales del nazismo. En este proceso, el cine ha tenido un papel relevante a través de un considerable número de películas de ficción y documentales que retomaron con asiduidad el tema, a partir la década 80, profusión que contrasta con la etapa anterior. Según nuestra hipótesis, así como el Holocausto se convirtió en un tropos universal a la hora de explicar las grandes masacres y genocidios de la era actual, la cultura de la globalización volvió a la Shoá, formulando una fuerte crítica a toda la generación que siguió al evento –principales potencias, líderes políticos, instituciones– por haber sacrificado el pasado en función del presente y del futuro y haber consagrado el olvido, el silencio y la impunidad, durante varias décadas. Dentro de este contexto de revisión del pasado nacionalsocialista y la preocupación por la justicia en relación con los perpetradores del que participa, notablemente, el cine, el presente trabajo se ocupará del filme Laberinto de mentiras (Ricciarelli, 2014), de sus vínculos con el contexto histórico de producción y los nuevos significados que construye en torno a aquellos hechos traumáticos sucedidos al promediar el siglo anterior. Nuestro enfoque considera al cine como fuente de la historia, en el sentido que da cuenta del contexto histórico en el que surge, sus preocupaciones, sus discursos (Ferró, 1995) y, por otra parte, apunta al análisis de sus representaciones para detenerse en los nuevos sentidos que le atribuye a ese pasado (Rosenstone, 1997). ; One of the most remarkable features of the era of globalization is, without doubt, the central place that memory occupies in the culture and politics of Western societies. Indeed, since the last two decades of the 20th century, there has been an almost obsessive concern for the past and, particularly, for the memory of traumatic historical events. Such phenomenon can be attributed, among other explanations, to the fact that the global world, which emerged from the end of the Cold War, despite the optimistic first speculations, turned out to be a violent scenario, of genocides, ethnic, national and religious conflicts. In this way, the main protagonists of recent history were emigrants, refugees, genocide victims and perpetrators and, as Andreas Huyssen puts it, the Holocaust has become the universal interpretative matrix of the acts of mass violence (Huyssen, A., 2002, p. 13-22). On the other hand, and related to the above, there has been a renewed interest in memory and justice over the criminals of Nazism. In this process, the cinema has had a relevant role through a considerable number of fiction films and documentaries that took up, with assiduity the theme, from the 80s, a profusion that contrasts with the previous stage. According to our hypothesis, just as the Holocaust became a universal tropes in explaining the great massacres and genocides of the current era, the culture of globalization returned to the Shoah, formulating a strong criticism of the entire generation that followed the event–main powers, political leaders, institutions– for sacrificing the past in terms of the present and the future and having enshrined oblivion, silence and impunity, for several decades. Within this context of revision of the National Socialist past and the concern for justice in relation to the perpetrators, of which the cinema plays a significant role, the present work will deal with the film Labyrinth de Lies (Giulio Ricciarelli, 2014), of its links with the historical context of production and the new meanings it builds around those traumatic events that took place at the middle of the previous century. Our approach considers the cinema as a source of history, in the sense that it gives an account of the historical context in which it arises, its concerns, its discourses (Ferró, Marc, 1995) and, on the other hand, it aims at the analysis of its representations to stop at the new senses that attributes to that past (Rosenstone, R., 1997). ; Uma das características mais notáveis no tempo da globalização é, sem dúvida, o lugar central que ocupa a memória na cultura e nas políticas das sociedades ocidentais. Realmente, a partir das últimas duas décadas do século de XX surgiu um quase obsessivo interesse pelo passado e, particularmente, para a memória dos fatos históricos traumáticos. Esse fenômeno pode ser atribuído, entre outras explicações, a que o mundo global, surgido no fim da Guerra Fria, resultou um cenário violento, de genocídios, conflitos étnicos, nacionais e religiosos. Deste modo, os personagens principais da história recente se tornaram emigrados, refugiados, genocidas, vítimas e vitimadores e, como analisa Andreas Huyssen, o Holocausto se converteu na matriz interpretativa universal dos fatos de violência massiva (Huyssen, 2002, p. 13-22). Por outro lado, e em relação com o anterior, surgiu um renovado interesse pela memória e a justiça sobre os criminais do nazismo. Neste processo, o cinema teve um importante papel através de um número considerável de filmes de ficção e documentais que retomaram assiduamente o tema, a partir da década dos 80, profusão que contrasta com a etapa anterior. Segunda nossa hipótese, assim como o Holocausto se tornou um tropo universal à hora de explicar os grandes massacres e genocídios da era atual, a cultura da globalização voltou à Shoá, fazendo uma crítica forte a toda a geração que seguiu o evento –potências, líderes políticos, instituições– por ter sacrificado o passado em função do presente e do futuro, e ter consagrado o olvido, o silêncio e a impunidade durante várias décadas. Neste contexto de revisão do passado nacional-socialista e a preocupação pela justiça em relação com os perpetradores do qual participa notavelmente o cinema, este trabalho se ocupará do filme Labirinto de mentiras (Ricciarelli, 2014), dos seus vínculos com o contexto histórico de produção e os novos significados que constrói ao redor a aqueles fatos traumáticos que sucederam no século passado. Nosso enfoque considera ao cinema como fonte da história, no sentido que dá conta do contexto histórico no qual nasce, seus preocupações, seus discursos (Ferró, 1995), e, por outra parte, aponta à análise de suas representações para deter-se nos novos sentidos que atribui a esse passado (Rosenstone, 1997).