Speaking the Truth to the Power of the Presidency

Abstract

Instead of focusing on what characteristics the next president of the United States should have, we need to focus on the institutional realities of the presidency. Those realities consistently reflect a system dedicated to maintaining the dominance of the United States through economic and military power, and maintaining the ruling elite's control of economic and political power in this country. Persons committed to the practice of the Gospel, especially in solidarity with the poor, must name, confront and resist those institutional and cultural realities. This truth-telling can take many forms, such as life in community with the poor, public speaking, preaching, writing, demonstrations, civil disobedience, and some involvement in electoral politics. All of these will be informed by a realism that struggles faithfully without placing undue hope on presidential politics.     

On the association between the QBO and the extratropical stratosphere

Although diagnostic studies and mechanistic model experiments have found that, on average, the polar vortex in northern winter is stronger and colder in the west than in the east years of the equatorial Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO), we show with an expanded data base that the results are not statistically significant. The reason for the insignificance is that in 36% of the winters (13 out of 36) the vortex was warm and weak in the west, and cold and strong in the east years. Only at low activity in the 11-yr solar cycle did the difference between the west (cold) and the east (warm) years become statistically significant. At high solar activity the west years had a warm and the east years a cold polar vortex in the mean. We show this association with the 11-yr solar cycle also in terms of the geostrophic wind.     

试论元朝中央政府对畏兀儿地区的统治

章依据元代畏兀儿书及汉史籍探索元朝政府治理畏兀儿地区的措施,考述其在畏兀儿地区的行政建设以及亦都护地方政权的性质与职掌。认为蒙元政府对其所统辖的畏兀儿社会的间接军事行政统治,乃是通过自上而下的蒙古制度与自下而上的当地制度之间相互交叉渗透的结合而实现的。     

元《庆元儒学洋山砂岸复业公据》碑考辨

《庆元儒学洋山砂岸复业公据》碑是目前发现存世的仅有的一例附有八思巴字元代公据碑。本文在释录碑文的基础上,通过对宋末元初庆元路儒学对位于昌国州的洋山砂岸被侵占所提起的二次诉讼案及相关人物的考察,试图揭示元代赡学砂岸被占的实质,以起补史、证史之作用。同时,作为一例完整个案,为元代司法、儒学等方面的研究提供第一手史料。     

On the Causes of the Extinction of Some Animals at the end of the Pleistocene

A mathematical theory is developed to demonstrate the disputed hypothesis that hunting tribes of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe did play a decisive role in bringing about the extinction of the mammoth and other large herbivorous animals at the end of the Pleistocene. Formulas for the periods of time during which hunting did not greatly affect animal numbers and during which the numbers declined to zero are used to show that mammoth numbers remained relatively stable during most of the Upper Paleolithic (a period of 10,000 to 25,000 years) and then dropped rapidly within a few centuries to complete extinction. The theory is used to explain why only the largest animals became extinct and why elephants continued to survive in tropical areas while the mammoth vanished in the north.     

试论大革命时期苏联对国民二军的援助

国民二军,是20世纪20年代重要的军事集团.北京政变后,在苏联政府的大力援助下,国民二军获得迅猛发展.它的发展壮大,不仅直接打击了北洋军阀的统治,使河南和陕西境内的革命运动迅速高涨,为国民军经营西北打下基础,同时也有力地配合了南方巩固革命政权的军事行动.     

从晚清汉学区域之发展看汉宋调和

汉宋调和是晚清儒学内部重要的学术思潮,对其时学术格局的转化亦发生重要作用.这一思潮由微趋盛,从学术自身的发展过程来看,与汉学新兴区域在晚清的迅速扩展有着不容忽视的关系.汉学在晚清的发展不再以苏、皖、京师为限,浙江、广东等省成为新的学术重镇.这些汉学新兴发展区域由于特定的学术背景与学术渊源,学者们基本上都提倡汉宋调和,从而对晚清汉宋调和思潮的盛行起了极大推动作用.     

乾隆朝清宫十八罗汉唐卡名相解析

藏、汉两地佛教经典及佛学之传播,直承印度晚出之大乘佛学,但罗汉信仰却在两地佛教中均占一席之地,尤其是于汉藏两地家喻户晓的十六罗汉(后演绎成十八罗汉),不仅与佛和菩萨一样成为信徒崇拜的对象,而且以之为题材的绘塑作品更是广泛流传,及至帝廷内苑亦多有供奉收藏。清乾隆时期为安抚蒙藏势力而极力推崇藏传佛教,此信仰尤以宫中为盛,帝室庋藏、绘制及供奉有大量藏风浓郁的十六或十八罗汉唐卡组画,其名称、图像特征、排列顺序乃至绘画风格等与清官旧藏的内地各派罗汉图相比,同中存异。乾隆帝及藏传佛教大师们在对藏密佛像进行大规模系统化与规范化的同时,也涉及了汉藏两地十分流行的十六、十八罗汉,并在此基础上逐渐形成了具有乾隆时期清宫特色的十八罗汉图像标准。     

唐代扳指杯渊源考

在中国唐代金银器、陶瓷器中,扳指杯是引人注目的一类器物。本文在分析唐代扳指杯形制特征的基础上,结合国外资料,提出扳指杯源于罗马造型意匠,萨珊波斯、粟特等的扳指杯,在吸收罗马造型的基础上,形成了自身的一些特征;而中国扳指杯在造型上的细部差别,可能一方面反映了罗马意匠的扳指杯传入中国的不同途径和方式,另一方面反映着外来文化因素与中国传统造型艺术的和谐融合。     

《西域土地人物略》的最早、最好版本

本文认为 ,《西域土地人物略》是现存少数记述明代西域史地的历史文献之一 ,其所证地域最广 ,可信程度甚高 ,并反映了当时西域与中原的联系及其相互影响。但目前两种通行本不仅文字讹误歧异处甚多 ,而且体例亦不相同 ,学者不知所从。得其祖本嘉靖《陕西通志》本 ,通行本中的讹误歧异即可厘清。至其作者 ,当非汉人或穆斯林 ;作时当在宣德十年 ( 14 35)甚至成化十年 ( 14 74 )之后。     

北朝隋唐入华粟特人死亡观研究——以葬具图像的解读为主

Miho、青州和史君墓围屏石榻或石椁上直接表现丧葬仪式的图像,为我们了解和研究入华粟特人葬俗和死亡观提供了丰富的实物证据和图像资料。结合粟特故地、丝绸之路及其它入华粟特人墓葬的考古资料与中外历史、宗教文献记载,可以看出入华粟特人死亡观主要体现在以下四个方面:从犬视尸毒到事死如生;从善恶二元观到钦瓦特桥审判;圣火与善神崇拜;灵魂不死与天国享乐。     

极边、次边、近里：北宋西北边疆层级体系三级制界说

学界关于北宋西北边疆层级体系到底是二级制还是三级制存在分歧,并有许多不够明确的地方。本文认为,北宋边疆层级体系在西北、北方两个方向是由极边、次边、近里构成的三级制。其中,河东路与河北路由于与辽的关系比较和缓,三级制的层级体系相对稳定。陕西路与京东路由于有西夏的和战关系以及女真崛起等因素的影响,尽管仍实行三级制,但其层级体系存在或多或少的变动。总体而言,北宋西北边疆层级体系是一种基于纵深防御理论的边防体系。     

论明清之际东北边疆城镇的衰落

文章对明清时期东北边疆城镇兴衰过程进行了探讨。认为由于战略地位的重要和军事斗争的需要 ,明在辽东兴建了大批城镇 ,但至明清之际 ,因后金 (清 )采取了“毁城迁民”的政策 ,明代以来在辽东地区兴起的城镇遭到了毁灭性打击。至康熙中期 ,辽东城镇仍未恢复元气 ,其原因主要在于大量人口的外迁和清在东北实行封禁政策。     

The Association of the Lady and the Unicorn,and the Hunting Mythology of the Caucasus

Written evidence from the hunting folk literature of the Caucasus is presented together with the suggestion that the origin of the unicorn lies in hunting mythology and that remnants of it are to be seen in the figures in "The Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries in France.     

A history of the concept of the stimulus and the role it played in the neurosciences

The term stimulus, as it was used in science from its earliest appearance in the sixteenth century up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, shows a gradual progress in denotation from the physical object designed to produce nervous and muscular excitation to the generically conceived event or object that initiates sensory or motor activity. To this shift corresponds a shift in the understanding of sensory experience. Johannes Muller's law of specific energy of sensory nerves played a major role in the shift, and Hermann von Helmholtz gave the shift its most thorough philosophical explanation.     

A History of the Concept of the Stimulus and the Role it Played in the Neurosciences

The term stimulus, as it was used in science from its earliest appearance in the sixteenth century up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, shows a gradual progress in denotation from the physical object designed to produce nervous and muscular excitation to the generically conceived event or object that initiates sensory or motor activity. To this shift corresponds a shift in the understanding of sensory experience. Johannes Müller's law of specific energy of sensory nerves played a major role in the shift, and Hermann von Helmholtz gave the shift its most thorough philosophical explanation.     

新中国成立前后中财委恢复城乡交流的政策研究

建国前夕和建国初期,中财委在领导全国稳定物价和统一财经的工作中,通过贸易系统的恢复和商业资本的注入,复苏了被国民党政府及长年战争中断的城乡交流。随后,中财委在工商业调整中拟订了收购土产等政策并转交了城市经营方针,进一步推动了城乡交流的发展,使国内经济得以恢复,并为中国工业的发展提供了正确的发展方向和路径。回顾这段历史,对于我们统筹好当今的城乡关系具有重要的启示和借鉴意义。     

On the Diversion of the Vychegda and Pechora Rivers to the Basin of the Volga

The author of an economic geography of the Komi ASSR (1959) attempts to show that the present plan for the diversion of the Vychegda and Pechora rivers to the Volga basin would have an adverse effect on the economy of the Komi ASSR, particularly by flooding the limited amount of agricultural land available in the northern republic. Fisheries and shipping on the Pechora River would also suffer, in the opinion of the author. He proposes certain changes in the engineering aspects of the project to safeguard the northern economy. The changes would admittedly double the cost of the project.     

Losing the Forest but not the Stories in the Trees

In 1922, F.E. Williams began his first assignment as the Australian Territory of Papua's assistant government anthropologist in the Purari Delta. During this eight-month trip, Williams obtained information on daily life, social relations, material culture, as well as religious beliefs and practices. He collected ethnographic specimens, made sketches and took some 96 photographs and used 29 of these photographs in his 1924 monograph The Natives of the Purari Delta, a publication that subsequently came to define the area for Europeans. However, Williams obscured the culturally specific ways in which Purari histories were locally reproduced and understood. This essay highlights a long-term ethnographic trend by which communities of the Purari have been portrayed as without ‘history’ or as having only a rudimentary historical consciousness and suggests that, despite this ‘particular bundle of silences’, the Purari is not without ‘important stories’.     

Building the New Cultural Finland: the student magazine Ylioppilaslehti,the public sphere and the creation of the Finnish cultural elite in the post-war era

The Finnish student magazine Ylioppilaslehti has been an important publication in the Finnish public sphere. This article studies the role of Ylioppilaslehti in creating the Finnish public sphere in the post-war decades. On the one hand, this was a period in which the political position of Finland was unstable, but, on the other, the students experienced ‘a hunger for culture’. The article is also interested in what role Ylioppilaslehti played in creating the Finnish elite. The magazine is an institution, which has been an arena for the Finnish cultural and political elite throughout the 20th century, and the 1950s was a particularly significant period for its participation in the Finnish process of social construction.