We All Need A Hero

The national hero of Uruguay is José Gervasio Artigas Arnal, known as the the father of Uruguayan independence. He championed independence from Spain's centralized control in Buenos Aires, and eventually his work came to fruitation in the early 19th century.

In almost every city, there is a statue of him on his horse in a major plaza. There is a city named after him and an entire entire department (what we would call "state") in northern Uruguay. He also has bridges, airports, and schools (included the one I work at) named after him. The entire country is infatuated with Artigas.


Artigas was able to ascend to such a place of heroism because he represents military and political leadership without bipartisanship. He lived before the parties (traditionally the colorado and blanco parties) divided the political landscape of Uruguayan democracy.

I was trying to think of similar figures of national appeal in the United States and George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln were first ones to come to my mind. These men were not bipartisan figures in US history, and yet they each register as heros in our public memory for individuals of every political leaning. Interesting.

The Civil War Recreated

This weekend in Shippensburg is March to Destiny, an annunal event that recreates the history of the civil war. I wanted to see what this whole reenactment thing was all about so I went to a live "skirmish" today. Men (and a few women) dressed in uniforms reminicent of 1863 took the streets with period equipment. They battled down King Street lining up and shooting their guns, practicing all the tactics they would have actually used during the civil war.


I have never seen anything quite like this before. It was educational to say the least. The shots were so loud, the cannon ones especially. My favorite part was when a soldier got wounded or killed. They fell in the street and men stepped over him until someone came (eventually) to drag him off the street. It was fun to watch---you know, in that sick kind of can't-take-your-eyes-off-of-it way.

I couldn't imagine having been a soldier during the civil war. They had to be so close to the enemy while having next to no protection. You just had to stand there while a brigade of soldiers shot in your direction. There's no way you could expect to live to see the light of tomorrow. I think the reenactment made me glad to live in today's world and to be thankful for the soldiers who did fight to preserve the union and abolish slavery.

Keep your STDs over there, thank you

Christopher Columbus and his seamen did bring syphilis into Europe from the new world.

Emily C. has been insisting that since she did research for Mirabile Inventu, studying the Renaissance accross Europe this summer. And if you don't take her word for it then you'd have to take MSNBC's word for it.

...the study lends credence to the "Columbian theory," which links the first recorded European syphilis epidemic in 1495 to the return of Columbus and his crew.

In case you were wondering.

I'm guessing that would be one not-fun disease.