Diplomacy In The Ancient Near East: The Armarna System
Compared to later forms of diplomacy, Great Kings derived political obligation and action from friendship and kinship ties rather than from abstractions such as the national interest. These Kings communicated with each other via messengers to facilitate diplomacy. Kings addressed each other as “My Brother”, and much of the writing of the Amarna Letters included complaints about trifles such as the paltriness of a royal brother’s gifts. Read More
Contamination of Preservation Solution In Pancreatic Islet Cell Product Transplantation
Microbiological contaminants have been shown to be present in both transport and transplant solution media. This raises questions over how safe transplanting contaminated cell products really is. Particularly during autologous procedures, prior pancreatic intervention coupled with contamination from gut lining bacteria that occurs during the excision of the pancreas can result in contaminated transport media. Read More
Essays: Luna, Luna; and Pandora's Box
My mother taught me about God so my father taught me about space, about cosmos, about how I could go to the moon. She never said much about devotion, unless you count saying you must believe in things you can’t see every Sunday when we asked why we had to sit in pews. Meanwhile, my father quoted Tom Hanks movies and bought me picture books from NASA. Read More
Doll Head
Betty awakes to the sound of her husband’s ringing alarm clock. He always sleeps through it. If not for Betty, he would be late to work every day. The responsibility used to make her feel important—now she wonders why a grown man needs to be woken up like a child. Betty reaches over him to switch the alarm off, then places her hand lightly on the top of his shoulder. Read more
Linear Ion Trap
We breach the gap and the gate slams behind, now we’re hurtling, about to collide. But just as it seems that it might be too late, we start to slow. First, we sail, then glide; coast, then inch. We halt for a millisecond, idling as we change direction. Now we gain speed, heading towards our start—first we inch, then coast; glide, then dart. Read More
Black Men "On The DL": Sexual Discretion and Hyper-Masculine Performance as Feminist Sexual Liberation
When there was a sudden rise in HIV/AIDS among heterosexual Black women in 2001, the public began to blame the community of Black men who identify as "on the Down Low (DL)." Read More
Paraffin
Suppose I were to start by telling you that I am in love with wax. Paraffin wax. Chemically produced paraffin wax. Wax that’s derived from petroleum, or coal, or oil shale—it’s not the substance most people picture, the one derived from little honey bees flying in and out of little hexagonal hives that lie at the tops of trees. Is it strange to find solace in an object? Read More
Why Do You Persecute Us?
Texan Jews have had a unique impact as important shapers of cultural landscapes and communities. Their influence is complicated to sum up, as its history and retelling become entangled by anti- Semitism, politics, and Anglo culture. These entanglements have deep roots in the peculiarity of the Jews’ presence in and unique interactions with Anglo society in Texas. Read More
God Save The Alternative Jubilee: The Sex Pistols and Meaningful Monarchical Engangement
On June 7, 1977, Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious, Paul Cook, and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols sailed down the River Thames, just two nights after Queen Elizabeth’s own luxurious and incredibly exclusive Jubilee fleet had done the very same. They played the British national anthem on cassette and followed it with original songs—“Anarchy in the U.K,” “Pretty Vacant,” and, of course, “God Save the Queen”—that were outright offensive to British tradition, the government, and even Elizabeth herself. Read More