Chinese 1602 world map

This just in from Medieval News:

http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2010/01/rare-1602-world-map-first-map-in.html

Very interesting, and I’m always fascinated by just how accurately they could make maps in the days before satellite. And also, it’s a reminder why the University of Minnesota enjoys the reputation it does.

It is cold as heck there, just so you know. Fantastic history department…

Haiti and Bipolar disorder, really?

Here’s a link from a short piece Dr. Grimsley posted on his blog a short while ago.
http://warhistorian.org/wordpress/?p=2184#more-2184
Interesting, but I’m not sure when being financially careful (a trait I don’t seem to have, incidentally) suddenly became a symptom of bipolar disorder. Now, I fully intend to donate some part of my funds to Haitian relief, but anyone who’s done something like that can tell you that not all charities and philanthropies are equal, not by a long shot. Ideally, you need to do a bit of background research on the group in question, because, especially with large ones, it is possible that few cents of your dollar actually make it to the front lines–that Red Cross scandal some years back is simply a case in point. Hopefully the situation is somewhat improved, since they are the donation link on the page.

Also, at times of crisis like this, there are any number of “charity” scams that suddenly sprout up and take advantage of people’s generosity. CNET’s article is helpful here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10434237-36.html. And here is the FBI bulletin, http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/earthquake011310.htm. Hopefully these will be of some use…

So, I wouldn’t be too hasty in attributing brief hesitation to a disorder. But that’s just me. And incidentally, my total credit line is less than $20,000–comes with the grad student territory, I guess.