American suburbs are white, happy places

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            Suburbia in America is a relatively new invention. Before the 1920’s, most city dwellers lived within the city limits, most often in an apartment within their ethnic communities. The most affluent people, usually from well established immigrated families, lived in houses within the city. The newer immigrants lived in apartments near other members of their ethnicity in order to enjoy the benefits of ethnic grocers, ethnic charitable organizations, religious organizations, and the like.

            By the end of the 20’s and throughout the 1930’s, a move towards heterogeneous white mass culture and the want to own one’s own home increased the popularity of suburbs. Throughout the 20’s, big stations began controlling radio, national distribution houses began distributing movies to identical movie houses, and chain stores began beating out mom and pop places for business with their cheap prices. The Great Depression solidified the idea of white American, and nullified specific white distinctions like Italian, Polish, German, etc… This homogeneity of skin color and ideology increased the want for a place for white people to exist together and apart from the ills of the city. Still, during the 1930’s, building was very slow and very expensive.

            In the 1950’s, William Levitt and his assembly-line houses and the G.I. Bill for soldiers returning from WWII revolutionized the housing market and created the modern American suburb. Levitt standardized home building. By making 27 steps to building a home and hiring contractors, Levitt built 10,600 homes on a potato patch in Long Island in three years. Coincidentally, ensuring that Levitt’s homes would have families to buy them, the G.I. Bill following WWII gave returning servicemen the funds to buy a home in a suburb, seeing as there was a housing shortage in cities and no room for expansion within the cities.

            Hand in hand with the popularity of suburbs came the idea of isolation from the problems of the city. Before the late 40’s, most Americans didn’t have cars. In the late 40’s to early 50’s, the move to suburbs caused a huge want/need for automobiles, and the number of Americans who owned cars during these years increased 133%. This, coupled with the Highway Act of 1956, which allowed for the construction of highways so that planes could land on them in war time, ensured not only that suburbanites would be living away from the problems of the city, but also that they wouldn’t be commuting with “the problems” either.

           The popularity of the automobile and the isolation that highways ensured created the mindset that suburbanites needed their own isolated places to shop, as well. When designing suburbs, planners thought that suburbanites would commute into cities for all of their shopping needs. Instead, as planners of the first shopping mall in Paramus, New Jersey-- only seven miles from Manhattan--learned, suburbanites would shop wherever was most convenient.  Paramus’ mall created the model for the modern shopping mall, with its anchor stores and smaller stores, but with many other amenities, such as a hardware store and grocery store, as well. Despite its resemblance to a city shopping district, however, malls were private property and security could keep anyone unwanted person out. City bus lines generally didn’t run to suburban malls.

            One of the “problems” that suburbanites wanted to be isolated from, of course, was African Americans. During the 1960’s, white homeowners were nervous about the property values of their homes decreasing when black families would move to their blocks. Many families looked to suburbs like Levittown, where blacks weren’t allowed to buy houses until the late 1960’s, as options to create their isolated white utopias.

            By the 1980’s, as political allegiances began to shift, huge numbers of white people would leave the city. In Atlanta, a city with only a black minority in the 50’s and 60’s, shifted to being 2/3 black by 1980, with most white residents living in suburbs, and with only 7,000 white students in a public school system of 110,000 by 1985. Detroit is a similar model to Atlanta and illustrates the consequences of urban white flight—the inner city is predominantly black and poor, with a ring of Eastern and Southern European or “new” immigrants around it, followed by an outer suburb of older white immigrants. The white move to outer suburbs perpetuated a cycle a poverty that didn’t allow for urban renewal in many of the predominantly black inner cities.

Connecticut Answered the "Lexington Alarm"

"The shot heard 'round the world" spurred immediate local response.

For American history buffs, living in New England is simply amazing.  While in a nearby town last week, I saw a plaque naming the first contributors to the American Revolution from the (later named) town of Meriden, CT. 

The "Lexington Alarm" was Massachusetts' call for aid from other colonies following the battles of Lexington & Concord, April 19, 1775.  This was the famous "shot heard 'round the world." 

The prior night had included Paul Revere's ride and two lanterns in the Old North Church.  When the alarm document reached Meriden, a group of men organized into a militia and headed to Boston to aid in the defense of the Patriots.  This was the case in dozens of towns and villages throughout CT.  These men eventually fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

 

The text of the Lexington Alarm, that spurred these men to action, is as follows:

"Wednesday morning near 10 of the clock - Watertown
To all the friends of American liberty be it known that this morning before break of day, a brigade, consisting of about 1,000 to 1,200 men landed at Phip's Farm at Cambridge and marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our colony militia in arms, upon whom they fired without any provocation and killed six men and wounded four others. By an express from Boston, we find another brigade are now upon their march from Boston supposed to be about1,000. The Bearer, Israel Bissell, is charged to alarm the country quite to Connecticut and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses as they may be needed. I have spoken with several persons who have seen the dead and wounded. Pray let the delegates from this colony to Connecticut see this. 

J. Palmer, one of the Committee of Safety.

They know Col. Foster of Brookfield one of the Delegate"

 

The plaque reads: “Lexington Alarm *Captain John Couch, responding to hostilities with British at Lexington, left this area April 23, 1775, commanding the Meriden militia: John Allen   Christopher Atwater   Moses Baldwin   *Divan Berry   Samuel Briggs   John Butler   Samuel Collins   Asael Deming   Israel Hall, Jr.   Joel Hall   *Moses Hall   Rufus Hall   Samuel Hall   *Benjamin Hart   *Insign Hough   John Hough   Phineas Hough   Aaron Hull   David Ives   Elnathan Ives Enos Ives   Samuel Johnson   Epaphras Knott   Isaac Livingston   *Phineas Lyman   Daniel McMullen   *Ephraim Merriam   John Merriam   John Pearce   *Benjamin Rice   *Ezekiel Rice   Gideon Rice   Samuel Rice   Joseph Shaylor   Seth Smith   Bela Warner   *Jonathan Yale   *Nathaniel Yale
*Buried in Broad Street Cemetery

 These plaques appear in towns throughout Connecticut.

 

 

New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century

As Americans across the nation struggle against high unemployment rates, exorbitant gas costs and failed mortgages, the phrase "times are tough," seems to belittle our  situation rather than describe it. It's not only the economy that has  taken a sour turn: Our natural world with its finite resources continues its struggle against the destructive machine we call "progress."

The red flag is up and has been up. We know now that our way of life is not self-sustaining. That our materialism and longer than usual work days aren't providing the satisfaction we envisioned.  Instead, we find ourselves overwhelmed by a social system that lends itself to anxiety, stress and depression. Things have to change, but how is the baffling question.  

Philip Shepherd's New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century is a book that offers a simple yet powerful answer. He argues that the solution to the dilemma we have found ourselves in rests right under our very noses: our own bodies. Shepherd claims that the reason why our social and economic systems are failing is because we humans have lost touch of the world around us because we've lost touch with our own bodies.

In a culture that celebrates the human intellect and mind, we have become disillusioned by a false reality. We have been allured into thinking ourselves separate (if not superior) from the rest of the natural world and have acted thus. Our failure to see the inter-connectedness of nature and all living organisms has encouraged us to act recklessly and without thought of consequence. In our obsession with progress and independence, we have not only crippled the ecosystems of the world, but also endangered our own survival as a species.  Until we begin to live in our bodies and its senses rather than our heads, argues Shepherd, we will continue living an unsustainable, un-fulfilling existence. By reconnecting to our bodies, we reconnect to our humanity and become in tuned with our dependent relationship to the natural world. This grounded experience in the body allows us to live harmoniously with the natural world and, thus, with ourselves. Shepherd's book is not only enlightening, but extraordinary in its simplistic approach to a very complicated problem. 

Songkran Festival: Thai New Year

imageI am a big fan of spring and of water gun fights. But in the United States, we’re not so accustomed to having huge ones with all of our neighbors--and definitely not in the chilly springtime.  And most of us have to quit the habit after we’re, oh, 10 or so. Thais are a lot luckier than we are.

In Thailand, the coming of spring is celebrated with a huge, country-wide water fight—the Songkran Festival. Thais from cities and rural areas alike load up on water pistols and talcum powder paste and spray and smear their neighbors during these days of revelry.

Today in Thailand, Jeep pick-ups are full of enthusiastic soaked Thais as they spray the hoards of people that throng in the streets. Others use garden hoses and soak their neighbors as they walk by. Nobody is safe—foreigners are caught up in the action the same as their Thai neighbors.

Songkran is a Thai and Sanskrit word that means the time when the sun enters any sign of the Zodiac.  The Songkran Festival, in particular, is when the sun enters the sign of Aries—this Songkran is the only time Thais use the word.

Also celebrated in Burma, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, Thais Songkran Festival is the biggest and most exuberant.  It is the Thai New Year and a national holiday—people have work off—from April 13th to the 15th or 16th. 

The tradition of soaking people with water and talcum powder comes from the ancient tradition in the Buddhist country of cleansing Buddhist statues with water and powder.  This tradition is taken to the streets, as well, in many cities--Thais drag large-scale Buddha sculptures being dragged through the streets, giving people opportunities to bath Buddhas outside of the monastery.

Some traditional Thais take offense to more modern traditions like water soaking and squirt guns, preferring that the holiday return more of its religion aspects. These people prefer the other, more spiritual aspects of the New Year's celebration. Spiritual components include praying with and bringing foods for monks, making New Years’ resolutions for better behavior and bringing handfuls of dirt or sand to local monasteries to make amends for the dirt or sand worshippers took away on their feet during the year. 

Comparing the Songkran Festival to any American holiday—it is most similar to April Fool’s Day. Women play pranks on men—women will tie a man up and cover him with black powder.  

The largest celebrations in the country are in the largest cities, Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Located 435 miles from Thailand’s largest city, Chiang Mai, stated by many as the best place to celebrate the New Year, holds the celebration for at least six days, sometimes it lasts even longer. The city itself has about 150,000 residents, but because of celebrations like this one, to which many Thais and foreign residents flock, the city has been attracting more than 5 million tourists every year.     

The celebration also happens in the Southern provinces, which are filled with Muslim insurgents who want their freedom from the rest of the state.  A temporary reprieve was held today as the Southern Thais celebrated their New Year with water games, but police and soldiers tightened their security forces in these regions, as well. 

Sources and further reading:

http://www.thailandlife.com/songkran-festival/index.php

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/13/songkran-festival-thai-new-year_n_848583.html

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/231818/colourful-songkran-grab-thais

The Argument Against "Judeo-Christian"

For a long time now, people have used the catch-all term "Judeo-Christian" to describe broad strokes of social and philosophical ideas in Western society. This term is absurd, reductive and offensive, not to mention self-contradictory. This would be evident to anyone who has a proper understanding of the stark differences between Judaism and Christianity, both as cultures and as religious philosophies. The use of "Judeo-Christian" is an indication of ignorance and the willful marginalization of an entire people, while simultaneously suggesting some rather awful and incorrect ideas about many other religions and cultures.

So, what does "Judeo-Christian" mean in the modern context? Plainly, it is a term meant to represent a set of values that are supposed to be the foundation of the majority of Western society, especially in America. There are two problems with this assumption. First, the term suggests that the values espoused in Jewish philosophy are functionally identical to those espoused by Christian philosophy, which is incorrect. Second, it implies that values of other cultures are different enough to not even be mentioned.

While Judaism and Christianity have a lot of ideas in common, they differ from one another significantly in a number of vital ways, not the least of which is their disagreement concerning the sanctity and purpose of secular law. For a brief tangent on this subject, secular law according to the teachings of Protestantism (the most common form of religion in the United States) is divinely ordained because God is assumed to be perfect and active in the world, thus no state law could possibly be against the will of God. Law, as stated by Martin Luther, only needs to exist because there are those who do not accept Christianity, so it is a means to influence Christian behavior in a mixed society. Judaism, on the other hand, views secular law as something rising out of secular thought independent of God and subject to the same thoughtful examination as anything else in life. In Judaism, if a law is unjust according to Jewish philosophy, Jews should strive to correct it.

But these complex arguments seem immaterial when considering the exclusionary implications of "Judeo-Christian" as a concept. Not only are Judaism and Christianity fundamentally opposed on many philosophical issues, the term also implies that no other religion shares enough values with Judaism and Christianity to be included in the concept. It implies that, for instance, Islam, a natural outgrowth of Judaism and Christianity, is too different in its core values to be included in that social idea. This despite the fact that the core values of Islam involve belief in one God, acts of charity and study of the Bible. I'm not suggesting that the phrase ought to be changed to "Judeo-Christo-Muslim", as that would suffer from the same inaccuracies as the original term, just that it's insulting and incorrect to imply that the core values of other major faiths differ greatly enough from those of Judaism and Christianity to be excluded from the idea of fundamental social values.

The truth is that people in our society use the term "Judeo-Christian" to mask their true intentions. The "Judeo" part of it is meant to employ a sense of plurality to the unnamed values in question, to soften the idea of Christian values enough to make them seem universally accepted in countries like the United States. In doing so, the term reduces a nuanced philosophy to a footnote in our culture's dominant religious force while building a wall around the majority to exclude the very thoughts and ideas of the myriad minorities.

Royal Family Newsletter for West Prusetania

 

 


Greetings, fellow West Prusetanians! We here at the National Newsletter Service are overjoyed that you have decided to purchase this most recent update about your beloved royal family. As always, the NNS has dedicated its most astute investigative journalists to produce a newsletter of unparalleled accuracy and access to even the highest halls of our country's leadership. Without further ado, here's what our heads of state have been up to recently.

King Bertrand Wrothead III has been busy planning the victory parade for East Prusetania's inevitable defeat at the hands of our very capable army. Though the war has been raging for ten glorious years, it is the will of the King that our noble soldiers get a much-deserved rest and that the people of East Prusetania be given a period of recovery after such an extensive campaign of shame and loss. Fear not, King Bertrand has assured us that there is absolutely no chance that the Eastern dogs will use this gap in hostilities to launch their own assault. If they could not break our lines in a decade of fighting, they surely will not be able to successfully cross the boarder into our great nation. The parade is still in the early stages of development, but the King has indicated that at least seven elephants will be involved.

 

Queen Constance is adjusting to married life quite well. She reports that the royal palace already feels like home despite the fact that she grew up in the modest Vegetable District of our grand capitol. When asked whether or not she feels uneasy about the significant difference in age between the King and herself, her 19-year-old eyes glimmered and she said that the years of experience she lacks compared to our generous monarch are of no concern when love abounds.

 

Princess Grace continues to launch flaming marble busts of Queen Constance from the window of her suite in the palace, an act the Royal Guard assures us is another one of her performance art projects and not, as Grace has previously stated, an expression of anger and rebellion at being forced to bow to a mother who is seven years younger than her.

 

Duke Emmerich Wrothead sends his regards from his villa on the coast where he has captured and/or killed a record number of freshwater whales. The harpoons he uses will be available at a charity auction next month.

 

Congratulations to Prince Nathaniel on the recent conquest of his 100th lover. Emily Kiliver of West Prusetania Boarding School had the honor of sullying the sheets of the princely bed as 99 maidens, matrons, young huntsmen and a variety of foreign-born palace servants have before her. For her contribution to this landmark occasion, Ms. Kiliver was awarded a delightful balloon arrangement and a gift certificate to the Imperial Theatre for a show in the upcoming season.

 

Brownie the Wrothead family hound has been granted a stay of execution for his attempt to commit treason against the nation by relieving himself upon a carpet depicting the flag of West Prusetania. The King's counsel deemed the difference between an actual flag and a woven depiction of the flag sufficient to justify exile rather than death. Brownie shall be escorted to the northern boarder and handed over to the same mercenaries who currently care for the disgraced former queen, Abigail.

Stop Wearing The Star of David, to: Sarah Palin, from: Jews

Mrs. Palin,

We, the Jews (yes, all of them, in one, loud, collective voice, or at least the real ones, not the Jews for Jesus or any of those idiots in Hollywood who think they're studying Kabbalah) would like to request that you remove the Star of David from your neck and never, ever wear it in public again. We know why you're doing it and that really doesn't make it any better. We don't care if you showed up in Israel for some kind of vague, pre-Presidential campaign mission of pretend diplomacy, you are on the list of the top five people we never want to see wearing one of the most recognizable symbols of our faith. Literally, it's you, Fred Phelps, Moammar Gadhafi, Britney Spears and, until very recently, the late American Front leader and noted skinhead Neo-Nazi David Lynch (not the movie director David Lynch. He's cool with us).

So, look, we know you've got the whole evangelical Christian thing going on and it's a new fashion statement with you people to wear the Star of David because you interpret sections of your Bible (not ours, you can't read ours which is why you had a bunch of incompetents translate a poor Greek translation into English in the first place) to indicate that Jews need to control Israel. We'd say we appreciate the solidarity, except that we don't and, honestly, can't.

You see, Zionism is a very complex issue that has evolved considerably in the minds of Jews all around the world, especially in America, over the past 70 years. The majority of American Jews are liberal voters, which puts us at odds with your ultra-conservative platform to begin with, but that also means our perspective on the Israel/Palestine issue is, at best, conflicted. Most of us still support the right of Israel to be a sovereign Jewish state but we're not too keen on their militaristic approach and their reliance on an American military complex that tends to be seated on the Right wing of our own government, asking us to vote for representatives who tend to be pretty regressive just so Iran doesn't bowl over Jerusalem.

But the insult of seeing you, Sarah freaking Palin, wearing a symbol of our people's resilience throughout the ages is a little less cerebral than all that. The revulsion comes from the fact that you are perhaps the least Jewish person currently in existence. You have no respect for education, or even facts for that matter. You have a laundry list of ethics breaches in just the past five years alone. You speak out against legislation that would end wars, bring medical care to the poor and show compassion for the peoples of other nations who yearn to be free. You kill for sport. You neglect your children. You lie, constantly. There is not a single Jewish thing about you and your very existence is an affront to everything we believe in.

So, please, Mrs. Palin, remove that Star of David from your person and donate it to someone who deserves to wear it. We are a proud and misunderstood people. Seeing one of our greatest symbols around your neck is both a thing of shame and a potential source of yet more misunderstanding.

 

Thank you for your time. May Hashem grant you the wisdom you so sorely lack.

-The Jews

Making the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Meaningful

Though the modern ritual of the Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a relatively recent invention, being more or less codified in the 14th century C.E. and achieving its egalitarian model in the early 20th, its roots are considerably older. The ancient books of Jewish law, such as the Mishnah, identify the age of legal and social responsibility as 13 as far back as 3000 years ago. This is certainly at odds with the laws of most modern societies where the age of majority tends to fall somewhere between 16 and 18 years. Considering the way 21st century cultures are structured, as pertaining to school, property and other legal and social matters, the gravity of the Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremony has been diminished. For several generations now, religious law has not been synonymous with common law for Jews. The lack of responsibility and accountability for individuals of Bar or Bat Mitzvah age that results from this takes much, though not all, of the meaning away from the experience. It is the duty of Jewish parents to lend extra weight to the lives of their children after the Bar or Bat Mitzvah takes place.

In order for the ostensible ascension to adulthood of the Bar and Bat Mitzvah to have an impact for the young person experiencing it, the ritual must be followed by an increase in both expectations from his or her parents and freedoms afforded by them. There are many ways to demonstrate this to a young person. Consider the following.

If a young person still has a set bedtime at age 13, the Bar or Bat Mitzvah is as good a time as any to remove it. The new freedom of choosing when to sleep can have a pretty big impact on a kid's sense of self-discipline. Sure, this will inevitably result in some sluggish mornings after staying up too late, but a few exhausting days at school will teach the invaluable lesson of getting proper rest for a good reason, not just because mom or dad said so.

The post Bar or Bat Mitzvah period is also a great time to start teaching practical life skills like cooking, cleaning and mending. There's no reason a 13-year-old can't learn to wash his or her own clothes, clean dishes and repair ripped clothes or broken possessions. These new lessons can also be a lot of fun and result in the youthful thrill of autonomy. A new Bar or Bat Mitzvah can certainly learn the basics of the kitchen where the reward for skill and attentiveness is immediate. There's nothing like successfully baking one's first batch of properly made cookies or having the know-how to make pizza from scratch. These are excellent lessons because through them freedom is a natural result of responsibility.

But the Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremony is about more than marking the beginning of a young person's individual liberty and accountability, it's also about him or her stepping up to a more active role in his or her community. Introducing your child to volunteer opportunities in your city can show him or her how a responsible, mindful individual can make the world better through action. There are plenty of organizations that specialize in such experiences, like the Youth Volunteer Corps of America and the YouthNoise leadership program. Encouraging participation in a local temple youth group is also a way of promoting involvement in the Jewish community specifically.

These are just a few suggestions to get the ball rolling. What's important is that, as a parent, you recognize that the Bar and Bat Mitzvah are not just rituals from a bygone era, that there's real wisdom in compelling young adults to begin thinking and acting in a more grown-up fashion as early as is prudent. As parents it is our responsibility to prepare our children for life in the world and as Jews it is our responsibility to make sure that life is a good one.

The History of Klezmer

Jewish culture has always had strong ties to music. One of the more iconic examples of Jewish music is klezmer, a boisterous style that emerged in Eastern Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries, eventually landing in America where it had a significant impact on 20th century pop music. Like the Jewish people themselves, klezmer is storied and well traveled. It has the cultural markers of many different societies mixed with concepts and sentiments endemic to Judaism.

The seeds of klezmer began in the ancient tradition of Jewish liturgical music. The chanting of passages from the Torah since the time of the First Temple has involved special intonation or "tropes" that add an expressive, sonic component to the recitation of scriptural stories. This eventually evolved into the tradition of the Khazan, the cantor who aids the rabbi during religious services by lending his or her powerful voice to the chanting of prayers. Jewish cantoral chanting attempts to convey the emotional tone of a story or prayer in the tones of the chant itself, even mimicking sounds of a human expression such as laughing and crying. This same method is also applied to the blowing of the Shofar, the instrumental ram's horn most often used during Rosh Hashana services. There is a ritual involving blowing the Shofar in a variety of ways that imitate the many emotions people experience throughout the year, from a breathy sort of laughter to a staccato crying sound.

In the early rabbinic age, music briefly ceased to be a part of religious observances but not Jewish life in general. The ancient principles of expressive, imitative musical sounds were incorporated into more secular, celebratory music like that which was played at wedding receptions. Before long, music as a profession became viable and minstrel-like bands began to form, especially in the region where modern-day Turkey and Eastern Europe meet. The term for these musicians was K'li Zemer, a Hebrew term that can be translated as "plucking thing", most likely referencing lyre-style instruments and then being a shorthand for musical instruments in general. Eventually the portmanteau "klezmer" became a term for instrumental musicians themselves.

Because the klezmer, like all minstrels, had a difficult time making enough money within the small communities from which they originated, they had to start traveling. They wandered throughout the hotly contested borders of the many competing empires of Russia, Europe and the Muslim world, picking up influences along the way. Without a doubt the most important influence on klezmer music is the musical tradition of the Roma, another nomadic people who traveled the region throughout the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early modern period. The klezmer combined the lively sounds of Roma instrumental arrangements with the traditional expressiveness of Jewish music to create songs that tended toward the extremes of human emotion, exuberant joy and maudlin sorrow.

Being on the fringes of society, the klezmer were often subject to restrictive laws, especially within cities. In the early 19th century there was a law in many Russian and Ukrainian towns that forbid the use of louder wind instruments in public. This forced the klezmer to change their instrument of choice from the clarinet (a natural evolution from the ancient instrument known as the aulos) to the quieter but still just as expressive violin. When those sound restrictions were lifted, klezmer re-integrated the clarinet alongside the violin to create the standard klezmer arrangement still seen today.

When Jews began immigrating to the United States in large numbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they brought klezmer music with them. Around the time when American Jews started to more fully integrate into American society at the dawn of the 20th century, klezmer music began to disappear, or was rather absorbed by more pervasive cultural movements. Klezmer music was most certainly a component of jazz along with the devotional music of African Americans and the brass instrumentation of classical music from Western Europe. Enough traditional klezmer music was recorded in the 1920's and 1930's to provide a record of the style in a purer form, allowing for revivals over the next century.

Dogu Figures

Evidence of Japan's prehistoric alien visitors?

A few days before the big earthquake in Japan, I happened to stumble across an episode of a show on The History Channel called "Ancient Aliens" which discussed Dogu figurines in depth. I made a note to research them later, and now I can't help but wonder what has happened to these historical sites in the disaster. 

Dogu figurines are small fired clay statuettes of humanoid figures, which were made in the late Jomon Period of Japanese history, between 14,000 and 400 BC. The Jomon culture was a Paleolithic culture of hunter gatherers which settled in Japan and began to create the world's first example of pottery vessels.

There is a lot of variation in Dogu figurines, yet all of them share a similar set of qualities. Clearly these were something of a fad among the Jomon people, an artistic line that lasted for several thousand years. Most reputable anthropologists believe they are fertility symbols, or involved in fertility rituals. (But isn't that what they always say? It's the "tastes like chicken" of the anthropology world. When in doubt, write it off as a fertility symbol!)

Dogu figurines seem humanoid, although grossly distorted. Many of them have extremely overdeveloped breasts or butts, or have a tiny waist with hugely swollen arms and legs. And a surprising number of them seem to be wearing goggles.

In fact, one of the most prevalent styles of Dogu figurines are called "Shakokidogu," derived from the term "shakoki" which means "light blocking device." These figurines seem to be wearing slit goggles, similar to those worn by the Inuit to prevent snow blindness.

You can look at Dogu figurines and think, "Gosh, they had some strange artistic fads back in the Iron Age." Or you can look at them and think, "I bet those represent the aliens who came to Earth to give culture to the Japanese."

Such was the contention of many UFO specialists interviewed on "Ancient Aliens." The Dogu figurines do indeed look something like a person in a weird space suit. And their emergence in the artistic record coincides with a rich period in the development of Japanese culture. (Although you would be hard pressed to find a 10,000 year period in history in which that was NOT the case.)

Do the Dogu figurines represent aliens who brought Japan to the Japanese, so to speak? Or could they actually be time travelers who traveled back in time for the same reason? (And doesn't that sound like the plot of a sloppy time travel movie? "Time traveler travels back in time to create what would become his own culture.")

One feature which is common to almost all Dogu is the intricate patterning. Each figure is covered in swirls and stamps which coil around their torsos, encircling their limbs. And each one seems to have nipples, if not breasts. Do these represent elaborately patterned space suits? Or do they simply represent heavily tattooed people, both male and female?

One of the richest archaeological sites for Dogu figurines is in a town called Ishinomaki, which was one of the hardest hit by Friday's earthquake. Here's hoping that the site - and the archaeologists researching it - came through the event unharmed.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

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