I am absolutely appalled and shocked by the ridiculous dishonesty of this article on trigger warnings:

Time was, a “trigger warning” might have indicated that Roy Rogers’ famous horse was approaching. No longer. These days the phrase denotes a growing tendency among North American university student groups to demand that professors provide advance warning about course material – books, films, discussion topics – that might provoke anxiety, panic attacks, or post-traumatic stress disorder in students who have been victims of abuse or assault, or who believe they are the victims of systemic discrimination. A few universities have even begun asking professors to remove said material from their courses.

The students who prevent professors from teaching what we want, who constantly find literature and film to be objectionable, who complain, leave the classroom in a huff, and are mortally insulted by most works of art are not victims of abuse or assault. They are, in the absolute majority of cases, religious students.

I have mentioned many times here on the blog that I can’t find a single film to show in class that would not offend religious sensibilities because, for some strange reason, movies often portray divorce, adultery, sex outside of marriage, profanity, and don’t always end with a wedding.

If we want to discuss the myriad ways in which professors are bullied into not teaching literature and film that offend certain students, then I’m all for it. But for Pete’s sakes, let’s stop being so goddarn hypocritical about it and pretend that it’s some ultra-progressive super-PC group on campus that is censoring free speech.

I knew it was time to stop dawdling and make an offer when N referred to The Hedgehogs as “back at our place.”

Gosh, it’s good to know that my female brain at least deserves a suitably happy color. I was getting worried there for a while.

N is making an offer on The Hedgehogs while I walk around feeling terrified and trying not to have a panic attack.

“Are you at all scared?” I ask N. “Why aren’t you scared?”

“The only thing that could scare me would be losing you,” N says. “And this is just a house. It’s not scary.”

“Mmmm,” I mumble in agreement, but continue wandering around in terror.

What is this I’m hearing about there being no hedgehogs on this continent? Surely, that’s not possible?

I’ve noticed this phenomenon, too: the moment you give up on something and just go with the flow, it starts functioning. The phenomenon must have a psychological explanation but I don’t know it yet.

A really brilliant post in Russian about the myth of Ukraine being split into Eastern and Western parts. I agree with the blogger completely, there is no such split.

Let’s continue our explorations of projection. Here is a very interesting case of somebody who obviously despises women and tries (not very successfully) to attribute this passionate hatred to “society.” Absolutely textbook.

A great blogger I just discovered shares the story of his political views: “The Democrats’ feeble, ineffectual nature is easy to see in this year’s midterm election, where they stand to lose to a party that has gone insane.  The answer is simple: the Democrats are so tied to their rich donors that they can’t reach out and do the types of things that will make their base happy.  Without having a reason to vote other than “the other guys are evil,” it’s no wonder that many registered Democrats will be staying home this November.” All true.

Spring is here! And do you know what that means? BABY TURTLES. Brace yourself for incredible cuteness at the link.

Latvia disconnects Russian TV.

Research proving that “Childhood trauma was very common, even in employed white middle-class, college-educated people with great health insurance; There was a direct link between childhood trauma and adult onset of chronic disease, as well as depression, suicide, being violent and a victim of violence.” Of course, people who are terrified of questioning parental authority will continue chirping about chemical imbalances in their brains.

Very important insights about academic writing: “I really do believe that your authentic voice, whether in speech or writing, is the way your words sound when you are speaking your mind, i.e., telling the truth. This is why I emphasize that when you do your academic writing you should remember that knowledge is justified, true belief. You should train yourself to write down the things you believe, not just things that are conveniently true.”

And an article everybody needs to read: “Russia is remaking itself as the leader of the anti-Western world.”

Absolutely appalling things are happening in Brisbane. Hey, Australia, are you still considering yourself a civilized country? Because the poster in the linked article is disgusting.

A blog reader writes to a blogger: “I am a 3rd year medical student, and for the purposes of this question, let’s assume I have equal interest and ability in the various medical specialties.  In order to create the greatest good for the greatest number of people through my work in medicine (i.e., the highest return to society), what specialty should I pursue?” The answer is clear: psychiatry. And pursue it as a patient, not a doctor.

“One of the things I see most often when I poke around in autism parent forums, is the concern that their child isn’t playing with “age appropriate” toys or doesn’t have “age appropriate” interests. This, to my eyes, is one of the most ridiculous questions to be asking, and in a way, really shows how far we have to go for autism acceptance.” Hear, hear!

“Senior administrative salaries increased by 2.4 percent overall in the past year, outpacing the gains seen by other college staff, including those who actually teach in classrooms.” And the saddest thing is that nobody is doing anything to keep these useless parasites off campuses.

Twitter politics is all we have left. Sad but true.

“Russia’s invasion — which Putin justifies by saying he needs to protect Russian speakers — has fueled a surge of patriotism among a great many Ukrainians, whatever their language.” All true. Russian-speakers in Ukraine are renouncing Russian and switching to Ukrainian. People who never had any interest in Ukrainian culture are starting to believe that if Putin is so afraid of it, it might be worth checking out.

“Putin is doing more than taking a bite out of Ukraine. He is seeking to weaken American (and European) power and prestige by treating a key element of the post-WWII, post-Cold War international system with open contempt. He is also expressing the contempt he feels for western leaders he thinks of as decadent, muddled, and weak.” Truer words were never spoken.

And the post of the week: choice feminism as a way to gain the approval of the patriarchal father figure. Brilliant.

This is the most powerful photo I have seen in a while:

The photo is called “Immigrants.” It’s World Press Photo of the Year 2013 by John Stanmeyer. Immigrants in this photo are trying to catch a satellite signal to get in touch with their families.

It’s got to mean something that we gave this house a name, don’t you think?

We are calling it “Happy Hedgehogs.” Because we like hedgehogs and want them to be happy.

So now we are going to lurk around Happy Hedgehogs some more.

When Romney says that Russia is the US’s #1 geopolitical foe, he is absolutely right. If we use the words “geopolitical” and “foe” in their original meaning, then Romney’s statement is unassailable.

A geopolitical foe is somebody who has the strategy and the accompanying tactics, the resources and the ideology aimed specifically at defeating you in a fight for global dominance. Anybody who watches Russian newscasts and reads the Russian press for a couple of days will discover that this goal is discussed very openly and directly.

However, the realization that Russia is battling (not going to battle but is doing it already and has been for a while) the US for world dominance shouldn’t scare us too much. Russians are not anywhere near to being tempted to nuke the planet just to make a point. They will do a lot of nasty things in their struggle for global power (as everybody else who briefly possessed that power has) but they are not a threat to the existence of this planet.

Somebody else is.

North Korea should be on our minds all the time. North Koreans are about to get completely desperate. The whole country is a sect of religious fanatics armed with nuclear weapons. Starvation makes them light-headed and quite delusional. And when a religious sect realizes that there is really no hope of converting the rest of the world to its faith and the battle on the temporal plane is lost, then what does it do? If Jim Jones had nuclear weapons, what do you think he’d do?

We almost never hear anything in the media about North Korea save for “Ha, ha, these folks are so funny, they worship that ugly fat fellow with a weird haircut.” We forget, however, that we are only safe from a nuclear annihilation while everybody who possesses these weapons values life enough not to want to lose it.