There is such a drama being created around the removal of some American books from British syllabi you’d think the books are being outlawed. Have people heard of the outlandish concept of reading books that are not on any syllabus?
In Russian: a brilliant literary analysis of some famous Soviet-Ukrainian classics, including one of my favorite childhood books.
A cute article on the kitchen politics in the USSR.
A joke of the week about the Financial Times’s funny attack on Pickety’s best-seller: “Some lefties may think that of course this is what the FT would do. But in fact the newspaper is anything but a doctrinaire mouthpiece for the right. That an institution this august is going to the mat on this line suggests that the FT‘s editors have a lot of confidence in the conclusions they published over the weekend.“
A student wants credit for not plagiarizing.
“And frankly, I don’t know why Mrs. Robinson is sleeping with him, either. It’s established that he’s a virgin, and his personality is nasty, and he’s obviously got terrible hygiene. Not to mention the whole problem of him being her partner’s son.” The answer is simple: the libido of 20-year-old men is at its peak. That’s the only reason middle-aged women sometimes agree to overlook their stinky feet and nasty personalities. But I agree with this blogger that the book is crap.
A very insightful article in why trigger warnings don’t help preventing traumatic flashbacks.
In Russian: an interview with a young woman who was imprisoned by terrorists in Donbass.
It’s hard to believe that anybody can be this stupid: “What, exactly, is being criticized when we describe someone as infantile? Our primary cultural differentiation between children and adults is sexuality, which means that it’s going to be difficult to disentangle a criticism of “infantilization” from a claim that the “infantile” are at fault for failing to properly assume adult sexual roles.” I hate infantile people and this is one of my favorite insults to those who annoy me. But sex is the last thing on my mind when I talk about how disgusting immaturity is in adults. Infantile people, for me, are those who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Their sexual roles are entirely immaterial.
I used to like this blogger but then he started prattling about things he doesn’t understand and turned into an idiot: “I personally like Charles. . . However, his recent statement comparing Putin to Hitler over their annexation of Crimea in the Ukraine has got me shaking my head. Does he really think we’re that stupid or is he just pulling a Vic Toews and repeating something he was told without thinking about it or actually looking at the voter count last election. Over 70% of the voters in Crimea voted for a pro Russian president in 2010. Over 70%. How much over 70% we don’t know but we do know it was over 70%. Enough to help a pro Russian president get elected that election over all.” What en election 4 years ago has to do with an invasion of Ukraine by Russians in 2014 is a mystery that only this blogger’s confused brain can unravel. Why do people choose to chirp idiotically and offensively on subjects they know nothing about?
Very interesting photos from Europe.
Kalugin talks about Snowden. Fascinating.
Universities start meaningless, gimmicky programs to attract the brainless while good, important programs (such as mine) are threatened with elimination.
“No, no, misogyny isn’t specific to Islam. Of course not. But I’ve lived in an Islamic country. I’ve seen it for myself. And trust me, other than if you are in some cult here, the worst of what Christians do to women is usually better than the best treatment a woman gets in an Islamic country.” We never discuss anything controversial on this blog, so I suggest we take a shot at this interesting post.
In Russian: the true Russian intelligentsia (or what remains of it) celebrates the freedom of Ukraine.
“First, a clarification: nobody, to my knowledge, has asked that students be exempted from reading material that they find emotionally difficult.” My students do it all the time. And so do the students of most of my colleagues. And we always oblige because we can’t afford to get the bad reviews we will if something like divorce, adultery, or lack of a happy ending offends their sensibilities. I’m sanitizing my syllabi all the time because of how damn sensitive everybody is.
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