After a lull in hostilities, heavy fighting resumed today in several places. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess what provokes the Russians into starting a fresh round of hostilities. The two main possibilities are:

1. The upcoming G7 summit.
2. The former president of Georgia (the country) being appointed as a governor of one of Ukraine ‘ s regions. This gentleman was the president of Georgia in 2008 when Russia went to war against that country. So obviously Putin hates him and is upset about the appointment.

Yes, these are extremely stupid reasons to send soldiers into battle but what else is new?

A student of mine approached me to say that he’d started learning Ukrainian. This is the first time this happened. I frequently get approached by students who want to learn Russian but somebody with an interest in Ukrainian is very new and refreshing.

Dan Savage published a hilarious letter from a guy who says his dates run away from him after he confesses that he used to cheat on his wife:

But after four sexless years of marriage, I strayed. Crying myself to sleep every night took its toll, and I self-medicated with casual sex with attractive women. Two years and 20 women later, I got caught. I don’t hide the facts; I own my mistakes. I’ve grown and learned from my mistakes. But it’s hard for most women to see past “cheater.”

The poor creep doesn’t stop to think that maybe what’s scaring the dates is the extraordinarily low IQ and the non-existent self-awareness a 35 – year-old man needs to possess to first cry himself to sleep every night for 4 years (!) and then to concoct the entirely idiotic phrase “self-medicated with sex.”

And I’m not even starting on what it tells about him that he’d stay in a “marriage” where there’s no sex for 4 years.

Of course, Savage ‘ s response is even more stupid. Savage suggests that the wife’s libido died because the husband wasn’t “helping with the kids.” I understand that Savage has no personal reason to be knowledgeable about female sexuality but he could still try to inform himself.

Caitlyn Jenner is bringing out so much douche-baggery in people that it’s scary. Here is an example from a guy who keeps chirping about being a holier-than-thou Christian yet can’t control his inner freakazoid for 2 seconds:

Again: on what grounds do you grant

transgenders a blessing on modifying their bodies because they feel that they are of the opposite sex, but deny the same to transableists?

I wonder if such people ever stop to consider how ridiculous they sound. Nobody is asking them to “grant blessings”, yet these sorry little losers keep pestering respectable folks with their desperate and whiny, “I don’t grant you a blessing! You must be totally heartbroken over it!” Their inner censor makes them require constant approval from others for their every breath, so they project this lack of maturity and independence on others.

So who’s into reality TV?

My favorite shows right now are:

1. Shark’s Tank,
2. The Profit with Marcus Lemonis,
3. Consumed, the new show about restaurants in New York.

These are all business-related, as you can see.

What are you watching?

It was probably a mistake to agree to write a piece on gender and space. I’m now getting caught up on the theory and, boy, does it suck or does it most horribly suck.

Time is male while space is female; skyscrapers are embodiments of the inflated male ego; the chaos of the city mimics “the uterine form of the female body”, and somebody shoot me right now to put me out of my misery. Bleh, bleh, and bleh some more.

NYTimes has published a good article about state-sponsored trolling. If you think it will never have any impact on your life, think again. And then read about the Columbia Chemical plant in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.

At least, we are finally awakening to the reasons behind the trolling campaign:

Russia’s information war might be thought of as the biggest trolling operation in history, and its target is nothing less than the utility of the Internet as a democratic space.

Read, the article, get informed, and make sure that the trolls don’t start to control you.

OK, is the word for a series of two novels called a duology? That sounds weird to me but I can’t think of an alternative.

There is a huge hullabaloo about a column on sexual harassment in Science:

“His attention on your chest may be unwelcome, but you need his attention on your science and his best advice.”

With those words, Alice S. Huang, a senior faculty associate in biology at California Institute of Technology known for her pioneering research in molecular animal virology, and a regular columnist for Science, launched a wave of criticism Monday that resulted in the disappearance and subsequent retraction of her advice piece.

Everyone is piling on Huang but nobody is paying attention to the letter she was responding to. Here it is:

Dear Alice,

I just joined a new lab for my second postdoc. It’s a good lab. I’m happy with my project. I think it could really lead to some good results. My adviser is a good scientist, and he seems like a nice guy. Here’s the problem: whenever we meet in his office, I catch him trying to look down my shirt. Not that this matters, but he’s married. What should I do?

— Bothered

Got it? The only reason why Bothered is bothered is that the “nice guy” in question is married. This turns the situation around 180°. This is not a victim. This is somebody who is trying to sell the view of her chest for a marriage licence. “You are welcome to ogle unless you are married” is not  a position that provokes a whole lot of respect for this budding scholar. 

Huang did not take Bothered’s plight very seriously because Bothered is not that serious about it either. Huang responded in the same spirit and tone as the letter she was responding to, which is the most reasonable way of answering correspondence. 

And by God, am I tired of these constant waves of outrage about nothing in particular. When a colleague of mine expressed shock at how impassioned the discussion of the campus grill’s name became, she was told that “we feel impotent to change anything that really matters, but at least we can effectuate tangible change when we change the grill name.” The truth, however, is that we are only impotent because we have convinced ourselves that we are. There are things to be done other than renaming grills and hunting for husbands in the lab. Let’s stop clucking like a bunch of stupid hens and just do something of use already.

OK, so remember our struggle for power discussion?  Want to know how the situation developed and who was right? See for yourselves:

Apropos of my coming visit, he remarked on our “dating or whatever you call it” before continuing with possible activities while I’m there.  A bit later, he told me how much he enjoyed my company; he was happy when we were together.  He followed that with a comment about how our interactions often made him think of his ex, when we were in a certain place or talking about a certain subject.  Then he referenced how our relationship was “temporary,” although he didn’t have a specific timeline.

I’m never mistaken about these things. The guy won an early advantage and is now pressing it home at every opportunity. He’s the one deciding whether the relationship is temporary and is skillfully keeping his adversary on her toes by having her guess when he will choose to terminate it.

People, remember, whatever you do, don’t become the person who guesses, wonders, frets and tries to figure out what the other person is assuming, implying, wanting or planning. Figure out what you want and make it known. Calmly communicate your wishes in very clear terms.

And for Pete’s sake, do not allow a casual date who won’t even allow you to call him or her a date unload the drama of children, exes, divorces, and psychological issues on you.