The Javelins

The Javelins, by the way, are already in Ukraine. Ukrainian troops will start learning to use them the day after tomorrow. The Russians are livid and threatening with bloodshed. But they can’t really do anything.

These are the same Javelins that President Obama totally, utterly, and completely refused to send to Ukraine. These are the Javelins that couldn’t have possibly be sent to Ukraine because there’d be horrible consequences of some unspecified kind.

And so they are already in Ukraine, ready to be used by Ukrainian troops. They were sent by the US. Ukrainians are over the moon.

Of course, you are not likely to hear much about it on this side of the ocean because. . . well, we all know why.

Emails to the Past

When you achieve major goals in life, it’s very difficult not to send intensely petty emails to all those who told you that you could never do something, who vehemently pronounced that it just wasn’t possible for someone like you.

True. I still have vindictive feelings towards that advisor who laughed at me when I said I wanted to do a PhD in Spanish because, she said, as an immigrant I should set my sights on something practical that would lead to a job. The same person forbade me to register for a course on Don Quijote because it was “at an entirely different level than where you are.” Of course, I immediately registered and got an A in the course. And next year I’ll be teaching it.

Monday Link Encyclopedia

Here is what an honest job ad for am academic position looks like.

A really great article about a successful penis transplant.

NYTimes finally publishes a great editorial on opioid overprescription.

The field guide to consent. In the spirit of diversity and inclusion, I want to point out that I know of at least couple dozen cultures in the world that would find this guide absolutely hilarious.

Trump is making rich people at Harvard suffer in unspecified ways.

Great insights on the legacy of socialist states.