Finally, a European feminist has woken up and noticed the horrifying story of the gang sexual assault over a thousand men committed against several dozen of women in Cologne.

Of course, the feminist in question dedicates more space to “a dilemma for those who support both women’s rights and refugee rights”, “anti-immigrant parties”, “anti-refugee sentiment”, and Germany being “a patriarchal country” than to analyzing what made this horrible crime possible. But at least women get a mention. That’s already enormous progress given how bored today’s feminists are with everything that has to do with women.

The times when scholars were persecuted for doing research, advancing the cause of knowledge and contradicting all kinds of ignorant orthodoxy are far from over, as Alice Dreger demonstrates in her brilliant book Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science.

Dreger investigated some of the most notorious controversies surrounding dissident academics in recent years and discovered that a scholar who happens to publish research that departs, even by half an inch, from the rigid formulations that the ignorant public is comfortable with should prepare for the most vicious persecution imaginable.

The scholars Dreger met in the course of writing the book received death threats, saw their minor children persecuted and abused, were accused of the most egregious crimes (including child rape and genocide) without a shred of proof, and saw their relatives viciously harassed and their careers destroyed for no other reason than publishing (or trying to publish) their academic research.

The saddest part of this story of persecution are the kinds of research that merited this horrible backlash. When you look at what the dissident scholars tried to argue, the most striking thing is how bland and I’d even say vapid their ideas are. Some examples of these supposedly scary controversial ideas are under the fold.

Continue reading “Alice Dreger’s Galileo’s Middle Finger: A Review, Part I” →

I’ve always despised the American Anthropological Association (AAA) but I’m only now discovering what a cesspool of pathetic, stupid, vicious little creatures it is. I now have a new-found admiration for the MLA because, for all our faults, we don’t stoop to the lows of the AAA.

The field of anthropology is dying not only because the small communities it used to study no longer exist in the kind of isolation that makes studying them of value to anthropology but also because the field stopped doing scholarship and started doing ideology. And that never works.

Islam is 600 years younger than Christianity. So if we are to compare the two, we have to look at what Christianity was like 600 years ago in order to compare it to today’s Islam.

Back in the 1400s, Christianity was only about to gear up for its own version of Sunni / Shia sectarian violence and its emissaries were only getting ready to conquer the world, wiping out the unfaithful at every turn. The debates as to whether the unbelievers are fully human were only about to take place. Very public executions of those who committed some minor infraction against the orthodoxy were gradually getting into vogue.

So even the most backwards forms of Islam are way ahead of schedule in terms of their development as a major monotheistic religion.

Tried to find out what is going on at the occupied federal building in Oregon.

Accessed radio, newspaper, blogs, television, and word of mouth.

Discovered that all of these media transmit the single idea that “if these were Muslims or blacks, they’d be dead already.”

Got very tired of hearing this statement.

Gave up on the possibility of finding out what the hell is going on.

If this is true, then my Bernie Sanders sticker goes down today:

While Sanders frequently mentions the importance of electing Democrats, he focuses instead on his own “political revolution,” which he contends will sweep other party members into office.

. . Top aides believe the sheer breadth of energy from Sanders backers should be more than enough to elect fellow Democrats on his coattails come November 2016.

The article makes Sanders sound like a self-important jerk with zero understanding of the political process. I hope this is all a calumny because I don’t want to believe Sanders is as bad as the article paints him.

An American colleague is teaching in Germany this year as a visiting scholar. She decided to talk to students about the refugees (although her field is in no way related) and get them together to volunteer some help.

The students’ reaction was unexpectedly negative. This colleague has a tendency to exaggerate, so I’m not sure whether the students really “behaved like total Nazis”, but they were definitely not too happy about her lecture and suggestions.

Google Translate translates “Russians” from Ukrainian to Russian as “invaders” and “Russia” as “Mordor.”

As you probably know, Google doesn’t really translate anything. It simply picks the most frequent usage from its humongous database. Last year, for instance, there were several months during which the Russian name and patronymic “Vladimir Vladimirovich” were translated into English as “Mr. Putin.” This must have really sucked for the rest of Vladimir Vladimiroviches.

Also, last summer, “Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity” would be translated into Russian as “a political crisis in Ukraine.”

Friend! Remember: when you use Google Translate, you are forced to subscribe to its ideology.

1. A friend comes by your house unexpectedly. What will you put on the table?

A. What does the table have to do with this? – 0 pts

B. A 3 – course dinner complete with a selection of desserts. – 10 pts

C. My friends don’t come by unexpectedly. – 0 pts

D. A cup of coffee. – 3 pt.

E. Coffee and some cookies. – 4 pts.

2. What do you think about putting a carpet on a wall?

A. I don’t see a carpet in this photo. – 0 pts.

B. This can be good in cold climates as a way of insulating the apartment. – 5 pts.

C. Well, it’s better than wearing the carpet out by stepping on it! – 10 pts.

D. This just looks weird. – 0 pts.

3. When you visit other people’s houses, the first thing you do is remove your shoes.

A. Of course! It’s rude to trample around other people’s living quarters! – 10 pts.

B. Of course not! It’s rude to run around strangers barefoot or, even worse, in socks. – 0 pts.

C. It depends on the weather. – 0 pts.

4. Do you have something like this in your house?

A. Yes. – 10 pts.
B. No. – 0 pts.
C. No, but I’d love to have one. – 5 pts.

5. When was the last time you talked to your parents / siblings / adult children / adult grandchildren?

A. Today. – 10 pts.
B. Yesterday. – 7 pts.
C. Last month. – 0 pts.
D. I don’t remember. – 0 pts.

6. If you see people queuing up for something at a store, are you…

A. More likely to become interested on whatever it is they are lining up for? – 10 pts.

B. Less likely? – 0 pts.

C. Neither more nor less likely? – 0 pts.

7. Do you iron your bedding, underwear and/or towels?

A. Yes. – 10 pts.
B. No. – 0 pts.

8. If you lose your job, how many people will lend you some cash to tide you over?

A. I prefer to use my credit card. – 0 pts.
B. One. – 3 pts.
C. A few. – 6 pts.
D. All of my friends will be happy to do it no questions asked. – 10 pts.

9. How many of your friends are cheating or have recently cheated on their spouses?

A. None. – 0 pts.
B. One. – 2 pts.
C. A couple. – 7 pts.
D. All of them. – 10 pts.

10. Do you throw away orange and lemon rind?

A. Of course. Why would I want to keep it? – 0 pts.
B. I always feel bad about throwing it away when I can make such great things out of it. What a waste! – 10 pts.

Answers are under the fold!

Continue reading “How Much of a Soviet Person Are You? A Quiz” →

The Modern Language Association’s Executive Council has issued a statement criticizing growing anti-Muslim bias as well as bias against those who teach about Islam.

The MLA (my professional association) is so pathetic. This year, the number of job offerings in languages dropped off a cliff. The number of positions offered is back to the levels of the horrible 2009-10 job cycle which was at the height of the recession and saw 40% of job searches in foreign languages canceled or frozen.

The economy is no longer in recession, the job offerings have been doing much better, but then this year the numbers of positions across all fields have collapsed again.  Nobody knows why but instead of discussing this really serious crisis, the MLA is issuing ridiculous statements about the non-existent persecution of “those who teach about Islam.”

There was a situation with somebody who ran afoul of her religious institution’s Statement of Faith with a discussion of Islam in the classroom. But does that mean that we should all drop everything and start worrying about how evangelicals resolve their doctrinal concerns?

Another equally idiotic initiative is MLA’s statement “on the exclusion of refugees.” Playing the noble savior of non-existent refugees is, of course, much more pleasing than figuring out what the hell is happening with the job market. Let’s dispense imaginary bounty and pretend we are powerful and magnanimous.

Obviously, the MLA can and will do nothing for any refugees but the association just can’t pass up the chance to get some sweet “white man’s burden” thrills out of mentioning them.