Hesiod is such a wild read. 'Women are a scourge from the gods, try to be born on the 24th day of the month for good luck, and wear a hat when it rains because otherwise your ears will get wet.'
Can I just point out that a car does not magically stop if you shoot the driver in the face? So even if someone is trying to hit you with their car, if they're that close shooting them solves absolutely nothing.
Of course, she clearly WASN'T TRYING TO HIT ANYONE, but even if she was..
#minneapolis
Didn't Trump declare fentanyl to be a WMD recently? That's a drug! And those boatpeople near Venezuela he murdered also had drugs, allegedly, maybe, before they were murdered. Therefore WMDs in/near Veneuzela! One plus one equals war! /s
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
There is no riding this out. There is no sitting through the worst of it. This is your country actively turning into a violent dictatorship and if you do not stop it, we're ALL in for another world war, another Nazi Germany, another round of unspeakable atrocities. It's already started.
So for fuck's sake America, do something about it already instead of sitting on your hands. Enough is enough. If you're fine with condemning your own country to ruin, then at least do it to prevent the rest of the world from being dragged down alongside you.
And guess what? It's not just the US that gets to suffer. Best case scenario for Venezuela right now is total chaos, and they'll be lucky if they don't end up like Afghanistan and Iraq. Countless dead, entire generations traumatized, all for one man's ego.
Or has all the talk about preventing tyranny on the right and the No Kings rethoric on the 'left' just been for show? The last 10 months suggest yes. Apparently the American people are by-and-large fine with having a classic Platonic tyrant for a president, at least until it is already too late.
The guy has amply shown to be a tyrant to the US domestically, a dangerous clown in diplomacy, and now an unrepentant warmonger militarily. And the military apparently just went along with it. What else is there to do but say 'no further' and shut down the country until he is gone?
So there'll finally be a general strike in the US now, right? Now that the 'president of peace' has illegally gone to war with another country and kidnapped it's president? Surely time for a total halt to the economy until Trump is removed, right?
No? Still no? Just let it happen?
#venezuela
When they turn off the old year before the new one starts
It continues to astound me how media will happily call up humanities scholars to comment on all kinds of news, but never connect this to 'maybe this is why the humanities are important.' Reporting on budget cuts to universities is consistently focused on finances, followed by 'unis disagree'.
All of our professors are very very special
The word “Research” is doing way too much work. We need separate words for “creating new verifiable knowledge” and “looking shit up on the internet”
Safe to say the CCC was a success!
Beautiful Coimbra! The first day of the CCC was filled with fantastic papers, with more to come over the next three days. Hopefully I can make a fitting contribution with my own paper on Thursday!
Lexi has decided that she MUST accompany me to the CCC in Coimbra tomorrow. Just look at this cat-shaped space in the suitcase, it's clearly meant to be!
Now that I'm working extensively with Roman terracotta stamps, can/should I call myself a stamp collector? 🤔
So yes, an event discussing a UN report which connects archaeology to genocide in Gaza belongs on the listserv. Because if we disconnect ancient studies from politics (and thereby give a fiat to those abusing the discipline), we are neglecting the reason for which we are here in the first place.
We are not hobbyists. We are professional scholars. It is our duty to use our knowledge and skills to help create a better world. The fact that we study the past does not release us from the obligation to improve the present - on the contrary!
Ancient studies have fantastic potential to show people that what is happening today is neither unique nor inevitable. Even better, it can do so while avoiding many of the ideological trenches that other disciplines (political science, etc.) may run into when communicating with the public.
There is enough political pushback against the humanities without senior scholars wrongly confirming that ancient studies hold no relevance. And for what? To retreat into a safe ivory tower, so we do not have to admit that our disciplines can be used to reinforce structures of oppression?
Genuinely, what is the point of what we do if we do not connect it to the 'interesting times' we currently live in? Yes, for me studying ancient history is enough in itself, but if we actively resist making that study relevant, it's just a hobby.
What a great time to join Bluesky, right in the middle of fresh listserv drama!
In all seriousness, it's shocking how some very senior scholars casually deny that classics/ancient studies have societal use. Our disciplines cannot be detached from politics, nor should they!
"This is a Classicists List not a political one."
A field of study is doomed when it surrenders its claim to be relevant to the real world, to how we live our lives in relation to other human beings, & cultivate mutual understanding. Isn't that the very point of the humanities?
Hello world! Attempt #2 at short-form social media, to talk about history, academia, books, and cats. And whatever else I feel like :)
Let's hope this one does not descend into madness like Twitter!
