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

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?

All of our professors are very very special

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.