A while ago, when I was learning Javascript, I studied Javascript: the good parts, and I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the bad and the ugly parts. Of course, I did not agree with everything, as summing up the design defects of a programming language is to a certain extent subjective - although, for instance, I guess everyone would agree that the keyword with was a mistake in Javascript. Nevertheless, I find it useful to read such reviews: even if one does not agree, there is a lot to learn.

Is there a blog entry or some book describing design mistakes for Python? For instance I guess some people would count the lack of tail call optimization a mistake; there may be other issues (or non-issues) which are worth learning about.