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Richard Roskell's avatar

Short-sighted stupidity is now rampant in the Collective West. When it comes to Russia and China, some countries seem to be trying to outdo each other in self-harm. I'm a child of the Cold War and I've never witnessed anything like it.

This must be what it looks like when an empire is dying.

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Karl Sanchez's avatar

Those specialists are Russian assets. If anything, you keep them from returning. Yet another rake stepped upon.

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richardstevenhack's avatar

"Vladimir Putin: At this depth, I don't think you can see anything in the Black Sea. Hydrogen sulfide medium."

Can anyone imagine Biden saying something like that? LOL

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Ian Greig's avatar

Maybe the folks in charge of CERN were offered a choice of: i) banning Russian scientists and engineers; or, ii) something 'unfortunate' happening to their large underground pipe?

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Karl Sanchez's avatar

The Outlaw US Empire is even more dependent upon CERN because it lacks such specialists and CERN's equipment. Given EU/UK level of Russophobia, this was bound to happen. As I mentioned, Russians discussed that probability last year.

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Karl Sanchez's avatar

Well, that panel better start having lots of bake-sales as Congress has no money for hard science.

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Ed's avatar

My step son's daughters are attending "Russian math" after school, because the US' current elementary math teaching is bordering ridiculous.

I hope that successful teaching does not get banned in US!

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Karl Sanchez's avatar

There's a website with a collection of Soviet Era math and science texts, some translated, but I can't find the link. Digging around the web a bit got me this, https://archive.org/details/dorofeev-potapov-rozov-elementary-mathematics-selected-topics-and-problem-solving-mir-1982

More Mir books can be found with diligent looking.

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Ed's avatar

Thank You

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Nigel H's avatar

There is this: https://mirtitles.org/tag/mathematics/

and I've found the Math Sorcerer (YouTube) to be interesting where he does primitive reviews of such books ... although, I must confess, his YouTube site comes off more as a place where he sells his over-large collection of Math texts, as he lovingly fondles his collection, rifles quickly through the pages, and so on. Not the Math Sorcerer but the Math tease. lol.

I was told by my Differential Equations prof, long ago, that there were great texts in German (and Russian, no doubt) in that field. And that a student should not be daunted by such prospects.

aha. There is this:

https://archive.org/details/mir-titles

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Don Firineach's avatar

PISA scores by country 2024

https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/pisa-scores-by-country

US 18th

RF and PRC not included

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Don Firineach's avatar

US Math score 34th

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richardstevenhack's avatar

They don't have to ban it. It never existed.

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Karl Sanchez's avatar

As a teacher, I disagree with the blanket.

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richardstevenhack's avatar

As a previous student - and this is both during kindergarten to high school and then fifty years later at college - i insist. I look around and see nothing but morons churned out by the US education system.

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

Western blinkers are on so tight!

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Karl Sanchez's avatar

IMO, they cover the eyes completely blocking out reality.

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Diana van Eyk's avatar

It sure seems that way.

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Sep 24
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Ellen MHa's avatar

Snark? I mean sarcasm?

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ebear's avatar

Snarkasm...lol. I'm stealing that one.

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Sep 24
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Ellen MHa's avatar

To bad. Pity the willingly ignorant.

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Loam's avatar

I believe that, more than in its feet, the West is shooting itself in the little head it has left.

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Steve O's avatar

I guess this will expose where the real talent lies in CERN.

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ebear's avatar

I think Russia saw this coming.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/25/russia-to-quit-european-standards-system-for-higher-education-a77796

It's the Moscow Times, so as you'd expect they put a negative spin on it, but the fact is that unlike the West, Russia is returning to a system that turned out more scientists and engineers than lawyers, social workers and business administrators. You need a few of those too of course - more if your society is in decline, especially the social workers.

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Karl Sanchez's avatar

The thrust of that move occurred during last year's Year of the Teacher & Mentor. Reported a lot on all those events. The cool part about Russia's "Year" projects is that they last longer than a year. Russia's drive to upgrade its educational system to make it lifelong and include major business and trade unions in the process is close to unique.

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Fadi Lama's avatar

Superb article, thank you!

I especially liked this bit:

Mikhail Kovalchuk: We have only two priorities, or rather, three, but two main ones. The first is that any human thought that has arisen in your head is materialized in the form of materials. You've come up with a picture, for example – you need paints, canvas, easel, and so on. You came up with a melody – you need a grand piano, a musical instrument, sheet music, ink. That is, any thing is a material, and to create a material, you need energy. In other words, energy and materials science are two eternal civilizational priorities.

Putin: And the soul?

Mikhail Kovalchuk: And the third priority is the soul and intellect, absolutely. 😉

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Don Firineach's avatar

Russian scientists leaving Europe; Chinese scientists leaving the US. Who gains?

I commented on this on MoA recently - very silly of the Europeans - probably on orders of the US.

I'm reminded of a novel by Arthur Koestler (I think) - Suicide of a Nation - now to Suicide of the European Union ...

And on the previous thread - Pity the Nation - Robert Fisk on Lebanon - repeating itself.

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Liisa Tikka's avatar

About 100 years ago the Austrian spiritual scientist Rudolf Steiner held lectures to priests of Christian Community saying among other things: there is a development going on in humanity and is one looks spiritually what is taking shape one can see that in East (starting from China) people are mostly cloud people whose thinking is most developed and feeling and willing lag behind. In the Middle (Europe) are rainbow people whose feeling has developed most and whose thinking and willing lag behind. In the West (Americas) people are mainly people with fiery feet whose thinking and feeling are underdeveloped. Human ideal is that these abilities are in balance and everywhere there are many individuals who are more or less consciously striving to attain it. It seems that these qualities correspond the old group souls: eagle (head), lion (breast) and bull (lower part of body). The fourth was human. So, you can think that spiritual degeneration leads to these kinds of one-sidedness.

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Sutton's avatar

Thank you Mr. Sanchez.

Dr. Astrid Stuckelberger has been giving remarkable interviews on the dark side cern, clandestine nuclear research being the lightest.

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Sep 24Edited
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bevin's avatar

" Cold War v2.0"

The first time was tragedy, The second is already, quite evidently, a farce .

And, like all good farces it is something that we can all- humanity united with the exceptions only of the tiny number of members in the 'West's' political class, the Starmers, Bidens, Trudeaus, Macrons and the political pygmies, such as the German Foreign Minister and the idiots running Denmark- have a good deep laugh as we watch the clowns falling about.

As Karl points out, with his usual polite understatement, this is our ruling class scoring a bulls-eye on its big toes.

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