tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post4091249175357024176..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: RIP: Soviet rocket scientist, 99Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-70861991192931804852011-12-19T17:36:25.659-08:002011-12-19T17:36:25.659-08:00"I had a similar issue when I was young, thou..."I had a similar issue when I was young, though mix in plenty of laziness(or rather motivational issues that went undiagnosed). The school system did not, and could not set me straight. That ultimately took my father to accomplish.<br /><br />Germany shunts underperforming kids into trade schools to get them out of the averages, which is certainly working for them, but they aren't getting high academic performance out of said kids."<br /><br /><br />Ok, Germany isn't that good of an example. My point is that there has to be a better way to get children to perform better. If the schools in the innner cities aren't doing their jobs, there has to be some better way to educate the children who go to those schools.mr_evergreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343440218481916947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-60891582804252172942011-12-19T13:02:22.514-08:002011-12-19T13:02:22.514-08:00"She was getting bored because she wasn't..."She was getting bored because she wasn't challenged enough."<br /><br />I had a similar issue when I was young, though mix in plenty of laziness(or rather motivational issues that went undiagnosed). The school system did not, and could not set me straight. That ultimately took my father to accomplish.<br /><br />"I would say model the education system after Germany or Japan."<br />Germany shunts underperforming kids into trade schools to get them out of the averages, which is certainly working for them, but they aren't getting high academic performance out of said kids.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-12068488993410005812011-12-18T19:21:51.565-08:002011-12-18T19:21:51.565-08:00"On the other hand, if you push someone too h..."On the other hand, if you push someone too hard they fall over. Not everyone is ready for Algebra 2in 8th grade to use one example from this site(by contrast the kids that are will benefit the most from spending on them)"<br /><br />Well, this method is applied in alot of places around the world. I have met kids from other countries who told me that the math they were given in American high schools was stuff they covered in grade 5. My point being, when little is expected from you(and from what I gather, Black kids in poor areas are often not expected to perform), you often won't perform. <br /><br />And the kids that are ready for the hard stuff, I look at it this way. If there is a kid who is ready for the hard stuff at an early age , does it really make sense for that kid to be around a bunch of kids who are not perform up to his level? He as an individual would benefit the most from spending. However, based on the logic you are pushing for, he is not likely to get that benefit because he is surrounded by kids who are not performing. I watched a television program about a girl going to a high school in Cleveland,OH, an inner city school. She was getting bored because she wasn't challenged enough. <br /><br />I say, look to the smart kid in the class, and then make his standard the standard for everyone. I'm am for high standards and for making sure that all chidren have the same access to that high standard. I would say model the education system after Germany or Japan.mr_evergreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343440218481916947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-68659920185387215752011-12-18T19:09:03.820-08:002011-12-18T19:09:03.820-08:00"Spending a lot of money hasn't changed t..."Spending a lot of money hasn't changed the bad schools, poor students, or poor academic performance has it? I don't have a solution for the black community. All I know is that economic growth that happens here benefits all of us(not necessarily equally, but a benefit is still a benefit), economic growth that happens over there, not so much"<br /><br />I was not talking about spending more money. I was talking about starting early for everyone and expecting more. I say the solution for the Black community is to start young and early and demand more. Make sure access to an adequate and rigorous education starts early. I'm not talking about spend MORE money. I'm talking about making the same standard that applies in one school apply to everyone. Teach children while they're young about the important stuff. Start young and early as possible.<br /><br />I don't believe a benefit is a benefit unless everyone gets the same opportunity of ACCESS. I'm not talking about outcome. I'm talking about access. If I'm an living in a place where economic opportunities are next to nothing(I don't live in those conditions thankfully), what good is economic growth if I don't benefit from it the way that I should?mr_evergreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343440218481916947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-58082874430310837442011-12-18T18:34:42.746-08:002011-12-18T18:34:42.746-08:00Russia had a very solid scientific base, which was...<i>Russia had a very solid scientific base, which was virtually unaffected by the Bolshevik takeover.</i><br /><br />Very solid definitely, but I wouldn't go so far as virtually unaffected. Matvei Bronstein and Lev Shubnikov were shot. They nearly got Landau and Fock, and would have if Kapitza had not stood his ground. Kolmogorov punched holes in Lysenko's data, so his student Gnedenko was arrested to get evidence against him (but Gnedenko held out).<br /><br />Do good work, know who your friends are, and stay away from the <i>ambitious</i> cadres.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-27946676528150395882011-12-18T13:24:51.599-08:002011-12-18T13:24:51.599-08:00"And I have a question for you. I get the fee..."And I have a question for you. I get the feeling that what you might be saying is "forget the poor Black kids in the bad schools, let them flunk". Is that what you really mean?"<br /><br />Spending a lot of money hasn't changed the bad schools, poor students, or poor academic performance has it? I don't have a solution for the black community. All I know is that economic growth that happens here benefits all of us(not necessarily equally, but a benefit is still a benefit), economic growth that happens over there, not so much.<br /><br />"If you expect very little out of a person, that person might not perform. You want to beat out the competition, up the standard for every child. Make sure every child gets the same access to education and expect each child to perform, period, no excuses."<br /><br />On the other hand, if you push someone too hard they fall over. Not everyone is ready for Algebra 2 in 8th grade to use one example from this site(by contrast the kids that are will benefit the most from spending on them).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-31120842089743447472011-12-17T18:34:23.581-08:002011-12-17T18:34:23.581-08:00"More spending does not translate into a line..."More spending does not translate into a linear benefit as far as academic performance goes. Likewise getting a decent education does not require massive amounts of spending. We spend more than the rest of the world, and while our schools are the best, they seem to get along somehow.<br /><br />If America is to maintain her world beating lead, we have to put the grossly disproportionate spending where we can derive benefit from it, and not in a place where it will allow the Chinese et al to catch up to us"<br /><br />I was saying make sure everyone has the same access to the same standard of education and to expect the best from everyone. In the schools in China, everyone is expected to perform and to do well. It is drilled into you from day one. It should be the same for every child here. I am not talking about "spending". I am talking about standards and making sure every child has the same access to good education. Make the same standard from everyone. My plan is to expect the best from every child and make sure they get to that level. I am talking about building minds. <br /><br />And I have a question for you. I get the feeling that what you might be saying is "forget the poor Black kids in the bad schools, let them flunk". Is that what you really mean? I have to ask because I am saying "those kids need to be drilled from the start just like everyone else and the bar needs to be raised. And the drilling knowledge into the brain needs to start early and often. That is when the brain is developing the fastest." <br /><br />If you expect very little out of a person, that person might not perform. You want to beat out the competition, up the standard for every child. Make sure every child gets the same access to education and expect each child to perform, period, no excuses.mr_evergreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343440218481916947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-27880814574794511932011-12-17T18:02:44.245-08:002011-12-17T18:02:44.245-08:00"This is why some school districts choose to ..."This is why some school districts choose to pay higher taxes to provide better schools for their children."<br /><br />Property taxes are too high pretty much everywhere. A land value tax is sensible, but to also tax improvements-- as every state does-- simply subsidizes land speculators at the expense of homeowners.<br /><br />Once again, Nixon was ahead of his time. One of his good ideas that fell by the wayside was replacing school district property taxes with a federal VAT.<br />http://oldnews.aadl.org/node/85812beowulfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14987548132065830204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-36560487071173760982011-12-16T19:52:16.850-08:002011-12-16T19:52:16.850-08:00"I am sure there will be the usual chorus say..."I am sure there will be the usual chorus saying that Russia STOLE EVERYTHING. But the truth is, Russia was not as backward as the Cold War propaganda claimed."<br /><br />Of course. If you have a country of 200 million white people and you put all your 'best and brightest" into making weapons and Space Vehicles you'll do quite well for a while. But eventually it catches up with you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-77330216733930054962011-12-16T18:24:35.783-08:002011-12-16T18:24:35.783-08:00The assembly of a moon ship in orbit was the origi...The assembly of a moon ship in orbit was the original and OLDEST idea...<br /><br />Von Braun had pushed it extensively from 1945 onwards.<br /><br />---<br /><br />The N-1 was an astounding boner.<br /><br />Check out the youtube videos of disaster.<br /><br />You'll note that engines entirely ring the base -- with additional engines in the center.<br /><br />The inevitable result is a high pressure zone of exhaust gases trapped inside the ring of fire.<br /><br />EVERY launch must result in burn-through and massive detonation/deflagration.<br /><br />That they gave it three 'goes' says that rocket IQs really dropped after the big K left his mortal coil.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-4643094483390457032011-12-16T15:28:34.241-08:002011-12-16T15:28:34.241-08:00"I am talking about making sure everyone has ..."I am talking about making sure everyone has the same access to opportunity. So what you're are saying is that some people shouldn't have a decent education that would help them get higher up in life? Part of the plan I was proposing is to get to the kids when they're 4 or 5 and make it the same for every child in America. I am saying making the spending the same for EVERY child."<br /><br />More spending does not translate into a linear benefit as far as academic performance goes. Likewise getting a decent education does not require massive amounts of spending. We spend more than the rest of the world, and while our schools are the best, they seem to get along somehow.<br /><br />If America is to maintain her world beating lead, we have to put the grossly disproportionate spending where we can derive benefit from it, and not in a place where it will allow the Chinese et al to catch up to us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-12570511451657487242011-12-16T11:06:17.179-08:002011-12-16T11:06:17.179-08:00I am saying making the spending the same for EVERY...<i>I am saying making the spending the same for EVERY child.</i><br /><br />Why? What if I want to spend more on my kid, and I save my money for that purpose? Are you saying that I cannot do this because my kid would now have more money being spent on his education than others?<br /><br />If you believe that I do have the right to spend more on my kid, then you should agree that local communities have this right as well. This is why some school districts choose to pay higher taxes to provide better schools for their children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49323551556933020492011-12-16T09:28:13.121-08:002011-12-16T09:28:13.121-08:00How about make sure everyone gets the same equal o...<i>How about make sure everyone gets the same equal opportunity of access to decent education and raise the expectations for EVERYONE. Get everyone interested in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering. Doing it for everyone of every race in this nation. How about set the bar high for everyone and let merit be the deciding factor. </i><br /><br /><b>What?!?!</b><br /><br />And reverse 60 years of civil rights progress?<br /><br />Are you some kind of racist?Paul Mendeznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-3656501934697814082011-12-16T07:49:00.521-08:002011-12-16T07:49:00.521-08:00Actually, in the 1950s and 60s the USSR had very i...<i>Actually, in the 1950s and 60s the USSR had very impressive rates of economic growth (far more impressive than anything that the USA could achieve), ...</i><br /><br />In the 1970s, after Eastern Bloc economies (mostly) began to stagnate, academics distinguished between "extensive" and "intensive" economic development. In extensive development, you move a bunch of peasant from unmechanized farms into primitive factories. That's pretty easy to do, even under a command economy. In intensive development, you improve skills levels and technology, from, say, the level of West Germany in 1950 to West Germany in 1980. <br /><br />The Commies inherited poor peasant economies, so they could take the first step, but they could never manage the second.<br /><br />CennbeorcAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-75526850534391977012011-12-16T05:35:05.539-08:002011-12-16T05:35:05.539-08:00"
If providing that same opportunity means ho..."<br />If providing that same opportunity means horrifically disproportionate spending on what are essentially our worst students, that is not a win for us. More spending does help students, but we really need that to go to our world beaters who can provide the greatest return on investment(and hence more money/opportunity/etc for all). The moon shot was very expensive though, it is for that reason(or rather for our other spending programs) that it was shut down"<br /><br />I am talking about making sure everyone has the same access to opportunity. So what you're are saying is that some people shouldn't have a decent education that would help them get higher up in life? Part of the plan I was proposing is to get to the kids when they're 4 or 5 and make it the same for every child in America. I am saying making the spending the same for EVERY child.mr_evergreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343440218481916947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-67088416159978146062011-12-16T05:32:34.316-08:002011-12-16T05:32:34.316-08:00"First, everyone always compares the developm..."First, everyone always compares the development of rail in the USA to smaller European and Asian nations who have denser populations and smaller areas. Why don't they compare us to Canada and Australia? I don't know anything about those two nations' rail systems, but I've never heard anyone bring them up in a high speed rail discussion. Those nations would be more similar in layout and densities to the US.<br /><br />Second, mr evergreen might keep in mind that rail, and even high speed rail, carry the perception of "public transportation" to a great many Americans. And America just doesn't have the demographics of Korea or Japan to make riding public transportation agreeable"<br /><br />I don't care how small those countries are and how big WE are. I say we need to get rid of Amtrak and replace it with something better. <br /><br />And what demographics are you talking about?mr_evergreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343440218481916947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-47391257591631654352011-12-15T20:17:45.768-08:002011-12-15T20:17:45.768-08:00"Lest we forget the Tsar Bomba remains the mo..."Lest we forget the Tsar Bomba remains the most powerful atomic device ever built - and this was detonated in 1961."<br /><br />Because it was absurd to build an H Bomb that big. They didn't even gimped the one that they did detonate to prevent covering their farmland with radioactive fallout and severely shooting themselves in the foot.<br /><br />"Underestimating Russia is as dumb as underestimating America - something those of us in the rest of the world have frequently done."<br /><br />We spent the cold war overestimating them though.<br /><br />"Their Hind attack helicopters were probably better than our attack helicopters during the Cold War, and their AK 47s were more reliable than our M-16s"<br /><br />Different mission profiles, the Hind was meant to go after peasants, our attack helicopters are meant to operate in an environment where there is a lot of high tech stuff pointed at them(incidently our recent foreign adventures suggest that we should really buy some Hinds). Likewise the AK47 is reliable, but not too accurate.<br /><br />"Thank you for trying to be funny, but I don't find it funny. How about this, and this is for real. How about make sure everyone gets the same equal opportunity of access to decent education and raise the expectations for EVERYONE."<br /><br />If providing that same opportunity means horrifically disproportionate spending on what are essentially our worst students, that is not a win for us. More spending does help students, but we really need that to go to our world beaters who can provide the greatest return on investment(and hence more money/opportunity/etc for all). The moon shot was very expensive though, it is for that reason(or rather for our other spending programs) that it was shut down.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-53766907790323087372011-12-15T20:02:10.464-08:002011-12-15T20:02:10.464-08:00"how much science and engineering could the U..."how much science and engineering could the US have done for the money totally wasted in iraq. the mind boggles."<br /><br />We could have failed to close the gap ten times as hard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61267465005369687872011-12-15T19:47:24.666-08:002011-12-15T19:47:24.666-08:00An instructor I once had blamed the N1, not on Kor...An instructor I once had blamed the N1, not on Korolev, but on Kruschev's obsession with the Saturn V. I don't have any citations, but supposedly Korolev wanted to put the Soviet moon shot on a couple of smaller rockets that would rendezvous in orbit. It was a novel idea at the time.Dr. Φhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14086783503820477029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-43277969314061063982011-12-15T18:48:19.199-08:002011-12-15T18:48:19.199-08:00Paul Mendez: What makes NASA's accomplishments...Paul Mendez: What makes NASA's accomplishments even more amazing is that a bunch of pale, stale males were able to put a man on the moon using slide rulers, and without the many proven benefits of DIVERSITY!<br /><br />Imagine: If NASA had iPads and employed a bunch of black mathematicians, latino scientists and women engineers in the 1960s, we'd certainly have colonized Mars by now!<br /><br />Thank you for trying to be funny, but I don't find it funny. How about this, and this is for real. How about make sure everyone gets the same equal opportunity of access to decent education and raise the expectations for EVERYONE. Get everyone interested in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering. Doing it for everyone of every race in this nation. How about set the bar high for everyone and let merit be the deciding factor. Anyone ever hear of Guion Bluford?mr_evergreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343440218481916947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-69421137138574548532011-12-15T18:18:16.267-08:002011-12-15T18:18:16.267-08:00Spy photos will only tell you some things. Not oth...Spy photos will only tell you some things. Not others. Spy photos missed entirely (as did signals analysis) Saddam's nuke program in the 1980's. The US was shocked at how much progress he had made (in both refining uranium/plutonium and Ballistic Missile technology) -- all of it completely unobserved by satellites which were tasked heavily over Iraq.<br /><br />What screwed over the Soviet Union was the treatment of guys like Korolev, and all the guys under him. Imagine what they could have done had Stalin consistently promoted and rewarded technical achievement and not sent guys out of favor to harsh prison camps but rather provincial teaching jobs.<br /><br />That belies Pinker's argument on violence. Korolev, and lots of guys who could have been able lieutenants, but died in prison camps, was treated pretty violently.Whiskeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01854764809682029464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-11786287332434331572011-12-15T17:47:14.750-08:002011-12-15T17:47:14.750-08:00it turned out that a lot of economic statistics in...<i>it turned out that a lot of economic statistics in the East bloc had been faked. For example East Germany was not as well off as people had thought.</i><br /><br />One way and another West Germany had been propping up East Germany. Thus giving a false impression of the DDR's performance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-78619662871514298842011-12-15T17:16:25.809-08:002011-12-15T17:16:25.809-08:00Jody - a relative of mine works maintaining Embrae...Jody - a relative of mine works maintaining Embraer aircraft. Nothing wrong with them per se, but he says they are cheaply made. In his words "They aren't built to last."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-75610599380690171782011-12-15T16:50:44.172-08:002011-12-15T16:50:44.172-08:00there will never be high speed passenger rail in t...there will never be high speed passenger rail in the US. it doesn't work. more specifically the money doesn't work. it's not a failure to not build it. instead it's smart and good and right to not build it. population density is the issue. as with the solar debacle and energy density. the US interstate highway system, copied from germany, is the best in the world, and highly appropriate for the continental US.<br /><br />freight rail in the US is better than ever, but freight doesn't have a need to move at 200 miles per hour, so the existing rail infrastructure works fine. and, like most engineering, it's invisible, by design. you don't argue on the internet about freight rail, and unless you live near a line or cross a line when driving somewhere, you never even think about it. but the tonnage is vast. not only all the imports and exports, but just the amount of coal moved every day, sent from those mines to those power plants, to keep america working, to keep all that precious electricity flowing, it's a massive undertaking.<br /><br />not very visible though, and not very jewish either, so, without at least one of those things, it's not something people wanna fight about on the web. people rarely even discuss the great majority of gentile created engineering and infrastructure because the stuff is so seamless and essential to daily life and it just works, it's background noise to most.jodynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-37386545480536303792011-12-15T16:28:14.078-08:002011-12-15T16:28:14.078-08:00Henry Canaday, i was talking about military jets. ...Henry Canaday, i was talking about military jets. russia doesn't make good commercial aircraft. that's actually quite hard and only a few nations can do that.<br /><br />even a small nation like sweden makes a good military jet, the saab gripen. whereas it takes a firm like embraer in a nation the size of brazil to make decent commercial planes.jodynoreply@blogger.com