>>6191
My dear sir, you have written a substantially long post entirely in the formal register, and, what is even more suspicious, you have not made any obvious spelling or grammatical errors; you even used commas correctly. A contemporary American college student would not be expected to be able to accomplish such a task. However, you abbreviated mathematics as mathS — a typical European convention; in the US, the expected abbreviation would be math. Furthermore, you uploaded the lectures to rghost instead of using a Western 1-click hosting service.

What I am trying to get across is that if you are a college-aged native-born American, then I am a 12-year-old Russo-Japanese catgirl. If you do indeed go to Stony Brook, then I'd bet anything that you are an immigrant, and a fairly recent one at that.

Well, if you do not believe that I am, in truth, a student at Stony Brook, then let my continued posting of lectures make it difficult to believe otherwise.

As for your other points:

I just happen to prefer the European spelling where I happen to know it.

I've been lurking on your fair imageboard for quite some time, and am, consequently, slightly acquainted with some of the conventions here.

You assert that you are a 12-year-old Russo-Japanese catgirl by Modus Ponens.

You lose the bet.

American college students don't know about iichan, therefore, you're a troll.
Get out!

>>6199

>you're a troll.

One with pretty good English though, thus not a bad one, right?

In American Society, we reviewed the first three chapters of a book we were meant to read, America At Risk.

It is very apparent that the professor is liberal, relative to the political climate in the United States.

The book explains the conditions which brought about the decline of the United States economy. These conditions include downsizing, outsourcing, growth of foreign economies, and the invasion by foreign corporations.

The quiz was easy, and I think I did well.

CSE215 recitation - 17 February 2010
http://rghost.ru/1008205

SOC302 lecture - 17 February 2010
http://rghost.ru/1009251

Have I proven not to be a troll yet?

>>6218
Dear sir,
What eludes me is the intent you have come to this imageboard with. Do you earnestly believe in educating average Russians by the means of posting lectures here (which, of course, is a most noble thing to do), or do you have a hidden agenda that is obscure for the time being?
Like 6192-kun, I have serious doubts as to your origin and nationality, for the very same reasons said kun has presented in this thread. However, I wish to draw your attention to the following mistake you have made (by negligence or otherwise):

>Here're the lectures for today and yesterday

How would one possibly pronounce the tongue-tormenting word "here're"? Of course, from the grammatical point of view it is possible to write such a word, the word being a contraction, yet it is my belief that one would never be able to vocalise it. Hence, it is either an overlooked mistake, or you are a Russian troll who didn't know of the impossibility of verbalisation of this contraction. So, which one is it?
I, for one, shall wait for the situation to unfold.

My intent lies mostly in amusement, with education as a side goal. I'd like to learn what you, the Russians, think of the United States by directly communicating with you. I would also like to know whether the content of my Russia Today class is different from what Russians would learn about Russia. I mostly hope to learn from you, and perhaps you could also learn about the United States.

I am assuming that those who frequent this imageboard are mostly from Russia and are college-aged. This is precisely the demographic that I want to hear from.

I pronounce "here're" similarly to "hear-ur", where the "u" is barely pronounced. Think of the schwa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa

As for my origins, I have lived in the United States for my entire life. I am interested in learning languages, mostly Russian and Japanese. I used to frequent 2ch.ru, when it existed, and then started coming here when it ceased to.

>>6222
So I see. I shall certainly download the Russia Today lectures, since it is of great interest to me what the Americans think of the present-day Russia, and how they picture it. I shall post my thoughts on the lecture as soon as I have listened to it.

>I'd like to learn what you, the Russians, think of the United States
>I used to frequent 2ch.ru

You claim that you are interested in how Russians view the US, and also that you frequented 2ch.ru when it was still existent. This spells that you have been visiting Russian imageboards for the period of at least a couple of years. Was this time insufficient for your questions to be answered? If not, do you have any specific questions on your mind at the moment?

>schwa

Yes, it did cross my mind that it might have been a schwa. I still chose to clarify that point. Thank you for your explanation.

When I visited 2ch.ru, my thoughts mostly consisted of, "Oh cool! It's a Russian imageboard!". My activity consisted mostly of trying to pronounce the sentences, as opposed to really understanding.

I have been making other efforts to learn Russian as well, mostly by watching movies and playing computer games.

My visits here have had a similar aim, though I also do try to understand the sentences. I don't always run to the translator whenever I encounter an unfamiliar word, often preferring that the meaning "occur" to me as I see it used in different contexts. Thus, my learning of the Russian language has been slow, but I think it's fun this way.

It was really only on Tuesday when it occurred to me that I wanted to know what you thought of the United States, and this seemed to be the best way. I don't really have specific questions in mind. It's more that I want to know what you think of the lectures. Are they interesting? Does Russian education put the United States in a particularly bad light, due to the history of hostility? Do your friends and parents say all sorts of things that we, the people from the US, would consider rather outlandish?

I can't say that my first posting here was clearly thought-out, it was something of a "Let's post this stuff here and see what happens" sort of thing.

Also, while examining the Schwa article, I found a better one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-colored_vowel

I'm glad to know that you're interested in hearing what the people in the United States think of Russia. I plan to continue posting the lectures throughout the semester.

Here's today's Russia Today lecture:

http://rghost.ru/1014061

Today's lecture was about the February 1917 revolution. Specifically, he talks about the popular revolt in Petrograd and how it takes place over the span of less than a month. We'll be covering the October revolution on Tuesday.

One interesting thing the professor mentions is that only the October 1917 revolution is taught in Russia and that the February one is not mentioned. Is this true?

>One interesting thing the professor mentions is that only the October 1917 revolution is taught in Russia and that the February one is not mentioned. Is this true?

No, it is not so. The February Revolution is studied by Russian pupils, though truth be said, it does not enjoy the same level of attention. Probably this has to do with the fact that November 7 was an official holiday in the former USSR (and in Russia for a few years after the collapse), and the anniversary of the February Revolution was not. But that is just my opinion.
Thanks for the lectures!

>>6246

>One interesting thing the professor mentions is that only the October 1917 revolution is taught in Russia and that the February one is not mentioned. Is this true?

Well, to be precise, he says that it wasn't mentioned in the Soviet history books, so at least he doesn't say that it isn't taught now. What I can say from my own experience is that when I was at school they did teach enough about the February Revolution. Same goes about the university, although I don't remember exactly what they did or didn't teach in the history course in the university, because it was pretty much the same shit that was taught at school but while writing this post I remembered one episode that at least proves that they expected us to know about the February Revolution at the exams. However, while that they do teach about the February Revolution is a fact, on the other hand, whether the people actually know about it or not is a different question. Of course if a common person hears "the 1917 revolution" they would immediately think of the October Revolution, but anyone who attended their history lessons at school would also know about the February Revolution. What to the Soviet period, I don't know for sure, because I wasn't there, but I'm pretty certain that the same as above goes for the teaching of history in the Soviet Union, however, I'm sure it's significance was downplayed compared to the October Revolution.

Here're the rest of the lectures for today, in case anyone is interested.

Discrete Maths
CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1015958

History of Computing
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1015962

Linear Algebra
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1015965

>>6256

Thanks for straightening out that detail. Perhaps you could ask the elders about how the February 1917 revolution was depicted in the CCCP.

Did you happen to find the review of the language quiz amusing? It must be funny to hear us being tripped up over facts you must have known since childhood.

In History of Computing, I've noticed that most of the course thus far is about the United States and Western Europe. Do you think that they may be overlooking some Russian achievements?

Of course, if you have any questions for me about the United States or Stony Brook, I'll be glad to answer them.

>>6260

>CCCP

>>6261

Combined Community Codec Pack, очевидно дже.

/r/ing transcript for Russia Today, OP. Audio quality leaves much to be desired. Thanks.

>>6260

> Perhaps you could ask the elders about how the February 1917 revolution was depicted in the CCCP.

I asked my 50-year-old father about that. I was surprised by his answer, because he knew about it more than me. Although he mentioned, that it's depiction in school was distorted very much. Like "while all good and progressive guys were in the field, bourgeous seized power". In university instead if history they studied "history of Communist Party of Soviet Union".

> In History of Computing, I've noticed that most of the course thus far is about the United States and Western Europe.

I don't know much about that, but these facts may be useful for you.
First is, my teacher in informatics was restricted to travel abroad (in 70-s and 80-s, I bet) due to classified researches he was participating in. Not all scientists in this field of science had that status, of course, but as he said, "Others were travelling to France, quite regularly, to participate in conferences, while we were doing interesting things". Even cancer researches in USSR were classified, after all.
Second is about cybernetics, althouth it is not exactly the same as computing. Cybernetics was contradicting "Leninist-Marxist" ("pseudomarxist's" would be more correct, in my opinion) ideology so was recognized by "ideologists" as pseudoscience, and thus was suspended.

>>6300

In an attempt to make the lecture more bearable to listen to, I encoded it with Speex while using its denoising feature. Trying to create a transcript seems to be a very painful experience.

HUR249 - 18 February 2010, Speex
http://rghost.ru/1019118

I also got all the documents provided for the class thus far and made them available for download.

HUR249 documents, including syllabus
http://rghost.net/1019138

>>6302

If you don't mind me correcting your grammar, "research" is the plural form of "research", oddly enough.

"I have participated in much research."

"According to the latest research, water causes cancer."

"In your research papers, I need you to cite sources."

"Much research is conducted in laboratories."

"Even cancer research in USSR was classified, after all."

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that "research" is simply treated as singular most of the time, much like the word "data".

I think I'll see if there are any Russian professors in the computer science department who can tell me more about Russian innovations in that field. I'm just curious.

I just saw a video about the SAGE system, which was a distributed defence system used by the US which made heavy use of computers. The main threat, as named by the video, was bombing by the Russians during the Cold War. Surely, the Russians must have had some sort of equivalent system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06drBN8nlWg&feature=channel_page

Here's the relevant page for History of Computing, by the way:

http://www.cvc.sunysb.edu/301/

Congratulations in your getting the gold in the ICPC, by the way.

http://cm.baylor.edu/ICPCWiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Results%20World%20Finals%202010

It seems that the documents for Russia Today that I posted previously were not what I thought they were. I should have suspected when the zip file was only 12KB. Here're the actual documents.

http://rghost.ru/1019320

>>6306
i don't, thank you.
6302-kun

Превед, Земли! Here is today's American Society lecture. Much of it is about why the United States suffered from the financial crisis in 2008.

I also encoded it in Speex with its denoiser in an attempt to make it more bearable to listen to. Do tell me if it sounds better or worse. I find that it sounds similar to the ancient DOS games, like Return to Zork, and it can be understood.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1036136

American Society, Speex
http://rghost.ru/1036237

>>6417

>Превед, Земли!
>Превед

Взять и уебать.

Hello, ИИчан. I have today's lectures for you.

HUR249 - We talk about the events of 1917, mostly about the time period between the February revolution and the October revolution.

One interesting thing that the professor mentions is that the involvement of Trotsky was censored when Stalin ruled the country. This was to such a degree that images that contained Trotsky had him erased from the pictures and that people did not know who Trotsky was. He states that he learned this while visiting Russia in the 1980's. It would be interesting to know what is taught about Trotsky today and whether your elders know much about him.

HUR249 - Russia today
http://rghost.ru/1041102

CSE215 - We learn about set theory and its various aspects.

CSE215 - Discrete maths
http://rghost.ru/1042956

CSE301 - We hear mostly about IBM and how their marketing prowess conquered the early computer market in the US and how they drove innovation, including the use of transistors.

I asked the professor if he knew of any innovations in the computer field from Russia or China during this period. He acknowledges that the text and the course are lacking in information outside the US and the UK, mentioning that France, which has a notable computer graphics industry, is not mentioned in the class. Unfortunately, he does not know much about Russia or China, but also goes on to state that most of the innovations in the field of computing during this time period did originate mostly in the US and the UK during this time.

CSE301 - History of computing
http://rghost.ru/1042952

MAT211 - We learn how to invert matrices and the concept of subspaces. I think this professor is Russian, but educated in the UK, judging by his accent. I can't really tell, though.

MAT211 - Linear algebra
http://rghost.ru/1042953

Here's also the Speex version of today's Russia Today lecture. I hope that this sounds better, since it's been denoised.

http://rghost.ru/1042996

今日は、イイちゃん！　I have today's American Society lecture, as well as the recitation for discrete maths if anyone is interested.

CSE215 - 24 February 2010
http://rghost.ru/1048177

SOC302 - 24 February 2010
http://rghost.ru/1048211

In American Society, we had two presentations about the issue of moral decline in the United States. One of them asserts that moral decline is occuring and is a problem, citing such examples as pop-media(hypersexuality of juveniles and media) and the internet(unfiltered cesspool).
The other one states that moral "decline" is not occurring, since we are very much the same as before.

My take on this issue is that moral decline is not occurring. Taboos always have existed in some form or another, ebbing and flowing as quickly as generational turnover.

Trying to point to the internet as a moral vacuum seemed rather strange. I consider the content of the internet to be merely what people already think and feel. It isn't as though most of the things the first presenter named did not exist before the internet. All the internet does is make all these things easier to access.

I'll be receiving another recording of this lecture soon. It will hopefully be of higher quality, since my friend sits at the front of the class.

Konnichiwa.

I have the lectures from this past Thursday, as well as the higher-quality recording of the American Society lecture from Wednesday, made by my friend seated at the front. Unfortunately, Russia Today was cancelled on Thursday, so there is no recording for it.

24 February 2010
SOC302 - http://rghost.ru/1064463

25 February 2010
CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1064324
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1064363
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1064419

I also did a bit of research on Soviet computers. It seems that Russia did keep pace with the US in terms of supercomputers for a good while. I can't say for sure, though, since I don't have the dates and statistics of US developments in computing memorised well enough to compare.

I was especially stunned to learn that the Setun worked in ternary. I had always thought that all computers had to work in binary.

Comprehensive information about Soviet-era computing, with timelines and links in good places.
http://www.bashedu.ru/konkurs/tarhov/russian/index_r.htm

This site has much information about Soviet-era computing, encyclopaedic format.
http://www.computer-museum.ru/

This article talks about the purchase of a BESM-6 for the National Museum of Science and Industry, in London.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/19960615/1967.html

I briefly read several of the Wikipedia articles about the super computers and personal computers.

With supercomputers, their development seemed to run in parallel with that of the US.

BESM-1 (БЭСМ)

1 built in 1952

Strela (Стрела)

Introduced 1953
Used for research
This first-generation computer had 6200 vacuum tubes and 60,000 semiconductor diodes.

BESM-6

Manufacture started in 1968, continued until 1987 with 355 computers completed
http://www.computer-museum.ru/english/besm6.htm

In the world of personal computers it seems that there were clones of IBM, DEC, and Apple computers. Some of them were even compatible.

Agat (Агат)

Clone of Apple II
Commercial lifetime: 1984 - 1990
Like the Apple II, it was used extensively for educational purposes.

Electronica BK (Электроника БК)

PDP-11-compatible
First released in 1985
Used as a home computer

UKNC (УКНЦ)

PDP-11-compatible
First released in 1987
Designed for education in informatics

Dubna 48K (Дубна 48К)

Clone of ZX Spectrum
First released in 1991
Used mostly for education and hobbies

Тлдр что происходит в этом ИТТ треде в двух словах?

Я проводки лекции Stony Brook. Я всего интересует, что вы думаете о моем "Американское общество" и "Россия сегодня" классах.

"Россия сегодня" учит нас, американские студенты колледжа, о русской истории и современных событиях. Я хочу знать, если содержимое класс соответствует тому, что вы знаете.

"Американское общество" почти в американском обществе с точки зрения либеральных профессор колледжа. Я думала, это может быть интересно для вас, русских, знать, что думают американцы Америки.

Я также заинтересовались в советской истории в области компьютеров. Я беру "истории вычислительной техники", которая центров истории компьютеров в основном в Европе и Соединенных Штатах. Этот класс, однако, не упоминается русский компьютерах, поэтому я коротко исследовал это самостоятельно и найти интересную информацию о советских компьютерах, как для потребителей, и комната размером.

Две другие классы, "Линейная алгебра" и "Дискретная математика", я делаю доступны в случае со всеми просто случается быть заинтересован в получении информации об их или просто знать, как он преподавал в США. Если у вас есть вопросы ко мне, я с удовольствием ответим на них работает на машине переводчик.

Это была переведена с translate.google.com, так смешно, если бы он переводит неловко.

In case the translator mangled my words, here's the original English text:

I'm posting lectures from Stony Brook. I'm mostly interested in what you think about my "American Society" and "Russia Today" classes.

"Russia Today" teaches us, the American college students, about Russian history and current events. I want to know if the contents of the class are consistent with what you know.

"American Society" is about American society from the view of a liberal college professor. I thought it might be interesting for you, the Russians, to know what Americans think of America.

I have also become interested in Soviet history in the area of computers. I am taking "History of Computing", which centres around the history of computers mostly in Europe and the United States. This class, however, does not mention Russian computers, so I briefly researched this independently and found some interesting information about Soviet computers, both for consumers and room-sized.

The other two classes, "Linear Algebra" and "Discrete Mathematics", I make available in case anyone just happens to be interested in learning about them, or just knowing how it is taught in the US. If you have any questions for me, I will gladly answer them by running to the machine translator.

This was translated with translate.google.com, so laugh if it translates awkwardly.

You know, I feel rather proud of Iichan and Russophone imageboard community in general, if Western people interested in it indeed exist.
Yet, it's a pity that nobody cares about us Ukrainians. Still Russian to everyone, even ourselves, we are.

Good day, ИИчан. I have today's American Society recording.

1 March 2010
SOC302 - http://rghost.ru/1079525

Much of it was the showing of a video, "Charles Moore: I Fight With My Camera", the shorter version of which you can see here with much better audio quality:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4242786686933713169#

This video is about the civil rights movement in the US in the 1960's, when Charles Moore photographed many of its events, especially where Martin Luther King was involved. We had our own Bloody Sunday, though it was nowhere near the scale of the 1905's one in Russia.

The professor also made remarks about our essays on whether we should house illegal immigrants in the university gymnasium, which I support in my essay. He was stunned that many of us showed harsh attitudes towards this suggestion. Here's my essay, on which I got a B-:

I believe that housing the immigrants is the right thing to do. Besides the fact that it would be cruel to allow people to die of exposure, I believe that it could be beneficial to the community as a whole to house them in a university setting.

Besides saving their lives, the proximity to university infrastructure and resources may provide them with opportunities to lift themselves from their situation. They should be more able to find more information about such things as how to register themselves as immigrants, allow them to become employed, and acquaint them about our society's rules.

Housing the immigrants in the gymnasium also gives them a chance to become part of the community, instead of isolating them from it. Isolation would reinforce the perception of their being "outsiders", bringing about fear, because people fear what they do not know. Having them in plain sight will allow the community-at-large to see that the immigrants are, in fact, people.

Is it not hypocritical for people to give to charities to help those far out of their sight while doing nothing about those who suffer nearby? It may be a shameful thing to think that people are suffering within one's own community. It is much more comforting to think that all the suffering in the world exists only in places like Africa. This is, in fact, the wrong view to take. Wishing something away does nothing. Only action can provide a solution.

Perhaps you might have an opinion on illegal immigration in your country that you'd like to express. From what I see from a tiny bit of research, it appears that Russia also suffers from much illegal immigration from places such as Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Kyrgystan. Do you think that they should be housed in university gymnasiums?

Besides today's "lecture", I've also included all the documents we've received for the class thus far, including the slideshows which were used in-class. I also include the forum posts from the academic forums in reverse-chronological order, so you may examine the writings of the typical American university student.

>>6536

Well, at the very least, there is me. I've been around for years, browsing mostly видеоигры and аниме.

It is not that we do not care about the Ukraine, it's more the case that places which are distant from us, but adjacent to each other, tend to be lumped together conceptually. When we learn about Russia, we also do learn about the Ukrainian region, even if Ukraine is not specifically mentioned, since the region was part of Russia until rather recently.

By the way, here are the results of the American Society polls.

http://polldaddy.com/community/poll/2638273/?view=results
http://polldaddy.com/community/poll/2773391/?view=results

Here are all my lectures for the day:
http://rghost.ru/1086523

Here's the Russia Today lecture, denoised with Speex.
http://rghost.ru/1086569

In Russia Today, we talked about cultural changes that occurred around the time of the 1917 revolution. The beginning of the Bolshevik regime was described as extraordinarly progressive. Universal healthcare was introduced, literacy rates skyrocketed to 99% in ten years, and there was an explosion of art around this time. It sounded as though things were really quite nice until Stalin came around to implement a police state.

We were also shown the end of October, by Eisenstein:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjFoqVg218w&feature=PlayList&p=CC154AE0B8A8453B&index=9

>>6554
Your college is racist.

Добре день. I have today(3 March 2010)'s American Society lecture as well as the Discrete Mathematics recitation.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1093201

Discrete Maths
http://rghost.ru/1093187

In the American Society lecture, we listened to two student presentations that presented views on whether or not the American news media had a liberal bias.

In the argument for the presence of a liberal bias, it was said that conservatives were shut out. She also cites an event at Columbia University where it was asked "Who voted for George Bush?", and only one person raised his/her hand. When conservative organisations are referred to, it is always emphasised that they are conservative.

In the argument against the presence of a liberal bias, it was said that conservatives were everywhere. Rush Limbaugh dominates the talk radio market. Fox News has an audience much larger than CNN and MSNBC. That the media has a liberal bias is just a myth, perpetuated by conservatives for their own gain.

I don't watch much American media, so I don't really have an opinion on this issue. I generally go to Reddit, BBC News, and Slashdot. Television here has too many advertisements, apparently for sick people with lots of self-esteem and mental health issues who also have hearing problems and confuse analogies with truth.

>>6564

>>Your college is racist.

That's an interesting response. I would, however attempt to suggest that the reaction of my classmates may not be wholly rooted in racism. Before that, however, allow me to establish the context of the poll. This is the text of the assignment associated with this poll, as written by the professor:

`One of the things I am well known for among students is my one-page essay assignments. The essay must be written completely on one page--no title pages or separate pages for references or bibliography. If you hand in more than one physical page, only the first one will be graded and the rest discarded!

In this week's issue of our local newspaper, The Village Times Herald, there is a column written by the Reverend Francis Pizzarelli. The paper is sold locally but you can find it online at: www.northshoreoflongisland.com

The title of Reverend Pizzarelli's article is "Winter housing for the undocumented is needed." If you search the site by his last name you will find the article.

Among many suggestions the Reverend makes is one that the undocumented homeless should be housed at night in local university gymnasiums and locker rooms. He also suggests that students would be willing to act as volunteers to oversee and manage these facilities for the homeless.

In a one-page written essay I want you to do the following:

1. choose a position for or against this idea and develop your arguments
2. clearly state your position and your arguments for or against
3. identify the problems this proposal might cause if implemented and how they would be or could not be resolved
4. include any appropriate references

Rules: one printed page (hand written work not accepted); spacing, margins & font of your choice--so long as I can read it; all references on same page as essay; your name and student ID# in top, left-hand corner of page

Due date: Monday, February 8th, in class, no emailed papers accepted, no late papers accepted!

Good luck! JP`

The article
http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2010-01-28-82804.112114-sub_Winter_housing_for_the_undocumented_is_needed.html

As a counterexample to the assertion that the response was purely racist, the reaction of one of my classmates centred on the fact that undocumented immigrants can be a drain on the society's resources. When undocumented immigrants reside in a country, they do not pay taxes and take jobs which could have gone to a citizen. They may also be an unnecessary burden upon the infrastructure, using up health care resources, among other things. It is also possible that they may contribute to the local crime rate. Therefore, their presence is seen as harmful, which prompts the reactions of my classmates, and racism may not be the entire reason for their rejection of the housing of undocumented immigrants in the gym.

Hello, IIchan. I have today(4 March 2010)'s lectures:

Russia Today
HUR249 - http://rghost.ru/1099299

Russia Today, Speex-denoised
HUR249-SPX - http://rghost.ru/1099314

History of Computing
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1099280

In Russia Today, we learned about the general period between 1917 and 1921. We started with the October revolution, when the Bolsheviks took over and kicked out the Mensheviks. The Mensheviks could have taken the lead, but the Bolsheviks were able to take power because they were more daring.

Afterwards was the conflict between the Reds and the Whites, along with Greens and the others. The Whites lost because they did not have a strong ideology and couldn't inspire people. The Reds, meanwhile, needed to compromise some of their principles by employing former tsarist military officers.

After class, I asked the professor whether he had seen Тарас Бульба. He mentioned that this movie was very controversial because it was sponsored by the Russian government and was made to be very nationalist, which Ukranians did not like. It was argued that, during this period, however, Ukraine hadn't developed a national identity. Just thought that was interesting.

In History of Computing, we talked about computers around the 1950's. We had the SAGE system, which was a massive undertaking to create a real-time defence system against Soviet bombers. This advanced technology in the US and inspired the SABRE system, which is used to manage logistics for civilian travel.

We also saw a video about the first RAM chip, which was a magnetism-based... thing. It seems very large and bulky to us, but it was quite innovative and advanced at the time. It was only 4K.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!videos=wngAmzfp8SQ&v=kmRtNmnRdNI

> It was argued that, during this period, however, Ukraine hadn't developed a national identity

That is a load of bullshit.

>>6584

Ah, sorry about the ambiguous statement. When I said, "this period", I meant the time period when Тарас Бульба was meant to have taken place.

>>6598
Doesn't matter, it's still a load of bullshit.

>>6599

Well, could you elaborate on why it is bullshit? I'd like to know more about your point of view on the issue.

Is it the entire movie, Тарас Бульба, that was bullshit?

Was it the nationalist view presented in the movie?

Is there actually no nationalist view presented in the movie? (I don't claim to know Russian well enough to thoroughly understand the movie.)

Did Ukraine have its own identity during the time of Тарас Бульба?

Is it a misinformed American view that there is controversy about Тарас Бульба?

>>6600

> Did Ukraine have its own identity during the time of Тарас Бульба?

Sure it did. As for your other points, I didn't watch the movie.

>>6609

> Did Ukraine have its own identity during the time of Тарас Бульба?

Depends on what you mean by "Ukraine". If you mean the Zaporozhie Cossacks - then yes, they certainly had their own identity during the time frame presented in the film. If you mean something similar to the modern idea of Ukraine (that Slobozhanschina, Left Bank Ukraine, Right Bank Ukraine, Galicia and Volhynia together form a distinct entity with a unique identity that is separate from Russia and Poland), then no; that idea appeared in the 19th century.

> Is it the entire movie, Тарас Бульба, that was bullshit?

The entire movie was low-quality propaganda. Don't get me wrong, propaganda movies can be very nice and watchable (e.g. see all good Soviet and American historical movies). The problem with Taras Bulba is that it is brainless, low-brow, poorly-written propaganda filmed by brainless, low-brow, poorly-filming idiots and intended for a brainless, low-brow, poorly-thinking audience.

>>6610
FYI: modern nationalism appeared in XIX century.

>>6610

>filmed by brainless, low-brow, poorly-filming idiots

>>6619

For those of us who do not know, who are those in the picture?

>>6622
It's a shot from “Heart of a Dog”, a 1988 film directed by V. Bortko, which was great. So, “Taras Bulba” was also directed by him, also he was a screenwriter. Well, I haven't seen TB, but anyone calling Bortko

>brainless, low-brow, poorly-filming idiot

is a brainless low-brow poorly-thinking twat or simply a troll.

>>6623

After you told me the name of the film, I went and saw it, and with English subtitles. It was quite good. I thought it was odd that it was made in 1988, though, since the Soviet Union fell at the beginning of the 1990's. It seemed very anti-Soviet. I guess censorship wasn't as bad at that point.

After doing a bit of reading about when the book was written, I'm a bit surprised that the author was not silenced. Negative portrayal of the proletariat while making members of the bourgeoisie the protagonists must have been a risky move.

I'll be reading Тарас Бульба, as provided by Project Gutenberg, so I can better say whether it is fair to call it mindless propaganda. I wonder, however, whether it is the first or second version. I've heard that there are two versions: the first one, and the second, more tsarist one.

I'll also watch the movie again with English subtitles. The nice thing about watching culturally significant movies is that it's more likely that there are subtitles for them, as I've just recently discovered.

I've also just found that there is a computer game for Тарас Бульба. Is it any good?

>>6635

>making members of the bourgeoisie the protagonists

Aren't they actually intelligentsia rather than bourgeoisie?

>>6637

I think that the intelligentsia can include members of any class, including the doctor in the movie. I believe that doctors qualify as bourgeois as well.

Dr.Preobrazhensky ∈ (intelligentsia ∩ bourgeois)

>>6638
Well, maybe you're right about Dr.Preobrazhensky, I can't remember if there was anything mentioned about his background anyway. I wouldn't classify doctors as bourgeoisie though, since at least in Marxism-Leninism the definition of bourgeoisie requires it to own means of production and exploit the proletariat.

>>6639

Ah, I see. It's just that we're taught, in the US, that "bourgeoisie" means "middle class". Doctors certainly fall in that category by that definition.

In the context of the movie, I think that Dr.Preobrazhensky does qualify as bourgeoisie. According to what I've learned of the Soviet mindset thus far, the anger of the proletariat was directed at anyone who had more than others.

I noted that the housing association stood for hardcore communist principles, probably as a sort of stand-in for the Communist Party itself. They were always singing praises to the Soviet Union and giving Sharikov all the relevant literature.

Meanwhile, the doctor was being attacked for having seven rooms all to himself, being seen as excessive. Besides that, observe the way he dresses, eats, and speaks. He holds the proletariat in disdain, and can certainly be seen as counter-revolutionary.

Perhaps the most important criterion for classifying him as bourgeois is that he has people working for him, such as Dr.Bromenthal, Zina, and the two others. Under Marxist theory, I believe this is what makes him bourgeois most of all.

>>6640

>Perhaps the most important criterion for classifying him as bourgeois is that he has people working for him, such as Dr.Bromenthal, Zina, and the two others. Under Marxist theory, I believe this is what makes him bourgeois most of all.

Well, you can't just get some people to work for you and already consider yourself a bourgeois. The exploitation means that the bourgeois profits from his employees' work, which is not the case with the household staff. Besides, even if he did employ Dr. Bormenthal as his assistant he still does most of the work himself (and has to exploit his own skills and knowledge rather than someone else), so it can hardly be considered a capitalistic mode of production.

>>6643

Perhaps we may use the movie itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sSQHSShK3Q

In the first few minutes, the doctor reads an article that Shvonder wrote about him, referring to him as a member of the bourgeoisie.

>>6644
Professor Preobrazhensky may seem like a bourgeois to Shvonder and the rest of the proletariat whose knowledge of communist ideology is limited revolutionary slogans. You're right that they would consider everyone who has slightly more than others a bougeois. But I still think that doctors are not bourgeoisie, because belonging to a certain class is determined by one's role in the relations of production.

>>6646

If Dr.Preobrazhensky is not bourgeois, do you consider him one of the proletariat?

>>6647
I think he belongs to the part of intelligentsia that is neither bourgeuisie nor proletariat.

>>6648

Well, I've run out of arguments. Have an ad hominem!

Good evening/morning. I have today's American Society lecture.

8 March 2010
MP4 - http://rghost.ru/1124975
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1125058

We had a presentation about whether divorce negatively affects children in the long term. We only had the presenter who said that divorce was not a problem, as the one who was supposed to say that it was a problem had forgotten to cross his name off the list.

She argues that it wasn't divorce that was the problem, it was actually the conflicts between the parents. Problems in children, such as depression, general well-being, and their own marital problems, were positively correlated with such conflicts, and not strongly correlated with whether the parents divorced or not.

This meant that a divorce could be just as bad as a tumultuous marriage.

Afterwards, we had a lecture on chapter 5 of America at Risk. This was about identity groups in the US. For example, there are racial groups, economic groups, and interest groups.

Native Americans are a prime example, since they suffered much from the colonisation period. They have a historical grievance, which is used to demand recompense in the form of reserved land and special rights. Such things happen even when it is apparent that they are no longer suffering from the historical persecution.

Konnichiwa, Ычан. The lectures from 9 March 2010 are here.

All lectures
http://rghost.ru/1132848

Russia Today
http://rghost.ru/1132859
Speex'ed
http://rghost.ru/1132864

In Russia Today, we had a quiz about the revolutionary and civil war period. I think I passed, at least. After that, we talked about the early post-revolutionary period. The first part of the recording is mostly the silence of the quiz.

Lenin died very early on, so it was hard to say what history would have been like had he been around. The main point of that discussion was whether or not he would have centralised power like Stalin did. He also supported the New Economic Policy, where business and private property were supported on a small scale. This was in opposition to what Trotsky wanted, which was large-scale collectivisation and industrialisation.

Later, Stalin implemented the industrialisation. My professor thinks that Stalin exiled Trotsky before implementing his ideas so that he could take credit for the entire thing. It was interesting to note that Stalin was never exiled outside Russia. This caused him to have a very different experience when compared to people such as Lenin and Trotsky. Perhaps this caused him to be isolationist, not caring to forge relations with governments of bourgeoisie nations. He preferred to expand the Russian empire directly by invasion in order to spread communism.

Is Stalin still honoured today? Or is he seen as a ruthless dictator?

Hello, IIchan. I have today's American Society lecture for you, plus the recitation for Discrete Maths.

SOC302 - http://rghost.ru/1138947
CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1138994

In the American Society lecture, we had presentations about "Should mothers stay home with their children?" and "Is third-world immigration a threat to America's way of life?".

The arguments for mothers staying at home consist mostly of child-rearing concerns. It is better for children to have a persistent caretaker, where the mother is the most natural candidate, than sending them to daycare. This fosters a better environment for growing up. The presenter also supports fathers or grandparents staying at home, since they can also provide consistent care.

The arguments against mothers staying at home consist mostly of economic concerns. In today's society, women are seeing an increase in educational credentials and earning power. It may be advantageous for both members of a couple to be employed while sending their children to childcare services. It is better for the society to have a larger labour force.

For third-world immigration, we had one person trying to present both sides. This may have contributed to a bit of confusion, but oh well.

Third-world immigration is not a threat, since this country was built upon immigration in general. Immigrants tend to be a hard-working group of people, since they usually migrate for economic reasons. Also, they actually do pay property and sales taxes.

Third-world immigration is a threat because immigrants' loyalties may be questionable, they may contribute to crime rate, and their formation of insular immigrant communities may be detrimental to social cohesiveness.

How do Russian families handle the question of working parents? Is immigration a major problem in Russia?

Greetings, ИИчан. I have today's lectures:

Russia Today
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1144501
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1146608
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1146615

CST215 - http://rghost.ru/1146617
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1146625

Russia Today has been recorded by alternate means, so the audio quality is much better than before. It may even be possible to hear the students asking questions.

We went over the quiz we took on Tuesday, and I passed. We then discussed the post-civil war period. Stalin was portrayed as a nobody in the early days of the Bolsheviks. He was not educated, it was possible that he did not read Marx, and he was rather unimportant. It was only later that it became clear that he was consolidating his political power.

We also talked about the way Russia is portrayed by Western writers. Some of them describe Russia as having a savage nature. This view comes from the Cold War, which many US residents effectively believe is still happening. It is said that translations of Western media to Russian sound like Pravda.

The "chicken article" that the professor refers to is this one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/world/europe/20russia.html

We read it earlier in the semester, taking it as an example of bias against Russia. It does seem that the "us vs them" mentality is still very strong today. Do Russians think that the people of the US are savage, primitive, or greedy?

Hello, IIchan. I've started arguing with a fellow in my American Society forum who believes that the US capitalist system is the best. I believe this to be amusing, and I think you will as well.

This is his original post:

The American Dream is not fading it will be there as long as there is the opportunity to do well. The way that people perceive the American Dream in recent years has been a confusion the meanings of opportunity and entitlement. If you break this down and look at the difference between opportunity and entitlement you will see the difference, opportunity means you have ‘the right to the chance to do well’ opposed to entitlement which means ‘I am owed’. How people view the American Dream has changed from ‘I have the chance to go out and own a nice home in the suburbs because I am American’ to ‘I am owed a house in the suburbs because I am American’. Another example being ‘I have the chance to work hard and have a six figure salary because I am American’ has been changed to ‘I am owed a six figure salary because I am American’. As you can see there is a distinct difference between the two types of statements. I would go as far as to say that this entitlement mentality is a by-product of political correctness. This is basically the argument that you can’t grade with a red pen because it hurts feelings or everyone who participates gets a trophy even if they don’t win. Losing sucks, I think it would be fair to say everyone has lost at something and no one likes losing. But just because you lost doesn’t mean you should be treated at the same as the winners. This is not a capitalist philosophy this is along the lines of s socialist or communist belief system. The people who make this push for political correctness are also the ones who make every person or corporation that does well out to be evil. They have even gone as far as to get the federal government in on the act. If you lived 100 years ago you wouldn’t have to pay any income taxes. You would have to pay a consumption tax but that wasn’t a tax that discouraged people to actually try to make money. Income tax was illegal in the United States until the year 1913 with the passage of the 16th amendment. The 16th amendment made it legal to have a progressive income tax which made making money to be a bad thing. The more you make the more the government takes away from you. The tax system which has been implemented punishes you for making money. And if your punished for making money then you are also being punished for working hard. But regardless of all the punishments being handed out to people who try to achieve the American Dream there are still people who everyday live this dream. You just have to get up and work hard for this dream everyday you can’t just show up and expect to have your dream handed to you. Martin Luther King Jr. he had a dream he had a dream of equality at the time the idea of this dream was near impossible. But everyday he went out and worked hard, His followers and himself suffered they had horrific things done to them but they worked hard and look they managed to make changes and achieve part of their dream. The American Dream is no different; you actually have to work for it no one is going to hand it to you just because you’re in America.

This is my response:

While I agree with your statement about entitlement and how people should earn their share, I take exception to one point:

"The tax system which has been implemented punishes you for making money."

I think that's an odd thing to say. When your income goes up, you still make more money. Even with the concept of tax brackets, it isn't as though your entire income is suddenly taxed at a new percentage. Here's a badly drawn picture to make it clear as mud:

Besides that, paying taxes is your patriotic duty as an American. When people skip out on taxes, we all lose out. All the things your taxes contribute to, such as the military, roads, schools, all get that much less money. Besides that, all the rest of us will need to pay more taxes.

"But just because you lost doesn’t mean you should be treated at the same as the winners. This is not a capitalist philosophy this is along the lines of s socialist or communist belief system."

Entitlement is not part of socialist philosophy. Communist, maybe, but not socialist. People in Europe still get work done, after all.

Oh heck, maybe not even Communist, judging by the way North Korea and the Soviet Union did things. If you didn't work hard enough, you'd get sent to reeducation camps. No one's really entitled to anything in any society, unless you were someone like Marie Antionette, princess of Australia!

By the way, if you want a look at Communist entitlement, take a look at this clip, from a movie "The Heart of a Dog":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBCHbJn-rB8#t=3m45s

The context is that Marx and Engels are mentioned, and the allocation of property is the topic at hand. Sharik, the unkempt fellow, suggests just dividing the property evenly. He specifically refers to the doctor's seven rooms and large number of pants. The doctor can't stand this freeloader's attitude.

If you're interested in Communist attitudes, you can watch from part 8. The second half of the movie is about the arguments between the doctor, representative of the bourgeoisie, and Sharik, representative of the proletariat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sSQHSShK3Q

And then he responds:

First I want to say I wasn’t advocating not paying your taxes. I was merely stating that the current tax system is not the tax system that was originally set forth in the constitution. As I stated before, the current progressive tax is a relatively new concept which came forth with the one of the first liberal progressive movements in 1913. Before that the government ran off revenue which was based off the sale of land, tariffs and a consumption tax. Now I will admit that I did a poor job explaining my position about taxation in the first post. I completely understand the concept of the tax bracket system, but my point is that it is not fair because as you make more money the costs of making more money increase. So for arguments sake lets say up to 50,000 dollars you pay 15% and that is a base tax (not how it actually is in America but for arguments sake let’s just run with this. Now let’s say from 50,001 to 100,000 dollars the tax is 30%. That is an increase of 15% and likewise let’s says that’s from 100,001 to 200,000 dollars you have to pay 45%. Now for the first tax bracket you will pay 15 cents on every dollar you make up to 50,000 then on the next dollar you make you will now pay 30 cents on the dollar until 100,000 which every dollar after that you will now pay 45 cents on every dollar. For the first 50,000 dollars we all pay the same, now I find it very difficult to say that it is near fair for the people who make more money that they should be paying more per dollar to the government to make more money. Now what does the government do with this money? Well yes they do provide you with protection and basic schooling and road ways. Now how I come up with this not being fair is that just because someone makes more then someone else that they have to pay more per dollar. If I was an ambitious person I would make more money then 50,000 dollars there for being ambitious not only am I contributing to economic growth I am being punished for doing so because I have to pay more to achieve a higher status.

Let me just take a small detour from this example and address some more realistic problems. As you said that we all benefit from military protection, roadways and education to mention a few. These are what you call public goods. Public goods are something that everyone benefits from the usage of. If we go into a more realistic problem in America we have two parties that don’t pay taxes like the rest of us and benefit from our tax dollars. The first being the people who choose not to make money which are the poor, and the second is those who are illegal immigrants who don’t pay income taxes because they well aren’t citizens. These people benefit from others hard work and are considered free riders. Also in America there is a minimum amount of money you have to make in order to pay taxes. No one wants their taxes to go up, it isn’t fair for people to have to pay more taxes and not reap benefits from doing such.

Now going back to the example let’s say we used a general consumption based tax which means you pay for what you choose to consume. So let’s say someone bought a shirt for 100 dollars because they could afford it with a 10% general consumption tax which comes out to a 10 dollar tax. Now let’s say another person bought a shirt for 15 dollars with the same general consumption of 10% that person pays 1.50 dollars in tax. Now you may be wondering why this is fairer and less punishing then a progressive income tax. First off no one is being taxed at a different rate every person in America is paying 10 cents on the dollar for buying things. Second this form of taxation does not take away from people for being ambitious and working more to make higher incomes. People will see more of the money that they work to make without having the government cut into the money that higher income earners make which will result in more disposable income (for those that don’t know disposable income is the amount of money left after all necessary expenses are paid) which will result in money to spend or save. Third revenue to the state is not lost to illegal immigrants and free riders reason here being that all these people need to buy things in order to live. So there is a much less likely way to dodge the taxation system.

Now as for how this relates to the socialism and communism part of the argument. Entitlement ties into the path towards socialism/communism. Previously I used examples of houses and incomes but entitlement can work for anything the trophies are just a form of indoctrination starting kids out young and training them to think that way. But basically you’re looking at a trend of getting people to think that they are entitled to things. So the people will go to the big business and insurance companies or even their small business employer and when those institutions say no to their requests because it is too expensive or bad business then they turn to the government. The government will offer you things like social security, national healthcare and better paying jobs. So the governments start offering a better picture then their free market counterparts. Eventually the government gains support amongst the people who follow the similar beliefs and people who are indoctrinated and before you know it you have the state controlling majority of specific industries. Then from there you wind up with eventual complete government control over everything in which the government will control the banks news and everything else. If the governments give you all of these things then no they may not line up identically with outline for socialist/communist society but they are all stepping stones until they get the right person to take over. This take over is currently unlike the take over’s in the past this isn’t going to be a revolutionary take over this is an institutional take over.

Now of course this is just personal belief if you choose to believe it yourself or not well that’s your call. And also on a personal note I would be very surprised if there was anything you could come up with to get me to think anything other than capitalism and the original concept for this country that the founding fathers had is any better.

Here's my response, posted just now:

I understand the argument that it is unfair that a person with a higher income is made to pay more taxes under the progressive income taxing scheme, but this is a highly individualistic view. I prefer the more society-wide, utilitarian view.

Socioeconomic inequality has deleterious effects upon any society. In its most extreme form, it has resulted in the French and Russian revolutions. As you see from the concepts in America at Risk, the gulf of income differences between the rich and poor has been widening. Even Warren Buffet, a legendary investor, believes that taxes should be progressive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu5B-2LoC4s

Warren Buffet believes that he is being taxed too little, compared to his household staff. He pays 17.7%, and the average percentage paid by his staff is 32.9%. He is also critical of people making millions upon millions who pay at a lower tax rate, much in the same way he does. This is evidence that the taxation system in the US is, in fact, a regressive tax scheme.

About the taxes skipped by the poor and by illegal immigrants, this amount is relatively insignificant. According to the US Census, "Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2008", on page 16, "In 2008, the share of aggregate income received by the lowest quintile was 3.4 percent;... and for the highest quintile, it was 50.0 percent". 3.4% is a small percentage compared to the how much the top quintile makes. Even if we were able to get all of them to pay taxes, we wouldn't be able to get much from them.

US Census - http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/reports.html

The taxes skipped by large corporations through the use of loopholes, such as tax shelters on the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, or paying rent to itself, are much more significant than taxes skipped by the poor and by illegal immigrants. The Washington Post quotes the US Treasury as having stated that it loses 100 billion dollars a year to this practice.

About sales tax, while it seems to be a flat tax, it is actually regressive, according to my economics professor.

A poor person will tend to purchase things which are cheaper. Cheaper goods tend to be of lower quality, often wearing out more quickly than higher quality goods. This may lead to higher expenses overall for the same type of good as they repair or purchase them anew.

I also have a personal anecdote which serves to illustrate the concept. I bike to school, so I have purchase and regularly make use of bicycles. My first bicycle was about 115 USD from Walmart. Over two years, I've gotten the tubes replaced several times, which might bump the overall cost to about 140 USD. My second bike was about 130 USD from Bike Discounters(now defunct). I've had the tubes replaced several times on that one as well, plus new tyres, which might add up to about 190 USD over two years. I stopped using both of them because of an unfixable problem with the pedals.

My latest bike was 80 USD from Walmart, which I thought was a real bargain. This turned out to be a big mistake. I got this bike this past July, and I suffered from flat tyres constantly. Even when I patched and replaced the tubes, the flat tyres just kept occurring. I had the tyres replaced at Campus Bicycle during the winter, which cost about 90 USD altogether. This adds up to 170 USD already, and it hasn't even been one year. Plus, it's already suffering from the same pedal problem which afflicted my two previous bikes. I believe I will be replacing it soon. This means that the cheapest bike was actually the most expensive, considering how much I've spent on it over time.

If I recall correctly, Nickeled and Dimed might provide more detailed insight into the plight of the working poor. I read it in 2004 when I went to Buffalo. Copies are also available in the bookstore, downstairs in the library.

As for the government taking over industries in socialist countries, we should look to Europe as an example of where this is not happening. Whereas many public goods are provided by the government, such as healthcare and rail service, they still have private corporations. I'm sure you've heard of BP(UK), Nokia(Finland), and Nestlé(Switzerland), among others:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2010/regions/index.html

Also, having the government control certain industries may lead to a better overall result. I was arguing with my economics professor about whether or not socialised healthcare had any merit, so I took a look at some statistics from the World Health Organisation. Here is the text of the e-mail:

I took a look at the WHO's statistics and saw some interesting things. Here're the countries I'm comparing against:

Canada
Finland
France
Japan
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom

I've also attached the data specifically for these countries in an Excel spreadsheet.

In "1. Mortality and burden of disease", the US is worse than all selected countries in terms of life expectancy, neonatal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, under-5 mortality rate, and adult mortality rate.

In "2. Cause-specific mortality and morbidity", the US is worse than the most of the others in maternal mortality ratio, non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and injuries. Canada is not much worse in terms of deaths by cancer.

In "6. Health workforce, infrastructure, essential medicines", the US is not the best nor worst in most regards, except the number of hospital beds in proportion to population. It is interesting that Canada and the United Kingdom are able to achieve lower mortality rates("1. Mortality and burden of disease") than the US, although they have fewer physicians relative to the population. For some odd reason, we have more dentists than everyone else.

In "7. Health expenditure", the US spends significantly more than the other countries per capita. It is interesting that the US spends more while achieving worse overall results than the other nations, as indicated most strongly in the adult mortality rate("1. Mortality and burden of disease").

In "9. Demographic and socioeconomic statistics", two things that caught my eye were the huge adolescent fertility rate of the US relative to the other countries, and the fact that the average gross income per capita in the US is greater than those of the other countries. It's also interesting that the median age in the US is lower than that of the other countries.

All data is from the "World Health Statistics 2009", from the World Health Organization.
http://www.who.int/whosis/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS09_Tables.xls

I would use this to argue that capitalism, as it is realised in the United States, is not an economic panacea. It is a system, an idea, a tool, to be used in conjunction with other such ideas. In Europe, they are able to use socialised healthcare to spend less money while achieving better results than the US.

I would also like to emphasise that I am not advocating that the government take control of all industries, only those which provide infrastructure and critical services. This includes healthcare, transport, utilities, waste, perhaps even internet. As we can see in Europe, it is possible to have some industries which are heavily government-run without sliding towards a planned economy like that of the Soviet Union.

Besides, you're living through some of the failures of US capitalism. You've seen the housing market collapse, plus the fall of Enron, our huge debt to China, the millions of uninsured, unemployed, and impoverished(39.8mil, page 20 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2008). To say that there is nothing better than what we already have is to be like Dr.Pangloss, who was fatally optimistic even as disaster befell him.

The founding fathers of the United States could not have foreseen all these things happening, and this is why we must debate these issues facing us now. We must realise the faults in the system to repair them. We must also see where people are doing better than the US, and learn from them.

One other thing, it's not only the poor on handouts who might feel entitled to things. Take Goldman Sachs, for example:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/17/news/companies/goldman_sachs_tarp_ingratitude.fortune/index.htm

Konnichiwa, IIchan. Today's class was cancelled, but I have the recordings made by my friend at the front of the class for two previous classes. I also have the American Society forum posts as of today.

1 March 2010
>>6552
http://rghost.ru/1172415

10 March 2010
>>6709
http://rghost.ru/1172595

Forum posts
http://rghost.ru/1172795

I also saw episodes 1-5 of Мастер и Маргарита, Владимир Бортко's 2005 version. I think it's a bit confusing, and I don't quite see the connection between the events involving Jesus and Pontius Pilate, those involving Woland in the modern day, and the writer. Perhaps all these things will become clear at a later point.

It appears that the series is about the weaknesses of mankind, whether it be pride, greed, or whatever else. The crowd at the circus was extremely greedy, as they attempted the seize the illusory money that fell from the ceiling and swarmed the "womens' shop". Many others were similarly manipulated, such as the staff of Variety. Perhaps it is about fate versus free will. I'll probably be finishing the series this weekend.

OP, could you upload all Russia Today and American Society lectures in one single .zip file please?

>>6805

Well, here are all the files from both classes, as you requested. They contain all the lectures and all the documents, including the latest forum posts from American Society.

Russia Today
http://rghost.ru/1174018

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1173977

I hope you find them interesting. Enjoy!

>>6806
Ta.

I just found out that the American Society blog is publicly viewable:

http://blackboard.stonybrook.edu/webapps/lobj-journal-bb_bb60/blog/1104-SOC-302-SEC01-40215/course/

You can see entries, but cannot view nor create comments.

Let me know if you're interested in seeing the comments.

Konnichiwa, ИИчан, progeny of двач. I didn't post anything yesterday because it seemed that rghost.ru was down. Since it's up now, here're the lectures:

16 March 2010

HUR249
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1186198
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1186269
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1186313

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1186344
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1186399
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1186427

17 March 2010

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1186438

In Russia today, we mostly talked about Stalin and Yevgeny Zamyatin's Мы.

Stalin was a sneaky guy in the way he seized power. He even went so far as to censor Lenin's will, which was meant to warn the government against Stalin. Stalin went on to exile such people as Trotsky, Kamenev, Bukharin, and others. He also instituted collectivisation and industrialisation in a way that caused famines and many deaths. Many people are divided on whether to hail him as a hero or to condemn him as a butcher.

We also talked about Мы, a dystopian novel about a society where individualism did not officially exist. All were cells in a single state organism, the One State. Much of it was discussion of the basic concepts found within the story.

One point that I brought up was that the BBC changed the name of the rebel group from "MEPHI" to "Dionysos". Dionysos was a Greek god who was born around Thebes as the son of Zeus and a young woman of royal blood. When he returns to Thebes, he is considered to be some sort of saviour by the people. The ruler of Thebes considers him to be a malignant force of chaos and disorder.

There's no recording for American Society today because we had an exam.

I must say, however, that the exams in this class leave me deeply discontented. Some of the questions on the exams ask for names of authors of articles that concern a larger concept. I do not fathom how this is relevant to understanding the larger concept.

One of the questions, for example, asked what Ross Perot heard, concerning NAFTA. The answer was, "A sucking sound"(This is a paraphrase. I'll find the actual text later.). There are many other such questions on the exams which seek to test knowledge of trivia in the study materials.

I suppose this is the sort of thing that would contribute to the stereotype of American college students that I encountered at the beginning of this thread. >>6192

I wonder, do you have any stories about capricious professors or teachers in Russia?

Hello, IIchan. I have today(18 March 2010)'s lectures:

Russia Today
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1194336
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1194355
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1194362

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1194371
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1194377
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1194391

In Russia Today, we mostly learn about Stalin's purges.

The first portion of the class was spent on literature. The first piece by Daniil Kharms, a very short play that was read, in its entirety, in class. It involved Gogol and Pushkin tripping over each other. After that, we heard an excerpt from Мы, about D-503's writing in his memoirs. Although he is the builder of the Integral, and is supposed to be fiercely rational, he writes in a very emotional way. The professor thinks that D-503's writing of the memoirs is what led him to rebel against One State.

After that, we learned more about Stalin's purges. He was a trusted member of the Bolshevik party, and so no one predicted that he would purge so many of them. He even purged people who knew him personally and thought of him as a friend. Millions of people of all sorts were killed or exiled, including not only Party members, but also officers of the Red Army, normal people, and even the people who were in charge of the purges.

You may also find today's CSE301 somewhat amusing. We saw this video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2539790754467363791#

Konnichiwa, ИИчан. Today(22 March 2010), I have the American Society presentations. In addition, I have some video clips from a series of performances for a multicultural fair from Friday. Oddly enough, the Russians were conspicuously absent. Perhaps you could come around as exchange students and correct this imbalance.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1222163

Multicultural fair
Part1 - http://rghost.ru/1221952
Part2 - http://rghost.ru/1222078

In American Society, we had two presentations which were for and against homosexual marriage.

The arguments for were basically that homosexual marriage really didn't have an effect upon those who were opposed to it. It was also seen as unjust that a pair that had been together for nearly a lifetime would not have the right to make medical decisions on behalf of the other, in case of inability of that one to make such decisions. Also in question were things such as property rights, especially inheritance.

The argument against was rather interesting, since the presenter used imagery of such graphic nature that the professor told her to turn off her presentation. She used morality as her primary point of argument, calling the acceptance of homosexual marriage a slippery slope to the legalisation of things such as necrophilia, incest, polygamy, paedophilia, and late term abortion. When she mentioned abortion, we were shown aborted foetuses. This was where the presentation was cut off.

I think that the issue of recognising homosexual marriages should be left to the states and that there is no need to make a nationwide policy concerning this issue. States which currently don't allow or recognise homosexual marriages are probably not the best places to have such marriages.

I also thought that the morality argument by the second presenter was a tad weak. Soldiers in the Spartan army were made to act in a homosexual manner, and they turned out alright. Many modern cultures seem to allow polygamy, which also occurs in the Bible. The image of the aborted foetus was meant to provoke some sort of emotional response without any logical assertion.

Could you imagine trying to portray defaecation as immoral by showing you images of diarrhoea in the toilet, processing "pure" olive oil immoral by thrusting its byproduct into one's face, or the ingestion of lutefisk as immoral by recording someone sniff it? I've also encountered similar reactions as brought about by the aborted foetus imagery by saying that I've eaten ox tongues, frog legs, and raw fish.

Your persistence is admirable, but do you notice the paucity of posters ITT? The Russian expression с упорством, достойным лучшего применения is about your efforts here, bro.

Hello, IIchan. Here are today(23 March 2010)'s lectures.

Russia Today
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1231136
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1231154
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1231158

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1231166
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1231178
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1231190

In Russia Today, we learned about the involvement of the Soviet Union in World War II. Stalin had made a pact with Germany to split up Poland, which resulted in one and a half more years of peace for Russia. When the Germans did attack, however, they were almost able to take down The Soviet Union, except for winter and the Scorched Earth policy.

Although Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt were technically allies, Stalin trusted no one. He had the rooms bugged and spies everywhere. Churchill and Roosevelt were unsuspecting, thinking that Stalin was actually rather friendly.

We saw the second half of this video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7408239438440019683#

>>6956

I have noticed the lack of responders to this thread, but oh well. I was able to learn a tiny bit about what Russians think about movies, at least. When there is a response here, I love the fact that it is always better articulated than in my American Society forums.

http://rghost.ru/1231234

In those forums, I always notice a glaring lack of paragraphs, terrible spelling and grammar, and assertions which are based on fantasy and hearsay. Although I am much less likely to hear a response here to anything I post, I anticipate it much more highly. At the very least, the grammar and spelling will be nearly impeccable and the response itself will be much more interesting.

Besides that, I've also found that there's a side benefit to posting the recordings and summaries to IIchan. A few of my classmates have found the recordings useful, and this thread acts as a sort of index for what I've uploaded.

Good day to you, ИИчан. I have today(24 March 2010)'s American Society lecture.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1237583

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1237551

Well, I've been doing so irredeemably poorly in this class that I've dropped it. I'll still be posting recordings, though, because it's funny.

For this session, we listened to presentations about whether income inequality is a problem. The side that says that it is explains how free trade, corporations, and the influence of the upper class are making income inequality worse. Income inequality is correlated with increased rates of homicide. Also, because of the influence of the upper class, opportunities for the rest of society have been decreasing at a faster rate, since the upper class does not care for egalitarianism.

As for the argument against income inequality being a problem, the presenter seemed rather incoherent. He seemed to be saying that income inequality is occurring, even showing a video clip featuring Paul Krugman, an economics professor and editorialist for the New York Times, but that it was up to the individual to realise the American Dream. He also showed a picture of an unknown Muslim city as part of his argument.

I think that economic inequality is a problem, if only because I've heard of the French and Russian revolutions. I posted a longer explanation on this subject before. >>6800

>>6978

>Churchill and Roosevelt were unsuspecting

I wouldn't agree with that. Even though I consider myself a stranger to history, I can say with all certainty that roots of Cold War lay in mutual mistrust between the Allies and USSR, augmented by Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, disputes about location of American landing (as far as I know, US had first been planning to land somewhere in the Balkans) and, finally, the division of post-war territorial pie.

Pardon my sloppy English. Never talked to native English speakers.

>>7017

>>Pardon my sloppy English.

Sloppy English? Surely, you jest! Your English is superior to that of most of my American Society class, as one can see from their forum posts and the blog. I'm not even exaggerating, you can see for yourself.

Forums - http://rghost.ru/1231234
Blog - http://blackboard.stonybrook.edu/webapps/lobj-journal-bb_bb60/blog/1104-SOC-302-SEC01-40215/course/

Anyway, the reason why I say that Churchill and Roosevelt seemed unsuspecting is because of the video we saw. It is a CNN documentary about the Cold War, and the video talks about World War II. Skip to about 26:30 and you'll see the part that caused me to conclude that Churchill and Roosevelt seemed unsuspecting.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7408239438440019683#

I'm only just learning about this part of history with such detailed focus. Forgive me if I do not fully know the facts. I do appreciate it when you correct my misconceptions.

>>7020

>Your English is superior to that of most of my American Society class

Thanks a lot, but, I guess, it's only written English and grammar I feel good (or not so bad) at. My speech and, especially, speech comprehension skills, are far behind the line of acceptability. Same goes for vocabulary. It may be loaded with not-so-common-and-therefore-elitist words and structures, but it pretty much sucks when it comes to casual expressions every Englishman or American is sure to know. For a Russian (or Ukrainian, does it matter?) my English may be quite good, but it's not superiority over the people around me I crave for, but superiority over myself and my indolence, first of all.

>I'm only just learning about this part of history with such detailed focus. Forgive me if I do not fully know the facts. I do appreciate it when you correct my misconceptions.

It's already admirable that you decided to pay attention to it and engage the others into doing the same. Occasional misconceptions don't really matter here, the big picture you give is the thing that matters.

Добре день, ИИчан. We took a midterm for Russia Today, so there was no lecture. I think I did pretty darn well.

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1253409
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1253423
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1253451

On the exam that we took for Russia Today was an extra question about US politics involving the "tea parties". During these demonstrations, they tended to shout out, "Back in the USSR!" and make other references to the Soviet Union in order to discredit the healthcare reforms.

I believe that this behaviour is related to the portrayal of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. For many decades, the public had been exposed to constant threat from the evil Soviet Union, whether real or imagined. With the McCarthy era, being a communist or associating with communists was effectively illegal. The association of the Soviet Union and evil remains today in the psyche of the American public, hence such odd chanting.

By the way, here're the American Society exams for the semester thus far.

http://rghost.ru/1253623

>>7040

Well, what better place to improve your English skills than the foreign language board of IIchan?

One thing I've been doing to improve my verbal understanding is to watch Russian movies. My skill in Russian is rather terrible by any standard, but watching movies has improved my ability to pick out words, even if I don't understand them.

There are also audio language lessons, such as those by Pimsleur. It teaches some very basic vocabulary and provides good practice for just listening. I listen to the Russian for English speakers programme when I bike to university and when I eat.

If you're really interested in learning English, along with all the vernacular and slang, perhaps you could ask about whether there's a foreign exchange programme with the US. I know that there is one here with Russia. My professor is involved with some sort of summer programme with St.Petersburg. Unfortunately, I cannot take part in it, since I have other priorities for the summer.

I thought it'd be a good idea to render the exams as in image for greater accessibility.

This coming week, from today until 4 April, is spring break, so there will be no lectures until 5 April.

>>6199

I'm an American college student and I know about iichan. I found you guys when 4chan /b/s came over and made a mass visit that day. I'm not a /b/, but my people talk to their people. BTW...you guys speak great English.

>>7171
Welcome aboard.

> you guys speak great English

No, it's merely preselection bias.

>>7171

Well, well. It seems that I'm not the only one.

What university are you from?

Hello IIchan, I have today(5 April 2010)'s American Society lecture for you.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1321521

We had one presentation about how feminism has benefitted the American society which also attempts to dispel various myths about the idea and its proponents.

Afterwards, the professor lectured about the changes in familial structure over the last several decades as well as the benefits of a society which offers equality in employment to both men and women and the progress in this aspect which has resulted by acts of the US government.

Howdy, IIchan. I have today(6 April 2010)'s lectures for you.

Russia Today
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1328862
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1328871
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1328895

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1328904
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1328909
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1328914

In Russia Today, we talked about the novel, Darkness at Noon, which was about a fellow, Rubashov, who was imprisoned, interrogated, and forced to confess to a variety of crimes. It was a philosophical work concerning the interests of the party versus those of the individual. Is this fellow right in trying to do what he thought was right, despite going against the official party position? Is the party correct in executing all those who would stand in its way?

We also started learning about the Cold War, which had, and still has, a major influence upon world politics.

Meanwhile, I've finished watching Мастер и Маргарита and was left very confused. The professor thinks I should read the book.

Dobre dyen, IIchan! I have today(7 April 2010)'s lectures for you.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1334386

Discrete maths
http://rghost.ru/1334351

In today's American Society session, we heard two presentations about affirmative action and one against feminism.

Does affirmative action still serve a purpose in American society? While it has achieved some measure of equality by reducing segregation, it may have outlived its usefulness. People criticise it for creating quotas and introducing the idea of tokenism. They say that this can cause well-qualified candidates for positions in employment and education to be rejected in favour of less-qualified minority candidates. Perhaps we should switch to a pure meritocracy, where race and gender are not considered at all, instead of having this "reverse discrimination" stuff.

One person was saying that the major reason for inequality may not be race, but from culture and upbringing. Even if you give equal opportunities to children in terms of access to resources, their parents may not teach them correctly to utilise those resources. I suggested eliminating the family structure and having the state care for and educate them, which would address this particular issue. I wouldn't really support this idea, just wanted to say something relatively outrageous.

Hello, IIchan! I have today(8 April 2010)'s lectures. I'm using a different microphone, so one can hear the students even better than before!

Russia Today
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1342044
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1342051
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1342059

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1342067
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1342075
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1342083

In Russia Today, we saw some news coverage about the latest events in Kyrgyzstan. The first clip was from CNN, which seemed to blame the government. We also saw some coverage from Russia Today, an English-language news outlet sponsored by the Russian government. The purpose of viewing these different versions of events was to illustrate bias in the media. The professor advises us to always use more than one source of information.

Afterwards, we learned about the Cold War, specifically about Germany and Cuba. Germany was a point of tension, since Berlin was within Soviet-controlled territory. The allies resorted to using aircraft to deliver supplies to its sections of the city. Cuba was especially important, since it became an ally to the Soviet Union after its revolution. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a rather tense time, and could have resulted in the use of nuclear weapons.

Well, I wrote an e-mail complaining about the American Society class. I wonder what will happen next and whether it will make any sort of difference. Copies of the exams can be found: >>7069 >>7064

My main complaint of academic concern about this class is about the trivia questions on the exams. I have attached a copy of all the exams that we have taken thus far. My transcription may contain minor errors, but the document is mostly accurate and representative of the exams that we received. Here are the particular questions that I take issue with.

Exam 1 #15: In discussing NAFTA, 3-party presidential candidate Ross Perot said that he could hear a ______ of U.S. jobs going to Mexico and Canada.

While the answer is "sucking sound" and I was able to answer this one, I believe it to be rather irrelevant.

Exam 2 #6: Institutions are considered to be more stable and based on ______.

The wording of the question threw me off, but that's only of minor concern.

Exam 2 #11: Name the article that The New York Times waited until 1996 to publish on the impact of the new economy on white collar workers.

We did not read the article in class and the name of the article is mentioned once in the textbook, America at Risk(p59). Perhaps one should know what the article is about, but I could not remember the name.

Exam 3 #1: The transformation of the American economy was first identified by academic authors:

The answer was c, Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison. However, their names were not mentioned in class and they appear in the textbook twice(pix, p55).

Exam 3 #3: Charles Moore fights with his:

The answer was d, camera. While this is something which the students should know, having seen "Charles Moore: I Fight With My Camera" on 1 March, the question seems trivial and irrelevant to demonstrating knowledge of the workings of American society.

Exam 3 #7: Bowling Alone was written by ______.

The answer was "Robert Putnam", but his name was mentioned exactly once in the textbook, America at Risk(p74). His name was also mentioned once in class.

Exam 3 #8: Issue #1 in Taking Sides asks the question _____?

The answer was "Is America in moral decline?", but referring to an issue by number in a textbook seems irrelevant to knowing about American society.

Exam 3 #10: In Taking Sides, Issue #2: "Does The News Media have a Liberal Bias," the NO position is presented by ______ from the book, Crimes Against Nature.

Knowing the author of a book seems irrelevant, since nothing is known about the author and he/she was not mentioned in class. I don't know the answer (my textbook is at home).

Exam 3 #13: In her presentation of the "against" position of Issue #4 in Taking Sides, what conclusion did Alexandra Imperato draw about the relationship between divorce and marital discord?

While it can be argued that this question is meant to query whether students pay attention to the student presentations, I still think this question a bit odd, since no one outside the class would be able to answer the question, even if they were knowledgable about the United States.

As a result of such questions, my grades have been poor and I have dropped the class. I still attend the class so that I may learn about the American society. I also have audio recordings for the class starting from 16 February.

Чёрт, не знаю как правильно сказать.
OP, thx for all this My english is very bad, lol :3

Hello, IIchan. I have today(12 April 2010)'s American Society lecture for you.

http://rghost.ru/1370235

We had several presentations today. The first issue asked, "Are boys and men disadvantaged?". We only had the "no" side to this one. The second issue asked, "Should government intervene in a capitalist economy?". We had presentations both for and against, with the against side actually being rather interesting.

The arguments for the boys and men not being disadvantage include the fact that there are more men in the workforce who are generally paid more. Women also have significant disadvantages because they have a tendency to become mothers, which is usually quite a financial responsibility.

The person arguing for government intervention in a capitalist economy stated that it was necessary because it would prevent disasters such as Enron, the subprime housing crisis, and other catastrophes from similarly unethical causes.

Now, the guy saying that governments should not intervene at all in a capitalist economy was quite interesting. This fellow was almost anarchist in his beliefs. He was saying that the Food and Drug Administration was unnecessary, and one reason is that it took ten years to approve a life-saving drug that would save 14k lives per year, meaning that the FDA killed 140K people in the time that it took to approve this drug. He also thinks that everything should be voluntary and that there should be zero use of coercion.

At the end of the presentation, I asked if he supported driving without licences, and he did. This gives me pause for thought, because this is the sort of idea that would prevent such things as technological progress, construction and maintenance of infrastructure, and provision of public goods. When the Red Army tried to rely on volunteers, they found it extremely difficult to fight the civil war and needed to bring back the tsarist officers to instill discipline.

While I believe that individuals should have rights, he goes a bit too far. Going so far as to say that he wouldn't pay for police because his one experience was poor seems like a recipe for lawlessness and disorder. We shouldn't make the world like Мы or 1984, but completely eschewing government sounds like it would produce an environment like some places in South America or Africa.

>>7403

Вы сказаешь верен. Я, может быт нет. Прости, я скажу по-русский очень плохо. Но я хочу поучит. Аригатоу читается мои словы.

Hello, Ычан. I have today(13 April 2010)'s lectures for you. The professor for Russia Today wasn't there, so we watched a movie instead.

Russia Today
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1378927

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1378827
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1378832
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1378843

We saw Кавказская пленница, which is a comedy from the 1960's. It's pretty funny, and it's all we did for the class for this session. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRrD6Q1fzGQ

Good evening, IIchan. I have today(14 April 2010)'s lectures for you.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1385688

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1385708

Today, we had a few presentations. The first topic was whether welfare reform benefitted the poor. The second topic was whether biotechnology should be used on humans.

On the "no" side to welfare, the presenter states that welfare helps too little and that there are still many who remain in poverty. There are also many who remain unemployed. This affects single mothers especially, since they need to work for longer and may not be around to raise their children. Tax credits for the poor do not work. Welfare in its current state is costly to the taxpayer and not benefit poor enough.

On the "yes" side to welfare, the presenter says that welfare reform has resulted in measurable benefits to the society in terms of fewer people receiving it, having found employment and becoming independent. There may be terrible abuses of the system, such as in the case of Nadya Suleman, which seem terribly unfair, but it still imparts an overall benefit to the society. Welfare is meant to be a response to poverty, which is generally not self-inflicted.

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/s/nadya_suleman/index.html

The last presentation was the one against using genetic technologies to modify humans. While he acknowledges that there may be benefits, such as making people harder, better, faster, stronger, more intelligent, more immune to disease, there are also downsides and moral issues. Is it right for parents to choose such things for their children as eye colour, height, and behaviour? It is possible that genetic engineering may exacerbate class stratification by making the wealthy able to directly improve their children? This will disrupt the natural process of evolution and cause all sorts of unknown effects. Besides, this smacks of the idea of eugenics, which was an idea supported by Nazis.

I think that genetic modification of humans is inevitable, assuming that our species does not destroy itself first. While the presenter touts all the negative sides of this tool, there will certainly be those who will keep walking forward in research and implementation of it. Think of Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn, which talks about "leavers" and "takers". The takers' societies will probably overtake any leaver society, simply because they are willing to spread and conquer using whatever means they can. It is possible that any society which does not embrace genetic modification may simply be left behind unless all societies agree to ban the practice. Fearing it because "we do not have the right" or because "it may lead to untold dangers" seems like a terrible approach to acquiring and using knowledge.

Konnichiwa, IIchan! I have today(15 April 2010)'s lectures for you. I had exams in two of my classes, so recordings of those sessions were not made.

Russia Today
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1394134
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1394139
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1394147

MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1394090

We talked about Кавказская пленница and how it portrays the Caucasus. It was an ethnically diverse place, and they were portrayed in the movie according to stereotypes. Russia came in and took over the region, partially to counter Muslim aggression, though one of the students states that most of the region joined Russia voluntarily except Chechnya. He also states that it wasn't simply a religious takeover and that Muslims took active roles in the government.

The professor also talks about other movies, such as Стиляги, which portrayed a sort of underground counter-culture movement which sought to imitate the United States in terms of culture. I saw this movie in the beginning of March, when it was shown by the Eurasian Culture Society.

Other movies mentioned included Груз 200, which the professor states is a part of Soviet reality. The student from before apparently thinks that she's speaking falsehoods and says it was just a horror movie, much like the American movie Saw. What do you think? I haven't seen it yet, so I can't say.

There's also an argument between the student and the professor in the last two minutes, apparently about Груз 200, but I don't understand enough Russian to really say much about it.

Konnichiwa, IIchan. I have today(20 April 2010)'s lectures for you. Yesterday's American Society class was cancelled, so there was no lecture.

Russia Today
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1430398
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1430404
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1430411

CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1430423
CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1430417
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1430430

For Russia Today, we talked more about the relation between movies and the real world, plus some information about Chechnya. Our normal professor is apparently trapped within the Ash Cloud in Poland.

Comedies are made for various reasons, including social commentary and escapism. Кавказская пленица, for example, pointed out corruption and racial conflicts in a light-hearted manner. Стиляги comments upon conditions in the Soviet Union, such as the pressure to conform and the fact that there was a rebellious group seeking to imitate Western styles. It is also interesting to note that comedies tend to be more popular during times of social instability, such as during Stalin's purges in the 1930's.

In the last class, it was mentioned that most of the Caucasus saught Russia's direct control, with the exception of Chechnya. Chechnya resisted the Russian influence for quite a while. Although it is officially a part of Russia, there is still much conflict in the region.

The professor also mentioned Тарас Бульба. I talked to her about it after class, and she thinks that it's a terrible movie, pure propaganda. Therefore, she agrees with >>6610 While I agree that it is propaganda, I actually liked the movie. Perhaps this is because I'm viewing it more academically, since I consider it culturally significant. I'm wondering, however, if there's a way to obtain an English translation of the first version of Gogol's novel. Apparently, there's an American rendition of the movie, which sounds rather odd and amusing.

Konnichiwa, IIchan! I have today(21 April 2010)'s lectures for you.

American Society:
http://rghost.ru/1437673

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1437618

In American Society, we had presentations on several topics, including advocation for using biotechnology on humans, what CREW is, and whether or not street crime was more harmful than white-collar crime.

Biotechnology should be used on humans because it would solve problems for generations instead of merely for individuals. Besides, this use of biotechnology is the natural consequence of our developing such technologies. Also, she was probably quoting Richard Dawkins or Richard Darwin Keynes, not "Richard Darwin".

CREW means Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington. The purpose of this organisation is mostly to be monitor the behaviour of the state representatives in the House and Senate. They track such things as spending patterns, and publishes instances of untoward behaviour and those who commit such things. They have a website: http://www.citizensforethics.org/

In the presentation stating that street crime is more harmful than white-collar crime, it is stated that street crime costs 728 billion USD in terms of direct effects and resources spent to manage it. It also tends to cause physical damage to people and often influences large areas of cities. White collar crime, in contrast, only affects people in terms of property, which can be replaced. She also makes a leap by saying that since 1/3 of street crime perpetrators that all street crime involves drugs.

In the presentation stating the opposite assertion, he says that white collar crime costs 200 billion USD while street crime only costs 20 billion. That's about it.

Afterwards, we had the lecture about chapter 6. The responsibility for domestic chores has become more gender-balanced in recent days. There's also the phenomenon where people are needing to take care of both their aging parents and young children.

Preved, IIchan. I have today(22 April 2010)'s lectures for you. The professor taught the class through Skype, which was rather interesting. Since the computer was so loud, the recording was actually quite clear. I recorded this one with my phone, since there was too much chaos surrounding the computer.

Russia Today
http://rghost.ru/1446379

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1446361
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1446370
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1446386

Today, we learned about post-Stalin governments. Krushchov started de-Stalinisation, there was a period of stagnation under Brezhnev, more stagnation under the brief administrations of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, and then Gorbachyov's accidental causing of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The interesting thing about Gorbachyov is that the professor states that he has a good reputation in the West and deemed primarily responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union while he has a terrible reputation in Russia, where policies by the US presidents were cited as responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union.

I also have one minor question. Do you pronounce his name as "Gorbachyov" or "Gorbachev"? For some reason, I hear both pronunciations, although "Gorbachyov" would seem to be correct. Same with "Kruschyov" and "Kruschev". Is this just mangling of the language by English-speakers?

Koitsu wa hontou ni amerikajin na no ka?

>>7612
Омаэ ва хонто ни росиадзин на но ка?

>>7611
yes, there is ё
хрущёв, горбачёв

russians almost always write ё as e when converting russian words to latin, so keep that in mind

>>7613

>>7612

Да, кончено ваташи ва Америкаджин десу. Почему вы не кангаиру что ваташи не Американский?

>>7614

Ah, so it's actually you Russians who are causing English-speakers to pronounce your words incorrectly. That's rather funny.

>>7625
not only english speakers, but themselves as well
ё is the most confusing letter of russian alphabet

>>7633

Perhaps it might be a good idea to eliminate it, like «ъ». Or perhaps like «ß» in German, which has often been transcribed as «B».

I've had some pronunciation mishaps with «ё» quite often, since the two dots are seldom ever marked. The Russia Today professor told us that we just need to memorise which words have it and which ones don't.

Maybe «ё» will ease itself out of the language without any intervention if the grammar Nazis get lazy.

>>7644

> Or perhaps like «ß» in German, which has often been transcribed as «B».

Lolwut? I hope you're just trolling, kiddo. «ß» is transcribed as «ss».

> Perhaps it might be a good idea to eliminate it, like «ъ».

The only reason the letter «ъ» was eliminated from many words was because of a pronunciation shift in the Russian language. Originally, «ъ» denoted a schwa-like vowel; later, that vowel became silent and so the use of the letter «ъ» was judged to be superfluous in many situations.

> Maybe «ё» will ease itself out of the language without any intervention

Nope, ain't gonna happen. It will continue to be a part of the language for as long as the alternation between the sounds [-ʲe] and [-ʲo] remains a fundamental part of Russian phonetics: e.g. веселье↔весёлый, зелень↔зелёный, ледяной↔лёд, смерть↔мёртвый, and so forth.

>>7650

Oh, I'm not kidding about «ß». I know it's supposed to be «ss». I've heard stories, however, of immigrants to the US having their names mangled by the immigration officials. Their names turned from things like «Große» to "Grobe". They're false friends, as you know, and this tends to confuse people who aren't aware of the fact.

There's a joke among Russian-learners: "I went to this great place called 'Pectopah', great food!".

Hello there, Echan! I just got the higher quality recordings made by my friend for American Society from 7 April to 21 April.

http://rghost.ru/1469264

Hello, IIchan. I have today(26 April 2010)'s American Society lecture for you.

American Society
http://rghost.ru/1477184

Today, we had presentations on whether or not marijuana should be legalised and then the lecture about materials from the textbook.

Should marijuana be legalised? The side advocating its legalisation had many things to say. Many people do it anyway, enforcement yields little benefit and is expensive (10-15 billion USD in the US), punishment is disproportionate to the crime, drug laws are used as an excuse to harrass minorities, it's safer than tobacco and alcohol, and it has medical uses.

The side which is against its legalisation states that marijuana may be harmful, has no medical benefits, and that legalisation may make its use more widespread. The apparently high numbers of people being arrested for marijuana possession actually pled the charges down from more serious possession charges.

Here's an interesting article about the effects of decriminalising drugs:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html

Afterwards, we learned about how married couples and single parents are affected in terms of employment. There have been some laws passed to deal with such issues, such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. However, these laws are not often invoked, since those whom these laws are meant to help generally do not have the resources nor knowledge to utilise these laws.

Привет, Ычан. Я даю лекции сегодня(27 Апрель 2010) вам. Наше нормальные профессор ещё вернул. Мы очень рад.

Россия сегодня
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1486009
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1486028
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1486036

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1485907
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1485916
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1485935

We talk about the fall of the Soviet Union as well as the events afterwards.

Gorbachyov did not mean to cause the collapse of the Soviet Union, he actually intended to keep it together with his Union Treaty. Unfortunately, there was a coup before that could happen. This coup apparently hastened the collapse.

Boris Yeltsin came into power as the first popularly elected president. During this time, there was a mini civil war in 1993, privatisation, and a massive economic crisis in 1998. Afterwards, Vladimir Putin came to power. Meanwhile, some people grew quite rich. Often, those who were superwealthy were also deeply involved in the political process. Also, at the same time, many people also became utterly poor.

One question about grammar: is «вам» both plural and singular?

Добре день, Ычан. Сейчас я даю вам лекций от сегодня(28 Апрель 2010).

Американский общества
http://rghost.ru/1493329

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1493278

We had presentations on whether mankind was harming the environment and whether globalisation is good for mankind. For some reason, we only had the sides which answered "yes" to these questions.

Mankind is harming the environment for many reasons. Food stocks have been decreasing, which indicates that the population of the earth is exceeding the carrying capacity. The price of food has been increasing for the last several years at least. There are already water shortages, which will become worse. There are also projected oil shortages, possibly a complete halt to production around 2060. Besides that, the distribution of resources is very uneven. Specifically, the US uses 25% of the world's resources, despite the fact that it only contains 4% of the world's population. With rising the affluence of the Chinese and Indians, which will lead to greater resource consumption per capita, the problem can only become worse.

Globalisation is good for mankind. Outsourcing has not harmed the US, since more jobs have been created than lost by outsourcing. Besides, creative destruction allows for us to take advantage of technological innovations. Globalisation promotes competition, which forces corporations to become leaner, giving us better goods for lower prices. Though the distribution of resources is uneven, gains can be seen in everyones' standards of living, including those of the lower class. Though people may feel that corporations are homogenising the world cultures, it actually gives people more choice.

>>7729
Although noone comments you right now, don't stop posting. It's graduation time all over ex-USSR so everyone's a bit busy, I suppose.

>>7752
Second this.

Привет и прости, Ычан, я позно. Я был болен, но я лучшее сейчас. Вот лекции от четвег(29 Апрель 2010).

Россиа сегодня
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1523759
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1523790
SPX - http://rghost.ru/1523805

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1523579
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1523657
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1523681

>>7752 Thanks for the encouragement, I was just a bit sick for the past few days.

In Russia Today, we discussed the adoption scandal between Russia and the US. We started by reading two articles from the New York Times about it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/world/europe/10russia.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/us/13hansen.html

Our professor points out that there are many odd details. For instance, the statements by the adoptive family were odd. They stated that the child tried to burn down the house and that he was language impaired. They also stated that a Russian official said to the child, "You have to be a man and not cry.", which distorts the view because it makes him seem heartless, though he was probably just jesting. There are also other amusing details which are mentioned by the articles. It is quite plain that the professor does not trust the New York Times' reporting on this issue.

Besides some odd details about the scandal itself, there was also another article mentioned about some sort of rejected Russian adoptee ranch, which seems like a bizzare idea on par with such things as Tranquility Bay.

By the way, this is the last week of class at Stony Brook for the spring semester. I plan to take classes over the summer. They're mostly going to be English literature classes, and they might be interesting. If you like, I'll record them and post them here as well.

>>7752 >>7752
Yeah, it’s been graduation time since Ср 17 февраля 2010, sure.
Also, it’s peculiar how you assume that “everyone” is graduating this year.

But don’t stop posting, OP. Your efforts will be well appreciated one day in the 5th millenium, when anthropologists unearth the iichan server machine.

By the way, I personally don’t understand why nobody pays attention to this thread. Perhaps concentrating on the controversial subjects relevant to Russians might help... Or maybe finding a more suitable board than /tran/.

Конничива, Ычан, вот лекции Американский Общества от сегодня(3 Май 2010).

Американский Общества
http://rghost.ru/1530866

In American Society, we heard presentations on three issues.

America is dominated by big business for various reasons. Corporations have various means of influencing elections, such as political contributions and lobbying. Once their agents are inside the political system, they can sneak clauses into bills which change the very nature of the bills in favour of their employers. Corporations are also much larger than individuals, so they tend to be rather rich and powerful. Also note that we had a recent Supreme Court decision which eliminated campaign contribution limits for corporations, which may serve to disenfranchise individual voters. There is, after all, a positive correlation with the candidate's funding and their chances of being elected.

Societal obstacles present barriers to womens' success. There are very few women in high positions in politics and business. Men tend to be paid more. Women rise through the ranks more slowly than do men. Stereotypes that men are better leaders, which merits rapid promotion, persist. Women also tend to have greater obligations to their families.

Societal obstacles are not barriers to womens' success. Teachers are the society's leaders, whereas CEOs and presidents are not. Since most teachers are women, this means that they are successful already. (This is the opinion of the presenter, not mine.)

The world is a victim of American cultural imperialism. As we can see, there is an interest for American corporations to market their brands across the world and promote homogeneity. As we can see, Starbucks, Coca Cola, and McDonalds, plus other American brands, have spread their tendrils across Europe and Asia.

The world is not a victim of American cultural imperialism. Not everyone in the world eats McDonalds. Heck, not even everyone in this classroom eats McDonalds. And Starbucks? I don't even drink coffee. Therefore, the prior assertion is proven false. American cultural imperialism doesn't even work in America, so how can it work anywhere else?

>>7755
Thanks for your kind words. Perhaps, during the summer semester, since I'm taking mostly English classes, I'll be posting in the literature section. I hope they're receptive to literature in English.

Привет, Ычан, сегодня(04 Май 2010) была очень смешно. Мои профессор был с єтим клип, «Сплин - Новые люди»:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq2bShkYl20

Россия сегодня:
http://rghost.ru/1540389

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1540309
CSE301 - http://rghost.ru/1540316
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1540319

Today, we discussed underground music in the Soviet Union. We heard music from such bands as Аквариум, which were very strange and mellow. Back in the 1980's, when my professor visited the Soviet Union, bands could be extremely popular without any commercial incentive. The distribution scheme was such that music played in St. Petersburg would arrive in Siberia in about two days, just with the transferrence of tape cassettes.

He also talks about his perceptions as a student when he visited Russia in the 1980's. The US officials were extremely paranoid, telling him to trust no one, "because every friendly Russian is a spy". Immediately, however, he wasn't spied upon or anything, he was actually invited to a strange concert. He also shares other anecdotes from his time in Russia.

Towards the end of the session, we find out that our professor was in a music video, which was utterly hilarious.

Добре день(5 Май 2010), Ычан. Вот последнее Американский Обшества лекции.

Американский Обшества
http://rghost.ru/1547163

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1547084

For today's American Society lecture, we heard about whether or not civil liberties should be curtailed for the sake of safety.

They should be curtailed because racial profiling is not racist, and it's expensive and time-consuming to try all these enemy combatants individually. Could you imagine trying to try each soldier of a hostile army individually? The curtailment of civil rights has occurred in the past to deal with extraordinary circumstances, such as the internment of the Japanese in World War II and the suspension of Habeas Corpus during the Civil War.

They should not be curtailed because it's not effective and "wars" can go on indefinitely. Our rights are already being eroded with the passage of the Patriot Act and many other acts of law. Under the Obama administration, our situation has not changed. The use of National Security Letters has been expanded and can be issued without probable cause.

>>7789

>Добре день(5 Май 2010), Ычан. Вот последнее Американский Обшества лекции.

i think this needs correction

>Добре день

needs to be Добрый день. Добре - this word doesn't exist in russian

>(5 Май 2010)

you should probably notice from iichan date stamps, that name of the month is written with lowercase letter and is put in genitive case (5 мая 2010)

>Вот последнее Американский Обшества лекции.

slightly hard to understand, is it "Вот последняя лекция Американского Общества"?

>Американский Обшества

Американское Общество

>>7791

>Добре - this word doesn't exist in russian

Are you a fucking schoolboy? This word does exist, albeit it's archaic and used only in high-flown/historic pieces of literature. Here's a bit of Ozhegov for you:
Добре, частица (прост.). Ладно, хорошо. Д.! Сделаем по-твоему! Потерпи еще немножко. - Д.
And some Dal':
добре, нареч. великорусск. очень, весьма, больно, сильно, крепко. добре стар. добре много. добре ты умен. матушка добре дюжа умирая.

Also, the worl "Russian" should be capitalised. Do you speak either English or Russian at all?

>>7814

>Ладно, хорошо. Д.! Сделаем по-твоему! Потерпи еще немножко. - Д.

sounds like belorussian talk

Добрый день, Ычан. Вот последняя лекция от семестр. (6 Мая 2010)

Россия сегодня
FLAC - http://rghost.ru/1563729
OGG - http://rghost.ru/1563758

CSE215 - http://rghost.ru/1563781
MAT211 - http://rghost.ru/1563797

Today was the last class session of Russia Today. We listened to some odd music, reviewed some of the things which we should know for the final, and then briefly went over a few things which could not be covered more in depth during the semester. Some topics covered included present conditions in Russia, such as the number of nature reserves and current issues, famous authors, and other miscellaneous facts.

It was quite a fun class, and I'm sad that it's over.

Also, I try to read Russian to you:
http://rghost.ru/1563803

>>7835

>Also, I try to read Russian to you

Too bad, the translation had to be performed via Google Translator; I didn't read this notice at once, and while listening I thought, "Hey, I know how he constructed this phrase in English now that he's got this phrase in Russian!" This little challenge proved to be a boost to my hubris of a translator.
I would not recommend using the word "весело" in the sense "it was fun" in Russian. Russians would rather say "было здорово" sooner that "было весело".
Also, IIchan, today I have passed my written translation exam.

>>7835

>от семестр

one does not say 'от семестр', you at least have to put it in genitive case i.e. 'от семестра' (however this does not sound normal too)
natural way of saying 'Вот последняя лекция семестра'.
once again, 'последняя' means 'last'. if you mean it to be 'latest', use 'новая' (=new) or its synonym

>>7855

>once again, 'последняя' means 'last'. if you mean it to be 'latest', use 'новая' (=new) or its synonym

Hmm…

We could use 'последний' meaning 'last', 'latest' in the same way as in English. You are going too picky here.

Последний раз я его видел вчера. = It was yesterday when I saw him last time. It doesn't mean that I'm not going to see him anymore, does it? So 'последний' here is 'latest'.

Another example is последнее слово в технике meaning 'the last word in techonology'. Technology is not supposed to stop evolving after this statement, right? :)

Captcha 'ne' agress with me in Korean ^^

Привет! Вот все лекции и документыи от Американское общество и Россия сегодня.

Американское общество
Part1 - http://rghost.ru/1636747
Part2 - http://rghost.ru/1636838

Россия сегодня
Part1 - http://rghost.ru/1637216
Part2 - http://rghost.ru/1636838
Part3 - http://rghost.ru/1637326

Thanks for all your advice. I'll continue trying to write a tiny bit of Russian, where I'm guaranteed to make lots of mistakes, when I post lectures. This way, I'll hopefully learn, however slowly, correct grammar.

The summer sessions at Stony Brook are broken into two parts. I will be taking three classes over the summer. The first half starts on the first of June, and I'll be taking Intro to Theory of Computation at that time. I guess I'll post the lectures in the computers section of IIchan. The second half starts on the thirteenth of July. During that time, I'll be taking 20th Century American Literature and Literature in English from Non-Western Cultures, which I'll be posting in the literature section of IIchan.

I hope to see some of you around.

Awesome thread. Thanks, OP!

You are awesome.
Please, continue.

I'm over here, by the way. It's a computer science course, hence the «Компьютеры» section.

http://iichan.ru/s/res/51997.html

Dude, OP is a russian fag who's been living in teh states for 1 year tops.

Where's your conversational english, russian fag?

/thread

>>8641

Within the recordings of some of the lectures, of course!

http://rghost.ru/1857035

bump

>>8641

yo man ya know 'tis nigga shit only niggaz speek cunvusational english white people prefer to use scy'n'tiffeck'n bookesh turms.

I wonder, is there still interest in my recordings? I'm taking all computer science courses this semester, so they may not be all that interesting to most people. However, there are other things I can record, such as a weekly conference among Russian-speaking students at Stony Brook. Unfortunately, I can only catch the tail end of it, since I have a class that cuts right into it.

I'm also thinking of heading to Brighton Beach and seeing how far I can get with my limited knowledge of Russian. Perhaps, if there's interest, I'll upload that. It's bound to be funny, resembling Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off, I'm sure.

I also did record most of my American Literature class for the summer semester. It was interesting, and some of the books were rather fun to read. I also have most of them in electronic form, so you can read them at your leisure.

>>10492
I don’t want to sound rude, just to give you a reality check...
There is no interest in your recordings, never has been, never will be. Let’s face it, man. You’re on a Russian board full of anime fags whose only concern learning the goddamn kanji so they can actually read their favorite ranobe after all. Look around you, don’t you see them busily chatting in all these threads? They have no time, no interest and no sympathy towards a self-proclaimed bringer of cross-cultural communication. And, may I say, rightly so.
The first step, they say, is to admit you have a problem. This thread you have been sporadically bumping for some months now is the epitome of uselessness and boredom. Don’t you have better things to do? Don’t you have to study hard at Stony Brook or something? You too can enjoy your life like all those animu-fags, but the first step is to admit.

Sorry, anon. I... I don’t know why I’m writing all this. I mean no harm and no offense. Выпьем водки!

OP, could you re-upload a brimful of American Society and Russia Today lectures please?

>>10505
Oh, you. Using shitpost as an advertisement. Now I want to listen to this webcast too.

>>10505

I just think it's fun.

>>10515 >>10514

Well, here are all the recordings for Russia Today and American Society. The Ogg Vorbis recordings are also available in FLAC, in case you want them as such.

SOC302 part 1 - http://rghost.ru/2722205
SOC302 part 2 - http://rghost.ru/2724579
SOC302 part 3 - http://rghost.ru/2724601

HUR249 part 1 - http://rghost.ru/2724650
HUR249 part 2 - http://rghost.ru/2724700
HUR249 part 3 - http://rghost.ru/2724737
HUR249 part 4 - http://rghost.ru/2724797