Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go to the celebration on campus because I didn't check my email because I needed to work on my studies & assignments. Prioritizing has a cost, I guess.
But, once again, congratulations, Prof. Sullivan!
"L'enfer, c'est les autres"-Sartre |
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Prof. Sullivan, who works here at Stony Brook, was just awarded the Abel Prize, which....wow.. The Fields Medal gets all the mainstream attention, but the Abel Prize is just as prestigious (arguably more).
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go to the celebration on campus because I didn't check my email because I needed to work on my studies & assignments. Prioritizing has a cost, I guess. But, once again, congratulations, Prof. Sullivan!
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What was originally part of the ongoing "Rando Thoughts" post a few posts back. But I kept adding to it, so I figured I'd just give it its own post.
It's sad to see this Russian invasion of Ukraine. I was really hoping the bravado leading up to the invasion was just that...bravado...and nothing more. Unfortunately we, as humans, haven't evolved past the base need to violently impose our will on others. I know it's an empty gesture, but I'm sending all my hopes and best wishes to all Ukrainians. I'd also like to caution against blaming all Russians for the actions of an autocrat. I also hope that, as a country who has Putin's ear, China will talk Putin down from this course of action. I've always respected the general non-interventionist policies of China, but I think some diplomatic intervention for the sake of peace and for human lives would be nice. To be honest, aside from some misguided sense of pride, I don't really understand what Putin is getting out of this. Taking over Ukraine isn't going to make Russia any more or less of a world power than it has. This is just essentially someone annexing their neighbours backyard to have a slightly bigger yard for themselves. I don't know...I'm sort of processing everything I'm watching and reading on this tragedy (and military action is always a tragedy for all involved). I might write a proper entry on the subject sooner than later. At the same time, I hope the conflict ends before I have the chance, and the sovereignty of Ukraine is fully restored. No one wants WWIII . update, 26 Feb: I think one of the toughest things for me to deal with regarding this whole situation is that the USA and its allies (both NATO, and non-NATO allies) are kind of forced to watch and not act outside of sanctions and other non-military means of attack . For me, my first instinct is "We need to go in and get Russia the f*** out", just as someone who can't bear to see freedom stolen from an individual or a collective. But it's never that easy. Diplomatically, it would mean that we essentially declare war on Russia, which probably means Russia's allies declare war on us, which mean sour allies declare war, and all of a sudden everyone is at war and we've got WWIII on our hands. So outside countries (USA, EU, etc) are forced to sit and watch in a way. One thing I've wondered since the lead up to this invasion of Ukraine is whether or not Russia was just using Ukraine as bait to goad others into war. But I don't pretend to understand the thought processes or level of evil that drives someone to endanger millions of innocent lives to increase their power. Any which way, it's hard to watch the world's leaders seemingly sitting back and watching this happen. At the same time, I understand why it has to be that way, even as I wish we could do more than just send some weapons and ammo and supplies to a whole population under siege. Also: I see quite a few people asking why we're still buying Russian gas/oil is we're sanctioning them in so many other ways. It's a two pronged attack, and it's kind of brilliant. They may get money for the oil/gas they sell us, but the more oil/gas they sell, the less they have to use to keep p their war machines running. That means they have to turn around and use the money on buying gas/oil from other countries. So they end up with nothing, essentially. Of course, this doesn't mean two days from now Russia will run out of oil and money, but in the long term...it's pretty crippling. Just thought I'd throw that out there. update 6 March: I saw a lot being made about (alleged) racism in Ukraine during evacuations. I saw soem videos and what I saw looked like, in most cases, racism. But I do think there's context and nuance that goes beyond race here. I'm not sure how well this is remembered by the general population, but there's a big association in former Soviet states regarding foreign students (especially from Africa and Asia) and the Soviet Union/Russia. During the days of the USSR, the Soviets were more than willing to take in students that the West was unwilling to. Famously, Patrice Lumumba was one such student. While I think race plays a factor, I think there's more to it than just race, or even xenophobia. A lot of Soviet ideology came back to Africa and Asia with those students, and I think with the current situation (violence on Ukraine led by a former KGB agent), it probably wouldn't be too much of a reach to think some of the bias is more political than racial. I don't think the fear of Soviet spies (both domestic & foreign) is something former Soviet nations have completely healed from. And it's something we don't have a lot of context for in the West. I dunno. Racism exists everywhere. There is no place on Earth where it doesn't exist in some form or another, to one degree or another. Racism probably played a role. But I think this is also a situation where historical context is very important, and to also remember that not everything comes down to race. I think this might be one of those things where we misread the context because we, the West, don't fully understand the context. I just think it's worth thinking about. It's not about saying racism wasn't a factor, but acknowledging that there might be other, factors and that those other factors may, in fact, have been the primary factors for what we perceive(d) as obvious racism. |
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March 2024
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