As long as a society has a true freedom of speech it cannot be completely rotten. However, all totally rotten societies are lacking the true freedom of speech.
Most popular posts during the last 30 days
- A Finnish MP Resigned After Straining Finland-Russia Relations
- Criticism from the Left Brought a Small Association’s Independence Day March into the Spotlight
- Mediterranean Taxi Service is Coming to an End
- A Major Victory for the Freedom Party in Austria's Regional Elections
- Anecdotes and Jokes About Vladimir Putin
28 January 2023
90 years ago in Germany
25 January 2023
A gift from the free world to Ukraine
Is the moral of Russians collapsing
Military advice: Ukraine needs modern tanks
Good news from Ukraine
22 January 2023
China uses Western universities to educate its youth
China was for a long time known as a country, that copies technology from more developed societies and wins markets by lower production costs. That worked well for a long time, but more recently China has put a huge effort to become a developed - science-based - producer of high technology and entrepreneurship.
In order to have well educated working power, China has allowed - and even encouraged - students to move overseas. Thereafter the Chinese government launched a program to recruit and nurture high-caliber, early-career expatriate scientists who return to China.
A recent study examined how effective the program has been, and how well it has supported the young scholars’ productivity when they returned to China. The comparison was made to their peers that remained overseas.
The investigation found that the scholars outperformed overseas peers in last-authored publications - typically showing the leading position among the authors - because of greater access to larger research teams and better research funding in China. However, although the returning scientists were generally of high caliber in research they fell below the top category in pre-return scientific productivity.
Taken together, the study has important implications for global academic mobility and international competition between East and West.
The Chinese students form a large share of the US and EU PhD graduates and are among the most productive one. And in the future China probably continues to invest in higher education and academic talent, which results in more and more Western-trained Chinese students returning to China, because their universities can be expected to become more attractive locations for Chinese students with poor future options in Western countries. That will bring huge support to Chinese research and innovation, and ultimately narrow the technological gap between China and Western countries.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
China is betting on scientific excellence
Does China prove the superiority of market economy?
Could China take advantage on the weakness of Putin´s Russia?
19 January 2023
Erdogan wants fighter jets, and uses Finland and Sweden to get them
Long distance trade
Finland and Sweden invited to NATO - but what about Kurdish people
Why Finland will apply for a membership in NATO
15 January 2023
Is the moral of Russians collapsing
Military advice: Ukraine needs modern tanks
Good news from Ukraine
Independence day of Finland now and 83 years ago
11 January 2023
Reducing taxes, enhancing export and paying the governmental debt
8 January 2023
Military advice: Ukraine needs modern tanks
Russia did not keep peace in Ukraine during their Christmas-time although they made such a promise. Obviously, that was not even a purpose, but some kind of propaganda action directed towards ordinary Russians by enabling dictator Putin to blame Ukrainians for not respecting holy religious values.
Yesterday a retired Finnish general Pekka Toveri reminded that Ukraine needs modern military material from the Western countries in order to enable them to push the invaders out of their country. Right now - after giving up-to-date air defense materials and light tanks - battle tanks should be provided to Zelenskiy´s army.
The General proposed that 300 to 400 Leopard tanks would make a difference, but also any other modern tank superior to Russian equipment would do. Leopards are, however, best available in Europe.
The problem may turn out to be a permission needed from Germany - where Leopards are made - which has shown weakness throughout the war in its willingness to help Ukrainians. Fortunately, however, Germans have slowly started to realize that help for the defender is not an aggression towards Russia but an obligatory self defense action to secure democracy and values in Europe.
If Europeans including Germany will follow General´s suggestion, they will send the necessary number of battle tanks to Ukraine, and train crews for them. As a result, Ukraine would have enough power to push out Russians from the occupied areas in eastern and southern parts of the country.
The alternative for providing tanks to Ukraine would be an enormous number of dead Ukrainian and Russian soldiers - and Ukrainian civilians - in a slowly progressing war reminding us on the horrors of the World War I, during which the defense lines of neither side could be broken, but human lives were lost in an unfathomable rate.
So, it is up to us Europeans to decide, whether we will defend democracy and save human lives in the war of Ukraine. Or in other words, whether we will provide the Russian dictator a clear sign to stop his attack against our values - and save both Ukrainians and Russian soldiers from paying with their lives our inability to make difficult decisions.
In Finland there is no problem in understanding this. According to the chairman of the defense committee of its parliament, Finland is ready to participate - but only as part of a European action.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Good news from Ukraine
Finnish Winter war showed the way to help Ukraine
Ukrainian army should be equipped with the best possible weapons against missiles
7 January 2023
Arctic sea ice contradicts with the climatic model predictions, but is that changing now?
6 January 2023
Ayatollahs in Iran demonstrated their ridiculousness
Freedom of speech is a serious matter in France. This was demonstrated e.g. eight years ago after the terrorist attack to Charlie Hebdo magazine, when the French didn't even listen to the Muslims' instructions to close the magazine.
Now the same magazine has published excellent caricatures of Iran's religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The reason for the pictures was the violent treatment and even killing of women - and many men - asking for human rights in the Islamic theocracy. According to the Norwegian-based Iran Human Rights organization, almost 500 protesters have been killed.
Stung by the publication of the satirical pictures, the fanatic Iranian leadership decided to close a French research institute. The reaction was not completely unexpected, but it is very enlightening. This is because it confirmed the inability of Islamic fundamentalists to understand the freedom of speech in Western countries.
It is clear that France will not listen to Ayatollahs stupid demands. As a legacy of the Great Revolution, the country is exceptionally strongly stuck to the freedom of speech. So the ayatollahs only made themselves and their ideas ridiculous - although their own existence is a deadly serious matter for Iranians who yearn for their freedom.
So serious, that the collapse of their regime would be a great gift to the whole world. And not least to all sensible Iranians.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Independence day of Finland now and 83 years ago
Sweden already in trouble - Finland following
Riots in Sweden: what next?
1 January 2023
Availability of coffee in a warming world
Problem in berrypicking
A new route for the Ukrainian crops
Soil subsides under cities, but every cloud has a silver lining