interest in Kant

 I wanted to mention at some point that I realize interest in Kant is increasing in the academic world since the vacuous nature of twentieth century philosophy has become clear. So as expected the three names of the great Kant interpreters in the English world Sellars, Allison, and Strawson have even come up in German Academia. But also the two versions of Cohen. the Marburg School and the earlier Cohen.

In all of this still Leonard Nelson and his New Friesian School seems neglected. That would not bother me so much since at least their material has been printed. But the rather novel synthesis of Kant Nelson and Schopenhauer of Kelley Ross  seems ignored. Why? I assume it must be that the same accusations of flimsy thinking or psychologism must be at the root of this. But just as this accusation was not true in the case of Nelson, I think it also is unfounded in the case of Kelley Ross. His approach to Kant I find quite refreshing and can help not just in understanding Kant and issues like the transcendental thinking subject but also in understanding the wider world.

 Ukraine was Russian territory since Tzar Alexei in 1654 until 1991. No wonder the Russians want it back.

Besides that everyone I talked with in the Ukraine whether in Uman or Kiev or Odessa thought things were better under Russian rule. But that was a surprise to me. I had thought everyone would have been happy at the fall of the USSR/ But as it turned out, people thought otherwise.

 I wanted to mention at some point that I wish to make clear my dad's role in the U-2 project and the invention of the Infrared telescope.  In both cases, I wrote here on my blog that I thought he did not get enough credit. But recently it was made clear.  First of all, he had made the second camera for the U-2 that could see a toothpick from 20,000 feet. But that was rarely used because of its weight. The people that made the smaller camera that  was the workhorse and did the photos over the USSR and Cuba got the credit they deserved.

And as for his invention of the infrared telescope, he did in fact get the credit that he deserved --not just in Life Magazine but in Time Magazine and on TV shows.

 to accept on oneself the yoke of Torah is a help for oneself and the whole world as you can see in the Nefesh HaChaim of Rav Chaim of Voloshin vol IV. So when you see the world falling into chaos, the best thing is to set times to get through the two Talmuds and the midrashim. Commentaries on these also count as "learning Torah". The problem nowadays is there is too much pseudo Torah and false Torah. As we see in Sanhedrin that one who reads outside books has no portion in the next world. And the Rif and Rosh explain outside books are books that explain the Torah but have explanations that are not from the Two Talmuds or the Midrashim. That of course means almost 99.9% of all so calle Torah books today are pseudo Torah.

Why I have not merited to learn Torah

 It occurred to me one reason why I have not merited to learn Torah [see the reason why Ilfa [who was learning Torah with R Yochanan] went to work, while R. Yochanan stayed to learn Torah.] the reason I believe was that I made my learning Torah contingent on circumstances. Before I got married, I made it clear that I was going to learn Torah, and that was that. My future bride asked, "But what if there is no money." I said, ''If it comes a day when there is no food and no money, I will go and work.'' [Just like Ilfa who made the same mistake.] and since I made my Torah learning dependent on circumstances, thus later even though there was plenty of food and money, my wife left me because I was learning Torah.  and  I was praying with the sidur of the Reshash [Sar Shalom Sharabi.]  And then at that point , being a  divorced older guy, I was no longer the type of person that yeshivot beg to come to them and lay out the red carpet. I was thrown out of every place I tried to sit and learn Torah. So eventually, I realized I had no place in the religious world, and went to the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, and went into Physics. [But that, in any case, was after I found support for this in the Chovot Levavot and the Guide for the Perplexed.]

I mention this because I see when one gets married he needs to be committed to learning Torah with no conditions attached and to marry a girl that is similarly committed. 

 People do not realize that pushing  Russia they are playing with fire. Putin does not need 6000 nukes. Just one would destroy NY State and make the entire East Coast uninhabitable  down to South Carolina. Ukraine would be the first to go, Then as the USA continues to "punish Russia" the West and East Coast will be then next to go. [That is why Russia has submarines. They are now sitting off the East and West coast of the USA--right now.]

Ukraine was ready to make a deal until the USA encouraged the government of Ukraine to continue fighting. Believe me, 99.9% of people in Uman  prefer Russian rule rather than the leaders in Kiev. [i was in uman for years and talked with everyone I met about this exact issue.]  No one benefits from the continued fighting.