rabas

Wild double fail!  Russian air defense shoots at their own slow helicopter, and misses!

3 hours ago, johng said:

Well please do tell us all about your space adventures and the troublsome graphite dust.. 😋

Couldn't they just sharpen the pencil inside a paper bag ?  another option would be a crayon 🖍️

Anyway my point was that the Russians solved the problem with a quick readily available cheap solution while the Americans set about reinventing the wheel (pen)

Space is incredibly thrilling and unimaginably dangerous but what I really disliked was the return parades and hero worship ... no! ... wait! ... I didn't say I was in space, I was in Russia! 😋

So no, Russia didn't solve a problem, they lived with known dangers, they did try grease pens 🖍️ and later bought America's Fisher Space Pen when available ~1969. Yes, we sold them space pens. BTW, graphite can also present electrical fire and short hazards in a space capsule. "Whoa dude! Who fired the retros?" 

I also didn't mean Russia couldn't design a space pen, they couldn't even make cheap Bic pens! It was beyond their technology. On the street we were oft confronted by small groups of Russians chanting "chewing gum, chewing gum, ballpoint pen!" Ballpoint pens were like gold, which is why we brought many.

But my point is not Russia bad. I admire both ways, innovation and brute force determination. My point is the human misery wrought by Russian leaders' perennial neglect of its own people. Economic doom if you will.

53 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

I think you didn't understand my post.

It indicates the widespread corruption going on in the awarding of government building construction.

Understood. I've been here since the 1980s.  I was discussing a deeper level.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with a team of 3 engineers that inspected my condominium. I learned a few interesting things.  The head engineer was a professor with a PhD in engineering and 30+ years of experience. He said the big classic Western style condominiums built in the 1990s before the financial crisis suffered little damage and are very unlikely to ever be knocked down by an earthquake. These engineers inspect everything including lifts, water tanks, and piping. Newer condos suffered much more damage. 

He also said something that surprised me. He said that large buildings in Bangkok were speced to survive a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, where  survive means not fall down. So all three buildings that were closed or collapsed where newer.  Government corruption has been here forever.   

17 hours ago, johng said:

Yeah I still say rubbish,  the equipment and the know how is still very much there  once the Western engineers go home, not that is really "rocket science" in the first place..and if  (big if)  the Russians can't make the bearings then of course their close neighbour and friendly country China would oblige.

 

As a side note  I made bearing journals for British Timken at a factory in Potters Bar.

 

No don't remember that    I do remember the Americans spending millions producing a pen to write in space  and the Russians just used a pencil.

A famous but false narrative. I know because I was there. Russia could not make ballpoint pens because they lacked the required high precision technology. Back then ballpoint pens were better than rubles, one or two could by a bottle of vodka.

Smart? Do you really want to use a graphite pencil in space inhaling graphite dust or worse a broken pencil tip that could damage your lungs? Not to mention sharpen a pencil in a sealed space capsule.

So no, Russia was not smarter, just desperate. Russia had excellent scientists but no broad industrial base to support them. Putin is the same but worse, he berates scientists and locks up because he's paranoid and can't trust them.

17 hours ago, johng said:

 

You think that a country with its own space program,nuclear power and weapons  can't produce its own bearings ???   come on !!

Yes, Russia has always had ball bearing problems. The Soviets made big missiles with big nuclear warheads while America deployed smaller missiles like Minute Man with smaller warheads.  Why? Because the US invested heavily in high precision ball bearings that made their missiles far more accurate. How? High precision ball bearings are used in gyroscopes that make guided missiles far more accurate. Smaller US weapons could take out missile silos more easily than big old Russian weapons. It's always amazed me that all that high technology boiled down to ball bearings. 

Similar  high tech technology gaps exit today. The next revolution has begun with chip-scale atomic clocks (CSACs) so small they can be put in missiles. Such missiles can hit precise positions around the world without radio communication like GPS.  Again Putin's lack of a broad based economy leads Russia behind.  If Russia had a broad based civilian technology we wouldn't have Putin, or Putin wars. Russians and Americans alike would breath a sigh of relief. 

5 hours ago, johng said:

Well  ok up to you 👌.

Don't know who's defending barbarism certainly not me.

Anyone who discusses this war while overlooking Putin's horrifically barbaric targeting and killing of innocent civilians, families, children, cruise missile a children's cancer hospital?  is certainly defending barbarism. 

13 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I have been saying that if Zelensky sends drones to destroy infrastructure in Russia they will not like the reply.  So whine away, by all means but as long as Zelensky keeps making futile attacks on Russia Putin will keep sending an unpleasant reply.

Now parroting Putin's propaganda for him? "If Zelensky keeps making futile attacks on Russia, Putin will bomb more children!"  When, did I ever mention Zelinsky?

But the calculus has changed. On Friday as global oil prices crashed to $62/bl, sources noted this dooms Putin's highly discounted Ural exports to ~$50/bl, where its hard to see how Putin makes money. 

Then woops, it dropped again today! Whoever he's killing now it may be out of desperation. The game has changed. 

3 hours ago, zmisha said:

From Russia it looks a little different. Previously, America simply ignored what Russia thought. Then Putin showed off his impressive nuclear balls last September by changing the nuclear doctrine and the Americans suddenly pulled Trump out of a box with his desire to negotiate.
So now when Russia doesn't like Trump's proposals, Putin just goes to scratch his nuclear balls demonstratively. That's why Vladimir recently went to inspect his nuclear submarines.

Z guys may want to cool Z-Putin nukem propaganda. Putin's aging groin is lacking. Here's the max submarine missile balance, the ones you can't see coming (not that S300-S400s would work.)

23 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Around early February, it stopped being viable for Ukraine to stay there," Oryx expert Janovsky said, calling the extended stay in Kursk Oblast "a short-sighted political decision."

A  young Japanese ex Kyiv Post business reporter quotes powerful Czechoslovakian Oryx expert Jakub Janovsky calling it a short-sighted political decision, which rates 'duh'  because Ukraine never intended to annex Russian territory. 

But who is powerful Oryx expert Jakub Janovsky?  An internet blogger and Oryx is his blog at blogger.com.

Nothing wrong with the sources but to use this to claim Ukraine lost the war in which Ukraine had for years  held off Putin's great Russian military might?  

5 hours ago, johng said:

NYT  article admits  it was all a proxy war after all and Ukraine lost because they didn't follow orders.

 

The Partnership: The Secret History of the War in Ukraine

This is the untold story of America’s hidden role in Ukrainian military operations against Russia’s invading armies.

 

A non paywall copy

https://web.archive.org/web/20250331072002/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/29/world/europe/us-ukraine-military-war-wiesbaden.html

First, the NYT can't 'admit' anything. This is a reporter weaving a tale worthy of a soap opera, ' Mr. Austin is a solid and stoic block of a man, but as he returned the compliments, his voice caught. “Instead of saying farewell, let me say thank you,” he said, blinking back tears. '   Allegedly 'behind closed doors'.

So it's hard to see your claims.  Maybe substantiate them with some analysis? 

BTW, Ukraine has not lost yet. On the world stage, Putin is probably the real champion loser.

It's a real syndrome, PEDZ, Post Earthquake Dizziness Syndrome. It gained recognition after Japan's large earthquake in 2011. For many, your first significant earthquake can be quite traumatic. This is Bangkok's first significant earthquake in living memory so not surprising some people are a bit 'shaken'.

The problem here is how it's treated. My wife and her sister have had mild dizzy spells since the earthquake. We live on the top floor of a 20 story a condo and had a pretty wild ride. Just to relieve her worry, i took her to the hospital on Monday. After seeing two very young doctors, she walked away with several medications including a benzodiazepine and Amitriptyline used for long term major depressive disorders. These can mess with any normal mind and lead to long term dependence. Amitriptyline is a dangerous drug and should never used for normal issues like this.

Maybe a good idea to request an older doctor.