Cameroni

Well, the hearts and minds of Ukrainians, that ship has sailed long ago now. Apart from the Russian Ukrainians who make up a sizeable number of Ukrainians. It was funny to see how they translated school messages in Western schools into Ukrainian for Ukrainian refugees, only to find they do not speak Ukrainian, only Russian. The convoy on Kiev never engaged Kiev properly and disappeared in a few days, it was most likely a decoy to confuse the enemy and bind troops there, while the Russians attacked elsewhere. They never intended to absorb Ukraine, because you can see it by the evidence, where the fighting is contained. Had Putin really wanted to conquer all of the Ukraine he would not just have sent a decoy toward Kiev, but would really have attacked western Ukraine in a substantial manner, something which has not happened to date. Putin has allowed large parts of Ukraine to remain intact. Naturally Russia wants a regime in Ukraine that is friendly toward Russia, but it can achieve that by means that do not resort to installing their own men.

Russia knows it will never win hearts and minds. It tried to do that since 1989. Russia allowed Germany to re-unify. Russia helped the US to explore space. Shared intelligence with the US. Russia implemented western economic standards. Russia bent over backwards to be accepted at the table. And we know how that turned out. In 2008 the US revealed what it had planned all along, to extend NATO onto Russia's underbelly. I really don't think Russia is concerned about hearts and minds anymore. Militarily, yes Russia can defeat the Ukraine with nuclear weapons. And we know the US would not, and could not, retaliate, lest it risk nuclear conflict itself. You are right though that Russia does not want to do that. All Russia wants is a Russia friendly Ukraine, not a Western influenced Ukraine. Failing that, a Ukraine so weakened that it has no influence and the West's influence there will not matter. At least that is what it looks like for now, nobody can look into Putin's mind, but from his statements and actions that is the correct reading. He never intended to absorb Ukraine completely.

I of course thought the same of your comments, thoughtful and interesting.

The economies of the western world are highly regulated today not just on socialist principle but also to avoid monopolies. They do not always succeed of course.

Your analysis is correct. Still, at least we don't eat our babies, like the chimps.

That is a fair point I suspect in the south they have the best Masaman.

Stauffenberg was not that "high ranking".

That was certainly the case in the 90s with that deranged slob Richard Perle, Wolfowitz and all the other neo cons. Obviously Trump has major international relations deficits and is married to Israel. But I think the support for Ukraine, though they have no chance to win, is just America pursuing its natural interest, to weaken Russia. As for Israel they are now out of the box so to speak and will do whatever they want. I do agree with you, Russia would use the nuclear weapons if they believe they have to. And it is all so unnecessary.

Expectation management, it can take time to clear out 1000 or 2000 troops. But cleared out they will be. As we both know. But to suggest this is some kind of beacon of hope for Ukraine, or the turning of the tide...I mean come on. It's 1000 to 2000 troops. These poor Ukrainians are on a one way ticket to hell.

What always disappointed me about democracy is that it did no put the most able in power. Instead of the greatest economic expert in country, some lawyer becomes chanceller or finance minister. It does not seem sensible.

I used to think unfettered capitalism was the way to go. But I realise now that some socialist watering down of capitalist excess is desirable. It looks like in some countries they are evolving in the direction you desire, as Germany and Finland have seriously tested "civic money", paying everyone a salary for nothing. Maybe that will come.

Oh please. You're dreaming. Ukraine has sent 1000 troops. Do you have any idea how many Russian troops they will be facing soon? Sure, 1000 armed troops can wreak a bit of havoc, but in the overall narrative of the war this will be a mere curiosity, like the German's Kursk offensive which was far more powerful and still failed.

Undoubtedly capitalism is the cause of many of the world's problems. It does work to a certain degree though. And nobody has come up with a viable alternative. Though as you rightly pointed out, socialism has greatly muzzled the capitalist beast in most countries. The sense of obligation you raise is most interesting. In the end children taking care of their parents out of obligation and social expectation, is there no selfishness here? For beautiful words we can look at the bible and enjoy the wisdom. Like love, religion is a fantasy of the soul. We now know, looking at economics, history and philology that the western religions too are not devoid of selfishness. Do you think capitalism will end and communism still has a chance?

Lol, more like a fly bothering a giant for a few seconds. Wishful thinking at its best. "Some military experts questioned the wisdom of Ukraine’s attack, given its weakness at other key points on the front, and they predicted that Russia’s far larger and better-equipped military was likely to oust the Ukrainians sooner than later." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/09/kursk-russia-ukraine-war-incursion/

I'd say Welladee still make the best Masaman Curry in Chiang Mai. I was there recently and service was very good, but the atmossphere has changed a bit. Best to go early before the hordes hit.

I understand what you are trying to do and it is a good analogy for your purpose. When you look at it in more detail though I see the family as the most selfish of entities. Yes, parents provide for their children, but really not due to a lack of selfishness, but rather the opposite....for the selfish reason that these are THEIR children,with THEIR genes. By providing for the children the parents procreate their genes. It is really a most selfish reason. Whether the desciples shared everything equally I dare to question, and indeed the selfishness of the entire God narrative has been well established by Nietzsche. Perhaps this monstrously powerful trait of selfishnes is why capitalism works so well, as it is able to harness selfishness for its own needs, whereas communism seems to blank out selfishness in its own blueprint and has no use for it at all.

I disagree. If Russia dropped a nuclear bomb on Ukraine it would stop quite swiftly. The way things are going now it seems Putin prefers to wear down Ukraine by attrition. Let's not forget that whilst Russia's economy is smaller than Texas' and therefore could never pose a threat to occupy and invade eastern Europe realistically, Russia's economy is ten times bigger than Ukraine's. Military might is founded on economic power, and Ukraine has none of that. Yes, Ukraine gets billions from the West in aid, but that is not much use if the West itself does not have the ammunition and materiel which Ukraine needs to buy with it. We are already seeing how in the States voices of concern are being raised about the size of the aid recently given to Ukraine, and it is unlikely it will continue indefinitely, because the US and European resources are limited too. It is awful to see how the Americans are cynically trying to bleed Russia to death by keeping the Ukraine war going, but such is world politics. It is in America's interest to weaken Russia. Even if the Americans know the Ukraine can never win this war, and that with a nuclear bomb in Ukraine Russia could end the war without the US being able to retaliate, lest it want to be involved in a nuclear war with Russia, they have kept this Ukraine war going as long as they can. However, there is always the possibility of a negotiated peace, if Uraine starts to realise that its Western billions mean very little without th West being able to supply the munitions, artillery, tanks and planes and missiles that Ukraine needs. And the West just does not have it.

Thank you so much, this will continue to spur my Chinese language learning attempts. Agreed about the unlikelihood of a great Tagalog writer, Filipinos are vey witty but they have about as much urge to write and read as Thais have the urge to make yogurt.

Mission low carb tortilla. Mixed minced chicken with egg, thai bread crumbs, spring onion, Ketjap Manis, Korean chili sauce, salt, peper and Dijon Mustard, slapped it thinly on the tortilla and fried it meat down for 3 minutes in olive oil. Brushed the top with the olive oil and then flipped it. Garnished it with Gouda cheese, folded it in the middle and ate it like a sandwich. With Guava juice and water.

I had some bad experiences with Air Asia refunding tickets, you had to run after them and it took weeks. It is about risk manageent, I would rather pay 16 dollars and be done with it in 20 minutes.

Hopefully. Yes, man and wife do everything for the children and they would look after an autistic child, quite true. It is not so rare though that children then have to look after their own frail and sick parents, or indeed that the spouses, husband or wife, stray and leave for another partner which is now the case in 50 per cent or so cases. The point is that the family can exist because it is a short lived and transient organism. When we speak of "family" there is no such thing really, but instead a chain of constant never ending families that are brought into existence beause of the sexual urge and the urge to procreate. The family affects to be an altruistic model, but in essence it is based on the most selfish, egotistical and fleeting urges, the urge to have sex and to procreate. Socialism may be altruistic but it seems to lack the same biological rationale and survival of the species imperative which the family relies on. Maybe that is why socialism has poven considerably less successful than the family?

Indeed, translations never do justice, as anyone who's read Nietzsche in the original and then the cartoonish translations will confirm. This is part of the reason why people like Sloterdijk do not get the prize, few could appreciate the genius of his word craft in translation. I guess we have to learn all the major langages ourselves. But what if a great Tagalog writer comes along? We'd be screwed again.

There is a human element to it all, for sure. Especially if Trump comes to power I would be quite concerned about what he does. Having said that, even he seems to be a rational person. And his military advisers surely are and would advise what it would mean to strike wth a nuclear missile at Russia, namely the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans and the destruction of entire US cities. Do you remember when Trump was playing word games with China and that US general called China and assured them, no matter what happens America will not attack? I think the systems in place are now too rational, I can not see even the Necon lunatics being successful in unleashing war on Russia. America is like a bully, quick to kick around smaller nations, but when they know they can get a bloody nose themselves America pulls its tail in rather quickly. Even Tump did with North Korea.

You are right of course. A bit of fame always helps with these prizes. But sometimes the Nobel Committee digs deep, who had heard of Gao Xingjian and Soul Mountain before his Nobel Prize? But it was of course a politically motivated prize, like so often. Peter Sloterdijk is perhaps the greatest thinker of our time, but he does not deliver political brownie points for the prize jury.

Depends what you mean by best "Redbox" near Maya and "Chef's Table" in San Kamphaeng have excellent modern cuisine if you want to drop 10000 or 15000 Baht for two people. Rock Me Burger has the best burgers in the world for 600 or 800 Baht for two people. Welladee in Mae Rim is superb higher quality Thai, at maybe 1500 or 2000 Baht for two. Baan Landai is excellent too, if you can get a table,also at 1500 to 2000 for two. House by Ginger the same. Huang He is best for braised beef noodles Mala Style with gyoza Duke's has the best Pizza. There's so many great restaurants in Chiang Mai, impossible to just pick one.