StreetCowboy

2 hours ago, novacova said:

I don’t live my life in fear, therefore I don’t belong on this thread.

Let’s hope that you don’t live to regret that revelation.

EDIT: Let me reword that in a less threatening manner - let’s hope that you do live to regret that revelation, happily , and for a long time, with only the mildest of regrets.  It’s always good to hope for the best, regardless of the likelihood.

2 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

How old are you FFS?

Was FFS his old username?

How old are you?

16 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

I can only presume that yours is a rhetorical question needing no reply from me. 

 

Am I correct in my presumption? 

 

 

If it was a question he'd have punctuated it better.  

5 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

"Like his passengers"!😱😳Train driver ? Pilot ????

Grandfather.  Back in the day, we did whatever.  I remember when people imagined Australia like Crocodile Dundee,   I went there once - Australia, and also Dundee, and I've never seen so many people so white - Australia, and also Dundee.  

3 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Being fortunate can be unfortunate, at times.

Being unfortunate can be fortunate, at times.

 

 

My daughter was reporting a conversation from two ladies that she had overheard, regarding the merits of living in the USA:
1) But here, you can get people to do everything, while in the USA you have to go out and work

2) Aye, but in the USA, you can go out and work, you're not stuck in the house all day

I could have mis-repeated that...

9 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

You are more fortunate than many in this world, obviously.

 

 

It was a top second cousin's wedding.  Our relatives encouraged us to come back, and my daughter and I prevaricated.  My brother was more polite: "No, I won't be coming back".

There are many in this world less fortunate than you and I, few more honest than my brother, and fewer still as beautiful / handsome (as appropriate) as my second cousins.  They are particularly blessed by the number of their neighbours who are less fortunate than they are.... 

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Must you always be so cryptic in your comments?

 

 

No - it is a choice.

If I wanted to be less cryptic, I would need to respond earlier in the evening.

15 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I am extremely fortunate to live in a country that has not itself ever bombed another country, though many citizens have gone overseas to bomb other countries on the behalf of other countries.

I suppose that is the advantage of being in a country that is just too far away from everywhere else.

And you can blame your ethic cleansing on foreigners

29 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

I am uncertain where you are at this moment, figuratively, and literally.

 

Humor me....where are you, geographically?

Malaysia?

Malaya?

Scotland?

Where?

 

At least, I know where I am.

 

I am on the blue dot.

 

 

 

Of course...

I know who Sagan is...

 

But....

 

Who is Ben Weinberg???

 

And, should we care?

https://benjweinberg.com/2022/04/22/thoughts-on-carl-sagans-a-pale-blue-dot/

 

 

IMHO:  Ben is not the writer he thinks he is....

 

Certainly...not....a Vonnegut....

 

 

 

I forsook a trip to the Old Country for a second cousin's wedding, and I (and my daughter) enjoyed it far more than I had anticipated,

17 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

I am uncertain where you are at this moment, figuratively, and literally.

 

Humor me....where are you, geographically?

Malaysia?

Malaya?

Scotland?

Where?

 

At least, I know where I am.

 

I am on the blue dot.

 

 

 

Of course...

I know who Sagan is...

 

But....

 

Who is Ben Weinberg???

 

And, should we care?

https://benjweinberg.com/2022/04/22/thoughts-on-carl-sagans-a-pale-blue-dot/

 

 

IMHO:  Ben is not the writer he thinks he is....

 

Certainly...not....a Vonnegut....

 

 

 

Like a good crossword, you are bound to get a kleptic response.

"Baitey" is my crossword, and "Observation" is my watchword. 

Ne'ertheless, I was asked a similar question by a former colleague - he had suggested meeting for a drink, and I had responded "Aye-done - LRK XIV"

To which he replied "Where is that?"
"It's in the middle of your screen when you search on google maps"
 So we had to accommodate his navigational frailties, and I am not certain how I got home, but I believe that I did...
Anyway, to summarise, I am here, you may be there, nd other people can fend for themselves 

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Ah, apologies and thank you for explaining it.

 

I agree with you. All our countries should be places we want to live in. Unfortunately, we humans are incapable of living in peace. IMO we humans are a terrible species, using our intelligence to make war, when we could be making the world a wonderful place to live.

Frankly, I see no hope for the human species, and we will continue on the path of destruction till we cease to exist.

I think that I am more optimistic than you - I think that people will assimilate to the culture in which they find themselves, and those that attract the best immigrants will become stronger, while those that persecute their own people will become weaker.  Nations that send their children to die in foreign wars will not prosper over those that are fighting for their survival.

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Sending them all to Rwanda will work. The Aussie solution works.

 

As for stopping legal immigration to Thailand by making the UK a more attractive place to live, importing a few million Thai girls might work.

I lived in the place for 10 years and there is nothing that makes me want to retire there, despite being able to do so.

I doubt it's all down to the governments inflicted on the long suffering populace- some of it is down to the class system as well, IMO.

 

If the poor and transient made their own country a <deleted> and then abandoned it to repeat the destruction in a different country they are not wanted. It's not a case of feeling good about it or not.

We can all blame other countries for being the victims of our bombing, or the bombing or our neighbours.  It is not so easy to stop our compatriots from bombing countries, or stopping our neighbours from bombing other countries.
We can make our own country less atteactive - and I think we have done so.  Fortunately, even a Conservative government cannot make the UK as hostile as Syria or Afghanistan.  I am pleased that people from those countries are willing to come to our country to provide cheap labour for farmers - although they are displacing my younger self (back in the day) as a seasonal potato-howker.

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Should that not be "If the aborigines had done more to make Australia a better place to live they would not find themselves in the situation that they find themselves now"?

Apologies if I got it wrong.

You are wrong.  Australia was a perfect place to live, and the aborigines had lived there since before I can remember in complete harmony with the environment.  Unfortunately, immigrants from far away thought that Australia was a better place to live (or to send convicts) than their own country, and fouled it for the Australians.  Maybe the aborigines tried to keep them out.  Their wooden spears were no match for the dinghys and boats in which they arrived, and they found themselves overwhelmed by people of different religions and opinions.  Let us not fall into that same trap, and let's encourage those that we don't want  to enjoy as neighbours refrain from emigrating - encourage them to stay in FOREIGN, where Foreign people should stay - make FOREIGN a nicer place to stay, instead of bombing them, and allowing oligarchs to bomb them, and displacing the long-time-previously-oppressed from persecuting them, when there are other continents where the ethnic cleansing has already been done.

Immigration is a foreign policy / aid issue, not a border issue.

Just now, GammaGlobulin said:

 

No.

 

It's a tragedy.

 

I thought you knew....

 

 

Our ignorance astounds our friends as much as it surprises ourselves.

Einstein was unclear on whether ignorance or stupidity required a longer string or heavier weight to plumb, and I am grateful that he is not here to see me answer his uncertainty.

Just to be absolutely clear:
- there has been a lot of chat elsewhere about pos(t)er of the year 2023

- it has been suggested that people could volunteer to be in the running.

No: Running is for buses..  That is the end of it.  There will be no running, except for buses.

As noted elsewhere, if it was a serious competition it would be in the cycling forum.  If it's not a serious competition, then whatever.

@Bobfish is always helpful.  He doesn't need to run.  He can walk to the finishing line.  Or cycle.  In this world, anything is possible.

On 12/19/2023 at 6:41 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

The Book of Job

Is it a handbook?

4 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

I can speak a little....

 

Cleveland, Ohayou gozaimasu....   クリーブランド ,おはよう ございます

 

Ohayou!

 

 

 

I've got cheeks that know the Japanese for 'Keep your hands to yourself'

1 minute ago, still kicking said:

Oh, thanks my nephew just came back from Japan he is Thai and speaks perfect English and he said nobody like to speak English in Japan 

We all have to do our best.  I was grateful for the kanji signs.

So back in the day, the Japanese - as their neighbours - were continuously at war with the Chinese, and came off second-best repeatedly.  They interrogated prisoners
"Right - are you guys telepathic?"

"Eh?"

"Do I need to say that out loud? ARE YOU GUYS TELEPATHIC?"

"No.  Don't be daft:"

"So how come you all seem to know the same things at the same time?"
"Orders!  We get orders on bits of paper (that's a whole other technology, but we'll skip that for a moment)
"How do you mean "Orders"?"
"Aye, well see this bit of paper here - "Hill" "Rice field" "Man" "Coffee" "
"Now that is MAGIC! We're going to have some of that! So how many are there?"
"5,000"

"Ye're fckin' joking, right?  We're not going to have 5,000 of these ridiculous symbols, Nebdy's goin'tae remmber allthaim.  What we're goin' to do is write down the SOUND of the word.   Except if the word looks nice, or if its a gaijin word, when we'll have a different alphabet..."
They made a rod for their own backs, and then they made another one.

1 hour ago, still kicking said:

 

"Thank God it's them instead of you"
I'd like to make foreign countries better for foreigners, rather than hammering the people who seek a better life.
Alternatively, we can make our country as bad as where they've come from.

2 minutes ago, still kicking said:

He can't speak Japanese 

Speak for yourself

Were not all parochial

11 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Already, over a decade...and....

Still, nice to know you....

 

Keep on keeping on....

 

 

Aye, that's all very nice, but it's not the way home

On 12/27/2023 at 6:00 AM, Georgealbert said:

Thank you - on behalf of everyone.
Some of us did not have to post this; and the others get the benefit.

I went to school with David Watts, and I used to think that I wished I could be all that he had been, but that was him, and I don't do that, and if I wanted to be someone else I would put in more effort and act differently, but I'd rather be me, and my mate didn't seem bothered that he was David Watts and I wasn't.  Right enough that was back in the day... 

Thanks for the recommendation.

I have not had time to follow up on my helter skelter ride to my final destination - I hope I will have more time when I get there.