frank

Mob bosses aren't evil or irrational. They're a form of governance. You pay the mob as part of the price of doing business. That's exactly what Putin ...

If that's true, we should expect trouble going forward. His actions have eliminated Russia's market economy. He's transitioning to some sort of comman...

I don't know who that is.

Tweezer

Sure.

So you're different because you've traveled more?

I understand. I actually am interested. You guys just haven't invaded anybody recently. :smile:

Depends on the teacher.

I think I might understand what's going on. Americans don't see the US the way you do. It's just our home. The rest of the world is like a big glob of...

So if you presented a balanced attitude about the US and Russia, you think you'd be contributing to an overall unbalanced narrative that's in the worl...

I see. I think you might be affected by media that I'm not exposed to. Do you watch televised news?

But he wouldn't have that attitude if the culprit was American. He'd happily go in the other direction of being as unfair as possible (I think). So I ...

I meant people like that in general.

Sometimes prayer is effective though. It focuses the will.

I wasn't attacking you. I'm trying to understand people like you. If you have any helpful hints, I'd appreciate it.

I think Omicron ended up being the universal immunity maker. Where I am, covid is practically gone. A few stragglers is it. Everybody's heads are spin...

I'm trying to understand people who are quick to defend Russia. I mean people like Benkei, who may not qualify as apologist, but seems to jump to defe...

And that's an important question. What is the value of conflict on this forum? I'd say ideally it allows for deeper examination and reflection. That’s...

Our concept of goodness is complex because it's a fusion of a number of different cultural attitudes. It can be about duty, progress, victory over adv...

You have the arrogance of the lucky. :grin:

I think what you're missing is that dictatorship works better during a crisis. That's why ancient democracies evolved into monarchies over and over. I...

And since there are non-religious rituals, and religions that don't have specific rituals, ritual is not the essence of religion. It shouldn't be surp...

Yes. Plus it lessens your chances of food poisoning.

It actually is. It was a whole thing. By the 1st Century, it was apparently used as a show of piety. As ssu says: learn history.

Isaac Asimov despised Alexander.

How about the Jewish ritual of washing your hands before you eat? Effective or not?

A few will. There was a time when Russians and Chinese tried to face the truth about what communim did to their countries in the 20th Century. It's in...

Shaking hands is a ritual. Is there any evidence that it achieves its goals? :lol:

From the NY Times; "While Russian troops have battered Ukraine, officials in China have been meeting behind closed doors to study a Communist Party-pr...

Human life is pervasively ritualistic. Much of it is non-religious, so no.

Yep.

Definitely. I think with any war, someone who's making a profit off of it is facilitating it. Maybe sometimes those facilitators tip events toward war...

I think Christopher Hitchens was a piece of decaying fungus shaped like a human. The Bush administration didn't invade Iraq because they had romantic ...

I don't really know anybody like that. Do you?

As we noted before, science has been an aspect of religion for longer than it was separate. So maybe we could back off of religion in general and spec...

I'm guessing the people who endorse sanctioning are those who couldn't tolerate being sanctioned themselves.

I'm wondering if the harsh sanctions may have been a mistake. If it just closes Russia off to the rest of the world, that's unfortunate.

So we'll probably see a wave of assassinations? But I would expect the average Russian to accept that the West is attacking them. I may be wrong.

You know better than I do, I'm sure. There was one biography of him that said there is the perception of a legitimacy problem. Ostensibly, there are e...

I've seen that story bandied around, but it's not true. Yeltsin was corrupt af, and he chose Putin as his successor so he'd have protection from prose...

They speak Spanish and Portuguese in South America.

What you're saying suggests that Russia would be healthier today if it would have taken a more western looking route. I understand why it seems that w...

Another effect of Putin's war: the GOP goes to war with itself. That favors a Biden win in 24 if the effect has legs.

The NY Times says that though he isn't going to end up taking over Ukraine, the war has consolidated his power in Russia. The sanctions have also done...

I guess they could. It's a big city, though. It's bigger than New York. That's a lot of bombs. And to just inherit a pile of blood and rubble?

Didn't mean to come across as hostile. Sorry.

The NY Times says it would be very difficult for any army to conquer Kiev, but an inexperienced group like the present Russian army would require a lo...

So you're saying you don't really know what actions are determined by your belief, but you're sure some will be. Why are you so sure? Just exploring t...

At least you have some vague idea what the word means. That's an improvement over some around here.

But what about in your case? You believe it (we assume, since you asserted it). Does this mean anything other than that you'll utter a particular sent...