PinnedMarkrapleyArtificial intelligence ? Bring it on, the sooner it gets here the better…..Some time ago now, around 600 years before Jesus Christ walked, oh when he walked, and washed our sins away, a Greek called Anaximander…Jun 3, 2023Jun 3, 2023
MarkrapleyIn the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread……..……..and as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church pictured here certainly knows, the rest goes like this : ‘….till thou return unto…Jul 24, 2023Jul 24, 2023
MarkrapleyHey Joe, Hey Xi, don’t just sit there, there’s a real war going on, here….onHow much do you love life, guys, I mean really love life, the genes, proteins, membranes, that holy trinity, the whole disorderly, squishy…Jul 14, 2023Jul 14, 2023
MarkrapleyStrong leaders with feet of clay and the rest of us with nuclear nerves…..Catherine the Great of Russia made the self — serving observation that Russia was such a vast territory that it could only be ruled by one…Jul 11, 2023Jul 11, 2023
MarkrapleyThe S.A were Hitler’s private army and the night of the long knives was their last……what about…Hitler had to choose between his private army of S.A brownshirts and the Wehrmacht itself, the armed forces of the state. For Hitler it was…Jun 24, 2023Jun 24, 2023
MarkrapleyIs Russia a pre-industrial state…or does it just behave like one?Pre-industrial states have been around for most of human history, so we have had plenty of time to study their major characteristics…Jun 13, 2023Jun 13, 2023
MarkrapleyMachiavelli warned against using mercenary forces…..someMercenaries are, Machiavelli reported after a thorough study, unreliable, in fact, useless. They are cowardly, likely to desert or turn on…Jun 1, 2023Jun 1, 2023
MarkrapleyNixon went to China, now Elon Musk is there……President Nixon went to meet Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China, in 1972. He took his Secretary of State Henry…May 31, 2023May 31, 2023
MarkrapleyNever, never, never…..well, maybe, maybe, it depends….Ian Paisley was a very fierce man — until he felt his good Lord tapping him on the shoulder. For decades he detested every other branch…Aug 11, 2022Aug 11, 2022