He just drones on and on! Boring!
"Flowers begin to bloom / but they wither too soon / our future is this way too"
Word of the Day: Minister, le/la Ministre, der/die Minister/in, министр 部长 (closest literal translation: Abteilungsleiter) bonus word: Department (U.S.) as in Ministry (U.K.), Division; die Abteilung; le département/la division/la section/ministère; departamento; отделение, министерство; 部门
When translating you will usually see from context whether the source language is an individual person or instead a governing unit.
Found in mistranslation. “Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” attributed inaccurately to Confucius. Here’s the original:
子曰:"知者不惑,仁者不忧,勇者不惧。"
What that really says
In the words of Confucius: “To know [means] not to doubt, [thus] compassion without worry [follows], [then] bravery with no fear [results].” [interpolations indicated with brackets]
What Confucius said in fact is far more fierce than its usual mistranslation.
It is not education but knowledge which instills first compassion and then in consequence courage, bravery: The capacity to stand, fight, and die for what is right since you know what right is. “All men by nature desire to know” -Aristotle. “人不学,不知义。” If one does not study, one cannot know justice.” -三字经 You desire knowledge, thus you learn justice. “Justice is the bond of men in States” -Aristotle
There is a poll at the end of this post so you can tell me what you would like to see more of.
Analysis: About fighting against injustice
First. They ignore you.
Then. They laugh at you.
Then. They Hate you.
Then They fight you.
And they do not fight fair. They will try to destroy your career, your family, and will even try to kill you and then spit on your grave. “ Remember! Armed injustice is all the more dangerous” -Aristotle
But if you survive? IF you survive:
Then?
Then you win.
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RUSSIA: ARMED INJUSTICE
https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-demand-tanks-outstrips-production-by-factor-of-10-report-2023
RUSSIAN DRONE STRIKES IN RUSSIA:
FLY ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND TO YOUR VERY OWN HOME…
Guess what happens when you abduct rape and murder beautiful Ukrainian girls?
https://www.thedailybeast.com/drones-attack-russia-from-all-sides
https://eurasiantimes.com/ukraines-new-bvr-capable-long-range-switchblade-600-kamikaze/ “SIG N IF ICA NT AIR ASSETS.” --飞龙
Ukraine-hits-major-Russian-air-base-fresh-strike
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-drone-attacks-1784676
Ami, entends-tu? Ukraines-shadow-war-accelerates
https://www.ibtimes.com/russia-recruiting-young-palestinians-fight-ukraine-offers-them-350-3672888
Looks like some longbeards are joining the conga line. Acharai!
It’s a long line… BYOB (bring your own bullets)
https://www.barrons.com/news/ukraine-intel-chief-sees-no-signs-china-plans-to-arm-russia-77aadbf5
blinken-eyes-us-inroads-in-central-asia-as-ukraine-rattles-nerves
us-backs-kazakhstan-cracks-russia-relationship-over-ukraine
nytimes: USA seeks to isolate Russia.
fbi-director-wray-lab leak : The Chinese tried to warn you, but you refused to listen. Listening to their warnings wasn’t profitable or convenient, so you didn’t take obvious precautions and got horrible results.
CHINA
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/xis-law-and-order-strategy
https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_22086622
https://m-thepaper-cn.translate.goog/newsDetail_forward_22086622?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Mao Ning china-always-maintained-communication with both -sides 毛宁
ANALYSIS: SHOULD WE ASSESS OPPONENTS BASED ON THEIR INTENTIONS, OR CAPACITIES?
This is a fine question of strategy addressed in game theory with the Solomon islands problem and was part of operational research. it’s really well analyzed. It’s a bit of a false dichotomy: we are best to consider both the opponent’s abilities and intensions. But How?
For the USA in WW2 preferring to analyze capability rather than intentions was correct because it was predominant in its industrial policy, it had a dominant strategy, which all else equal would inevitably win. but for an inferior power analyzing intentions is the only way around the problem of being dominated by a superior power. in game theoretical terms there are solutions for some games where analyzing intentions is a better strategy.
The best solution is to analyze both. Use capacities as your backstop, fail-safe, but intentions as your go-to.
E.g. "You say you will not attack, and we believe you, so we will not attack, but in case we are wrong we have an overwhelming defensive deterrent force". This is correct. Game theory shows tit-for-tat is the optimal strategy in face of cooperate-or-defect style games. This approach: Using intentions as your starting-point and capacities as your end-state leads to the most productive outcomes. Recall we may win barely or greatly and it is desired to win greatly. To win greatly we MUST analyze and consider intentions. To win in EVERY instance we must ALSO plan and have as a back stop capacities. I go into the Solomon Islands problem in game theory here: https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Geopolitics-Game-Theory-Investing-ebook/dp/B06XKTPRXV
Language Points: (I discuss comparative legal terminology here).
In English, we form compound nouns with a dash and no spacing. That is unambiguous and always correct. In German we form compound nouns by deleting the space. In English sometimes compound nouns are formed as in German, at least since 1945. Worse, English compound nouns do not always include a dash. Example: Hoerverstaendnis=Listening comprehension. If for your contract it is very important that the noun be seen as a compound noun then join them with a dash and no space.
Similarly: Avoid using dashes to form parenthetical phrases. “We went to the store (he clearly trusted me) and then I bought some food.” or “We went to the store, he clearly trusted me, and then I bought some food.” are better than “We went to the store - he clearly trusted me - and then I bought some food.” in a contract to avoid possible confusion with compound nouns.
“Said Prigozhin was nowhere to be seen…”
Here, the word “said” is used as a synonym for “aforementioned”, “above mentioned”. These are two advanced style forms which are unambiguous and you might run into “said party” “aforementioned” “aforementioned party” on a contract e.g. so I point it out. Supra might also be used in a similar way but is less clear since it is more general. Supra where? Supra what?
Thereto, my French students will remember how to write about law. All my books have free previews, if you ever want to ask a q. just write me eric.engle@yahoo.com
Blood Purge Continues in Russia X_X
I see Dead People: Dead People in Moscow
Russian Volunteer Corps wrecks Russia’s back yard )
West Point law-crowdsourced-war-democratized-supply-chains
What finger prince?
Experts predicted a wheat shortage after Russia invaded Ukraine. Why didn't it happen?
FREE eBOOKS
https://books2read.com/u/brXDZY
Peter Zeihan is Wrong: Here’s Why
Niall Ferguson Is Wrong about Empire, Ukraine, and a New Cold War: Here’s Why
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4312895
Sleepwalking To War? Stephen Walt Is Wrong. Here’s Why
More here: https://amazon.com/author/quizmaster