PeterRS

Apologies, should have mentioned the Basilica is in Arezzo. And I was not nearly as interested in world affairs in those days!

There is just so much to see south of Florence - stunning scenery and the fascinating towns of San Gimignano, Montalcino, Siena, Pienza, Montepulciano and, if time permits, also a couple of hours to take in the Basilica of San Francesco with its stunningly restored frescos of the master of the early Renaissance, Piero della Francesca. Yes, the Campanile collapsed in 1902 but I don't remember it clearly 😁

Seems you haven't travelled much in South East Asia. These old fashioned toilets can be found in most countries. The only toilet in Bangkok's Nature Boys was this model - at least until a few years ago, although it may not have changed. I have also come across them in public toilets and some in more private accommodations in quite a number of other towns and cities elsewhere in Thailand, as well as in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and even in Singapore. I have seen some in China over the years. After all this was the way most Asians did their ablutions until relatively recently. I loathe them because it means crouching down and sometimes it's difficult getting pants out of the way 😵 But expecting all Asians to act and behave like westerners is in my view rather ridiculous unless they are given specific instructions. A bit like those Japanese toilets. With English instructions, they'd be easily used by everyone. Even though I came across my first one in Japan nearly 20 years ago, I still am unsure which buttons to press apart from those which have a little diagram. If the Chinese owners of that restaurant in Chiang Mai had instructions how to use a western toilet - which i have seen in quite a few on my travels - I suspect that the number of those attempting to use them the old way would be reduced.

Japanese have had by far the best sit down toilets for many years. The only problem is that you either have to learn Japanese to work them or a degree in some sort of technology!

We have all heard that the leaning of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was stabilised back in 2008 when the publlic was told it would remain 'static' for another 200 years. This year marks the 850th year of the laying of its foundation stone. But Italy has several other mediaeval towers, notably the 14 in San Gimignano south of Florence of which the tallest is 54 metres. Now there is another that has got the authorities worried about the rate of decline. Situated in the heart of Bologna in the Piazza di Porta Ravegnana are two tall towers, the 12th century 48 metre-high Garisenda Tower and its neighbour the 97 metre Asinelli Tower. As I saw on a visit 4 years ago they are magnificent. The tall one seems to be fine but the Piazza around them has just been closed for a few years as the smaller now requires attention. It slants at 4 degrees compared to Pisa's 3.9 degrees. The Tower was mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy and Dickens' Pictures from Italy. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/29/bologna-seals-off-leaning-tower-fears-tilting-too-far

Sorry to hear about your buddy but I do suggest with respect it's hardly fair to blame his death on Thailand. Anyone who lives here - or even just visits - surely knows that medical costs are up to each individual, not the state. Hence the requirement and necessity for some form of medical insurance. I have a reasonably simple policy - far less coverage than I used to have when I was travelling around the world for various employers. But enough. I go to a mix of private and public hospitals depending on the problem and the likely cost of treatment. Just last week I stupidly fell and with a wound that was clearly quite deep I went to nearby BNH. I was treated immediately and will have the sutures taken out on Thursday. Not exacly cheap but immediate attention and very kindly staff. Three years ago I made my first visit to the Chulalongkorn public hospital. The doctor I see there spends three days a week at that hospital and three at Bumrungrad. The consultation fee at Chula is 200 baht. At Bumrungrad around 1,600 baht! On my first visit, she recommended I have a complete abdominal CT scan. That was scheduled 3 weeks later. When she looked at the results, she spotted a small cyst on the pancreas. She felt it important to see if there was anything worrying underneath. Accordingly an MRI was scheduled for a further 3 weeks later. All clear but she recommended another scan 6 months later and then annual scans for 3 years after that. With pancreatic cancer so difficult to detect in its early stages, I have been delighted with the treatment. Even more so at the costs. Even without insurance, I believe all the scans would have cost less than one MRI at Bumrungrad. I just could not imagine living or traveling outside my home country without sufficient health insurance. But we all make our choices.

I do not think @Moses is an idiot - intelligent, yes. I assume he is Russian and has lived in Russia most if not all of his life. Naturally therefore his views are skewed towards Russia. I know several Americans and British whose views are similarly skewed towards that of their own governments even with a more or less free press pointing out that their views are wrong. But then is the press really free? Much of the news is manufactured in the US by a right-wing Australian nonagenarian whose primary objective is to make loads and yet more loads of money, even at the expense of the truth - and even by promoting a man whom he claims to loathe! Let's face it. It seems half of Republican voters in the USA are still in Trump's pocket despite all the publicity given to his many, many crimes. But then how he would act during a future Presidency was pretty much known before he announced his candidacy in 2016 - for anyone prepared to delve seriously into his background, that is. With the ghastly Roy Cohn as his mentor, his massive ego and his determination to outdo his father's achievements, he surely owed his ascendency to the near total failure of the American poitical system with so many of its voters desperation for a change. Russia, along with its pals in China, may well do its best to help Trump win again. After all, the voters' choice may well be beween an octogenarian incumbent who is presently disliked as a candidate by many in his own party and a near octogenarian criminal who is still loved by many. Something is very wrong with the state of so-called democracy IMHO. PS: the post was edited to change the ages of Biden and Trump which were inaccurate in the original.

Not difficult when many opposition parties and most major opposition political figures are either killed or jailed. There is no free press in Russia. The President has the power to control the media and obtain preferential media exposure. The electoral system is skewed to ensure the dominance of United Russia candidates. The chances of appeal are all but zero. President Putin signed into law a decree allowing a three day voting period thereby increasing the likelihood of rigging the outcome. Other parties are of course permitted, but only if they offer little or no opposition or, better still, have links to United Russia. For the 2020 elections, three new parties were allowed to participate - New People, For Truth and Green Alternative. Each, though, has links to the Kremin meaning that even though they might siphon off votes from the increasingly unpopular United Russia, the votes will not go to more genuine opposition parties. According to the levada website you quoted, about 85% of the Russian population supported Putin at the start of 2023. The cult of personality surrounding Putin includes a number of popular brands - Putinka vodka, PuTin canned food, Gorbusha Putina caviar and others. Putin and his image is everywhere. There is no viable opposition. I am not a fan of a dual party system as in the USA or, largely speaking, in the UK. Nor am I a fan of the electoral processes in either country. The Presidents/Prime Ministers of neither country win by popular vote, and so a comparison with Russia is quite meaningless. But, apart from Trump and his lying hordes, virtually all people in each country accept the result of voting without question as having been free and fair.

I guess most do not but the French almost all use bidets.

You did not read my post. I started by stating - "I could have gone into more detail by quoting other sites. But the above is virtually what all state." The site you quote bears no credibility since in its own words it states - "Levada Analytical Center (Levada-Center) is a Russian non-governmental research organization." In other words, it is based in Russia. Enough said! What about the views of the Russian-Election Monitor. Who are they? "The "Russian Election Monitor" is the initiative of a group of European scholars, former and active politicians, and public officials united by the strong belief that Russian voters have the same right to democratic and free elections as every citizen in Europe does. Electoral experts and citizen election observers working hard to make the electoral process in Russia more free, fair, and transparent deserve all our attention and full support." Here is what they wrote of last month's elections. "8, 9 and 10 September in Russia were days of elections of State Duma deputies in four districts, heads of 21 regions, deputies of 16 regional parliaments, 12 city councils of regional capitals, as well as elections in the occupied territories and numerous local elections . . . "Assessing the elections, experts observe a serious deterioration in the realization of voting rights by citizens. The drop is striking even compared to the previous elections which were not particularly free and fair either. "This year's campaign is characterized by centralized propaganda, censorship, forceful suppression of any dissent, demonstrative use of administrative resources for the benefit of the United Russia party and its candidates, coercion of administratively dependent (state-employed) categories of voters to participate in elections and vote for specific candidates. All this comes with a widespread unpunished violation of electoral legislation, the principles of equal and free elections, and the voting rights of citizens. A significant loss of independence by election commissions is recorded." https://www.russian-election-monitor.org/elections-2023-even-less-free-and-fair-than-before.html

Certainly Australia did the same after the 1996 massacre in Hobart that killed 35 people. Apart from tightening gun laws it instituted a buyback and amnesty with almost 600,000 guns being handed in to authorities. Since then there have been two more amnesties. In 2017 a 3-month amnesty had 57,000 weopons being handed in. In January this year, after what was the first year of a permanent firearms amnesty 17,000 weaopons were handed in. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/21/over-17000-weapons-surrendered-in-first-year-of-australian-firearms-amnesty

With respect Moses, you are certainly not comparing like with like. American Presidential Elections may well have their problems, but they are nowhere as bad as those in Russia. As is stated in wikipedia - "Elections in Russia have not been free and fair under Putin's rule. Political opponents are jailed and repressed, independent media are intimidated and suppressed, and electoral fraud is rampant. Political scientists characterize Russia's political system as "competitive authoritarianism" or a hybrid regime, as it combines authoritarian and democratic institutions." I could have gone into more detail by quoting other sites. But the above is virtually what all state.

Why surprised? That was 1871. Now it is 2023. Britain has passed legislation making registration of firearms some of the strictest in the world. It was a massacre in Dunblane in 1996 that killed 16 primary school children and one teacher that led to even stricter gun control legislation in the UK. Sydney's website GunPolicy.org estimates there are 5.03 guns in the UK per 100 people. The US has 120.5 guns per 100 people. According to ABC News, the USA has had 565 mass shootings with loss of lives in 2023 alone. Britain has had none!

Purely convenience. I don't read Russian and so have to look back at what a specific post refers. I suppose @vinapu will not mind if i start occasional posts in Chinese 🤣

This is surely the most extraordinary aspect of this very sad case. Inquests in the UK normally occur very soon after death. If drugs or other dangerous substances are suspected, a longer time will be necessary for samples to be tested. These take weeks at most. The other odd aspect is that inquests are public except where there are "real issues" of national security. Apart from the verdict of "suicide" I don't recall reading anything about the manner of the suicide other than it related to the poor boy's head.

The usual GOP retort to the humongous number of mass killings in the USA following the 'thoughts and prayers' platitudes is "mental health." Well in this case the killer's mental problems were known in advance, yet nothing was done! And with the mental health of the perpetrators of most of these mass murders is never really known - or is known to people like immediate family who will not report it - the gun lobby continues to rub its hands in glee and loves its increasing profits.

I am aware there are members of this forum from many countries. And that is a good thing because it allows for a variety of views. But the written language of posts is English (with occasional quotes or epithets in another language like 'entre-nous'). @TotallyOz Can we please have a ruling about posts in other written languages - even if they are translations of earlier posts in English?

And for those who believe the baloney, I failed to mention the efforts made by Quatar to find a peaceulf solution. https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/28/10/2023/qatar-affirms-commitment-to-continuing-diplomatic-efforts-to-endbloodshed-of-palestinians

The fact is you cannot. You misread my post and assumed only the three warring parties would be involved in any peace settlement. Odd how you have forgotten all those countries which have been involved in peace processes in the past - Norway, the Madrid Conference, the Geneva conference, Egypt,Jordan and a host of others. If you seriously think that conflicts are only settled by the particpants, your knoweldge of recent history is remarkably slim. How about Northern ireland. Two bitter Anglo_irish foes brought together by the USA and peace resulted. Emjoy the baloney!

You obviously do`

Some years ago i was thinking that I might consider leaving Bangkok to live in Taipei. Naturally I like Taiwanese. Like Bangkok Guy I also like peace and quiet. What put me off was basically one thing - noise! I could only have afforded an apartment on the outskirts of Taipei and I was concerned at how thick or thin the walls night be. Given that it is prone to earthquakes and typhoons, I assumed pretty thick. But what if neighbours to the right, left and above enjoyed playing mahjong regularly? Since throwing the tiles down on the table is part of the fun, I reckoned it would be all but impossible to keep that noise out of what I planned as a peaceful abode. So I finally ditched the idea.

That is absolute baloney!

Prefectly understood. But if you can show me where I specifically stated that only the USA/Israel and Iran should be involved in working out peace, then I will happily apologise. If you can not do that, perhaps you will have the decency to apologise.

And you canot have it both ways either. Of course I referred merely to three nations involved in a conflict. I did not at any time state that a solution was only up to those three? Or did you have difficulty understanding that? Sorry @reader but the hell is you did!

I notice that Israel is now releasing phone conversations purportedly illustrating the bloodthirstiness of the Palestinian terorists. These may be true verbal captures, in which case they should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. But let's remember that nothing has yet been proved. Use of craftily manufactured "evidence" is regularly used in conflicts and war situations. Can we forget the heartbreaking 1990 appearance of Nayirah who appeared before a US Congressional Committee about the hideous crimes of the Iraqi forces which had invaded Kuwait? The 15-year old refugee testified she had witnessed Iraqi soldiers taking babies out of incubators and the babies left to die. Her descriptions were backed up by the British-based Amnesty International and repeated frequently by US Senators and Congressmen. In a frenzy of PR activity, newspapers recounted tales of incubators being shipped off to Iraq. Variously 12 and up to 22 babies had been left to die on the floors. On September 30, US News & World Report reported that it had received secret US government cables based on eewitness accounts revealing "shocking acts of brutality by the Iraqs against innocent citizens at Kuwaiti hospitals." Kuwait denied access of journalists to the scenes of the deaths. So big did the story become it was one of the platforms for Bush Snr's invasion. Yet it was virtually all lies! On January 6, 1992, The New York Times revealed that the girl in question was not a refugee but the daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the USA. Her testimony had been written for her by the Citizens for a Free Kuwait PR Campaign. This had been organised on a for-profit basis by the American PR company Hill & Knowlton on behalf of the Kuwaiti government. It had also both coached the girl's testimony in advance and then arranged for it to be filmed and the tape sent to 700 US news media organisations. The Times journalist John MacArthur also revealed that the incubator lies had skewed the American debate as to whether or not to suport military action. Hill & Knowlton aserted it had no reason to doubt the veracity of the testimony, yet it had advised its client that the most effective tool in manipulating public opinion would be to emphasis atrocities. It is estimated to have received US$12 million for its work. Amnesty International later issued a retraction.