They accomplish that and the already diminutive presence they have in the world will shrink even more.

I should consider having one of these made to hang on my door.

The French Foreign Legion is an elite force, open to non french individuals to enlist.

Because it is, by nature, a multicultural force, the legion has a specific trainning regime to develop unit spirit. These are not cannon fodder: any individual that can make the FFL, can after three years of service request french citizenship.

Russia seems to be just trying to find bodies to fill the ranks.

Once.

I would still pick the African ones, nonetheless.

There is no need for sarcasm.

We tend to forget Africa had great kingdoms, with advanced civilization standards, before colonial times. Those kingdoms ruled the largest continent on the planet for centuries and elephants were animals used for both work and war.

Hanibal took elephants across the Alpes (most died) in order to invade Italy. I seriously doubt the general ordered his elephants from India.

I can’t remember where I read it but it was a good coverage on the historical use of elephants in Africa in pre-colonial, as in during the great african kingdoms. And lets not forget war elephants, in Roman times, were from Africa.

Yet I remember reading somewhere african elephants were tamed before their asian counterparts.

Portugal

Oh, regardless the latest onslaught of right-wing screwballs let loose, my country is very much left leaning. I’m safe on that front.

And the last time we had to deal with right wingers, we used force and settled the problem in a day.

We’re famed for spending our time sleeping but when we do wake up, things get messy. Fast.

I’m already left leaning. You don’t need to preach to the choir.

I have municipal housing in my town. Rent is, at most, 15€. That is affordable even for the poorest of the poor.

A landlord-tenant relationship isn’t the only way to solve this, though. A more humane way would be housing coops.

Co-ops? How do those work? I’ve known co-ops for building purposes, not for renting.

The primary purpose of rent isn’t maintenance, though; it’s profit. The concept of making profit by mere ownership is even called “rent-seeking”.

Wasn’t aware such concept existed.

Well, I’m deprived of 30% of my wages. Why does my landlord need two houses, anyway?

I’m deprived of my income through various means as well and don’t like it but I have to trade my money for other things I require to live. Hopefully, we can shed this system but I risk with a good amount of certainty I won’t be alive to see it.

Why can’t you own more than one house? Let’s state, for the purpose of the argument, you inherit a house. You already have one. Do you sell the other? For what reason? And for what price?

Wow, what a classist statement.

This is a self appointed criticism. I had to read the law to explain it to others and it is not hard to understand.

Not everyone has the time/ability/resources to take advantage of laws protecting the tenants (guess who usually has more resources for lawyers; it’s the one with more capital).

Again, I speak based on my reality; this applies to my country. A quick search on the internet gave me pointers to which articles to read and then it was just a question of time (think of two bathroom breaks for a relaxing #2) to read and relate law with specific questions.

Also, you ignore the inherent power dynamics. My current landlord demands more rent than what is actually legal where I live. I didn’t bring it up, because if I did, I would have risked having to look for a different appartment.

There are no legal limits in my country; if one part asks and the other accepts, it’s legitimate. What exists is the notion of fair rental values, which are established by the government.

It fits the congept of a feudal society quite nicely, though.

Does not imply I have to like and abide the use of the word.

I wonder how much of the concept of tenants “trashing” the place is actually occuring. It seems to me like the occurence is highly exaggerated.

It’s a hard thing to gauge. I’ve seen my share of houses completely destroyed by occupants: destroyed kitchens, bathrooms, walls covered in filth, tobbacco smoke and whatever it may have been, besides other damage.

On one, I helped the person move out and I was horrified. On others, I helped cleaning.

It should. An open technology standard should gain traction over closed proprietary ones.

I agree with you by principle but there are those who have no interest in ever having a house of their own, either by personal or professional reasons.

Maintaining a house entails expenses, from current maintenance, to taxes and the eventual full overhaul because someone decided to trash the place.

I don’t want to see people exploited to have a roof over their head and I’m a hairs width away from starting to actively trolling stupid people that think their busted places are gold plated to ask fortunes. But I don’t want to see people be deprived of what is theirs and/or see it trashed by others that consider because they are there just for a limited time frame any concern for consequences is out the window.

Where are you writing from? Tenants have pretty strong protections where I live and an eviction is not a trivial matter here. And if people actually knew how to read, the law is pretty explicit on what is licit, both for tenants and owners (the word “landlord” sounds too much like feudalism to me to use it). Rent prices are high here but a poorly kept place can backfire so badly to the owners that they can see the rent not being paid in place of having work done on the house by the tenants.

If that is enough for your needs, that’s fine.

Yes and nothing less.

from the moment you realize just how easy and powerful using the console is, you learn how to use it

Yes, I understand that; there is a learning curve. For some, too steep.

That is a good point you raise there. A bear would not care, as the bear even lacks the notion of what a kitchen is or the notion of belonging implies.

Women belong wherever they want to be. And nothing else.