BruceVC

Nice, the right to protest is often taken for granted in Western countries and especially where the LGBT community can openly participate Its one of the fundamental human rights that doesn't exist in countries like Iran or Russia And its good that you put the effort in to be part of this protest. RL activism is always appreciated and better than Internet activism

https://miningzimbabwe.com/zimbabwe-lithium-ban-policy-enforcement-not-inconsistency/ Here is another example of Chinese neo-colonialism and looting of African minerals Zimbabwe has basically banned Lithium exports because of abuse of how Chinese companies have been operating You dont hear much outrage and drama about this from most Afrocentric activists because its not a Western country involved

Nukes? Where did that come from, why would you ever think he would want to use nukes? That makes no sense. There is absolutely no chance Trump will use nukes in Iran. Its completely illogical and doesn't align to any military objectives that are inextricably tied to the economic fallout of this war Can you imagine what nuking Iran would do to global energy prices? Trumps arrogant, capricious, petulant and obsessed with his legacy and current popularity . But he is not insane Only a truly demented person would ever use nukes in this regional conflict

What are the general policies this new and younger group support and do you agree with them In South Africa we have this constant view that we need younger leaders for Africa, Im not convinced just because someone is young they will automatically do better Young people lack lived experience and they also capable of being corrupt or politically biased and or extremist

Im playing Assassins Creed Valhalla now, the last time I played an AC game was in 2021 and that was Odyssey which I thoroughly enjoyed Ubisoft games like Far Cry and AC are always the same for me, you have lots of fun initially and there always engaging side activities but then I start getting bored and I just focus on finishing the main narrative Valhalla is fun so far, I like Viking mythology and culture and Ubisoft always delivers on recreating a believable historical world @Gorth I am sure when you read this post you were immediately concerned. We have had numerous discussions through the years about the terrible historical injustice, slavery and Colonialism your Viking ancestors inflicted on my Anglo-Saxon ancestors What if playing Valhalla triggers me and creates RL trauma for me from what happened in the past? Do you think I will be okay I suppose I can just stop playing if it becomes too painful and emotional

This is my concern, it makes sense for the US to occupy various islands in the Straits to reduce the ability of Iran to attack ships But whats stopping Iran from then bombing these islands? Iran wouldnt do this on Kharg island because that would destroy there own oil infrastructure but the other islands they could

Some humor should always be appreciated

Is this how you feel for all wars? So for example both Iran and NK provided military resources to Russia for its war in Ukraine Do you now consider them belligerents and they are legitimate targets for Ukraine and its allies?

This type of development is the greatest indictment on Trumps presidency There is a degree of selective and sensationalized criticism towards Trump and much of it isnt from Americans so you cant say how much it really matters around his popularity and support for his policies. For example using SM as a gauge is imprudent and often inaccurate But when Americans decide who they going to vote for, thats the final and most significant metric of Trumps overall success as a president This is not the first time the Dems have won a special election in a deep red state, it happened in Texas as well Midterms are going to be very interesting

Obviously if you at war with someone you could and would target there economy. Thats expected and not cowardly But thats not why Iran is attacking Gulf State oil fields or closing the Straits. They want to create pressure and chaos on the global economy and even countries that are not part of this war are impacted by that decision. The petrol price in South Africa is going up because of the Straits, Iran has no legal mandate to close an International Strait which Hormuz is. Why should South Africa be negatively effected because of this specific Iranian decision? I dont think they are the same , sanctions are a tool that countries can and do use for various reasons. Its typically used to get a government to change a policy or decision Its legitimate because any country can decide to sanction another country, you may think its unfair or selective but its not illegal The Straits of Hormuz are considered an International Strait similar to International Waters, no country can unilaterally or legally decide to block this type of waterway or attack ships that aren't directly involved in the war So its not legitimate what Iran is doing The ConversationHow the law of naval warfare applies to the Strait of HormuzIn the law of naval warfare, the line between belligerents and neutrals is not always an easy one to draw."Once there are armed hostilities between two (or more) states, the law of armed conflict – or international humanitarian law – applies. The law of naval warfare is part of the law of armed conflict. Some laws of naval warfare can be traced back to the Hague Conventions adopted at the start of the 20th century. Most commonly, states will rely on the 1994 San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea. Under the law of naval warfare, states are generally divided between belligerents (those engaged in armed hostilities) and neutrals (those not involved in the war). The line between belligerents and neutrals is not always an easy one to draw. In the Middle East, at a minimum, Iran, Israel and the US could be classified as belligerents. According to the San Remo Manual, ships flagged to neutral states, including their warships, may exercise their navigational rights under general international law through a belligerent’s strait. It is recommended that neutral warships give notice of their passage as a precautionary measure. A belligerent must not target neutral ships – they are not considered military objectives and must not be fired upon. During this conflict, Iran’s territorial sea (which includes the waters within the Strait of Hormuz) counts as an area of naval warfare. The belligerent states are legally required to have due regard for the legitimate rights and duties of neutral states in an international strait."

And closing down the Straits, do you also think that is a suitable target?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/woman-says-bill-cosby-drugged-182950365.html A long waited but appreciated legal verdict around the Bill Cosby story for one of his victims " A woman who claims Bill Cosby drugged and raped her in 1972 won a $59.25 million jury award on Monday, decades after first stepping forward as Jane Doe Number 8 in the 2005 lawsuit filed by former Temple University athletics director Andrea Constand against the disgraced comedian. Jurors found Cosby liable for the sexual assault of an intoxicated woman as well as sexual battery. They awarded plaintiff Donna Motsinger $17.5 million for past mental suffering and $1.75 million for future suffering in their initial verdict Monday morning. Later in the day, they added another $40 million in punitive damages after finding that Cosby acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud.”

Cowardly because the war is between the US and Israel vs Iran But Iran is attacking Gulf States who have not attacked it because they have weaker defenses. Its well documented the responses from all the Gulf States. Qatar has actually gone out its way to help and negotiate with Iran in the past but they still getting attacked Its not about the type of weapons you use or whether you invade a country. Its about attacking countries that are not at war with you because your objective becomes about economic chaos. Like I said I cant recall any war in the history of wars that has been fought like this, maybe someone can think of something similar? Iran is perfectly justified to attack any and every Israeli or US target but threatening, for example, to destroy Saudi Arabias oil fields is cowardly even if it an understandable Iranian strategy

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-threatens-retaliate-against-gulf-energy-water-after-trump-ultimatum-2026-03-23/ I still haven't learnt my lesson about Trump, stop believing certain things he says But its hard to distinguish between him saying something for impact and the truth especially in the middle of attacking Iran in the first place "TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had given orders to postpone any military strikes against Iranian power plants for five days, hours ahead of a deadline that threatened further escalation in the conflict now in its fourth week. Trump added in a post on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. and Iran had had "VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE" conversations over the past two ‌days about a "COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST".

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/06/media/israel-iran-war-media-censor-journalism Here is an official link from CNN explaining how censorship in Israel works. Its not quite the level of censorship you suggesting but it exists on certain levels which is common in most countries that are at war Here is a relevant quote from parts of it "There’s no doubt that the Israeli public has posted videos of missile intercepts and more during this war. A quick search of social media and Telegram channels reveals plenty of these videos. But the censor focuses more on the international media, and it has tightened the restrictions since the war began. After the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched thousands of rockets at Israel, there was no problem showing intercepts in the skies over southern and central Israel. Now the censor has prohibited live broadcasts showing the interception of Iranian ballistic missiles, even as the vast majority have been stopped. To be clear, international news networks don’t submit every piece of video to the military censor for review. Far from it. CNN has not submitted any video to the censor for review since the war started on Saturday morning. But the censor does prohibit us from putting out live broadcasts of intercepts that could reveal the accuracy of Iranian ballistic missiles or the location of interceptor missile arrays. "