BruceVC

It definitely wasnt what Macron wanted, EU leaders would have wanted Trump and Zelensky to get on and find agreement The main reason the meeting failed was that no one had prepared Zelensky for how to engage with Trump, there is well known strategy on how you engage with Trump and Zelensky was clearly not aware of this Then translation was a problem when Zelensky tried to explain certain things Personally I think its a huge mistake for Ukraine to not take the mineral deal, they have more chance of finding a peace deal with Russia with this type of US investment than alienating the US now I hear lots of EU countries saying " we stand by Ukraine " but are they going to continue to fund Ukraine in the same way as the US was? And then I also dont think there is any military solution for Ukraine and the best way forward for Ukraine is to accept its lost the illegally annexed regions and agree to not join NATO But now the war will drag on This was a lost opportunity for Ukraine to preserve most of its country and end the war

I hope they get deported back to Romania or the EU to face the justice they deserve These things take time but extradition does happen between the EU and the USA So Tate brothers may avoid this now under Trump but not the next Democratic presidency if the EU applies formally for extradition

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/hyped-release-epstein-files-sparks-anger-disappointment-right-rcna194087 What a sensationalized distraction the whole " release the REAL Epstein " files has become I dont believe in conspiracy theories on a normal day but this whole thing was really hyped to an unrealistic level But the way its been handled has just been pathetic " Then, Thursday, a handful of right-wing media figures were photographed leaving the White House holding binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1." The figures included Jack Posobiec, who helped spread the false “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory about Democrats’ operating a satanic child abuse ring out of a Washington pizzeria that led to a shooting at the restaurant. Some went on to cheer the release of the files on their social media accounts. But almost immediately some of them started downplaying what was in the documents. "

https://www.eurogamer.net/bioware-co-founder-reflects-on-mass-effect-3-ending-controversy-life-under-ea-and-the-worst-advice-received-from-xbox Interesting interview from Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuk around why he decided to leave Bioware and how being bought by EA was a big part of it in the sense he doesnt like working for large companies

Talking about anti-vaxxers, Im sure you aware of the measles outbreak in Texas https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/texas-announces-first-death-measles-outbreak And the official advice from the Texas health department is " The best way to prevent getting sick is to be immunized with two doses of a measles-containing vaccine, which is primarily administered as the combination measles-mumps-rubella or MMR vaccine. Two doses of the MMR vaccine prevent more than 97 percent of measles infections. A small number of vaccinated people can occasionally develop measles. In these cases, the symptoms are generally milder, and they are less likely to spread the disease to other people. DSHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend children receive one dose of MMR at 12 to 15 months of age and another at 4 to 6 years. Children too young to be vaccinated are more likely to have severe complications if they get infected with the measles virus. However, each MMR dose lowers the risk of infection and the severity of illness if infected. " So it also seems vaccines become fine when there is a outbreak of a virus?

Trumps latest video on his Gaza Riviera idea What do you guys think, it sure looks nice

But what else would you expect, the US and the West was never going to deploy troops directly into the conflict? And if the US now has vested economic interests in Ukraine its more likely Ukraine will maintain its sovereignty once the war ends. Its unlikely Russia will invade Ukraine again if the US has these massive economic investments The war has to end, I assume we all agree on that. And I think how it will end is Ukraine will agree to not join NATO and they will accept they have lost the illegally annexed areas like Donbas and Crimea I think this minerals agreement is the lesser of 2 evils and it is better for most Ukrainians than living under Russian occupation or Russian economic control

Its really a complete change from all the " anti-Ukraine " rhetoric from last week but Trump was doing what he always does. He has perfected the art of creating SM drama and making controversial public comments in order to get the deal he wants. He did this Canada and Panama and now Ukraine and he will keep doing it because most governments and SM commentators fall for it every time He doesnt even have to worry about long periods of negotiating terms because so much media attention is created its easy for him to get most of what he wants I dont like this strategy but its clearly effective https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c337461n3xlo "Without confirming that an agreement had been reached, Trump said on Tuesday that in return for the deal Ukraine would get "the right to fight on". "They're very brave," he told reporters, but "without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time". Asked whether supplies of US equipment and ammunition to Ukraine would continue, he said: "Maybe until we have a deal with Russia... We need to have a deal, otherwise it's going to continue."

Its a UNGA vote that doesnt mean much except for sentiment but it is embarrassing to see the list of countries that voted on the same side of the US

None of the other German political parties will work with AfD in a coalition so they will be relegated to making noise in the opposition benches @Lexx and @Boeroer Are you guys prepared to share who you voted for and why? Are you happy with the overall results considering what it could have been?

At first I thought you were saying " I met my wife through a magazine " like a Russian bride But I see what you mean, great photos

The point is there was story posted on this thread around Musk getting this deal and it was concerning because of his proximity to Trump and it could easily be seen as conflict as interest The story wasnt true and fake news stories should be a concern to everyone

https://www.wral.com/story/fact-check-is-the-state-department-about-to-pay-tesla-400-million-for-cybertrucks/21860274/ There are real developments to be concerned about around Trump but we should also we aware of some of the fake news and misinformation This one is about the $400 Tesla contract that Musk was getting

Thanks, I will go through this because I want to clear if these points are a real issue or its an exaggeration For example just from a history perspective do US schools not teach the Civil War and the reality of slavery from history ? @Hurlshort Apartheid for example is an included part of our history perspective because it is part of our history

It would be a great idea and it just has to be similar to PoE2 around design, narrative choice and mechanics But I remember an article about this and Im sure Obsidian said its not in the pipeline because they not focusing on Isometric games but it could be possible one day

I appreciate you going through this because now we can discuss what is the issue around some of the points you mentioned, I just want examples because Im not sure what the is issue about What do they mean by Christian beliefs in public schools, do they mean having a new subject in schools ? Ban African American books? What is an example of a African American books What books would you ban about Slavery, do they mean they will ban the discussion about slavery in schools as a subject? What is meant by condemn single mothers, would this be speeches. I dont see a single women being concerned with this. I know lots of single mothers and the last thing they would be concerned about is some condescending conservative politician who doesn't know them

Thanks, this link provides the best way to understand Project 2025 because they have put immense effort into making it easy and using categories and then you can see examples around what exactly he has done. It really creates the best approach and way of tracking Project 2025 But I also clarified a few times what I was saying about Project 2025 and I will explain it again because its weeks after the last debate My issue was always how certain media houses were talking about it and they used a specific image that contained the most controversial points of Project 2025 Here is the same image that @Pidescoand I posted and my issue was this was a selective list of Project 2025 and it suggested Trump was going to implement , so go through this list then confirm what Trump has now implemented? But this specific view of Project 2025 is not necessary to understand because your link is the way to do it because it clearly was built for that So that would be my suggestion for anyone who has concerns about Project 2025 but now any concerns can tracked and seen if they are real

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/obsidian-plans-to-make-rpgs-for-100-years-by-not-trying-to-grow-aggressively-expand-our-team-size-or-make-super-profitable-games/ Here is a really good link from Obsidian around there vision of the company and how they plan to survive and ensure profitability in a reasonable way They have learnt lessons from the likes of Bioware and Veilguard and its sales failures and they plan to avoid that type of financial crisis for the company " They didn't call out any examples themselves, but the duo was clearly setting themselves apart from companies that pour enormous budgets into long and turbulent development cycles and then announce that the resulting game underperformed because it didn't immediately sell tens of millions of copies. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the most recent high-profile example of an expensive RPG that didn't meet its owner's sales expectations, and EA cut jobs at BioWare after the miss. "

Yes its biggest fault for me was the repetition of dungeon design , it was lazy But I enjoyed the narrative and how it involved over years and I liked the companions and Romance arcs. Especially Isabela

Please provide a detailed review of this game as you progress similar to how you review other games I really want this game to succeed and we can assess sales numbers later because we wont know that now

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/13/middleeast/hamas-hostage-release-israel-gaza-intl/index.html Some good news, it looks like Hamas will release some hostages on Saturday Hopefully the war reigniting doesn't happen?

Yes and its up to Hamas to release the hostages or the war will continue like we discussed in the other thread And the tariff threat being effective was more about South American countries that initially didnt want to accept there own citizens back But the Canadian tariff threat was a silly example of Trumps theater and grandstanding

I agree he doesn't have a deep knowledge of the reality of most geopolitical events but then he seems to achieve results through his grandstanding and hyperbole Im not saying everything he says he commits to he delivers on especially around US voting issues, for example he won the election on 2 main issues. The border\illegal migration and US inflation and we dont know yet how successful either of these objectives will be because its too early to gauge But he does have more measured success on geopolitical events like the current ceasefire in Gaza and the tariffs threat and how several countries have already agreed to his demands and expectations It remains to be seen if the Gaza ceasefire maintains and we dont know enough real details around the Ukraine peace deal to understand if it is realistic and sustainable?

Yes he is notorious for these types of selective speeches around his understanding of geopolitical events But I do think its in the best interest of everyone for this war to end but particularly Ukraine themselves and concessions have to made but only Ukraine can decide that and I will support Ukraine ether way Hegseth said a lot yesterday and Im sure several things he said we can agree on like Ukraine not joining NATO and accepting it wont gain back regions Russia has illegally annexed and the EU taking more responsibility for the future security of Ukraine https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0pz3er37jo But he also confirmed that US focus will be China as there " real " geopolitical adversary. And this is something that Trump raised during the campaign so its not a surprise https://www.aol.com/hegseth-warns-europeans-realities-china-161245465.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACn3vDgTVKBK663q_1TsuPd9dexUFoa2eTWDOPdEhVANLH-vsoXXpaDUUE-d4PQM8kXQkAlseJStsxk3NlGkeoFfyvcdyClwgqBstCvqNvyLlnCSXbswPWhkW3S-z9FSRpZ3JkkABEiWgOJTjvi_eLhZaGYqrpDG3IW_jMtDcEGm " We are focusing on security of our own borders. We also face a peer competitor in the Communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific," Hegseth told a meeting of a Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Belgium on Wednesday. "The U.S. is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific. Recognizing the reality of scarcity and making the resourcing trade-offs to ensure deterrence does not fail. Deterrence cannot fail."

Yes thats basically what I think. Even though there is no guarantee that Israel will not continue the war once the hostages are released it will change the US views and how Trump understands a permanent ceasefire Its going to be even harder for Israel to justify continuing the war once the hostages are released