BruceVC

The real and legitimate criticism of China is what it claims to offer the world around its system of government that you see manifest and discussed in the likes of BRICS stated objectives. Yes we all know BRICS is a talk shop but they have yearly meetings where they reinforce what they claim they believe in Objectives like " a better and fairer world " , " a world where the global south gets its seat at the table " and where " they want to see a redesign of the global financial systems " Its unclear how these objectives will ever be sustainably achieved considering you already have the UN and the BRICS Bank which is no different to the World Bank but it has much less capital But the biggest inconsistency with these BRICS objectives is its most significant funder and influence, China, is a country where people arent allowed basic human rights like freedom of speech, a free media to criticism government or an independent judiciary so citizens can challenge government through courts So how is BRICS ever going to create a better world when you have the likes of China and Russia as founding members, its an obvious political problem if you believe in these BRICS objectives China is a strong and important economy and it has an efficient state but you cant compare how the CCP runs China and denies most basic freedoms that are both sacrosanct, respected and established in any Western country and most Constitutional Democracies Unless of course these basic societal freedoms dont matter to you and then China is great and can be considered an alternative to Democracy and what Democracy means

Yes I misunderstood the purpose of this DLC or there is some bug I have now completed " reach level 50 in rogue mode " 3 times in Steam Achievements but I have only found 1 end boss I thought Rogue mode was configured in Last Azlanti option which is not enabled in my game? But anyway I have stopped playing it and Im moving onto WoTR

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/15/trump-israel-syria-policy-reverse-biden Trumps overall successes and failures should be separated into domestic and foreign policy outcomes Its understandable to unintentionally only focus on the questionable or bad US domestic decisions he has made but this link is a good summary of the things he has done or doing outside of the US and several of these are commendable and constructive. The point Im really making is how Trumps presidency is a mixed bag, personally Im more interested in his foreign policy decisions because Im not a US citizen. Part of his confidence around all these policies as mentioned in the link is because Trump has the full support of the GOP in Congress and being a majority in both houses would embolden any US president because of the limited Congressional backlash you would receive " President Trump's recent series of audacious foreign policy moves have astounded even some of his harshest critics. The big picture: Just in the Middle East and just in the past week, Trump has met with a leader the U.S. officially considers a terrorist, announced he'll lift all sanctions on Syria, and cut a truce with the Houthis plus a hostage deal with Hamas, both of which excluded Israel. What they're saying: Biden administration veterans who spoke with Axios raised questions about Trump's motivations but grudgingly saluted his boldness. "Gosh, I wish I could work for an administration that could move that quickly," one admitted. "He does all this, and it's kind of silence, it's met with a shrug," says Ned Price, a former senior State Department official under President Biden. "He has the ability to do things politically that previous presidents did not, because he has complete unquestioned authority over the Republican caucus." "It's hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos," says Rob Malley, who held senior posts in three Democratic administrations, including handling Iran talks under Presidents Obama and Biden. Zoom out: On issue after issue, Trump is taking steps no recent president would have even considered. He abandoned the unified Western position to back Ukraine "as long as it takes" by negotiating directly with Vladimir Putin and declaring that Kyiv will never get Crimea back and must cut a deal now. He inserted himself directly in the recent Kashmir crisis, something past administrations have avoided so as not to antagonize India. He endorsed direct talks with Iran and shrugged off hawks at home and abroad who tied the Obama and Biden administrations in knots. It helps that many of them, like Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, are loath to cross Trump. Zoom in: On Syria, Trump's own State Department had espoused a policy similar to the Biden administration's before it — sanctions relief might be possible if militant-turned-statesman Ahmed al-Sharaa's government met a number of criteria, such as suppressing extremist groups. That meant that, somewhat perversely, the new administration was being strangled by sanctions imposed on the dictator they toppled. But it was also just the way these things work, until Trump decided it wasn't. "It's so clearly the right decision," said Ben Rhodes, a national security aide to President Obama, on the "Pod Save the World" podcast. "I don't know why Joe Biden didn't do this." "I don't like Trump's motivations for lots of things he does," Rhodes continued, "but one thing you will say is he's not tied to this constant fear of some bad faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, 'we don't do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.' No! Sometimes you just have to try something different." Perhaps most shocking to veterans of previous administrations, Trump authorized direct talks with Hamas last month that Israeli officials only learned about through espionage (or by reading Axios). Driving the news: This week, Trump's envoy-for-everything Steve Witkoff used backchannel talks to negotiate the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, undercutting Israel's own negotiating tactics. "I suspect Witkoff doesn't have to look over his shoulder as much as others have. His predecessors have had to make sure the secretary of defense is on board and the secretary of the Treasury is on board, and the head of the CIA is on board. He just does it," the former Biden official said. Flashback: The Biden administration considered but ultimately rejected opening direct talks with Hamas. "This is not about President Biden, this is about President Trump and the advantage that he has with Bibi [Netanyahu]," Price said. "If the Biden administration had done something like this, Bibi would have gone out guns blazing." Now, even with the daylight between him and Trump growing more glaring, Netanyahu is keeping uncharacteristically quiet. The flipside: Trump has also not pushed back hard as Netanyahu cut off all aid to Gaza, refused to budge in ceasefire negotiations, and announced a military operation to flatten and occupy the enclave. Price argues that's the more nefarious side of Trump's a-la-carte "America First" approach. "Unfortunately, we have a real-life experiment going on right now where we see exactly what happens when an administration abdicates that concerted pressure on the Israelis." Between the lines: All the former Democratic officials who spoke to Axios questioned Trump's motives, even for policies they personally agreed with, noting that he's not just breaching norms to make peace, but also to sell cryptocurrency, expand his real estate portfolio or obtain a $400 million jet. The Syria announcement notably came at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, two leaders fluent in Trump-style transactionalism.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/15/south-africas-ramaphosa-to-meet-trump-in-us-next-week-amid-rising-tensions " President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” South Africa’s presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. “The president’s visit to the US provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it added, saying the trip will take place from Monday to Thursday and the two leaders will meet on Wednesday. " This is obviously getting lots of attention in our media with the predicted mixed opinions around how our president should conduct himself when he meets Trump I hear some completely unrealistic rhetoric that " we should stand our ground and not allow ourselves to be bullied " and Im not sure what that even means But I predict the interview will be much better than the Zelensky visit to the WH because our president is well versed in English and understands etiquette and how to be diplomatic when engaging with any world leader and I assume specifically he will be prepped on how to engage with Trump I cant imagine him arguing or any kind of shouting match with Trump and the press interview collapsing, he has too much decorum to allow that to happen He will focus on the issues that we have in common and look at new reciprocal trade deals

Im still playing the Kingmaker DLC Beneath Stolen Lands I want to finish this DLC before I play WoTR. Its fun but its just one big dungeon crawl with combat. There is no real narrative or companion side quests by design I typically wouldnt play an RPG like this with no narrative and just combat but I will finish it because I enjoy the Pathfinder combat mechanics I think Im on level 50 and I have only killed 1 end boss, the Captor. Im not sure how many more levels there are but hopefully it ends sooner than later

Nice Wormie, its always good to see another example of the " BruceVC game rating system " not letting anyone down Have a break before you play KCD2, it makes sense and you will appreciate the IP more as you said

It was brilliant, it captured the reality of the trials and tribulations of the journey to the West in an accurate and evocative way Very sad ending I am watching lots of current series that include all the latest Law and Order, Chicago's, SWAT, Hunting Party and a new UK crime drama called Mobland Then Im re-watching older series like The Shield and The Closer I am also really enjoying S2 Last of Us, its getting lots of criticism but its got some interesting factions and new developments like the spores in the air that can effect you and not just a bite They need to find a way to replicate Ellies immunity or the world is doomed

https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-will-remove-us-sanctions-syria-2025-05-13/ A good decision from Trump, he will be lifting US sanctions on Syria after being asked by Saudi Arabia This is an important step in rebuilding the broken Syrian economy and getting the much needed investment

Its always cringe when Trump makes these types of comments around any geopolitical event that is factually incorrect or exaggerated Im sure I know why he has been convinced by someone in his administration that there is genocide of white farmers But firstly thousands of Afghans have settled in the US and that includes people of colour from many countries, I dont think its necessary to suggest the US only allows white people a path to citizenship. Thats an egregious exaggeration if you look at overall migration ethnicity to the US Going back to South Africa, Trump believes in the global narrative that there are examples where white people are being targeted or discriminated against in certain ways in certain countries ad that includes the US. There is some truth to this but it also gets exaggerated, for example I dont believe that migration to the US is about replacement theory but I do believe that there are attempts to undermine history to generalize about history in a negative way and this is normally the parts of history where white people have contributed. We have discussed this many times, for example Colonialism is seen by many activists as only an era of oppression and injustice when in fact the 400 years of Colonialism also saw some of the greatest freedoms and advancements of mankind recognised and established So opinions on Colonialism is just one example of this With South Africa Trump sees himself as defending this " obvious injustice " because " white farmers are being genocided " But whats the truth? There are farm killings and they are a specific type of murder and they terrible where whole families get killed but its not genocide by the correct definition of what genocide is. But white farmers do get killed but its part of our high murder rate And then years ago groups like Afriforum, out of frustration from the ostensible failure of government to end these farm killings, decided to start using the word genocide to describe these killings and one of there members even published a book about this which is mainly about the killing of Afrikaans farmers in general, it was called "Kill the Boer ". https://exclusivebooks.co.za/products/9780994715975 And then what makes things worse is you have political parties like the EFF openly singing Apartheid era struggle songs like " Kill the farmer, Kill the Boer " Imagine if you already believe white farmers are being intentionally murdered by the state and you see a real video like the one below with the EFF openly celebrating this. Most people and especially someone living in the US wouldnt know the difference between the ANC or the EFF and they just see a violent message of black people wanting to kill white farmers. And the EFF does this on purpose just to create racial tension and anxiety against white Afrikaners. The EFF is our official " socialist " racist and anti-white party and they the only ones who sing this song and only at rallies like this but they still sing it. You would assume they would demonstrate common-sense and sensitivity considering how white Afrikaners feel about farm killings but as I said they do it on purpose to get attention Anyway so Trump has jumped on this train As usual there is some reality and then exaggeration. Yes farm killings are real but its not genocide

Nuclear holocaust is obviously the only solution that will save us, remember this is the worst era of history

Its paid off, those are indeed Afrikaans names

I mentioned this before but this has become controversial in South Africa because white Afrikaners are not refugees by the correct technical definition I have no issue with anyone migrating legally to any country because its a personal and difficult decision and we have family and friends who migrated to the US years ago and they very happy Trumps understanding of the reality of the lives of white Afrikaners in SA is inaccurate and clearly this hasnt been explained to him by his advisors so he keeps peddling this false narrative around white genocide and land expropriation But end of the day whats interesting is the main Afrikaner special interest groups in SA have no interest in leaving and they have explained this several times https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2025-02-08-afriforum-flip-flop-on-white-genocide-declines-trumps-refugee-offer-as-they-call-for-local-solutions-to-south-africas-challenges/ "In a joint media briefing on Saturday, the Afrikaner interest and civil society group AfriForum, and the trade union Solidarity, were unequivocal, saying white Afrikaners were going nowhere and the Afrikaners’ future lies in Africa, specifically in South Africa. " “Emigration only offers an opportunity for Afrikaners who are willing to risk potentially sacrificing their descendants’ cultural identity as Afrikaners. The price for that is simply too high. We also owe it to our forefathers not to nullify their sacrifices to let Afrikaners take shape as a people by giving up our self-existence as Afrikaners,” he said. "

https://forward.com/opinion/719134/netanyahu-trump-rift-israel-houthis-iran/ A good read around the ostensible rift between Trump and Netanyahu In summary the objectives of the Israeli far-right are becoming counterproductive to Trumps political aspirations in the ME

Writing an article that is critical of Israel definitely shouldn't get you arrested She wasnt involved in a protest that broke the law and Im glad she has been released

Yes the word gets abused and thrown around and then it loses its symbolic significance because everything becomes " woke " if you dont like it. It always was a unusual word that only started getting used a few years ago But we should be use to this by now, there are lots of examples of abuse of words from certain people on the left and right, I remember when words like racism and Nazi use to mean something and when they were used they were significant and concerning Now if you dont like someone on the right or something they said , throw in Nazi or racist for maximum impact

Yes the midterms are always a good benchmark of success and popularity for any president And I predict much voters remorse but the other consideration is what are the Dems offering US voters? If they just going to rely on there normal strategy of vilifying Trump will we see much change? The Dems need to have real policies that arent just about how terrible Trump is, something substantive and constructive Remember Obamas successful formulae " yes we can " , I know it was just a slogan but thats what Im talking about

This is exactly what I'm talking about The drama and the exaggeration around Trumps presidency " The world as we know is over ...only nuclear holocaust can save us " Its good you didnt live during the WW or the Cold War and real times of global crisis like the Cuban Missile Crisis I cant imagine how negative and defeatist you would have been

Yes, as I have maintained from the beginning Trump will be gone in 4 years. There is only 1 Trump and his personality is a big part of his popularity. You wont find another GOP candidate who has Trumps influence and ideas once his term is over There is lots of unnecessary fearmongering and drama around the long-term and current impact of Trump Its clear lots things he claimed he was going to do arent going to happen But he will have an impact while he is US president, we just want to curtail his bad ideas and policies

Looks excellent, lots of nice Romance developments and some good GTA themes I love the whole guns component and the sordid Vice element

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/6/trump-says-bombing-of-yemen-to-stop-as-oman-confirms-us-houthi-ceasefire This should be a win for Trump as far as international geopolitics is concerned The Houthis have agreed to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea and the US will end its military campaign Lets hope it maintains and its an example of where sometimes you need a military solution to see results

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/india-pakistan-attack-kashmir-tourists-intl-hnk It seems this latest conflict was caused by the massacre of Indian tourists in Kashmir

It will be worth the wait, I have been following some of the opinions, leaks and updates and its going to be epic But hopefully this delay means the PC release will be the same as the consoles

@Hurlshot Good idea? It should address the rampant crime in California or at least contain it ?

But thats not a bad idea, Alcatraz is a very famous prison and the US has lots of criminals Im not sure how it will be better than the maximum security prisons but its got potential

I finally completed Kingmaker after about 130 hours, its one of the best party based RPG I have ever played and its now in my Top 10 RPG of all time I have mentioned in previous posts what I loved about this game but I will summarize it combat is the best part of the game. There are dozens of different strategies and ways to win battles deep character customization and how you can develop a party engaging main narrative, lots of twists and turns and exciting developments lots of choices around how the narrative develops and how your choices influence certain outcomes great party and companion side quests and how you can engage and build your companion loyalty I ended up defeating Nyrissa on my third try. It was easier than I thought. She has high AC and lots of spells dont work against her so I did the following spread my party around so her AOE spells only hurt one or 2 people lots of buffs and healing was used during the battle I used Kalikkes earth burst ability on 4-5 level burn and that did loads of damage to Nyrissa because it doesn't require a hit She was wounded badly and she had to use Heal constantly until she ran out of Heal spells. Also by having to Heal all the time she was limited around offensive spells usage My fighters and Ekun did some minor damage to her but they mostly missed And then I used spells like Greater Shout which did hurt her But it was Kalikkes kinetics that did the most damage to Nyrissa, she was my trump card And the final ending for me worked out well. I let Nyrissa apologize but I gave the Crown to Shyka the Many so she died at the end. Im was happy with that because of all death and carnage she inflicted on various worlds But excellent experience and I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys party based RPG with a complex but worthwhile ruleset Now Im going to play Wrath, I download it last night. Im in the mood for more Pathfinder