BruceVC

What you and Gorth is saying is interesting but I want to clarify something. In SA we have universities that are also state funded, most are. But we also have private sector funded universities. But even in the state funded universities you have to pay for your degree unless you can qualify for NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid System ) but this only applies to students whose parents dont earn much money So in Nordic countries is all university access free? And then when you say " State only owns percentage of stocks in several companies" that means they minority shareholders but is it still tax payers money that pays for this minority shareholding? What is the reason the state owns stocks in private sector companies? Is it a standard percentage of shares across all private sector companies like 20%? Im not criticizing this model because it clearly works but its interesting. In SA we have the PIC (public investment corporation) that invests the government employees pension funds and they own shares worth about 14-18% of the total SA listed companies but it varies from company to company and our PIC is considered a normal pension fund investment company but its public sector owned. So maybe thats the same as the Finland model of government owning stocks, is that what you mean?

Do you guys have privately owned universities in Finland, or are the universities all state funded and controlled? And is it the same with your hospitals. Does everyone have free access to your hospitals or do you have to have medical aid The reason I ask is I consider the Nordic countries to be a successful hybrid of socialism and Capitalism but it depends on what the definition of socialism is. On Codex someone said to me that the Nordic countries are not socialist, they have social programs? My definition of socialism is the textbook definition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism "Socialism is a left-wing[1] economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership[2] of the means of production[3][4] as opposed to private ownership.[5][6][4] As a term, it describes the economic, political and social theories and movements associated with the implementation of such systems " So if all the hospitals and education is state controlled in Finland and not in the private sector thats socialism to me. And it clearly works and is successful yet Finland also has a vibrant and successful private sector which is why I call it a hybrid of socialism and Capitalism Is that accurate for Finland, do you consider Finland to be socialist and Capitalist?

Thats quite a rant, are you feeling better? You demonstrate whataboutism all the time, its fine but just own it Oh and you making personal attacks on me when you call me a troll, I've told you many times Im not a troll. There is a pattern to the way you respond to Russian actions and how you handwave war crimes and constantly use whataboutism. Maybe you not aware of it but several people notice it and its not just me and it has been pointed out to you several times And you perfectly entitled to your opinion but dont get all defensive when its raised. Russian paid trolls and shrills are real and exist. Im not suggesting you are one but they exist and Im sorry that seems to bother you so much. Its the Internet, that's how it goes

What do you mean, can you give an example?

Are you sure its not perceptions of shooting deaths and GOP hyperbole. How do we know there are shooting deaths

Yes thats true, crime is a complex problem and Im not sure if the Republicans can do better But it doesnt change the reality and how this is one of the issues people will decide to vote on. Its generally believed that Democrats are " soft " on crime and that perception exists and influences people's voting decisions

There is lots of updated data and perceptions that crime is on the increase, just google it. Here are some updated 2022 links, your link is from 2020-2021. https://nypost.com/2022/09/12/violent-crime-up-across-us-new-study/ https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/05/us/new-york-city-crime-wave-2022/index.html

Agreed, any long standing belief can be hard to change. Its not just political, its religious and things like science and I also agree its partly hardwired into our psyches But as you said our views can be changed but we must first accept we were wrong. And that doesnt mean you wrong about everything. True story, until about 6-7 years ago I couldn't admit I was wrong in any forum debate or debate in RL. I inherited that from most of the men in my family subconsciously who always like to be right. I was insecure especially in debates and for reason I felt I couldn't just accept or admit my view wasn't correct Anyway I had a paradigm shift in RL and on the Internet and I changed and I genuinely mean it when I say its good to admit you wrong, if you are, because then you can correct the mistake and or acknowledge what you didn't know. So you update your previous views, it builds strength and character. It doesnt make you weaker because end of the day all our views are about us and what we believe. They not about what others think about you Of course we all believe what we say, we dont intentionally want to wrong. Who has a debate thinking they wrong? But in life sometimes we are wrong and that's healthy and normal

Yes, its logical to come to that conclusion. But many of these guys have for years had certain " anti-Western " ideological views and they have been discussing these grievances for years. They based some of their views on geopolitical events like Bosnia and Iraq where you can criticize the West in certain valid ways And Russia was seen as somehow being the antithesis to the " evil, Capitalism West " and to them provided a " better " system. But they ignored the rising and constant militancy and hegemony from Putin during the years because there issues with the West was greater But when Russia invaded Ukraine and demonstrated everything, and worse, that they said was dysfunctional and wrong with Western " imperialism " it shattered there narrative and what some of them have believed for the last 10- 30 years or so And I can imagine how jarring this must be. Suddenly Russia was the liar, the warmonger and doing everything they claim made the West the bad guy And some of them have accepted this new reality but many haven't. Thats another reason why they seem to spend time defending Russia or ignoring things like blatant war crimes and atrocities. They just cant accept their ideological views have been turned upside down A simplistic analogy is you find out your parents arent your parents anymore, they actually stole you from someone else. It hard to accept and how do you emotionally respond....lots of things to consider ( and again its not the same but its similar )

There are different types of people who support Putins War and why they say what they say on the Internet. Some of them are paid trolls and this is a well known media strategy of the Russian state as Monty mentioned but others are " pro-Russian" for other reasons like they more anti-US, anti-Capitalism or they angry about Western influence and ostensible imperialism. Some of them normally wouldnt support Russia, they just support anyone who is opposed the West for a variety of reasons IMO the Russian trolls like Comrade and Vals arent paid trolls, they more anti-US\West so they just repeat certain narratives and have certain views that align with supporting Putins War

I had to share this to remind us of the depth and prevalence of the Russian propaganda machinery and fake news in February , some of it is hilarious

This is yet another example of the egregious propaganda and grandstanding that is common from the Russian state controlled media This is the official message from the state, you dont find this degree of grandstanding from Western countries. You just dont

It was a good link you posted and objective But as far as getting support from the world thats complicated and what do we mean by that? Its not going to change the support for the resources for Ukraine or for the open support for Russia from the likes of Belarus or Syria. Its well known who is committed to what side and I cant see that changing because unless you involved in providing resources to either side what difference does a particular countries opinion make around who provoked who? Most countries seem to want UN endorsement which always surprises me because its symbolic. But the votes and resolutions have never gone Russia's way And as far as broader global support or criticism of the West thats nothing new. I live in a country where at least 2-3 times a month a political analyst or commentator in our media will blame " colonialism\Western influence " for civil wars or leaderships failures in Africa that have nothing to do with either. Its less and less as the years have gone on and more commentators will explain the issues in Africa are about reasons like bad leadership, corruption or rejection of governance and accountability But a certain small group still blame the West even when its not involved. I think this comes from reality of the history of Colonialism and some people are still fixated on that time period and ignore how things have changed and most of the problems in Africa are not because of Colonialism

So the US midterms are almost upon us. I predict sweeping Republican victories in the Senate and possibly the House These are the main issues for most voting US citizens in these elections inflation economy crime border control R vs W matters but not as much as these salient issues. I think the Dems has miscalculated how much the other issues will influence voting patterns. But we will have to wait and see

And do you think if Putin hadnt throttled gas, sabotaged the pipeline and started trying to blackmail the EU using gas the EU would have found other sources of gas or be prepared to pay more than Pakistan and Bangladesh can pay? So who do we really blame for this gas shortage?

But what do you think about the constant targeting of Ukrainian energy infrastructure that also directly impacts hundreds of thousands of civilians , arent you outraged?

Who has been impacted by the EU being responsible for " breaking" current contracts? Which countries and do you have links And why do you sound so mad, we dont hear from you for ages and then when the EU has avoided its " Western sanctions are going to mean the EU will freeze to death " Russian prediction you start posting again but you seem really mad ? You even playing the "Europeans pat themselves on the back and pontificate on their moral superiority over the rules based order " card Russia threw the rules based order out the window, now the West is forced to respond. I am glad you angry but your anger and criticism needs to be directed towards the right target, Putins War

You mean anarcho-socialist dictatorship, no one pushes Communism anymore Hoonding. Even the Communists have stopped

Good on you, less bread is less carbs. Its healthier 🥂

It was predicted this outcome from some of the Bolsonaro supporters, they cant accept the reality of losing The instability will get less and his supporters will have to accept it, what are the alternatives? I cant see civil war occuring in Brazil. Protests and anger but not civil war?

Thats such a good read and excellent news for the EU , here is the same link outside the FT https://internationalaffairs.co/the-end-of-europes-energy-crisis-is-in-sight/ Best part of the article " It goes without saying that the tumbling cost of gas was neither Putin’s intention nor the consensus expectation when the Russian president weaponised European gas supplies during the summer. At the time, sector specialists expected wholesale prices to shoot higher and industry was worried. The voice of German industry, the BDI, warned of a “massive recession”. It was economists who came closest to understanding the likely effect of Putin’s energy aggression; people and industries tend to respond to price incentives so they predicted that consumption was likely to fall " Putin must be seething, his gas blackmail has really failed and created new avenues for the EU to find new markets

Im about 15 hours into Exanima and 13 hours of that was learning how combat works in the arena. I moved onto the main game when I defeated all the enemies in the arena under Novice First impressions, its by far the most realistic and exciting combat I have ever encountered in any game. Learning the physics of movement and combat swings and watching enemies groan and die has been very rewarding Its a hard game, I am only on level 1 of the dungeon and Im still learning new things around effective combat movement now that I face enemies outside of humans. I dont like how your red health doesnt restore itself but from what I read thats part of what makes it a hard game and challenging? But so far so good, I will give further updates once I have progressed further in the main game

Raithe are people still wearing masks in these types of indoors events?

Photos of hot booth babes and Cosplay people?

Why are there so many people in Oz who want to destroy the earth? Its like many of your politicians. Remember Morrison, he didnt care about the planet either?