BruceVC

Talking about nice Austrian fruit, the first time I had a blueberry milkshake was in Austria

There is a Romance mod I loaded, Im not sure if its with NPC but I have experienced some promising dialogues options with my party members https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/npcs/bg-romantic-encounters/

My BG1 EE adventures are progressing nicely and the game is great fun and reminds me why D&D party based RPG are overall my favorite type of RPG. I have reached Nashkel and Im still on level 1 which is fine. I have disabled Party AI because that option is for the weak and I want to manage my own battles. I have 6 people in my party that include the following (just for the record I choose party members first on there combat role and effectiveness and then on there companion quests, dialogue and Romance arcs ). The BG1 NPC mod adds some hilarious and detailed new dialogues Imoen :Shes cute but annoying at the same time, she is like a glowie on steroids Khalid : Hes fine as a tank but what a spineless obsequious toady to Jaheira. I am seriously considering letting him die just so I can try Romance her, she is hot Jaheira : She is my healer at the moment and effective in combat Vienxay : She is a mod NPC and a NE Elven Shadowmage and she is very arrogant and supercilious but useful in combat so she stays for the time being Kagain : He doesnt say much but he plays a good fighter role Further updates to follow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Duel_(2021_film) This is an excellent movie based on a true story set in 14th Century France, its about 2 men of wealth who fight a duel to the death over allegations one of the mens wife was raped by the other The filming and recreation of medieval France is superlative and its the best fight I have ever seen between knights

https://www.starship.xyz/ Estonia's capital has a working system of these robots that deliver groceries to peoples houses. They common and all over the place. What a good example of mechanization and robotics making life easier We were joking how they would never work in SA, the robots would end up in the scrap yard within 1 day But they make sense in a first world country with low levels of crime

Dont we need access to some sunlight to survive? Or would we adopt like the Drow to living underwound?

It surprises me that some of you guys in the US still espouse UBI after what you have seen as the risk with what this kind of social stimulus has caused in the US during the lockdowns There are lots of examples of companies employees in low earning jobs not wanting to come back to work because they were either earning more or could survive on stimulus. That was never the point of stimulus, it was suppose to help people who couldn't work. Not let people decide they didnt want to work Stimulus checks were not taxable and UBI is the same and even though I admit not everyone will abuse it we now see evidence that there was rampant abuse and the same thing will happen with UBI which will create inflation in the US because if many people dont want to work in certain sectors around production and manufacturing, albeit on minimal wage, you will have pressure on supply chains and the availability of goods. And one of the reasons for inflation is linked to a shortage of goods...basic supply and demand mechanics Here is a good article that summarizes the tax and other issues with UBI https://www.niskanencenter.org/universal-basic-income-is-just-a-negative-income-tax-with-a-leaky-bucket/#:~:text=“Universal Basic Income” is Just a Negative Income,of how much they earn on their own.

No its not, they might not find jobs and contribute towards the tax base outside of VAT, I think you call it sales tax, so they could just end up being recipients of social grants and a burden to the state without contributing properly And no country would allow unrestricted immigration because no country has unlimited resources Malc nothing beats work experience, lets not be negative

The Wagner group have also been linked to atrocities on the African continent, it shouldn't surprise us. If Russian soldiers have been committing wanton acts of rape and killing civilians in Ukraine you can only imagine what Russian mercenaries are capable of doing https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/russian-wagner-group-tied-to-atrocities-in-mali/ https://adf-magazine.com/2022/04/russian-wagner-group-tied-to-atrocities-in-mali/

You right, neither UBI or UHC means the country suddenly becomes socialist. Look at the UK and there working NHS Its the taxing, sustainability and funding of these things that becomes a potential problem

I dont want you to die, I like you too much

Maybe thats why they dropped the ball with this game, they had no experience with making a RPG ?

Thats interesting, I didnt realize they had developed good games

So this is a consideration for us in SA, we not use to extreme cold or any snow really.

There is such a thing in the US and globally as real anti-White sentiment, I have raised this several times But this is definitely not one of them and Ziegler is just grandstanding and playing the " its anti-white and socialism " card. And to make things worse he is also playing the " its an attack on my religious views " card This entire inquiry is about the insurrection and events of 6 January and people must be held accountable

All you need to really be concerned about is you immigrated to a country like the Netherlands for various reasons and one of them is because its not a failed socialist experiment

There is an element of culture wars and grandstanding to how both parties in the US frame the socialism\Communism debate but then there is the reality to the modern day and insidious influence of socialism\Marxism Firstly whats the most important consideration around this debate is we must never dismiss other peoples lived experience. And when anyone, like KP, handwaves the concern that many people have in the US about socialism thats not right and its condescending You know from the Ukraine thread that we have several east European forum friends who have living memory of Communism and life under the USSR. And in the US and in Florida you have influential Cuban American community whose first generation members lost everything due to the Cuban revolution. And they will always be opposed to any mention or suggestion of socialism and you cant blame them But it seems to be in the US, and in other countries like SA , that the schools dont highlight the real failures and problems with socialism\Marxism and then some universities seem to promote it in the social sciences because its not promoted in any normal economic degree. At least it wasnt when I was at university in 1996-1998. Gromnir has also touched on this in his post And why do I say this about the US? Do you remember @Orogun01. He once told us a story about a 18\19 year old daughter of a Cuban American family coming home to Florida from university and saying things like " Cuba had such a nice socialist system and its wrong what the US did " or something similar In other words whatever social science degree she was studying they clearly didnt tell the historical and current truth of the failures with the Cuban revolution and the way the Cuban economy is managed So to answer your question, yes there are examples of glorifying socialism\Marxism in the US so a mandatory 45 minute education session is a good idea so young people are aware of historical and current failures of these systems

Okay but thats not what I want to know, who would you prefer? I realize neither is ideal but then who would you like to see as a GOP candidate in 2024? DeSantis has also implemented good policies outside the homophobia which include On March 22, 2022, DeSantis signed into law bill SB 1054, which requires students entering high school starting in the 2023–24 school year to take a financial literacy course. Florida is the largest U.S. state to mandate a financial literacy course. On May 9, 2022, DeSantis signed House Bill 395, mandating that schools observe the traditional Soviet October Revolution Day on November 7 as Victims of Communism Day by devoting 45 minutes to teaching about communism, the role of Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and other Communist leaders in history, and "how people suffered under those regimes". We have to tell the historical truth and stop glorifying Communism\Socialism and thinking its automictically better than Capitalism In June 2019, he signed an anti-"sanctuary city" bill in law; the legislation required law enforcement "to honor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers for undocumented immigrants who are arrested or convicted" of crimes. Illegal immigration is wrong and Im sure we can all agree on that

Who would you guys prefer in 2024 as GOP candidate, Trump or DeSantis ? I definitely prefer DeSantis and I know the problems with some of his policies but Trump is an anomaly and far too inconsistent and I dont like Trumpism which requires Trump to be truly sustainable

Sure but we still want the Nordstrom pipe providing gas than not providing gas. If Putin turns it off later I agree he can do that and EU and Germany will be impacted. But the concern was after the normal yearly maintenance Putin would not turn the gas back on And that would have impacted Germany and the whole EU economic recovery I dont see how it helps the EU economy if Scholtz decides to not use Russian gas because there arent working alternatives at the moment? But the EU will move away from Russia gas and then Germany can decide that I misunderstood your initial fishing analogy but I see what you saying but for me its not worth it due to the economic impact to leave Russia empty handed There are too many other real issues to do this now

I stopped believing anything from any Russian official since 2014 after the Crimean " referendum "

I miss the ME game world and characters, its good hearing your stories

I have finally started on BG1 EE with a good selection of mods but I decided not to use Sword Coast Stratagems or Tweaks because those mods really enhance the ruleset for hardcore fans and Im not going to play this game multiple times, like all games, so the standard EE ruleset is fine. I have just left Candlekeep and Im on my way to the Friendly Arm Inn with my 3 x companions that include Imoen, Xzar and Montaron. Imoen is already annoying me with her naïve banter but she is cute and means well. I am looking forwarding to meeting up with Viconia and hearing some adult views of the world I must say its great knowing a wolf can kill you, being 1st level makes the early journey exciting and risky but worth it

Great feedback, thanks Elerond. Have you been to Estonia?

I bought some Ox liver today, I am going to cook it for dinner tonight with mash potato I always cook all liver the same way. I fry it on low heat with onion and butter, its going to be delicious