BruceVC

@Chairchucker Dont take the bait, he is trolling as usual I like Comrade but this is what he does when it comes to these types of geopolitical and ideological realities

The impact from sanctions can take years and Russia has an impressive foreign reserve but yes the sanctions will have impact but its a long-term game I dont see the Ukrainian military lasting very long and then the question will be will it be an occupation or something else ? My advice would be to the Ukrainian military is to let Russia control the country but resort to guerilla warfare like we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation because I dont see the point of trying to take on the Russian and Belarus forces directly ?

No of course he didnt say that, he just said its Ukraine's fault for not implementing Minsk

Dark we all make mistakes, its okay. The important thing is to acknowledge it and not make these types of predictions going forward Their wont be WW3 but their will be sanctions But I am going to insist you eat your hat, make a video and post it

And their we have it, the famous " lets blame someone else for what Russia is doing " ....thanks Zora for doing exactly what is predictable

Im waiting for @Zoraptor latest handwaving, whataboutism and " nothing to see here " or other Russian apologists to say things like " you cant trust the Western media " and or " everyone knows the US are the worlds warmongers, Russia would NEVER invade Ukraine " But we should focus on what many of us have been saying about this Ukraine illegal invasion. Sanctions are the only realistic option going forward but the most severest sanctions possible. Also Tucker Carlson's sycophantic support for Putin is not helping but most of the GOP is united in condemnation I have been engaging on Codex around this discussion and their plenty of Russia supporters on that discussion and lots of anti-Russian sentiment but as usual people take extreme views. But their is a guy from Ukraine who I chatted and as you said I feel deep sympathy for the Ukrainian people We must see how things unfold

Im confused by your point? Aribeth betrays Neverwinter in the OC and you fight Mephistopheles in HoTu which is an expansion

I agree, thats a very complicated war because of all the countries that got involved It was partly ethnic but IMO more about about the massive mineral wealth within the DRC with countries like Angola and Zimbabwe ( Mugabe of course ) sending troops to " help " the people of the DRC but most countries getting involved didnt care about the people of the DRC but wanted to enrich themselves And to this day the DRC still doesnt have a proper, functional government. It has huge amounts of unmined mineral wealth and should be the wealthiest country in Africa. Nice people from the DRC, they speak French and English. I worked their once in 2005 or 2006 at a massive mine that was a self-sufficient compound that had its own private airstrip for expats and workers to fly directly in All 3 of the security guards in my flat complex in Cpt are from the DRC

Also he is referring to wars over tribal and ethnic conflicts and not all the current conflicts are about that So for example their are 4-5 areas where countries are battling Islamic Extremists like Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram

Yes you right, their are numerous conflicts and coups in several African countries. I would say the most in the last 20 years so the end of Colonialism hasnt changed that But then their are the rising stars and success stories so its a mixed bag But he is right about Ukraine and what Russia is doing

I am amazed in a first world country some citizens could be so ignorant about how their government works...to quote The organizers of the convoy protest said they hoped to dissolve the federal government through appeals to the governor general. Im truly amazed and shocked

Nooooo,......its far too early to go sleep, I thought you were hardcore ?

You must try other fruit similar to strawberries like blackberry, youngberries and blueberries in smoothies. Im not sure if you get them in Illinois? I would be interested to see how cherry works? Also mix fruit up like banana and any berries is a nice combination

Some people think patriotism is a bad thing, its not. Because it just means you support and believe in your country I think people confuse patriotism with jingoism which is a bad thing

Idealism does matter because it contributes towards a better world and it is where some good social and political changes can come from But its mostly a first world way of thinking, I cant be an idealist unfortunately. Im a realist

I dont allow myself to get emotional by anything Trump says anymore because he has demonstrated time and time again he has no interest or knowledge in anything meaningful outside the US and especially now that he is not president anymore And yes he is suggesting the US " invades " Mexico to control the border problem. If the US would do that and use its military to control the border Im sure it would reduce illegal immigration but why not just do the same thing on the US side of the border if its such a good idea? And of course he didnt do that when he was president so the idea is not just ridiculous and against international law ....its not practical and I cant see it being politically popular ?

I completed NWN EE and all the expansions last night and HotU was the most entertaining and fun My wizard got to level 25 and I got access to Epic spells which made a huge difference in battles where I could summon the Dragon Knight and Mummy Dust, it was very rewarding seeing my dragon destroy monsters. Exploring the Underdark and Undermountain was great and I enjoyed my sojourn in the Nine Hells and Carnia I defeated Mephistopheles by learning his true name so I avoided that epic battle and I banished him back to Carnia Oh and I Romanced and forgave the beautiful Aribeth....sure she betrayed Neverwinter and contributed towards the death of thousands but we all make mistakes. And I made sure she didnt align with Mephistopheles at the end This game and its expansions gets a 70/100 on the " BruceVC game rating system " so its globally recommended

What a beautiful place so close, when I come to visit and I stay on your couch for a few days we must go to this park ? I love experiencing this type of nature that is convenient

Here is a great speech from the Kenyan ambassador to the UN, it highlights the condemnation accurately of Russia's actions https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/73274-kenyan-ambassador-makes-powerful-speech-ukraine-russia-crisis-global-event-video

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7632057 Yes thats basically correct, Putin has made several comments like the collapse of the USSR "was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” it supports the view he is trying to recreate the old borders of the USSR. Obviously ignoring the fact that most countries that were part of the USSR were not given a choice to join after WW2 and Stalin simply refused to pull back Soviet forces after defeating the NAZI Also what makes this latest Russian military hegemony difficult to accept is for the last 20 years some people have convinced themselves with a certain narrative that the " US and the West " are the worlds greatest warmongers and like to bomb countries into submission. So when that image is shattered by another example of Russian warmongering its hard to handwave it and its a bitter pill to swallow. Because now Russia is suddenly doing the same thing that people have been outraged about for years around the US My advice to any Russian apologist, take some Vodka with that " bitter pill " ...I heard it helps @majestic I haven't heard anything from about the confirmation that Russia has illegally recognized the separatist regions and moved troops into these regions. I know you and KP were laughing about " babies being thrown in fires " and all that but whats your opinion now? Is this whole thing still a fabrication of Western media ?

But you cant kill Ubisoft because even if you launch Ubisoft games games from Steam you still need the Ubisoft client? I wouldnt miss it because its not like I anything from their store

I just watched an interview on CNN with the president of the European Commission and she mentioned a range of sanctions that are more severe than I would have guessed if they implemented and they get progressively more serious. They include not allowing Russia to access the majority of the Western financial markets and not providing finance to Russian companies and public sector and then if Russia increases its Ukrainian occupation they will stop providing Russian companies and the government with certain goods and components necessary for the rebuild of its infrastructure. I can see if I can find the interview tomorrow but they much than what is mentioned in the tweet

Yes its a good development, I use Steam, Epic and GOG to launch my games anyway. I will transfer any games to Steam when I can And I went through the link in the tweet and it makes sense and I dont see it detracting from my Bethesda gaming experience in any way https://bethesda.net/en/article/2RXxG1y000NWupPalzLblG/sunsetting-the-bethesda-net-launcher-and-migrating-to-steam?linkId=153328254&utm_content=6384453312&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=Community

What 2 do you think may be accepted? I say recognize Crimea and negotiate on Donbas ?

Im unsure what you suggesting? Commodities prices are directly influenced by supply and demand and sentiment So of course the Ukraine crisis is effecting the Nickel price and the oil price but thats sentiment and nervousness Its not the same concern as thinking we can only get those types of commodities from Russia? Unless Im misunderstanding your post but you said " Ask yourself, where do palladium, nickel, natural gas, oil, uranium, grain, fertilizer and a bunch of other goods we depend upon come from " And Im saying they come from all over the world and they traded on an open market ?