BruceVC

Elerond this is not a good time for fence sitting. Finland must join NATO, its in the best interest of Finland to be openly aligned with NATO. You need to convince people of the importance of this But if the majority of the Finnish parliament support joining NATO whats stopping Finland from joining, surly your elected parliament do decide these things and not the citizens?

Heres an interesting comparison and question , PoE vs Pathfinder universe? And if you prefer one over the other what would be the reason? I havent played either but I have PoE 1 and Pathfinder 1 (Kingmaker ) on Steam and I am leaning towards Pathfinder 1 as my first choice ( I feel a little guilty saying that on the Obsidian forum )

I think you are experiencing what many gamers who have been playing games for years can go through, its not unusual and there is some real observational data around this. I can guarantee you that several other members sometimes feel the same way in the sense " I find I lose interest in a game and dont have the desire to complete the game " ... @ShadySands havent you felt like this sometimes ? I haven't personally experienced what you talking about but I do things to ensure I dont start thinking like that but sometimes a person is fine feeling like you do which is how you feel as you mentioned ? But in closing I have a series of psychological exercises and things you can practice if you want to change your current mindset but the important question is " what exactly do you want to change "? For example do you want to improve your length of time you play and not get bored as quick as you do ?

I think Im not explaining this worrying development properly, I will try one more time. This is about a school that was closed for 9 months and the virtual learning wasnt working for many parents so these parents desperate that their kids were not denied another 9 months made the difficult decision to vote for Youngkin because he was committed to open school teaching My concern is not about the state flipping to red, Im sure it will flip back. My concern is about public sector schools in Virginia clearly failing to educate the kids properly according to all the parents? @Amentep I am trying to explain the issue to Hurlshot. Does it make sense to you?

Please at least read the articles before commenting, the virtual learning was a failure which is why Democrat parents voted for the GOP. Doesnt it seem strange that you suddenly have a historically Democratic state becoming red

I wish that was a solution, what occurred from that idea was problems with the teaching outcomes and the kids werent coping. So the virtual learning idea isnt effective https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-non-republican-suburban-moms-reveal-why-they-voted-for-youngkin-over-mcauliffe

GD I have some bad news for you but since you in a great relationship you dont need to be as concerned as the rest of us @Amentep @ShadySands@Gfted1@Hurlshot@rjshae I also would like to know what you guys think about this In Virginia the Republican candidate Youngkin won by 11 points for several reasons but the one being he promised to reopen the schools in Virginia which have been closed for 9 months !!! Did you ever imagine that public school in Virginia could be closed for so long and then this long delay leads to a Republican victory... https://www.aol.com/news/virginia-youngkin-school-closures-new-jersey-223021118.html https://news.yahoo.com/youngkin-signs-executive-orders-banning-011700205.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall @HurlshotI assume the public sector schools in California have been open, why do you think they cant do the same thing in Virginia The one good outcome from this, Youngkin is a reasonable, charismatic and convincing candidate. He is not a Trump sycophant and seems to reach out across the aisles and the more reasonable GOP candidates the better

Its funny you mentioned this joke because its well known that Germans\Austrians are not renowned for telling genuinely funny jokes but I do know 2-3 German jokes that are hilarious to non-Germans But not every EU country is renowned for telling jokes and thats not a big deal. Your snow slopes, blueberry milkshakes and great venison and pigeon for dinner In Seefeld we always stayed in the same hotel, Hotel Vergeiner https://www.hotelvergeiner.at/en

Yes, you right. Well done for that obvious historical reason... I must have met her in 1995 and of course she use to live in a Communist country so yes some uncertainty would have been expected. But do Danish people date girls from Bulgaria and Hungary or not really ?

But isnt it interesting how this Novak incident has worked in your favor? But nationalism can be a positive because to be honest I am always impressed when any country is prepared to take a stance on an issue that will impact their economy but the the issue is bigger than the revenue .....in SA we would never compromise on investment because we need the money. In the EU do people generally date across ethnic lines, for example would Danish people date girls from Hungary or Bulgaria? It was always a surprise to me in our early trips to Austria in Seefeld from 1991-1997 where I met several East European girls mostly from Hungary and Bulgaria. I had a huge crush on a beautiful Hungarian barlady who became a friend of mine and I use to see her when she wasnt working, she also seemed to like me and she told me that many EU countries, like Austria and Germany, look at down on her and she was treated like a second class citizen It was so strange to hear because she was really hot and friendly. I remember her having slightly dark skin with purple hair, her name was Helga ? I assume she was talking about how East European countries use to seen as places where citizens were less sophisticated by some EU countries and they were ones who did more the manual work like chambermaids and barmaids....I sure its all changed now ? But stereotypes can be funny in movies, do you know how many times I have watched EU or UK crime movies and the syndicates are always gangsters from Russia, Ukraine or Serbian ex-paramilitary but they hardcore and not to be messed with and we all know this is not the actual representation of these countries but these are real types of cartels

I thought you were going to say the Oz reaction to Novak was perhaps an overreaction but I see this Rio Tinto outcome is something you dont mind I dont mean to make you feel guilty but the reaction from Serbia tells us how upset the people of Serbia are because I think they feel this whole incident was more about theater and not about a valid virus reason. I know we both agree that rules must be enforced but I am sure you will agree that sometimes rules can be ignored in the interest of not creating the wrong impression about those rules ?

No worries, yes let me know you ready to chat tomorrow

Malc if you had to make an overall comparison between the US and Russia who would you support generally? I would normally never have asked such a question but a few weeks ago Gorthfucisous shared with me his general view on the US and it was surprisingly quite negative but honest so I dont want to assume you support the US? @Gorth How do you compare Russia with USA overall? I appreciate how much details you shared about the US but I dont know how you feel about Russia compared to USA. I dont want to influence either of your views with my list of criticisms towards Russia foreign policy and internal policy decisions ...I generally share these things and this is not about my views

You have raised some interesting points about something I want to chat to you about later in detail and if I am right about what you suggesting it may be more significant than I have ever thought about. And its got to do with what you raised earlier about the importance of understanding ethnic realities and their history in any regionn Anyway I am busy now so lets chat later about this topic

We dont have access to Moderna, let us know how it goes And yes, its true about mixing most shots in a bar. Nothing wrong with a few Tequilas and a Long Island Ice Tea or 2 during a night of revelry and carousing

Yes I agree that sometimes borders do ignore ethnic and cultural realities but borders is what the world and the UN uses to define what land and regions belong to what countries So I am not sure how relevant that type of argument is specifically when it comes to countries or regions that want independence or want to belong to another country, it has to be done through the UN with consensus from both sides to achieve international legitimacy? Of course there are exceptions to this like Crimea which after the debate you and me and Zora had about 6-8 months ago I realize its more complicated than what I use to believe and I mentioned this to you. But thats why I dont refer to that incident as the " illegal annexation " of Crimea. I just say " annexation " of Crimea But you right, in certain cases if borders ignore ethnic realities it can lead to tension and conflict later on

What I find revealing about this Ukraine incident is Putin would never have done this during the Trump presidency for several reasons but primarily because I dont think Putin respects Biden or the Democrats inconsistency and or hestinancy around military intervention and consequence Would you guys agree this is one strength the GOP have over the Democrats generally ? And this is not about liking Trump or agreeing with him. This is about how certain countries have more respect for the US when there is a Republican president and are more cautious around certain geopolitical decisions

Ukraine is a sovereign country and the current legitimate government will never agree to losing more territory, especially after Crimea, so its not realistic but it is wishful thinking

If Putin is stupid enough to invade and occupy Ukraine it will become another Afghanistan for Mother Russia, forget the economic consequences this will cost them hugely in lives and resources

Hurlshot please stop using your @Darkpriest alt-account to create discussions on the political discourse in the US

Someone on Codex has some information about Elder Scrolls VI, it may conjecture but it may be true. It includes the following -Combat now has timed counters/ripostes and directional attacks. -You can do a short directional dodge like in Doom Eternal. The number of charges/cooldown is determined by Agility skill. -They're dropping the two-hand system. Spellcasting has a dedicated button again like Oblivion. Two weapon wielding is still in. -There is limb/head/torso damage like in Fallout 4 but nothing similar to VATS is planned. -Spears are in. Spears don't power attack but "brace" if you hold the attack button down so the attack animation plays automatically when enemies are in range. -Crossbows are in at every materials tier. -Mounted combat is going to be a big part of the game. You can ride horses and camels and certain other creatures, and so can enemies. -Most of the shouts from skyrim are now in as spell effects. -Wands/staffs work differently now. Holding a wand/staff instead of a normal weapon increases the power of your spells. But they have limited charge. You can hit people with them but they do less damage than a normal weapon. -The soul gem system is going to be overhauled. Not sure how. It's felt that making the player constantly go into their inventory to pick soul gems for recharging weapons interrupts gameplay too much. -They also want to clean up potion bloat in inventory. Instead of alchemy affecting intensity/duration of potions, it will gate which potions you can brew. There will be special recipes you can find as loot. -Enchantments will be similar. Instead of increasing intensity the Enchanting skill gates which effects can be picked from a preset list. Each effect will require certain items in addition to the soul gem. Again there will be secret enchanting "recipes" you can find. -Dungeons now have obstacles like climbable walls, chasms that need to be jumped, or piles of rocks that need to be moved. Your Agility or Athletics skills gate these. You can either boost Agility or Athletics skills or use Levitation spells, potions or enchantments. -The lockpick minigame is gone and lockpicks aren't a separate item anymore. -Perks selection works like it did in Fallout 3. -The game is set in Hammerfell. The concept art looks like Wakanda/desert depending on the area. The desert areas look either egyptian or arabian nights. -There will be lots of pyramid/tomb dungeons with mummies that look like drauger. Their heads/arms can come off if damaged and they will keep attacking. -The Dwarven material tier looks bronze age/ancient egyptian themed now. I think the mummies are supposed to be some kind of dwarves. -New enemies are sphinxes, gorillas, alligators, hippos, giant snakes, genies and some creatures that look like those egyptian gods with animal heads.

Nah, whataboutism in geopolitics never helps and is not going to change the massive economic consequence if Russia does invade Ukraine. And whatever sanctions fall on Russia it will be deserved and self-inflicted

My dad and stepmom arrived in Cpt this week and this morning when I spoke to him he had flu symptoms and this evening he tested positive for the virus. He has been vaccinated so hopefully it should he fine but with his dementia it makes it worse as he doesn't always take things seriously

I started watching the latest season of Ozark on Netflix, its really good like previous seasons

You must join, you will fit right in with all your rejection of evil Western, Capitalist first world countries, Im sure Assange is a member ?