BruceVC

Going forward I doubt Im going to respond to the drama around Trumps presidency, like Musk being a Nazi Im interested in the policies and outcomes that we will see. I just dont have the energy or interest to get involved in all the predictable SM outrage that will characterize another 4 years of Trump Trump will be deploying the military to the border as part of securing it and he has declared the border a national emergency https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declaring-a-national-emergency-at-the-southern-border-of-the-united-states/ This is part of his campaign promises and I support this as an additional way to secure the border, in South Africa our military is also used to secure our border but we dont do a very good job at it " Section 1. Deployment of Personnel and Resources. The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of each relevant military department, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall order as many units or members of the Armed Forces, including the Ready Reserve and the National Guard, as the Secretary of Defense determines to be appropriate to support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security in obtaining complete operational control of the southern border of the United States. The Secretary of Defense shall further take all appropriate action to facilitate the operational needs of the Secretary of Homeland Security along the southern border, including through the provision of appropriate detention space, transportation (including aircraft), and other logistics services in support of civilian-controlled law enforcement operations."

But what about how Trump has been the most persecuted president in 250 years Imagine that, that cant be nice

Trumps about to sign dozens of executive orders and those will create interesting debates Especially when we evaluate the outcomes and successes of these policies at the end of his presidency

Im about 50 hours into W1 and Im in Chapter 5 and going to the Manor House in the swamp I decided to remove the FCR mod because of combat bugs and I was able to do that without corrupting my old save games and then my new saves dont include FCR There are several main things I love about W1 and they include the entire Alchemy mechanics works for me, I like how you need to find out about monsters and herbs before you can get the ingredients and I like how the crafting works for potions, bombs and oils. It makes finding and buying recipes worthwhile There are 4 main types of quests. The ones with the obvious map locations and you can go there easily, quests where you have to explore to solve ( blue eyed girl quest ), the ones where you cant complete until you progress in the chapter and do certain things and then the quests that span chapters you can only progress and solve them as time goes on like the Berengar quest the narrative choices are completely thought provoking and you feel like you end up shaping and influencing the world and outcomes Its often spoken in the beginning about the whole Abigail vs Village moral conundrum but that was just one type of choice you need to make and W1 creates many other similar choices that include ( SPOILER ALERT ) who to side with, the Order or the Scoia'tael : I decided the Order, I dont think terrorism works or is sustainable Vincent as the Werewolf : I didnt kill him because this is another example of a good monster that helps you Queen of the Night : A really paradox but I sided with the Vampiresses and again its because there are good Vampires in the Witcher world like Geralts friend Regis and the Queen wasnt an evil Vampire which I would have killed. Sadly the Vampiresses all died in the final battle Adda as a Striga : I saved her because this makes sense for a better relationship with Foltest and her second curse was triggered by De Wett so it didnt make sense to kill her And then there are lots of smaller quest choices you need to make like the Blacksmith and the Succubus which are more light hearted and not as significant I decided to support Triss around Alvin and I admitted my love for her, I like Triss But in summary the narrative choices are some of the best and varied in any RPG I have played and Witcher 1 really delivers on this

All this drama about Trump launching his own crypto and he isnt even president yet Its going to a long 4 years if this triggers you Wait till he starts on his campaign commitments like the border and mass deportations of illegals, then we can get REALLY outraged

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-ceasefire-war-palestine-01-17-25/index.html I find this type of information relevant and interesting around the future of Israel and specifically Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and this is all because he is advocating for the hostage deal Here is a summary of the potential political fallout and considerations for Netanyahu but just to reiterate I support the hostage deal. Its the best way to see a permanent and realistic peace deal between Israel and Hamas around this latest conflict Quit threat: National security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to pull his far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party from Israel’s governing coalition if the deal goes through. He said he believes the agreement “teaches them (Hamas) that they can take hostages and attack.” War demand: Ben Gvir has urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism Party to join him. Smotrich has also threatened to quit if Netanyahu doesn’t return to war in Gaza after the first phase of the deal. The ceasefire is not guaranteed to endure beyond the first phase, but further negotiations could lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Internal discontent: A minister in Netanyahu’s own Likud party has threatened to resign if Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow strip of land along the Egypt-Gaza border that has proved to be a sticking point in ceasefire talks. Amichai Chikli, minister of diaspora and combating antisemitism, is the first member of the Likud party to threaten to quit over the deal. What it means for Netanyahu: Neither far-right party has enough lawmakers in parliament to collapse the government alone. But if both quit the ruling coalition, it could topple the government. Opposition call: However, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has told Netanyahu not to be “afraid or intimidated,” saying the priority is to implement a ceasefire and hostage release deal. Lapid has offered Netanyahu a “safety net” to protect his government from collapse. “This is more important than any disagreement we’ve ever had,” he said. Trump effect: CNN’s Matthew Chance said “Trump’s implicit threat that there would be ‘hell to pay’ if there was no Israel-Hamas deal before his inauguration on January 20 appears to have focused minds, not least among those in the Israeli government keen to lock-in Trump’s enthusiastic backing as he is poised to start a second US presidential term.” An Israeli diplomatic source told CNN it was in Israel’s national interest to “keep Trump happy.” Leader’s choice: Meanwhile, CNN’s Mick Krever said Netanyahu has a “stark choice” to make: “Give in to extremist right-wing demands to return to war after a 42-day ceasefire or accept support from the political opposition and give them veto power over his future in office.” Netanyahu is now walking a delicate line, he said. “Israelis will be happy that at least some of the hostages will be coming home, but the extremist nationalist ministers in Netanyahu’s government are worried that peace will be permanent in Gaza, and the military will no longer be able to attack Hamas.”

Thats more an objective of the Israeli far right, they want free reign to occupy all the Palestinian territories permanently But that was never the US view or what they would support And this hostage deal confirms that, they voting today in Israel and all evidence points at the majority of the Knesset supporting this deal and the Israeli far right losing out which is good news https://www.voanews.com/a/israeli-cabinet-to-vote-on-gaza-ceasefire-deal/7938786.html

I was thinking about this but I dont think it was big part of the Israeli decision The one thing we know is that Netanyahu appreciates staying in power and with his far right coalition partners he was and is firmly in power And this deal weakens that political reality because this is not what many of the far right wanted and they now threatening to topple his government but they wont be able to because he still has enough support. I doubt Netanyahu would risk his own political sustainability just so that Trump looks good The link I posted discusses this and the main reasons for Netanyahu and Hamas agreeing to this were "Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the emerging deal, which was negotiated in secret, the official said conditions for it were created by the killing by Israeli forces of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, in October and the increasing isolation of Hamas as Israel began in recent months to dismantle the axis of Iranian-backed proxies around its borders, including Hezbollah, Hamas’s ally in Lebanon The official pointed to increasing pressure on Hamas from the suffering Palestinian population in Gaza with the onset of another winter. He also acknowledged the pressure to achieve a deal from the United States. Officials in the Biden administration had been pressing for a deal that would become part of the departing president’s legacy. And President-elect Trump had warned that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the hostages before he assumes office on Jan. 20."

Both sides are gaining and as usual much more Palestinians will be released for each Israeli and the IDF has to withdraw from parts of Gaza The butthurt from the Israeli far right is hilarious but compromises needed to be made. We had no progress around 15 months of war so this makes sense https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/world/middleeast/ceasefire-netanyahu-israel.html " Critics of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, including many of the families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, have repeatedly accused the prime minister of sabotaging past efforts to reach a deal in order to preserve his coalition — the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history — and remain in power. Mr. Netanyahu and his loyalists have blamed Hamas for past failures to reach a deal. The current agreement was expected to gain government approval even without the support of the two far-right parties, since a majority of cabinet members are in favor of it. "

Yes, its not all because of Trump and Blinken deserves credit for his tireless effort and Qatar also needs recognition But I dont think its a coincidence that 10 days ago Trump was threatening " all Hell would break out " and now after 15 months we see this agreement Pressure was also put on Israel as I mentioned but it was done privately to agree to terms like Palestinian prisoners being released and Netanyahu wouldnt have wanted to do this because several of them would be implicated in the killing of Israelis but I dont think he had a choice Trump is a good deal-maker and loves to think of himself like that and that type of hubris has its positive aspects. Trump didnt want to become US president with the hostage deal unresolved so he made point of putting real pressure on Israel End of the day if it happens both sides will have gained something and that makes sense in the interests of compromise

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-01-15-24/index.html Real progress around the hostage release deal, both sides are gaining something and are in agreement on the terms Some of Netanyahu's right-wing ministers are not happy with this deal but he has enough political support to survive them leaving the coalition if they do But compromises have to made to get the hostages released so this is good news And I think Trumps deadline made a big difference in expediting this agreement so well done to Trump

I watched parts of the questions, it was typical of what I would expect with complete support for him from the GOP and the Dems being completely opposed to him Duckworth and Warren did seem overly worked up The Independent, King, asked the best questions where he asked relevant questions about the Genevan Convention and things like water boarding and Hegseth tried to avoid answering them because of previous comments he made Im not sure how Hegseth is going to be as Defence Secretary , it will be interesting to see

I dont recall that happening, if you can find links of Russian POW saying that it would be interesting

I really enjoyed it, its hard to think of Hugh Grant in a diabolical role but he did a good job The movie raised lots of religious and existential questions in an interesting way. I did assume it would be more supernatural but its well worth watching I watched this captivating movie last week https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Order_(2024_film) Its based on a true story about a white nationalist group that operated in the US in the 1980s and Jude Law is brilliant as usual @Gfted1 and @rjshae You should enjoy this movie

I dont know, there are lots of Russians who have been captured by Ukraine and I never heard it reported on that " we dont want to go back to Russia as a prisoner swop " In fact I cant recall any prisoner of war story where I have heard that? But I can believe that some NK soldiers would say that because this is specific to the reality of life in NK

It sounds good fun around its overall mechanics, I enjoy these types of RNG survival games I will play it

I do believe many NK if given an opportunity would love to not live in NK We have lots or precedent around NK citizens trying to escape the authoritarian hellhole they live in So yes its not hard to believe that some NK soldiers fighting in Ukraine dont want to go home

But you now believe that NK troops have been deployed to Ukraine\Kursk and you do accept that the original reports were true? Because initially you didnt believe it because only Western media was reporting on it?

Im about 12 hours into Witcher 1 and its been an excellent and nostalgic experience Now that I know more about the Witcher lore and world I am appreciating the game even more The combat mechanics are not great but Im use to them now but Im using a mod called FCR (full combat rebalance ) I had to use a cheat in the Beast battle because of how badly designed that battle was, I hate using cheats but I had no choice You end up having to fight the Beast with no potions and you immediately get attacked in a relatively small area and having to use the frustrating overall W1 combat system It just wasnt worth spending hours to win this battle, so I loaded a cheat mod that gives you 1000 health and then once the Beast was defeated I uninstalled the Cheat I am having loads of fun with the Romance card system, it makes sense because its better than the silly Bioware Romance scenes And then W1 highlights again what an honourable person Geralt is compared to many of the " good " humans he meets like all the degeneracy and iniquity in the village on the outskirts of Vizima The hatred towards Abigail from all the influential hypocrites in the town made my decision to support her easy It surprised me when someone like @Hurlshot said he doesnt like Geralts personality because Geralts core beliefs are about justice and helping the downtrodden and he is a good person at heart who demonstrates real humanity in a harsh world that lacks it

https://www.nknews.org/2025/01/ukraine-ready-to-hand-over-kim-jong-uns-soldiers-in-prisoner-swap-zelensky/ Further evidence of NK deployments in Ukraine But what made me laugh is one of the soldiers would rather stay a prisoner than to be returned to NK Imagine how terrible it must be in NK when you would prefer being a prisoner than going home " But video of the soldiers’ interrogation that he released the same day suggested at least one of the POWs may not want to return to the DPRK, raising concerns about the potential for exchanges to violate prisoners’ wishes and international laws against sending people to countries where they could face persecution. "

It looks good, I had never heard of it How is it compared to Sunless, it does seem simpler but similar?

Thats a good and quick summary of the Lost ending and overall narrative , it works for me more or less I still think there were unanswered questions But the main point for me is From must be more definitive around its ending Why dont you start watching From, it would be interesting to get your insights now while its still on season 3 with all the questions Its better than Lost and if you watched Lost to the end and enjoyed it you will be more than happy with From?

And what do you think the US deserves, can you give 2-3 examples that would be relevant to Trump becoming president? I sometimes hear this but I never hear specific examples of what it means?

Great read, its not a surprise that the common thread in most of the blogs is the appreciation and love of the strength of Obsidians story telling and world building Someone might say " but every RPG has to have good story telling " but thats not necessarily true. You can find entertaining RPG that are strong on combat mechanics or quest choices that you enjoy but the overarching narrative is not fantastic A grand and compelling narrative that is truly thought provoking is an art that Obsidian delivers on. And I gauge that on when I literally have to stop the game and think for 15-20 minutes about what choice I need to make and the consequence around that choice Like with PoE2 and with F: NV and who I should support around who ends up controlling NV

Not really because most people voted for Trump around the main voting issues which the Dems ostensibly failed on miserably And these issues were the border\illegal migration and inflation. They didnt vote for Trump because of his stupid comments about him wanting to annex Canada or Greenland