BruceVC

Yes you make several points I agree with and the difference between Bidens real dementia and Trumps habit of sometimes peddling fake news and then doubling down on it But what still surprises me about this type of criticism towards Trump is he has always been like this and it was very obvious even as far back as before the 2016 election, remember the whole Obama " Birthirism " fake news story that Trump raised Trump doesn't see it as lies, I think he repeats most of these things because its part of a political strategy and he considers most of the media as " fake news media " anyway and they the ones lying. For example I think he really believes there is white genocide in SA because he get his information from certain selective sources and other sources he either doesnt trust or he isnt interested in Biden has more integrity and more political decorum than Trump and I believe he means well but the Dems scored far too own goals in the last election and they handed Trump his resounding victory. You didnt need Trumps cavalier way of raising fake news to ensure his victory And the main points how the Dems lost were obsessed with vilifying Trump as the main political strategy, how many times did we hear " Trump is going to destroy Democracy ", no interest in the actual issues US citizens were mostly concerned about like the border and security and illegal migration real perceptions of the weaponizing of the DOJ to achieve political objectives and specifically stopping Trump from being a candidate Harris was not the right candidate, she was seen as Biden V2 and still represented everything that US voters were unhappy with But none of that changes the main point, Biden should never have been the Dem candidate because of his dementia After the midterms the Dems should have had a DNC and decided on a candidate in the normal way. But the Dem strategists became obsessed with believing " only Biden can beat Trump " and they decided to studiously ignore the biggest problem with Biden as the best presidential candidate. And that decision came home to bite them when the reality of Bidens dementia was unavoidable

You honestly consider Trumps mental state is the same as Bidens during the presidential debate? Biden couldnt even finish certain trains of thought and was confused about simple things and this was his reality for years that was never confirmed until much later And this has nothing to do with corruption, Im talking only about mental fitness?

Did you install any mods? I played DA:I about 3-4 years ago and it was fun but I wont play it again I thought the War room mechanics were well done and a good feature and I enjoyed the exploration part of the game

I never had that issue with Kingmaker so I doubt that will happen in WoRT I have read some of the criticisms of both games around them being too long and dragging or things becoming repetitive That was never my experience and I think its because I have breaks between sessions so I dont get bored by how the game unfolds

I dont think Democrats should create too much drama about Trumps mental acumen considering how Dem strategists were fine with the absolute disaster of Bidens cognitive decline in the last 2-3 years before the last election The reality was the Dems were prepared for Biden to become president and many of the top people were aware of his dementia They lied and misled there voting base and this should be seen as one of the worst betrayals of your supporters in the history of US elections Trump is old and he makes mistakes but he is no where as bad as Biden was and Biden was the presidential candidate until the infamous Trump debate where it became impossible for the Dems to ignore Bidens decline

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/may/23/indiana-explore-redrawing-state-line-illinois-despite-opposition-gov/ @Gfted1 Latest suggestion to reconfigure the Indiana and Illinois border Anything to this, is this something that you know about or is just Internet drama and sensationalism?

Trump said several things that were a combination of exaggerations and then completely untrue Here is an example if anyone watched the press release, Trump produced footage of hundreds of white crosses and each one he claimed represent a white farmer who was killed Thats not true at all, those white crosses were put up temporarily after 2 farmers who were killed in the area and it was in recognition of farmers killed over the last 30 years @Malcador you will find this interesting and Solidarity is a white Afrikaans union https://iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/2025-05-22-misleading-white-crosses-video-solidarity-responds-to-trumps-genocide-claims/

No one likes a racist and it doesnt matter if its a white racist or a black racist and even if the comments are covered under freedom of speech But definitely some of the outrage from the US is from white racists or critics of Africa who are using this opportunity to go on about " look, black people are so racist ...you see we told you they want to kill white people " And they dont care that the EFF is not the ANC and that the EFF rhetoric doesnt represent what most South Africans believe

Yes but thats what Im trying to explain to you Thats not an accurate debate when it comes to South Africa if you talking about land ownership Its not true that " colonizers own all the land " Dont let yourself get fooled and manipulated by that type of false narrative

But thats not a real goal that can be achieved What if a Chinese investment buys land in South Africa or any investor buys land after 1994? That happens all the time, land ownership in South Africa is never going to be about " white people cant ever own land because all the land must belong to black people " It really is an unrealistic and silly objective to have Land in South Africa is already owned by several main groups black tribal chiefs already own large amounts of land. In one province alone called Kwa-Zulu the Zulu king owns 30% of all the land in a trust. And there 8 kings in SA and they have similar land ownership in different parts of the country but the Zulu king has the biggest trust because Zulus are the biggest tribe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingonyama_Trust Local and foreign investors own land for businesses as part of normal investment Government owns large amount of land, 23% of total land is already owned by the state Then you have white and black farmers who own farms and yes white farmers own 70% of farms but thats not total land, thats established farms The point Im making is the whole land ownership debate in SA is much more nuanced and complex than saying " SA failed because the colonizers own the land " Here is good link that summarizes the reality of the land question, if you or anyone else is interested in this topic I would recommend you read it and Im more than prepared to answer questions or clarify anything https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-10-land-ownership-in-sa-the-facts-and-figures/ @Gorth I know you cant wait to jump into this link

You just repeating some uninformed BS rhetoric that you read on some selective SM source Anyone can buy or own a farm or land if they have money in South Africa . But title deeds and property rights matter and you cant just expropriate someone's farm because 100 years ago that land the farm is now built on might have belonged to someone else. And we have an entire program that has been running for years around land distribution and its rampant with corruption and inefficiencies And what do you define as a " total failure " Do you believe if someone doesnt own land or a farm then they dont have anything or they cant claim to have achieved anything? Most people in the world dont own land or a farm, most people own a bonded property as there main asset

Yes, what happened in Zimbabwe was the worst kind of state sponsored " nationalization " of land owned by white farmers But it cant even be called nationalization, hundreds of so called war veterans literally descended on white farms and gave them 48 hours to leave. And these were white people who had lived in Zimbabwe for generations and had no other home. And the farms taken ended up being given to ZANU-PF loyalists and politically connected people and then most of the farms ended up not being managed properly and most them stopped being productive. Mugabes wife ended up owning 8 farms or so and that was just her So that entire Zimbabwe outcome was the most failed and worst kind of nationalization Im sure in the history of any kind of nationalization That outcome still resonates within South Africa for several reasons. Firstly its used in a false comparison to what could happen in SA, when its almost impossible to believe that could ever be allowed but then Zimbabwe is basically a failed economic state and we have millions of illegal Zimbabweans within the country because of the collapse of the Zimbabwe economy and the way the land grabs happened were part of that collapse So its very common to hear " we dont want to end up like Zimbabwe" and the way farms were taken is part of that narrative But yes, the reality of what happened in Zimbabwe is not the reality of SA. Even though political parties like the EFF call for Zimbabwe style nationalization they dont represent the government

Overall I was happy with the interview between Trump and the South African delegation As I expected Ramaphosa maintained his decorum and didnt allow himself to become emotional when Trump was peddling certain exaggerations and also nothing was lost in translation because Ramaphosa is proficient in English unlike Zelensky It was a good move for SA to take several prominent white Afrikaners as part of the delegation, I laughed at the whole " golf angle " because Trump loves his golf But you have to engage with Trump like this if you face a potential backlash, you pander to his hubris and connect with him on things he has in common End of the day the main issue that Trump mostly focused on was the claims of white genocide and this was predictable and what Trump does. But as usual with these types of talking points there is some truth to it and the way you address it is not to ignore it but rather address what is true and what is not What is true is we have farm killings where whole families are killed and its a terrible type of murder in a country with a high murder rate. But its not genocide by the correct definition of what genocide means. Its another example of a word being used in a wrong context to achieve maximum global impact But what is incredibly unhelpful around this debate is how parties like the EFF still sing the song " kill the Boer " For many people overseas you hear stories of white genocide and then you see real videos of the likes of the EFF celebrating and laughing while singing this song. It really creates a bad and inaccurate perception I mentioned this before but its a pity the EFF lacks the sensitivity and common-sense to care about how this song adds to false narrative of white genocide Even though the song is allowed under freedom of speech. I am glad the leader of the DA in the interview , John Steenhuizen, clarified that this song is not being sung by the ANC and its opposition parties that are the ones doing it One thing I always find strange in most of these press interviews with Trump is how all the journalists end up screaming to get a chance to ask questions, surly there must be a better way to ask questions outside that type of chaos

I cant imagine she is only person who can drive the future development of Avowed It would be a serious indictment on any development company if a single person is that significant ?

Yes dont drink the water in public fountains, that would be my advice

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/avowed-director-carrie-patel-leaves-obsidian-after-12-years-to-join-the-netflix-studio-behind-oxenfree/ Interesting decision, Carrie Patel is leaving Obsidian to take a prominent position at a Netflix studio I didnt even know existed People take new jobs all the time and its relatively common but I assume her creativity will be missed " As for Patel, she's had a long and seemingly enviable career at Obsidian: Prior to serving as director and narrative designer on the very well-received Avowed, she worked as narrative designer on Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds, and narrative design lead (along with Obsidian stalwart Josh Sawyer) on Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. Given all that, it might seem a bit odd that Patel would want to make the move from one to the other, and for now we're left to speculate: Netflix has the resources to put a lot of money on the table to attract big-name talent, sure, but it's just as likely that Patel simply wants to get creative with a smaller team. Patel herself hasn't said any more about her reasons for making the move or what she'll be getting up to at Night School, and Netflix confirmed that Patel has joined Night School as a game director but declined to comment further. "

Thanks for posting this survey, I completed it

Started on WoRT yesterday and I have so far just defeated Hosilla at the end of the Maze so its prologue chapter, very early days I feel its going to be an excellent game, so far some things I like I am going to completely customize my party, after playing P:K I am comfortable now with the rules to not use the auto-configuration when companions advance I have enabled the Crusader quests, I made a "mistake " by auto managing Kingdom advancement in P:K and I want to participate in all components in WoTR So far I like the overall main narrative, I am looking forward to meeting some hot Succubi I see there is an obvious good vs evil path you can choose and that is represented in different ways like which companions you can choose, as usual I will choose good and the Angel Mythic Path They have added some new mechanics like the way you disable traps and more advanced camera options. These seem to be improvements on P:K

Do you think China and Russia are examples of freedom? Whats your examples of freedom if you dont consider Western countries examples of this as Constitutional Democracies?

The real and legitimate criticism of China is what it claims to offer the world around its system of government that you see manifest and discussed in the likes of BRICS stated objectives. Yes we all know BRICS is a talk shop but they have yearly meetings where they reinforce what they claim they believe in Objectives like " a better and fairer world " , " a world where the global south gets its seat at the table " and where " they want to see a redesign of the global financial systems " Its unclear how these objectives will ever be sustainably achieved considering you already have the UN and the BRICS Bank which is no different to the World Bank but it has much less capital But the biggest inconsistency with these BRICS objectives is its most significant funder and influence, China, is a country where people arent allowed basic human rights like freedom of speech, a free media to criticism government or an independent judiciary so citizens can challenge government through courts So how is BRICS ever going to create a better world when you have the likes of China and Russia as founding members, its an obvious political problem if you believe in these BRICS objectives China is a strong and important economy and it has an efficient state but you cant compare how the CCP runs China and denies most basic freedoms that are both sacrosanct, respected and established in any Western country and most Constitutional Democracies Unless of course these basic societal freedoms dont matter to you and then China is great and can be considered an alternative to Democracy and what Democracy means

Yes I misunderstood the purpose of this DLC or there is some bug I have now completed " reach level 50 in rogue mode " 3 times in Steam Achievements but I have only found 1 end boss I thought Rogue mode was configured in Last Azlanti option which is not enabled in my game? But anyway I have stopped playing it and Im moving onto WoTR

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/15/trump-israel-syria-policy-reverse-biden Trumps overall successes and failures should be separated into domestic and foreign policy outcomes Its understandable to unintentionally only focus on the questionable or bad US domestic decisions he has made but this link is a good summary of the things he has done or doing outside of the US and several of these are commendable and constructive. The point Im really making is how Trumps presidency is a mixed bag, personally Im more interested in his foreign policy decisions because Im not a US citizen. Part of his confidence around all these policies as mentioned in the link is because Trump has the full support of the GOP in Congress and being a majority in both houses would embolden any US president because of the limited Congressional backlash you would receive " President Trump's recent series of audacious foreign policy moves have astounded even some of his harshest critics. The big picture: Just in the Middle East and just in the past week, Trump has met with a leader the U.S. officially considers a terrorist, announced he'll lift all sanctions on Syria, and cut a truce with the Houthis plus a hostage deal with Hamas, both of which excluded Israel. What they're saying: Biden administration veterans who spoke with Axios raised questions about Trump's motivations but grudgingly saluted his boldness. "Gosh, I wish I could work for an administration that could move that quickly," one admitted. "He does all this, and it's kind of silence, it's met with a shrug," says Ned Price, a former senior State Department official under President Biden. "He has the ability to do things politically that previous presidents did not, because he has complete unquestioned authority over the Republican caucus." "It's hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos," says Rob Malley, who held senior posts in three Democratic administrations, including handling Iran talks under Presidents Obama and Biden. Zoom out: On issue after issue, Trump is taking steps no recent president would have even considered. He abandoned the unified Western position to back Ukraine "as long as it takes" by negotiating directly with Vladimir Putin and declaring that Kyiv will never get Crimea back and must cut a deal now. He inserted himself directly in the recent Kashmir crisis, something past administrations have avoided so as not to antagonize India. He endorsed direct talks with Iran and shrugged off hawks at home and abroad who tied the Obama and Biden administrations in knots. It helps that many of them, like Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, are loath to cross Trump. Zoom in: On Syria, Trump's own State Department had espoused a policy similar to the Biden administration's before it — sanctions relief might be possible if militant-turned-statesman Ahmed al-Sharaa's government met a number of criteria, such as suppressing extremist groups. That meant that, somewhat perversely, the new administration was being strangled by sanctions imposed on the dictator they toppled. But it was also just the way these things work, until Trump decided it wasn't. "It's so clearly the right decision," said Ben Rhodes, a national security aide to President Obama, on the "Pod Save the World" podcast. "I don't know why Joe Biden didn't do this." "I don't like Trump's motivations for lots of things he does," Rhodes continued, "but one thing you will say is he's not tied to this constant fear of some bad faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, 'we don't do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.' No! Sometimes you just have to try something different." Perhaps most shocking to veterans of previous administrations, Trump authorized direct talks with Hamas last month that Israeli officials only learned about through espionage (or by reading Axios). Driving the news: This week, Trump's envoy-for-everything Steve Witkoff used backchannel talks to negotiate the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, undercutting Israel's own negotiating tactics. "I suspect Witkoff doesn't have to look over his shoulder as much as others have. His predecessors have had to make sure the secretary of defense is on board and the secretary of the Treasury is on board, and the head of the CIA is on board. He just does it," the former Biden official said. Flashback: The Biden administration considered but ultimately rejected opening direct talks with Hamas. "This is not about President Biden, this is about President Trump and the advantage that he has with Bibi [Netanyahu]," Price said. "If the Biden administration had done something like this, Bibi would have gone out guns blazing." Now, even with the daylight between him and Trump growing more glaring, Netanyahu is keeping uncharacteristically quiet. The flipside: Trump has also not pushed back hard as Netanyahu cut off all aid to Gaza, refused to budge in ceasefire negotiations, and announced a military operation to flatten and occupy the enclave. Price argues that's the more nefarious side of Trump's a-la-carte "America First" approach. "Unfortunately, we have a real-life experiment going on right now where we see exactly what happens when an administration abdicates that concerted pressure on the Israelis." Between the lines: All the former Democratic officials who spoke to Axios questioned Trump's motives, even for policies they personally agreed with, noting that he's not just breaching norms to make peace, but also to sell cryptocurrency, expand his real estate portfolio or obtain a $400 million jet. The Syria announcement notably came at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, two leaders fluent in Trump-style transactionalism.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/15/south-africas-ramaphosa-to-meet-trump-in-us-next-week-amid-rising-tensions " President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” South Africa’s presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. “The president’s visit to the US provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it added, saying the trip will take place from Monday to Thursday and the two leaders will meet on Wednesday. " This is obviously getting lots of attention in our media with the predicted mixed opinions around how our president should conduct himself when he meets Trump I hear some completely unrealistic rhetoric that " we should stand our ground and not allow ourselves to be bullied " and Im not sure what that even means But I predict the interview will be much better than the Zelensky visit to the WH because our president is well versed in English and understands etiquette and how to be diplomatic when engaging with any world leader and I assume specifically he will be prepped on how to engage with Trump I cant imagine him arguing or any kind of shouting match with Trump and the press interview collapsing, he has too much decorum to allow that to happen He will focus on the issues that we have in common and look at new reciprocal trade deals

Im still playing the Kingmaker DLC Beneath Stolen Lands I want to finish this DLC before I play WoTR. Its fun but its just one big dungeon crawl with combat. There is no real narrative or companion side quests by design I typically wouldnt play an RPG like this with no narrative and just combat but I will finish it because I enjoy the Pathfinder combat mechanics I think Im on level 50 and I have only killed 1 end boss, the Captor. Im not sure how many more levels there are but hopefully it ends sooner than later

Nice Wormie, its always good to see another example of the " BruceVC game rating system " not letting anyone down Have a break before you play KCD2, it makes sense and you will appreciate the IP more as you said