BruceVC

So I am seeing real interest in this party and I dont need to know much to about it to recognize it appeals to people I know and that means it must be credible which I would guess is always a good thing to have choices in the US Something else I have noticed and its more on this forum is that some members criticize the possibility of a serious Libertarian candidate as an alternative to the established parties and I remember Gromnir pointing out how uninformed Johnson was in a video when he didnt know much about Syria. Now was that a fair criticism of any potential US president .....some may think its petty and unfair because do Americans know much about the Syrian conflict ? Why would most people when its not a primary US conflict and the US was not going to illegibly go to war with anyone. He was asked about Aleppo and yes its part of the Syrian war but I dont think many Americans followed that conflict ? But their are some valid concerns towards both the Democrats and Republicans and what they seem to support ideologically. I want to support the GOP but not under any Trumpism ....I believe Trumpism undermines the real Republican ethos which is more convincing and reasonable And when I want to support the Democrats I feel they need to be more realistic about the SJ problems and ways to reduce inequality. I dont see how they can become a party for all types of transformation and they should consider cutting ties with the more " progressive " members like the comments from Ihan Omar which still concern me because most US forum members dont seem concerned about what she said.....and that surprised me but people see things differently but this what she said "Here's the truth. For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I'm tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it. Cair was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties." And this type of uninformed and revisionist history you dont come across it much anymore. But what it translates to indirectly and by using innuendo is How is she second class citizen in the US and in what way do US muslims live with it? Of course US Muslims are US citizens and people will be rude and generalize through ignorance. But its not the majority of Americans who act like this? And then the most offensive thing anyone can say but especially when you immigrated to the US is when you deny or claim to not understand 9/11 and how the US was attacked by AQ Surly this should be included in the US citizen tests to become a citizen, its not complicated or something that can be questioned?

GD dont feel bad about being a Libertarian because its not so much about them finding a winning candidate but rather the right candidate at the right time. I remember Gary Johnson and he seemed okay but didn't inspire confidence and if someone is going to change to vote Libertarian then the candidate must represent the value system and come across as sincere ....and of course believable But I am not sure if Libertarian's expect a presidential candidate to continue to support the ideology , surly you must have candidates that people must vote for if they believe in Libertarian values, other US friends of mine who are also Libertarian dont seem to concerned about this?

I also thought it seemed really good but I like most trailers and sometimes miss problems.....but if you agree its got potential then its more credible because you tend to be more circumspect about getting excited. So it bodes well for how good this game will be This could become our first game we both love, it would be nice to connect in that gaming special way. And of course we do have lots in common like German food but this is different

https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2021/08/27/elden-ring-impressions-exploring-the-open-world-dungeons-and-more Here is a good video of gameplay in Elden Ring...I think it looks great but I dont know much DS similar games and their normal design

You not wrong in the sense that I do absolutely believe that all countries in the world can become places where the positive foundations of constitutional democracies are recognised and practiced and people are happy and the country is prosperous. So I try not to frame this view as it being about " the West " because its not just Western countries that follow these systems of governance and also in RL discussions in SA people misunderstand and misuse that term which is really an arcane product of the Cold War because if you look at this list of 20 happiest countries you will see many non-Western countries so the idea of why Democracies work is not my opinion but the reality of the world and happiness levels https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2021/03/19/the-20-happiest-countries-in-the-world-in-2021/?sh=6551d6d370a0 And then of course the free market principles that our economies run on also work as it evident in economic data So I would argue I believe in systems of government where people are happy and have quality of life. What would be your concerns with most Western governments and how would eastern countries change this reality. And I am not suggesting their are no reasons but I am honestly unsure of one reason I can think of that is convincing?

I meant to comment on this misunderstanding of the geopolitical significance of Afghanistan, its more of a cliche based on certain historical realities where much of the reasons for some parts of colonialism was based on the mineral wealth of continents and countries But nowadays just because a country may have significant reserves of gas, oil or minerals this definitely doesn't make it automatically important to governments and foreign policy decisions. The country has to be stable, believe in the rule of law and international laws and support investment from international energy companies or you wont see the investment you imagine. Lots of examples like this in Africa like the DRC which really does have huge reserves of mineral wealth that are not accessed at the moment because the country has never had a functional and sustainable government since the end of colonialism when Belgium left in 1912 or so. So parts of the DRC are controlled by militant tribes and strange groups linked to other African countries. You do have several established international mining companies invested in some parts of the DRC and I have worked at one of this before but this is only a fraction of the minerals that could be mined So going back to Afghanistan its significance has more or less been the same for the last 500 years, its situated strategically between many superpowers but it has never been a wealthy or even even remotely " normal " country where all citizens benefit from things we all take for granted. And I am not sure it can change because the tribal structures that exist are maintained by people who generally dont care about the principles of Democracy and dont see much benefit in things like freedom of speech and LGBT rights And I cant imagine anyone wanting to try to change that? So the reality of the future of Afghanistan is not looking good for people like me who have always followed the events of 9/11 and I always wanted Afghanistan to succeed but the reasons it didn't achieve all its economic and social goals is complicated and not something a US troop presence can fix But whatever people believe the Chinese can do I have no idea what that means because China cant run the country or prevent draconian laws being implemented that will destroy most foreign aid which comes from Western countries primarily ....the Taliban also have no institutional experience in any kind of governance or how to run a country which they are aware of which is why they are trying to be inclusive and more inclusive And I wanted to add I dont agree with some the comments and views from many sides towards Biden and basically blaming him for this " collapse and Taliban takeover " . As I said in the beginning a phased approach and withdrawal would have been better but considering how the Afghan security forces basically acquiesced I dont see what difference it would have made. What some members of the UK parliament said was unfair and inaccurate and it ignored the obvious hypocrisy....what has the rest of the world been doing to help Afghanistan in the last 6 years when Obama announced a US withdrawal in 2014. But as usual most of the world did nothing extra but now because of the quick collapse of the official Afghan government people are "outraged " and blaming Biden for doing what he said he was going to do. Their was nothing stopping the UK or the EU from sending large amounts of additional troops if they were so concerned by the US withdrawal But I think the reason for most concern is legitimate and similar to my fears, I dont want the human rights and other changes to be eroded. So we dont want the Taliban to implement the anachronistic and medieval polices of the 1990's which is unlikely but you never know And I dont want to see womens rights vanish but I dont blame the US for that because the Afghan government was responsible for that.... @ComradeYellow Sometimes I am not sure if you being serious with your posts but I generally respond as if you are being serious and are raising a legitimate talking point And I do sometimes agree with you so you right about the unreasonable criticism from some in the UK towards Biden but you wrong that Afghanistan is significant in the world of geopolitics because its untapped mineral wealth doesn't help anyone if it cant be accessed and I would support China if somehow it helped Afghanistan become a functional country but I cant see how anything either Russia or China meeting with the Taliban is going to change the real problems ? No one can change the historical reality of the tribal nature of the country and how that impacts transformation to improve peoples lives .....that was the lesson I learnt from the 20 years of real nation building the US and its allies attempted

I am leaving this morning for a long weekend away from Cpt at the coastal town of Hermanus https://www.hermanus.co.za/ Exciting offcuts of food await me and this is a town famous for whale and dolphin sightings so it should be a good one

Nice one, now you dont need to worry about things like UBI....you can retire early and live off your wife's salary

You right as usual, if China can stabilize Afghanistan they will win because Afghanistan is of such geopolitical significance. I have been waving my Chinese flag and I want to start learning Mandarin because of this possible outcome

One of brothers in DBN has 2 kids Zach and Julia who are 5 and 3 years old. The last 2 weeks his wife has been mentioning on the main family WhatsApp that Zach hasnt been eating all his food because he has been complaining about a sore tooth My brothers wife is 30 and is studying an office admin course so they have hired an au pair to help out 3 times\week. Yesterday was the first day and the au pair updated my brothers wife about what Zach said. She asked him during lunch " how is your sore tooth " and he answered " I just tell Mommy and Daddy my tooth is sore so I dont have to eat the yucky food that mommy cooks " Shame she is feeling a little upset because she feels manipulated by her 5 year old son I told her not to take it personally because Zach is learning the art and artifice of the financial sales world

Overall how would you rate your gaming experience, so out of 1-100 where would it sit with anything lower than 50 means you wouldn't recommend it ?

Nice, we should create some " gaming law " where every committed gamer needs to buy maybe 20 % of all games, at least, from GOG or your right to gaming gets revoked until you buy from GOG

Dammit , I thought you watched it !!! Now you made me waste 10 minutes of my time

I know I keep repeating this but sometimes the truth needs to be repeated. Day 1 purchase for sure and I have decided since its being released before Xmas I am going to purchase this game as a present for myself and play it while I am on my end of year leave which I typically take from 20 December- 10 January

Good to know you Polish, I have found East Europeans and countries like Russia to be loyal and committed gamers to the many games I enjoy like RPG and other fantasy genres like action games. You guys respect the art and science of gaming and I always appreciate engaging with other gamers who support gaming like I do. I was thinking about it, take this thread. Most of the regular contributors are from East European countries, I haven't done any actual polling but just from the members who I know what country they come from? Members like Keyrock are American Polish but we can we say he is Polish in the interest of making my point And it would be remiss of me to ignore the important contribution the US members make so American gamers are also committed gamers And on a personal level I have direct ties to the SA Polish community when I lived in JHB for 22 years so for example I had Polish girlfriends and friends whose families had immigrated to SA mostly during the Cold War. So apart from my direct ancestral ties to the UK and my ties to Austria and Germany through skiing holidays Poland is the next EU country I have the most personal interaction with around meeting and socializing with Polish citizens Because most white people, like me, were born in SA and we dont necessarily know much about the EU or have any known ancestral connections anymore. But my family still do because we have English family born in the UK who are our cousins from about 120 years ago when my direct family came to SA with the British army to fight the Boers in the Second Boer War 1899-1902. So for me I had 5 great grandfathers who were brothers who came to SA with the British army and after the war 2 stayed and became SA citizens and 3 went back to the UK. And that is how a large part of my family split and became different citizens between SA and the UK

Gorthfuscious I watched the video only because it seems to have provoked you and I dont want you, and others , to waste 1 minute of your time getting genuinely upset as if this type of video is real and raises any true comparisons. Its your classic CCP 101 propaganda hyperbole, they raise valid points about things like economic and population data and then always incorporate complete false corollaries, spurious and inane facts and then absolutely ridiculous statements that really make me laugh because they so absurd...for example didnt you love the " at the least Muslims in China are happy because US, UK and Australian soldiers are not killing their children " And sometimes the funniest thing is this exactly what the CCP is doing directly or is indirectly responsible for, for example the genocide against the Rohingya people by the Myanmar military (and babies were thrown into fires ) was ignored by China and any UNSC condemnation vetoed by China. But China is their main economic trade partner and lifeline to the Myanmar military junta so the Chinese could easily have said, if they really cared about Muslim lives, " stop killing the Rohingya Muslims or we will cut you off " and they have stopped But outside all the propaganda of the video their is the economic reality that is true of the trade deals between Oz and China. And the most effective way for Oz to not be impacted by China is to reasonably and slowly, but steadily, cut all trade with China. This definitely can be done because their are many other markets and India is one but it wouldn't be the only one which is another example of the hyperbole in the video. And this also about the Australian private sector making these choices which unfortunately can be harder to convince because China is such an easy market to buy from and sell to. But this why I said you cut ties slowly and steadily And once this is done more or less then their is nothing the CCP economic bullying tactics can do to impact your economy. And these annoying videos will be as meaningless as the point they try to make And once you free from any potential CPP sanctions you can say anything you want about the CCP and their will be no consequence because its not like China is going to invade Oz. Their only real weapon they have is cyber-espionage and economic measures. So of course if you want to respond to Comrade you absolutely can, I sometimes do because he makes me laugh, but dont take it seriously and ever believe the CCP fake news

Wormie are you Irish by birth or you did you immigrate their, I just wanted to ask you something about Irish food but only if you are comfortable discussing it ?

I am having such a good time seeing mom and stepdad again after 18 months, my mom also contracted the virus 2 months ago and due to her age, 74, and poor health and the fact she has suffered from asthma her whole life I assumed she was going to die Yet she survived, she did have her first jab so that must have helped. So its been extra important to spend time with them. Next weekend I am going to stay with friends of theirs they met in the bush in a timeshare that they get access to for 3 weeks\year. Now this friend of theirs eats and cooks offcuts of meat like sheeps head, heart, liver and tripe and all other cuts of meats. I love eating offcuts but I dont often get to eat them so I am excited to see what he cooks....and its the whole weekend so it should be filled with delicious and unusual food

Yes but you have got to know me ....dont worry about past friends, now you have someone who even wants to come eat Portuguese food at your house. That interest in culture is real and matters. You know the SJ narrative, a person should always respect other peoples culture

Thanks for letting us know about volo, I am going to create a Codex account and say hi to him I have been tempted to create a Codex account and now its an additional reason

Zora its okay to admit the truth, no one is going to think less of NZ for admitting the truth about the widespread lockdown fatigue your country is definitely going through ......you can ask anyone on this forum and we have all been through it All I can ask is please dont become angry and lash out on the members of the forum because its not our fault your PM has failed in such a spectacular fashion. I am sorry she has not been removed from office and I can imagine what you thinking....yes its a case of gender equality abuse, you are right that a man would have been removed by now Here is something that will cheer you up, you guys produce one of the best mature, cheddars I have ever eaten but I cant get it in Cpt anymore. It superlative and demonstrates your countries diary skills https://www.anchorfoodprofessionals.com/nz/en/products/cheese/block-cheese/mainland-epicure-cheddar-cheese.html#:~:text=Mainland Epicure Cheddar Cheese | Anchor Food Professionals,characterised by small white crystals that form naturally. Here is the full catalogue of cheeses available.....I didnt know this company had such variety https://www.anchorfoodprofessionals.com/nz/en/products/cheese.html

Great post, very interesting choices you made with games. I remembered you said that you learnt English, or it helped you, to read the book that helped with that puzzle. Its a classic example of a book directly assisting with an old game .....you must have been excited when you solved it

That is so random and hilarious, how did you think of it

You make some good points and they could be the reasons for the failures of various countries to stop the virus spread? But are they really the relevant reasons, for example in the US lets say their was some confusion in the beginning around mask wearing. But this was changed within a few months. And yes vaccines had their concerns but nowadays its irrefutable outcomes that tell us 99% of people hospitalized are unvaccinated so their should be no questioning of the efficacy of vaccines When you say " government didnt look people in the eye " ....what do you mean by that because since Bidens presidency he constantly makes these speeches that are honest but not always inspirational but he is honest. Trump did not create any confidence in the ability to deal with the virus ...in fact he contributed towards the disastrous outcomes Yes the origin is not a factor that should be a big deal, its got nothing to do with how countries have mishandled the spread. Its funny how this has become a point of interest ?

I started my fantastic and exciting gaming career with Adventure games back in 1990 where I experienced first time Kings Quest 1 ....I was absolutely blown away by the concepts and design. I played the game on an EGA 16 bit PC and it was just brilliant with how you had to type certain questions to get results I like Adventure games because they allow me to explore a world that is about problem solving as opposed to normal RPG mechanics