BruceVC

You right, I know you mentioned how the game was easily forgettable and I wasnt sure what that meant but I now I know what you were referring to Just the fact I cant easily recall the main narrative with fondness tells you something

Yes you make some good points and accurate analogies like the reality of Gaza and is it really the US fault when Hamas refuses to recognize Israel has a right to exist so the " anger " tends to be selective and dissipate based on certain biases people have and events in the region So I agree that the opinion of US citizens on Biden's decision will be more favorable as time goes on than the current views which are " this was a foreign policy disaster " which much of the US media is suggesting But I dont mean to contradict myself when I say this is what I fear is the reality for the future for women and minorities ....even though I understand the decision Biden took https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/09/asia/afghanistan-girls-school-attack-intl-hnk/index.html

Mexican women are beautiful hey Gfted1 , I wish I lived in the US because I would definitely be trying to date Latino women

But what is a fact about all vaccines is it is possible for any vaccine, not just Corona, to cause negative effects and even kill you. Its very rare ....very rare but its a risk 10 years ago the company I worked for did lots of consultancy in Africa and the ME. When you travel to countries like Nigeria it is mandatory at the airport to produce various vaccine certifications like Yellow Fever. Anyway my MD at the time was visiting Nigeria to see numerous customers and our Nigerian partner but he hadnt taken his Yellow Fever vaccine Because he was at Lagos airport and on a business trip he was offered this vaccine as convenience, he did this and departed the airport. 2 hours after leaving the airport he started sweating and ended up in a coma and being airlifted back to SA. He spent over 3 months in hospital and had to teach himself to speak again and obviously never worked in corporate effectively again He had a bad reaction to the Yellow Fever vaccine. It was very rare and no one I know, including me, ever had a bad reaction to this vaccine. So I do agree with you that it is possible a vaccine can have adverse and serious effects to you but its so rare and statistically an anomaly And the benefits to all vaccines outweigh the negative and possible side effects

I watched most of his speech and it was as good as it can be considering the decision the US already took under his leadership He repeated the same points to justify the decision like He doesn't want to ask any American families to continue to fight this foreign war He doesn't want to pass on the responsibility of this war to other presidents ( how magnanimous and bipartisan ) At some stage Afghanistan needs to address its own security And all these points have some validity but their was something I didnt realize about the real cost and resources the US had currently invested in Afghanistan. The US military resources have been slowly, strategically but steadily reduced over the last couple of years. Their were less than 5k soldiers and some air force in Afghanistan So it begs a question, what is the real cost to keeping such a small force in Afghanistan compared to the real human rights crisis that will be coming to the citizens and minority groups of Afghanistan?

I use to understand the financial aid to Pakistan to ensure their help in dealing with Islamic extremism and specifically the Taliban who find refuge in western Pakistan in the tribal regions. The Pakistani government doesnt have complete control of this region which was always a challenge to them being able to deal with Taliban in their own country and of course their is the historical support for the Taliban from some within Pakistan that created concerns around how committed Pakistan was to helping the US But the real question outside of these realities is " do you consider Pakistan a real ally in the War on Terror "? Saudi Arabia and many ME countries are but I am not so sure about Pakistan. For example when Bin Laden was killed the Pakistan government seemed angry and criticised the US even going so far as arresting the local doctor who helped the CIA confirm it was Bin Laden https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49960979 So for me I agree with you, drop the aid to Pakistan. International aid should only be given to friends of any country or for important geopolitical reasons but I would much rather support India if they need aid from the US

You make some interesting points and some I agree with What I dont agree with is where you seem to conflate some historical developments and attribute equal " blame " for outcomes. For example the US and the Saudis only intervened in Afghanistan because the USSR invaded Afghanistan so dont you think when we look at the events of history it has to start with what caused the event ? The main point I was making was Colonialism was not the reason the Taliban came to power But I am much more interested in your view that " the US should not have invaded Afghanistan and this was a mistake " I am confused when you say "the US should not have acted in that way yet it was an internal choice " ? The US was attacked by AQ on 9/11 and 5k Americans more or less died. Any country that gets attacked from an external enemy will obviously decide how to respond through an internal choice made by the current government, thats how all foreign policy decisions are implemented. But it was an external reason that led to the understandable invasion So what I want to understand is what should the US have done after 9/11 if you dont believe deciding that AQ was now the official enemy of the US and later on most of the civilised world including the entire ME. Considering the fact that AQ had been given refuge in Afghanistan and the Taliban were given the chance to hand Bin Laden over Would you have advised no action should be taken against AQ ? And if the Democrats were running the US at the time I can guarantee you they would have also advocated an invasion ?

I finished Kingdoms of Amalur after 58 hours, when I say I finished I mean I completed the main quests The game scores a solid 55/100 on the globally respected " BruceVC gaming score " system. I am not sure I would recommend this game unless you understand its shortfalls and what is fun about it What is good about the game are components like the artistic design of the game world and the myriad of quests and things to do if you just want hours of exploration on side quests.The gaming mechanics work and combat strategy is entertaining Now the bad, its easy as I mentioned earlier. Far too easy and when their is no combat or quest challenge in a RPG you have to ask " is this really fun " ? Also I normally enjoy lore but I found the lore and overall narrative boring and not compelling I cant even recall most parts of the main quest .....I know I ran around a lot and killed people but it wasnt memorable But its not a terrible game but not one I would say " you MUST play it "

Good post Elerond and we appreciate your point being made on the facts and data as we know them

You right in some ways but where do you bring Colonialism into the reality of Afghanistan nowadays? Lets focus on the last 40 years or so to understand why we are where we are. The USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and left in 1989, they are the reason the Taliban came to power after the Cold War ended because their was a power vacuum and various Afghan tribes went to war with each other and the Taliban was victorious I am not sure if you are defining the various proxy wars and direct wars during the Cold War as Colonialism? Because its unhelpful and inaccurate to define historical events that arent directly related to what caused them ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet–Afghan_War Secondly the primary mission in Afghanistan after 9/11 was the defeat of the AQ and the killing of Bin Laden , when you suggest " the war was lost the moment the US invaded Afghanistan " are you saying the US should not have acted after 9/11 ?

If you do find anything please share because its a very worrying potential development

Fair enough, good points raised

Are bake-beans considered unhealthy and why is the meat unhealthy? I am not suggesting people eat this type of meal everyday but is it really that bad for you?

I have to be honest, do you know what is one of the worst things about the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan? Its the interviews and truly emotional comments from numerous Afghan women who are educated or work for Afghan education NGO that promote equal education and gender equality Its really sad because they all feel understandably hopeless about the future for women in their country I was in Afghanistan in 2007/2008 for 5 days and I only stayed in Kabul but it was exciting to be in a country where simple things like equal education were recognised and you could see the real progress that was being made since the US occupation. Its depressing to think of all this progress becoming negated by the barbaric Taliban

Thats definitely healthy, nice lunch choices

Any links you can share about this potential development?

But that honestly doesnt look unhealthy at all, its looks like you have meat,bake-beans and mash and gravy, I am not sure what the white item is ? What part of that meal would be considered unhealthy?

I agree with you about the threat posed by both Russia or China. And when I say threat I am not suggesting WW3 but rather a world that is not united globally through shared economic and political goals and governments that espouse Democratic principles like the importance of a transparent legal system, a free media and freedom of speech You also played a part in helping me realize where the greatest problem lies in addressing several geopolitical objectives and China is the greater threat. So thanks for that You can reason and understand Russia and their political aspirations even if I dont agree with how they approach certain things. But the CCP has this alien view of political dogma that is extremely difficult to understand or accept when you see the problems with parts of it being implemented and practised

Maybe you dont personally care about the perception that gets created by a president or PM and what they say in public. But for most people who believe in living in any prosperous and sustainable country the President does matter because he represents the elected and governing political party and he guides and shapes the entire direction of the country Bidens comments were ill-advised and badly informed and yes reflects badly on the Democrats ....but its also not the end of world because the US was justified in leaving Afghanistan. Its the way they left and the failure to do it in a phased approach that will be criticised I was watching a good interview on the valid reasons for the US withdrawal, 3 reasons to justify the withdrawal The US cannot be involved in an " endless " war especially when you cant win this war in the traditional sense The US cannot be more interested and committed to defeat the Taliban than the actual Afghan security forces...and the quick collapse of the Afghan security forces supports this important point Their are more pressing and real global challengers like addressing Chinese hegemony than this conflict. I tend to agree with this point from a priority perspective

GD I know you are well versed at the " Summon Gromnir " spell but before you invoke this incantation are you ready for the outcome? Gromnir will appear in the smoke...and he wont be happy

Thats seriously terrible.....whats wrong with you, especially when its true

The utter collapse of the official Afghan government failing to make any stand to the Taliban should be remembered as one of the greatest failures of any governments security forces to do their job...its egregious and an unequivocal failure of how any government should function This should reflect negatively on how Biden handled the understandable withdrawal of US forces....especially how Biden handled the withdrawal after he said "Afghanistan will be fine after the US pulls out " But one thing in credit to his decisions is when he said " I dont want Afghanistan to become the problem of yet another US president " ....sure he delivered on that outcome but its the way he addresed it that historians will remember....

https://news.yahoo.com/afghan-president-ghani-flees-country-145644024.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall I am stupefied that the official Afghan army of 350k trained people could acquiesce to the Taliban so easily....Kabul has fallen with NO resistance No this is not the consequence of the USA " betraying " their partners. At the very least Ghani could have presented military resistance in some way ....he had an army and airforce FFS !!! If after 20 years of support from a foreign country you cannot even make some stand in the interest of your own country them you need to accept the consequences of this cowardice and lack of action Yes its a pity so many lives were lost in the last 20 years but at least AQ was defeated in Afghanistan and Bin Laden was killed ....so the invasion and the 20 years of US involvement wasnt a complete waste

https://www.cfr.org/timeline/kurds-quest-independence Its more complicated than the Kurds just wanting an autonomous zone in Syria, they wanted an independent state in Iraq and Turkey as well But the point being the US doesn't control the borders of any country outside its own territory so an unrealistic expectation was set . The US cant grant any group independence unilaterally so you need to raise this with the governments of Iraq, Syria and Turkey

Okay I get it now, its not really a joke because the Kurds were expecting something that the US cannot grant or give them The Kurds want part of Turkey as their own independent state, Turkey will never agree to that so I am not sure why an unrealistic expectation was set and how anyone thinks the US can assist ?