BruceVC

Here is the best NY video and olympic video I have ever seen in my life, I must give the CCP full credit for that ...I have never seen anything quite like it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_the_Dog_(film) The Power of the Dog, excellent movie set in 1925 in Montana around the lives of 2 brothers who own a successful cattle ranch and these 2 brothers really cant be further apart. But to quote from the wiki link the movie is about " themes such as love, grief, resentment, jealousy and sexuality" Its directed by Jane Campion and I always like to see excellent movies directed by women It also has some brilliant LGBT themes that are implemented in a such an expected and believable way

What didnt you like about it, was it the unfair comparisons to Trump that bothered you? Shady its just a movie, we dont need to look judge everything in the optics of our political views

" war crime " , if its not that it will be something similar that human rights lawyers will object to. @Elerond normally explains the EU laws reasonably without making it personal or political I know I shouldnt find it funny but the thought of your water cannon story made me laugh If I think of some of the violent protests in SA and the USA and the sense of impunity and entitlement to break the law a water cannon would go a long way to restore order. Maybe even more effective than non-lethal drones ?

I really dont understand this aversion to non-lethal drones like you have suggested in the past , they can deployed to placate violent protests instead of using the resources of the police only. They can reduce the casualties amongst protesters and police because confrontations will be less? But you will still need the police to mop up and for arrests of those breaking the law The only problem with them is I wonder if they can be selective enough because if you consider your standard protest their are always people protesting peacefully and then those breaking the law with looting and other criminal behavior? And sometimes both these groups are intertwined in the protests And I am not sure what basic human rights and the right to protest would say about peaceful protestors being pepper sprayed ? But for this Amsterdam protest drones would have been useful

I am flying back to Cape Town tomorrow, I have had the most amazing holiday and achieved most of my family and social objectives. I got to spend time with my family members I hadn't seen in 2 years due to the various lockdowns and both NY and Xmas were full of laughs, good food and great company 🥂 And I went on numerous beach hikes, snorkeling activities and exercised regularly which was appreciated despite the weather being interminably bad or rather overcast I hope this bodes well for 2022 because its hard to think it could be worse than 2021 with all the carnage and damage the pandemic did within SA

The pandemics origin has nothing to do with the evil left, its origin is irrefutable?

I can understand why you avoided the Christmas party but I am really leaning towards a view that says if you double vaccinated " when will it end " ? Should we keep avoiding public gatherings for the next 2 years or longer with all these variants that are going to keep appearing ....Im not a young grasshopper anymore and I would like to still socialize before I end up in a retirement home The CCP owes the world a massive debt....hopefully we can stop the focus on historical Colonialism as the " greatest " crime the world has ever know and they can start with counting the redress cost for this pandemic

Thanks Majestic, its very seldom people put this much effort into my posts. I didnt think you cared but I was clearly wrong. Is this a NY resolution to be a better forum friend to me? Does this mean you wont be calling me a fascist\racist\colonialist anymore

Malc, that sounds disconcertingly cynical and something the extreme left would say and I know you havent been corrupted by their ideology, I am just worried ? Every NY is important and significant because it gives us a fresh chance to be better and change things about ourselves that concern us. Never forget that Thats why I always make NY resolutions, I dont stick to most of them but thats not the point. Its more about trying

My spellcheck picks it up but since this is a gaming forum and not an English course I dont always update it , sorry Gorthfuscious. I will endeavor to do better with the correct usage of their\there Look at you, you little grammar Nazi ( and thats just a joke, its not about your countries support for the Nazis during WW2. I feel I have to clarify certain comments I make because people take me seriously sometimes )

Sure, I dont think any country is not seeing exceptions and more severe cases with Omicron but its not the same as Delta and other variants I know because of our SA reality. We low levels of vaccination, limited resources and reporting on the virus and some public sector hospitals that are almost dysfunctional in certain provinces so our overall ability to track the virus and stop any wave is really limited and ineffective. We do have scientists and virologists that understand viruses and can find new variants but they probably about 20-30 people But one thing that is accurate in SA is deaths and hospitalizations and thats right down across all provinces which is why I believe Omicron is less severe generally. Of course their is another explanation for that and its feasible and that is so many South Africans got Delta and were asymptomatic they still have " delta antibodies " which would reduce the severity of Omicron. But we just dont know that if is the real reason we consider Omicron is less severe or is this variant just less severe ? But either way you still dont want to get Omicron of Delta or any variant for that matter and I dont want to create the wrong impression

Im not sure if Im still on your ignore list but this is a good post and a better way of explaining how unlikely it is that Epstein was murdered while in jail by the rich and powerful. And you make several pertinent points foremost of them being how difficult it would be to kill him and leave no evidence but also how their is absolutely a free media with influence in the US, unlike Russia and China as you mentioned, and many people who would love to publicly embarrass and implicate the likes of Trump and others if they were truly involved Its like the absurd and offensive conspiracy theory that 9/11 was committed by the Jews or the US to itself and yet not one shred of compelling evidence has ever and will ever be found to corroborate this view. And after Bush you had 2 terms of Obama and the Democrats and you would think that if the 9/11 was indeed committed by the US the Democrats and liberal media houses would have uncovered it ? And yet their are still a small group of people who believe AQ is not responsible.Like I said earlier, we all love a good conspiracy theory....just not me unless its harmless like Elvis is still alive

Yes, many people I know in SA have contracted the Omicron variant and their symptoms are the same. Relatively mild flu and fatigue and some coughing so Im sure you will be fine

Gorthfuscious if I knew I was going to be so thirsty this morning I would definitely have drank more last night 🥂

Happy NY everyone, I am feeling very rough and hungover today. I blame my sister because she allowed us to carry to drinking without cautioning us to not drink so much

Is it about race having this kind of influence and power, do you not think rich arabs, mexicans and Japanese people have the same possible influence as rich white people have? ( Im just teasing and you dont need to answer but you brought up race ) I am not suggesting that Maxwell and Epstein werent social butterfly's and entertained rich and powerful people, this is well documented and known. But if you follow their social history they hosted dozens of parties through the years and many of their parties were not just sexual parties with children So take Trump, just because he knew them that doesnt mean Trump participated in sex with underage girls Anyway it doesnt change the fact they both paedophiles and they should rot in jail. The point I am trying to make is that I am not convinced that the rich and powerful people that participated in their sexual parties and or normal partied arranged the execution of Epstein in jail, I believe he committed suicide because I would have done in the same thing as him faced with life in jail It will be interesting to see if she cuts a deal like GD mentioned?

GD that is terrible

I had this debate with my stepmom yesterday because she also believes that her and Epstein know names of the rich and powerful But surely if that was true they would, Epstein included, have cut a deal? People in the US rat out the Mexican cartels and go into protected custody and are fine I just dont believe the people who participated in their licentious sexual activities are more dangerous than the worse criminal syndicates in the world ? Unless you believe the US government is actually the same as Russian Mod or Italian Mob and other criminal gangs and somehow the people involved, like Prince Andrew in the UK, has the influence to arrange executions of people in US custody ? I know we all love a good conspiracy theory but I am not convinced and I guess we will never know ?

To be honest I find it a little annoying with the hysteria around "people coughing and what it means" especially with my family and these large Xmas gatherings we currently having All of us are double vaccinated and I have been living under the same roof since the 21st December with about 4-8 of my direct family, depending on the time of the Christmas period and our cousins next door are the same with their direct family So its too late now to be concerned that " if someone sneezes or coughs " they could have the virus. So for example if anyone coughs even once my sister will immediately say" are you feeling sick...do you think you have the virus...you mustnt spread the virus " And dont get me wrong, I dont want to get the virus or spread it but its late to worry about people giving you the virus when you live in the same house. You have already been exposed if they have it irrespective if they cough

Their still is a proven " best " way to manage any economy and its having a diversified economy meaning your GDP is not all about one sector or largely dependent on one sector. This information is freely available for every country in the world and typically economic sectors include manufacturing, agriculture, mining, financial services, tourism, public sector spending, trade and construction The sanctions against Russia mean for years it has been largely been dependant on its commodities like oil and gas to drive GDP and Ukraine I imagine is similar but Ukraines economy is much weaker and more ineffective and reliant on economic aid from its friends in mostly Western country

Very informative response Gorthfuscious, nice one What an interesting time to be alive, scary with the Cold War and the threat of nuclear warfare but historically interesting. I have studied the Cold War but I only really remember significant events from it from about 1988 onwards when I was in grade 8 and my first week of high school when 2 of our ex pupils had joined the parabats during the time of SA conscription and had been killed in Angola and the headmaster announced it in assembly. And it was so unnecessary their deaths because the Cold War was basically over by 1989 and Apartheid by 1991 I even found this link about the battle they were killed in during 1987 but we only found out the year after. The guys from my school were De Rose and Raymond Light http://samvousa.org/operation-firewood-26-year-remembrance/

Thats interesting, how long did it last and what do you remember about it apart from what you mentioned ? You must have been young and do you remember what your parents and other adults were thinking....I have read it was a concerning period for the world and I have studied the economic reports and risk analysis from the time but its not the same as lived experience, I assume you were living in Denmark? Go into as much detail as you can remember because these anecdotal memories from people from that time really are pertinent and still matter nowadays

The current Ukrainian tension with Russia and the Nord Stream developments do matter to overall global stability but Putin's troop buildup is pure brinkmanship and a negotiating tactic as mentioned by the articles I have always maintained that their is very little chance of a real Russian invasion of the Ukraine and its all part of Putins unnecessary but real objective of ensuring that NATO aligned countries dont encroach on Russian controlled and influenced territory. And I say unnecessary because I have never understood why it matters to Putin if countries like Georgia or Ukraine are part of NATO or not because its not like NATO is going to invade Russia, the Cold War is over and Russia will always have its puppet states like Belarus supporting it ? But in the interests of economic and geopolitical stability I would not allow Ukraine to join NATO but continue to sell them weapons and provide them with aid, this approach is a balance and seems fair to all sides And the Nord Stream decision is more complicated and has much greater economic impact for the EU. I do think Putin could use that to his advantage in the future. The article says the pipeline could be a " dangerous geopolitical weapon" but that is the same reality the world faces with the OPEC countries and particularly the Gulf States in the ME under the influence of Saudi Arabia which is one of the main reasons I support the continued important friendship between the US and Saudi Arabia Their was time when OPEC used an oil embargo as a "" dangerous geopolitical weapon " in 1973 and that embargo could have crashed the worlds economy https://www.thebalance.com/opec-oil-embargo-causes-and-effects-of-the-crisis-3305806 That is also why the US always supports Israel because no matter what the Arab countries decide Israel would never align with them over the US and the West and that should matter to all of us. You must have one ally in the ME that will always support the West and that ally is Israel But because of the political and economic friendship between the US and Saudi Arabia the chance of any kind of global oil embargo like we saw in 1973 is very unlikely In closing that is also why I have never supported the US breaking ties with Saudi Arabia due to some human rights abuses because even though I dont support some of the what Saudi Arabia has done its not worth the entire world suffering due to the oil supply being impacted

What is your physical address Comrade? I promise you I am not a Hitman