BruceVC

GD who do you like the most on this forum? Remember I always support you on most things like gun control and I often " like " most of your posts which reflects friendship? And unlike Gromnir I dont disagree with you on Constitutional issues and we both agree on property rights and how you dont need to rely on the state to fund your lifestyle It must be me ...right

No its not about annoying the French because they are leaving as French citizens are asking why should we pay for this type of conflict. The French only got involved because Mali is a Francophile country and the Francophile countries do support France in many ways so I think the French did feel an obligation But the biggest issue with all the Islamic extremist groups that exist in parts of Africa is they dont have a normal army structure and they get beaten in battles but reappear later in some smaller group and they constantly kill civilians so they always around but its very difficult to really defeat because they dont fight like the ISIS caliphate And they are difficult to identify from normal Malians in villagers because poverty also creates recruits yet they are a brutal group that would destabilize Mali even more so its important that any foreign country with military resources helps to defeat them And yes I can understand why Moscow must distance themselves from them yet their are important reasons to bring in certain mercenary groups to assist in places like Africa because they provide the military strength that is needed And I hope we dont see this well meaning but annoying view from some African commentators that criticize any foreign military intervention as examples of colonialism or foreign countries having some kind of agenda but they seem to ignore the obvious reality. If Russia or French forces werent involved you would see no interest or commitment from people who complain or their countries....so their solution is really to leave Mali to somehow deal with them on their own which is very unfair and demonstrates how in SA many people dont understand the levels of poverty that exists in places like Mali

This story has been discussed in SA and it matters to me because I support a peaceful and economically united Africa and these conflicts with AQ in Mali and with the appalling ISIS proxy groups in other African countries just continue to destabilize these countries....its bad enough they face terrible economic realities but these African terrorist groups just make things worse And I can also understand the French are leaving but they been involved for years and AQ still exists in a nebulous way so I support the Russian involvement because despite my issues with civilian deaths in Syria I am not at all opposed to them getting involved in conflicts and hopefully being more effective at destroying the AQ elements. The Russian general military approach may be exactly what the French were not doing because the presence of AQ in Africa with extremism can be wiped out and their wont be collateral damage because of how AQ operates And it also demonstrates more interest in Russia to helping in conflicts that wont really result in much economic benefit if the Russians are successful because these countries are really poor and dont have much Of course I assume they are being paid but thats normal. End of day this is about certain conflicts in Africa that continue interminably and no one seems to get to a solution so lets see how the Russians do And I do think they have direct links to Moscow but this is a good thing as you know it will be resourced properly ...even if they claim to have no links to the Russian government You notice the irony is you will see that Mali gets no real support from other African countries or the African Union which just reminds me of how an ineffective union is just a waste of time when you have no real consensus or support form the governing body that is suppose to at least manage these issues in Africa And well done for even posting this because I dont expect anyone to know or care about this African conflict but it does matter to the region and stability

Interesting response and its not what I would have thought yet you raise some good points , we were raised with the UK view of ww1\ww2 " dulce and decorum " view of patriotism from my dads side but my mom raised us who had no real interest in things that were not about her family. So my dad and his brothers believed that you must believe in your country but it was Apartheid and we were English so I guess they were echoing what my grandfather had told them but that was WW2 belief in the UK and SA was nothing like that ...especially when the Apartheid system openly claimed to be about the survival of Afrikaans ideology ...English were not part of the government and held no senior positions in the military which was understandable because why would any English person want to politically support a political party that openly didnt want you to be part of it ....I look back now and see how dysfunctional it all was. English citizens lived in SA and had roots but we were only tolerated by the Apartheid state as they realized that the English had the real ties in the corporate sector, like the banks , that most Afrikaans people did not understand or have the connections. And I remember in my disastrous 1993 military service I was suddenly with young Afrikaans conscripts who had very little interest in English people and several times I was assaulted , because of basic mistakes I made due to not being very good at normal, army training like drilling and constantly failing my inspection in the 6 weeks of basic training. And what the corporals do is not punish you but make the unit run so people are angry with you...and when I was accosted they would accuse me of " being responsible for the death of their grandparents 100 years ago in the Boer War " And I had been raised in a province that was English and the Afrikaans people all spoke English and had no issues with English people because of the terrible realities of what happened in the Concentration Camps. So it was huge shock to find people disliking me because I was English but I didnt know why they carried a grudge from something that was so long ago So my levels of patriotism were non-existent as I felt like an outsider in a foreign country...but Apartheid had ended by then so most white English people only must have felt proud after our first election in 1994 which was where SA became a normal Democracy. And of course the battles against the Soviets in Africa must have mattered but that was before my time But just to understand your view because maybe more Americans share your view than I assume, how did you feel after 9/11....did you feel your country had been attacked so you felt more united in support of the USA ? But as you mentioned if you believe the main political parties dont really care about the welfare of citizens it can also impact your view of government\country but I understand you love the American culture which is a form of patriotism and you have supported the VA centers which is also about recognition of your country And its interesting to me because what Hurlshot mentioned about the importance of people participating in voting to ensure political change is important but its not an example of patriotism necessarily because some people would have voted just because they hated the Trump reality .....and I dont blame them because many things had changed under Trump but the expectation to vote is about your civil responsibility which I use to assume most people did in the US yet as much as 45 % of US citizens dont vote yet I am sure they support the US, Gfted1 doesnt always vote but Im sure supports the US ? Most of us believe you must vote as the right to vote was denied to most SA citizens yet it doenst have to mean you believe or would support your country on certain issues I wonder how other US members feel about the belief of being patriotic towards the US ?

Gorthfuscious you know I really like you and think most of your views are balanced but you are someone who has never understood patriotism....and its your Danish blood, look how many Danish Vikings left Denmark to live in the UK And your own life journey has been example of this , you demonstrated anarchist tendencies and you have always wondered from country to country ....now Oz is your home but do you feel parotitic towards Oz? I would be surprised but perhaps However you do have an advantage that the rest of us dont have .....you can call any country your home and it does appear you settle. Of course you have your work skills allow you to find work...oh interesting work you do and I always assumed you knew products that are used globally But patriotism is good thing but it makes us not want to leave , you have beaten that constraint. And I admire that but one question do you make new friends in the countries you live in?

I generally assume we all love our countries? Unless you live in a war zone or failed state I always think its normal to support your country of birth. That doesnt mean you cant criticize political developments or have concerns about societal developments. And I am sure most US forum members, KP being the exception, would say they like the US because if you ask GD the same question Im sure he would say he loves the US but has issues with the political parties that are in charge? And thats not the same as not loving your country which sometimes people equate to having issues with some political outcome or maybe a judge appointment And I agree that the increase of the visibility of groups like MAMA should be a concern on some levels but some of these right wing groups have different views than real neo-nazis and they seem to exist more because of the outcome of the Trump presidency and his claims the election was stolen? But the concern is more about these groups becoming so emboldened ? But the biggest concern I have with developments that could harm the overall US with its views is this very belligerent way that many people on the left or right engage with each other or refuse to accept any alternative or criticism to a view or suggestion . This type of immediate rejection that something is wrong because the other side raises it seems to undermine how in most Democracies you can find middle ground and compromise on bills or laws that should address a problem but sometimes they are dead on arrival. I realize that political differences exist in most Democracies but its seems to have become worse or intransigent or is this much of the same when it comes to finding agreement But I would say its more about who is the majority in the house or senate who will pass bills with not needing any consensus and using their majority that then alienates the other side who say things like " they dont care about any common ground " and they repeat the pattern when they in power. So you should always try to find agreement and not rely on majority because it seems to create cycles of bills being hated or judges being appointed to SC that are seen as controversial but one side is always fine with the outcomes which is how parts of Democracy generally do work out with a majority deciding? But the real dichotomy is the non-political groups and SJ movements that often have real objectives that are framed or created as something well meaning as they should be about addressing a societal woe and inequality yet mostly in the US these groups have certain objectives that dont make any sense about how they could really change the spurious views they believe needs to change. And these suggestions are suppose to be about making things better in the US but they not based on any historical examples of how this will improve things and I am not sure if these SJ initiatives are widespread or actually have been implemented? I sometimes research and then understand what these initiatives are about but some I dont understand like Critical Race Theory, does anyone understand what its suppose to be about and what would be taught at schools, here is a link I was reading about what its suppose to be about but after reading it I am still confused with what you will be teaching students and how that would address real racism in the US like the views of KKK and white supremist ? https://criticalrace.org/what-is-critical-race-theory/

I will respond tomorrow with detail Gorthfuscious, its a public holiday today in SA....Heritage day !!! Its also called barbeque\braai in SA and Im busy with celebrating and of course this question I am asking is not a comparison to "who has the better job " its just because I am interested in the specific IT\software work most of us do and many of us are in the IT industry and Im genuinely interested. So I welcome anyone sharing what they do for a living but lets go into as much details as possible so its clear. Also whatever other people do for a living I would like to hear because again its always interesting

I dont know about that but he does have good sense of humor when he tries to invoke a reaction

This has got to be one of the only US based forums where people can suggest the US is a more repressive society than China and the CCP control of their media and IT narrative state is " because the CCP dont like unflattering pictures of Xi " and no one really cares But I did get a good laugh so thanks Zora and I appreciate that because its a public holiday in SA And you know the litmus test for unabashed CCP propaganda and spin, when Comrade likes your post so thanks for confirming again your ideological views. Dont ever change

I checked now and this will be available on SA Netflix on the 20 October, I know what I will be doing on the 20

Thanks for information. I enjoy inXile games, I had a great time with Bards Tale 4 so any new games from them will be on my radar

Hoonding its rude to misquote people and I know how much you hate being rude

That looks amazing, hot vampires and a surprising theme .....what could be better Definitely watching this one

Thanks, based on this feedback and others I feel I can skip this game

Can I ask you a legitimate question? China is a one party state with no freedom of speech, free media, transparent legal system, independent courts and no human rights concerns and you have no legal recourse within China against the CCP Countries like the EU and the USA are the opposite of this except for times of war or National security but even then citizens do generally have rights Do you not see a difference and feel much more concerned about a backdoor created by the US NSA and the CCP because of these real distinctions?

Nice, when you planning on inviting her to come visit for a weekend? Im not suggesting you rush things but that will be a good way of seeing how compatible you are because spending time together alone lets you really get to know the person

No the purpose of the " backdoor " is different, one is for national security and the other is for cyber-espionage You do realize China has been accused of theft of IP and this has been confirmed by many countries including the EU https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/06/china-is-stealing-our-technology-and-intellectual-property-congress-must-stop-it/ If you disagree post the links of the US and the legitimate accusations of theft of IP and I will read them but the usage of Prism is not the same unless you can share the links of all the " theft of IP by the US and the EU ". Its clear you dont care about the theft of IP from the EU by China but here is another link specific to the EU http://www.aalep.eu/combating-chinese-theft-intellectual-property

I realized something which I must admit, I do acknowledge the US has some " backdoors " due to Prism and I support this because of the purpose of Prism and how the NSA utilizes it to ensure national security But its not the same as the " backdoors " that the CCP use for cyber-espionage. I am hoping you can see the difference but it would be remiss of me to deny this as they do exist to provide some access through how the OSI protocol model works So you not wrong but the question should be " who do you trust more with your data, the US or China " ? Most people would say the US

Its not maybe, its definitely. And please post the links where Cisco and other products have been found to have intentional " back doors " ....it shoudnt be hard if its true ? https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/us-finds-huawei-has-backdoor-access-to-mobile-networks-globally-report-says/ https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/30/18523701/huawei-vodafone-italy-security-backdoors-vulnerabilities-routers-core-network-wide-area-local

@Gorth If you dont mind sharing what specifically do you do with ERP systems, I always wanted to ask you but keep forgetting The eDiscovery software I work with has a license for SAP, Baan and other similar systems and on occasions I have worked with ERP technical consultants before to integrate into their environment but it was way to complicated for me to really understand how all the EPR modules work but I am fascinated with this type of software So what is your job title..,and I apologize if I am wrong with what you do for a living because I always thought you do work with ERP systems ?

Yes the "backdoor " access in several Huawei products like routers and switches was identified by the US several years ago and is real. Thats why many countries aren't prepared to invest in Huawei 5G technology like the UK https://www.gov.uk/government/news/huawei-to-be-removed-from-uk-5g-networks-by-2027 When I was working in JHB we had a Huawei business unit and I spoke to the program manager about the overall performance of Huawei compared to the established players in this field like Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet and others. So I was interested in the real technical reality of Huawei and how their routing and switching technology work and he would know as he sells their equipment and he use to sell the other technologies so I consider him well informed and objective Anyway he said its works fine and delivers what it is suppose to do and he highlighted how hard working and competitive the Huawei engineers and their sales consultants are. He said it lacks some security features that Cisco would have but typically you would only need this with a high security environment like a bank or government institution. So I dont believe this " backdoor " security risk was what the owners of Huawei originally wanted to create, I think this was forced on them by the CCP with their irrational paranoia and cyber-espionage objectives But the outcome is sadly the same for Huawei, you cant trust their equipment in any environment where you require guaranteed data security So it doesnt surprise me that their phones have similar security problems and its a pity because I do think they a good company who created a range of worthwhile products

Yeah, about 50% success rate. But still better than no defense system But at the end it mentions "The system has a "single shot probability of kill" of its interceptors calculated at 56%,[1] with the total probability of intercepting a single target, if four interceptors are launched, at 97%.[1] Each interceptor costs approximately $75 million " So if you can use multiple missiles it success will be greater

And I was reading how the US has developed this new missile defense system designed specifically with NK in mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-Based_Midcourse_Defense

What was Numenera like? To be honest I prefer combat based RPG so I have been reluctant to get this game ?

Yes but Gromnir Gfted1 was making his teenage daughter feel better about something that wont ever happen but she was worried I also dont have kids but you definitely wouldnt go into every detail that could only add to her anxiety And their have been predictive studies and analysis done if NK used Nukes on the USA and worse case scenarios and I can guarantee you Illinois would not be one of those states that NK nukes would reach so what he said is as truthful as it can be. Which is why I consider it the " truth " ....because its relative