BruceVC

This is one of the greatest RPG of all time but I am also confused by comments that it is racist, can you give examples because if their is one thing that is consistent and interminable is the playing of the race card And I often appreciate hearing what people feel is offensive because sometimes I miss things ?

This is a common reality and a potential long-term problem IMO The lockdown and pandemic has lead to most of us breaking our normal routines and how we use to live day to day. Each person has changed certain things and some of these things are important to an overall healthy and sustainable lifestyle That is why I created a rigid structure to my day during the lockdown, for example the time I start working, how much take-aways I get and how much news I watch It sounds silly but sometimes letting the small things slip can impact the bigger things like your overall mood and sense of purpose in these ostensibly depressing times the world is going through

I tend to agree with your overall point that the recent developments in the USA dont necessarily mean " its a sign of the end of Democracy ". I have been hearing that for several years from people opposed to the EU and the surprise around the BREXIT vote from the likes of Nigel Farage and when Trump won in 2016 I heard the same thing from the left and liberals and none of these prognostications of Democratic doom and gloom have been proven true so I agree we should try to not overreact But one thing Trump challenging the 2020 legitimate election outcome caused is some people in most of the Democratic countries in the world say things like " you see, Democracy is a false narrative and is not sustainable ....look at what is happening in the USA " !!! Of course most of these comments are from people who have never cared about the principles of Democracy and dont like the USA anyway and will always criticize its decisions where applicable So it just creates an annoying type of commentary that is both unnecessarily anti-Democracy and " anti-Western " ...thats one of real outcomes of the 6 January Capitol insurrection violence and Trump refusing to accept he lost

I had the most incredible and beautiful experience this morning on my walk, their was low cloud when I started at 7 am and it was dark and gloomy. I live in the city in the shadow of Table Mountain and the area is very much impacted by clouds and erratic weather patterns that I have never experienced before living in SA Anyway I always walk uphill to the bottom of Table Mountain and then come back and this morning my walk took me through the cloud cover and their was sun and I had this amazing view of the whole of Cpt city covered by this lake of clouds. I dont take my phone with me but the photos below basically are the same sight I get to see everyday. The first photo is what I would normally see and the second is what I witnessed today

You not wrong with some of the historical ties the ANC had to real terrorist groups and I am glad you are aware of that history, their are some things that you mentioned that arent 100 % accurate like the ANC didnt receive extensive training by the IRA and Libya it was more the USSR and Red China that trained the ANC but that was only because of the Cold War. The training that the ANC received from the Libya and the likes of the IRA was minor but I dont want to be pedantic so yes I can understand why the ANC thinks it has this historical friendship with the likes of the PLO\Hamas and yes you right about the historical relationship with Israel and the Palestinians and its understandable But this is where this modern day support for the likes of Hamas is inconsistent to the values of the ANC now, SA only achieved its 1994 election because of compromise and reconciliation. Thats an irrefutable historical fact, the ANC realized that despite being the victims of Apartheid that this was necessary for numerous reasons Hamas quite simply doesn't and refuses to acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist and this is a huge difference between the ANC and Hamas nowadays. In SA every single time their is a discussion around the Palestinians and Israel this never comes up as the valid reason for the conflict being prolonged So in other words in the almost impossible event that the ANC was somehow the mediator between Israel and the Palestinians the ANC would be shocked and surprised to learn that Hamas refused to acknowledge Israel has a right to exist because this is not how SA achieved peace and the 1994 election and they would expect Hamas to recognize this but of course they wont So really my concern with support for Hamas is not because I question the historical " friendship " but its because the world has changed from the 1970's and the time of Apartheid and before some South Africans blindly throw their support behind the Palestinians they should be well informed about how ideologically things have changed and what the modern conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is really about nowadays

Actually yes too much money can lead to an increase in the price of goods because this can lead to a shortage of goods so yes this can be a valid reason for the rise of inflation https://www.thebalance.com/consumer-spending-definition-and-determinants-3305917 To quote from the link The most important determinant is disposable income. That's the average income minus taxes.6 Without it, no one would have the funds to buy the things they need. That makes disposable income one of the most important determinants of demand. As income increases so does demand. If manufacturers ramp up to meet demand, they create jobs. Workers' wages rise, creating more spending. It's a virtuous cycle leading to ongoing economic expansion. If demand increases but manufacturers don't increase supply, then they will raise prices. That creates inflation

Interesting, thanks for the gaming suggestion. It seems worthwhile

I agree but I dont support this idea that Trumpism is the future of the GOP I am frustrated with the support things like the " Big Lie ", Trump won the election, is currently getting from many Republicans and I am very disappointed that Liz Cheney has been thrown under the bus for speaking the truth but the support for Trump is all about the base and political expediency and the midterm elections. So many Republicans are almost betraying their principles all in the interest of staying in power and or keeping their political status ....look what happens when you go against Trump publicly

Firstly the ANC was never a real terrorist organization because the Apartheid system wasn't a legitimate system and the ANC was trying to achieve legitimate and reasonable change and true equality. So the labelling of the ANC as a terrorist organization was inaccurate. The ANC was never the same as other real terrorist groups like the IRA or Libya from that time period Secondly the so called " alliance " between the ANC from the 1970'Ss was not with Hamas, it was with the PLO and that is not the same as the Hamas today so your argument is false as it is not the same historical friendship with the same political group Thirdly nowadays Hamas is politically aligned with the hardliners in Iran and refuses to recognize Israel has a right to exist, you cannot negotiate or compromise if one side refuses you have a right to exist. That falls on Hamas Finally the ANC is split nowadays and inconsistent on many global foreign policy decisions and that was not my original point which I will repeat. Their are support groups within SA that ignore any violence from Hamas and expect that all South Africans must vilify Israel as the aggressors. Firing hundreds of rockets into Israel does not demonstrate peace or non-aggression

Comparing the profiling of African Americans by the police in the USA to the years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is so different and so far apart historically I cannot even begin to respond ..sorry

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-palestinian-fighting-worsens/2021/05/11/a1886c9a-b1c6-11eb-bc96-fdf55de43bef_story.html I am sure we are following the latest violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians It always amazes me when groups supporting the Palestinians, groups in SA for example, say things like " Israel are the aggressors and the Palestinians always the victims " ...yet they conveniently ignore how HAMAS is not deescalating the tension and they are firing hundreds of rockets into Israel Like any country in the world would accept rockets being fired into its sovereign territory ?

Today is Cheese fondue day so its a good day of course, as usual I use my fondue book and cheese books to add an additional cheese to the traditional fondue recipe that in 85 % of cheese fondue recipes has to involve 2 of the following cheeses :Emmenthal, Gruyere and Appenzaller Today I am using Gruyere and Emmenthal and adding Gorgonzola....and its works adding a blue cheese normally so I will see how it is with Gorgonzola today

Zora please use links when you respond in these types of debates. I mostly appreciate your comments as I consider you well informed about certain topics and you have a wide range of interests including some real knowledge about Africa which is always appreciated but not expected But you have to realize I cannot just take your word, or anyones, on any forum about what is the truth unless I know its true myself. We all often agree with sentiment and lived experience when forum members we know share stories or posts. For example when Gromnir shares information about Native American tribes and their history I dont research what he says in the interests of veracity because I believe its true because I know Gromnir and I consider him someone who wont make a post on topic like this unless its true But I would still do my own research and corroboration on what Gromnir was saying if it was about an investment or voting decision because that is the best way to make such a decision. In closing you put the effort in to make a post disagreeing with me but you have no links so those interested can confirm what you saying. I realize this takes more time but its literally 3-4 minutes, per link, to find something that supports your view and it would be strange that anyone who has opinion that they believe is true wont be interested in spending a few minutes just posting a link Lets not think this is about who is right or wrong, honestly I stopped generally caring about that 6-7 years ago. We want to educate each other in a constructive and normal way so use links in future so we can all do own research on these pertinent topics Also please dont post links now on this particular topic on my behalf. I am not going to comment anymore on this topic, at this time, so I doubt I would read them as I am moving on but in future just use links to support your view

It is interesting and I had never heard anything about these wars but I have never studied or been particularly interested in the history of any far East countries. You cant study and follow the history of every region and country because it requires time and effort and I have been intentionally selective around what history in what area I research because of this. So things like WW1, Cold War, the evolution and success of Capitalism and Colonialism and post-Colonialism in Africa is what I am interested in I know their have been many wars and genocides in almost all far East countries going back thousands of years and lets not forget the terrible atrocities inflicted on the Chinese by the Japanese during WW2, its right up their with the worst examples of genocide ever seen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_Massacre But the main point is trying to create any false equivalence by ignoring the current and unacceptable treatment of the Uigyar Muslims by the CCP is not going to change anything around the condemnation and criticism that China will continue to receive. China needs to understand what being a member of the global community means and in this community mass rape, forced reeducation and intentionally splitting up family members so people dont publicly talk about the truth in Xinjiang will never be acceptable to most of the world Thats the point

Good question, I dont know enough about it but the Chinese do think its their territory...they make claims that are difficult to corroborate

No thats just one metric for reviewing aggression or violence and its also a very specific example of aggression that is used primarily by the USA in the war on terror in difficult but understandable examples I dont like to use the word aggression because we need to separate internal Chinese aggression from international decisions the CCP make that are seen as belligerent and increasing tension in the region Also we never frame drone strikes as targeting women and children because the targets are always Islamic extremist fighter, warlords , Taliban elders etc. Drone strikes are not intentionally targeted at women or children but yes mistakes happen or targets can have civilians with them and yes then we see collateral damage but this is not the intention of the strike

You right but I am just addressing this hyperbolic view that " countries like the USA are hoarding vaccines and causing the vaccine shortage for poorer countries" The USA still doesn't have enough vaccines to cover all their citizens so until then its not hoarding if the actual vaccines dont exist that are alleged to be hoarded

Your point about China and its carbon producing levels is correct but its not accurate that no one does anything about the Chinese aggression or that organizations dont care about this. Remember a company or country invested in China has to balance the response to the actual issue that China has committed and we now know how you can cause the Chinese to be wary and aware of consequence. Trump gets recognition for this when we observed how the Chinese became unusually muted and allowed endless personal attacks on them by Trump and some of his advisors like Peter Navarro during the recent USA vs China trade wars. China only started responding and banning Trumps advisors after Trump lost So this shows us what is the strategy that would cause any country to change its political views and its basically economic damage and types of economic punitive steps like tariffs and sanctions and these can take time but they do work. So unintentionally what you suggesting is that organizations pull their investments out of China to send a message and yes this will have an impact but what about the cost the company ? For me I dont believe its worth the economic damage at the moment because the Chinese are grandstanding and using their own type of brinkmanship when it comes to their own hegemony and threats And as far as the appalling human rights decisions that the Chinese are involved in with the Chinese Muslims and HK as much as I deplore their actions the reality is these things are happening within their own borders and again its not the right reason to pull out if I was personally invested Please dont think I am suggesting we ignore human rights abuse due to profit, I am saying not all human rights developments should be highlighted by countries like the USA or the EU. I would expect to see the Muslim world and their countries call out the Chinese abuse....but if they aren't prepared to do it I would leave it and continue to trade with China I agree its one of the threats but it can be handled and you can cause them to change course or be aware of the price of consequence but this comes with its own price around the reciprocal damage Chinese tariffs will cause and the fact any country will also suffer due to an outcome that the Chinese economy shrinks ...and this is not good when it comes to sectors like energy and mining because the Chinese do buy these resources from numerous countries like SA

I agree, their is also no commercial argument based on the huge success of games ported to PC like GTA4 and RDR2 I dont know much about the Judgement games but it must be based on a more complicated technical reason or a resource challenge around developer skills to ensure the software conversion works. I use to get annoyed that PC gamers had to wait for games ....how dare they !!! But now after experiencing the benefits and complete fun of games like RDR2 I dont mind waiting at all as long as I can use it on my gaming rig

Well the good news is most first world countries have already committed to giving away extra vaccines once their own citizens have been vaccinated. And that is only reasonable as you must ensure all your available and required citizens receive the vaccine before you want to significantly help others by giving any vaccines away

This is a very relevant answer and you have gone into detail I didn't think you had researched or cared about, I have learnt something new about this discussion so thanks You have raised a real outcome of this I didnt think about, the change Biden wants is " release the IP of the vaccines so more people can use them to create life savings vaccines " but only countries that can produce vaccines will benefit and only because they made huge investments. So a country like India will continue to correctly benefit and they will only increase their production capacity which is always a good thing ....however India understandably and contractually sells their vaccines to countries that have paid for them in a queue like system. So as you mentioned it can literally just mean the same countries just get more vaccines and then only poorer countries ...which is still a better way to expediate the eradication of the virus globally ?

Gorthfuscious I was hoping you would comment on the proposed IP vaccines discussion that the likes of SA, India and Biden proposed . I imagine your initial well meaning view is that it is a good idea as it will lead to more people getting the vaccines which is always a worthy objective But that view is an unintentional false narrative because the issue is lack of production facilities globally and how would you now compensate the actual global pharmaceutical companies as they lose huge amounts of sales revenue So we should criticize this idea not because we are greedy and dont care about impoverished countries getting the vaccine but because its not what is going to lead to more vaccines being created and in fact will harm the actual owners and creators of the vaccines which hurts our global endeavors to eradicate the virus

Zora please can we have a serious discussion about this, you cannot start doing this because of what could potentially happen. What if Biden can somehow force this through or even this happens in other countries, like SA where private sector companies will fight this every step of the way This could easily lead to numerous more deadly viruses also getting their vaccine IP made available and this could absolutely hugely impact the ability of a pharmaceutical to be profitable and stay in business We have never seen something like this being raised in a such a serious forum, its very irresponsible for someone like the US president to raise because it does carry credibility And I hope we are all going to be honest and candid when we recognize that its very important to all our societies that the positive impact of profitability is recognized and protected. And I know its may seem I am making a big deal about this but this could be a very slippery slope And finally its the fact that their are global production problems and slowness that is creating this request, thats the real problem. Their is no point providing Corona vaccine IP to Africa when we have only 1 company capable of producing vaccines and that is in SA ....Aspen Pharmaceuticals, thats it in the whole continent !!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Pharmacare

Guys I warned everyone this would happen, now the WHO and Biden want the vaccine IP so they can create their own vaccines. Its not very well thought out and seems desperate and what is the point of giving out the vaccines IP if you cannot produce anything...we have limited manufacturing but one factory in SA https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/biden-agrees-waive-covid-19-vaccine-patents-its-still-complicated