BruceVC

I have seen something interesting this week around the virus, for the first time in a TV series the directors have included the fact their is a pandemic. In both FBI and FBI: Most Wanted the characters wear masks and you see people wearing masks Nice one I thought to recognize Covid in this new world we living in

I dont think its as simple as that, Conservatives and people on the right are concerned with Islamic extremism and their established culture being eroded in the interests of integration. But you dont find that same effort to integrate when you go work or live in the ME so their is a sense of double standards But I dont think just because you have concerns with these points you are a racist or Islamophobic?

Gorthfuscious, language !!!!! .....their are young people on this forum and you dont want to use bad words like " got to hell " Remember us older forum members are highly respected and must provide a good example around decorum and etiquette for the youth

And his foundation the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation have donated and helped more countries and NGOs globally with venture philanthropy than any other organization in the history of philanthropy including helping many African countries who lack public healthcare resources with eradicating and addressing diseases that dont exist in our countries Bill Gates has really become an example of how wealth can be used to make the world better, its a pity some people cant or wont recognize this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

Good old Microsoft, I find myself generally aligning with what they stand for but in this case they were being a bit mischievous and taking advantage of the negative public attention on FB. They have been subjected to similar scrutiny through the years so they know this environment very well Gorthfuscious who do you think is in the right overall with this whole Oz FB debacle? FB or Murdoch

Yeah, nothing more convenient and myopic than playing the old " lets blame the Jews and Soros "card for all the woes of the world Only the " white, male privlidege " card nowadays gets played more

This is one of the serious benefits of living in a country that has a federal system of government, you can have different state laws and regulations in different states and that sometimes allows you to literally be able to look at each state and decide " I want to live in state x because of regulation y " You have choice and that choice is advantageous most of the time

Dont feel guilty at all, most economic sectors globally have been impacted by the economic lockdown but its also an excellent time to secure reasonable finance due to the reason you mentioned as most people aren't committing to loans until things normalize again in our respective economies. Now is the perfect time to get a loan if your job hasn't been effected...in fact if you wait you aren't necessarily guaranteed to get such good terms. This is one of those rare moments where you can almost negotiate terms with banks around finance and most banks would be agreeable to it ...take full advantage because it wont last forever And you never know, if you do buy in Tennessee you may live close to GD and you guys can meetup and socialize if you want (minus the alcohol of course if GD is still not drinking ) I thought you wife came from the Baltic states, I cant remember which one ?

I met my stepmom and her friend for dinner earlier and I had Steak Tartare as my main meal. Its hard to imagine until you have tried it but raw meat can be delicious

Maedhros I am really enjoying the Norwegian series Lilyhammer, I even got some of family to watch it and they loving it Is that series accurate around Norwegian culture ? Norway does seem like a great country to live in even if it is a little unusual for foreigners

Yes I share your concerns with Hungary, the only consideration to his actions is would he have become so soft fascist if the initial refugee problem was not forced on all EU countries ? As far as I remember that is when he really started becoming more authoritative around anti-EU laws and regulations

No alcohol at all? Are you having a break or is this permanent, I always thought it was legally mandatory to drink whiskey if you live in Tennessee... whiskey production is an important part of your state GDP and its your patriotic duty to drink !!! Its like that butter law in Wisconsin where restaurants only provide good, healthy Wisconsin butter and not yukky margarine https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/wisconsin-butter-laws

Metro is an excellent series of post-apocalyptic games ....I have played and enjoyed all of them. The first one was the hardest....I have never had to ration ammunition as much as that game,it made you really learn to conserve your resources

GD you know what always helps me with insomnia....or in my case I sometimes battle to fall asleep, I dont not sleep Regular exercise, I know you active but do you exercise? Due to the pandemic I dont go to gym anymore but I do maintain my early morning walks ...say 4-5 times a week and I find when I exercise on that day I fall asleep much quicker and easier

And I dont consider any of those countries, including Norway, even remotely fascist

One of the problems with using words like fascism is it gets thrown around so quickly nowadays its clear many people who use the word dont know what it means anymore Its " woke " to use words like that, similar to some of the BLM responses where their is this objective to take down all statues that people think are linked to colonialism and racism even if these statues are about people who are not related to these things

I miss Seinfeld, I am not a big comedy person but I use to love that show

I just want Dying Light 2 to be released, I am prepared to ignore alleged accusations of bias and gender inequality because we dont know what is true and what is a scurrilous accusation meant to malign Techland Also direct from your link CEO Pawel Marchewka clearly states “Techland takes the welfare of our staff seriously and we are always evaluating ways that we can learn and improve - that is the key to long-term success. We expect all our employees to set a good example and treat others the way they would expect to be treated themselves. To support that, we are starting a series of different training sessions [this year], including with specialists from outside our organisation. It is important that all of our employees know that we do not discriminate against anyone based on gender, colour, or sexual orientation.” I believe him so I will continue to support Techland and I cant wait for the release of DL2

This is my biggest concern and expectation, I want to know more about the new development studio and what projects they have been involved in. Can they deliver an exciting Vampire gaming experience is what I need to be convinced of ?

I dont ever feel my week is normal without a post from Comrade that highlights his ideological inconsistency and blatant hypocrisy You have an issue with the country India which is an excellent and reliable economic partner because it is " fascist " yet you are fine with one party state of China that is involved in the mass rape and " re-education " of the Uighur Chinese Muslims in camps ? India is a Democracy and Modi was elected Democratically yes their is a rise of Hindu nationalism in some parts of India but its a small issue compared to the autocratic reality of the CCP India is an excellent choice for investment and understands the benefits of the free market, to quote from your article From the macroeconomic standpoint, India has over a billion population and a growing middle class. Over the past five years, the Narendra Modi administration in India has been enacting reforms in land, labor and bankruptcy laws, opening up the socio-capitalist economy to the global markets. The reforms in these sectors have made the economy an attractive proposition for American private equity and asset management firms from Blackrock to Blackstone to diversify and grow their portfolio of investments in the economy.

https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-delayed-as-its-developer-is-replaced/ I must say these delays are getting ridiculous now

Just one example of the important role Turkey plays in the region, which people sometimes forget due to Erdogans sometimes reckless political decisions, is that Turkey helps with a very important staging area which helps to process immigrants wanting to live in the EU. If Turkey wasnt doing this the EU would be dealing with hundreds of thousands of additional immigrants and refugees outside of what the EU is currently trying to address https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/250424/eu-turkey-seeking-to-keep-lines-of-communication-open-on-migration/ @Skarpen trust me on this but the last thing we want is the people of Poland and other EU countries having to deal with thousands more refugees and immigrants expecting automatic citizenship

Yes you need to separate each country in the ME and look at the circumstances and history of each government to understand and be objective around its success and failures For example its unhelpful and inaccurate to keep blaming the West for the situation in Libya, Gaddafi had every opportunity to include the various Libyan tribes in the economy of Libya when this was raised by the Libyan people during the Arab Spring He decided to go to war with his own people and the Western airpower initiative helped prevent a massacre in the besieged town of Misrata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Misrata Yes the West then extended the bombing campaign but only to defeat Gaddafis airpower, anti-aircraft and military hardware...but the ground to ground fighting was done by Libyan tribes and Gaddafi was killed in the streets of Tripoli by Libyan militias. Not the West Also and most important their was never an agreement that the West would get involved and rebuild Libya once Gaddafi was gone, many of the Libyan tribes disliked the notion of the West getting involved in running the country post-Gaddafi and the West didnt want to do this anyway. This must and should be a united effort managed through the UN

How observant are you really ?

Thats good to know....that French company must be very unhappy with the Finnish authorities for getting them to pay for the delays ? Elerond if I was you I would avoid going to France for the next 15-20 years...just lets things cool down for a while