BruceVC

Its guaranteed Trump will be the GOP nomination, thats been known for months if you look at almost every poll

Thanks , I do find these types of specific stories about a country very interesting and informative It all helps to build an understanding of any country that you havent visited

I think you might be misunderstanding my point or Im misunderstanding your point There is common response throughout the world when institutions like the ICC or ICJ make rulings or issue warrants that people have opinions on those outcomes based on their own bias or ideological views. Its not based on if country x or person y is really guilty or not. And the main difference between the ICC and ICJ is the ICC prosecutes people and the ICJ prosecutes countries. Here is a link and summary of the difference https://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/news/2024/01/89269/what-international-court-justice-and-why-does-it-matter#:~:text=The simplest way to explain,crimes or crimes against humanity. " There is frequent confusion between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice The simplest way to explain the difference is that ICJ cases involve countries, and the ICC is a criminal court, which brings cases against individuals for war crimes or crimes against humanity. Also, whilst the ICJ is an organ of the United Nations, the ICC is legally independent of the UN, although it is endorsed by the General Assembly. While not all 193 UN Member States are parties to the ICC, it can launch investigations and open cases related to alleged crimes committed on the territory or by a national of a State party to the ICC or of a State that has accepted its jurisdiction. Cases have been heard and decisions rendered on a range of violations, from using rape as a weapon of war to conscripting children as combatants" So for example when Putin was issued with an ICC warrant this was immediately dismissed by Russian supporters, anti-West groups and Vatniks including many people within South Africa yet 9 months later many of those same people, specifically from South Africa, now believe the ICC is credible and we must support it against Israel because SA has also taken Israel to the ICC and not just the ICJ. This is just one example of selective and inconsistent outrage and how some people and countries flip-flop on support or belief when it comes to the ICC or the ICJ And this matters to what you originally said " as countries outside the west will completely lose all faith in the system, worse than the prospect of Sting ever losing his faith in you." This ruling is not going change what countries or people think about the system. Most people already dismiss or support these institutions based on what country is involved But it will always matter to the people who are victims or the targets of genocide, the likes of the ICC and ICJ will always matter to them because these are international institutions and victims have no other options It was Gambia that took Myanmar to the ICJ for the genocide of the Rohingya Muslims and this matters to the Rohingya even if others are cynical about the ICJ https://iimm.un.org/icj-the-gambia-v-myanmar/#:~:text=The Gambia brought the case,the Genocide Convention in 1956. End of the day these allegations of genocide is about the legal and technical definition of genocide and that will be decided by 17 judges. Im woefully unqualified to give an opinion on the hours of presented evidence by both sides...I also only watched about 1 hour of the total submissions. I generally find this types of legal cases boring and repetitive So I will the read the final opinions of the ICJ and comment further then. Because that will be summary of the evidence presented

But the ICJ has 9 judges out of 15 that arent from Western countries, the ruling will be based on the evidence. It wont be because of " evil, Western Capitalist countries control the ICJ " . And its a UN institution so its not like its going anywhere whatever the final ruling

I have finished NWN2 MoB and I have already summarized what I loved about this game so all that's outstanding is the anticipated and highly influential score on the " BruceVC game rating system "...it gets a sold 78/100 Now Im playing Storm of Zehir, I appreciate the new mechanics like the map and how that works and I know its going to be another rewarding Forgotten Realms D&D experience

I have had the TV on in the background and the SA ICJ lawyers have been on , some compelling comments around what I understand I am interested in what Israel says tomorrow

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/narvik-movie-true-story I watched this movie about Norway in WW2, its good

So Im not very knowledgeable on most of the wars over the last 100 years that Nordic countries have fought in but I do know a little I do think Finland had demonstrated it has the most effective military if you think of the Winter War and I do realize all the Nordic countries fought admirably against the Nazi, of course some Nords also aligned with the Nazi but most people didnt support them but they had to accept Nazi occupation which was normal for most of Europe But the main advantage that Finland has now is the additional security of NATO and thats why I want friendly Sweden to join. I doubt Russia would invade Sweden but Putin has demonstrated you cant take anything for granted NATO membership will give friendly Sweden peace of mind

I'm close to finishing NWN2 MoB, I'm at the part where I have met The Founder and now the full narrative is revealed and I have received the Silver Sword and Im heading for the Wall of the Faithless I mentioned this before but this game is an example of one of the best narratives I have ever experienced, its brilliant and I love how it ties into general Forgotten Realms lore on an epic level. You get to meet Myrkul Games like this remind me of how significant the narrative can be for the overall enjoyment of the game

None of us are qualified lawyers and none of us have much legal experience with how the ICJ defines genocide and thats what this case is about, the legal definition and classification of genocide Of course we all entitled to our own opinions but we not entitled to our own facts So Im going to wait for the ruling from the ICJ, they the experts and knowledgeable on these matters

I wish I could move on from the terrible historical injustice inflicted on my ancestors by the Nords\Vikings Keyrock do you know the Vikings enslaved, Colonized and terrorized the Saxons for hundreds of years? And one of the worst things about it is I never knew about this part of my ancestors history until about 7-8 years ago but once I found out about it the trauma has never gone away But @Gorth and I do talk and acknowledge the terrible injustice every couple of months and we close to agreeing to redress, I dont want Gorth and other Nordic members to be burdened by the overwhelming guilt and responsibility of what their ancestors did hundreds of years ago And I said a monthly transfer of about $500 into my personal account would be enough for me to absolve him of the terrible injustice inflicted on my ancestors, life should always be about compromise

Are you sure they cant teleport....how do we know that for sure? I dont need to tell you how deep the rabbit hole can go

I dont mean geographically small, I mean militarily small When was the last time Sweden was in a war? Imagine them against the brutality of Russia

And I really like Sweden, the thought of little , friendly Sweden having to fight a war upsets me

As many of us know on Thursday South Africa is taking a case of genocide to the ICJ and I just listened to an interview with a professor of international law called Andre Thomashausen who is based in SA. He is German and normally I disagree with his legal assessments but he makes sense in this case He says the case is meritless and he explains legally why, its only 16 minutes long and I encourage those interested in the allegation that Israel has committed genocide to listen to it. It could change your opinion on this allegation https://omny.fm/shows/powertalk-archive/a-101-on-the-international-court-of-justice-south

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/sweden-states-all-citizens-must-be-prepared-for-war/ar-AA1mDNPb @Azdeus and @Pidesco You guys are not part of NATO yet so are you guys prepared for war...we never know who Russia will invade next but it wont be a NATO member

We put coins in Christmas pudding, not gold but normal coins and they get boiled for ages Im not sure where we get the tradition from?

A WW1 RPG is being released soon, its called All Quiet in the Trenches and its looks like it has huge potential The only concern I have with it is you can only be a German soldier and Im not sure how I feel about playing an historical game and killing British or South African soldiers, it may sound like Im being captious but it still feels weird ..but it looks good anyway https://store.steampowered.com/app/863500/All_Quiet_in_the_Trenches/

I'm busy with NWN2 MoB and Im loving the narrative and the epic level gaming experience, Im about 20 hours in Obsidian really knows how to create captivating stories and as usual I appreciate the Forgotten Realms integration because its my favorite fantasy world with Elder Scrolls being my second I am getting a little annoyed with the mechanics of hunger and how you need to feed but thats because I misunderstood how it works and I let my energy drop to 10-15% so just to survive I am literally camping and feeding on animal spirits in the Ashenwood forest but once Im done with these quests I will feed properly on undead which will restore my energy to manageable levels I got so frustrated I was even considering loading a mod that lets you restore the energy immediately but I wont do that because that will destroy the immersion and point of being a spirit eater....so it would be a real "cheat " that undermines the point of the game. So I decided not to do that

Here is an interesting update about the military progress Israel has made and how the war will be changing, I cant provide links but it comes from an official X\Twitter Israeli source. Hopefully this signals the beginning of the end of the military invasion and we can look at the next phase which is rebuilding of Gaza and who manages Gaza The IDF announced this evening the disbandment of all 12 Hamas battalions in the northern Gaza Strip - half of Hamas' military strength in Gaza. And yet, the disbanding of the battalions does not mean that all the terrorists in the area have been eliminated or that all the underground tunnels in it have been destroyed. About 8,000 terrorists were eliminated in the area out of about 14,000. That is, most of the military force in the region >> 2/ There is still fighting in this area. But the IDF is switching to a different method of operation there. The forces no longer permanently hold the entire area, but have left most of the area, and are focusing on the area close to Israel. In the rest of the area - targeted raids are carried out on compounds, where more terrorists are eliminated, military personnel and intelligence are seized, and tunnels are destroyed. And it will take a long time >> 3/ And now the IDF is left with this task - the dismantling of 12 more Hamas battalions, in the center of the Gaza Strip (4), in Khan Yunis (4) and in Rafah (4). A picture of the situation regarding the central and southern battalions: 2 battalions - North Khan Yunis and East Khan Yunis (marked in white) - the IDF is close to disbanding them >> 4/ In 3 more battalions - West Khan Yunis, South Khan Yunis and Borij (marked in blue) - the fighting is still going on and there are many IDF forces fighting during these hours as well. In 2 battalions - Nusirat and Ma'azi (marked in green) - the IDF is on the outskirts of the area according to reports and is probably expected to operate there soon as well >> 5/ With the rest of the battalions, and especially the that are in Rafah - it does not seem that the IDF will soon operate in a broad ground manner, but the airstrikes there continue all the time and the method of operation is different.

Here is an interesting video from Bill Maher about the conflict, as usual with him I agree with some things he says and disagree with others But he makes some good points about the history of this conflict and other historical examples of land being taken and how this gets handled in the interests of peace. Its only 8 minutes and I think @Gorth @Gfted1 @Zoraptor@Malcador would appreciate it?

I agree, the cost is going to be huge. That is a contentious reality but someone has to help with the reconstruction costs of Gaza. I imagine it will the US, Israel, several Western countries and some of the ME countries but Gaza has be rebuilt for the Palestinians to live there again

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67888794 Here is a very informative link about Israel's future plans for Gaza once Hamas is gone. It dismisses some of the Israeli right wing extremist views where the Palestinians will have to leave Gaza which was always an egregious idea and not realistic. The future of Gaza is a "four corner " plan To quote "Under Mr Gallant's now "four corner" plan, Israel would retain overall security control of Gaza. A multi-national force would take charge of rebuilding the territory after the widespread destruction caused by Israeli bombing. Neighbouring Egypt would also have an unspecified role to play under the plan. But the document adds that Palestinians would be responsible for running the territory " "Talk of the "day after" in Gaza has led to deep disagreement in Israel. Some far right-wing members of Mr Netanyahu's government have said that Palestinian citizens should be encouraged to leave Gaza for exile, with the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in the territory - controversial proposals that have been rejected as "extremist" and "unworkable" by other countries in the region and by some of Israel's allies. "

But you not a liberal so its okay, I was just teasing you

The ICJ will decide if its genocide based on the actual evidence presented. I am not convinced and I have never heard of cases of genocide where people are told to leave an area before being attacked or aid is provided? But I do agree Israel can be charged with War Crimes, article 8 at the ICC, but so can Hamas. Do you know taking of hostages is a war crime? Here is list of what constitutes war crimes and both Israel and Hamas are guilty of certain things. But genocide is part of article 6 and the charge Israel is facing is genocide War crimes Article 8 defines war crimes depending on whether an armed conflict is either international (which generally means it is fought between states) or non-international (which generally means that it is fought between non-state actors, such as rebel groups, or between a state and such non-state actors). In total there are 74 war crimes listed in article 8.[101] The most serious crimes constitute either grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which only apply to international conflicts,[101] and serious violations of article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which apply to non-international conflicts.[65]: article 8(2)(c)  Eleven crimes constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and apply only to international armed conflicts:[101] Willful killing Torture Inhumane treatment Biological experiments Willfully causing great suffering Destruction and appropriation of property Compelling service in hostile forces Denying a fair trial Unlawful deportation and transfer Unlawful confinement Taking hostages