BruceVC

No I wouldnt be surprised, I know he has supporters. But I am not sure how this means Putin allows Democratic elections? I am sure you are familiar with his latest changes to the Russian Constitution so he can stay in power for another 12 years...so basically another " leader for life " pretending to claim he governs by the " will of the people " ....please its a joke and travesty of the principles of Democracy https://news.yahoo.com/putin-signs-law-allowing-him-140531192.html

Well those are your words with the suggestion that Navalny is the savior of Democracy and how he is the assumed " Western " replacement for Putin The support for Navalny is more about Putins numerous attempts to undermine and eliminate any opposition to his autocratic rule and the principle of what defines a free and fair environment where opposition leaders of political parties are allowed to campaign without being arrested or poisoned So the support you see for him is because their is no real Democracy in Russia and what happened to Navalny represents this symbolically. But its far from him being seen automatically as the next Russian PM or president. That can only be decided by the Russian people in a transparent election but since Putin does not allow this so we have no idea what the real aspirations of the Russian people are

I went to my sisters new house for an absolutely delicious Moroccan lamb barbeque and some of us went for a walk in a nature reserve about 5 minutes drive from her place. Really great weather and a great day to be outside...the lockdown has reminded me how much I miss these types of events

https://www.destructoid.com/stories/larian-founder-swen-vincke-on-dice-druids-and-baldur-s-gate-3-624779.phtml Here is a nice update, sorry if its old

I loved the Dead Space series, that first one was the scariest game I have ever played...the way the aliens make noises and try to creep up on you created an amazing psychological gaming experience I also use to enjoy hunting for ammo and resources and the unfolding narrative cant be ignored because its so interesting I dont remember ever having enough ammo

Thats a good, albeit short, update to the much anticipated game. I consider it more of a " yes this game is not vaporware, its still coming out " update not so much technical but I did like the real gaming footage at the end

English Breakfast time, yaaay its the weekend Today Im cooking bacon, eggs, mushrooms , fried banana and toast

I laughed at this, Prince Philip made a few public gaffs. One of them was when he said in 2002 to a group of Aborigine's " "Do you still throw spears at each other?" ...shame, the Queen must have died of embarrassment but here is the actual story and he wasnt being racist https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-03/prince-philip-was-not-a-racist-indigenous-performer-says/9504278#:~:text="Do you still throw spears at each other%3F",far north Queensland with the Queen in 2002.

That sounds like the normal temporary symptoms many people go through after getting a vaccine so nothing to worry about IMO

That will be the same vaccine most of us in SA will take because that is what the local pharmaceutical company will be producing...keep up updated around any unlikely side effects

I just saw this now, Philip was a well regarded member of the UK Monarchy and served his country admirably, my thoughts are with the people of the UK and his family RIP Prince Philip

It is a concern and something I have been following with the recent simmering tensions between Irish loyalists and nationalists. Both sides have been linked to violence in this latest incident, part of the reason for this violence seems to be BREXIT related and issues like the Irish border and part of it is related to an IRA funeral that was allowed to happen with social distancing being ignored https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-56566468

One of my brothers is coming with his family to Cpt for 10 days so it should be a good few days of eating at restaurants, having braais\barbeques and then I will be staying with them for 2 days or so next week as they hired out a beach cottage for their extended holiday

I tend to agree, any meaningful and sustainable gun control needs to be implemented by the states The Federal government getting involved in this tends to create other problems that end up hijacking the original objective

Yeah, I have heard that about satire but for me its better to comment if appropriate Your assessment of countries is confusing, what so you think China is doing with its overreach on the Australian water borders. China is normally only concerned with its own territories ?

Hoonding I am sorry to ask but I have no idea if you are supportive of China or not. I am not sure exactly what your ideological views are any on subject because you make some good jokes and you often make me laugh Now normally I would be able to tell you what you believe and give examples but you have been able to beat my " CIA Profiling " skills and I am impressed...well done, I dont think you did it through a type of science or real training but its still good work Some members have told me you are troll and Hurlshot once suggested your posts are lacking in clarity or maybe he said they were offensive? But I have never found that, I have generally understood all your posts and some are interesting and symbolic. But of course their are several that I dont agree with which is normal for the specific subjects Also generally you dont respond which I am also fine with but I thought I would make this post because its good to reach out to gets peoples that could be interesting

Gorthfuscious you have raised some very important points about the hegemony of China and I have noticed you have been consistent in your concerns, I need to ask you something but first I cant access the Scmp.com article, its firewalled I think ?

Raithe thanks for participating in this debate, I know you dont often get involved in our political debates so I appreciate the time you taking now to share your view and its important to me because you live in the UK so your lived experience, irrespective of who agrees or disagrees with it, matters. My family in the UK share my view so its also good to hear other British residents views That link is interesting but also annoying because of course you can be African-Caribbean and be English, English is not a race and I dont know about you but its such a stupid suggestion to make its annoying

Good response, I agree with most of what you saying

About 85 % of the UK is white. If you look at countries like China, Russia, India, Mexico, the ME and all African countries you will notice their are also minority ethnic groups in these countries but the presidents, leaders and prime ministers are almost always the main ethnic group Would you say all these countries are examples of institutional racism because they dont have minority leadership ?

You raise good points as usual and I added something to my original post, ethnic communities in the UK sometimes vote for white MPs so you cant use the example of the number of non-white MPs in the UK as an example of racism or lower political power because MP as voted in by choice by the people on the ground

Yes, no one is denying that but is that an example of racism ? What if a ethnic minority community votes for a white MP by choice ?

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk-is-a-model-to-the-world-on-diversity-and-not-institutionally-racist/ Guys here is a very interesting link about a 264 page report that was commissioned by the UK government to determine if the UK is a "racist " country and if " structural racism and institutional racism " exist. I am surprised they felt the need to create this study because I have never believed the UK is fundamentally racist and I dont even live their? Anyway the report found that racism exists, like in all countries, but its not "structural ". The report also says..to quote " It also said that issues around race and racism are becoming "less important", and in some cases are not a significant factor in explaining inequalities. Different outcomes are complex and involve social class and family structure along with race, it said " I am not going to read the whole 264 page report but this is important because it aligns with a view that myself and others have that their are far too many generalizations using words like racism, colonialism and structural racism to describe things like inequality or to explain certain developments. In other words not all our societal woes are about bigotry or historical injustice I would like to see a similar report conducted in the USA because I also dont believe the US is fundamentally racist but like the UK racism exists but its not structural. I know many people will disagree with me on this and thats fine as we all entitled to our opinions @Raithe What is your opinion on this topic in the UK if you dont mind sharing?

You have described Ubisoft games in an accurate way like you normally do around your feedback of games. The way you explain your gaming experience often resonates with me They good but not excellent and yes you can become fatigued/burned out which is why I generally play then 1-2 times a year ....but not more than that " Ubisoft - The Fruity Pebbles of video games " ...classic

I love your bunny meme, its cute Oh yes, eating of Easter eggs is mandatory Funny you mention cancelling flights but I was suppose to fly to DBN but I cancelled my flight ....again like I did over Xmas But now I have a voucher which is about 80% of the value of the original ticket which I can use for any flight within 12 months. And I am not going to book another flight until the vaccine strategy is implemented and we free from these virus waves