BruceVC

Thanks for the link, this is always what I ask of you so I can do my own research Unfortunately this doesnt do Snowden any favors and its not evidence of him actually criticizing the Kremlin for reasons outside his own survival In other words this article is just about him being worried that Putin would hand him over to face necessary justice in the USA, its clear this is only about him and not about real concern with the illegal arrests and killing of Russian citizens. It even says in the beginning "His comments mean the proposed US-Russia summit in Helsinki on 16 July is potentially risky for him if Donald Trump was to request Vladimir Putin to hand him over. Snowden is wanted in the US on three charges under the Espionage Act, carrying a minimum of 10 years each in jail. Putin could balance the propaganda value of having Snowden in Russia against providing Trump with an easy gift "

It reminds of the visits I sometimes use to make to cemeteries in JHB, you know Azdeus that graveyards in modern cities are normally in the dead center of town and people are always dying to go their

Can you provide links, I would like to read and understand the degree of criticism from Snowden Also Russia is currently wanting to ban Twitter and other forms of SM. Poor Putin cant handle nasty things said about him in the arena of a free media ....shame poor him https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1408225/russia-news-vladimir-putin-twitter-ban-social-media-crackdown-protests-alexei-navalny https://www.opindia.com/2020/12/russia-statement-ban-twitter-facebook-youtube-if-censor-content/#:~:text=Russia releases statement%2C could ban Twitter%2C Facebook and,might also face a ban. 26 December%2C 2020

Thats terrible

Gorthfuscious I have definitely noticed an unusual level of criticism from you towards my posts. I enjoy different views and the principle of debate so I am not suggesting you should agree with me at all. In fact disagreement leads to debate. But for example you keep saying " I dont believe in Democracies" which I have never ever suggested But this new stance from you is specifically since Thursday and our debate around the Drone Strikes, I would like to address any misunderstandings so we can continue to debate in good faith. What are you clearly annoyed about ? I apologize for not reading properly and or understanding the article on new civilian oversight around the usage of drone strikes You did say I must learn to read properly and yes I did misunderstand that specific article But lets move on or at least tell me what the issue is because you do seem different in how you debate? And I like you and enjoy our debates. Other forum members ignore me or have a negative view of me but the difference with them is I dont care what they personally thing of me I respect you and your life journey so when someone like you is annoyed with me I like to know why and see how I can resolve things?

Would they at least serve him scones and cream with that tea?

Yeah, could be But I would also find many excuses to justify living in an autocratic state and being fine with the killings of journalists and the unlawful arresting of opposition party members. But I suppose the main thing for Snowden is he exposed the evil, Capitalist USA and now lives in the free and progressive Russian state where human rights are truly respected and the public are able to question their government without fear of being targeted https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/80-journalists-arrested-amid-russian-protests/ar-BB1dgzpC https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-journalists-opposition-arrests-putin/2020/07/25/6ec32804-c784-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/07/europe/ivan-golunov-journalist-arrested-russia-intl/index.html

Great idea, when I see the likes of China and Russia admitting all the bad stuff they have done and do I will be the first in line to support this call for the US to " admit " all their evildoings. Because its only the US that has done bad things Why doesn't Snowden demand transparency from the Kremlin about how they govern Russia....he lives in Russia after all and consistency is important around a persons integrity ?

This view around global pharmaceutical giving up their patents and IP around vaccines is well meaning but misplaced and I dont support it. Why would any company in any part of the world that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in RD and spent years learning how to manufacture vaccines now give up all that time and effort to other countries or companies who have never been interested in the investment in those fields ? If we somehow force pharmaceutical companies to give up their patents for Corona why stop with the Corona vaccines? Their are more deadly disease and viruses out their so why not just make the IP available for all vaccines and medicine and the global pharmaceutical companies will go out of business ? Also their is a vaccine program which is distributing vaccines to poorer countries for free or cheap its called Covax and basically its already deploying for free millions of vaccines throughout Africa https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax Finally I dislike the usage of established real words that that have a historical meaning to people and countries, playing the " Apartheid " card is woefully inappropriate. And some NGO's and people, like the article , have framed this debate around the distribution of vaccines as " Vaccine Apartheid ". This is not at all like the terrible system of Apartheid and what it did. Using emotional words to support your argument to gain support is lazy and makes the real word lose emphasis

Yes but they taught me at the very instructive " decoding and ending white, male privlidege " classes I attended that it cannot be called sexist if the girls are really hot ? So need for feeling guilty about that watching that show

I cant explain the general obsession and love with Reality shows throughout the world, their are different reasons depending on the show. But yes I agree, because the USA doesnt have an official Royal family the UK Monarchy becomes the next best thing and its a global connection to the UK Monarchy. Its not unique to the USA I like the cooking reality shows like Iron Chef and Chopped, in fact I like Reality shows about practical and " real " things like building treehouses for people I dont actively follow any Hollywood type celebrity based reality shows but I did use to enjoy the odd episode of the series about the girls of the Playgirl Mansion ...that was always very entertaining and the girls great to watch

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14333402/sarah-everard-vigil-protesters-march/ Is anyone following the current protests around the killing of Sarah Everard in the UK? People and many women protested last night about the general level of violence and sexual harassment that women in the UK and London are subjected to . So the London police used violence and arrested several women during a ..." march to highlight violence against women " ....what a media disaster and what a protest to chose to decide to arrest people Very bad move by the London police Anyway people are protesting again today and they all still in defiance of virus regulations which was why the police arrested people in the first place I support the protestors and think the Police need to use more sensitivity and less aggressive tactics than last night if they decide to break the protests up

Okay, I understand your view and others. I am not going to comment anymore because I have said everything I can say on this topic I still dont agree but its been a good debate, I will see how things unfold before I will change my view on this Oh Gothfuscious please stop saying I dont support Democracies, of course I do. That is all I support as sustainable systems of government and the most effective way to address poverty and reduce inequality . That and other Democratic institutions and laws,(like a free media, Constitutions and independent courts not influenced from government interference ) is absolutely and unequivocally all I support

Its not just the USA, when you go to London and visit the UK Monarchy sites, like Buckingham Palace and Tower of London, in any tourist season you will see literally thousands of tourists from all over but lots of Asians. Many Japanese and Chinese tourists and people from that region and everyone filming or using smart phone cameras to capture what they can. You wont believe how much of the world loves to know the news of the UK Monarchy Interestingly enough with my UK family its mostly the ladies that really support and follow the UK Monarchy gossip and tabloid headlines. The men support them more from a cultural and historical perspective but I wouldn't consider them committed Monarchists I like the UK Monarchy and I like Harry and Megan but I do think the interview was unnecessary. I do think their are racists within the family, after what was said about baby Archies race, but I dont think its the whole UK Monarchy and I definitely dont think the Queen is racist

But he didnt, he failed to undermine and erode the core foundation of the US Democratic system by somehow staying in power and ignoring the Biden win So its not necessary to overact to this EU proposal, lets see how its implemented and what impact it has and then we can heavily criticize it....deal ? Interesting link by the way

GD Americans disliked the UK Monarchy and UK leadership so much they even went to war to ensure independence but why are so many Americans so interested in news and updates about the UK Monarchy...like this Harry and Megan scandal ? That is your former Colonial power and 50 % of Americans interviewed on various US news channels actually wanted more news on the British Monarchy....not less ????

Okay, I understand your concern Dont worry technology and things like facial recognition software has been improved and is vastly more advanced than the era of the Cold War so that is good news Also I am sure during the Cold War monitoring and surveillance in places like the USSR was literally about controlling of freedom of speech and making sure people didn't speak out against the state. Also during most of the Cold War the Internet and most digital communications didnt exist. The www was only invented in 1990 And this is not the same as trying to control or restrict peoples views on any topic, so its not the same as the Cold War This is about reducing the amount of Child Porn that is prevalent and spread on the Internet and other forms of digital communication

Has this system been implemented before, you seem to know a lot about all its shortfalls and failures?

You may be right, I may be too trusting of governments and the advantages of Internet surveillance and monitoring But I just battle to believe legitimate Child Porn monitoring means victims of abuse now will somehow not have a voice or be potentially prosecuted This is the EU after all, its not some banana republic or Russia or China where they do monitor and arrest people for many things they say on the Internet

Great news, I have played all 4 Gothic games and their various expansions ( 4 was a disappointment but I did finish it ) and all Risen games and I loved them I hope we get new quests or something new because I remember the narrative of Gothic 1 and I am not sure I will play it again as it would lack excitement

People like that need to be prosecuted, I definitely dont support wealthy people using their money to bypass normal vaccine allocation or the same people thinking they above the same virus regulations we all have to adhere to. We have seen several politicians in SA thinking they above the rules and its very irritating and they should have been fired immediately

You know me well, I would be absolutely furious and very concerned if they denied me my weed and strip clubs But neither of those has anything to do with Drone strikes or EU attempts to reduce Internet child porn, sorry

Nah, thats a very cynical view to have and overcomplicates something very simple Its easy to read or scan an email and know the difference between someone talking about abuse or sharing a lived experience of being abused and people talking about wanting to have sex with children I am surprised you guys think its so complicated ? I think your objections and issues with this legislation is really about a perceived invasion and erosion of your EU rights. But its not, its about slowing down the scourge of child porn that exists on the Internet

No, I am in favor of the Internet not being used to disseminate child porn That has nothing to do with necessary drone strikes, I dont see the parallels at all ?

How would the scanning of email, and other electronic communication, for child porn lead to abuse victims not being able to digitally communicate ? Yes their may be some " false positives " but the two conversations would be very different and could easily he separated by anyone with just a little training I support the complete eradication of child porn from the Internet and Dark Web so I think this legislation makes sense. I am not sure it will succeed in its objective because real child porn communication occurs primarily on the Dark Web and this wont stop that