BruceVC

Yes you right, you can keep quiet about the CCP human rights abuses or raise valid criticism but then face the risk of being banned in China. Each company must decide for themselves and the decision to criticize the CCP should be based on how this will impact the revenue stream of the company. The H&M link raises that only 5 % of their global business is from China so in that case its good to stand by your principles and raise issues with how the CCP governs the country I asked my uncle what is the hedge funds views about the CCP and do they criticize the policies. He said its a global standard within his company to never criticize any government in any country they operate in because they are a financial institution and they stay out of internal politics because this can be seen as bias and then impact the ability of the fund to operate I understand this and support this view because political commentary should generally be made by governments and private sector listed companies should stay out of it because they not suppose to be politically aligned

Its strange behavior we see throughout the world when it comes to this rejection of the virus and how it spreads despite all the deaths and hospitals getting full in numerous countries which have mishandled the pandemic. What I think makes it worse is when any government also rejects the virus and science like Bolsonaro still does The same thing happened in the USA, and still does to certain degrees, under Trump where in certain states you can see people not wearing masks and restaurants and beaches full with people not adhering to virus protocols like social distancing. But you see less of this under Biden because they have a cogent and established virus policy and acceptance of the pandemic

Its fine and this is to be expected. The world is not going to keep quiet about the blatant and consistent hypocrisy of the CCP around its rejection of human rights and abuse of different ethnic groups in Chinese controlled territories like the mass rape and re-education camps that the Uyghurs Muslim community are subjected to If they want to close down stores and shops like H&M let them, I have an British uncle who works for a USA hedge fund that operates in China and I can guarantee you they wont ban this type of investment because its real money https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/global-hedge-fund-investors-with-24812-billion-prefer-asia/ar-BB1eOLUX But the CCP have never understood and never will the principle of freedom of speech and how it irrefutably matters to most countries and this will never change. So we are not going to stop criticizing the CCP unethical and unacceptable attempts to control the worlds narrative and views of their own domestic policies

Yes I did, I just wasnt sure if it was a joke or you posted it their because it was a real but absurd development

@Gorth https://culturedarm.com/the-crimean-referendums-of-1991-and-1994/ I never forgot to do that research on the debate we were having around the legitimate or illegitimate objectives of Crimea to join Russia. I found several articles that explained things in an interesting but overly complicated way but this discussion is complex and has several historical developments to it that make the final outcome and its legal validity nuanced I posted the link above for you to reference as I found it to be overall fair and accurate. I dont really have the appetite to have this debate again at the moment but in the interests of consistency I wanted to stick to what I said I was going to do and get back to you after I did some research In summary from the article I agree with you that despite the 1954 decision of Khrushchev giving Crimea to Ukraine their was a rejection of what the Crimean autonomous parliament wanted from Kiev from 1991 . So yes you can make a valid argument that Crimea should have been able to join Russia but this process should have been managed by the current Ukraine government and Russia together in a legitimate vote to ensure credibility....the annexing of Crimea was done in a unilateral way and that is not the way you achieve meaningful independence. But you are right IMO on several points you raised To summarize my new view on this from the link Gorbachev’s new Union Treaty was never implemented: Ukraine couldn’t agree its terms, and by late 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolving. On 1 December, Ukraine held a referendum and Ukrainians voted for independence. This essentially marked the end of the Soviet Union. 54% of Crimean voters opted for Ukrainian independence, with the turnout in Crimea placed at 60%. Thus Ukraine became independent, and Crimea remained part of the newly independent Ukraine, retaining its autonomous status. Throughout 1992, the Crimean parliament made gestures towards full Crimean independence, but really sought to secure only greater autonomy from Kiev. Perhaps more controversially – and as the refworld.org link details – in May 1992 the Crimean parliament established a Crimean constitution, and in September-October 1993 it established the post of President of Crimea. But in early 1994, after a polarising election campaign, Crimeans elected as their President a strongly pro-Russian candidate, Yuriy Meshkov. A power struggle between the Ukrainian parliament and the Crimean parliament commenced. Another Crimean referendum in March 1994 asked three questions: ‘1.3 million voted, 78.4% of whom supported greater autonomy from Ukraine, 82.8% supported allowing dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship, and 77.9% favored giving Crimean presidential decrees the force of law’. Yet after more political turbulence – with the Crimean parliament voting to oust Meshkov in September – in March 1995 the Ukrainian parliament unilaterally abolished the post of President of Crimea, and scrapped the Crimean constitution. The Crimean parliament was forced to define a new constitution, which the Ukrainian parliament finally ratified in 1998. So when the interim Ukrainian government today talks about the Crimean parliament’s lack of legislative power – when it comes to appointing a Prime Minister, and when it comes to calling a referendum – there is an argument that this power was taken from Crimeans by Kiev in an underhand, undemocratic, if not entirely illegitimate manner back in 1995.

What an article to really get me going around blatant and unacceptable anti-white bias if it was true Thanks for clarifying

What an interesting story about using the books to solve the gaming problem, those were the days when you had to really think and or consult alternative sources to complete games like this. Nowadays when faced with a similar problem it takes 30 seconds to use the amazing invention of the Internet to find the same solution I really respect the effort you had to put in but I am glad we have the Internet to find things quickly nowadays and its not that I consider myself lazy but their is just so much to do in our modern era and time is of the essence White people in SA are different ethic groups the same as everywhere else and the Dutch association is only for Afrikaans white people. I am English and our surnames are generally the same as English surnames like Wainwright, Bollington, ****craft and then also Scottish and Irish influence. But we have no direct connection to the Dutch unless you changed your surname when you married an Afrikaans\Dutch person

I wonder if the Danish version is as boring as the English version? I read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings about 30 years ago and I found them both boring compared to the fantasy books I read nowadays from the likes of Steven Erikson or George R R Martin. I do acknowledge their absolutely important contribution towards the fantasy genre that I love and how they are classics and that will never change but for me to read them nowadays is difficult compared to modern writers I also have a cool story for my forum sobriquet, its my RL name and then my initial and surname. Its amazing how much you and I have in common...you probably find we are related?

Its funny you mention cats like that, my family are mostly dog lovers and arent that partial to cats. Only a few of us love cats. My Dad thinks cats are unaffectionate and are a destructive force around conservation and nature . When one of my brothers house got broken into, he has only cats and no dogs, my dads unhelpful response was " useless animals those cats, you should have them put down and get a proper pet that will at least raise the noise level if an intruder comes into your property " ....clearly he is not a cat person

But Gfted1 you forgetting how it works, remember white people dont work for anything and never have. We only achieved resources and perceived wealth due to Colonialism, neo-imperialism and historical injustice at the expense of everyone else. I cant believe you actually have been trying to do things yourself and not relying on the wealth of your ancestors?

Excellent idea for a good stock pick and it wont compromise Hurlshots California liberal code because weed is legal in over 30 states ?

https://www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/2021-03-29-aspens-gqeberha-factory-to-make-millions-of-covid-19-vaccines/ At last some good news for SA around the Vaccines and our battle to address the virus spread Aspen Pharmaceuticals is a SA listed company and will be producing the J&J vaccine, it cant be sooner enough for me to take the vaccine 🥳

Thank you for explaining your view on this matter and yes I am happy now. This is all I ask, lets debate in a robust and constructive way even if we disagree with each other And just for the record I was talking about the broader principle of how the free market works and how price is influenced by supply and demand and availability of the item or goods The oil price is just one example based directly on this principle. And its not a monopoly as any country or company that has access to oil can trade oil based on the global price on the open market I cant comment on the reality of insulin production because I am not familiar with that sector

And Gfted1 has a spare room since his daughter moved out so we talking about at least 4-5 illegal immigrants who he could charge rent to ? Gfted1 forget UBI, this is how you can seriously increase your revenue stream

You can own cats and they dont have to be fat Shady. Their are some excellent books and advice on how as a cat owner this can be achieved. So no its not a joke to me but its also something that can be addressed if you put effort in https://www.wikihow.pet/Help-Your-Cat-Lose-Weight

I know their will be different definitions of grind and boredom but in some games I dont mind grinding, I find the repetition fun in some ways For example in RDR2 Online I still repeat hunting of animals for Collection purposes ...even though I have maxed my Naturalist role. I gain money but I have also bought everything you can buy in the online game yet I still enjoy the " grind " of hunting animals and selling the skins

One of my brothers stopped playing it because he said it became too much of a grind despite enjoying it in the beginning Interesting you have a similar view

Its unfair to cats to bring them into this debate, what have our feline friends ever done to be called " fat "

Did you kill him by yourself or with other players helping? Some of my brothers and their gaming friends are playing this game and they sometimes do things together. I dont know all the details because I havent played it yet

Yet here we are with people still taking the time on seemingly inconsequential topics to say things like " never mind, not worth it " People want to discuss politics and will continue to discuss politics, no one is forcing you to get involved or say " I dont care about this topic" I hope this makes sense ?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/03/25/fact-check-false-claim-cnns-boulder-coverage-used-altered-image/7000497002/ @Skarpen I read your post in the Jokes section and initially I was annoyed that CNN would make such a claim but it turns out that image was altered and CNN never reported on the Colorado shooting like that I am not sure if you know that? When we see blatant anti-white sentiment and racist comments towards white people its important for those of us who are concerned with these comments that we focus on the real offensive comments and not those that are made up and fabricated

Yes but you wont generally see price increases when their is a demand and an availability of most goods For example bread and milk is always in demand yet the price remains stable and sometimes fixed in some countries like SA But if their was a shortage of milk and bread then the price will increase and also if the ingredients needed to make the goods becomes more expensive then the price will also go up like transport costs or when you import grain which is fixed on a global Dollar price so if your local currency starts to weaken this will impact inflation and the price of bread when you have to import grain .....like we do in SA

This is a debate, say what you think it relevant to the discussion

I constantly hear this criticism about profit being a bad thing. Its not accurate and doesn't reflect how any of our societies work. Firstly you have to profitable if you are a listed company for several reasons Your shareholders expect their investment to not lose money. The ability of a listed company to make its target is based on it reaching its yearly target which is normally 12-18 % of the previous yearly target. Which means it needs to " make profit " to reach its yearly target You cannot pay dividends, hire new people, award bonuses or grow the company without making profit as that means you now running at a loss because your expenses cannot exceed your revenue stream I am trying to explain why profitability matters in a simple way. The concern needs to be unreasonable margin on goods that make the purchasing price unfairly too high. But their is no normal business model where we should believe " making a profit is a bad thing "

Yes this is the basic rule of the free market and the principle of supply and demand, when their is a demand for something it can directly impact the price. And if that service or items suddenly become scarce then the price goes up but if the item is freely available their is no market driven reason the price should go up You can see this directly in the oil price, when their is an abundance of oil production the oil price stays low. But when OPEC and other oil producers slowdown on oil production the oil price rises