BruceVC

Gromnir you and Amentep are raising similar points about this is a decision made entirely by the Seuss Estate and therefore its a private decision and should or can be respected without overreacting and calling out spurious examples of censorship I agree but that is not the primary issue for me. If you read the link below you will see the Seuss Estate came to this conclusion based on a report and study that was commissioned. That is the real issue, the study came to some conclusions that were clearly inaccurate, biased and anti-white and we should all feel very uncomfortable with this You cannot possibly suggest just because a white person writes a story and all the characters are white that means the book advocates white supremacy???? Yes their were other conclusions but that type of biased direct analysis calls into question all other points raised and in a courtroom that evidence would be considered tainted ...or something similar, you know the legal nomenclature So the Seuss Estate should implement another study by people that aren't blatantly biased and anti-white Then I will reflect on it objectively and decide if it makes sense https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/02/us/dr-seuss-books-cease-publication-trnd/index.html

https://store.steampowered.com/app/241620/Inquisitor/ Yesterday I finished Inquisitor, I spent about 200 hours playing this game and it provided a thoroughly entertaining RPG experience I recommend it but with some caveats, firstly the basic RPG mechanics, like party AI, and combat can be frustrating but from about level 35 as a priest you get access to effective combat spells which helps Also its definitely "hardcore " old school with no hand holding so dont play this game if you expecting an easy experience. For example on the various maps their are no beeping dots or marked areas where people and dungeons are so you need to explore to find critical quest related people But the narrative is really compelling and you can literally decide to be evil and serve the dark angels and decide to rule the world under eternal darkness if you want. Of course I chose the side of the good guys and defeated the demonic armies and their followers Their are also a myriad of quests and some of them have nothing to do with the main quest and that is always appreciated so you motivated to explore various places outside what you have to explore I give it a solid 68/100 on the globally respected " BruceVC gaming rating system "

I wouldnt call it moral panic .....its a good question? I wouldn't call it moral because for me that word is real and means something that is consistent and sometimes cancel culture is more about grandstanding, sheep mentality and people having an automatic knee-jerk reaction to certain developments only if committed by one group or another. So its inconsistent with how it manifests I see it as a form of isolating and punishing people or companies we dont like and it has a direct impact on the revenue stream of the targeted group ? So its punitive and a form of punishment IMO

I love Sushi and I remember the first time I ate Sushi was also during that "gastronomic epiphany " time period about 15-20 years ago when I first move to JHB We went to this well know Japanese theme restaurant called " Codfathers " , I ordered a plate of sushi for the first time and even though I didnt know how to use the chopsticks I enjoyed my first taste. I didnt know what the purpose and etiquette of the ginger, soy sauce and wasabi was and I assumed the wasabi was a dipping sauce of some kind. So I smothered one piece of sushi and put it in my mouth ....🌶️🌶️ It was the hottest and most uncomfortable experience, at the time, of my life. My nose started running uncontrollably and I literally rushed to the toilet to try to cool myself down. But I learnt my lesson....wasabi is not quite like barbeque sauce that you smother your food with

This is concerning and another example of the real dangers and damage of cyber-espionage but it happens because Microsoft is such a big target because its applications are so wide spread Also this is not about anti-Virus in most cases but code exploitation so you fix it with hotfixes and patches of the OS and its application which in this cases is on-premise Exchange

So Biden got his $1.9 trillion relief bill passed in the Senate by the smallest of margins ...but a victory is a victory

You make a good point when we celebrate mediocrity and get excited if a government does its job....like it should and is getting paid for. Trump set a low bar on some things, it shouldnt become the acceptable norm

You havent been impressed with overall how Biden is not questioning the science and believes in the efficacy of vaccines as far as the virus spread in the USA is concerned? You not supportive of the USA now being back in all the international Climate warming conventions ? Compared to Trumps disastrous and calamitous handling of the virus....you not just a little impressed?

Yes the poll was conducted by people watching the show live, every week they have a poll

I now have even more respect for you, do you need money ?

The Smerconish vote for this week was " should the Dr Seuss books be banned " and it came back out of 25 k votes with 91 % " No " Michael Smerconish is one of the US most respected journalists, and a lawyer, and is a reasonable, articulate, intelligent and convincing talk show host The people that watch his show are generally anti-Trump, political centrists and or moderates with liberal leanings. So I feel vindicated that they have the same view as me about these books Sorry my friend, I guess you wrong. Most people dont find the books racist and needed to be banned/not published Its okay ,remember " to err is to be human "

You must finish the journey you have started, you just need to complete DA:I. This is all about gaming integrity and commitment and I have every confidence you can do it

Yeah the Dishonored games are great...they come from Bethesda, what do you expect I use to love the quick-teleport and then killing people and then I liked reading random peoples minds and knowing their true thoughts I enjoyed the lore and the interpretation of their fantasy world, great games and very entertaining

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/vaccinated-pope-francis-makes-history-183106580.html I respect the Pope for this historic visit to Iraq, he is a good guy and a true believer Its important for all the people of Iraq but especially for the shrinking and Lilliputian Iraqi Christian community which sometimes is indirectly and directly the target of bias and discrimination So well done Pope

Gorthfuscious how is your Mandarin? You Nordic people are very good at languages so I dont think it will take you too long to learn your new language ......but remember you first learning Arabic, how are those language courses going by the way ? But on a serious note, I share your concern and the good news is their is a new and more consolidated global view on the danger from Chinese hegemony, dont worry we wont throw Australia under the bus and leave you alone. You guys are an important part of the global "Western " alliance and we never forget our friends....well mostly we dont unless its a Trump presidency

Im surprised you ever thought their would be any other outcome but the destruction of the Democratic system in HK by China? As I have said on numerous occasions the CCP considers things like freedom of speech and a Democratic election as anathema to their entire existence. But this only applies to territories they control so they wont try to apply their flawed policies and ideology on Oz as its a sovereign country ....so no need to worry Gorthfuscious ...at least no need to worry unless your government acquiesces to Chinese control which is highly unlikely? But yes its a sad for the future of the people of HK because now China will decide who represents HK in their elections

What !!! How can you ever take such a long break from the greatest gaming genre of all time ....RPG !! What have you been playing?

Yes because of a report that highlights ostensibly what the books represent The report is not written in good faith as I mentioned earlier with the example of " only white characters " in a book written by a white person

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/02/us/dr-seuss-books-cease-publication-trnd/index.html I am not comfortable with the " banning/not publishing " of the Dr Seuss books because it ignores the historical context and seems to be inconsistent with its criticism For example if you read the CNN article it says "The study also argues that since the majority of human characters in Dr. Seuss' books are White, his works -- inadvertently or not -- center Whiteness and thus perpetuate White supremacy " So if a white person writes a story that only has white characters that now translates to " White supremacy " ....sure, tell me another one Dr Seuss writes fantasy stories, its not about Whiteness, White tears or White Male Privlidege and I dont support this refusing to publish these books on principle

Couscous flavored with Chicken Stock and some beef stir-fry added in ....simple but tasty 🍲

I have a project deadline which is leading me to working late hours this week and most of next week so not much time for leisure activities Oh well, at least I have a job....mustn't complain too much

RDR2 is excellent, I spent about 300 hours on the single player and I am still logging onto the online game 3-4 times a week. Its an amazing game and the beauty of the world still causes me pause. You cannot not play the game if you like a Wild West game I have mastered all the online roles, let me know if you want any advice And their is a new expansion for GTAV ...I am considering getting it ?

Okay I need to understand something, are you saying it wasnt like your dad would tell you to help with something because with my friends who also know DIY it was because their dads or uncles made them learn certain things? But it sounds like you had an interest in learning and you watched what people did and then you did research...is that fair? And apart from its cheaper and better to do your own repairs do you enjoy being able to fix things? Sorry for all the questions but your story is interesting because it raises different reason for how a person learns DIY, does your family ask you to do DIY and is it something your other family members also know because I believe the ability of men to learn DIY is in the decline and I dont think its a positive overall change....just take this forum for example, how many forum members can do DIY and why is it like that, granted we all love our computer games so you can argue most of us are not natural DIY people but I dont think that is the reason?

Gromnir I wanted to share an observation with you about something I have noticed about how you debate and where you are convincing and where you not necessarily so Firstly would you believe I have a similar approach to any debate that you practice. I believe you should argue the facts, provide links but I try to ask " what point will I be achieving with this argument " . Anyway no one can be truly critical of you by saying things like " you dont present facts or data" you do exactly that and its based on real life experience and I have learnt several things from you that I never understood and I always appreciate gaining new insights. And sometimes this can help me change a view I had that was trenchant and well established but I can update it and include what you or others mentioned And these things may seem irrelevant if I explained them but they not to my life views around problems or solutions we face in SA so gaining insights about things like how a person can be born into a reality where their is systemic poverty or lack of resources doesnt mean that will define their life, in other words it is possible to address certain hardships and achieve real success and economic prosperity despite what reality we are born into We always hear people saying " a person is not defined by their environment and you can always change things if you work hard and make the right decisions " and of course this can be true but its much harder to do if you are actually that person who has to do that. And your journey is not unique to you, other members have not been given family help but they have worked hard and I consider them successful. Like GD and his decisions and investments. But your journey matters to me and is one of the reasons I respect your opinions on issues that have defined your life that most of us will ignore because of the moral argument, for example when you mentioned you have defended right wingers who normally espouse deeply flawed ideological views . These groups dont target Native Americans specifically but their general distain for Jews and African Americans represents a broader dysfunction and I am someone who cant or wont support certain levels of ignorance and I just leave people to their own devices I personally find as a white person the doctrines of these groups offensive and based on pseudo-science which makes it even more inaccurate. So in the same way I dont care about the defense of Islamic extremists and I would understand many lawyers from a minority group not wanting to defend an out spoken right winger. But you have been able to not let understandable biases or a real repugnance influence your greater belief in one of the foundations of most of our legal systems which states " everyone has the right to a proper defense " or something similar and that does matter and is an intrinsic part of what makes our laws ultimately effective and sustainable My counter argument to this is certain crimes should negate any normal rights suspects receive and I mean certain crimes so its doesn't get abused. And these specific crimes would include any mass shooting suspect or anyone who is part of bombing attack or other form of terrorism. People that decide on these actions should at the very least ensure they get killed in the end which is what you would expect from anyone prepared to kill innocents because of a ideological stance But sometimes nowadays people commit mass killings for Internet attention and infamy and after killing possibly dozens of unarmed innocent people they surrender and now want to be treated like a normal citizen ....its just irks me. People like Breivik, Dylan Roof and the NZ coward Philip Manshaus should be placed immediately in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives. You dont execute them but take everything away from them that matters ....that seems fair Now what I am asking is you dont seem to notice humor or levity in a persons post and adjust your views if the person is being serious because I am sure you will agree their is a difference between someone being serious and just having some fun? For example I have been following some of your and GD debates lately and they do get to a point where you can generally prove something true based on historical examples and how GD cant say for example " the USA isnt free " ....and I assume the debate is over but then GD will make a point and its not serious but he mentions you mustn't take it seriously like today with the ME image Now I dont think he meant anything personal but it was directed towards you but in a cheeky but friendly way because lately you have been very responsive to most of his posts and he wanted to avoid a misunderstanding or maybe protracted criticism around the particular point ....but sometimes things are just frivolous and dont need analysis Maybe someone is wondering why do I care about you and GD debates? Their is a reason, always a reason. I have been active on this forum for 11 years and I still believe in the importance of a debate where we can learn from each other. Not many members engage in political debates but both you and GD do so I would hate to see an outcome where you two stop debating each other because of a misunderstanding ?

I was just joking about considering defrosting a fridge being a real example of DIY, its has some considerations around length of time you keep the fridge off and what happens to food but its fairly simple ....it was a success by the way But I wasnt joking about admiring people who can do their own DIY and more importantly understand DIY principles which helps with other things that are similar. The older I become the more I see certain things that end up costing me money or I am reliant on other people for important advice on topics that directly impact me ....for example if I was experiencing some sort of intermittent water leak when it rains in my house I would have no idea how to troubleshoot it or my worst are electrical trips caused possibly by an appliance .... Did you learn DIY from your dad or what allowed you to be proficient in DIY ?