BruceVC

One thing I am definitely not going to miss is the endless discussions on certain news channels like CNN about " what Trump said " and " can you believe what Trump said " I am utterly exhausted by these topics and look forward to the change going forward

Why would we be happy or lucky with women not wearing skirts and high heels ....what if a women wants to wear a mini-skirt with boots or high heels to work? Personally I love seeing a liberated women confident with wearing a skirt ? Gorthfuscious we mustnt dictate to women what we think is acceptable, remember part of gender equality is we must respect their choices

Oh and another important distinction between countries like Uganda and the ME Most countries in the ME have never claimed to be Democracies or have Constitutions that support human rights. Uganda claims it is a Democracy with a Constitution that includes human rights. Also Uganda is part of the African Union which does have a charter where human rights are suppose to be protected and are suppose to be mandatory This is based on the historical reality of Colonialism where black people were discriminated against through racism ...but for some African countries racism is bad but homophobia against your own black citizens is okay So you can see the inconsistency ?

Dark, Eleronds post I quoted is probably the best way to make the point around why human rights, like LGBT rights, matter in a Democracy

Yes you are correct and as I have mentioned before I have worked and travelled numerous times to the ME and as you may recall I support the new alliances and way forward with the Gulf States, Israel and USA on one side and Iran on the other And its also true most ME countries have laws where its the death penalty for LGBT but I have had to learn to separate different countries laws but more importantly what is the countries overall role in the region and is the government delivering services and economic prosperity to its citizens? But I have never supported the discrimination you see in the ME against LGBT But sometimes in life their is a big picture and you have to chose your battles because the reality of world is sometimes their is a much more urgent precedent than just human rights and that precedent can have global or at least real regional ramifications. But later on you should address the human rights failures...just not now So going to back to the Uganda and ME comparison, Uganda's president hasn't delivered prosperity or quality of life for his citizens and the country is reliant on foreign aid. All of the Gulf states have working economies and the average citizen is happy with their leadership because these countries face greater external threats to their way of life So even through I dont support the Saudi's human rights record at all it is not the same as the failed political reality of Uganda. I dont want to create the impression I am a hypocrite on this type of matter as these countries have different political realties and how we judge and interact with all countries does matter as they not the same

Its a valid debate if we want to understand the difference. You are perfectly entitled to not support the rights of LBGT on a personal level But most of us live in countries where these rights are enshrined in our Constitutions and you dont have any right to discriminate against LGBT to the point where countries like Uganda made it illegal to be LGBT and members of these communities were murdered and arrested on the streets in Uganda because of their sexual orientation Thats wrong and should never be acceptable but I am not going to try to force you to accept the rights of LGBT because I cannot force you. But the laws of most of our countries prevent you from being killed or legally discriminated against if you LGBT I hope this makes sense ?

This is historically accurate, the horrendous reality of Shark Island did come after the SA concentration camps and in these camps their was deliberate and planned experimentation on the Herero people. This was not the case in the Boer War and what occurred under the British I am not trying to undermine the loss of lives of Boer and black women and children in the SA camps but it wasnt due to experimentation and mass killings so the definition should matter?

Plus most companies should have password policies that force you reset the your password at least every 6 weeks, that is a minimum password policy age in most banks I have worked at and best practice should be every 3 weeks So in other words users should expect their password to change and previous password history should be disabled

Yes but we should be more than capable of understanding the different political realties in different countries and how autocratic governments decide to ban or shutdown SM and how we respond Uganda is an example of an appallingly run African country which has demonstrated in numerous examples how the president, now in power for over 30 years, doesnt believe or support very basic human rights or freedom of speech. For example criminalizing the rights of LGBT community This is not the same as Trump and right wing groups being banned from SM. There is a distinction and the statement " What's good for the goose is good for the gander " clearly doesnt apply here Its about separating these decisions and what country they applied in. That does matter

https://store.steampowered.com/app/241620/Inquisitor/ I mentioned I am playing this game and its great fun and has a very compelling narrative, probably the best part of it because the actual gaming mechanics are a little frustrating until you get use to them and even then they not elegant. For example the combat can be difficult to plan properly against difficult enemies but to quote from Steam deep and involving tale of betrayal, torture, madness, and infernal damnation. If a gritty old-school open-ended isometric RPG is what you looking for, look no further. Inquisitor will provide you with hours of gameplay and a dark, involving story. The game is like that, I have just finished Act 1 and I ended burning several heretics and devil-worshippers at the stake. I dont know who else has played this game but I recommend it for the narrative and how it unfolds

But a country like Turkey is the same as Russia, China and many ME countries. They dont support or believe in freedom of speech so any excuse to clamp down on platforms like Twitter will occur This doesn't change the fact SM is part of the mechanism where people can express themselves in most countries that have freedom of speech enshrined in their Constitutions. But their is a limit to freedom of speech so what happened in the USA is not an attack on freedom of speech where Trump was banned from most SM platforms This was a direct consequence, and its understandable, how SM platforms were abused by various right wing groups and this contributed towards the Capitol violence on the 6

These pardons are just another example of abuse of power of the presidency from Trump

I have decided to embrace reconciliation and the reasonable objective of " healing the nation " . I am more than prepared to accept the new and more constructive opinions of the likes of McConnell and Lindsay Graham. These established Republicans supported Trumpism but this was more about political survival than flawed or dysfunctional ideology that was associated with much of Trumpism Trumpism is going to fade quickly IMO, especially with how Trump has been his own worst enemy by not accepting defeat and then the attack on Capitol just added to the damage done to most positive views of his political legacy But its best not to dwell on the past on all previous political developments and for me that means in the interest of uniting the USA I am glad the Republican establishment is slowly but inexorably distancing themselves from Trump As Biden said recently " dont tell me it cant be done, it can be done if we want it to "

Sorry Shady but for you and any others who still hasn't finished the absolutely fantastic Witcher 3 ( my favorite RPG of all time along with BG2 ToB) and still doesn't know who the various characters are then I am afraid you have demonstrated a lack of interest and commitment to the Witcher Universe and their is only one possible outcome .....you are now officially and permanently banned from playing any future Witcher games !!!! I know this sounds harsh but loyalty and integrity matters, if we see a change in your view towards the Witcher series then we can possibly look at suspending your banning. But I think you have a lot or work to do, some would say you have an arduous journey in front of you. But always remember absolution starts with a positive attitude ....one step at a time

Wasnt she worried about the deep state controlling her mind with the vaccine ?

https://www.pcgamer.com/yes-cyberpunk-2077-has-something-to-say/ Here is a more positive view of the game, Im not sure how true it is ?

Yes it still has an relevant purpose but that is for people linked to Islamic extremism, you cant send someone like Trump there?

I hear you but without debating the semantics of who is responsible for the Oz lockdown measures what is the real debate should be "has it effectively stopped the virus spread " ? That should be the most important factor in how we reflect on our numerous governments measures and plans and if they are indeed draconian. This is a good example of " the end justifies the means" ...its not often we should look at policies in this way but this is IMO definitely an acceptable example to support that aphorism

I appreciate your interest and views in certain historical events, some of them I have also researched. Like the terrible reality of the Boer concentration camps which also lead to the deaths of black women and children, not just Boer women and children, as many black people helped the Boers against the British as they lived on the Boer farms and the British were considered their enemy as well Also I have a direct family connection with the Second Boer War as basically all my family, on my dads and stepmoms, side came to SA with the British army in 1899 to fight the Boers. They were simple soldiers of course and they had nothing to do with the architecture and creation of the Concentration camps. This was Kitchener's idea and its an ongoing debate if the intention was the eradication of the Boer women and children or, as I believe, it was about getting the Boers to surrender as the war was dragging on and the Boers prudently would not face the British in open battle but used effective guerilla warfare tactics But either way the outcome was ghastly and inhumane and thousands of Boer and black women and children died, so I would never deny it happened. I am just asking if it was intentional ? https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/women-and-children-white-concentration-camps-during-anglo-boer-war-1900-1902 https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/black-concentration-camps-during-anglo-boer-war-2-1900-1902 But Gothfuscious more importantly you have raised before your concerns with the Oz perceived Corona response being draconian Yet Australia is considered one of the few countries that is not overwhelmed by the virus. So you see the pattern and corollary? If you live in a Democracy, like most of us, its important to have laws like your government has implemented to ensure compliance from citizens. That seems to be the most effective way to address the virus spread until the vaccine is available So forced quarantines in hotels with guards I can understand is unsettling but its has been very successful in ensuring your country hasn't been ravaged by the pandemic. Trust me most of us would accept that reality any day as opposed to our current realities with the virus spreading exponentially So as I said previously you guys should be thankful your government has implemented certain laws and enforced regulations because the alternative is much, much worse

Exactly, when many governments try to implement something like detention camps to address the huge numbers of illegal immigrants it can easily be mischaracterized by referring to them as Concentration Camps " when in fact they nothing like that You want to know about irony, in SA we have a crisis with illegal immigrants coming from about 5 failed African countries whose corrupt leadership has destroyed any economic opportunities and future for their citizens. So millions of people come to SA illegally and we cannot stop them because we have porous borders But their is a solution, you know any country can apply to the UN and get funding for what is known as Refugee Camps that you see in the ME and conflicts like Syria. But in SA some people in government think this is " un-African and goes against our values " Except for the fact throughout Africa you find these refugee camps that many governments use and no one accuses these governments of being " un-African " .....only SA gets labeled like this https://africa-facts.org/africas-biggest-refugee-camps/

I am very surprised anyone would advocate Trump being banished into the desert? I am sure its unconstitutional that kind of punishment but more importantly banishment is suppose to be punitive , Trump is very industrious and he would end up creating some sort of " Trump Super Desert Casino " Remember Vegas, never forget Vegas I think Melania is very attractive so I would be fine with that

Which state do you live in Comrade ?

Well I hope we get a choice to play a male Witcher, I enjoyed playing Ciri but I always prefer RP a male because I can identify with that gender

Possibly with people both genuinely concerned and the overreaction But I doubt it as the red scare was about the Cold War and the global clash of civilizations, Democracy vs Dictatorships. Communism was a global, established threat that almost every country was dealing with either through proxy wars or internal, real ideological movements The global right-wing definitely doesnt have the resources or presence or support like the USSR so I dont think we should be too concerned

Is anyone watching some of the new video footage about the rioters that got into the main room? You can see the Cosplay guy and others demonstrating utter contempt for the Capitol sanctity. They also end up doing some bizarre group prayer ??? But a few things are patently clear, they genuinely believed they had moral high ground , they were following Trumps instructions and they did believe most Senate members had " betrayed " the US Democracy There was even 1 Capitol policeman who was trying desperately to restrain them by pleading with them and you hear him and the ex-colonel saying things like " guys you must respect this room ".....which made no difference Its worth watching