BruceVC

I wouldnt quite frame BREXIT like that, many people didnt want the UK to leave the EU and appreciate the UK and its contribution and what it gains from the EU The EU loves the UK because of factors like all the money the English spend But if you have achieved no deal you must consider the real economic consequences from 1 January 2021 if they dont find common ground on a BREXIT deal, you will have no trade and tariffs agreements between the UK and EU for all goods and economic flow That means WTO general trade agreements which doesnt address anything close to the EU single market access....this will initially hurt both the EU and the UK but both will survive and become stronger. But its going to be 2-3 years of tumultuous economic growth until the UK negotiates new trade deals

Thats cute

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/12/08/trump-and-the-gop-have-now-lost-50-post-election-lawsuits/?sh=547edb512960 Gromnir since the election the Trump campaign has lost 50 lawsuits....its a huge number and should be an embarrassment to his lawyers and people trying to find fault with the election results Time to move on, it was an exciting and well supported 2020 election but Biden did win and everyone needs to accept this

I wasnt expecting such a damaging link that is an indictment generally of the pharmaceutical industry....at least in the USA In Africa countries get certain drugs at reduced prices or they subsidized by other countries like the USA, for example HIV drugs in SA https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa-hiv-aids-drugs-treatment-deal-under-threat-us-budget-cuts-a7960391.html Gorthfuscious I think you will agree going forward we should be focusing on the greed and unethical behavior of the drug companies and leave the banks alone ....its time to identify a new enemy to hold accountable for global inequality I want to get a shirt made that says " at least I dont work in a pharmaceutical company "

This is a terrible suggestion and doesn't make business sense....we dont want to do anything to jeopardize white, male privilege...you know how it goes But apart from that you cannot nationalize any listed company...there are myriad of serious issues around this illegal approach, like the cost to shareholders and the fact it will be unconstitutional ...so very bad idea you naughty socialist you

The funding from numerous governments for the vaccine was in the interests of survival of there own citizens and expediency in the objective for life to return to normal like it was before the pandemic , that has nothing to do with any pharmaceutical companies not now making profit. I am not sure if you have any links that support your point?

When I started questioning Santa's existence my dad told us " its okay if you dont believe in Santa....but dont be upset if he doesnt bring you presents anymore " I carried on believing in Santa till I was at least 14-15

But if no profit was made surly these companies would go out of business, this is the basic rule of all listed companies as investors only buy shares if they expect a positive return meaning they expect the company to be profitable which means the share price generally increases once these companies make there target? Also there are much more deadly diseases out there than Corona. If your point around profit is reasonable why should any pharmaceutical company ever make any profit at all on any product they sell? Why stop at Corona if the argument is " these companies are profiting on peoples need ".....why dont we demand that there is no profit ever made on any medicine ?

Elerond dont you like the global pharmaceutical companies ? Why what have they done to you ? Please share

Buy one made in China then if it fails you blame the Chinese and globalization? And you can always bring in the dependable and ubiquitous " its because of Capitalism" ....but at least you will be covered if a gift is deemed " not good quality " ?

Still loving and deep into Divinity 2, I am on the Nameless Isle and its going well

Nah, your biggest mistake was saying you support " ideology x " but then you cant explain what you mean and what ideology you actually support

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/06/politics/rudy-giuliani-coronavirus-positive/index.html Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for the virus, not a surprise considering his contempt for the prevention of known virus spread measures

This weekend we went to a small town 45 minutes outside Cpt for lunch at a gastro-farm called Rozendal Farm It was beautiful and picturesque and the lunch selection was delicious. They offered something unusual from normal dining choices where normally You can order from a menu with a choice of a variety of starters, mains and deserts You can feast from a tasting menu, 5-10 smaller dishes that demonstrate the Chefs creativity and skill A buffet where you can eat as much as you want from a variety of dishes This restaurant presented you with 3 or more set menu dishes for your starter and main so even though it was "semi" set menu everything was absolutely scrumptious and looked amazing. One of the mains was a beef and goat ragu

This is a pandemic and its impact is unprecedented and also how we try to understand all the grim lockdown news....so your observation is correct, I watch Sky and BBC and they always do a good job of being honest but on Sky they seem to present the news in a constantly negative way ....CNN is honest but hells bells the accurate virus updates are horrendous and make me feel ill...and I dont live in the US. For example many US citizens went away on planes for Thanksgiving celebration which wasn't advised at all because right now the virus is all over the place so when you fly there is a very good chance of exposure and then mass people getting sick and the inevitable deaths ....terrible and alone and sometimes on ventilators which never have a good survival rate They interview numerous doctors on CNN and all of them are exhausted at the moment and they said pleaded with all US citizens " please stay at home for Thanksgiving " .....you see doctors and nurse are the ones who have to try to treat many sick people who cannot be cured so just have to wait and hope people recover

Raithe please dont allow yourself to develop the normal and expected very negative sentiment of things that people in the UK start believing about the UK and what this means for the future of the UK. English people are renowned for generally complaining about how terrible things are in the UK yet they get the job done and are able to survive and prosperous The 23% is real but its not a normal unemployment figure ....it is an outcome of the lockdown and the economic lockdown so its an "artificial " number that will be addressed once the vaccine is being used. In SA we have a 50 % unemployment. Any government that has implemented lockdown measures is definitely doing the right thing. We cant blame any government for the general decisions of citizens who have ignored the best practice virus prevention steps like a wearing a mask. Unfortunately the UK is one of those EU countries that has not had all citizens follow the virus prevention steps and the inevitable outcome is always the same in any country. The vaccine will return things to more or normal but until then wear your mask and try to avoid clubs and bars I do feel very sorry for the English because of there love and culture identity with going to bars and how this was difficult to stop as it is part of some real English way of life ....but the reality is your normal visit to a pub is high risk virus vector so just try to wait maybe 6 months ?

Comrade I am a little disappointed you did not respond to my simple question that you personally have raised around different systems of governments ? I have always assumed you do have an informed view based on historical precedence but basing that on possible hybrid solutions for countries like the USA ....so for example do you think the USA should be more socialist ....its not an uncommon view to have but what are you suggesting? And you keep mentioning Russia and China as having progressive political or social policies that dont exist in the Western countries which puts them at a disadvantage to Russia and China? Its difficult to understand such an extreme comparison but I dont want to come across as dismissive or supercilious and guess what you mean by that so can you give some examples of the advantage that Russia and China over the USA or the UK or other Western countries. I can think of maybe 1 or 2 but that is a small number compared to the 15-20 that Western countries have over any autocratic state

I hear you, there are definitely some games and genres of gaming I have never played or I just couldn't get into at all Like Sports games and unfortunately RTS games which I want to get into but I always find the AI cheats and I keep losing battles that CANNOT be to my lack of planning and skill at correct strategy in RTS games

I was always under the impression you were active on these forums because of me and my support for Bioware games....I am surprised that is not the most important reason ?

I like you for several reasons but particularly because you generally are prepared to engage in debates and sometimes these topics are on the opposite side ideologically of what I believe....well sort of you are on the " opposite " because as I am sure you will remember you also support the idea of Social Democracy like the Nordic countries which are not at all like the autocratic states of Russia and China. The Nordic countries have rights and institutions that include freedom of speech, free media and independent courts from there Democratically elected governments. Russia and China dont have these important parts of what makes our societies great places to live which is exactly why many of our countries are the targets of mass immigration and the illegal immigration is the problem many our governments grapple with But you can see the inconsistency with what you have mentioned to me in the past on this forum and I hope you will clarify what you have said. Do you support the Nordic countries and there hybrid capitalist\socialist systems or do you support Russia and China's system of government....I am unsure how anyone could truly support both in any serious ideological debate about what are the best ways to govern any country?

If you dont mind sharing what are the reasons you dont like Metro ?

This is very reasonable view to take, its what most people I know think about Foie Gras I know a few people who eat it but not many. What do you think about Veal, I love it but it also gets negative views because of the age of the calf when its killed

This is a very good post and articulates nicely the difference between government censorship and when a private company bans you or censors things people may say

QFT, I like Comrade but there is a real irony with someone espousing the autocratic states of China and Russia and then complaining about censorship from the likes of Twitter and FB These companies only ban people who are in contravention of their very relaxed policies around acceptable content and things you can and cannot say. So I wonder what offensive comments Comrade made that got him banned because the fault more than likely is with him and what he said ? No I didnt know that because that is an exaggeration and not true , these global IT companies are almost all listed companies and they independent from the US government. In fact over the last couple years companies like FB, Google and Twitter have been IMO unfairly vilified and hurled before numerous US and EU congressional hearings to respond to questions " how are you going to stop people making offensive comments and posting fake news " ....so now its the companies fault somehow because some people dont know how to engage using basic decorum and manners And then Apple even still refuses to help the FBI crack iPhones that belong to terrorists ( obviously I dont agree with the author of the link below ) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-22/apple-still-won-t-help-the-fbi-break-into-iphones-good So its the opposite of what you suggesting, these social media companies get criticized by many governments including the USA .....so there is no " great, close working relationship "

If you dont like food like Chicken Liver then I doubt you would like it .....the texture is similar. Its delicious but it has a certain taste that most offcuts have and many people dont like that taste